GAVNet Collaborative Curation

The simple insight that most changes are random had a profound effect on genetics, evolution and ecology.

Wood runs like a vein throughout human history. It is integral to everything from early copper and iron smelting to wheels, windmills, Viking longships, Celtic barrels, Renaissance crumhorns and Stradivarius violins. It was even the subject of the first book published by a nascent Royal Society troubled by the rapacious demands of a seafaring empire (see G. Hemery Nature 507, 166-167; 2014).

Pandemic shaming, a national pastime since the spring, intensified in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Thousands waited in line, some for many hours, for a preholiday coronavirus test, only to be rebuked as careless, selfish violators of public-health rules. "I do want people to understand that testing on Thursday so you can party on Saturday: That doesn't work," said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County's director of public health. "It's not effective, and you really are in some ways wasting a valuable resource." Those long lines included people whose families were begging them to visit; students whose campuses had just closed for the semester; and people who were observing state rules requiring visitors to get tested 72 hours before arriving. Yet even people who were trying to be careful weren't spared from criticism: Many news articles and comments from public officials portrayed Thanksgiving travelers, regardless of the precautions they were taking, as irresponsible people. On social media, they were maligned as #covidiots, recklessly endangering themselves and their loved ones.

team of researchers from the NYU Abu Dhabi's (NYUAD) Smart Materials Lab (SML) led by Professor of Chemistry Panče Naumov has conducted a thorough review of the scientific literature surrounding the natural production of light, called bioluminescence, and developed conclusions that will help others in the field direct their research to uncover the mysteries behind this fascinating natural phenomenon.

Dead fish drifting into the Mariana and Kermadec trenches carry mercury pollution with them. Pollution

Part of pandemic preparedness is acknowledging that human, wildlife, and ecological health are inseparable.

Researchers from The Institute for Integrative Systems Biology have discovered a new gene family of antimicrobial peptides (small proteins) -the Blattellicins- in a German cockroach (Blattella germanica). The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, may help to understand how these insects can live in unsanitary environments and defend themselves against the fungal and bacterial pathogens they encounter via the beneficial symbiotic organisms that they harbor.

In the few studies and examinations which exist, in using Treasury securities it's been figured these collateral re-pledging and rehypothecation chains average multiples of six to eight; meaning, that a single UST security might be reused for book and customer business six to eight times. Between 85% and 90% of all Treasuries taken on dealer books are re-used in some fashion. No wonder these banks might become skittish, and why Treasury (and similar collateral) prices remain the way they are. The value in UST's isn't as an investment; it's the liquidity premium demanded by a fragile global monetary system. These are balance sheet tools whose worth is derived from what central bankers and bank regulators (same thing) are in no rush to comprehend.

The Shirky Principle declares that complex solutions (like a company, or an industry) can become so dedicated to the problem they are the solution to, that often they inadvertently perpetuate the problem.

.... elites are arguing from their class and demographic biases (a bias can be positive, to be clear), not from their expertise. That lowers the marginal value of expertise, at least given how our world operates. I recall earlier research blogged by Alex showing that if you are a French economist, your views are more influenced by being a French person than by being an economist.