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

[Jundo]

The promise and perils of AI ...

An aid to lawyers, but will it also soon replace lawyers because their research, analysis, brief and contract writing and advising are no longer needed?

And what of other jobs, from doctor to bus driver, store clerk to insurance salesperson, translators to artists, airplane pilot to architect?

The new AI technology, CoCounsel, is the first A.I. legal assistant, and Pablo Arredondo and Jake Heller of Casetext discuss how it can impact the legal profession. ...

https://youtu.be/7IzbNQ2oYCM

"Our AI legal assistant is the first of its kind," said Jake Heller, co-founder and CEO of Casetext. "It creates a momentous opportunity for attorneys to delegate tasks like legal research, document review, deposition preparation, and contract analysis to an AI, freeing them to focus on the most impactful aspects of their practice."

... For the first time, lawyers can reliably delegate substantive, complex work to an AI assistant—just as they would to a legal professional—and trust the results. ... Unlike generalized, publicly available large language models, CoCounsel is a product that offers the reliability and security critical for legal matters, which are specialized, complex, and confidential. In building CoCounsel, Casetext has coupled the immense technological power of OpenAI's most advanced model with its own proprietary legal databases and market-leading legal search system, Parallel Search. As a result, CoCounsel can perform substantive tasks such as legal research, document review, deposition preparation, and contract analysis more quickly and accurately than ever before possible. Most importantly, CoCounsel produces results lawyers can rely on for professional use and keeps customers'—and their clients'—data private and secure.

"CoCounsel is a truly revolutionary legal tech innovation," noted John Polson, Chairman and Managing Partner of Fisher Phillips, the first major law firm to deploy CoCounsel firm-wide to its 500+ attorneys. "The power of this tool to help our attorneys perform efficient legal research, document review, drafting, and summarizing, has already resulted in immediate, sustained benefits to our clients, and we have only scratched the surface of what it has to offer."

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/casetext-unveils-cocounsel-the-groundbreaking-ai-legal-assistant-powered-by-openai-technology-301759255.html

Perhaps the 500+ lawyer firm can let about 450 of those lawyers go soon??

On the other hand, a recent funny (yet true) look at AI, its promise and pitfalls, by commentator and wit John Oliver ...

https://youtu.be/Sqa8Zo2XWc4

... caused me to put my open name in to OpenAI. The following is what it said. Certainly, pretty good but not totally reliable (the BOLDFACE items are just wrong):

Jundo Cohen is an American Zen teacher, author, and founder of the Treeleaf Zendo, an online Zen meditation community. He has been practicing Zen for over 30 years and was ordained as a Zen priest in the Soto school of Zen in 2002 by Taizan Maezumi Roshi. Jundo Cohen is known for his accessible and practical approach to Zen practice, which emphasizes the integration of meditation into daily life. He has written several books on Zen, including "The Heart of Zen" and "Sitting with Koans," and hosts the popular podcast "Treeleaf Zendo: The Drinking Gourd."

Okay, humans cannot be fully replaced yet. On the other hand, the memories and accuracy of human beings is often even less reliable.

Than I asked it a couple of more things about myself. OpenAI is quite the smooth talker ...

Please describe Jundo Cohen. What kind of person is he?

As an AI language model, I do not have personal experiences or opinions, but I can provide information on Jundo Cohen's public persona based on available sources.

From his teachings and interviews, Jundo Cohen comes across as a warm, compassionate, and down-to-earth person. He is known for his practical and accessible approach to Zen practice, which emphasizes the integration of meditation into daily life. He often uses humor and everyday examples to illustrate Zen teachings and concepts, making them more relatable to modern audiences.

Jundo Cohen is also known for his dedication to helping others, both through his teaching and his social activism. He has been involved in various social justice causes, including environmentalism and human rights, and he encourages his students to engage in compassionate action as part of their Zen practice.

Overall, Jundo Cohen appears to be a genuine and caring person who is dedicated to sharing the benefits of Zen practice with others and making a positive impact on the world.

That's nice!

Compare Jundo Cohen to Shirley Temple

Jundo Cohen and Shirley Temple are two very different people who made significant contributions in different fields. Jundo Cohen is a Zen teacher and author, while Shirley Temple was a famous child actress, singer, and diplomat. Therefore, it would not be appropriate or meaningful to compare them.

However, if we were to look at some qualities that they both possessed, we could say that both Jundo Cohen and Shirley Temple had a positive impact on people's lives. Jundo Cohen has helped many people to find peace and meaning through his Zen teachings, while Shirley Temple brought joy and entertainment to millions of people around the world with her acting and singing.

Both Jundo Cohen and Shirley Temple also demonstrated a strong work ethic and a commitment to their craft. Jundo Cohen has spent decades studying and practicing Zen, while Shirley Temple spent her childhood and early adulthood honing her talents as an actress and performer.

Overall, while Jundo Cohen and Shirley Temple are very different individuals, they both have made significant contributions in their respective fields and have inspired many people through their work.

Oh, also nice!

Please compare Jundo Cohen to a bag of chips

Jundo Cohen and a bag of chips are two very different things, so it would not be meaningful to compare them.

However, if we were to look for some qualities that they share, we could say that both Jundo Cohen and a bag of chips can provide nourishment and sustenance, although in very different ways. Jundo Cohen nourishes the mind and spirit through his Zen teachings, while a bag of chips provides physical sustenance and energy.

Additionally, both Jundo Cohen and a bag of chips can offer comfort and satisfaction. Jundo Cohen's teachings may bring comfort and solace to those who are seeking meaning and purpose in their lives, while a bag of chips can be a comforting snack that provides a momentary sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

Overall, while Jundo Cohen and a bag of chips are very different, they both have the potential to provide nourishment, comfort, and satisfaction in their own unique ways.

Well, it could have said that we are both full of air and provide empty calories, so I would say that OpenAI is quite the diplomat too!

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

What is soon to follow Hubble and Webb? Nancy Grace Roman ...

A new simulation shows how NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will turn back the cosmic clock, unveiling the evolving universe in ways that have never been possible before when it launches by May 2027. With its ability to rapidly image enormous swaths of space, Roman will help us understand how the universe transformed from a primordial sea of charged particles to the intricate network of vast cosmic structures we see today.

“The Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes are optimized for studying astronomical objects in-depth and up close, so they’re like looking at the universe through pinholes,” said Aaron Yung, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who led the study. “To solve cosmic mysteries on the biggest scales, we need a space telescope that can provide a far larger view. That’s exactly what Roman is designed to do.”

https://scitechdaily.com/turning-back-the-cosmic-clock-how-nasas-roman-space-telescope-will-rewind-the-universe/

https://youtu.be/0f3kFtq5O3c

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Update on the Fountain of Youth ...

This is an interview done with the doctor in this study I posted some days ago ...

Old mice grow young again in study. Can people do the same?

... The experiments show aging is a reversible process, capable of being driven “forwards and backwards at will,” said anti-aging expert David Sinclair, a professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and codirector of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research.

Our bodies hold a backup copy of our youth that can be triggered to regenerate, said Sinclair, the senior author of a new paper showcasing the work of his lab and international scientists. ... “The astonishing finding is that there’s a backup copy of the software in the body that you can reset,” Sinclair said. “We’re showing why that software gets corrupted and how we can reboot the system by tapping into a reset switch that restores the cell’s ability to read the genome correctly again, as if it was young.”

It doesn’t matter if the body is 50 or 75, healthy or wracked with disease, Sinclair said. Once that process has been triggered, “the body will then remember how to regenerate and will be young again, even if you’re already old and have an illness. Now, what that software is, we don’t know yet. At this point, we just know that we can flip the switch.” ... “One of our breakthroughs was to realize that if you use this particular set of three pluripotent stem cells, the mice don’t go back to age zero, which would cause cancer or worse,” Sinclair said. “Instead, the cells go back to between 50% and 75% of the original age, and they stop and don’t get any younger, which is lucky. How the cells know to do that, we don’t yet understand.”

More here: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...l=1#post316905

The good doctor is quite optimistic in this interview. My gut reaction, however, is that the actual issue of aging is multi-faceted, there is not a single button to push ... and Dr. Sinclair is over-selling this a bit.

https://youtu.be/QaXTrP1rjzc

A related report:

https://youtu.be/DPARs7mL_7Q

By the way, Dr. Sinclair in this video is actually 97 years old! (Just Kidding!)

Gassho, J

stlah

(thank you to Bion for the link)

OH, and some technology that we definitely DO NOT NEED!!!!

https://youtu.be/ubkHLT49VAs

[Jundo]

Additional research on growing replacement neurons for the brain ...

A team of biologists has discovered how to awaken neural stem cells and reactivate them in adult mice.

Some areas of the adult brain contain quiescent, or dormant, neural stem cells that can potentially be reactivated to form new neurons. However, the transition from quiescence to proliferation is still poorly understood. A team led by scientists from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Lausanne (UNIL) has discovered the importance of cell metabolism in this process and identified how to wake up these neural stem cells and reactivate them. Biologists succeeded in increasing the number of new neurons in the brain of adult and even elderly mice. These results, promising for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, are to be discovered in the journal Science Advances. ...

Stem cells have the unique ability to continuously produce copies of themselves and give rise to differentiated cells with more specialized functions. Neural stem cells (NSCs) are responsible for building the brain during embryonic development, generating all the cells of the central nervous system, including neurons. Surprisingly, NSCs persist in certain brain regions even after the brain is fully formed and can make new neurons throughout life. This biological phenomenon, called adult neurogenesis, is important for specific functions such as learning and memory processes. However, in the adult brain, these stem cells become more silent or ‘‘dormant’’ and reduce their capacity for renewal and differentiation. As a result, neurogenesis decreases significantly with age. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-...e-adult-brain/

And more information (a little better written) on "Organoid Intelligence" ... the computer that is human neurons, human neurons that are a computer ...

“Organoid Intelligence” – Revolutionary Biocomputers Powered by Human Brain Cells

Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been inspired by the human brain. This approach proved highly successful: AI boasts impressive achievements – from diagnosing medical conditions to composing poetry. Still, the original model continues to outperform machines in many ways. This is why, for example, we can ‘prove our humanity’ with trivial image tests online. What if instead of trying to make AI more brain-like, we went straight to the source?

Scientists across multiple disciplines are working to create revolutionary biocomputers where three-dimensional cultures of brain cells, called brain organoids, serve as biological hardware. They describe their roadmap for realizing this vision in the journal Frontiers in Science.

... Brain organoids are a type of lab-grown cell-culture. Even though brain organoids aren’t ‘mini brains’, they share key aspects of brain function and structure such as neurons and other brain cells that are essential for cognitive functions like learning and memory. Also, whereas most cell cultures are flat, organoids have a three-dimensional structure. This increases the culture’s cell density 1,000-fold, meaning that neurons can form many more connections.

But even if brain organoids are a good imitation of brains, why would they make good computers? After all, aren’t computers smarter and faster than brains?

“While silicon-based computers are certainly better with numbers, brains are better at learning,” ... Brains are not only superior learners, they are also more energy efficient. Brains also have an amazing capacity to store information, estimated at 2,500TB,” Hartung added. “We’re reaching the physical limits of silicon computers because we cannot pack more transistors into a tiny chip. But the brain is wired completely differently. It has about 100bn neurons linked through over 1015 connection points. It’s an enormous power difference compared to our current technology.”

https://scitechdaily.com/organoid-in...n-brain-cells/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

The world comes together, pulls apart, then (hopefully someday soon) comes together as one ...

100 Million Years Unveiled: The Most Detailed Model of Earth’s Surface Ever

... Scientists have published new research revealing a detailed and dynamic model of the Earth’s surface over the past 100 million years. ... For the first time, it provides a high-resolution understanding of how today’s geophysical landscapes were created and how millions of tonnes of sediment have flowed to the oceans.

Lead author Dr. Tristan Salles from the University of Sydney School of Geosciences, said: “To predict the future, we must understand the past. But our geological models have only provided a fragmented understanding of how our planet’s recent physical features formed. “If you look for a continuous model of the interplay between river basins, global-scale erosion, and sediment deposition at high resolution for the past 100 million years, it just doesn’t exist. So, this is a big advance. It’s not only a tool to help us investigate the past but will help scientists understand and predict the future, as well.”

World map animation of landscape evolution over the past 100 million years.

https://youtu.be/-Rq2jBqZCA8

https://scitechdaily.com/100-million...-surface-ever/

Spring is in the air. Ever wonder how the seeds know it is time to sprout, the flowers to flower?

Internal Thermometer Discovered That Tells Seeds When To Germinate

Researchers have discovered the mechanisms by which the seed decides to remain in “hibernation” or to trigger its germination depending on the outside temperature.

Germination is a crucial stage in the life of a plant as it will leave the stage of seed resistant to various environmental constraints (climatic conditions, absence of nutritive elements, etc.) to become a seedling much more vulnerable. The survival of the young plant depends on the timing of this transition. It is therefore essential that this stage be finely controlled. A Swiss team, led by scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), has discovered the internal thermometer of seeds that can delay or even block germination if temperatures are too high for the future seedling. This work could help optimize plant growth in a context of global warming.

... This mechanism of repression by temperature (thermo-inhibition) allows a very fine regulation. A variation of only 1 to 2°C can indeed delay the germination of a seed population and thus increase the chances of survival of future seedlings. ... These variations are detected by a protein sensitive to light and temperature, phytochrome B, which normally acts as a brake on plant growth. An increase of 1 to 2°C promotes the inactivation of phytochrome B, which makes it less effective in preventing growth. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/internal-th...-to-germinate/

However, how did our ancestors and near cousins smell the ancient Spring? A genetic study tried pretty sweet tricks to find out ...

What Did Ancient Noses Smell? ... Researchers are comparing the genetic makeup of humans’ extinct relatives to those of contemporary individuals.

... A study led by biological anthropologist Kara C. Hoover from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and biochemist Claire de March from Universite Paris-Saclay suggests that the Denisovan, with its heightened sensitivity to sweet odors, may have quickly honed in on the scent and beat the human to a high-energy feast.

... A paper on the research, recently published in iScience, was written by collaborators from UAF, Duke University, Universite Paris-Saclay, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and the University of Manchester. The study investigated whether humans share a sense of smell with their now-extinct Denisovan and Neanderthal cousins, who left Africa about 750,000 years ago. Contemporary humans left Africa about 65,000 years ago. ...

To recreate the noses of our extinct genetic relatives and compare them to those of present-day people, the research team used publicly available genome sequences from multiple Neanderthals, one Denisovan, and one ancient human. They used data from the 1000 Genomes project to represent modern humans. They then compared 30 olfactory receptor genes from each group. The team found that 11 of the receptors had some novel mutations present only in extinct lineages. In the largest study of its kind to date, the team created laboratory versions of those 11 olfactory receptors and then exposed them to hundreds of odors at different concentrations.

When the receptors detected an odor, they literally lit up. The speed and brightness of the luminescence told the scientists whether, how soon, and to what degree each “nose” could smell the odors. While the receptors could detect the same things as modern humans, they differed in sensitivity to many of the odors.

“We literally reproduced an event that hadn’t happened since the extinction of Denisova and Neanderthal 30,000 years ago: an extinct odorant receptor responding to an odor in cells on a lab bench,” de March said.

https://scitechdaily.com/what-did-ancient-noses-smell-new-study-provides-insight/

And finally, please enjoy a beautiful and relatively rare sunset ... on Mars ...

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Views First Dazzling “Sun Rays” on Mars

... Although Martian sunsets are uniquely moody, NASA’s Curiosity rover captured one last month that really stands out. As the Sun descended over the horizon on February 2, rays of light illuminated a bank of clouds. These “sun rays,” also known as crepuscular rays, from the Latin word for “twilight,” are bright streaks that occur when incoming light is partially obstructed by a cloud or tall feature on the horizon. It was the first time sun rays have been so clearly viewed on Mars. ...

,,, As on Earth, clouds provide scientists with complex but crucial information for understanding the weather. By looking at when and where clouds form, scientists can learn more about the Martian atmosphere’s composition and temperatures, and the winds within it. ... “Where we see iridescence, it means a cloud’s particle sizes are identical to their neighbors in each part of the cloud,” said Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “By looking at color transitions, we’re seeing particle size changing across the cloud. That tells us about the way the cloud is evolving and how its particles are changing size over time.”

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured these “sun rays” shining through clouds at sunset on February 2, 2023 ...


This feather-shaped iridescent cloud was captured just after sunset on January 27, 2023

https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-curiosity-rover-views-first-dazzling-sun-rays-on-mars/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

PS - Oh, I have to add this ...

Scientists create 'shape-shifting' metal robot which melts through bars

Engineers have designed miniature robots that rapidly and reversibly shift between liquid and solid states.

Scientists from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh took gallium, a metal that melts at room temperature, and enriched it with magnetic particles.

When an alternate magnetic field is run through the metal, it can melt, move and re-form.

https://youtu.be/3J87JgMgU88

Kinda reminds me of Gumby (for those Americans of a certain age ... ) ...

https://youtu.be/AhczFRlBT2E

[Jundo]

Water on tap ...

Astronomers Discover Missing Link: Water on Earth Is Even Older Than Our Sun

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected gaseous water in the planet-forming disc around the star V883 Orionis. This water carries a chemical signature that explains the journey of water from star-forming gas clouds to planets, and supports the idea that water on Earth is even older than our Sun.

... This discovery was made by studying the composition of water in V883 Orionis, a planet-forming disc about 1300 light-years away from Earth. When a cloud of gas and dust collapses it forms a star at its center. Around the star, material from the cloud also forms a disc. Over the course of a few million years, the matter in the disc clumps together to form comets, asteroids, and eventually planets. ... The journey of water from clouds to young stars, and then later from comets to planets has previously been observed, but until now the link between the young stars and comets was missing. “V883 Orionis is the missing link in this case,” says Tobin. “The composition of the water in the disc is very similar to that of comets in our own Solar System. This is confirmation of the idea that the water in planetary systems formed billions of years ago, before the Sun, in interstellar space, and has been inherited by both comets and Earth, relatively unchanged.”

https://youtu.be/UnDl2cBxkQ4
Zooming on the young star V883 Orionis. This star is currently in outburst,
which has pushed the water snow line further from the star
and allowed it to be detected for the first time with ALMA.

https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-missing-link-water-on-earth-is-even-older-than-our-sun/

https://us.cnn.com/2023/03/08/world/...scn/index.html

Looking at Venus and Jupiter this week, be grateful that a certain planet is -NOT- up there. We exist by the good fortune of our Goldilocks solar system ...

Astrophysicist Reveals Planet That Could [Have Ended] Life on Earth

A terrestrial planet hovering between Mars and Jupiter would be able to push Earth out of the solar system and wipe out life on this planet, according to a University of California, Riverside (UCR) experiment. ...

[There is a] gap in our solar system between the size of terrestrial and giant gas planets. The largest terrestrial planet is Earth, and the smallest gas giant is Neptune, which is four times wider and 17 times more massive than Earth. There is nothing in between. “In other star systems, there are many planets with masses in that gap. We call them super-Earths,” Kane said.

The other gap is in location, relative to the sun, between Mars and Jupiter. “Planetary scientists often wish there was something in between those two planets. It seems like wasted real estate,” he said.

These gaps could offer important insights into the architecture of our solar system, and into Earth’s evolution. To fill them in, Kane ran dynamic computer simulations of a planet between Mars and Jupiter with a range of different masses, and then observed the effects on the orbits of all other planets.

The results, published in the Planetary Science Journal, were mostly disastrous for the solar system. “This fictional planet gives a nudge to Jupiter that is just enough to destabilize everything else,” Kane said. “Despite many astronomers having wished for this extra planet, it’s a good thing we don’t have it.” ... Depending on the mass and exact location of a super-Earth, its presence could ultimately eject Mercury and Venus as well as Earth from the solar system. It could also destabilize the orbits of Uranus and Neptune, tossing them into outer space as well.

The super-Earth would change the shape of this Earth’s orbit, making it far less habitable than it is today, if not ending life entirely.

... These results gave Kane a renewed respect for the delicate order that holds the planets together around the sun. “Our solar system is more finely tuned than I appreciated before. It all works like intricate clock gears. Throw more gears into the mix and it all breaks,” Kane said.

https://scitechdaily.com/astrophysic...life-on-earth/

And speaking of delicate balances ...

Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus that spent 48,500 years frozen in permafrost

Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are thawing the region’s permafrost — a frozen layer of soil beneath the ground — and potentially stirring viruses that, after lying dormant for tens of thousands of years, could endanger animal and human health. While a pandemic unleashed by a disease from the distant past sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, scientists warn that the risks, though low, are underappreciated.

... In 2014, he managed to revive a virus he and his team isolated from the permafrost, making it infectious for the first time in 30,000 years by inserting it into cultured cells. For safety, he’d chosen to study a virus that could only target single-celled amoebas, not animals or humans. ... And in his latest research, published February 18 in the journal Viruses, Claverie and his team isolated several strains of ancient virus from multiple samples of permafrost taken from seven different places across Siberia and showed they could each infect cultured amoeba cells.

... The oldest was almost 48,500 years old, based on radiocarbon dating of the soil, and came from a sample of earth taken from an underground lake 16 meters (52 feet) below the surface. The youngest samples, found in the stomach contents and coat of a woolly mammoth’s remains, were 27,000 years old.

... In 2012, scientists confirmed the 300-year-old mummified remains of a woman buried in Siberia contained the genetic signatures of the virus that causes smallpox. An anthrax outbreak in Siberia that affected dozens of humans and more than 2,000 reindeer between July and August in 2016 has also been linked to the deeper thawing of the permafrost during exceptionally hot summers, allowing old spores of Bacillus anthracis to resurface from old burial grounds or animal carcasses.

Birgitta Evengård, professor emerita at Umea University’s Department of Clinical Microbiology in Sweden, said there should be better surveillance of the risk posed by potential pathogens in thawing permafrost, but warned against an alarmist approach.

“You must remember our immune defense has been developed in close contact with microbiological surroundings,” said Evengård, who is part of the CLINF Nordic Centre of Excellence, a group that investigates the effects of climate change on the prevalence of infectious diseases in humans and animals in northern regions. “If there is a virus hidden in the permafrost that we have not been in contact with for thousands of years, it might be that our immune defense is not sufficient,” she said. “It is correct to have respect for the situation and be proactive and not just reactive. And the way to fight fear is to have knowledge.”

... Of course, in the real world, scientists don’t know how long these viruses could remain infectious once exposed to present-day conditions, or how likely the virus would be to encounter a suitable host. Not all viruses are pathogens that can cause disease; some are benign or even beneficial to their hosts. And while it is home to 3.6 million people, the Arctic is still a sparsely populated place, making the risk of human exposure to ancient viruses very low.

Still, “the risk is bound to increase in the context of global warming,” Claverie said, “in which permafrost thawing will keep accelerating, and more people will populate the Arctic in the wake of industrial ventures.” ...

https://us.cnn.com/2023/03/08/world/...scn/index.html

Maybe the bees will inherit the planet (if they survive too). Bees go to culture school, and earn a B+ ...

Bumblebees Learn To Solve Puzzles by Watching Other Bees

A new study has shown that bumblebees pick up new “trends” in their behavior by watching and learning from other bees, and that one form of behavior can spread rapidly through a colony even when a different version gets discovered.

The research, led by Queen Mary University of London and published today (March 7) in PLOS Biology, provides strong evidence that social learning drives the spread of bumblebee behavior – in this case, precisely how they forage for food.

... The researchers designed a two-option puzzle box that could be opened either by pushing a red tab clockwise or a blue tab counter-clockwise to reveal a 50 percent sucrose solution reward. ‘Demonstrator’ bees were trained to use either the red or blue tabs, with ‘observer’ bees watching. When it was the observers’ turn to tackle the puzzle, they overwhelmingly and repeatedly chose to use the same method that they had seen, even after discovering the alternative option. This preference for the taught option was maintained by whole colonies of bees, with a mean of 98.6% of box openings made using the taught method. ...

... Similar results from similar experiments have been used in species such as primates and birds to suggest that they, like humans, are capable of culture. If bumblebees are capable of this, too, this could potentially explain the evolutionary origin of many of the complex behaviors seen among social insects. It might be possible that what now appears instinctive could have been socially learned, at least originally. ..

... “We tend to overlook the “alien civilizations” formed by bees, ants, and wasps on our planet – because they are small-bodied and their societies and architectural constructions seem governed by instinct at first glance. Our research shows, however, that new innovations can spread like social media memes through insect colonies, indicating that they can respond to wholly new environmental challenges much faster than by evolutionary changes, which would take many generations to manifest.” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/bumblebees-...ng-other-bees/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

A potential "peptide papa" to us all ...

Scientists Identify “Pioneer Peptide” That May Have Sparked Life on Earth

A team of Rutgers University scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial origins of metabolism – a set of core chemical reactions that first powered life on Earth – has identified part of a protein that could provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the verge of producing life. ...

... Based on laboratory studies, Rutgers scientists say one of the most likely chemical candidates that kickstarted life was a simple peptide with two nickel atoms they are calling “Nickelback” not because it has anything to do with the Canadian rock band, but because its backbone nitrogen atoms bond two critical nickel atoms. A peptide is a constituent of a protein made up of a few elemental building blocks known as amino acids.

“Scientists believe that sometime between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago there was a tipping point, something that kickstarted the change from prebiotic chemistry – molecules before life – to* living, biological systems,” Nanda said. “We believe the change was sparked by a few small precursor proteins that performed key steps in an ancient metabolic reaction. And we think we’ve found one of these ‘pioneer peptides’.” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-...life-on-earth/

It takes a human brain to understand a bug brain ...

First Complete Map of an Insect Brain – “Everything Has Been Working Up to This”

Researchers have completed the most advanced brain map to date, that of an insect, a landmark achievement in neuroscience that brings scientists closer to true understanding of the mechanism of thought. The international team led by Johns Hopkins University and the University of Cambridge produced a breathtakingly detailed diagram tracing every neural connection in the brain of a larval fruit fly, an archetypal scientific model with brains comparable to humans.

The work, likely to underpin future brain research and to inspire new machine learning architectures, appears today (March 10, 2023) in the journal Science.

“If we want to understand who we are and how we think, part of that is understanding the mechanism of thought,” said senior author Joshua T. Vogelstein, a Johns Hopkins biomedical engineer who specializes in data-driven projects including connectomics, the study of nervous system connections. “And the key to that is knowing how neurons connect with each other.” ... This team’s connectome of a baby fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster larva, is the most complete as well as the most expansive map of an entire insect brain ever completed. It includes 3,016 neurons and every connection between them: 548,000.

The team purposely chose the fruit fly larva because, for an insect, the species shares much of its fundamental biology with humans, including a comparable genetic foundation. It also has rich learning and decision-making behaviors, making it a useful model organism in neuroscience. And for practical purposes, its relatively compact brain can be imaged and its circuits reconstructed within a reasonable time frame.

Even so, the work took the University of Cambridge and Johns Hopkins 12 years. The imaging alone took about a day per neuron. ...

~~~

The fruit fly larva connectome is an important advance because it's "closer in many regards to a human brain than the other ones," says Joshua Vogelstein, an author of the study and an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

For example, "there's regions that correspond to decision making, there's regions that correspond to learning, there's regions that correspond to navigation," Vogelstein says. But the challenges scientists faced in producing the fruit fly larva connectome show just how far they still have to go to map a human brain, which contains more than 80 billion neurons and hundreds of trillions of synapses.

The complete set of neurons in an insect brain, which were reconstructed using synapse-resolution electron microscopy.

https://scitechdaily.com/first-complete-map-of-an-insect-brain-everything-has-been-working-up-to-this/

and

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...human-learning

Like little submarines with twin inboard engines ...

Revolutionary Twin-Bioengine Nanorobots for Gastrointestinal Inflammation Therapy

Micro/nanorobots with self-propelling and -navigating capabilities have attracted extensive attention in drug delivery and therapy owing to their controllable locomotion in hard-to-reach body tissues.

However, developing self-adaptive micro/nanorobots that can adjust their driving mechanisms across multiple biological barriers to reach distant lesions is still a challenge. Recently, a research team led by Prof. Lintao Cai from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a twin-bioengine yeast micro/nanorobot (TBY-robot) with self-propelling and self-adaptive capabilities that can autonomously navigate to inflamed sites to provide gastrointestinal inflammation therapy via enzyme-macrophage switching (EMS).

Yeast micro/nanorobots utilize twin-engine to self-propel in gastrointestinal intraluminal and extraluminal environments.

https://scitechdaily.com/revolutiona...ation-therapy/

I might have to sell a kidney in order to afford a new kidney!

When we’ll be able to 3D-print organs and who will be able to afford them

What if doctors could just print a kidney, using cells from the patient, instead of having to find a donor match and hope the patient’s body doesn’t reject the transplanted kidney?

The soonest that could happen is in a decade, thanks to 3D organ bioprinting, said Jennifer Lewis, a professor at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Organ bioprinting is the use of 3D-printing technologies to assemble multiple cell types, growth factors and biomaterials in a layer-by-layer fashion to produce bioartificial organs that ideally imitate their natural counterparts, according to a 2019 study.

This type of regenerative medicine is in the development stage, and the driving force behind this innovation is “real human need,” Lewis said.

In the United States, there are 106,800 men, women and children on the national organ transplant waiting list as of March 8, 2023, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration. However, living donors provide only around 6,000 organs per year on average, and there are about 8,000 deceased donors annually who each provide 3.5 organs on average. ... Every day, 17 people die waiting for an organ transplant, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration. And every 10 minutes, another person is added to the waitlist, the agency says. More than 90% of the people on the transplant list in 2021 needed a kidney.

“About a million people worldwide are in need of a kidney. So they have end-stage renal failure, and they have to go on dialysis,” Lewis said. “Once you go on dialysis, you have essentially five years to live, and every year, your mortality rate increases by 15%. Dialysis is very hard on your body. So this is really motivating to take on this grand challenge of printing organs.” ...

... Atala and his colleagues were responsible for growing human bladders in a lab by hand in 2006, and implanting a complicated internal organ into people for the first time — saving the lives of three children in whom they implanted the bladders.

... To begin the process of bioprinting an organ, doctors typically start with a patient’s own cells. They take a small needle biopsy of an organ or do a minimally invasive surgical procedure that removes a small piece of tissue, “less than half the size of a postage stamp,” Atala said. “By taking this small piece of tissue, we are able to tease cells apart (and) we grow and expand the cells outside the body.” his growth happens inside a sterile incubator or bioreactor, a pressurized stainless steel vessel that helps the cells stay fed with nutrients — called “media” — the doctors feed them every 24 hours, since cells have their own metabolism, Lewis said. Each cell type has a different media, and the incubator or bioreactor acts as an oven-like device mimicking the internal temperature and oxygenation of the human body, Atala said.

“Then we mix it with this gel, which is like a glue,” Atala said. “Every organ in your body has the cells and the glue that holds it together. Basically, that’s also called ‘extracellular matrix.’” [ MORE DETAILS OF PROCESS AT LINK BELOW] ...

... Atala and Lewis are conservative in their estimates about the number of years remaining before fully functioning bioprinted organs can be implanted into humans.

“The field’s moving fast, but I mean, I think we’re talking about a decade plus, even with all of the tremendous progress that’s been made,” Lewis said.

“I learned so many years ago never to predict because you’ll always be wrong,” Atala said. “There’s so many factors in terms of manufacturing and the (US Food and Drug Administration regulation). At the end of the day, our interest, of course, is to make sure the technologies are safe for the patient above all.” ...

... So, it’s a lot cheaper to create an organ that you can implant into the patient.”

The average kidney transplant cost was $442,500 in 2020, according to research published by the American Society of Nephrology — while 3D printers retail for around a few thousand dollars to upward of $100,000, depending on their complexity. ...

A 3D printer seeds different types of cells onto a kidney scaffold at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

https://us.cnn.com/2022/06/10/health...scn/index.html

And this is scary ... we can't even believe our own eyes and ears anymore! ...

An online tool creates convincing AI audio fakes of anyone. Here's how the technology works and what's at stake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmFFd8fMqxk

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

We can prove that there is intelligent life on a planet deep in space: Look in the mirror.

Some news with a Tsukuba/JAXA (Japanese NASA) connection ...

Component of RNA Found in Asteroid Ryugu Samples

Researchers have analyzed samples of asteroid Ryugu collected by the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft and found uracil—one of the informational units that make up RNA, the molecules that contain the instructions for how to build and operate living organisms. Nicotinic acid, also known as Vitamin B3 or niacin, which is an important cofactor for metabolism in living organisms, was also detected in the same samples. This discovery by an international team, led by Associate Professor Yasuhiro Oba at Hokkaido University, adds to the evidence that important building blocks for life are created in space and could have been delivered to Earth by meteorites. The findings will be published today (March 21) in the journal Nature Communications.

“Scientists have previously found nucleobases and vitamins in certain carbon-rich meteorites, but there was always the question of contamination by exposure to the Earth’s environment,” Oba explained. “Since the Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected two samples directly from asteroid Ryugu and delivered them to Earth in sealed capsules, contamination can be ruled out.”

https://scitechdaily.com/component-o...ryugu-samples/

And I thought "Chicken McNuggets" were already pretty much "lab grown chicken" ...

Lab-grown chicken is one step closer to being sold in the US

Americans are one step closer to being able to buy chicken grown from animal cells, also known as lab-grown meat.

Good Meat, the developer of such a chicken product, announced Tuesday that it has received a so-called “no questions” letter from the Food and Drug Administration. That letter states that the administration is satisfied that the product is safe to sell in the United States. The FDA issued a similar letter to another company that makes meat from cultured chicken cells, Upside Foods, in November.

That’s a big step, but it doesn’t mean shoppers will be able to try the product just yet. To get the green light to sell to consumers, both companies need the go-ahead from the US Department of Agriculture.

... Good Meat advertises its product as “meat without slaughter,” a more humane approach to eating meat. Supporters hope that cultured meat will help fight climate change by reducing the need for traditional animal agriculture, which emits greenhouse gases. Cultivated or lab-grown meat is grown in a vat much like what you’d find at a beer brewery. There’s no clear timeline for when Good Meat or Upside Foods will get USDA approval. But internationally, things are moving quickly. Good Meat’s cell-based chicken was approved for sale in Singapore in 2020, and has since been available for purchase in restaurants in that country. ...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8276[/ATTACH]

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/21/b...fda/index.html

New perspectives ... on the universal pointillist muffin ...

New Perspective on the Fundamental Structure of the Universe

The universe is peppered with galaxies, which, on large scales, exhibit a filamentary pattern, referred to as the cosmic web. This heterogeneous distribution of cosmic material is in some ways like blueberries in a muffin where material clusters in certain areas but may be lacking in others.

Based on a series of simulations, researchers have begun to probe the heterogeneous structure of the universe by treating the distribution of galaxies as a collection of points—like the individual particles of matter that make up a material—rather than as a continuous distribution. This technique has enabled the application of mathematics developed for materials science to quantify the relative disorder of the universe, enabling a better understanding of its fundamental structure. “What we found was that the distribution of galaxies in the universe is quite different from the physical properties of conventional materials, having its own unique signature,” explained Oliver Philcox, a co-author of the study.

... the research team showed that on the largest scales (on the order of several hundred megaparsecs), the universe approaches hyperuniformity, while on smaller scales (up to 10 megaparsecs) it becomes almost antihyperuniform and strongly inhomogeneous. “The perceived shift between order and disorder depends largely on scale,” stated Torquato. “The pointillist technique of Georges Seurat in the painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (see image below) produces a similar visual effect; the work appears disordered when viewed up-close and highly ordered from afar. In terms of the universe, the degree of order and disorder is more subtle, as with a Rorschach inkblot test that can be interpreted in an infinite number of ways.”

A section of the universe (black and white), with dark matter halos indicated by points and their associated large-scale topological structures indicated by colors.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-perspective-on-the-fundamental-structure-of-the-universe/

AI is nipping on my heals as a lawyer, translator ... even Zen teacher ...

Soon, we can send the AI to the water cooler to gossip for us!

AI: The way we work is about to change

In just a few months, you’ll be able to ask a virtual assistant to transcribe meeting notes during a work call, summarize long email threads to quickly draft suggested replies, quickly create a specific chart in Excel, and turn a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation in seconds.

And that’s just on Microsoft’s 365 platforms.

Over the past week, a rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape seemed to leap ahead again. Microsoft and Google each unveiled new AI-powered features for their signature productivity tools and OpenAI introduced its next-generation version of the technology that underpins its viral chatbot tool, ChatGPT.

Suddenly, AI tools, which have long operated in the background of many services, are now more powerful and more visible across a wide and growing range of workplace tools.

Google’s new features, for example, promise to help “brainstorm” and “proofread” written work in Docs. Meanwhile, if your workplace uses popular chat platform Slack, you’ll be able to have its ChatGPT tool talk to colleagues for you, potentially asking it to write and respond to new messages and summarize conversations in channels.

...

But the sheer number of new options hitting the market is both dizzying and, as with so much else in the tech industry over the past decade, raises questions of whether they will live up to the hype or cause unintended consequences, including enabling cheating and eliminating the need for certain roles (though that may be the intent of some adopters).

Even the promise of greater productivity is unclear. The rise of AI-generated emails, for example, might boost productivity for the sender but decrease it for recipients flooded with longer-than-necessary computer-generated messages. And of course just because everyone has the option to use a chatbot to communicate with colleagues doesn’t mean all will chose to do so.

...

The agent will know, for example, what’s in a user’s email and on their calendar for the day, as well as the documents they’ve been working on, the presentations they’ve been making, the people they’re meeting with, and the chats happening on their Teams platform, according to the company. Users can then ask Business Chat to do tasks such as write a status report by summarizing all of the documents across platforms on a certain project, and then draft an email that could be sent to their team with an update.

...

Although OpenAI’s GPT-4 update promises fixes to some of its biggest challenges — from its potential to perpetuate biases, sometimes being factually incorrect and responding in an aggressive manner — there’s still the possibility for some of these issues to find their way into the workplace, especially when it comes to interacting with others.

Arijit Sengupta, CEO and founder of AI solutions company Aible, said a problem with any large language model is that it tries to please the user and typically accepts the premise of the user’s statements.

“If people start gossiping about something, it will accept it as the norm and then start generating content [related to that],” said Sengupta, adding that it could escalate interpersonal issues and turn into bullying at the office.

...


“Blind trust in these solutions is as dangerous as complete lack of faith in the effectiveness of it,” Chandrasekaran said. “Generative AI solutions can also make up facts or present inaccurate information from time to time – and organizations need to be prepared to mitigate this negative impact.”

At the same time, many of these applications are not up to date (GPT-4’s data that it’s trained on cuts off around September 2021). The onus will have to be on the users to do everything from double check the accuracy to change the language to reflect the tone they want. It will also be important to get buy-in and support across workplaces for the tools to take off.

“Training, education and organizational change management is very important to ensure that employees are supportive of the efforts and the tools are used in the way they were intended to,” Chandrasekaran said.

https://us.cnn.com/2023/03/19/tech/ai-change-how-we-work/index.html

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Tech used to help solve a problem caused by our wastefulness. (Still, what a mess! )

“Very High” Accuracy – Machine Learning Helps Separate Compostable From Conventional Plastic Waste

Researchers have created classification models that enable accurate and automated sorting of various types of plastics.
The use of compostable plastics is increasing, and while they offer several benefits, these materials, such as wrappers and packaging, can mix with and contaminate traditional plastic waste during recycling. To address this issue, scientists have employed advanced imaging techniques and created machine-learning algorithms capable of distinguishing compostable plastics from conventional ones.

Disposable plastics are everywhere in our lives, appearing in various forms such as food containers, coffee cups, and plastic bags. Although certain plastics are designed to biodegrade under controlled conditions, they are still problematic as they often resemble traditional plastics. When these compostable plastics are recycled improperly, they can contaminate plastic waste streams, leading to a reduction in recycling efficiency. Furthermore, recyclable plastics are often mistaken for compostable ones, resulting in polluted compost.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have published a paper in Frontiers in Sustainability in which they used machine learning to automatically sort different types of compostable and biodegradable plastics and differentiate them from conventional plastics.

“The accuracy is very high and allows the technique to be feasibly used in industrial recycling and composting facilities in the future,” said Prof Mark Miodownik, corresponding author of the study.

https://scitechdaily.com/very-high-a...plastic-waste/

And tech used to defraud ...

That panicky call from a relative? It could be a thief using a voice clone, FTC warns

The Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert this week urging people to be vigilant for calls using voice clones generated by artificial intelligence, one of the latest techniques used by criminals hoping to swindle people out of money.

"All [the scammer] needs is a short audio clip of your family member's voice — which he could get from content posted online — and a voice-cloning program," the commission warned. "When the scammer calls you, he'll sound just like your loved one."

If you're not sure it's a friend or relative, hang up and call them
The FTC suggests that if someone who sounds like a friend or relative asks for money — particularly if they want to be paid via a wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a gift card — you should hang up and call the person directly to verify their story.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/11654...s-ai-scams-ftc

Gassho, J

stlah

[Ryumon]

These AI voice models are surprisingly good. One of the podcasts I produce is about computer security. A few episodes ago, just before recording, I took a sample of my co-host’s voice, created a model, and had him read part of the Gettysburg Address. It took three minutes to do this.

In the episode, we discussed the possibility of someone being fooled by, for example, a late night voice mail from a voice that sounds like their boss, saying he’s leaving the country and will be unavailable, and should give the top secret password to someone name Joe, who calls. What does the employee do? Risk of losing their job by not giving Joe the password, or play it safe?

Gassho,
Ryūmon (Kirk)
Sat

[Jundo]

I think kids with "two dads" or "two moms" is a wonderful thing, but I always remind folks (as the father of 2 adopted kids) ... adoption is lovely, please consider ...

SCIENTISTS CREATE MICE FROM TWO DADS AFTER MAKING EGGS FROM SKIN CELLS

Scientists have created mice with two biologically male parents for the first time — a significant milestone in reproductive biology.

The team, led by Katsuhiko Hayashi, a professor of genome biology at Osaka University in Japan, generated eggs from the skin cells of male mice that, when implanted in female mice, went on to produce healthy pups, according to research published March 15 (2023) in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

The proof-of-concept research, the culmination of years of pain-staking lab work, could expand the possibilities for future fertility treatments, including for same-sex couples, and perhaps help prevent the extinction of endangered animals.

However, scientists warn there’s still much to learn before cultured cells can be used to make human eggs in a lab dish.

“It is expected that application into humans takes a long time, maybe 10 years or more. Even if it is applied, we never know whether the eggs are safe enough to produce (a) baby,” Hayashi said.

... He said that it would be more challenging to accomplish the reverse — that is, making sperm from female cells because they contain no Y chromosome, which is essential for making sperm. Duplicating an X chromosome, which male cells already have, is easier than conjuring up a Y chromosome in female cells, Hayashi explained.

Glenn Cohen, the James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, said the work raised thorny ethical and legal questions that society needed to start thinking about. These issues include embryo farming — producing hundreds of embryos to pick the best one — and the unauthorized use of a person’s cells.

“What happens to all the embryos created but not used? Does it violate ethical norms of respect to create so many potential human lives knowing that the vast majority will be destroyed or indefinitely stored?” said Cohen, who is also the faculty director of Harvard Law’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics.

“In the most extreme case, imagine an individual using sloughed skin cells left on a bathtub by Brad Pitt, for example, to derive sperm or egg in order to reproduce,” he added.

... The technique holds promise for conserving endangered species, although it’s not known whether the process in mice that resulted in the spontaneous loss of a Y chromosome and the duplication of the X chromosome would occur in other mammal species, said Mike McGrew, Personal Chair of Avian Reproductive Technologies at The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh.

“This is a very exciting finding for species conservation,” he said via email. “You could imagine that the many ‘biobanks’ that are being established to capture genetic diversity stored for endangered species of animals. By chance, only or predominantly male cells may be conserved for some species.”

https://us.cnn.com/2023/03/24/world/mice-eggs-from-male-cells-scn/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1I4dZdYYkWhull3cMSDp9XHmTECFQJzlrP0mGnRq8_4LLM7_6DQrZBxiE

A step ahead in neural implants ... helping the paralyzed walk and move their limbs ...

New “Biohybrid” Neural Implant Could Restore Function in Paralyzed Limbs

Researchers have developed a new type of neural implant that could restore limb function to amputees and others who have lost the use of their arms or legs.

In a study carried out in rats, researchers from the University of Cambridge used the device to improve the connection between the brain and paralyzed limbs. The device combines flexible electronics and human stem cells – the body’s ‘reprogrammable’ master cells – to better integrate with the nerve and drive limb function. Previous attempts at using neural implants to restore limb function have mostly failed, as scar tissue tends to form around the electrodes over time, impeding the connection between the device and the nerve. By sandwiching a layer of muscle cells reprogrammed from stem cells between the electrodes and the living tissue, the researchers found that the device integrated with the host’s body and the formation of scar tissue was prevented. The cells survived on the electrode for the duration of the 28-day experiment, the first time this has been monitored over such a long period.

The researchers say that by combining two advanced therapies for nerve regeneration – cell therapy and bioelectronics – into a single device, they can overcome the shortcomings of both approaches, improving functionality and sensitivity.

While extensive research and testing will be needed before it can be used in humans, the device is a promising development for amputees or those who have lost function of a limb or limbs. The results were reported on March 22, 2023, in the journal Science Advances.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-biohybrid-neural-implant-could-restore-function-in-paralyzed-limbs/

In a study carried out in rats, researchers from the University of Cambridge used a biohybrid device to improve the connection between the brain and paralyzed limbs. The device combines flexible electronics and human stem cells – the body’s ‘reprogrammable’ master cells – to better integrate with the nerve and drive limb function.

A (Second Generation) Star is Born ... like Julian Lennon or Michael Douglas to Kirk? ...

State-of-the-Art Artificial Intelligence Sheds New Light on the Mysterious First Stars

By using machine learning and state-of-the-art supernova nucleosynthesis, a team of researchers has found the majority of observed second-generation stars in the universe were enriched by multiple supernovae, reports a new study in The Astrophysical Journal.

Nuclear astrophysics research has shown elements including and heavier than carbon in the Universe are produced in stars. But the first stars, stars born soon after the Big Bang, did not contain such heavy elements, which astronomers call ‘metals’. The next generation of stars contained only a small amount of heavy elements produced by the first stars. To understand the universe in its infancy, it requires researchers to study these metal-poor stars. Luckily, these second-generation metal-poor stars are observed in our Milky Way Galaxy, and have been studied by a team of Affiliate Members of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) to close in on the physical properties of the first stars in the universe. ... they found that 68 percent of the observed extremely metal-poor stars have a chemical fingerprint consistent with enrichment by multiple previous supernovae.
The team’s results give the first quantitative constraint based on observations on the multiplicity of the first stars.
https://scitechdaily.com/state-of-th...s-first-stars/

Think about the galactic link of the Zinc in your kitchen sink where you drink, plus your blood so pink ... wink ...

The Far-Flung Origin of Life’s Building Blocks: Researchers Uncover “Completely Unexpected” Findings


Imperial College London researchers have discovered the probable distant origin of Earth’s volatile chemicals, some of which form the building blocks of life, through the analysis of meteorites.

The researchers found that approximately 50% of the Earth’s supply of the volatile element zinc came from asteroids originating from the outer Solar System, beyond the asteroid belt which encompasses planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. This material is believed to have also supplied other crucial volatiles, such as water. Volatiles are elements or compounds that easily transition from solid or liquid to a gaseous state at relatively low temperatures. They include the six most frequently occurring elements in living organisms, as well as water. As such, the addition of this material will have been important for the emergence of life on Earth.

Prior to this, researchers thought that most of Earth’s volatiles came from asteroids that formed closer to the Earth. The findings reveal important clues about how Earth came to harbor the special conditions needed to sustain life. Senior author Professor Mark Rehkämper, of Imperial College London’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: “Our data show that about half of Earth’s zinc inventory was delivered by material from the outer Solar System, beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Based on current models of early Solar System development, this was completely unexpected.”

Previous research suggested that the Earth formed almost exclusively from inner Solar System material, which researchers inferred was the predominant source of Earth’s volatile chemicals. In contrast, the new findings suggest the outer Solar System played a bigger role than previously thought.

Professor Rehkämper added: “This contribution of outer Solar System material played a vital role in establishing the Earth’s inventory of volatile chemicals. It looks as though without the contribution of outer Solar System material, the Earth would have a much lower amount of volatiles than we know it today – making it drier and potentially unable to nourish and sustain life.”

The findings were recently published in Science.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-far-flung-origin-of-lifes-building-blocks-researchers-uncover-completely-unexpected-findings/

This is interesting to me personally, as I have a similar condition in which I can remember faces, but struggle to associate with names ... really (please, never be offended if your name eludes me for a time, as I sometimes call my own daughter by the cat's name) ...

Harvard Study Indicates That Face Blindness Is More Common Than Previously Thought

• A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School/VA Boston Healthcare System suggests that face blindness lies on a continuum and may be more common than currently believed.
• The study found similar face-matching performance between prosopagnosics diagnosed with stricter vs. looser criteria, suggesting that the diagnostic criteria should be expanded.
• As many as 1 in 33 people may meet the criteria for face blindness: 1 in 108 have major prosopagnosia whereas 1 in 47 have mild prosopagnosia.

Previously estimated to impact between 2-2.5% of the global population, face blindness is a perplexing condition that can lead individuals to mistakenly believe they know someone they’ve never met, or conversely, not recognize individuals they are familiar with.

https://scitechdaily.com/harvard-study-indicates-that-face-blindness-is-more-common-than-previously-thought/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

[Jundo]

If you read my mind right now, you will know that I think this TOTALLY AMAZING ... and also KINDA SCARY ...

From brain waves, this AI can sketch what you're picturing
Researchers around the world are training AI to re-create images seen by humans using only their brain waves. Experts say the technology is still in its infancy, but it heralds a new brain-analysis industry.

Zijiao Chen can read your mind, with a little help from powerful artificial intelligence and an fMRI machine.

Chen, a doctoral student at the National University of Singapore, is part of a team of researchers that has shown they can decode human brain scans to tell what a person is picturing in their mind, according to a paper released in November.

Their team, made up of researchers from the National University of Singapore, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Stanford University, did this by using brain scans of participants as they looked at more than 1,000 pictures — a red firetruck, a gray building, a giraffe eating leaves — while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine, or fMRI, which recorded the resulting brain signals over time. The researchers then sent those signals through an AI model to train it to associate certain brain patterns with certain images.

Later, when the subjects were shown new images in the fMRI, the system detected the patient’s brain waves, generated a shorthand description of what it thinks those brain waves corresponded to, and used an AI image-generator to produce a best-guess facsimile of the image the participant saw.

The results are startling and dreamlike. An image of a house and driveway resulted in a similarly colored amalgam of a bedroom and living room. An ornate stone tower shown to a study participant generated images of a similar tower, with windows situated at unreal angles. A bear became a strange, shaggy, doglike creature.

The resulting generated image matched the attributes (color, shape, etc.) and semantic meaning of the original image roughly 84% of the time. ... Researchers believe that in just a decade the technology could be used on anyone, anywhere. “It might be able to help disabled patients to recover what they see, what they think,” Chen said. In the ideal case, Chen added, humans won’t even have to use cellphones to communicate. “We can just think.” ....

Like many recent AI developments, brain-reading technology raises ethical and legal concerns. Some experts say in the wrong hands, the AI model could be used for interrogations or surveillance.

“I think the line is very thin between what could be empowering and oppressive,” said Nita Farahany, a Duke University professor of law and ethics in new technology. “Unless we get out ahead of it, I think we’re more likely to see the oppressive implications of the technology.”

She worries that AI brain decoding could lead to companies commodifying the information or governments abusing it, and described brain-sensing products already on the market or just about to reach it that might bring about a world in which we are not just sharing our brain readings, but judged for them.

“This is a world in which not just your brain activity is being collected and your brain state — from attention to focus — is being monitored,” she said, “but people are being hired and fired and promoted based on what their brain metrics show.”

“It’s already going widespread and we need governance and rights in place right now before it becomes something that is truly part of everyone’s everyday lives,” she said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/brain-waves-ai-can-sketch-picturing-rcna76096

SHOWN BELOW IN RED: Singapore results compared to original images ...

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Tomatoes in trouble talk in morse code ... I will include them in an ultrasonic Metta chant today ...

Hidden Plant SOS: Scientists Record Ultrasonic Distress Calls From Stressed Flora

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have recorded and analyzed ultrasonic sounds emitted by plants for the first time. The study found that plants emit specific sounds when under stress, which may be detectable by animals like bats, mice, and insects. Using machine learning algorithms, the researchers were able to distinguish between different plants and types of stress, even in noisy environments. This breakthrough could potentially help humans develop tools to better understand plant conditions and needs, such as sensors for when plants require watering. The team plans to further investigate the mechanisms behind plant sounds and their impact on other organisms.

• The sounds emitted by plants are ultrasonic, beyond the hearing range of the human ear.
• Plant sounds are informative: mostly emitted when the plant is under stress, they contain information about its condition.
• The researchers mainly recorded tomato and tobacco plants; wheat, corn, cactus, and henbit were also recorded.
• The researchers: “Apparently, an idyllic field of flowers can be a rather noisy place. It’s just that we can’t hear the sounds!”

https://scitechdaily.com/hidden-plant-sos-scientists-record-ultrasonic-distress-calls-from-stressed-flora/

https://youtu.be/hOWaXi0I2YE

Is it really possible to predict such complex systems so far in advance? The Buddhist "sidi" power to predict the future comes true ...

New Machine Learning Model Can Accurately Predict Events Like Tornadoes and Hail Eight Days in Advance

As severe weather approaches with potential life-threatening hazards such as heavy rain, hail, or tornadoes, early warnings, and precise predictions are crucial. Weather researchers at Colorado State University have provided storm forecasters with a powerful new tool to enhance the reliability of their predictions, potentially saving lives in the process. ... Led by research scientist Aaron Hill, who has worked on refining the model for the last two-plus years, the team recently published their medium-range (four to eight days) forecasting ability in the American Meteorological Society journal Weather and Forecasting. ... The tool is not a stand-in for the invaluable skill of human forecasters but rather provides an agnostic, confidence-boosting measure to help forecasters decide whether to issue public warnings about potential weather. ... “They have developed probabilistic machine learning-based severe weather guidance that is statistically reliable and skillful while also being practically useful for forecasters,” Jirak said. The forecasters in Oklahoma are using the CSU guidance product daily, particularly when they need to issue medium-range severe weather outlooks. ...

...

The model is trained on a very large dataset containing about nine years of detailed historical weather observations over the continental U.S. These data are combined with meteorological retrospective forecasts, which are model “re-forecasts” created from outcomes of past weather events. The CSU researchers pulled the environmental factors from those model forecasts and associated them with past events of severe weather like tornadoes and hail. The result is a model that can run in real-time with current weather events and produce a probability of those types of hazards with a four- to eight-day lead time, based on current environmental factors like temperature and wind.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-machine...ys-in-advance/

The big and the small, not so much in the middle ...

Scientists Baffled by New “Size of Life” Discovery About Our Planet’s Biomass

Life comes in all shapes in sizes, but some sizes are more popular than others, new research from the University of British Columbia (UBC) has found.

In the first study of its kind published today (March 29) in PLOS ONE, Dr. Eden Tekwa, who conducted the study as a postdoctoral fellow at UBC’s department of zoology, surveyed the body sizes of all Earth’s living organisms, and uncovered an unexpected pattern. Contrary to what current theories can explain, our planet’s biomass—the material that makes up all living organisms—is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.

“The smallest and largest organisms significantly outweigh all other organisms,” said Dr. Tekwa, lead author of “The size of life,” and now a research associate with McGill University’s department of biology. “This seems like a new and emerging pattern that needs to be explained, and we don’t have theories for how to explain it right now. Current theories predict that biomass would be spread evenly across all body sizes.”

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-...anets-biomass/

Talk about a "Mammoth BigMac"! ....

Meatballs made with mammoth DNA created by Australian food startup

Woolly mammoth remains, with fur and tissue still in tact, are regularly found entombed in Arctic permafrost. Their discovery has allowed scientists to sequence the mammoth genome and learn intriguing details about the lives of these extinct Ice Age giants.

Now, some of that information is being used to grow an approximation of mammoth meat in a lab.

Vow, an Australian cultured meat startup, has made what it describes as a mammoth meatball. The project’s goal, according to the company, is to draw attention to the potential of cultured meat to make eating habits more planet friendly. On Tuesday, the meatball will join the collection at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave — a museum of science and medicine in the Netherlands.

“We need to start rethinking how we get our food. My biggest hope for this project is … that a lot more people across the world begin to hear about cultured meat,” said James Ryall, Vow’s chief scientific officer.

A wonderfully wacky publicity stunt, the meatballs aren’t intended for human consumption. Even calling the creation mammoth meat is a bit of a stretch. It’s more like lab-made lamb mingled with a tiny amount of mammoth DNA. ...

Advocates hope cultured meat will reduce the need to slaughter animals for food and help fight the climate crisis. The food system is responsible for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, most of which result from animal agriculture.

Vow hopes to soon get regulatory approval in Singapore, the first country to approve cultured meat, to sell lab-made quail meat it has developed. In the United States, the FDA has said that lab-grown chicken is OK for human consumption.

https://us.cnn.com/2023/03/28/world/...scn/index.html

Gassho, J

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