# archeol: on the ancient turquoise

<< turquoise used by the Aztecs and Mixtecs likely derives from Mesoamerican sources and was not acquired through long-distance exchange with the Southwest >>

Alyson M. Thibodeau, Leonardo Lopez Lujan, et al. Was Aztec and Mixtec turquoise mined in the American Southwest?  Science Advances. Jun 13,  2018; 4 (6), eaas9370. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aas9370

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/6/eaas9370

<< This work revises our understanding of these relatively rare objects and provides a new perspective on the availability of turquoise, which was a highly valued luxury resource in ancient Mesoamerica >>

<< These findings potentially re-shape our understanding of both the nature and extent of long-distance contacts between Mesoamerican and Southwestern societies (..) I hope this inspires people to be skeptical of claims >> Alyson Thibodeau.

New research unveils true origin of ancient turquoise. Dickinson College. Jun 13, 2018

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-06-unveils-true-ancient-turquoise.html

# gst: Sustainability, Die-off, Collapse, Oscillation: 4 classes of traject. to depict interactions of a resource-intensive tech species with its host planet.

AA << have used the formalism of dynamical systems theory to explore a highly simplified model for the interaction of a resource-intensive technological species with its host planet. >>

AA << find four distinct classes of trajectories (..)

Sustainability: For these classes, stable equilibria (..) exist which can be approached monotonically. The population rises smoothly to a steady-state value. The planetary environment is monotonically perturbed from its initial value e0 and reaches a new steady state that can support a large population.

Die-off: For these classes, stable equilibria (..) exist which cannot be approached monotonically. The population overshoots the environment's carrying capacity, reaches a peak, and is forced to decline as the environment reaches its new steady state.

Collapse: For these classes, stable equilibria with nonzero population do not exist. In these cases the population experiences a rapid decline after reaching its peak value. It is noteworthy that collapse can occur even though the population has begun leveling off due to the civilization's switching from high-impact to low-impact energy modalities.

Oscillation: In this class, a stable limit cycle exists rather than an equilibrium. The population and the planetary environment cycle between high and low values. >>

Frank A, Carroll-Nellenback Jonathan, et al. The Anthropocene Generalized: Evolution of Exo-Civilizations and Their Planetary Feedback. Astrobiology. 18 (5), May 1, 2018. doi: 10.1089/ast.2017.1671.

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2017.1671

Alien apocalypse: Can any civilization make it through climate change? University of Rochester. Jun 5, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-06-alien-apocalypse-civilization-climate.html

# brain: understanding of zero even among honey bees

AA << trained individual honey bees to the numerical concepts of "greater than" or "less than" using stimuli containing one to six elemental features. Bees could subsequently extrapolate the concept of less than to order zero numerosity at the lower end of the numerical continuum. Bees demonstrated an understanding that parallels animals such as the African grey parrot, nonhuman primates, and even preschool children. >>

Scarlett R Howard, Aurore Avargues-Weber, et al. Numerical Ordering of Zero in Honey Bees. Science, 360 (6393), 1124-1126. 2018 Jun 8. doi: 10.1126/science.aar4975.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pubmed/29880690-numerical-ordering-of-zero-in-honey-bees/

FonT

questa news la devo a mia moglie Tamara, anche lei pulsatile nomade di labirinti ...

 

# ai: open source AI projects

<< The Linux Foundation has published a free ebook by Ibrahim Haddad examining popular open source AI projects, including Acumos AI, Apache Spark, Caffe, TensorFlow, and others. >>

<< "It is increasingly common to see AI as open source projects,” Haddad said. And, “as with any technology where talent premiums are high, the network effects of open source are very strong.” >>

Amber Ankerholz. Free Ebook Offers Insight on 16 Open Source AI Projects. May 22, 2018.

https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/free-ebook-offers-insight-on-16-open-source-ai-projects/   

# drugs: the sweet side of a snake venom (B. jararaca)

AA << report on the sweet side of snake venom toxins >>

<< most proteins in lancehead venom are modified with glycans, which can affect the proteins' folding, stability and binding >>

<< Glycans containing sialic acid may help in venom solubility and increase toxin half-life >>

<< Sialic acid on a toxic enzyme may also bind to host proteins called siglecs [sialic acid-binding Ig superfamily  lectins], pulling the enzyme closer to target cells for greater effect >>

How just drops of viper venom pack a deadly punch. Am Soc for Biochem and Molec Biol. Jun 1, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-06-viper-venom-deadly.html

Debora Andrade-Silva, David Ashline, et al. Structures of N-Glycans of Bothrops venoms revealed as molecular signatures that contribute to venom phenotype in viperid snakes. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA118.000748 mcp.RA118.000748. May 1, 2018.

http://m.mcponline.org/content/early/2018/04/30/mcp.RA118.000748

# life: if your next interviewer will be a bot named Vera

<< You have a telephone interview for your dream job, and you're feeling nervous. You make yourself a cup of tea as you wait for the phone to ring, and you count to three before picking up. Now imagine that your interviewer is a robot named Vera. >>

Julie Jammot. Interview with a robot: AI revolution hits human resources. Apr 27, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-robot-ai-revolution-human-resources.html

FonT

Intrigante un ipotetico AI bot in grado di modulare le interviste allo scopo di  calcolare "in tempo reale" parametri psicologici, di validita' e affidabilita' delle informazioni raccolte da ogni singolo intervistato, anche nell'ambito di sondaggi politici ...

# gst: deep, super-resolution vistas through tiny tornadoes of magnetized plasma

<< To get the extremely high-resolution images vital to study new materials, microbes, and more, scientists often build microscopes based on optical vortices. >>

AA << devised a way to make optical vortices with 1000 times more power than previous methods. Their design uses strong, nonuniform magnetic fields to control plasmas, or ionized gases, to create the vortices. >>

US Department of Energy. Magnetized plasmas that twist light can produce powerful microscopes and more. May 7, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-05-magnetized-plasmas-powerful-microscopes.html

Kenan Qu, Qing Jia, Nathaniel J. Fisch. Plasma q-plate for generation and manipulation of intense optical vortices. Phys. Rev. E 96, 053207.  doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.96.053207. Nov 28, 2017.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.053207