Science X Newsletter Week 51

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 51:

	Christmas break vital to teacher's psychological wellbeing, says study Christmas holidays play a critical role in preventing teacher burnout and exhaustion, according to a new study by academics at City University London.
	Bone suggests 'Red Deer Cave people' a mysterious species of human It's been an exciting year for human evolution with several discoveries dramatically rewriting major episodes of our ancient past.
	New results from world's most sensitive dark matter detector The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, which operates nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has already proven itself to be the most sensitive detector in the hunt for dark matter, the unseen stuff believed to account for most of the matter in the universe. Now, a new set of calibration techniques employed by LUX scientists has again dramatically improved the detector's sensitivity.
	New evidence of tool use discovered in parrots Psychologists at the University of York and University of St Andrews have uncovered the first evidence of tool use by greater vasa parrots (Coracopsis vasa).
	Hubble reveals diversity of exoplanet atmosphere: Largest ever comparative study solves missing water mystery Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope to study the atmospheres of ten hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets in detail, the largest number of such planets ever studied. The team was able to discover why some of these worlds seem to have less water than expected—a long-standing mystery. The results are published in Nature.
	Experts discover new gait pattern among top Russian officials Experts have discovered a new gait pattern among several well-known top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The authors term this "gunslinger's gait" because it may be triggered by KGB or other forms of weaponry training.
	Graphene proves a perfect fit for wearable devices Cheap, flexible, wireless graphene communication devices such as mobile phones and healthcare monitors can be directly printed into clothing and even skin, University of Manchester academics have demonstrated.
	Dogs give friends food Compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, the human capacity for cooperation is something quite special. Cooperating with one another requires a certain amount of prosocial behaviour. This means helping others without any direct personal benefit.
	Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter releases new high-resolution earthrise image NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft's vantage point in orbit around the moon.
	Rare full moon on Christmas Day Not since 1977 has a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas. But this year, a bright full moon will be an added gift for the holidays.
	VERITAS detects gamma rays from galaxy halfway across the visible universe In April 2015, after traveling for about half the age of the universe, a flood of powerful gamma rays from a distant galaxy slammed into Earth's atmosphere. That torrent generated a cascade of light - a shower that fell onto the waiting mirrors of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) in Arizona. The resulting data have given astronomers a unique look into that faraway galaxy and the black hole engine at its heart.
	Transparent metal films for smart phone, tablet and TV displays A new material that is both highly transparent and electrically conductive could make large screen displays, smart windows and even touch screens and solar cells more affordable and efficient, according to the Penn State materials scientists and engineers who discovered it.
	'Hydricity' concept uses solar energy to produce power round-the-clock Researchers are proposing a new "hydricity" concept aimed at creating a sustainable economy by not only generating electricity with solar energy but also producing and storing hydrogen from superheated water for round-the-clock power production.
	Major step toward confirming the existence of the majorana particle A NIMS MANA group theoretically demonstrated that the results of the experiments on the peculiar superconducting state reported by a Chinese research group in January 2015 prove the existence of the Majorana-type particles.
	Black holes could grow as large as 50 billion suns before their food crumbles into stars according to research Black holes at the heart of galaxies could swell to 50 billion times the mass of the sun before losing the discs of gas they rely on to sustain themselves, according to research at the University of Leicester.
	Carnivore hunting policy does not always align with science, say researchers An international group of carnivore biologists, writing in the journal Science, say that policies regulating the hunting of large carnivores do not always align with basic scientific data.
	China launches dark matter detecting satellite into orbit China has successfully placed a satellite called the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) into a sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth. Its mission is to study high-energy particles and γ-rays as part of an overall objective to learn more about dark matter. The satellite was boosted into the sky by a Chinese Long March 2D rocket, launched from a northwest province in China.
	Modest levels of nanoparticle may harm brain cells Even moderate concentrations of a nanoparticle used to whiten certain foods, milk and toothpaste could potentially compromise the brain's most numerous cells, according to a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
	Meeting of math minds fails to clear up ABC conjecture proof (Phys.org)—A group of mathematicians specializing in arithmetic geometry met for five days earlier this month in an attempt to understand a proof constructed by Shinichi Mochizuki, of Kyoto University posted online back in 2012—it is called the "inter-universal Teichmuller" (IUT) theory and runs more than 500 pages. To date, no one has been able to verify the proof, or even understand it. This latest meeting was an attempt to overcome some of the hurdles that have impeded progress by other mathematicians in understanding what Mochizuki has done.
	Bitcoin's 'blockchain' tech may transform banking The technology that drives the shadowy cryptocurrency bitcoin is drawing interest from the established banking industry, which sees a potential to revolutionize the sector.

---

This email is a free service of Phys.org
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
If you no longer want to receive this email use the link below to unsubscribe.
https://sciencex.com/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com