CWL

davidreese:

Artist/programmer/designer Marcin Ignac used software to track, measure, and visualize his computer use every day for 2.5 years. The result: This beautiful, simple look at one of the most prominent aspects of daily life in the 21st century. Each line is a single day, with colors representing which app was being used at the time of day. (So, for example, your line might be red during this time, signaling that you’re using your browser.) The black sections are times when he had his computer off—meaning that blacked-out section in every day is probably night.

Centella Asiatica

Centella asiatica, commonly centella (Sinhala: ගොටුකොල, gotu kola in Sinhala, Mandukaparni in Sanskritमधुकपर्णी,Kannada (ಒಂದೆಲಗ). Tamil: வல்லாரை, vallarai in Tamil, Kodakan in Malayalam(കൊടകന്‍)), is a small, herbaceous, annual plant of the family Mackinlayaceae or subfamily Mackinlayoideae of family Apiaceae, and is native to India, Sri Lanka, northern Australia, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, and other parts of Asia. It is used as a medicinal herb in Ayurvedic medicine, traditional African medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine. Botanical synonyms include Hydrocotyle asiatica L. and Trisanthus cochinchinensis (Lour.).

Centella is a mild adaptogen, is mildly antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antiulcerogenic, anxiolytic, nervine and vulnerary, and can act as a cerebral tonic, a circulatory stimulant, and a diuretic.

Centella asiatica may be useful in the treatment of anxiety.

In Thailand, tisanes of the leaves are used as an afternoon stimulant. A decoction of juice from the leaves is thought to relieve hypertension. A poultice of the leaves is also used to treat open sores.

Richard Lucas claimed in a book published in 1966(second edition in 1979) that a subspecies “Hydrocotyle asiatica minor” allegedly from Sri Lanka also called fo ti tieng, contained a longevity factor called ‘youth Vitamin X’ said to be ‘a tonic for the brain and endocrine glands’ and maintained that extracts of the plant help circulation and skin problems. However according to medicinal herbalist Michael Moore, it appears that there is no such subspecies and no Vitamin X is known to exist.

Several scientific reports have documented Centella asiatica’s ability to aid wound healing which is responsible for its traditional use in leprosy. Upon treatment with Centella asiatica, maturation of the scar is stimulated by the production of type I collagen. The treatment also results in a marked decrease in inflammatory reaction and myofibroblast production.

The isolated steroids from the plant also have been used to treat leprosy. In addition, preliminary evidence suggests that it may have nootropic effects. Centella asiatica is used to revitalize the brain and nervous system, increase attention span and concentration, and combat aging. Centella asiatica also has antioxidant properties. It works for venous insufficiency. It is used in Thailand for opium detoxification.

Followers of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra, commonly known as Satsangees, all over the world take one or two fresh leaves with plenty of water in the morning after morning rituals. This is prescribed by Sri Sri Thakur himself.

Many reports show the medicinal properties of C. asiatica extract in a wide range of disease conditions, such as diabetic microangiopathy, edema, venous hypertension, and venous insufficiency. The role of C. asiatica extract in the treatment of memory enhancement and other neurodegenerative disorders is also well documented. The first report concerning the antitumor property of C. asiatica extract was on its growth inhibitory effects on the development of solid and ascites tumors, which lead to increased life span of tumor-bearing mice. The authors also suggested the extract directly impeded the DNA synthesis. “In our study, C. asiatica extract showed an obvious dose dependent inhibition of cell proliferation in breast cancer cells.”

The Effects of Gotu Kola on the Brain

Traditionally, Gotu kola has been used as a brain tonic to support memory. It has been called a “brain food” and has been recommended for overstressed people, mood, to improve reflexes and to support feelings of calmness. Gotu kola has also been studied in humans and was found to have a positive influence on enhancing peripheral circulation.

Scientific research into Gotu kola extracts and its effects on the brain really only began in earnest in the past decade. In 2002, Gotu kola water extracts were administered to rats, where it improved their cognitive function in terms of learning and memory in a standard shuttle box avoidance and step through test. Brain levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), an indicator of overall oxidative stress, was reduced, and brain levels of the endogenous antioxidant glutathione were increased.

Reishi Mushroom

The lingzhi mushroom or reishi mushroom (traditional Chinese: 靈芝; pinyin: língzhī; Japanese: reishi; Vietnamese: linh chi; literally: “supernatural mushroom”) encompasses several fungal species of the genus Ganoderma, and most commonly refers to the closely related species, Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma tsugae. G. lucidum enjoys special veneration in East Asia, where it has been used as a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used medicinally. Lingzhi is listed in the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium.

Ganoderma lucidum produces a group of triterpenes, called ganoderic acids, which have a molecular structure similar to steroid hormones. It also contains other compounds often found in fungal materials, including polysaccharides (such as beta-glucan), coumarin, mannitol, and alkaloids.

Research & Medicinal Use

Lingzhi may possess anti-tumor, immunomodulatory and immunotherapeutic activities, supported by studies on polysaccharides, terpenes, and other bioactive compounds isolated from fruiting bodies and mycelia of this fungus (reviewed by R. R. Paterson and Lindequist et al.). It has also been found to inhibit platelet aggregation, and to lower blood pressure (via inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme), cholesterol, and blood sugar.

Laboratory studies have shown anti-neoplastic effects of fungal extracts or isolated compounds against some types of cancer, including epithelial ovarian cancer.[46] In an animal model, Ganoderma has been reported to prevent cancer metastasis, with potency comparable to Lentinan from Shiitake mushrooms.

The mechanisms by which Ganoderma lucidum may affect cancer are unknown and they may target different stages of cancer development: inhibition of angiogenesis (formation of new, tumor-induced blood vessels, created to supply nutrients to the tumor) mediated by cytokines, cytoxicity, inhibiting migration of the cancer cells and metastasis, and inducing and enhancing apoptosis of tumor cells. Nevertheless, Ganoderma lucidum extracts are already used in commercial pharmaceuticals such as MC-S for suppressing cancer cell proliferation and migration.

Additional studies indicate that ganoderic acid has some protective effects against liver injury by viruses and other toxic agents in mice, suggesting a potential benefit of this compound in the treatment of liver diseases in humans, and Ganoderma-derived sterols inhibit lanosterol 14α-demethylase activity in the biosynthesis of cholesterol . Ganoderma lucidum compounds inhibit 5-alpha reductase activity in the biosynthesis of dihydrotestosterone.

Besides effects on mammalian physiology, Ganoderma lucidum is reported to have anti-bacterial and anti-viral activities. Ganoderma lucidum is reported to exhibit direct anti-viral with the following viruses; HSV-1, HSV-2, influenza virus, vesicular stomatitis.

Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms are reported to exhibit direct anti-microbial properties with the following organisms; Aspergillus niger, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli. Other benefits were studied such as the effect of lowering hypertension, cholesterol, and anti-inflammatory benefits through the ganoderic acid properties.

Its genome, with about 12,600 genes on 13 chromosomes, was sequenced in 2012.

Dwarf Planets of Our Solar System

— In 2006 the organization responsible for classifying celestial bodies, the International Astronomical Union, decided that a new class of objects was needed. The solar system’s erratic ninth planet, Pluto, was assigned to the new “dwarf planet” category along with four other bodies, all tinier than Earth’s moon. Some astronomers expect there may be as many as 50 dwarf planets in the solar system.

— Eris, the largest dwarf planet, is only slightly bigger than Pluto, at 1,445 miles in diameter (2,326 km). Discovered in 2003, Eris orbits at an average distance of 68 AU (that is, 68 times the Earth’s distance from the sun) and takes 561.4 Earth years to circle the sun. Eris has the orbit that is most highly inclined of all the dwarf planets, tilted nearly 47 degrees from the plane of the planets’ orbits. A day on Eris takes 25.9 hours. Eris has one moon, Dysnomia.

— Pluto, discovered in 1930, orbits the sun at an average of 39.5 times the Earth’s distance. Its diameter is 1,430 miles (2,302 km). Pluto takes 247.9 Earth years to orbit the sun, and its day is 6.39 times as long as Earth’s. Pluto has five known moons: Charon, Nix, Hydra and two that were recently discovered and have not yet been named.

— Haumea was discovered in 2003. This dwarf planet has an extremely elongated shape, with its longest dimension being about 1,218 miles long (1,960 km). Haumea rotates very rapidly and has the shortest day of all the dwarf planets, only 3.9 hours. Orbiting 43.1 times farther from the sun than Earth does, Haumea takes nearly 282 Earth years to complete one orbit. Haumea has two moons, Hi’iaka and Namaka.

— Makemake, discovered in 2005, has no known moons. Makemake orbits at 45.3 times Earth’s distance and takes more than 305 years to complete a circuit of the sun. Its day is 22.5 hours. Makemake’s average diameter is 882 miles (1,420 km).

— Ceres, first spotted by astronomers in 1801, was first called a planet and later an asteroid. In 2006 it was reclassified as a dwarf planet. Ceres is the closest dwarf planet to Earth, orbiting at only 2.8 times Earth’s distance from the sun. Its year takes 4.6 Earth years and its day is 9.1 hours. Ceres has no known moons.

Meet the Dwarf Planets of the Solar System (Countdown)

Images: Dwarf Planet Eris, Pluto’s Cosmic Twin

Moon Patterns Explained

Image: Bright white designs called lunar swirls stretch across about 60 kilometers of the moon’s surface. Credit: NASA

Scientists have charged up an old moon mystery. New research suggests that swirling designs on the dusty lunar surface might be the product of electric fields generated by pockets of magnetic bubbles.

“People have been looking at these strange, mysterious structures since the invention of the telescope,” says physicist Ruth Bamford of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot, England. “Now we know exactly how they are made.”

The milky patterns stand out like pale flesh against darkly tanned skin. It’s as if you used sunblock to paint whorls on your arm and then spent the day outside, says planetary geologist Georgiana Kramer of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. The sun would color everything but the protected skin, leaving the whorls white.

Scientists have long suspected that weak magnetic fields near the moon’s surface might shape the looping patterns. The moon doesn’t have a dynamo-driven magnetic field like Earth’s, but researchers have found patchy magnetic bubbles scattered across the lunar crust.

Full Article

Cosmos Master-Post

“Spread Knowledge, It Is Power, It Is Free”

From the lives of the stars to creation theories, functions of the human brain, and the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence, Cosmos asks big questions. When appropriate, Sagan offers big answers, or asks still bigger–and yes, even spiritual–questions at the boundaries of science and religion.

What’s most remarkable about Cosmos is that it remains almost entirely fresh, with few updates needed to the science that Sagan so passionately celebrates. It is no exaggeration to say that Cosmos–for all the debate it may continue to provoke–is a vital document for humanity at a pivotal crossroads of our history.

The complete landmark TV series – 13 one-hour episodes, including:

I: The Shores Of the Cosmos II: One Voice In the Cosmic Fugue III: The Harmony Of the Worlds IV: Heaven and Hell V: Blues For A Red Planet VI: Travellers’ Tales VII: The Backbone of Night VIII: Travels In Space and Time IX: The Lives Of the Stars X: The Edge Of Forever XI: The Persistence Of Memory XII: Encyclopedia Galactica XIII: Who Speaks For Earth?

Cosmos eBook

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7KHI378G

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The Music of Cosmos – Collector’s Edition

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8N4YWUG4

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=06XIT86O

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I: The Shores Of the Cosmos

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II: One Voice In the Cosmic Fugue

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III: The Harmony Of the Worlds

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IV: Heaven and Hell

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V: Blues For A Red Planet

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VI: Travellers’ Tales

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VII: The Backbone of Night

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VIII: Travels In Space and Time

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IX: The Lives Of the Stars

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X: The Edge Of Forever

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XI: The Persistence Of Memory

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XII: Encyclopedia Galactica

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OH383SCZ

XIII: Who Speaks For Earth?

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RLZB7HL9

XIV: A Dialougue Between Carl Sagan & Ted Turner

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=16LG66I0

Via:MegaRelease

Can also be found on Hulu.

Black Hole Information Paradox

The black hole information paradox results from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It suggests that physical information could disappear in a black hole, allowing many physical states to evolve into the same state.

The entropy of a black hole is given by the equation:

Where S is the entropy, c is the speed of light, k is Boltzmann’s constant, A is the surface area of the event horizon, ħ (“h-bar”) is the reduced Planck’s Constant and G is the gravitational constant.

Influential Figures of The Now: Dorion Sagan

Dorion Sagan is an award-winning American science writer, essayist and theorist. He is co-author or author of twenty-four books translated into eleven languages, including Death & Sex and Microcosmos. Death and Sex won first place at the 2010 New York Book Show in the general trade nonfiction category. His Into the Cool, co-authored with Eric D.Schneider, is about the relationship between non-equilibrium thermodynamics and life. His latest book, available electronically, is The Sciences of Avatar.

Sagan is the son of astronomer Carl Sagan and biologist Lynn Margulis.

Save Money for Science: U.S. funding over the years

Politicians argue over the federal budget every time Congress reconvenes in January. But the money that the government spends each year, which can differ from the budget, reveals how much funding departments and agencies actually receive. The outlays for research and development, shown here for 2009 (latest available), largely support the nation’s science work. The relative proportions have been fairly constant in recent years (data do not include one-time American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money).

When the dollars are plotted by agency, department and selected organizations within departments, interesting patterns emerge: defense swamps all other recipients. The country spends as much on fossil energy as it does on renewable energy and efficiency. It invests more in nuclear energy than it does in all of agriculture. Some members of the new Congress have already vowed to cut all nonmilitary R&D.

cwnl:

Call out To the Science lovers:

Come on tumblr, if there’s something I know you can do is raise awareness. Well why not raise awareness for something that literally affects everyone?

Help me expand the number of people interested in everything Science and Astronomy, by reposting this Intro to Carl Sagan’s 1980’s hit series “Cosmos”.Not to sound like an advertisement for a 30 year old documentary but If you’re a person of many questions towards the universe and many of life’s questions viewed through rational eyes, Cosmos is the show for you. Put hate, faith, false certainty to reopen the childhood sensitivity we all had towards discovery and imagination greatly expressed in this and give the documentary a go. Which you can find anywhere from netflix to Hulu, or even my own site here.

If we plan to survive the ever changing present and future from those who seek to take advantage of technology for the sake of commercializing every single aspect of life, leaving the rest of society hungry and famine ridden due to greed. We have to get the notion out that if we are to survive them we need to be smarter, compassionate towards one another as well as our ecosystems. We still have a chance now while all is moderately (being generous with that word) stable to make changes for the sake of our future.

“Up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perception awaits us. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic, religious or national chauvinism are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars.” - Carl Sagan

If this struck you as interesting and you’d like more, you can find a full post on the show’s downloadable links here. It’s also up on Hulu and Netflix (entire series.). Everyone deserves to watch this. Religious or Not.

Because It really is about time that the rationally stable became outspoken and spread their word. Reblog if You support Science