Philosophy Wire: Why is the tiger extinct?

A team of marine scientists has confirmed that southern Africa's most threatened endemic shark - the Critically Endangered shorttail nurse shark (Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum) - has been found to occur in Mozambique; a finding that represents a range extension of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles). [1] Endangered. Going away. What is the difference between extinction and existence? Would you know I exist if I never posted an article again? Would you know I am dead if I keep posting articles every day (yes, posts can be scheduled)? Why is the tiger extinct? How can you tell the shark is no longer here with me?

Oh, I am so afraid to swim...

(Mama, can you just sit with me?)

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Philosophy Wire: Camouflage!

Dull, featureless camouflage provides better protection from predators than zebra stripes, according to a new study. [1] Dull. As every other thing we do see. Invisible. As nothing we have ever seen. Look at the Sun. Nothing special. As it once was when you first looked at the sky. Amazing isn't it? How fascinating things can get boring, as an evening breeze can be. But don't like it too much. For even dull light, can burn your eyes beyond belief. Do not shiver in the breeze. Try to remember. It was once a cold you could not even feel...

(Are you here?)

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Philosophy Wire: Dinosaurs. Trees. (Humans?)

To understand how specific ecosystems were affected by a large asteroid impact that led to the mass extinction of dinosaurs, a team of scientists has analyzed the microscopic remains of plants from this period. They found that local plant communities and ecosystems experienced a long-term shift towards fewer aquatic plants and an increase in terrestrial plants, including trees such as birches and elms. Changes in rainfall patterns during the extinction event were relatively minor and short-lived. [1] Weird thing life is. One’s death is another one’s life. Dinosaurs died. Plants thrived. Now plants die. And we thrive. Or so it seems. Until we die…

And with our last breath we will wonder…

(Why?)

And the world…

Will laugh.
And cry.
And thrive.

Whispering gently…

(That is why no one of you was truly alive)

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Philosophy Wire: And the killers shall be killed…

Pathology reports on more than 50 killer whales stranded over nearly a decade in the northeast Pacific and Hawaii show that orcas face a variety of mortal threats -- many stemming from human interactions. [1] Fear not of life. Rejoice not of death. For the living shall be living. And the killers shall be killed. In a cosmos full of nothingness, only everything can ever be dead…

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Philosophy Wire: Diamonds. Cave. Planets. Earth…

Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our solar system that may have conditions more suitable for life than our own. Some of these orbit stars that may be better than even our sun. [1] Trying to find the best planet. Trying to detect the best sun. Trying to identify the best family. Trying to determine the best country. But what is the best? If not what we already have? Stop looking for diamonds in the caves. Look at your dirty hands. You already hold the cosmos. No, we do not live in the best planet. No, we do not have the best sun. But out Sun is the best! And yes! We live in the best cosmos!

(Daddy!!! Let's go play!)

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Philosophy Wire: Empty universe…

Recent observations have found that something may be missing from the theories of how dark matter behaves. This missing ingredient may explain why researchers have uncovered an unexpected discrepancy between observations of the dark matter concentrations in a sample of massive galaxy clusters and theoretical computer simulations of how dark matter should be distributed in clusters. [1] A universe filled with nothing. Humans trying to decipher it. Filling it with things we create. And then more things. And more things. Until it makes sense. Until we understand it. A universe filled with nothing. A universe filled with everything. Everything but our self. (Can you not see yourself everywhere?)

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Smart clocks…

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

A new study of molecular interactions central to the functioning of biological clocks explains how certain mutations can shorten clock timing, making some people extreme 'morning larks' because their internal clocks operate on a 20-hour cycle instead of being synchronized with the 24-hour cycle of day and night. Researchers found that the same molecular switch mechanism affected by these mutations is at work in animals ranging from fruit flies to people. [1] We value synchronization. But synchronization with what? Who defines the things we define? Look at your clock. Be late. The safest way to lose time is to be on time, as Henry Wotton used to say. Try to synchronize with yourself. And you will see that there is nothing to do. Bright day. Dark night. The clocks are already set in motion. All they need is someone to read the hour…

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Philosophy Wire: Where am I going?

The brain appears to implement a GPS system for spatial navigation; however, it is not yet fully understood how it works. In the journal Science Advances, researchers from Freiburg, Bochum and Beijing now suggest that rhythmic fluctuations in brain activity, so-called theta oscillations, may play a role in this process. These brainwaves might help remember the locations to which a person is navigating. This is the result of the researchers' study conducted with epilepsy patients who had electrodes implanted in the brain for the purpose of surgical planning. With the aid of these electrodes, the researchers recorded neuronal activity during a navigation task in a virtual reality setting. [1] Walking every day we are. In the clearing of existence. Trying to make sense of that forest from which we came out. Always trying to find our destination. Always trying to find out where we came from. Never succeeding. Because the clearing is not here to help us find our way out. But a way to get lost. Walking deep inside the forest we are. Going deeper and deeper by the day. Too occupied to question our path. Ignoring the child in us asking “Pappa, why are we going deeper and deeper if we are lost?”…

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Philosophy Wire: Primitive people. Dogs. Whispers…

Coinciding with the Pit Grave culture (4200-3600 years before our era), coming from Southern Europe, the Neolithic communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula started a ceremonial activity related to the sacrifice and burial of dogs. The high amount of cases that are recorded in Catalonia suggests it was a general practice and it proves the tight relationship between humans and these animals, which, apart from being buried next to them, were fed a similar diet to humans'. [1] We consider primitive people as less evolved than us. And yet, it is those people who first understood that there is something beyond this life. A secret we tend to forget today. Too much pondering on the purpose of life has made us forget life itself. Too much effort to reach the stars, has made us forget that we started our life from dust and we will end it there. Instead of rising to the universe, we need to lean down to God. Lean down and listen. We used to listen. But then we started talking. Look at those busy people. Rushing to work. All talking, shouting, walking. So much noise. And yet. The forest is empty…

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Philosophy Wire: Ocean. Memories. Raging abyss.

Photo by Brady Knoll from Pexels

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2021-02-12]: Cold waters that sank in polar regions hundreds of years ago during the Little Ice Age are still impacting deep Pacific Ocean temperature trends. While the deep Pacific temperature trends are small, they represent a large amount of energy in the Earth system. [1] What is gone is no longer here. And yet, it still is. The cold water in the bottom of the abyss. The heat of a Sun long gone. The laughter of people roaming Earth a long time ago. The footsteps of children on the beach now long gone. A cosmos full of tears. And in the midst of nothingness, a Man. Remembering of nothing. Walking in the hot desert. Looking for an old dark abyss lost in this dreams… He is sleeping now… Crying… Feeling the ocean forming in his feet… Raging strength! “Wake up”…

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Philosophy Wire: From death to life… Timeless…

Fossilised newborns, egg shells, and egg bursters preserved together in amber provide the first direct evidence of how insects broke the barrier separating them from life and took their first steps into an ancient forest 130 million-year-old. [1] We love staring at ‘moments frozen in time’. We believe we know – even though we can never understand why – that the cosmos is made out of such moments. We believe in that magical river of which a wise man talked about so long ago. And yet, we missed the whole point he was trying to make. Looking at the finger instead of looking at the moon. There is not a single experience we can experience inside that flowing river. We can never enter again the river. Not because the river changes. But because we are that river. Look at the raging waves. Behold of the deep unknown abyss. Only a drop inside it can grasp it so clearly…

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Philosophy Wire: No traffic lights… Dreamless night…

New driverless car technologies could lead to a world without traffic lights and speeding tickets. Researchers also hope the innovations will bring about the development of driverless cars that use 19 to 22 percent less fuel. [1] Driverless cars. Lifeless lives. A void cosmos. Filled with shadows. Get in the car. Sit comfortably. At the end you will reach your destination. But the car will be empty…

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Philosophy Wire: Woken…

Scientists have discovered how the growth of milk-producing mammary glands is triggered during puberty. Sleeping stem cells in the mammary gland are awoken by a protein dubbed FoxP1, according to the research. [1]

Trying to learn how we learn.
Blind to the truth behind the veil of existence.
Lifeless puppets. Strings attached.

There is nothing to wake up from.
Void cosmos.
Filled with fire.
Look at the strings.

Burning.
You can dance now…
Can you?

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Philosophy Wire: Be cool…

Plants engineered to always be on alert don’t grow well. [1] Be cool. At the end, you will die. But only because you lived before. Be cool. At the end you will cry. But only because at some point you laughed. And that laughter echoes through eternity ever since… No, you did not cut that tree of Life down… You planted its seed deep in the Earth…

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Philosophy Wire: Nature. Walking. Dying.

People who commute through natural environments report better mental health. This was the main conclusion of a research based on questionnaires answered by nearly 3,600 participants from four European cities. [1] Humans walking. Always going somewhere. But there is nowhere to go to. Except the place where you started from. Walking through the forest in which you were born you must. To go die again in that cave. Passing through your Self. To reach Nothingness. Smell that flower. How lovely. But only because you have smelled it before…

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Philosophy Wire: Searching for life. Why?

"Are we alone in the universe?" The question has fascinated, tantalized and even disconcerted humans for as long as we can remember. Cosmologists are searching Andromeda for signs of alien life. [1] Scientists looking for life elsewhere. How noble a cause. How futile and wrong. We are alive here. Existing. Being. Why look for any other trace of life? If not for re-affirming yours? Or out of fear that you might be alone? The lion roars in the jungle. But does not go in search for other lions. Scared little worms. Looking for other worms in the cosmos. A lion roars. The worms still looking around…

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Philosophy Wire: Light. Dark. Being blind. Seeing everything…

Scientists have used machine learning to train computers to see parts of the cell the human eye cannot easily distinguish. [1] Once upon a time we saw nothing. And we could see everything. Now we have eyes. And yet we need to train a machine without eyes for us to see. Once upon a time we were thrown in a forest. Living in darkness. But then light lured us. And we got lost within its brightness…

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Philosophy Wire: Hunger stones. River. The abyss. Sorrow.

In 2018, more than a dozen of the hunger stones could be seen around Děčín, recording the low water levels of years and centuries long ago – "chiselled with the years of hardship and the initials of authors lost to history", as described by the authors of a 2013 study on historic Czech droughts. The oldest and most famous of these landmarks, known simply as "Hunger Rock" according to Děčín's tourist guide, contains an inscription that dates back to 1616, which reads: "Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine" (If you see me, weep). [1]

Soon the river will be dry.
And we will be able to step in it again…
Soon we will weep.
And our tears will fill the abyss…

See the river rising again.
Don’t be afraid.
You are the river!

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Philosophy Wire: AI, images, brain, faces…

Through innovative use of a neural network that mimics image processing by the human brain, a research team created an AI which can accurate reconstruct images transmitted over optical fibers for distances of up to a kilometer. [1] Look at the cosmos. Check that face. You know him. It is you. Travelled through aeons of sorrow. Bathed in the cold harsh abyss of life. Now you have found me again. Close your eyes and look at the stars. They are crying…

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Philosophy Wire: Depression. A molecule. A crying man…

People who live with depression have low blood levels of a specific molecule, a medical research has revealed. It's called acetyl-L-carnitine, and those with particularly severe, treatment-resistant or childhood onset depression were found to have the lowest levels. [1] A man sits under the sun. Crying. His hopes are gone. His life has ended. But it is only then that his soul is reborn. His life will now begin. It is not a life with molecules. But a life made out of thin air. Air drifting between happy faces. Air gushing through the human cries of desperation. It is not you having depression. It is the cosmos crying. Breath deep. You are not putting air inside your lungs. You are extending yourself into the cosmos…

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