Empty Space.

Today's encore selection -- from The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene.

Delanceyplace.com End of Year Selections: Space

If all of the protons, neu­trons, and electrons, the very things we think of as most important, were completely removed, the total mass/energy of the universe would be only slightly diminished. And 100 billion years from now, the universe will be a largely empty place: "In the 1990s, two groups of astronomers, one led by Saul Perlmutter at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the other led by Brian Schmidt at the Australian National University, set out to determine the deceleration -- and hence the total mass/energy -- of the universe by mea­suring the recession speeds of type la supernovae. ... "The groups concluded that the expansion of the universe slowed down for the first 7 billion years after the initial outward burst, much like a car slowing down as it approaches a highway tollbooth. This was as expected. But the data revealed that, like a driver who hits the gas pedal after gliding through the EZ-Pass lane, the expansion of the universe has been accelerating ever since. The expansion rate of space 7 billion years ATB was less than the expansion rate 8 billion years ATB, which was less than the expansion rate 9 billion years ATB, and so on, all of which are less than the expansion rate today. The expected deceleration of spatial expansion has turned out to be an unexpected acceleration. "But how could this be? Well, the answer provides the corroborating second opinion regarding the missing 70 percent of mass/energy that physicists had been seeking. Random upsurges of repulsive energy in what theorists call the “inflaton field” may have resulted in the sudden exponential expansion of space, producing a huge universe like ours. "If you cast your mind back to 1917 and Einstein's introduction of a cosmological constant, you have enough information to suggest how it might be that the universe is accelerating. Ordinary matter and energy give rise to ordinary attractive gravity, which slows spatial expansion. But as the universe expands and things get increasingly spread out, this cos­mic gravitational pull, while still acting to slow the expansion, gets weaker. And this sets us up for the new and unexpected twist. If the uni­verse should have a cosmological constant -- and if its magnitude should have just the right, small value -- up until about 7 billion years ATB its gravitational repulsion would have been overwhelmed by the usual gravitational attraction of ordinary matter, yielding a net slowing of expan­sion, in keeping with the data. But then, as ordinary matter spread out and its gravitational pull diminished, the repulsive push of the cosmological constant (whose strength does not change as matter spreads out) would have gradually gained the upper hand, and the era of deceler­ated spatial expansion would have given way to a new era of accelerated expansion. "In the late 1990s, such reasoning and an in-depth analysis of the data led both the Perlmutter group and the Schmidt group to suggest that Ein­stein had not been wrong some eight decades earlier when he introduced a cosmological constant into the gravitational equations. The universe, they suggested, does have a cosmological constant. Its magnitude is not what Einstein proposed, since he was chasing a static universe in which gravitational attraction and repulsion matched precisely, and these researchers found that for billions of years repulsion has dominated. But that detail notwithstanding, should the discovery of these groups continue to hold up under the close scrutiny and follow-up studies now under way, Einstein will have once again seen through to a fundamental feature of the universe, one that this time took more than eighty years to be con­firmed experimentally. "The recession speed of a supernova depends on the difference between the gravitational pull of ordinary matter and the gravitational push of the 'dark energy' supplied by the cosmological constant. Taking the amount of matter, both visible and dark, to be about 30 percent of the critical density, the supernova researchers concluded that the accelerated expansion they had observed required an outward push of a cosmological constant whose dark energy contributes about 70 percent of the critical density. "This is a remarkable number. If it's correct, then not only does ordinary matter -- protons, neutrons, electrons -- constitute a paltry 5 percent of the mass/energy of the universe, and not only does some currently unidentified form of dark matter constitute at least five times that amount, but also the majority of the mass/energy in the universe is contributed by a totally different and rather mysterious form of dark energy that is spread through­out space. If these ideas are right, they dramatically extend the Coperni­can revolution: not only are we not the center of the universe, but the stuff of which we're made is like flotsam on the cosmic ocean. If protons, neu­trons, and electrons had been left out of the grand design, the total mass/energy of the universe would hardly have been diminished. "But there is a second, equally important reason why 70 percent is a remarkable number. A cosmological constant that contributes 70 percent of the critical density would, together with the 30 percent coming from ordinary matter and dark matter, bring the total mass/energy of the uni­verse right up to the full 100 percent predicted by inflationary cosmology! Thus, the outward push demonstrated by the supernova data can be explained by just the right amount of dark energy to account for the unseen 70 percent of the universe that inflationary cosmologists had been scratching their heads over. The supernova measurements and inflation­ary cosmology are wonderfully complementary. They confirm each other. Each provides a corroborating second opinion for the other. ... "Early on, the energy of the uni­verse was carried by the inflaton field, which was perched away from its minimum energy state. Because of its negative pressure, the inflaton field drove an enormous burst of inflationary expansion. Then, some 10-35 seconds later, as the inflaton field slid down its potential energy bowl, the burst of expansion drew to a close and the inflaton released its pent-up energy to the production of ordinary matter and radiation. For many bil­lions of years, these familiar constituents of the universe exerted an ordi­nary attractive gravitational pull that slowed the spatial expansion. But as the universe grew and thinned out, the gravitational pull diminished. About 7 billion years ago, ordinary gravitational attraction became weak enough for the gravitational repulsion of the universe's cosmological con­stant to become dominant, and since then the rate of spatial expansion has been continually increasing. "About 100 billion years from now, all but the closest of galaxies will be dragged away by the swelling space at faster-than-light speed and so would be impossible for us to see, regardless of the power of telescopes used. If these ideas are right, then in the far future the universe will be a vast, empty, and lonely place."

about Viruses

Going Viral: 6 New Findings about Viruses

2902 - AMICOR 21 - Seleção Retrospectiva 2018

Para finalizar o ano tive ideia de fazer uma retrospectiva a partir das 1340 postagens do ano, entretanto estou com dificuldade de fazer uma seleção enxuta. Só do mês de janeiro já separei quatro de 107!?...Selecionei outras de outros meses mas esqueci de salvar a seleção. De qualquer forma estava ficando extenso demais.
Agora temos aí uma listagem que corresponde aos meses de Dezembro e Janeiro de 2018. Penso que pode ser mais uma oportunidade para muitos de meus amigos que não tiveram tempo de olhar com calma o que foi publicado. 
Acho que nas próximas publicações vou continuar com a seleção de outros meses. De qualquer forma o conteúdo das postagens desde 2004 está abeto ao acesso de quem estiver interessado em vascular o que separei.

• Efemérides de 2018: E. Britânica (250 anos), Bortolo Achutti (meu pai 120), Espanhola (100), Revolução Russa (100), Término da 1a Guerra (100), Medicina de nossa turma (60), Primeira circun-navegação da Lua (50), Alma Ata (40), Pesquisa com Eduardo Costa sobre Pressão Arterial no RS (40)
• Novas descobertas neuro-psiquiátricas
• Media Social e seus problemas de controle e Fake News
• Microbioma
• Redescoberta de planos de mais de 30 anos...
• Busca dos arcanos do Universo
• .......................

Desejo a todos mais uma vez Saúde, Esperança, Coragem e Curiosidade do que vem por aí, assim nos mantemos vivos e participando do que temos em comum (mente que extrapola nossos corpos)e que nos deixa felizes quando percebemos que as conexões que temos dentro de nossos cérebros coincidem com as de nossos companheiros e podem encontrar resposta nessa grande rede cultural!...

Grato pela companhia e um abraço a todos.

Dementia

New Genetic Clues to Frontotemporal Dementiaby Neuroscience News Study reports a mutation in a single gene that causes hereditary frontotemporal dementia makes it harder for neurons to communicate, leading to neurodegeneration. Read more of this post [image: neurons] The photo shows neurons (red) with a mutation in the MAPT gene — a gene that makes the protein tau. People with this mutation develop frontotemporal dementia. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that cells carrying the MAPT mutation developed abnormalities in genes that control comm... mais »

FAMED/UFRGS - 1958

Há sessenta anos na noite de hoje nossa turma estava recebendo o diploma de médicos. Éramos 88, alguns já haviam ficado pelo caminho. Não consegui saber com segurança quantos estariam em condições de comemorar. Na celebração anual no Salão de Atos (que foi inaugurado com nossa turma) da *Associação dos Antigos Alunos da UFRGS*, só estava mais um além de mim *Eduardo Beck Paglioli*. Três vezes por semana encontro na Piscina do Clube do Comércio (Hidroginástica) com *Nilo Milano Galvão* e pela Internet tenho me correspondido com *José Izidoro Peirano Maciel, Antônio Eduardo Ludwig, Be... mais »

Influenza Cataclysm, 1918

Influenza Cataclysm, 1918D.M. Morens and J.K. Taubenberger[image: publication image] This year marks the centennial of an influenza pandemic that killed 50 million to 100 million people globally — arguably the single deadliest event in recorded human history. Evidence suggests that another pandemic at least as severe may occur one day. [image: Digital Object Thumbnail]Interview with Dr. David Morens on lessons from the 1918 influenza pandemic and the threat of a similar global health disaster. (10:50)Download

Human Development Report 2018

Human Development Today End of Year Roundup *As 2018 comes to a close, we take a moment to reflect on the past year which was a busy one for the Human Development Report Office. We’d also like to thank HDRO's outgoing Director Selim Jahan and Chief Statistician Milorad Kovacevic who will both be retiring at the end of 2018. Pedro Conceição has been appointed the new Director of HDRO to lead the 'next generation' of Human Development Reports. Below are highlights of key events, human development data and knowledge products in 2018.* Release of the 2018 Statistical Update The United Na... mais »

Last hominin

Video / Human Evolution Last hominin standing – charting our rise and the fall of our closest relatives 6 minutes

New nerve cells

The battle over new nerve cells in adult brains intensifies New methods are needed to settle the debate BY LAURA SANDERS 7:00AM, DECEMBER 20, 2018 [image: nerve cells] NO SIGNS In a study of human brains, young nerve cells (green) were visible in the memory-related hippocampus of a newborn (left), but were rare in a sample from a 13-year-old (center). None were seen in adult brains, including this sample from a 35-year-old (right). Just a generation ago, common wisdom held that once a person reaches adulthood, the brain stops producing new nerve cells. Scientists countered that depr... mais »

50 years ago

50 YEARS AGO 50 years ago, astronauts orbited the moon for the first time Dec 27 2018 5:30 AM Fifty years ago, astronauts went to the moon and back for the first time.

Capitalism

Why Amartya Sen remains the century’s great critic of capitalism Tim Rogan is a fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, where he teaches history. He is the author of *The Moral Economists: R H Tawney, Karl Polanyi, E P Thompson and the Critique of Capitalism *(2017 Edited by Sam Haselby *Recomendado pela AMICOR Maria Inês Reinert Azambuja* [image: Amartya Sen photographed in New Delhi, 2017. Photo by Priyanka Parashar/Mint/Getty] Amartya Sen photographed in New Delhi, 2017. *Photo by Priyanka Parashar/Mint/Getty* Critiques of capitalism come in two varieties. First, ther... mais »

Visions of a Better World

Visions of a Better World Noam Chomsky, Richard Dawkins, Martin Rees and others answer the question: What’s your utopia? - By John Horgan on December 19, 2018 - 4 [image: Visions of a Better World] Credit: Kiratsinh Jadeja *Getty Images* Unless you are too stoned or enlightened to care, you are probably dissatisfied with the world as it is. In that case, you should have a vision of the world as you would like it to be. This better world is your utopia. That, at any rate, is the premise of a question I’ve been asking scientists and other thinkers lately: What’s your utopia? I pr... mais »

How Memory Works

New Insight on How Memory Worksby Neuroscience News Study reports declarative memory depends upon conscious knowledge of what has been previously learned. Researchers discovered conscious knowledge is compromised in those with damage to the hippocampus. The findings shed new light on how the hippocampus controls the process of memory. Read more of this post [image: the hippocampus] The finding helps explain how the hippocampus controls the process of memory. NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.

The theory of all

The most beautiful theory of allA century ago Albert Einstein changed the way humans saw the universe. His work is still offering new insights today [image: Go to the profile of The Economist] The EconomistFollow Aug 8, 2017 “ALFRED, it’s spinning.” Roy Kerr, a New Zealand-born physicist in his late 20s, had, for half an hour, been chain-smoking his way through some fiendish mathematics. Alfred Schild, his boss at the newly built Centre for Relativity at the University of Texas, had sat and watched. Now, having broken the silence, Kerr put down his pencil. He had been searching for a ... mais »

2018 - Janeiro (107 postagens) 
Anxiety cells

The NPR Science Desk‏Verified account @nprscience 17m17 minutes ago

Researchers Discover 'Anxiety Cells' In The Brain

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/31/582112597/researchers-discover-anxiety-cells-in-the-brain?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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'We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918' (Centenário da "Espanhola")By Ashley Halsey III

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Social Media 

From: The Follower Factory

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, GABRIEL J.X. DANCE, RICH HARRIS and MARK HANSEN
Everyone wants to be popular online. Some even pay for it. Inside social media’s black market.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"Social media is a virtual world that is filled with half bots, half real people. You can’t take any tweet at face value. And not everything is what it seems."

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Baby's microbioma

Microbioma esteve na ordem do dia encontrando-se as relações mais variadas desde neuro-psiquiátricas como até genéticas

Baby’s first bacteria may take root before birth [image: A baby gestures minutes after he was born]The fetus, placenta and womb were thought to be sterile, but some scientists argue that a baby’s microbiome begins to 

develop long before birth. Nature | 17 min read

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Saúde do Idoso - 1984

*Saúde do Idoso 1984 Protocolo de intensões SSMA/MS/OPAS* Encontrei hoje esta proposta de época um próxima a que me aposentei na Secretaria da Saúde, onde nossos objetivos eram ações relacionadas com o controle de Doenças Crônicas, Promoção da Saúde e pretendíamos desenvolver ações mais específicas relacionadas com os idosos. Em seguida, quando retornei para a Faculdade de Medicina propuz a criação das Disciplinas de Promoção e Proteção da Saúde em substituição às de Acompanhamento de Família que estavam fadadas a serem extintas. A minha PPSIII dedicava-se ao Adulto, incluíndo o Idoso... mais »

“The Seven Storey Mountain,”

Thomas Merton, the Monk Who Became a Prophet

Fifty years after his death, Merton’s contradictions have made his work all the more instructive.

By Alan Jacobs

December 28, 2018

Merton was the person in motion who seeks stillness; the monk who wants to belong to the world; the famous person who wants to be unknown.

Photograph by Sibylle Akers / Merton Legacy Trust / Thomas Merton CenterOn December 10, 1941, a young man named Thomas Merton was received as a novice by a monastery in Kentucky, the Abbey of Gethsemani. Precisely twenty-seven years later, he died by accidental electrocution in his room at a retreat center in Bangkok, Thailand. He entered the monastery three days after Pearl Harbor; he died a month after Richard Nixon was elected to his first term as President. It had been an eventful time./.../

Health Care Spending in US

Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries

Irene Papanicolas, PhD^1,2,3; Liana R. Woskie, MSc^1,2,3; Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH^1,2

Author Affiliations Article Information

JAMA. 2018;319(10):1024-1039. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.1150

Audio Interview(18:22)

Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries

Video(MM:SS)

Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries

Video(6:00)

The Top JAMA Network Articles of 2018

Key Points

Question  Why is health care spending in the United States so much greater than in other high-income countries?

Findings  In 2016, the United States spent nearly twice as much as 10 high-income countries on medical care and performed less well on many population health outcomes. Contrary to some explanations for high spending, social spending and health care utilization in the United States did not differ substantially from other high-income nations. Prices of labor and goods, including pharmaceuticals and devices, and administrative costs appeared to be the main drivers of the differences in spending.

Meaning  Efforts targeting utilization alone are unlikely to reduce the growth in health care spending in the United States; a more concerted effort to reduce prices and administrative costs is likely needed.

Abstract

Importance  Health care spending in the United States is a major concern and is higher than in other high-income countries, but there is little evidence that efforts to reform US health care delivery have had a meaningful influence on controlling health care spending and costs.

Objective  To compare potential drivers of spending, such as structural capacity and utilization, in the United States with those of 10 of the highest-income countries (United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Denmark) to gain insight into what the United States can learn from these nations.

Evidence  Analysis of data primarily from 2013-2016 from key international organizations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), comparing underlying differences in structural features, types of health care and social spending, and performance between the United States and 10 high-income countries. When data were not available for a given country or more accurate country-level estimates were available from sources other than the OECD, country-specific data sources were used.

Findings  In 2016, the US spent 17.8% of its gross domestic product on health care, and spending in the other countries ranged from 9.6% (Australia) to 12.4% (Switzerland). The proportion of the population with health insurance was 90% in the US, lower than the other countries (range, 99%-100%), and the US had the highest proportion of private health insurance (55.3%). For some determinants of health such as smoking, the US ranked second lowest of the countries (11.4% of the US population ≥15 years smokes daily; mean of all 11 countries, 16.6%), but the US had the highest percentage of adults who were overweight or obese at 70.1% (range for other countries, 23.8%-63.4%; mean of all 11 countries, 55.6%). Life expectancy in the US was the lowest of the 11 countries at 78.8 years (range for other countries, 80.7-83.9 years; mean of all 11 countries, 81.7 years), and infant mortality was the highest (5.8 deaths per 1000 live births in the US; 3.6 per 1000 for all 11 countries). The US did not differ substantially from the other countries in physician workforce (2.6 physicians per 1000; 43% primary care physicians), or nursing workforce (11.1 nurses per 1000). The US had comparable numbers of hospital beds (2.8 per 1000) but higher utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (118 per 1000) and computed tomography (245 per 1000) vs other countries. The US had similar rates of utilization (US discharges per 100 000 were 192 for acute myocardial infarction, 365 for pneumonia, 230 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; procedures per 100 000 were 204 for hip replacement, 226 for knee replacement, and 79 for coronary artery bypass graft surgery). Administrative costs of care (activities relating to planning, regulating, and managing health systems and services) accounted for 8% in the US vs a range of 1% to 3% in the other countries. For pharmaceutical costs, spending per capita was $1443 in the US vs a range of $466 to $939 in other countries. Salaries of physicians and nurses were higher in the US; for example, generalist physicians salaries were $218 173 in the US compared with a range of $86 607 to $154 126 in the other countries.

Conclusions and Relevance  The United States spent approximately twice as much as other high-income countries on medical care, yet utilization rates in the United States were largely similar to those in other nations. Prices of labor and goods, including pharmaceuticals, and administrative costs appeared to be the major drivers of the difference in overall cost between the United States and other high-income countries. As patients, physicians, policy makers, and legislators actively debate the future of the US health system, data such as these are needed to inform policy decisions.