# evol: dry, chaotic environment in the transition to modern (nomadic) humans

<< A progressively drying climate punctuated by variable wetter episodes may have precipitated the transition from our hominin ancestors to anatomically modern humans >>

Dryer, less predictable environment may have spurred human evolution. University of Arizona. Oct 8, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-dryer-environment-spurred-human-evolution.html

R. Bernhart Owen, Veronica M. Muiruri, et al. Progressive aridification in East Africa over the last half million years and implications for human evolution. PNAS Oct 8, 2018 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1801357115 

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/10/03/1801357115

# age: the first of five big report (800-page) on longevity by academic and industry ventures

<< The longevity field is bustling but still fragmented, and the “silver tsunami” is coming. >>

<< That is the takeaway of The Science of Longevity, the behemoth first volume of a four-part series offering a bird’s-eye view of the longevity industry in 2017. The report, a joint production of the Biogerontology Research Foundation, Deep Knowledge Life Science, Aging Analytics Agency, and Longevity.International, synthesizes the growing array of academic and industry ventures related to aging, healthspan, and everything in between. >>

Shelly Fan. We Read This 800-Page Report on the State of Longevity Research So You Don’t Have To. Feb 14, 2018.

https://singularityhub.com/2018/02/14/we-read-this-800-page-report-on-longevity-research-so-you-dont-have-to/

Also

DrugAge Database of Anti-Ageing Drugs

http://genomics.senescence.info/drugs/

# gene: the generation of color pattern in ladybird beetle (H. axyridis aka harlequin ladybird).

<< Many ladybirds have attractive color patterns consisting of black and red. This prominent color pattern is thought to function as a warning that indicates to predators that they are very bitter and unpalatable. >>

AA << focused on the multicolored Asian ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis (also known as the harlequin ladybird), which lives mainly in Siberia and East Asia, and shows >200 color patterns within a species. The team has identified a single gene that regulates such highly diverse ladybird color patterns. >>

A mechanism of color pattern formation in ladybird beetles. National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan. Sep 26, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-mechanism-pattern-formation-ladybird-beetles.html

Toshiya Ando, Takeshi M Matsuda, et al. Repeated inversions within a pannier intron drive diversification of intraspecific colour patterns of ladybird beetles. Nature Communications 9, 3843. Sep 21, 2018.  doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06116-1.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06116-1 

# gst: periodic oscillations of flexible knots

AA << study the dynamics of knotted deformable closed chains sedimenting in a viscous fluid. (..) trefoil and other torus knots often attain a remarkably regular horizontal toroidal structure while sedimenting, with a number of intertwined loops, oscillating periodically around each other. (..) this motion (..) is accompanied by a very slow rotation around the vertical symmetry axis. (..) this oscillating mode of the dynamics can spontaneously form even when starting from a qualitatively different initial configuration. (..) the oscillating modes are usually present as transients or final stages of the evolution, depending on chain aspect ratio and flexibility, and the number of loops. >>

Magdalena Gruziel, Krishnan Thyagarajan, et al. Periodic Motion of Sedimenting Flexible Knots. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 127801 Sep 18,  2018. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.127801.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.127801

The periodic motion of flexible knots, and the connection to DNA. University of Warsaw. Sep 26, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-periodic-motion-flexible-dna.html

# biochem: how an artificial enzyme can convert solar energy into hydrogen gas

<< Hydrogen gas has long been noted as a promising energy carrier, but its production is still dependent on fossil raw materials. Renewable hydrogen gas can be extracted from water, but as yet the systems for doing so have limitations. In the new article, published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, an interdisciplinary European research group led by Uppsala University scientists describe how artificial enzymes convert solar energy into hydrogen gas. >>

Artificial enzymes convert solar energy into hydrogen gas. Uppsala University.
Oct 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-artificial-enzymes-solar-energy-hydrogen.html 

Adam Wegelius, Namita Khanna, et al. Generation of a functional, semisynthetic [FeFe]-hydrogenase in a photosynthetic microorganism. Energy Environ. Sci. 2018, 1754-5692  doi:  10.1039/C8EE01975D. Sep 25, 2018.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2018/EE/C8EE01975D#!divAbstract

# brain: networks that may underlie our perception of free will

<< Our perception of free will is composed of a desire to act (volition) and a sense of responsibility for our actions (agency). >>

AA << study focal brain lesions that disrupt volition, causing akinetic mutism (..), or disrupt agency, causing alien limb syndrome (..), to better localize these processes in the human brain. >>

<< Lesion locations causing akinetic mutism all fell within one network, defined by connectivity to the anterior cingulate cortex. Lesion locations causing alien limb fell within a separate network, defined by connectivity to the precuneus. >>

AA << results demonstrate that lesions in different locations causing disordered volition and agency localize to unique brain networks, lending insight into the neuroanatomical substrate of free will perception. >>

R. Ryan Darby, Juho Joutsa, et al. Lesion network localization of free will. PNAS Oct 1, 2018.  doi: 10.1073/pnas.1814117115  

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/09/25/1814117115 

Study looks at brain networks involved with free will. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Oct 1, 2018

https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2018-10-brain-networks-involved-free.html  

# trade: deep transition scenarios in finance and banking through webtech

<< Good Money is a mobile-first banking wallet that allows users to hold all of their assets, both fiat and cryptocurrencies, in one place. The wallet has no annual fee ($0 per year vs. the average $400 per year of consumer checking accounts) and allows for full fiat and cryptocurrency interoperability. Further, Good Money offers a 1.8 percent interest rate - over 100 times greater than interest rates offered by traditional checking accounts. Beyond interest rates, a second failure of traditional consumer banking is that customers do not control how their stored money is invested by banks. Meaning that your money could well be invested in the petroleum industry when you are in fact a die-hard environmentalist. As the name implies, Good Money enables you as the user to choose how your stored money is invested, aligning it with your vision for humanity. >>

Peter H. Diamandis. The Biggest Tech-Driven Changes Happening in Finance and Banking. Sep 20, 2018.

https://singularityhub.com/2018/09/20/the-bright-tech-driven-future-of-finance-and-banking/