Octo Problems

If humans were to go extinct which animal do u think would inherit the earth? Most western minds say the Bonobos or some great ape. A few of my Australian colleagues think it will be Kangaroo's or some other marsupial. Imagine a wallaby in a gang bandana hopping up to someone, pulling an AK-47 out its pouch saying "Break yo self fool!" in a Crocodile Dundee accent. As farfetched as that sounds it's not as weird as the truth. 

The animal most likely to inhabit the earth after the demise of humanity would be...the octopus. The octopus is unlike any other creature found on the planet. There are extensive studies being conducted to figure out just how alien the octopus really is. Were cephalopods dropped in our oceans from a different star system? To understand why this is a relevant question to modern science u have to look at the abilities of the octopus. 

Octopuses can change color like a chameleon. They can change their shape to imitate plants and other animals. They have a miniature brain in each of their eight legs and have three hearts. So for clarity octopuses have nine brains and three hearts. If that's not enough to make them unusual, they have one ability found nowhere else in nature. Octopuses can re-write their own DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Think of the DNA double helix as a zipper on jeans. They can unzip their DNA and insert new code (RNA) then zip it back up. 

This ability allows them to adapt to any environment. Changes in temperature, food sources, light and water composition (fresh or salt water) are no problem for the octopus. To any other species including humans these changes could mean extinction. The fact that cephalopods can re-write their DNA is what makes scientists ponder if they are an alien species deposited into our oceans. 

Riddle me this...If octopuses are so smart, why hasn't anyone done a study on how they respond to music? Think about it for a minute. Scientist believe that mathematics is the universal language. If we were to have alien contact our communication would be done through mathematic equations. I believe music is the universal language. Rhythm and harmony can be understood by land, sky and aquatic animals. There have been various studies done on how plants respond to music. You will find the results interesting.

If u played "Clair de Lune" by Debussy, would the octopus wave its arms like a conductor leading an orchestra? Or if u played "One Love" by Bob Marley would it tap its arms against the glass like a drum?  I digress...deep thoughts from a shallow mind. After learning about the remarkable properties of cephalopods, I was inspired to paint. Below is my newest culinary canvas creation. "Octo Problems" acrylic paint (90 x 200cm canvas) Enjoy. 

 

 

Male Birth Control Pill

Get ready for a paradigm shift. Soon no longer will it be only women who have the convenience of having pill contraception. New science has several companies working on making the male birth control pill a reality.

Over the years both men and women have wondered why there is no pill based male contraception. The reasons vary depending on which group of scientist you speak too. One reason given is, when birth control pills were created back in the sixties along with the rest of female contraception. The minds behind it didn't think there was interest in a male version, basically saying that birth control was the responsibility of women. 

Another more scientific reason given is, the male anatomy is vastly different than the females and it's difficult for science to create a pill that doesn't have long term or permanent side effects. Men want contraception....not to be sterilized.

The real reason for no male birth control pill being on the market is money. Over the last forty years there have been several studies and experiments done on male contraception. The results always show promise and media gets people talking, but it stops there. Why? Because the costs to do experiments, gather data, and publish research may cost a couple hundred thousand dollars. The cost to bring a product from the experimental phase to a physical pill form costs a couple hundred million. The scientists that collect this research don't have the funding to make their products a reality.

A Brazilian scientist named Dr. Coutinho, did research with the Chinese in the 1970's to create a male birth control pill made from natural products. The pill was designed to increase male sexual desire, while blocking contraception. It was created by extracting proteins from fibers of Gossypol (a strain of Cotton). According to Dr. Coutinho, the pill is currently in use in China. There have been over two hundred studies published to prove it doesn't effect organ function and has no side effects. The reason the pill isn't being sold in the western world is because pharmaceutical companies won't invest in a natural product they can't patent. He lists several other reasons but you can watch the video and hear it directly from the doctor.

It's been over forty years since the days of the good doctor and it looks like change is on the horizon. Men have a lot more responsibility than they had in the 70's. Back then if you were a dead beat dad there was only garnishment of wages. Now, if you overpay your child support you can get six months in prison. That may sound like an exaggeration, but watch the video below and see my words as fact.

Recently an Australian group of scientists were able to make a group of male mice temporarily infertile, without effecting their virility or sex drive. The new research seems promising and they believe it won't be long before human trials. Watch the video below for more information on the new research and the exact science behind it.

In modern times men face severe penalties for creating children. A male birth control pill would give men more control over our sex lives and put the power of contraception in the hands of both sexes. 

Test-Tube Beef

There's been talk of famine and food shortages all over the world. Science has been pushing the boundaries on what can be considered food by creating meat from all sort of products. 

Recently a group of scientist in the Netherlands successfully grew beef from the stem cells of cow muscle tissue in a lab. The end result was a hamburger that cost $250,000 to create. The man who funded this project was none other than Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The ideal is simple...if we can grow beef from stem-cells at an affordable rate. It can reduce hunger problems around the world within a decade. 

The test-tube beef was served at an expensive restaurant in London. The people who tried the meat found it similar in consistency to beef but missing some of the flavor. Another problem was there was not enough fat in the meat to simulate the natural fat found in beef. These are issues that the scientist are still unraveling, but the initial results have proven successful. 

Beef grown in a lab isn't the worse way to get it. Awhile back I posted an article about a company in Japan that made burgers from human excrement. To learn more about research into test-tube beef read the article Scientists Cook Up Lab-Grown Beef by clicking the link. 

If you're curious about a burger made from human feces and food made from other peoples trash check out the article "Stew From Trash and Steaks From Feces…desperate Dining."

Semen the Superfood

If the title didn't deter you...then the information in this article will prove quite interesting.

Researchers in Australia discovered that in some species of animals the female voluntarily consumes the sperm of the male. The reason they do this is because semen is highly nutritious. The study was conducted on squids but the finding are cross-species. This means that the results are applicable to other species of animal... including humans. The results showed conclusive evidence that semen is a Superfood.

This information may be new to some people but research into the medicinal properties of semen have been going on for years. Last year I posted an article about a different study conducted by psychologists at the State University of New York at Albany. Who published a study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior looking at the potential role of semen in alleviating depression in women. The researchers presented evidence supporting an earlier hypothesis that the hormones in semen have a mood-boosting effect on women.The article is called Sexist Science and it's based on a study done back in 2002.

So what makes semen a Superfood? Contrary to urban myth it does not provide only protein. The average male ejaculates about a teaspoon of semen. In that semen are over 200 separate proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Naturally the specific nutritional value is determined by the diet of the male, but all semen has nutritional value.The amount of protein in that ejaculation is roughly equivalent to what you would get from two egg whites. What makes semen a Superfood is that in one teaspoon you get all your daily required amounts of copper, zinc, calcium, vitamin C, fructose,  and 7% of your required amount of potassium. It's an all natural superfood that's healthier than taking a multivitamin.

For more information check out the video below.

Scary Science

What is reality? This question has baffled scientists and inspired the writings of fiction writers for hundreds of years. 

Dr. Sylvester J. Gates Jr. is a theoretical physicist at Maryland University who discovered a "Doubly-even self-dual linear binary error-correcting block code," in Supersymmetry (String) theory. This may all sound like a bunch of scientific gobbali-gook (that's the technical term) so I'll break it down in laymen terms. 

Supersymmetry is the study of our universe broken down into mathematical equations. There are different equations used to explain electronics and space travel. While there are a completely different set of equations used to explain the particles of life. 

Supersymmetry theory is basically the idea that the equations of life and electronics could be switched in a laboratory to create or discover new particles. Two days ago, Physicist at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland successfully discovered a new subatomic particle utilizing similar equations. CERN researchers believe they discovered the fabled Boson Higgs particle which has been the plot of numerous episodes on television show The Big Bang Theory.

Professor Gates and his colleagues have discovered self-correcting binary code in the equations of reality. The kind of codes that make a computer browser work when you're searching the web, emailing, or reading this post. These codes suggest that our reality could be a quantum generated computer simulation, so real that the brain can't tell the difference. The movie that encapsulates these experiments is the Matrix. That movie was science fiction but these equations are real... and hidden within our reality. 

This research is groundbreaking because it poses the questions. Why does nature have this code embedded into it? What is an 'error' for the laws of nature? Checkout the video below for a more in depth explanation of the code and how physicist plan on pursuing the discovery. Also there are a list of references with more information below the video.

References 

1.) Recent NPR interview with Professor Gates: http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2012/codes-for-reality/gates-symbolsofp

2.) Gates original paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.0051 

3.) A potential explanation, Bostrom's Simulation Hypothesis: http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html

Cure to Aids and Cancer

A friend of mine got diagnosed with type one diabetes, which is incurable. I spent several days scouring the Internet learning as much about the disease as possible. I found no information on a cure for type one diabetes but I did find several videos with cures for Aids and Cancer.

I know that may sound strange since these diseases are the plagues of the 21st, but its true. There was a cure for Aids, Cancer and almost every other disease (bacterial and viral) that effects the blood found by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in the early 1990s. They published a paper on the discovery in the March 20, 1991, Science News, page 247. What they discovered was low levels of electrification of the blood was proven to be a cure for almost all infectious diseases. The discovery was tested and confirmed by some of the biggest names in the scientific community. Why have you never heard of this discovery?

The information was suppressed because its more profitable to keep people sick than provide a cure. If pharmaceutical companies cured a disease they can only do it once. If they gave expensive and in most cases untested medication to suppress the symptoms of an illness they can do it indefinitely. This might sound like some conspiracy but the keep people sick formula was discussed in depth on a Michael Moore documentary. I’m not going to preach about how big, bad, business is making a profit of your illness, instead I’ll let you see for yourself that there is a cure.

Another possible cure to Cancer by means of alternative medicine is in the video below. This cure isn’t supported by the entire scientific community due to the demonization of hemp and marijuana. For free-thinkers willing to research the medicinal properties of hemp the information in the video below is beneficial. When searching for a non-invasive cure that doesn’t involve painful radiation treatments like chemotherapy.

Sexist Science

I've been busy working on music and enjoying the warm weather, so haven't had much time to update the blog. Today I decided to catch-up on the news and what's going on in the world. While reading some technology articles at popsci (short from popular science) I came across an article that most feminist would term sexist science. 

Back in 2002, psychologists at the State University of New York at Albany published a study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior looking at the potential role of semen in alleviating depression in women. The researchers presented evidence supporting an earlier hypothesis that the hormones in semen have a mood-boosting effect on women. 

Did you read that correct...are they saying the semen has anti-depressant properties? Yes, you did and Yes, that is what they are saying. This research is not only being examined it has quite a bit of evidence to support the claim. 

Semen is a mixture of several different compounds, and sperm only makes up a small amount of it. When you remove the sperm, what's left is seminal plasma. Three compounds in seminal plasma being researched are estrogen, prostaglandins and oxytocin. Estrogen and prostaglandins have been linked to lower levels of depression, while oxytocin (which women release during birth, breastfeeding and orgasm) promotes social bonding.

Last February, Lazar Greenfield, the incoming president of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), wrote an editorial about this research in Surgery News. The backlash was so strong that he had to resign from his job at the college and position as editor for Surgery News. This is volatile science and even highly respected academics are treading cautiously. 

If you want to read the whole article including the studies done on 293 different women who had protected and unprotected sex to research the results. Do a search for this article Controversial Ideas: Does Semen Act As an Anti-depressant to the Recipient?
Or copy and paste this link in your web browser http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-05/controversial-ideas-semen-natures-antidepressant