# lang: language is learned in brain circuits that preexist humans

AA << study provides strong evidence that language—indeed both first and second language—is learned, in specific ways, by general-purpose neurocognitive mechanisms that preexist Homo sapiens >>

<< our substantial knowledge of the general-purpose mechanisms, from both animal and human studies, may also apply to language >>

Phillip Hamrick, Jarrad A G Lum,  Michael T Ullman. Child first language and adult second language are both tied to general-purpose learning systems. PNAS. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1713975115. Jan 29, 2018.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/25/1713975115

Georgetown University Medical Center. Language is learned in brain circuits that predate humans. Jan 30, 2018.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180130094713.htm

# brain: controlling consciousness

<< There is current controversy regarding the role of prefrontal versus posterior cortices in consciousness. >>

AA << demonstrate that cholinergic stimulation of prefrontal cortex, but not parietal cortical areas, restored wakefulness in rats >>

AA << conclude that cholinergic mechanisms in prefrontal cortex can control the level of consciousness. >>

Dinesh Pal, Jon Dean, et al. Differential role of prefrontal and parietal cortices in controlling level of consciousness. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/262360. Feb 8, 2018.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/02/08/262360

https://twitter.com/biorxivpreprint/status/961721894352445440

# game: chaotic effects of crosstalk injection in social dilemmas

<< In the theory of repeated games, it is a tacit assumption that the various games that a person plays simultaneously have no effect on each other. [AA] introduce a general framework that allows us to analyze “crosstalk” between a player’s concurrent games. In the presence of crosstalk, the action a person experiences in one game can alter the person’s decision in another. >>

Johannes G. Reiter, Christian Hilbe, et al. Crosstalk in concurrent repeated games impedes direct reciprocity and requires stronger levels of forgiveness. Nature Communications 2018; 9 (555). doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02721-8. Feb 7, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02721-8  

Researchers develop the first model to capture crosstalk in social dilemmas. Institute of Science and Technology,  Austria. Feb 8, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-02-capture-crosstalk-social-dilemmas.html

FonT

percio' si usano "ambiguita'", "pettegolezzo", "fake news" per direzionare, disorientare,  colpevolizzare, isolare individui, gruppi, moltitudini ...

Also

# n-soc: fake news, by slow or/and fast catalysis, everyday, everywhere, in all ages.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2017/02/n-soc-fake-news-by-slow-orand-fast.html

Also

<< Il ruolo sociale del pettegolezzo e' immenso. [..] Il pettegolezzo e' una inquisizione continua e reciproca, uno spionaggio e una sorveglianza di tutti da parte di tutti, a tutte le ore del giorno e della notte. >>

Tarde, Gabriel. Ecrits de psychologie sociale. Cit. Prigogine, Ilya. La Nuova Alleanza. Milano: Longanesi & C., 1979,  pp.147-149. Trad. Morchio, Renzo.

# web: Facebook, every mistake you can imagine, by Mark

<<  "Over the years, I've made almost every mistake you can imagine," the Facebook co-founder said on his personal page >>

Zuckerberg acknowledges 'mistakes' as Facebook turns 14. Feb 5, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-02-zuckerberg-acknowledges-facebook.html

FonT
non ho letto il post di Mark Zuckerberg perche' non sono mai (qui si sottolinea "mai") stato iscritto a Facebook;  certo e' che dopo questo post il sospetto declina in certezza:  la moltitudine dei suoi utenti giovandosi di tali servizi non sembra messa molto bene  ... mah

# evol: the rare art of surviving: the case of Actinopterygians ray-finned fishes

<< Actinopterygians (ray-finned fishes) successfully passed through four of the big five mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic >>

<< Many researchers have assumed that the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (..) and end-Triassic extinction (..) had little impact on actinopterygians, despite devastating many other groups. >>

Fiann M. Smithwick, Thomas L. Stubbs. Phanerozoic survivors: Actinopterygian evolution through the Permo-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction events.  Evolution. 2018; 72 (2): 348 - 62. doi: 10.1111/evo.13421. Feb 2, 2018

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.13421/abstract

University of Bristol. The resilience of ray-finned fishes. Feb 5, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-02-resilience-ray-finned-fishes.html 

# web: about ghostly followers: the real Jessica

<< The real Jessica [..] is a Minnesota teenager with a broad smile and wavy hair. [..] But on Twitter, there is a version of Jessica that none of her friends or family would recognize. >>

<< The accounts that most resemble real people [..] reveal a kind of large-scale social identity theft. At least 55,000 of the accounts use the names, profile pictures, hometowns and other personal details of real Twitter users, including minors, according to a Times data analysis. >>

<< By some calculations, as many as 48 million of Twitter’s reported active users - nearly 15 percent - are automated accounts designed to simulate real people, though the company claims that number is far lower. >>

Nicholas Confessore, Gabriel JX  Dance, Richard Harris, Mark Hansen.  The Follower Factory. Jan 27, 2018.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/27/technology/social-media-bots.html

<< A big chunk of those "likes," "retweets," and "followers" lighting up your Twitter account may not be coming from human hands. According to new research from the University of Southern California and Indiana University, up to 15 percent of Twitter accounts are in fact bots rather than people. >>

Michael Newberg. As many as 48 million Twitter accounts aren't people, says study. March 10, 2017.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/10/nearly-48-million-twitter-accounts-could-be-bots-says-study.html

Onur Varol, Emilio Ferrara, et a. Online Human-Bot Interactions: Detection, Estimation, and Characterization. arXiv: 1703.03107.v2 Mar 27, 2017.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1703.03107.pdf

Allie Nicodemo. Why buy social bots? For 'illusion of popularity,' researcher says. Jan 30, 2018

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-01-social-bots-illusion-popularity.html

# ecol: first census of Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey

AA << present the first systematic assessment of the population, demography and distribution of the Endangered Zanzibar red colobus Piliocolobus kirkii, in Unguja in the Zanzibar archipelago >>

AA << estimate the total population comprises 5,862 individuals in 342 groups (mean group size 17.12); 3.4 times the mean of all previous estimates >>

<< The results indicate that P. kirkii is resilient and thriving far better than assumed >>

Tim RB Davenport, Said A Fakih, et al.  Zanzibar's  endemic red colobus Piliocolobus kirkii: first systematic  and total assessment  of population, demography and distribution. Oryx, 1-9. doi: org/10.1017/S003060531700148X. Dec 07, 2017

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/zanzibars-endemic-red-colobus-piliocolobus-kirkii-first-systematic-and-total-assessment-of-population-demography-and-distribution/F084062464F9C99208E5F7E8CB155880

Wildlife Conservation Society. Hope for one of the world's rarest primates: First census of Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey. Dec 14, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-world-rarest-primates-census-zanzibar.html