The Phenomenal Story of Nikola Tesla

I was carrying out some research on Nikola Tesla for some projects going on and came across this nice image set that sums up Tesla’s story and

Dutch Harvest Electricity From Living Plants To Power Streetlights, Wi-Fi & Cell Phones

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Plant-e, a company based out of the Netherlands, has found a way to harness electricity from living plants, using them to power Wi-Fi hotspots, cell phone chargers, and even streetlights. The company debuted their project, called “Starry Sky,” in November of 2014 near Amsterdam, where they lit up more than 300 LED streetlights at two different sites. Their plant power technology is also being used to power the company’s headquarters in Wageningen.

The company was founded in 2009, and was a spin-off from the department of Environmental Technology of Wageningen University. Again, they develop products in which living plants generate electricity. Their technology allows them to produce electricity from practically every site where plants can grow.

“Via photosynthesis a plant produces organic matter. Part of this organic matter is used for plant-growth, but a large part can’t be used by the plant and is excreted into the soil via the roots. Around the roots naturally occurring micro-organisms break down the organic compounds to gain energy from. In this process, electrons are released as a waste product. By providing an electrode for the micro-organisms to donate their electrons to, the electrons can be harvested as electricity. Research has shown that plant-growth isn’t compromised by harvesting electricity, so plants keep on growing while electricity is concurrently produced.” (source)

Just imagine, a house with a roof full of plant/tree life powering your home. On the company’s website, they feature animated pictures of mini-forests growing on building rooftops supplying power to the entire building. It’s pretty cool to imagine, isn’t it?

It’s important to mention that at the moment, the main problem is the quantity of energy that can be generated. There is still a long way to go with regards to making enough energy to have a completely reliable commercial product, but things are looking promising, as the company is already selling products that enable you to harvest energy from plants. Again, they are also using the technology to power their headquarters…

For more information on the technology or to read some of their recent publications, see: www.plantpower.eu – or visit their website listed in the sources.

More and more energy innovations seem to be emerging every single day, like this one. Perhaps this is why the powerful and wealthy Rockefeller family recently sold out of fossil fuels and switched their investments towards clean energy? Change is coming, and it’s about time. The world’s largest private bank, UBS, is also urging investors to join the clean, renewable energy movement.They did so with a statement expressing that power plants in Europe might be completely extinct within the next 10 to 20 year (you can read more about that story here). It’s something that needs to happen, and it needs to happen now. We’ve seen the solutions, now it’s time to implement them. It’s become clear that there are many alternative ways to generate energy without destroying the planet.

Can We Really Trust Artificial Intelligence?

While calculation is not consciousness, my continuing interest in artificial intelligence leads me to wonder just what computer algorithms can do in terms of interpreting what is known today as “big data” – and where it might lead us.

My interest in the potential consequences of machines evaluating the information in other machines came to light a few weeks ago when I travelled out of state. While getting gas the pump malfunctioned and I moved to another pump to finish fuelling.

Then my credit card was turned down and I had to call the company. In addition, a possible “fraud alert” came in to my email. Since the pump malfunction had been odd I thought maybe I had been hacked, but when I called the company it turned out that there was no fraud at all – the “computers” had just decided that my anomaly was irregular enough to warrant inconveniencing me by shutting off my credit.

When I complained about this the fraud person said simply, “It’s our policy. If the software triggers an alert we have to act.” It reminded me of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s famous comment when asked why the banks needed an $800 billion bailout in 2007.

He said, “The computers told us.”

The problem is that much of this “artificial intelligence” is unfounded, unproven, and just plain wrong. Just as there had been no fraud on my credit card, just a glitch at a gas pump – but how do you hold a computer program accountable?

Companies like MetaMind specialize in what is known as “Deep Learning” – using software algorithms to analyze the data that comes in.

Says Bloomberg Business News:

“The company has put free A.I. online for two reasons, [founder] Socher says: to attract clients for its customization business and to feed data to its servers so the software can keep learning. ‘As we explore and observe people using the platform, I think the platform will get smarter and smarter,’ he says.”

Here the program provides a score for how closely related two sentences are:

One of my early forays into this field of data analysis led me to the latest in “search” – and I discovered a startup called Twine – touting the future of the “Semantic Web” – so I was wondering what its CEO, Nova Spivak, is up to these days.

His new venture, Bottlenose, specializes in “Trend Intelligence” – or analyzing what is capturing the bulk of attention on social sites like Facebook and Twitter. From the site:

“[We can help] discover developing trends and get early-warnings about breaking news and emerging hot topics. Track what’s trending in your industry and among your customers to gain first-mover advantage.”

“One of the top US Cable TV networks used Bottlenose to detect and discover breaking news stories around celebrities and entertainment. Bottlenose showed them all the topics, people, photos and stories that are emerging and trending in real-time.”

One of the main applications of these kinds of algorithms is to monitor social media for references to a client’s product or service and uncover either very positive or negative references; this is part of reputation management.

Mako – the program behind the video at the top of the article – is a subscription based software package that promises that you can trash your keyboard – it lets you control your computer with your voice. This is certainly not entirely new; Naturally Speaking from Dragon has accomplished similar tasks, but the introduction of AI to voice recognition puts us into a new paradigm.

Harvard Business Review published a piece on AI for business in March. One of the insights was that “an early analytics insight at Osco Pharmacy uncovered that people who bought beer also bought diapers. But because this insight was counter-intuitive and discovered by a machine, they didn’t do anything with it. But now companies have needs for greater productivity than human quants can address or fathom. They have models with 50,000 variables. These systems are moving from augmenting humans to automating decisions.”

The HBR article mentions Watson, the IBM initiative that created the Jeopardy champion of champions using amazing search and analytic technology; the main application for Watson seems to be in medicine. Will the software carry malpractice insurance?

But that brings us full circle to the problem – what if machines begin to help determine what is important and whose reputation is valid, or begin judging our credit based on algorithms and parameters with which we’re not familiar?

Returning to the financial crisis of 2007, much of the problem centered on badly evaluated loan applications. In that situation banks were apparently approving loans based on misinformation and poor criteria. The question then becomes, would computers have fared any better?

And who is ultimately responsible or to be held accountable for these decisions?

The end user? The programmer? God? One thing is for sure – attorneys will make a fortune sorting it all out.

Genetic Link Found Between Mental Illness & Creativity

Genetic Link Found Between Mental Illness & Creativity: Here Are The Details

A new study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience has discovered a genetic link between mental illness and creativity. The research was conducted by scientists from deCODE genetics and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College, located in London, UK. (source)

It’s important to note that this is not the first time a genetic link between creativity and mental illness has been postulated. As history shows us, many of the world’s most brilliant and creative minds have also struggled with what we perceive to be “mental” issues. Some great examples are Vincent van Gogh, Allan Poe, and Frida Kahlo, just to name a few.

In this particular study, genetic risk scores for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia were examined in a sample of approximately 85,000 people. The study defined creative individuals as those belonging to the national artistic societies of actors, dancers, musicians, writers, and visual artists.

“Although creativity is difficult to define for scientific purposes, researchers consider a creative person to be someone who takes novel approaches requiring cognitive processes that are different from prevailing modes of thought or expression. Researchers found that genetic risk scores for both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were significantly higher in those defined as creative individuals, approximately halfway between the general population and those with the disorders themselves.” (source)

It’s also important to note here that very little is known about most psychiatric disorders, which makes the use of certain drugs used to treat them questionable in many cases. We know next to nothing about the underlying biological pathways that lead to these issues.

“An idea that has gained credibility is that these disorders reflect extremes of the normal spectrum of human behaviour, rather than a distinct psychiatric illness. Our findings suggest that creative people may have a genetic predisposition towards thinking differently which, when combined with other harmful biological or environmental factors, could lead to mental illness.” – Robert Power, first author from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre at the I0PPN. (source)

A lot of questions arise with regards to these connections that again, have been postulated and studied in depth multiple times. A few years ago, a panel of experts discussed the research between the link at the 5th annual World Science Festival, where all three panelists suffer from mental illness themselves.

“The findings of some 20 or 30 scientific studies endorse the notion of the “tortured genius.” Of the many varieties of psychosis, creativity appears to be most strongly linked to mood disorders, and especially bipolar disorder. For example, one study tested the intelligence of 700,000 Swedish 16-year olds and then followed up a decade later to learn which of them had developed mental illnesses. The startling results were published in 2010. They found that people who excelled when they were 16 years old were four times as likely to go on to develop bipolar disorder.” – Key Redfield Jamison, clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who also suffers from a mental disorder. (source)

This is a big issue. If we look at ADHD, for example, there is a tremendous amount of evidence to suggest that characteristics associated with that label are actually associated with creativity and “abilities” rather than “disabilities.”

Recent work in cognitive neuroscience shows that both creative thinkers and those with an ADHD diagnosis show difficulty in suppressing brain activity that comes from the “Imagination Network.” There are no school assessments that provide evaluation on creativity and imagination, these are hard to draw up and measure and receive very little attention in our education systems.(source)(source)(source)(source)(source)(source)

Another interesting piece of information to note is that in 2004, an author by the name of Gary Davis reviewed a large portion of literature from 1961 to 2003 and identified 22 recurring personality traits of creative people, most of which were very positive and associated with the same personality traits as people who have been diagnosed with ADHD. Some of these traits included: independence, risk taking, high energy, curiosity, and humour, along with being emotional and artistic. Some of the negative ones included: impulsive, argumentative, and hyper active. He published his findings in his book “Creativity is Forever.”

Important Considerations When It Comes To Mental Illness & The Medical Industry

There is no doubt that there is a lot of scientific fraud and manipulation when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs, and the entire health industry in general. A number of studies have been published alluding to this problem, and it has also received more attention recently. The editor in chief of the Lancet (one of the most reputable peer-reviewed medical journals in the world), Dr Richard Horton said that “half of all the literature published is false” and that “science has taken a turn towards darkness.” (source) You can read more about that story here.

There are plenty of examples to choose from. American psychologist Lisa Cosgrove and others investigated financial ties between the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) panel members and the pharmaceutical industry. They found that, of the 170 DSM panel members, 95 (56%) had one or more financial associations with companies in the pharmaceutical industry. One hundred percent of the members of the panels on “mood disorders” and “schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders” had financial ties to drug companies. The connections are especially strong in those diagnostic areas where drugs are the first line of treatment for mental disorders. In the next edition of the manual, it’s the same thing. (source)(source)

“The DSM appears to be more a political document than a scientific one. Each diagnostic criteria in the DSM is not based on medical science. No blood tests exist for the disorders in the DSM. It relies on judgments from practitioners who rely on the manual.” (source) – Lisa Cosgrove, PhD, Professor of Counselling and School Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

“The very vocabulary of psychiatry is now defined at all levels by the pharmaceutical industry.” (source) – Dr. Irwin Savodnik, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Again, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that pharmaceutical companies have influenced certain psychiatrists to “pathologize” certain behavior as a mental illness so more drugs can be marketed to the masses. In my opinion the evidence is overwhelming, but we’ll save that for another article, as it is a big topic.

I do not mean to imply that certain mental illness don’t exist, but we must look at the full end of the spectrum here. But some of these diagnosis are based purely off of observation without any scientific evidence. I am talking about ADHD, Asperger’s and more. This statement doesn’t apply to some of the more serious cases like schizophrenia and others.

How Turmeric Upgrades Your Organ Systems & Effectively Treats All Cancers, Inflammatory Diseases, & More

I bet i might end up being nicknamed the "Turmeric Whistler"!

Turmeric, and its bioactive ingredient curcumin, has been scientifically proven as an effective counteractive agent against cancer, auto-immune disease, inflammatory disease, and a whole lot more. 

If you are a lover of Indian food, then you’re likely familiar with the pleasant aroma of the yellow herbal root, turmeric.

But besides its delicious flavour profile, turmeric has a plethora of medicinal applications, used widely in Chinese herbal medicine as well as in Ayurvedic medicine. Even Western medicine has recognized the medicinal value of turmeric, as seen in the incredible amount of scientific literature available today surrounding curcumin, the bioactive ingredient in turmeric.

Traditional medicinal uses include the treatment of liver disease, skin problems, respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments, sprained muscles, joint pains, and general wound healing.

It actually exhibits over 150 potentially therapeutic activities, including anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity, as well as containing potent anti-cancer properties that have been studied intensely.

What Research Has Discovered About Curcumin (Turmeric)

Researchers have found that curcumin has a positive effect on multiple systems in the body. For one, curcumin has been found to modulate around 700 of our genes. Furthermore, it modulates over 160 physiological pathways.

Curcumin also regulates our cell membranes, allowing for more efficient transport of molecules in and out of the cell.

But one of the most amazing aspects of curcumin is its positive effect on signalling molecules, which, if gone awry, can lead to chronic inflammatory responses, autoimmune responses, issues with DNA and RNA regulation, and more. In short, curcumin is a vastly important ingredient in the prevention of almost all types of diseases.

Why Turmeric Is Being Used To Treat Alzheimer’s & Other Inflammatory Diseases

Research has also discovered applications of curcumin in treating Alzheimer’s and joint health.

Curcumin is capable of crossing your blood-brain barrier, which is one factor that has led researchers to investigate its potential as a neuroprotective agent for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

In his article, Turmeric—A “Universal” Cancer Treatment, and Much More, Dr. Mercola outlines a newly discovered compound in turmeric called aromatic turmerone, which helps endogenous neutral stem cells (NSC) to grow, and these stem cells play an important role in brain repair and regeneration activities. Here’s what he had to say about curcumin’s neuroprotective properties:

“Curcumin may also be helpful. Previous research has shown that curcumin helps inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta-amyloids in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, as well as break up existing plaques associated with the disease. People with Alzheimer’s tend to have higher levels of inflammation in their brains, and curcumin is perhaps best known for its potent anti-inflammatory properties. It can inhibit both the activity and the inflammatory metabolic byproducts of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) and 5-lipooxygenase (5-LOX) enzymes, as well as other enzymes and hormones that modulate inflammation.”

Curcumin Kicks Cancer’s Butt

Not surprisingly, curcumin actually has the most evidence-based anti-cancer literature out of any other herb.

As noted by Dr. William LaValley—one of the leading natural medicine cancer physicians, curcumin is unique in that it appears to be universally useful for just about every type of cancer. This is odd, considering the fact that cancer consists of a wide variety of different molecular pathologies.

One reason for this universal anti-cancer proclivity is curcumin’s ability to affect multiple molecular targets via multiple pathways.

Once it gets into a cell, it affects more than 100 different molecular pathways. And, as Dr. LaValley notes, whether the curcumin molecule causes an increase in activity of a particular molecular target or decrease/inhibition of activity, studies repeatedly show that the end result is a potent anti-cancer activity.

Moreover, curcumin is non-toxic, and does not adversely affect healthy cells, suggesting it selectively targets cancer cells—all of which are clear benefits in cancer treatment. Research has even shown that it works synergistically with certain chemotherapy drugs, enhancing the elimination of cancer cells.

Important Notes About Turmeric Sourcing

The yellow turmeric spice you find on your local grocery store shelves won’t offer you the same medicinal value as properly extracted and sourced curcumin.

The turmeric root itself contains only about three percent curcumin concentration, and curcumin is poorly absorbed by your body to boot. When taken in its raw form, you’re only absorbing about one percent of the available curcumin. Even in supplement form it’s unlikely to provide the results shown in various disease studies. If you want to use curcumin therapeutically, you can try one of the following three alternatives recommended by Dr. Mercola: 

Locate a high quality turmeric extract that contains 100 percent certified organic ingredients, with at least 95 percent curcuminoids. The formula should be free of fillers, additives, and excipients (a substance added to the supplement as a processing or stability aid), and the manufacturer should use safe production practices at all stages: planting, cultivation, selective harvesting, and then when producing and packaging the final product. Typical anticancer doses are up to three grams of good bioavailable curcumin extract, three to four times daily.

Make a microemulsion using raw curcumin powder. Combine one tablespoon of the powder with 1-2 egg yolks and a teaspoon or two of melted coconut oil. Use a high speed hand blender to emulsify it. Keep in mind that curcumin is a very potent yellow pigment that can permanently discolor surfaces, so take precautions to avoid “yellow kitchen syndrome.”

Boil the curcumin powder. Another strategy that can help increase absorption is to put one tablespoon of the curcumin powder into a quart of boiling water. It must be boiling when you add the powder as it will not work as well if you first put it in room temperature water and then heat the water and curcumin. After boiling it for 10 minutes you will have created a 12 percent solution that you can drink once cooled. It will have a woody taste. The curcumin will gradually fall out of solution however. In about six hours it will be down to a six percent solution, so it’s best to drink the water within four hours.

10 Warning Signs Of Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is the most common Human papillomavirus (HPV) related disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost all cases of cervical cancer can be attributed to HPV. HPV is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract.

Women and men who are sexually active will, according to most experts, become infected at some point in their lives, and the infection could occur more than once.

The most common time for both genders to become infected is shortly after they become sexually active, and all that’s needed for an HPV infection to develop is skin to skin genital contact, not full penetrative sex. This is why the HPV vaccine is commonly recommended/pushed, particularly for young girls. It’s known as the Gardasil vaccine (you can find out more information about it here), and many people consider it unnecessary because, as Dr. Diane Harper (one of a select few HPV experts in the world, who helped design and carry out the Phase II and Phase III safety and effectiveness studies to get Gardasil approved, and authored many of the published papers about it) explains in the video below, odds are that the infection is going to clear on its own.

Dr. Harper believes that vaccination will not decrease the number of cervical cancer cases, but a routine of regular pap smears will. She has also stated that there is absolutely zero proof that these vaccines work, or that they are safe and effective, yet major health authorities stress clinical trial results show both vaccines to be safe and very effective in preventing infection with HPV.

I apologize if you’ve seen this video before in my articles, but it’s important to note when it comes to this subject.

With all of the above being said, it’s also important to mention that worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 530,000 new cases in 2012, representing 7.5% of all female cancer deaths. Of the more than 270,000 estimated deaths from cervical cancer every year, more than 85% of these occur in less developed regions.

10 Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore

1. Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding

Abnormal vaginal bleeding between periods, after intercourse, or after menopause. Although this could be due to other medical conditions, it is a telltale sign of possible cervical cancer. If you are experiencing abnormal bleeding between periods or after sexual intercourse then you definitely want to contact your doctor.

2. Unusual Vaginal Discharge

If you are experiencing abnormal vaginal discharge, it could be a result of  bacterial vaginosis, menopause symptoms, or yeast infection. It could also be harmless, but significant changes in discharge are still worth getting checked out.

If the smell is very foul, becomes a more common occurrence, or is brownish, heavy, pale, or blood-tinged, it could be a sign of cervical cancer. It could also be a sign of various other conditions. Again, if this is happening contact your doctor right away.

3. Discomfort While Urinating

Pain during urination can be a sign of cervical cancer, this is a symptom that usually occurs when the cancer has already spread to the bladder.  In most cases, however, this type of pain is a sign of something far less serious, like a urinary tract infection.

4. Pain During Sex

Discomfort during sexual intercourse could also be another sign. Again, just to reiterate, many of these symptoms signify a far less worrisome issue, but you never know, especially if you are experiencing multiple symptoms at once. Pain during sex can be a late onset symptom of cervical cancer, and could indicate that the cancer has spread throughout the reproductive organs and tissues.

5. Heavier & Longer Menstrual Periods

Abnormal and heavier menstrual periods are another sign of cervical cancer. Irritation of the cervix, possibly due to cervical cancer, can also occur.

6. Loss of Bladder Control

Bladder control is a big issue when it comes to cervical cancer, and it’s one area of the body where cervical cancer commonly spreads. People with cervical cancer often experience loss of bladder control as well as a hint of blood discharge during urination.

7. Body Pain

A common symptom of cervical cancer is body pains, more specifically, pain in the leg, back, and/or pelvis. Women with cervical cancer often experience swelling of the legs, because the cancer spreads and obstructs blood flow. It can get to the point where basic simple movements are difficult to do. It’s common for women who are experiencing these symptoms as a result of cervical cancer to have prolonged pain which increases as time goes on.

8. Constant Fatigue

Constant fatigue could be also be a sign, especially if it is in conjunction with some of the other symptoms mentioned in this article. When there is disease in your body, it will work hard to do its best to try and fight it off. Your body then becomes tired  as a result of these various biological processes.

9. Unexplained Weight Loss

The body produces small proteins called cytokines, which break down fat at a much higher rate than normal. This leads to weight loss, irrespective of your diet, when you are fighting disease. As with many other cancers, the same applies here.

3 Easy Ways To Expand Your Intuition

“Know thyself.” – Ancient Greek aphorism

Logic and intuition, opposites that form opinion based off of knowing, or feeling. Intuition is defined as: “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.” While logic is defined as: “reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.” Although logic may discount intuition because it mostly operates on feeling as the compass, making sense of your feelings can lend to sharpening your logic. While intuition tends to get associated with mysticism, and discounted as random by skeptics – it is something we should not ignore, because it is a force that flows through every single one of us.

If you’ve ever walked into a room and felt the energy of the people in it, had a dream that manifested itself in your reality, experienced deja vu, or just knew something was wrong – it doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything mystical about these experiences. If all time is happening at once, perhaps what is happening is just a remembering of an encounter, or experience that has already happened.

Below, I’ve created some intuition “hacks” to assist in allowing time to become more malleable, as you harness the energy of your thoughts by flexing your intuitive muscles.

1. Create Your Own Oracle Deck

Oracle decks differ from tarot decks, in that the major/minor arcana of tarot have their own very specific definitions, while oracle decks are a bit more malleable. In that you give the images meaning by how the images speak to you.

Oracle cards are where I got my start in exploring the esoteric, and the deck I use (given to me by my grandmother) is compiled of 33 cards which tell a story based off of how you read them. A skeptical friend of mine wanted to test the validity of the mystery of the oracle, so he decided to write out the word meanings of each of the cards on hot pink index cards to see what would happen if we read the index cards, in conjunction with grandma’s deck. To our surprise, almost every time we read the index cards, with the oracle cards – the messages would be close to identical (save for one card/or the order).

It seemed the more we read, the more the cards would fall very similar – so we decided to take the experiment to the next level by adding more cards that we would create, or have our friends create.

Through our experience we came to find that nearly every time a person would create a card, that would be the card they would pull in their reading (no matter how many times the deck was shuffled or cut). While it is unclear what is really happening, this type of experiment proved to be a really important exercise in expanding your intuition, and understanding what thoughts you may be projecting. The more you practice, the more you can fine tune your thoughts, as you see them outside of yourself.

A great way to create your own oracle deck is to get your own set of index cards – before creating your cards, get out a notebook, and set a timer on your cell phone for 5 minutes…in the 5 minute time frame, write out a list of nouns and verbs that resonate most with you. After the 5 minutes is up, take a look at your list and pick the words that feel best, then write them out on your index cards. Have fun with them, draw/design each card as you wish, then begin using them in the way you feel works for you. There is no right or wrong way, but the way I have found to be most accurate is to pick a number you vibe with, then shuffle the deck that amount of times, and then pick 4 cards – and see how the story reveals itself.

2. Hand to Hand Reading

Another way to open yourself up to receive more intuitive insight is by practicing hand to hand reading. Find a partner to work with and take turns “reading” one another. The reader acts as the receiver, while the readee is the one who “delivers” information – so the reader must face both hands out, palm up, while the readee places their hands on top of the reader’s hands.

While your hands are connected, see what feelings present themselves in your body, and don’t be afraid to blurt what comes to mind (usually your first intuition is right, even if it may be strange). For example, perhaps you get a feeling in your solar plexus and an image of a mirror comes to your mind – this could represent that the readee may be feeling insecurity, and their ego is presenting itself in the reflections of their experiences. All sensations in the body should be noted, and all images that come to your consciousness, make sure to say out loud…do not be afraid of what is coming to your mind – more often than not, you’ll find that what you receive is strangely accurate and while the images may not make sense to you – they may make sense to the person you are reading. Take turns reading one another, and afterwards analyze your notes – the more you practice, the more you’ll be able to receive. Before you know it the symbols will become stronger, the sensations will become more clear, and you may find that these symbols and sensations begin to present themselves without having to “dial in” – thus you may be able to navigate interactions with people in a more present way.

3. Zener Cards

For those of you who have seen Ghostbusters, the image of these cards may be familiar because of the opening scene with Bill Murray. However, while Murray’s character may have had some salacious intentions with his “experiment” with the cards – Zener cards are actually a really powerful tool in stretching your mind, and allowing your extra sensory perceptions to become engaged.

To use the Zener cards, you may find a friend to partner with and have them draw up cards one by one with the back facing you – or you can pull the cards yourself. Do NOT rush this process. As the card is pulled, close your eyes and allow your mind’s eye to receive the image of what is behind the card. Try not to overthink, but allow the first intuition to come through. This is a difficult process, and will take a lot of time and patience to master. Keep a running count of how many you get right – and compare as you spend more time with the cards and in time you will see your results improve, and your intuition will strengthen.

There’s an old phrase that goes something along the lines of “energy goes where attention flows“, and if we look at our intuition as a muscle – the more you put energy into it, and flex it – the stronger it will get. We all have the ability to have abs, but to get a “six pack” it requires hard work and dedication –  through my experience (and my own practice), I’ve come to find that we all have the ability to tap into our “sixth sense”, but unless you give it the proper energy and attention – it won’t be activated to its fullest ability, and will remain “out of shape”.

Holograms You Can Actually Touch Are Here

It’s every science-fiction lover’s dream, holograms tangible enough to touch.

Principle Investigator Yoichi Ochiai and his fellow researchers at DNG have found a way to use lasers, mirrors and cameras to create three-dimensional, interactive holograms comprised of tiny points of light called voxels.

Using femtosecond lasers (a femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second, and the lasers transmit bursts that last 30 to 270 femtoseconds), the team can make holograms that are safe to touch, Popular Science reports.

The images are three-dimensional, with resolutions up to 200,000 dots per second. The voxels are light emitted by plasma that’s created when the laser’s focused energy ionizes the air.

According to Ochiai, when touched the hologram’s texture feels like sandpaper.

Although previous studies have used nanosecond and femtosecond lasers to create images, the DNG researchers say preceding studies haven’t achieved resolution this high, and would otherwise burn human skin.

Since the lasers fire at such a high speeds, they’re able to react in realtime, and researchers have demonstrated its ability to make usable holographic checkboxes and hearts that break when touched.

To create their hologram, researchers fired their femtosecond laser through a spatial light modulator, which continues the beam through a series of lenses, a mirror and a Galvano scanner, which positions a mirror to precisely direct the laser beams. A camera underneath the hologram captures user interaction, allowing the dots to respond to being “touched.”

Ochiai says the most surprising thing he realized was that plasma was actually safe to touch in this application, making the hologram exponentially safer than previously thought.

Ochiai says this is machine is just a proof of concept, and now his team will work to make the holograms larger. They’re limited by the size of the spatial light modulator, which they maxed out with this experiment. The laser itself can transmit up to 7W, and this 1 cubic centimeter experiment only used 1W of the laser’s power.

What are your thoughts on the touchable hologram? What kind of implications could this spell for the future? Share with us in the comment section below!

The 8 Minute Surgery That Will Give You Superhuman Vision. Forever

A new bionic eye lens currently in development would give humans 3x 20/20 vision, at any age.

The lens, named the Ocumetics Bionic Lens, was developed by Dr. Garth Webb, an optometrist in British Columbia who was looking for a way to optimize eyesight regardless of a person’s health or age.

With this remarkable lens, patients would have perfect vision, ending the need for driving glasses, progressive lenses, and contacts, all of which are set to become a dim memory as the eye-care industry is transformed,CBC reports.

Even better is the fact that people who get the lens surgically inserted will never get cataracts, because the lens replaces that of their natural eye, which inevitably decays over time.

Webb says that anyone over the age of 25 is the best candidate, because that is when the eye is fully developed.

“This is vision enhancement that the world has never seen before,” he says, “If you can just barely see the clock at 10 feet, when you get the Bionic Lens you can see the clock at 30 feet away.“

The lens, which would be custom-made, is folded like a taco in a saline-filled syringe and placed in the eye, where it unravels itself within 10 seconds.

Quick & Painless Surgery

Dr. Garth Webb says the bionic lens would allow people to see to infinity and replace the need for eyeglasses and contact lenses. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Webb says that the surgery can be done within 8 minutes and immediately corrects a patient’s vision.

The project has been in the works for the last eight years, Webb told CBC, costing about $3 million in research and development fees, along with the acquisition of international patents and the securing of a biomedical manufacturing facility in Delta, B.C.

His mission is fueled by the “obsession” he’s had to free himself and others from corrective lenses since he was in Grade 2, when he was saddled with glasses.

“My heroes were cowboys, and cowboys just did not wear glasses,” Webb says.

Webb’s efforts were recently recognized after he presented the lens to 14 top ophthalmologists in San Diego during a gathering of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Surgeons from all around the world were intrigued by his “clever” design, Webb says.

“I think this device is going to bring us closer to the holy grail of excellent vision at all ranges — distant, intermediate and near,” said Dr. Vincent DeLuise, an ophthalmologist who teaches at both Yale University and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

Trials & Tribulations

Pending clinical trials on animals and then blind human eyes, the Bionic Lens could be available in Canada and elsewhere in about two years, depending on regulatory processes in various countries, Webb says.

Webb is hopeful that his lens will do away with the need for laser eye surgery, a procedure that still isn’t as efficient as it could be.

“Perfect eyesight should be a human right,” he says.

What are your thoughts on the bionic lens? Share with us in the comment section below!

Shining a Light on Light Pollution (Infographics)

Have you ever drifted off with the lights on? It turns out this could be doing more damage to your mental and physical health than you might think.

Light pollution is the name for the artificial light that spills from residential and urban areas when it would otherwise be dark outside. It can take many forms, such as urban sky glow and glare, but one thing that all forms of light pollution have in common is the effect it can have on your circadian rhythm. This rhythm controls much of our behaviors and our health.

Read the infographic below to learn more about what light pollution is and how it affects our bodies.

How Oil Is Breaking Tuna’s Heart

 The effects of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are still being felt, and two animal populations are really feeling the pain: tuna and dolphins. Fish and marine mammals, it turns out, are highly sensitive to the chemicals found in petroleum products, and it’s an especially big problem for longer-lived species. Recent research has examined what happened to both dolphins and tuna after the Deepwater Horizon spill, and the image is grim — especially for tuna, who almost literally experienced broken hearts as a result of the uncontrolled release of nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

In the case of tuna, exposure to compounds found in crude oil can cause heart abnormalities and arrhythmias, causing cardiac arrest in extreme cases. These chemicals effectively slow individual heart cells, which is not desirable in the body’s hardest working and most active organ — especially for athletic organisms like tuna. One of the problems in the case of tuna is that the Gulf is a major spawning area, and the spill occurred at precisely the same moment many fish were gathering to spawn, creating a chain effect through multiple generations as exposure to the harmful chemicals created developmental abnormalities.

Several other fish species have been affected, and many of them are commercially valuable, illustrating that the economic impact of the spill is still a concern. Severe damage to gulf fisheries poses serious problems to struggling local economies that are still trying to recover from the spill. After losing out on tourism revenue and having to reestablish fisheries, some communities are facing a reduction in fish populations that will require careful fisheries management, including, likely, more catch limits to allow the population to recover, even though such limits may create problems for fishermen.

The problem is serious enough that Atlantic bluefin tuna, which base their lives in the Gulf, are being seriously evaluated to determine if they should be listed on threatened and endangered species lists, because their populations have declined so radically. That’s bad news for fish, not just fisheries — shrinking biodiversity can reach a tipping point of no return past which a species cannot recover. The loss of an entire species is always a tragedy, but bluefin tuna in particular are long-lived, and an important part of their environments. If they become threatened or extinct, their shrinking numbers could cause ecological disturbance in their own waters, and that might create a cascade of negative environmental factors.

For dolphins, researchers have long observed that unusually large numbers of the marine mammals washed ashore during the Gulf spill, and they could be linked back to the site. Further research indicates that they had clear signs of lung and adrenal disease linked with chemicals in petroleum, conclusively connecting them with the spill. One of the key components of the research was a rigorous evaluation of the possible causes, as scientists didn’t initially consider the oil spill as a factor; only later did review of samples and the history of dolphin strandings and deaths reveal the oil-dolphin connection.

With another large spill off the coast of Santa Barbara and numerous oil spills on a smaller scale happening on a routine basis, findings like these are a concern. While researchers already understand that spilled oil represents an environmental hazard, this research illustrates the scope of the problem and highlights the fact that it’s a grim picture.

How Texting Actually Affects Your Body

How much time do you spend texting? According to Pew Research Center, almost three quarters of cell phone users text on a regular basis. A typical 18-24 year old sends/receives an average of 50 texts every single day. While older adults are likely to send a few less, there’s no debate: we text a lot. But have you ever stopped to consider how all this texting is affecting your body?

Your neck. Your head is heavy — 10 to 12 pounds. Imagine it were replaced by a bowling ball. Think about how heavy that would feel when you lean forward. Consider how hard your neck would have to work to keep from collapsing. Well, that’s exactly what’s happening when you’re constantly looking down to text. Hunching over to a 60 degree angle substantially increases the stress load on your spine up to 60 pounds instead of 10. It’s a real pain in the neck. In fact, it can lead to headaches and long-term overuse injuries, like arthritis, pinched nerves, and premature disc degeneration — or developed spinal deformities that can afflict over-texting teens known as ‘text neck‘. When you — and especially your children —  text, try to keep you phone high enough so you don’t hunch like Igor every time. Your spine will be grateful.

Your lungs. Leaning forward and rounding the shoulders regularly can lead to breathing impairment and restricted blood flow. Also, when we are focusing intently on something like a screen, we have the tendency to breathe very shallowly. Keep your lungs open and take deep gulps of air, and keep a mindful posture when sending and receiving text messages to keep your blood flowing and your vital organs healthy.

Your fingers. Constantly gripping a phone can lead to a claw-like tension in your hands. Regularly holding tension in your hands and fingers can stiffen the tendons, decrease range of motion, and weaken grip strength. Instead of texting so intensely, be mindful of the way you grip your phone, along with other parts of your body as well.

If you text a lot, try throwing in some opening yoga poses halfway through the day. When you do text, text more mindfully, taking deep breaths, sitting up straight, and loosening your death grip on your precious smartphone. Encourage your kids to do it too. You’ll both be more self-aware and your body will be far healthier in the long run.