# gene: the ability of the newt to safely regenerate parts of itself

<< This is the first time that an entire newt [the Iberian ribbed newt Pleurodeles waltl] genome has been sequenced, an achievement that can give rise to new discoveries on the amphibian's ability to recreate brain neurons as well as entire body parts. Amongst the first findings are a multitude of copies of a certain microRNA group, which in mammals is mainly found in embryonic stem cells, but also in tumour cells >>

Salamander genome gives clues about unique regenerative ability. Dec 22, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-salamander-genome-clues-unique-regenerative.html

Ahmed Elewa, Heng Wang, et al. Reading and editing the Pleurodeles waltl genome reveals novel features of tetrapod regeneration. Nature Comm 2017;  8 (2286). doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01964-9. Dec 22, 2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01964-9

# trade: precision predictions around bitcoin, from zero to 60k usd

<< A Morgan Stanley analyst said bitcoin may be worth $0, given that very few online retailers accept it. Bitcoin also can't be considered a true currency, the analyst (James Faucette) said, because it doesn't have an interest rate >>

Aylin Woodward. The Real Price of Bitcoin? According to Morgan Stanley, It’s Zero. Dec 27, 2017.

https://futurism.com/real-price-bitcoin-according-morgan-stanley-its-zero/

<< Experts predict that, a year from now, the price of bitcoin could grow more than triple its record value. “Bitcoin can reach $60,000 by [December] 2018,” Mike Dumont, a senior editor for Bitcoin.com, told Futurism >>

Dom Galeon. Experts: Each Bitcoin Could be Worth $60,000 by December 2018. Dec 22, 2017

https://futurism.com/experts-bitcoin-worth-60000-december-2018/

# gst: the fastest fall of Mr. Felix' irregular shape

<< Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere 39 kilometers (24 miles) above Earth on Oct. 14, 2012, and landed safely on the ground near Roswell, New Mexico, nine minutes later >>

<< Baumgartner, whose protective suit and backpack gave him a very irregular shape, reached speeds of up to 1,357.6 kph (843.6 mph)—higher than scientists had expected even for smooth objects in freefall >>

AA << said irregular shapes appear to reduce the aerodynamic drag that increases as objects near the sound barrier >>

Scientists solve speed surprise in stratospheric stunt. Dec 14, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-scientists-stratospheric-stunt.html

Markus Guerster, Ulrich Walter. Aerodynamics of a highly irregular body at transonic speeds—Analysis of STRATOS flight data. PLoS ONE 2017; 12 (12): e0187798. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187798. Dec 7, 2017.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187798

# behav: a form of modified oxytocin (a molecule of love), with less adverse effects

<< Oxytocin is clinically used to induce labor, and there is interest in using this peptide to treat social disorders. However, oxytocin triggers adverse cardiovascular side effects  >>

AA << generated ligands based on oxytocin with subtle modifications >>

this new molecular form << reduced social fear in mice and induced contractile activity in human myometrial strips without affecting cultured cardiomyocytes >>

Markus Muttenthaler, Asa Andersson, et al.  Subtle modifications to oxytocin produce ligands that retain potency and improved selectivity across species. Sci. Signal.  2017; 10 (508): eaan3398. 10.1126/scisignal.aan3398. Dec 05, 2017.

http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/10/508/eaan3398

Scientists create molecule of love with less complications. Dec 12, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-scientists-molecule-complications.html

# gst: a case of stabilization by weak noise

<< An elusive state of matter - quantum spin liquid - may actually be enhanced rather than suppressed by disorder as seen in a compound that contains praseodymium, zirconium, and oxygen (Pr2Zr2O7) >>

<< Disorder is generally thought to be detrimental to creating materials with unusual magnetism or other quantum phenomena. However, a team found that weak disorder surprisingly stabilizes a rare quantum state called a quantum spin liquid >>

Stirring up a quantum spin-liquid with disorder. Dec 13, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-quantum-spin-liquid-disorder.html

J.-J. Wen, S. M. Koohpayeh, et al. Disordered Route to the Coulomb Quantum Spin Liquid: Random Transverse Fields on Spin Ice in Pr2Zr2O7. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2017; 118 (107206). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.107206. Mar 8, 2017.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.107206

# behav: Calanoid copepods swim freely and jump in turbulence

AA << provide evidence for an active adaptation that allows these small organisms [Calanoid copepods] to adjust their motility in response to background flow >>

Francois-Gael Michalec, Itzhak Fouxon, et al. Zooplankton can actively adjust their motility to turbulent flow. PNAS. doi:10.1073/pnas.1708888114

http://m.pnas.org/content/early/2017/12/05/1708888114

<< These jumps enable the plankton to hunt their prey and the males to catch a female >> Markus Holzner.

Plankton swim against the current.
Dec 12, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-plankton-current.html

# soc: storytelling and cooperation

AA << explore the impact of storytelling on hunter-gatherer cooperative behaviour and the individual-level fitness benefits to being a skilled storyteller >>

Daniel Smith, Philip Schlaepfer, et al.   Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling. Nature Communications. 2017; 8 (1853). doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8. Dec 5, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02036-8

Storytellers promoted cooperation among hunter-gatherers before advent of religion. Dec 5, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-storytellers-cooperation-hunter-gatherers-advent-religion.html

# behav: bizarre relationships

<< a group of fish known as pearlfish have evolved to live in the anuses of sea cucumbers >>

<< the group of pistol shrimp who’ve buddied up with the burrowing fish species, gobies. In this duo, gobies guard the entrance to the burrow of pistol shrimp to protect the shrimp. In return, the pistol shrimp digs and maintains a burrow for the pair to share—their own personal love den >>

<< the ultimate case of deception (..)  about the arid bronze azure butterfly >>

Samille Mitchell. Three of nature’s most bizarre relationships. Dec 11, 2017.

https://particle.scitech.org.au/earth/three-natures-bizarre-relationships/

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-nature-bizarre-relationships.html

# acad: gender gaps in grant success; women are valued less favorably as principal investigators.

<< Funding agencies around the world show gender gaps in grant success, with women often receiving less funding than men. However, these studies have been observational and some have not accounted for potential confounding variables, making it difficult to draw robust conclusions about whether gaps were due to bias or to other factors >>

In AA study << gender gaps in grant success rates were significantly larger when there was an explicit review focus on the principal investigator, supporting the hypothesis that gender gaps in grant funding are partly or wholly attributable to women being assessed less favourably as principal investigators >>

Holly O Witteman, Michael Hendricks, et al. Female grant applicants are equally successful when peer reviewers assess the science, but not when they assess the scientist. bioRxiv 232868; doi: 10.1101/232868. Dec 12, 2017.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/12/12/232868

https://twitter.com/biorxivpreprint/status/940718114861436928 

# evol: about 'identity' (2): the complex relationships of whales and dolphins

<< Whales and dolphins (Cetaceans) live in tightly-knit social groups, have complex relationships, talk to each other and even have regional dialects – much like human societies >>

<< (..) they won’t ever mimic our great metropolises and technologies because they didn’t evolve opposable thumbs >> Susanne Shultz

Whales and dolphins have rich 'human-like' cultures and societies.  Oct 16, 2017

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/whales-and-dolphins-have-rich-human-like-cultures-and-societies/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171016122201.htm

AA << results suggest that cetacean [whales and dolphins] social cognition might similarly have arisen to provide the capacity to learn and use a diverse set of behavioural strategies in response to the challenges of social living >>

Kieran C.R. Fox, Michael Muthukrishna, Susanne Shultz. The social and cultural roots of whale and dolphin brains. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2017; 1: 1699–705.  doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0336-y. Oct 16, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0336-y

# evol-ethno: the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads

AA << evaluate single versus multiple dispersal models and southern versus the northern dispersal routes across the Asian continent. They also review behavioral and environmental variability and how these may have affected modern human dispersals and interactions with indigenous populations >>

Christopher J. Bae, Katerina Douka, Michael D. Petraglia. On the origin of modern humans: Asian perspectives. Science. 2017; 358 (6368): eaai9067
doi: 10.1126/science.aai9067. Dec 8, 2017

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6368/eaai9067

<< Homo sapiens reached distant parts of the Asian continent, as well as Near Oceania, much earlier than previously thought. Additionally, evidence that modern humans interbred with other hominins already present in Asia, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, complicates the evolutionary history of our species >>

Revising the story of the dispersal of modern humans across Eurasia. Technological advances and multidisciplinary research teams are reshaping our understanding of when and how humans left Africa - and who they met along the way. Dec 7, 2017

http://www.shh.mpg.de/742617/human-dispersals-africa

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141724.htm

<< Climate is a key factor determining the types of vegetation that can grow in an ecosystem. By recreating the plant foods and habitat available at a given time, it is possible to learn about changes that occurred during important transitions in the evolution of humans >>

Marie DeNoia Aronsohn. The Way We Were: Climate and Human Evolution. Dec 1, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-wereclimate-human-evolution.html 

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2017/12/01/the-way-we-were-climate-and-human-evolution/

# gst: predicting the exact force needed to crumple a dented can

<< Dent an aluminum can and it will be easier to crush from top to bottom. But predicting the exact force needed to crumple a dented can is notoriously difficult, requiring knowledge of the exact dimensions and position of the flaw >>

Katherine Wright. Synopsis: Crumpling Coke Cans. Nov 28, 2017

https://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.224101

AA << measure the response of cylindrical shells to poking and identify a stability landscape, which fully characterizes the stability of perfect shells and imperfect ones in the case where a single defect dominates >>

Emmanuel Virot, Tobias Kreilos, et al.  Stability Landscape of Shell Buckling. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 224101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.224101.  Nov 28,  2017

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.224101  

# gst-ecol: around 'extreme dust scenarios'

they << saw an extreme dust scenario >>

Jim Robbins. Unraveling the surprising ecology of dust. Dec 1, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-unraveling-ecology.html

AA << developed a new snow albedo decay parameterization based on observations in 2009/10 to mimic the radiative forcing of extreme dust deposition >>

J. S. Deems, T. H. Painter, et al.  Combined impacts of current and future dust deposition and regional warming on Colorado River Basin snow dynamics and hydrology. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 2013; 17: 4401-13. doi: org/10.5194/hess-17-4401-2013

https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/17/4401/2013/hess-17-4401-2013.html

S. McKenzie Skiles, Thomas H. Painter, et al. Regional variability in dust-on-snow processes and impacts in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Hydrological Processes. 2015; 29 (26); 5397–413. doi: 10.1002/hyp.10569. Jul 14, 2015

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.10569/abstract;jsessionid=?

Christopher M. Taylor, Danijel Belusic, et al. Frequency of extreme Sahelian storms tripled since 1982 in satellite observations. Nature 2017; 544: 475–8. doi:10.1038/nature22069.  Apr 27, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22069

FonT

una intrigante introduzione circa l'importanza, nelle prospettive ecologica e sanitaria, delle (caotiche) dinamiche di sbricio-lamento ...

# lang: about 'identity'; acquisition of dialects among bats

<< Young bats adopt a specific 'dialect' spoken by their own colonies, even when this dialect differs from the bat 'mother tongue' >>

<< the study calls into question the uniqueness of this skill in humans >>

Young bats learn bat 'dialects' from their nestmates. Language acquisition not limited to human beings. Oct 31, 2017.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171031143723.htm

Yosef Prat, Lindsay Azoulay, et al. Crowd vocal learning induces vocal dialects in bats: Playback of conspecifics shapes fundamental frequency usage by pups. PLOS  Biology 15(10): e2002556. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2002556. Oct 31, 2017.

http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2002556  

# behav: generous bonobo

<< Modern humans live in an “exploded” network with unusually large circles of trust that form due to prosociality toward unfamiliar people (i.e. xenophilia). In a set of experiments [AA] demonstrate that semi-free ranging bonobos (Pan paniscus) – both juveniles and young adults – also show spontaneous responses consistent with xenophilia >>

Jingzhi Tan, Dan Ariely, Brian Hare. Bonobos respond prosocially toward members of other groups. Scientific Reports  2017; 7 (14733). doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-15320-w. Nov 7, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15320-w

Robin A. Smith. Bonobos Help Strangers Without Being Asked. Humans aren’t the only species eager to make a good first impression. Nov 7, 2017.

https://today.duke.edu/2017/11/bonobos-help-strangers-without-being-asked

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171107122904.htm

# brain: perception of musical rhythms in mammals

AA << confirmed that beat perception, far from being a unique human trait, is likely strongly conserved in mammals >>

Andrew Masterson. Beat perception more primitive than thought. New research shows gerbils react differently to varying musical rhythms. Nov 9, 2017.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/beat-perception-more-primitive-than-thought

Vani G. Rajendran, Nicol S. Harper, et al. Midbrain adaptation may set the stage for the perception of musical beat. Proc. R. Soc. B 2017 284 20171455; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1455. Nov 8, 2017.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1866/20171455

# gst-ethno-lang: the physics of bubbles to describe (and to predict) the dynamics of linguistic patterns

<< If you want to know where you'll find dialects and why, a lot can be predicted from the physics of bubbles and our tendency to copy others around us >> James Burridge

Physics of bubbles could explain language patterns. July 24, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-07-physics-language-patterns.html

<< The model shows that the boundaries of language dialect regions are controlled by a length minimizing effect analogous to surface tension, mediated by variations in population density which can induce curvature, and by the shape of coastline or similar borders >>

<< The model is able to reproduce observations and predictions of dialectologists. These include dialect continua, isogloss bundling, fanning, the wavelike spread of dialect features from cities, and the impact of human movement on the number of dialects that an area can support >>

James Burridge. Spatial Evolution of Human Dialects. Phys. Rev. X. 031008. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevX.7.031008. Jul 17, 2017

https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.031008