Science X Newsletter Week 18

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 18:

	Climate-exodus expected in the Middle East and North Africa The number of climate refugees could increase dramatically in future. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia have calculated that the Middle East and North Africa could become so hot that human habitability is compromised. The goal of limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, agreed at the recent UN climate summit in Paris, will not be sufficient to prevent this scenario. The temperature during summer in the already very hot Middle East and North Africa will increase more than two times faster compared to the average global warming. This means that during hot days temperatures south of the Mediterranean will reach around 46 degrees Celsius (approximately 114 degrees Fahrenheit) by mid-century. Such extremely hot days will occur five times more often than was the case at the turn of the millennium. In combination with increasing air pollution by windblown desert dust, the environmental conditions could become intolerable and may force people to migrate.
	Why is space three-dimensional? (Phys.org)—The question of why space is three-dimensional (3D) and not some other number of dimensions has puzzled philosophers and scientists since ancient Greece. Space-time overall is four-dimensional, or (3 + 1)-dimensional, where time is the fourth dimension. It's well-known that the time dimension is related to the second law of thermodynamics: time has one direction (forward) because entropy (a measure of disorder) never decreases in a closed system such as the universe.
	World's largest particle smasher set to push physics into unknown The world's most powerful proton smasher is preparing for its biggest run yet which scientists hope will uncover new particles that could dramatically change our understanding of the Universe.
	Holoflex—World's first holographic flexible smartphone (w/ Video) Researchers at the Human Media Lab at Queen's University have developed the world's first holographic flexible smartphone. The device, dubbed HoloFlex, is capable of rendering 3D images with motion parallax and stereoscopy to multiple simultaneous users without head tracking or glasses.
	Sea-level rise claims five islands in Solomons: study Five islands have disappeared in the Pacific's Solomon Islands due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, according to an Australian study that could provide valuable insights for future research.
	Just 40 light years from Earth, three planets might host life forms adapted to infrared worlds Is there life beyond our solar system? If there is, our best bet for finding it may lie in three nearby, Earth-like exoplanets.
	SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch For the second month in a row, the aerospace upstart SpaceX landed a rocket on an ocean platform early Friday, this time following the successful launch of a Japanese communications satellite.
	Physicists abuzz about possible new particle as CERN revs up Was it a blip, or a breakthrough?
	Scientists make 3D holograms of atoms inside molecular structures (Phys.org)—Researchers have developed the first imaging technique that can clearly see inside molecular structures, and have used it to create 3D holograms of the atomic arrangements inside these structures. Before now, reliable imaging techniques (for example, scanning tunneling microscopy) could only scan the surfaces of molecules. The ability to peer deep inside a molecular structure and see all of the individual atoms will be essential for developing new materials and understanding their unique physical and chemical properties.
	Simulations suggest other phenomenon besides black holes merging could produce gravity waves (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the University of Lisbon has created simulations that indicate that the gravitational waves detected by researchers with the LIGO project, and which are believed to have come about due to two black holes colliding, could just have easily come from another object such as a gravaster (objects which are believed to have their insides made of dark energy) or even a wormhole. In their paper published in Physical Review Letters, the team describes the simulations they created, what was seen and what they are hoping to find in the future.
	Drinking coffee and wine good for microbes in the gut, scientists say Scientists have some great news for those who love coffee, tea and wine: Drinking any of these beverages is associated with a healthier and more diverse community of microbes living in the gut.
	Endangered venomous mammal predates dinosaurs' extinction, study confirms The University of Illinois and University of Puerto Rico have completely sequenced the mitochondrial genome for the Hispaniolan solenodon, filling in the last major branch of placental mammals on the tree of life.
	Natural antibodies could combat Tasmanian devil cancer Deakin University scientists may have found a way to stop the cancer that has been killing Tasmanian devils for the past 20 years.
	Research suggests diabetes drug acts differently from previous theories A Mayo Clinic study suggests laboratory findings do not tell the whole story of how the diabetes drug metformin works to limit the level of glucose in the blood. The researchers found that metformin does not limit the action of the hormone glucagon, specifically glucagon-stimulated glucose production from the liver. The article appears in the journal Cell Reports.
	Novel model illustrates the finer details of nuclear fission For nearly 80 years, nuclear fission has awaited a description within a microscopic framework. In the first study of its kind, scientists collaborating from the University of Washington, Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, developed a novel model to take a more intricate look at what happens during the last stages of the fission process. Using the model, they determined that fission fragments remain connected far longer than expected before the daughter nuclei split apart. Moreover, they noted the predicted kinetic energy agreed with results from experimental observations. This discovery indicates that complex calculations of real-time fission dynamics without physical restrictions are feasible and opens a pathway to a theoretical microscopic framework with abundant predictive power.
	New interpretation of the Rok runestone inscription changes view of Viking Age The Rök Runestone, erected in the late 800s in the Swedish province of Östergötland, is the world's most well-known runestone. Its long inscription has seemed impossible to understand, despite the fact that it is relatively easy to read. A new interpretation of the inscription has now been presented - an interpretation that breaks completely with a century-old interpretative tradition. What has previously been understood as references to heroic feats, kings and wars in fact seems to refer to the monument itself.
	Genetic analysis of Ice Age Europeans Analyses of ancient DNA from prehistoric humans paint a picture of dramatic population change in Europe from 45,000 to 7,000 years ago, according to a new study led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator David Reich at Harvard Medical School.
	Measuring a black hole 660 million times as massive as our sun It's about 660 million times as massive as our sun, and a cloud of gas circles it at about 1.1 million mph.
	Study suggests humans are only capable of having five people in their closest circle (Phys.org)—A trio of researchers affiliated with the University of Oxford in England and Aalto University School of Science in Finland has conducted a study of human behavior and has found evidence backing up a prior theory that suggests humans have different layers that make up their social circle with different numbers of people in them. In their paper uploaded to the preprint server, arXiv, they describe their study which involved analyzing cell phone records to count calls, what they found and that they believe it means for us a group.
	Expanding tropics pushing high altitude clouds towards poles, NASA study finds A new NASA analysis of 30-years of satellite data suggests that a previously observed trend of high altitude clouds in the mid-latitudes shifting toward the poles is caused primarily by the expansion of the tropics.

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