January 6, 2013

Learned Social Classism, Is Working Even Ethical?

As explained in the article Learning Careerism As A Moral Reward System; our society, specifically our education system teaches and prepared us for a careerist lifestyle. Or simply put, working for money is considered success in our societies.

But not only does it teach us to work for currency. Just as we are put down in school for having poor grades, in society we are put down and even ridiculed, almost as criminals, for having low paid jobs, and even more so for having no paid job at all.

This video shows how people are eager to help someone until people assume they are homeless, and that the homeless are also more eager to help people in need:

We live in a society where those with the most important jobs to our survival work long hours, often physically tiring and are not paid very much. There are only a few kinds of workers that we really need, farmers/food producers, construction/manufacturers, delivery, maintenance/repair, and public services such as hospital workers and good police.

As time goes on there is more automation, so there are less jobs available but more people and so more food, building, maintenance, healthcare, and so on is required. However farmers are being paid less as time goes on, many selling their farms to get a different job, as their valuable work doesn’t even pay the bills. Construction workers, store workers, repair services and delivery are often paid low or minimum wage. Construction or farm work is much physically harder than sitting in an office trading stocks, yet those people are praised because they make more money.

There are often stories of fire-fighters and medical workers on strike because they are on a low wage or have poor quality working conditions, but these are the true heroes of our society, these people save us from death. Farmers, medical workers and fire-fighters should be the highest rewarded and praised workers of society, not some of the least.

We should also give more credit to those who are building and maintaining places for us to live comfortably in.

It is shameful that the harder a job is, the less money the workers will make, and those who make the most money in society actually have the easier jobs and often work the least.

In our society even these workers that we require for survival are not made a priority, money is. We are taught that if we work hard we can get a good job, and a good job pays well, most people still believe this and look up to those with ‘well-paid’ jobs and look down on those with a low paid job or those who are considered poor.

The truth is that in almost all cases the LESS-ethical the persons job, the more money they will earn. We could consider the most ethical of all work to be charity work, helping those with less, yet most of this work is either volunteer work or paid minimum wage. Those without jobs at all are looked down on, even when they volunteer to do charity work. Looked down on by those who mess around with numbers to make bigger numbers (trading stocks and shares), or managers; people who make sure that other people work so that they can take a larger cut.

Our parents tried to teach us good ethics and morals, but then they told us to obey at school, which taught us that these twisted careerist ideologies were moral and ethical.

Those without any paid employment, often also without any debt are sometimes homeless, and our society also tells us that they are homeless because they are drug addicts or alcoholics, and therefore we should not help them, even though many of these people are not drug-addicts or alcoholics, and if they are, it is often a sickness that is created by the world they live in, they simply didn’t have enough money or got kicked out by an ex-partner. Relationship breakdown and illness can happen to anyone.

So we have those who work very unethical jobs making ridiculously high amounts of money, those looked down on for having low paid work, even though it is physically more productive, those who are ridiculed for not having a ‘paid’ job or claiming some kind of state benefit, and then the homeless who cannot even apply for many kinds of state benefits or most jobs because they cannot complete the forms without a valid address, and often an email address or phone number; sometimes even the phone number must be a landline number, and of course to apply for a job most of the time these days a printed Résumé/CV is required.

Amnesty international reported that approximately 3.5 million people in the U.S. are homeless, many of them veterans. It is worth noting that, at the same time, there are 18.5 million vacant homes in the country.

AP also reports that nearly 1 in 2 Americans have fallen into poverty.

CBS News reports that “According to a new report out this past week, poverty in America has reached its highest level since 1965″.

So as a whole this brings up a question, apart from a few specific careers, is paid work ethical? How many ethical jobs do you know that are helping people to survive or live comfortably and are not profiting some corporation, or share holders, sat back, relaxing, watching the money you make entering their bank accounts.

When we do get paid, a high percentage of that money gets cut to go to government as income tax, however we give them another chunk of money from VAT, another tax, then depending on where you live there are multiple other taxes such as state tax, council tax, road tax, import tax, property tax, inheritance tax, and so on…

Click for larger image

Learning Careerism As A Moral Reward System

The concepts of consumerism and careerism are predominant in first world countries, and are increasing in countries with less “advanced” economies too, but why?

The definition of careerism or a careerist is “the characteristics associated with one who advances his career even at the expense of his pride and dignity.” Simply looking at this definition, many of us instantly assume ‘it has nothing to do with my career’.

Image source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026998/Parents-told-attend-Maths-lessons-children-improve-primary-results.html

As a child we are brought up by our parents or carers, usually with a mixture of two learning methodologies, the first of which is a reward based learning system, where a child is rewarded for doing good and importantly, doing as they are told. The second is the opposite side of the same coin, a punishment based system, punished for disobeying and for doing bad. In general parents try to give children the best morals and ethics that they are able to comprehend for themselves.

Image source: https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/27/florida-education-model-reform

However that same parent then tells the child to do as they are told at school. The child goes to school and learns a very systematic, rigid and standardised education without much flexibility, creativity, play, freedom, and importantly, without parental guidance. Parents tend to assume that the governments education programmes have our children’s futures and interests at heart, usually the teachers also believe this.

When we reach 11/12 in the USA people are moved from Elementary school to Middle School, until 14/15 where people are moved to High School. Typically in the UK children go to Secondary School from 10/11/12 until 15/16, why change schools, and why between 10 and 12?

Some school uniforms also represent “smart” worker clothing. (Image from: https://www.theuniformshoponline.co.uk/secondary-school-uniforms.php)

Puberty, during this time of questioning, rebelling against our parents as authority figures to find our own path, we are given alternative answers by our new schools. A lot of these school changes are careerist ideologies, once we reach these ages we are taught that we need to get the grades to get a job because having a job is successful; the better the grades the better the career and pay, right?

In the USA this is pushed even farther as children must pass tests to even get to the next grade/school year, a very early way of learning a careerist promotion based system and also something that appears to be non-optional. Those who do not follow these rules are ridiculed as they are held back, just as people in society are ridiculed for having a low paid job or no job at all.

The poor or jobless considered by many of the rich, the media and the government to be worthless people of society that do not deserve, because they haven’t worked enough.. Even when these people volunteer to do charitable work they are perceived as some kind of hippie scum.

It’s important to note that government taxes and bank’s debt interest are two other ways of getting something without working for it.

Monopoly Money

All along our parents tried to teach us good morals and ethics; what is good and what is bad. Schooling takes over and teaches us that more obeying and work is good, and anything else is bad. By the time we leave school we have learned that working is good and money is a replacement of our parents reward based system.

There’s no longer a reward based system for doing good, now there is only a reward based system of working for currency by obeying. Numbers printed on paper or a computer screen. This is now where our morals are firmly based in society.

Continues to: Learned Social Classism, Is Working Even Ethical?

Do You Still Believe Fluoride Is Good For Our Teeth? Read This!

This topic has become so big in recent years that it probably isn’t necessary to state this, but for those that are new to the subject, here goes!

The fluoride used in dental practices and in our water supply is not a chemical made in a laboratory and approved as a safe drug. To understand fluoride further, we can look at it scientifically; technically the name fluoride is scientifically inaccurate. Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound in nature but is not safe for humans in high dosages.

What must now be understood is when we are speaking about Fluoride from here on in this article, is that we are not just talking about a naturally occurring compound, nor is that compound good for our teeth. We are referring to a chemical mixture that is sold under the name of Fluoride that contains a wide array of chemicals, putting this substance in category four of hazardous materials. This is the highest and most dangerous rating a substance can receive. The substance labeled “Fluoride” that we use in dental practices, toothpaste and water fluoridation is the hazardous waste substances caught in the wet scrubbers of the phosphorus industries.

This extremely toxic, hazardous chemical is illegal to dump and would cost companies a hefty price tag to properly dispose of, instead they are SOLD to cities and towns where they are then dumped into water supplies, legally.

Fluoride in our water and its actual chemical content is like many other shocking revelations that no one believed until it became a known fact that we were all being lied to and fooled for so long. It’s only a matter of time until it becomes common knowledge that the use of fluoride is doing nothing more than poisoning our bodies.

Facts:

Note: If these facts challenge your current beliefs on fluoride, then do research about this to see what resonates most. These facts have become very clear, are well documented and now scientifically proven.

The chemical names of the main substances used in fluoridation practices are hexafluorosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride, often referred to as sodium fluoride.

It is illegal to dump the hazardous fluoride waste products hexafluorosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride into water streams or rivers, it is even considered an act of terrorism to do so, yet it is legal and accepted as safe practice to add it to many of our water supplies under the guise that it is helping with dental hygiene. This theory of helping with dental hygiene is built off of assumptions.

Roughly 99% of the water pumped through municipalities is not consumed through the mouth; most is used for showering, water crops and washing clothes. Given these facts, most of it ends up in streams, rivers and oceans where this hazardous waste is destroying and contaminating our environment. And what is consumed by us does nothing more than harm our bodies.

24 studies have shown a link between fluoride exposure and the lowering of IQ levels. When you really think about it though, is it all that surprising that brain function is hindered by the consumption of an extremely hazardous waste product?

Fluoride is an unapproved drug being used in a highly illegal mass medication scheme. Adding fluoride to the water supply is said to be voluntary for municipalities but the people never get a vote. The drug has not been approved by any drug agency and no one has been assessed for prescriptions.

Fluoride is so toxic and dangerous that it has the ability to eat through metal and concrete. A fluoride spill requires the use of hazmat suits to clean up.

Photographs of Dental Fluorosis by Dr. Hardy Limeback and Dr. Iain Pretty, et al.

Water fluoridation is nothing more than the dumping of industries hazardous waste into people and our environment to avoid having to pay to dispose of the waste. In fact they make a profit instead.

Drinking fluoridated water has never been scientifically proven to reduce tooth decay.

Research has found that fluoride affects normal endocrine function, causes kidney disease, bone weakness, dental fluorosis, cancer, lowering of IQ, calcification of the pineal gland, arthritis, immune deficiencies, skeletal fluorosis and much more.

Below is a video showing hidden camera images inside a fluoride facility.

What Can We Do?

Stop drinking fluoridated water. Use a filtration system in your home that filters out fluoride. Most filters can also remove chlorine which is another harmful chemical.

Educate your doctors and dentists about where fluoride really comes from; the majority of the time those professionals are not trying to hurt you they just don’t know the truth behind the substance. They are limited to what their education taught them and unfortunately the education system is funded and controlled by the companies who benefit from this.

Spread this information with others and your city politicians to put an end to water fluoridation. Be neutral and open as you talk about this information with them so they will take you seriously; too often anger of the issue makes it seem like it’s not something worth looking into.

Watch and share this documentary about fluoride.

Sources:

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/08/04/do-you-still-believe-fluoride-is-good-for-our-teeth-read-this/

https://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/health/

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/11/toxic-fluoride-contaminates-iceland-volcanic-ash-and-is-killing-animals.aspx

https://www.naturalnews.com/030952_CDC_fluoride.html

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/02/05/is-your-dentist-drilling-for-dollars.aspx

https://www.greenfacts.org/en/fluoride/index.htm

https://www.fluoridealert.org/articles/50-reasons/

https://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/water/

https://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/dental-products/

https://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/fluorosis/

https://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/caries/

https://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/sources/

Genetically Altering Unborn Babies Personalities A Moral Obligation says Oxford Professor

Genetically screening our offspring to make them better people is just “responsible parenting”, claims an eminent Oxford academic, The Telegraph reports.

Professor Julian Savulescu, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics said that creating so-called designer babies could be considered a “moral obligation” as it makes them grow up into “ethically better children”, this based on a few genetic links to ‘personality disorders’.

He said that we should actively give parents the choice to screen out personality flaws in their children as it meant they were then less likely to “harm themselves and others”.

Studies show that the child’s upbringing, including parenthood and
schooling methods are the root causes of many ‘personality flaws’. Other studies give strong evidence that nutrition, meditation and exercise greatly influence behavioural patterns and emotional well-being. This entire theory is also blind to the side effects of many medicines, vaccines, food additives and (some) GMO foods that have been proven to affect psychological behaviour, and this isn’t even touching on the possible beneficial use of marijuana and other substances for those with undesired personality traits.

“Surely trying to ensure that your children have the best, or a good enough, opportunity for a great life is responsible parenting?” wrote Prof Savulescu, the Uehiro Professor in practical ethics. Clearly without thinking of the potentially worse side effects of this theoretical treatment.

Professor Savulescu goes on to say that science is increasingly discovering that genes have a significant influence on personality — with certain genetic markers in embryo suggesting future characteristics.

In the end, he said, “rational design” would help lead to a better, more intelligent and less violent society in the future. Definitely something westernised nations will be pushing for - obedience.

Indeed, when it comes to screening out personality flaws, such as potential alcoholism, psychopathy and disposition to violence, you could argue that people have a moral obligation to select ethically better children. They are, after all, less likely to harm themselves and others.

He said that “we already routinely screen embryos and foetuses for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Down’s syndrome and couples can test embryos for inherited bowel and breast cancer genes. Rational design is just a natural extension of this”. ”Natural extension” he said.

He said that unlike the eugenics movements, which fell out of favour when it was adopted by the Nazis, the system would be voluntary and allow parents to choose the characteristics of their children.

Many human genes have also been patented which raises huge ethical questions, as explained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

A 2005 study found that 4,382 of the 23,688 human genes in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s gene database are explicitly claimed as intellectual property. This means that nearly 20% of human genes are patented.

Prof Savulescu:

Whether we like it or not, the future of humanity is in our hands now. Rather than fearing genetics, we should embrace it. We can do better than chance.

This type of genetic modification, called cytoplasmic transfer already results in a slightly higher chance of death and some have already been diagnosed with autism.

It seems that while we do not have freedom to smoke a plant or to gain access to effective cancer treating drugs such as DCA due to insufficient testing, the modification of the human species is taken lightly. Who knows what purposeful and accidental modifications will come from this.

Sources:

Genetically engineering ‘ethical’ babies is a moral obligation, says Oxford professor - https://www.kurzweilai.net/genetically-engineering-ethical-babies-is-a-moral-obligation-says-oxford-professor

Genetically engineering ‘ethical’ babies is a moral obligation, says Oxford professor - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9480372/Genetically-engineering-ethical-babies-is-a-moral-obligation-says-Oxford-professor.html

DNA From Three Parents Okay, Genetically Modified Babies Are Ethical Says British Council - https://www.pakalertpress.com/2012/07/07/dna-from-three-parents-okay-genetically-modified-babies-are-ethical-says-british-council

Mitochondrial DNA disorders Introduction - https://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/mitochondrial-dna-disorders/mitochondrial-dna-disorders-introduction

Julian Savulescu - https://www.neuroethics.ox.ac.uk/our_members/julian_savulescu

Preventing mitochondrial disease - an explanation - Newcastle University - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za6pTxcFdvg

Fertility breakthrough for inherited mitochondrial disease (HD) | A film by the Wellcome Trust - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wFn9Oj4u2E

9 Ways Exercise Can Make You Feel Better - https://www.fitwatch.com/weight-loss/9-ways-exercise-can-make-you-feel-better-605.html

Exercise and Stress Relief - https://exercise.about.com/od/healthinjuries/a/stressrelief.htm

Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity - https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676

Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms - https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043

Personality Development - https://www.indiaparenting.net/person-develop.asp

Effects of parent personality, upbringing, and marijuana use on the parent-child attachment relationship. - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10673836

Nutritional Influences on Aggressive Behavior - https://orthomolecular.org/library/articles/webach.shtml

Dr Russell Blaylock Nutrition and Behavior Aspartame MSG - https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2963728494205235281

Dr. Russell Blaylock: Fluoride’s Deadly Secret - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie6gJHqkSgc

The Links Between Diet and Behaviour - https://www.foodforthebrain.org/content.asp?id_Content=1767

The Links Between Diet and Behaviour. (PDF) - https://www.foodforthebrain.org/download.asp?id_Doc=96

Vaccines Will Soon Be Used to Control Behavior - https://www.gaia-health.com/articles451/000478-vaccines-behavior.shtml

Leaked Pentagon Video - Flu Vaccine Use to Modify Human Behavior - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MuXgpl2Sxg

Vaccination and Social Violence - https://www.whale.to/vaccines/coulter5.html

Vaccination and Violent Crime - https://www.whale.to/vaccines/coulter6.html

THE BRAINS OF THE INOCULATED - https://www.whale.to/vaccines/loat1.html

BEHAVIOURAL FACTORS IN IMMUNIZATION (PDF) - https://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/28.pdf

GM Foods are Harming our Kids - https://healthandwealthcentre.com/gm-foods-are-harming-our-kids.html

Removing junk food (and GMOs) improved children’s behavior - https://www.naturalhealth365.com/food/junk-food-and-gmo.html

World’s first genetically modified babies born - https://weirdworldnews.org/2012/07/13/worlds-first-genetically-modified-babies-born/

Dozens of Genetically Modified Babies Already Born - How Will They Alter Human Species? - https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/17/first-genetically-modified-babies-born.aspx

Meditation improves emotional behaviour - https://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-13/fitness/31254064_1_meditation-practices-behaviour

DCA - Cancer Cure Discovered - But YOU can’t have it…. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXH-TJYS5w

8 Eye Opening Reasons to Not Drink Diet Soda

Written by Joe M, edited by Aaron Jackson

Someone orders a meal of food that is loaded with calories, fat, and salt and right at the end they opt for the diet pop; I always get a kick out of that one. If only they realized they were probably doing more harm with the diet pop than if they stuck with just regular. Obviously the best is to avoid those types of drinks all together! Here are a number of reasons why diet pop/soda is not something you want to be consuming.

1. Neurotoxic

While artificial sweeteners may be a zero calorie alternatives to sugar, they are in no way healthier. Diet sodas may use a variety of artificial sweeteners in place of sugar, such as aspartame, which acts as a neurotoxin.

Also known as NutraSweet, Aspartame originally received FDA approval for use in carbonated beverages in1983, and it still remains the most commonly used sweetener in diet soda. Annually, reactions to aspartame result for a majority of the adverse reaction reports made to the food and drug administration.

Made from L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanyl-methyl-ester, Sspartame is 200 times as sweet as sugar and contains negligible calories. Once in the human body, aspartame breaks down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Methanol is a wood alcohol poison that, when heated above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (the human body temperature is 98.6 degrees), converts to formaldehyde. Aspartame is also an excitotoxin that builds up in the brain, and can excite brain neurons to the point of cell death.

2: Causes Headaches and Other Symptoms

Another artificial sweetener commonly used in diet sodas, Sucralose, may cause a host of health problems including headaches.

Made from a modified sugar molecule, Sucralose is supposed to pass through the body unabsorbed. Because Sucralose is still relatively new in the market, its long-term effects have not been measured. Some evidence suggests Sucralose may cause migraines, gastrointestinal issues, and thymus gland damage. Sucralose may also intensify sugar cravings, increase appetite, and trigger insulin release.

3: Acidifying

Soda is made up of a number of acidic chemicals. It is one of the most acidic substances humans ingest. The acids in diet soda demineralize the bones and teeth, and can lead to fractures and osteoporosis. Acid in the body also can lead to a number of health conditions such as inflammation and corrosion of body tissue. When your body is overly acidic your skin will not be as beautiful or youthful, it will contribute to aging.

4: Caffeinated

Many diet sodas contain caffeine, which is an artificial stimulant and an addictive substance. Caffeine also excessively taxes the liver and can hamper its ability to cleanse and filter toxins from the body. Additionally, caffeine can trigger stress hormones, which can result in chronic stress and weight gain. Caffeine is also a diuretic, which dehydrates the body. It’s best to avoid caffeine in all its forms, particularly diet soda.

5: Increases Risk of Obesity

Studies show that although diet soda has no caloric value (or not much), it may have an impact on insulin similar to sugar ingestion. This is most likely due to the cephalic phase insulin response in the brain. When you taste the sweeteners in diet soda, your body perceives it as sugar and causes the pancreas to release insulin just as it would if you were consuming actual sugar.

Some studies show that drinking diet soda may increase the incidence of obesity and/or prevent you from losing weight. In fact, researchers at the University of Texas Health Center made some startling findings when testing the link between obesity and diet soda.

Obesity risk increased as followed:

26.5 percent for people drinking up to ½ can of diet soda per day, and 24 percent for regular soda drinkers consuming up to one can per day,
54.5 percent for one to two cans of diet soda per day as opposed to 32.8 percent for those drinking the same amount of regular soda,
57.1 percent for people drinking more than two cans of diet soda per day as opposed to 47.2 percent for people drinking the same amount of regular soda.

In other words, diet soda consumption had a higher correlation with obesity rates than consumption of caloric soda containing sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.

6: Increases Toxic Load

There’s not a lot that’s natural in diet soda. Here are just a few of the ingredients you may find:

Carbonated water
Artificial coloring
Phosphoric acid
Potassium benzoate
Citric acid

Doesn’t sound so delicious and healthy, does it! It sounds nasty, and that is because it is indeed a nasty product. Diet soda places a significant toxic load on your liver and can contribute to toxic sludge in your intestines. You are much better off drinking pure, filtered, non-tap water.

7: Increases Risk of Heart Disease

A study at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine showed that people who drank diet soda daily had a 61 percent increased risk of a cardiovascular event. The study followed more than 2,500 participants for about nine years, during which 559 vascular events occurred. Even accounting for age and other risk factors, the risk with diet soda consumption appeared to be at least 48 percent higher. With that kind of risk, why take a chance on diet soda?

8: May Contribute to Metabolic Syndrome

A study at University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health in 2008 linked diet soda to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of metabolic disorders including obesity, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides and hormone resistance. According to the study, consuming diet soda increased the risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 34 percent, which was higher than the elevated risk from consuming two other unhealthy types of foods – meat (26 percent increased risk), and fried foods (25 percent increased risk).

So there you have it, another item that if we chose to remove from our diet we would see drastic changes in our overall health. Just the Aspartame reason alone should be enough to remove anything containing Aspartame from our diet.

Harvard Creates Cyborg Flesh That’s Half Man, Half Machine

Originally posted by Sebastian Anthony on ExtremeTech.com, August 29, 2012

Bioengineers at Harvard University have created the first examples of cyborg tissue: Neurons, heart cells, muscle, and blood vessels that are interwoven by nanowires and transistors.

These cyborg tissues are half living cells, half electronics. As far as the cells are concerned, they’re just normal cells that behave normally — but the electronic side actually acts as a sensor network, allowing a computer to interface directly with the cells. In the case of cyborg heart tissue, the researchers have already used the embedded nanowires to measure the contractions (heart rate) of the cells.

To create cyborg flesh, you start with a three-dimensional scaffold that encourages cells to grow around them. These scaffolds are generally made of collagen, which makes up the connective tissue in almost every animal. The Harvard engineers basically took normal collagen, and wove nanowires and transistors into the matrix to create nanoelectric scaffolds (nanoES). The neurons, heart cells, muscle, and blood vessels were then grown as normal, creating cyborg tissue with a built-in sensor network.

Cardiac cells, with a nanoelectroic electrode highlighted. Extremetech.com

So far the Havard team has mostly grown rat tissues, but they have also succeeded in growing a 1.5-centimeter (0.6in) cyborg human blood vessel. They’ve also only used the nanoelectric scaffolds to read data from the cells — but according to lead researcher Charles Lieber, the next step is to find a way of talking to the individual cells, to “wire up tissue and communicate with it in the same way a biological system does.”

Suffice it to say, if you can use a digital computer to read and write data to your body’s cells, there are some awesome applications. If you need a quick jolt of adrenaline, you would simply tap a button on your smartphone, which is directly connected to your sympathetic nervous system. You could augment your existing physiology with patches — a patch of nanoelectric heart cells, for example, that integrates with your heart and reports back if you experience any problems. When we eventually put nanobots into our bloodstream, small pulses of electricity emitted by the cells could be used as guidance to damaged areas. In the case of blood vessels and other organs, the nanoelectric sensor network could detect if there’s inflammation, blockage, or tumors.

A computer chip, containing a sample of nanoES tissue. Extremetech.com

Realistically, though, we’re a long way away from such applications. In the short term, though, these cyborg tissues could be used to create very accurate organs-on-a-chip — lab-grown human organs that are encased within computer chips and then used to test drugs or substance toxicity, without harming a single bunny or bonobo.

Source: https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/135207-harvard-creates-cyborg-flesh-thats-half-man-half-machine

New Wind Turbine Makes Drinking Water

Originally posted by Neal Colgrass on Newser.com, August 26, 2012

Eole Water

A French inventor may have an answer for the millions of people who scramble to find fresh drinking water each day: a wind turbine that literally pulls H2O from the air. Marc Parent, head of Eoie Water, designed the turbine while living in the Caribbean and enduring water shortages. His solution is called the WMS1000, which gathers moisture from the air and turns it into drinking water, ABC News reports. On average, each unit creates over 62 liters per hour when the temperature is 75 Fahrenheit with 45% humidity, according to the company website.

“Let me highlight this word: CREATE,” says Eole Water executive Thibault Janin. “All existing solutions (wells, desalination, lakes/rivers pumping, etc) only treat an existing source of water.” He adds that the world’s water scarcity will affect more than the 150 million possible WMS1000 customers; household water needs are also growing, so Eole Water is seeking other solutions—especially affordable ones. Once testing is complete, each WMS1000 should cost $600,000 and last for 20 years.

Source: https://www.newser.com/story/152849/new-wind-turbine-makes-drinking-water.html

Giant Mega Corporation, URS Corporation, Runs Monsanto’s World HQ, Trains Troops

Special Thanks to the team at Exposing The Truth for compiling information

Monsanto’s World HQ in St. Louis, Missouri - from urscorp.com

I did a search for Monsanto’s World HQ and came upon this page.

“URS provides complete facilities management services in support of Monsanto’s world headquarters.” They (URS Corporation) have a network of offices in nearly 50 countries and provide national, state and local government services to a myriad of countries, as well as private sector services worldwide.

Who is URS Corporation?

They build weapons and train troops. “URS manages and operates government installations, military bases and laboratories.”

They help run Kennedy Space Center, where NASA is based, and work with Kennedy to “develop and execute the ‘Master Plan.’” Recently a new master plan was developed in which it was decided that NASA will sell in to the private sector.

According to Trey Carlson, Master Planner for Kennedy Space Center, one of the themes of the new “Future Development Concept” is “to adopt new business practices allowing companies and outside organizations to make investments in the center to operate their enterprises.”

“It is very challenging making the transition from a government program focused primarily on a single crewed spacecraft to a multiuser program.”

An artist rendering of the new headquarters building for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. - nasa.gov

According to URS Corporation, they “provide vital services for every facet of daily operations at the Kennedy Space Center.”

As one of the goals of the new plan is “to build new facilities that are economically and environmentally sustainable,” it would stand to reason that URS Corporation are involved in that facet.

They are “one of the largest contractors serving the food, beverage and consumer products industries and have engineered and constructed more pulp and paper mill facilities than any other contractor.” They constructed the Hoover Dam in the 1930′s.

“Through a joint venture with Alberici Constructors, URS is building one of the world’s largest cement plants for Holcim (US) Inc.”

They “are one of the few companies globally that offer wholly integrated services spanning the full project life cycle for the mining industry” and “are the only North American contractor—and one of only four globally—to offer operations and maintenance services.”

They “have engineered more than 250,000 megawatts of electricity worldwide—more than any other contractor and equivalent to almost one-fourth of the current generating capacity in the United States. ”

“URS has provided planning, engineering or construction services for virtually every nuclear power plant operating in the United States today”

In regards to fossil fuels, they have “experience in dealing with all major suppliers in this industry.”

On oil, they “are a leading provider of design, construction and production services across the upstream, midstream and downstream supply chain” (That’s drilling, pipe-lining and refining). Since purchasing Flint Energy Services (now URS Flint) for $1.25 billion in February of 2012, they now service ” every major active North American oil and gas basin.”

They have ” longstanding relationships with the world’s leading petrochemical and specialty chemical companies.”

They “operate approximately 300 miles of toll roads in the United States” and “have design and construction experience on every type of highway, bridge, tunnel and interchange.”

They were responsible for the “Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit project—the first design-build-operate-maintain transit project in the United States” in which they “are now providing operations and maintenance under a 20-year contract.” Upon further exploration, I noticed the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail is actually operated by 21st Century Rail Corporation. Then I noticed that the $1.9 billion 20 year contract was actually awarded to 21st Century Rail Corporation. THEN I noticed that 21st Century Rail Corporation is a “team led by URS.” So if URS Corporation has the 20 year contract, but 21st Century Rail Corporation has the contract, wouldn’t it mean URS Corporation is 21st Century Rail Corporation? How many other corporations are also URS Corporation?

It is more involved than that, though. URS Corporation “supoprts a wide range of complex, multiyear programs at U.S. Department of Defense and other government facilities throughout the world,” among which include “the renovation of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. and the prototype design for all future U.S. embassies.”

“Since 1986, URS has trained over 20,000 student pilots at the U.S. Army Aviation Center for Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama.” URS Corporation “also is a leader in creating curricula for a new aviation community–Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operators.” “Since 1990, [they] have worked with the U.S. Navy to develop flexible education programs for every level of officer operating VIRGINIA class submarines.”

The Pentagon, Headquarters of the US Department of Defense - photo by David B. Gleason

The first paragraph of their “Operations & Maintenance” page states clearly, “URS provides operations and maintenance services to weapons systems worldwide for the United States government. These services are performed for all branches of the Department of Defense, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard. URS’ services support every type of vehicle—in the air, on the ground and at sea. This includes manned and unmanned, rotary- and fixed- wing, wheeled and tracked, and above- and under-sea vessels.”

They have “longstanding relationships with the world’s leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies” and offer “innovative support services during all stages of the development and operations cycle.”

I feel like I’m talked out, and all I’ve really done is quote their website. They also offer “a full range of planning, design, construction and program and construction management services across the water and wastewater industry, including water supply planning, water storage and transmission, water quality management planning, water treatment and distribution, and wastewater collection, treatment and disposal.”

It would be difficult to display the vast array of projects taken on and listed by URS Corporation here, so I urge you to visit their project page and peruse yourself. I also urge you to visit their home page to get a glimpse at some of the categories of things they handle.

URS Corporation’s Headquarters is located at:

600 Montgomery Street, 26th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-2728 USA
+1.415.774.2700 +1.415.398.1905 fax

Sources:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/kscmasterplanrevision.html

https://ursflint.acquisitioninformation.com

https://www.urscorp.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_class_submarine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%E2%80%93Bergen_Light_Rail

Major advance in generating electricity from wastewater

Improved microbial fuel cell (credit: Oregon State University)

Engineers at Oregon State University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater, opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell excess electricity.

The new technology developed at OSU uses new concepts — reduced anode-cathode spacing, evolved microbes and new separator materials — and can produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of liquid reactor volume — 10 to 50 more times the electrical per unit volume than most other approaches using microbial fuel cells, and 100 times more electricity than some.

This technology cleans sewage by a very different approach than the aerobic bacteria used in the past. Bacteria oxidize the organic matter and, in the process, produce electrons that run from the anode to the cathode within the fuel cell, creating an electrical current.

Almost any type of organic waste material can be used to produce electricity — not only wastewater, but also grass straw, animal waste, and byproducts from such operations as the wine, beer or dairy industries.

The researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used “activated sludge” process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach would produce significant amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater, they suggest.

“If this technology works on a commercial scale the way we believe it will, the treatment of wastewater could be a huge energy producer, not a huge energy cost,” said Hong Liu, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. “This could have an impact around the world, save a great deal of money, provide better water treatment and promote energy sustainability.”

Experts estimate that about 3 percent of the electrical energy consumed in the United States and other developed countries is used to treat wastewater, and a majority of that electricity is produced by fossil fuels.

The system also works better than an alternative approach to creating electricity from wastewater that is based on anaerobic digestion that produces methane. It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn’t have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of unwanted hydrogen sulfide or possible release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, the researchers believe.

The OSU system has now been proven at a substantial scale in the laboratory, Liu said, and the next step would be a pilot study. A good candidate, she said, might initially be a food processing plant, which is a contained system that produces a steady supply of certain types of wastewater that would provide significant amounts of electricity.

Once advances are made to reduce high initial costs, researchers estimate that the capital construction costs of this new technology should be comparable to that of the activated sludge systems now in widespread use today — and even less expensive when future sales of excess electricity are factored in.

The approach may also have special value in developing nations, where access to electricity is limited and sewage treatment at remote sites is difficult or impossible as a result.

The ability of microbes to produce electricity has been known for decades, but only recently have technological advances made their production of electricity high enough to be of commercial use. OSU researchers reported several years ago on the promise of this technology, but at that time the systems in use produced far less electrical power. Continued research should also find even more optimal use of necessary microbes, reduced material costs and improved function of the technology at commercial scales, OSU scientists said.

How noise in brain-cell signals affects neuron response time and thinking

New model of background noise in the nervous system could help better understand neuronal signaling delay in response to a stimulus

Biomedical engineer Muhammet Uzuntarla from Bulent Ecevit University, Turkey and colleagues have developed a biologically accurate model of how noise in the nervous system induces a delay in the response of neurons to external stimuli.

A new spike-latency noise model

Information encoding based on spike timing has attracted increasing attention due to the growing evidence for the relation between synchronization in neural networks and higher brain functions, such as memory, attention and cognition. And it has been shown that first-spike latency (arrival time of the first spike associated with information) carries a considerable amount of information, possibly more than other spikes.

The researchers analyzed the presence of noise in the nervous system, detected by changes in first-spike latency (the time it takes for brain cells to first respond to an external stimulus) and jitter (variation in spike timing). The noise is generated by the synaptic bombardment of each neuron by a large number of incoming excitatory and inhibitory spike inputs and because chemical-based signalling does not always work.

Previous attempts at noise modeling used a generic bell-shaped signal, referred to as a Gaussian approximation. The new noise model, published in European Physical Journal B, is closer to biological reality, the engineers suggest.

They showed there is a relation between the noise and delays in spike signal transmission, and identified two factors that could be tuned, thus influencing the noise: the incoming excitatory and inhibitory input signaling regime and the coupling strength between inhibitory and excitatory synapses. Modulating these factors could help neurons encode information more accurately, they found.