Science X Newsletter Week 11

Phys.org Newsletter for week 11:

	The corrugated galaxy: Milky Way may be much larger than previously estimated The Milky Way galaxy is at least 50 percent larger than is commonly estimated, according to new findings that reveal that the galactic disk is contoured into several concentric ripples. The research, conducted by an international team led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Heidi Jo Newberg, revisits astronomical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey which, in 2002, established the presence of a bulging ring of stars beyond the known plane of the Milky Way.
	Japan space scientists make wireless energy breakthrough Japanese scientists have succeeded in transmitting energy wirelessly, in a key step that could one day make solar power generation in space a possibility, an official said Thursday.
	Engineers study the benefits of adding a second, smaller rotor to wind turbines Hui Hu picked up a 3-D printed model of a typical wind turbine and began explaining two problems with the big, tall, three-bladed machines.
	Network theory sheds new light on origins of consciousness Where in your brain do you exist? Is your awareness of the world around you and of yourself as an individual the result of specific, focused changes in your brain, or does that awareness come from a broad network of neural activity? How does your brain produce awareness?
	Scientists find class of drugs that boosts healthy lifespan A research team from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Mayo Clinic and other institutions has identified a new class of drugs that in animal models dramatically slows the aging process—alleviating symptoms of frailty, improving cardiac function and extending a healthy lifespan.
	Speed with which temperatures change will continue to increase over next several decades, study shows An analysis of changes to the climate that occur over several decades suggests that these changes are happening faster than historical levels and are starting to speed up. The Earth is now entering a period of changing climate that will likely be faster than what's occurred naturally over the last thousand years, according to a new paper in Nature Climate Change, committing people to live through and adapt to a warming world.
	The revolutionary ion engine that took spacecraft to Ceres The NASA spacecraft Dawn has spent more than seven years travelling across the Solar System to intercept the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Now in orbit around Ceres, the probe has returned the first images and data from these distant objects. But inside Dawn itself is another first – the spacecraft is the first exploratory space mission to use an electrically-powered ion engine rather than conventional rockets.
	Traveling without moving: Quantum communication scheme transfers quantum states without transmitting physical particles (Phys.org)—While Einstein considered quantum entanglement as "spooky action at a distance," and those who fully accept entanglement acknowledge it to be counterintuitive, current entanglement-based quantum communication schemes for transferring an unknown quantum state from one place to another require classical transportation of particles between sender and receiver. Now consider this: Recently, scientists in China at Harbin Institute of Technology, Yanbian University and Changchun University demonstrated what is known as a counterfactual approach in which quantum information can be transferred between two distant participants without sending any physical particles between them. The researchers accomplished this by entangling two nonlocal qubits with each other without interaction – meaning that the present scheme can transport an unknown qubit in a nondeterministic manner without prior entanglement sharing or classical commu! nication between the participants. Moreover, the scientists state that their approach provides a new method for creating entanglement that allows two qubits to be entangled without interaction between them.
	Unlikely hydrogen bond discovered As with magnets and alternating current, positively charged molecules never aim for one another. Indeed, similarly charged poles are repelled. Nevertheless, a team from the University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry has managed to become the first to bond positively charged phosphorus atoms with positively charged hydrogen ones. Their insight may prove pivotal to understanding how biologically important molecules such as DNA and proteins form properly.
	Loophole in theory offers insight into the 'lithium problem' (Phys.org)—There's not as much lithium in the universe as predicted, and scientists aren't sure why. According to the theory of big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), isotopes of the three lightest elements—hydrogen, helium, and lithium—were created within the first 20 minutes after the big bang. The theory predicts with remarkable accuracy the observed amounts of hydrogen and helium, but its estimate for lithium is three times too high.
	One step closer to artificial photosynthesis and 'solar fuels' Caltech scientists, inspired by a chemical process found in leaves, have developed an electrically conductive film that could help pave the way for devices capable of harnessing sunlight to split water into hydrogen fuel.
	Same forces as today caused climate changes 1.4 billion years ago Natural forces have always caused the climate on Earth to fluctuate. Now researchers have found geological evidence that some of the same forces as today were at play 1.4 billion years ago.
	Scientists make breakthrough in understanding how to control intense heat bursts in fusion experiments Researchers from General Atomics and the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have made a major breakthrough in understanding how potentially damaging heat bursts inside a fusion reactor can be controlled. Scientists performed the experiments on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a tokamak operated by General Atomics in San Diego. The findings represent a key step in predicting how to control heat bursts in future fusion facilities including ITER, an international experiment under construction in France to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy.
	China's Yutu lunar rover finds moon geography more complex than thought (Phys.org)—A team of researchers working on China's Chang'E-3 lunar mission has found multiple distinct geographic rock layers beneath the surface of the moon, indicating a much more complex geographical history than was previously thought by most in the scientific community. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their analysis of data sent back by the Yutu rover.
	Friction means Antarctic glaciers more sensitive to climate change than we thought One of the biggest unknowns in understanding the effects of climate change today is the melting rate of glacial ice in Antarctica. Scientists agree rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures could destabilize these ice sheets, but there is uncertainty about how fast they will lose ice.
	New dwarf galaxies discovered in orbit around the Milky Way A team of astronomers from the University of Cambridge have identified nine new dwarf satellites orbiting the Milky Way, the largest number ever discovered at once. The findings, from newly-released imaging data taken from the Dark Energy Survey, may help unravel the mysteries behind dark matter, the invisible substance holding galaxies together.
	Political liberals display greater happiness, study finds What does it mean to be happy? Is it how happy you say you are, or is it how happy you act? Previous research has found that political conservatives report being happier than political liberals. But UC Irvine psychologists have discovered that those on the left exhibit happier speech patterns and facial expressions.
	Antibiotics found to have unexpected effects on mitochondria An EPFL study has shown that tetracycline-based antibiotics have an unexpected effect on the development of many organisms. In addition to pointing out the issue of soil pollution by these antibiotics, which are widely administrated to livestock, the scientists call upon colleagues to explore the consequences of using them in experiments that modulate gene expression.
	Hubble observations suggest underground ocean on Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon. The subterranean ocean is thought to have more water than all the water on Earth's surface.
	US diggers unearth pharaonic tomb in Egypt's Luxor American archaeologists have unearthed a pharaonic tomb from the 18th dynasty in Egypt's famed temple city of Luxor, officials said on Tuesday.