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Radical theory explains the origin, evolution, and nature of life, challenges conventional wisdom

Earth is alive, asserts a revolutionary scientific theory of life emerging from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The trans-disciplinary theory demonstrates that purportedly inanimate, non-living objects — for example, planets, water, proteins, and DNA — are animate, that is, alive. With its broad explanatory power, applicable to all areas of science and medicine, this novel paradigm aims to catalyze a veritable renaissance.

Erik Andrulis, PhD, assistant professor of molecular biology and microbiology, advanced his controversial framework in his manuscript “Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life,” published in the peer-reviewed journal, Life. His theory explains not only the evolutionary emergence of life on earth and in the universe but also the structure and function of existing cells and biospheres.

In addition to resolving long-standing paradoxes and puzzles in chemistry and biology, Dr. Andrulis’ theory unifies quantum and celestial mechanics. His unorthodox solution to this quintessential problem in physics differs from mainstream approaches, like string theory, as it is simple, non-mathematical, and experimentally and experientially verifiable. As such, the new portrait of quantum gravity is radical.

The basic idea of Dr. Andrulis’ framework is that all physical reality can be modeled by a single geometric entity with life-like characteristics: the gyre. The so-called “gyromodel” depicts objects — particles, atoms, chemicals, molecules, and cells — as quantized packets of energy and matter that cycle between excited and ground states around a singularity, the gyromodel’s center. A singularity is itself modeled as a gyre, wholly compatible with the thermodynamic and fractal nature of life. An example of this nested, self-similar organization is the Russian Matryoshka doll.

By fitting the gyromodel to facts accumulated over scientific history, Dr. Andrulis confirms the proposed existence of eight laws of nature. One of these, the natural law of unity, decrees that the living cell and any part of the visible universe are irreducible. This law formally establishes that there is one physical reality.

Another natural law dictates that the atomic and cosmic realms abide by identical organizational constraints. Simply put, atoms in the human body and solar systems in the universe move and behave in the exact same manner.

“Modern science lacks a unifying, interdisciplinary theory of life. In other words, current theories are unable to explain why life is the way it is and not any other way,” Dr. Andrulis says. “This general paradigm furnishes a fresh perspective on the character and meaning of life, offers solutions to protracted problems, and strives to end divisive debates.”

One debate swirls around the scientific merit of James Lovelock’s popular Gaia hypothesis. By showing that Earth is theoretically synonymous with life, Dr. Andrulis’ paradigm substantiates the Gaian premise that all organisms and their surroundings on earth are closely integrated to form a single self-regulating complex system. …

via Radical theory explains the origin, evolution, and nature of life, challenges conventional wisdom.

Wait, this is on sciencedaily? So… When will the planet earth reproduce?

Space Weather Center to Add World’s First ‘Ensemble Forecasting’ Capability

After years of relative somnolence, the sun is beginning to stir. By the time it’s fully awake in about 20 months, the team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., charged with researching and tracking solar activity, will have at their dispoal a greatly enhanced forecasting capability.

Goddard’s Space Weather Laboratory recently received support under NASA’s Space Technology Program Game Changing Program to implement “ensemble forecasting,” a computer technique already used by meteorologists to track potential paths and impacts of hurricanes and other severe weather events.

Instead of analyzing one set of solar-storm conditions, as is the case now, Goddard forecasters will be able to simultaneously produce as many as 100 computerized forecasts by calculating multiple possible conditions or, in the parlance of Heliophysicists, parameters. Just as important, they will be able to do this quickly and use the information to provide alerts of space weather storms that could potentially be harmful to astronauts and NASA spacecraft.

“Space weather alerts are available now, but we want to make them better,” said Michael Hesse, chief of Goddard’s Space Weather Laboratory and the recently named director of the Center’s Heliophysics Science Division. “Ensemble forecasting will provide a distribution of arrival times, which will improve the reliability of forecasts. This is important. Society is relying more so than ever on space. Communications, navigation, electrical-power generation, all are all susceptible to space weather.” Once it’s implemented, “there will be nothing like this in the world. No one has done ensemble forecasting for space weather.”

The state-of-the-art capability, which Hesse’s group is implementing now and expects to complete within three years, couldn’t come too soon, either.

Sun Growing Restless

Since the sun reached its solar minimum in 2008 — the period when the number of sunspots is lowest — it has begun to awaken from its slumber. On Aug. 4, the sun unleashed a near X-class solar flare that erupted near an Earth-facing sunspot. Although flares don’t always produce coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — gigantic bubbles of charged particles that can carry up to ten billion tons of matter and accelerate to several million miles per hour as they erupt from the sun’s atmosphere and stream through interplanetary space — this one did.

The CME overtook two previous CMEs — all occurring within 48 hours — and combined into a triple threat. Luckily for Earthlings, the CMEs produced only a moderate geomagnetic storm when solar particles streamed down the field lines toward Earth’s poles and collided with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere. Even so, “it was the strongest storm in many years,” said Antti Pulkkinen, one of the laboratory’s chief forecasters.

However, the repercussions could be far worse in the future. As part of its 11-year cycle, the sun is entering solar maximum, the period of greatest activity. It is expected to peak in 2013. During this time, more powerful CMEs, often associated with M- and X-class flare events, become more numerous and can affect any planet or spacecraft in its path. In the past, solar storms have disrupted power grids on Earth and damaged instrumentation on satellites. They can also be harmful to astronauts if they are not warned to take protective cover.

“No one knows exactly what the sun will do, Pulkkinen said. “We can’t even tell in a week, let alone a year or two, what the sun will do. All we know is that the sun will be more active.” …

via NASA – Space Weather Center to Add World’s First ‘Ensemble Forecasting’ Capability.

Good luck, planet Earth.

Hundreds of Meteorites Uncovered in Antarctica

A gang of heavily insulated scientists has wrapped up its Antarctic expedition, with its members thawing out from the experience, but pleased to have bagged more than 300 space rocks.

They are participants in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program, or ANSMET for short. Since 1976, ANSMET researchers have been recovering thousands of meteorite specimens from the East Antarctic ice sheet. ANSMET is funded by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation.

According to the ANSMET website, the specimens are currently the only reliable, continuous source of new, nonmicroscopic extraterrestrial material. Given that there are no active planetary sample-return missions coming or going at the moment, the retrieval of meteorites is the cheapest and only guaranteed way to recover new things from worlds beyond the Earth.  …

via Hundreds of Meteorites Uncovered in Antarctica | Space.com.

… Meteorites have been found in Antarctica since the continent was first explored. The first one was found in 1912, by a member of an expedition from Australia.

So what happens when a team member spots a meteorite?

The collection process starts by using the meteorite hunter’s toolkit, a relatively simple collection of gear: sterile bags to contain the rocks, numbered tags to label them, tape to close and seal the bags, a notebook to take down any distinguishing features of the sample, and scissors to cut the tape or the bags open.

Great care is taken not to touch the meteorite or even breathe on it. Above all, a dripping nose hovering over a specimen is a no-no!

The meteorite is placed in a sterile bag as quickly as possible, usually by putting the bag over it. The meteorite is measured and sometimes photographed, and its size and color and possible classification are noted.

A small aluminum tag with an ID number is also inserted into the bag, and the whole thing is then sealed up tight.

At the end of a good day, a hunter’s backpack can be full of these meteorite samples.

via Meteorite Hunters Undaunted by Antarctica’s Challenges

Brain activity measured during Magic mushroom use

The active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms decreases brain activity, possibly explaining the vivid, mind-bending effects of the drug, a new study finds.

The decreases were focused in regions that serve as crossroads for information in the brain, meaning that information may flow more freely in a brain on mushrooms. The findings could be useful in developing hallucinogenic treatments for some mental disorders.

“There is increasing evidence that the regions affected are responsible for giving us our sense of self,” study author Robin Carhart-Harris, a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London, wrote in an email to LiveScience.

“In other words, the regions affected make up what some people call our ‘ego.’ That activity decreases in the ‘ego-network’ supports what people often say about psychedelics, that they temporarily ‘dissolve the ego.’”

Quieting the brain

Psilocybin, the chemical that gives mushrooms their trippy properties, has long-lasting effects beyond the initial high. A recent Johns Hopkins University study found that a single experience with psilocybin in a controlled environment can alter personality long-term, making people more open to new experiences.

“Healthy people given psilocybin often describe their experiences as among the most meaningful of their whole lives, comparable to such things as the birth of their first child or getting married,” Carhart-Harris said. “We wanted to know what is going on in people’s brains to produce such profound effects.”

The researchers asked 15 people who had used mushrooms in the past to lie in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fRMI) scanner, which measures blood flow in the brain to determine brain activity in different regions.

After a few minutes, the researchers injected either psilocybin or a placebo into the participants’ veins. (Each volunteer participated in two scans, so everyone had one experience with the hallucinogen and one with the placebo.) They then continued the scan to find out what changes occurred in brain activity.

A promising treatment?

The scans revealed a surprise: Psilocybin never increased activity in the brain, but only decreased activity in places, especially information transfer areas such as the thalamus, which sits smack in the middle of the brain.

“‘Knocking out’ these key hubs with psilocybin appears to allow information to travel more freely in the brain, probably explaining why people’s imaginations become more vivid and animated and the world is experienced as unusual,” Carhart-Harris said.

via Magic mushrooms trip up brain activity – Technology & science – Science – LiveScience – msnbc.com.

ROSWELL “MEMORY METAL” FOUND ON OFFICIAL FILM OF B-2 STEALTH? By Anthony Bragalia

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is an advanced military aircraft that has unique capabilities that are far-ranging. Introduced in 1997 (with an alleged first flight in 1989) there are just 22 of them in the world. They incorporate low observable stealth technology. Some have speculated that they may even utilize anti-gravity technologies or that they possess other exotic features that are kept from public view.

But it may not always be possible to keep such features from outside detection. One officially released film of the B-2 Bomber in flight that is very “revealing” may have somehow escaped the scrutiny of US Air Force censors. A recently-discovered segment of this video appears to show another of the B-2 Stealth’s capabilities: The ability to Morph.

This brief clip seems to demonstrate the craft’s “morph” of the metal skin of its outer hull. This would allow it to “intelligently” perform critical functions (and perhaps to “self-heal” if damaged by enemy action.)

WHERE THE FILM COMES FROM

The remarkable film shown below comes from a broadcast by the Military Channel. The Military Channel is a distinguished specialty cable station that is owned by the media corporation that also owns the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet (as well as the “How Stuff Works” video series.) Started in 1999, the Military Channel is known to maintain a cooperative relationship with historical societies and with the US Government in obtaining original footage that relates to the military, warfare and military history. The “legitimacy” of their programming and the authenticity of their broadcast information is without question.

Re-broadcast on YouTube, the footage is entitled “B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber” and simply shows views of the Stealth on the ground and in flight from various angles for about 4 minutes. It is a “PR” film. But despite its garnering over 1,800,000 views, nobody appears to have made any mention in the “comments” section about the morphing metal hull.

View on Youtube

… At approximately the 2:40 second mark (and for a duration of about three seconds) one can clearly observe a “gape” or “opening” on the topside front of the craft that seems to “self-close” in a seamless and almost surreal way. If one looks very closely it appears as though the skin of the craft is “self-directed” and “intelligent” as if it were “remembering” its original shape, like Roswell’s memory metal or a Nitinol actuator!

read the rest on http://bragalia.blogspot.com/

Here is a view of the vents on top which seem to self-heal in the YouTube video.

More on the B-2 here:

Nick Redfern Explains how the General Accounting Office got involved in Roswell

“…GAO spokeswoman Laura A. Kopelson said the office’s investigation…stemmed from a meeting in October between Schiff and GAO Controller General Charles A Bowsher. Schiff complained then that the Defense Department had been ‘unresponsive’ to his inquiries about the 1947 incident…’I was getting pretty upset at all the running around,’ Schiff said, adding that at his meeting with GAO officials, ‘they made an offer to help.’… ‘Generally, I’m a skeptic on UFOs and alien beings, but there are indications from the runaround that I got that whatever it was, it wasn’t a balloon. Apparently, it’s another government cover-up,’ Schiff said. He called the Defense Department’s lack of response ‘astounding,’ and said government accountability was an issue ‘even larger than UFOs.’…He added, ‘If the Defense Department had been responsive, it wouldn’t have come to this.’”

As a result of Schiff’s efforts, (A) the GAO duly launched an investigation and on 28 July 1995, a report surfaced from its National Security and International Affairs Division that disclosed the results of that same investigation; (B) the Air Force trotted out its controversial “Mogul Balloon” theory for Roswell; and (C) the UFO research community was faced with more data, more questions, but still no hard evidence of what it really was that happened at Roswell…

Read the rest at desertdarkness.blogspot.com

Genuine UFO Sighting Wales 2012 Flying Saucer Lights

Genuine UFO Sighting Wales 2012 Flying Saucer Lights Part One of Four – YouTube.

This one, finally, is not Chinese lanterns. Good job if it is CG. Doesn’t seem to be a blimp of the ordinary kind, but still could be a remote controlled disk-shaped blimp… other than the fact that it seems to be very large. If it was captured shooting straight up at a fantastic rate of speed and then stopping instantly, and if it was then seen to shoot down a beam of light that caused a cow to levitate, that would be even cooler.

The Pirate Bay filesharing site offers 3D objects

“This shows a 3d print of a mathematical sculpture I produced using shapeways.com. This model is available at http://shpws.me/3gur“
The MakerBot Replicator is the kind of personal 3D printer that could help with the Pirate Bay’s plans Image: MakerBot IndustriesThe Pirate Bay, one of the internet’s most well-known sites for downloading copyrighted material such as music, films and ebooks, has launched a new category of digital downloads: physical objects.Writing on the site’s blog, a Pirate Bayer calling himself WinstonQ2038 explained the thinking behind the new category: “We believe that the next step in copying will be made from digital form into physical form. It will be physical objects. Or as we decided to call them: Physibles. Data objects that are able and feasible to become physical.”You’ll need a 3D printer to take advantage of the files on offer, meaning it is not quite as simple as downloading an MP3, but the move opens up the possibility of intellectual property infringement for physical objects.Other sites for sharing 3D printer files already exist. For example, Shapeways, where last year one user received a cease-and-desist order from movie studio Paramount after creating a 3D replica of a prop from the film Super 8, causing him to take the file down. The Pirate Bay works differently, offering Bittorrent links for users to download files rather than hosting them directly, making it more resilient to legal attempts to shut it down.Objects currently listed in the Physibles category include a 3D version of the Pirate Bay logo, a toy race car and a model robot. The latter two are potentially infringing versions of existing designs, but WinstonQ2038 claims the site has more egalitarian aims: “The benefit to society is huge. No more shipping huge amount of products around the world. No more shipping the broken products back. No more child labour. We’ll be able to print food for hungry people.”We’ll have to wait and see – 3D printed food is currently limited to the likes of chocolate – but if this takes off, we could expect the physical equivalent of the digital rights management DRM techniques used by media companies to protect MP3s and other media files. Bank notes are already printed with a special design that scanners won’t copy – perhaps all objects will have to be similarly marked in the future.

via One Per Cent: The Pirate Bay filesharing site offers 3D objects.

“Accused of being fake, witchcraft and simply impossible.. This kinetic sculpture is inspired by the unlimited freedom of 3d printing, it wobbles and turns with a slight movement of the hand. Now give it a good spin or puff of air and it erupts in erratic and wild behavior. This is the 5cm / 2″ version, see the Gyro the Forms section for other shapes and sizes. Corner stand available.separately.”

“This is a full scale motorcycle printed on a 3D printer from Inventor”

I don’t think you can download the plans to print your own motorcycle yet… but in time…

Can this largest solar storm since 2005 make people more emotional?

We’ve been getting hit by the sun according to the Tuesday, January 24, 2012 Washington Post:

The largest solar storm since 2005, which hit Earth over the weekend and caused northern lights called auroras, peaked Tuesday after the Sun released a solar flare of radiation and plasma. As Brian Vastag reported: Fast on the heels of a solar storm that delivered a glancing blow over the weekend — triggering bright auroras in Canada and Scandinavia — the sun released an even more energetic blast of radiation and charged plasma overnight that could disrupt GPS signals and the electrical grid Tuesday, especially at high latitudes, space weather experts warned Monday. Already, the storm could be affecting satellite communications as streams of radiation from the sun bounce across the Earth’s magnetic field, which extends above the surface into space.

I found a number of claims about solar storms changing people’s moods:

“Recently we are experiencing an intensive amount of solar activity on the Sun which is affecting both the Earth and Humans.” – www.carliniinstitute.com

“Solar flares affect, the Central Nervous System(stomach lining), all brain activity (including equilibrium), along with human behavior and all psycho-physiological (mental-emotional-physical) response. Solar flares can cause us to be, nervous, anxiousness, worrisome, jittery, dizzy, shaky, irritable, lethargic, exhausted, have short term memory problems and heart palpitations, feel nauseous, queasy, have prolonged head pressure and headaches” – www.bibliotecapleyades.net

Most importantly, the solar flares affect the emotions. With these surges of energy and information coming from the sun, it is increasingly difficult for people to control the emotions by ‘talking ourselves down’. Managing the emotions is now something we must be aware of every day – especially anger. Our old tricks to avoid or suppress our anger will no longer work. Now, anger must become fuel for transformation. – catalystyogi.com

In searching for goodevidence, I found the following: More suicides and hospital deaths correlated with space proton flux, cosmic rays connected with traffic accidents, and less melatonin during solar flux that significantly changes geomagnetic activity… but melatonin doesn’t seem to change people’s moods much .

1. (1) Monthly suicide rate was correlated with space proton flux (r=0.42,P=0.0001) and with geomagnetic activity (r=–0.22,P=0.03). (2) Total hospital and MI-related deaths were correlated with solar activity parameters (r=0.35,P<0.001) – springerlink
2. Environmental physical activity (EPA) is considered as one of main regulators of human homeostasis. Evidence is growing that components of this activity through the “human factor” (i.e., changing human physiological and psychological status) can affect the dynamics of traffic accidents (TA)—the modern life epidemic. This paper presents results of studies conducted in order to reveal the potential influence of EPA [solar (SA), geomagnetic (GMA) and cosmic ray (CRA) activities] on the number of TA and related casualties in the years of the maximum and declining phase of SA cycle 23 (2000–2005). We selected the 7,160 most severe TA and their related 7,558 deaths and 1,647 severe injuries, registered in the Grand Baku Area (Azerbaijan, middle latitudes), for analysis. A significant increase of TA and victims was observed during the whole year and also during the last months of the year. The monthly numbers of TA and victims were inversely related to SA (probability p = 0.0002), and non-significantly to background GMA, but were significantly affected by major geomagnetic disturbances and storms. A strong correlation between CRA variations (cosmic ray intensity measured by ground-based neutron monitors on the Earth’s surface) and the number of TA (p = 0.001) has been observed. It was found that the number of TA which occur within a month depends significantly on the particular month of the year, the CRA, and the SA levels (inverse correlation). The increase of the number of TA is also significantly linked to geomagnetic storms, but not to steady GMA. These effects can be related to changes in human functional and behavioral markers provoked by EPA influences. – link
   
3. Factors other than light may affect variations in melatonin, including disturbances in the geomagnetic field. Such a possibility was tested in Alta, Norway, located at latitude 70° N, where the aurora borealis is a result of large changes in the horizontal component (H) of the geomagnetic field. … A 3-hour mean value for the local geomagnetic activity index, K, was used for approximately the same 24-hour span. A circadian rhythm was found to characterize both melatonin and K, the peak in K (23:24) preceding that of melatonin (06:08). During the span of investigation, a circannual variation also characterized both variables. Correlation analyses suggest that changes in geomagnetic activity had to be of a certain magnitude to affect the circadian amplitude of melatonin. If large enough (> 80 nT/3 h), changes in geomagnetic activity also significantly decreased salivary melatonin concentration. – link.

4. The function of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland primarily at night, has not been definitively established in humans. To determine if pharmacologic doses of melatonin had any behavioral effects it was administered acutely to 14 healthy men. Their mood, performance, memory and visual sensitivity were assessed. Plasma melatonin concentration was assayed as well. Melatonin significantly decreased self-reported alertness and increased sleepiness as measured by the Profile of Mood States and the Stanford Sleepiness Scale self-report mood questionnaires. The effects were brief. Melatonin also affected performance, slowing choice-reaction time but concurrently decreasing errors of commission. Sustained fine motor performance was not impaired after melatonin administration nor were the tests of memory and visual sensitivity that were administered. It is concluded that melatonin, administered orally in pharmacological quantities, has significant but short acting sedative-like properties. – link

Russian Scientist: Life Spotted on Venus

An article published in the Solar System Research magazine reported Several objects resembling living beings were detected on photos made by a Russian landing probe in 1982 during a Venus mission.

Leonid Ksanfomaliti of the Space Research Institute of Russia’s Academy of Sciences published research that analyzed the photos from the Venus mission made by a Soviet landing probe, Venus-13, in 1982.

The photos feature several objects, which Ksanfomaliti said, resembled “a disk,” “a black flap” and “a scorpion.” All of them “emerge, fluctuate and disappear,” the scientist said, referring to their changing location on different photos and traces on the ground.

“What if we forget about the current theories about the nonexistence of life on Venus, let’s boldly suggest that the objects’ morphological features would allow us to say that they are living,” Solar System Research quoted Ksanfomaliti as saying.

No data proving the existence of life on Venus, where the ground temperature is 464 degrees Celsius (867 degrees Fahrenheit), has ever been found.

via Life Spotted on Venus – Russian Scientist | Science | RIA Novosti.