# behav: more about homebodies vs natural explorers

<< Some species of roundworms are just one millimeter long. Their brains have only 302 neurons, compared to our own 86 billion, and lack any recognizable breathing system. They share only 35 percent of their DNA with human beings >>

<< But we have more in common with these creatures, known to scientists by their Latin name Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), than one might think. Hidden in that 35 percent are clues to the origins of our behavior >> Andres Bendesky.

<< Like some humans, some C. elegans are homebodies [..] But other C. elegans are natural explorers >>

Columbia University. How genes shape behavior. Apr 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-genes-behavior.html

Andres Bendesky, Makoto Tsunozaki, et al. Catecholamine receptor polymorphisms affect decision-making in C. elegans. Nature  472,  313–318 (21 April 2011) doi: 10.1038/nature09821

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09821

# brain: actually there is chaos in the brain

<< Besides some empirical findings of chaos at different time scales, the focus is on theoretical modeling of change processes explaining and simulating chaotic dynamics. It will be illustrated how some common factors of psychotherapeutic change and psychological hypotheses on motivation, emotion regulation, and information processing of the client's functioning can be integrated into a comprehensive nonlinear model of human change processes >>

Schiepek GK, Viol K, et al. Psychotherapy Is Chaotic - (Not Only) in a Computational World. Front Psychol. 2017 Apr 24;8:379. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00379. eCollection 2017.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28484401/

<< Cambridge-based researchers provide new evidence that the human brain lives "on the edge of chaos", at a critical transition point between randomness and order. The study provides experimental data on an idea previously fraught with theoretical speculation >>

Public Library of Science. The Human Brain Is On The Edge Of Chaos. Mar 23, 2009.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319224532.htm  

Manfred G. Kitzbichler, Marie L. Smith, et al. Broadband Criticality of Human Brain Network Synchronization. PLoS Comput Biol 2009; 5 (3): e1000314. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000314. Mar 20, 2009.

http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000314

# brain: about creativity in musical improvisation

<< a model of creativity as a combination of generative and reactive processes that coordinate their functions to give rise to perpetually novel and aesthetically rewarding improvised musical output >>

Loui P. Ann. Rapid and flexible creativity in musical improvisation: review and a model. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13628.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29577331/ 

https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nyas.13628 

# gst: high entropy can alloy immiscible nanoparticles

<< Making a giant leap in the 'tiny' field of nanoscience, a multi-institutional team of researchers is the first to create nanoscale particles composed of up to eight distinct elements generally known to be  immiscible, or incapable of being mixed or blended together >>

<< To create the high entropy alloy nanoparticles, the researchers employed a two-step method of flash heating followed by flash cooling >>

<< With cross-discipline curiosity, the demonstrated applications of these particles will become even more widespread >> Steven D. Lacey.

University of Maryland. Scientists mix the unmixable to create 'shocking' nanoparticles. Mar 29, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-03-scientists-unmixable-nanoparticles.html

Yonggang Yao, Zhennan Huang, et al.
Carbothermal shock synthesis of high-entropy-alloy nanoparticles. Science. 2018; 359 (6383): 1489 - 94. doi: 10.1126/science.aan5412

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6383/1489

# gst: like grains of sand in a sandcastle

<< Cells comprising a tissue can pack into disorderly geometries much as do grains of sand in a sandcastle. In doing so they can freeze into a fixed shape—as in a sandcastle—or flow like sand poured from a beach bucket >>

<< This finding makes a deep connection between the physics of inert granular matter such as sand and the geometry of multicellular living systems >> Lior Atia.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Sandcastles and surprising origins of basic cellular functions. Apr 2, 2018

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-sandcastles-basic-cellular-functions.html

Lior Atia, Dapeng Bi, et al. Geometric constraints during epithelial jamming. Nature Physics. doi: 10.1038/s41567-018-0089-9. Apr 2, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-018-0089-9

# astro: Tabby' Star, not Aliens there, but (probably) dust

AA << advanced many theories, such as aliens building a Dyson sphere, but most were shot down. The most likely explanation, Boyajian has suggested, is dust >>

Bob Yirka. Tabby's star dims again.
Mar 28, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-03-tabby-star-dims.html

http://www.wherestheflux.com/single-post/2018/03/19/tldr-DIPPING

# gst: quantum chaos to approach the evolution of a dynamic system

<< A study on the evolution of dynamic systems [..] has unexpectedly led to a better understanding of the chaos in the quantum world >>

<< The tools needed to explore the rigidity of dynamic systems [..] far exceeded those currently available, forcing the team to learn from neighboring disciplines >>

<< As a by-product of this process, researchers have identified the applicability of this project to quantum mechanics, which has led them to formulate a new theorem of thermodynamic quantum chaos combining ideas from large networks. Large networks — such as Big Data, social networks, convolutional neural networks of Artificial Intelligence models — which, although commonly used today, do not yet have adequate theories to explain their operation >>

Shakes Gilles. Study of dynamical systems leads to better understanding of quantum chaos. March 27, 2018.

https://www.thetalkingdemocrat.com/2018/03/study-of-dynamical-systems-leads-to-better-understanding-of-quantum-chaos/