# life: nomadism revisited: the lifestyle of the grey nomads

<< They are two of tens of thousands of retired adults travelling independently across the continent at any given time in search of adventure, warmer weather and camaraderie after a lifetime of hard work. These part-time nomadic adventurers, or grey nomads, have recast the image of Australia’s ageing population. Rather than being inert and conservative, or in need of care, these older Australians are champions of a radical type of urbanism: dwellings are mobile, infrastructure is portable or pluggable, social networks are sprawled, and adherents are on the move daily or weekly. >>

Timothy Moore. Grey nomad lifestyle provides a model for living remotely.
Monash University. Dec 9, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/grey-nomad-lifestyle-provides-a-model-for-living-remotely-106074

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-grey-nomad-lifestyle-remotely.html 

# gst: the complex world of Bacteria; collective oscillations via discontinuous transitions, chemical quorum sensing and brainlike bursts of electricity to communicate.

<< collective oscillations in cell populations can emerge suddenly with nonzero amplitude via a discontinuous transition. >>

Rosa Martinez-Corral, Jintao Liu, et al. Bistable emergence of oscillations in growing Bacillus subtilis biofilms. PNAS Sep 4, 2018;  115 (36) E8333-E8340.  doi: 10.1073/pnas.1805004115

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/36/E8333 

<< As in all communities, cohabiting bacteria need ways to exchange messages. Biologists have known for decades that bacteria can use chemical cues to coordinate their behavior. >>

AA << are now finding that bacteria in biofilms can also talk to one another electrically. Biofilms appear to use electrically charged particles to organize and synchronize activities across large expanses. This electrical exchange has proved so powerful that biofilms even use it to recruit new bacteria from their surroundings, and to negotiate with neighboring biofilms for their mutual well-being. >>

<< Step by step we find that all the things we think bacteria don’t do, they actually do, [..] It’s displacing us from our pedestal. >> Ned Wingreen.

Gabriel Popkin. Bacteria Use Brainlike Bursts of Electricity to Communicate. With electrical signals, cells can organize themselves into complex societies and negotiate with other colonies. Sep 5, 2017

https://twitter.com/QuantaMagazine/status/1071417372500783104

https://www.quantamagazine.org/bacteria-use-brainlike-bursts-of-electricity-to-communicate-20170905/

Also

Gurol M. Suel publ.

http://labs.biology.ucsd.edu/suel/index.html

FonT

intrigante qui l'idea di una Intelligenza Artificiale che, dalle relativamente comode e veloci osservazioni sull'evoluzione di colonie batteriche sotto differenti condizioni, sia in grado di circoscrivere pattern comportamentali di interesse per la modellizzazione (e previsione)  di comunita' altre ...

# phyto: the benefits of being a plant in a patch (among Moricandia moricandioides)

<< Pollinators tend to be preferentially attracted to large floral displays that may comprise more than one plant in a patch. Attracting pollinators thus not only benefits individuals investing in advertising, but also other plants in a patch through a 'magnet' effect.  >>

Ruben Torices, Jose M. Gomez, John R. Pannell. Kin discrimination allows plants to modify investment towards pollinator attraction. Nature Comm.Volume 9, Article number 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04378-3. May 22, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04378-3   

The social networks of flowers. CORDIS. Dec 11, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-social-networks.html 

# exobio: Ceres is rich in organic matter.

<< the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is rich in organic matter. Data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft indicate that Ceres's surface may contain several times the concentration of carbon than is present in the most carbon-rich, primitive meteorites found on Earth. >>

Team finds evidence for carbon-rich surface on Ceres. Southwest Research Institute. Dec 10, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-team-evidence-carbon-rich-surface-ceres.html   

S. Marchi, A. Raponi, et al. An aqueously altered carbon-rich Ceres.
Nature Astronomy. Dec 10, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41550-018-0656-0.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0656-0   

# gst: fingerprints of reality: water drops that vibrate, flames that oscillate, and viscous fluids that form rivulets ...

<< In one of this year’s three winning videos, a drop of blue-dyed water at the bottom of an anise-oil and alcohol mixture begins to grow and shake, eventually pinching off a fragment that floats up. The process repeats several times. Created by now four-time Gallery-of-Fluid-Motion winner Oscar Enríquez of Carlos III University of Madrid and his colleagues, the visuals are accompanied by a soundtrack featuring a musical improvisation by a trio consisting of Enríquez on percussion, a violinist, and a clarinetist. Each instrument in the trio represents one of the three fluids. >>

Award-Winning Fluid Videos. APS. Physics 11, 121. Nov 21, 2018.

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v11/121

# chem: an "auxetic" stretching property: it becomes thicker as it is stretched

AA << discovered a new non-porous material that has unique and inherent "auxetic" stretching properties. >>

<< There are materials in nature that exhibit auxetic capabilities, such as cat skin, the protective layer in mussel shells and tendons in the human body.  (..) When we stretch conventional materials, such as steel bars and rubber bands they become thinner. Auxetic materials on the other hand get thicker. >>

A bit of a stretch... material that thickens as it's pulled. University of Leeds. Dec 4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-bit-material-thickens.html

D. Mistry, S. D. Connell, et al. Coincident molecular auxeticity and negative order parameter in a liquid crystal elastomer. Nature Comm. Volume 9, Article number: 5095. Dec 4, 2018.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07587-y

# behav: oxytocin, effects on social behavior (in Capuchin monkeys)

<< In highly social species, like primates, oxytocin plays an important role in cooperation, and in the formation and maintenance of social relationships. >>

AA << investigate the relationship between oxytocin and affiliative behaviors in socially‐housed captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus [Cebus] apella) [..] oxytocin concentrations increased after subjects engaged in grooming or fur‐rubbing. >>

<< In addition, [AA] found that fur‐rubbing influenced affiliative behaviors, both during and after a social fur‐rubbing bout. While individuals spent more time in contact and proximity while fur‐rubbing, immediately following the fur‐rubbing event (15–30 min afterwards) all affiliative behaviors decreased. >>

<< Overall, these results support a critical role for oxytocin in affiliative behaviors that maintain and strengthen social relationships in capuchin monkeys, and highlight the complexity of the interactions among oxytocin, affiliative behaviors, and social bonding. >>

Marcela E. Benitez, Meghan J. Sosnowski, et al. Urinary oxytocin in capuchin monkeys: Validation and the influence of social behavior. American Journal of Primatology. 2018; 80 (10). doi: 10.1002/ajp.22877.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajp.22877

Anna Varela. Oxytocin linked to social bonding in gregarious capuchin monkeys. Georgia State University.
Dec 5, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-oxytocin-linked-social-bonding-gregarious.html