# gene-evol: behind interactions among organisms: causality more than just correlation

<< Organisms engage in extensive cross-species molecular dialog, yet the underlying molecular actors are known for only a few interactions >>

AA << developed an expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping-based approach to identify cause-and-effect relationships between genes from two partners engaged in an interspecific interaction >>

Yuelong Guo, Sylwia Fudali, et al. Networks Underpinning Symbiosis Revealed Through Cross-Species eQTL Mapping. Genetics August 1, 2017 vol. 206 no. 4 2175-2184; https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.117.202531

http://www.genetics.org/content/206/4/2175

<< In a first-of-its-kind study, NC State researchers applied a new approach to examine how members of two different species – a plant and a pathogen, for example, or a bacterium and a human – interact at the molecular level, and whether slight genetic changes in one species could affect gene expression in the other >>

<< "We're really trying to get to the genetics behind the interactions between two different organisms," said David McK. Bird [..] "Genetics gives us causality more than just correlation." >>

Mick Kulikowski. Study examines cross-species interactions. Sept  12, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-cross-species-interactions.html

# qubit: the flip-flop quantum processor, the begin

AA << introduce the flip-flop qubit, a combination of the electron-nuclear spin states of a phosphorus donor that can be controlled by microwave electric fields >>

<< to encode quantum information in the electron-nuclear spin states of 31P [phosphorus] donors in silicon, and to realize fast, high-fidelity, electrically driven universal quantum gates >>

<< a credible pathway to the construction of a large-scale quantum processor, where atomic-size spin qubits are integrated with silicon nanoelectronic devices, in a platform that does not require atomic-scale precision in the qubit placement [..] and, with realistic assumptions on noise and imperfections, are predicted to achieve error rates compatible with fault-tolerant quantum error correction >>

Guilherme Tosi, Fahd A. Mohiyaddin, et al. Silicon quantum processor with robust long-distance qubit couplings. Nature Comm 8, 2017; 450 Sept 06, 2017 doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00378-x

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00378-x

<< a new way to define a 'spin qubit' that uses both the electron and the nucleus of the atom. Crucially, this new qubit can be controlled using electric signals, instead of magnetic ones. Electric signals are significantly easier to distribute and localise within an electronic chip >>

Flip-flop qubits: Radical new quantum computing design invented. Sept 6, 2017

https://scienmag.com/flip-flop-qubits-radical-new-quantum-computing-design-invented/

Fiona MacDonald,  Mike McRae. Breaking: An Entirely New Type of Quantum Computing Has Been Invented. "It's amazing no one had thought of it before."  Sep 6, 2017

http://www.sciencealert.com/breaking-a-brand-new-type-of-qubit-has-been-unveiled-and-it-finally-makes-quantum-computers-scalable

also

# ai-bot: 352 predictions of when machines will make humans obsolete. Sep 2, 2017

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2017/09/ai-bot-352-predictions-of-when-machines.html

Bill Berry, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Michael Mills (R.E.M.).  "Begin The Begin". In: "Lifes Rich Pageant" (1986)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begin_the_Begin

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaoF8bDMcM

# behav: even more devious than previously thought

<< The common cuckoo, notorious for evading parental duty by hiding her eggs in the nests of other brooding birds, is even more devious than previously thought >>

Scientists expose true extent of cuckoo's cunning. Sept 4, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-scientists-expose-true-extent-cuckoo.html

<< Parasites evolve not only to evade host defences but also to manipulate host behaviour >>

AA << test whether a brood parasitic cuckoo manipulates host perception of predation risk using an acoustic signal—a hawk-like call—that might misdirect host defences and thereby reduce the chance that hosts detect parasitism >>

AA << propose that the female cuckoo chuckle call tricks the hosts into responding vigilantly as if they were exposed to danger from a hawk, instead of from a cuckoo. This would divert host attention from clutch protection to self-protection, and so reduce the chance of the hosts detecting that they have been parasitized >>

Jenny E. York, Nicholas B. Davies. Female cuckoo calls misdirect host defences towards the wrong enemy. Nature Ecology & Evolution. Sept 4, 2017 doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0279-3

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0279-3

# behav: a kind of pulsatile motivation: believing is right even when it's wrong

<< people generally ignore new information that counters their beliefs, even though doing so costs them financially >>

<< It’s as if you don’t hear the voices in your head telling you that you’re wrong, even if you lose money >> Stefano Palminteri

Jessica Hamzelou. We ignore what doesn’t fit with our biases – even if it costs us. Sept 4, 2017

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146124-we-ignore-what-doesnt-fit-with-our-biases-even-if-it-costs-us/

<< While the investigation of decision-making biases has a long history in economics and psychology, learning biases have been much less systematically investigated. This is surprising as most of the choices we deal with in everyday life are recurrent, thus allowing learning to occur and therefore influencing future decision-making >>

AA << show that the valence of an outcome biases both factual and counterfactual learning. When considering factual and counterfactual learning together, it appears that people tend to preferentially take into account information that confirms their current choice >>

Palminteri S, Lefebvre G, et al. Confirmation bias in human reinforcement learning: Evidence from counterfactual feedback processing. PLoS Comput Biol 2017; 13(8): e1005684. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005684

http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005684

# evol: the alien track of Trachilos

AA << describe late Miocene tetrapod footprints (tracks) from the Trachilos locality in western Crete (Greece), which show hominin-like characteristics [..] dated to approximately 5.7 Ma (million years) >>

<< The tracks indicate that the trackmaker lacked claws, and was bipedal, plantigrade, pentadactyl and strongly entaxonic >>

Gerard D. Gierlinski, Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki, et al. Possible hominin footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete? Proceedings of the Geologists Association. doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.006 Aug 31, 2017
   
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001678781730113X

Matteo Marini. Scoperte a Creta impronte di forma umana risalenti a 5,7 milioni di anni fa. LaRepubblica. 03 Set 2017

http://www.repubblica.it/scienze/2017/09/03/news/orme_umane_su_creta_5_7_milioni_di_anni_fa-174544294/

# acad: oops! sometimes they tend to reject H0 hypothesis instead of ...

<< We advertise interventions as working because statistically we think they're working. But they're actually not working. This is becoming a crisis in the sciences >> John List

Thomas Gaulkin. Scholars take aim at false positives in research. Sept 4, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-scholars-aim-false-positives.html

AA << propose to change the default P-value threshold for statistical significance from 0.05 to 0.005 for claims of new discoveries >>

<< The lack of reproducibility of scientific studies ... >>

Daniel J. Benjamin, James O. Berger, et al.  Redefine statistical significance. Nature Human Behaviour.  2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0189-z

FonT

ricordo che gia' negli anni '70 (vale a dire oltre quarant'anni fa) in aggiunta a questa aleggiava  anche un'altra intrigante quaestio, quella relativa all'uso,  diffuso, di test parametrici anziche' altro ...

# zoo: clever but not as clever as humans

<< Apes' intelligence may be entirely misunderstood, because research has so far failed to measure it fairly and accurately >>

<< Hundreds of scientific studies over two decades have told us that apes are clever – just not as clever as us >>

Apes’ abilities misunderstood by decades of poor science. Aug 31, 2017

http://uopnews.port.ac.uk/2017/08/31/apes-abilities-misunderstood-by-decades-of-poor-science/

<< in the last two decades, numerous contemporary researchers in comparative psychology have claimed human superiority over apes in social intelligence, based on two-group comparisons between postindustrial, Western Europeans and captive apes, where the apes have been isolated from European styles of social interaction, and tested with radically different procedures >>

David A. Leavens, Kim A. Bard, William D. Hopkins. The mismeasure of ape social cognition. Animal Cognition. doi: 10.1007/s10071-017-1119-1 Aug 4, 2017

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-017-1119-1

also

# s-brain: the question is: Humans vs Woodstock, who is the smarter?  Jun 26, 2016

http://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2016/06/s-brain-question-is-humans-vs-parrots.html