I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW…
Posted by Mary Allan Mill in Soapbox Saturday on July 25th, 2009
There comes a time when your sight is getting “foggy”. Working on a computer is a chore, and reading glasses don’t help. At my annual eye examination I was told that I had cataracts. The procedure would be that my first eye would be operated on, and one week later the second eye.
On my medical information sheet I indicated that I suffer from hyperthyroidism, Graves Disease and macular degeneration. I was told that I was an “excellent candidate” for the operation.
Following each operation my eyes were blood red. My computer wasn’t touched for weeks, and I could not drive. My distance sight was gone. For the first time in my life I was given prescription glasses which I had to cover with dark glasses because of my sensativity to light.
On my sixth visit I complained about a problem with clear vision, and I was told that my thyroid was trying to get rid of the new lens by coating them with “gunk” (my own special word). According to my doctor I was “one in a million”. After weeks of applications of special cream and a prednisone sterate, I developed “floaters”, black bits of “gunk” broken up by the sterate.
When the floaters were down to about 16, I named each one and formed soccer teams. As the “floaters” lessened I decided that the players had gone to Spain or Italy’s teams. When I laughingly told my doctor I could see that he considered me quite mad.
Now I can read almost everything and work on my computer for hours. Driving? I can see and read everything except long street signs. The warning that I might have to have my lens “zapped” with a laser about every six months to remove the “gunk” is no longer applicable.
We all want to have instant gratification when we read advertisements promising beauty in a box, glamor over night or immediate clear vision. Nothing really works out that way. Even with the best physicians, it takes patience and faith.
THE ZERO POINT FIELD
Posted by Mary Allan Mill in Thirsty Thursday on July 23rd, 2009
When I gave up the illusion that I am a normal human being, I became a seeker of truth and why things are often not what they seem. Christmas Humphrey’s concept of Zen Buddhism was at first, difficult to comprehend. It took a while to learn how to visualize a plain, white wall and clear my mind.
The Zero Point Field caused me to clear my mind again. It presents a new confrontational yet inspiring concept with which I am at home because “it contains a blueprint of our existance.” We’re all connected to each other by an endless sea of energy from man to matter according to Lynne McTaggart. The “Field” is our alpha and omega.
Accepting that there must be a connection between mind and matter (although I have never been able to bend a spoon with my mind), I’m aware of the power of the energy of the mind.
As pointed out by Rene Descartes, “The human mind is separate from the lifeless matter we call ‘body’”. We’re all aware of the survival of the fittest where only the strong survive, an evolutionary accident without any particular meaning. It comes down to science vs. religion, and scientists are falling over their own interpretations.
Matter, to me, is held together by energy. Einstein’s group couldn’t reconcile new discoveries in quantum physics with Newton in reality and created a scientific monster. Zero Point Field may provide a bridge between spirituality and science.
Clinical studies on Salamanders showed they might have an unusually strong connection with the energy field around them as do humans. Similar research done on clairvoyants gave startling proof when they were given co-ordinates of places, then without being there, each clairvoyant could describe the area.
Hall Puthoff of Stanford University concluded that time and space do not exist on the level of the Zero Point Field. True? Do past, present and future apparently flow together in the energy field? Could time be a relative notion?
One human being is connected to another through energy, and together, we create reality. Ergo: I am one with everyone and I understand the Zero Point Field…a bit.
www.oden\a magazine.com/doc/8/the_amazing_promise_of_the_zero_point_field/
NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Photographs Apollo Landing Sites
Posted by Dewey Davis-Thompson in Tech Talk Tuesday on July 21st, 2009
Conspiracy nuts, here is a new twist for you: NASA has posted brand new photographs of the Apollo landing sites. Of course, this comes just as the National Air and Space Agency admits it seems to have lost the original videos of the lunar missions. (Houston, We Erased the Apollo 11 Tapes).
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first “satellite for our satellite” to have a resolution high enough to capture the Apollo sites, reportedly able to photograph things as small as 4 feet across or four feet per pixel.
The pictures show the Apollo missions’ lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon’s surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules’ locations evident.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.
NASA reports “The satellite reached lunar orbit June 23 and captured the Apollo sites between July 11 and 15. Though it had been expected that LRO would be able to resolve the remnants of the Apollo mission, these first images came before the spacecraft reached its final mapping orbit. Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution.
The spacecraft’s current elliptical orbit resulted in image resolutions that were slightly different for each site but were all around four feet per pixel. Because the deck of the descent stage is about 12 feet in diameter, the Apollo relics themselves fill an area of about nine pixels. However, because the sun was low to the horizon when the images were made, even subtle variations in topography create long shadows. Standing slightly more than ten feet above the surface, each Apollo descent stage creates a distinct shadow that fills roughly 20 pixels.”
SOMETHING NEW AT THE PANAMA CANAL
Posted by Mary Allan Mill in Mother Earth Monday on July 20th, 2009
As a child, I went through the Panama Canal with my parents. It was busy with ships from many parts of the world, making room for our ship of The Red Star Line.
Now, I feel that I must return. The Panama Canal is being expanded to almost twice its width, update and preapred for a new world of the 2000’s. We visited Canaima Park near the Canal, and drove inland to see the falls. There were only the very rich, and the very poor.
Gamboa Rainforest Resort is nestled among the vast Soberaina National Park Rainforest, some 30 minutes from Panama City. At last a fascinating and emerging part of the world!
You can take a boat ride or go fishing in the Panama Canal, they provide jungle adventures via an aerial tramway, take a visit to Monkey Island, do a bit of bird watching on Pipeline Road and enjoy kayaking at the Panama Canal.
The resort itself has a breathtaking pool and spa where you can kick back and relax, and it’s being called “stunningly beautiful luxury.” See you there…
A Letter to President Obama
Posted by Dewey Davis-Thompson in Mother Earth Monday on July 20th, 2009
34 Nobel winners write Obama about lack of support for energy R&D in climate/energy bill.
This letter was sent to the White House on July 16:
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500Dear Mr. President:
You have repeatedly and appropriately called for a Clean Energy Technology Fund of $150 billion over ten years that could be funded from receipts collected from a greenhouse gas cap and trade program. The stable support this Fund would provide is essential to pay for the research and development needed if the U.S., as well as the developing world, are to achieve their goals in reducing greenhouse gases at an affordable cost.
This stable R&D spending is not a luxury. It is in fact necessary because rapid scientific and technical progress is crucial to achieving these goals, and to making the cost affordable.
We are concerned that “The American Clean Energy and Security Act” (H.R. 2454) that recently passed the House provides less than one fifteenth of the amount you proposed for federal energy research, development, and demonstration programs. The legislation provides no stable, specific funding for sustained research in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, or for the energy research and associated technology development programs of DOE (at the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Electricity Deliverability, Fossil, and Nuclear offices).
Given the expected growing federal budget deficits, and the corresponding pressure on the government’s discretionary budget, this is a serious deficiency.
We hope that you will urge the Congress to send you a bill that will invest in energy research, development, and demonstration at an amount approaching the stable $15 billion annual support that you have proposed.
We stand ready to assist you in any way we can.
Signed,
Paul Berg, Physics 1980
Stanley Cohen, Physiology or Medicine 1986
Robert F. Curl, Jr., Chemistry 1996
Johann Deisenhofer, Chemistry 1988
Val L. Fitch, Physics 1980
Jerome Friedman, Physics 1990
Sheldon Glashow, Physics 1979
Roy Glauber, Physics 2005
Dudley R. Herschbach, Chemistry 1986
Wolfgang Ketterle, Physics 2001
Roger D. Kornberg, Chemistry 2006
Herbert Kroemer, Physics 2000
Robert B. Laughlin, Physics 1998
Leon Lederman, Physics 1988
Anthony Leggett, Physics 2003
John Mather, Physics 2006
Marshall Nirenberg, Medicine 1968
George A. Olah, Chemistry 1994
Douglas Osheroff, Physics 1996
Arno Penzias, Physics 1978
Martin L. Perl, Physics 1995
William D. Phillips, Physics 1997
David Politzer, Physics 2004
Robert C. Richardson, Physics 1996
Burton Richter, Physics 1976
F. Sherwood Rowland, Chemistry 1995
Phillip A. Sharp, Physiology or Medicine 1993
George Smoot, Physics 2006
Horst Stormer, Physics 1998
Richard Taylor, Physics 1990
Daniel Tsui, Physics 1998
Steven Weinberg, Physics 1979
Frank Wilczek, Physics 2004
Robert W. Wilson, Physics 1978
Liberal Views (Nudity)
Posted by Dewey Davis-Thompson in Human Temple Sunday on July 19th, 2009
The “disinhibition” of America is becoming emblematic of our 21st century, with self-revelation rampant on the Internet, an apparently booming porn industry, politicians and public figures being caught in flagrante delicto, and the historic Mardi Gras of New Orleans going bare-breasted in public, says extreme behavior expert Frank Farley, a psychologist at Philadelphia’s Temple University.
“Mardi Gras has been going topless for some years with no end in sight,” says Farley, a former president of the American Psychological Association. “Is this reflecting a growing acceptance of such behavior in America? I think so.”
Liberal views on many fronts are gaining ground, from a healthy decline in racism, sexism, and ageism on one hand to a more questionable tolerance of such public nudity displays on the other, he says.
“Censorship of such displays is becoming increasingly difficult in this media saturated century and the Mardi Gras is helping to fuel the trend,” adds Farley. “Self-exposure of all types, including the now accepted ‘flashing breasts-for-beads’ at Mardi Gras, is beginning to define the Internet.”
Do you believe in ghosts?
Posted by Lori in Wild Friday on July 17th, 2009
While no one knows for sure, people all over the world throughout time have had experiences of what they call ghosts. Do ghosts really exist? It all depends on how you define “ghost.” What are ghosts?
A rational explanation is that our experience of ghosts, or paranormal phenomena, can be attributed to our evolutionary survival mechanisms. It is a way for us to explain things that we don’t understand. One scientific explanation is that what we experience as ghosts is actually caused by sound waves trapped inside of buildings.
For some reason, New England seems to have more haunted houses than the rest of the country. Paul Eno, paranormal investigator in New England, has some very interesting opinions on the subject. Paul Eno’s explanation of ghosts goes beyond the rational or scientific explanations, suggesting a whole new way of looking at reality as a multiverse.
Within the multiverse, parallel universes exist. It is a complex idea that has been around for a long time, it is just tough for a lot of people to understand, much less believe. Do you believe in the multiverse?
HATCHED, NOT BORN
Posted by Mary Allan Mill in Worldwide Wednesday on July 15th, 2009
My mother explained, shortly after I began to walk, that I was hatched and not born. She left it at that, and throughout my life I never questioned it. However, to some extent it explains the life I’ve led, and an almost insatiable desire to learn and absorb all I experienced.
Am I an alien? It didn’t bother me because most of the members of my family were more than “mere” mortals sailing fleets of ships, climbing tall mountains (I got half ‘way up Mt. Kenya), building mansions, painting and writing. They were fascinating.
My father didn’t blink when I blew up the chemistry lab at boarding school. He was secretly delighted as a chemical engineer, because I was developing a new formula for bleaching hair.
Yes, I admit that I gave normal birth to my son and daughter. However, as soon as I could, I turned my son’s interest toward sci-fi. I always had someone with whom to go to alien movies!
Yes, I am deeply concerned about preservation of our natural resources and “the greening of the planet”. I also consider what will happen if we wake up one day and find that our planet can no longer support human life. The endless debris floating in space concerns me, and I want to find a “nasty” black hole out there and dump it all in…
When I flew on the Concorde (alas, no more) I got a taste of flight at mach speeds, and wondered what I might see in the blackness beyond my tiny window. Fortunately, Sir Richard Branson will soon offer “space” flights to folks like me who can afford the price tag.
We have come so far with our journey into space. What next? I’m ready.
Women Avoid Science Careers
Posted by Dewey Davis-Thompson in Tech Talk Tuesday on July 14th, 2009
Newswise — Women tend to choose non-math-intensive fields for their careers — not because they lack mathematical ability, but because they want flexibility to raise children or prefer less math-intensive fields of science, reports a new Cornell study.
“A major reason explaining why women are underrepresented not only in math-intensive fields but also in senior leadership positions in most fields is that many women choose to have children, and the timing of child rearing coincides with the most demanding periods of their career, such as trying to get tenure or working exorbitant hours to get promoted,” said lead author Stephen J. Ceci, professor of human development at Cornell.
Women with advanced math abilities choose non-math fields more often than men with similar abilities, he added.
Women also tend to drop out of scientific fields — especially math and physical sciences — at higher rates than do men, particularly as they advance, because of their need for greater flexibility and the demands of parenting and caregiving, said co-author Wendy M. Williams, Cornell professor of human development.
“These are choices that all women, but almost no men, are forced to make,” she said.
The study, published in the March issue of the American Psychological Association’s Psychological Bulletin (135:2), is an integrative analysis of 35 years of research on sex differences in math. Ceci and his Cornell co-authors reviewed more than 400 articles and book chapters to better understand why women are underrepresented in such math-intensive science careers as computer science, physics, technology, engineering, chemistry and higher mathematics.
Women today comprise about 50 percent of medical school classes; yet women who enter academic medicine are less likely than men to be promoted or serve in leadership posts, the authors report. As of 2005, only 15 percent of full professors and 11 percent of department chairs were women. Non-math fields are also affected: For example, only 19 percent of the tenure-track faculty members in the top 20 philosophy departments are women.
The authors concluded that hormonal, brain and other biological sex differences were not primary factors in explaining why women were underrepresented in science careers, and that studies on social and cultural effects were inconsistent and inconclusive. They also reported that although “institutional barriers and discrimination exist, these influences still cannot explain why women are not entering or staying in STEM careers,” said Ceci. “The evidence did not show that removal of these barriers would equalize the sexes in these fields, especially given that women’s career preferences and lifestyle choices tilt them toward other careers such as medicine and biology over mathematics, computer science, physics and engineering.”
The analysis, which also was conducted with Susan Barnett, Ph.D. ‘04, a visiting scholar at Cornell, also found that “Women would comprise 33 percent of the professorships in math-intensive fields if it was based solely on being in the top 1 percent of math ability, but they currently comprise less than 10 percent,” Ceci said.
Science, technology, engineering and math are not the only professions affected by women’s career choices, said the authors. Women are still underrepresented in the top positions of such fields as medicine, law, biology, psychology, dentistry and veterinary science.
The authors recommended that universities and companies create options for women with math talents who want to pursue math-intensive careers. These could include deferred start-up of tenure-track positions and part-time work that segues to full-time tenure-track work for women who are raising children, and courtesy appointments for women unable to work full time but who would benefit from use of university resources (e-mail, library resources, grant support) to continue their research from home.
Life BEYOND Mars?
Posted by Dewey Davis-Thompson in Tech Talk Tuesday on July 14th, 2009
Daniel P. Glavin, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, says the possibility of extraterrestrial life in our solar system is not limited to Mars; other “habitable” worlds might exist including the icy Moons of Jupiter and Saturn, known as Europa and Enceladus. The challenge for scientists and engineers in the next couple of decades, he says, will be to design miniaturized instruments and technologies capable of detecting the signatures of life in our own solar system and beyond.
