Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for September 12, 2019

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Authored by @remlaps

How caterpillars turn into butterflies; The reason why ship-bottoms frequently painted read; Two new Antimer models sold out in 17 minutes; A famous argument against free will has been refuted; How to use Excel's Quick Analysis and Ideas features

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Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

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  1. What's inside a caterpillar cocoon - This video describes the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. First, it grows a hard shell, known as a cocoon, then enzymes are released to dissolve the caterpillar's muscles and digestive system, and finally dormant cells are activated to grow the butterfly's body parts from the inside, and moving outward. Once the butterfly is fully formed, it emerges from the cell and leaves the shell and other byproducts behind. The entire process takes a little longer than 2 weeks.

  2. The Reason Why Ships Are Often Painted Red on the Bottom - Historically, wooden sailing ships would paint their bottoms with copper or copper oxide paint because it acts as a biocide and prevented the hull from decaying or being eaten through by worms. The copper paints added a red tint to the hull. In modern times, biocide paints are available in any color, but red is frequently used in order to maintain the maritime tradition. The article also includes this Youtube video:


  • Bitmain’s Antminer 17 Sold Out in Minutes. Will the Bitcoin Hash Rate Rise? - According to the article, Antminer's two new mining appliances launched on September 9, and they offer the best value in the space, with the following specs: "The S17e model delivers a hash rate of 64 TH/s and operates with a power efficiency of 45J/TH, while the more budget-friendly T17e offers a hash rate of 53TH/s and power efficiency of 55J/TH", which is about a factor of 3 improvement over the previous generation. For reference purposes, the article says the bitcoin hash rate on September 9 was 100 EH/s. The company introduced a compensation strategy for late shipments, saying that customers will receive discount coupons for every day that their order is late. The first batch is scheduled for delivery between Nov 1 and Nov 10. Based on completed chip orders, the article estimates that Bitmain's new product line could increase the overall hash rate by as much as 33 EH/s by the end of 2020.

  • A Famous Argument Against Free Will Has Been Debunked - Starting in 1964, scientists have gained increasing knowledge of the activity inside of our brains at the moment a decision is made. In 1983, Benjamin Libet observed a phenomenon which he termed a Bereitschaftspotential, where the brain showed an increased level of activity a few moments before the research subject made a conscious decision. For years afterwards, people concluded from this that the brain was making a decision at the unconscious level before the conscious person even knew about it. In 2010, however, Aaron Schurger ran new experiments and reached a different conclusion. It turns out that the Bereitschaftspotential was not the moment of decision, but another input into the decision. Brain activities constantly rise and fall in a somewhat random fashion, and that noise is apparently used by the brain's neurons as a sort of "tie breaker" when making decisions between two otherwise equal options. h/t RealClear Science

  • STEEM These Excel Tricks Make Ordinary Users Look Like Data Wizards - This tutorial post by @theexcelclub gives instructions for using Excel's "Quick Analysis (-Q) to do things like adding data bars, adding a running total, inserting a chart, or inserting a pivot table. It also describes the use of Ideas (-T) in Office 365 to have an AI engine analyze data for "patterns, trends, outliers, and correlations". (A 10% beneficiary setting has been applied to this post for @theexcelclub)

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