# brain: pulsatile curiosity

<< The most surprising association offered new insight: Children with lower socioeconomic status generally have lower achievement than peers, but those who were characterized as curious performed similarly on math and reading assessments as children from higher income families. Our results suggest that while higher curiosity is associated with higher academic achievement in all children, the association of curiosity with academic achievement is greater in children with low socioeconomic status >> Prachi Shah.

University of Michigan. Study explores link between curiosity and school achievement. Apr 30, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-explores-link-curiosity-school.html

Prachi E. Shah, Heidi M. Weeks, et al. Early childhood curiosity and kindergarten reading and math academic achievement. Pediatric Research. doi: 10.1038/s41390-018-0039-3. Apr 26, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-018-0039-3

# gst phys rmx : finding inspiration in atmospheric whistles (to stop particles to run away)

<< The challenge of fusion energy is often equated to capturing- and holding-lightning in a bottle. The analogy is apt. Lightning and a fusion energy plasma have a lot in common >> [1]

AA << found another characteristic shared between the two types of plasmas: an odd electromagnetic wave known as a whistler >> [1]

<< Intermittent bursts of activity indicate that whistlers are interacting with relativistic electrons in a cyclic manner >> [1]

<< The mode amplitudes show intermittent time variations correlated with changes in the electron cyclotron emission that follow predator-prey cycles >> [2]

<< the Team thinks there is a way to inject whistlers into a plasma to control runaway electrons. The whistlers would bleed energy from the particles, making them less likely to run away. The whistlers would bleed energy from the particles, making them less likely to run away.>> [1]

[1] - US Department of Energy. Fusion scientists find inspiration in atmospheric whistles. May 3, 2018.   https://m.phys.org/news/2018-05-fusion-scientists-atmospheric.html

[2] - Spong DA, Heidbrink WW, et al. First Direct Observation of Runaway-Electron-Driven Whistler Waves in Tokamaks. Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 155002 - Publ. Apr 11, 2018.    https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.155002  

# ecol: a live streaming audio from the depths (of the sea)

<< Starting this week, anyone can eavesdrop on sounds in the deep sea via a continuous streaming YouTube video that carries live sound from 900 meters (3,000 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay >>

Kim Fulton-Bennett. Eavesdropping on the deep-New live streaming audio from a deep-sea hydrophone. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Apr 24, 2018.

https://www.mbari.org/hydrophone-stream-release/

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-eavesdropping-deepnew-streaming-audio-deep-sea.html

Live stream from a deep-ocean soundscape.

https://www.mbari.org/deep-sea-sound-recordings-live-stream/

# phys: entanglement observed in near-macroscopic objects

<< Perhaps the strangest prediction of quantum theory is entanglement, a phenomenon whereby two distant objects become intertwined in a manner that defies both classical physics and a common-sense understanding of reality >>

<< In work recently published in Nature, a team (..) has shown that entanglement of massive objects can be generated and detected >>

Aalto University. Entanglement observed in near-macroscopic objects. Apr25, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-entanglement-near-macroscopic.html 

<< Entanglement has been demonstrated for microscopic-scale systems, such as those involving photons, ions and electron spins, and more recently in microwave and electromechanical devices >>

AA << report such an experimental demonstration, with the moving bodies being two massive micromechanical oscillators, each composed of about 10^12 atoms, coupled to a microwave-frequency electromagnetic cavity that is used to create and stabilize the entanglement of their centre-of-mass motion >>

Ockeloen-Korppi CF, Damskagg E, et al. Stabilized entanglement of massive mechanical oscillators. Nature 2018; 556: 478 - 82. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0038-x. Apr 25, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0038-x

# zen: all things have a bit of soul

<< The robot dogs lined up in their dozens Thursday in Japan were no tech fair display. They were the dearly departed being honoured with their own traditional "funeral." >>

<< Bungen Oi, the priest at the 450-year-old Kofukuji temple in Isumi, east of Tokyo, dismisses the idea that holding memorials for machines is absurd. "All things have a bit of soul" he told AFP (Agence France-Presse) after the service >>

Miwa Suzuki. Fido funeral: In Japan, a send-off for robot dogs. Apr 26, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-fido-funeral-japan-send-off-robot.html

https://www.afp.com/en/news/2265/fido-funeral-japan-send-robot-dogs-doc-14c3vl1

# gst: the vacuum may not be empty, it may be full of bubbles.

<< In modern quantum mechanical theories, the vacuum is not empty. It is full of bubbles of so-called virtual particles, appearing and disappearing very quickly. Interactions between these virtual particles and a real particle, like the muon, can change how the real particle interacts with the magnetic field, affecting its g-factor >>

Savannah Mitchem, Argonne National Laboratory. Muons spin tales of undiscovered particles. Apr 19, 2018.

https://www.anl.gov/articles/muons-spin-tales-undiscovered-particles

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-muons-tales-undiscovered-particles.html

# life: smart cities

<< Even something as simple as a garbage bin can now be connected to the internet, meaning that it forms part of what is called the internet of things (IoT) >>

<< Through sensors embedded into our cities, and the smartphones in our pockets, smart cities will have the power to constantly identify where people are, who they are meeting and even perhaps what they are doing >>

Sara Degli-Esposti, Siraj Ahmed Shaikh. With smart cities, your every step will be recorded. Apr 17, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/with-smart-cities-your-every-step-will-be-recorded-94527  

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-smart-cities.html   

FonT

"and even perhaps what they are doing" . Non solo. Una ipotetica AI, oltre a collezionare dati, potrebbe verosimilmente generare (su media digitali audio- video ad es.) situazioni assolutamente inventate, di fantasia, percio' mai avvenute nel reale tuttavia difficili se non impossibili da discriminare/ confutare anche in sedi tecniche/  legali/ penali (l'ipotetico Mr. John dormiva inconsapevole nel suo letto e contemporaneamente 500 cam della sua citta' lo riprendevano in strada a passeggio ...). In tali scenari, le attuali violazioni della privacy e i supposti condizionamenti di Facebook etc sull'individuo si  potrebbero riconsiderare attivita' da  fantolini ...