scholarly journals Decryption of messages from extraterrestrial intelligence using the power of social media – The SETI Decrypt Challenge

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-303
Author(s):  
René Heller
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Extraterrestrial Intelligence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Radio Signals ◽  
Radio Message ◽  
Square Kilometer Array ◽  
Ultimate Question ◽  
Modern Astronomy

AbstractWith the advent of modern astronomy, humans might now have acquired the technological and intellectual requirements to communicate with other intelligent beings beyond the solar system, if they exist. Radio signals have been identified as a means for interstellar communication about 60 years ago. And the Square Kilometer Array will be capable of detecting extrasolar radio sources analogous to terrestrial high-power radars out to several tens of light years. The ultimate question is: will we be able to understand the message or, vice versa, if we submit a message to extraterrestrial intelligence first, how can we make sure that they will understand us? Here I report on the largest blind experiment of a pretend radio message received on Earth from beyond the solar system. I posted a sequence of about two million binary digits (‘0’ and ‘1’) to the social media that encoded a configuration frame, two slides with mathematical content and four images along with spatial and temporal information about their contents. Six questions were asked that would need to be answered to document the successful decryption of the message. Within a month after the posting, over 300 replies were received in total, including comments and requests for hints, 66 of which contained the correct solutions. About half of the solutions were derived fully independently, the other half profited from public online discussions and spoilers. This experiment demonstrates the power of the world wide web to help interpreting possible future messages from extraterrestrial intelligence and to test the decryptability of our own deliberate interstellar messages.

scholarly journals Low Testosterone on Social Media: Application of Natural Language Processing to Understand Patients’ Perceptions of Hypogonadism and Its Treatment

10.2196/21383 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. e21383
Author(s):  
Vadim Osadchiy ◽  
Tommy Jiang ◽  
Jesse Nelson Mills ◽  
Sriram Venkata Eleswarapu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Testosterone Replacement ◽  
Testosterone Replacement Therapy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Low Testosterone

Background Despite the results of the Testosterone Trials, physicians remain uncomfortable treating men with hypogonadism. Discouraged, men increasingly turn to social media to discuss medical concerns. Objective The goal of the research was to apply natural language processing (NLP) techniques to social media posts for identification of themes of discussion regarding low testosterone and testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in order to inform how physicians may better evaluate and counsel patients. Methods We retrospectively extracted posts from the Reddit community r/Testosterone from December 2015 through May 2019. We applied an NLP technique called the meaning extraction method with principal component analysis (MEM/PCA) to computationally derive discussion themes. We then performed a prospective analysis of Twitter data (tweets) that contained the terms low testosterone, low T, and testosterone replacement from June through September 2019. Results A total of 199,335 Reddit posts and 6659 tweets were analyzed. MEM/PCA revealed dominant themes of discussion: symptoms of hypogonadism, seeing a doctor, results of laboratory tests, derogatory comments and insults, TRT medications, and cardiovascular risk. More than 25% of Reddit posts contained the term doctor, and more than 5% urologist. Conclusions This study represents the first NLP evaluation of the social media landscape surrounding hypogonadism and TRT. Although physicians traditionally limit their practices to within their clinic walls, the ubiquity of social media demands that physicians understand what patients discuss online. Physicians may do well to bring up online discussions during clinic consultations for low testosterone to pull back the curtain and dispel myths.

scholarly journals Low Testosterone on Social Media: Application of Natural Language Processing to Understand Patients’ Perceptions of Hypogonadism and Its Treatment (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadim Osadchiy ◽  
Tommy Jiang ◽  
Jesse Nelson Mills ◽  
Sriram Venkata Eleswarapu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Testosterone Replacement ◽  
Testosterone Replacement Therapy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Low Testosterone

BACKGROUND Despite the results of the Testosterone Trials, physicians remain uncomfortable treating men with hypogonadism. Discouraged, men increasingly turn to social media to discuss medical concerns. OBJECTIVE The goal of the research was to apply natural language processing (NLP) techniques to social media posts for identification of themes of discussion regarding low testosterone and testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in order to inform how physicians may better evaluate and counsel patients. METHODS We retrospectively extracted posts from the Reddit community r/Testosterone from December 2015 through May 2019. We applied an NLP technique called the meaning extraction method with principal component analysis (MEM/PCA) to computationally derive discussion themes. We then performed a prospective analysis of Twitter data (tweets) that contained the terms low testosterone, low T, and testosterone replacement from June through September 2019. RESULTS A total of 199,335 Reddit posts and 6659 tweets were analyzed. MEM/PCA revealed dominant themes of discussion: symptoms of hypogonadism, seeing a doctor, results of laboratory tests, derogatory comments and insults, TRT medications, and cardiovascular risk. More than 25% of Reddit posts contained the term doctor, and more than 5% urologist. CONCLUSIONS This study represents the first NLP evaluation of the social media landscape surrounding hypogonadism and TRT. Although physicians traditionally limit their practices to within their clinic walls, the ubiquity of social media demands that physicians understand what patients discuss online. Physicians may do well to bring up online discussions during clinic consultations for low testosterone to pull back the curtain and dispel myths.

Toward discourse involution within China’s Internet: Class, voice, and social media

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482096675
Author(s):  
Ping Sun ◽  
Guoning Zhao ◽  
Zhen Liu ◽  
Xiaoting Li ◽  
Yunze Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Discursive Power

Despite scholarly concern regarding the online discussion in China’s cyberspace, research tracing the trends in discourse expression on social media remains scant. Revolving around the concept of discursive power, this study explicates how the voices of different social classes have been represented and expressed in social media during the past decade. Employing longitudinal content analysis on class-based voice in 2009 ( n = 1374) and 2018 ( n = 25,330), the results demonstrate that online discussion in China’s social media has displayed a trend for “discourse involution,” where the increasing appropriation of the Internet among different social classes results in a continued divide of the discursive power in cyberspace. We argue that this discourse involution is achieved through the asymmetry of discursive expression, centralization of voice representation, and polarization in the emotional expression online. The study contributes to the current debate on the social effects of online discussions using a discursive and class-based approach.

scholarly journals Expression in the Virtual Public: Social Justice Considerations in Harvesting Youth Online Discussions for Research Purposes

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-413
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn Burkell ◽  
Priscilla Regan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Marginalized Youth ◽  
Direct Benefit ◽  
Social Community ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Media Research

Information posted by youth in online social media contexts is regularly accessed, downloaded, integrated, and analyzed by academic researchers. The practice raises significant social justice considerations for researchers including issues of representation and equitable distribution of risks and benefits. Use of this type of data for research purposes helps to ensure representation in research of the voices of (sometimes marginalized) youth who participate in these online contexts, at times discussing issues that are also under-represented. At the same time, youth whose data are harvested are subject (often without notice or consent) to the risks associated with this research, while receiving little if any direct benefit from the work. These risks include the potential loss of online social community as well as threats to participant rights and wellbeing. This paper explores the tension between the social justice benefit of representation and considerations that would suggest caution, the latter including inequitable distribution of research-related costs and benefits, and the traditional ethics concerns of participant autonomy and privacy in the context of youth participation in online discussions. In the final section, we propose guidelines and considerations for the conduct of online social media research to assist researchers to balance and respect representational and participant rights or wellbeing considerations, especially with youth.

Knowledge Contribution in Organizations via Social Media

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Behringer ◽  
Kai Sassenberg ◽  
Annika Scholl
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Expectancy Theory ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Abstract Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Willingness To Contribute ◽  
Social Media Tool

Abstract. Knowledge exchange via social media is crucial for organizational success. Yet, many employees only read others’ contributions without actively contributing their knowledge. We thus examined predictors of the willingness to contribute knowledge. Applying social identity theory and expectancy theory to knowledge exchange, we investigated the interplay of users’ identification with their organization and perceived usefulness of a social media tool. In two studies, identification facilitated users’ willingness to contribute knowledge – provided that the social media tool seemed useful (vs. not-useful). Interestingly, identification also raised the importance of acquiring knowledge collectively, which could in turn compensate for low usefulness of the tool. Hence, considering both social and media factors is crucial to enhance employees’ willingness to share knowledge via social media.

Hacking in to the social media network of bacteria: The antiquorum sensing properties of herbs and spices

Planta Medica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (S 01) ◽  
pp. S1-S381 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Cosa ◽  
AM Viljoen ◽  
SK Chaudhary ◽  
W Chen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sensing Properties ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Network ◽  
Herbs And Spices

Technologies Disability and Inclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Brusell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Information And Communication

When modern technology permeates every corner of life, there are ignited more and more hopes among the disabled to be compensated for the loss of mobility and participation in normal life, and with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Exoskeleton Technologies and truly hands free technologies (HMI), it's possible for the disabled to be included in the social and pedagogic spheres, especially via computers and smartphones with social media apps and digital instruments for Augmented Reality (AR) .In this paper a nouvel HMI technology is presented with relevance for the inclusion of disabled in every day life with specific focus on the future development of "smart cities" and "smart homes".

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