Science X Newsletter Week 36

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 36:

	Brazilian wasp venom kills cancer cells by opening them up The social wasp Polybia paulista protects itself against predators by producing venom known to contain a powerful cancer-fighting ingredient. A Biophysical Journal study published September 1 reveals exactly how the venom's toxin—called MP1 (Polybia-MP1)—selectively kills cancer cells without harming normal cells. MP1 interacts with lipids that are abnormally distributed on the surface of cancer cells, creating gaping holes that allow molecules crucial for cell function to leak out.
	New law implies thermodynamic time runs backwards inside black holes (Phys.org)—Black holes are known to have many strange properties, such as that they allow nothing—not even light—to escape after falling in. A lesser known but equally bizarre property is that black holes appear to "know" what happens in the future in order to form in the first place. However, this strange property arises from the way in which black holes are defined, which has motivated some physicists to explore alternative definitions.
	Evidence that Earth's first mass extinction was caused by critters not catastrophe In the popular mind, mass extinctions are associated with catastrophic events, like giant meteorite impacts and volcanic super-eruptions.
	Quantum computer that 'computes without running' sets efficiency record (Phys.org)—Due to quantum effects, it's possible to build a quantum computer that computes without running—or as the scientists explain, "the result of a computation may be learned without actually running the computer." So far, however, the efficiency of this process, which is called counterfactual computation (CFC), has had an upper limit of 50%, limiting its practical applications.
	Quantum computing will bring immense processing possibilities The one thing everyone knows about quantum mechanics is its legendary weirdness, in which the basic tenets of the world it describes seem alien to the world we live in. Superposition, where things can be in two states simultaneously, a switch both on and off, a cat both dead and alive. Or entanglement, what Einstein called "spooky action-at-distance" in which objects are invisibly linked, even when separated by huge distances.
	Evidence of ancient life discovered in mantle rocks deep below the seafloor Ancient rocks harbored microbial life deep below the seafloor, reports a team of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Virginia Tech, and the University of Bremen. This new evidence was contained in drilled rock samples of Earth's mantle - thrust by tectonic forces to the seafloor during the Early Cretaceous period. The new study was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
	Study reveals human body has gone through four stages of evolution Research into 430,000-year-old fossils collected in northern Spain found that the evolution of the human body's size and shape has gone through four main stages, according to a paper published this week.
	'Littlest' quark-gluon plasma revealed by physicists using Large Hadron Collider Researchers at the University of Kansas working with an international team at the Large Hadron Collider have produced quark-gluon plasma—a state of matter thought to have existed right at the birth of the universe—with fewer particles than previously thought possible.
	Graphene made superconductive by doping with lithium atoms (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from Germany and Canada has found a way to make graphene superconductive—by doping it with lithium atoms. In their paper they have uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the team describes the process they used and the results they obtained when testing it.
	Magnetic fields provide a new way to communicate wirelessly Electrical engineers at the University of California, San Diego demonstrated a new wireless communication technique that works by sending magnetic signals through the human body. The new technology could offer a lower power and more secure way to communicate information between wearable electronic devices, providing an improved alternative to existing wireless communication systems, researchers said. They presented their findings Aug. 26 at the 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in Milan, Italy.
	First global antineutrino emission map highlights Earth's energy budget The neutrino and its antimatter cousin, the antineutrino, are the tiniest subatomic particles known to science. These particles are byproducts of nuclear reactions within stars (including our sun), supernovae, black holes and human-made nuclear reactors. They also result from radioactive decay processes deep within the Earth, where radioactive heat and the heat left over from the planet's formation fuels plate tectonics, volcanoes and Earth's magnetic field.
	Short sleepers are four times more likely to catch a cold: Researchers connect sleep loss to higher rates of illness Scientists have long associated sufficient sleep with good health. Now they've confirmed it.
	Neuron responsible for alcoholism found Scientists have pinpointed a population of neurons in the brain that influences whether one drink leads to two, which could ultimately lead to a cure for alcoholism and other addictions.
	Scientists 'squeeze' light one particle at a time A team of scientists has successfully measured particles of light being "squeezed", in an experiment that had been written off in physics textbooks as impossible to observe.
	Completely paralyzed man voluntarily moves his legs, scientists report A 39-year-old man who had had been completely paralyzed for four years was able to voluntarily control his leg muscles and take thousands of steps in a "robotic exoskeleton" device during five days of training—and for two weeks afterward—a team of UCLA scientists reports this week.
Study shows how fracking documentary influenced public perception and political change Social scientists have long argued documentary films are powerful tools for social change.
	Intel putting $50 mn into quantum computing research US chip colossus Intel on Thursday said that it will put $50 million and engineering resources into an alliance on quantum computing that could radically advance complex problem-solving.
	Does your personality affect your dog? Here's how you can find out When I adopted my dog Kia from a puppy rescue center three years ago, I became a member of a growing sub-culture of people who focus their time, money, and love on their dogs.
	Team demonstrates solar water-splitting technology Rice University researchers have demonstrated an efficient new way to capture the energy from sunlight and convert it into clean, renewable energy by splitting water molecules.
	Meet Pentecopterus, a new predator from the prehistoric seas You don't name a sea creature after an ancient Greek warship unless it's built like a predator.

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