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venerdì 9 aprile 2021

# gst: this arrangement may not be completely random; you might observe ordered structures (also) into amorphous (metallic glasses) solids

<< Glass, rubber and plastics all belong to a class of matter called amorphous solids. And in spite of how common they are in our everyday lives, amorphous solids have long posed a challenge to scientists. >>

A study << reports on the first-ever determination of the 3D atomic structure of an amorphous solid—in this case, a material called metallic glass. >>️
<< Because amorphous solids have been so difficult to characterize, the researchers expected the atoms to be arranged chaotically. And although about 85% of the atoms were in a disordered arrangement, the researchers were able to identify pockets where a fraction of atoms coalesced into ordered superclusters. The finding demonstrated that even within an amorphous solid, the arrangement of atoms is not completely random. >>️

Wayne Lewis. Century-old problem solved with first-ever 3D atomic imaging of an amorphous solid. University of California, Los Angeles. Mar 31, 2021.


Yang Y., Zhou J., et al. Determining the three-dimensional atomic structure of an amorphous solid. Nature 592, 60–64.  doi: 10.1038/  s41586-021-03354-0. Mar 31, 2021.




giovedì 1 aprile 2021

# behav: a case of extreme human-proto-bot love

TUKO.co.ke << has learnt Yuri Tolochko married his beautiful doll fiancee Margo in a traditional ceremony to mark their 18-month relationship. According to The Sun, the 'wedding' was official as it had a celebrant and a dozen of excited guests who could not keep calm after watching Yuri's romantic first dance with his doll. TUKO.co.ke accessed a video from the event which was posted on Instagram and it showed how stunning Yuri looked in his smart black dinner suit and bow tie, with his 'bride' rocking a lacy white wedding gown. >> 

Tuko. Yuri Tolochko: Bodybuilder marries doll after months of romance.


Magda Ibrahim. LOVE ISN'T DEAD. Bizarre moment bodybuilder MARRIES sex doll in creepy ceremony saying she’s a ‘tender soul inside’. Nov 25, 2020.


Hannah Frishberg. Bodybuilder proposes to sex doll after getting it plastic surgery. Dec10, 2019. 


Also

All things have a bit of soul. FonT. Apr 26, 2018.


Gabe Ibáñez. Autómata. Movie. (2014).





martedì 30 marzo 2021

# ai: how a bot could start playing experimentally (as if it were a video game)

<< Inspired by the mastery of artificial intelligence (AI) over games like Go and Super Mario, scientists (..) trained an AI agent -- an autonomous computational program that observes and acts -- how to conduct research experiments at superhuman levels by using the same approach.  >>

<< Since time at our facility is a precious resource, it is our responsibility to be good stewards of that; this means we need to find ways to use this resource more efficiently so that we can enable more science, (..) One bottleneck is us, the humans who are measuring the samples. We come up with an initial strategy, but adjust it on the fly during the measurement to ensure everything is running smoothly. But we can't watch the measurement all the time because we also need to eat, sleep and do more than just run the experiment." >> Daniel Olds.️

<< This is why we taught an AI agent to conduct scientific experiments as if they were video games. This allows a robot to run the experiment, while we -- humans -- are not there. It enables round-the-clock, fully remote, hands-off experimentation with roughly twice the efficiency that humans can achieve, >> Phillip Maffettone.️
After AIs mastered Go and Super Mario, scientists have taught them how to 'play' experiments. DOE/ Brookhaven National Laboratory. March 25, 2021.


Phillip M Maffettone, Joshua K Lynch, et al.   Gaming the beamlines— employing reinforcement learning to maximize scientific outcomes at large-scale user facilities. Machine Learning: Science and Technology, 2 (2): 025025 doi: 10.1088/ 2632-2153/abc9fc. Mar 25, 2021.


Also

Anomalous formation of molecules after vapor deposition. FonT. Dec 31, 2015.


keyword 'ai' | 'bot' in FonT



keyword 'ia' | 'ai' | 'robota' in Notes (quasi- stochastic poetry)






venerdì 26 marzo 2021

# evol: ancient photosynthesis could be as old as life itself

<< the earliest bacteria had the tools to perform a crucial step in photosynthesis,  (..) The finding also challenges expectations for how life might have evolved on other planets. >>️

<< Photosystem II show patterns of evolution that are usually only attributed to the oldest known enzymes, which were crucial for life itself to evolve >> Tanai Cardona.️

<< enzymes capable of performing the key process in oxygenic photosynthesis -- splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen -- could actually have been present in some of the earliest bacteria. The earliest evidence for life on Earth is over 3.4 billion years old and some studies have suggested that the earliest life could well be older than 4.0 billion years old.  Like the evolution of the eye, the first version of oxygenic photosynthesis may have been very simple and inefficient; as the earliest eyes sensed only light, the earliest photosynthesis may have been very inefficient and slow. (..) that oxygen production was present at all so early on means in other environments, such as on other planets, the transition to complex life could have taken much less time. >>️

Photosynthesis could be as old as life itself. Imperial College London. Mar 24, 2021. 


Thomas Olivera, Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo, et al. Time-resolved comparative molecular evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2021; 1862 (6): 148400. doi: 10.1016/ j.bbabio.2021.148400. Jun 1,  2021.


Also

Lewis M. Ward, Patrick M. Shih. Granick revisited: Synthesizing evolutionary and ecological evidence for the late origin of bacteriochlorophyll via ghost  lineages and horizontal gene transfer. PLoS ONE 16(1): e0239248. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0239248. 
Jan 28, 2021. 



mercoledì 24 marzo 2021

# life: a tiny pill against two unfavorable hypotheses on serial coronavirus pandemics - to avoid the socio-economic psycho-behavioral fallout caused by 1or2achoos (e.g. from Wuhan)

<< Pfizer Inc. said it has begun human safety testing of a new pill to treat the coronavirus that could be used at the first sign of illness. If it succeeds in trials, the pill could be prescribed early in an infection to block viral replication before patients get very sick. The drug binds to an enzyme called a protease (Pfizer’s oral protease inhibitor, code-named PF-07321332,) to keep the virus from replicating. >>

<< In lab tests, it worked against many coronaviruses, including the original SARS virus and MERS. Additionally, the coronavirus protease doesn’t mutate much, which means the therapy is likely to work equally well against numerous variant strains, >>
<< This is really a potential game changer, >>️  Mikael Dolsten️

Robert Langreth. Pfizer Begins Human Trials of New Pill to Treat Coronavirus
Mar 23, 2021 17:38 CET. 


Christie Aschwanden. Five reasons why COVID herd immunity is probably impossible. Nature 591, 520-522. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-021-00728-2. Mar 18, 2021. 


Angela L. Rasmussen, Saskia V. Popescu. SARS-CoV-2 transmission without symptoms.  Science, 2021; 371 (6535): 1206-1207 doi: 10.1126/ science.abf9569   


Also

keyword 'virus' in FonT


keyword 'virus' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry):



lunedì 22 marzo 2021

# gst: weird nature: the generation of complex (frilly, flexible, and functional) wrinkling patterns by 'defects'

<< A ubiquitous motif in nature is the self-similar hierarchical buckling of a thin lamina near its margins. This is seen in leaves, flowers, fungi, corals and marine invertebrates. We investigate this morphology from the perspective of non-Euclidean plate theory. We identify a novel type of defect, a branch-point of the normal map, that allows for the generation of such complex wrinkling patterns in thin elastic hyperbolic surfaces, even in the absence of stretching. We argue that branch points are the natural defects in hyperbolic sheets, they carry a topological charge which gives them a degree of robustness, and they can influence the overall morphology of a hyperbolic surface without concentrating elastic energy. >>️

Kenneth K. Yamamoto, Toby L. Shearman, et al. Nature's forms are frilly, flexible, and functional. arXiv: 2103.10509v1. Mar 18, 2021.


Also

keyword 'error' | 'fuzzy' | 'noise'  in FonT 




keywords 'errore' | 'errori' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)







sabato 20 marzo 2021

# gst: apropos of transitions among granular entities, the behavior of silicone-coated sand mixtures (the 'magic sand')

<< Sand is a fascinating material. It can flow and be poured like a liquid, but retains many of the properties of solids, clogging pipes or forming sand dunes. (..) Grains interact via simple, Newtonian mechanics, but because so many particles are interacting at once, there is an emergent complexity of flow behavior that cannot yet be explained by simple equations. Scientists are thus not only looking for better theoretical models to explain granular behavior, but convenient "model systems" that can be handled and tuned in the lab to give insights into how the microscopic structure of granular materials gives rise to their macroscopic properties. >>️️

<< A team (..) has studied the properties of mixtures of silicone-coated "magic sand," a popular kids' toy, and normal sand. Silicone-coated sand particles were found to interact only with each other and not with other sand particles. The team discovered that adding silicone-coated sand beyond a certain threshold leads to an abrupt change in clustering and rigidity, a potential way to tune the flow of granular materials for industry.>>️

<< Using three independent methods involving sieving, measuring density and forming stable mounds of sand, they found that the mechanical properties of the mixture changes drastically when the fraction of magic sand to normal sand exceeds 20%. This agreed with findings from percolation theory, which governs how connections between particles span space without any breakages, letting the sand mixture behave in a significantly more solid-like way and bear its own weight. This behavior is known for polymer gels, and helps unify theoretical approaches applied to completely different materials. The team's mixtures also exhibits mechanical properties that can be easily modified. Importantly, the method provides a new, convenient, accurate and informative way to explore granular physics, >>️
'Magic sand' might help us understand the physics of granular matter. Tokyo Metropolitan University. Mar 08, 2021.

Marie Tani, Honoka Fujio, Rei Kurita. Transition Behavior in Silicone-coated Sand Mixtures. Journal of the Physical Society of Japan. 90 (3): 033801. doi: 10.7566/ JPSJ.90.033801.


Also

keyword 'grain' in FonT

keyword 'sand' in FonT

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

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

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