The universality of sleep
The universality of sleep
Synthetic living machines: A new window on life (cell)
Here, we review recent advances in the emerging field of synthetic morphogenesis, the bioengineering of novel multicellular living bodies. Emphasizing emergent self-organization, tissue-level guided self-assembly, and active functionality, this work is the essential next generation of synthetic biology. Aside from useful living machines for specific functions, the rational design and analysis of new, coherent anatomies will greatly increase our understanding of foundational questions in evolutionary developmental and cell biology.
Relax
A Fungus Is Pushing Cicada Sex Into Hyperdrive And Leaving Them Dismembered (npr.org)
After 17 years underground, the Brood X periodical cicadas are slowly emerging in 15 states across the East Coast and Midwest. From a report:
They'll shed their skins and spend four to six weeks mating before the females lay eggs and they all die. But some of them are getting wilder in their short lives above ground. A fungus called Massospora, which can produce compounds of cathinone -- an amphetamine -- infects a small number of them and makes them lose control. The fungus takes over their bodies, causing them to lose their lower abdomen and genitals. And it pushes their mating into hyperdrive.
"This is stranger than fiction," Matt Kasson, an associate professor of forest pathology and mycology at West Virginia University, tells NPR's All Things Considered. "To have something that's being manipulated by a fungus, to be hypersexual and to have prolonged stamina and just mate like crazy." Kasson, who has been studying Massospora for about five years, says just before the cicadas rise from the ground, the spores of the fungus start to infect the bug. Once it's above ground and starts to shed its skin to become an adult, its butt falls off. Then a "white plug of fungus" starts to grow in its place.
I miss Mirleft and Morocco
Mamba Negra
Western diet may increase risk of gut inflammation, infection
Diet rich in sugar, fat damages immune cells in digestive tracts of mice
Magnetogenetics - "using magnetic fields to remotely control cell activity"
"Here, we show that, by complexing magnetic nanoparticles with recombinant baculoviral vectors (MNP-BVs), CRISPR–Cas9-mediated genome editing can be activated locally in vivo via a magnetic field." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-018-0318-7
Non-contact long-range magnetic stimulation of mechanosensitive ion channels in freely moving animals: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-020-00896-y
Genetically targeted magnetic control of the nervous system: https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.4265?WT.feed_name=subjects_neural-circuit
"Some would say that we have some sort of telepathy or symbiotic relationship. Others would say we just have one idea" - Wachowski Brothers
Lifting the Sky
Studying how attention affects time perception, using StarCraft 2
"Here, we show, based on an analysis of 28,354 datasets, that highly motivated players of the online multiplayer real‐time strategy game StarCraft2 indeed respond later to timed events when they are distracted by other tasks during the interval."
Yoga and Breathing Exercises Aid Children With ADHD to Focus
Yoga & breathing exercises have a positive effect on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). After special classes, children improve their attention, decrease hyperactivity, they do not get tired longer, they can engage in complex activities longer.
Mushin in Japanese and Wuxin in Chinese is a mental state. Zen and Daoist meditators attempt to reach this state, as well as artists and trained martial artists. They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. On page 84 of his 1979 book Zen in the Martial Arts, Joe Hyams claimed Bruce Lee read the following quote to him, attributed to the legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō:[8]
The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death. When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes.
However, mushin is not just a state of mind that can be achieved during combat. Many martial artists train to achieve this state of mind during kata so that a flawless execution of moves is learned and may be repeated at any other time. Once mushin is attained through the practice or study of martial arts (although it can be accomplished through other arts or practices that refine the mind and body), the objective is to then attain this same level of complete awareness in other aspects of the practitioner's life. Dr Robert Akita claims it helps him "listen to my wife and children more closely...especially when I disagree with them, [and] in my business it has helped when I am faced with difficult decisions...."
By 400 BC, Persian engineers had mastered the technique of using yakhchāls (ice pit) to create ice in the winter and store it in the summer in the desert. Yakhchāl is an ancient type of evaporative cooler. Above ground, the structure had a domed shape, but had a subterranean storage space.
What are you afraid of now? Whatever they want me to be afraid of.
"Brain Implants & Mind Reading" - talk by Melanie Segado