memorising Bach

In month three of my Plague Year Bach Project I have managed to memorise a complete movement of the cello suites for the first time, namely the gigue 1.6. Of the two previous movements I've learned to play, the bourrees 3.5 and the minuets 1.5 I picked a favourite (the first bourree and the second minuet) and memorised that completely, but the other one only in parts.

Memorising still is the hardest part, although it is getting a little easier as I learn the language of the suites and recognise recurring patterns more readily. I'm hoping that I can keep up memorising with the next movements at the rate of one a month. Looking for help I found a video by pianist Tiffany Poon showing how she's struggling to memorise a pair of bourrees from one of the harpsichord suites. Which is kind of reassuring to know, and she does pull cute faces when things go wrong, but she doesn't reveal a magic recipe on how to do it.

So, I'm now moving on backwards through the first suite, which brings me to the sarabande 1.4, with a little help from the usual sources:

The video of Patrycja Likos is a helpful starting point as she plays the movements very straight and the fingerings are clearly visible at all times.

For a slightly more engaging performance and more artistic videography, try this recording from Denise Djokic.

And then consider the helpful hints from Inbal Segev. She's done a short tutorial (or two in some cases) for every single movement.

I'm also adding these videos to my youtube playlist "cello repertoire".


I now also have the CD with Inbal Segev's recording of the complete suites, and have been listening to the first and third suite a lot. I like the arrangement of odd numbers on one CD and even numbers on the other, you always know where to find what you're looking for, and I feel it makes a surprising amount of sense musically. (As the suites 4-6 are longer than 1-3, they wouldn't fit on two CDs in numerical order.)

Here's my materials collection:



The Siblin book I've reviewed here.

The studies book includes quite a few artistic choices that I don't agree with, but I still find it helpful to play through some of the studies to get a different angle on the notes I'm learning, as well as for fluency practice.

science news 29.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.


astrobiology

ESPRESSO confirms the presence of an Earth around the nearest star
The existence of a planet the size of Earth around the closest star in the solar system, Proxima Centauri, has been confirmed by a team of scientists including researchers from the University of Geneva. The planet, Proxima b, has a mass of 1.17 earth masses and is located in the habitable zone of its star. This breakthrough has been possible thanks to measurements using ESPRESSO, the most accurate spectrograph currently in operation.



This artist's impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System.
Credit: © ESO/M. Kornmesser


evolution

World's oldest bug is fossil millipede from Scotland

Chinese pterodactyl wings its way to the United Kingdom
The first ever specimen of a pterodactyl, more commonly found in China and Brazil, has been found in the United Kingdom.


ecology

Two bacteria allow spittlebugs to thrive on low-nutrient meals

New Zealand blue whale distribution patterns tied to ocean conditions, prey availability


food and drink

New report discusses coffee's effect on digestion and digestive disorders
A new report from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC), entitled 'Coffee and its effect on digestion' reviews the latest research into coffee's effect on digestion, and indicates a potential protective effect against gallstones and gallstone disease and pancreatitis. The report also highlights other beneficial effects that coffee consumption may have on the process of digestion, including supporting gut microflora and promoting gut motility.


sustainability

Balancing the economy while saving the planet
A new research-based framework lets companies make informed decisions balancing economic and sustainability factors when producing bio-chemicals.

Gold mining with mercury poses health threats for miles downstream


humans

Genomic analysis shows long-term genetic mixing in West Asia before world's first cities
Scientists analyzed DNA data from 110 skeletal remains in West Asia dated 3,000 to 7,500 years ago. The study reveals how a high level of human movement in West Asia during the Neolithic to late Bronze Age not only led to the spread of ideas and material culture but to a more genetically connected society well before the rise of cities, not the other way around, as previously thought.
Different PR on the same paper:

Human mobility and Western Asia's early state-level societies

Who were the Canaanites? New insight from 73 ancient genomes
See also my ancient (2017) feature on antiquity's genomes, which also included a section on the Canaanites.
And another new paper covering the same geographic area:

4,000 years of contact, conflict & cultural change had little genetic impact in Near East

New research reveals Cannabis and Frankincense at the Judahite Shrine of Biblical Arad



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From the news media:


Richard Horton on the "scientists" still being used to prop up the UK govt. failing in its pandemic response. Personally, I stopped taking Whitty and Vallance seriously on March 13 when they were talking herd immunity.

science news 27.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.


astrobiology

Synthesis of prebiotic peptides gives clues to the origin of life on Earth

MAVEN maps electric currents around Mars that are fundamental to atmospheric loss

Astronomers create cloud atlas for hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets


evolution

Chromosomal speciation in wild house mice
... large-scale chromosomal rearrangements play an important role in speciation.

Musical rhythm has very deep evolutionary roots and is present in some animals


ecology

Warming climate is changing where birds breed



Neotropical migrants, such as this Indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea), have experienced massive population declines in recent years. Researcher Clark Rushing and colleagues at USGS wanted to know if climate change was responsible.
Credit: Clark Rushing


nanoworld

Nanodevices show how cells change with time, by tracking from the inside

Kirigami/origami: Unfolding the new regime of advanced 3D micro-/nanofabrication with 'folding'


biomedical

Dementia gene raises risk of severe COVID-19
specifically, this is about the ApoE gene, which is linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Beware of false negatives in diagnostic testing of COVID-19


sustainability

Study reveals substantial quantities of tyre particles contaminating rivers and ocean

Why are we still failing to stop deforestation?
good question


humans

Ear infections discovered in remains of humans living in levant 15,000 years ago

Women with Neandertal gene give birth to more children
One in three women in Europe inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neandertals -- a gene variant associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and fewer miscarriages.

Study investigates sexual activity in lockdown
New research indicates that only four in 10 UK adults have been sexually active during the COVID-19 lockdown - a finding that could have important physical and mental health implications.


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From the news media:

The man in the iron lung - very scary long read about a survivor of the 1950s polio epidemic.

science news 26.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.


ecology

Scientists find genes to save ash trees from deadly beetle

Bristol scientists see through glass frogs' translucent camouflage


conservation

A new Critically Endangered frog named after 'the man from the floodplain full of frogs'
A pioneering printer named Christoph Froschauer



Life colouration of Stumpffia froschaueri sp. nov., dorsolateral view of holotype ZSM 169/2019 (ACZCV 0940) from Anketsakely (Anabohazo Forest)
Credit: Gonçalo M. Rosa


climate change

There is no escaping from climate change, even in the deep sea
Even though the deeper layers of the ocean are warming at a slower pace than the surface, animals living in the deep ocean are more exposed to climate warming and will face increasing challenges to maintain their preferred thermal habitats in the future.

Marine species are outpacing terrestrial species in the race against global warming
Global warming is causing species to search for more temperate environments in which to migrate to, but it is marine species ... that are leading the way by moving up to six times faster towards the poles than their terrestrial congeners.


biomedical

uOttawa researchers discover new sex hormone


humans

7,000 years of demographic history in France
scientists ... have shown that French prehistory was punctuated by two waves of migration: the first during the Neolithic period, about 6,300 years ago, the second during the Bronze Age, about 4,200 years ago.

Unique insight into development of the human brain: Model of the early embryonic brain



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From the news media:

The glass frogs story also covered in the Guardian - I have to say it isn't very translucent to me, but I haven't looked at the paper.

all eyes on atoms

I've rounded up some exciting science on how to image and manipulate atoms in my latest feature in Chemistry & Industry, including the atom manipulation work from Harry Anderson's group here in Oxford together with Leo Gross in Zurich, as well as a collaborative effort from the universities of Nottingham and Ulm (Germany) using carbon nanotubes as test-tubes to analyse bond formation between metal atoms.

The feature is out now:

All eyes on atoms

Chemistry & Industry 84, No. 5, pp 22-25.

access via:

Wiley Online Library (paywalled)

SCI (members)


Oh, and my feature made the cover which looks amazing:




Couldn't find a decent sized jpg of the cover, so had to take my own photo of the actual paper magazine.

science news 22.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.



ecology

When plant pollen scarce, bumblebees biting leaves causes flowers to bloom early

Long-term resilience of Earth's tropical forests in warmer world
A long-term assessment of the sensitivity of hundreds of tropical forest plots to increasing temperatures brings encouraging news: in the long run, Earth's tropical forests may be more resilient to a moderately warming world than short-term predictions have suggested.

Marine biology: Spiny lobster noises may be heard up to 3 km away

nanoworld

The self-synthesizing ribosome
Synthesis and assembly of a 30S subunit on a chip - sadly arrived too late for my feature on the evolution and assembly of the ribosome


chemistry

Scientists finally crack nature's most common chemical bond
Ignore the bluster, this is about functionalising the terminal CHa3 of hydrocarbons by introducing a boron.



A catalyst (center) based on iridium (blue ball) can snip a hydrogen atom (white balls) off a terminal methyl group (upper and lower left) to add a boron-oxygen compound (pink and red) that is easily swapped out for more complicated chemical groups. The reaction works on simple hydrocarbon chains (top reaction) or more complicated carbon compounds (bottom reaction). The exquisite selectivity of this catalytic reaction is due to the methyl group (yellow) that has been added to the iridium catalyst. The black balls are carbon atoms; red is oxygen; pink is boron. (UC Berkeley image by John Hartwig)
Credit: John Hartwig, UC Berkeley


biomedical

Weizmann Institute scientists develop 'sniff test' that predicts recovery of consciousness in brain
If you're unconscious but a waft of smell makes your nose twitch, you're not dead yet. 100% of patients that passed the sniff test recovered consciousness.

Immunity to coronaviruses: What do we know so far?


humans

Earliest evidence of Italians' genetic diversity dates back to end of last glacial period

Autistic burnout
Autistic adults use the term to describe a chronic state of exhaustion, loss of skills, and reduced tolerance to stimulus. These characteristics are long-lasting and permeate peoples lives.



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From the news media:

Sunshine and social distancing photo gallery in the Guardian

science news 21.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.



astrobiology

ESO telescope sees signs of planet birth
Observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have revealed the telltale signs of a star system being born. Around the young star AB Aurigae lies a dense disc of dust and gas in which astronomers have spotted a prominent spiral structure with a 'twist' that marks the site where a planet may be forming. The observed feature could be the first direct evidence of a baby planet coming into existence.



This image shows the disc around the young AB Aurigae star, where ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has spotted signs of planet birth. Close to the centre of the image, in the inner region of the disc, we see the 'twist' (in very bright yellow) that scientists believe marks the spot where a planet is forming. This twist lies at about the same distance from the AB Aurigae star as Neptune from the Sun. The image was obtained with the VLT's SPHERE instrument in polarised light.
Credit: ESO/Boccaletti et al.


evolution

Researchers reveal origins of complex hemoglobin by resurrecting ancient proteins


ecology

Grasshoppers are perfectly aware of their own coloration when trying to camouflage
Not sure how much they're aware of anything, but I guess that is a philosophical question ...


conservation

Hunting threatens one of the world's most amazing wildlife migrations
As the world looks to tighten up the illegal capture of wildlife, migratory birds are being threatened by widespread and unsustainable hunting across the Asia-Pacific region. University of Queensland-led research has revealed that three quarters of migratory shorebird species in the region have been hunted since the 1970s.


food and drink

Heating poppy seeds, but not baking them in muffins, reduces opiate levels
Oooh, morphine muffins, that has a ring to it ...


humans

Supercomputer model simulations reveal cause of Neanderthal extinction
Competition of our ancestors sufficed to drive them out of business, according to modelling study.

Oldest connection with Native Americans identified near Lake Baikal in Siberia

Birth control pills affect the love hormone
... women who take birth control pills have a much higher level of the hormone oxytocin, also called the love hormone, in their blood compared to non-users.



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From the news media:

science news 20.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.



astrobiology

NASA's Curiosity rover finds clues to chilly ancient Mars buried in rocks


evolution

Ribs evolved for movement first, then co-opted for breathing
A major transformation in vertebrate evolution took place when breathing shifted from being driven by head and throat muscles -- like in fish and frogs -- to the torso -- like in reptiles and mammals. But what caused the shift? A new study posits that the intermediate step was locomotion. When lizards walk, they bend side-to-side. The ribs and vertebrae are crucial to this movement, and the mechanics follow the same pattern as when they inhale and exhale.

Ancient giant armored fish fed in a similar way to basking sharks

Fishing rod 'selfie stick' and scientific sleuthing turn up clues to extinct sea reptile
London's Natural History Museum let him walk in with a fishing rod and mess around with it? Shocking.



An artistic life reconstruction of Nannopterygius.
Credit: Andrey Atuchin


ecology

Scientists dissect the complex choices of animals
specifically: shell-dwelling cichlid fish

Researchers go cuckoo: Antarctic penguins release an extreme amount of laughing gas
penguins in Antarctica emit copious amounts of nitrous oxide via their feces. So much so, that the researchers went "cuckoo" from being surrounded by penguin poop.


conservation

Migratory secrets of recovering whale species


light and life

Feisty squid and fish fight back by dazzling attacking elephant seals
... with a bioluminescent flash, which disorientates the predator and could buy time for their escape.


biomedical

Emerging viral diseases causing serious issues in west Africa

Children not immune to coronavirus; new study from pandemic epicenter describes severe COVID-19 response in children

Rolling 50/30 day cycle of lockdown and relaxation could help manage COVID-19


sustainability

Walking or cycling to work associated with reduced risk of early death and illness


dystopian futures

Comedy club performances provide insights on how robots, humans connect via humor


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From the news media:

Parts of Antarctica are turning green, the Guardian reports.

the ribosome assembled

Today's issue of Current Biology has a special theme, namely the cell in evolution. My contribution to the theme section is a feature on the evolution and assembly of the ribosome as a key example of how complexity arises (both on evolutionary timescales and in terms of structure assembly in the cell). Read all about it:



How to build complexity

Current Biology Volume 30, Issue 10, 18 May 2020, Pages R454-R456

FREE access to full text and PDF download




Cover of the special issue.

numbers crunched

I do wish I didn't have to do this, but ... desperate times ...

So by today, the official coronavirus related death toll in the UK is 34,636. Comparing it to 31855 on the 10th of May, the figure has gone up by 2781 in 7 days. So averaged over a week (which is necessary as there is a dip around the weekend), we have 397 new deaths per day.

Beyond the obvious and avoidable tragedy for everybody caught up in this, the figure spells disaster for a number of reasons:

* it is still limited by the scarcity of tests, so expect the real number to be significantly higher
* it means that on the order of magnitude of 40,000 new infections per day happened three weeks ago (in the middle of lockdown)
* which means way too many infections still happening to allow any thought of going back to normal
* it hasn't gone down in the last three days, making things worse
* it only has 2 more weeks to drop further before the "stay alert" mess kicks in, and it won't go far in that time.


The figure has been dropping an average of 20% per week over the last couple of weeks, so if this trend continues despite the apparent stagnation in the last three days, we'll be at 250 average daily deaths at the beginning of June. Which is when the effect of the loosening of measures at the beginning of this week will show up in the death tolls, and they might rise again, or if we're lucky they will ony stagnate or drop more slowly.

Let's say they choose the middle way and stay more or less the same (R=1), so we'll be living with 250 people dying per day and 25,000 people getting infected per day until somebody does something about it. This situation will be workable in terms of hospital capacity, but not a good place to be in. And not easy to get out of either.


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The British Medical Journal on the failings of the UK govt response to the pandemic: Too little, too late, too flawed


(Correction made 17.5.: initial version said 250 deaths per day "at the end of June" - I meant beginning of June, i.e. 3 weeks after the May 11 Stay Alert phase.)

the great deception

Madame Mills, une voisine si parfaite
(France 2018, dir: Sophie Marceau)

This movie is currently showing on TV5Monde, possibly as part of a series on Sophie Marceau (they showed Arrêtez moi last week, which was interesting as well). I wouldn’t normally watch a comedy with Pierre Richard, but since seeing La Boum when we were both a few decades younger, I have watched quite a few films with Sophie Marceau and I was keen to expand my collection, especially as she’s directed this one as well.

So, for people who know about this kind of comedy, it would probably be easy to dismiss this as a Pierre-Richard-does-Tootsie kind of dinosaur. My angle, however, is: Aren’t we all inventing our own reality? So here’s what I think the film is about.

The naming of Mrs. Mills character is of course a reference to Mills & Boon. Sophie Marceau plays Hélène, who has inherited a publishing house that used to be successful in romantic novels, but is struggling to adapt to the 21st century, as an investor based in Toronto is breathing down her neck. (It’s on the checklist for French movies being made these days: you have to have a few sentences in English in the dialogue, and at least one city outside the Francophonie.)

Pierre Richard moves in next door to her in the disguise of Mrs. Mills. The charming old lady starts invading Hélène’s life, claiming she’s a superfan of the romantic novels her house produces. Hélène has a eureka moment and hires Mrs. Mills as the Instagram-friendly, relatable, public face of her outmoded brand of escapism.

But who is really deluding whom, apart from everybody deluding themselves? Most will agree that romantic novels, comedians and conmen are deceiving us, but how about publishing in general, social media, modern art? And the whole globalisation thing? Perhaps we’re all being deceived all the time, it’s just that some deceptions, like Pierre Richard in drag (what big hands you have!), are more obvious than others.





According to IMDB, it was released in Germany on July 4, 2019 as well as in Greece. No other cinematic releases outside of France.



PS Looking up filmographies to work out how many of her films I've seen (current estimate: 19/46) it struck me that she regularly works with female directors. Since 2000 she starred in 21 films, of which 11 were directed by women. That includes 2 she directed herself but still a very impressive record.

science news 15.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.



astrobiology

Clever new robot rover design conquers sand traps
Built with wheeled appendages that can be lifted, a new robot developed at Georgia Tech with US Army funding has complex locomotion techniques robust enough to allow it to climb sand covered hills and avoid getting stuck. The robot has NASA interested for potential surveying of a planet or the Moon.


evolution

The carnivorous plant lifestyle is gene costly
The genomes of three carnivorous plants -- the Venus flytrap, spoon-leaved sundew and the waterwheel plant -- have been decoded. The result has caused some surprises.



The genomes of the carnivorous plants Venus flytrap, spoon-leaved sundew and waterwheel (from left) are decoded.
(Picture: Dirk Becker and Sönke Scherzer / University of Würzburg)


conservation

Scientists report on crucial reduction of Indian lion genome diversity
Scientists analyzed the genomes of extinct and living lions. They managed to determine when the divergence took place, as well as come to several other conclusions on genetic diversity of the modern lion population in India.


biomedical

Further evidence does not support hydroxychloroquine for patients with COVID-19


sustainability

Ozone-depleting chemical alternatives getting into our food and water
An international environmental agreement to regulate the use of chemicals depleting the ozone layer may have inadvertently allowed higher levels of other harmful chemicals to flourish, new research co-led by York University and Environment and Climate Change Canada has found. These replacement compounds degrade into products that do not break down in the environment and have instead continually increased in the Arctic since about 1990.


humans

A lost world and extinct ecosystem
The field study site of Pinnacle Point, South Africa, sits at the center of the earliest evidence for symbolic behavior, complex pyrotechnology, projectile weapons, and the first use of foods from the sea, both geographically and scientifically, having contributed much on the evolutionary road to being a modern human. A special issue of Quaternary Science Review has compiled research on this pivotal location.

Archaeology: Fossilized footprints suggest ancient humans divided labor
The largest collection of footprints from the human fossil record in Africa is described in Scientific Reports this week. The findings, which further our understanding of human life during the Late Pleistocene period (126,000 to 11,700 years ago), suggest a division of labor in ancient human communities.


Ancient DNA reveals genetic history of China



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From the news media: