SCIENCES ENERGIES ENVIRONNEMENT

 Newsletter Science X

 

Expéditeur :not-for-reply@physorg.com

À :olivier hartmanshenn

lun. 18 nov. à 05:34

Dear olivier hartmanshenn,

Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 46:

	'King Arthur's Hall' is five times older than thought, researchers discover A historic site in Cornwall linked to King Arthur has been found to be 4,000 years older than previously thought after a new survey was carried out by a team of researchers, including experts from the University of St Andrews.
	When muscles work out, they help neurons grow: Biochemical and physical effects of exercise could help heal nerves There's no doubt that exercise does a body good. Regular activity not only strengthens muscles but can bolster our bones, blood vessels, and immune system.
	Physicists create the first fully mechanical qubit A team of physicists at ETH Zürich has built the first-ever working mechanical qubit. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their novel idea for creating such a qubit and how well it has worked during testing.
	Astronomers discover two galaxies aligned in a way where their gravity acts as a compound lens An international team of astronomers has discovered an instance of two galaxies aligned in a way where their gravity acts as a compound lens. The group has written a paper describing the findings and posted it on the arXiv preprint server.
	NASA satellites reveal abrupt drop in global freshwater levels An international team of scientists using observations from NASA-German satellites found evidence that Earth's total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since. Reporting in Surveys in Geophysics, the researchers suggested the shift could indicate Earth's continents have entered a persistently drier phase.
	New CRISPR system for gene silencing doesn't rely on cutting DNA Scientists from Vilnius University's (VU) Life Sciences Center (LSC) have discovered a unique way for cells to silence specific genes without cutting DNA. This research, led by Prof. Patrick Pausch and published in the journal Nature Communications, reveals a new way to silence genes that is akin to pressing a "pause" button on certain genetic instructions within cells.
	A formula for life? New model calculates chances of intelligent beings in our universe and beyond The chances of intelligent life emerging in our universe—and in any hypothetical ones beyond it—can be estimated by a new theoretical model which has echoes of the famous Drake Equation.
	Study finds four global policies could eliminate >90% of plastic waste and 30% of linked carbon emissions by 2050 A study released in Science determines that just four policies can reduce mismanaged plastic waste—plastic that isn't recycled or properly disposed of and ends up as pollution—by 91% and plastic-related greenhouse gases by one-third.
	Fossil teeth suggest a long childhood is the prelude to the evolution of a large brain Compared to the great apes, humans have an exceptionally long childhood, during which parents, grandparents and other adults contribute to their physical and cognitive development. This is a key developmental period for acquiring all the cognitive skills needed in the complex social environment of a human group. The current consensus is that the very long growth of modern humans has evolved as a consequence of the increase in brain volume, since such an organ requires significant energy resources to grow.
	Data suggest vast majority of Trump voters believe American values and prosperity are 'under threat' Almost nine out of 10 voters who supported Donald Trump for US President believe that America's values, traditions and future economic prosperity are under threat—double the number of Kamala Harris supporters.
	A 41-million-digit prime number is the biggest ever found—but mathematicians' search for perfection will continue Imagine a number made up of a vast string of ones: 1111111…111. Specifically, 136,279,841 ones in a row. If we stacked up that many sheets of paper, the resulting tower would stretch into the stratosphere.
	Low-cost method removes micro- and nanoplastics from water Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have developed a novel nanotechnology-based solution for the removal of micro- and nanoplastics from water. Their research is published in the journal Micron.
	Scientists gain new insights into how mass is distributed in hadrons Scientists can determine the mass of subatomic particles that are built from quarks by looking at the particles' energy and momentum in four-dimensional spacetime. One of the quantities that encode this information, called the trace anomaly, is linked to the fact that physical observables from high-energy experiments depend on the energy/momentum scales involved.
	Study confirms Egyptians drank hallucinogenic cocktails in ancient rituals A University of South Florida professor found the first-ever physical evidence of hallucinogens in an Egyptian mug, validating written records and centuries-old myths of ancient Egyptian rituals and practices. Through advanced chemical analyses, Davide Tanasi examined one of the world's few remaining Egyptian Bes mugs.
	Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago An asteroid struck Mars 11 million years ago and sent pieces of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these chunks of Mars eventually crashed into the Earth somewhere near Purdue University and is one of the few meteorites that can be traced directly to Mars. This meteorite was rediscovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and named the Lafayette Meteorite.
	A proposed experiment to test whether gravity behaves as a quantum entity when measured A multi-institutional team of physicists is proposing an experiment to test whether gravity behaves as a quantum entity when measured. They published a description of their experiment in the journal Physical Review Letters and state that once a means for conducting the experiment has been achieved, they hope the results will lead to the development of a grand unified theory of physics.
	Experiment supports existence of a new type of superconductor A Yale-led team has found the strongest evidence yet of a novel type of superconducting material, a fundamental science breakthrough that may open the door to coaxing superconductivity—the flow of electric current without a loss of energy—in a new way.
	Hubble sees aftermath of galaxy's scrape with Milky Way A story of survival is unfolding at the outer reaches of our galaxy, and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is witnessing the saga.
	Machine learning study questions gut bacteria–disease link Many bacterial-linked illnesses, such as inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal cancer, are associated with an overgrowth of gut bacteria thought to be bad actors. But when researchers used a machine learning algorithm to predict the density of microbes—called microbial load, from their gut microbiomes, they found that changes in microbial load, rather than the disease, could be a driver behind the presence of disease-associated microbial species.
	First amber find on the Antarctic continent provides new insights into Cretaceous forests Until recently, a gap existed in the world map of amber discoveries: the Antarctic continent. But that gap has finally been closed, thanks to a team led by Dr. Johann P. Klages from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and Dr. Henny Gerschel from the TU Bergakademie F