The Zen of Technology & Scientific Discovery! (& Robots)

[Shokai]

[Nengei]

What I was searching for when I found this thread is so distant from it that I'm not going to tell you want I was searching for.

What. A. Bunch. Of. Nerds.

I have found my people!

Gassho,
Nengei

Sat/LAH

[Jundo]

'Missing link' in human history confirmed after long debate

Early humans were still swinging from trees two million years ago, scientists have said, after confirming a set of contentious fossils represents a "missing link" in humanity's family tree.

The fossils of Australopithecus sediba have fueled scientific debate since they were found at the Malapa Fossil Site in South Africa 10 years ago.
And now researchers have established that they are closely linked to the Homo genus, representing a bridging species between early humans and their predecessors, proving that early humans were still swinging from trees 2 million years ago.

... The findings help fill a gap in humankind's history, sliding in between the famous 3-million-year-old skeleton of "Lucy" and the "handy man" Homo habilis, which was found to be using tools between 1.5 and 2.1 million years ago.
They show that early humans of the period "spent significant time climbing in trees, perhaps for foraging and protection from predators," according to the study in the journal "Paleoanthropology."

... The hands have grasping capabilities, which are more advanced than those of Homo habilis, suggesting it, too, was an early tool-user.

https://us.cnn.com/2019/01/19/health/australopithecus-sediba-human-history-scli-intl/index.html

“Our findings challenge a traditional, linear view of evolution. It was once thought that a fossil species a million years younger than Lucy would surely look more human-like. For some anatomies of Australopithecus sediba, like the knee, that is true. But, for others, like the foot, it is not. Instead, what we’re witnessing here are parallel lineages, illustrating how different hominin experiments were unfolding early in our complex evolutionary history,” explained DeSilva.
https://www.dartmouth.edu/press-rele...ancestors.html

Life reconstruction of Australopithecus sediba commissioned by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

Gassho, J

STLah

[Geika]

This news on evolution ties in with something posted earlier about how evolution is not as linear as we thought. Things change faster than we thought, and traits move around in ways other than reproduction. Very cool.

Sat today, lah

[Jundo]

Who says geology is as dull as a bag of rocks!?

Earth's oldest rock was found on the moon - by Apollo 14 astronauts

When the Apollo 14 astronauts returned samples from the moon's surface, they probably didn't realize that they were reuniting Earth with a bit of its early history.

The "moon rock" probably collided with the moon after an impact sent it hurtling from Earth 4 billion years ago, according to research published Thursday in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

The researchers believe that a large comet or asteroid hit Earth and sent the rock up through the atmosphere and into space. The rock was able to make this serendipitous collision with the moon because it was three times closer to Earth at the time.

The rock contains quartz, feldspar and zircon, which are very common on Earth but not so much on the moon.

An analysis of the rock revealed that it formed at temperatures associated with Earth and in an Earth-like setting combined with oxygen. It crystallized between 4 billion and 4.1 billion years ago, when the Earth was young, about 12.4 miles below the surface.

If it had formed on the moon, it would have reflected different temperature conditions. It would also be highly unusual for a lunar sample, the researchers said. It would have formed deep within the moon in the mantle, where scientists think different rock compositions can be found.

But if the rock formed so far beneath the Earth's surface, how was it jettisoned? The researchers believe that one or more impact events to the planet's surface revealed the rock before it was launched. At the time, Earth would have been experiencing asteroid impacts capable of creating craters that were hundreds of miles wide.

https://us.cnn.com/2019/01/24/world/earth-oldest-rock-moon/index.html

Welcome Home!

Gassho, J

STLah

[Geika]

Whoa.... that is so cool. I have read that we also sometimes find Martian rocks on Earth for the same reasons.

Gassho, sat today, lah

[Jundo]

Scientists say bees can do basic math

According to a study published this week in Science Advances, scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have shown that honeybees can add and subtract if trained to do so. This discovery helps scientists understand the relationship between brain size and brain power, perhaps knocking birdbrain off the list of perceived slights. Honeybees and humans are separated by more than 400 million years of evolution, so the study's authors say their findings suggest that an advanced understanding of numbers "may be more accessible to nonhuman animals than previously suspected."

Many animals understand numbers at a basic level for essential tasks. But until now, only a few animals have demonstrated the ability to add and subtract. Honeybees join this short list that includes chimpanzees, African grey parrots and spiders.

...

"This could give us insight on how to build more simple computers that can still process at a higher level ... perhaps making computers more energy efficient," said Scarlett R. Howard, the study's lead author ... [S]he hopes through the results of this study, people will understand "insects are not unintelligent. They're smart and can do cognitively demanding things."

But I confess that I feel lost in a maze trying to understand the experiment ...

Bees entered a Y-shaped maze. At the maze entrance, they viewed a sample set containing a specific number of blue or yellow shapes. Next, they flew through an opening and chose between two possible options: If the elements they first saw were blue, the bees would need to fly to the decision chamber that had one more than the sample they first saw (addition!). If the shapes were yellow, the bees would need to choose the option that contained one less shape than the sample (subtraction!).

In 100 trials, bees were rewarded with a drop of sugar water for the correct choice and punished for the wrong choice with a drop of quinine solution.

After training came the moment of truth in the testing phase: During tests that contained no reward or punishment, bees came up with the correct answers 63% to 72% of the time. That's not random chance.

https://us.cnn.com/2019/02/08/health/honeybees-learn-math-study-trnd/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

[Nengei]

But I confess that I feel lost in a maze trying to understand the experiment ...

Gassho, J

STLah

This is amazing. How incredible the universe is! If there is one thing we should glean from the natural phenomena we investigate, it is that other beings are far, far more than we give them credit for, and we should be more careful where we walk.

Gassho,
然芸 Nengei
Sat today. LAH.
You deserve to be happy.
You deserve to be loved.

[Geika]

https://www.inverse.com/article/53117-is-a-cleaner-wrasse-self-aware

It appears this small fish might be self-aware...

Sat today, lah

[Nengei]

https://www.inverse.com/article/5311...sse-self-aware

It appears this small fish might be self-aware...

Sat today, lah

I like this study because the results point in at least two different directions: one that the fish may be more intelligent than we have previously believed, and two that the test for self-awareness may be flawed. Both of these will now require investigation. I have always felt that the mirror test was a little too restrictive, as if a being has a response to touch or injury, then it must have at least some awareness of self. Of course, if we raise the bar on the degree of response needed, then it helps give us permission to use other beings in whatever ways we like.

I know many people who choose to eat fish as a part of their otherwise plant-based diet out of the belief that fish are not like non-aquatic animals and are somehow less. I have never understood that perspective, but people do like to get good news about the things they want to do. I suppose these folks will see this as bad news!

Gassho,
然芸 Nengei
Sat today. LAH.
You deserve to be happy.
You deserve to be loved.

[Jundo]

A less than happy example of our deep interconnection and dependence on this world ...

Massive insect decline could have 'catastrophic' environmental impact, study says

Insect populations are declining precipitously worldwide due to pesticide use and other factors, with a potentially "catastrophic" effect on the planet, a study has warned.

More than 40% of insect species could become extinct in the next few decades, according to the "Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers" report, published in the journal Biological Conservation.
Insect biomass is declining by a staggering 2.5% a year, a rate that indicates widespread extinctions within a century, the report found.
In addition to the 40% at risk of dying out, a third of species are endangered -- numbers that could cause the collapse of the planet's ecosystems with a devastating impact on life on Earth. ...

The repercussions of insect extinction would be "catastrophic to say the least," according to the report, as insects have been at "the structural and functional base of many of the world's ecosystems since their rise ... almost 400 million years ago."

Key causes of the decline included "habitat loss and conversion to intensive agriculture and urbanization," pollution, particularly from pesticides and fertilizers, as well as biological factors, such as "pathogens and introduced species" and climate change.

...

Species that rely on insects as their food source -- and the predators higher up the food chain which eat those species -- were likely to suffer from these declines, according to the scientists. The pollination of both crops and wild plants would also be affected, along with nutrient cycling in the soil. ... The report's authors called for radical and immediate action.
"Because insects constitute the world's most abundant and (species-diverse) animal group and provide critical services within ecosystems, such events cannot be ignored and should prompt decisive action to avert a catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems," they wrote.

They suggested overhauling existing agricultural methods, "in particular a serious reduction in pesticide usage and its substitution with more sustainable, ecologically-based practices."

https://us.cnn.com/2019/02/11/health...ntl/index.html

[Kotei]

"Scientists say bees can do basic math"

They know trigonometry, too.

With the waggle-dance, in the darkness of the hive, they receive the position of food sources.
The scout dances an angle to the vertical, that represents the angle, the food source is located relative to the hive<->sun line.

When the worker flies out for collecting nectar, she updates that food-source angle with the current sun position (in the darkness of the hive, she has to have an accurate inner clock for doing so).

Not enough with this, when she finds out, that the desired food-source is gone or empty, she can directly fly from the first, to a second food source, only having the information of the angles, seen from the hive-sun line.

They are so wonderful social creatures, performing social feeding. They continuously feed each other, all having nearly the same amount of food in the stomach.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Geika]

My husband had read to me about the percentage of insect die-off a few weeks ago, and the study elaborated on just how stark the difference in the amount of wildlife is compared to just a hundred years ago. Very concerning. It makes me feel very helpless and cynical. Day by day I try a little more to examine my choices and how much waste and pollution that I am creating, but there are so many things out of my hands-- even in my own living space and the people close to me. All we can do is try more and more, I guess, and hope for better times for the planet.

Gassho, sat today, lah

[Heiso]

I like to ponder zen in the context of science, although I know little of either. To me the building blocks of physics and chemistry that we and everything else are made from are very literal examples of emptiness - I also like to contemplate that famous photo 'Pale Blue Dot' and the insignificance or illusion of 'me' in that context.

Gassho, Neil

Sat Today. LAH

[Jundo]

Another message from the past and far away which is just present now, always there seen or unseen, yet not realized we see ...

The radio signals of almost 300,000 sources have finally reached Earth, and most of them are previously unknown galaxies from the distant universe.

More than 200 astronomers in 18 countries created a radio sky survey using the Low Frequency Array telescope, known as LOFAR. The first phase of this major survey was published this week, along with 26 research papers describing the results, in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. ... The radio signals of 300,000 sources appeared, almost all of them galaxies. But researchers were also able to see black holes, to look at the evolution of clusters of galaxies and to measure magnetic fields. ... Galaxy clusters look like a mass of stars but are really groupings of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies. Sometimes, two galaxies merge, and that creates radio emissions that can span millions of light-years, most likely due to particles accelerated by the merger. ... The unprecedented accuracy of the LOFAR measurements has allowed us to measure the effect of cosmic magnetic fields on radio waves from a giant radio galaxy that is 11 million light-years in size. ... But the actual process of producing the beautiful images of these distant galaxies from data takes not only time but power. LOFAR gathers so much data that the scientists had to process about 10 million DVDs worth of it. ... These images are now public and will allow astronomers to study the evolution of galaxies in unprecedented detail ...

https://us.cnn.com/2019/02/19/world/...rnd/index.html

Gassho, J

SatToday at the center of it all, for all is the center of it all.

PS - For my usual rant on why it is a mistake simply to experience the universe as either a matter of "big" or "small," and why every place in the universe is its center ...

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?16707-Night-sky-observations&p=235875&viewfull=1#post235875