Science X Newsletter Week 24

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 24:

	Mass anomaly detected under the moon's largest crater A mysterious large mass of material has been discovered beneath the largest crater in our solar system—the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin—and may contain metal from the asteroid that crashed into the Moon and formed the crater, according to a Baylor University study.
	Two hours a week is key dose of nature for health and wellbeing Spending at least two hours a week in nature may be a crucial threshold for promoting health and wellbeing, according to a new large-scale study.
	New study dramatically narrows the search for advanced life in the universe Scientists may need to rethink their estimates for how many planets outside our solar system could host a rich diversity of life.
	Perfectly preserved head of Ice Age wolf found in Siberia Russian scientists have found the furry head of an Ice Age wolf perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost.
	New quantum dot microscope shows electric potentials of individual atoms A team of researchers from Jülich in cooperation with the University of Magdeburg has developed a new method to measure the electric potentials of a sample at atomic accuracy. Using conventional methods, it was virtually impossible until now to quantitatively record the electric potentials that occur in the immediate vicinity of individual molecules or atoms. The new scanning quantum dot microscopy method, which was recently presented in the journal Nature Materials by scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich together with partners from two other institutions, could open up new opportunities for chip manufacture or the characterization of biomolecules such as DNA.
	A new candidate for dark matter and a way to detect it Two theoretical physicists at the University of California, Davis have a new candidate for dark matter, and a possible way to detect it. They presented their work June 6 at the Planck 2019 conference in Granada, Spain and it has been submitted for publication.
	Mysterious Majorana quasiparticle is now closer to being controlled for quantum computing As mysterious as the Italian scientist for which it is named, the Majorana particle is one of the most compelling quests in physics.
	Light-powered nano-organisms consume CO2, create eco-friendly plastics and fuels University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed nanobio-hybrid organisms capable of using airborne carbon dioxide and nitrogen to produce a variety of plastics and fuels, a promising first step toward low-cost carbon sequestration and eco-friendly manufacturing for chemicals.
	National MagLab creates world-record magnetic field with small, compact coil A novel magnet half the size of a cardboard toilet tissue roll usurped the title of "world's strongest magnetic field" from the metal titan that had held it for two decades at the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
	Astrophysicists announce discovery that could rewrite story of how galaxies die At the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in St. Louis, Missouri, Allison Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, will announce her discovery of "cold quasars"—galaxies featuring an abundance of cold gas that still can produce new stars despite having a quasar at the center—a breakthrough finding that overturns assumptions about the maturation of galaxies and may represent a phase of every galaxy's lifecycle that was unknown until now.
	The origins of cannabis smoking: Marijuana use in the first millennium BC Cannabis has been cultivated for millennia in East Asia as an oil-seed and fibre crop. Little is known, however, about the early use and eventual cultivation of the plant for its psychoactive and medicinal properties. Despite being one of the most widely used psychoactive drugs in the world today, there is little archaeological or historical evidence for the use of marijuana in the ancient world. A new study, published in the journal Science Advances, identifies psychoactive compounds preserved in 2,500-year-old funerary incense burners from the Jirzankal Cemetery in the eastern Pamirs. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have shown that people were selecting plants with higher levels of THC and burning them as part of mortuary rituals. This is the earliest clear evidence to date of cannabis being used for its psychoactive properties.
	Our brains appear uniquely tuned for musical pitch In the eternal search for understanding what makes us human, scientists found that our brains are more sensitive to pitch, the harmonic sounds we hear when listening to music, than our evolutionary relative the macaque monkey. The study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, highlights the promise of Sound Health, a joint project between the NIH and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that aims to understand the role of music in health.
	Womankind's giant leap: who will be the first female moonwalker? Who will take the giant leap for womankind?
	Cause of hardening of the arteries—and potential treatment—identified A team of UK scientists have identified the mechanism behind hardening of the arteries, and shown in animal studies that a generic medication normally used to treat acne could be an effective treatment for the condition.
	In fluke experiment, espresso quells rare genetic disease A lot of people say they cannot live without coffee, but for one 11-year-old boy living in France, that may be literally true.
	If asked the right way, toddlers will choose broccoli over cake, study finds "Would you like cake or broccoli?" If you ask a child under the age of 3, the answer—eight times out of 10—will be broccoli.
	Cassini reveals new sculpting in Saturn rings As NASA's Cassini dove close to Saturn in its final year, the spacecraft provided intricate detail on the workings of Saturn's complex rings, new analysis shows.
	Laser trick produces high-energy terahertz pulses A team of scientists from DESY and the University of Hamburg has achieved an important milestone in the quest for a new type of compact particle accelerator. Using ultra-powerful pulses of laser light, they were able to produce particularly high-energy flashes of radiation in the terahertz range having a sharply defined wavelength (color). Terahertz radiation is to open the way for a new generation of compact particle accelerators that will find room on a lab bench. The team headed by Andreas Maier and Franz Kärtner from the Hamburg Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) is presenting its findings in the journal Nature Communications. CFEL is jointly run by DESY, the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Society.
	An extra burger meal a day eats the brain away The average person eats many more calories than they did 50 years ago—equivalent to an extra fast-food burger meal every day—which is having devastating results for our brains and waistlines, an ANU health expert warns.
	Baby pterodactyls could fly from birth A breakthrough discovery reveals that pterodactyls, extinct flying reptiles, had a remarkable ability—they could fly from birth. The importance of this discovery is highlighted by the fact that no other living vertebrates today, or those in the history of the fossil record, had this ability. This revelation has a profound impact on our understanding of how pterodactyls lived, which is critical to understanding how the dinosaur world worked as a whole.

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