Watchful eyes, thoughtful mind: biology

Showing posts with label biology. Show all posts

14 Sept 2010

TED Tuesday: I'm old! ... Really?

Rachel Sussman shows photographs of the world's oldest continuously living organisms -- from 2,000-year-old brain coral off Tobago's coast to an "underground forest" in South Africa that has lived since before the dawn of agriculture.

6 Apr 2010

TED Tuesday: Demystifying Autism

Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works -- sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.

16 Mar 2010

TED Tuesday: The 'Gandhi' neurons

Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.

4 Mar 2010

More than just biology

Guest post generously contributed by Elisabeth Manning, founder of Concsious Conception. Elisabeth is a former assistant to NIKE founder Phil Knight and spent her twenties in corporate life trying to figure out what was missing. From the asking came Guidance, and a series of events led her to her true awakening to her purpose. She is now a Certified Spirit and Creation (fertility) Coach living in the San Francisco Bay Area facilitating others in stepping into their own true creations. She works with clients one-on one-by phone, and currently speaks about Conscious Conception and the Energy of Fertility (and Pregnancy), especially during IVF. Elisabeth also teaches a popular phone meditation called BabySpirit to call in and welcome a little-one into being and activate a healthy and fertile journey to parenthood. She lives in San Anselmo, CA with her beloved dog, Elliot. Rather than giving birth t children of her own, she is more strongly called to assist others in bringing forth their creations, thereby being a midwife in service to the many.

Conscious Conception, a Visionary approach to Fertility, Became About Birthing Myself First

[Image source] I was called to a very unique way of life when I was in utter despair. God’s honest truth. I was miserably searching for my ultimate calling to be serving the highest good, yet I had no idea what that meant. It began a journey of a lifetime, and I coached myself to find out more about me. I learned a lot, uncovered a lot, yet still didn’t know how it was going to piece together in some way that can actually be my life’s work. It was when I contacted a psychic that my life began to feel remotely part of something bigger.

I will never forget her saying to me I have ‘a lot of children in my space’, that I would be working with children, but that she doesn’t see me having any children of my own. I was both puzzled and infuriated; I was convinced she had it completely backward. I had NO desire to work with children and yet one day well …one day I most certainly would …or should…shouldn’t I? have a child of my own…or at least that was what my mother always s told me and well, that was just what I and always assumed.

That was the first time I began questioning my beliefs and whether they worked for me or not. I became aware that maybe I was living by my mothers dream and not my own because, weren’t you supposed to have a desire for something first before actually having that something come into being? I never really had. I had always loved children, I just thought that psychic must have had it backward is all.

My childhood was full of love, but not much consciousness from my mother. A single alcoholic on welfare “because she wanted to spend more time with me” became my life, and yet I knew I was deeply loved. “The world is your oyster-you can do anything” was my mother’s message to me, yet, my world of examples was welfare and beer and low self-esteem. So you see, I became fascinated with self esteem and human potential and the disparity of the two was so apparent in my own life. But I had no idea this awareness, this passion to find peace between the two would fit into my future, not to mention my growing fascination with scientific research bridging spiritual pursuits.

One fine day, it hit like lightning. I had a conversation with a doula (at the time I knew nothing of what a doula was, which now is something we never should be without when we are new at birthing and motherhood.)

She told me of the parents in a wealthy part of where I live in California who have all the money but seemingly aren’t very sensitive as parents. It got my attention, but nothing much more than that. Then, I learned of IVF (I knew nothing of what that was which I found out, is conception in a Petri dish with the help of very advanced medical technology) and how much it cost (20k for ONE try) for about 20% success rate.

My whole body suddenly shuddered and I found myself saying ”Oh my gosh! No wonder the success rate is lower than it should be: The parents are nervous and stressed when the mommy takes this fertilized egg home inside of her which is NOT a vibrational match for this little light being inside her, and second, nobody is holding a proper sacred space energetically in the Petri dish! Being that we are electrical beings, literally, it makes sense that a vibration similar to the mini Big Bang (as conception would certainly be), that the “current” ought to also be high in the “container” holding space for it? . And what of the welcoming of the child consciously? And what of science yet to find the “”current” of love as a viable healing source, not to mention the key missing ingredient in medical intervention with fertility and IVF? This is the piece we have yet to discover, and I believe we most certainly will. Just look at IONS and Heartmath, Bruce Lipton and Carolyn Myss, to name a few of the pioneers who have definitely made headway in the area of mind/body connection and science.

Everything suddenly flooded in like a download. I was ‘hit’ with my purpose.

I called my mentor and ranted “Somebody ought to be doing something!” She said, “And that somebody will have to be you Elisabeth. Nobody is thinking like this, therefore you must be the one.” I started weeping. “But I don’t know anything!” She said you know more than you think you know. You have been studying consciousness for how many years now? And Quantum physics? And creation and nature and the essence of manifestation? It sounds to me you must begin talking about what you know and share your ideas with other visionaries. You have a vision.” I wept some more. I was so afraid of what I saw, of what to make of this big thinking that seemed so much bigger than me. What if I was wrong?

Then I started to see, that psychic was absolutely right. As I began on my journey, I began to see my past waw what I needed to prepare me, my mother being my perfect teacher. The ‘children I was working with’ just happen to still be in the process of crossing over into the physical. They also happen to be teaching me about what their parents need and how they need to be a vibrational match for their level of consciousness, and that for the purest souls to enter in they need their parents to take on the highest consciousness, and purification of mind, body and soul as humanly possible. I also learned since then that this is nothing new, for example, for the Essenes it was a way of life, especially for Mary to prepare for Jesus. They had been preparing her since she was about 4 years old.

So imagine what a little awareness and preparation might do for your child? We won’t know unless we try. All I know is I am called to serve in the highest Light for tomorrow’s children, for tomorrows potential.

18 Feb 2010

Recycle Gardening: Authentic Haven Brand

Guest post generously contributed by Annie Haven, woman rancher, recycle gardener and brewer based in CA and owner of the Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew.

GROWING A GREEN BUSINESS IN A DOWN TURN ECONOMY;

ANNIE HAVEN KNOWS HOW TO RECYCLE!

It’s All About The Soil -“You have to grow green from the ground up,” says Annie Haven.

In San Juan Capistrano, CA- Annie Haven, woman rancher extraordinaire is no stranger to being green; she has always been a farmer’s daughter, learning the family business – both farming and ranching. Haven, built a strong solid business on consignment sales in the 80’s & 90’s recycling furniture, clothing and sports equipment. Now she has combined what she knows and what she does best: recycling and re-purposing products. But what Annie Haven really wants you to do now is Grow Your garden Green!

What is Annie recycling these days? Pure Manure.

Annie Haven is blessed with knowledge, passed down through her family’s generations of farming and ranching, on how to enjoy sustainable gardening and agriculture. Haven Seed Co., founded in 1873 by her great grandfather Edwin Haven, has always involved the family – from her father Paul Ives Haven, and uncle Archie Haven, along with their brothers. The company moved to California in 1904, where they’ve been been farming and ranching ever since, and supplying large natural growers since 1924. The Haven family have always handed down sage advice to their customers throughout the years, and now Annie passes along her family’s tried and tested knowledge on How to Grow Fabulous Gardens Naturally to you.

Annie has redesigned her family’s recipe of growing lush nutrient-rich plants and vegetables, she wants you to grow all about it. She recycles by harvesting the by-product of her livestock (cows and horses) and bags it into a neat, compact, easy to brew, easy to use 100% natural soil conditioner tea (i.e. manure tea).

Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew, premium soil conditioner teas are designed for the Backyard Gardner, Patio Horticulturist and Herb Hobbyist they are convenient and do not smell. She likes to call her product “environmentally divine” because it is harvested from her grass fed, 100% antibiotic and steroid free livestock.

Annie Haven has been perfecting and blogging about her product for the past several years, she writes on her blog: “Your plants need nutrients to grow strong and healthy, Authentic Haven Brand premium soil conditioner teas breakdown the soil and allow your plant’s roots to absorb needed nutrients naturally. Plants with strong root base systems are able to naturally defend themselves from frost, pests, stress, and will produce an increase in bloom and vegetable yield naturally.” In addition to this new blog, you can also find her on Twitter @GreenSoil.

Annie Haven has developed a strong customer base across the country as well as having product availability in the prestigious Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar CA, Winterthur Museum & Country Estate in Winterthur, DE. In addition to local and nationwide gardens, Annie is also committed to garden education; she has worked closely with School Garden Programs in Oregon and Washington, and currently talking with Unified School Districts across the country.

Annie Haven is keeping with her family tradition of farming and ranching and is growing a green business in a down turn economy. She is merely recycling for others what they have known for generations from their own father’s father’s good old fashioned sustainable living.

If you would like to learn more about Annie and her “Brew it Fresh”! Natural Premium Soil Conditioner Teas visit her website at http://www.authentichavenbrand.com/ to receive a special introductory price on your first purchase.

UPDATE: Annie Haven has gotten some exciting media coverage lately and I thought of sharing the links to her articles and interviews here.

Orange County Register (Sunday, 28th Feb, 2010)
National Press Radio (Monday, 1st March, 2010)

29 Dec 2009

TED Tuesday: Eyes DO fool us!

Beau Lotto’s color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can’t normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what’s really out there.

3 Dec 2009

Here we go again ...

Technological advances have a peculiar way about them. They always seem to progress in steps of exponential growth followed by a period of lull. This trend is closely followed by our ability to learn new things about the world around us. And so human beings, particularly scientists, go through alternating periods of “discovery frenzy” and complacency that there’s nothing more left to explain. We had hit such a complacent period a few decades ago as regards origin and evolution of life on our planet. But now we’re in the “discovery frenzy” stage for the same and hence getting disillusioned about many theories and principles that we thought were invincible. Many new discoveries using newest and (so far) most accurate techniques are making it more than clear that the question of “how life originated on Earth?” is far from settled.

Nick Lane, the first Provost's Venture Research Fellow at University College London and author of Life Ascending: The ten great inventions of evolution, has written a detailed article in the New Scientist on 19th October, 2009 about an alternative theory for origin of life. This is only the latest one in the long line of many such that came before it but didn’t survive the scientific scrutiny. It is based on not-so-conventional ideas of Peter Mitchell who was initially dismissed by his contemporaries but won a Nobel in 1978. Geochemist Mike Russell of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California is rethinking the origin of life and finds Mitchell’s ‘Chemiosmosis’ a valid candidate. The following text from Lane’s article explains the idea,

Before Mitchell, everyone assumed that cells got their energy using straightforward chemistry. The universal energy currency of life is a molecule called ATP [...] generated from food by a series of standard chemical reactions. Mitchell thought otherwise. Life, he argued, is powered not by the kind of chemistry that goes on in a test tube but by a kind of electricity. The energy from food, [...] is used to pump [...] protons, through a membrane. As protons accumulate on one side, an electrochemical gradient builds up across the membrane. Given the chance, the protons will flow back across, releasing energy that can be harnessed to assemble ATP molecules. In energy terms, the process is analogous to filling a raised tank with buckets of water, then using the water to drive a waterwheel.

Even though this seems a counterintuitive and roundabout way to produce energy to power life, there is a growing body of evidence of this process occurring everywhere in nature. Aided with the latest knowledge of fellow biologists and using a logical process of elimination, author Lane reaches a baffling conclusion. The common ancestor of all life on Earth was something with components of a modern cell but no walls or boundaries. Now that’s a stunner! But nature has never failed to provide us evidence for the most unexpected and hence broaden the horizons of our knowledge. So along came the surprise discovery of alkaline hyrdrothermal vents just off the mid-Atlantic ridge in 2000. It turns out that the combination of their peculiar structure and the chemical conditions of atmosphere and ocean the on the early Earth provide a perfect toolkit for the production of DNA, RNA, an ATP prototype, all without the requirement for a wall or boundary. I have only given an outline of what Nick Lane’s article describes in a great detail. So if my summary makes you curious, go read the full article.

I’ll end this post with the apt ending Nick Lane provides to his article,

Many details have yet to be filled in, and it may never be possible to prove beyond any doubt that life evolved by this mechanism. The evidence, however, is growing. This scenario matches the known properties of all life on Earth, is energetically plausible - and returns Mitchell's great theory to its rightful place at the very centre of biology.

Chemiosmotic Proton Circuits in Biological Membranes (In Honor of Peter Mitchell)

3 Nov 2009

TED Tuesday: From redwoods to north pole

Science writer Richard Preston talks about some of the most enormous living beings on the planet, the giant trees of the US Pacific Northwest. Growing from a tiny seed, they support vast ecosystems -- and are still, largely, a mystery.

Lewis Pugh talks about his record-breaking swim across the North Pole. He braved the icy waters (in a Speedo) to highlight the melting icecap. Watch for astonishing footage -- and some blunt commentary on the realities of supercold-water swims.

20 Oct 2009

TED Tuesday: What is consciousness?

Philosopher Dan Dennett makes a compelling argument that not only don't we understand our own consciousness, but that half the time our brains are actively fooling us.

22 Sept 2009

TED Tuesday: Future of SETI

The SETI Institute's Jill Tarter makes her TED Prize wish: to accelerate our search for cosmic company. Using a growing array of radio telescopes, she and her team listen for patterns that may be a sign of intelligence elsewhere in the universe.

10 Sept 2009

End of animal research?

Before long, we will each have an alter ego to assess the medication we need. That's the vision of Natalia Alexandrov, winner of the New Scientist/NC3Rs "Beyond animal research" essay competition.

8 Sept 2009

TED Tuesday: Biomimicry in action

Janine Benyus has a message for inventors: When solving a design problem, look to nature first. There you'll find inspired designs for making things waterproof, aerodynamic, solar-powered and more. Here she reveals dozens of new products that take their cue from nature with spectacular results.

25 Aug 2009

TED Tuesday: Fly me to Saturn

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco shows images from the Cassini voyage to Saturn, focusing on its largest moon, Titan, and on frozen Enceladus, which seems to shoot jets of ice.

Carolyn Porco shares exciting new findings from the Cassini spacecraft's recent sweep of one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus. Samples gathered from the moon's icy geysers hint that an ocean under its surface could harbor life.

18 Aug 2009

TED Tuesday: Uncharted oceans

Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mindbending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a case for serious exploration and mapping. Google Ocean, anyone?

6 Aug 2009

10 Strange Species Discovered Last Year

Alexis Madrigal of Wired Science shares with us the 10 Strange Species Discovered Last Year, the article that tells us,

Every year, biologists brave the world’s deserts, jungles and industrial ecosystems looking for new species. And what wonderful things they find. It turns out that the real world is totally like the internet: If you look hard enough, you can find just about anything. This year, scientists found caffeine-less coffee plants, tiny seahorses and a 23-inch long bug that looks like a branch, not to mention a strange white slug no one had ever described that was found in a Welsh garden.
Below, you’ll find the top 10 species found and described in 2008, according to The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University.

Read it, see them and be amazed!

23 Jul 2009

Bioelectricity: the Next Big Thing?

Forget Biofuel. Is Bioelectricity the Next Big Thing? 80beats Discover Magazine

The fast growing plant switchgrass has been heralded as the next generation of biofuel stock. Unlike fertilizer-dependent corn, researchers say it’s highly efficient to grow the grass and process it into ethanol. But a new study suggests that there’s an even better use for switchgrass and other plants. Rather than turning them into ethanol to fill the gas tanks of cars, plants should be burned in power plants to generate “bioelectricity,” which can power electric cars. [...] A bioelectric future for transportation would require a wide-spread adoption of electric cars, which are still very far from the automobile showrooms. But Campbell says that this is the perfect moment to make decisions about how to keep people moving in the 21st century, before all the ethanol plants and pipelines are built.

In another related article, the study's authors wrote,

Biomass, even though it releases CO2 when burned, overall produces less carbon dioxide than do fossil fuels because plants grown to replenish the resource are assumed to reabsorb those emissions. Capture those combustion emissions instead and sequester them underground, and it would “result in a carbon-negative energy source that removes CO2 from the atmosphere”.

This idea has been echoed and an example of an EU country shown in Yann Arthus-Bertrand's movie, Home.

16 Jul 2009

Of midgets and giants

I didn't know that in island environments small mammals (e.g. rodents) tend to evolve to be larger (Island gigantism), and large mammals (e.g. elephants) tend to evolve to be smaller (Island dwarfism). This is not considered to be evolutionary trend by some due to the fact that different parameters apply in an isolated island environment. Wikipedia telle me that J. Bristol Foster published his work in 1964, now known as 'Island rule', in which he suggested the simple explanation that smaller creatures get larger in the absence of the predators they had attracted on the mainland and larger creatures become smaller with the absence of food sources. An article in Science Daily suggests, however, that the original size of the species was said to be the key determining factor in these changes. And that the new research by a group in Imperial College London have shown that "bigger becoming smaller and vice versa" is not always the case and varies depending on each islan's environment.

Interestingly, recent research in marine biology led by MBARI postdoctoral fellow Craig McClain suggests that a similar trend affects animals as they adapt to life in the deep sea. However, once again the trends are not uniform from species to species and the causes are not very clear either. So in general, it looks like we've still got quite a bit to learn about our fellow Earthlings in isolated environments.

14 Jul 2009

TED Tuesday: Underwater astonishments

David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a color-shifting cuttlefish, a perfectly camouflaged octopus, and a Times Square's worth of neon light displays from fish who live in the blackest depths of the ocean.

With vibrant video clips captured by submarines, David Gallo takes us to some of Earth's darkest, most violent, toxic and beautiful habitats, the valleys and volcanic ridges of the oceans' depths, where life is bizarre, resilient and shockingly abundant.

2 Jun 2009

TED Tuesday: Fresh fruit and veggies

June is observed as Fruit and Vegetable month in the US. Bloggers are coming together at Bloggers Unite to promote this event and to encourage purchase and consumption of fresh, nutritious produce, preferably homegrown or locally grown. As more and more people around the world try to imitate the American lifestyle, importance of fresh fruit and vegetables in daily meals is decreasing by the day. Meat is the primary ingredient based on the belief that it makes you most healthy. This is far from reality. A few weeks back I happened to watch a couple of TED videos which deal with this same issue, our unnecessary obsession with meat. I thought sharing those videos with my readers to kick off the Fruit and Vegetable month (which will be a beneficial observance worldwide) would only be appropriate.

In his fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

Speaking at the 2007 EG conference, "renegade lunch lady" Ann Cooper talks about the coming revolution in the way kids eat at school -- local, sustainable, seasonal and even educational food.

28 May 2009

Mass extinction with a difference?

[Image source: PhysOrg.com]

Mass Extinctions, Ancient Viruses May Hold Clues to Life’s Origins

(PhysOrg.com) -- Mass extinctions occur repeatedly, though irregularly, throughout Earth’s history, and occasionally these extinctions have been devastating to life on our planet - or have they? Extinction events have sometimes accelerated the evolution of life on earth by eliminating old dominating species and making room for new ones. A new study takes this idea a step further, showing that life may have never achieved the complexity necessary for the development of advanced multi-cellular organisms without recurring extinction events.

I found the above article very interesting because of the concept that mass extinctions are not always "bad" for the life on this planet. However, as far as we know, all previous mass extinctions have taken place due to natural causes. Right now the planet is undergoing the sixth mass extinction which is very greately influenced by humans, it is not natural. So would this one have the same impact on life as all others before? Will it open up an opportunity for new life forms to flourish on this planet? Or will there be only one major species remaining, the homo sapiens? Or rather, like Juan Enriquez contemplates, we'll become homo evolutis?