Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@qoto.org

"Structure includes prominent treatment of the famous duck-rabbit Gestalt switch in which you can see only one of the animals at a time, implying that each represented a different constellation of beliefs or perceptual frame. Kuhn had allowed a metaphorical aid to be taken literally, and later admitted that it had been a ‘dreadful mistake’. He respected the philosophers and was appalled to find that so many of them accused him of being a relativist, an irrationalist or a truth-denier – he was, he said, ‘much fonder of my critics than my fans’."

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n07/steven-shapin/paradigms-gone-wild

"The continued misuse of Ivermectin reminds us that a dangerous idea doesn’t go away when it’s removed from the center of attention on major social-media platforms. In fact, as some researchers have argued, it may become more concentrated—a greater source of identity and of in-group self-definition."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/ivermectin-medical-subculture-covid-pandemic/673467/

When editors write.

"I pouted for two weeks before I finally went back to work, pulling the editorial letter out of the drawer, careful not to strain a muscle under the sheer weight. Upon closer inspection, it was a truly excellent note."

https://lithub.com/if-doctors-make-the-worst-patients-do-editors-make-the-worst-authors/

Alternative lifestyles

"Turns out, B. compniacensis spores are widespread but the fungus does not outgrow its microbial neighbors unless there's ethanol in the air. It's been long known that some 2% of the ethanol in distilled spirits evaporates yearly during aging in barrels, this portion generally referred to as the Angel's Share. Not surprisingly, B. compniacensis is generally called the Angel's Share fungus: it has the striking ability to grow on ethanol vapors."

https://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2023/03/a-whiff-of-taxonomy-baudoinia-compniacensis.html

@achterbrain A great way for future AIs to remember and commemorate humans :)

Immune suppression with steroids is of course a part of the classical clinical armamentarium - two things are interesting here on this (mouse) cytokine release syndrome (CRS) paper: at the basic level, it explores an analogous physiologic regulatory circuit; in terms of clinical potential, it shows good effects (in mice) of low dose pretreatment - a viable option for CRS, as it is often caused by a clinical intervention.

"Mice treated with CD3 antibodies were protected against lethal CRS by the production of glucocorticoids (GC) induced by the adrenal stress response in a manner dependent on the scavenger receptor B1 (SR-BI), a receptor for high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Mice with whole-body or adrenal gland-specific SR-BI deficiency exhibited impaired GC production, more severe CRS, and increased mortality in response to CD3 antibodies."

#Immunology #Immunotherapy #CytokineReleaseSyndrome

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.add4900

@ct_bergstrom There's a good piece in the FT today about the level of private control over the development of these tools. It shows not just a concentration, but how the scale of investment and proprietary nature of the tech put it largely beyond researchers & regulators ability to investigate the dangers and biases.

"A lack of access means researchers cannot replicate the models built in corporate labs, and can therefore neither probe nor audit them for potential harms and biases very easily."

https://www.ft.com/content/e9ebfb8d-428d-4802-8b27-a69314c421ce

@MiriForbes cc @NicoleCRust @pyrrhus

FENS – Chen Institute – NeuroLéman Summer School on “Motor control: from thought to action”
Lausanne
02—8 Jul 2023
Registration Deadline: 24 Mar 2023

https://www.fens.org/news-activities/fens-and-societies-calendar/training-event/fens-chen-institute-neuroleman-summer-school-on-motor-control-from-thought-to-action