# bot-nano: programmable molecular machines to assemble molecular machines

<< It has been convincingly argued that molecular machines that manipulate individual atoms, or highly reactive clusters of atoms, with Angstrom precision are unlikely to be realized >>

AA << detail an artificial molecular machine that moves a substrate between different activating sites to achieve different product outcomes from chemical synthesis >>

AA << anticipate that future generations of programmable molecular machines may have significant roles in chemical synthesis and molecular manufacturing >>

Salma Kassem, Alan T. L. Lee, et al.  Stereodivergent synthesis with a programmable molecular machine. Nature 2017; 549: 374–378. Sep 21. doi: 10.1038/nature23677

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v549/n7672/full/nature23677.html

Scientists create world’s first ‘molecular robot’ capable of building molecules. Sep 20, 2017

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/scientists-create-worlds-first-molecular-robot-capable-of-building-molecules/

CAMERA - Chemistry at Manchester Explains Research Advances

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCXf3CFkyGpa2eIeT5wz_Prw/featured

# chem: self-assembly in icosahedral (3D) nanoscale architectures

<< capsid proteins of spherical plant viruses can self-assemble into well-organized icosahedral three-dimensional (3D) nanoscale multivalent architectures with high monodispersity and structural symmetry >>

Narayanan KB, Han SS. Icosahedral plant viral nanoparticles - bioinspired synthesis of nanomaterials/nanostructures. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2017 Aug 31. pii: S0001-8686(16)30366-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cis.2017.08.005.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28916111/

# gst: to estimate a minimum size of an earthquake

<< Although the overall size of an earthquake cannot be predicted from the rate of energy release, a minimum size can be estimated. Estimating this minimum size could add valuable seconds to early earthquake warning algorithms >>

M.A. Meier, J. P. Ampuero, T. H. Heaton. The hidden simplicity of subduction megathrust earthquakes.  Science Sep 22,  2017: 357 (6357): 1277-81. doi: 10.1126/science.aan5643

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6357/1277

# astro: FRBs [Fast Radio Bursts]; you can imagine the sky is filled with flashes like paparazzi

<< If we are right about such a high rate of FRBs [Fast Radio Bursts] happening at any given time [at least one FRB is going off somewhere every second], you can imagine the sky is filled with flashes like paparazzi taking photos of a celebrity >> Anastasia Fialkov

Fast radio bursts may be firing off every second. Sep 21, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-fast-radio.html

Anastasia Fialkov, Abraham Loeb. A Fast Radio Burst Occurs Every Second throughout the Observable Universe. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2017; 846 (2). doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa8905 Publ Sep 8, 2017.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aa8905/meta

# chem: strange transitions: tying a crystal into a knot

<< Single crystals are typically brittle, inelastic materials. Such mechanical responses limit their use in practical applications, particularly in flexible electronics and optical devices >>

AA << describe single crystals of a well-known coordination compound—copper(II) acetylacetonate—that are flexible enough to be reversibly tied into a knot >>

Anna Worthy, Arnaud Grosjean, et al. Atomic resolution of structural changes in elastic crystals of copper(II) acetylacetonate. Nature Chemistry. doi: 10.1038/nchem.2848. Aug 28, 2017

http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchem.2848.html

<< crystals exhibit traditional characteristics of not only hard matter, but soft matter like nylon >> John McMurtrie

<< Under strain the molecules in the crystal reversibly rotate and reorganise to allow the compression and expansion required for elasticity and still maintain the integrity of the crystal structure >> Jack Clegg

Bendable crystals tie current thinking in knots. Aug 29, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-08-bendable-crystals-current.html

# gst: chaotic networks inside a chaotic world, a 2015 review by Jennifer

<<  Networks grow as individual nodes connect to one another. By tweaking the rules that govern when nodes connect, researchers can shape the network’s properties >>

Jennifer Ouellette. The New Laws of Explosive Networks. Researchers are uncovering the hidden laws that reveal how the Internet grows, how viruses spread, and how financial bubbles burst. Jul 14, 2015.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-complex-networks-explode-with-growth-20150714/

also

<< The most celebrated part of this account, however, is at 2.216–93, where Lucretius [Titus Lucretius Carus] maintains that not only to explain how atomic collisions can occur in the first place, but also to account for the evident fact of free will in the animal kingdom, it is necessary to postulate a minimal indeterminacy in the motions of atoms, an unpredictable ‘swerve’ (clinamen) ‘at no fixed place or time’. Otherwise we would all be automata, our motions determined by infinitely extended and unbreakable causal chains >>

Lucretius. 4.Physics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. First published Wed Aug 4, 2004; substantive revision Sat Aug 10, 2013

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lucretius/#Phy

# qubit-ai: inside the qubit AI neural “black boxes”

<< Neural networks’ powers of prediction have fueled the recent AI boom, but it can be hard to explain how they reach their decisions. A new technique aimed at uncovering the inner workings of language processing networks is just the latest effort to shed some light on these “black boxes.” >>

<< Going a step further, some researchers are trying to create AI able to explain its decisions to lay people, not just experts >>

Edd Gent. Machines Are Getting Smarter—Now They Should Explain Themselves. Sep 19, 2017

https://singularityhub.com/2017/09/19/machines-are-getting-smarter-now-they-should-explain-themselves/

FonT

"but it can be hard to explain how they [AI machines] reach their decisions"

An easy prediction: "Qubit AI  Machines" will never fully explain themselves.

# game: low-cooperativity feedbacks in burst size could be preferable for noisy proteins

AA << consider a specific kind of negative feedback, which makes bursts smaller in the excess of protein >>

<< Increasing the strength of the feedback may lead to dramatically different outcomes depending on a key parameter, the noise load >>

<< for noise loads smaller than critical, the coefficient of variation remains bounded with increasing feedback strength; contrastingly, if the noise load is larger than critical, the coefficient of variation diverges to infinity in the limit of ever greater feedback strengths >>

<< Interestingly, high-cooperativity feedbacks have lower critical noise loads, implying that low-cooperativity feedbacks in burst size can be preferable for noisy proteins >>

Pavol Bokes, Abhyudai Singh, Yen Ting Lin. High Cooperativity In Negative Feedback Can Amplify Noisy Gene Expression. biorxiv sysbio. doi: 10.1101/125914  April 10, 2017.

http://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/04/10/125914

# soc: pulsatile self-destructive choices, by Oliver and Julia

<< Let’s all be thankful that FiveThirtyEight readers don’t control America’s nuclear arsenal >>

Last week AA << published an article on the game theory of nuclear standoffs. That article included an interactive game ... >>

Oliver Roeder, Julia Wolfe. Thank God You People Don’t Have The Nuclear Codes. Sep. 14, 2017.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/thank-god-you-people-dont-have-the-nuclear-codes/

<< Shall we play a game? >>

Oliver Roeder. How To Win A Nuclear Standoff. President Trump and Kim Jong Un’s saber-rattling is dangerous, but not irrational. Sep. 6, 2017

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-to-win-a-nuclear-standoff/

# acad: ig-nobel 2017; not so evanescent but intriguing: contact with a live crocodile actually could affects a person's willingness to gamble

<< ECONOMICS PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, USA] — Matthew Rockloff and Nancy Greer, for their experiments to see how contact with a live crocodile affects a person's willingness to gamble.
REFERENCE: "Never Smile at a Crocodile: Betting on Electronic Gaming Machines is Intensified by Reptile-Induced Arousal," Matthew J. Rockloff and Nancy Greer, Journal of Gambling Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, December 2010, pp. 571-81. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Matthew Rockloff and Nancy Greer >>

http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/

Mark Pratt. Research on big ears, crocodile gambling wins Ig Nobels. Sep 14, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-big-ears-crocodile-gambling-ig.html

<< Tourists at the Koorana Saltwater Crocodile Farm in Coowonga, Queensland, Australia (..) were randomly assigned to play a laptop-simulated Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) either: (1) prior to entry, or (2) after having held a 1-m saltwater-crocodile >>

<< At-risk gamblers with few self-reported negative emotions placed higher average bets at the EGM after having held the crocodile when compared to the control >>

<< high arousal can intensify gambling in at-risk players, but only if this feeling state is not perceived as a negative emotion >>

Matthew J. Rockloff, Nancy Greer. Never Smile at a Crocodile: Betting on Electronic Gaming Machines is Intensified by Reptile-Induced Arousal. Journal of Gambling Studies.  2010;  Vol 26, Issue 4, pp 571–581. Jan 6, 2010.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-009-9174-4

# age: autophagy inactivation (e.g. in neurons) to reverse the effects of age (50% extension of life) in the whole old body (post-reproductive C. elegans)

AA << identified that the inactivation of genes governing the early stages of autophagy up until the stage of vesicle nucleation, such as bec-1, strongly extend both life span and health span >>

AA << demonstrate that the improvements in health and longevity are mediated through the neurons, resulting in reduced neurodegeneration and sarcopenia >>

AA << propose that autophagy switches from advantageous to harmful in the context of an age-associated dysfunction >>

Thomas Wilhelm, Jonathan Byrne, et al.  Neuronal inhibition of the autophagy nucleation complex extends life span in post-reproductive C. elegans. Genes & Dev. Sep 7, 2017 doi: 10.1101/gad.301648

http://m.genesdev.cshlp.org/content/31/15/1561

<< By inactivating autophagy in the neurons of old worms they were not only able to prolong the worms life but they increased the total health of the worms dramatically >>

Why we did not evolve to live forever: Unveiling the mystery of  why we age.  Breakthrough in  understanding the origin of the  ageing process. Sep 07,  2017

http://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/2595_ENG_HTML.php

Why we did not evolve to live forever: Unveiling the mystery of why we age. Sep 15, 2017.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170915144151.htm

# websec: post-quantum cryptography, all of today's secrets will be lost (!)

AA << analyze the options available for a post-quantum cryptography future >>

<< The expectation is that quantum computers will be built some time after 2025 >>

<< An attacker can record our secure communications today, and break it with a quantum computer years later. All of today's secrets will be lost >> Tanja Lange

How future quantum computers will threaten today's encrypted data. Sep 14, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-future-quantum-threaten-today-encrypted.html

Daniel J. Bernstein, Tanja Lange. Post-quantum cryptography.     Nature 2017; 549: 188–194 Sep 14, 2017 doi: 10.1038/nature23461

https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v549/n7671/full/nature23461.html

# behav: scratch, also to socialize

<< Primates (including humans) scratch when stressed >>

<< scratching could potentially have social function >>

Jamie Whitehouse, Jerome Micheletta, Bridget M. Waller. Stress behaviours buffer macaques from aggression. SciRep  2017; 7(11083) doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-10754-8 Sept 11, 2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10754-8

# gene-evol: behind interactions among organisms: causality more than just correlation

<< Organisms engage in extensive cross-species molecular dialog, yet the underlying molecular actors are known for only a few interactions >>

AA << developed an expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping-based approach to identify cause-and-effect relationships between genes from two partners engaged in an interspecific interaction >>

Yuelong Guo, Sylwia Fudali, et al. Networks Underpinning Symbiosis Revealed Through Cross-Species eQTL Mapping. Genetics August 1, 2017 vol. 206 no. 4 2175-2184; https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.117.202531

http://www.genetics.org/content/206/4/2175

<< In a first-of-its-kind study, NC State researchers applied a new approach to examine how members of two different species – a plant and a pathogen, for example, or a bacterium and a human – interact at the molecular level, and whether slight genetic changes in one species could affect gene expression in the other >>

<< "We're really trying to get to the genetics behind the interactions between two different organisms," said David McK. Bird [..] "Genetics gives us causality more than just correlation." >>

Mick Kulikowski. Study examines cross-species interactions. Sept  12, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-cross-species-interactions.html

# qubit: the flip-flop quantum processor, the begin

AA << introduce the flip-flop qubit, a combination of the electron-nuclear spin states of a phosphorus donor that can be controlled by microwave electric fields >>

<< to encode quantum information in the electron-nuclear spin states of 31P [phosphorus] donors in silicon, and to realize fast, high-fidelity, electrically driven universal quantum gates >>

<< a credible pathway to the construction of a large-scale quantum processor, where atomic-size spin qubits are integrated with silicon nanoelectronic devices, in a platform that does not require atomic-scale precision in the qubit placement [..] and, with realistic assumptions on noise and imperfections, are predicted to achieve error rates compatible with fault-tolerant quantum error correction >>

Guilherme Tosi, Fahd A. Mohiyaddin, et al. Silicon quantum processor with robust long-distance qubit couplings. Nature Comm 8, 2017; 450 Sept 06, 2017 doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00378-x

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00378-x

<< a new way to define a 'spin qubit' that uses both the electron and the nucleus of the atom. Crucially, this new qubit can be controlled using electric signals, instead of magnetic ones. Electric signals are significantly easier to distribute and localise within an electronic chip >>

Flip-flop qubits: Radical new quantum computing design invented. Sept 6, 2017

https://scienmag.com/flip-flop-qubits-radical-new-quantum-computing-design-invented/

Fiona MacDonald,  Mike McRae. Breaking: An Entirely New Type of Quantum Computing Has Been Invented. "It's amazing no one had thought of it before."  Sep 6, 2017

http://www.sciencealert.com/breaking-a-brand-new-type-of-qubit-has-been-unveiled-and-it-finally-makes-quantum-computers-scalable

also

# ai-bot: 352 predictions of when machines will make humans obsolete. Sep 2, 2017

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2017/09/ai-bot-352-predictions-of-when-machines.html

Bill Berry, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Michael Mills (R.E.M.).  "Begin The Begin". In: "Lifes Rich Pageant" (1986)

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

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaoF8bDMcM

# behav: even more devious than previously thought

<< The common cuckoo, notorious for evading parental duty by hiding her eggs in the nests of other brooding birds, is even more devious than previously thought >>

Scientists expose true extent of cuckoo's cunning. Sept 4, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-scientists-expose-true-extent-cuckoo.html

<< Parasites evolve not only to evade host defences but also to manipulate host behaviour >>

AA << test whether a brood parasitic cuckoo manipulates host perception of predation risk using an acoustic signal—a hawk-like call—that might misdirect host defences and thereby reduce the chance that hosts detect parasitism >>

AA << propose that the female cuckoo chuckle call tricks the hosts into responding vigilantly as if they were exposed to danger from a hawk, instead of from a cuckoo. This would divert host attention from clutch protection to self-protection, and so reduce the chance of the hosts detecting that they have been parasitized >>

Jenny E. York, Nicholas B. Davies. Female cuckoo calls misdirect host defences towards the wrong enemy. Nature Ecology & Evolution. Sept 4, 2017 doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0279-3

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0279-3

# behav: a kind of pulsatile motivation: believing is right even when it's wrong

<< people generally ignore new information that counters their beliefs, even though doing so costs them financially >>

<< It’s as if you don’t hear the voices in your head telling you that you’re wrong, even if you lose money >> Stefano Palminteri

Jessica Hamzelou. We ignore what doesn’t fit with our biases – even if it costs us. Sept 4, 2017

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146124-we-ignore-what-doesnt-fit-with-our-biases-even-if-it-costs-us/

<< While the investigation of decision-making biases has a long history in economics and psychology, learning biases have been much less systematically investigated. This is surprising as most of the choices we deal with in everyday life are recurrent, thus allowing learning to occur and therefore influencing future decision-making >>

AA << show that the valence of an outcome biases both factual and counterfactual learning. When considering factual and counterfactual learning together, it appears that people tend to preferentially take into account information that confirms their current choice >>

Palminteri S, Lefebvre G, et al. Confirmation bias in human reinforcement learning: Evidence from counterfactual feedback processing. PLoS Comput Biol 2017; 13(8): e1005684. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005684

http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005684

# evol: the alien track of Trachilos

AA << describe late Miocene tetrapod footprints (tracks) from the Trachilos locality in western Crete (Greece), which show hominin-like characteristics [..] dated to approximately 5.7 Ma (million years) >>

<< The tracks indicate that the trackmaker lacked claws, and was bipedal, plantigrade, pentadactyl and strongly entaxonic >>

Gerard D. Gierlinski, Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki, et al. Possible hominin footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete? Proceedings of the Geologists Association. doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.006 Aug 31, 2017
   
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001678781730113X

Matteo Marini. Scoperte a Creta impronte di forma umana risalenti a 5,7 milioni di anni fa. LaRepubblica. 03 Set 2017

http://www.repubblica.it/scienze/2017/09/03/news/orme_umane_su_creta_5_7_milioni_di_anni_fa-174544294/

# acad: oops! sometimes they tend to reject H0 hypothesis instead of ...

<< We advertise interventions as working because statistically we think they're working. But they're actually not working. This is becoming a crisis in the sciences >> John List

Thomas Gaulkin. Scholars take aim at false positives in research. Sept 4, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-scholars-aim-false-positives.html

AA << propose to change the default P-value threshold for statistical significance from 0.05 to 0.005 for claims of new discoveries >>

<< The lack of reproducibility of scientific studies ... >>

Daniel J. Benjamin, James O. Berger, et al.  Redefine statistical significance. Nature Human Behaviour.  2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0189-z

FonT

ricordo che gia' negli anni '70 (vale a dire oltre quarant'anni fa) in aggiunta a questa aleggiava  anche un'altra intrigante quaestio, quella relativa all'uso,  diffuso, di test parametrici anziche' altro ...

# zoo: clever but not as clever as humans

<< Apes' intelligence may be entirely misunderstood, because research has so far failed to measure it fairly and accurately >>

<< Hundreds of scientific studies over two decades have told us that apes are clever – just not as clever as us >>

Apes’ abilities misunderstood by decades of poor science. Aug 31, 2017

http://uopnews.port.ac.uk/2017/08/31/apes-abilities-misunderstood-by-decades-of-poor-science/

<< in the last two decades, numerous contemporary researchers in comparative psychology have claimed human superiority over apes in social intelligence, based on two-group comparisons between postindustrial, Western Europeans and captive apes, where the apes have been isolated from European styles of social interaction, and tested with radically different procedures >>

David A. Leavens, Kim A. Bard, William D. Hopkins. The mismeasure of ape social cognition. Animal Cognition. doi: 10.1007/s10071-017-1119-1 Aug 4, 2017

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-017-1119-1

also

# s-brain: the question is: Humans vs Woodstock, who is the smarter?  Jun 26, 2016

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2016/06/s-brain-question-is-humans-vs-parrots.html

# ai-bot: 352 predictions of when machines will make humans obsolete

researchers at the Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute  << have carried out the largest-ever survey of machine learning experts on the subject >>

they << contacted 1,634 researchers who published papers at the 2015 NIPS and ICML conferences—the two leading machine learning conferences—and asked them to complete a survey on the topic, with 352 researchers responding >>

<< The aggregate forecast was that there is a 50 percent chance that 'unaided machines can accomplish every task better and more cheaply than human workers' within 45 years >>

Edd Gent. When Will AI Be Better Than Humans at Everything? 352 AI Experts Answer. Jul 25, 2017

https://singularityhub.com/2017/07/25/when-will-ai-be-better-than-humans-at-everything-352-ai-experts-answer/

<< Researchers believe there is a 50% chance of AI outperforming humans in all tasks in 45 years and of automating all human jobs in 120 years, with Asian respondents expecting these dates much sooner than North Americans >>

Katja Grace, John Salvatier, et al. When Will AI Exceed Human Performance? Evidence from AI Experts. arXiv:1705.08807 May 30, 2017

https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.08807

FonT

per mia opinione (di non esperto AI) se/quando il calcolo quantistico sara' fisicamente capillare e a basso costo come lo e' attualmente l'architettura x86, nel giro di 10-15 anni (anche prima) qualsiasi attivita' umana in qualsiasi distretto geografico del pianeta sara' riproducibile, a velocita', accuratezza, professionalita', fantasia  sorprendentemente superiori e a costi quasi nulli, tendenti a zero.

Agli umani, per evitare gli usuali  vortici autodistruttivi, servira' "l'adatta stringa" ...

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/search?q=%22adatta+stringa%22

# music: harmonic resonances from moons and rings of Saturn

<< Wherever there is resonance there is music, and no other place in the solar system is more packed with resonances than Saturn >>. Matt Russo

<< Saturn's magnificent rings act like a sounding board that launches waves at locations that harmonize with the planet's many moons, and some pairs of moons are themselves locked in resonances >>. Dan Tamayo

Astrophysicists convert moons and rings of Saturn into music. Aug 30, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-08-astrophysicists-moons-saturn-music.html