This video is amazing! It explains how life could begin on Earth, spontaneously. For me, seeing this, and having it fit with everything else I’ve learned about self organizing systems–snowflakes, for example–was very convincing.
This video explains how life can appear on Earth with no magic, just basic chemistry. But in watching this with a friend, I realize you do have to understand some beyond high school level science concepts for this to really click.
Anyway, one of the two groups, evolutionists and creationists, is wrong. (Both could be wrong if aliens are involved, but that’s another story…) If this explains life on Earth, there is still an opening for the job of Prime Mover, I believe, and perhaps that is a place to seek God.
How soon until life is re-created this way in a laboratory?
… Abiogenesis is the leading scientific theory based on experiments conducted in the fields of biology, chemistry, geology, and astrophysics. It is based on a number of empirical observations, and is currently our best understanding for the origin of life.
Has it been directly observed? The evidence reviewed here from the Szostak lab is the closest we’ve come.
Update: Abiogenesis is the field of study of how life may have began from inanimate matter.
Check out the movies here showing more details from teh Szostak Lab’s work.
If you follow self organizing systems like the ones above, forces can eventually result in single celled organisms. How did Multicellular life evolve? Watch this:
I’ve had this crazy ringing in my right ear for months now. Just last night it moved into both ears.
Scientists believe they are a step closer to curing tinnitus after they have found what could be the root cause of ringing in the ears.
Studies show hearing loss can go hand-in-hand with over-excitable nerves within brain areas that process sound.
This uncontrolled nerve activity causes the noises that plague people with tinnitus and appears to be down to gene changes, Neuroscience reports.
And it raises the hope of treatment by silencing nerve activity, experts say. … Belgian neurosurgeon Dirk De Ridder has tried implanting electrodes directly into the brain of sufferers to permanently normalise the overactive neurons.
He has had some successful results, although one of his patients repeatedly reported an out-of-body experience as a side effect.
In the latest study, researchers at the University of Western Australia studied what was happening inside the brain and found increased activity in nerves in the auditory brainstem where sounds are processed.
And this was linked to changes in the genes involved in regulating the activity of the nerve cells.
Spontaneous firing
This meant pathways that normally keep a lid on nerve signal transmission were blocked and others were more excitable than usual.
Lead researcher Professor Don Robertson said: “Identifying genes associated with spontaneous nerve cell activity is crucial.
“It means that it may be possible to use drugs to block this activity and treat conditions such as tinnitus in the future.”
Could taking 3 grams per day of un-buffered vitamin C lower my stomach acid and result in a B12 deficiency?
Vitamin B12 deficiency has been linked to tinnitus in at least one study. 2 I personally had nutrition testing done just prior to developing tinnitus and was found to be low in vitamin B12. (Click here for a list of foods high in vitamin B12.) In order to absorb vitamin B12, people need to have enough stomach acid. In my case I think I was low in vitamin B12 because I was eating too many alkaline foods that lowered my stomach acid (Read my personal story on ringing in my ears here.) Despite having a diet high in B12 rich foods, I think I became deficient because I wasn’t able to properly absorb what I was eating.
The berries and tomatoes every day might be getting me too.
It is established that drugs such as aspirin may cause tinnitus. However it is less well known that there are many common foods that contain salicylates, or aspirin like substances. As such, it may be prudent for chronic tinnitus sufferers to monitor what they eat to see if there are any correlations between their diets and their hearing problems. In Prescription for Herbal Healing 4, author Phyllis A. Balch recommends avoiding high salicylate foods including:
Almonds
Apples
Apricots
Berries
Cherries
Cucumbers
Grapes
Nectarines
Oranges
Peaches
Pickles
Plums
Prunes
Raisins
Tomatoes
Wine
Best to change our diets now and then. Variety is good. I’ll mix it up and see if the ears improve, take extra B12 and magnesium today and see if the ringing goes away. I have some Valarian root extract around too. I’ll try that to help me sleep tonight
The extract of valerian has been the treatment of choice for anxiety and insomnia throughout the world. It is a sedative and painkiller. Helpful in treating insomnia, Valerian is taken at bedtime to prevent panic attacks and is used as a replacement for tranquilizers.
… along with getting back to some real exercise. Beautiful day today here in sunny CA.
Two more Southern Colorado ranchers say they have discovered cows mutilated under strange circumstances.
A cow on a ranch near Walsenburg was found with its udders cut off and a calf on a ranch near Trinidad was found missing the entire center of its body as well as its ears.
A similar mutilation was discovered March 8 on a pasture near the Purgatoire River, just west of the small town of Weston. That cow was found dead by rancher Mike Duran with its udders and reproductive organs surgically removed from its body.
The most recent case happened on Jim Garren’s ranch.
Garren said Tuesday that he last saw his cow alive on Friday afternoon at his spread 12 miles southeast of Walsenburg in Las Animas County. Garren said the next day at around 2:30 p.m. his ranch manager was feeding the herd and noticed his cattle count was off by one. After looking around in areas where cows had grazed previously, Garren said his ranch hand spotted the animal dead under a cedar tree.
“The only thing that we could tell about her was that her udder had been surgically removed. There were no other injuries to that cow,” Garren said.
He said the ground around the cow was never disturbed and there was no trauma to the cow’s head or body.
“We searched and searched and we could not find blood on the ground or on the cow. I just can’t understand how anyone could surgically remove a part from an animal and not spill some blood,” he said.
Since the first incident in 1967 some ten to twenty thousand domestic cattle have been found dead and mutilated, mainly in the United States. The animals have been found in fields with certain organs removed, cut open by a very sharp instrument or by laser. A rigorous investigation [JS90 p. 169-289] leads one to believe that the removal of the organs has taken place after the animal has been abducted by air: there are no traces of a struggle or of blood on the ground, animals are found in places inaccessible on foot, etc.
While I was explaining my insomnia to Pete the Drum Scientist, I found some research that says losing my best friend may be dangerous to my health if I don’t take appropriate measures and spend time with other friends. I may also need some aspirin?
Scientists have found it is possible to mend a broken heart.
US researchers studied 70 patients with “broken heart syndrome”, a recognised condition linked to stressful or emotional events.
All these patients recovered, most after being given aspirin or heart drugs, even though 20% were deemed critically ill.
The American Journal of Cardiology study says the condition is probably caused by a surge in stress hormones.
Broken heart syndrome, known medically as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, was first described by Japanese researchers in the early 1990s.
Even though symptoms mimic those of a heart attack such as chest pain and shortness of breath, broken heart syndrome does appear to be temporary and completely reversible – if treated quickly.
… The researchers also discovered that, unlike heart attacks which tend to occur in winter, broken heart syndrome cases tend to occur in the spring and summer months.
… “Some believe it is simply a form of a heart attack that ‘aborts’ itself early and therefore doesn’t leave any permanent heart muscle damage. … However people do seem to make a full recovery.”
I’ve definitely felt what seemed like real heart problems under strong stress, especially after major breakups, but workups at the ER and have always showed that my heart is good and strong. Treadmill tests show the same thing: strong as an ox. I’ve assumed that the heart twinges were just stomach acid, but the above suggests they may be temporary reactions of the heart muscle to stress hormones.
I’ve been taught that there is good stress and bad stress. Stress is the way that I get things done. I spend most of my days under pressure and if it is not external, then I “whip the llama” myself, pushing myself to fight, to do my best, berating myself for not living up to my potential.
“Grief and loss” stress seems different from “competition and achievement” stress because the former includes a component of resignation. You can’t get a loved one back, and you never will. … but you might win the next race if you train hard.
If you are dealing with grief stress, if you’ve had a loss of any kind, a friend, a lover, a pet, a relative … be sure to face the seriousness of it.
It is possible to die from a broken heart, mounting evidence shows.
A review of recent work, published in The Lancet, found that the risk of death increases by up to a fifth following bereavement.
Investigator Margaret Stroebe of Utrecht University, The Netherlands, said the psychological distress caused by the loss played a big part….
“This phenomenon has been recognized for some time. Loss of a close significant person such as a partner is a severe experience for the bereaved person who is left.
“On the positive side, there is good evidence indicating that the availability of personal support networks are a significant element in helping people who have been bereaved. …
A balance is needed, even with grief. Face your feelings, but do not wallow. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Most scientific studies, according to a 2004 report by Kleenex, show no positive effects of crying. While many people feel better after doing it, crying may suppress your immune system. It seems more likely that crying is something we do to get what we really need: comforting interaction. So, now that you know that, skip the crying and go tell someone how you feel. Distances and gas prices can keep us isolated. Thus we have Skype, Twitter, Blogs and Facebook. If you are sad or lonely, give me a call. Everything will get better quickly when we get out in the sun, shoot some hoops, buy stuff, walk on the beach, play tennis … and so on. If asprin doesn’t damage your stomach lining too badly, you might try that for a day or two too.
4:15 in the AM and I still can’t get to sleep. Don’t know why. Anyone else have this problem? Hmm, according to Wikipedia, millions of you do.
Insomnia is a symptom of a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is “difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both” and it may be due to inadequate quality or quantity of sleep. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. Insomniacs have been known to complain about being unable to close their eyes or “rest their mind” for more than a few minutes at a time. Both organic and non-organic insomnia constitute a sleep disorder. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in year 2007, approximately 64 million Americans suffer from insomnia on a regular basis each year. Insomnia is 1.4 times more common in women than in men.
This post relates to some of my recent battles with tooth health. Three months ago I had healed all of the cavities in my teeth. To celebrate, I started eating sugar. Chocolate energy bars are so good after a workout!
But, now, I must pay the price: pain and money. I have a new cavity in one tooth and another tooth broke while I was flossing. I had the large hole filled with a temporary filling and I’m investigating several ugly options for that.
Meanwhile, I’m told I have lots of calculus deposits below my gum line and that I’ll need go get numbed up in my entire mouth and have my teeth roots scraped smooth. This is called scaling and root planing (SRP). It requires 12 shots. No. Way. I do not want to do that. I HATE SHOTS!!! They make me want to hit people, to fight back against the pain, to defend myself. Even after I’m numb, I KNOW someone is damaging my gums with a drill. I don’t like it.
I’d almost rather just get the heart attack from the bacteria that cause endocarditis and die. Irrational, I know. Odds are that I am not even half way done with my life, so I need to think about what is best long term.
There must be a better way than SRP. At the edge of depression, I dared to Google the words “disolves calculus” and my hope paid off. Tonight I spent $120 on some Peroigen, a measurer and a special syringe to deliver the Periogen goodness to my tooth roots. I already own a water pick, but I don’t use it. As soon as my order arrives, I will use it daily to slowly remove tarter below the gum line (see Periogen below). I’ll share my before and after pocket depth measurements to let you know if it worked.
So, if you are like me, you will love these two things:
Periowave™ is a quick and painless technology that works to kill the bacteria associated with periodontal diseases, without the promotion of antibiotic resistance.
…
Periowave is the first treatment system for gum diseases that uses photodynamic disinfection (PDD). PDD is a two-stage process that uses a photosensitizing solution and low-intensity, cold laser light to kill the harmful bacteria and enzymes that cause gum disease.
Periowave is safe, effective and painless, with no known harmful side effects, and is non-antibiotic. – smartsmile
Clinical studies have shown that Periowave in conjunction with SRP can significantly increase CAL, reduce bleeding, and reduce probing depths relative to SRP alone!
Advice: This study shows that if you need a root scaling done that you should get one Periowave treatment after SRP and then another 6 weeks later.
Periowave™ clinical outcomes include a reduction in pocket depth, an increase in clinical attachment level, a decrease in bleeding on probing and an improvement in gingival tissue tone and texture. Periowave treated patients have also been noted to have an overall improved whole mouth effect even at untreated sites. For more information please see Clinical Study Result (link to Clinical Studies) and Case Studies (link to Case Studies)
The Periowave photosensitizer is a proprietary solution. The main ingredients include a phenothiazine dye (methylene blue), pH stabilizers, taste enhancers and mucoadhesive polymers. The Periowave laser and photosensitizing solution are carefully designed to work together, and other diode lasers or photosensitizers will not produce the same photosensitizing effect or clinical results.
The PERIOWAVE Advantage:
Current therapies for oral-cavity disinfection include antibiotics and antiseptics. Antibiotics are less effective in the oral cavity as they must stay uncomfortably in place for long periods of time, frequently resulting in patient non-compliance. Ondine´s periowave treatment can be applied, activated, and then removed from the affected site, maximizing patient comfort. The benefits of this technology include:
* Rapid action
* Broad-spectrum efficacy
* High specificity to disease-causing bacteria, and
* Low levels of toxicity to host cells in vitro
- ddsgadget
Scraping your teeth smooth ( a deep cleaning) is recommended to remove tarter. I can find no studies which show what happens if you use periowave WITHOUT scaling and root planing.
In dentistry, calculus is a form of hardened Dental plaque and is synonymous with tartar. It is caused by the continual accumulation of minerals from saliva on plaque on the teeth. Its rough surface provides an ideal medium for further plaque formation, threatening the health of the gingiva.
Brushing and flossing can remove plaque from which calculus forms; however, once formed, it is too hard and firmly attached to be removed with a toothbrush. Routine dental visits are necessary so that calculus buildup can be professionally removed with ultrasonic tools and specialized sharp instruments.
If you kill the bacteria causing the calculus, calculus it would still be there allowing more bacteria to return. I know I have some of these hard white deposits below the root line because when part of my tooth recently broke while I was flossing at work, I saw them on the tooth fragment myself.
Dissolving Calculus
If Periogen dissolves calculus below the gumline, I wonder if it could be used in conjuction with periowave as a non painful effective treatment for gum disease.
I don’t know what is in Periogen, but one study from 1971 says that daily rinses of a 5.0% solution of amidopolyphosphate resulted in significant calculus reductions (over 50% reduction) but did not damage enamel in tests with cow teeth.
Sub-gingival calculus (tartar) is comprised almost entirely of two components: Fossilized anaerobic bacteria whose biologic composition has been replaced by calcium phosphate salts, and otherwise free floating calcium phosphate salts that have joined the fossilized bacteria in calculus formations. The initial attachment mechanism and the development of mature calculus formations are based on electrical charge. Unlike calcium phosphate, the primary component of teeth, calcium phosphate salts exist as electrically unstable ions.
Although the reason why fossilized bacteria are attracted to one part of the subgingival tooth surface, and not another, is not fully understood; once the first layer is attached, ionized calculus components are naturally attracted to the same places due to electrical charge. The fossilized bacteria pile on top of one another, in a rather haphazard manner. All the while, free-floating ionic components fill in the gaps left by the fossilized bacteria. The resultant hardened structure can be compared to concrete; with the fossilized bacteria playing the role of aggregate, and the smaller calcium phosphate salts being the cement. The once purely electrical association of fossilized bacteria then becomes mechanical, with the introduction of free-floating calcium phosphate salts. The “hardened” calculus formations are at the heart of periodontal disease and treatment.
… Because the fundamental bond of sub-gingival calculus is a weak electrical association, it is entirely possible to deconstruct calculus using a chelating procedure. Such a process would have to be repetitive in nature, perhaps daily, to introduce ions of the opposite charge to the calculus structures in order to chelate existing components; and to prevent new components from attaching to the existing calculus formations.
Sodium fluoride has the opposite charge needed to chelate calculus formations.
… An independent evaluation of the chelation of sub-g calculus formations is documented on YouTube; search criteria “Periogen”
Periogen™ is an effective and safe polyphosphate composition which, when applied daily at home with an oral irrigator, dissolves tartar on contact.
Japan has approved a deployment of interceptors in case debris falls onto its territory if a North Korean rocket launch fails, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.
Japan’s national security council approved the order, which allows the defense minister to mobilize the missile defense system for the first time, NHK said.
North Korea has said it will launch a communications satellite between April 4-8, and has designated waters off northern Japan as at risk for falling fragments. Japan and its allies have called the launch an attempt to test long-range ballistic missile technology and demanded the North cancel the plan.
Japan is also set to shift some of the PAC-3 land-to-air missiles, now around Tokyo, to the north coast and to send a pair of destroyers carrying missile interceptors to nearby waters.
Pyongyang has designated the waters off northern Akita and Iwate prefectures as a risk zone for falling fragments.
Japan has also warned of additional sanctions against North Korea if the country goes ahead with a launch. The Japanese parliament is set to issue a statement Friday urging the North to scrap the launch, which Japan says violates a U.N. Security Council resolution barring North Korea from any ballistic missile development activity.
Japan imposed tight trade sanctions against Pyongyang in 2006 after it tested ballistic missiles in waters between the two countries and conducted an atomic test. Japan’s current sanctions, which have been extended every six months, are set to expire April 13.
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Scientists believe they are a step closer to curing tinnitus after they have found what could be the root cause of ringing in the ears.
Scientists say the possible discovery of mud volcanoes on Mars could boost the search for the planet’s past life.
Two more Southern Colorado ranchers say they have discovered cows mutilated under strange circumstances.
This post relates to some of my recent battles with tooth health. Three months ago I had healed all of the cavities in my teeth. To celebrate, I started eating sugar. Chocolate energy bars are so good after a workout!
