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domenica 30 ottobre 2016

# s-food: concerning edible bugs ...

AA << analyzed grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms and buffalo worms for their mineral contents and estimated how much of each nutrient would likely get absorbed if eaten, using a lab model of human digestion >>

AmChemSoc. The buzz about edible bugs: Can they replace beef? Oct. 26, 2016

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161026104806.htm
   
Gladys O. Latunde-Dada, Wenge Yang, Mayra Vera Aviles. In Vitro Iron Availability from Insects and Sirloin Beef. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2016; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03286

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03286

sabato 29 ottobre 2016

# s-ai: POTUS races: the MogIA's granular prophecies, by Sanjiv Rai

<< An artificial intelligence system that correctly predicted the last three U.S. presidential elections puts Republican nominee Donald Trump ahead of Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House >>

<< MogIA is based on Mowgli, the child from Rudyard Kipling's novel "The Jungle Book." Rai [Sanjiv Rai] said this is because his AI model learns from the environment >>

<< "If you look at the primaries, in the primaries, there were immense amounts of negative conversations that happen with regards to Trump. However, when these conversations started picking up pace, in the final days, it meant a huge game opening for Trump and he won the primaries with a good margin," Rai told CNBC in a phone interview >>

<< Using social media to predict outcomes of elections has become increasingly popular because of the amount of data available publicly. In September, Nick Beauchamp [..] published a paper about his experiment applying AI to more than 100 million tweets in the 2012 election. He found that this closely mirrored the results seen in state-level polling >>

<< Rai said his system would be improved by more granular data  [from] each digital device [..] he could then collect data on exactly what people were thinking >>

Arjun Kharpal. Trump will win the election and is more popular than Obama in 2008, AI system finds. Oct. 27, 2016.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/28/donald-trump-will-win-the-election-and-is-more-popular-than-obama-in-2008-ai-system-finds.html

Daniele Chicca. Elezioni Usa, per i social media e l’intelligenza artificiale vincerà Trump. 28 ott 2016

http://www.wallstreetitalia.com/news/elezioni-usa-per-i-social-media-e-lintelligenza-artificiale-vincera-trump/

venerdì 28 ottobre 2016

# s-gst-music: Hexacorda mollia inside acyclical order and disorder

<< A new composition for string quartet takes listeners on a journey into the weird world of soft matter >>

<< Hexacorda mollia revolves around the theme of order and disorder in soft matter—materials like liquid crystals and biological organisms that can be easily deformed by thermal fluctuations or an external stress, such as an electric or magnetic field. For many of these systems, this form of disorder is required to create ordered structures that can perform some function >>

<< Music is always going through various states of order to disorder and back again, in ways that [scientists] might recognize as phase transitions >>

Katherine Wright. Arts & Culture: A Quartet for Soft Matter. Physics 9, 92. Aug 5, 2016.

http://physics.aps.org/articles/v9/92

giovedì 27 ottobre 2016

# s-chem-ethno: nanotech acupuncture needles

<< this experiment [..] combined nanotechnology with acupuncture needles >>

AA << developed porous acupuncture needles (PANs) with fine pores ranging in sizes from nanometers (one billionth of a meter) to micrometers (one millionth of a meter) on the surface of the needles using a nano-electrochemical method >>

<< PANs are expected to be as effective as conventional large and long needles by minimizing the sense of pain during acupuncture treatment while expanding the surface area of the needle 20 times greater than conventional acupuncture ones >>

<< Through electrophysiological experiments with rats [AA] proved that PANs excel in transferring signals from a spinal dorsal horn by the in vivo stimulation of Shenmen (HT7) points, and in particular, demonstrated that the efficacy of PANs is superior to conventional acupuncture needles in treating alcohol and cocaine addiction in animal experiments >>

Applying nanotechnology to make porous acupuncture needles. Oct 17, 2016.

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=44827.php

Su-ll In, Young S. Gwak, et al. Hierarchical Micro/Nano-Porous Acupuncture Needles Offering Enhanced Therapeutic Properties. Nature. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 34061 (2016)
doi:10.1038/srep34061

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep34061

domenica 23 ottobre 2016

# s-gst: multiple cracks, simultaneously ...

<< While  the  initiation  of  fracture  in  brittle  solids  is  generally associated  with  the  preexistence  of  material  imperfections,  the mechanism  for  initiation  of  fracture  in  viscoelastic  fluids,  e.g.,  polymer melts  and  solutions,  remains  an  open  question. >>

<< The  images  reveal  the  simultaneous propagation  of  multiple  cracks >>

<< The  critical  stress  and  strain  for  the onset  of  crack  propagation  are  found  to  be  highly  reproducible  functions of  the  stretch  rate,  while  the  position  of  initiation  is  completely  random >>

Qian Huang, Nicolas J. Alvarez, et al. Multiple Cracks Propagate Simultaneously in Polymer Liquids in Tension. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 087801. Publ 15 Aug. 2016

http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.087801

Jay Fineberg. How to Fracture a Fluid. Aug.15, 2016

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v9/95

mercoledì 19 ottobre 2016

# s-gene: started on Halloween 2015 ...

<< A “top secret" meeting of scientists was held at the Langone Medical Center on Halloween 2015. Their aim? To kickstart a new Human Genome Project and build a functional human genome from the base pairs up by 2026 >>

<< "There's only one grand challenge in synthetic biology. Only one. And it's to write a human genome. And we have to do that" >> Andrew Hessel

Jason Dorrier. Writing the First Human Genome by 2026 Is Synthetic Biology's Grand Challenge. Oct 10, 2016.

http://singularityhub.com/2016/10/10/writing-the-first-human-genome-by-2026-is-synthetic-biologys-grand-challenge/

Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine 2016 Conference. San Diego, Oct 8-11, 2016.

https://exponential.singularityu.org/medicine/

martedì 18 ottobre 2016

# n-trade: paper gold; at that point the scheme will be revealed ...

<< At that point, the entire Ponzi scheme in the paper gold and silver markets will be revealed, and it has been ongoing for decades. Those holding paper gold instruments will be scorched and those holding physical bullion will see their true wealth expand dramatically >>

John Embry Says Maguire Is Right, Gold & Silver Smash Was Orchestrated To Bailout Shorts. Oct. 05, 2016.

http://kingworldnews.com/john-embry-says-maguire-is-right-gold-silver-smash-was-orchestrated-to-bailout-shorts/

Laura Naka Antonelli.  La grande farsa dell’oro. “Vendite orchestrate” per nascondere la verita'. 7 Ott. 2016.

http://www.wallstreetitalia.com/la-grande-farsa-delloro-vendite-orchestrate-per-nascondere-la-verita/

mercoledì 12 ottobre 2016

# s-gst: solitons (also) in angiogenesis

<< Here's what we humans have in common with oceans, lakes and rivers: We have solitons coursing through us >>

Sonia Fernandez. This Soliton is About You. Monday, October 3, 2016 10:30

http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2016/017218/soliton-about-you

L. L. Bonilla, M. Carretero et al. Soliton driven angiogenesis. Nature. Sci. Rep. 6, Article number: 31296 (2016)doi:10.1038/srep31296. Publ. 09 Aug 2016.

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep31296

sabato 8 ottobre 2016

# s-behav: surprisingly, they (also) show marked social interactions ...

<< sharks [sand tiger sharks Carcharias taurus] prefer to travel in groups of various sizes and spend a surprising amount of time together. Some individuals even spent up to 95 consecutive hours together over the course of the year. >>

Researchers Examine the Social Networks of Sharks. Released: 4-Oct-2016 3:05 PM EDT

http://www.newswise.com/articles/researchers-examine-the-social-networks-of-sharks

Danielle E. Haulsee, Dewayne A. Fox, et al. Network Analysis Reveals Potential Fission-Fusion Behavior in a Shark. Nature. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 34087 (2016)
doi:10.1038/srep34087  Published online: 30 Sept. 2016

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep34087

martedì 4 ottobre 2016

# s-gst: about internal tides

<< In certain parts of the ocean, towering, slow-motion rollercoasters called internal tides trundle along for miles, rising and falling for hundreds of feet in the ocean's interior while making barely a ripple at the surface >>

<< Internal tides are generated in part by differences in water density, and created along continental shelf breaks, where a shallow seafloor suddenly drops off like a cliff, creating a setting where lighter water meets denser seas. In such regions, tides on the surface produce oscillating, vertical currents, which in turn generate waves below the surface, at the interface between warmer, shallow water , and colder, deeper water >>

<< Now for the first time [AA] have accurately simulated the motion of internal tides along a shelf break called the Middle Atlantic Bight ... >>

Jennifer  Chu. Researchers  find  explanation  for  interacting  giant, hidden  ocean  waves. Sept. 28,  2016.

http://phys.org/news/2016-09-explanation-interacting-giant-hidden-ocean.html

Samuel M. Kelly, Pierre F. J. Lermusiaux. Internal-tide interactions with the Gulf Stream and Middle Atlantic Bight shelfbreak front. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. Volume 121, Issue 8 Aug. 2016 Pages 6271–6294 DOI:10.1002/2016JC011639

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016JC011639/abstract

lunedì 3 ottobre 2016

# s-evol: perceiving environmental color patterns

AA << say  that  they'd  now  like  to  explore  other  types  of  camouflage  in  fossils  and  to  use  this evidence  in  understanding  "how  predators  could  perceive  the  environment  and  to  understand  their  role in  shaping  evolution  and  biodiversity" >>

Joseph  Caputo. What  dinosaurs'  color  patterns  say  about their  lives.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/cp-wdc090816.php

Jakob Vinther, Robert Nicholls, et al. 3D  Camouflage  in  an  Ornithischian  Dinosaur. Current  Biology. Volume 26, Issue 18, p2456–2462, 26 Sept. 2016

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30706-0