<< The history of (..) hunt for these enigmatic objects traces back to the 18th century, but the crucial phase took place in a suitably dark period of human history - World War II. >>
Carla Rodrigues Almeida. A brief history of black holes. Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. Dec 27, 2018.
http://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-black-holes-107298
<< According to string theory, all matter consists of tiny, vibrating "string-like" entities. >>
AA << proposes a new structural concept, including dark energy, for a universe that rides on an expanding bubble in an additional dimension. >>
<< The researchers also show that expanding bubbles of this kind can come into existence within the framework of string theory. It is conceivable that there are more bubbles than ours, corresponding to other universes. >>
Our universe: An expanding bubble in an extra dimension. Uppsala University. Dec 28, 2018.
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-universe-extra-dimension.html
Souvik Banerjee, Ulf Danielsson, et al. Emergent de Sitter Cosmology from Decaying Anti–de Sitter Space. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 261301. Dec 27, 2018.
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.261301
<< The largest machine ever built is shutting down for two years of upgrades. Take an immersive tour of the collider and study the remnants of a Higgs particle in augmented reality. >>
It's Intermission for the Large Hadron Collider. NYT. Dec 21, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/21/science/cern-large-hadron-collider-ar-ul.html
<< If you're a physicist this is better than Disneyland >>
Dennis Overbye (@overbye). Dec 21, 2018.
https://twitter.com/overbye/status/1076194249782251520
Also
<< N. sulla reticella zenana dall' Efodi ritmici / ... ritmici a s-tecche velaccine nell' eprom sonde / montate monatte in perifrastiche coll' adatti snodi dove s' addensano a metastrati l'epistrofi (..) >>
2153 - cracker tendenziali (around a matter-sucking maelstrom). Apr 04, 2008.
https://inkpi.blogspot.com/2008/04/cracker-tendenziali-around-matter.html
Tam Hunt and Jonathan Schooler << have developed a "resonance theory of consciousness" that suggests that resonance-another word for synchronized vibrations-is at the heart of not only human consciousness but of physical reality more generally. >>
Tam Hunt. The Hippies Were Right: It's All about Vibrations, Man! A new theory of consciousness. Dec 5, 2018.
Ephrat Livni. The science of "vibes" shows how everything is connected.
Dec 11, 2018.
https://qz.com/1490276/the-science-of-vibes-shows-how-everything-is-connected/
<< Quantum biology is usually considered to be a new discipline, (..) However, although the most significant findings have emerged in the past two decades, the roots of quantum biology go much deeper-to the quantum pioneers of the early twentieth century. >>
Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili.
The origins of quantum biology. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. Dec 12, 2018 doi: 10.1098/rspa.2018.0674
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.2018.0674
The real history of quantum biology.
University of Surrey. Dec 12, 2018 ,
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-real-history-quantum-biology.html
<< They are two of tens of thousands of retired adults travelling independently across the continent at any given time in search of adventure, warmer weather and camaraderie after a lifetime of hard work. These part-time nomadic adventurers, or grey nomads, have recast the image of Australia’s ageing population. Rather than being inert and conservative, or in need of care, these older Australians are champions of a radical type of urbanism: dwellings are mobile, infrastructure is portable or pluggable, social networks are sprawled, and adherents are on the move daily or weekly. >>
Timothy Moore. Grey nomad lifestyle provides a model for living remotely.
Monash University. Dec 9, 2018.
https://theconversation.com/grey-nomad-lifestyle-provides-a-model-for-living-remotely-106074
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-grey-nomad-lifestyle-remotely.html
<< collective oscillations in cell populations can emerge suddenly with nonzero amplitude via a discontinuous transition. >>
Rosa Martinez-Corral, Jintao Liu, et al. Bistable emergence of oscillations in growing Bacillus subtilis biofilms. PNAS Sep 4, 2018; 115 (36) E8333-E8340. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1805004115
https://www.pnas.org/content/115/36/E8333
<< As in all communities, cohabiting bacteria need ways to exchange messages. Biologists have known for decades that bacteria can use chemical cues to coordinate their behavior. >>
AA << are now finding that bacteria in biofilms can also talk to one another electrically. Biofilms appear to use electrically charged particles to organize and synchronize activities across large expanses. This electrical exchange has proved so powerful that biofilms even use it to recruit new bacteria from their surroundings, and to negotiate with neighboring biofilms for their mutual well-being. >>
<< Step by step we find that all the things we think bacteria don’t do, they actually do, [..] It’s displacing us from our pedestal. >> Ned Wingreen.
Gabriel Popkin. Bacteria Use Brainlike Bursts of Electricity to Communicate. With electrical signals, cells can organize themselves into complex societies and negotiate with other colonies. Sep 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/QuantaMagazine/status/1071417372500783104
https://www.quantamagazine.org/bacteria-use-brainlike-bursts-of-electricity-to-communicate-20170905/
Also
Gurol M. Suel publ.
http://labs.biology.ucsd.edu/suel/index.html
FonT
intrigante qui l'idea di una Intelligenza Artificiale che, dalle relativamente comode e veloci osservazioni sull'evoluzione di colonie batteriche sotto differenti condizioni, sia in grado di circoscrivere pattern comportamentali di interesse per la modellizzazione (e previsione) di comunita' altre ...
<< Pollinators tend to be preferentially attracted to large floral displays that may comprise more than one plant in a patch. Attracting pollinators thus not only benefits individuals investing in advertising, but also other plants in a patch through a 'magnet' effect. >>
Ruben Torices, Jose M. Gomez, John R. Pannell. Kin discrimination allows plants to modify investment towards pollinator attraction. Nature Comm.Volume 9, Article number 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04378-3. May 22, 2018.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04378-3
The social networks of flowers. CORDIS. Dec 11, 2018.
<< the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is rich in organic matter. Data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft indicate that Ceres's surface may contain several times the concentration of carbon than is present in the most carbon-rich, primitive meteorites found on Earth. >>
Team finds evidence for carbon-rich surface on Ceres. Southwest Research Institute. Dec 10, 2018.
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-team-evidence-carbon-rich-surface-ceres.html
S. Marchi, A. Raponi, et al. An aqueously altered carbon-rich Ceres.
Nature Astronomy. Dec 10, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41550-018-0656-0.
<< In one of this year’s three winning videos, a drop of blue-dyed water at the bottom of an anise-oil and alcohol mixture begins to grow and shake, eventually pinching off a fragment that floats up. The process repeats several times. Created by now four-time Gallery-of-Fluid-Motion winner Oscar Enríquez of Carlos III University of Madrid and his colleagues, the visuals are accompanied by a soundtrack featuring a musical improvisation by a trio consisting of Enríquez on percussion, a violinist, and a clarinetist. Each instrument in the trio represents one of the three fluids. >>
Award-Winning Fluid Videos. APS. Physics 11, 121. Nov 21, 2018.
AA << discovered a new non-porous material that has unique and inherent "auxetic" stretching properties. >>
<< There are materials in nature that exhibit auxetic capabilities, such as cat skin, the protective layer in mussel shells and tendons in the human body. (..) When we stretch conventional materials, such as steel bars and rubber bands they become thinner. Auxetic materials on the other hand get thicker. >>
A bit of a stretch... material that thickens as it's pulled. University of Leeds. Dec 4, 2018.
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-bit-material-thickens.html
D. Mistry, S. D. Connell, et al. Coincident molecular auxeticity and negative order parameter in a liquid crystal elastomer. Nature Comm. Volume 9, Article number: 5095. Dec 4, 2018.
<< In highly social species, like primates, oxytocin plays an important role in cooperation, and in the formation and maintenance of social relationships. >>
AA << investigate the relationship between oxytocin and affiliative behaviors in socially‐housed captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus [Cebus] apella) [..] oxytocin concentrations increased after subjects engaged in grooming or fur‐rubbing. >>
<< In addition, [AA] found that fur‐rubbing influenced affiliative behaviors, both during and after a social fur‐rubbing bout. While individuals spent more time in contact and proximity while fur‐rubbing, immediately following the fur‐rubbing event (15–30 min afterwards) all affiliative behaviors decreased. >>
<< Overall, these results support a critical role for oxytocin in affiliative behaviors that maintain and strengthen social relationships in capuchin monkeys, and highlight the complexity of the interactions among oxytocin, affiliative behaviors, and social bonding. >>
Marcela E. Benitez, Meghan J. Sosnowski, et al. Urinary oxytocin in capuchin monkeys: Validation and the influence of social behavior. American Journal of Primatology. 2018; 80 (10). doi: 10.1002/ajp.22877.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajp.22877
Anna Varela. Oxytocin linked to social bonding in gregarious capuchin monkeys. Georgia State University.
Dec 5, 2018.
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-oxytocin-linked-social-bonding-gregarious.html
<< “Wow,” you think. “Maybe machines will replace human storytellers, just like self-driving cars could take over the roads.” >>
<< Was it possible, [AA] team asked, that machines could identify common emotional arcs in video stories-the typical swings of fortune that have characters struggling through difficult times, triumphing over hardship, falling from grace, or declaring victory over evil? If so, could storytellers use this information to predict how audiences might respond? These questions have resonance for anyone involved in video storytelling, from amateurs posting on YouTube to studio executives. >>
AI in storytelling: Machines as cocreators. MIT. Dec. 11, 2017. (via McKinsey & Company: Media & Entertainment).
https://www.media.mit.edu/articles/ai-in-storytelling-machines-as-cocreators/
Also
# s-ai: artists and machine intelligence interactions: the Ross' conjecture . Jun 13, 2016.
https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/06/s-ai-artists-and-machine-intelligence.html
# s-ai: A.I. Benjamin: "you'll sell your blood to live" ... Jun 11, 2016.
https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/06/s-ai-benjamin-sell-your-blood-to-live.html
# ai: artificial intelligence AlphaGo becomes its own teacher. Oct 23, 2017.
https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2017/10/ai-artificial-intelligence-alphago.html
<< On the morning of November 11, just before 9:30 UT, a mysterious rumble rolled around the world. The seismic waves began roughly 15 miles off the shores of Mayotte, a French island sandwiched between Africa and the northern tip of Madagascar. The waves buzzed across Africa, ringing sensors in Zambia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. They traversed vast oceans, humming across Chile, New Zealand, Canada, and even Hawaii nearly 11,000 miles away. >>
<< Yet many features of the waves are remarkably weird-from their surprisingly monotone, low-frequency “ring” to their global spread. >>
Maya Wei-Haas. Strange waves rippled around the world, and nobody knows why. Nov28, 2018.
