Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 19, 2019

Scientists have reversed aging in rat brain stem cells; The gene mutation that makes squirrels black may have helped to expand their range; The importance of blockchain as an open ecosystem; Viewing Alzheimer's as a sleep-related disorder may refocus research perspectives; A Steem essay arguing that HF21 will increase the value of post rewards, even as authors's percentages decline.

---

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.

---

1. Cambridge scientists reverse ageing process in rat brain stem cells - The Nature article is paywalled, so this is a press release from Aug 14. In an effort to understand the sort-of stiffening that happens in the aging brain, researchers observed that by implanting oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) from old rats into young rats, they were able to rejuvenate the cells from the older rats. Researchers then grew the cells in a lab in a variety of materials that enabled them to tailor the stiffness or softness of the resultant brain cells in a controlled environment. This research can lead to a better understanding of aging in the brain, and potentially to treatments that slow or reverse aging, and even for multiple sclerosis (MS). h/t Daniel Lemire


2. Mystery Solved: Scientists Have Figured Out Why Some Squirrels Are Black - Spoiler: they're the product of inter-species breeding between a common grey squirrel and a fox squirrel. The black colored squirrel is a grey squirrel with a faulty pigment gene that was inherited from a fox squirrel mutation. The dark color is uncommon but it may be advantageous for squirrels in cold, northern climates, which may have helped the animal to extend its range during the last 11,000 years. This, in turn, may have led to the extinction of red squirrels in parts of England, because the grey squirrel can carry the squirrelpox virus, without succumbing to it. The research effort was led by Helen McRobie and reported in BMC Evolutionary Biology. Related article here.


3. The Real Benefits of Blockchain Are Here. They’re Being Ignored - The article specifies 3 benefits from decentralized software solutions: censorship resistance; self-sovereignty; and open ecosystems. Of these, it suggest that censorship resistance and direct ownership of assets are relatively well-understood, but the importance of an open ecosystem is undervalued. In an open ecosystem, it suggests that creators, users, and developers can all share in the value of things that are created in a sort of virtuous cycle. The article notes that the decentralized finance ecosystem in Ethereum is taking advantage of the open ecosystem, but the phenomenon should have many other use-cases (such as games like CryptoKitties and Steem's own @steemmonsters). It's unfortunate that the article focuses on the Ethereum platform.


4. Alzheimer’s targets brain cells that help people stay awake - A new study in Alzheimers & Dementia The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association reports that daytime drowsiness, a symptom that commonly occurs in Alzheimer's patients, is actually caused by the disorder. Because sleep disuption sometimes begins decades before dementia, this may have the potential to, "refocus Alzheimer's research". The scientists were able to make this finding by comparing brain samples from people with and without Alzheimer's. In the Alzheimer's sample three areas of the brain stem that are commonly associated with wakefulness had all been overrun by tau proteins. h/t RealClear Science


5. STEEM HF21 - Why HF21 will ultimately be good for authors - Personally, I'm neutral on the economic changes for HF21. I think this will be my 8th or 9th hardfork (depending on how you count 17/18), and it seems to me that after a hardfork, peoples' behavior usually changes to adjust to the new reality, and the economics settle back into a new sort of normal that looks an awful lot like the old normal. But, I like to read the varying opinions on HF21, and with the approach of HF21 next week (Sep 27), I think it's worth including this in my post. @aggroed argues that although authors will be getting smaller percentages, the demand for Steem Power to drive curation should drive the price up, which means that in terms of value the authors will be receiving more. (A 10% beneficiary setting has been applied to this post for @aggroed.)

---

In order to help make Steem the go to place for timely information on diverse topics, I invite you to discuss any of these links in the comments and/or your own response post.

---

My other open posts

@remlaps

@remlaps-lite

• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 18, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 17, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 16, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 15, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 14, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 13, 2019
  

---

About this series

Like what you read? I'd like to cover more links and topics, but the research is time consuming. Your upvotes and shares will help me to expand this series and to share more collaboration rewards with other Steem authors.

---

Note: Sharing a link does not imply endorsement or agreement, and I receive no incentives for sharing from any of the content producers.

Follow on steem: @remlaps-lite, @remlaps
If you are not on Steem yet, you can follow through RSS: remlaps-lite, remlaps.

---

Thanks to SteemRSS from philipkoon, doriitamar, and torrey.blog for the Steem RSS feeds!