Philosophy Wire: Higher order…

Spintronics refers to a suite of physical systems which may one day replace many electronic systems. To realize this generational leap, material components that confine electrons in one dimension are highly sought after. For the first time, researchers created such a material in the form of a special bismuth-based crystal known as a high-order topological insulator. [1] One dimension. Two dimensions. Three dimensions. Stop counting. Ask yourself. In how many dimensions do you think? Where is the cosmos inside your heart? Can your sense of Being ever be anything more than a single point? Can your Self ever exist beyond One? Start counting. Can you really go from one to two without killing you?

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Philosophy Wire: God…

Excavations on the south coast of South Africa have uncovered evidence of human occupations from the end of the last ice age, approximately 35,000 years ago, through the complex transition to the modern time, known as the Holocene and adaptions that were key to our species ability to survive wide climate and environmental fluctuations. [1] Run to the hills. The sea is coming. Run to the hills. The wind is blowing. A fierce storm raging. And in the middle of the sea, a man alone wandering. "I am not afraid!". Whispering, while heading to the bottom of the deep sea. "I am God"...

(Why can’t you believe in me?)

Fossils in the middle of the steep hill.

Who are those looking at me?

Parents crying.

A new storm raging in the midst of the sea…

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Philosophy Wire: Until death…

Researchers show that the wives of men with major cardiovascular disease risk factors, namely hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, are more prone to suffer from the same disorders. [1] We are affected by out close ones. We live and we die together. Not only with our parents, wives, children. But with our Sun. With the Moon and the sky. Along with the fish and the bears and the crickets. Along with the jasmine and the apple. Together with the trees and rivers. Things eternal. Things ephemeral. And in all these years, we never thought of the obvious: Who can perceive both if not their creator? Don’t cry. You can make the Sun rise tomorrow. Unless you die…

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Philosophy Wire: Two from One…

Photos by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

Scientists uncover a novel and generic mechanism for the division of artificial cells into two daughter cells. The success of life on earth is based on the amazing ability of living cells to divide themselves into two daughter cells. During such a division process, the outer cell membrane has to undergo a series of morphological transformations that ultimately lead to membrane fission. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, and at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, have now achieved unprecedented control over these shape transformations and the resulting division process by anchoring low densities of proteins to the artificial cell membranes. [1]

In the beginning there was one.
But one which wanted and was able to divide into two.

In the beginning there was a truth.
But a truth able and ready to be transformed into lies.

In the beginning there was life.
But life which was ready to be dissolved into nothingness…

The sun sets now.
In the beginning there was nothing.
In the beginning there were lies.
In the beginning there was everything…

Oh, dear darkness.

You were afraid so much of yourself.

That you could only dream of light...

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Philosophy Wire: Invisible traces… Visible cosmos…

A treatment called extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is used in patients both human and equine to speed healing of injured tendons and ligaments. Using high-pressure sonic waves, ESWT is thought to increase blood flow to the treated area and has been shown to reduce pain over the short term. In racehorses, however, masking pain can come with a cost: Overworked minor injuries could lead to major ones or even pose a life-threatening risk to both horse and rider. For that reason, horse racing authorities have banned the use of ESWT for horses within 10 days of a race or sporting event. But the question of how to enforce this "invisible" therapy remained open. Now a team led by Mary Robinson, and Jinwen Chen has found that the practice does in fact leave a trail. In a paper in Equine Veterinary Journal, they report finding potential biomarkers of ESWT that, with further testing, could one day be used to enforce the ESWT ban. [1] There is nothing that leaves no trace at all. Once there, pain is always there. Once there, life is always existing. Once there, death never leaves our bed. Seek signs of meaning in the meaningless. Seek traces of existence in the void. Look for hints of life in the most gruesome death. And at the end you will reach at a point where there is something which needs to leave no trace at all. Ask him. Why did you leave traces for Me to look for? But beware. Answer right. And you will have answered wrong…

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Philosophy Wire: Pollen. Synchronization. Eternal chaos…

Researchers used tree pollen data for 120 sites across Japan to observe pollen synchronicity at regional and national levels. Greater synchronicity was found among eastern regions than western regions. There was intermittent synchronization nationwide, with yearly changes such as perfect synchronization (2009-2010), perfect desynchronization (2015-2016), and mixed states. These findings can be used to improve prediction accuracy of pollen forecasting in Japan. [1] But Nature is One. The cosmos is One. There is no synchronization or desynchronization. Even at the heart of the greatest destruction, Nature is always in motion and always in sync! In the rage of fire, under the fury of the ocean, the cosmos dances with you. Flow with it. But also guide it. This synchronization is subtle and fragile. Watch it and it will diminish, like a soap bubble on the first touch of a child. Dance! And at the end you will see nothing. And at the end you will feel everything!

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Philosophy Wire: Genes from nothing… Nothingness full of something…

One key question in evolutionary biology is how novel genes arise and develop. Researchers now show how new genes and functions that are advantageous to bacteria can be selected from random DNA sequences. [1]

Genes from nowhere.
Humans from nothing.
Existence from the void of emptiness.
No, the world is not miraculous.
We just need to change the definition of nothing to something…

We hate nothing. And even though we constantly use it to refer to the cosmos and our self, we never truly believed in it. The nothing we believe in is a life giving nothingness. The void we refer to is a void giving birth to universes.

We hate nothing. For we are everything.
And even in our darkest times…
While still being blinded by sunlight…
We can still recall the Moon…
And with closed eyes. We still dream of sleepless nights…

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Philosophy Wire: Consciousness. Brain. Interconnections.

A research found two main patterns of communication across brain regions, with regards to the differences between conscious and unconscious states.

One simply reflected physical connections of the brain, such as communication only between pairs of regions that have a direct physical link between them. This was seen in patients with virtually no conscious experience.

The other represented very complex brain-wide dynamic interactions across a set of 42 brain regions that belong to six brain networks with important roles in cognition. This complex pattern was almost only present in people with some level of consciousness. (this complex pattern disappeared when patients were under deep anesthesia) [1]

In other words: Consciousness seems related to remote areas of the brain interconnected. While the lack of consciousness seems related to a state in which only neighboring areas are functionally connected.

Going at a larger scale, we can see a man who only has his brain neurons interconnected as “unconscious” in relation to the wider universe. A man fully utilizing the whole network of his brain can be completely unaware of the cosmos around him, in the same way the neurons in a specific area of his brain are completely unaware of what is happening in the brain as a whole, during unconscious states.

At the end, what seems important is the interconnection of every point to create a full picture. And by irrational deduction, we can conclude that the interconnection with no points at all is the ultimate goal we should reach. Because at the end, being interconnected with everything means that anything “else” will stop being and everything will be considered as part of “us”.

Grow. Reach out.
Interconnect.
Discover the cosmos.

And you will see that there is no cosmos… 

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Philosophy Wire: Physics. Fluids. Cosmos. One. Being.

The physics of fluids explains how crowds of marathon runners move. [1] All is unique. All is part of One. Individual particles. In the deep raging ocean. Single waves. Riding the dark immense abyss. And above all, Being. Embracing them all. Can there be anything without nothing? Can there be One without the many? A world hidden in a smile. A cosmos born in a cry. Listen to the music. Does it matter why?

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Philosophy Wire: Syncing. Out of sync.

Our brains are continuously bombarded with information from the senses, yet our level of vigilance to such input varies, allowing us to selectively focus on one conversation and not another. Research has shown that the electrical activity of the neocortex of the brain changes, when we focus our attention. Neurons stop signaling in sync with one another and start firing out of sync. The cholinergic system in the brain plays an important role in triggering this desynchronization. [1] Identifying what is important. But in a world of One, everything is. Every day we try to feel all the rain drops. Trying to sync to sense something. But it is only when you are out of sync that you can feel everything. You must lose focus to let the world focus on you. Close your eyes. In a world of One nothing is important. There are no rain drops. Just feel the rain. Identify what is important. Focus your attention. Because you know what to pay attention to. You always knew. From a time back in time when there was nothing to pay attention to…

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Philosophy Wire: Eat with your eyes.

Humans not only relish the sweet, savory and saltiness of foods, but they are influenced by the environment in which they eat. Food scientists used virtual reality to show how people's perception of real food can be altered by their surroundings. [1] Our perception of taste is affected by our perception of space. Our perception of space affected also by our perception of taste. Every bit of our existence inherently connected with every other bit. In a cosmos full of good food, can there anything but love? What a great movie you are eating. Or is it a great popcorn you are watching? Is it bad that you will die at the end? Or was it bad that you lived in the first place? Ah! A pop corn was stuck in my teeth!

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Philosophy Wire: Thinking. Energy. Being.

Scientists have developed 'neuristor' circuits that behave similarly to biological neurons in the human brain, which can perform complex computations using an incredibly small amount of power. [1] We are used of thinking more and more. But at the end, the highest level of thinking is non-thinking. We are used to admire long and complex calculations. But even the most complex calculation ends up in zero. 1. 1+1. 2. 2+1 … Does it matter if we write 1+1 or 2? Does it matter how many numbers we have? Do you believe that we have numbers at all? At the end, everything is a tautology. Look at the mirror. It all started with One. And no matter how you express it, it will always stay as Is.

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Philosophy Wire: Specializing… In nothing…

Find your passion' may not be the best advice after all: As the world becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, having diverse interests can help people make important connections across fields, such as between the arts and sciences. A new study suggests that one's belief about the nature of interests might prevent those insights from happening. [1] Every attempt to know something breaks it up into a million pieces. The only true knowledge is non-knowledge. Experience and accept. Never learn. The only way to understand is via understanding there is nothing to understand. Look at the whole. In a cosmos full of parts, it is the only thing which truly exists. Seek knowledge in everything. But without truly learning anything. Pour some tea please... But please, leave the cup empty…

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Philosophy Wire: Brain plasticity… Change… Eternal existence…

Psychedelic drugs promote neural plasticity in rats and flies. [1] Brain changing. Being alive. Experiencing illusions. Being alive. And yet, an all changing cosmos smells rot, death and decay. What Is, remains unchanged eternally. What Is not, changes constantly. Trying to fool the eye. To deceive the ear. But the heart knows better. Don’t show me anything. I already know what I seek…

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Philosophy Wire: Light. Interactions. Abyss. Perception. Cosmic cycles.

Researchers have devised a new way to make light interact with matter. Reducing the wavelength of light could allow it to be absorbed or emitted by a semiconductor, their study suggests. [1] One. Not interacting with anything. Two. Interacting with each other. Many. Producing a chaos of interactions. Now the ocean is raging. Seemingly untamable. Irrational and dark. The abyss of existence. Hiding deep inside the greatest secret of them all. That there is nothing interacting. A small crab walks in the depths of the sea. Eaten by a fish. Killed by a great shark. Caught by a human. Eating next to the fire. The man dies now. The fire will soon go out. The crab will soon go out for a stroll…

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Philosophy Wire: Spanning networks. Trees. Branches. Self-repetition.

Networks are often described as trees with spanning branches. How the tree branches out depends on the logic behind the network's expansion, such as random expansion. However, some aspects of such randomly expanding networks are invariant; regardless of the network's scale. As a result, the entire network has the same shape as one or more of its parts. [1] Big is small. Small is big. Repeating patterns in a universe full of antinomies., Existence ruled by One, in a cosmos full of opposites. Look at the forest. And behind every tree you may see. That every seed is the same. Dead. Inside the living Earth. Waiting to spring into existence. And engulf everything in a blaze of death…

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Philosophy Wire: Quantum effects. Limitless effects. Overflowing river…

Quantum phenomena once thought to be happening under specific conditions or in certain circumstances, are now observed more and more in all sorts of conditions and circumstances. [see here and here for common time crystals and here and here for some articles on quantum phenomena – entanglement – observed at larger than before scales] Man started from God. And went on to analyze the cosmos. We ate the apple. And broke God into pieces; essentially killing Him in order to see what we wanted to see. Our need to philosophize about everything – instead of accepting them – has led to our quest for the ever-changing river in the forest; ignoring Silenus’ calls. We did approach the river. We tried to step in it. But we were too obsessed with it to notice the ground around us. At some point we will turn our gaze away from it to look around. And only then will we notice that the river is overflowing. Engulfing everything, At the end the land will quench its thirst. At the end there will be no river anymore. What was dead will soon be alive again. And the Sun will come up after the Moon. Killing everything. Look at that little cloud in the sky… What is not dead cannot die… Look… A river forming…

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Philosophy Wire: Expanding atoms… Expanding universe…

Researchers playing with a cloud of ultracold atoms uncovered behavior that bears a striking resemblance to the universe in microcosm. Their work, which forges new connections between atomic physics and the sudden expansion of the early universe, was published in Physical Review X and highlighted by Physics. In several sets of experiments, Eckel and his colleagues rapidly expanded the size of a doughnut-shaped cloud of atoms, taking snapshots during the process. The growth happens so fast that the cloud was left humming, and a related hum may have appeared on cosmic scales during the rapid expansion of the early universe - an epoch that cosmologists refer to as the period of inflation. [1]

Patterns everywhere.
Similarities and analogies.

Repetitions.
Parallel lines.

Mirrors reflecting the cosmos.
Playing no role at all.
Except to reveal what already Is.

A world crying in silence…
That it is not real…
Within a similar world, which is…

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Philosophy Wire: Communications. One. Parmenides. Ghosts.

Communication is a two-way street. Thanks to quantum mechanics, that adage applies even if you’ve got only one particle to transmit messages with. Using a single photon, two people can simultaneously send information to one another, scientists report in a pair of papers. The feat relies on superposition, a phenomenon of quantum mechanics through which particles can effectively occupy two places simultaneously. [1] Everything is part of One. We may experience it in diverse ways. We may see 0, 1 or infinite. We may count numbers or even see numbers which are not there (π). And yet, only One exists. Soon we will realize that communication, like mathematics, is just a set of tautologies cancelling each other to the point of nothingness. There is nothing to discover. There is nothing to know. There is nothing to experience. At the end, there is nothing to communicate. Start speaking. And you will create ghosts that will haunt you forever…

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Philosophy Wire: Change causing life. And death at the same time.

Scientists have discovered that DNA contains a kind of built-in timer that clocks the frequency with which mutations occur. They show that DNA bases can shape-shift for a thousandth of a second, transiently morphing into alternative states that allow the molecule's replication machinery to incorporate the wrong base pairs into its double helix. Such mismatches, though rare, serve as the basis of genetic changes that drive evolution and diseases like cancer. [1] Life and death. Creation and destruction. Opposites. And yet part of the same cycle of existence. There is no stability without constant change. There is no life without constant death. There is no being without the dark void of nothingness. Existence sustaining the illusion of being. The emptiness of the universe (yourself) breaking that illusion into small unimportant pieces. And it is then, while drifting away into the void of the cosmos, that you realize that being was not about being in the first place…

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