# chem: oddities under pressure

<< When [AA] placed the material inside a gas chamber and cranked up the air pressure from one bar (about the atmospheric pressure at sea level) to five bars, the cube’s volume increased by about 3 percent >>

Maria Temming. This material does weird things under pressure. Microcube is designed so that pressure makes it expand instead of compress. Science News. 2017; 192 (11): 12. Dec 23, 2017.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/material-does-weird-things-under-pressure 

Jingyuan Qu, Alexander Gerber, et al. Experiments on Metamaterials with Negative Effective Static Compressibility. Phys. Rev. 2017; X7, 041060. Dec 8, 2017

https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.041060

# behav: some birds discovered fire before humans did

<< There are many anecdotes about Australian birds of prey using fire, according to ornithologist Bob Gosford at the Central Land Council in Alice Springs, Northern Territory >>

<< The three species mentioned are black kites (Milvus migrans), whistling kites (Haliastur sphenurus) and brown falcons (Falco berigora) >>

Andy Coghlan. Arsonist falcons suggest birds discovered fire before humans did. Jan 5, 2018.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2157887-arsonist-falcons-suggest-birds-discovered-fire-before-humans-did

gst: some origami won't fold under pressure

<< Why is it difficult to refold a previously folded sheet of paper? [AA] show that even crease patterns with only one designed folding motion inevitably contain an exponential number of "distractor" folding branches accessible from a bifurcation at the flat state >>

Menachem Stern, Matthew B. Pinson, Arvind Murugan. The Complexity of Folding Self-Folding Origami. Phys. Rev. X 7, 041070 – Dec 22, 2017.

https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.041070

Louise Lerner. Scientists lay out why some origami won't fold under pressure. Jan4, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-01-scientists-origami-wont-pressure.html

# behav: to avoid a rat race

<< Mice can learn to overcome their naturally aggressive approach to conflict resolution, instead adopting a cooperative strategy >>

AA << demonstrate that pairs of mice can learn to coordinate their behaviour to achieve an egalitarian distribution of rewards — but only when rewards are delivered directly to the brain, rather than through food >>

Scott M. Rennie, Michael. L. Platt. Mice learn to avoid the rat race. Nature News and Views. Dec 21, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08835-9  

Choe Il-Hwan, Byun Junweon, et al. Mice in social conflict show rule-observance behavior enhancing long-term benefit. Nature Comm. 2017;  8 (1176).  doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01091-5.  Nov 07, 2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01091-5  

# gene: the ability of the newt to safely regenerate parts of itself

<< This is the first time that an entire newt [the Iberian ribbed newt Pleurodeles waltl] genome has been sequenced, an achievement that can give rise to new discoveries on the amphibian's ability to recreate brain neurons as well as entire body parts. Amongst the first findings are a multitude of copies of a certain microRNA group, which in mammals is mainly found in embryonic stem cells, but also in tumour cells >>

Salamander genome gives clues about unique regenerative ability. Dec 22, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-salamander-genome-clues-unique-regenerative.html

Ahmed Elewa, Heng Wang, et al. Reading and editing the Pleurodeles waltl genome reveals novel features of tetrapod regeneration. Nature Comm 2017;  8 (2286). doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01964-9. Dec 22, 2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01964-9

# trade: precision predictions around bitcoin, from zero to 60k usd

<< A Morgan Stanley analyst said bitcoin may be worth $0, given that very few online retailers accept it. Bitcoin also can't be considered a true currency, the analyst (James Faucette) said, because it doesn't have an interest rate >>

Aylin Woodward. The Real Price of Bitcoin? According to Morgan Stanley, It’s Zero. Dec 27, 2017.

https://futurism.com/real-price-bitcoin-according-morgan-stanley-its-zero/

<< Experts predict that, a year from now, the price of bitcoin could grow more than triple its record value. “Bitcoin can reach $60,000 by [December] 2018,” Mike Dumont, a senior editor for Bitcoin.com, told Futurism >>

Dom Galeon. Experts: Each Bitcoin Could be Worth $60,000 by December 2018. Dec 22, 2017

https://futurism.com/experts-bitcoin-worth-60000-december-2018/

# gst: the fastest fall of Mr. Felix' irregular shape

<< Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere 39 kilometers (24 miles) above Earth on Oct. 14, 2012, and landed safely on the ground near Roswell, New Mexico, nine minutes later >>

<< Baumgartner, whose protective suit and backpack gave him a very irregular shape, reached speeds of up to 1,357.6 kph (843.6 mph)—higher than scientists had expected even for smooth objects in freefall >>

AA << said irregular shapes appear to reduce the aerodynamic drag that increases as objects near the sound barrier >>

Scientists solve speed surprise in stratospheric stunt. Dec 14, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-scientists-stratospheric-stunt.html

Markus Guerster, Ulrich Walter. Aerodynamics of a highly irregular body at transonic speeds—Analysis of STRATOS flight data. PLoS ONE 2017; 12 (12): e0187798. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187798. Dec 7, 2017.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187798