Science X Newsletter Week 42

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 42:

	Study shows Neanderthals inherited at least 6% of their genome from a now-extinct lineage of early modern humans Modern humans migrated to Eurasia 75,000 years ago, where they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals. A new study published in the journal Current Biology shows that at this time Neanderthals were already carrying human DNA from a much older encounter with modern humans.
	Scientist, after decades of study, concludes: We don't have free will Before epilepsy was understood to be a neurological condition, people believed it was caused by the moon, or by phlegm in the brain. They condemned seizures as evidence of witchcraft or demonic possession, and killed or castrated sufferers to prevent them from passing tainted blood to a new generation.
	Scientists and philosophers identify nature's missing evolutionary law A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes "a missing law of nature," recognizing for the first time an important norm within the natural world's workings.
	A new view of all objects in the universe The most comprehensive view of the history of the universe ever created has been produced by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU). The study also offers new ideas about how our universe may have started.
	Challenging prehistoric gender roles: Research finds that women were hunters, too It's a familiar story to many of us: In prehistoric times, men were hunters and women were gatherers. Women were not physically capable of hunting because their anatomy was different from men. And because men were hunters, they drove human evolution.
	The encounter between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens as told by their genomes About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years in the western part of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had arrived from Africa. This replacement was not sudden, and the two species coexisted for a few millennia, resulting in the integration of Neanderthal DNA into the genome of Homo sapiens.
	A 15th century French painting depicts an ancient stone tool More than 500,000 years ago, our human ancestors used large, stone tools known as "Acheulean handaxes," to cut meat and wood, and dig for tubers. Often made from flint, these prehistoric oval and pear-shaped tools are flaked on both sides and have a pointed end.
	World may have crossed solar power 'tipping point,' study suggests The world may have crossed a "tipping point" that will inevitably make solar power our main source of energy, new research suggests.
	Thought experiments and conservation laws: Reevaluating quantum conservation principles Conservation laws are central to our understanding of the universe, and now scientists have expanded our understanding of these laws in quantum mechanics.
	US groundwater is getting saltier—what that means for infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been monitoring groundwater quality in wells across the country for more than three decades, looking for harmful chemicals or residual substances that may cause harm to ecosystems or humans. In all, they have measured up to 500 chemical constituents, including major ions, metals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, fertilizers, and radionuclides.
	Scientists propose super-bright light sources powered by quasiparticles An international team of scientists is rethinking the basic principles of radiation physics with the aim of creating super-bright light sources. In a new study published in Nature Photonics, researchers from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Portugal, the University of Rochester, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquée in France proposed ways to use quasiparticles to create light sources as powerful as the most advanced ones in existence today, but much smaller.
	Physicists create new form of antenna for radio waves University of Otago physicists have used a small glass bulb containing an atomic vapor to demonstrate a new form of antenna for radio waves. The bulb was "wired up" with laser beams and could therefore be placed far from any receiver electronics.
	Two probiotics identified as promising hypertension treatments An estimated 40% of the global adult population have high blood pressure, or hypertension, which puts people at risk of cardiovascular disease and other dangerous health conditions. Recent studies suggest that probiotics may offer a protective effect, but researchers have a limited understanding of why shaping the gut microbiota can regulate blood pressure.
	Scientists reconstruct extinct ape's damaged skull to better understand evolution of great ape face A new study led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn College, and the Catalan Institute of Paleontology Miquel Crusafont has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to understanding great ape and human evolution. The researchers describe their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
	Researchers discover one of the world's darkest rivers When the researchers came upon the Ruki River, they were quite taken aback. The water in this river, a tributary of the mighty Congo River, is so dark that you literally can't see your hand in front of your face. "We were struck by the color of the river," says ETH Zurich researcher Travis Drake, who has just published a study in the journal Limnology and Oceanography on the Ruki together with colleagues from the Sustainable Agroecosystems Group, led by Johan Six, as well as from other universities.
	Further evidence of Earth's core leaking found on Baffin Island A combined team of geochemists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and California Institute of Technology has found evidence of high levels of helium-3 in rocks on Baffin Island—possible evidence that the Earth's core is leaking. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their study of helium-3 and helium-4 on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
	International team develops novel DNA nano engine An international team of scientists has recently developed a novel type of nano engine made of DNA. It is driven by a clever mechanism and can perform pulsing movements. The researchers are now planning to fit it with a coupling and install it as a drive in complex nano machines. Their results have been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
	Webb detects quartz crystals in clouds of hot gas giant Researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have detected evidence for quartz nanocrystals in the high-altitude clouds of WASP-17 b, a hot Jupiter exoplanet 1,300 light-years from Earth.
	Do we live in a computer simulation like in The Matrix? Proposed new law of physics backs up the idea The simulated universe theory implies that our universe, with all its galaxies, planets and life forms, is a meticulously programmed computer simulation. In this scenario, the physical laws governing our reality are simply algorithms. The experiences we have are generated by the computational processes of an immensely advanced system.
	In an ancient hot spring haunt of Inca rulers, scientists discover a new freshwater shrimp-like species In an ancient hot spring haunt of Incan rulers, researchers discovered a new species of tiny, shrimp-like scavengers known as amphipods thriving at record temperatures that can cook other crustaceans to death.

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