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giovedì 29 luglio 2021

# life: apropos of fuzzy cooperation, Ralph fuzzy mixture vs. world fuzzy dance ...

<< In 2013, the American virologist Ralph Baric approached Zhengli Shi at a meeting. Baric was a top expert in coronaviruses, with hundreds of papers to his credit, and Shi, along with her team at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, had been discovering them by the fistful in bat caves. In one sample of bat guano, Shi had detected the genome of a new virus, called SHC014, that was one of the two closest relatives to the original SARS virus, but her team had not been able to culture it in the lab. >>️

<< Baric had developed a way around that problem—a technique for “reverse genetics” in coronaviruses. Not only did it allow him to bring an actual virus to life from its genetic code, but he could mix and match parts of multiple viruses. He wanted to take the “spike” gene from SHC014 and move it into a genetic copy of the SARS virus he already had in his lab. The spike molecule is what lets a coronavirus open a cell and get inside it. The resulting chimera would demonstrate whether the spike of SHC014 would attach to human cells. >>️

<< Just as when you trade in part of a poker hand for fresh cards, there was no way of knowing whether the final chimeras would be stronger or weaker. >>

<< If you study a hundred different bat viruses, your luck may run out. >> Ralph Baric. 

<< In 2014, the NIH awarded a five-year, $3.75 million grant to EcoHealth Alliance to study the risk that more bat-borne coronaviruses would emerge in China, using the same kind of techniques Baric had pioneered. Some of that work was to be subcontracted to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. >>

<< Consider this hypothetical scenario, (..) An important gain-of-function experiment involving a virus with serious pandemic potential is performed in a well-regulated, world-class laboratory by experienced investigators, but the information from the experiment is then used by another scientist who does not have the same training and facilities and is not subject to the same regulations. In an unlikely but conceivable turn of events, what if that scientist becomes infected with the virus, which leads to an outbreak and ultimately triggers a pandemic >>  Anthony Fauci (director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) (2012).
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<< Paul’s grilling of Fauci brought new scrutiny to the relationship between Ralph Baric’s lab at UNC and Zhengli Shi’s at WIV, with some narratives painting Baric as the Sith master of SARS and Shi as his ascendant apprentice. They did share resources—for example, Baric sent the transgenic mice with human lung receptors to Wuhan.  >>
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<< During a hearing on May 11, 2021, Senator Rand Paul confronted Anthony Fauci over funding of bat-virus research by the National Institutes of Health. >>️

<< The NIH has still not fully explained its decision-making and did not reply to questions. Citing a pending investigation, it has declined to release copies of the grant that sent the Wuhan institute about $600,000 between 2014 and 2019. It has also revealed little about its new system for assessing gain-of-function risks, which is carried out by an anonymous review panel whose deliberations are not made public. >>️
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Rowan Jacobsen. Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan. China emulated US techniques to construct novel coronaviruses in unsafe conditions. MIT TechRev. Jun 29, 2021. 


Also

<< " ... e Da-Li' si sparse pell' aere un fantasmatico ente supersintetico supercompresso ... >> in: ️2153 - cracker tendenziali (around a matter-sucking maelstrom). Notes. Apr 4, 2008. (quasi-stochastic poetry)


<< in attesa del beffardo tsunami. >> in: 1619 - onda di carambola. Notes. Nov 29, 2004. (quasi-stochastic poetry).
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keyword 'virus' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)


keyword 'virus' in FonT 


keyword 'caos' | 'caotico' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)



FonT

no surprise, no amazement here, I know chickens behaviors. 

<< Ricordo che quando si era ragazzi, negli anni sessanta, ... >> in: 2157 - il pino di takata matsubara. Apr 1, 2011. Notes. 








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martedì 27 luglio 2021

# life: they ( NIH, Ralph Baric’s Univ.of North Carolina lab, Wuhan Instit.of Virology ) never created a supervirus, anzicheforse ...

<< 
In May, the coronavirus researcher Ralph Baric found himself at the center of the debate over gain-of-function research ( https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/29/1027290/gain-of-function-risky-bat-virus-engineering-links-america-to-wuhan ), in which scientists engineer new properties into existing viruses. And during a congressional hearing, Senator Rand Paul implied that the National Institutes of Health had been funding such research at both the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Baric’s University of North Carolina lab, and that the two labs had been collaborating to make “superviruses”. Baric released a statement clarifying the research in question did not qualify as gain-of-function, and none of the SARS-like coronaviruses he’d used in the experiments were closely related to SARS-CoV-2, yet that did little to quell questions about the role his research may have played in furthering scientists’ ability to modify coronaviruses in potentially dangerous ways. Baric believes such research is essential to the development of vaccines and other countermeasures against emerging viruses, a project he has been engaged in for more than 20 years. His research laid the groundwork for the first approved anti-covid drug and helped speed the development of the mRNA vaccines that have proved so pivotal. 
MIT Technology Review recently asked Baric to explain what constitutes a gain-of-function experiment, why such research exists, and whether it could have played any role in the pandemic. Read the full interview. ( https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/26/1030043/gain-of-function-research-coronavirus-ralph-baric-vaccines )
>>️

Rowan Jacobsen. Why researchers need to tinker with viruses. The Download from MIT Technology Review newsletters@technologyreview.com  
The Download from MIT (mail). Jun 26, 2021 14:12

Also

<< ... e Da-Li' si sparse pell' aere un fantasmatico ente supersintetico supercompresso ... >> in: ️2153 - cracker tendenziali (around a matter-sucking maelstrom). Notes. Apr 04, 2008. (quasi-stochastic poetry)


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


keyword 'virus' in FonT 




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sabato 24 luglio 2021

# gst: shuffling atomic layers like playing cards (almost like to compose a quasi-stochastic poetry)

<< Materials scientists can now shuffle layered compounds together, much like combining two different decks of cards. >>️

<< The technique, recently discovered (..), is leading to development of new materials with unusual electron transport properties that have potential applications in next-generation quantum technologies. >>️

<< The discovered technique has shown another unexpected and promising application in new materials design. The "reshuffling" approach can generate thermally stable three-dimensional (3D) heterostructures from layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). These are van der Waals materials composed of metal nanolayers sandwiched between two other layers of chalcogens—sulfur, selenium, or tellurium. Similar to graphite, these compounds can be exfoliated into 2D layers, which display unique electron transport properties and quantum phenomena. >>
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Scientists shuffle atomic layers like playing cards to make new quantum materials. Ames Laboratory. Jul 20, 2021. 


Ihor Z. Hlova, Prashant Singh, et al. Incommensurate transition-metal dichalcogenides via mechanochemical reshuffling of binary precursors. 
Nanoscale Adv. 3: 4065-4071. doi: 10.1039/ D1NA00064K. Jun 7, 2021. 


Also

1836 - immillante sandwich. Notes. Nov 28, 2004 (quasi-stochastic poetry)





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giovedì 22 luglio 2021

# life: transitions in the edges; to stimulate a shift in thinking, target small groups of people in the "outer edge" or fringe of a network.

<< social influencers are unlikely to change a person's behavior by example. To stimulate a shift in people's thinking, target small groups of people in the outer edge or fringe of a network. (..) as prominent and revered as social influencers seem to be, in fact, they are unlikely to change a person's behavior by example -- and might actually be detrimental to the cause. >>

<< When social influencers present ideas that are dissonant with their followers' worldviews (..) they can unintentionally antagonize the people they are seeking to persuade because people typically only follow influencers whose ideas confirm their beliefs about the world,"  >> Damon Centola. ️

<< To stimulate a shift in thinking, target small groups of people in the "outer edge" or fringe of a network. >>
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Study finds surprising source of social influence. University of Pennsylvania.  Jul 20, 2021. 


Douglas Guilbeault, Damon Centola.  Topological measures for identifying and predicting the spread of complex contagions. Nat Commun 12, 4430. doi: 10.1038/ s41467-021-24704-6. Jul 20  2021.


Also

1829 - catalisi d' interferenza periferica (c.i.p.)  Notes. Nov 24, 2004. (quasi-stochastic poetry).


keyword 'transition' | 'transitional' in FonT



keyword 'transition' | 'transizion*' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)




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martedì 20 luglio 2021

# life: some scientists hypothesize the possibility of (A) traveling faster than light, (B) visiting the interior of a black hole, (C) being already under observation by alien entities.

(A) traveling faster than light

<< Lentz (Erik Lentz. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6382/abe692 ) proposes one such way we might be able to do this, thanks to what he calls a new class of hyper-fast solitons – a kind of wave that maintains its shape and energy while moving at a constant velocity (and in this case, a velocity faster than light). According to Lentz's theoretical calculations, these hyper-fast soliton solutions can exist within general relativity, and are sourced purely from positive energy densities, meaning there's no need to consider exotic negative- energy- density sources that haven't yet been verified. (..) With sufficient energy, configurations of these solitons could function as 'warp bubbles', capable of superluminal motion, and theoretically enabling an object to pass through space-time while shielded from extreme tidal forces. >>

<< another recent analysis, published only this month ( David Nield.  https://www.sciencealert.com/engineers-have-proposed-the-first-model-for-a-physical-warp-drive  ;  Alexey Bobrick, Gianni Martire. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6382/abdf6e ), which also proposes an alternative model for a physically possible warp drive that doesn't require negative energy to function. >>️️

Peter Dockrill. Faster-Than-Light Travel Is Possible Within Einstein's Physics, Astrophysicist Shows. Mar 11, 2021.


(B) visiting the interior of a black hole

<<  if a person found an isolated supermassive black hole suitable for scientific study and decided to venture in, everything observed or measured of the black hole interior would be confined within the black hole's event horizon.
Keeping in mind that nothing can escape the gravitational pull beyond the event horizon, the in-falling person would not be able to send any information about their findings back out beyond this horizon. Their journey and findings would be lost to the rest of the entire universe for all time. But they would enjoy the adventure, for as long as they survived … maybe …. >>️

Leo Rodriguez, Shanshan Rodriguez. Could a human enter a black hole to study it? A person could travel past (certain) black holes' event horizons without dying immediately — here's how. Feb 7, 2021. 


(C) being already under observation by alien entities.

<< On June 25 the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released their much hyped report on unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP. (..) And while the report did not rule out an extraterrestrial origin for much of the documented UAP, it was short on details or bombshells. >> 

<<  we already know our world is easily detectable by extrasolar observers. A paper published on June 23 in Nature  
(Kaltenegger L., Faherty J.K.  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03596-y ) shows that in the past 5,000 years, 1,715 stars have been in the right celestial position to view a populated Earth transiting the sun—with 319 more entering this sweet spot in the next 5,000 years. And seven of these far-off stars are known to have their own orbiting exoplanets that might support life. >>

<< Think of living in a room, and all the windows are open, and you do all your business, and you don’t know that all the windows are open, (..) Would you behave differently if you knew that you are being seen all your life? >>️  René Heller️
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Tess Joosse. Aliens Might Already Be Watching Us. A new star map reveals more than 2,000 stars, some with their own planets, that have a direct view of our planetary presence. July 1, 2021




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lunedì 19 luglio 2021

# gst: mitigate | eliminate side lobes from superoscillatory waves (to manipulate nanoparticles)

<< A sharp-edged aperture is a promising solution for eliminating side lobes from superoscillatory waves. >>

<< Optical superoscillation refers to a wave packet that can oscillate locally in a frequency exceeding its highest Fourier component. This intriguing phenomenon enables production of extremely localized waves that can break the optical diffraction barrier. >>

<< The trouble is that strong side lobes accompany the main lobes of superoscillatory waves, which limits the field of view and hinders application. >>️

<< A central microdisc with cylindrical diffraction gives rise to a superoscillatory light spot of a size within the optical diffraction limit. A pair of sharp-edged apertures ensures constructive interference with the high-spatial-frequency waves. That interference effectively eliminates side lobes along a symmetric cut that can be adjusted in the transverse plane by rotating the moonlike apertures. >>
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<< the cylindrical diffraction of the central microdisc produces superoscillatory waves with Bessel-like forms. These forms enable the delicate structures of the superoscillatory waves propagating in free space to travel much farther than the evanescent light waves. (..) this intriguing propagation effect of superoscillation holds promise for potential application in nanoparticle manipulation, as well as superresolution imaging. >>️
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Optical superoscillation without side waves. SPIE-International Society for Optics and Photonics. Jun 24, 2021.


Yanwen Hu, Shiwang Wang, et al. Optical superoscillatory waves without side lobes along a symmetric cut. Advanced Photonics, 3(4), 045002 doi: 10.1117/ 1.AP.3.4.045002. Jun 23, 2021. 





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giovedì 15 luglio 2021

# gst: apropos of turbulence, self-similarity of turbulent flows with internal and external intermittency

<< Scientists have long used supercomputers to better understand how turbulent flows behave under a variety of conditions. Researchers have now include the complex but essential concept of 'intermittency' in turbulent flows. >>️

<< Despite its seemingly random, chaotic characteristics, researchers have identified some important properties that are universal, or at least very common, for turbulence under specific conditions. (..) Much of that important turbulent motion may stem from what happens in a thin area near the edge of the flame, where its chaotic motions collide with the smoother-flowing fluids around it. This area, the turbulent-non-turbulent interface (TNTI), has big implications for understanding turbulent mixing. >>️

<< Scientists distinguish between internal intermittency, which occurs at the smallest scales and is a characteristic feature of any fully developed turbulent flow, and external intermittency, which manifests itself at the edge of the flame and depends on the structure of the TNTI. >>️

<< For Bode and Gauding (Mathis Bode, Michael Gauding), understanding the small-scale turbulence happening at the thin boundary of the flame is the point. >>

<< Our simulations are highly resolved and are interested in these thin layers, (..) For production runs, the simulation resolution is significantly higher compared to similar DNS (direct numerical simulations ) to accurately resolve the strong bursts that are connected to intermittency. >> Mathis Bode. 
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Simulations of turbulence's smallest structures. Gauss Centre for Supercomputing. Jul 8, 2021. 


<< In turbulent jet flows, the phenomenon of external intermittency originates from a sharp layer, known as the turbulent/ non-turbulent interface, that separates the turbulent core from the surrounding irrotational fluid. First, it is shown that low-order and higher-order structure functions in both the core and the shear layer of the jet satisfy complete self-preservation, which means that structure functions are invariant with time and collapse over the entire range of scales, regardless of the set of length and velocity scales used for normalization. Next, the impact of external intermittency on small-scale turbulence is studied along the cross-wise direction by the self-similarity of structure functions. It is shown that structure functions exhibit from the centre toward the edge of the flow a growing departure from self-similarity and the prediction of classical scaling theories. By analysing statistics conditioned on the turbulent portion of the jet, it is demonstrated that this departure is primarily due to external intermittency and the associated similarity-breaking effect. >>️

Michael Gauding, Mathis Bode, et al. Self-similarity of turbulent jet flows with internal and external intermittency. Journal of Fluid Mechanics.  919 , 25, A41. doi: 10.1017/ jfm.2021.399. Jun 1,  2021.


Michael Gauding, Mathis Bode, et al. On the combined effect of internal and external intermittency in turbulent non-premixed jet flames. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute. 38, (2): 2767-2774. doi: 10.1016/ j.proci.2020.08.022. Dec 9, 2020.


keyword 'Intermittency' in ScienceDirect


Also

1939 - stocastici accessi (di traslitteranti ludi). Notes. Jan 11, 2006. 
(quasi-stochastic poetry )


2064 - on responses to deviant stimuli.
Notes. Sep 26, 2006. (quasi-stochastic poetry )



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