The calculative nature of microbial biofilms and bioaggregates

Biological proliferation isopt imized at variouslevels of organization, including the molecule (e.g. nucleic acids, prions), the cell (e.g. prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells), and the community (e.g. microbial biofilms, bioaggregates). Although it was initially assumed that this occurred through the genesis of information within DNA alone, it now appearsthat innovative design originates at other levels of organization in addition to DNA. For example, the recombination of community structures affects the proliferation rate of genetic structures; and the recombination of genetic structures affects the proliferation rate of community structures. This feedback mechanism computes compromises between the form and function of both community and nucleic acid. A nested series of proliferating objects (e.g. genetic structure, cell structure, community structure) is thus capable of continually updating the form of each object in the series. This accounts for the calculative nature of prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells, biofilms, bioaggregates, microbial consortia, and most other complex adaptive systems

SOME TESTS TO ESTABLISH CONFIDENCE IN PLANETS DISCOVERED BY TRANSIT PHOTOMETRY

Increased attention is being paid to transit photometry as a viable method for discovering or confirming detections of extrasolar planets. Several ground-based efforts are underway that target short-period, giant planets such as 51 Peg b, and several missions have been proposed to NASA and ESA to detect planets as small as Earth from spaceborne photometers. The success of these efforts depends in part on the ability to establish appropriate detection thresholds to control false alarm rates and the ability to assess the statistical confidence in planetary candidates drawn from any such search. This latter function attains higher importance for the space-based efforts, where direct ground-based confirmation of terrestrial-size planets is not possible. These tasks are complicated by the need to survey tens of thousands of stars to overcome the limited geometric probability of transit alignment and by the nature of the transit signals themselves. In this paper, we present empirical methods for setting appropriate detection thresholds and for establishing the confidence level in planetary candidates obtained from transit photometry of even a large number of stars. The methods are simple and allow the observer to quickly assess the statistical significance of any particular set of transits

Harry Potter: Magic or Illusion?

When first introduced, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series rocked the world of children’s books. It quickly topped bestseller lists and became the talk of the elementary world. But then something strange happened: grown-ups began reading the series. By the time that the last couple of books debuted, crowds of all ages fonued around bookstores to gather the latest editions. The series was all over the news, with notable critics giving their opinions and censorship debates arising in various regions. The cultural phenomenon had begun. Such a massive reception begs one question: will the Harry Potter series be a literary classic? In this paper, I firstly establish a definition of the “classic.” I use, as my reference point, Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon. I also cite several other critics and discuss particular works that have themselves become canonical. I then apply my definition to Rowling’s series as a whole, examining how both its literary characteristics and overall reception might determine its future status. After addressing all its positive traits, I conclude that the Potter series does show the potential to join the ranks of classic literature

Trade and the Environment: Equilibrium or Imbalance?

Review of Greening the GATT: Trade, Environment, and the Future by Daniel C. Esty; Freer Trade, Protected Environment: Balancing Trade Liberalization and Environmental Interests by C.Ford Runge, François Ortalo-Magné, and Philip Vande Kamp; Trade and the Environment: The Search for Balance (James Cameron, Paul Demaret & Damien Geradin, eds.); and Trading Up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy by David Voge

Global Erratum for Kepler Q0-Q17 and K2 C0-C5 Short Cadence Data

An accounting error has scrambled much of the short-cadence collateral smear data used to correct for the effects of Keplers shutterless readout. This error has been present since launch and affects approximately half of all short-cadence targets observed by Kepler and K2 to date. The resulting calibration errors are present in both the short-cadence target pixel files and the short-cadence light curves for Kepler Data Releases 1-24 and K2 Data Releases 1-7. This error does not affect long-cadence data. Since it will take some time to correct this error and reprocess all Kepler and K2 data, a list of affected targets is provided. Even though the affected targets are readily identified, the science impact for any particular target may be difficult to assess. Since the smear signal is often small compared to the target signal, the effect is negligible for many targets. However, the smear signal is scene-dependent, so time varying signals can be introduced into any target by the other stars falling on the same CCD column. Some tips on how to assess the severity of the calibration error are provided in this document

A super-Earth and two sub-Neptunes transiting the nearby and quiet M dwarf TOI-270

One of the primary goals of exoplanetary science is to detect small, temperate planets passing (transiting) in front of bright and quiet host stars. This enables the characterization of planetary sizes, orbits, bulk compositions, atmospheres and formation histories. These studies are facilitated by small and cool M dwarf host stars. Here we report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of three small planets transiting one of the nearest and brightest M dwarf hosts observed to date, TOI-270 (TIC 259377017, with K-magnitude 8.3, and 22.5 parsecs away from Earth). The M3V-type star is transited by the super-Earth-sized planet TOI-270 b (1.247^(+0.089)_(−0.083) R⊕) and the sub-Neptune-sized planets TOI-270 c (2.42 ± 0.13 R⊕) and TOI-270 d (2.13 ± 0.12 R⊕). The planets orbit close to a mean-motion resonant chain, with periods (3.36 days, 5.66 days and 11.38 days, respectively) near ratios of small integers (5:3 and 2:1). TOI-270 is a prime target for future studies because (1) its near-resonance allows the detection of transit timing variations, enabling precise mass measurements and dynamical studies; (2) its brightness enables independent radial-velocity mass measurements; (3) the outer planets are ideal for atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy; and (4) the quietness of the star enables future searches for habitable zone planets. Altogether, very few systems with small, temperate exoplanets are as suitable for such complementary and detailed characterization as TOI-270