SCIENCES ENERGIES ENVIRONNEMENT

 Dear olivier hartmanshenn,

Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 47:

	New theory reveals the shape of a single photon A new theory that explains how light and matter interact at the quantum level has enabled researchers to define for the first time the precise shape of a single photon.
	Quack-like underwater sounds off the coast of New Zealand in the '80s may have been a conversation, researcher says Mysterious, repeating sounds from the depths of the ocean can be terrifying to some, but in the 1980s, they presented a unique look at an underwater soundscape.
	Banning free plastic bags for groceries resulted in customers purchasing more plastic bags, study finds Regulations imposed to protect the environment may continue to have impacts even after they are repealed. And those lingering impacts include some that run contrary to the goals of the policies.
	Ryugu asteroid sample rapidly colonized by terrestrial life despite strict contamination control Panspermia is the hypothesis that life can survive the transfer between planetary bodies as a secondary path for life to get started on planets throughout a solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life on asteroids or within meteorites would have profound implications for understanding the origins and distribution of life in the universe.
	The Milky Way represents an outlier among similar galaxies, universe survey data shows For decades, scientists have used the Milky Way as a model for understanding how galaxies form. But three new studies raise questions about whether the Milky Way is truly representative of other galaxies in the universe.
	Oldest known alphabet unearthed in ancient Syrian city What appears to be evidence of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history is etched onto finger-length, clay cylinders excavated from a tomb in Syria by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers.
	Groundwater pumping drives rapid sinking in California, study shows A study published Nov. 19 in Communications Earth and Environment shows land in California's San Joaquin Valley has been sinking at record-breaking rates over the last two decades as groundwater extraction has outpaced natural recharge.
	Fossil finds: Footprints on South Africa's coast offer a glimpse into our ancestors' lives Mention the word "fossils" to people and most will probably think of bones. Of course, body fossils make up a large part of the global fossil record. But humans and other species leave their mark in other ways too—for instance, their tracks. The study of these fossil tracks and traces is called ichnology.
	Gene regulation study reports surprising results: Extensive regions of DNA belong to multiple gene switches Some sequences in the genome cause genes to be switched on or off. Until now, each of these gene switches, or so-called enhancers, was thought to have its own place on the DNA. Different enhancers are therefore separated from each other, even if they control the same gene, and switch it on in different parts of the body.
	Enormous cache of rare earth elements hidden inside coal ash waste, study suggests Coal ash—the chalky remnants of coal that has been burned for fuel—has been piling up across the United States for decades. But new research led by The University of Texas at Austin has found that the national coal ash supply contains enough rare earth elements to significantly bolster the national supply without any new mining.
	Meltwater from Greenland and the Arctic is weakening ocean circulation to speed up warming down south, model suggests A vast network of ocean currents nicknamed the "great global ocean conveyor belt" is slowing down. That's a problem because this vital system redistributes heat around the world, influencing both temperatures and rainfall.
	Uber and Lyft unintentionally sent gig workers' SSN numbers to social media companies, researchers report When a person applies to work for Uber or Lyft they must fill out several online forms detailing important information, including their date of birth and their driver's license.
	Novel AI algorithm captures photons in motion Close your eyes and picture the iconic "bullet time" scene from "The Matrix"—the one where Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, dodges bullets in slow motion. Now imagine being able to witness the same effect, but instead of speeding bullets, you're watching something that moves one million times faster: light itself.
	Social media users probably won't read beyond this headline, researchers say Congratulations. Reading this far into the story is a feat not many will accomplish, especially if shared on Facebook, according to a team led by Penn State researchers.
	Study: Eating more than 45% of calorie intake after 5 p.m. alters glucose levels, with serious consequences for health Although people have always said that having a light and early dinner is better, a study by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and Columbia University has provided the scientific grounds for this argument.
	Coffee drinking habits may greatly impact makeup of gut biome, research suggests A large international team of medical researchers has found that people who drink coffee regularly have much more of one type of gut bacteria than people who do not. In their study, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, the group analyzed stool and blood samples from a large number of patients and also studied similar data in large medical databases, looking for impacts of coffee drinking on the gut biome.
	How humans evolved to be 'energetically unique' Humans, it turns out, possess much higher metabolic rates than other mammals, including our close relatives, apes and chimpanzees, finds a Harvard study. Having both high resting and active metabolism, researchers say, enabled our hunter-gatherer ancestors to get all the food they needed while also growing bigger brains, living longer, and increasing their rates of reproduction.
	Machine learning and supercomputer simulations predict interactions between gold nanoparticles and blood proteins Researchers in the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have used machine learning and supercomputer simulations to investigate how tiny gold nanoparticles bind to blood proteins. The studies discovered that favorable nanoparticle-protein interactions can be predicted from machine learning models that are trained from atom-scale molecular dynamics simulations. The new methodology opens ways to simulate the efficacy of gold nanoparticles as targeted drug delivery systems in precision nanomedicine.
	Long-lived Schrödinger's-cat state achieves Heisenberg-limited sensitivity A team led by Prof. Lu Zhengtian and Researcher Xia Tian from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) realized a Schrödinger-cat state with minute-scale lifetime using optically trapped cold atoms, significantly enhancing the sensitivity of quantum metrology measurements. The study was published in Nature Photonics.
	The health benefits of fright: A haunted house study Aarhus University, Denmark, researchers suggest that recreational fear experiences, such as haunted house attractions, may reduce inflammation in individuals with low-grade inflammation.