July 2017 Gwern.net newsletter with links on intelligence, GANs, malaria, Borges’s essays, 2 book reviews
This is the July 2017 edition of the Gwern.net newsletter; previous, June 2017 (archives). This is a collation of links and summary of major changes, overlapping with my Changelog; brought to you by my donors on Patreon.
Writings
Media
Links
Genetics:
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Everything Is Heritable:
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“Multi-trait analysis of genome-wide association summary statistics using MTAG”, et al 2018; “A combined analysis of genetically correlated traits identifies 107 loci associated with intelligence”, et al 2017 (use of multiple genetic correlations to overcome measurement error greatly boosts efficiency of IQ GWAS, and provides best public polygenic score to date: 7% of variance. This illustrates a good way to work around the shortage of high-quality IQ test scores by exploiting multiple more easily-measured phenotypes. Even better: like LD score regression, MTAG only requires public summary statistics; so it may also, like LD score regression, see an explosion in use—since it is usable by everyone & there are so many overlapping phenotypic measurements…)
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“A genome-wide association study for extremely high intelligence”, et al 2017 (see previously et al 2016 ; further confirmation that high intelligence is not genetically different from normal intelligence and is primarily a slightly better assortment of common additive variants)
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“Genome-wide genetic data on ~500,000 UK Biobank participants”, et al 2017 (The full UK Biobank n = 500k genetics dataset is now available to researchers! UKBB is the gift that keeps on giving—and now it’s going to give even more by tripling the sample size.)
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“Genetic Influence on Intergenerational Educational Attainment”, et al 2017
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“Genome-wide association analyses identify 44 risk variants and refine the genetic architecture of major depression”, et al 2017 (MDDWG PGC)
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Engineering:
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“F.D.A. Panel Recommends Approval for Gene-Altering Leukemia Treatment”
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“A complex multi-locus, multi-allelic genetic architecture underlying the long-term selection-response in the Virginia body weight line of chickens”, et al 2017 (soft selective sweeps)
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“DIY Diagnosis: How an Extreme Athlete Uncovered Her Genetic Flaw”
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“One of a Kind: What do you do if your child has a condition that is new to science?”
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The USSR’s Moose Domestication Projects Yielded Mixed Results
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Recent Evolution:
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“Polygenic Adaptation has Impacted Multiple Anthropometric Traits”, et al 2017 (see 2014 for method & previous findings of selection)
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between-group genetic differences: “The genomic landscape of African populations in health and disease”, et al 2017
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“Genetic loci associated with coronary artery disease harbor evidence of selection and antagonistic pleiotropy”, et al 2017 (The much bally-hooed antagonistic pleiotropy theory makes a rare appearance.)
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AI:
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“deep learning can’t do planning”: “Learning model-based planning from scratch”, et al 2017; “Imagination-Augmented Agents for Deep Reinforcement Learning”, et al 2017 ( blog); “Path Integral Networks: End-to-End Differentiable Optimal Control”, et al 2017; “Value Prediction Network”, et al 2017; “Prediction and Control with Temporal Segment Models”, et al 2017; “Neural Network Dynamics for Model-Based Deep Reinforcement Learning with Model-Free Fine-Tuning”, et al 2017; “Model-based Adversarial Imitation Learning”, et al 2016; “Learning Generalized Reactive Policies using Deep Neural Networks”, et al 2017; “Deep Visual Foresight for Planning Robot Motion”, 2016
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“Trial without Error: Towards Safe Reinforcement Learning via Human Intervention”, et al 2017 ( blog; the Road Runner problem is an interesting example of reward hacking.)
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“Learning Transferable Architectures for Scalable Image Recognition”, et al 2017 (more NNs-designing-NNs, in this case beating the best human-designed CNNs for ImageNet!); “Reinforcement Learning for Architecture Search by Network Transformation”, et al 2017 (a great use of Net2Net to speed things up. I’ve said before that Net2Net is a criminally underused way to save training from scratch, especially in the RL CNN architecture search problem where you are training hundreds of slightly-different CNNs.)
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“Noisy Networks for Exploration”, et al 2017; “The Intentional Unintentional Agent: Learning to Solve Many Continuous Control Tasks Simultaneously”, et al 2017; “Distral: Robust Multitask Reinforcement Learning”, et al 2017
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“Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning (GAIL)”, 2016; “Learning human behaviors from motion capture by adversarial imitation”, et al 2017 (an unusual applied use of GANs); “Learning from Demonstrations for Real World Reinforcement Learning”, et al 2017
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“Neuroscience-Inspired Artificial Intelligence”, et al 2017
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“Robust Physical-World Attacks on Machine Learning Models”, et al 2017 (adversarial instances are getting scary)
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“Meta-Learning with Temporal Convolutions”, et al 2017a (Impressively simple & effective; is there anything causal/temporal/dilated convolutions can’t do?)
Statistics/Meta-Science:
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“Bayesian probability theory as extended logic—a new propositional logic result”
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“Preprint Déjà Vu: an FAQ”, 2017 (retrospective on Arxiv’s success by its founder)
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“Determining Cat Chirality”: Sequential testing for estimating cat sleeping preference (results)
Politics/religion:
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“Radical Book Club: the Decentralized Left”: Hegemony How-To, Direct Action, Rules For Revolutionaries, & Beautiful Trouble (Right-wing review of left-wing organizing & political tricks manuals.)
Psychology/biology:
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“Lithium in drinking water and the incidence of bipolar disorder: A nation-wide population-based study”, et al 2017 (Another major blow to the lithium/drinking-water hypothesis, hard on the heels of et al 2017 .)
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“Childhood intelligence in relation to major causes of death in 68 year follow-up: prospective population study”, et al 2017 (note these relationships are at least partially confounded by all the genetic correlations with intelligence)
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“Book Review: Barriers to Bioweapons” (are would-be bioterrorists just… too lazy?)
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“The Power and the Gory”, 1990 (Gonzo journalism on steroids & bodybuilding; multiple waves in bodybuilding track scientific/technological/economic progress in hormone/drug development); “Sam Fussell: an interview with the author of Muscle”
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“How long does it take to research and develop a new vaccine?”
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“Computational Analysis of Lifespan Experiment Reproducibility”, 2017 (Power analysis of Gompertz curve mortality data: as expected, most animal studies of possible life-extension drugs are severely underpowered, which has the usual implications for replication, exaggerated effect sizes, & publication bias.)
Technology:
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“8 Lessons from Reviewing 20 Years of Technology Hype Cycles”
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“Hard Drive Cost Per Gigabyte” as of July 2017: price trends (Backblaze)
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Single-letter second-level domains (why are almost all the alphabetic domains like
a.com
not used? Because Jon Postel bought them up back in 1992 and IANA/ICANN have squatted them ever since.)
Economics:
Philosophy:
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1929: “The Duration of Hell” (pg47–51)
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1932: “A Defense of the Kabbalah” (pg83–86)
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1932: “The Homeric Versions” (pg71–74)
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1933: “The Art of Verbal Abuse” (pg 87–91)
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1936: “A History of Eternity” (pg123–139)
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1936: “The Doctrine of Cycles” (pg115–122)
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1936: “The Translators of The Thousand and One Nights” (pg92–109)
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1937: “Ramon Llull’s Thinking Machine” (pg155–159)
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1938: “Richard Hull, Excellent Intentions” (pg184)
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1939: “The Total Library” (pg214–216)
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1947: “A New Refutation of Time” (pg317–332)
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1948: John Donne’s “Biathanatos” (pg333–336)
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1951: “Coleridge’s Dream” (pg369–372)
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1951: “Pascal’s Sphere” (pg351–353)
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1951: “The Enigma of Edward Fitzgerald” (pg366–368)
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1953: “The Dialogues of Ascetic and King” (pg382–385)
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1953: “The Scandinavian Destiny” (pg377–381)
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1961: “Edward Gibbon, Pages of History and Autobiography” (pg438–444)
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1962: “The Concept of an Academy and the Celts” (pg458–463)
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1964: “The Enigma of Shakespeare” (pg463–473)
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1975: “Emanuel Swedenborg, Mystical Works” (pg449–457)
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1977: “Blindness” (pg473–483)
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Books
Nonfiction:
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Selected Non-Fictions, Jorge Luis Borges (review)
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Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport
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Mature Optimization, 2013 (review)
Film/TV
Live-action:
Games
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Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (purchased after a Linux upgrade killed my copy of GridWars 2; GW2 had entranced me after reading World of Stuart’s review and being intrigued by the described strategic gameplay of black hole farming. After some experimentation, I discovered that the control combination of a mouse for movement and the d-pad for firing offered me an extraordinary level of laser-sharp eyeblink-fast control which unlocked the higher reaches of black hole farming, allowing for intense trance-inducing games lasting up to my high score of 35m30s/2,945,963 points. Naturally I assumed as a ‘clone’ that GW2’s mouse-keyboard control scheme was drawn from the original Geometry Wars. Alas! GW3, despite many years of development, offers naught but the twin-sticks Xbox gamepad and a clumsy keyboard-only control scheme. Playing even the simplest level of GW3 feels like wading through mud—after being anesthetized. Going back would be as difficult as using a push lawn mower after a z-track riding lawn mower, a HDD after an SSD, a mouse after a trackball… GW3 boasts many levels and modes, but I fear they all must be enjoyed through the same control scheme. If I had not played GW2, perhaps I could appreciate GW3 for what it is, but I have been spoiled. I will simply have to figure out how to get GW2 running again, in a VM if I must.)
Music
Touhou:
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“Day and Night” (Maurits”禅”Cornelis feat. Vivienne; Rebirth Story Ⅲ {R13}) [electronic]
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“Melty Wind” (NAGI☆ feat. 美歌 (Mika); Rebirth Story Ⅲ {R13}) [trance]
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“While Hiding A Crime” (NAGI☆ feat. 美歌 (Mika); Rebirth Story Ⅲ {R13}) [vocal/classical]
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“Let it all out of you” (Maurits”禅”Cornelis feat. Vivienne; Rebirth Story Ⅲ {R13}) [rock]
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“Puppet in the Dark[PartⅡ Buried Away]” (Maurits”禅”Cornelis feat. Vivienne; Rebirth Story Ⅲ {R13}) [rock]
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“サナエ・テレグラフ (2016)” (minimum electric design; RENOVATION {C90}) [instrumental rock]
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“into my depressed brain (2016)” (minimum electric design; RENOVATION {C90}) [electronic]
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“ユカリ・テレグラフ” (minimum electric design feat. mineko; RENOVATION {C90}) [electronic]
Kantai Collection:
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“水雷戦隊の反撃” (Tokyo Active NEETs; Fourth Kantai Philharmonic Orchestra {C90}) [orchestral]
Misc:
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“Cara Mia Addio! (Turret Opera)” (Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory feat. Ellen McLain; Portal 2: Songs to Test By—Volume 3 {2011-09-30}) [classical]
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“Los! Los! Los!” (Yuuki Aoi; Los! Los! Los! {2017}) [rock]