# behav: a small fish (the cleaner wrasse L. dimidiatus) passes self-awareness test

AA << show that the cleaner wrasse fish, Labroides dimidiatus, passes through all phases of the mark test: (i) social reactions towards the reflection, (ii) repeated idiosyncratic behaviours towards the mirror (contingency testing), and (iii) frequent observation of their reflection. >>

Masanori Kohda, Hatta Takashi, et al.  Cleaner wrasse pass the mark test. What are the implications for consciousness and self-awareness testing in animals?  BioRxiv  doi: 10.1101/397067 Aug 21, 2018

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/21/397067

<< Since the 1970s, a test developed by Gordon Gallup has been the gold standard for testing for self-awareness - researchers make a mark on a creature's face and introduce a mirror. If the animal makes some attempt to touch or remove the mark, they are deemed to have self-awareness. Since the test first came into use, only a few animals have ever passed the test. Besides humans, the list currently includes chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, dolphins, elephants and pigeons. >>

Bob Yirka. Small fish passes classic self-awareness test. Sep 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-small-fish-classic-self-awareness.html

# gst: how to detect a sinkhole

<< It comes as quite a shock when the ground beneath your feet, your house or your field suddenly disappears leaving a hole. [..] We call these sinkholes, and they are a global problem. >>

<< These voids may eventually come to the surface over time as the roof progressively collapses. These collapses can be gradual, or can happen suddenly, with surface depressions appearing overnight without warning. >>

Peter Styles, Jamie Pringle. How to detect a sinkhole - before it swallows you up. Keele University. Sep 4, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/how-to-detect-a-sinkhole-before-it-swallows-you-up-101543

# zen: "walking doesn't get the respect it deserves"

<< Walking is one of the things that distinguishes us from all other animals and, according to a Harvard Medical School Review, "walking doesn't get the respect it deserves". >>

<< Our genome has been evolving over millennia and we still have the same genomes as our hunter-gather ancestors who were active and not obese. >> Anthony Hannan.

Jill Margo. Science shows how walking keeps the brain developing deep into old age.

https://www.afr.com/lifestyle/health/science-shows-how-walking-keeps-the-brain-developing-deep-into-old-age-20180820-h147re

Also

Kinhin

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinhin

# brain: a sort of automatic Occam razor: forgetting may be the default mode of the brain

<< Researchers find evidence that neural systems actively remove memories, which suggests that forgetting may be the default mode of the brain. >>

Dalmeet Singh Chawla. To Remember, the Brain Must Actively Forget. July 24, 2018.

https://twitter.com/QuantaMagazine/status/1039034486476955648

https://www.quantamagazine.org/to-remember-the-brain-must-actively-forget-20180724

Also: "Occam" in

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=occam

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor

# gst: even repulsive interactions generate solitons

<< Solitons are nonspreading wave packets that exist in a wide range of real-world systems, including water waves, sound, DNA, optics, and so on. >>

<< Two or more solitons can bind together to form a soliton molecule with dynamics similar to matter molecules, such as vibration, synthesis, and dissociation. >>

<< Formation processes for three types of soliton molecules were studied: ground-, excited-state, and a new one termed an intermittent-vibration soliton molecule. While it is generally believed that attractive interactions of solitons are responsible for the formation of soliton molecules, the authors found that soliton interactions are not limited to attractive interactions. Counterintuitively, even repulsive interactions can lead to the formation of soliton molecules, >>

John Wallace. Investigation with a femtosecond fiber laser finds new type of soliton ‘molecule’. Aug 01, 2018.

https://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-54/issue-08/newsbreaks/investigation-with-a-femtosecond-fiber-laser-finds-new-type-of-soliton-molecule.html

<< For closely‐separated bound solitons, soliton interactions display wide diversities in repeated measurements, including soliton attraction, repelling, collision, vibration, and annihilation. For well‐separated bound solitons, repulsive interactions dominate the soliton interactions. >>

Junsong Peng, Heping Zeng. Build‐Up of Dissipative Optical Soliton Molecules via Diverse Soliton Interactions. Laser & Photonics Reviews 2018, 12, 1800009.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lpor.201800009 

Also "soliton" in:

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=soliton

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=solitons

# gst: a chaos-inducing approach against superbugs evolution

<< The CHAOS [Controlled Hindrance of Adaptation of OrganismS] method takes advantage of this effect, pulling multiple genetic levers in order to build up stress on the bacterial cell and eventually trigger a cascading failure, leaving the bug more vulnerable to current treatments. The technique does not alter the bug's DNA itself, only the expression of individual genes, similar to the way a coded message is rendered useless without the proper decryption. >>

<< We now have a way to cut off the evolutionary pathways of some of the nastiest bugs and potentially prevent future bugs from emerging at all, >> Peter Otoupal

Chaos-inducing genetic approach stymies antibiotic-resistant superbugs. University of Colorado at Boulder. Sept 3, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-chaos-inducing-genetic-approach-stymies-antibiotic-resistant.html 

<< While individual perturbations improved fitness during antibiotic exposure, multiplexed perturbations caused large fitness loss in a significant epistatic fashion. >>

Peter B. Otoupal, William T. Cordell, et al. Multiplexed deactivated CRISPR-Cas9 gene expression perturbations deter bacterial adaptation by inducing negative epistasis. Comm  Biol 1 (129) Sept 3, 2018

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-018-0135-2

# evol-ethno: the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads (2)

AA << present the genome of 'Denisova 11', a bone fragment from Denisova Cave (Russia)3 and show that it comes from an individual who had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. >>

<< The finding of a first-generation Neanderthal–Denisovan offspring among the small number of archaic specimens sequenced to date suggests that mixing between Late Pleistocene hominin groups was common when they met. >>

Viviane Slon, Fabrizio Mafessoni, et al. The genome of the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. Nature. Aug 22, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0455-x

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0455-x

Marlowe Hood. Neandertal mother, Denisovan father-Newly-sequenced genome sheds light on interactions between ancient hominins. Aug 22, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-08-neandertal-mother-denisovan-fathernewly-sequenced-genome.html

Also

the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads. Dec 11, 2017.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2017/12/evol-ethno-fuzzy-dispersals-and.html