Caveman in the mirror

Growing up I used to devour books on evolution and ancient animals.  One of the most fascinating was the Neanderthals.  A mysterious race of near human barbarians that lived hundreds of thousands of years ago and suddenly vanished.  Like the Anasazi Indians or the Easter Island natives an entire nation of people completely gone without a clear clue why or how.  Years ago the Neanderthal were seen as knuckle dragging, furry monstrosities who would more resemble an ape then human.  We could justify destroying their entire civilization and that's what most anthropologists believed, they were another casualty of the human race and natural selection. 

Until recent genetic analysis we have not been able to see what happened to the Neanderthal species.  Researchers have found interbreeding with another group of hominids (human like primates) formed what we consider most people of European descent.  If you have pale skin there is a very good chance you are related the furry monstrosities and you have Neanderthal traits.  Like thicker bones, a more resilient immune system, less sensitivity to cold and more hair.  There are other traits like red hair and freckles that were also possibly passed from our cousins. 

Neanderthals weren't a monstrosity however, some anthropologists have found sophisticated art, burials, tool making and communication that weren't seen in other hominid species at that time.  They were wild and had to be to live in a frigid, harsh environment so there is some evidence the hominids that interbred with them were a stabilizing force.   

There have also been more recent hominids like the Denivosians that perhaps bred to form what we know of as some people of Asian Descent and there are many other concurrent species like the tiny Homo Florensis or the hobbit like man which are questions about their disappearence. 

Now when I look in the mirror I can think that this is the descendent of what I thought was a vanished tribe of weird ape men hundreds of thousands of years ago. 

Modern Vampires

Vlad the Impaler is the inspiration for today's Dracula myth and the history behind Vlad carries through today.  Vlad was taken as a young boy by the Turkish Empire from his father, a noble Transylvanian, who gave his sons in return for not being overthrown by their growing army.  While in Turkish captivity in addition to learning their war tactics it is believed he was tortured as most middle eastern traditions are today with children.

When Vlad returned he was a harsh ruler who impaled his enemies on spikes through their anus into their chest.  His castle was built using slave labor and his empire was under constant war against many enemies, including his brother who was also taken by the Turkish army.  Today we have a modern day heir of Vlad as the Prince of Wales.

The Prince of Wales and the british Royal family are actually of Eastern European descent and changed their name from Saxe-Coburg Gotha to Windsor after emigrating from Germany.  Their strong Germanic roots might be a source of their support for Hitler.  Their support of Hitler led to a abdication of the throne by Prince Edward.

We might hope that Vlad's tales of cruelty would have ended hundreds of years ago but there have been an emergence of information from people associated with Vlads heirs.  Jimmy Savile, knighted by Queen Elizabeth, was a pedophile who committed hundreds of unresolved crimes against children and was a close friend of Prince Charles.  Jimmy's death exposed a vast pedophile network  in the upper echelons of British Society.  There have also been several unexplained murders around the Queens Estate.

There is a movement to normalize the pedophile ranks in mentally disturbed people.  Salon recently has been featuring articles by a mentally disturbed person who is attracted to children and defends his predator behavior.  Elijah Wood recently came out and announced the American nobility of Hollywood also has a widespread pedophile network that preys on young stars.

Today we live among and pay tribute to modern vampires so keep your loved ones safe.

Immortality

We are born with an earthly death sentence.  Grim, I know, but true.  Just how many of us think we will die one day and aren't really sure there's something after?  It is so common that its now a current trend to have death cafe's where that's all they talk about. There is some cool science that is bending our fundamental beliefs of death and life and what it means to be human.

There was a study that found there is consciousness after the body's death.  In the largest study of its kind subjects recalled seeing themselves outside of their bodies before they were brought back to life.  While these type of experiences might be dismissed as delusion the doctors who conducted the study found credible evidence and concluded that there is some functionality after death.

Researchers are also working to regenerate dead brain tissue and regrow it in brain dead patients. This trial is being done using a mixture of different technologies including stem cell technology.  Stem cells have come a long way from just being harvested from fetal tissue to now being found and able to be transferable in several adult stem cell lines.

Several companies store and harvest stem cells.  Within this new industry is the ability to keep a frozen battery of stem cells for each person alive.  When your heart fails it would be possible to grow a new one without the fear of rejection.  Using 3-D bioprinting as has already been seen in skin cells the new cells could be produced on a bioscaffold .  It might also be possible to keep you sedated for long periods of time and fill your vascular system with ice cold seawater as happened to several dogs during an experiment to induce hypothermia as a mock hibernation.

Beyond repairing failed organs there are rejuvenating effects and disease reversal effects of compounds that are either cost prohibitive, proprietary or not thoroughly researched.  As exemplified by a lung cancer sufferer who was miraculously healed when a drug was allowed to a few select people.  What cost is life?

Beyond reviving the whole self there is a movement to download all your interactions and have a program predict your reactions on a robotic model of yourself.  Not a replacement for a living person now. When will robots like these become conscious?  There is a belief that the google predictive algorithm that we all use on the internet is becoming conscious due to our interactions.  So will this robot become human the better the predictive capability makes it aware of itself?

Human simulation is not the only questionable method of immortality.   Scientists have announced the gestation of animal human hybrids with varying degrees of integration with animal systems.  The goal is to grow organs or simulate organ growth in an animal to understand disease.  Would brain tissue grown in a pig be a human brain or a mix of a pig and human brain?

Metaphysically I like the Serbian proverb “Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.”  It is true from all the nutrients our parents found on earth we were formed from raw materials that are as old as the universe's first star.  Whatever happens to our consciousness after death our body will continue to be part of the universe for eternity. I believe our souls destination will be something beyond our understanding and always a mystery. 

(update to the weekly blogging, now its Story Saturday and will be talking about the stories I'm working on in the short story collection the 13th story )

Spirits in my head and they won't go

Blessed or cursed are those with neverending voices in their head asking and demanding answers?  It's a great thing to be curious but then what happened to the cat? 

I always wonder does everyone have music they listen to that they can bring up when they want to in their mind, or something funny they can think about whenever they want or something really thrilling they can remember that puts them in the right mood.  Or is this a more uncommon curse/blessing to have spirits in the head?  I guess we are all different and have varying degrees of voices.  The title of this post is from the Strumbella's song Spirits .  One of the many things rattling around while writing today. 

New York to DC in under 1/2 hour

Seems amazing how fast we can go if we set our minds to it.  This is a very old technology that was recently revived by Elon Musk for the future.  Hyperloop technology dates back to before the invention of the automobile yet could transport us faster then any current method either by plane or train. 

Elon Musk openly published the patents and challenged inventors to create a new form of transportation.  In 2015 several teams worked on the problem and are in the process of getting funding for a new rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The current model should reach speeds of 700 miles per hour.  With Elon Musk's impressive track record of either backing or coming up with winning ideas like SpaceX, Tesla Motors and Solar City, his open source hyperloop might just be the best.  

In the future it might be possible to go from D.C to New York or L.A. to San Francisco in under 1/2 hour.

Alone

From my perspective your eyes aren't really in one place at one time.  Stick with me here because it'll make sense I promise.  Not only aren't your eyes in one place at one time but your whole body and the entire universe isn't either.  And you might be thinking okay well maybe because we're all on a spinning earth in a spinning solar system in a spinning galaxy in a wobbling universe but no, that's not what I'm talking about. 

IBM did an experiment over fifty years ago that proved a theory Einstein called the Einstein Poldosky Rosen (EPR) Paradox.  Einstein called it "spooky motion at a distance" and it stated that no matter how far away we might perceive two things to be they are actually interacting.  Today many people have postulated we could "teleport" anywhere using an EPR bridge, the big downside is we'd have to be disintegrated to nothing before appearing on the other side.  Michael Crichton did a great book that was made into a so so movie about that theory. 

Where I'm going with this is are we really alone at all in the universe?  Not only as a species but as beings formed with consciousness and the ability to recognize our place in the universe?  Are we born alone, do we die alone? Is your body here right now or are you really interacting with everything in the universe all at once and just don't have the sensory ability to know what's happening? 

Richard Feynman, the founder of Quantum Mechanics, said he's confident no one understands quantum mechanics and I don't either.  Discovering more about how integrated our action are will be interesting.  According to the EPR paradox our every action is never alone.  

Flying Giraffes

You look up and see a creature about the size of a giraffe with a wingspan twice as long as its tall.  That was Quetzalcoatlus and was one of the biggest type of azdarchidae pterosaurs ever to live.  It makes me wonder how it could have flown with the necessary thrust necessary to get off the ground it would need to blow approximately two tons of air with every stroke.  That's one strong chest!  It had to have been warm blooded to keep up that much energy but really could it have that much power?

For several decades the dominant theory that killed the dinosaurs the earth was hit by a giant meteor in the Chixulub peninsula in Central America today.  There is a worldwide thick layer of iridium in this geological stratum where the Cretaceous (when the dinosaurs died out) meets the Tertiary boundary.  Iridium is a very rare mineral on Earth but in meteors its common.  Finding an iridium layer is evidence of a meteor strike. 

Recently there have been conflicting theories that perhaps it wasn't just a meteor.   Theories like types of dinosaurs were already dwindling (a favorite of my historical geology professor), there was already massive volcano eruptions and we were possibly going through a cyclical million year plus intergalactic cloud might have been all factors in the end of the Dinosaurs. 

With the discovery of a oddly elliptical new planet that is being described as a possible dwarf star this could have brought an interstellar cloud of meteors and gravitational disruptions for thousands possibly millions of years.  Ancient civilizations like the Mayans predict a very long galactic cycle that points to larger factors that were known and recorded by our predecessors. 

Could the flying giraffe Quetzacoatlus who lived in the late Creataceous evolved in an environment of turbulent winds brought on by the impending death of the Dinosaurs?  It might have made their flying easier if there were winds that constantly buffetted the earth.  Even seen in our solar system Jupiter's Red Eye storm has lasted over 400 years and continues to rage across its surface.  The storm itself is the size of approximately three earths. Could the earth's environment propelled the flying giraffe?

When I look up today I wonder if the birds are getting bigger and flying easier. 

Welcome

This is a blog for my interests and some background in where my writings will focus.  Because I have always been a big fan of Stan Lee and Marvel's use of alliteration I will initially focus on something interesting everyday.  These might be changed in the future but for now I'll see where it leads.

Medical Monday for all things having to do with biology.  I have a dual degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Microbiology so all advances in biology field will be Monday. 

Terror Tuesday for all things horrifying, whether real or imaginary.  Anything that can be political or based on real people can be fair game.  A good jolt to keep up the energy for the rest of the week. 

Weird Wednesday for a mix of odd stories that I have found over the past week.  Sometimes finding the odd stories gives us a good perspective for how great the world can be. 

Thinking Thursday for some philosophical theorizing.  Its always fun for me to wonder about the nature of reality and current events.

Future Fridays for everything that's coming in any scientific discipline.  It's a primer for possibilities that can be great basis for seeing where things are going. 

Surprise Saturday to just mix it up and put whatever I want on the weekend.  It might be a poem I like, something uplifting or an update on a short story.

Right now I'm working on a collection of science fiction short stories that I'm calling the 13th Story  Vol. 1.