C-Cab's recent activity
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Comment on The unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgements in ~science
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Comment on The unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgements in ~science
C-Cab (edited )LinkThe timing of reading this article couldn't be more serendipitous. My final revisions and formatting for my dissertation were approved just a couple days ago and it's now officially off my plate....The timing of reading this article couldn't be more serendipitous. My final revisions and formatting for my dissertation were approved just a couple days ago and it's now officially off my plate. To echo a sentiment from Dr. John Dawson in the article, "I'm done." This enormous endeavor is finally finished and while I spent nearly 8 years trying to answer some specific scientific questions, I relatively spent more time these last few months thinking about the acknowledgements and who all to thank. Same as a child, it takes a village to train a Ph.D. student. At a certain point I had to cut myself off because there were so many people that had bettered my life, even in small ways, that made the experience easier to get through.
One key thing I take away from this article, is that as scientists we want to express ourselves in many ways beyond the science that we do. Science is inherently a creative expression, but it is very constrained in the ways that you can express yourself. I think it's important for people, scientists included, to find a medium that feels the most appropriate as a creative outlet.
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Comment on The unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgements in ~science
C-Cab Link ParentGood luck on the tail end. I just finished mine and while it was a lot of work in the end, it felt better than the middle.Good luck on the tail end. I just finished mine and while it was a lot of work in the end, it felt better than the middle.
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Comment on IVF alone can’t save us from a looming fertility crisis in ~health
C-Cab Link ParentThere are many factors that influence the zeitgeist of a given time, and I don't think it's all the worthwhile to try to attribute motivations to large groups of people (especially one so large as...There are many factors that influence the zeitgeist of a given time, and I don't think it's all the worthwhile to try to attribute motivations to large groups of people (especially one so large as the entirety of the internet), but one parsimonious explanation I can think of is that people who were concerned about overpopulation probably aren't going to be too vocal about replacement rates falling so you're only going to hear people concerned about the other end of things.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
C-Cab Link ParentI loved Scavenger's Reign. I was completely enamored by the imagination and alienness of the ecosystems, and I was particularly impressed by the range of characters and how the show handled their...I loved Scavenger's Reign. I was completely enamored by the imagination and alienness of the ecosystems, and I was particularly impressed by the range of characters and how the show handled their progression.
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Comment on For many Olympic medalists, silver stings more than bronze in ~science
C-Cab Link ParentAlso in the wise words of Reese Bobby, "If you ain't first, you're last."Also in the wise words of Reese Bobby, "If you ain't first, you're last."
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Comment on For many Olympic medalists, silver stings more than bronze in ~science
C-Cab LinkFood for thought: I remember at one point competing against my best friend in a middle school spelling bee. We had a few rounds going back and forth and finally there was a word that I couldn't...Food for thought: I remember at one point competing against my best friend in a middle school spelling bee. We had a few rounds going back and forth and finally there was a word that I couldn't quite figure out - there were two ways to spell it by my reckoning and I ended up gambling on the wrong way. My friend immediately spelled it the other way and won the competition. I remember being a little frustrated in the moment, but I was also pretty excited that we both made it to the end. I wonder how knowing the people you're competing against might factor into your emotions.
Question to any readers: has this ever happened to you - where you were hoping to do better or you narrowly missed coming out on top?
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Comment on For many Olympic medalists, silver stings more than bronze in ~science
C-Cab LinkKey points:Key points:
We studied photos of 413 Olympic athletes taken during medal ceremonies between 2000 and 2016. The photos came from the Olympic World Library and Getty Images and included athletes from 67 countries. We also incorporated Sports Illustrated’s Olympic finish predictions, because we wanted to see whether athletes’ facial expressions would be affected if they had exceeded expectations or underperformed.
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Even though second-place finishers had just performed objectively better than third-place finishers, the AI found that bronze medalists, on average, appeared happier than silver medalists.
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Silver medalists form an upward comparison, imagining a different outcome – “I almost won gold.” Bronze medalists, on the other hand, form a downward comparison: “At least I won a medal” or “It could have been worse.”
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We found evidence consistent with both category-based and expectation-based counterfactual accounts of Olympic medalists’ expressions. Unsurprisingly, our analysis also found that gold medalists are far more likely to smile than the other two medalists, and people who finished better than expected were also more likely to smile, regardless of their medal.
Prior studies haven’t been able to thoroughly test this phenomenon. But by using artificial intelligence, we were able to test these two theories on a large and diverse set of image data for the first time.
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For many Olympic medalists, silver stings more than bronze
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Comment on Deriving mammalian DNA methylation predictors for maximum life span, gestation time and age at sexual maturity in ~science
C-Cab (edited )LinkSome food for thought: I don't find this result too surprising (besides maybe the strength of the correlation) - epigenetics primarily revolve around modulating our genes to tightly control things...Some food for thought:
I don't find this result too surprising (besides maybe the strength of the correlation) - epigenetics primarily revolve around modulating our genes to tightly control things like development, homeostasis, reproduction, etc. We want specific genes to be active at certain points of our life but we don't want them always on. We inherit our epigenetics from our parents just like we inherit the actual gene sequences, but these epigenetics can be changed throughout one's life.
However, it's not totally clear that this is the whole picture. In fact, since the correlation is not 1 it seems like there are some other unexplained factors influencing the variation. For instance, we've also found a strong link between the shortening of telomeres and aging. Maybe we could alter our epigenetics in a way to extend certain components of our life-span, but we still have other hurdles to get past.
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Comment on Deriving mammalian DNA methylation predictors for maximum life span, gestation time and age at sexual maturity in ~science
C-Cab LinkThe abstract from the primary research article by Li et al.:The abstract from the primary research article by Li et al.:
By analyzing 15,000 samples from 348 mammalian species, we derive DNA methylation (DNAm) predictors of maximum life span (R = 0.89), gestation time (R = 0.96), and age at sexual maturity (R = 0.85). Our maximum life-span predictor indicates a potential innate longevity advantage for females over males in 17 mammalian species including humans. The DNAm maximum life-span predictions are not affected by caloric restriction or partial reprogramming. Genetic disruptions in the somatotropic axis such as growth hormone receptors have an impact on DNAm maximum life span only in select tissues. Cancer mortality rates show no correlation with our epigenetic estimates of life-history traits. The DNAm maximum life-span predictor does not detect variation in life span between individuals of the same species, such as between the breeds of dogs. Maximum life span is determined in part by an epigenetic signature that is an intrinsic species property and is distinct from the signatures that relate to individual mortality risk.
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Deriving mammalian DNA methylation predictors for maximum life span, gestation time and age at sexual maturity
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Comment on Collecting sex-crazed zombie cicadas on speed: Scientists track a bug-controlling super-sized fungus in ~science
C-Cab Link ParentInsects do indeed have a brain (I'm not sure what you mean by a "true" brain, but I'm assuming you mean a central nervous system as opposed to something like a neural net), and it looks like this....Insects do indeed have a brain (I'm not sure what you mean by a "true" brain, but I'm assuming you mean a central nervous system as opposed to something like a neural net), and it looks like this. In fact, they use many of the same neurotransmitters we do such as dopamine and serotonin, albeit often in different ways, while sometimes relying on different transmitters altogether to carry out similar purposes (for instance, insects use octopamine instead of norepinephrine).
All that to say, I absolutely agree with the comments in the articles you linked. Cordyceps have pretty specific relationships and dependencies on their host and like most parasites really only function through one or a handful of species. Through natural selection they're finely tuned to manipulate insects to do very specific tasks (often quite clumsily). With the increase in global temperature I could maybe see some jumps between other arthropod species occurring more frequently, but it would take a long amount of evolutionary time for a fungus to hijack the human nervous system to the extent that we see in The Last Of Us. Our physiology is just waaaaaaaay too different from insects for a fungus like cordyceps to do something so drastic.
Having said that, I do think that if any pathogen would cause a zombie scenario it probably would be a fungus. You could maybe get a 28 Days Later scenario from something like a virus or bacteria if it knocks out very specific neuronal populations, but that doesn't seem too likely. Since fungi can be multicellular they could have a distributed network of cells that would more easily allow coordinated control of the brain.
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Comment on The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | Announcement trailer in ~games
C-Cab Link ParentOh man you just made me consider a game where you switch between Sheik and Zelda based off the task at hand (combat vs. puzzle). That would be such a cool game!Oh man you just made me consider a game where you switch between Sheik and Zelda based off the task at hand (combat vs. puzzle). That would be such a cool game!
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Comment on Recommendations for less mass-produced and more artistic tv in ~tv
C-Cab Link ParentI was gonna suggest this but I didn't want to recommend anything that hasn't finished yet. The first season is seriously fantastic though, and it could be it's own story. I have full faith they...I was gonna suggest this but I didn't want to recommend anything that hasn't finished yet. The first season is seriously fantastic though, and it could be it's own story. I have full faith they will pull off the second (and final!) season successfully.
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Comment on Recommendations for less mass-produced and more artistic tv in ~tv
C-Cab (edited )LinkFilm Embrace of the Serpent - follows a Colombian indigenous man who is the last of his tribe as he makes the same journey at two very different points in his life to help a white man find a...Film
Embrace of the Serpent - follows a Colombian indigenous man who is the last of his tribe as he makes the same journey at two very different points in his life to help a white man find a sacred plant. Great commentary on colonialism/imperialism, the importance of preserving culture, and seeing beyond one's self.The Fountain - A movie about a man struggling to deal with death and his own mortality told primarily through metaphor. Told simultaneously in three different time periods: imperialist Spanish conquistadors searching for the fountain of youth in South America, in contemporary times with an oncologist trying to find a cure for his wife's brain cancer, and in some far flung future where a man is floating through space with the tree of life.
TV
The Wire - a slow burn but a phenomenal exploration of the problem of systemic racism and poverty, organized crime, and law enforcement in Baltimore, Maryland. Each season explores different aspects of the systemic nature of crime such as where drugs come in from, how poor kids are ensnared into a life of crime, or even how enmeshed politicians are with crime. Follows characters from many different perspectives on both sides of the law.Fargo - I've been really enjoying this anthology series which builds off the themes of the Fargo movie looking at morality through crime and law. Each season is well casted, and they all feel fresh and provide new perspectives on the themes. You could maybe argue there's some producer involvement, but I think the showrunners are given a lot of leeway. Some seasons are better than others, but none of them have been bad for me.
Animation
Revolutionary Girl Utena - this takes a while to get going as it starts off like a traditional magical girl anime but then dives a lot deeper into homosexuality, gender roles, grooming/abuse, and coming of age. It uses a lot of symbolism and surrealism to tell its story and does not hold the audience's hand at all. I think around episode 10 it really picked up and just got better and better all the way through the end.Puella Magi Madoka Magica - this is another magic girl deconstruction, but it looks more at what it means to be a girl growing up, the loss of innocence, and the price you pay for being a magic girl. It's only 12 episodes and the tone drastically shifts around the 3rd or 4th, so if you do watch it give it a chance till then. It also uses a lot of dadaist inspired collage work to animate the witches.
Webseries
The Poly Couple - this is an exploration of a poly couple's relationship, mainly where they retell events that happened and integrate it into a more cohesive story. The episodes are short and generally there is a comedic tone, but the characters feel overall pretty nuanced. -
Comment on Elephants call each other by name, study finds in ~science
C-Cab Link ParentIt's important to keep in mind that there is no standard number of samples you need that applies to every study. Estimated effect size is super important for determining the statistical power of...It's important to keep in mind that there is no standard number of samples you need that applies to every study. Estimated effect size is super important for determining the statistical power of any given study design, such that smaller effect sizes will need more samples to identify statistical differences. In my experience, a lot of physiological experiments can get away with fewer samples as a result of this, but behavior data needs a bit more as the variance is much higher.
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Comment on Elephants call each other by name, study finds in ~science
C-Cab Link ParentOne important thing to keep in mind here is that sample size should be determined by the statistical power of your study design which is going to be determined by the magnitude of the effect size...One important thing to keep in mind here is that sample size should be determined by the statistical power of your study design which is going to be determined by the magnitude of the effect size you are expecting in addition to the number of variables you are trying to control. There isn't really a bog-standard, "this is the bare-minimum number of samples" that isn't arbitrary at some level. Of course, that's not how a lot of science is practiced, but even then it's possible to design a study ahead of time that's well powered without taking it into account.
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Comment on $2.70 supermarket wine wins gold medal at international wine contest in ~food
C-Cab Link ParentThat is a really good point! The 25-year old cab I ended up drinking with a bunch of friends while camping and there's no doubt that really heightened the experience.That is a really good point! The 25-year old cab I ended up drinking with a bunch of friends while camping and there's no doubt that really heightened the experience.
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Comment on $2.70 supermarket wine wins gold medal at international wine contest in ~food
C-Cab LinkI've been pretty consistent in staying below $20 whenever I buy wine, typically not straying higher than $15. I've certainly had some really bad, cheap wines that were tough to stomach, but I...I've been pretty consistent in staying below $20 whenever I buy wine, typically not straying higher than $15. I've certainly had some really bad, cheap wines that were tough to stomach, but I think most of what I've had in my price range are all good enough for my tastes.
I have had one really good 25-year-old cabernet sauvignon that was gifted to me and it was spectacular, so I definitely understand the difference between good and bad wine. But it's tough for me to justify going into the price range those wines require. I seem to recall reading an article that unless you're willing to drop over $80-100 you're not going to notice much a difference, but I sometimes wonder if that's your taste cortex in your brain giving into the sunk cost.
Regarding your last sentence: nothing has taught me to be more unsure of what we know than conducting science. I am frankly astounded at some people's confidence with the claims they make.