lotusinthemud

re-framing m.e.

Re-framing ME

A chance meeting of art and science has led to a creative collaboration designed to raise the profile of an “invisible illness”.

Juliet Chenery-Robson decided to use photography to make people look at Myalgic Encephalopathy (or ME) in a different light when her 18-year-old daughter Emilia was diagnosed with the illness five years ago.

Despite affecting thousands of people in the UK, ME remains misunderstood by many health professionals, with many still believing it is “all in the mind”.

While looking for more subjects for her exhibition, Juliet was put in touch with Professor Julia Newton, a Clinical Professor at Newcastle University’s Institute of Ageing and Health, who is also a patron of charity ME North East.

Professor Newton’s team leads the way for chronic fatigue research in the UK and is one of the few places in the country focussing on the biological indicators behind illnesses such as ME.

"survival of the kindest"

Social Scientists Build Case for 'Survival of the Kindest'

ScienceDaily (Dec. 9, 2009) — Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive.

In contrast to "every man for himself" interpretations of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist and author of "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life," and his fellow social scientists are building the case that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits.

They call it "survival of the kindest."

"Because of our very vulnerable offspring, the fundamental task for human survival and gene replication is to take care of others," said Keltner, co-director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. "Human beings have survived as a species because we have evolved the capacities to care for those in need and to cooperate. As Darwin long ago surmised, sympathy is our strongest instinct."

m.e./c.f.s - research breakthough: link with retrovirus xmrv

Xenotropic Murine Leukemia virus related Virus (XMRV)

Research Breakthrough News

8th October 2009

WHITTEMORE-PETERSON INSTITUTE PRESS RELEASE (.pdf document)

This evening and around the world, news and scientific web sites are publishing details of a groundbreaking scientific research study that for the first time links a normally dormant retrovirus called XMRV to patients with a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. This virus is also related to a subset of patients with Prostate Cancer. You can read an overview of XMRV in relation to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis here.

According to the study which was published in the respected Journal "Science", over 67% of those with CFS tested positive for the XMRV virus compared to only 3.7% of health controls.

water meters in all uk homes by 2030 to ease shortages

Many parts of the country face crippling water shortages in the near future unless immediate action is taken to protect precious supplies, according to an Environment Agency (EA) report to be published this week. Measures include compulsory water meters in every home.

The EA warns in the Water Resources Strategy document that many rivers, particularly those in south-east England, could be reduced to a trickle in summer by the middle of the century because of climate change. On average, flows are likely to be cut by 50 to 80%.

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canada discovers cyber spy network

There is no conclusive evidence of Chinese government involvement An electronic spy network, based mainly in China, has infiltrated computers from government offices around the world, Canadian researchers say. They said the network had infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries. They included computers belonging to foreign ministries and embassies and those linked with the Dalai Lama - Tibet's spiritual leader. Researchers say they have no conclusive evidence China's government was behind, Beijing has also denied involvement. Researchers from the Information Warfare Monitor (IWM) were acting on a request from the Tibetan spiritual leader's office to check whether the computers of his Tibetan exile network had been infiltrated. The report comes at the end of a 10-month investigation by IWM, which comprises researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. The researchers said hackers were apparently able to take control of computers belonging to several foreign ministries and embassies across the world using malicious software, or malware.

The breathing earth simulation

A real-time simulation displays the CO2 emissions of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates. Hypnotic and horrifying at the same time.

was charles darwin influenced by buddhist ideas?

Charles Darwin could have been a Buddhist, according to a scholar who has identified "amazing" similarities between his writing and Tibetan philosophy.

Passages in which the Victorian scientist addressed compassion and morality were "virtually the same, or exactly the same" as Tibetan Buddhist texts, according to Professor Paul Ekman, a psychologist who studies the links between human emotions and facial expression.

Prof Ekman said that his friend the Dalai Lama had also remarked on the parallels. He said: "When I read the Dalai Lama some of Darwin's passages he said: 'I will now call myself a Darwinian'."

Darwin is best known for devising the theory of evolution to explain to diversity of species, but also wrote widely about the emotional bonds between humans, and similarities between the emotions of humans and animals.

"The Buddhist view, like Darwin, said that the seed of compassion is in mothering, global compassion: focus on others as mother. When I see you suffer it makes me suffer, and that motivates me to reduce your suffering so I can reduce my suffering," Prof Ekman told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago.

::read more here

four reasons buddhists can love evolution

Bodhipaksa writes:

Evolution — at least in the United States — has a deeply troubled relationship with religion. Or at least it does with some religions.

As you can see from the Pew Trust chart below, Buddhists on the whole (81% of them) think that evolution is the best explanation for the origins of human life on Earth.

In fact of all the religious traditions included on the chart, Buddhists are the most accepting of evolution, with evangelical Christians, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses being the least accepting.

Those of us who value an objective and evidence-based (read “scientific”) understanding of the world are greatly disturbed by attempts to displace sound science from the classroom, to introduce spurious ideas such as “creation science” and “Intelligent Design,” and to give the impression that evolution is somehow scientifically controversial, when in fact it’s backed by an overwhelming amount of evidence from all branches of science.

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single cell 'can store memories'

Just one brain cell is capable of holding fleeting memories vital for our everyday life, according to US scientists.

A study of mouse brain cells revealed how they could keep information stored for as long as a minute.

A UK specialist said that understanding these short-term memories might help unlock the secrets of Alzheimer's Disease.

::read more here

emotion and scent create lasting memories -- even in a sleeping brain

Emotion And Scent Create Lasting Memories -- Even In A Sleeping Brain: ""

In a series of experiments with sleeping mice, researchers at the Duke University Medical Center have shown that the part of the brain that processes scents is indeed a key part of forming long-term memories, especially involving other individuals.