# s-zoo: and now they’ve introduced it into

<< This is a very big predator, and now we’ve introduced it into Florida >> 9:00 PM 28 May 2016

https://twitter.com/NYTScience/status/736769076849217536

<< One  was  a hatchling  about  a  foot  long  sitting  on a  porch in Miami.  Another  was  found  on the property  of  a  private  zoo  in Homestead,  Fla.,  and  a  third,  a  10-pound  female,  was  captured  in a public  park,  also  in  Homestead. Finaly,  five  months  later,  in  March  2012,  a  three-foot-long  female  was  trapped  in a  canal  in Homestead >>

Nicholas Bakalar. Nile Crocodiles Found Really Far Out of Africa. In Florida. May 23, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/science/crocodiles-in-florida.html

more

Casey Holliday,  University of Missouri. Scientists Find Surprise Lurking in Crocodilian Jaw Discovery of second jaw joint  ... Released: 30-Mar-2016 8:00 AM EDT

http://www.newswise.com/articles/scientists-find-surprise-lurking-in-crocodilian-jaw

FonT: appena sveglio, gli occhi cisposi,  col caffe' e un cornetto in mano, caldi,  e un  gigantesco cocco in veranda, immobile, che ti guarda ... tocca al  cocco sognare ...

<< lizard, an ancient dreamer >>

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2016/05/s-brain-evol-lizard-ancient-dreamer.html

# s-phys: a second box for the cat

<< This cat is big and smart. It doesn’t stay in one box because the quantum state is shared between the two cavities and cannot be described separately (..) One can also take an alternative view, where we have two small and simple Schrodinger’s cats, one in each box, that are entangled >> Chen Wang.

Jim  Shelton. Doubling down  on  Schrodinger’s  cat. May  26,  2016.

http://news.yale.edu/2016/05/26/doubling-down-schr-dinger-s-cat

Chen Wang , Yvonne Y. Gao,  et al. A Schrodinger  cat  living  in  two  boxes. Science, 2016; 352 (6289): 1087 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2941

http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf2941

# rmx-s-esobio: magical superflares

<< Our sun, worshipped by ancient civilizations, wasn’t just a source of warmth, it also produced ingredients for life >> Vladimir Airapetian

Thomas Sumner. Young sun’s super solar flares helped set early Earth up for life. Particle blasts could have created molecules to warm planet seed DNA. 11:00 AM, May 23, 2016.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/young-sun%E2%80%99s-super-solar-flares-helped-set-early-earth-life

<< Nitrogen  is  a  critical  ingredient  of  complex  biological  molecules >>

<< nitrogen  fixation  in  the  early  terrestrial  atmosphere  can  be  explained  by  frequent  and  powerful coronal  mass  ejection  events  from  the  young  Sun — so-called  superflares >>

V.S. Airapetian,  A. Glocer, et al. Prebiotic  chemistry  and  atmospheric  warming  of early  Earth  by  an  active  young  Sun. Nature  Geoscience   (2016)   doi:10.1038/ngeo2719  Publ.  online  23  May  2016

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2719.html

# p-trade: three, four, or five, or else mattress

<< I know that my investors want three, four, or five percent, or else they can keep it in the bank or stuff it in their mattress >>. Bill Gross.

John Gittelsohn. Gross Trying to Short Credit to Reverse Decades of Instinct. May 26, 2016 — 11:42 AM EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-26/gross-trying-to-short-credit-to-reverse-four-decades-of-instinct

Laura Naka Antonelli. Gross, il Re dei Bond “costretto” a shortare obbligazioni. 27 maggio 2016.

http://www.wallstreetitalia.com/gross-il-re-dei-bond-costretto-a-shortare-obbligazioni/

# s-zen-tai-chi: comparative effectiveness of tai chi versus physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis (by nccih.nih.gov)

<< For  patients  with  painful  knee  osteoarthritis,  tai  chi  was  as  helpful  as  physical  therapy  in  reducing  pain and  improving  physical  functioning,  according  to  a  new  study  partially  funded  by  the  National  Center for  Complementary  and  Integrative  Health [NIH-NCCIH] >>

<< Previous  research (..)  has  shown  that  tai  chi—a  traditional Chinese  mind  and  body  practice  that  combines  meditation  with  deep  breathing,  relaxation,  and  gentle movements—can  reduce  pain  and  improve  physical  functioning  in  patients  with  knee  osteoarthritis, but  this  is  the  first  study  in  which  tai  chi  was  compared  with  a  standard  treatment  that’s  known  to  be helpful >>

Study Shows Tai Chi and Physical Therapy Were Equaly  Helpful  for  Knee Osteoarthritis. May  17,  2016.

https://nccih.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/tai-chi-knee-osteoarthritis_2016

Wang  C ,  Schmid  CH , et al. Comparative  Effectiveness  of  Tai  Chi  Versus  Physical  Therapy  for  Knee Osteoarthritis:  A  Randomized  Trial. Ann.  Intern. Med. 2016  May  17.  doi:  10.7326/M15-2143.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27183035

# s-acad: medical error in US hospitals

<< Medical  error  in  hospitals  is  the  third  leading  cause  of  death  in  the  U.S.  after  heart  disease  and cancer  -  an  estimated  210,000  to  400,000  deaths  a  year >>

Warning:  Your  hospital  may  kill  you  and  they  won’t  report  it. May  9,  2016.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/warning-your-hospital-may-kill-you-and-they-wont-report-it

<< Medical  error  is  not  included  on  death  certificates  or  in  rankings  of  cause  of  death >>

Makary MA, Daniel M. Medical  error - the  third  leading  cause  of  death  in  the  US. BMJ  2016 May 3;353:i2139. doi: 10.1136/bmj.i2139.

http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139

# p-usa: #POTUS race: Donald, what he can do (PS)

PS: a proposito dell'ipotetico Donald, gambler in performance "tit-for-tat" a  modalita' stocastica/ quasistocastica

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2016/05/p-usa-potus-race-donald-what-he-can-do.html

anche un osservatore con titoli in neuropsichiatria verra' indirizzato nei suoi giudizi su tracce  erronee, fuorvianti, perche' l'ipotetico Donald, gambler che sa giocare "al buio", percio' gambler "di talento", in tali scenari assumera' piu' o meno consapevolmente comportamenti da leader Alfa, creativo, con spunti aciclicamente oscillanti, senza tuttavia da questi esserne realmente condizionato; tali comportamenti sono fascinosi, attrattivi, perturbativi,  generano inattesi vortici,  percio' sembrano  riscuotere cosi' tanto successo all'interno di numericamente importanti e trasversali sottoinsiemi delle variegate Moltitudini, tra i quali quelli che votano.

Una intelligenza artificiale, anche di media forza, compulsando e miscelando in tempo reale neuropsichiatria, studi affini e dirette osservazioni nel reale (IoT), questa cosa qui la capira' da subito, anzicheforse ...

# p-usa: #POTUS race: Donald, what he can do (with less than four lines ...)

Michael Wolraich. What Game Theory Tells Us About Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton is tasked with outwitting the human equivalent of a four-line computer program. May 11, 2016

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/what-game-theory-tells-us-about-donald-trump-20160511

FonT: non con quattro ma con solo una riga di programma si puo' generare una stringa di numeri "random", nell'intervallo 0-2 ad es, per usarla " in modalita' meccanica seriale" allo scopo di assistere  nelle decisioni ogni qualvolta un ipotetico attore/ gambler (Donald in questo caso) si trovi di fronte a un interlocutore che per suo giudizio non e'/si ipotizzi non sara'/ con lui cooperativo; il valore 0 potrebbe indirizzare Donald verso una reazione di bassa intensita' (indipendentemente dai propositi dell'interlocutore non cooperativo) mentre il valore 2 verso una elevata estrema risposta negativa/ ostile; solo una intelligenza artificiale puo' accorgersi che: (1) il gambler Donald sta usando una strategia pan-per-focaccia (tit-for-tat); (2) la intensita' di risposta all'interlocutore non dipendera' da quanto l'interlocutore gli e' ostile ma dai valori della sequenza di zero-due ...; emicrania assicurata per chiunque intenda  capire il suo comportamento ...; dal professionista in politologie all'illuminato  in teoria dei giochi  ...; in merito alle "quattro righe di programma" anni fa avevo scritto in fortran (con forse qualche riga in piu' di quattro) un programma che iterava l'eq. logistica; usando l'output di una logistica (per certi valori dei parms) un ipotetico Donald potrebbe avere il vezzo di ottenere stessi risultati con serialita' numerica generata meccanicamente anziche' in modalita' casuale; infine, a zero righe di programma, il medesimo ipotetico Donald potrebbe semplicemente lanciare una monetina (o un dado) per avere in tempo reale  le modalita' di comportamento (e di intensita' se usa un dado) da usare nei confronti del non/ supposto non/ cooperatore e ottenere nell'interlocutore e nell'osservatore confrontabili livelli di disorientamento (qui i due estremi: era modicamente non cooperatore e ha ricevuto come reazione una "bastonata"; era assolutamente ostile e ha ricevuto la classica "pacca sulla spalla" ...).

a proposito, qui una poesiola (quasistocastica) scritta anni fa sul tema "tit-for-tat" e, a quanto vedo, sempre attuale ...

Thursday, June 09, 2005
1668 - ramificata tinnula (di carmina fluitantia)

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2005/06/1668-ramificata-tinnula-di-carmina.html

# s-evol: to tolerate 'extreme dehydration'

<< LEEDS Research  at  the  University  of  Leeds  has  identified  a  key  gene  that  assisted  the  transition  of  plants  from water  to  the  land  around  500  million  years  ago. The  ANR gene  is  required  to  tolerate  'extreme  dehydration'  in  the  moss  Physcomitrella  patens >>

<< This  gene  hadn't  been  identified  so  far  because  most research  until  now  has  focused  on  modern  flowering  plants. Ancient  plants  such  as  mosses  and  green  algae  are  'time  machines'  that  help  us  to  reveal  evolutionary secrets  that  changed  the  world >> Dr  Andrew  Cuming.

How plants  conquered  the  land. Public  Release: 19-May-2016

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-05/uol-hpc051916.php

Sean  Ross  Stevenson, Yasuko  Kamisugi, et al. Genetic analysis of Physcomitrella patens identifies ABSCISIC ACID NON-RESPONSIVE (ANR), a regulator of ABA responses unique to basal land plants and required for desiccation tolerance. The  Plant  Cell May  18,  2016 May  18,  2016,  doi: tpc.00091.2016

http://m.plantcell.org/content/early/2016/05/18/tpc.16.00091

# n-art: immagine di Bob su una via di Genova

# e-art: technoshamanism and more ... the future in music, technology, and art

<< Pollinator Synthesizer. The Pollinator Synthesizer is a generative soundscape, reacting in real time to the bees inside the Burt's Bees Observation Hive. Microphones and optical sensors detect bees moving in and out. Capacitive sensors detect presence and movement of the bees. Temperature and humidity sensors track subtle variations in the hive near the queen. All that data is interpreted into a droning ambient beefinspired soundscape. Talent: Ranjit Bhatnagar >>

https://moogfest.sched.org/mobile/

<< By day, Moogfest unfolds in venues throughout downtown Durham in spaces that range from intimate galleries and experimental art installations to grand theaters as a platform for geeky exploration and experimentation in sessions and workshops, featuring more than 250 innovators in music, art, and technology, including avant-garde pioneers such as cyborg Neil Harbisson, technoshaman paleo-ecologist/multimedia performer Michael Garfield on “Technoshamanism: A Very Psychedelic Century,”  ... >>

Moogfest  2016:  the  synthesis  of  future  music,  technology,  and  art. Themes:  Afrofuturism,  Art  and  Artificial  Intelligence,  Hacking  Sound  (Systems),  Instrument Innovators,  Radio  &  the  Radiophonic,  Technoshamanism,  Transhumanism. May  13,  2016

http://www.kurzweilai.net/moogfest-2016-the-synthesis-of-future-music-technology-and-art

# n-bot: gracefully conversations ...

<< Google  wanted  their  bots  to  be  smarter  and  eventually  more  conversational  than  the  rest  of  the bots  out  there.  And  in  order  to  do  that  they  are  technically  feeding  their  AI  machines  with  2,865 romance  novels  so  they  could  respond  to  conversations  better >>

<< Google  believes  that  by  doing  so,  they  could  potentially  inject  some  'personality',  conversational skills  and  who  knows,  maybe  even  a  dash  of  'compassion'  into  their  artificial  intelligence technology >>

Jessica F. Google‘s Artificial Intelligence Robot is Reading 2,865 Romance Novels: Find Out Why.  May  13,  2016  07:54  AM  EDT

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/22143/20160513/googles-artificial-intelligence-robot-is-reading-2-865-romance-novels-find-out-why.htm

# s-evol: short messages in speciation

<< changes  in  the  sequence  and  length  of  four  microRNAs [post-transcriptional  gene  regulators] may  be  specific to  humans.  Two  were  highly  expressed  in  brain  tissue  and  may  exert  effects  on  genes  with neural  functions, while  two  exhibit  restricted  expression  patterns  that  the  authors  posited  implied a  role  in  development.  The  authors  also  found  that  "age"  might  matter;  in  an  evolutionary  sense, "younger"  microRNAs  had  less  sequence  conservation,  expression  and  disease  association, and  were  more  isolated  than  "older"  microRNAs. >>

Specific  changes  to  non-coding  RNA  may  be  part of  what  makes  us  human. May  9,  2016

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-05-specific-non-coding-rna-human.html

<< microRNAs  are  crucial  post-transcriptional  regulators  of  gene  expression  involved  in  a  wide  range  of  biological  processes. Although  microRNAs  are  highly  conserved  among  species,  the  functional  implications  of  existing  lineage-specific  changes  and their  role  in  determining  differences  between  humans  and  other  great  apes  have  not  been  specifically  addressed.  We  analyzed  the recent  evolutionary  history  of  1,595  human  microRNAs  by  looking  at  their  intra-  and  inter-species  variation  in  great  apes  using high-coverage  sequenced  genomes  of  82  individuals  including  gorillas,  orangutans,  bonobos,  chimpanzees  and  humans. >>

Gallego  A,  Melé  M,  et al. (2016)  Functional Implications  of  Human-Specific  Changes  in  Great  Ape  microRNAs.  PLoS  ONE  11(4):  e0154194. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154194

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154194

# s.esobio: modifying the Drake equation, the cosmic frequency of technological species

<< (..) as long as the probability that a habitable zone planet develops a technological species is larger than ∼10−24, humanity is not the only time technological intelligence has evolved >>

Frank A., Sullivan W.T. III. A New Empirical Constraint on the Prevalence of Technological Species in the Universe. Astrobiology. May 2016, 16(5): 359-362. doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1418.

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2015.1418?journalCode=ast

<< (..) e noi potremmo essere al centro di una delle immense "enclavi galattiche dimenticate" >>

Apreda_Torquato. Commento. In: Federica Coppa. E se gli alieni si fossero estinti? 10 maggio 2016

http://www.galileonet.it/2016/05/e-se-gli-alieni-si-fossero-estinti/

FonT: intrigante il commento di Apreda_Torquato ...

# n-socsci: depicting harmonious relationship scenarios

<< These  scenarios  describe  [..]  predictions  in  what  will  be  an  algorithmic  and  smart  machine driven  world  where  people  and  machines  must  define  harmonious  relationships >>

Heather  Levy. Gartner  Predicts  Our  Digital  Future. Gartner’s  Top  10  Predictions  herald  what  it  means  to  be  human  in  a digital  world. October  6,  2015.

http://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-predicts-our-digital-future

# s-gene: extensive, quantitative perturbation approach to trace "the poetry" of gene regulatory networks

<<  DNA  content  of  our  genomes  resembles  a  complex  biological  language,  composed  of  coding  regions and  regulatory  regions.  Although  protein-coding  regions  in  DNA  could  be  compared  to  a  traffic  signal  –  utilizing  a  simple  stop  or  go  message  –  the regulatory  regions  in  DNA  are  more  like  poetry. “The  regulatory  sites  in  DNA  operate  like  a  light  switch  to  turn  a  gene  on  and  off.  In  animals,  it’s  extremely  complex,”  said  David  Arnosti (..) “There  might  be  hundreds  of  protein  factors  in  the  cell  that  bind  to  the gene  and  impact  activity.  And  there  might  be  hundreds  of  binding  places.” He  compares  the  “language”  used  in  these  regulatory  sites  to  poetry. “It  may  be  Emily  Dickinson,  or  Shakespeare  or  Allen  Ginsberg;  but  all  are  using  ‘words’  to  evoke  thoughts  and  emotions,  to  control  the  message” >>

Val  Osowski, Layne  Cameron. DO GENES EXPRESS THEMSELVES THROUGH POETRY? A  new study  from  Michigan  State  University  makes  inroads  in  learning  to  “read”  the  genome,  a  key  goal  of  modern  biology. Published:  May  9,  2016

http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2016/do-genes-express-themselves-through-poetry/

To  understand  transcription  factor  interactions  on  enhancers  << (..) an  extensive,  quantitative  perturbation  analysis targeting  the  dorsal-ventral  patterning  gene  regulatory  network  (GRN)  controlled  by  Drosophila NF-κB  homolog  Dorsal [was used to test] the effects  of  cooperativity,  repression,  and factor  potency >>

Rupinder  Sayal,  Jacqueline  M  Dresch, et al. Quantitative  perturbation-based  analysis  of  gene expression  predicts  enhancer  activity  in  early Drosophila  embryo. eLife  2016;5:e08445. Published  May  6,  2016

http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08445

# s-behav: the beetle Carabaeus lamarcki, dancer and sky analyzer

<< beetles  use  the  light  of  the  Milky  Way  to  navigate  in  the  world >>

<< when  the  beetles  dance  on  top  of  a  ball  of dung,  they  simultaneously  take  a  photograph  -  a  snapshot  -  of  how  celestial  bodies  are  positioned. Then  they  know  where  they  are  going  and  roll  off  with  their  ball  of  dung  in  a  straight  line  across  the savannah >>

When dung beetles dance, they photograph the firmament. Lund  University, 12 May 2016.

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=164092&CultureCode=en

<< This is a dung beetle (Carabaeus lamarcki) dancing on top of its ball while reading the sky >> image, caption.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160512125422.htm

Basil el Jundi, James J. Foster, et al. A  Snapshot-Based  Mechanism  for Celestial  Orientation. Current  Biology, 2016, in press.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.030

FonT: l'immagine della blatta sulla sua pallina di sterco che danza e contemporaneamente, attraverso la danza, fotografa la volta celeste per orientarsi e' davvero suggestiva, poetica; mi ricorda un'altra immagine:

<< ... trasformati in uno scarabeo stercorario gigante >>

di Salman Rushdie ("I romanzi e la vita [..] Il mito di Proteo". La Rep., 16/06/2006, pp. 48-9) dalla quale avevo composto una breve rima (quasistocastica):

2022 - si risvegliano stercorari
Saturday, June 17, 2006

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2006/06/2022-si-risvegliano-stercorari.html

# s-brain: everyday decisions inside small brain clusters

<< Choosing  what  shirt  to  buy,  what  to  order  for  lunch  or  whether  to  go  with  the  hearty  red  wine  or  the  lighter white  all  involve  assigning  values  to  the  options.  A  small  brain  structure  plays  a  central  role  in  the  many  decisions  like this  we  make  each  day. >>

<< (..) some  of  the  neurons  in  the  orbitofrontal  cortex  (OFC)  assign  value  to  the  options, while  other  neurons  are  related  to  making  final  choices.  All  of  these  neurons  can  re-map  to  make  different  decisions when  circumstances  change. >>

<< “If  we  look  at  individual  cells,  neurons  are  very  flexible,”  said  Padoa-Schioppa.  “However,  if  we  consider  the  whole network,  the  decision  circuit  is  remarkably  stable.  This  combination  of  circuit  stability  and  neuronal  flexibility  makes  it possible  for  the  same  brain  region  to  generate  decisions  between  any  two  goods.” >>

Small Brain  Area  Plays  Key  Role  in  Making  Everyday  Decisions. 9-May-2016  12:05  PM  EDT

http://www.newswise.com/articles/small-brain-area-plays-key-role-in-making-everyday-decisions

Jue  Xie,  Camillo  Padoa-Schioppa. Neuronal  remapping  and  circuit  persistence  in economic  decisions. Nature  Neuroscience   (2016)   doi:10.1038/nn.4300. Published  online  09  May  2016.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.4300

# s-esobio: no Wow! traces around Tabby's star

<< Sorry, E.T. lovers, but the results of a new study make it far less likely that KIC 8462852, popularly known as Tabby's star, is the home of industrious aliens who are gradually enclosing it in a vast shell called a Dyson sphere. >>

ScienceDaily, 9 May 2016.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160509153708.htm

http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2016/05/new-study-supports-natural-causes-not-alien-activity-explain-mystery-stars-behavior/

Michael Hippke, Daniel Angerhausen, et al.  A statistical analysis of the accuracy of the digitized magnitudes of photometric plates on the time scale of decades with an application to the century-long light curve of KIC 8462852. Astrophysical Journal, May 2016. preprint: arXiv:1601.07314 [astro-ph.EP]

https://arxiv.org/abs/1601.07314

more:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

# s-evol: strange seaweed

<< “People  have  always  assumed  that within  the  green-plant  lineage,  all  the  early  branches  were  unicellular,”  says Frederik  Leliaert,  an  evolutionary  biologist  at  Ghent  University  in  Belgium.  “It  is  quite  surprising  that  among those,  a  macroscopic  seaweed  pops  up.” >>

Emma  Marris. Strange  seaweed  rewrites  history  of  green  plants. Ancient  alga  developed  large  size  and  complex  structure  independently  of  other  plants. 09  May  2016.

http://www.nature.com/news/strange-seaweed-rewrites-history-of-green-plants-1.19863?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

Frederik Leliaert,  Ana Tronholm, et al. Chloroplast phylogenomic analyses revealthe deepest-branching lineage of the Chlorophyta, Palmophyllophyceae class.nov. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 25367 (2016) doi:10.1038/srep25367. 09  May 2016

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25367

# n-behav: #POTUS race: the three steps of reaction

<< The Late Show team also had a surprise for viewers ... >>

<< At the top of his show, Colbert also illustrated how most people reacted to Trump's presidential candidacy: laughing at his initial announcement, drinking heavily after news of his big primary wins and laughing maniacally when Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee. >>

Hilary Lewis. Cartoon Donald Trump, Stephen Colbert Deliver 'Hunger Games'-Inspired Farewell to Ted Cruz, John Kasich. 9:44 AM PDT 5/5/2016

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-colberts-hungry-power-games-890957

# s-evol: a radical reassessment of feeding behavior

<< In  2014,  scientists  discovered  a  bizarre  fossil—a  crocodile-sized  sea-dwelling  reptile [Atopodenatus  unicus] that  lived 242  million  years  ago  in  what  today  is  southern  China.>>

<< "It's  a  very  strange  animal,"  says  Olivier  Rieppel,  Rowe  Family  Curator  of  Evolutionary  Biology at  The  Field  Museum  in  Chicago.  "It's  got  a  hammerhead,  which  is  unique,  it's  the  first  time we've  seen  a  reptile  like  this."  >>

'Hammerhead'  creature  was  world's  first  planteating  marine  reptile. May  6,  2016.

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-05-hammerhead-creature-world-plant-eating-marine.html

<< The evidence  indicates  a  novel  feeding  mechanism  wherein  the  chisel-shaped  teeth were  used  to  scrape  algae  off  the  substrate,  and  the  plant  matter  that  was  loosened  was filtered  from  the  water  column  through  the  more  posteriorly  positioned  tooth  mesh.  This  is the  oldest  record  of  herbivory  within  marine  reptiles.>>

Li  Chun ,  Olivier  Rieppel , et al.  The  earliest  herbivorous  marine  reptile  and  its  remarkable  jaw apparatus. Science  Advances    06 May 2016: Vol.  2,  no.  5,  e1501659 DOI:  10.1126/sciadv.1501659

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/5/e1501659

# s-acad: a Chaos Fest, in a new light, by FLCC

<< Called  an  "intellectual  Woodstock"  by  FLCC  physics  professor,  Sam  Samanta,  the  event  will  help  attendees  to experience  art,  music,  science,  disasters,  math,  politics,  technology,  economics,  finance  and  organizations  in  a new  light. >>

Melody  Burri. FLCC  hosts  Chaos  Fest,  an 'intellectual  Woodstock'. May.  2,  2016  at  4:49  PM

http://m.mpnnow.com/article/20160502/NEWS/160509925

# s-acad: apropos of zombie literature ...

<< Are  these  “zombie  papers”  (to  repurpose  a  term  coined  by  academic  publishing  watchdog  Leonid Schneider) ...  >>

<< In  this  way,  zombie  papers  can  spawn  more zombie  publications,  and  the  damage  can  be  amplified  and  spread  in  an  infectious  pattern. >>

Bob  Grant. The  Zombie  Literature.  May  1,  2016

http://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/45868/the-zombie-literature

# n-socsci: the decline of professions, a hypothetical scenery

<< "The  Future  of  the  Professions:  How  Technology  Will  Transform  the Work  of  Human  Experts"  (..) predicts  the  decline  of  today’s  professions  and  describes  the  people  and  systems  that will  replace  them >>

<< [ Richard  and Daniel Susskind]  argue  that  our  current  professions  are  antiquated,  opaque  and  no longer  affordable,  and  that  the  expertise  of  their  best  is  enjoyed  only  by  a  few.  In  their  place, they  propose  six  new  models  for  producing  and  distributing  expertise  in  society. >>

April  25,  2016

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-future-of-the-professions-how-technology-will-transform-the-work-of-human-experts

Richard  Susskind, Daniel  Susskind. The  Future  of  the  Professions:  How  Technology  Will  Transform  the Work  of  Human  Experts. Oxford University Press, 2016.

http://www.susskind.com/

# s-gst: measuring energy levels inside transitional dis-order(s)

<< Vortex  filaments  in  classical  and  quantum  fluids and  DNA  macromolecules,   magnetic  flux  tubes,  phase  defects,  polymers may interact  and  recombine  through reconnection of  neighboring strands.  Details  of  the  process  depend  on specific  local  mechanisms  that  may differ  from  case  to case,  but  certain  qualitative  features  —  such  as  the  preservation  of  the  original  strand  orientation after recombination — are generic and common to all systems. >>

<< The  study of  these  processes  is  clearly of  great  importance,  because  the  change  of  topology is often  accompanied  by a  change  in energy,  entropy and  function. >>

<< (..) HOMFLYPT  polynomial recently  introduced  for  fluid  knots (..) provides a  powerful  tool to  measure  topological  complexity of  various  physical  systems. >>

Liu,  X.,  Ricca,  R.  L.  Knots  cascade  detected  by  a  monotonically decreasing  sequence  of  values.  Sci.  Rep.6,  24118;  doi:  10.1038/srep24118  (2016).

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24118

Quanta  energia è  nascosta  nel  caos? Bicocca, Milano,  2  maggio  2016

http://www.unimib.it/open/news/Quanta-energia-e-nascosta-nel-caos-Ce-lo-dice-il-polinomio-targato-Bicocca-Beijing-UTech/4936093294137195314

# s-brain-evol: lizard, an ancient dreamer

<< Lizards  might  snooze  like  humans  do. Sleeping  lizards  appear  to share  distinctive  brain  activity  patterns  with  sleeping  birds  and mammals (..)  If  true,  the  results  suggest  that  human  sleep patterns  evolved  by  around  300  million  years  ago  in  a  common  ancestor  of  birds,  mammals  and reptiles. >>

Sarah  Schwartz. Dragons  sleep  like  mammals  and  birds. Proof  of  reptiles’  slow-wave  and  REM  cycle  could  alter  understanding  of  slumber’s evolution. 2:19pm,  April  28, 2016

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dragons-sleep-mammals-and-birds

<< Sleep  has  been  described  in  animals  ranging  from  worms  to  humans.  Yet  the electrophysiological  characteristics  of  brain  sleep,  such  as  slow-wave  (SW)  and  rapid  eye movement  (REM)  activities,  are  thought  to  be  restricted  to  mammals  and  birds.  Recording from  the  brain  of  a  lizard,  the  Australian  dragon  Pogona  vitticeps,  we  identified  SW  and REM sleep  patterns,  thus  pushing  back  the  probable  evolution  of  these  dynamics  at  least  to the  emergence  of  amniotes.  The  SW  and  REM  sleep  patterns  that  we  observed  in  lizards oscillated  continuously  for  6  to  10  hours  with  a  period  of  ~80  seconds.  >>

Mark  Shein-Idelson ,  Janie  M.  Ondracek, et al. Slow  waves,  sharp  waves,  ripples,  and  REM  in  sleeping dragons. Science 29  Apr  2016: Vol.  352,  Issue  6285,  pp.  590-595 DOI:  10.1126/science.aaf3621

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6285/590

# s-brain-behav-n-socsci: abc, self awareness, creativity and civil rights

<< Is  creativity  a  uniquely  human trait? >>

<< Defining  the line  between human and machine is becoming blurrier by the day as startups, big companies, and research institutions  all  compete to build the next generation of advanced AI. >>

Alison E. Berman. The Last Frontiers of AI: Can Scientists Design Creativity  and Self-Awareness? Apr 20, 2016.

http://singularityhub.com/2016/04/20/the-last-frontiers-of-ai-can-scientists-design-creativity-and-self-awareness/

<< Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression. >>

Civil and political rights. utd 22/4/2016.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_and_political_rights

FonT: la foresta di Masuda (quasistocastica)

N. nell' ipotesi di futuro d' astrale dadaismo //
ch' anticipo' nella scenica d' e-capitalismo //
dell' onnisciente CPU l' autocatalito emulato //
Nel tempo ch' appariva ancora inverosimile //
che tra l'umani diradasse sino all' inverosimile //
la globale entita' dell' allocabile famulato.

Notes. 1726 - la foresta di Masuda. Sunday, February 06, 2005

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2005/02/1726-la-foresta-di-masuda.html