Science and Souls (for geeks and spiritual explorers)

[Bob Loblaw]

David Ickle lost all credibility in my book the day he started raving on about reptilians living among us ..... lunatics - yes, reptilians - no! (Just my opinion of course!)

i agree, that and the fact that there is no left/right brain operation like he's talking about

http://bit.ly/18zCU9U

 

[grokit]

That's interesting; that same publication has an article has an article called, "Researchers Debunk Myth of 'Right-Brained' and 'Left-Brained' Personality Traits", where they make a distinction: that while "researchers have debunked that myth through identifying specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions", that also "It's absolutely true that some brain functions occur in one or the other side of the brain. Language tends to be on the left, attention more on the right."

So perhaps the title is a bit sensationalistic, as the article itself points out that it's left/right personality traits that have been debunked; brain function is still distinguished by hemisphere but can be re-trained through lateralized function, which when combined with conscious thought can be used to establish new neural networks if one is so inclined. Imo not really that different than what Icke is proposing.

 

[Seren]

David Icke is a very clever manipulator IMO, he takes snippets of truths that have been born out of robust research to first hook people in, then embellishes and distorts them with some ludicrous invalidated theories of his own. This is what he has done to concoct his left/right brain theory IMO.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

link to spin of earth data - http://bit.ly/16ECtbT

Scientists Discover the Origins of Genomic "Dark Matter"

The researchers have discovered that essentially all coding and non-coding RNA originates at the same types of locations along the human genome. The team's findings eventually may help to pinpoint exactly where complex-disease traits reside, since the genetic origins of many diseases reside outside of the coding region of the genome.

"These non-coding RNAs have been called the 'dark matter' of the genome because, just like the dark matter of the universe, they are massive in terms of coverage -- making up over 95 percent of the human genome. However, they are difficult to detect and no one knows exactly what they all are doing or why they are there," Pugh said. "Now at least we know that they are real, and not just 'noise' or 'junk.' Of course, the next step is to answer the question, 'what, in fact, do they do?'"

http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2013-news/Pugh9-2013


This deserves to be soundtracked: #GrandUnified's own TOMBSTONE DA DEADMAN and Lady Assassin, "Dark Matter"

 

[grokit]

David Icke is a very clever manipulator IMO, he takes snippets of truths that have been born out of robust research to first hook people in, then embellishes and distorts them with some ludicrous invalidated theories of his own. This is what he has done to concoct his left/right brain theory IMO.

I agree that his theories are not scientifically validated, but ludicrous I think not. He has a good imagination, and to me his theories always follow a logical train of thought. And yes they sell books, but I don't see that as an indictment. He doesn't just think outside the box, he's disposed of the fucking box and that pisses a lot of people off. I don't see Icke as the answer, but I do like the questions that he asks. He's obviously not for everybody, but his ideas fits quite handily into my world view.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

http://io9.com/some-of-the-years-most-startling-science-images-1343190676

Some of the Year's Most Startling Science Images

12345
This is an electron micrograph of a leafcutter ant holding a gear that's just 0.1 mm wide. This astonishing image was created by Manfred Page, and it's just one of 100 great science images featured in a brand new exhibition by the Royal Photographic Society.

The RPS' International Images for Science Exhibition 2013 is going on right now in Newcastle. Check out a few of our favorite images below, and see more over at the BBC (hereand here.)

6SEXPAND

Skeleton of a chameleon, photo by Dorit Hockman, University of Cambridge.

SEXPAND

Sunflower of Jasper by Bernardo Cesare with Università Di Padova, Italy. This is a twice-polarised light micrograph

78SEXPAND

Embryonic development of the Black Mastiff Bat, by Dorit Hockman, University of Cambridge.

Over-inflated water balloon bursting, photo by Ted Kinsman.

91011

Tardigrade, or Water Bear, photographed by Nicole Ottawa

1213SEXPAND

Coffee being roasted, photographed by Nicole Ottawa

Red blood cell infected with malaria, photograph by Steven Morton.



Tardigrades are fuckin' awesome

EDiT - there are a few more great pics at the links between the leaf-cutter and chameleon pics!

but this is a great list from 2 yrs ago as well. you have to click the thumbnail pics at the bottom (not even just the square, but the pic itself)
http://www.rps.org/international-images-for-science/International-Images-for-Science-2011

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/19/4...ma-identified-brain-activity-after-brain-dead

The paper on it: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0075257

Related reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death

 

[Bob Loblaw]

amazon.com
"The Yesees said yes to anything that anyone suggested. The Noees said no to everything unless it was proven and tested. So the Yesees all died of much too much and the Noees all died of fright. But somehow I think the Thinkforyourselfees all came out all right." -- "The Yesees and Noees"

 

[Seren]

I agree that his theories are not scientifically validated, but ludicrous I think not. He has a good imagination, and to me his theories always follow a logical train of thought. And yes they sell books, but I don't see that as an indictment. He doesn't just think outside the box, he's disposed of the fucking box and that pisses a lot of people off. I don't see Icke as the answer, but I do like the questions that he asks. He's obviously not for everybody, but his ideas fits quite handily into my world view.

We all have our own perspective and I guess that's what makes this world so colourful and rich in beauty. I too have a deep appreciation for people who think outside the box, but for me personally some of Icke's theories just don't ring true. I'm most definitely not knocking your world view, and I too think we should continue to ask questions and not take things for granted - there are always lessons to be learnt and new things to be discovered.

 

[momofthegoons]

And isn't it wonderful that we are individuals, with our own thinking brains that can choose what we believe and trust in? Always question and never take for granted. It's the beauty of thinking for oneself.

 

[grokit]

Meet the pangolin:

Evidently it's worth quite a bit on the asian black market, so of course it's totally fucked. A single animal can fetch over $7k, and their market is worth over $19 billion per year. There are eight species of pangolins; two are classified as endangered, two are threatened, and all eight are in dramatic decline. To make matters worse for their long-term survivability, they are similar to pandas where they don't breed well in captivity. I never heard of this animal before today.

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/20/the_pangolin_is_the_strangest_creature_you_didnt_know_was_endangered/?source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily Newsletter (Premium)_7_30_110


edit:

Protostars are cool too!

This massive knot of interstellar gas and dust looks like a caterpillar slinking across the cosmos. The structure is actually a protostar in a very early stage of evolution. This "wanna-be" star, located approximately 4,500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, is in the process of gathering materials from its surrounding envelope of gas, in an attempt to bulk up its mass.

But, the protostar, officially known as IRAS 20324+4057, is facing adversity in the form of harsh winds from a group of extremely bright, relatively nearby stars. These luminous stars are blasting ultraviolet radiation at the protostar, sculpting the gas and dust into its long, caterpillar-like shape and eroding the very materials needed to transform IRAS 20324+4057 in to a star.

Only time will tell how IRAS 20324+4057 fares in fulfilling its stellar destiny, but if radiation from nearby bright stars destroys the envelope of gas surrounding the protostar before it finishes collecting mass, the resulting star may end up being a "lightweight."

 

[Bob Loblaw]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/20/4752530/stunning-photos-of-mars-from-nasa-hirise-telescope



Alien frontier: see the haunting, beautiful weirdness of Mars
By Jacob Kastrenakes on September 20, 2013 03:30 pm Email @jake_k51COMMENTS

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called This is Mars, which includes 150 of its finest looks at the planet. The entire collection is in black and white, however, as that's how HiRISE's images naturally turn out.

But by combining different color filters on the telescope, NASA is able to produce colored versions of most images too. They're known as "false color" images, since they won't perfectly match up with what the human eye would see. False color images are still useful, however, in helping researchers distinguish between different elements of Mars' landscape. They're also downright gorgeous to look through. Below, we've collected our own series of some of the most incredible sights taken by HiRISE throughout 2013.



Hint: Use the 's' and 'd' keys to navigate

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  Exposed layers of sediment at Nili Fossae, a group of large troughs
  
  
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  Martian plains believed to be rich in chloride
  
  
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  Landslide at the Ganges Chasma
  
  
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  Polygonal dunes suggest extreme dryness, like in mud flats
  
  
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  Landslides at Valles Marineris
  
  
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  Martian "fans," like the splotches above, are often created by geysers
  
  
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  Dunes at Russell Crater
  
  
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  The landscape at Nili Patera, a martian volcano
  
  
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  Bedrock at Meridiani Planum, a plain near Mars' equator
  
  
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  Polar dunes named Hazar with Abundant Sand
  
  
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  A trough in the Cerberus region of Mars
  
  
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  Layers of mineral deposits coating the Central Candor Chasma
  

 

[momofthegoons]

Those are some amazing photos Bob....

This year's harvest moon.....

 

[satyrday]

I agree that his theories are not scientifically validated, but ludicrous I think not. He has a good imagination, and to me his theories always follow a logical train of thought. And yes they sell books, but I don't see that as an indictment. He doesn't just think outside the box, he's disposed of the fucking box and that pisses a lot of people off. I don't see Icke as the answer, but I do like the questions that he asks. He's obviously not for everybody, but his ideas fits quite handily into my world view.

Some of his theories on humanoid reptilians get a little too literal for me, but the reality is that we all have the reptilian sub-brain inside of us, and some people seem to think with it almost exclusively in their cold-bloodedness. Pointing out the nature of those people provides many with a fresh and enlightening, yet darkened view of the world and its masters.

 

[grokit]

Doesn't Icke get into the rh-positive/negative blood type dividing line? Evidently half of us were re-engineered with the rhesus monkey gene as fodder for the other half, who are reptilian?

Edit: Yep, it's him:
According to British writer David Icke, 5- to 12-foot (1.5–3.7 m) tall, blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system, now hiding in underground bases, are the force behind a worldwide conspiracy against humanity. He contends that most of the world's leaders are related to these reptilians, including George W. Bush of the United States, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Icke's conspiracy theories now have supporters in 47 countries and he has given lectures to crowds of up to 6,000. American writer Vicki Santillano included it in her list of the 10 most popular conspiracy theories, describing it as the "wackiest theory" she had encountered. A poll of Americans in 2013 showed that 4% of registered voters believed in David Icke's ideas.

Wtf is going on? (lol).

 

[Enchantre]

So, I have negative factor blood. That means... what?

 

[grokit]

No rhesus monkey gene afaik...

Are you an Rh Negative blood type? If so you could be a decendent of the ancient astronauts themselves!

Take the link with at least a few grains of salt, for example they misspelled "descendent"; the forum is called lunatic outpost after all but the discussion is quite robust!

edit: you may find this snippet interesting:

The reason why I have studied extensively between the differences of RH+ and RH- is due to the fact that I am blood type B RH negative. Like most women with this blood type, I found out that I had negative blood when I was pregnant. My son had RH+ blood and so I was given RhoGAM, which is suppose to make it possible for a woman to be able to give birth to any additional RH+ babies after an RH+ birth has taken place. Unfortunately though, I had difficulties all the way through my pregnancy, I bled in my first trimester, which could have caused a mixing of our blood and my child was born premature. I must admit, I find it difficult to believe that a mother’s blood could reject a baby based upon its blood type; however this is a well known fact. In the past, women like me had a high percentage of miscarriages, until the RhoGAM shot was developed.

Apparently, people who are RH+ have a gene called Rh13, and people who are RH- do not have this gene at all. Geneticist have described the RH negative factor as being some kind of a mutation that occurred through a process of gene deletion, which is known as the “crossing over effect”. It was the discovery of the Rh13 gene that led to the cloning of RH+ blood; however RH negative blood has not been cloned yet. Geneticists believe that the RH+ blood type is the oldest blood type with type O RH+ being the oldest. If RH- is a more recent mutation, then how did this occur?

 

[grokit]

must resist the dragons

 

[Enchantre]

No. Dragons have gotten a bad rap.

My relationship with dragons has been very beneficial, to both of us.

I am the Mother of Dragons

 

[grokit]

Daenerys is that you?

 

[t-dub]

A mystery brain from a jar . . .

 

[Enchantre]

Daenerys is that you?

Only if Daenerys was a middle-aged redhead with wide hips...

 

[Bob Loblaw]

What's the deal with Voyager 1?
By Laura Conaway
-
Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:38 AM EDT
left the solar system -- or not.

Luckily for us, our in-house astrophysicist stopped by Bill's office to explain. As you can see from Summer Ash in the video below, the short answer is no, Voyager 1 has not left the solar system. It has left the familiar planets behind, but, despite what your science teacher might have told you, Neptune and Pluto are not the end of our solar neighborhood.

Summer sketched that out for us on the whiteboard, and then she sent along a deeper explanation (and charts!). Summer writes:

"While Voyager hasn't yet left the Solar System, it still passed an important milestone --entering INTERSTELLAR space. This means that the spacecraft, launched in 1977, has left the bubble made by the Sun's magnetic field as moves among the other stars in our galaxy. This sphere of influence is called the heliosphere (we astronomers call 'em like we see 'em). Inside the heliosphere, charged particles from the Sun stream out in all directions as the solar wind at speeds up to millions of miles per hour. Outside the heliosphere, the density of these particles drops sharply as they mix with the clouds of hydrogen and helium atoms that fill the space between the stars.


NASA/JPL-Caltech

"Last August, Voyager began to send back data that indicated the spacecraft was approaching and subsequently passing through this transition. For the data geeks among you, this graph plots solar wind particle per second versus time (top) and cosmic ray particles per second versus time (bottom).


NASA/JPL/GSFC

"Both show a transition period from August to September of 2012. NASA scientists perused this data over the past year (along with some new data this past spring), and they now believe it's evidence that Voyager 1 has indeed left the heliosphere.

"As you can see from the graph, the transition isn't smooth; it's theorized that particles and magnetic fields from interstellar space can infiltrate the heliosphere and pockets of particles and magnetic fields from the solar neighborhood can leak out, but at some point on either side of the heliosphere the former or the latter dominates.

"Voyager 1 is currently traveling at approximately 38,000 mph. So will just shy of 100,000 AU (or just under a quadrillion miles) to go, it will indeed leave the Solar System one day -- about 10 million of them from today. So check back here in 30,000 years for the latest."

Thanks, Summer. We'll be back for that update in 32,013.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/22/20637095-whats-the-deal-with-voyager-1?lite

 

[Bob Loblaw]

whole playlist
http://www.timewheel.net/Video-Great-Indian-Yogi-Neem-Karoli-Baba

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/37485/title/Science-with-a-Sense-of-Humor/

 

[grokit]

Nuclear Power Industry, Lawmakers at Odds over EPA Response Guide
Sept. 23, 2013

By Douglas P. Guarino
Global Security Newswire

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, is briefed about tanks containing radioactive water by Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant chief Akira Ono during a tour of the tsunami-crippled plant in northeastern Japan on Sept. 19. In the United States, the nuclear-power industry and some Democrats in Congress are clashing over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new nuclear-response guidelines (AP Photo).

WASHINGTON -- The nuclear-power industry and some Senate Democrats are at odds over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new nuclear-response guidelines, as some lawmakers are concerned the benchmarks are not protective of public health while industry officials want to relax the guidelines further.

What a fucking joke:
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/nucl...odds-over-epa-response-guide/?mgs1=4586d8JS6Y