# ethno: apropos of Nomads, an Aboriginal ritual passed down for 500 generations.

AA << excavated at Cloggs Cave near Buchan, in the foothills of the high country near the Snowy River in East Gippsland, Victoria. >>️

<< What (AA) found was extraordinary. Under the low, subdued light in the depth of the cave, buried under layers of ash and silt, two unusual fireplaces were revealed by the tip of the trowel. They each contained a single trimmed stick associated with a tiny patch of ash. >>️

<< The role of these fireplaces in ritual

Local 19th-century ethnography has good descriptions of such fireplaces, so (AA) know they were made for ritual practices performed by mulla-mullung, powerful GunaiKurnai medicine men and women. >>️

<< The Kurnai practice is to fasten the article [something that belonged to the victim] to the end of a throwing stick, together with some eaglehawk feathers, and some human or kangaroo fat. The throwing stick is then stuck slanting in the ground before a fire, and it is of course placed in such a position that by-and-by it falls down. The wizard has during this time been singing his charm; as it is usually expressed, he ‘sings the man’s name,’ and when the stick falls the charm is complete. The practice still exists. >>️

<< Nowhere else on Earth have archaeological expressions of a very specific cultural practice known from ethnography, yet traceable so far back, previously been found. >>️

Russell Mullett, Ashleigh Rogers, et al. Oldest living culture: our new research shows an Indigenous ritual passed down for 500 generations. theconversation.com. Jul 1, 2024. 

https://theconversation.com/oldest-living-culture-our-new-research-shows-an-indigenous-ritual-passed-down-for-500-generations-230782

Bruno David, Russell Mullett, et al. 

Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age. Nat Hum Behav. doi: 10.1038/ s41562-024-01912-w. Jul 1,  2024. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01912-w

Also: ethno, Nomads, gris-gris, behav, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: ethno, Nomads, gris-gris, behaviors

FonT: the image cited regarding mulla-mullung entities is very intriguing ... 

# gst: even a tiny noise could self-induce new chimera patterns through stochastic resonance

<< Noise induced order in excitable systems has diverse manifestations, such as coherence resonance (CR) and stochastic resonance. In this context a less explored phenomenon is self-induced stochastic resonance (SISR). Unlike CR, SISR may arise away from the bifurcation threshold and the properties of the induced oscillations depend upon both the noise intensity and the time-scale separation factor. In this work, (AA) report a new chimera pattern in a network of coupled excitable units, namely the self-induced stochastic resonance chimera or SISR-chimera that originates from the SISR phenomenon. (AA) explore the detailed dynamics of the SISR-chimera in the parameter space using proper quantitative measures. (AA) have found that unlike CR chimera, the SISR-chimera pattern strongly depends upon the ratio of time scale and noise intensity. Therefore, this type of chimera pattern can be induced even for a tiny noise intensity if the time scale separation of the activator and inhibitor is large enough. >>️

Taniya Khatun, Tanmoy Banerjee. Genesis of chimera patterns through self-induced stochastic resonance. arXiv:2305.06824v1 [nlin.AO]. May 11, 2023. 

https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.06824

Also:  chimera, noise, disorder in  https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html  

Keywords: gst, noise, disorder, chimera, self-induced stochastic resonance chimera 

# gst: predict the wetting of the wedge; why do the teapots always drip?

<<  The "teapot effect" has been threatening spotless white tablecloths for ages: if a liquid is poured out of a teapot too slowly, then the flow of liquid sometimes does not detach itself from the teapot, finding its way into the cup, but dribbles down at the outside of the teapot. >>

<< This phenomenon has been studied scientifically for decades—now a research team at TU Wien has succeeded in describing the "teapot effect" completely and in detail with an elaborate theoretical analysis and numerous experiments: An interplay of different forces keeps a tiny amount of liquid directly at the edge, and this is sufficient to redirect the flow of liquid under certain conditions. >>

<< Although this is a very common and seemingly simple effect, it is remarkably difficult to explain it exactly within the framework of fluid mechanics,  (..) We have now succeeded for the first time in providing a complete theoretical explanation of why this drop forms and why the underside of the edge always remains wetted, >>  Bernhard Scheichl.

<< The sharp edge on the underside of the teapot beak plays the most important role: a drop forms, the area directly below the edge always remains wet. The size of this drop depends on the speed at which the liquid flows out of the teapot. If the speed is lower than a critical threshold, this drop can direct the entire flow around the edge and dribbles down on the outside wall of the teapot. >>

<< The mathematics behind it is complicated—it is an interplay of inertia, viscous and capillary forces. The inertial force ensures that the fluid tends to maintain its original direction, while the capillary forces slow the fluid down right at the beak. The interaction of these forces is the basis of the teapot effect. However, the capillary forces ensure that the effect only starts at a very specific contact angle between the wall and the liquid surface. The smaller this angle is or the more hydrophilic (i.e. wettable) the material of the teapot is, the more the detachment of the liquid from the teapot is slowed down. >>

<< Interestingly, the strength of gravity in relation to the other forces that occur does not play a decisive role. Gravity merely determines the direction in which the jet is directed, but its strength is not decisive for the teapot effect. The teapot effect would therefore also be observed when drinking tea on a moon base, but not on a space station with no gravity at all. >>️

Why teapots always drip. Vienna University of Technology. Nov 08, 2021

https://phys.org/news/2021-11-teapots.html

Scheichl, B., Bowles, R., & Pasias, G. (2021). Developed liquid film passing a smoothed and wedge-shaped trailing edge: Small-scale analysis and the ‘teapot effect’ at large Reynolds numbers. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 926, A25. doi: 10.1017/jfm.2021.612. Sep 8, 2021. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.612

keywords: gst, teapot effect, interfacial flows, thin films, boundary layers, Reynolds number, viscosity, viscous–inviscid interaction 

# gst: apropos of bubbles, the life of a surface bubble.

<< Who has never observed at the surface of a puddle under the rain one bubble that bursts instantly and another one that stays for more than 10 s?  >>️

<< Once a bubble has reached an interface, it adopts a static shape that is governed by the balance between the surface tension and buoyancy effects.  >>

<< To sum-up, (AA) have presented the state of the art concerning the prediction of the lifetime of surface bubbles. In general, the bubble unstability is linked to two facts: (i) the bubble cap is constituted by a thin film, whose thickness decreases along time due to both drainage and evaporation and (ii) this thin film is unstable and eventually bursts. (AA) have shown that the current understanding is that two different behaviors exist depending on whether the film thins until its thickness reaches a few hundreds of nanometers or bursts at higher thicknesses. In the first case, determinist models that describe the thinning of the film down to a rupture thickness of the order of tenth to hundreds of nanometers perform correctely to calculate the bubbles lifetime. In the second case, the presence of a fatal impurity within the film and its propension to break it being a more random process, lifetime distributions are much more spread and only stochastic models may capture the physical mechanism(s) at play. The scenario depends on whether or not surfactants are present to stabilise the thick film. >>

<< In absence of surfactants, the distribution of lifetimes is given by a Weibull distribution. The bursting mechanism available in the literature involves the diffusion of impurities in the film, which cause the film rupture. Film thinning due to evaporation is likely to be rather negligible in such experiments since its impact is small on thick films. >>

<< In presence of surfactants, the film is expected to thin until its thickness reaches a few tens of nanometers. The prediction of the bubble lifetime thus depends on our ability to predict the thinning rate of the film. It is fixed by the evaporation and the drainage. For tiny bubbles, no stable thin film appears and the evaporation is negligible. The lifetime is fixed by the approach velocity of the bubble to the bath. For bigger bubbles, evaporation and drainage must be taken into account. The evaporation is a constant rate, which depends on external conditions such as atmospheric humidity, on the diffusion/convection ratio and on the chemical potential of the solution. It has been shown that an accurate description of the evaporation rates necessitates to take into account the natural convection. >>

<< The drainage mechanism depends on the viscosity of the solution, on the bubble size and on the surfactants used to stabilise the interfaces. (AA) have identified three main mechanisms. For viscous bubbles, the cap is axisymmetric and the thickness decreases continuously from the bottom to the top of the bubble. The drainage is then expected to be exponential with time. In presence of surfactants, a pinch is expected to appear in the vicinity of the meniscus, which slows down the drainage. The destabilization of this pinch may lead to marginal regeneration, that in turn can affect the drainage. >>

<< Several references show that the drainage and evaporation rates are sufficient to predict the average lifetime of the surfaces bubbles in these different cases. >>

<< Many questions remain open and deserve to be addressed in a near future and (AA) try to list some of them below.

The mechanism at the origin of the eventual bursting of the film, whether they are thick (micrometers) or thin (tens of nanometers) is mostly unknown.

The marginal regeneration phenomenon, the dynamics of the pinch, the origin of its destabilisation and its contribution to drainage are under current investigation.

The impact of the chosen surfactants on bubble drainage and evaporation is crucial but remains an open question.

There is still a lack of data concerning the distributions observed. Additionally, there is no theoretical prediction of the distribution in the presence of surfactants stabilising the interface. >>️

Jonas Miguet, Florence Rouyer,  Emmanuelle Rio. The Life of a Surface Bubble. Molecules. 26(5): 1317.

doi: 10.3390/ molecules26051317. Mar 1,  2021. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7957579/   

Also

keyword "bubble" in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=bubble

# phys: apropos of transitions, even a tiny wobble may reshape theoretical views of the universe

<< The long-awaited first results from the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way that is not predicted by scientists’ best theory, the Standard Model of particle physics. >>️

<< Like electrons, muons act as if they have a tiny internal magnet. In a strong magnetic field, the direction of the muon’s magnet precesses, or wobbles, much like the axis of a spinning top or gyroscope. The strength of the internal magnet determines the rate that the muon precesses in an external magnetic field and is described by a number that physicists call the g-factor. This number can be calculated with ultra-high precision. >>

<< The first result from the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab confirms the result from the experiment performed at Brookhaven National Lab two decades ago. Together, the two results show strong evidence that muons diverge from the Standard Model prediction. >>

<< The accepted theoretical values for the muon are:

g-factor: 2.00233183620(86)

anomalous magnetic moment: 0.00116591810(43)

[uncertainty in parentheses]

The new experimental world-average results announced by the Muon g-2 collaboration today are:

g-factor: 2.00233184122(82)

anomalous magnetic moment: 0.00116592061(41)

The combined results from Fermilab and Brookhaven show a difference with theory at a significance of 4.2 sigma, a little shy of the 5 sigma (or standard deviations) that scientists require to claim a discovery but still compelling evidence of new physics. The chance that the results are a statistical fluctuation is about 1 in 40,000. >>️

We’re thrilled to announce that the first results from Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics! #gminus2

https://t.co/tUx4ojzIps https://t.co/t1ufui2Mwu   

17:01  Apr 7,  2021

https://twitter.com/Fermilab/status/1379811596755681286

Tracy Marc. First results from Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics. Apr 7, 2021.

https://news.fnal.gov/2021/04/first-results-from-fermilabs-muon-g-2-experiment-strengthen-evidence-of-new-physics

Also

Themis Bowcock, Mark Lancaster. How we found hints of new particles or forces of nature – and why it could change physics. Apr 8, 2021.

 

https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-hints-of-new-particles-or-forces-of-nature-and-why-it-could-change-physics-158564

B. Abi et al. (Muon g−2  Collaboration)

 Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.46 ppm. Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 141801. Apr 7, 2021.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.141801

A primer in particle physics:

Jonathan Carroll. Explainer: Standard Model of Particle Physics. Aug 25, 2011.

https://theconversation.com/explainer-standard-model-of-particle-physics-2539

a 'cartouche' of the Standard Model 

https://images.theconversation.com/files/2516/original/sml_small.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=3

# life: a tiny pill against two unfavorable hypotheses on serial coronavirus pandemics - to avoid the socio-economic psycho-behavioral fallout caused by 1or2achoos (e.g. from Wuhan)

<< Pfizer Inc. said it has begun human safety testing of a new pill to treat the coronavirus that could be used at the first sign of illness. If it succeeds in trials, the pill could be prescribed early in an infection to block viral replication before patients get very sick. The drug binds to an enzyme called a protease (Pfizer’s oral protease inhibitor, code-named PF-07321332,) to keep the virus from replicating. >>

<< In lab tests, it worked against many coronaviruses, including the original SARS virus and MERS. Additionally, the coronavirus protease doesn’t mutate much, which means the therapy is likely to work equally well against numerous variant strains, >>

️

<< This is really a potential game changer, >>️  Mikael Dolsten️

Robert Langreth. Pfizer Begins Human Trials of New Pill to Treat Coronavirus. 

Mar 23, 2021 17:38 CET. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-23/pfizer-begins-human-trials-of-new-pill-to-treat-coronavirus

Christie Aschwanden. Five reasons why COVID herd immunity is probably impossible. Nature 591, 520-522. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-021-00728-2. Mar 18, 2021. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00728-2

Angela L. Rasmussen, Saskia V. Popescu. SARS-CoV-2 transmission without symptoms.  Science, 2021; 371 (6535): 1206-1207 doi: 10.1126/ science.abf9569   

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6535/1206

Also

keyword 'virus' in FonT: 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

keyword 'virus' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry):

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

# zoo; apropos of extreme dwarf entities, the nano-chameleon (Brookesia nana)

<< An international team, (..) has discovered a minuscule new species of chameleon.  (..) They have named the new species Brookesia nana. >>

 << At a body length of just 13.5 mm and a total length of just 22 mm including the tail, the male nano-chameleon is the smallest known male of all 'higher vertebrates' >> Frank Glaw.

<< Unfortunately, the habitat of the Nano-Chameleon is under heavy pressure from deforestation, but the area has recently been designated as a protected area, and hopefully that will enable this tiny new chameleon to survive, >> Oliver Hawlitschek.

Meet the nano-chameleon, a new contender for the title of world's smallest reptile. Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns. Feb 01, 2021. 

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nano-chameleon-contender-title-world-smallest.html    

Glaw, F., Kohler, J., Hawlitschek, O. et al. Extreme miniaturization of a new amniote vertebrate and insights into the evolution of genital size in chameleons. Sci Rep 11, 2522. doi: 10.1038/ s41598-020-80955-1. Jan 28,  2021.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80955-1 

# brain: the hypothesis that a brain organoid (a lab-grown brain) can reach consciousness.

<< In Alysson Muotri’s laboratory, hundreds of miniature human brains, the size of sesame seeds, float in Petri dishes, sparking with electrical activity. 

These tiny structures, known as brain organoids, are grown from human stem cells and have become a familiar fixture in many labs that study the properties of the brain. Muotri, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), has found some unusual ways to deploy his. He has connected organoids to walking robots, modified their genomes with Neanderthal genes, launched them into orbit aboard the International Space Station, and used them as models to develop more human-like artificial-intelligence (AI) systems. (..) But one experiment has drawn more scrutiny than the others. In August 2019, Muotri’s group published a paper in Cell Stem Cell (*) reporting the creation of human brain organoids that produced coordinated waves of activity, resembling those seen in premature babies. The waves continued for months before the team shut the experiment down. This type of brain-wide, coordinated electrical activity is one of the properties of a conscious brain. >> 

Sara Reardon. Can lab-grown brains become conscious? Nature 586, 658-661. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-020-02986-y. Oct 27, 2020. Correction Nov 4, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02986-y     

(*)  Trujillo CA, Gao R, et al. Complex Oscillatory Waves Emerging from Cortical Organoids Model Early Human Brain Network Development. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Oct 3;25(4):558-569.e7. doi: 10.1016/ j.stem.2019.08.002. Aug 29, 2019. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31474560/

https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(19)30337-6

# gst: apropos of nano vortices: the stabilization of skyrmions by weak higher-order exchange interactions

<< Tiny magnetic whirls that can occur in materials—so-called skyrmions— hold high promises for novel electronic devices or magnetic memory in which they are used as bits to store information. A fundamental prerequisite for any application is the stability of these magnetic whirls. >>

<< Previously, a standard model of the relevant magnetic interactions contributing to the (energy) barrier has been established. >>

<< one type of magnetic interactions has so far been overlooked. In the 1920s Werner Heisenberg could explain the occurrence of ferromagnetism by the quantum mechanical exchange interaction which results from the spin dependent "hopping" of electrons between two atoms. "If one considers the electron hopping between more atoms, higher-order exchange interactions occur," says Dr. Souvik Paul, (..). However, these interactions are much weaker than the pair-wise exchange proposed by Heisenberg and were thus neglected in the research on skyrmions. >>

<< Based on atomistic simulations and quantum mechanical calculations (..)  (AA) have now explained that these weak interactions (at a higher temperature than room temperature) can still provide a surprisingly large contribution to skyrmion stability. Especially the cyclic hopping over four atomic sites (..) influences the energy of the transition state extraordinarily strongly (..), where only a few atomic bar magnets are tilted against each other. Even stable antiskyrmions were found in the simulations which are advantageous for some future data storage concepts but typically decay too fast. >>

Julia Siek­mann. Scientists find a new mechanism for the stabilization of skyrmions. Kiel University. Sep 21, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-scientists-mechanism-stabilization-skyrmions.html

Paul, S., Haldar, S., von Malottki, S. et al. Role of higher- order exchange interactions for skyrmion stability. Nat Commun 11, 4756. doi: 10.1038/ s41467-020-18473-x. Sep 21, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18473-x   

# ai-bot: use of soft labels with 'less than one'-shot task in AI learning models

<< Deep neural networks require large training sets but suffer from high computational cost and long training times. Training on much smaller training sets while maintaining nearly the same accuracy would be very beneficial. In the few-shot learning setting, a model must learn a new class given only a small number of samples from that class. One-shot learning is an extreme form of few-shot learning where the model must learn a new class from a single example. (AA)  propose the 'less than one'-shot learning task where models must learn N new classes given only M<N examples and (they) show that this is achievable with the help of soft labels. >>

Ilia Sucholutsky, Matthias Schonlau. 'Less Than One'-Shot Learning: Learning N Classes From M<N Samples. arXiv:2009.08449v1. Sep 17, 2020

https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.08449   

Karen Hao. A radical new technique lets AI learn with practically no data. Oct 16, 2020.  

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/16/1010566/ai-machine-learning-with-tiny-data

FonT: sara' verosimilmente intrigante osservare come una 'macchina AI' sapra' esercitare sugli umani il potere di cooptazione ...

# gst: how small particles could reshape an asteroid

<< In January 2019, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was orbiting asteroid Bennu when the spacecraft's cameras caught something unexpected: Thousands of tiny bits of material, some just the size of marbles, began to bounce off the surface of the asteroid—like a game of ping-pong in space. Since then, many such particle ejection events have been observed at Bennu's surface. >>

AA have been studying << asteroids for a long time, and no one had ever seen this phenomenon before—these little particles getting shot off of the surface  (..) such seemingly small occurrences may add up over time—perhaps even helping to give the asteroid its telltale shape, which is often compared to a spinning top. >>

<< basic orbital calculations suggest that all of these particles should do one of two things: Jump off the surface and fall right back down or escape from Bennu's gravity and never come back. >>

<< When particles eventually land on Bennu's surface, many appear to disproportionately fall near its equator where the asteroid has a distinct bulge. As a result, these events could be reshaping the asteroid over thousands or millions of years by moving mass from its north and south to its middle. >>

Daniel Strain. How small particles could reshape Bennu and other asteroids. University of Colorado at Boulder. Sep 9, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-small-particles-reshape-bennu-asteroids.html 

McMahon Jay W, Scheeres Daniel J, et al. Dynamical Evolution of Simulated Particles Ejected From Asteroid Bennu. J Geophys Res: Planets. 125 (8). doi: 10.1029/ 2019JE006229. May 18, 2020.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019JE006229 

Scheeres Daniel J, McMahon Jay W, et al. Particle Ejection Contributions to the Rotational Acceleration and Orbit Evolution of Asteroid (101955) Bennu. 

J Geophys Res: Planets. 125 (3). doi: 10.1029/ 2019JE006284. March 11, 2020. 

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JE006284

# biophys: to sense 'fever' in tiny bio-entities (worms C. elegans)

<< a reliable, precise, microscope-based thermometer using quantum technology (..) measures the temperature for microscopic animals. The technology detects temperature-dependent properties of quantum spins in fluorescent nanodiamonds. >>

<< Quantum sensing is a technology that exploits the ultimate sensitivity of fragile quantum systems to the surrounding environment. High-contrast MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) are examples of quantum spins in fluorescent diamonds and are some of the most advanced quantum systems working at the forefront of real-world applications. Applications of this technique to thermal biology were introduced seven years ago to quantify temperatures inside cultured cells. However, they had yet to be applied to dynamic biological systems where heat and temperature are more actively involved in biological processes. >>

Get diamonds, take temperature: Quantum thermometer using nanodiamonds senses a 'fever' in tiny worms C. elegans. Osaka City University. Sep 11, 2020. 

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-diamonds-temperature-quantum-thermometer-nanodiamonds.html  

The technique << demonstrates the submicrometer localization of temperature information in living animals and direct identification of their pharmacological thermogenesis, which may allow for quantification of their biological activities based on temperature. >>

Masazumi Fujiwara, Simo Sun, et al. Real-time nanodiamond thermometry probing in vivo thermogenic responses. Science Advances. Vol. 6, no. 37, eaba9636. doi: 10.1126/ sciadv.aba9636. Sep 11, 2020.

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/37/eaba9636    

# gst: the dance (swimming and sinking behavior) of pelagic snails

<< Swimming and sinking behavior by pelagic snails is poorly studied but is important in their ecology, predator-prey interactions, and vertical distributions. >>

AA << focused on how the shell shape, body geometry, and body size affect their swimming behavior from a fluid mechanics perspective. In addition, ZooScan image analysis and metabarcoding of archived vertically stratified MOCNESS samples were used to relate swimming behaviors to night time and daytime vertical distributions. While different large scale swimming patterns were observed, all species exhibited small scale sawtooth swimming trajectories caused by reciprocal appendage flapping. Thecosome swimming and sinking behavior corresponded strongly with shell morphology and size, with the tiny coiled shell pteropods swimming and sinking the slowest, the large globular shelled pteropods swimming and sinking the fastest, and the medium-sized elongated shell pteropods swimming and sinking at intermediate speeds. However, the coiled shell species had the highest normalized swimming and sinking speeds, reaching swimming speeds of up to 45 body lengths s–1. The sinking trajectories of the coiled and elongated shell pteropods were nearly vertical, but globular shell pteropods use their hydrofoil-like shell to glide downwards at approximately 20° from the vertical, thus retarding their sinking rate. The swimming Reynolds number (Re) increased from the coiled shell species [Re ∼ O(10)] to the elongated shell species [Re ∼ O(100)] and again for the globular shell species [Re ∼ O(1000)], suggesting that more recent lineages increased in size and altered shell morphology to access greater lift-to-drag ratios available at higher Re. Swimming speed does not correlate with the vertical extent of migration, emphasizing that other factors, likely including light, temperature, and predator and prey fields, influence this ecologically important trait. Size does play a role in structuring the vertical habitat, with larger individuals tending to live deeper in the water column, while within a species, larger individuals have deeper migrations. >>

Ferhat Karakas, Jordan Wingate, et al. Swimming and Sinking Behavior of Warm Water Pelagic Snails. Front. Mar. Sci. doi: 10.3389/ fmars.2020.556239. Sep 7, 2020. 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.556239/full    

<< And it's stunning to think that these sea butterflies are using the same fluid dynamics principles to fly through water that insects use to fly through air, >> David Murphy.

Poetry in motion: Engineers analyze the fluid physics of movement in marine snails. Frontiers. Sep 07, 2020

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-poetry-motion-fluid-physics-movement.html   

Also

<< Snails usually lumber along on their single fleshy foot; but not sea butterflies (Limacina helicina). These tiny marine molluscs gently flit around their Arctic water homes propelled by fleshy wings that protrude out of the shell opening. >>

These << snails swim using the same technique as flying insects, beating their wings in a figure-of-eight pattern,>>

Bizarre snail that swims like a flying insect. The Company of Biologists. Feb 17, 2016. 

https://phys.org/news/2016-02-bizarre-snail-insect.html   

David W. Murphy, Deepak Adhikari, et al. Underwater flight by the planktonic sea butterfly. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2016 219: 535-543. doi: 10.1242/jeb.129205. Feb 17, 2016.

https://jeb.biologists.org/content/219/4/535

# gst: vacuum fluctuations (even in complete darkness)

<< physics is increasingly discovering how our universe is shaped by fluctuations of physical fields, which not only lead to tiny shifts of spectral lines of atoms, but moreover may cause the evaporation of black holes, and are ultimately responsible for the large-scale structure of our universe,  >>

AA  << have now made a large leap toward controlling strongly enhanced vacuum fluctuations much faster than typical timescales of virtual photons. To this end, they created a specialized semiconductor structure in which electrons are extremely strongly coupled to the light fields of tiny antennas designed for the so-called terahertz spectral range. As a result, vacuum fluctuations of light and matter fields participate in the interaction, strongly increasing the presence of virtual photons—even in complete darkness. >>

Understanding vacuum fluctuations in space. University of Regensburg. Aug 10, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-vacuum-fluctuations-space.html 

<< The abrupt modification of the vacuum ground state causes spectrally broadband polarization oscillations confirmed by (AA) quantum model. In the future, this subcycle shaping of hybrid quantum states may trigger cavity-induced quantum chemistry, vacuum-modified transport or cavity-controlled superconductivity, opening new scenarios >>

M. Halbhuber, J. Mornhinweg, et al. Non-adiabatic stripping of a cavity field from electrons in the deep-strong coupling regime. Nat. Photonics. doi: 10.1038/ s41566-020-0673-2. Aug 10, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-020-0673-2

# gst: the physics of squeezing; how to squeeze out (quantum) noise

<< 'Squeezing' is used in physics, among other things, to improve the resolution of measuring instruments. It allows disturbing noise to be suppressed in a way that smaller signals can be detected more sensitively. (..) (AA) has now been able to show how such a squeezed state can be measured in a much simpler way than with the existing methods. Moreover, the new method allows examining squeezed states in systems where such measurements were not possible before. >> [1]

<< In the experiment (..) the thermal fluctuations of a vibrating nanomechanical string resonator are squeezed. The nanostring can be thought of as a tiny guitar string, a thousand times thinner and shorter than a human hair. (..)  If the string is deflected far enough, it ceases to behave linearly. This means that the force that deflects the string is no longer proportional to the force that pulls it back to its original position. The strong drive alters the thermal fluctuations as a result of a violation of the time reversal symmetry. In phase space, they no longer look like a circle but like an ellipse: At least in one direction, its diameter, i.e. the noise, becomes significantly smaller—it is squeezed. >> [1]

<< Quantum squeezing was a theory that was first proposed in the 1980s, the general idea being that quantum vacuum noise can be represented as a sphere of uncertainty along two main axes: phase and amplitude. If this sphere were squeezed, like a stress ball, in a way that constricted the sphere along the amplitude axis, this would in effect shrink the uncertainty in the amplitude state of a vacuum (the squeezed part of the stress ball), while increasing the uncertainty in the phase state (stress ball's displaced, distended portion). Since it is predominantly the phase uncertainty that contributes noise to LIGO, shrinking it could make the detector more sensitive to astrophysical signals. (..) The heart of the squeezer is an optical parametric oscillator, or OPO — a bowtie-shaped device that holds a small crystal within a configuration of mirrors. When the researchers direct a laser beam to the crystal, the crystal's atoms facilitate interactions between the laser and the quantum vacuum in a way that rearranges their properties of phase versus amplitude, creating a new, "squeezed" vacuum that then continues down each of the detector's arm as it normally would. This squeezed vacuum has smaller phase fluctuations than an ordinary vacuum, allowing scientists to better detect gravitational waves. >> [2]

[1] - Measure squeezing in a novel way. University of Konstanz. Jun 25, 2020.   https://phys.org/news/2020-06-measure-squeezing-in-a-novel.html ; 

J. S. Huber, G. Rastelli, et al. Spectral Evidence of Squeezing of a Weakly Damped Driven Nanomechanical Mode.  Phys. Rev. X 10, 021066 – Jun 23,  2020.   https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.10.021066 

[2] - Jennifer Chu. New instrument extends LIGO’s reach. Technology "squeezes" out quantum noise so more gravitational wave signals can be detected. MIT. Dec 5, 2019.   https://news.mit.edu/2019/ligo-reach-quantum-noise-wave-1205

# bots: tiny machinery, nanobots (molecule-sized bots) from 1k to millions swarming together to perform tasks

<< Multi-disciplinary research has led to the innovative fabrication of molecule-sized robots. Scientists are now advancing their efforts to make these robots interact and work together in the millions. >>

AA << have made molecular robots with three key components: microtubules, single-stranded DNA, and a light-sensing chemical compound. The microtubules act as the molecular robot's motor, converting chemical energy into mechanical work. The DNA strands act as the information processor due to its incredible ability to store data and perform multiple functions simultaneously. The chemical compound, azobenzene derivative, is able to sense light, acting as the molecular robot's on/off switch. (..) (They) have successfully controlled the shape of those swarms by tuning the length and rigidity of the microtubules. Relatively stiff robots swarm in uni-directional, linear bundles, while more flexible ones form rotating, ring-shaped swarms.>>

<< A continuing challenge, though, is making separate groups of robots swarm at the same time, but in different patterns. This is needed to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. >>

Scientists working to make molecule-sized robots swarm together to perform tasks. National Institute for Materials Science. Jun 18, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-molecule-sized-robots-swarm-tasks.html   

Arif Md. Rashedul Kabir, Daisuke Inoue,  Akira Kakugo. Molecular swarm robots: recent progress and future challenges.  Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. 21:1, 323-332. doi: 10.1080/ 14686996.2020.1761761. Jun 16, 2020. 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14686996.2020.1761761 

Also

keyword 'bot' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=bot

keyword 'self-assembly' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=self-assembly

# gst: shape-shifting dynamics; tiny evolutionary changes have turned a tongue into a fast elastic recoil mech (in salamanders)

<< relatively minor changes in the musculoskeletal morphology of the tongue apparatus and in the timing of muscle activation have, through evolutionary time, transformed a muscle-powered system with modest performance and high thermal sensitivity into a spring-powered system with extreme performance and thermal robustness, in parallel in both major groups of this largest family of salamanders. High performance and thermal robustness evolve together, indicating they are both properties of the same elastic-recoil, "bow-and-arrow" mechanism. Similar evolutionary patterns may be found in other ectothermic animals with extreme performance. >>

Stephen M. Deban, Jeffrey A. Scales, et al. Evolution of a high-performance and functionally robust musculoskeletal system in salamanders. PNAS. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1921807117. Apr 27, 2020.

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/04/21/1921807117

Bob Yirka. Minor evolutionary changes helped transform the salamander tongue into a fast elastic recoil mechanism. Apr 28, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-minor-evolutionary-salamander-tongue-fast.html

Also

keyword 'tiny' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=tiny

# life: to save Western lifestyle from a catapulting collapse (caused by one or two Wuhan "achoo") use a techno mask (e.g. "cowboy" or "burqa" techno masks)

<< WHEN YOU LOOK at photos of Americans during the 1918 influenza pandemic, one feature stands out above all else: masks.  (..)  Newspapers published instructions for sewing masks at home. >>

<< After the 1918 pandemic, the prophylactic use of masks among the general public largely fell out of favor in America and much of the West. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has almost never advised healthy people to wear masks in public to prevent influenza or other respiratory diseases. In the past few months, with medical supplies dangerously diminished, the CDC, US surgeon general Jerome Adams, and the World Health Organization have urged people not to buy masks, paradoxically claiming that masks are both essential for the safety of health care workers and incapable of protecting the public from Covid-19. >>

<< Recently, some experts have disputed this contradictory advice. They propose that widespread use of masks is one of the many reasons why China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have controlled outbreaks of coronavirus much more effectively than the US and Europe. "Of course masks work," sociologist Zeynep Tufekci wrote in a New York Times editorial. "Their use has always been advised as part of the standard response to being around infected people." Public health expert Shan Soe-Lin and epidemiologist Robert Hecht made a similar argument in the Boston Globe (..) Last week, George Gao, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that America and Europe are making a "big mistake" by not telling the public to wear masks during the ongoing pandemic. >>

<< N95s (N95 mask) are so-named because they filter out 95 percent of particles with a diameter of 0.3 microns, (..) Particles 0.3 microns wide are just the right size to ride a stream of air through a filter’s fibrous maze, but it is still possible to thwart them with enough twists and turns.>>

<< the bacterium that causes anthrax is 0.8 microns wide and 1.4 microns long, whereas influenza viruses and coronaviruses are usually between 0.08 and 0.12 microns. But microbes expelled from someone’s respiratory tract are rarely naked: the droplets they travel in range in size from 0.6 to more than 1,000 microns. >>

<< Although surgical masks are not tightly sealed like N95s, the filters they contain are still a major impediment to microbes. The CDC and other health agencies often say that surgical masks catch only spurts of bodily fluids and very large respiratory droplets, and that they cannot filter tiny infectious particles. But this is simply not true. >>

<< Because so many trials find only a marginal benefit or none at all, some health agencies have decided against recommending masks to the general public. But the inconsistency of randomized trials does not negate the robust physical evidence that masks block respiratory droplets and microbes.  >>

<< "To be honest, it’s common sense," says Tang (virologist Julian Tang). "If you put something in front of your face, it’s going to help more than not." If enough people wear masks at least somewhat correctly at least some of the time, the overall benefits could be dramatic. A 2011 review of high-quality studies found that among all physical interventions used against respiratory viruses-including handwashing, gloves, and social distancing-masks performed best, although a combination of strategies was still optimal. >>

It's Time to Face Facts, America: Masks Work. Official advice has been confusing, but the science isn't hard to grok. Everyone should cover up. Wired. Ideas. March 30, 2020.

https://www.wired.com/story/its-time-to-face-facts-america-masks-work/

Also 

a funky, immediate approach of the sneezing from Wuhan (a relative safe barrier - this device is NOT a filter) FonT.  Mar 20, 2020

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2020/03/life-funky-immediate-approach-of.html

Also

climate change plus Zika, then a behavioral transition, hat burqa- like everywhere ... FonT.  Mar13, 2016.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/03/s-epidemiol-climate-change-plus-zika.html

Also

keyword 'virus' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

keyword 'virus' in Notes (quasi- stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

keyword 'snake' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=snake

keyword 'bat' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=bat

# gst: tiny deviations (inside a phase transition) to avoid a near-complete annihilation.

<< Recently discovered ripples of spacetime called gravitational waves could contain evidence to prove the theory that life survived the Big Bang because of a phase transition that allowed neutrino particles to reshuffle matter and anti-matter, >>

<< According to the Big Bang theory of modern cosmology, matter was created with an equal amount of anti-matter. If it had stayed that way, matter and anti-matter should have eventually met and annihilated one to one, leading up to a complete annihilation.

But our existence contradicts this theory. To overcome a complete annihilation, the Universe must have turned a small amount of anti-matter into matter creating an imbalance between them. >>  

<< the Universe went through a phase transition so that neutrinos could reshuffle matter and anti-matter. >>

Showing how the tiniest particles in our Universe saved us from complete annihilation. Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. Feb 3, 2020.

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-tiniest-particles-universe-annihilation.html

Jeff A. Dror, Takashi Hiramatsu, et al.  Testing the Seesaw Mechanism and Leptogenesis with Gravitational Waves.  Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 041804. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.041804. Jan 28, 2020. 

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.041804

# gst: apropos of turbulences close to a wall, the repetitive structure of a vortex

<< At the boundary where a fluid flows over a fixed structure, a turbulent boundary layer is created where the fluid interacts with the wall, creating eddies in the current. These eddies may seem to be random on first glance, but they actually create distinct patterns, with countless tiny eddies close to the wall; fewer but larger eddies located a little farther out; and even fewer, but still larger, eddies beyond those. >>

<< "We knew that, underlying these very complicated structures, there had to be a very simple pattern. We just didn't know what that pattern was until now," says McKeon, who next plans to dig deeper into the model to quantify just how many eddies should be included to create an accurate representation of the whole. >>

Engineers exploit the repeating structure of turbulence to create a more complete model of the phenomenon. California Institute of Technology. Nov 6, 2019.

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-11-exploit-turbulence-phenomenon.html

Beverley J. McKeon. Self-similar hierarchies and attached eddies. Phys. Rev. Fluids 4, 082601(R). Aug 26, 2019.

https://journals.aps.org/prfluids/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.082601