Links for 2022-06-06
Why did concealed ovulation evolve? — “Our model suggests women may have evolved to conceal ovulation from other women, not from men as has been previously assumed” https://socialsciences.nature.com/posts/why-did-concealed-ovulation-evolve
Making shootings more salient makes gun laws weaker: “The annual number of laws that loosen gun restrictions doubles in the year following a mass shooting in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature…” https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/05/making-shootings-more-salient-makes-gun-laws-weaker.html
“For most problems, rethinking your approach from the ground up is wasteful and unnecessary, because most problems have a similar causal structure to a large number of past cases. When the problem isn’t commensurate with existing strategies, as in the case of AGI, you need a new playbook.” https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/keiYkaeoLHoKK4LYA/six-dimensions-of-operational-adequacy-in-agi-projects
Generative Flow Networks may be the next major step in building better AI systems. https://yoshuabengio.org/2022/03/05/generative-flow-networks/
Performance IQ--but not Verbal IQ--correlates positively with the sharpness of transition from grey to white matter in the prefrontal and parietal cortex. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289622000149?via%3Dihub
Precision spinal gene delivery-induced functional switch in nociceptive neurons reverses neuropathic pain https://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/fulltext/S1525-0016(22)00294-5
“The analysis shows that gold rush counties indeed have higher entrepreneurship rates from 1910, when records began, until the present as well as a higher prevalence of entrepreneurial traits in the populace.” https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4114397
Working notes on the role of vision papers in basic science https://scienceplusplus.org/visions/index.html
Challenges in Designing a Mission that Travels through Europa’sCrust: Deployment, Operations, Communication https://kiss.caltech.edu/workshops/oceanworlds/presentations/Cwik.pdf
It doesn't even have to be a defeat. A very costly victory will make another war less likely.
To see this, imagine Taiwan was to declare that they are not going to fight if China invades because they cannot win such a war. How would this affect the probability of an invasion? It should be obvious that this would make an invasion MORE likely.
A bank can be robbed if the robbers have enough planning and equipment. But if the bank decided to let their vault unlocked so that it wouldn't get damaged in a robbery, this would make a robbery MORE likely.
But what about playing a bluff? Once the bad guys arrive, you just give up so that they won't hurt you. That's not a viable strategy. If this strategy was widespread enough it would become worth it for the bad guys to try and hope for a bluff. You need to back up words with deeds if you want to reduce the probability of war. You need to fight even if you cannot win or war will become more likely not just for you but for everyone.
There are two genetic mutations (ADRB1 and DEC2) that each allow people to feel fully rested after just four to six hours of sleep.
Many countries will face a productivity crisis due to rapidly declining birth rates. Might it be easier for countries like China to genetically modify their germline to have short sleep behavior than to increase birth rates?
And even if the birthrate problem did not exist, shouldn't we seriously think about making people need less sleep? Practically, this would amount to a life-prolonging measure.
P.S. Humans have evolved to sleep much less than any other primate. If we followed the typical primate pattern, we'd snooze for around 9.6 hours a day.
Active volcanoes on Jupiter's Moon Io:
"Our Earth receives 42 TW of heat from its core, from residual energy and radioactive decay.
But the tiny Io gets 93.8 TW pumped it by tidal heating from nearby Jupiter.
That's 2.2x more energy in a 1/67x lighter body!" (via @ToughSf)
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0067-0049/218/2/22