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venerdì 3 febbraio 2017

# s-gst: literature with arithmetic inside

AA << graphed the happiness and sadness of words that occurred across the pages of more than 1,300 fiction works to reveal the emotional arcs and discovered relatively few variations >>

<< A different study (..) found that sentence lengths in books frequently form a fractal pattern—a set of objects that repeat on a small and large scale, the way small, triangular leaflets make up larger, triangular leaves that make up a larger, triangular palm frond >>

<< Why analyze the mathematics of literature? >>

Mark  Fischetti. Great  Literature  Is  Surprisingly Arithmetic. Scientific  American.  Feb. 2017.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/great-literature-is-surprisingly-arithmetic/

giovedì 2 febbraio 2017

# s-phys: squeezing hydrogen ... they're looking at something that's never existed before

<< This is the holy grail of high-pressure physics [..] It's the first-ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so when you're looking at it, you're looking at something that's never existed before >> Isaac F. Silvera

<< To create it [metallic hydrogen], Silvera and Dias squeezed a tiny hydrogen sample at 495 gigapascal, or more than 71.7 million pounds-per-square inch - greater than the pressure at the center of the Earth >>

<< In addition to helping scientists answer fundamental questions about the nature of matter, the material is theorized to have a wide range of applications, including as a room-temperature superconductor >>

Metallic hydrogen, once theory, becomes reality. Jan. 26, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-metallic-hydrogen-theory-reality.html

Ranga P. Dias, Isaac F. Silvera. Observation of the Wigner-Huntington transition to metallic hydrogen. Science  26 Jan 2017. DOI: 10.1126/science.aal1579

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/01/25/science.aal1579

mercoledì 1 febbraio 2017

# s-chem: a viscoelastic tongue with reversible saliva (spit and softness) to hang on to the next meal

<< A frog uses its whip-like tongue to snag its prey faster than a human can blink, hitting it with a force five times greater than gravity >>

<< A frog's saliva is thick and sticky during prey capture, then turns thin and watery as prey is removed inside the mouth >>

<< The tongue, which was found to be as soft as brain tissue and 10 times softer than a human's tongue, stretches and stores energy much like a spring >>

<< This combination of spit and softness is so effective that it provides the tongue 50 times greater work of adhesion than synthetic polymer materials such as sticky-hand toys >>

<< There are actually three phases (..) When the tongue first hits the insect, the saliva is almost like water and fills all the bug's crevices. Then, when the tongue snaps back, the saliva changes and becomes more viscous—thicker than honey, actually—gripping the insect for the ride back. The saliva turns watery again when the insect is sheared off inside the mouth >>

Reversible saliva allows frogs to hang on to next meal.  Jan. 31, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-reversible-saliva-frogs-meal.html

Alexis C.Noel, Hao-Yuan Guo, et al. Frogs use a viscoelastic tongue and non-Newtonian saliva to catch prey. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. Publ. 1 February 2017. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0764

http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/127/20160764

domenica 29 gennaio 2017

# s-food-behav: a case of deranged cannibals that devour their offspring ...

<< The major consumption of corn leads to infanticide among the Great hamster, a rodent threatened in Alsace, according to a recent study highlighting "problems related to monoculture" >>

Marlowe Hood. Corn turning French hamsters into deranged cannibals: research. Jan. 27, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-corn-french-hamsters-deranged-cannibals.html

<< maize-based diets cause high rates of maternal infanticides in the European hamster, a farmland species on the verge of extinction in Western Europe. Vitamin B3 supplementation is shown to effectively restore reproductive success in maize-fed females >>

Mathilde L. Tissier, Yves Handrich, et al. Diets derived from maize monoculture cause maternal infanticides in the endangered European hamster due to a vitamin B3 deficiency. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Publ. 18 Jan. 2017.  DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2168

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1847/20162168

sabato 28 gennaio 2017

# s-ai: AI perform better than 75% of

<< A Northwestern University team has developed a new visual problem-solving computational model that performs in the 75th percentile for American adults on a standard intelligence test >>

AI system performs better than 75 percent of American adults on standard visual intelligence test.  Could shrink the gap between computer and human cognition.  Jan. 20, 2017

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ai-system-performs-better-than-75-percent-of-american-adults-on-standard-visual-intelligence-test

Andrew Lovett, Kenneth Forbus. Modeling visual problem solving as analogical reasoning. Psychol. Review, 2017; 124 (1): 60 DOI: 10.1037/rev0000039

http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/rev0000039

mercoledì 25 gennaio 2017

# s-behav: like a Shakespearean band of brothers

<< in-group favoritism and out-group prejudice may rest on more ancient origins than has been presumed >>

<< Chimpanzees are like a band of brothers in the Shakespearean spirit of Henry the Fifth's St. Crispin day speech >>

Oxytocin enhances social affiliation in chimpanzee groups. Dec. 27, 2016

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-12-oxytocin-social-affiliation-chimpanzee-groups.html

Liran Samuni, Anna Preis, et al. Oxytocin reactivity during intergroup conflict in wild chimpanzees. Dec. 27, 2016 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1616812114  Jan. 10, 2017 vol. 114 no. 2 268-273

http://m.pnas.org/content/114/2/268.abstract

martedì 24 gennaio 2017

# s-gst: lastly, they indicate the generality of that

<< Lastly, [AA] indicate the generality of this phenomenon by demonstrating suppression of chaotic oscillations by coupling to a common hyper-chaotic system. These results then indicate the easy controllability of chaotic oscillators by an external chaotic system, thereby suggesting a potent method that may help design control strategies. >>

Sudhanshu Shekhar Chaurasia, Sudeshna Sinha. Suppression of chaos through coupling to an external chaotic system. 2 Jul 2016.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.00462

also: https://arxiv.org/find/all/1/all:+AND+suppression+chaos/0/1/0/all/0/1