Day: 12/24/2015

From Darwin To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

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From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

They are known for their work, but how was their personal life and their routine?

Mason Currey is a typical reporter. As most reporters – who don’t cover everyday news – do, Currey finds it difficult to get his articles ready in time. “On July of 2007, I was sitting alone during a Sunday afternoon trying to compose an article for the journal I was working for. However, instead of doing what I had to do to finish the article, I was reading New York Times, cleaning my desk without a reason and wasting my time in general. It was a usual, but sad situation. I’m the typical “morning person” who can focus early in the morning, but becomes almost useless after lunch. This particular afternoon I decided to feel better by searching information about work schedules of other authors. It was easy to find them and they were really fun. I thought that someone should write about these stories…”

That’s how Currey wrote the book “Daily Rituals” that hundreds of creatives practiced in order to carve out time, every day, to work their craft. Some kept to the same disciplined regimen for decades while others locked in patterns only while working on specific works.

There are enough data to visualize a portion of the hundreds of creative lifestyles. Click the poster to discover:

Gustave Flaubert, Ludwig Van Beethoven, W.A. Mozart, Thomas Mann, Sigmund Freud, Immanuel Kant, Maya Angelou, John Milton, Honore de Balzac, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, W.H. Auden, Charles Darwin, P.I. Tchaikovsky, Le Corbusier, Benjamin Franklin

Design Highlights
Representing each day as a continuous 24 hour cycle invokes the ever spinning wheel of time, and more simply the face of a clock with midnight placed in the “12 o’clock” position and noon at “6 o’clock.” Colors mark major categories of activity – work, sleep, exercise, etc.

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?
“Daily Rituals” include around 150 everyday stories. Let’s see 5 of the most brilliant minds ever lived and their everyday schedule.

Albert Einstein

From Marx To Einstein How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives - Albert Einstein
Einstein emigrated to the US in 1933, where he worked as a professor in Princeton until his retirement in 1945. His everyday life was simple. He took breakfast around 9:00 and 10:00 while reading morning newspapers. At 10:30 he went to his office in Princeton. He went there walking when the weather was good or he took the University bus. He returned home for lunch around 1:00. He took a nap and then had a cup of tea. He spent the rest of his afternoon at home, working and arranging his correspondence. His dinner was at 6:30.

Despite his simple way of living, Einstein was a prominent figure in Princeton, known not only for his scientific achievements, but also for his abstraction and his careless look (he had long hair to avoid visiting the barber and he didn’t wear socks because he found them useless).

While he was walking to his office, many people stopped him, because they wanted to meet the great scientist. As a fellow of his stated, Einstein posed with his fans and their families and chatted with them. Later he continued walking and murmured: “The old elephant did his job again”.

Alexander Graham Bell

From Marx To Einstein How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives - Alexander Graham Bell
When he was young, Bell used to work all the time. He only slept for 3 or 4 hours every night. However, after his marriage and his wife’s pregnancy, Bell was convinced to work less and relax more. His wife, Meibel, made him wake up for breakfast at 8:30 every morning and also made him relax after their dinner at 7:00.

When he got used to that, Bell understood that his new schedule was better for him and his family. However his passion for his job didn’t let him follow this schedule everyday. Everytime he had a new idea, he begged his wife to let him work and to release him from his family obligations.

In such cases, he could work for even twenty two hours in a row, sleepless. Meibel finally accepted his undistracted concentration on his work, but not without some disapproval of hers. According to her diary, Meibel was proud for her husband’s job, but she was jealous at the same time.

Ludwig van Beethoven

From Marx To Einstein How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives - Ludwig van Beethoven

From Marx To Einstein How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives - Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven got up really early to start working. His breakfast was a cup of coffee. He considered that each cup of coffee required sixty coffee beans. That’s why he often counted them one by one!

Then, he started working until 2:00 or 3:00. He took a break to walk in the countryside.

At nights, he usually went to the theatre or stayed at home to read. His dinner was simple, such as a soup. He enjoyed drinking wine with his dinner and after that he wanted to drink a glass of beer and smoke his pipe. He didn’t usually play the music at night – he went to sleep around 10:00.

Beethoven’s unusual bathing habits are worth noting here. According to his pupil and secretary Anton Schindler: “Washing and bathing were among the most pressing necessities of Beethoven’s life. In this respect he was indeed an Oriental: to his way of thinking Mohammed did not exaggerate a whit in the number of ablutions he prescribed. If he did not dress to go out during the morning working hours, he would stand in great de?shabille? at his washstand and pour large pitchers of water over his hands, bellowing up and down the scale or sometimes humming loudly to himself. Then he would stride around his room with rolling or staring eyes, jot something down, then resume his pouring of water and loud singing. These were moments of deep meditation, to which no one could have objected but for two unfortunate consequences. First of all, the servants would often burst out laughing. This made the master angry and he would sometimes assault them in language that made him cut an even more ridiculous figure. Or, secondly, he would come into conflict with the landlord, for all too often so much water was spilled that it went right through the floor. This was one of the main reasons for Beethoven’s unpopularity as a tenant. The floor of his living room would have had to be covered with asphalt to prevent all that water from seeping through. And the master was totally unaware of the excess of inspiration under his feet!”

Karl Marx

From Marx To Einstein How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives - Karl Marx
Marx arrived at London as a political refugee in 1849, thinking that he would only stay there for some months. However, he spent the rest of his life in this city.

According to Isaiah Berlin, Marx also had his daily habits, though not quite so well-balanced: “His mode of living consisted of daily visits to the British Museum reading-room, where he normally remained from nine in the morning until it closed at seven; this was followed by long hours of work at night, accompanied by ceaseless smoking, which from a luxury had become an indispensable anodyne; this affected his health permanently and he became liable to frequent attacks of a disease of the liver sometimes accompanied by boils and an inflammation of the eyes, which interfered with his work, exhausted and irritated him, and interrupted his never certain means of livelihood. “I am plagued like Job, though not so God-fearing,” he wrote in 1858.”

Arthur Miller

From Marx To Einstein How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives - Arthur Miller
“I wish I was normal in writing” Miller stated in an interview in 1999. “I wake up in the morning, go to my office and write. Then I rip what I wrote! That’s my routine in reality.

Check out these brilliant minds’ daily routines too:

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?

From Marx To Einstein: How Did Brilliant Minds Spend Their Everyday Lives?
Perhaps most fascinating, is reflecting on how you spend your days compared to these creative masters. Do you have a routine that helps you be productive every day?

– See more at: http://www.thinkinghumanity.com/2015/05/from-darwin-to-einstein-how-did-brilliant-minds-spend-their-everyday-lives.html#sthash.A7quL2tQ.dpuf

5 Powerful Psychedelics That Reorganize the Brain and Elevate Consciousness

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Psychoactive plants and hallucinogens have given us the opportunity to see life through different perspectives for thousands of years.

Michael Forrester, Prevent Disease | Psychoactive plants and hallucinogens have given us the opportunity to see life through different perspectives for thousands of years. Many of these plants, which can only be defined as gifts from nature, have unfortunately been declared illegal in many parts of the world due to the ignorance and intolerance of many governments. As the shift in consciousness is accelerating across the planet, more people are accepting the true power of psychedelics with unprecedented potential to treat cancers, addictions, psychological traumas, but most of all, to reorganize the brain and shift thought patterns. It is now imperative for human consciousness that we free psychedelics from scrutiny and demonization, so that we may all use these plants responsibly to facilitate a greater awareness of non-secular concepts that are changing our world.

Author’s caution: I preface this article with a few words of caution. Specifically, through my shamanistic practices around the world, I have experienced the effects of all of the psychedelics mentioned below. Each has its own use and effectively complements specific practices in shaman culture. They are not to be abused in any setting as many can lead to a temporary lack of awareness of body and reality itself. This effectively places the subject in harms way, especially without a support party present. Please use any psychedelic plant responsibly, never if you are under 19 years of age, and only under the supervision of those who have been trained or have experienced the benefits first-hand through education and guidance. Your support party should always be sober, of clear mind and somebody you trust.

Note:
– Do not ingest psychedelics with alcohol
– Do not ingest psychedelics without supervision of responsible adults
– Do not combine psychedelics without expert supervision
– Do not use psychedelics as recreational party drugs
– Do not use psychedelics if you are prone to drug-seeking behavior
– Do not use psychedelics as a form of escaping from reality
– Do not use around dangerous environments
– Do not use if you are pregnant or breast-feeding
– Do not use if ignoring responsibilities in life to chase a high
– Do not use if symptoms aggravate a present mental illness
– DO ingest the raw plant whenever possible rather than smoking

Most of the psychedelic scare stories ever published were generated by people pursuing their own political or financial agendas, or by people with fundamentalist morals who were afraid of losing their power. In the last century. more than 99% of all information intended to vilify psychedelics has been proven false.

The shift in consciousness that has taken over the planet will not enlighten every human being. Some are not meant to experience the shift and will pass on (sometimes when you least expect it). Others are already on board. For those in between (and even for those on board), psychedelics offer a unique window of opportunity “during the high” which is otherwise absent without it. There are so many wonderful elements of consciousness including specific gateways which psychedelics enter, that ego simply has no chance of competing out. Ego tries, but it rarely if ever succeeds. They open a portal of beauty and creativity so large, that you can step into it and enjoy it in a way that is rarely available to the humanity from any other substance on Earth. Only very deep meditative states can match what psychedelics offer, and each state is very different.

Many researchers have been interested in the idea that psychedelics facilitate communication across the brain and, more specifically, how the default-mode network in the brain, arguably science’s best biological correlate of the self, normally works to constrain this.

Two studies have found absolutely no link between psychedelic use and a wide suite of mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, psychosis, depression, anxiety disorders and suicide attempts. For example, people who have tried LSD or psilocybin have lower lifetime rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts.

“Psychedelics” are substances with the ability to expand human awareness beyond our normal modes of perception. Some may be the most amazing substances known to humanity, so potent that just 1/10,000th of a gram can send one on a journey beyond time and space, beyond life and death. Here the psychedelic voyager can unlock and experience the collective evolutionary consciousness of billions of years past and an infinite future.

They allow the user to transcend the body, the personality, and view of the mind from undreamed-of perspectives, experiencing supersensory and extrasensory perception, choose from an infinite variety of “realities,” which can permanently change our experience of life.

Worship involving psychedelic plants and their use in spiritual pursuits can be traced to the beginnings of recorded history. The major role these plants played in the formation of early religions has been documented by several historians.

“I think of going to the grave without having a psychedelic experience like going to the grave without ever having sex. It means that you never figured out what it is all about. The mystery is in the body and the way the body works itself into nature.”
— Terence McKenna

Each person’s mind and capacity for handling psychedelics is different.
Psychedelics are not for everybody. Although most psychedelic trips are experienced as beneficial, some people have had experiences that left them disturbed afterwards. The main reason for these negative experiences is lack of preparation, rather than anything inherent in the person or in the substance.

5 Powerful Psychedelics

Out of the following psychedelics, I have found Salvia and Ayahuasca to be the most powerful out of body experiences (that can be recalled), and Cannabis to be the most profound to alter daily thinking patterns when taken consistently and with the aid of meditation.

Perhaps one of the most medicinal but least powerful of all hallucinogens,Cannabis Sativa whose active ingredient is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) has also been referred to as marijuana, dope, pot, bush, weed, hash, ganja, joint, among others. It is by far one of the safest psychedelics on Earth, and perhaps one of the few that can be utilized without supervision.

It can treat a number of diseases and disorders, including cancer, fibromyalgia, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis better than pharmaceuticals. Marijuana has also been found to reduce blood pressure, treat glaucoma, alleviate pain and even inhibit HIV. It is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective.

When cannabis is used over a period of time, it allows us to witness our many subtle motives which, under normal consciousness, are usually not noticeable. Duality within human consciousness becomes clear as does the ego and alter ego. Cannabis highs last typically from 1-4 hours.

There are two states of awareness which relate to these sensory effects. The basic one can be called pure awareness. In this state the person is completely and vividly aware of his experience, but there are no processes of thinking, manipulating, or interpreting going on. The sensations fill the person’s attention, which is passive but absorbed in what is occurring, which is usually experienced as intense and immediate. Pure awareness is experiencing without associations to what is there.

The other state of awareness is one which can be termed conscious awareness, in which the sensory experience is connected to meanings, plans, functions, decisions, and possible actions. This is our normal way of perceiving and how we usually go about our daily lives. We do not sense the world directly, but with the incorporation of our memories, meanings, and uses. In the state of pure awareness objects are experienced as sensory qualities, without the intrusion of interpretation. There are examples of this in normal life. The sensation of sexual orgasm may be (and hopefully is) experienced with pure awareness. Natural beauty, such as flowers, mountains, oceans, and sunsets, is sometimes experienced from a point of awareness without adding conscious thinking.

With this expansiveness which occurs after ingesting cannabis, users may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of his/her life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope, which of itself can be curative.

For a person using marijuana for the first few times, sensory changes occur sequentially, rather than all at once. First they may notice increased brightness and clarity of colors, then sounds, then visual structures, such as paintings or designs. (Two dimensional photographs and motion pictures may be seen in three dimensions on the high, a perception which can be transferred to the normal state under certain conditions.) Then proprioceptive sensations may present themselves. Any order of the effects may occur during one high state or several. Often effects will develop to particular levels and then stabilize without further elaboration.

Cannabis can act as the loosening agent, so that whatever has been banned from consciousness may come cascading forth. To uncover our deceptions without our usual rationalizations can be unpleasant, an experience that has turned many psychologically fragile individuals away from marijuana despite its therapeutic catharsis.

Intensity of sensory experience seems related to the total proportion or amount of attention which is involved in the process. If attention is used in conscious or unconscious processes in making decisions, remembering, evaluating, etc., then this much is removed from the awareness of the sense experience. Thus it may be that one of the causes of sensory enhancement under cannabis is that attention energy moves from consciousness processes into awareness processes, which amplifies the experience.

Cannabis’ contribution to the developing spirit is cumulative. As bodily tensions are reduced mental fears dissolve, clearing the way to greater insight. People who try cannabis and reject it do so usually because they feel uncomfortable and confused in altered, fuller consciousness. Instead of life being safely framed by the rigidity of the societal dogma, the wold becomes unfamiliarly bigger, brighter, fuller, yet less manageable, more unpredictable and full of mystery. A mind that has been bound and accustomed to a low charge or a selling without light very often finds the expansiveness of reality too highly energized. The light can be blinding and disorienting. Over time, and with regular intake, when these higher states of seeing are no longer the focal point of attention, a restructuring of values may emerge.

**** SALVIA ****

Given the right dose, individual, set and setting, Salvia Divinorumproduces a unique state of ‘divine inebriation’ which has been traditionally used by Mazatec healers. It is the most powerful natural psychedelic legally available and capable of profound out-of-body experiences just by simply chewing its leaves. Users should observe all cautions with Salvia including appropriate sitters, safe environments and education before ingestion. Its effects can be traumatic for those who are unprepared.

Salvia divinorum is both similar to, and different from, other drugs that affect the brain and behavior. In many ways Salvia divinorum is a unique ‘magical’ herb. Salvia (and the salvinorin it contains) is very difficult to categorize pharmacologically. It does not fit well into any existing pharmacological class. A very small and almost insignificant amount of salvinorin can immediately propel the user into an out of body experience. Once the appropriate concentration of salvinorin is met, it takes only seconds before the user is unable to verbally respond to a sitter, and thus important that all dangerous objects and physical obstacles be removed in the user’s space. Most users who are exposed to large doses have only slight recall on what transpired in reality for up to 15 minutes after the dose.

Most reports describe the use of this plant by Mazatec shamans, and although it is just barely touched upon in the anthropological literature, it is also reportedly used by their immediately contiguous neighbors, the Cuicatecs and Chinatecs. Given that the plant is quite easily propagated, it is surprising that such an extraordinary herb is only known of in such a geographically limited area. It seems quite probable that it would have found its way to other neighboring tribes through sharing and trade.

With a moderately strong dose of Salvia, consciousness remains and some thought processes are still lucid, but one becomes completely involved in inner experience and loses all contact with consensual reality. Sometimes voices may be heard. With eyes open contact with consensual reality will not be entirely lost, but when you close your eyes you may forget about consensus reality and enter completely into a dreamlike scene. Shamanistic journeying to other lands, foreign or imaginary; encounters with beings, entities, spirits; or travels to other ages may occur. You may even live the life of another person. At this level you have entered the shaman’s world.

Individuality may be lost; one experiences merging with God/dess, mind, universal consciousness, or bizarre fusions with other objects real or imagined, e.g. merging with a wall may be experienced. At this level it is impossible to function in consensual reality, but unfortunately some people do not remain still but move around in this befuddled state. For this reason a sitter is essential to ensure the safety of someone voyaging to the inner levels. To the person experiencing this, the phenomenon may be terrifying or exceedingly pleasant; but to an outside observer the individual may appear confused or disoriented.

The dose can be well moderated by using an extract and users can enjoy a variety of intensities by simple sublingual application.

What is especially important during a Salvia trip is to not talk to the user unless it is requested and preferably shutdown all electronic devices including television, phone and music and they can create disruptions during the experience. Salvia is not a party drug and requires a responsible support person or group by the user’s side at all times.

What is interesting is that a surprisingly large proportion of salvia users report a type of afterglow which persists. It typically involves mood elevation, an overall sense of well being, and often a fresh outlook on life which can linger for several days (or longer) after the experience. This phenomenon seems to be quite common. For many mood elevation can last between one and three days.

**** PSILOCYBIN (MAGIC MUSHROOMS) ****

Ingesting these types of mushrooms has a strong hallucinogenic effect that begins to affect the user within 20-30 minutes. Early effects of the active ingredients in mushrooms, psilocybin, psilocin, and baeocystin, are broken down into psilocin once they have been taken. The initial feelings are described as mild anxiety or anticipatory sensations. Entire physical body sensation of energy or mild electricity running through the body is common.

Hallucinogenic mushrooms have been part of human culture as far back as the earliest recorded history. Ancient paintings of mushroom-ed humanoids have been found in caves in the Saharan desert. Central and Southern America cultures built temples to mushroom gods and carved “mushroom stones”. These stone carvings in the shape of mushrooms, or in which figures are depicted under the cap of a mushroom, have been dated to as early as 1000-500 B.C. The purpose of the sculptures is not certain, but these stones may have been religious objects.

The effects leave users in a high state of euphoria. They are mood enhancing, general happiness, insightful ideas and sense of creative energy.

In mathematical terms, normal brains have a well-ordered correlation state. There’s not much cross-linking between networks. That changes after the psilocybin dose. Suddenly the networks are cross-linking like crazy, but not in random ways. New types of order emerge.

“We can speculate on the implications of such an organization,” wrote researchers, who were led by neurobiologist Paul Expert of King’s College London. “One possible by-product of this greater communication across the whole brain is the phenomenon of synaesthesia” common during psychedelic experiences, of sensory mix-up: tasting colors, feeling sounds, seeing smells, and so on.

While the psychedelic state has been previously compared with dreaming, the opposite effect has been observed in the brain network from which we get our sense of “self” (called the default-mode network or ego-system). Put simply, while activity became “louder” in the emotion system, it became more disjointed and so “quieter” in the ego system.The first study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2012, revealed decreases in brain activity after injection of psilocybin that were localized to the default-mode network.

This finding was exciting because it synched with the idea that psychedelics cause temporary “ego dissolution”, in other words diminishing one’s sense of having a firm and enduring personality. New research adds to our understanding about how this happens.

A study that examined brain scans of people under the influence of psilocybin found that it reduces activity in certain areas of the brain. That reduction of activity leads to the drug’s effect on cognition and memory. Psychedelics, and psilocybin in particular, might actually be eliminating what could be called the extra “noise” in the brain.

Psychiatry professor Matthew Johnson, who works at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, presented the preliminary results of a pilot feasibility study looking at the ability of psilocybin to treat smoking addiction at the 2013 Psychedelic Science conference in Oakland, Calif. For the study, five cigarette-addicted participants underwent placebo-controlled psilocybin treatment with a psychiatrist. All five completely quit smoking after their first psilocybin session. At all followup visits, which occurred up to one year later for the first four participants, it was biologically confirmed that the participants had abstained from cigarettes.

It should be noted that like all ‘major’ hallucinogens, psilocybin can precipitate psychotic episodes and uncover or aggravate previous mental illness. If you’re stressed out or depressed, don’t take mushrooms; if you have schizophrenia, DO NOT take mushrooms.

For exhaustingly exhaustive and thoroughly technical descriptions of most Psilocybes, the reader is referred to Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World by Paul Stamets, Singer & Smith: Mycologia 58, 263-303 and H0iland: Norw J Botany 25(2), 111-122.

**** AYAHUASCA ****

Ayahuasca is a brew prepared with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, originally used for spiritual and healing purposes in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Peru’s government claimed that consumption of the “teacher” or “wisdom plant “constitutes the gateway to the spiritual world and its secrets, which is why traditional Amazon medicine has been structured around the ayahuasca ritual”

Though scientific evidence of the clinical benefits of ayahuasca is limited, advocates say it has become increasingly popular as a tool to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and addictions.

“Most people seek ayahuasca with good intentions – they are not thrill-seeking but are curious, serious – or have specific issues such as depression,” says botanist Prof Dennis McKenna, from the University of Minnesota.

The vine is usually mixed with leaves containing the psychedelic compound DMT(diemethyltryptamine). It causes hallucinogenic experiences, and is made up of a chemical compound that already occurs within the human body endogenously (as well as in a number of plants). This means our brains are naturally set up to process the compound because it has receptors that exist specifically to do so.

Some research based on near-death experiences points to the fact that the brain releases DMT during death. Some researchers have also conjectured that DMT is released during other intense experiences, including orgasm.

Gabor Mate, a medical doctor from Vancouver who is a prominent ayahuasca researcher, contends that therapy assisted by psychedelics, and ayahuasca in particular, can untangle complex, unconscious psychological stresses. He claims these stresses underlie and contribute to all chronic medical conditions, from cancer and addiction to depression and multiple sclerosis.

The results of the first North American observational study on the safety and long-term effectiveness of ayahuasca treatment for addiction and dependence were published in June 2013 in the journal Current Drug Abuse Reviews. All of the participants in the study reported positive and lasting changes, and the study found statistically significant improvements “for scales assessing hopefulness, empowerment, mindfulness, and quality of life meaning and outlook subscales. Self-reported alcohol, tobacco and cocaine use declined, although cannabis and opiate use did not.” The reported reductions in problematic cocaine use were also statistically significant.

It is a ritualistic learning process that is becoming increasingly popular across the globe, with people exploring their personal development through the introspective nature of the hallucinogenic experience, according to the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS).

**** LSD ****

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a naturally occurring alkaloid extracted from the fungus Ergot which can grow on rye and other grains. It is among the most potent, mood changing chemicals. It is odorless, colorless, and has a slightly bitter taste. From a chemical perspective, LSD in its pure, unadulterated form, is relatively safe, and although it varies from person to person, it has no serious physiological effects.“Man-made” LSD or “street acid” on the other hand is manufactured with combinations of poisons (usually strychnine, a rat killer) and should beavoided at all costs. Unlike cannabis, LSD highs can last much longer–usually over six hours and in some cases more than twelve hours on different “street acids” which can be problematic for those experiencing “bad trips.”

Note that the extraction of LSD from Ergot is complex and requires skills that are well-versed in chemistry (do not initiate your own experiments).

LSD is known to cause changes in consciousness, including “ego-dissolution,” or a loss of the sense of self. Despite a detailed knowledge of the action of LSD at specific serotonin receptors, it has not been understood how these pharmacological effects can translate into such a profound effect on consciousness.

It is capable of producing a full range of low and high level hallucinatory states in a fashion that is significantly less consistent and reproducible than that of many other commonly used psychedelics.

Although LSD is technically capable of producing hallucinatory states in a fashion that is on par with other powerful psychelics, including vividness and intensity, these effects are extremely rare and inconsistent in comparison. This lack of consistently induced hallucinatory breakthroughs means that for most, LSD is simply not as deep of an experience as certain other psychedelics. On the rare occasion that they are induced however, they can be comprehensively described in terms of their variations as lucid in believability, interactive in style, new experiences in content, autonomous in controllability and geometry-based in appearance.

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease published results from the first study of LSD’s therapeutic potential in humans to appear in more than four decades. The controlled, double-blind study, which was conducted in Switzerland under the direction of Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser, measured the impact of LSD-assisted psychotherapy on 12 people with life-threatening diseases (mainly terminal cancer). “The study was a success in the sense that we did not have any noteworthy adverse effects,” Gasser says. “All participants reported a personal benefit from the treatment, and the effects were stable over time.”

LSD reduces connectivity within brain networks, or the extent to which nerve cells or neurons within a network fire in synchrony. LSD also seems to reduce the extent to which separate brain networks remain distinct in their patterns or synchronization of firing. Overall, LSD interferes with the patterns of activation in the different brain networks that underlie human thought and behavior.

Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and his colleagues at Imperial College London did sequential brain scans of 20 healthy volunteers over 6 hours, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which maps brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow, and magnetoencephalography (MEG), a technique that images brain function by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents occurring in the brain.

Dr. Carhart-Harris suggests that “with better assessment tools available today than in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it may be possible to evaluate potential uses of LSD as a treatment for addiction and other disorders, such as treatment-resistant depression “which we are currently investigating with a similar drug to LSD”. LSD also may provide a useful human model of psychosis, as it leads to changes in brain network behavior that shows overlap with the early phase of psychosis.

“I see the true importance of LSD in the possibility of providing material aid to meditation aimed at the mystical experience of a deeper, comprehensive reality. Such a use accords entirely with the essence and working character of LSD as a sacred drug.” Dr Albert Hofmann, the founder of LSD.

“… LSD is best understood as a powerful unspecific amplifier, or catalyst, of mental processes, which facilitates the emergence of unconscious material from different levels of the human psyche.”‘ Dr Stan Grof, Esalen Institute.Although I don’t recommend trying LSD without a trained professional guiding you through the process, if you are absolutely determined to ignore this advice, the following video gives sensible guidelines on how to prepare for and manage an LSD trip.

Earth stopped rotating life implications

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The Earth spins at more than 1000 mph. If it were to suddenly stop, the effects would be disastrous.

http://www.techinsider.io/earth-stopped-rotating-life-implications-science-physics-2015-12

Your Christmas lights could be interfering with your Wi-Fi connection – ScienceAlert

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Before the terrible jokes start and we all declare that this is a fit of “Bah Humbug!” from the telephone regulator, the warning is correct – your fairy lights could indeed be a Wi-Fi downer. But then so could many other devices. Ultimately, it is a matter of how much of a problem they actually cause.

The science behind the warning

The whole press release describes how microwave ovens, fluorescent lights and other devices could also play havoc with your wireless connection.

Casting your minds back to science at school, you may recall your teacher describing the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum covers radio waves, microwaves, visible light and radiation. It is around us all the time. Our phones, radios, televisions and desk lights all depend on this principle from physical science.

NASA

Wireless networks typically work on the 2.4 Gigahertz microwave radio spectrum. The term Hertz means the number of waves per second, so 1 Hertz is one wavelength per second. Your FM radio station may use 100 Megahertz, or 100,000,000 waves per second, while 2.4 Gigahertz, used by wireless, is 2,400,000,000 waves per second, making the radio waves used by Wi-Fi considerably shorter. Essentially, this means that they are ‘weaker’ than FM radio waves – as they require greater power to cover the same distance.

Your wireless router also uses considerably less power than a public FM transmitter. We expect the maximum reach of a domestic Wi-Fi signal to be 100 metres, while FM in the right conditions can easily be obtained at up to 10km and beyond. (There are also public forms of Wi-Fi called WiMAX, which can work in larger areas, but it is important to note that this is unrelated to the Ofcom press release.)

Because your wireless network is much less powerful than a big FM transmitter and its waves are weaker, where you place the router and what you have in your house will have an impact. Home electrics, microwaves, steel girders, concrete cladding and foil insulation all can have an effect. Older properties with theirthicker walls make a difference, too, as the lower-powered, high frequency Wi-Fi radio waves struggle to penetrate them.

But while many different factors can dull your Wi-Fi signal, I can’t recall anyone yet getting miffed about their festive laptop watching of Dr Who being affected as soon as the Christmas lights go on.

What should you do?

But it is possible. Most fairy lights have unshielded wires, which means there’s no radio frequency insulation to protect radio-based devices from the electromagnetic effects of the power cables trailing around your tree.

Nevertheless, it would take a considerable volume of lights to create enough interference to seriously degrade your Wi-Fi network. In fact, you would have to be lighting up your tree like a small sun – which perhaps some of you are planning.

Do consider downloading the Wi-Fi checker app offered by Ofcom, however – it may help you discover that it’s the service provided by your phone company, rather than the fairy lights, that’s to blame for all that endless buffering.

You should also think about where you place your wireless router in your home. Hiding it under a tin can inside a cupboard insulated with tin foil will ruin your Facebook fun. As will decorating your wireless device with holly and fairy lights.

There are domestic devices that will degrade the wireless signal – although it’s not often you’ll be running your microwave 24 hours a day – but don’t rush to throw away your fairy lights just yet. Christmas is coming, after all.

E. Coli Bacteria Develop Resistance To Antibiotic Of Last Resort, Pass It On To Other Bacteria

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The antibiotic resistant bacteria have been found in pigs, pork and people in China. This pig is from a farm on the outskirts of Beijing.

The antibiotic resistant bacteria have been found in pigs, pork and people in China. This pig is from a farm on the outskirts of Beijing.

Colistin is the antibiotic that doctors use as a last resort to wipe out dangerous bacteria.

“It’s really been kept as the last drug in the locker when all else has failed,” says Dr. Jim Spencer, a senior lecturer in microbiology at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

But now Spencer reports that E. coli bacteria, which can cause kidney failure as well as urinary tract and other infections, have changed. In an article published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, Spencer and his co-authors tell how researchers in China have found that the bacteria not only are increasingly resistant to colistin, but have developed a mechanism to transfer resistance to neighboring bacteria. And those bacteria don’t even have to be the same strain as those that originally developed the resistance. So bacteria that cause other health problems could be affected.

The prospect of colistin resistance spreading on a large scale is worrying, says Spencer, because there aren’t any good alternatives.

Spencer and his colleagues found the resistant E. coli bacteria in pork, pigs and people in China.

“We found colistin resistance over a relatively large part of the south of the country,” Spencer says.

And he suspects it’s not happening just in China: “The ease with which we’ve been able to see this resistance move between bacteria and the high incidence [of resistance] that we saw in this study would suggest to me that it’s very likely that once people start looking for this outside of China, they’ll find it very quickly. I don’t think this is a problem that’s local to China at all.”

While this transfer of drug resistance has been seen before, Spencer says this is the first time it’s been seen for colistin.

David Plunkett at the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been involved for years with the issue of the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production.

Plunkett calls this new report out of China really frightening.

“You’re looking at the last line of defense against antibiotic resistance falling,” he says. “And the potential for it now to spread not only in China but around the world — you’re looking at the potential for untreatable epidemics.”

Indeed, public health officials have been warning about the impending “post-antibiotic era” for years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that annually 2 million Americans are infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and more than 20,000 die from those infections. Each year the world’s arsenal of antibiotics loses a bit more of its strength as bacteria mutate and develop resistance.

The growing resistance stems from the overuse of antibiotics by humans, but also in livestock operations. To keep their herd healthy, farmers often preemptively give antibiotics to their animals even if none are sick.

The Food and Drug Administration has been warning about the problem for decades. The World Health Organization has been lobbying to put restrictions on access to antibiotics globally. Earlier this year President Obama launched an action plan.

Spencer says the world isn’t going to lose access to antibiotics in the next few years, but still finds the rise of this resistance troubling. “People reach for colistin because that’s the last resort,” he says. “When colistin goes, it’s very hard to see what the alternative would be.”

“Were this to happen on a large scale,” he observes, “we’d have to ask whether some surgical procedures would simply be too dangerous because of the risk of infections that we are unable to combat effectively.”

Ecologists find another cause of antibiotic resistance

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UGA ecologist finds another cause of antibiotic resistance
Tinker Creek is a pristine black water stream on the Savannah River Site. The bacteria in this stream are susceptible to antibiotics. Credit: Linda Lee/University of Georgia

While the rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has prompted the medical community, non-profit organizations, public health officials and the national media to educate the public to the dangers of misusing and overusing antibiotics, the University of Georgia’s J. Vaun McArthur is concerned that there’s more to the problem than the misuse of common medications.

McArthur, a senior research ecologist with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Odum School of Ecology, believes environmental contaminants may be partly to blame for the rise in bacterial resistance, and he tested this hypothesis in streams on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site.

The 310-square mile site near Aiken, South Carolina, east of the Savannah River, was closed to the public in the early 1950s to produce materials used in nuclear weapons. This production led to legacy waste, or contamination, in limited areas of the site. This waste impacted some of the streams in the industrial areas.

“The site was constructed and closed to the public before were used in medical practices and agriculture,” McArthur said. “The streams have not had inputs from wastewater, so we know the observed patterns are from something other than antibiotics.”

McArthur tested five antibiotics on 427 strains of E. coli bacteria in the streams. His research team collected samples from 11 locations in nine streams, which included sediment as well as water samples. The level of metal contamination among these locations varied from little to high.

The results, published in the journal Environmental Microbiology, revealed high levels of in eight of the 11 water samples. The highest levels were found at the northern location of Upper Three Runs Creek, where the stream system enters the site, and on two tributaries located in the industrial area, U4 and U8. The level of antibiotic resistance was high in both water and sediment samples from these streams.

UGA ecologist finds another cause of antibiotic resistance
Bacteria from the U8 tributary on the Savannah River Site are resistant to antibiotics. Credit: Linda Lee/University of Georgia

McArthur said Upper Three Runs Creek flows through residential, agricultural and industrial areas before it enters the SRS, so the bacteria in this stream have been exposed to antibiotics. In contrast, U4 and U8 are completely contained within the site and have no known input from antibiotics. However, they have a long history of inputs from the legacy waste.

McArthur conducted a second screening using 23 antibiotics on U4, U8 and U10, a nearby stream with little to no industrial impact.

“More than 95 percent of the bacteria samples from these streams were resistant to 10 or more of the 23 antibiotics,” McArthur said. These included front-line antibiotics—gatifloxacin and ciprofloxacin, which are used to treat basic bacterial infections from pink eye to urinary tract and sinus infections.

The contaminated streams U4 and U8 had the highest level of antibiotic resistance.

“These streams have no source of antibiotic input, thus the only explanation for the high level of antibiotic resistance is the environmental contaminants in these streams—the metals, including cadmium and mercury,” McArthur said.

McArthur said the three tributaries of Upper Three Runs Creek, U4, U8 and U10 vary in the level of contamination respectively, from highly impacted and impacted to not as impacted.

It is possible that antibiotic-exposed wildlife may have dumped waste into these streams, MacArthur said, but only streams with a history of industrial input had . Bacteria in the six streams in the pristine areas of the site were susceptible to the antibiotics.

McArthur said it is concerning that these antibiotic-resistant drain into the Savannah River, a large body of water bordering Georgia and South Carolina. The Savannah River shares at least two major characteristics with many large bodies of water in the U.S. It is in close proximity to residential communities, and it receives industrially contaminated water—prone to antibiotic resistance.

“The findings of this study may very well explain why resistant bacteria are so widely distributed,” McArthur said.

Landmark Study Confirms Marijuana Extract Obliterates Seizures in Epileptic Children

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First-of-Its-Kind-Study-Shows-Marijuana-Extract-Obliterates-Seizures-in-Epileptic-Children

The annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society took place in early December, where the largest study presented there confirmed the astounding benefits of medical cannabis to treat seizures.

Epilepsy affects one in 26 Americans during their lifetime, “with one-third having a form of the condition that resists treatment or effective management.” Children and young adults are particularly affected by this debilitating condition.

The findings of this study add to the growing body of evidence that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive extract of cannabis, can provide the best option for treatment-resistant epilepsy.

Of 261 patients given CBD treatment, 45% experienced a significant reduction in seizure frequency, and 9% were seizure-free at 3 months. Some children continued to experience benefits after the trial ended, even one year after.

“In the subsequent periods, which are very encouraging, 9 percent of all patients and 13 percent of those with Dravet Syndrome epilepsy were seizure-free. Many have never been seizure-free before,” said lead author Dr. Orrin Devinsky.

The Free Thought Project has covered many stories of CBD providing miraculous benefits to children suffering from treatment-resistant epileptic seizures. With scientific evidence piling up, it is no longer deniable that cannabis provides a host of medical treatments.

As such, the federal classification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug—with no medical benefits—is completely absurd and is a moral affront to millions of people searching for alternatives to Big Pharma products.

Research began in the mid-20th century on medical cannabis was quashed with the government’s War on Drugs, but is being rekindled as states continue to legalize medicinal and recreational use. However, clinical trials take a long time, and they are just beginning.

The call for ending all government roadblocks to medical cannabis research is growing louder and more furious, from doctors and patients alike. Researchers want to explore all options in the quest to cure human ailments.

“As a practitioner, I have had families move to Colorado, and many tried multiple different products,” said Devinsky. “As a doctor, I often don’t feel like I know which of many factors is contributing to a patient doing better or worse. We absolutely need rigorous, scientific data on this.”