Science X Newsletter Week 09

Phys.org Newsletter for week 09:

	Life 'not as we know it' possible on Saturn's moon Titan A new type of methane-based, oxygen-free life form that can metabolize and reproduce similar to life on Earth has been modeled by a team of Cornell University researchers.
	30 years of above-average temperatures means the climate has changed If you're younger than 30, you've never experienced a month in which the average surface temperature of the Earth was below average.
	Earth's other 'moon' and its crazy orbit could reveal mysteries of the solar system We all know and love the moon. We're so assured that we only have one that we don't even give it a specific name. It is the brightest object in the night sky, and amateur astronomers take great delight in mapping its craters and seas. To date, it is the only other heavenly body with human footprints.
	How can space travel faster than the speed of light? Cosmologists are intellectual time travelers. Looking back over billions of years, these scientists are able to trace the evolution of our Universe in astonishing detail. 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang occurred. Fractions of a second later, the fledgling Universe expanded exponentially during an incredibly brief period of time called inflation. Over the ensuing eons, our cosmos has grown to such an enormous size that we can no longer see the other side of it.
	Global warming contrarian researcher investigated for not revealing funding sources For several years, aerospace engineer Willie Wei-Hock Soon, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) has been a well known figure in the debate regarding the cause of global warming. While most scientists have maintained that the elevated temperatures are due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from man-made processes, such as coal and gasoline burning, Soon has insisted that it is instead caused by normal fluctuations of the sun. Taking such a contrarian view has led to praise from those that support his views, and harsh criticism from those who do not.
	Could classical theory be just as weird as quantum theory? Quantum mechanics is often described as "weird" and "strange" because it abandons many of the intuitive traits of classical physics. For example, the ideas that the world is objective, is deterministic, and exists independent of measurement are basic features of classical theory, but do not always hold up in quantum theory. But what if it turns out that these intuitive ideas are not true features of classical physics, either? Would classical theory be just as weird as quantum theory?
	Several "new" craters found in Siberia At least seven newly created mysterious craters have now been officially discovered in Siberia, though satellite imagery suggests there may be as many as 20. The discovery of the first three last year caused a small media storm as no one had any idea how the craters had come about. Since that time, one team of researchers actually went down inside one of the craters to see what might have caused it to come about. That expedition did not reveal any hard facts, but most geologists now suspect that the craters came about due to warming in Siberia, leading to melting permafrost, which led to underground gases filling underground cavities, which led, eventually, to blasts that caused the creation of the craters.
	Monster black hole discovered at cosmic dawn Scientists have discovered the brightest quasar in the early universe, powered by the most massive black hole yet known at that time. The international team led by astronomers from Peking University in China and from the University of Arizona announce their findings in the scientific journal Nature on Feb. 26.
	Could there be another planet behind the sun? If you've read your share of sci-fi, and I know you have, you've read stories about another Earth-sized planet orbiting on the other side of the Solar System, blocked by the Sun. Could it really be there?
	Widely used food additive promotes colitis, obesity and metabolic syndrome, research shows Emulsifiers, which are added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life, can alter the gut microbiota composition and localization to induce intestinal inflammation that promotes the development of inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome, new research shows.
	Antarctica's retreating ice may re-shape Earth (AP)—From the ground in this extreme northern part of Antarctica, spectacularly white and blinding ice seems to extend forever. What can't be seen is the battle raging underfoot to re-shape Earth.
	Distant quasar spectrum reveals no sign of changes in mass ratio of proton and electron over 12 billion years A team of space researchers working with data from the VLT in Chile has found via measuring the spectrum of a distant quasar by analyzing absorption lines in a galaxy in front of it, that there was no measurable change in the mass ratio of protons and electrons over a span of 12 billion years. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team, made up of two members from VU University in the Netherlands, and two members from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, describe their findings and what it might mean for helping to explain dark energy.
	The Curiosity robot confirms methane in Mars' atmosphere which may hint that existed life The tunable laser spectrometer in the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument of the Curiosity robot has unequivocally detected an episodic increase in the concentration of methane in Mars' atmosphere after an exhaustive analysis of data obtained during 605 soles or Martian days.
	First detailed microscopy evidence of bacteria at the lower size limit of life Scientists have captured the first detailed microscopy images of ultra-small bacteria that are believed to be about as small as life can get. The research was led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley. The existence of ultra-small bacteria has been debated for two decades, but there hasn't been a comprehensive electron microscopy and DNA-based description of the microbes until now.
New research signals big future for quantum radar A prototype quantum radar that has the potential to detect objects which are invisible to conventional systems has been developed by an international research team led by a quantum information scientist at the University of York.
	First direct observation of carbon dioxide's increasing greenhouse effect Scientists have observed an increase in carbon dioxide's greenhouse effect at the Earth's surface for the first time. The researchers, led by scientists from the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), measured atmospheric carbon dioxide's increasing capacity to absorb thermal radiation emitted from the Earth's surface over an eleven-year period at two locations in North America. They attributed this upward trend to rising CO2 levels from fossil fuel emissions.
	'Bright spot' on Ceres has dimmer companion Dwarf planet Ceres continues to puzzle scientists as NASA's Dawn spacecraft gets closer to being captured into orbit around the object. The latest images from Dawn, taken nearly 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers) from Ceres, reveal that a bright spot that stands out in previous images lies close to yet another bright area.
	The super-resolution revolution Cambridge scientists are part of a resolution revolution. Building powerful instruments that shatter the physical limits of optical microscopy, they are beginning to watch molecular processes as they happen, and in three dimensions.
Physicists offer a solution to the puzzle of the origin of matter in the universe Most of the laws of nature treat particles and antiparticles equally, but stars and planets are made of particles, or matter, and not antiparticles, or antimatter. That asymmetry, which favors matter to a very small degree, has puzzled scientists for many years.
	Construction begins 2016 for Hyperloop on five-mile stretch Hyperloop construction will occur next year with the first full-scale track. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced it plans to start building a five-mile track in central California in 2016. Consider this an urban Hyperloop system for California, and not a dream on paper but quite real.