collides with anything

is there a way to check if a body collides with anything at all that is part of the simulation without resorting to many FOR loops?

question2: how do I adjust the "bouncieness" of objects?

Question 1)
Yes. Create an OgreNewt::BodyIterator and use it to iterate through each body in your world. On each body you should use OgreNewt::CollisionTools::CollisionCollide() between the body you are checking for collision and the body that the iterator is pointing at.

Question 2)
You can adjust the bounciness by using setDefaultElasticity() on a MaterialPair

You should refer to the OgreNewt documentation when you want to know how to do something.