The COSMIC SPEED LIMIT

Einstein's theory of special relativity establishes the cosmic speed limit, which is the speed of light. However, some things in our universe don't really follow this rule to the letter...

THE COSMIC SPEED LIMIT

The speed of light is widely known to be the absolute pinnacle of movement. When Albert Einstein first entwined mass and energy in his theory of relativity, it basically established the Universe’s speed limit at 299,792 kilometers per second (186,282 miles per second).

According to Einstein, nothing in the Universe that has mass could either match, or move faster than, light.

But that doesn’t mean that nothing can move faster than light. In truth, physicists have discovered a number of phenomena that have the ability to match, and actually beat (in specific respects), the speed of light. And there are several theoretical models that posit specific ways that the speed of light could be surpassed. Here’s a look at some of them.

QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT

In his presentation on Big Think, physicist Michio Kaku said that “If I have two electrons close together, they can vibrate in unison, according to the quantum theory…if I jiggle one electron, the other electron ‘senses’ this vibration instantly, faster than the speed of light. Einstein thought that this therefore disproved the quantum theory, since nothing can go faster than light.”

Einstein himself referred to it as “spooky action at a distance,” though it is actually known asquantum entanglement. It’s a rather complicated bit of physics, but this video by Veritasiumbreaks down how it all works in rather simple terms.

However, saying that this information transfer “breaks” the speed of light is, perhaps, a bit of a cheat.

You see, the information does actually go faster than light…but it’s not really traveling through space faster. To break this down a bit, say that you have a two friends. One if wearing a blue shirt and one is wearing pink. You know this, but you don’t know which is wearing which. Suddenly, you run into one of them, and you see they are wearing a blue shirt. When you see this, then you will know instantaneously (re. faster than the speed of light) that the other person is wearing pink.

As Kaku notes, “Information does go faster than light, but Einstein has the last laugh. This is because the information that breaks the light barrier is random, and hence useless.” It can’t be used to send any other information than that.

THE LUMINAL BOOM

Like the sonic boom, a luminal boom happens when something accelerates to a point that it breaks the light barrier. As spectacular as it seems, in truth, this phenomenon happens everyday inside nuclear reactors.

Known as Cherenkov radiation, this blue glow is caused when the core of a reactor is submerged in water, where light moves at a reduced speed, while the electrons generated by the reactor move past the speed of light. This creates a sort of shock wave of light.

As the aforementioned may indicate, the key to all of this is the medium which light (and other substances) are moving through.  In a vacuum, light is far faster. But in ice and other mediums, light goes a lot slower. Thus, Einstein’s theories are still intact.

As Jessica Orwig notes, “Cherenkov radiation glows because the core of the Advanced Test Reactor [a nuclear reactor] is submerged in water to keep it cool. In water, light travels at 75 % the speed it would in the vacuum of outer space, but the electrons created by the reaction inside of the core travel through the water faster than the light does.

Particles, like these electrons, that surpass the speed of light in water, or some other medium such as glass, create a shock wave similar to the shock wave from a sonic boom.”

WORMHOLES

Credit: NASA

If popular science fiction is to be believed, travelling through the stars will heavily rely on ships being able to move faster than light. Indeed, if you were working strictly with Einstein’s theory of special relativity, your dreams of interstellar travel would stay firmly planted on solid ground.

Thankfully, Einstein’s general theory of relativity opened another possibility by weaving together space and time. As Kaku notes, “the only viable way of breaking the light barrier [for humanity and the like] may be through general relativity and the warping of spacetime.”

This is done through what are called wormholes, which are tears in the fabric of spacetime that would allow one to “pass through” to whole other regions in the Universe. The biggest problem with this idea is the energy that it would take to hold that wormhole open…and of course, all of the hazards that would come with diving into it…and also, we have no evidence that they actually exist or are anything but hypothetical and theoretical models.

But if they do exist, they would allow one to travel from A to B faster than light. It’s related to the basic principles of the warp drive proposed by Miguel Alcubierre (note: the drive probably can’t ever work, but you can read about all of that here).

LOOPHOLES

Einstein’s theory says that nothing “with mass” could pass the speed of light, so it’s reasonable to consider that other things that don’t have mass could potentially achieve this feat. One such thing is simply empty space.

To clarify, relativity says that objects cannot travel faster than the speed of light through spacetime. It doesn’t, however, have anything to say about spacetime itself. And in fact, spacetime is expanding and pushing matter apart faster than the speed of light; however, matter is not really traveling through spacetime….spacetime is pushing it.

In this respect, every portion of space is expanding and stretching. It’s not even that the edges are flying outwards, but that spacetime itself—the area between galaxies, stars, planets, you and I—is stretching. And it is doing so faster than the speed of light.

BONUS: THE SPEED OF DARKNESS

Mexico’s Rising Poverty Rate: ‘The Idea of a Free Market System Doesn’t Exist in Mexico’

By Mark A. Browne | March 30, 2016 | 5:29 PM EDT

Smog blankets central Mexico City, including the landmark Torre Latinoamerica, left, on Thursday, March 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Mexico City (CNSNews.com) – Lawlessness, tax evasion, declining incomes, and a lack of open and free markets are pushing more Mexicans into poverty, according to a recent study and the Mexican affiliate of the international anti-poverty confederation OXFAM.

Mexico’s poverty rate increased by 2.9 percent between 2008 and 2014, according to the study “Social Panorama of Latin America,” issued annually and released earlier this month by the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Mexico’s rising poverty stands in stark contrast to much of Latin America, the study found. In Peru, poverty decreased by 9.8 percent (2010-1014), in Chile, it dropped by 9.1 percent (2009-2013) and in Brazil it decreased by 7.9 percent (2009-2014).

The study blamed “falling incomes,” in Mexico.

But Ricardo Fuentes, executive director of OXFAM Mexico, said that crony capitalism, efforts at reform hobbled by a lack of the rule of law, and anemic economic growth are at the root of the problem.

Reached at his Mexico City office, Fuentes said Mexico suffered “dramatically” from the financial crisis of 2008-2009, given the country’s close economic ties to the U.S.

But impunity and weakened institutions are behind Mexico’s low growth that has averaged 1.1 percent per capita over the past 20 years, he added.

“What you see is an economic system that benefits very few people while it marginalizes about 50 percent of the population. It’s a double problem – a economy that doesn’t generate enough growth, and growth that goes to the rich.

Mexico’s economy, he said, is distorted by monopolies and oligarchy. “A few firms have a lot of market power. That power is not innovation, it is political connections, the ability to influence rules in their favor.”

“The idea of a free market system doesn’t exist in Mexico,” he said.

Fuentes said declining migration to the U.S. as a result of lower labor demand in the U.S. and increased border security is forcing more citizens to remain in Mexico and subsequently end up working in the informal economy, which is difficult to tax.

“The real hope is that the young, educated emerging middle class sees that the problems of corruption, the lack of rule of law and violence are unacceptable in a country that is so rich,” Fuentes said.

Despite recent reforms to the telecommunications, education and energy sectors, Mexico suffers from “political capture,” Fuentes said, with politicians bowing to the whim of a wealthy minority. “What you have is a very wealthy elite that can either define the legislation or avoid the application of the law.”

“More than anything we need the rule of law. And we don’t have a strong rule of law. If you can’t implement [reforms] because there is corruption and impunity, than the reforms are meaningless,” Fuentes said.

A study released this month by OXFAM and ECLAC and entitled “Time to Tax for Inclusive Growth,” highlights the wealth gap in Latin America, noting that in 2014 the richest 10 percent in Latin America held 71 percent of the region’s wealth.

Mexico’s effective tax rate on the top 10 percent of earners reaches 10 percent, while the rate paid by the top 20 percent in the US is 14.2 percent, the study said.

Some 38 percent of expected personal income tax revenues are lost to tax evasion in Mexico, the study noted.

“Mexico’s tax system is very regressive, and even after recent reforms, most government revenue is generated through the value-added tax,” Fuentes said. There is no inheritance tax and property taxes are very low, he noted.

Mexicans also succeed at skipping out on the 16 percent VAT tacked onto certain goods and services at a rate of approximately 20 percent, the study noted.

WHEAT--- The myth that you need to have ‘bad genes’ to experience intestinal damage from consuming wheat was disproved years ago. It is a common myth that wheat only causes immune-mediated intestinal damage within those with a rare genetically based aberration called celiac disease. Still relatively unknown research from 2007 clearly demonstrated that everyone’s body likely experiences adverse intestinal effects from gluten (gliadin) exposure. As far as celiac disease, the specific mechanisms by which wheat causes damage are well-known, and they go like this… In celiac disease, an alcohol-soluble wheat storage protein known as gliadin is partially degraded (i.e. deamidated) by the enzyme tissue transglutaminase, the effect of which is to activate susceptible host T-cells to mistakenly identify and attack intestinal villi as if they were ‘foreign’ invaders. This highly destructive autoimmune process can be verified through blood tests, or through the so-called “gold standard” of an intestinal biopsy that clearly reveals destroyed villi and/or flattened intestinal surfaces, the hallmark pathology of celiac disease. The reality, however, is that one does not need to be celiac, or have a particular genetic mutation, in order to experience damage associated with exposure to wheat gliadin. In a study published in the journal GUT in 2007, a group of researchers asked the question: “Is gliadin really safe for non-celiac individuals?“ In order to test their hypothesis that an innate immune response to gliadin is common in both patients with celiac disease and without celiac disease, intestinal biopsy cultures were taken from both groups and challenged with crude gliadin, the gliadin synthetic 19-mer (19 amino acid long gliadin peptide) and 33-mer deamidated peptides. Results showed that all patients with or without celiac disease, when challenged with the various forms of gliadin, produced an interleukin-15-mediated response. The researchers concluded: “The data obtained in this pilot study supports the hypothesis that gluten elicits its harmful effect, throughout an IL15 innate immune response, on all individuals [my italics].” The primary difference between the two groups is that the celiac disease patients experienced both an innate and an adaptive immune response to the gliadin, whereas the non-celiacs experienced only the innate response. The researchers hypothesized that the difference between the two groups may be attributable to greater genetic susceptibility at the HLA-DQ gene locus (on chromosome 6) for triggering an adaptive immune response, higher levels of immune mediators or receptors, or perhaps greater permeability in the celiac intestine. It is also possible that over and above the possibility of greater genetic susceptibility, most of the differences are from epigenetic factors that are influenced by the presence or absence of certain nutrients in the diet, bacterial strains within the gut flora, and environmental exposures, which include NSAID drugs like naproxen or aspirin which can profoundly increase intestinal permeability in the non-celiac, rendering them susceptible to gliadin’s potential for activating secondary adaptive immune responses. This may explain why, in up to 5% of all cases of classically defined celiac disease, the typical HLA-DQ haplotypes are not found. However, determining the factors associated with greater or lesser degrees of susceptibility to gliadin’s intrinsically toxic effect should be secondary to the fact that it has been demonstrated to be toxic to both non-celiacs and celiacs.1 In other words, rather than look up the adverse gut responses associated with wheat, and particularly, wheat gliadin, as being a rare genetically-based aberration, we may want to reconsider the common, culturally reinforced view that wheat is an intrinsically healthy food that only an ‘abnormal’ subset of the human population has an ‘unhealthy’ response to. To the contrary, perhaps the immunoreactive effects that wheat gliadin induces indicates that we have a human species-specific intolerance to this ‘food,’ and that rather than look at these adverse effects as being ‘unhealthy reactions to a healthy food,’ perhaps we should look at them as ‘healthy reactions to an intrinsically unhealthy (or metabolically incompatible) food.’ Ultimately, intestinal damage is only the tip of the so-called “celiac” or “non-celiac gluten sensitivity” icebergs. GreenMedInfo.com has indexed research from the National Library of Medicine on over 300 adverse health effects associated with wheat and/or wheat components. You can view the first-hand research here: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/wheat Also, learn more about wheat’s adverse effects to gastrointestinal health by reading our recent article:Wheat As A Common Cause of Dyspepsia and IBS, and a broader perspective on the dangers of wheat in our essay ‘The Dark Side of Wheat.’

The myth that you need to have ‘bad genes’ to experience intestinal damage from consuming wheat was disproved years ago.

It is a common myth that wheat only causes immune-mediated intestinal damage within those with a rare genetically based aberration called celiac disease. Still relatively unknown research from 2007 clearly demonstrated that everyone’s body likely experiences adverse intestinal effects from gluten (gliadin) exposure.

As far as celiac disease, the specific mechanisms by which wheat causes damage are well-known, and they go like this…

In celiac disease, an alcohol-soluble wheat storage protein known as gliadin is partially degraded (i.e. deamidated) by the enzyme tissue transglutaminase, the effect of which is to activate susceptible host T-cells to mistakenly identify and attack intestinal villi as if they were ‘foreign’ invaders.  This highly destructive autoimmune process can be verified through blood tests, or through the so-called “gold standard” of an intestinal biopsy that clearly reveals destroyed villi and/or flattened intestinal surfaces, the hallmark pathology of celiac disease.

The reality, however, is that one does not need to be celiac, or have a particular genetic mutation, in order to experience damage associated with exposure to wheat gliadin.

In a study published in the journal GUT in 2007, a group of researchers asked the question: “Is gliadin really safe for non-celiac individuals?“  In order to test their hypothesis that an innate immune response to gliadin is common in both patients with celiac disease and without celiac disease, intestinal biopsy cultures were taken from both groups and challenged with crude gliadin, the gliadin synthetic 19-mer (19 amino acid long gliadin peptide) and 33-mer deamidated peptides.

Results showed that all patients with or without celiac disease, when challenged with the various forms of gliadin, produced an interleukin-15-mediated response. The researchers concluded:

“The data obtained in this pilot study supports the hypothesis that gluten elicits its harmful effect, throughout an IL15 innate immune response, on all individuals [my italics].”

The primary difference between the two groups is that the celiac disease patients experienced both an innate and an adaptive immune response to the gliadin, whereas the non-celiacs experienced only the innate response.

The researchers hypothesized that the difference between the two groups may be attributable to greater genetic susceptibility at the HLA-DQ gene locus (on chromosome 6) for triggering an adaptive immune response, higher levels of immune mediators or receptors, or perhaps greater permeability in the celiac intestine.

It is also possible that over and above the possibility of greater genetic susceptibility, most of the differences are from epigenetic factors that are influenced by the presence or absence of certain nutrients in the diet, bacterial strains within the gut flora, and environmental exposures, which include NSAID drugs like naproxen or aspirin which can profoundly increase intestinal permeability in the non-celiac, rendering them susceptible to gliadin’s potential for activating secondary adaptive immune responses.

This may explain why, in up to 5% of all cases of classically defined celiac disease, the typical HLA-DQ haplotypes are not found. However, determining the factors associated with greater or lesser degrees of susceptibility to gliadin’s intrinsically toxic effect should be secondary to the fact that it has been demonstrated to be toxic to both non-celiacs and celiacs.¹

In other words, rather than look up the adverse gut responses associated with wheat, and particularly, wheat gliadin, as being a rare genetically-based aberration, we may want to reconsider the common, culturally reinforced view that wheat is an intrinsically healthy food that only an ‘abnormal’ subset of the human population has an ‘unhealthy’ response to. To the contrary, perhaps the immunoreactive effects that wheat gliadin induces indicates that we have a human species-specific intolerance to this ‘food,’ and that rather than look at these adverse effects as being ‘unhealthy reactions to a healthy food,’ perhaps we should look at them as ‘healthy reactions to an intrinsically unhealthy (or metabolically incompatible) food.’

Ultimately, intestinal damage is only the tip of the so-called “celiac” or “non-celiac gluten sensitivity” icebergs. GreenMedInfo.com has indexed research from the National Library of Medicine on over 300 adverse health effects associated with wheat and/or wheat components. You can view the first-hand research here: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/wheat

Also, learn more about wheat’s adverse effects to gastrointestinal health by reading our recent article:Wheat As A Common Cause of Dyspepsia and IBS, and a broader perspective on the dangers of wheat in our essay ‘The Dark Side of Wheat.’

There’s a heightening level of awareness within the human race with regards to nature and all that is contained within it. Everything from the discoveries of the rudiments of language in monkeys, metacognition in dolphins, self-awareness of elephants, the ability for animals to tell “right” from “wrong”,

There’s a heightening level of awareness within the human race with regards to nature and all that is contained within it. Everything from the discoveries of the rudiments of language in monkeys, metacognition in dolphins, self-awareness of elephants, the ability for animals to tell “right” from “wrong”, to the creation and extension of the bills of rights for animals and plants by countries such as Switzerland and Ecuador, as well as the acknowledgment of dolphins as being non-human persons.

There’s a growing awareness by humanity that nature and its inhabitants are not as primitive and simple as it may have been believed to be the case in the past. With this growing awareness, comes growing understanding of the unity that humanity has with the environment within which it exists. This sense of unity with nature is not something new and indeed has been the primary position of awareness for many societies in existence before their industrialization.

In today’s post-modern societies, there is a resurgence of that connection with the biosphere and interconnected organism that is the planet and all that exists within its domain. As more discoveries are made, greater awareness shines down on humanity’s collective consciousness and thereby, allowing us to evolve the transpersonal consciousness to a level where the ego is no longer the dominator of the Self.

Science can be a wonderful thing. It can prove without a doubt what may have been suggested in times past, but was not completely understood as being the absolute truth, which always left a bit of doubt or confusion. However, with continuous scientific discoveries occurring all the time, it is of great fortune that we are able to attain substantial data and knowledge concerning the environment and all that it encompasses.

With these new discoveries, it is being quite apparent that humans have mistakenly been ignorant and arrogant concerning the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms with respect to their levels of sophistication, evolution, consciousness, and awareness. If we were to start looking at the mineral kingdom, much can be seen from recently-made discoveries.

Of course, there has been such an influx of findings that they would be able to fill up an entire book. However, just a few will be looked at in order to demonstrate the point at hand. All of the discoveries and findings mentioned within this article have been announced publicly within the last few years.

Rocks have been looked at as generally non-living, inanimate, unconscious, and completely devoid of any life-like characteristics, even though everything in nature possesses self-organization. However, stunning new evidence shows the incredible diversity of crystals and minerals after the rise of life on this planet and points to the reality that rocks, like plants and animals, have been evolving all this time, and we did not even realize it until now. This idea is being called “mineral evolution,” which is the concept that many of the our planet’s rocks, minerals and crystals are dynamic species which emerged and transformed over time.

Of course, the evolution of the mineral kingdom is not exactly the same as the evolution of the plant and animal kingdoms, since minerals do not mutate, reproduce or complete like other living organisms, at least to our knowledge. However, the vast variety and abundance of all the various minerals on Earth have changed quite dramatically over the 4.5+ billion years of Earth’s past. US geologist Robert Hazen, who led the research team for this finding, said that “for at least 2.5 billion years, and possibly since the emergence of life, Earth’s mineralogy has evolved in parallel with biology.”

This should not be too big of a surprise to us, however. It makes quite a bit of sense that evolution is all-encompassing…everything from our consciousness, to galaxies, to rocks. Everything is in a constant state of be-ing and become-ing, and the condition that the various aspects of Reality are static does not find much underlying evidence. It looks more and more as if Reality is dynamic and extropic in nature.

Stepping out of the mineral kingdom, we make our way to the plant kingdom. Although it has been known for quite some time that the rainforests of the world act as lungs for the planet, it has recently been discovered that they act as a heart as well. What this implies is that not only are rainforests giant carbon sinks of the planet (acting as lungs), but they may also be responsible for moving many of the weather patterns that we see all around the globe (just as the physical heart moves blood throughout the entire body).

The new study researching this subject suggests that rainforests, such as the ones in Africa and South America, create winds that circulate water around the planet. It is known that more than half the rainfall in rainforests evaporates and recirculates, which then keeps the upper air moist. New findings show that rainforests are also moving the air around them, which also has the effect of moving the water around.

It turns out that as important as plants and trees are to ensure that there is enough clean oxygen for all sentient beings on the plante to thrive and survive, they are now acknowledged as being even more important by affecting the very weather patterns of our biosphere.

Perhaps as a response to the various discoveries concerning the plant kingdom, there have been governments across the planet that have taken it upon themselves to become trailblazers in the area of plant and ecosystem rights. This higher awareness has been most recently demonstrated in the countries of Switzerland and Ecuador.

In the case of Switzerland, the Swiss Government’s Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology has come to the consensus that plants have rights and that they have to be treated appropriately. Making our way to Ecuador, we can see that the country has changed its constitution to say that nature has “the right to the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.” The basis of these rights “change the status of ecosystems from being regarded as property under the law to being recognized as rights-bearing entities.”

The idea of plants having a degree of consciousness is very well documented, and so it is not unreasonable for a government to come up with such a conclusion in respect to the plant kingdom. However, the perceptions of humans are not always quick to shift and change. It is demonstrations such as these which show that there is indeed a higher awareness being experienced by humanity with relation to its biosphere neighbors.

Emerging out of the plant kingdom and into the animal kingdom, a myriad of recent discoveries exemplify humanity’s growing awareness of the sophistication and higher level of be-ing at which animals exist. The latest and most well-known finding is concerning dolphins. Dolphins have been perceived as being very intelligent beings for at least several thousand years. In ancient Greece, it was punishable by death to kill or harm a dolphin.

Much mythology revolves around dolphins. However, concerning the scientific data being research and analyzed, it has been found without doubt that human language and dolphin movement patterns show similarities in brevity. The law of brevity in human language, according to which the most frequently-used words tend to be the shortest, extends to dolphins, as well as other animal species. It was observed that when dolphins move on the surface of the water, they tend to make the simplest movements, in the same way that humans tend to use words comprised of fewer letters when they are speaking or writing.

Perhaps it is discoveries such as these and others that are altering the positions of awareness that humanity has concerning dolphins to the point where they are being described by scientsts as being non-human persons and, as a result, should be treated as such. Dolphins are recognized as being the most intelligent beings on our planet, after humans. The signs are numerous, such as: the anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence; and studies showing that dolphins have distinct personalities, strong sense of self, and the ability to think about the future. Dolphins are also cultural animals, which means that new types of behavior can be quickly picked up by one dolphin from another.

More stunning research has discovered that dolphins, as well as other animals such as macaque monkeys, have shown to have conscious metacognition. There is a growing amount of evidence that animals share functional parallels with human conscious metacognition. Metacognition is essentially the ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate various states of mind, and, although this was once considered solely the domain of humans, it is now seen as evident in some animals as well. J. David Smith, Ph.D., a comparative psychologist who has conducted a study on this topic, has concluded that “metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds.”

Metacognition aside, animals are also now known to possess self-awareness. First seen in gorillas and then later in elephants and dolphins, self-awareness is no longer solely recognized as being the domain of the human being. When most animals see themselves in a mirror, they will interpret what they see as another animal, possibly a threat, and may attack the image or be scared away. After a while, the animals habituate and ignore the reflected image entirely. However, an animal that is self-aware will recognize the image as its own reflection, which is something that requires a degree of abstract thought and cognitive association.

As fascinating as these things may be, new research has discovered that several species of animals, such as monkeys, wolves, coyotes, elephants, chimpanzees, rodents, bats, and whales, have a sense of what is called “morality”, in that they are able to subjectively tell “right” from “wrong”. In a series of studies, scientists have found that monkeys and apes can make judgments about fairness, offer altruistic help and empathize when a fellow animal is ill or in a difficult situation. The existence of a conscience is also apparent, and remembering obligations also exists. Even when there is no obvious reward for an an altruistic action, chimpanzees were still observed as willing to help others. The conclusion of this observation led to the statement by one of the researchers that “chimpanzees spontaneously help both humans and each other in carefully controlled tests.”

Perhaps the most interesting point in this discovery is that everything else being equal, animals such as chimpanzees prefer to reward a companion together with themselves rather than just themselves alone. The act of giving by the monkeys is self-rewarding and can be said as being a demonstration of the interconnected consciousness of monkeys, just as humans, within their interconnected transpersonal consciousness, will experience the same effect. As the old adage goes: what you do to another, you do to/for yourself.

Language among animals is the one final demonstration, at least in this article, of the elevated level of consciousness and be-ing in other aspects of nature. It has been recently found that the rudiments of language exist among monkeys. Certain monkeys that have been studied have been seen to combine the same calls in different ways, using rules of grammar that turn sound into language. Alban Lemasson, a primatologist at the University of Rennes in France, has stated that “this is the first evidence we have in animal communication that they can combine, in a semantic way, different calls to create a new message.”

As it stands, it seems that humans are no longer the sole users of language in the sophisticated manner in which we use it. Although nowhere as complex as the syntax of human beings, monkey calls are more advanced and complex than we have ever previously been aware.

All these discoveries have occurred within a few years and are demonstrative of the incredibly accelerated rise in awareness that humanity is experiencing with respect to the level of consciousness of the various aspects of nature, as well as how primitive nature and all its various aspects seemed to be in times past. There is an awakening to a more intelligent nature than has ever been previously acknowledged. This is a step towards a new age in which humans and the rest of nature will hopefully have a more symbiotic and unifying relationship, and more respect will be given to the environment. Baby steps, for sure, but baby steps towards a positive future, nonetheless.

About the Author

Paul Lenda is a conscious evolution guide, author of The Creation of a Consciousness Shift, and co-founder of SHIFT>, a social community focused on anchoring in the new paradigm and assisting the positive transformation of humanity. With the drive to be aware of and experience the wider horizon of Reality, Paul has developed an extensive background in the spiritual and transformative elements of life; one that is both knowledge and experienced-based. Visit his website www.shift.is, follow him on Twitter or visit the Shift Facebook community.

Leading neuroscientists and Buddhists agree: “Consciousness is everywhere”

BY SAM LITTLEFAIR WALLACE| MARCH 23, 2016

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Neuroscientist Christof Koch discusses scientific theories of consciousness with the Dalai Lama.

New theories in neuroscience suggest consciousness is an intrinsic property of everything, just like gravity. That development opens a world of opportunity for collaboration between Buddhists and neuroscientists.

​”The heart of consciousness,” says neuroscientist Christof Koch, “is that it feels like something. How is it that a piece of matter, like my brain, can feel anything?”

In 2013, ​Koch, one of the world’s leading experts on consciousness, went to a monastery in India to discuss that question with a group of Buddhist monks. He and the Dalai Lama debated neuroscience and mind for a full day.

They had different approaches. Koch offered contemporary scientific theories on the subject, and His Holiness countered with ancient Buddhist teachings. Yet, at the end of their discussion, the two thinkers agreed on almost every point.

“What struck me most was his belief in what we in the West call ‘panpsychism’ — the belief that consciousness is everywhere,” says Koch. “And that we have to reduce the suffering of all conscious creatures.”

Panpsychism, the idea of universal consciousness, is a prominent thought in some branches of ancient Greek philosophy, paganism, and Buddhism. And it has been largely dismissed by modern science — until recently.

In his work on consciousness, Koch collaborates with a researcher named Giulio Tononi. Tononi is the father of the most popular modern theory of consciousness, called Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which Koch once called “the only really promising fundamental theory of consciousness.”

Tononi’s theory states that consciousness appears in physical systems that contain many different and highly interconnected pieces of information. Based on that hypothesis, consciousness can be measured as a theoretical quantity, which the researchers call phi.

Tononi has a test for measuring phi (the amount of consciousness) in a human brain. It is similar to ringing a bell; scientists send a magnetic pulse into a human brain and watch the pulse reverberate through the neurons — back and forth, side to side. The longer and clearer the reverberation, the higher the subject’s amount of consciousness. Using that test, Koch and Tononi can tell whether a patient is awake, asleep, or anesthetized.

There are already pressing and practical needs for a way to measure consciousness. Doctors and scientists could use phi to tell if a person in a vegetative state is effectively dead, how much awareness a person with dementia has, when a foetus develops consciousness, how much animals perceive, or even whether a computer can feel.

“That’s more urgent,” asserts Koch. “We’re witnessing the birth of computer intelligence. Is a machine conscious? Does it feel like anything? If it does, it may acquire legal rights, and I certainly have ethical obligations towards it. I can’t just turn it off or wipe its disc clean.”

Christof Koch speaking at TEDxRainier Seattle.

IIT also marries these practical applications with profound ideas. The theory says that any object with a phi greater than zero has consciousness. That would mean animals, plants, cells, bacteria, and maybe even protons are conscious beings.

Koch sees IIT as promising because it offers an understanding of panpsychism that fits into modern science. In an academic paper, Koch and Tononi make the profound statement that their theory “treats consciousness as an intrinsic, fundamental property of reality.”

Modern research and recent dialogues between Buddhists and scientists have focused mainly on understanding the physical brain. But scientists have barely begun to develop an understanding of mind — or consciousness — itself.

On the Buddhist side, however, this is a discussion that has been going on for thousands of years. Buddhism associates mind with sentience. The late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche stated that while mind, along with all objects, is empty, unlike most objects, it is also luminous. In a similar vein, IIT says consciousness is an intrinsic quality of everything yet only appears significantly in certain conditions — like how everything has mass, but only large objects have noticeable gravity.

In his major work, the Shobogenzo, Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism, went so far as to say, “All is sentient being.” Grass, trees, land, sun, moon and stars are all mind, wrote Dogen.

Koch, who became interested in Buddhism in college, says that his personal worldview has come to overlap with the Buddhist teachings on non-self, impermanence, atheism, and panpsychism. His interest in Buddhism, he says, represents a significant shift from his Roman Catholic upbringing. When he started studying consciousness — working with Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick — Koch believed that the only explanation for experience would have to invoke God. But, instead of affirming religion, Koch and Crick together established consciousness as a respected branch of neuroscience and invited Buddhist teachers into the discussion.

At Drepung Monastery, the Dalai Lama told Koch that the Buddha taught that sentience is everywhere at varying levels, and that humans should have compassion for all sentient beings. Until that point, Koch hadn’t appreciated the weight of his philosophy.

“I was confronted with the Buddhist teaching that sentience is probably everywhere at varying levels, and that inspired me to take the consequences of this theory seriously,” says Koch. “When I see insects in my home, I don’t kill them.”

The theory of IIT shows promise for the future. With more research, Koch and Tononi could better test consciousness, to prove scientifically that all beings are sentient. Meanwhile, Buddhists around the world are constantly working to develop an understanding of the mind. Traleg Rinpoche said that analytical methods can only go so far toward understanding the mind. Instead, he says, by resting his or her mind and contemplating it, a meditator can develop an understanding of the nature of mind and how it relates to everything else.

Critics of IIT argue that the theory fails to explain where consciousness comes from. Science writer John Horgan argues, “you can’t explain consciousness by saying it consists of information, because information exists only relative to consciousness.”

Understanding the source of consciousness is an extremely difficult hurdle, but Koch is up to it. He says that his ultimate goal is to understand the universe. Some say that the best way to do that is to look inside your own mind. Maybe Koch is on to something.

ALOE VERA --- comes with a wide array of amazing healing properties

immortality and to Native Americans as the wand of heaven, aloe vera comes with a wide array of amazing healing properties — some of which you may already be aware. You might even have your own aloe vera plant in your home for those small emergencies like scrapes, cuts, and burns, but did you know that aloe vera is not only limited to topical use and is actually even more beneficial to your body when taken internally?

Aloe vera contains over 200 biologically active, naturally occurring constituents which include polysaccharides, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and minerals that promote nutrient absorption.

According to The Journal of Environmental Science and Health, aloe vera also possesses anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties that assist the immune system in cleansing the body of toxins and invading pathogens. But that isn’t all aloe vera juice/gel has to offer.[1]

Minerals

Aloe vera has loads of minerals including calcium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium, sodium, iron, potassium, copper, and manganese. These minerals work together to boost metabolic pathways.

Enzymes

Aloe Vera contains important enzymes like amylase and lipase which can aid in digestion by breaking down fat and sugar molecules. One molecule in particular, Bradykinase, helps to reduce inflammation.

Vitamins

One study  showed that aloe vera actually contains vitamin B12, which is required for the production of red blood cells. That would be great news for vegetarians and vegans in particular, who often do not get adequate amounts of B12 through their regular diet. Keep in mind however, that was just one instance and you shouldn’t rely on aloe alone for your daily requirements of b12. Other studies have shown that taking aloe can assist with the bioavailability of vitamin B12, meaning the body can more easily to absorb and utilize it which can prevent deficiency. Aloe vera is also a source of vitamins A, C,E, folic acid, choline, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), and B6.

Amino Acids

Aloe vera contains 20 of the 22 essential amino acids that are required by the human body. It also contains salicylic acid, which fights inflammation and bacteria.

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Other Uses For Aloe

Aside from being an excellent body cleanser, removing toxic matter from the stomach, kidneys, spleen, bladder, liver, and colon, aloe can also offer effective relief from more immediate ailments, such as indigestion, upset stomach, ulcers, and inflammation in the gut. It also strengthens the digestive tract and alleviates joint inflammation, making it a great option for arthritis sufferers.

One study found that aloe vera juice, when taken the same way as a mouthwash, was just as effective at removing plaque as the common mouthwash and its active ingredient, chlorhexidine. This is a much better alternative because it is all-natural, unlike the typical chemical-laden options found in stores.

Aloe vera gel has also been found to effectively heal mouth ulcers, which are more commonly known as canker sores.

How To Take Aloe?

Aloe can be consumed straight from the plant, but the easiest and most palatable option is probably aloe juice, which you can find in most health food stores. You can also buy the leaves from many common grocery stores, or harvest your own, and juice them yourself.

You can buy the juice and mix it into your juices and smoothies or just drink it straight up. Make sure you are buying pure aloe juice/gel which is either of the whole leaf or just the inner filet. It does have a somewhat bitter taste though, so you may want to include other things. On the bottle you can find specific dosing instructions, but it would be wise to talk to a natural health expert or do some research into the matter to find instructions on specific dosing.

JJASPER JOHN'S "TARGET " Paintings short blurb.....

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The image of the target emerges in Johns work in 1955, in paintings that incorporate frieze like arrangements of plaster casts taken from parts of the body. Target with Four Faces is one of the serie paintings and drawings of the target image from 1958 to 1961. Each of these Target paintings by Johns features a depiction of an actual target that is, for all practical purposes, utterly interchangeable with the real thing. Yet unlike the flag or the number, which are also familiar images from this period of the artist's career, the flat target is simultaneously representational and abstract (a number or a flag can never be divorced from its status as a familiar sign). This makes the target susceptible to other ambiguities. Targets imply, or are instruments of, seeing across space (and seeing as an act of potential violence). But the optical nature of the concentric bands can also be understood to figure distraction rather than focus, something that is also suggested by the mechanical action of a rotating compass by which the image of a target is produced. 

Johns' targets ideas suggested by the early flags, but more abstractly. An American flag is always the same while a target can be any number of things - all that unites targets is a common format of concentric circles. A flag is bound to one nations; a target is universal. The colors of the flag are fixed; in the target, they need only be contrasting. 

The target also focuses attention on the theme of viewing. the contrasting circles of the target are meant to aid distant vision; the target is something to see clearly, to aim at. This makes the target a true visual display - it has no other purpose, no other reason for existence. 

But in his target paintings, Johns went beyond any simple treatment of targets as a symbol. In Target with Four Faces cut-off plaster casts stand above the target surface. The faces are all from th same woman, cast serially. In each successive casting, the woman was more relaxed and the mouth more open. Johns originally intended to arrange the casts in the order they were made, but he was obliged to rearrange the casts so that there was no sense of a progression, of "a mouth about to speak," which he did not wan