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A Breakthrough Futuristic Material: Silk
In this TED talk Fiorenzo Omenetto discusses the copious areas where society can economically and sustainably implement silk in breakthrough ways. Silk can be used in almost any area of society including fiber optics, needles, cups, tattoos, medicine, sensory devices, and much more!
It seems like silk has the potential to single handedly usher in a new era of our materialistic culture. Since it is easily biodegradable as well, why not?
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No Breathing Required: Live Without Breathing
minusthebars.blogspot.com Tired of having to go through the labor of breathing to meet your body’s gluttonous need for oxygen?
Then you sir, or madam, are irreparably lazy!
On the other hand, scientists have invented particles that will allow you to live without breathing. Oxygenating the blood through a direct injection
will allow medical teams to keep patients alive and well for 15 to 30 minutes despite major respiratory failure. This is enough time for doctors and emergency personnel to act without risking a heart attack or permanent brain injuries in the patient.”
The article also states that
the solution has already been successfully tested on animals under critical lung failure. When the doctors injected this liquid into the patient’s veins, it restored oxygen in their blood to near-normal levels, granting them those precious additional minutes of life.”
This is not a theory or alpha stage experimentation, this is the real deal!
After reading this article my mind can’t help heading into the world of sci fi and using this breakthrough for recreational or exploratory purposes. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan, where former citizens of Earth are trained on Mars to practice oxygenating their body through the use of a time released oxygen pill. The trick is remembering to not breathe!
Sources:
Science Daily: Injecting Life-Saving Oxygen Into a Vein
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No Breathing Required
Tired of having to go through the labor of breathing to meet your body’s gluttonous need for oxygen?
Then you sir, or madam, are irreparably lazy!
On the other hand, scientists have invented particles that will allow you to live without breathing. Oxygenating the blood through a direct injection “will allow medical teams to keep patients alive and well for 15 to 30 minutes despite major respiratory failure. This is enough time for doctors and emergency personnel to act without risking a heart attack or permanent brain injuries in the patient.”
The article also states that “the solution has already been successfully tested on animals under critical lung failure. When the doctors injected this liquid into the patient’s veins, it restored oxygen in their blood to near-normal levels, granting them those precious additional minutes of life.”
This is not a theory or alpha stage experimentation, this is the real deal!
After reading this article my mind can’t help heading into the world of sci fi and using this breakthrough for recreational or exploratory purposes. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan, where former citizens of Earth are trained on Mars to practice oxygenating their body through the use of a time released oxygen pill. The trick is remembering to not breathe!
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Nanoparticles Double Injury Survival Rate
Researchers have found that by injecting nanoparticles tailored to connect to blood platelets into the body, the rate of natural blood clotting increases and in turn doubles a victim’s chances of survival after injury.
The researchers noted that “traumatic injury is the leading cause of death for people age 4 to 44, often overwhelming the body’s natural blood-clotting process.”
The find has revealed the capability to double the chances of survival after traumatic injury. The applications are endless. Police or paramedics could show up at the scene of a crime or accident and immediately administer the nanoparticles, buying precious time to transport the victim to a hospital.
As if survival rate wasn’t enough, the particles also appear to have no negative side effects as “the researchers also found that the hybrid clots were as firm as natural clots. In additional testing, they found no complications following administration of the nanoparticles.”
For all you Twilight fans out there, this would also be a great way for vampires to elongate the orgasmic experience of bloodsucking.
Just saying.
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Titan’s Atmosphere Can Make DNA
According to a recent study the atmosphere on Saturn’s moon Titan “could be creating the molecules that make up DNA without the help of water – an ingredient widely thought to be necessary for the molecules formation.”
The DNA within all life on Earth is only one potential set of nucleic acids that could have been chosen to create life on our planet.
Paul Davies, a leading astrobiologist states that “to the best of our knowledge, the original chemicals chosen by known life on Earth do not constitute a unique set; other choices could have been made, and maybe were made if life started elsewhere many times.”
This also leads to the concept that Earth’s atmosphere may have played a vital role in piecing together the foundations of life.
The Cassini research team performed experiments replicating the conditions of Titan’s atmosphere and found that “it appears to be less important that water is present to form these molecules than it is for some form of oxygen to be present in the mix of ingredients.”
This is yet another study that forces us to redefine what we think of as necessities, requirements, and definitions of life. The best part is that it’s right here in our star system!
astro, astrobiologist, discover, DNA, experiment, foundation, life, Moon, Nucleic acid, oxygen, redefine, Saturn, science, space, study, Titan, water -
Coursera: Free Online Courses from the World’s Top Universities
http://www.newcenturyacademy.com Coursera is a brand new site that offers free online courses to interested people all around the world. Coursera is
“a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer online courses for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students.
Through this, we hope to give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few. We want to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.”
The online coursescover a wide range of topics such as computer science, humanities, literature, biology, business, math, and much, much more. There is even a class that covers horse nutrition! Talk about a wide range!
As the company expands it will offer even more online courses with greater specificity and scope.
Some of the schools that Coursera offers courses through include Caltech, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, University of Illinois, and the University of Edinburgh.
While most of the online courses will not grant you actual credit hours, Coursera has stated that it is a possibility in the future. Either way, if you’re interested in free education from some of the top schools in the world, you have nothing to lose. Check it out! This is one site of many in a new movement of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Learning should be for everyone!
Note: I am currently enrolled in Introduction to Sustainability, Learn to Program, Drugs and the Brain, Galaxies and Cosmology on Coursera.
See you in class!
Direct Links to Sources:
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Coursera: Free Online Classes from the World’s Top Universities
Coursera is a brand new site that offers free classes online to interested people all around the world.
Coursera is “a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students.
Through this, we hope to give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few. We want to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.”
The courses cover a wide range of topics such as computer science, humanities, literature, biology, business, math, and much, much more. There is even a class that covers horse nutrition! Talk about a wide range!
As the company expands it will offer even more courses with greater specificity and scope.
Some of the schools that Coursera offers courses through include Caltech, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, University of Illinois, and the University of Edinburgh.
While most of the courses will not grant you actual credit hours, Coursera has stated that it is a possibility in the future. Either way, if you’re interested in free education from some of the top schools in the world, you have nothing to lose. Check it out.!
Note: I am currently enrolled in Introduction to Sustainability, Learn to Program, Drugs and the Brain, Galaxies and Cosmology.
See you in class!
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Fungi Fun: Mushrooms and How to Harness Their Power
http://blog.ted.com/ Here are three TED talks that discuss different ways we can incorporate the use of simple mushrooms into our lives, and eventual death, to improve the state of the world:
Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world
Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit
Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic?
All three videos are practical, highly entertaining, and mind blowingly interesting!
The second video, discussing how mushrooms can be used to decompose corpses, reminded me of something that has bothered me about humanity since I was very young.
There are so many of us, billions, and we all die. We spend our entire lives consuming the Earth, growing and devouring species to the point of extinction. And at the end of it all, we are so selfish that we do not give our dead, useless bodies packed full of nutrients back to the Earth. We wrap ourselves in metal and even in death take up some space in the already crowded Earth. And then, we carve a stone with our name on it and put it over the ground marking the spot where our rich nutrients are safely being stored and wasted away.
A poetic ending denoting our wastefulness in life that continues to the grave.
Why?
Guess what? Our species is growing! There are more of us on this planet now then there has been in the entire history of the world! What will we do with all the space clear and fill with coffins? North America will become one giant prison. South America will be one giant cemetery. And we can all just live in Europe/Africa/Asia right?
I have heard so many minds propose the idea of planting a tree instead of making a headstone. Can you imagine endless forests supported by the nutrients of our dead? Or orchards; every family can have their own fruit trees, so that visiting grandma and grandpa with the kids at the cemetery can be a joyous event filled with delicious fruit instead of boredom filled with solemn memories.
What better way to honor our dead than with life?
Note: The second video also comments on the various toxins in our body, a major argument for why a deceased body should not be placed directly into the ground. The use of mushrooms filters the toxins into non harmful organic matter at a rapid rate.
We also suggest that you check out our other article on a different kind of mushroom, a magical one.
Sources:
Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world
Jae Rhim Lee: My mushroom burial suit
Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic?
A Product That Will Turn You Into a Tree After Death
Fridge Free Food: Kick Your Obsessive Storage Habit & Keep Food Fresher Too
The Ugly Face of Overpopulation
Fat, Poor Kids Just Got A Little Less Fat. Still Poor.
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Fungi Fun: How to Harness the Power of Mushrooms
Here are two TED talks that discuss different ways we can incorporate the use of simple mushrooms into our lives, and eventual death, to improve the state of the world.Both videos are practical, highly entertaining, and mind blowingly interesting!
The second video, discussing how mushrooms can be used to decompose corpses, reminded me of something that has bothered me about humanity since I was very young.
There are so many of us, billions, and we all die. We spend our entire lives consuming the Earth, growing and devouring species to the point of extinction. And at the end of it all, we are so selfish that we do not give our dead, useless bodies packed full of nutrients back to the Earth. We wrap ourselves in metal and even in death take up some space in the already crowded Earth. And then, we carve a stone with our name on it and put it over the ground marking the spot where our rich nutrients are safely being stored and wasted away.
A poetic ending denoting our wastefulness in life that continues to the grave.
Why?
Guess what? Our species is growing! There are more of us on this planet now then there has been in the entire history of the world! What will we do with all the space clear and fill with coffins? North America will become one giant prison. South America will be one giant cemetery. And we can all just live in Europe/Africa/Asia right?
I have heard so many minds propose the idea of planting a tree instead of making a headstone. Can you imagine endless forests supported by the nutrients of our dead? Or orchards; every family can have their own fruit trees, so that visiting grandma and grandpa with the kids at the cemetery can be a joyous event filled with delicious fruit instead of boredom filled with solemn memories.
What better way to honor our dead than with life?
Note: The second video also comments on the various toxins in our body, a major argument for why a deceased body should not be placed directly into the ground. The use of mushrooms filters the toxins into non harmful organic matter at a rapid rate.
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The Power Of Hemp Seeds: Behold Powerful Nutrition
http://www.goodwebsite.co.uk Did you know that hemp seeds are one of the most nutritional and highest/most digestible protein sources that exist?
And the best part? It tastes amazing!
I know what you’re thinking. Either, come on dude, you’re just a hippy who likes to get high and eat at the same time; hemp seed just kills two birds with one stone. Or, c’mon dude, shut up and pass it.
Well hear me out happening hipster, because hemp seeds might just end up blowing your traditional diet right out of the cosmos. First, hemp seeds will not get you high. Industrial hemp itself contains extremely little THC (.05% – 1%), the compound that destroys food pantries and makes CSPAN hilarious. Most commercial hemp products, like Nutiva brand hemp seeds, contain no THC at all. As a comparison, ‘marijuana’ has a THC content of somewhere between 3% and 20% (depending on if your dealer is James Franco or your cousin’s smelly roommate). Although marijuana and hemp are both cannabis plants, they are only relatives. To say they are the same is like saying a grey hound and a shih tzu are the same dog. The bottom line is that no matter how much hemp seeds you pour down your gullet, it won’t make you high, just healthy.
And speaking of health, hemp seeds are downright full of it! Hemp seeds are one of the most nutritionally beneficial substances known to man.
Here is a list of what makes hemp seeds so great, from an article in Body Ecology:
Hemp seeds contain:
* All 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential amino acids (EAAs) our bodies cannot produce.
* A high protein percentage of the simple proteins that strengthen immunity and fend off toxins.
* Eating hemp seeds in any form could aid, if not heal, people suffering from immune deficiency diseases. This conclusion is supported by the fact that hemp seed has been used to treat nutritional deficiencies brought on by tuberculosis, a severe nutrition blocking disease that causes the body to waste away.
* Nature’s highest botanical source of essential fatty acid, with more essential fatty acid than flax or any other nut or seed oil.
* A perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 Linolenic Acid – for cardiovascular health and general strengthening of the immune system.
* A superior vegetarian source of protein considered easily digestible.
* A rich source of phytonutrients, the disease-protective element of plants with benefits protecting your immunity, bloodstream, tissues, cells, skin, organs and mitochondria.
* The richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids.And guess what? It gets better!
Hemp seeds are 25% protien, second only to soy in the plant kingdom. The reason hemp is preferred over soy is because soy contains a high amount of phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that prevents your body from absorbing certain minerals. Hemp seeds contain NO phytic acid! (phytic acid is actually a really interesting compound. It has a great amount of health benefits and detriments, and is a source of controversy regarding its proper level of intake in my own mind. For more information take a look at Healthy Eating Politic’s article on Phytic Acid.)
Furthermore, hemp seeds contain vitamin E, phytosterols (cancer fighting), fiber, magnesium, iron, zinc, and potassium.
This article has even more amazing information. It states that because hemp protein is 65% globulin edistin, and also contains albumin, it is very similar to the blood plasma already coursing through our bodies. This makes it the most easily digestible source of protein that we have ever found.
Why is that so great? It means less waste and greater efficiency. You can eat less and get even more out of what you put into your system.
The article explains that:
Hemp is not unique in having all the essential amino acids in its embryonic seed. Flax seeds also contain all the essential amino acids as do many other seeds in the plant kingdom. What is unique about hemp seed protein is that 65% of it is globulin edistin. That is the highest in the plant kingdom.
Globulins are one of seven classes of simple proteins. Simple proteins are constructed from amino acids and contain no non-protein substances. Globulins are in seeds and animal blood. Edistins are found in seeds: serum globulin is in blood. Edistins are plant globulins. And globulins along with albumins are classified as globular proteins. All enzymes, antibodies, many hormones, hemoglobin and fibrogin (the body converts fibrogin into non-soluble, fibrin, a blood clotting agent) are globular proteins. They carry out the main work of living.
Albumin, globulin and fibrogin are the major types of plasma proteins. Plasma is the fluid portion of blood that supplies nutrients to tissues. And the three protein types: serum albumin, serum globulin and fibrogin, compose about 80% of plasma solids. These plasma proteins serve as a reservoir of rapidly available amino acids should any body tissues be in need.
Here’s the break down chap:
The Hemp Formula
hemp seed= healthier cells= healthier tissue= healthier body= healthier + happier YOU!
To wrap this up, I’d like to share a list of information provided by the North American Industrial Hemp Council found here. I’m not 100% positive how accurate all of this information is, but it is interesting nonetheless and worth further investigation.
I would also like to add to this list, and to your ideas for further investigation, that hemp oil has been showing a great deal of results in not only preventing many forms of cancer, but also curing it. Here are some great sites and videos to get started:
National Health Federation: Hemp Oil and Cancer
Cannabis Culture: Run From The Cure: How Cannabis Cures Cancer And Why No One Knows
Documentary: What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?
Direct Links to the Sources:
Nutiva Hemp Seed on Amazon Nutritional Information
Nutrition and Metabolism: The Cardiac and Haemostatic Effects of Dietary Hempseed
Body Ecology: Hemp: Is this Nutty Food Source with a Questionable Reputation Good for You?
Healthy Eating Politics: Phytic Acid: Helpful or Harmful?
National Health Federation: Hemp Oil and Cancer
Cannabis Culture: Run From The Cure: How Cannabis Cures Cancer And Why No One Knows
Documentary: What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?
Wonder about your world…
Take the plunge down the rabbit hole of insanity and wonder in this fast-paced, nonstop psychological thriller that will leave you questioning the very nature of reality and beyond. Part thriller, part romance, part existential horror, A Dream of Waking Life delves into lucid dreaming, psychedelics, existential ontology, video games, the nature of love, the nature of reality, and more.
Mendel’s Ladder delivers an adrenaline-fueled journey set on a dystopian future Earth, brimming with high-stakes action, adventure, and mystery. This epic series opener plunges readers into a world filled with diverse cultures, heart-pounding battles, and characters who will captivate your heart and imagination.
“E.S. Fein is raising the bar for quality as it’s a very well-written and thought-provoking book…There are points and themes in the story that could be discussed for eons as people will have their own idea on where it leads. It’s a book I would highly recommend.” – Andy Whitaker, SFCrowsnest
Wondergressive 