To live IS to know and to know is to live!

"Trinity Mandalas" -- a painting I made a few years ago

Do you agree that to live is to know? / Memory and magic - how might you view things differently now?

The Santiago Theory is one of those concepts that really "feels true" to me. Something that can be called cognitive, "couples to its environment structurally i.e. through recurrent interactions, each of which triggers structural changes in the system," & "intelligence is manifest in the richness and flexibility of an organism's structural coupling." What beautiful synthesis of so many ideas!

Here's a link to a discussion that sums up a lot of what I have to say on this topic. It was written by my boyfriend, so while I can't take credit for it, we've certainly talked about a lot of these issues over the past 5 years.

My thoughts are a bit scattered here at the end of finals week, but the article my small group focused on last week (Memory: From Mind to Molecules) elicited feelings that have been common for me in my study of TCM. The reactions I have are gratitude and comfort, wonder and curiosity. Reaction to a few specific quotes:

"The hippocampus and its associated components in the medial temporal lobe... bind together the sources of our scattered life experiences into a single fabric of long-term conscious declarative memory that becomes the thread weaving our personal identity," & "...states of psychobiological arousal that lead to the transcription of genes, their translation into proteins and neurogenesis..." We are truly autopoetic!

"Consciousness may be the fragile thread of civilization from an outer perspective, but it is more like an intense laser beam focusing and fusing the biological basis of human experience from the inner perspective." This brought to mind the concept of eschatology, the "end" driven idea of how reality unfolds, which does not resonate with me, but then I thought about the fact that every little choice, every movement of each atom effects the subsequent moment, and that brought me back to happier conceptual territory

As humans we have done all kinds of things to "evoke the sense of wonder that nurtures imagination and psychological transformation," and lo and behold, we were creating ourselves. In lieu of closing words of my own, here's something else that came up for me in class last week, as I had read it earlier that day:

Studying the emotion of "elevation"

Posted by David Pescovitz, December 4, 2008 11:37 AM | permalink

UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner is a pioneer in the study of an emotion known as "elevation," characterized by a "a feeling of spreading, liquid warmth in the chest and a lump in the throat." (Not be confused with heartburn.) Triggering that emotion in the lab is challenging. His research group's latest approach though is to play their subjects Barack Obama's victory speech. (My IFTF colleague Jason Tester has dubbed the impact of Obama on people's brains "neurobama.") Slate has a great profile of "elevation" research, including the work of moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis. I also look forward to reading Keltner's forthcoming book on the subject of "elevation," titled Born To Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life (which is not an Obama biography). From Slate:

Elevation has always existed but has just moved out of the realm of philosophy and religion and been recognized as a distinct emotional state and a subject for psychological study. Psychology has long focused on what goes wrong, but in the past decade there has been an explosion of interest in "positive psychology"—what makes us feel good and why. University of Virginia moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who coined the term elevation, writes, "Powerful moments of elevation sometimes seem to push a mental 'reset button,' wiping out feelings of cynicism and replacing them with feelings of hope, love, and optimism, and a sense of moral inspiration...."

We come to elevation, Haidt writes, through observing others—their strength of character, virtue, or "moral beauty." Elevation evokes in us "a desire to become a better person, or to lead a better life."

Article rife with TCM implications...

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Published: December 8, 2008

How, when and where a child is born may all play a role in lifetime asthma risk, new studies suggest.

Asthma occurs when airways in the lungs spasm and swell, restricting the supply of oxygen. The incidence of asthma in the United States has risen steadily for more than two decades, and about 6 percent of children now have asthma, up from less than 4 percent in 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The reasons for the increase are not entirely clear. Genetics probably plays a role in the risk for asthma, but an array of environmental factors — pollen, dust, animal dander, mold, cockroach feces, cigarettes, air pollution, viruses and cold air — have all been implicated in its development.

This month, The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is reporting that children born in the fall have a 30 percent higher risk for asthma than those born in other seasons. The finding is based on a review of birth and medical records of over 95,000 children in Tennessee.

A possible explanation is that autumn babies tend to be about 4 months old at the peak of cold and flu season. By that age, many babies are in day care and regularly exposed to the outside world.

And while their lungs are still developing, they have yet to develop strong immune systems. As a result, fall babies are at particular risk to contract a severe winter virus, which may in turn increase their risk for asthma.

The lead researcher, Dr. Tina V. Hartert, director of the Center for Asthma Research and Environmental Health at Vanderbilt University, says some parents with a high familial risk for asthma may want to consider timing conception to avoid a fall birth.

But since that is impractical for many people, Dr. Hartert says, all parents should take precautions to reduce a baby’s risk of a respiratory infection.

“It’s premature to say you should time conception so children aren’t born in the fall,” she said. “But it’s good sense to use typical hygienic measures to try and prevent illness.”

As for how a baby is born, Swiss researchers are reporting in the journal Thorax this month that a Caesarean delivery is linked to a much higher risk for asthma compared with babies born vaginally.

In a study of nearly 3,000 children, the researchers found that 12 percent had been given a diagnosis of asthma by age 8. In that group, those born by C-section were nearly 80 percent more likely than the others to develop asthma. The explanation may be that a vaginal birth “primes” a baby’s immune system by exposing it to bacteria as it moves through the birth canal.

Finally, researchers at Tufts reported last month in The Journal of Asthma that a baby’s place of birth also influences asthma risk. In a study of black families in Dorchester, Mass., they found that babies born in the United States were more likely to have asthma than black children born outside the country.

The reason for the disparity is not clear, but the sterile conditions under which American babies are born may be a factor. Babies in developing countries encounter more infections, so they may be better equipped to withstand less serious assaults associated with asthma, like mold and dust mites.

TCM & Cell Biology

When I see glimmers of TCM in popular science, my feeling is always - of course! Or: they're catching on!

Although my two closest friends in the Western scientific world (both former roommates of mine) have unfortunately seemed unsympathetic to my desire for dialogue between what they study and what I'm working on, I see connections most every day. A major difference I've found is a sense of rooted-ness that I'm finding in the purpose and value of my path, and its history, whereas they seem to dismiss/poo-poo this notion. While they strive to discover/conquer/eradicate, I want to understand, but I think even within popular science, (although there are obviously still some who agree with them) my two friends are about one hundred years behind the times.

A noble and exciting movement in laboratory-science seems to be coming from the social sciences my boyfriend studies: Systems Theory. Studying parts individually has merit only insofar as the connections and interactions between components come to be understood more fully. Cell biology (and the links we checked out this week) has been focused on the basic observations we can make of parts because, hey, this is exciting stuff, too.

We are constantly creating newer, better technology allowing us to confirm some of what we expect is in there, and causing us to retrace our steps and come up with new ways of describing things. There is room for this observation phase. Chinese Medicine has had thousands of years to study the body, in its parts and as a whole, and it's only through the study that the practice was developed. If cell biology has seemed to neglect the whole picture, perhaps it's because we've become caught up in our ever increasing capabilities of observation.

On the other hand, the field is so new and has changed and grown so quickly, that maybe it's unfair to shortchange the study as not-holistic-enough. Maybe a Systems Approach is what we need to integrate all of science in the West; natural, medical, social... and maybe that can happen before we get too lost, you know, not seeing the forest for the trees.

A few links that gave me hope:

Adrian Bird, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology says, "Isn't systems biology the only viable approach to biological systems?"

I wish more information on this seminar had been accessible. A bioengineering and chemistry professor gave a presentation on a systems-approach in cell biology, which would have lent itself pretty well to a comparison with TCM, I suspect.

Here, a paper published in Science Magazine states:
"One of the defining features of plants is a body plan based on the physical properties of cell walls. Structural analyses of the polysaccharide components, combined with high-resolution imaging, have provided the basis for much of the current understanding of cell walls. The application of genetic methods has begun to provide new insights into how walls are made, how they are controlled, and how they function. However, progress in integrating biophysical, developmental, and genetic information into a useful model will require a system-based approach."

Molecular Biology entertainment

Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) allow geneticists to make millions of copies of DNA - quite central to lots of synthetic biology projects, genetic testing, etc.
Mostly I'm posting this video just because it's wonderful.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Diversity of Species; Microscopy; Spike's Gallery

Diversity of Species - to the right you can see an example of the cutest species in our apartment

There are at least ten varieties of houseplants in my apartment, and outside in the neighbor's garden I can see a couple dozen species of plants. In our apartment I've noticed some fruit flies lately, although as the weather has cooled they seem to have moved on. We adopted a kitten this week, and Ebi pleasantly boosts the number of mammal species to two. If only I'd been at my mom's house in Florida for this post, I would have felt more significant somehow; she has 5 dogs, turtles, lots of fish, frogs, toads, and grows a bunch of food in her jungle/backyard... quite a healthy, diverse environment! Is anyone counting the species of plants in their pantries/refrigerators?

Microscopy!

As I've often felt frustrated with two-dimensional scientific illustrations of cells (even if they help differentiate organelles), I was fascinated by the fluorescence images on this FSU site. As for Spike's Gallery, the user-generated/submitted content was especially impressive. Following the survey of plant species in my neighbor's yard, these fern microscope-photos made me smile.

Gene therapy, Vitamin animation, and biochemistry

While I think that everyone has made good points regarding my hopefulness and trepidation about gene therapy, my feelings are as ambiguous as ever. How about this madness, though, about a gene therapy case wherein a German patient suffering from full-blow AIDS no longer has the virus thanks to bone marrow cells which cleansed him of the disease? That is good, good news.

After reading a few classmates' comments on the short animations and their lack of explanation, I had my own dissatisfying experience with a few examples on the University of Akron site. When I happened to click on a link to an animation about Vitamins, my curiosity was sated for a while! This one was not just an abstract, simple graphic representation, but a slide show of sorts, with plenty of language presented in an organized fashion. There's an explanation about vitamins in general, and brief description of water-soluble vs. fat-soluble vitamins. The slides themselves each include atomic structure, name, function (when known) and foods in which the vitamin can be found. There is so much that officially still seems to be "unknown" about how nutrition works!

The wikipedia link on Biochemistry prominently featured the endocrine system, which took me on a glorious web-surfing tangent. The endocrine system, which involves the heart, stomach, liver, kidney, brain, sexual organs,nervous system, etc. seems to be a great way to bridge the rift between TCM and other forms of medicine. Dealing with "metabolism, growth, development... and body function," seems pretty holistic, and perhaps endocrinologists would be more likely to work in a Chinese medical framework than, say, narrower-focused specialists. I would like to do some reading/writing relating hormones and qi. How are hormones even talked about in current TCM? My understanding is that hormonal issues are well-treated with herbs and acupuncture, but I have not yet come across much discussion on the subject.

Avogadro, Moles, & Barium -- #56

The site about Avogadro's Hypothesis was an effective reminder of how vital the mid-to-late nineteenth century was in terms of European Chemistry. I also generally like these multi-disciplinary science sites, with interactive questions, engaging articles and images... even if some are hokey.
The site on Understanding the Mole concept brought to mind my high school chem honors class project designed to help us conceive of the vastness of a Mole. Our teacher explained Avogadro's number and how to use it similarly to the way we discussed in class, then our final project for the semester challenged us to demonstrate our understanding in a pretty cool way. We each had to pose a question whose answer would somehow involve Moles of something, then we had to do the math to demonstrate the problem, and make some kind of graphic presentation. My question was: How long would it take for the city of Las Vegas to use a Mole of lightbulbs?

BARIUM
My experience with Barium was similar to several classmates' impressions of calcium as a chalky, white substance. When I've had radiography performed on my upper GI system on a couple of occasions I had to drink absolutely gross Barium Sulfate mixed with Tang (in 1992) and some other flavoring a few years ago. It turns out that Barium is radioopaque, so on an x-ray it shows up, demonstrating to technicians where strictures or other troubles appear in the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. Although Barium can be toxic, it is not absorbed by the digestive tract as it is not water soluble, and so is completely eliminated by the body following this kind of diagnostic test.
Barium is also used in the petroleum industry, apparently, as an ingredient in "drilling mud" which is basically injected into to earth to ease the drill's pathway.
Barium Carbonate is an ingredient in rat poison.
So far this post seems to be giving Barium a bum-rap, but this alkaline earth metal, (which is highly reactive with air and therefore doesn't appear in its elemental state) does us a lot of good as well.
For example, the fact that it burns easily in air led to Barium Nitrate's use for green colored fireworks. Barium peroxide is great for welding, and Barium Titanate was recently proposed as a possible substance for use in next-generation electric car batteries.

Chikyu Update!

Iodine -- #53

Of the halogens, Iodine is the very least reactive. While that may be the case, in very brief research I came to find a bunch of surprising information about it, varied enough to suggest that Iodine might be making up for its lack of reactivity by getting involved with random hobbies, including medicine/health, photography, and recreational drugs.

Iodine does not occur elementally in nature, but it can be found in large concentrations in the ocean. Several iodine compounds are commonly used by society - as a tincture with ethanol, iodine is useful for treating wounds and sanitizing water. Combined with silver, it is used in developing film. As iodine compounds are used by some in manufacturing methamphetamines, the police might have something to say if they catch you with significant amounts.

It is the heaviest element necessary to life, playing an important role in our thyroid hormones. I was interested to find out that human consumption of iodine is much higher in Japan (thanks to a diet rich in seaweed and sea creatures). Iodine deficiency is apparently a major cause of hypothyroidism, and can lead to all kinds of health problems. In some countries, iodine is regularly added to table salt (that's what they mean by "iodized") which has curbed the trouble caused by lack of the element in the diets of many, but the problem persists in many parts of the world. The Iodine Network strives to "support national efforts to eliminate iodine deficiency in a sustainable manner by promoting collaboration among public, private, scientific and civic organizations."

Here's a link to Oregon State University's page on Iodine as a micronutrient

Magical Science... Scientific Magic... Scagic?

I've had alchemy on the brain lately. Recently the novels of Neal Stephenson were brought to my attention and I'm about halfway into his Baroque Cycle trilogy.

An extended metaphor in the series is made wherein seventeenth & early eighteenth century European politics/economics/science are all likened to alchemy. Frequently Stephenson pulls out surprising figures, and circumstances to evoke the slippery nature of mercury and the elusiveness of formulae for solving ultimately irreconcilable differences between ideologies and groups.

Isaac Newton is a prominent member of the ensemble cast in the books, and the alchemy undertaken by him along with a host of other important Natural Philosophers is viewed in several ways. I read the message of Stephenson to be admiring of the search for purity, but I still feel a bit uneasy with European Enlightenment Alchemy.

Combining materials to find out what happens naturally appeals to individuals who prize observation and recording data for the purpose of nurturing living, growing collective human understanding. On the other hand, the lofty goal of this alchemy is part and parcel with a sense of superiority among those who practice it, which is off-putting. Beyond the occult nature of the secret activities, one may suspect a scientist who operates with the kind of eschatology indicating they are entitled to an exclusive aberration from the laws of nature.

Neon -- #10 & Colors in my kitchen

NEON

#10 on the Periodic Table, trace amounts of this noble gas can be found in our atmosphere (it makes up 0.0018% of our atmosphere), although it's much more abundant in other parts of the universe. Its name comes from the Greek word neos, or new. Neon is used in combination with helium in lasers, and has become ubiquitous in the eye-catching advertisements and signs that are actually outlawed in the small town of Carmel, California. In its liquid state, Neon can be used in cryogenics, or long-term preservation at extremely low temperatures.
One source mentioned that diamonds have a high concentration of Neon.
Here's a pretty great tongue-in-cheek timeline about the public's love-affair with Neon

Colors in my kitchen

We've been eating based on color for a while, indirectly I guess. Shopping at farmers' markets in the city has made it easy to assess a week's worth of food based on ensuring a good representation of most parts of the color spectrum. I was surprised to find (especially as Autumn is upon us) a lack of orange in my food supply. Fruits like citrus accented my diet in the summer, and when persimmons come in, I'll be glad, but for now that's the most lacking hue, it seems -- time to make some pumpkin pies!

Red:
tomatoes, nectarine, swiss chard, canned whole cranberries, red onion
Orange:
squash
Yellow:
squash, bananas, apple sauce, corn chips, honey
Green:
chard, lettuces, zucchini, string beans, avocado, cilantro, frozen peas
Blue, Indigo and Violet:
frozen blue berries, black beans, wine
White/Beige:
Turkey, cheese, milk, yogurt, hummus, fish, rice, lentils, mushrooms, dried coconut, garlic

Yttrium -- #39 & Catalyst(s)!

Yttrium:

Although I chose to research Yttrium based on my lack of knowledge about it, as it turns out, it's more pervasive in our culture than I had known. This transition metal has a silvery white luster, but is possibly most commonly experienced in its application for making the red components of cathode ray tube television displays.

Besides bringing 1/3 of TV images to the planet, uses of Yttrium range from cancer treatment, to laser and LED production, to the creation of synthetic garnet (which happens to be my birthstone) and use in semiconductors.

Yttrium is not present in a pure state on Earth, but does appear with great frequency in rare metals, and with greater abundance in samples from the Moon than in our terrestrial surface.

The element is named for the town nearest the locus of its first discovery, Ytterby, Sweden where it was first found in 1787.

Catalyst(s)!

In researching catalysts, I came upon a topic that interested me right away - natural gas production. It turns out that several petro-fuel alternatives are produced through a process named for two scientists: Fischer and Tropsch. Several catalysts are used in the process, including Cobalt, Ruthenium, and Iron. Nickel is used when the desired gas is methane.

The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis names both the combustion of hydrocarbons, and the gasification of natural gas, coal or other biomass. The synthetic fuel produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process can be used to power diesel vehicles.

This site is a compendium of links if you'd like to learn more about the bio-fuel synthesis process

Purdue's Elements, Compounds & Mixtures

I found this site useful for several reasons:

• Seems to be a great introduction to the material, appropriate for kids or adults
• In place of flash cards, the concise explanations serve as reminders & save paper
• The animations are eye-catching, but also provide visual distinction

Also, the Purdue Chemistry Department website has some pretty interesting material if you just poke around a bit.

O-zone Discussion

"I never really hear about o-zone anymore. Remember when you'd always hear about CFCs and hairspray?"

My mother was mildly surprised to hear about the aspect of the o-zone problem I'd come to think of as a little like nuclear fall-out; after the precipitating incident (or decades thereof) the trouble has compounded, and the future of the complications might be worse than predicted.

It seems that keeping environmental issues in perspective is difficult for folks in the era of soundbites and catch-phrases.

Specialization within the scientific community is necessary, to a certain extent, but particularly when it comes to presenting global problems to "laypeople," some level of consilience seems wanting. Although the book (cover at right) doesn't focus much on chemistry, E.O. Wilson writes eloquently about the need, in an age of ever more specific specialization, for synthesis among academic disciplines.

I think of TCM doctors as facilitators for consilience within health-care; there must be a way to move between aspects of health without compromising treatment. This tactic could be helpfully employed in terms of public education and awareness of climate issues. Today the popular terms are (according to informal polling over the course of the week) GLOBAL WARMING, CLIMATE CHANGE, GREENING, CARBON-FOOTPRINT, and that's about it. How about linking the problems we talked about in the previous decades, in order to build a coherent narrative and thence begin working towards ameliorating the situation?

Cu -- #29

Atomic Number: 29
Atomic Weight: 63.546
Melting Point: 1357.77 K (1084.62°C or 1984.32°F)
Boiling Point: 2835 K (2562°C or 4644°F)
Density: 8.933 grams per cubic centimeter
Phase at Room Temperature: Solid
Element Classification: Metal
Period Number: 4

Although it's been used by humans for over 10,000 years, it was during the height of the Roman Empire that the Metal of Cyprium (Cyprus) was given the name we all know and love today: Cuprum. Well, maybe that's not the name by which it's known today, but Cu (element 29) became known as Copper, which ought to indeed sound familiar.

Most metals are silvery white, but the pinkish luster of copper has a pulchritude all its own. Copper has long been associated with beauty, having once been a popular material for mirror-making, which may be related to its alchemical symbol shared in common with the goddess/planet Venus. The symbol may be derived from a stylized mirror, which seems appropriate all around.

Copper serves as an excellent conductor of electricity, second only to silver. Demand for copper in construction and electronics has increased dramatically since 2000, and prices have skyrocketed. Besides use of the unadulterated element (which develops an attractive green patina) humans also often combine copper with tin to form the alloy, bronze, and with zinc to form brass. The precious metal is refined from several ores: cuprite (CuO2), tenorite (CuO), malachite (CuO3·Cu(OH)2), chalcocite (Cu2S), covellite (CuS) and bornite (Cu6FeS4), and is primarily mined today in the United States, Chile, Zambia, Zaire, Peru and Canada

More info:

http://http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele029.html

minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/copper/

http://www.galleries.com/minerals/elements/copper/copper.htm

Of course chocolate = love... right?

As far as the quiz was concerned, #3: "Black coffee = homogeneous, but not pure..." tripped me up, but perhaps I was overly skeptical; I thought it was a trick! It did not occur to me at first that a mixture could be homogeneous and not pure, as I thought homogeneity being evenly distributed molecules sort of indicated purity. The quiz was great help for this kind of distinction.

In natural science, which I have not studied since high school (not too long ago, really - 1999-2003) words have specific and nuanced definitions that may be a bit different from the way I've been accustomed to using them, and it's good to start out laying everything on the table in terms of what is meant in using specific terms.

My favorite moment of reading the Chemistry Definitions website was the first anecdote about phenylethanol in roses and phenylethylamine in the human response to being in love!

It seems to me that "convenient" or "coincidental" discoveries like this shock Western science (or at least are presented as astounding in media reports) when they are much less riveting in Chinese Medicine, being a tradition steeped in metaphor, with correlations like the 5 elements being associated with senses, flavors, colors, directions, etc. Of course everything that seems related is truly, actually, essentially associated! It is, on the other hand, truly exciting to find Western Scientific Discoveries supporting observations humans have made over the millennia.