linkstream2 microblog

http://ideas.ted.com/why-we-should-all-care-about-encryption-really/

#Spock of Star Trek Dies http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/arts/television/leonard-nimoy-spock-of-star-trek-dies-at-83.html Obit notes that split-fingered salute is based on shin, 1st letter of a Hebrew name for God

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“His religious upbringing also influenced the characterization of Spock. The character’s split-fingered salute, he often explained, had been his idea: He based it on the kohanic blessing, a manual approximation of the Hebrew letter shin, which is the first letter in Shaddai, one of the Hebrew names for God.

“To this day, I sense Vulcan speech patterns, Vulcan social attitudes and even Vulcan patterns of logic and emotional suppression in my behavior,” Mr. Nimoy wrote years after the original series ended.”

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Tiny Internal Tornadoes Bring Drops to Life
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/science/tiny-internal-tornadoes-bring-drops-to-life.html Results from evaporation & surf. tension differences betw #water & PEG

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“The coloring turns out to be incidental. What is important is that food coloring contains propylene glycol. The combination of that fluid with water holds the droplets together and makes them move.

Water evaporates more quickly than propylene glycol and has greater surface tension. These differences result in continual movement inside a droplet. But the “little tornado inside” the drop reaches a balance that actually holds the droplet together, Dr. Prakash said.

The droplet moves when a change in relative humidity alters the tornado. Evaporated water from one droplet is a subtle but powerful signal, because it increases the humidity near another drop. That changes the second drop’s rate of evaporation, which disturbs the internal balance, and the dance begins.

By varying the percentages of the two fluids, the researchers were able to get droplets to move in ways that seemed mysterious — they sorted themselves according to their internal composition, formed a straight line and even climbed vertically.

The moving droplets could be useful. For instance, a mist might be used for cleaning surfaces, because the drops don’t leave any bit of themselves behind when they move.”

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http://www.wsj.com/articles/big-investor-involvement-could-boost-bitcoin-1428259814?mod=e2tw

Circadian #Enhancers Coordinate… Rhythmic… Transcription http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674%2814%2901310-5
Periodicity helps find #eRNAs/enhancers & their targets

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/upshot/when-moneyball-meets-medicine.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

http://www.economist.com/news/china/21647656-wave-internet-attacks-points-attempt-hobble-foreign-websites-great-walls-fire?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/greatwallsoffire

https://biomickwatson.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/the-cost-of-sequencing-is-still-going-down/

http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/15/04/02/microsoft-debuts-office-lens-for-iphone-omnifocus-2-goes-universal-on-ios

Disappearing Young Scientists http://on.wsj.com/1v4GvUk Michael Levitt on implications of #budget cuts for starting researchers HT @oselsayed

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What’s behind the shortage? Mr. Daniels suggests several reasons, including longer postdoctoral training; a system of applications, demonstrable data and peer review, and a shift in research costs to universities—which typically narrows awards to seasoned, tenured researchers. But perhaps the simplest explanation came from Nobel laureate Michael Levitt of Stanford, who said last year that senior scientists were once able to renew their existing grants and let young scientists compete for unawarded grant money. Now after budget cuts, older scientists are competing “against the kids,” and usually winning.
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