# ecol: a live streaming audio from the depths (of the sea)

<< Starting this week, anyone can eavesdrop on sounds in the deep sea via a continuous streaming YouTube video that carries live sound from 900 meters (3,000 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay >>

Kim Fulton-Bennett. Eavesdropping on the deep-New live streaming audio from a deep-sea hydrophone. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Apr 24, 2018.

https://www.mbari.org/hydrophone-stream-release/

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-eavesdropping-deepnew-streaming-audio-deep-sea.html

Live stream from a deep-ocean soundscape.

https://www.mbari.org/deep-sea-sound-recordings-live-stream/

# phys: entanglement observed in near-macroscopic objects

<< Perhaps the strangest prediction of quantum theory is entanglement, a phenomenon whereby two distant objects become intertwined in a manner that defies both classical physics and a common-sense understanding of reality >>

<< In work recently published in Nature, a team (..) has shown that entanglement of massive objects can be generated and detected >>

Aalto University. Entanglement observed in near-macroscopic objects. Apr25, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-entanglement-near-macroscopic.html 

<< Entanglement has been demonstrated for microscopic-scale systems, such as those involving photons, ions and electron spins, and more recently in microwave and electromechanical devices >>

AA << report such an experimental demonstration, with the moving bodies being two massive micromechanical oscillators, each composed of about 10^12 atoms, coupled to a microwave-frequency electromagnetic cavity that is used to create and stabilize the entanglement of their centre-of-mass motion >>

Ockeloen-Korppi CF, Damskagg E, et al. Stabilized entanglement of massive mechanical oscillators. Nature 2018; 556: 478 - 82. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0038-x. Apr 25, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0038-x

# zen: all things have a bit of soul

<< The robot dogs lined up in their dozens Thursday in Japan were no tech fair display. They were the dearly departed being honoured with their own traditional "funeral." >>

<< Bungen Oi, the priest at the 450-year-old Kofukuji temple in Isumi, east of Tokyo, dismisses the idea that holding memorials for machines is absurd. "All things have a bit of soul" he told AFP (Agence France-Presse) after the service >>

Miwa Suzuki. Fido funeral: In Japan, a send-off for robot dogs. Apr 26, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-fido-funeral-japan-send-off-robot.html

https://www.afp.com/en/news/2265/fido-funeral-japan-send-robot-dogs-doc-14c3vl1

# gst: the vacuum may not be empty, it may be full of bubbles.

<< In modern quantum mechanical theories, the vacuum is not empty. It is full of bubbles of so-called virtual particles, appearing and disappearing very quickly. Interactions between these virtual particles and a real particle, like the muon, can change how the real particle interacts with the magnetic field, affecting its g-factor >>

Savannah Mitchem, Argonne National Laboratory. Muons spin tales of undiscovered particles. Apr 19, 2018.

https://www.anl.gov/articles/muons-spin-tales-undiscovered-particles

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-muons-tales-undiscovered-particles.html

# life: smart cities

<< Even something as simple as a garbage bin can now be connected to the internet, meaning that it forms part of what is called the internet of things (IoT) >>

<< Through sensors embedded into our cities, and the smartphones in our pockets, smart cities will have the power to constantly identify where people are, who they are meeting and even perhaps what they are doing >>

Sara Degli-Esposti, Siraj Ahmed Shaikh. With smart cities, your every step will be recorded. Apr 17, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/with-smart-cities-your-every-step-will-be-recorded-94527  

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-smart-cities.html   

FonT

"and even perhaps what they are doing" . Non solo. Una ipotetica AI, oltre a collezionare dati, potrebbe verosimilmente generare (su media digitali audio- video ad es.) situazioni assolutamente inventate, di fantasia, percio' mai avvenute nel reale tuttavia difficili se non impossibili da discriminare/ confutare anche in sedi tecniche/  legali/ penali (l'ipotetico Mr. John dormiva inconsapevole nel suo letto e contemporaneamente 500 cam della sua citta' lo riprendevano in strada a passeggio ...). In tali scenari, le attuali violazioni della privacy e i supposti condizionamenti di Facebook etc sull'individuo si  potrebbero riconsiderare attivita' da  fantolini ...

# life: Sea Nomads freediving skills (they free dive up to 70 meters deep)

<< Understanding the physiology and genetics of human hypoxia tolerance  has important medical implications, but this phenomenon has thus far only been investigated in high-altitude human populations. Another system, yet to be explored, is humans who engage in breath-hold diving. The indigenous Bajau people (“Sea Nomads”) of Southeast Asia live a subsistence lifestyle based on breath-hold diving and are renowned for their extraordinary breath-holding abilities >>

<< the Bajau, and possibly other diving populations, provide a new opportunity to study human adaptation to hypoxia tolerance >>

Melissa A. Ilardo, Ida Moltke, et al. Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads.
Cell. 2018; 173 (3): 569 - 80.e15. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054. Apr 19, 2018.

http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(18)30386-6

<< Members of the Bajau can dive up to 70 meters with nothing more than a set of weights and a pair of wooden goggles >>

<< As they never dive competitively it is uncertain exactly how long the Bajau can remain underwater, but one of them told researcher Melissa Ilardo that he had once dived for 13 minutes consecutively >>

University of Cambridge. Genetic adaptations to diving discovered in humans for the first time. Apr 19, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-genetic-humans.html

# gst: true randomness exists

<< On a good day, the machine produces 1,024 bits of data every 10 minutes, equivalent to typing 13 letters per minute. But it promises what even monkeys on typewriters can’t: completely random text >>

<< It's exciting to be able to say that randomness exists in the universe >> Peter Bierhorst.

Sophia Chen. Quantum Mechanics Could Solve Cryptography’s Random Number Problem. Apr 11, 2018.

https://www.wired.com/story/quantum-mechanics-could-solve-cryptographys-random-number-problem/

Peter Bierhorst, Emanuel Knill, et al. Experimentally generated randomness certified by the impossibility of superluminal signals. Nature. 2018; 556: 223–6. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0019-0. Apr 11, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0019-0

# gst: rotating particles self-organise (also in a form of active soft matter)

<< Biological organisms and artificial active particles self-organize into swarms and patterns >>

AA << study a mixture of minimalistic clockwise and counter-clockwise rotating robots, called rotors >>

<< experiments show that rotors move collectively and exhibit super-diffusive interfacial motion and phase separate via spinodal decomposition. On long time scales, confinement favors symmetric demixing patterns >>

This << macroscopic system is a form of active soft matter >>

Christian Scholz, Michael Engel,  Thorsten Poschel. Rotating robots move collectively and self-organize.
Nature Communications. 2018; 9 (931). doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03154-7. Apr 11, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03154-7

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Physicists demonstrate demixing behavior of rotating particles. Apr 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-physicists-demixing-behavior-rotating-particles.html

# psych: sometimes chickens remain optimistic despite exposure to stress

<< Chickens that grow up in an environment that they perceive as more diverse and manageable, retain an optimistic view of life and cope with stress better than individuals that grow up in more sterile surroundings >>

Linkoping University. Chickens remain optimistic in enriched environments despite exposure to stress. Apr 6, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-chickens-optimistic-enriched-environments-exposure.html

Josefina Zidar, Irene Campderrich, et al.  Environmental complexity buffers against stress-induced negative judgement bias in female chickens.  Scientific Reports. 2018; 8 (5404). doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23545-6
Mar 29, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23545-6

# brain: a new learning theory; the role of weak synapses

AA << demonstrate a new type of abundant cooperative nonlinear dynamics where learning is attributed solely to the nodes, instead of the network links which their number is significantly larger >>

<< The network dynamics is now counterintuitively governed by the weak links, which previously were assumed to be insignificant >>

Shira Sardi, Roni Vardi, et al. Adaptive nodes enrich nonlinear cooperative learning beyond traditional adaptation by links. Scientific Reports. 2018; 8 (5100). doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23471-7. March 23, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23471-7

The brain learns completely differently than we’ve assumed, new learning theory says. New post-Hebb brain-learning model may lead to new brain treatments and breakthroughs in faster deep learning.  Mar 28, 2018.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-brain-learns-completely-differently-than-weve-assumed-new-learning-theory-says

# web: facebook (etc) data, a big correlated lump, harder to delete (then disappear)

<< Information on users' personalities or 'psychographics' was just a modest part of how the model targeted citizens. It was not a personality model strictly speaking, but rather one that boiled down demographics, social influences, personality and everything else into a big correlated lump >>. Matthew Hindman.

<< If Facebook is that hard to leave, just think about what will happen as virtual reality becomes more popular. The powerful algorithms that manipulate Facebook users are not nearly as effective as VR will be, with its full immersion >>

Jeff Inglis. Understanding Facebook's data crisis - 5 essential reads. The Conversation. Apr 5, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/understanding-facebooks-data-crisis-5-essential-reads-94066

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-facebook-crisis5-essential.html

also:

https://flashontrack.blogspot.it/search?q=facebook

# web: facebook: a synthetic perspective from the deep brain, by Mark

<< We've learned that Zuckerberg (Mark  Zuckerberg) once called the first Facebook users "dumb fucks" for handing over their private data >>

Jose Antonio Vargas. The Face of Facebook. Mark  Zuckerberg opens up. Sep 20, 2010.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/09/20/the-face-of-facebook

<< Part of the problem is that we are simply addicted to Facebook. Like cocaine addicts, alcoholics or smokers, we have a hard time giving it up >>

<< As Sean Parker, founding president of Facebook, admits, the narcotic-like, slot-machine effects were consciously designed into the platform right from the start. As Parker bravely confesses, they "understood this consciously," but they “did it anyway.” >>

Mike Sosteric. Why we should all cut the Facebook cord. Or should we?
Apr 3, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-all-cut-the-facebook-cord-or-should-we-93929

more:

Grainne Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn.  Facebook data harvesting: what you need to know. Apr 3, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/facebook-data-harvesting-what-you-need-to-know-93959

more:

Richard Stallman. Reasons not to use Facebook. Why you should not 'use' (i.e., be used by) Facebook.

https://www.stallman.org/facebook.html

also:

# web: Facebook, every mistake you can imagine, by Mark. Feb 8, 2018

https://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2018/02/web-facebook-every-mistake-you-can.html

# behav: more about homebodies vs natural explorers

<< Some species of roundworms are just one millimeter long. Their brains have only 302 neurons, compared to our own 86 billion, and lack any recognizable breathing system. They share only 35 percent of their DNA with human beings >>

<< But we have more in common with these creatures, known to scientists by their Latin name Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), than one might think. Hidden in that 35 percent are clues to the origins of our behavior >> Andres Bendesky.

<< Like some humans, some C. elegans are homebodies [..] But other C. elegans are natural explorers >>

Columbia University. How genes shape behavior. Apr 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-genes-behavior.html

Andres Bendesky, Makoto Tsunozaki, et al. Catecholamine receptor polymorphisms affect decision-making in C. elegans. Nature  472,  313–318 (21 April 2011) doi: 10.1038/nature09821

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09821

# brain: actually there is chaos in the brain

<< Besides some empirical findings of chaos at different time scales, the focus is on theoretical modeling of change processes explaining and simulating chaotic dynamics. It will be illustrated how some common factors of psychotherapeutic change and psychological hypotheses on motivation, emotion regulation, and information processing of the client's functioning can be integrated into a comprehensive nonlinear model of human change processes >>

Schiepek GK, Viol K, et al. Psychotherapy Is Chaotic - (Not Only) in a Computational World. Front Psychol. 2017 Apr 24;8:379. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00379. eCollection 2017.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28484401/

<< Cambridge-based researchers provide new evidence that the human brain lives "on the edge of chaos", at a critical transition point between randomness and order. The study provides experimental data on an idea previously fraught with theoretical speculation >>

Public Library of Science. The Human Brain Is On The Edge Of Chaos. Mar 23, 2009.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319224532.htm  

Manfred G. Kitzbichler, Marie L. Smith, et al. Broadband Criticality of Human Brain Network Synchronization. PLoS Comput Biol 2009; 5 (3): e1000314. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000314. Mar 20, 2009.

http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000314

# brain: about creativity in musical improvisation

<< a model of creativity as a combination of generative and reactive processes that coordinate their functions to give rise to perpetually novel and aesthetically rewarding improvised musical output >>

Loui P. Ann. Rapid and flexible creativity in musical improvisation: review and a model. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13628.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29577331/ 

https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nyas.13628 

# gst: high entropy can alloy immiscible nanoparticles

<< Making a giant leap in the 'tiny' field of nanoscience, a multi-institutional team of researchers is the first to create nanoscale particles composed of up to eight distinct elements generally known to be  immiscible, or incapable of being mixed or blended together >>

<< To create the high entropy alloy nanoparticles, the researchers employed a two-step method of flash heating followed by flash cooling >>

<< With cross-discipline curiosity, the demonstrated applications of these particles will become even more widespread >> Steven D. Lacey.

University of Maryland. Scientists mix the unmixable to create 'shocking' nanoparticles. Mar 29, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-03-scientists-unmixable-nanoparticles.html

Yonggang Yao, Zhennan Huang, et al.
Carbothermal shock synthesis of high-entropy-alloy nanoparticles. Science. 2018; 359 (6383): 1489 - 94. doi: 10.1126/science.aan5412

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6383/1489

# gst: like grains of sand in a sandcastle

<< Cells comprising a tissue can pack into disorderly geometries much as do grains of sand in a sandcastle. In doing so they can freeze into a fixed shape—as in a sandcastle—or flow like sand poured from a beach bucket >>

<< This finding makes a deep connection between the physics of inert granular matter such as sand and the geometry of multicellular living systems >> Lior Atia.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Sandcastles and surprising origins of basic cellular functions. Apr 2, 2018

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-sandcastles-basic-cellular-functions.html

Lior Atia, Dapeng Bi, et al. Geometric constraints during epithelial jamming. Nature Physics. doi: 10.1038/s41567-018-0089-9. Apr 2, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-018-0089-9

# astro: Tabby' Star, not Aliens there, but (probably) dust

AA << advanced many theories, such as aliens building a Dyson sphere, but most were shot down. The most likely explanation, Boyajian has suggested, is dust >>

Bob Yirka. Tabby's star dims again.
Mar 28, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-03-tabby-star-dims.html

http://www.wherestheflux.com/single-post/2018/03/19/tldr-DIPPING