# life: apropos of '1or2achoos' (from Wuhan), 'Shame on us', by Jay.

<< The year 2003 was an ominous one for emerging infectious diseases. A pair of deadly influenza strains had leapt from birds to humans in Hong Kong and the Netherlands. And a new coronavirus was spreading around the world causing a mysterious illness that became known as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Many experts feared they were watching the start of a global pandemic. Fortunately, the worst-case scenario never materialized. But it was a close-enough call for Robert Webster, a leading authority on avian influenza, to start urging scientists and policymakers to prepare for the next outbreak. One of his top recommendations: develop and stockpile drugs that target a wide range of viral pathogens. Drug researchers did not heed his call. After the SARS threat subsided, interest evaporated — and the world paid the price. “The scientific community really should have developed universal antivirals against SARS,” says Webster, now an emeritus member of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. “Then we would have had something in the stockpile for the emergence of COVID,” which is a caused by SARS-CoV-2, a close relative of the virus responsible for SARS. Another warning shot came in 2012, when Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) — caused by another relative of SARS-CoV-2 — started spreading through a handful of countries. Still, the drug shelves remained largely bare — a fact that Jay Bradner, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, regards as “regrettable”. >>️

<< Shame on us, (..) We can be better prepared. >> Jay Bradner.️

<< We need an arsenal, >> Kara Carter.

<< It’s hard to convince a company to make a drug against something that doesn’t exist. >>️  Timothy Sheahan.

<< There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, (..) We don’t want to have another year like 2020, (..) and we don’t have to, if we do the work in advance. >> Nat Moorman.️

️

Elie Dolgin. The race for antiviral drugs to beat COVID — and the next pandemic. Despite dire warnings, a stockpile of ready compounds to fight viral pandemics was sorely lacking. Can drugmakers finally do the right thing? Nature 592, 340-343. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-021-00958-4. Apr 14, 2021. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00958-4

Also

keyword 'virus' | 'sars-cov-2' in FonT: 

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

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=sars-cov-2

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

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

apropos of "herd immunity" ... , FonT,  Mar 16, 2020.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2020/03/life-apropos-of-herd-immunity.html

# life: non-human jazz from vibrant cobweb strings performed by a harp-like instrument

<< The spider lives in an environment of vibrating strings, (..) They don't see very well, so they sense their world through vibrations, which have different frequencies. (..) Such vibrations occur, for example, when the spider stretches a silk strand during construction, or when the wind or a trapped fly moves the web. (..) Webs could be a new source for musical inspiration that is very different from the usual human experience, >>️ Markus Buehler️

AA << scanned a natural spider web with a laser to capture 2D cross-sections and then used computer algorithms to reconstruct the web's 3D network. The team assigned different frequencies of sound to strands of the web, creating "notes" that they combined in patterns based on the web's 3D structure to generate melodies. The researchers then created a harp-like instrument and played the spider web music in several live performances around the world. >>️

Making music from spider webs. ACS - Am Chem Soc. Apr 12, 2021

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-music-spider-webs.html

Isabelle Su, Zhao Qin, et al. Imaging and analysis of a three-dimensional spider web architecture. J R Soc Interface. 15(146): 20180193. doi: 10.1098/ rsif.2018.0193. Sep 19, 2018. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30232240/

# phys: apropos of transitions, even a tiny wobble may reshape theoretical views of the universe

<< The long-awaited first results from the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way that is not predicted by scientists’ best theory, the Standard Model of particle physics. >>️

<< Like electrons, muons act as if they have a tiny internal magnet. In a strong magnetic field, the direction of the muon’s magnet precesses, or wobbles, much like the axis of a spinning top or gyroscope. The strength of the internal magnet determines the rate that the muon precesses in an external magnetic field and is described by a number that physicists call the g-factor. This number can be calculated with ultra-high precision. >>

<< The first result from the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab confirms the result from the experiment performed at Brookhaven National Lab two decades ago. Together, the two results show strong evidence that muons diverge from the Standard Model prediction. >>

<< The accepted theoretical values for the muon are:

g-factor: 2.00233183620(86)

anomalous magnetic moment: 0.00116591810(43)

[uncertainty in parentheses]

The new experimental world-average results announced by the Muon g-2 collaboration today are:

g-factor: 2.00233184122(82)

anomalous magnetic moment: 0.00116592061(41)

The combined results from Fermilab and Brookhaven show a difference with theory at a significance of 4.2 sigma, a little shy of the 5 sigma (or standard deviations) that scientists require to claim a discovery but still compelling evidence of new physics. The chance that the results are a statistical fluctuation is about 1 in 40,000. >>️

We’re thrilled to announce that the first results from Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics! #gminus2

https://t.co/tUx4ojzIps https://t.co/t1ufui2Mwu   

17:01  Apr 7,  2021

https://twitter.com/Fermilab/status/1379811596755681286

Tracy Marc. First results from Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics. Apr 7, 2021.

https://news.fnal.gov/2021/04/first-results-from-fermilabs-muon-g-2-experiment-strengthen-evidence-of-new-physics

Also

Themis Bowcock, Mark Lancaster. How we found hints of new particles or forces of nature – and why it could change physics. Apr 8, 2021.

 

https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-hints-of-new-particles-or-forces-of-nature-and-why-it-could-change-physics-158564

B. Abi et al. (Muon g−2  Collaboration)

 Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.46 ppm. Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 141801. Apr 7, 2021.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.141801

A primer in particle physics:

Jonathan Carroll. Explainer: Standard Model of Particle Physics. Aug 25, 2011.

https://theconversation.com/explainer-standard-model-of-particle-physics-2539

a 'cartouche' of the Standard Model 

https://images.theconversation.com/files/2516/original/sml_small.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=3

# 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.

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-century-old-problem-first-ever-3d-atomic.html   

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.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03354-0    

# 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.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/yuri-tolochko-bodybuilder-marries-doll-after-months-of-romance/ar-BB1bwl4f

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.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13297608/bizarre-moment-bodybuilder-marries-sex-doll-creepy-ceremony

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

https://nypost.com/2019/12/10/bodybuilder-proposes-to-sex-doll-after-getting-it-plastic-surgery

Also

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

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2018/04/zen-all-things-have-bit-of-soul.html

Gabe Ibáñez. Autómata. Movie. (2014).

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1971325/

# 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.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210325150039.htm

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.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2632-2153/abc9fc

Also

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

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

keyword 'ai' | 'bot' in FonT

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

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

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

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

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

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

# 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. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210324142839.htm

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.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005272821000335

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. 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239248