Category: science
Notes from Bioengineering Conference, Nov 25, Long Beach, CA
Turritopsis nutricula , the potentially immortal jellyfish, is a hydrozoan whose medusa, or jellyfish, form can revert to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage. It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish “alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell.” In this process the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on infinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal, although in nature, most Turritopsis, like other medusae, are likely to succumb to predation or disease in the plankton stage, without reverting to the polyp form.. No single specimen has been observed for any extended period, so it is impossible to estimate the age of an individual, and so even if this species has the potential for immortality, there is no laboratory evidence of many generations surviving from any individual.
Biological immortality
Most jellyfish species have a relatively fixed life span, which varies by species from hours to many months (long-lived mature jellyfish spawn every day or night [the time is also rather fixed and species-specific]). The medusa of Turritopsis nutricula is the only form known to have developed the ability to return to a polyp state, by a specific transformation process that requires the presence of certain cell types (tissue from both the jellyfish bell surface and the circulatory canal system). Careful laboratory experiments have revealed that all stages of the medusae, from newly released to fully mature individuals, can transform back into polyps. The transforming medusa is characterized first by deterioration of the bell and tentacles, with subsequent growth of a perisarc sheet (see hydroid) and stolons, and finally feeding polyps. Polyps further multiply by growing additional stolons, branches and then polyps, to form colonial hydroids. This ability to reverse the life cycle (in response to adverse conditions) is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering Turritopsis nutricula potentially biologically immortal. Studies in the laboratory showed that 100% of specimens could revert to the polyp stage, but so far the process has not been observed in nature, in part because the process is quite rapid and field observations at the right moment in time are unlikely. In spite of this remarkable ability, most Turritopsis medusae are likely to fall victim to the general hazards of life as plankton, including being eaten by other animals, or succumbing to disease. (read more)
The Fall (1467-68)
Hugo van der Goes
“You will not surely die,”
the serpent said to the woman.
“For God knows that when you eat
of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5
“In 1972 I went to Berkeley and studied mathematics and physics and, later, operations research. Later I earned a Ph.D. in statistics. I spent my career teaching mathematics and statistics, and traveled widely. In 1996 I wrote my bestselling book, Fermatâs Last Theorem, which has been translated into 22 languages and was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Award that year. In 2004, I was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. From 2005 to 2007, I was a visiting scholar in the history of science at Harvard University. I am currently a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University. I often write articles about science, and some have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Jerusalem Post, The London Times, and other papers. I also authored a dozen research articles on mathematics, and two textbooks. But my primary occupation is writing popular books on scienceâit is my passion to bring science to everyone”.
Take a good look…
Albert Einstein once wondered: “How is it possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience, fits so excellently the objects of physical reality?” Indeed, Newton formulated a mathematical law of gravity which he himself could verify (given the observational results of his day) to an accuracy of no better than four percent. Yet, the law proved to be precise to better than one part in a million! How is that possible? Or take the example of knot theory â the mathematical theory of knots. It evolved as an obscure branch of pure mathematics. Amazingly, this abstract endeavor suddenly found extensive modern applications in topics ranging from the structure of the DNA to “string theory” â the candidate for an ultimate theory of the subatomic world.
And this is not all. The famous logician Bertrand Russell argued that logic and mathematics are really the same thing. “They differ as boy and man”, he said, “logic is the youth of mathematics and mathematics is the manhood of logic.” So how can we explain these incredible powers of mathematics? How come that stock option pricing and the agitated motion of pollen suspended in water can be described by the same mathematical equation?
At an even more fundamental level, are we merely discovering mathematics, just as astronomers discover previously unknown galaxies? Or, is mathematics simply a human invention? These (and many more) are the questions that Mario Livio is attempting to answer in “Is God A Mathematician?” The book reviews the ideas of great thinkers from Plato and Archimedes to Galileo and Descartes, and on to Russell and Gödel. It offers a lively and original discussion of topics ranging from cosmology to the cognitive sciences, and from mathematics to religion. The focus on the scientific and practical applications of the fascinating insights of great minds will appeal to a wide audience. (read more)
- Labels: awareness, discovery, logic, mathematics, science
The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as the first known mechanical computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900â01 from the Antikythera wreck, but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150â100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe.
Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the most recent study of the mechanism said: “This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully…in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.” (read more)
Sir Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 â 31 March 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential scientists in history.
His 1687 publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (usually called the Principia) is considered to be among the most influential books in the history of science, laying the groundwork for most of classical mechanics. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries.
Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and advancing the scientific revolution.
“I do not know what I may appear to the world,
but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy
playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself
in now and then finding a smoother pebble
or a prettier shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean of truth
lay all undiscovered before me.”
Sir Isaac Newton
Amazing Stories
Investigators have uncovered a subconscious âstream of musicâ running through my head. It contains mostly fragments of old songs I heard while I was growing up. Songs like â..doze eat oats and mares eat oats and little lambs eat ivyâ. But it also plays some contemporary pieces like â..help Iâm aliveâ or âgimmie a break, gimmie a break.â Some investigators tell me itâs purpose is to keep my brain entertained so I stay alert. Others tell me it was set in motion to supply my ego with a stream of self-images ..keeping me anchored in the culture and generation where I live. I notice that it pops into hearing range from time to time for no apparent reason. When it does, I can tell that the songs I grew up with are more prevalent ..I donât hear too many Moroccan tunes ..although sometimes Iâd prefer it. There is one thing investigators agree on however: they say if it pops up to often ..or stays on the surface too long ..it could become pathological. I ask them if thatâs because of all the disturbing memories it might bring up. No, they say itâs because of all the disruption it would cause my ordinary stream of consciousness. It would sound like I had Tourettes or something. Either that, they say ..or it would become stagnant and block me from learning any new tunes. I tell them Iâm not sure which is worse.
Image by ~> Luana Silense
Based on notes taken during a lecture by ~> Oliver Sacks
If you get a chance, listen to the audio at the bottom. It will be worth it.
- Labels: bill, consciousness, neuro, normal, science
“High Flight”
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward Iâve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, â and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed ofâwheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovâring there,
Iâve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air….
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
Iâve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flewâ
And, while with silent lifting mind Iâve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Let there be light
There is a sixth dimension,
beyond that which is known to man.
It is a dimension as vast as space
and as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground between light and shadow,
and it lies between the pit of man’s fears
and the sunlight of his knowledge.
This is the dimension of imagination.
It is an area that might be called The Twilight Zone.
- Labels: art, perspective, possibilities, science, Space, time
Infinite time
Infinite space
What is not possible?
It’s a big world…..
if you feel lonely…..
it’s no wonder…..
Asteroids is a video arcade game
released in 1979 by Atari Inc.
It was one of the most popular and influential
games of the Golden Age of Arcade Games.
Hours of fun…
Referring to the Tesla Roadster, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “I test drove this vehicle, and it is hot.”
- Labels: ecology, electric car, paradigm shift, pollution, science
The Hubble Space Telescope is a Time Machine
It can see billions of years into the past
The Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
61 Million light-years away
Eta Carinae Nebula NGC 3372
8 Thousand light-years away
Messier 81 NGC 3031
12 Million light-years away
The Cat’s Eye Nebula NGC 6543
3.3 Thousand light-years away
The Eagle Nebula NGC 6611
7 Thousand light-years away
The Helix Nebula NGC 7293
7 Hundred light-years away
Young Stars in Magellanic Cloud NGC 346
210 Thousand light-years away
The Red Supergiant Star Monocerotis V838
20 Thousand light-years away
The Crab Nebula NGC 1952
6.5 Thousand light-years away
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image
13 Billion light-years away
Click and enlarge this image
and see an estimated 10,000 galaxies
as they looked 13 billion years ago
Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 â 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. Tesla was born in the village of Smiljan near the town of GospiÄ, Austrian Empire, Croatian Krajina. He was an ethnic Serb subject of the Austrian Empire and later became an American citizen. Tesla is often described as an important scientist and inventor of the modern age, a man who “shed light over the face of Earth”. He is best known for many revolutionary contributions in the field of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.After his demonstration of wireless communication (radio) in 1894 and after being the victor in the “War of Currents”, he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America. Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. During this period, in the United States, Tesla’s fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture, but due to his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist. Never having put much focus on his finances, Tesla died impoverished at the age of 86.
The SI unit measuring magnetic flux density or magnetic induction (commonly known as the magnetic field “B”), the tesla, was named in his honor (at the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, Paris, 1960), as well as the Tesla effect of wireless energy transfer to wirelessly power electronic devices which Tesla demonstrated on a low scale (lightbulbs) as early as 1893 and aspired to use for the intercontinental transmission of industrial energy levels in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.
Aside from his work on electromagnetism and electromechanical engineering, Tesla has contributed in varying degrees to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited him as being the inventor of the radio.
Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 â 7 January 1943)
- Labels: discovery, energy, paradigm shift, revolution, science
War
is a cowardly escape
from the problems of Peace
…….Thomas Mann…….
- Labels: arms trade, peace, science, war
Call your doctor if
you experience an erection
lasting longer than four hours.
- Labels: Life, overpopulation, science, sex
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh?
yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
- Labels: logic, paradox, perspective, science
I’ll bet GM wishes they’d been honest with us about the EV1.
Nate Holden states the following points:
In 1990, the State of California enacted a zero-emissions mandate, forcing auto manufacturers who sold their cars in the State of California to require that at least 10% of the automobiles that are sold here have zero-emissions.
In 2002 the Bush administration sided with the automakers to fight the zero-emissions mandate. The Bush administration, General Motors, other U.S. automakers and the oil companies committed sabotage against the American people and the environment. Because of the lawsuit, California will not make any strides in improving our air quality. To continue to build internal combustion engines will result in more photochemical smog and will cause more lung cancer and respiratory disease.
At about that time, General Motors embarked on a program to deceive the public and the lawmakers. They introduced the EV1 as a revolutionary concept car. The EV1 had all the whistles and bells and if mass-produced, could have saved the automobile industry from its financial woes. At the beginning, General Motors and the other auto manufacturers never intended for the electric vehicle to be a successful program, specifically the EV1.
It turned out to be nothing but a hoax when General Motors built 1,100 EV1s and allowed the public to lease and road test them. Without a doubt, the EV1, as a prototype vehicle, met the test acceptance program. In fact, in many circles there are those who are of the opinion that it exceeded the testing program. The consumers who leased the EV1 offered to purchase the EV1 vehicle from General Motors. They knew the EV1 was a zero-emission, cost effective automobile. General Motors said “no” and evoked the terms and conditions of the lease requiring that those vehicles be returned to General Motors and they were subsequently destroyed.
General Motors has had at least ten years notice to develop and mass-produce an electric vehicle and they have failed to do so. They have continuously brainwashed the public and the elected officials, claiming that they were on our side and they are not! Here they are again, demanding that the hard-working taxpayers bail them out. (Them being the automobile manufacturers) They are demanding the bailout funding without any pre-conditions. Shame on them!
Congress should not give auto manufacturers another dime until the commitment is made that they will build the electric vehicle as a top priority. We must stop importing our oil from the Middle East. The mass production of the electric vehicle can be our way of achieving that goal.
- Labels: electric car, government, greed, science
