Newsletter Science X
Dear olivier hartmanshenn,
Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 26:
 | Tomatoes in the Galápagos are quietly de-evolvingOn the younger, black-rock islands of the Galápagos archipelago, wild-growing tomatoes are doing something peculiar. They're shedding millions of years of evolution, reverting to a more primitive genetic state that resurrects ancient chemical defenses. |
 | Scientists discover unknown organelle inside our cellsThe discovery of an unknown organelle inside our cells could open the door to new treatments for devastating inherited diseases. |
 | New propulsion systems could enable a mission to SednaIn the outer reaches of our solar system, far beyond the orbit of Pluto, lies Sedna, one of the most mysterious objects ever discovered. This reddish dwarf planet follows such an extreme orbit that it takes more than 11,000 years to complete a single journey around the sun. Now, scientists are proposing a new mission to reach this distant world using a revolutionary propulsion technology. |
 | Mysterious fast radio burst turns out to be from long-dead NASA satelliteA team of astronomers and astrophysicists affiliated with several institutions in Australia has found that a mysterious fast radio burst (FRB) detected last year originated not from a distant source, but from one circling the planet—a long-dead satellite. The team has posted a paper outlining their findings on the arXiv preprint server. |
 | Gold from e-waste opens a rich vein for miners and the environmentAn interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste. |
 | Sharks freeze when you turn them upside down—and there's no good reason whyImagine watching your favorite nature documentary. The predator lunges rapidly from its hiding place, jaws wide open, and the prey … suddenly goes limp. It looks dead. |
 | Why cats prefer to sleep on their left side may be part of a survival strategyAn international research team that analyzed several hundred YouTube videos of sleeping cats found that they prefer to sleep on their left side. The researchers see this bias as an evolutionary advantage because it favors hunting and escape behavior after waking up. |
 | Scientists detect deep Earth pulses beneath AfricaResearch led by Earth scientists at the University of Southampton has uncovered evidence of rhythmic surges of molten mantle rock rising from deep within the Earth beneath Africa. These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean. |
 | Researchers capture first signs of ovarian cancer riskLittle is known about what causes ovarian cancer, and there is no way to detect it early yet. About 75% of the time when someone is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it has already progressed to stage 3 or stage 4, which means it has spread to other parts of the body. |
 | Better heating method makes legumes easier to digestWhile they have been part of our human diet for centuries, legumes like peas and beans are ultimately seeds for the next generation of plants. To protect themselves from being eaten by animals and insects, they contain "antinutrients" that are hard for animals—and humans—to digest. |
 | Catching a jellyfish in the sky: New galaxy discovered with the James Webb Space TelescopeUsing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers from Canada and Switzerland have discovered a new galaxy, which received designation COSMOS2020-635829. The newfound object appears to undergo a ram pressure stripping of gas and therefore may be a "jellyfish" galaxy. The finding was detailed in a research paper published June 17 on the arXiv pre-print server. |
 | Physicists recreate forgotten experiment observing fusionA Los Alamos collaboration has replicated an important but largely forgotten physics experiment: the first deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion observation. As described in the article published in Physical Review C, the reworking of the previously unheralded experiment confirmed the role of University of Michigan physicist Arthur Ruhlig, whose 1938 experiment and observation of deuterium-tritium fusion likely planted the seed for a physics process that informs national security work and nuclear energy research to this day. |
 | NASA shares new views of our galactic neighbor, AndromedaThe Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31 (M31), is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way at a distance of about 2.5 million light-years. Astronomers use Andromeda to understand the structure and evolution of our own spiral, which is much harder to do since Earth is embedded inside the Milky Way. |
 | Powerful magnets could unlock detection of high-frequency gravitational wavesNew research published in Physical Review Letters suggests that superconducting magnets used in dark matter detection experiments could function as highly precise gravitational wave detectors, thereby establishing an entirely new frequency band for observing these cosmic ripples. |
 | Syntax on the brain: Researchers map how we build sentences, word by wordIn a recent study published in Communications Psychology, researchers from NYU led by Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at NYU Tandon and Neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Adeen Flinker and Postdoctoral Researcher Adam Morgan used high-resolution electrocorticography (ECoG) to investigate how the human brain assembles sentences from individual words. |
 | Construction on Mars takes a leap forwardInhabiting Mars has long been a futuristic fantasy fueled by science fiction. However, successful landings over the past half-century have made this seemingly far-fetched idea increasingly plausible. |
 | Scientists capture slow-motion earthquake in actionScientists for the first time have detected a slow slip earthquake in motion during the act of releasing tectonic pressure on a major fault zone at the bottom of the ocean. |
 | Researchers launch open-source robotic exoskeleton to help people walkImagine a future in which people with disabilities can walk on their own, thanks to robotic legs. A new project from Northern Arizona University is accelerating that future with an open-source robotic exoskeleton. |
 | Engineers turn toxic ancient tomb fungus into anti-cancer drugPenn-led researchers have turned a deadly fungus into a potent cancer-fighting compound. After isolating a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus linked to deaths in the excavations of ancient tombs, the researchers modified the chemicals and tested them against leukemia cells. The result? A promising cancer-killing compound that rivals FDA-approved drugs and opens up new frontiers in the discovery of more fungal medicines. |
 | Researchers discover how caffeine could slow cellular agingA new study from the Cellular Aging and Senescence laboratory at Queen Mary University of London's Centre for Molecular Cell Biology reveals how caffeine—the world's most popular neuroactive compound—might do more than just wake you up. |
