# gst: apropos of poetry, poetry inside science ... and vice versa

<< Poetry is a great tool for interrogating and questioning the world,  (..) There are so many amazing science stories out there that people don't know about because they are hidden in the jargon of scientific papers, (..) Poetry levels hierarchies of intellect, >> Sam Illingworth

<< A good science poem is one that calls upon a scientific idea but then tweaks it and elevates it in a way that a simple description can’t, >> Sunayana Bhargava

Katherine Wright. Scientists Take on Poetry. Physics 13, 150. Sep 22, 2020. 

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v13/150   

Also

Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/

# brain: the drug ISRIB reverses age-related cognitive decline within days (in mice) and even enhance cognition in healthy animals

<< Just a few doses of an experimental drug can reverse age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, (..)  The drug, called ISRIB (ISR InhiBitor), has already been shown in laboratory studies to restore memory function months after traumatic brain injury (TBI), reverse cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome , prevent noise-related hearing loss, fight certain types of prostate cancer , and even enhance cognition in healthy animals. >>

<< In the new study, researchers showed rapid restoration of youthful cognitive abilities in aged mice, accompanied by a rejuvenation of brain and immune cells that could help explain improvements in brain function. >>

<< ISRIB's extremely rapid effects show for the first time that a significant component of age-related cognitive losses may be caused by a kind of reversible physiological "blockage" rather than more permanent degradation, >> Susanna Rosi.

<< The data suggest that the aged brain has not permanently lost essential cognitive capacities, as was commonly assumed, but rather that these cognitive resources are still there but have been somehow blocked, trapped by a vicious cycle of cellular stress, (..)  Our work with ISRIB demonstrates a way to break that cycle and restore cognitive abilities that had become walled off over time. >> Peter Walter.

Drug reverses age-related cognitive decline within days. University of California, San Francisco. Dec 01, 2020.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-drug-reverses-age-related-cognitive-decline.html

Karen Krukowski, Amber Nolan, et al. 

Small molecule cognitive enhancer reverses age-related memory decline in mice. eLife. doi: 10.7554/ eLife.62048. Dec 1, 2020.

https://elifesciences.org/articles/62048  

# phys: stable vortex loops intersected by point singularities (in magnets)

<< Vortex rings are remarkably stable structures that occur in a large variety of systems (..) Although vortex rings have also been predicted to exist in ferromagnets, they have not yet been observed. >>

AA << imaged three-dimensional structures forming closed vortex loops in a bulk micromagnet. The cross-section of these loops consists of a vortex–antivortex pair and, on the basis of magnetic vorticity (they) identify these configurations as magnetic vortex rings. >>

<< In addition, (they) observe stable vortex loops intersected by point singularities at which the magnetization within the vortex and antivortex cores reverses. >>

Claire Donnelly, Konstantin L. Metlov, et al. Experimental observation of vortex rings in a bulk magnet. Nature Physics. doi: 10.1038/ s41567-020-01057-3. Nov 30,  2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-01057-3

Magnetic vortices come full circle. 

Paul Scherrer Institute. Nov 30, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-magnetic-vortices-full-circle.html

# life: apropos of ghosts, a bizarre answer to my previous post, the 'cosmic ghost' ...

<<  They were on a mission to count sheep when they found something they had not counted on. >>

Peter Szekely. Reuters: Space oddity? Monolith in Utah desert mystifies helicopter crew. Nov 25, 2020.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-monolith/space-oddity-monolith-in-utah-desert-mystifies-helicopter-crew-idUSKBN28501O

Also

apropos of unsubstantiated belief (e.g. paranormal belief, anomalistic psychology, ...) why so many people believe in 'ghosts'. FonT.  19 Nov 19, 2020.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2020/11/life-apropos-of-unsubstantiated-belief.html

# life: apropos of unsubstantiated belief (e.g. paranormal belief, anomalistic psychology, ...) why so many people believe in 'ghosts'.

<< Unlikely as it might seem in the cold light of day, ghosts and hauntings are a mainstream area of belief. Recent studies by YouGov in the UK and the USA show that between 30% and 50% of the population says they believe in ghosts. Belief in ghosts also appears to be global, with most (if not all) cultures around the world having some widely accepted kind of ghosts. >> 

<< The existence of a ghost as an incorporeal (bodyless) soul or spirit of a dead person or animal is contrary to the laws of nature as we understand them, so it seems there is something here that calls for explanation. We can look at the worlds of literature, philosophy and anthropology for some of the reasons why people are so keen to believe. >> 

<< Looking at how the brain works, the experience of hallucinations is a lot more common than many people realise. The SPR (Society for Psychical Research), founded in 1882, collected thousands of verified first-hand reports of visual or auditory hallucinations (..)   https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/ghosts-and-apparitions-psi-research-overview#footnote52_nux8rmw   (..) Another source of hallucinations is the phenomenon of sleep paralysis, (..) >> 

<< According to the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, belief comes quickly and naturally, whereas scepticism is slow and unnatural. In a study of neural activity, Harris and colleagues discovered that believing a statement requires less effort than disbelieving it. >>

<<  Given these multiple reasons for us to believe in ghosts, it seems that the belief is likely to be with us for many years to come. >> 

Anna Stone. ‘I see dead people’: why so many of us believe in ghosts. 

Oct 30, 2020. 

https://theconversation.com/i-see-dead-people-why-so-many-of-us-believe-in-ghosts-148886

Also

keyword 'paranormal belief' in PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=paranormal+belief

keyword 'fantasmi' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)

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

# chem: photocatalytic hydrogen production activity by single-atom alloy (SAA) cocatalyst

<< Photocatalysis, converting solar energy into chemical energy, has been recognized to be a very promising solution to current energy and environmental issues. >>

<< In contrast to the existing reports centered on co-catalysts, such as the development of non-noble metals, particle size and distribution control, exposed crystal facets and their interface contact with photosensitizers, the regulation on the surface charge state of co-catalysts by changing their microstructures provides vast opportunities for boosting photocatalysis, yet remains extremely rare. >> 

<< In this work, Dr. Jiang's research group (..) has achieved the goal of optimizing Pt surface charge states via the control of bimetallic Pd@Pt (Palladium@Platinum) microstructure and Pt coordination environment. >> 

<< As a result, all Pd@Pt/MOF (/Metal-Organic Framework) present excellent photocatalytic hydrogen production activity due to the electron-rich Pt sites benefited from charge redistribution effect. Moreover, the optimized Pd10@Pt1/MOF composite with SAA (Single-Atom Alloy) co-catalyst, which features the most electron-rich Pt, exhibits an exceptionally high photocatalytic hydrogen production activity, far surpassing its corresponding counterparts  >> 

Single-atom alloy: Superb cocatalyst for photocatalysis. Science China Press. Oct 28, 2020. 

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-single-atom-alloy-superb-cocatalyst-photocatalysis.html  

Yating Pan, Yunyang Qian, et al. Precise fabrication of single-atom alloy co-catalyst with optimal charge state for enhanced photocatalysis. National Science Review, nwaa224. doi: 10.1093/ nsr/nwaa224. Sep 3, 2020. 

https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwaa224/5900997

# brain: the hypothesis that a brain organoid (a lab-grown brain) can reach consciousness.

<< In Alysson Muotri’s laboratory, hundreds of miniature human brains, the size of sesame seeds, float in Petri dishes, sparking with electrical activity. 

These tiny structures, known as brain organoids, are grown from human stem cells and have become a familiar fixture in many labs that study the properties of the brain. Muotri, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), has found some unusual ways to deploy his. He has connected organoids to walking robots, modified their genomes with Neanderthal genes, launched them into orbit aboard the International Space Station, and used them as models to develop more human-like artificial-intelligence (AI) systems. (..) But one experiment has drawn more scrutiny than the others. In August 2019, Muotri’s group published a paper in Cell Stem Cell (*) reporting the creation of human brain organoids that produced coordinated waves of activity, resembling those seen in premature babies. The waves continued for months before the team shut the experiment down. This type of brain-wide, coordinated electrical activity is one of the properties of a conscious brain. >> 

Sara Reardon. Can lab-grown brains become conscious? Nature 586, 658-661. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-020-02986-y. Oct 27, 2020. Correction Nov 4, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02986-y     

(*)  Trujillo CA, Gao R, et al. Complex Oscillatory Waves Emerging from Cortical Organoids Model Early Human Brain Network Development. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Oct 3;25(4):558-569.e7. doi: 10.1016/ j.stem.2019.08.002. Aug 29, 2019. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31474560/

https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(19)30337-6