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venerdì 10 maggio 2019

# evol: an irrefutable evidence that they rose from the dead by an 'iterative evolution' process

<< the last surviving flightless species of bird, a type of rail, in the Indian Ocean had previously gone extinct but rose from the dead thanks to a rare process called 'iterative evolution'. >>

<< This is the first time that iterative evolution (the repeated evolution of similar or parallel structures from the same ancestor but at different times) has been seen in rails and one of the most significant in bird records. >>

The bird that came back from the dead. University of Portsmouth. May 9, 2019.

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-05-bird-dead.html

<< Fossil evidence presented here is unique for Rallidae and epitomizes the ability of birds from this clade to successfully colonize isolated islands and evolve flightlessness on multiple occasions. >>

Julian P Hume, David Martill. Repeated evolution of flightlessness in Dryolimnas rails (Aves: Rallidae) after extinction and recolonization on Aldabra. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlz018.  doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz018. May 8, 2019.

https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz018/5487031

giovedì 9 maggio 2019

# trade: happy commerce (also on a galactic scale) with a hypothetical "S-money"

<< A new type of money that allows users to make decisions based on information arriving at different locations and times, and that could also protect against attacks from quantum computers, has been proposed by a researcher at the University of Cambridge. >>

<< The theoretical framework, dubbed 'S-money', could ensure completely unforgeable and secure authentication, and allow faster and more flexible responses than any existing financial technology, harnessing the combined power of quantum theory and relativity. In fact, it could conceivably make it possible to conduct commerce across the Solar System and beyond, without long time lags, although commerce on a galactic scale is a fanciful notion at this point. >>

S-money: Ultra-secure form of virtual money proposed. University of Cambridge. May 7, 2019

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-05-s-money-ultra-secure-virtual-money.html

Adrian Kent. S-money: virtual tokens for a relativistic economy. Proceedings of the Royal Society A doi: 10.1098/rspa.2019.0170  May 8, 2019.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.2019.0170

Also

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

mercoledì 8 maggio 2019

# brain: changing like a skilled jazz player

<< The new findings are just the latest evidence that our brains are capable of changing in response to experiential learning from a very early age, (..) but that there are underlying constraints hardwired into the brain that shape and guide how those changes unfold. Like a skilled jazz player who spontaneously invents fresh melodies while still respecting the grammar of music, the brain is a master improviser that can create new activations (..), but it must still follow certain rules-like those regarding objects preferentially viewed with our central gaze-about where these category-preferring activations can take place. >> Kalanit Grill-Spector.

Ker Than. Researchers identify brain region activated by Pokemon characters. Stanford University. May 6, 2019.

https://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-brain-region-pokemon-characters.html

Jesse Gomez, Michael Barnett, Kalanit Grill-Spector. Extensive childhood experience with Pokémon suggests eccentricity drives organization of visual cortex. Nature Human Behaviour. doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0592-8. May 6, 2019

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0592-8

Also

"jazz"

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

lunedì 6 maggio 2019

# gst art: an image of chaotic hydrodynamics, by "Leo"

<< One of the first to visualize these flows was scientist, artist, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, who combined keen observational skills with unparalleled artistic talent to catalog turbulent flow phenomena. Back in 1509, Leonardo was not merely drawing pictures. He was attempting to capture the essence of nature through systematic observation and description. In this figure,  https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/daVinciWake.png   we see one of his studies of wake turbulence, the development of a region of chaotic flow as water streams past an obstacle. >>

Lee Phillips. Turbulence, the oldest unsolved problem in physics. The flow of water through a pipe is still in many ways an unsolved problem. Oct 10, 2018.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/turbulence-the-oldest-unsolved-problem-in-physics/

venerdì 3 maggio 2019

# gst: the interaction time to distinguish self and non-self

<< The Freiburg experiments supports the theory that T cells distinguish self and non-self, pathogenic molecules on the basis of the interaction time. >>

A question of time. University of Freiburg. May 3, 2019

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/uof-aqo050319.php

Yousefi OS, Günther M, et al. (2019) Optogenetic control shows that kinetic proofreading regulates the activity of the T cell receptor. eLife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.42475.

https://elifesciences.org/articles/42475

martedì 30 aprile 2019

# evol: hanging by a rope off a cliff, the vibrant pigments of bird feathers to trace the mechanics of evolution

<< All organisms depend on input of exogenous compounds that cannot be internally produced. Gain and loss of such dependencies structure ecological communities and drive species’ evolution, yet the evolution of mechanisms that accommodate these variable dependencies remain elusive. (AA) show that historical cycles of gains and losses of external dependencies in avian carotenoid-producing networks are linked to their evolutionary diversification. >>

Alexander V. Badyaev, Alexander B. Posner, et al. Cycles of external dependency drive evolution of avian carotenoid networks. Nature Communications volume 10, Article number: 1596 Apr 8, 2019.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09579-y

<< Think about hanging by a rope off a cliff. With one rope, if it disappears, you die. If you have two and one fails, you get to live. But having a third safety rope allows enough stability that you can make something out of the first two - like a ladder - and thus take control of your trajectory while the stability lasts, >> Alexander Badyaev.

What the vibrant pigments of bird feathers can teach us about how evolution works. University of Arizona. Apr 24, 2019.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/uoa-wtv042419.php

lunedì 29 aprile 2019

# ai.bot: "Machine Behaviour", the multi-disciplinary, ethological approach to "Intelligent Machines", by MIT

<< Rather than simply being scared of "intelligent machines," (..) society needs to study algorithms with a multi-disciplinary approach akin to the field of ethology. >>

Tiernan Ray. MIT finally gives a name to the sum of all AI fears. Apr 25, 2019.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/mit-finally-gives-a-name-to-the-sum-of-all-ai-fears/

<< Machines powered by artificial intelligence increasingly mediate our social, cultural, economic and political interactions. >>

AA << first outline a set of questions that are fundamental to this emerging field and then explore the technical, legal and institutional constraints on the study of machine behaviour. >>

Iyad Rahwan, Manuel Cebrian, et al. Machine behaviour. Nature volume 568, pages477–486 Apr 24, 2019.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1138-y

Also

anomalous formation of molecules after vapor deposition. Dec 31, 2015

http://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2015/12/rmx-s-gst-anomalous-formation-of.html