hkl @hkl@qoto.org

Click beetles inspired these robots in the family Elateridae, which jump impressive distances by bending and snapping their bodies. In PNAS: http://ow.ly/IOqG50MyllQ

Awwwww yeah! Faces on Mars are a thing again! 😀
(image by NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)

'Birdsong neuroscience and the evolutionary substrates of learned vocalization'

by Matthew H. Davenport & Erich D. Jarvis @erichjarvis

Free (1-month) featured article, February 2023 issue of
@TrendsNeuro

https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(22)00236-3#%20

It's going to get scary.

[Credit to the TLDR newsletter]

"Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University were able to create full-body images of subjects using simple Wi-Fi routers. The technology could revolutionize healthcare, security, gaming, imaging, and many other industries. However, it could present many privacy issues as the technology can monitor people's movements through walls without their knowledge or consent. The technique involves analyzing the amplitude and phase of Wi-Fi signals to find interference and then using AI algorithms to produce an image."

@JimsPhotos
Here you go Jim, quick sketch of this lil dude

Love this Axios Visuals look at the evolution of pickup trucks and their popularity in the US (and how they are used for shopping / daily driving much more than hauling boulders) . This view of the inversion of the ratio between cab and cargo bed tells the story. https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history

A number of people have asked me if I was affected by the recent layoffs at Google. The short answer is no, I haven't been laid off. But to answer the question of if I was affected by it, of course the answer is yes. 1/12

Spotting #images drawn by #AI
https://asia.nikkei.com/static/vdata/infographics/ai-art/

Source: https://twitter.com/NikkeiAsia/status/1617346401867808768?s=20

Amazing murmuration the other evening. Especially the formation of a ‘bird of prey’ shape
#starlings #murmuration #Yorkshire #naturephotography #Birds #nature #rspb #winterwatch

training a new generation of reviewers using new ideas in scholarly publishing #peerreview
The collaborative peer review framework as a model for training https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468501123000020

A nice list of simple time management tips for academics.

http://labrigger.com/blog/2023/01/21/simple-time-management-advice-for-academics/

Malachite, Cu2(CO3)(OH)2
Sidi Ayed (Sidi Ayad), Boulemane Caïdat, Boulemane Cercle, Boulemane Province, Fès-Meknès Region, Morocco
FOV = 3.5 mm
#9238
NFS
#minerals #mineralcollecting #mineralogy #earthsciences #rockhounding

Contextual drive of neuronal responses in mouse V1 in the absence of feedforward input https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add2498 by Lisa Kirchberger, Pieter Roelfsema et al.; "contextual drive relates to the perception of the gray disk as a figure superimposed on a background grating"; now lets drive the context through crossmodal stimuli?

I've been seeing some posts from well-intentioned faculty about eliminating all deadlines in their classes. I study #ExecutiveFunction, #stress and #mentalhealth in college #students, and I'm here to tell you this will hurt the students you are trying to help. . . 1/buckle up

Visual cortex is affected by sounds. Does this mean it is multisensory? Does it represent sounds?

Today in Nature #Neuroscience (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01227-x) Célian Bimbard and team find otherwise.

Sound-evoked activity in visual cortex was similar across neurons. Even neurons in hippocampus. It persisted after we cut fibers from auditory cortex!

This activity was predicted by… subtle body movements evoked by the sounds. It reflects brainwide state and behavior signals.

#NeuroNewPaper

Reorganization of thalamocortical connections in #congenitally #blind humans https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.26192 "shedding light on the possible mechanisms of cross-modal plasticity in humans"; #crossmodal #plasticity #neuroscience

European Starling
I posted a photo of this bird last week. This is a different photo though the pretty much the same pose. The colors are striking, I'd like to get some more photos of these birds sometime.
(Photo taken 22 Nov 22)
#photo #photography #photographer #birds #bird #starling

Small world network in crazed tarmac?