Curating the Internet: Science and technology digest for November 26, 2019

Notes on research to understand consciousness; Using bacteria to prepare Mars for human arrival; An agreement for Google's Loon balloons to fly permanently in the air over Peru; A Youtube video discussing recent advances in microscopy; and a Steem post describing participation in project feederwatch, a citizen science initiative.

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Fresh and Informative Content Daily: Welcome to my little corner of the blockchain

Straight from my RSS feed

Whatever gets my attention

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

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1. Pinning down consciousness could improve mental health, brain disorder treatments - This article describes research into three areas that are associated with consciousness. In the first area, researchers have been investigating self-awareness by studying the ability of people to meditate and be hypnotized. The two activities are seemingly opposites, so they expected to find that people who were good at meditation would be hard to hypnotize, and vice versa. Instead, they found that some people are good at both, suggesting that some people possess a sort of mental flexibility that's helpful for both activities. The second area of research is investigation into layering of objects. Two images were presented to subjects in quick succession. The first image would be broad and general, whereas the second would be more specific. The researchers found that people are better at recognizing the 2^nd image if it was similar to the first. Using EEG and fMRI, they were also able to identify the specific areas of the brain that was being used. Finally, researchers studied the differentiation of brain activities when recognizing the 2nd object, which could give clues about awareness during a coma or vegetative state. Their observations suggest that each person may have their own unique mental representation of the world. h/t RealClear Science


2. Using Bacteria to Build a Base on Mars - In a recent PhD defense, Benjamin Lehner proposed sending an un-crewed mission to Mars with a bacteria-filled bioreactor that will convert regolith into usable metal in preparation for the arrival of humans on the planet. The process of using local materials for space exploration is known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). According to Lehner's plan, the uncrewed capsule would contain a rover, a bioreactor, and a 3D printer. The rover would collect the regolith, then the bioreactor - containing the Shewanella oneidensis bacteria species - would convert the regolith into magnetite, and the 3D printer would use the magnetite to produce tools and equipment like screws, nuts, and iron plates. The plan anticipates that multiple uncrewed missions will be needed, but that eventually this technique can be used to build a habitat for a human exploration team. The bacteria would be contained in a sealed, inflatable environment in order to prevent the bacteria from populating the Martian surface and interfering with the search for life on the planet. h/t RealClear Science


3. Loon’s autonomous balloons are bringing the internet to rural Peru - Alphabet subsidiary, Loon, announced last week that it had signed deal to bring its balloon-based Internet infrastructure to Peru. The firm's balloons were previously deployed in Peru to cover for failed infrastructure after the 8.0 magnitude earthquake in May, and also after flooding in 2017. This time, however, the balloons that perform the same function as cell phone towers will be providing permanent Internet connectivity. The fleet of balloons are designed to stay in the air for 150 days at a stretch, and the record for one of Loon's balloons has been 223 days in flight. The company hopes to increase the longevity further by improving the control systems to avoid high-speed stratospheric winds. The project has backing from international banks, tech firms, and a major telecommunications company. It still needs approval from Peru's Ministry of Transport and Communications, and the hope is to begin providing service in 2020. h/t MIT Technology Review


4. Your Textbooks Are Wrong, This Is What Cells Actually Look Like - Advances in microscopy have given biologists new insights into the structure of cells, and according to this video, these new insights will power a transformation of our understanding of human health. Some of the newer microscopic techniques include Lattice light-sheet microscopy and Adaptive Optics, the latter of which originated in astronomy. This video contains some of the newer images, including high resolution 3d movies, and also includes commentary from Gokul Upadhyayula and Susanne Rafelski, Ph.D..
   
   Here is the video:
   

h/t RealClear Science Videos

STEEM Citizen Science: Project FeederWatch -- Count #03 Report 2019-2020 Season w/Original Photos - Steemizen, @etcmike, participates in project feederwatch, a citizen science initiative, and publishes bird sighting information here on the Steem blockchain, too. This post has original photos, videos, and descriptions of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Blue Jay's, Red-Winged Blackbirds, House Finches, Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, White-breasted Nuthatches, and Northern Cardinals. It also has bird observation counts, and a summary of @etcmike's bird counts for the 2019-2020 season.

The post says that photos are free to use, with attribution, so here's a photo of a White-breasted Nuthatch that was taken by @etcmike.

Click through for more photos, videos, and descriptive text. (A 10% beneficiary setting has been applied to this post for @etcmike.)

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