Jellyfish

• Optimizely today kicks off Opticon 2023 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, amidst a banner year of growth.
• Expanding on its partner-first strategy, Optimizely has signed 50 new solution partners globally so far in 2023, including strategic partnerships with WPP, Merkle, Jellyfish, and others.
• "This year's Opticon comes at an exciting time leadership moment for our customers, our partners, for Optimizely and our industry at large.
• To learn more about how Optimizely helps brands unlock their digital potential, visit optimizely.com.

• By shifting the control of sensing and behaviour to this central organ, animals (including us) are able to flexibly respond and flourish in unpredictable environments.
• One skill above all – learning – has proven key to the good life.

Learning about learning

• Further along is associative learning, in which a cue is reliably tied to a behaviour.
• So, to our knowledge, these types of learning are limited to organisms with sufficient “computing power” – that is, with sufficiently complex brains.
• This is especially true of the fundamental forms of learning, with recent examples reshaping our understanding of what was thought possible.

Who needs a brain?

• Nonetheless, the beadlet anemone (Actinia equina) is able to habituate to the presence of nearby clones.
• Under normal circumstances it violently opposes any encroachment on its territory by other anemones.

No neurons, no problem

• Recently (and innacurately) popularised on TV as zombie-making parasites, they also offer a striking case study in what the brainless can achieve.
• In less gruesome examples, the shameplant (Mimosa pudica) curls and droops its leaves to protect itself from physical disturbance.
• This is an energetically costly activity, however, which is why it can habituate and learn to ignore repeated false alarms.
• These results have driven calls to consider plants as cognitive and intelligent agents, with the ensuing debate spanning science and philosophy.

Thinking big

• As evidence of cognitive prowess in the brainless continues to accumulate, it challenges deep intuitions about the biology of sensation, thought, and behaviour more generally.
• The implications also reach beyond science into ethics, as with recent advances in our understanding of nociception, or pain perception.
• Do fish, for example, feel pain, despite not having the requisite brain structures like those of primates?

• OSE introduces Chief Investment Officer role, appointing Jack Edmondson
  Oxford, UK: August 31, 2023: Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the independent investment company created to found, fund and build transformational businesses via its unique partnership with the University of Oxford, today announces the appointment of Ed Bussey as CEO and Jack Edmondson as CIO.
• We are delighted by the appointments of Ed and Jack,” said Chris Chambers, Chairman of Oxford Science Enterprises.
• ​​“The University of Oxford is home to the world’s leading scientific research and the opportunity this presents to build businesses that can solve the world’s most pressing challenges is one I could not refuse,” said Ed Bussey, CEO, Oxford Science Enterprises.
• Oxford Science Enterprises has established itself as the leading investor in university spinouts in the UK and raised £850 million from blue-chip international investors.

• Wurst was tapped for his deep industry experience in social media, digital strategies, brand marketing leadership and creative tactics to build and lead Connects in the U.S. market.
• I'm excited to build upon the well-established partnerships and proven results from the SEEN UK team and bring their unique approach to a new market," said Matthew Wurst.
• "We hired Matt because, yes, he has heaps of experience with brands that are aligned to our business (a very long list!
• SEEN Connects was founded in London seven years ago with an initial focus on influencer marketing.