# chem: Van der Waals' bonds: to measure the tensile strength and the force required to pull the crystal until it breaks

<< Van der Waals' are weak electric forces that attract atoms to one another through subtle shifts in the atom's electron configurations >>

AA << grew and compared three different types of crystals: one pure gallium selenide, one with 0.6 percent tellurium and one with 10.6 percent tellurium. To test the effect on the tellurium on interlayer bonding, [AA] invented the equivalent of a crystal sandwich opener. Their system is able to measure with exquisite detail the tensile strength, the force required to pull the crystal until it breaks >>

Opening the Van der Waals' Sandwich. Oct 31, 2017

https://publishing.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/opening-van-der-waals-sandwich

Tadao Tanabe, Shu Zhao, et al. Effect of adding Te to layered GaSe crystals to increase the van der Waals bonding force featured. Journal of Applied Physics  2017; 122 (16) doi: 10.1063/1.4986768

http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4986768

# gst: more light on 'zombie' phenomena

<< Various parasite-host interactions that involve adaptive manipulation of host behavior display time-of-day synchronization of certain events. One example is the manipulated biting behavior observed in Carpenter ants infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensu lato >>

AA << hypothesized that biological clocks play an important role in this and other parasite-host interactions >>

Charissa de Bekker, Ian Will, et al. Daily rhythms and enrichment patterns in the transcriptome of the behavior-manipulating parasite Ophiocordyceps kimflemingiae.  PLOS ONE 12(11): e0187170. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187170. Nov 3, 2017

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187170

Allison Hurtado, Rachel Williams. Biological Clock Found in Fungal Parasite Sheds More Light on ‘Zombie Ants’ Phenomenon. Nov 6, 2017.

http://today.ucf.edu/biological-clock-found-fungal-parasite-sheds-light-zombie-ants-phenomenon/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171106145654.htm

# gst: the intriguing dynamics of a crack

<< Cracks develop intricate patterns on the surfaces that they create >>

<< Although fracture mechanics predict that slow crack fronts should be straight and form mirror-like surfaces, facet-forming fronts propagate simultaneously within different planes separated by steps >>

Itamar Kolvin, Gil Cohen & Jay Fineberg. Topological defects govern crack front motion and facet formation on broken surfaces.  Nature Materials. doi: 10.1038/nmat5008 Oct 16, 2017

https://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat5008.html

Novel technique reveals the intricate beauty of a cracked glass. Oct 31, 2017

http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/35974

Intricate beauty of a cracked glass
Physics, math and special gels explain the formation of fracture patterns in brittle materials. Oct 31, 2017

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171031111457.htm

# astro: so strong concentration of 'dust pebbles' ultimately leads to a collapse

<<  'dust pebbles' are concentrated so strongly by an instability in the solar nebula that their joint gravitational force ultimately leads to a collapse >>

Comet mission reveals 'missing link' in our understanding of planet formation. Oct 25, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-10-comet-mission-reveals-link-planet.html

Jurgen Blum, Bastian Gundlach, et al. Evidence for the formation of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko through gravitational collapse of a bound clump of pebbles. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, stx2741 doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx2741 Oct 25, 2017

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/mnras/stx2741/4564447

# game: Kel'Thuzad e' il Lich responsabile

<< Kel'Thuzad e' il Lich responsabile di aver diffuso la piaga dei non-morti nel regno di Lordaeron ma e' probabilmente piu' conosciuto dai fan per essere il signore della necropoli di Naxxramas e dunque il boss finale dell'omonimo dungeon. Apparsa inizialmente in World of Warcraft, Naxxramas fu poi riutilizzata nella seconda espansione, Wrath of the Lich King, poiche' quasi nessuno era riuscito a raggiungere il livello necessario per provare il raid la prima volta >>

I FAN DI Blizzard DI IGN! I migliori 25 personaggi creati da Blizzard. Nel bel mezzo della BlizzCon 2017, una classifica per appassionati e curiosi. 04 Nov 2017

http://it.ign.com/m/overwatch-pc/132966/feature/i-migliori-25-personaggi-creati-da-blizzard

# brain: actually they have heads that shrink ...

AA << followed the intra-individual change in skull size and body mass throughout the full cycle in wild recaptured shrews (Sorex araneus) >>

Using X-ray images [AA] << showed that individuals decreased the size of their braincases in anticipation of winter by an average of 15.3%. Braincases then partially regrew in spring by 9.3%. Body mass decreased by 17.6% and then dramatically increased by 83.4% in spring >>

Javier Lazaro, Dina K.N. Dechmann, et al. Profound reversible seasonal changes of individual skull size in a mammal. Current Biology 27 (20): R1106 - 7 doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.055

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)31093-X

These shrews have heads that shrink with the season. Oct 23, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-10-shrews-season.html

# gst: origami, strange behaviors hiding in simple structures

<< The Miura-ori is also unique in having what’s called a negative Poisson’s ratio. When you push on its sides, the top and bottom will contract >>

Marcus Woo. The Atomic Theory of Origami. Oct 31, 2017

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-atomic-theory-of-origami-20171031/