# s-gene: epigenetics, more than just genes

<< We are more than the sum of our genes. Epigenetic mechanisms modulated by environmental cues such as diet, disease or lifestyle take a (..) role in regulating the DNA by switching genes on and off >>

AA << focused on a particular modification called H3K27me3 that can also be found in humans >>

Max Planck Society. Epigenetics between the generations: Researchers prove that we inherit more than just genes. July 14, 2017

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-07-epigenetics-inherit-genes.html

Fides Zenk, Eva Loeser, et al. Germ line–inherited H3K27me3 restricts enhancer function during maternal-to-zygotic transition. Science  14 Jul 2017: Vol. 357, Issue 6347, pp. 212-216 doi: 10.1126/science.aam5339

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6347/212

# s-behav: mafia-style among Cuckoos (the brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater)

<< Why do many hosts accept costly avian brood parasitism even when parasitic eggs and nestlings differ dramatically in appearance from their own? Scientists argue that evolutionary lag or equilibrium can explain this evolutionary enigma. Few, however, consider the potential of parasitic birds to enforce acceptance by destroying eggs or nestlings of hosts that eject parasitic eggs and thereby reject parasitism.  This retaliatory “mafia” behavior has been reported in one species of parasitic cuckoo but never in parasitic cowbirds. >>

AA << present experimental evidence of mafia behavior in the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater ) >>

Jeffrey P. Hoover, Scott K. Robinson. Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs. PNAS 2007 vol. 104 no. 11: 4479–4483  doi: 10.1073/pnas.0609710104

http://m.pnas.org/content/104/11/4479

Andy Coghlan. Cuckoos use mafia-style tactics to raise young.  March 5, 2007

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11314-cuckoos-use-mafia-style-tactics-to-raise-young/

Brown-headed cowbird

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_cowbird

# e-tech: store data with CRISPR–Cas tech.; biologists have now joined the party

<< Internet users have a variety of format options in which to store their movies, and biologists have now joined the party. Researchers have used the microbial immune system CRISPR–Cas to encode a movie into the genome of the bacterium Escherichia coli. >>

<< “Cells have this privileged access to all sorts of information,” he [Seth Shipman] says. “I would like to have these molecular recordings functioning in the developing nervous system and recording information.” >>

Heidi Ledford. Lights, camera, CRISPR: Biologists use gene editing to store movies in DNA. Technique demonstrated in E. coli suggests ways to record key events in a cell's life. July 12, 2017

http://www.nature.com/news/lights-camera-crispr-biologists-use-gene-editing-to-store-movies-in-dna-1.22288

Shipman, S. L., Nivala, J., et al. Nature doi: 10.1038/nature23017 (2017).

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature23017.epdf

Also

2073 - a few hints of our presence. Oct 13, 2006.

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2006/10/2073-few-hints-of-our-presence.html

# s-brain: neuro-active areas during the real-time creation of funny stories

<< Unlike passive humor appreciation, the neural correlates of real-time humor creation have been unexplored. >> [!]

<< Greater comedic experience was associated with decreased activation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but increased activation in temporal association regions (TMP).  Less experienced comedians manifested greater activation of mPFC, reflecting their deliberate search through TMP association space. Professionals, by contrast, tend to reap the fruits of their spontaneous associations with reduced reliance on top-down guided search. >>

Ori Amir, Irving Biederman. The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity. Front. Hum. Neurosci., 25 Nov. 25, 2016 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00597.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00597

Michelle Boston. Researchers pinpoint the regions of the brain that spark during the telling of a funny story. Feb. 27, 2017.

https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2017-02-regions-brain-funny-story.html

# s-phys: more about retrocausality

<<  In a new paper (..) [AA] have lent new theoretical support for the argument that, if certain reasonable-sounding assumptions are made, then quantum theory must be retrocausal >>

<< retrocausality means that, when an experimenter chooses the measurement setting with which to measure a particle, that decision can influence the properties of that particle (or another particle) in the past, even before the experimenter made their choice. In other words, a decision made in the present can influence something in the past >>

<< "Speculatively, if there is retrocausality in the universe, then it might be the case that there are certain eras, perhaps near the big bang, in which there is not a definite arrow of causality. You might imagine that a signature of such an era might show up in cosmological data, such as the cosmic microwave background. However, this is very speculative, and I have no idea what signatures we might expect yet." >> Matthew S. Leifer.

<< The physicists don't have any experiments lined up to test retrocausality—but as the idea is more an interpretation of observations rather than making new observations, what's needed most may not be a test but more theoretical support >>

Lisa Zyga. Pysicists provide support for retrocausal quantum theory, in which the future influences the past. July 5,  2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-07-physicists-retrocausal-quantum-theory-future.html

Matthew S. Leifer,  Matthew F. Pusey. Is a time symmetric interpretation of quantum theory possible without retrocausality?   Proc. Royal Soc. A. June  2017 Volume 473,  issue 2202 doi: 10.1098/rspa.2016.0607 Publ. Jun. 21, 2017.

http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/473/2202/20160607

https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.07871

# s-astro: the sonic multiverse, by Gavin Starks

<< A project that explores whether there is a musical equivalent to the curvature of spacetime will be presented on Thursday 6 July by Gavin Starks at the National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Hull >>

AA << aim is to test whether mathematical relationships that describe cosmology and quantum mechanics can be applied to a sonic universe , or 'soniverse' >>

Royal Astronomical Society. Adventures in acoustic cosmology. July 6, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-07-adventures-acoustic-cosmology.html

Gavin Starks. Escape into the multiverse. Jan. 27, 2017

http://www.binarydust.org/2017/01/27/escape-into-the-multiverse/

# s-behav: mimic the sound of musk hogs to avoid being eaten

<< Bird or beast? A cuckoo seems to have learned how to mimic the sounds made by the pig-like peccaries it lives alongside, perhaps to ward off predators >>

Sandrine Ceurstemont. Cuckoos mimic the sound of musk hogs to avoid being eaten. July 3, 2017.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2139386-cuckoos-mimic-the-sound-of-musk-hogs-to-avoid-being-eaten/

<< Acoustic communication is particularly important in environments such as dense tropical forests, where the dim light constrains the efficacy of visual signals >>

<< In these environments, complex species interactions could promote the evolution of acoustic signals and result in intriguing patterns of mimicry and convergence >>

AA << demonstrate that the acoustic characteristics of bill clacking in ground-cuckoos are more similar to teeth clacking of peccaries than to bill clacking of the more closely related Geococcyx roadrunner >>

Fabio Raposo do Amaral, Gabriel Macedo, et al. Bluffing in the forest: Neotropical Neomorphus ground-cuckoos and peccaries in a possible case of acoustic mimicry. J Avian Biol doi: 10.1111/jav.01266. June 29, 2017

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jav.01266/full