Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff
One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.
- Carl G. Jung
https://www.cryptogon.com/?p=54388
Neuroscientists Say They’ve Found an Entirely New Form of Neural Communication
February 18th, 2019
Make sure everyone is bathed in directed energy weapon beams 5G network signals.
Via: ScienceAlert:
What they found was that slow periodic activity can generate electric fields which in turn activate neighbouring cells, constituting a form of neural communication without chemical synaptic transmission or gap junctions.
“We’ve known about these waves for a long time, but no one knows their exact function and no one believed they could spontaneously propagate,” Durand says.
“I’ve been studying the hippocampus, itself just one small part of the brain, for 40 years and it keeps surprising me.”
This neural activity can actually be modulated – strengthened or blocked – by applying weak electrical fields and could be an analogue form of another cell communication method, called ephaptic coupling.
The team’s most radical finding was that these electrical fields can activate neurons through a complete gap in severed brain tissue, when the two pieces remain in close physical proximity.
“To ensure that the slice was completely cut, the two pieces of tissue were separated and then rejoined while a clear gap was observed under the surgical microscope,” the authors explain in their paper.
“The slow hippocampal periodic activity could indeed generate an event on the other side of a complete cut through the whole slice.”
If you think that sounds freaky, you’re not the only one. The review committee at The Journal of Physiology – in which the research has been published – insisted the experiments be completed again before agreeing to print the study.
Durand et al. dutifully complied, but sound pretty understanding of the cautiousness, all things considered, given the unprecedented weirdness of the observation they’re reporting.
“It was a jaw-dropping moment,” Durand says, “for us and for every scientist we told about this so far.”
“But every experiment we’ve done since to test it has confirmed it so far.”
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/ ... ign=buffer
February 17th, 2017
Life Imitates Akira: the NSA’s fear of psychic nukes
Agency wondered if ten psychics could cause a chain reaction that would cause a city to become lost in time and space
Written by Emma Best
Edited by JPat Brown
A classified government document opens with “an odd sequence of events relating to parapsychology has occurred within the last month” and concluded with an alarming question about psychics nuking cities so that they became lost in time and space. If this sounds like a plot out of science fiction, it is - but it’s also a NSA memo from 1977.
The first “event” raised by the NSA note is a CIA report which mentioned KGB research into parapsychology. According to this, the KGB used hobbyists and non-governmental researchers to talk to western scientists. This allowed the KGB to collect useful information without putting themselves into a position to accidentally leak confidential information to westerners. According to the NSA note, this tactic yielded “high grade western scientific data.”
[…]
By an interesting coincidence, the “Philadelphia Experiment hoax” bears some superficial resemblance to the theorized weapon in the NSA note. According various versions of the hoax, the USS Eldridge was temporarily rendered invisible or transported through time and space. The incident is even listed on NSA’s webpage of paranormal topics that they don’t have records on. However, there were other papers prepared on the perceived potential of weaponizing psychic abilities, some of which will be explored later. For now, you can read the NSA note below:
[… con’d]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holonomic_brain_theory
Wikipedia - Holonomic Brain Theory
Holonomic brain theory is a branch of neuroscience investigating the idea that human consciousness is formed by quantum effects in or between brain cells. This is opposed by traditional neuroscience, which investigates the brain's behavior by looking at patterns of neurons and the surrounding chemistry, and which assumes that any quantum effects will not be significant at this scale. The entire field of quantum consciousness is often criticized as pseudoscience, as detailed on the main article thereof.
This specific theory of quantum consciousness was developed by neuroscientist Karl Pribram initially in collaboration with physicist David Bohm. It describes human cognition by modeling the brain as a holographic storage network.[1][2] Pribram suggests these processes involve electric oscillations in the brain's fine-fibered dendritic webs, which are different from the more commonly known action potentials involving axons and synapses.[3][4][5] These oscillations are waves and create wave interference patterns in which memory is encoded naturally, and the waves may be analyzed by a Fourier transform.[3][4][5][6][7] Gabor, Pribram and others noted the similarities between these brain processes and the storage of information in a hologram, which can also be analyzed with a Fourier transform.[1][8] In a hologram, any part of the hologram with sufficient size contains the whole of the stored information. In this theory, a piece of a long-term memory is similarly distributed over a dendritic arbor so that each part of the dendritic network contains all the information stored over the entire network.[1][8][9] This model allows for important aspects of human consciousness, including the fast associative memory that allows for connections between different pieces of stored information and the non-locality of memory storage (a specific memory is not stored in a specific location, i.e. a certain cluster of neurons).[1][10][11]
[… con’d]
This happy circumstance continued until nearly the end of the painting. I was thinking about placing one of the fallen petals on the nearest rams horn when one fell off and landed on it rather provocatively. - Harvey
This world is the will to power—and nothing besides! And you yourselves are also this will to power—and nothing besides! - Nietzsche
https://www.cryptogon.com/?p=54417
China’s CRIPSR Twins Might Have Had Their Brains Inadvertently Enhanced
February 22nd, 2019
Via: MIT Technology Review:
The brains of two genetically edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance cognition and memory, scientists say.
The twins, called Lulu and Nana, reportedly had their genes modified before birth by a Chinese scientific team using the new editing tool CRISPR. The goal was to make the girls immune to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Now, new research shows that the same alteration introduced into the girls’ DNA, deletion of a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to greater success in school.
“The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains,” says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose lab uncovered a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory and the brain’s ability to form new connections.
“The simplest interpretation is that those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins,” says Silva. He says the exact effect on the girls’ cognition is impossible to predict, and “that is why it should not be done.”
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6129 ... s-altered/
[…]
The Chinese team, led by He Jiankui of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, claimed it used CRISPR to delete CCR5 from human embryos, some of which were later used to create pregnancies. HIV requires the CCR5 gene to enter human blood cells.
The experiment has been widely condemned as irresponsible, and He is under investigation in China. News of the first gene-edited babies also inflamed speculation about whether CRISPR technology could one day be used to create super-intelligent humans, perhaps as part of a biotechnology race between the US and China.
There is no evidence that He actually set out to modify the twins’ intelligence. MIT Technology Review contacted scientists studying the effects of CCR5 on cognition, and they say the Chinese scientist never reached out to them, as he did to others from whom he hoped to get scientific advice or support.
As far as I know, we never heard from him,” says Miou Zhou, a professor at the Western University of Health Sciences in California.
Although He never consulted the brain researchers, the Chinese scientist was certainly aware of the link between CCR5 and cognition. It was first shown in 2016 by Zhou and Silva, who found that removing the gene from mice significantly improved their memory. The team had looked at more than 140 different genetic alterations to find which made mice smarter.
Silva says because of his research, he sometimes interacts with figures in Silicon Valley and elsewhere who have, in his opinion, an unhealthy interest in designer babies with better brains. That’s why, when the birth of the twins became public on November 25, Silva says he immediately wondered if it had been an attempt at this kind of alteration. “I suddenly realized—Oh, holy shit, they are really serious about this bullshit,” says Silva. “My reaction was visceral repulsion and sadness.”
During a summit of gene editing scientists that occurred two days later in Hong Kong, He acknowledged he had known all along about the potential brain effects from the UCLA research. “I saw that paper, it needs more independent verification,” He replied when asked about it during a Q&A session (see video here). He added: “I am against using genome editing for enhancement.”
Whatever He’s true aims, evidence continues to build that CCR5 plays a major role in the brain. Today, for example, Silva and a large team from the US and Israel say they have new proof that CCR5 acts as a suppressor of memories and synaptic connections.
According to their new report, appearing in the journal Cell, people who naturally lack CCR5 recover more quickly from strokes. What’s more, people missing at least one copy of the gene seem to go further in school, suggesting a possible role in everyday intelligence.
“We are the first to report a function of CCR5 in the human brain, and the first to report a higher level of education,” says UCLA biologist S. Thomas Carmichael, who led the new study. He calls the link to educational success “tantalizing” but says it needs further study.
The discoveries about CCR5 are already being followed up in drug trials on both stroke patients and people with HIV, who sometimes suffer memory problems. In those studies, one of which is under way at UCLA, people are being given an anti-HIV drug, Maraviroc, which chemically blocks CCR5, to see if it improves their cognition.
Silva says there is a big difference between trying to correct deficits in such patients and trying to create enhancement. “Cognitive problems are one of the biggest unmet needs in medicine. We need drugs, but it’s another thing to take normal people and muck with the DNA or chemistry to improve them,” he says. “We simply don’t know enough to do it. Nature has struck a very fine balance.”
Just because we shouldn’t alter normal intelligence doesn’t mean we can’t. Silva says the genetic manipulations used to make “smart mice” show not only that it is possible, but that changing CCR5 has particularly big effects.
“Could it be conceivable that at one point in the future we could increase the average IQ of the population? I would not be a scientist if I said no. The work in mice demonstrates the answer may be yes,” he says. “But mice are not people. We simply don’t know what the consequences will be in mucking around. We are not ready for it yet.”
“This is a computer chip designed to emulate how the human brain thinks - which IBM successfully developed and revealed to the world.
In the future, wearing a similar device, you might be able to access the unlimited knowledge of the Internet directly into your brain.
In the future, with the combination of robotic enhancement and genetic engineering, you might have a perfect body!
Presume to debate precisely when this will happen, but such a world is coming.
thrulookingglass » Thu Feb 21, 2019 4:51 pm wrote:This happy circumstance continued until nearly the end of the painting. I was thinking about placing one of the fallen petals on the nearest rams horn when one fell off and landed on it rather provocatively. - Harvey
Jeesh Harvey. Why'd you have to put a ram's head in your painting. You're right of course, all consciousness is intertwined, spinning in infinity like the universe itself. None are greater that find any lesser. Your concern for the wasps well being was not lost on creation. ALL things require care if life is to be well lived. Our understanding of one another is imperative to the quality of the lives we live. We can see how our neglect has lead us into a world of horrors. It's all psychological warfare, what belief system can I impose upon you. As for me, I can't abide by Catholicism or even Christianity as I find nepotism immoral and while Jesus might say give to the poor, I say create none who are poor. Of course, this depends on you definition of poor. Money is no form of wealth, but greater compassion, empathy, sympathy, concern that others not suffer is the greatest wealth of soul. Love: the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the well being of another. Intelligence is the ability to love and our ability to love is the greatest blessing we could ever offer to another. The anti-theist Aron Ra of youtube fame states, "If you want your life to mean something, try making someone else's life meaningful." As I say, I'm not sure God is a being, but there is a divine way and that is to offer comfort where there is suffering, to anoint the wounds of the sick and injured, to shelter others from harm, and to stand in the way of those that might seek to use violence against any. We have responsibilities here whether we enjoy that fact or not. I often think the male God image has destroyed the feminist nurturing spirit. Isis, after all, though she seems a derivative of Hathor represented that living spirit of nature your St Francis cited as "God's glory". We have turned away from the bosom of the dove, the feminine offers us comfort, the male seeks a throne, something to rule over. I'm paraphrasing but I'll do it once again, the black books say "we shall poison this world as to deafen the voice of God on the land." Happens more and more each day. Car exhaust, all combustion engines, destruction of the forest/nature, the seas, pesticides, herbicides, dioxins. The Hindus and Yogis call it prana, the breath of life, our respiratory exchange with the living world provides us with the energy of life. Nothing happens in a vacuum. The crime scene scenario. You cannot live this life without effecting others. Displacement. How does hatred of sexuality filter into this worship of God? And the horrors it has caused upon the church in this day and age...unheralded. Garbage in, garbage out.
I am the ram. Born 3/26/73. The god of war. The one humanity truly worships. All is born of war here. The computer, spear, technology... Even if 99% of all alien life out there was entirely benevolent, it's that 1% of evil that could ruin it all. The lesson; don't practice evil! Ever! God promises me the most comfortable shackles. Will we ever escape the tragedy of us? Wars of violence are forever awful. Non-violence is the anti-weapon for all it seeks to destroy are broken beliefs. Life has become a pyramid scheme...that's why the King's chamber slope matches my birthday. Kings. "And his Kingdom shall have no end." Where is my queen? Strengthen the God within the. Fear is the mind killer. The late Shannon Hoon croons, "when life gets hard you have to change." Pain is an indication of a wrong path chosen.
All my days I've been searching,
To find out what this life is worth
Through the books and bibles of time
I've made up my mind
I don't condemn, I don't convert,
This is a calling have you heard
Bring all the lovers to the fold,
'Cause no one is gonna lose their soul
Love is my religion
- sings the Rastafarian cannabis user
Where is our love for peace? Greater love is greater security. Aries screams to the universe in the loudest of howls, "Who hath deceived me from the Goddess of love this time?!" The Rabbi wields the shofar, a lone bellow through this darkest of nights. Only Christ is mighty...wallow in filth ye rabble. Come heralded sun, show me what evil I have become.
In our world gun ownership rights are more important than human rights. Failure. Abject failure of man.This world is the will to power—and nothing besides! And you yourselves are also this will to power—and nothing besides! - Nietzsche
Power. The only word that matters. Controlling consciousness is the war. And it ravages on and on...
Eternal torture is an abomination that eclipses consciousness. None deserve to suffer. There is no hell but the one we create for one another each day we refuse to care for those who so desperately need our help. No world drowner shall rule over me. Ever.
https://www.cryptogon.com/?p=54718
China: Gene-Editing Techniques Make Monkey Brains More Humanlike
April 11th, 2019
You’ll love this one.
Via:Futurism:
For the first time, scientists have used gene-editing techniques to make monkey brains more humanlike.
The monkeys, rhesus macaques, got smarter — they had superior memories to unaltered monkeys, according to recently-published research that’s kicked off a fiery debate among ethicists about how far scientists should be able to take genetic experimentation.
Cognitive Gap
The team of Chinese scientists edited the human version of a gene called MCPH1 into the macaques. The new gene made the monkeys’ brains develop along a more human-like timeline. The gene-hacked monkeys had better reaction times and enhanced short-term memories compared to their unaltered peers, according to China Daily.
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