Science X Newsletter Week 03

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 03:

	The aliens are silent because they're dead Life on other planets would likely be brief and become extinct very quickly, say astrobiologists from The Australian National University (ANU).
	Phylogenetic analyses suggests fairy tales are much older than thought (Phys.org)—A pair of researchers has conducted a phylogenetic analysis on common fairy tales and has found that many of them appear to be much older than has been thought. In their paper published in Royal Society Open Science, Sara Graça da Silva, a social scientist/folklorist with New University of Lisbon and Jamshid Tehrani, an anthropologist with Durham University describe the linguistic study they carried out and why they believe at least one fairy tale had its origins in the Bronze Age.
	New largest prime number found (Phys.org)—A team at the University of Central Missouri, headed by Curtis Cooper has announced, via press release from the Mersenne organization, that they have found the largest prime number ever—it is 274,207,281 – 1, it has over 22 million digits. The new record has broken the old record by approximately 5 million digits.
	Researchers find evidence of a real ninth planet Caltech researchers have found evidence of a giant planet tracing a bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the outer solar system. The object, which the researchers have nicknamed Planet Nine, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the sun on average than does Neptune (which orbits the sun at an average distance of 2.8 billion miles). In fact, it would take this new planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the sun.
	First materials to be woven at the atomic and molecular levels created There are many different ways to make nanomaterials but weaving, the oldest and most enduring method of making fabrics, has not been one of them - until now. An international collaboration led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, has woven the first three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (COFs) from helical organic threads. The woven COFs display significant advantages in structural flexibility, resiliency and reversibility over previous COFs - materials that are highly prized for their potential to capture and store carbon dioxide then convert it into valuable chemical products.
	Study finds human-made aerosols exert strong influence on the geography of precipitation While the effects of power plant emissions, vehicle exhaust and other manmade aerosols on air quality and public health are well-known, their impact on the climate is not completely understood. Scientists have shown that aerosols can lower surface temperatures either directly, by reflecting sunlight skyward, or indirectly, by increasing the reflectivity of clouds, but until now have not figured out the role these airborne particles play in shaping the distribution of rain and snowfall around the world.
	New finding may explain heat loss in fusion reactors One of the biggest obstacles to making fusion power practical—and realizing its promise of virtually limitless and relatively clean energy—has been that computer models have been unable to predict how the hot, electrically charged gas inside a fusion reactor behaves under the intense heat and pressure required to make atoms stick together.
	Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought Salk researchers and collaborators have achieved critical insight into the size of neural connections, putting the memory capacity of the brain far higher than common estimates. The new work also answers a longstanding question as to how the brain is so energy efficient and could help engineers build computers that are incredibly powerful but also conserve energy.
	The hideout of the Black Death: Historical pathogens survived for more than 4 centuries in Europe Black Death, mid-fourteenth century plague, is undoubtedly the most famous historical pandemic. Within only five years it killed 30-50% of the European population. Unfortunately it didn't stop there. Plague resurged throughout Europe leading to continued high mortality and social unrest over the next three centuries.
	Scientists discover method to potentially repair nerve damage Nerve damage from neurodegenerative disease and spinal cord injury has largely been considered irreversible, but Dartmouth researchers report progress in the effort to synthesize rare natural products that promote regeneration and growth of injured nerve cells.
	New species of bird discovered in India and China A new species of bird has been described in north-eastern India and adjacent parts of China by a team of scientists from Sweden, China, the US, India and Russia, led by Professor Per Alström, Uppsala University and Swedish University of Agricultural Science.
	Cheaper solar cells with 20.2 percent efficiency EPFL scientists have developed a solar-panel material that can cut down on photovoltaic costs while achieving competitive power-conversion efficiency of 20.2%.
	Newly discovered star offers opportunity to explore origins of first stars sprung to life in early universe A team of researchers has observed the brightest ultra metal-poor star ever discovered.
	Tardigrade brought back to life after being frozen for thirty years (Phys.org)—A trio of researchers with Japan's National Institute of Polar Research has found that a microscopic creature known as a tardigrade, was able to "come back to life" after being frozen for over thirty years. In their paper published in the journal Cryobiology, the team reports on where the tardigrade was found, how it was frozen, the technique they used to thaw the creature and how its offspring fared.
	Watching electrons cool in 30 quadrillionths of a second Two University of California, Riverside assistant professors of physics are among a team of researchers that have developed a new way of seeing electrons cool off in an extremely short time period.
	First flowers in space bloom on space station The first flower grown in space has bloomed. NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, International Space Station gardener, shared photos of the prized zinnias this weekend.
	Study zeros in on plate tectonics' start date Earth has some special features that set it apart from its close cousins in the solar system, including large oceans of liquid water and a rich atmosphere with just the right ingredients to support life as we know it. Earth is also the only planet that has an active outer layer made of large tectonic plates that grind together and dip beneath each other, giving rise to mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes and large continents of land.
	Zebra stripes not for camouflage, new study finds If you've always thought of a zebra's stripes as offering some type of camouflaging protection against predators, it's time to think again, suggest scientists at the University of Calgary and UC Davis.
	Ants found to encode nest structural plans in building materials (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from several institutions in France has found that some common black garden ants leave building instructions in pillars for other worker ants to follow. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes their study of ants in their lab, what they have found so far, and their goal of learning once and for all how it is that creatures with such tiny brains can build such complicated nests.
	Particles could reveal clues to how Egypt pyramid was built An international team of researchers said Sunday they will soon begin analyzing cosmic particles collected inside Egypt's Bent Pyramid to search for clues as to how it was built and learn more about the 4,600-year-old structure.

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