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Why the Brain Is So Noisy

Matthias Kaschube studies that wiring by building models that describe experimentally observed brain activity. Kaschube and his colleagues at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, the University of Minnesota, and elsewhere have found a host of features that stand in stark contrast to the circuits that engineers build: spontaneous activity and correlation, dynamic context generation, unreliable transmission, and straight-up noise. These seem to be fundamental features of what some call the universe’s most complex object—the brain.
BY MICHAEL SEGAL
JANUARY 17, 2019
http://nautil.us/issue/68/context/why-the-brain-is-so-noisy

Bernanke on the causes of the financial crisis

former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke examines why many forecasters failed to anticipate the severity of the Great Recession and what really drove the economy into such a tailspin.

Bernanke’s research, which is rooted in quantitative analysis of how the 2007-2009 financial crisis affected the economy, argues that the housing bust, while significantly damaging, can’t on its own explain why the Great Recession was so bad. To understand fully the depth and timing of the economic downturn, we should look instead to the subsequent financial panic—including the run on short-term wholesale funding for financial institutions and the subsequent fire sales of credit-related assets—that sharply constrained the supply of credit.

If Bernanke’s findings are correct, then policymakers were right to implement some of the most controversial policies of the financial crisis, including efforts to rescue the big banks and re-start credit markets. By bringing the panic under control relatively quickly, those policies prevented a still deeper and more protracted recession.

https://www.brookings.edu/author/fred-dews/

Man begins six-month swim through 'Great Pacific garbage patch'

Ben Lecomte plans to swim from Japan to US to raise awareness of plastic pollution. A French anti-plastic campaigner has begun a six-month journey to swim through the giant floating rubbish mass known as the Great Pacific garbage patch.

Ben Lecomte, who has previously swum across the Atlantic Ocean in 1998, left the shores of Choshi in Japan on Tuesday morning, heading east.

The 50-year-old plans to swim from Japan to San Francisco in 180 days, covering 8,000km. His journey will take him through 1,600km of the garbage patch, in an attempt to raise awareness about plastic pollution. The Great Pacific garbage patch, according to the latest March estimate, is twice the size of France and contains nearly 80,000 tonnes of plastic.

Also known as the Pacific trash vortex, the patch is caused by the North Pacific gyre – a circle of currents that keep plastic, waste and other pollution trapped.

According to scientists, the patch has been growing “exponentially” in recent years. The March estimate found it was 16 times larger than previously expected.

Lecomte and his support team intend to sample the water they swim through every day of the journey, and gauge the level of plastic and microplastic pollution.

The expedition’s first mate, Tyral Dalitz, told the ABC the team wanted to dispel a myth about the garbage patch.

Rather than being made up of large pieces of plastic, most of the pollution is made up of invisible pieces of microplastic that sit in the water like a “plastic smog”, he said.

“In reality the truth is much worse – the ocean is now filled with microplastics ... Rather than calling it an island of trash, it is more like plastic smog throughout the ocean.”

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/naaman-zhou

Scientists get ready to begin Great Pacific Garbage Patch cleanup

A team of scientists and engineers will on Saturday begin an ambitious cleanup of plastics in the Pacific Ocean targeting a stretch of water three times the size of France known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

A 600m-long floating barrier will be launched off the coast of San Francisco and, powered by currents, waves and wind, will aim to collect five tonnes of plastic debris each month.

The marine apparatus known as System 001 is the brainchild of the Dutch inventor Boyan Slat who founded The Ocean Cleanup at the age of 18 in 2013.

Along with 70 staff he has spent the last five years testing 273 models and six different prototypes as part of the $20m (£15.5m) Netherlands-based project before arriving at the current design – nicknamed “Wilson” in reference to the famous volleyball from the film Castaway.

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/hannah-summers

Nike sales surge 31% in days after Colin Kaepernick ad

The sportswear giant released the first version of its ad on Monday, the Labor Day holiday. It featured the quarterback and the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything. Just do it.”

Kaepernick, 30, has been without a team since opting out of his San Francisco 49ers contract in March 2017. In 2016 he was an originator of protests by NFL players, targeting racial injustice and police brutality, which often involve kneeling during the pre-game playing of the national anthem.

Donald Trump has made the protests a key part of his appeal to his base, arguing that the players are disrespecting the anthem, the US flag and the military.

Trump did not supply evidence for his claim of “anger and boycotts” but opposition to the company’s move was expressed widely and in some instances creatively on social media.

On Friday, the morning after the full version of the Nike ad played during the Philadelphia Eagles v Atlanta Falcons NFL season opener, the president asked: “What was Nike thinking?”

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/martin-pengelly

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Alibaba’s Jack Ma, China’s Richest Man, to Retire From Company He Co-Founded

HONG KONG — Alibaba’s co-founder and executive chairman, Jack Ma, said he planned to step down from the Chinese e-commerce giant on Monday to pursue philanthropy in education, a changing of the guard for the $420 billion internet company.
www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/technology/alibaba-jack-ma-retiring.html

Ma, one of China’s best known corporate leaders, will remain on the company’s board of directors and continue to mentor its management, the New York Times said on Friday.

Ma, who founded Alibaba in 1999, stepped down as chief executive in 2013. He currently serves as the company’s international face at top political and business events.

Ma, China’s third richest person with a net worth of $36.6b according to Forbes magazine, was quoted as saying his retirement was not the end of an era, but the beginning of one.

While Ma‘s retirement from a formal role is a milestone, analysts and industry professionals say it is unlikely his involvement will change significantly.

“I don’t think it means that much, frankly. He stepped back from the CEO role about four or five years ago and very specifically made a comment about wanting the younger people to lead the company,” said Kevin Carter, founder of The Emerging Markets Internet exchange-trade fund.

Ma, who turns 54 on Monday, oversees a number of charitable projects in education and environmental fields. He is a cult figure in China’s internet industry and has attracted a big following among entrepreneurs and in pop culture.

www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/08/alibaba-co-founder-jack-ma-to-retire-say-reports

Trump threatens to expand trade war to all Chinese imports as US moves ahead with further tariffs

“Now we’ve added another US$200 billion,” Trump said during remarks that were initially off the record but which he later told reporters they could publish. “And I hate to say that, but behind that, there’s another US$267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want. That totally changes the equation.”
https://www.scmp.com/author/owen-churchill