On Torsion & A Theory of Everything

Post image for Torsion: The Key to the Theory of Everything

A Brief Overview of Torsion: The Key to a Theory of Everything—Including Consciousness?

Copyright © Brendan D. Murphy,  March, 2012

Putting a Twist on Things

The first research generally credited with the discovery of this “fifth force”—torsion—was that done in the late 1800s by Russian professor N.P. Myshkin.1 Einstein’s colleague Dr. Eli Cartan first termed this force “torsion” in 1913 in reference to its twisting movement through the fabric of space-time. In the 1950s pioneering Russian scientist Dr. N.A. Kozyrev (1908–1983) conclusively proved the existence of this energy, demonstrating that, like time, it flows in a sacred geometric spiral,2 as I detail in The Grand Illusion (TGI).

Russian scientists are reported to have written around 10,000 papers on the subject in the 10990’s alone.

orsion essentially means “twisting” or “spiralling.” Thus, this is the action of torsion waves as they propagate through space—and it is also the action of static torsion fields. Torsion fields are generated by spin and/or by angular momentum; any object or particle that spins produces torsion waves and possesses its own unique torsion field. According to some, torsion waves are the missing link in the search for a final “theory of everything (TOE),” a unified field theory, or GUT (grand unified theory).Currently they cannot be reconciled with the established concept of a quantum wave as it stands in physical theory.

Since torsion fields influence spin states, one object’s torsion field can be changed by the influence or application of an external torsion field. “As a result of such an influence, the new configuration of the torsion field will be fixed as a metastable state (as a polarized state) and will remain intact even after the source of the external torsion field is moved to another area of space. Thus torsion fields of certain spatial configuration can be ‘recorded’ on any physical or biological object.” 3 (emphasis added)

This realisation of the unique properties of torsion fields immediately suggests compelling links to various psi or parapsychological phenomena (such as the “charging” of an object with intent, or the informational recording of events in “inert matter” so that it can later be “read” by a psychometrist).

Kozyrev, Time and Torsion

Dr. Kozyrev discovered that human thoughts and feelings generate torsion waves. Such a discovery opens the door for a “physical” understanding of consciousness, and a much more complete model of reality. Kozyrev was able to measure physical effects that were caused by sudden psychological changes (including his own), proving that consciousness is related to vibrations within a fluid-like “aetheric” medium.4 In his ingenious experiments he detected minute changes in systems, that mimicked psychokinesis using an unknown form of hard-to-detect energy—time itself, he believed—which he pointed out united all existence in a unified field, connecting all things in real-time (thus facilitating nonlocality or “action at a distance”). Changes in mechanical systems produced subtle alterations in the density of time/the aetheric medium, as did gravity, thunderstorms, changes in season, and changes in matter density. Likewise, Kozyrev found that consciousness also affected time density. Emotional thoughts produced larger effects on his equipment than did intellectual thoughts. “The measurement systems are especially strongly affected by a person in emotional excitement,” Kozyrev’s colleague V.V. Nasonov told an audience at Moscow University in 1985. “For instance, [Kozyrev] was able to deflect a torsion balance pointer by 40° or more when reading his favourite ‘Faust.’ Meanwhile, as a rule, mathematical calculations did not cause pointer deflections.”5 Thus, Kozyrev believed that our thoughts could change the density of time. He believed that in mastering the ability to make time dense at will we would be able to make telepathy occur at will. Under his conception, all psi phenomena would be stripped of their paranormal trappings and accepted into the world of natural phenomena.6

Storing Intention and Information in Water

Virtually all anomalous warping effects or other “law-defying” effects caused in matter by various technologies can be replicated by the human mind, as I make a point of illustrating at some length in TGI. The imprint of human intention into the ice crystals of Dr. Masaru Emoto is just one example that might be explained by torsion waves radiated by human thoughts and emotions. Dankachov showed in 1984 that water is “a good medium for storing static torsion fields.7 The torsion fields created by human intention are simply memorized in water, especially water containing ionized salts.8 At a sub-microscopic level the internal structure of water has changed causing the resultant differences in the ice crystals. At Sound Energy Research scientists created torsion field imprints in distilled water using scalar (torsion) wave technologies. The result is structured water called scalar wave–structured water™. They sent samples to Emoto who froze them and studied the crystals, which formed hexagonal structures like those created by human consciousness.9 The scalar/torsion technology creates the same effects as mental intent. The inference to be drawn is compelling: perhaps torsion waves—which are bereft of any electromagnetic (EM) properties or mass—are “carrier waves” of consciousness.

According to Dr. W.E. Davis, the psionic device patented and used for years now by the De La Warr laboratories in England is a variation of the Heironymus machine that is capable of registering photographs of the L(ife) field surrounding an object. In 1958 Dr. De La Warr took a picture of a drop of ordinary tap water. The results were “normal”: there was a central point with seven bright, thin lines radiating from it. Then he asked a priest to bless the water before he took another picture. This time, the “brilliant lines of force” formed the shape of a cross!10 This phenomenon is somewhat akin to the use of kind words to metamorphose the shape of water molecules as documented in Emoto’s research. The spin states of the water’s atoms were presumably altered by the priest’s own torsion field as he imprinted his intention by blessing the water.

Nonlocal Interactions and Torsion in Nature

The fact that plants are able to respond to human intention in measurable ways could perhaps be related to the torsion waves created by human consciousness and broadcast to the plant, which senses them and responds accordingly, on instinct. After all, if we can observe the Phi ratio (signifying the presence of this spiraling torsion energy) virtually everywhere we look in nature and realize that plants, humans, and animals are all created out of this mathematically embedded matrix or “implicate order,” it is not so surprising that plants can detect human thoughts (which generate torsion waves), as Cleve Backster has shown with his breakthrough studies (starting in the 1960s) on human-plant telepathic interactions. Backster documents, among other things, that when he was away from his office, the plants in his office space actually produced immediate measurable electrical reactions to his intent to return—even when he was nowhere near the building. By connecting a plant’s leaves to a polygraph machine, Backster found that his office plants not only responded stressfully to silent mental threats by a human to harm them, but also to the deaths of nearby organisms, such as brine shrimp and even bacterial colonies.11

Russian scientist Dr. Victor Grebennikov is an entomologist who discovered what he called the “cavity structural effect” (CSE) created by bee nests. The particular shape of the nests caused them to harness and throw off large amounts of torsion waves that were detectable to human hands even when the nest was shielded with thick metal. These torsion waves act as a guide to trees, who detect them and guide their roots around the bees’ structures rather than growing into them, as well as offering a form of nonlocal “communication” between the bees themselves.12 The torsion harnessed by the CSE can also alter the passing of time, as Grebennikov showed, replicating Kozyrev’s findings.13

Dr. Frank Brown, a pioneer in the study of interactions between magnetism and living organisms, found that when bean seeds were placed near one another there was an interaction between them that could not be explained in orthodox terms: it seemed to be due to the presence of a biofield or spin force.14 That the biofield was involved is supported by Brown’s observation of a connection between rotation and bean seed interaction. He found that the beans interacted more strongly when they were rotated counter-clockwise than when they were rotated clockwise. (The biofield is usually observed as a clockwise force as seen from above, though it reportedly flows in one direction for men and the opposite for women.) Brown also reported on the research of R.I. Jones, who reported in 1960 that plant growth could be altered by uniform daily rotation. Clockwise rotation depressed growth, suggesting the presence of a spin force around all plants might be a factor.15

Pyramids as Torsion Conductors and Generators

Russian and Ukranian research into pyramids has yielded some very interesting results regarding torsion waves. The Russians found that the pyramid shape naturally harnesses torsion waves, as if amplifying them. It has been experimentally established that objects that feature the Golden Section (which expresses Phi) can be described as passive torsion generators.16 The team of Prof. A.G. Antonov from the Russian R&D Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology tested the effects of a solution of 40% glucose in distilled water after it had been stored in the pyramid. By administering only 1 ml of the glucose to 20 different prematurely born infant patients with compromised immune systems, their levels of health were seen to increase rapidly up to practically normal values. The researchers furthermore discovered that the glucose was not necessary, as the same effect could be produced by simply using 1 ml of ordinary water that had been stored in the pyramid.17 Another study in Russia showed that mice drinking torsion-affected pyramid water had significantly fewer tumors develop than the mice drinking the ordinary water.18 (Elsewhere, Russian scientists have reported that mice subjected to static torsion fields showed significantly enhanced immune function.19) Blunted razor blades also sharpen again as the crystalline structure is regenerated by the harnessed energy.20 These are just a few of the many effects observed and verified by large numbers of qualified scientists. The best and most up-to-date review of the incredible effects produced by pyramids as they harness torsion fields is provided by Wilcock in The Source Field Investigations (Dutton, 2011).

Some time around 1980, out-of-body explorer Robert Monroe was driving past his old home in Westchester County, New York—the site of his first out-of-body experiences. As Monroe recalled, a psychologist friend who was with him in the car took one look at the house, turned, and smiled, as he noted that the roof of the house formed a “perfect pyramid.” “You were living in a pyramid. That did it!”21 The ancient pyramids, in particular the Great Pyramid at Giza, served multiple esoteric functions such as facilitating OBEs, as in a shamanic initiation-type ritual.22 Pyramid placement at certain node points on the planetary grid suggests that they act to harness the planet’s life-enhancing energies, and perhaps stabilize the grid itself. They are not gigantic tombs for dead pharaohs, that much is certain, but that is a topic beyond the scope of this article. Wilcock explains that any cone-shaped or cylindrical object will harness and focus the torsion fields spiraling out of the Earth; since this energy is fundamentally intelligent, harnessing it not only enhances one’s physical health, but one’s “spiritual consciousness” also.23

Torsion waves have the potential to initiate a fundamental paradigm shift. They are bridging the gap between mind and matter in a way that was never thought possible, and in the process they are validating the perspectives of mystics and occultists. Various researchers consider torsion as being synonymous or identical with consciousness itself. Since torsion waves are a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the cosmos we can see how consciousness is also; consciousness has a real and detectable force which can act on the environment both locally and remotely. Suddenly the notion of something like psychokinesis is not so “paranormal.” Sol Luckman refers to torsion energy as “intelligent light or intention energy emanating from higher dimensions” and notes that it is distinguishable from both gravity and electromagnetic radiation.24 Torsion fields are spin fields within gravity, and as such, they can be used to mitigate and nullify gravity, an idea I explore in relation to bodily levitation in TGI.

Torsion, Psi, and the Brain

Every electromagnetic or electrostatic field is accompanied by or contains a torsion component,25 meaning that all organic and inorganic objects have their own signature torsion fields,26 though no organic substances can be used to shield torsion fields—unlike aluminum, for instance, which can. (Kozyrev stated that aluminum was an excellent reflector of time.27) If the principle of complementarity operates at all scales (as we have good reason to believe) then, as Yurth points out, that means that wherever we find local/linear effects, we must also find non-linear/nonlocal effects.28 Relatedly, Kozyrev discovered that torsion waves can move through space at tremendous speeds—billions of times the speed of light—meaning they propagate in the future and past as well,29 so tapping into them could facilitate retro- or precognition, psi experiences involving glimpses of the past or future in other words. If you think of torsion waves as connections not through space, but in the realm of time (or time-space), then real-time (instantaneous) telepathic communication between people separated by thousands of miles may become slightly more comprehensible—and less “unusual.” Such phenomena ordinarily looks to us as “acausal” (since there is no discernible exchange of EM energy or force between the two parties in space-time), but torsion waves may facilitate nonlocal correlations through “causal nonlocality.”

According to A. Akimov, torsion fields coupled with the standard electric, magnetic, and gravity fields should offer a unified field theory that will extend the realm of science to include the effects of consciousness. It’s interesting to note that certain effects on the spin structure of matter caused by torsion waves could only be reproduced by psychics. Furthermore, according to Russian physicist G.I. Shipov, torsion fields transmit information without transmitting EM energy.30 “From the late 80s till the late 90s…It was established that torsion generators allow us not only to replicate all ‘phenomena’ [such as PK and ESP] demonstrated by so called ‘psychics,’ but they also are able to demonstrate effects that were never demonstrated by any ‘psychic.’”31

The Akimov group have represented the brain as a non-magnetic spin torsion system where it is simultaneously a torsion transmitter and receiver.32 Iona Miller wrote in an online article that “[s]tanding scalar [torsion] waves can be coupled at exactly 180° out of phase in a resonant cavity to create zero sums through scalar resonance. There is just such a resonant cavity in the brain, between the pituitary and pineal glands. These waves of potential co-modulate each other and ‘lock or zip together’ as a zero-vector system [scalar] wave. This allows for crosstalk or translation between dimensions.”33

Interestingly, the pineal gland is believed to produce the entheogen DMT, known informally as the “spirit molecule.” This molecule is known to facilitate intuitive functioning and mystical experiences. Perhaps it acts as an antenna for and amplifier of hyperdimensional scalar/torsion waves? If a resonance can be set up within the cavity between the pineal and pituitary glands, does this stimulate higher levels of DMT production, allowing us to access different levels of reality? Rick Strassman’s fascinating experiments with DMT on volunteers showed that intravenously administered DMT produces extremely real other-dimensional experiences, replete with interactions with non-human intelligences—some resembling “aliens” referenced in the UFO and abduction literature.34

According to veteran independent scientist Lt. Col. Tom Bearden, “all mind operations are time-like, i.e., they are comprised as scalar EM photon functions and scalar EM wave functions. Thus the mind is a very special kind of electromagnetic system, existing in the time domain.”35 In other words, the mind does not have its origins in the material world, but in the nonlocal “implicate” realm or torsion/scalar field. “A sizable list of attributes has been experimentally identified which demonstrates that the torsion field operates holographically, without regard to time and distance.”36 So too then does consciousness. Pertinently, in torsion fields, similar charges attract, and opposite charges repulse. It has long been a metaphysical tenet that in terms of human experience “like attracts like.” If torsion is a carrier wave for consciousness this is a profound point. As a nonlocally interconnective force unifying us all in real-time, torsion is likely to be the missing link that facilitates Jung’s “acausal” sychronistic phenomena (“meaningful coincidences”), and our ability to remotely draw certain people and events to us. This could prove to be the ultimate scientific support for the notion that “what you put out is what you get back,” (the “law of attraction”) though this axiom appears to be an oversimplification.

In terms of psi phenomena such as remote viewing and other functions of consciousness that allow us to access information from anywhere in the cosmos, the significance of torsion fields should now be obvious. Indirect support comes from the employment of gravimetric devices by various scientists who have used torsion fields to measure and record distant astrophysical events and processes in real time. Their results support the notion that information at any single place in the cosmos can be instantaneously obtained at any other location.37 Likewise, by generating a torsion field (which can be done by counter-rotating two magnets or even other objects in close proximity), information can be “pumped” into it to instantly manifest elsewhere in the universe—no matter how large the distance between the sender and receiver. “The information ‘packets’ we insert into the non-linear field [implicate order] at our local address becomes accessible anywhere in the hologram at any other address simply by matching the field effects that created the torsion field in the original locale.”38 In 2001, Dr. Hartmut Müller used the spin/torsion fields within gravity to make a real-time telephone call from the Toezler Medientage building in Germany to Saint Petersburg in Russia—no EM fields were used. The communication was therefore instantaneous, without the time lag normal EM communication systems present.39

Conclusions

Psi and consciousness researchers have typically discussed only electromagnetism in relation to the operations of the mind, when all along the much harder to detect “fifth force” (known as torsion since 1913) may have been the most important aspect of bio-energy in accounting for the anomalous functions of consciousness. Physicist Michael Talbot wrote in his early 1990s classic The Holographic Universe that legitimate psychics had sensed the presence of another non-EM force or energy that composed part of the human aura or bio-field, but could not quite pinpoint what it was. Thanks to pioneers like Myshkin, Cartan, Kozyrev, and many more, we may surmise that the other “mysterious” non-EM component of the human bio-field spoken of by those psychics was torsion.

for more, go to the source:    http://blog.world-mysteries.com/science/torsion-the-key-to-theory-of-everything/

Gobekili Tepe — Older than Stonehenge

Gobekli Tepe: Oldest Monumental Architecture of Planet

Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey’s stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization

Located 35 miles north of Turkey’s border with Syria, Gobekli Tepe consists of 20 T-shaped stone towers, carved with drawings of snakes, scorpions, lions, boars, foxes and other animals.

The amazing thing about them is they date back to 9,500 BC, 5,500 years before the first cities of Mesopotamia and 7,000 years before the circle of Stonehenge.

Scientists say that back then humans hadn’t even discovered pottery or domesticated wheat. They lived in villages, had no agriculture and only relied on hunting to survive

Göbekli Tepe had already been located in a survey in 1964, when the American archaeologist Peter Benedict mentioned the site as a possible location of stone age activity, but its importance was not recognised at that time. Excavations have been conducted since 1994 by the German Archaeological Institute (Istanbul branch) and  Sanliurfa Museum, under the direction of the German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt (University of Heidelberg). The title isn’t actually doing Gobekli Tepe justice since the Turkish archaeological site is 7,000 years older than Stonehenge.

Gobekli Tepe changes everything archaeologists discovered so far and it is considered the most important archaeological find in recent history. Klaus Schmidt, the man who first discovered Gobekli Tepe says the carvings might be the first human representation of gods.

Source:  http://forum.xcitefun.net

Göbekli Tepe

Evidence for the existence of extra-terrestrial life?

Unexplained 12,000 year old underground city, in southeastern Turkey, is made of massive carved stones, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who apparently had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery.

Göbekli Tepe (Turkish for “Potbelly hill”) is a hilltop sanctuary erected on the highest point of an elongated mountain ridge some 15 km northeast of the town of Sanliurfa (formerly Urfa / Edessa) in southeastern Turkey.
The site is currently undergoing excavation by German and Turkish archaeologists.

Until excavations began, a complex on this scale was not thought possible for a community so ancient. The massive sequence of stratification layers suggests several millennia of activity, perhaps reaching back to the Mesolithic. The oldest occupation layer (stratum III) contains monolithic pillars linked by coarsely built walls to form circular or oval structures. Göbekli Tepe has revealed several adjacent rectangular rooms with floors of polished lime, reminiscent of Roman terrazzo floors.

Thus, the structures not only predate pottery, metallurgy, and the invention of writing or the wheel; they were built before the so-called Neolithic Revolution, i.e., the beginning of agriculture and animal husbandry around 9000 BC. But the construction of Göbekli Tepe implies organisation of an order of complexity not hitherto associated with Paleolithic, PPNA, or PPNB societies.

At present, Göbekli Tepe raises more questions for archaeology and prehistory than it answers. We do not know how a force large enough to construct, augment, and maintain such a substantial complex was mobilized and paid or fed in the conditions of pre-Neolithic society. We cannot “read” the pictograms, and do not know for certain what meaning the animal reliefs had for visitors to the site; the variety of fauna depicted, from lions and boars to birds and insects, makes any single explanation problematic.

The reason the complex was eventually buried remains unexplained. Until more evidence is gathered, it is difficult to deduce anything certain about the originating culture.

Source: http://grasptheuniverse.com/ancient-artifacts/gobekli-tepe/

Andrew Collins – Finding Eden: Mystery of Gobekli Tepe & Giza’s Cave Underworld

Description: In southeast Turkey stands the oldest temple in the world. At nearly 12,000 years old, Gobekli Tepe is an enigma to archaeology. Consisting of a series of stone circles, made up of T-shaped pillars bearing exquisite carvings of animals, birds, insects and abstract human figures, this ritual complex was constructed at the end of the last Ice Age by faceless individuals, who rose far beyond the conventional understanding of the hunter-gatherers who occupied the Eurasian continent at this time. Why were these amazing stone circles buried overnight, sometime around 10,000 year ago? It is an enigma that seems to start in Africa some 17,000 years ago, and ends with not only the creation of civilization down in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, but also in the sudden emergence of the ancient Egyptian civilization, where the story continues with the discovery in 2008 of a cave underworld beneath the plateau at Giza. Powerful evidence suggests that this underground complex existed ever before even the Pyramid Age, and might well reflect an African origin to the roots of ancient Egyptian religion. It might also hold the key to answering claims that in the vicinity of the Sphinx is a lost Hall of Records.

Biog: History and science writer Andrew Collins is a leading expert on Gobekli Tepe, and provides a powerful insight into the strange worlds both at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey and beneath the Pyramids at Giza. His books include From the Ashes of Angels (1996), Gods of Eden (1998), The Cygnus Mystery (2006), and Beneath the Pyramids (2009), in which he discovers and explores the lost underworld that exists beneath the Pyramids of Giza. Andrew, born in 1957, lives with his wife Sue in Marlborough, UK.

Filmed at the Megalithomania Conference in Glastonbury on 9th May 2010 by Nautilus AV Productions.
http://www.megalithomania.co.uk/dvd.html

for more information, including interview with Graham Hancock, information on the unar-solar calendar, etc. go to the source:    http://blog.world-mysteries.com/strange-artifacts/gobekli-tepe-6000-years-older-than-stonehenge/

Executive Order For Control of Communications in Emergency

Obama Signs Executive Order permitting seizure of communications systems

Thu, 07/12/2012 – 3:10pm | posted by Tom Knighton

Barack Obama

Right now, plenty of our conservative friends are up in arms over President Obama’s recent executive order permitting the seizure of communications systems for the supposed purpose of re-establishing communications systems in the event of an “emergency”.

The executive order, signed on Friday, once again expands the powers of the Department of Homeland Security — this time to include the handling of communications during a national security event or natural disaster. The order also allows for DHS to re-establish communications “through the use of commercial, government, and privately owned communications resources, when appropriate.”

The secretary of homeland security, in coordination with the secretary of defense, would also “serve as the federal lead for the prioritized restoration of communications infrastructure and coordinate the prioritization and restoration of communications, including resolution of any conflicts in or among priorities.”

In addition to further empowering DHS’ role in the federal government, the order also establishes several new committees and outlines the roles of various major executive branch agencies and offices, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, DHS, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, General Services Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.

Now, I understand why our conservative friends are a bit miffed.  I’m right there with them.  However, I’m curious where they have been on the whole issue if the signature had read “George W. Bush”?  I bet the chorus wouldn’t be nearly as loud.

Personally, I’m never comfortable with laws that give the government broad reaching powers in the event of an “emergency”, particularly when there are no pre-existing conditions on what actually constitutes an “emergency”.  I know, I know, I sound paranoid.  Someone reading this think I believe Obama will use all this authority to seize control of the government and make himself dictator for life or something.

Well, you’re going to be disappointed.  While I disagree with President Obama on just about every point of policy I can think of to some degree, I don’t think he’s interested in becoming a dictator…at least not as he understands the term.  I think he’s making a decision that he believes will be in the best interests of the nation.  That just happens to be a position I disagree with.

The list of terrifying executive orders are out there for anyone who cares to look.  They’ve been inked by both Democrats and Republicans, and I honestly believe that all were conceived in the belief that they were absolutely necessary.  There was no world conspiracy at work to slowly turn the United States into a totalitarian dictatorship in an instant.  That’s the stuff of fiction.

However, on a long enough timeline, someone will use them that way.  I don’t think it’ll be Obama.  I don’t even think it would be Romney if here were to win. (I think we all know it wouldn’t be Gary Johnson should the improbable happen and he win)

Eventually though, someone will.  It will be some kind of emergency that will trigger a panic, something like another 9/11 type event.  This one might just be a false-flag.  It might be a real event that the government could have stopped, but didn’t.  Or – and this is far more likely – it could be a real event that catches everyone unaware.  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is that these executive powers will be activated, and just like that we are in a world we won’t recognize.

Again, this won’t be tomorrow.  It will probably not be in our lifetimes either.  The thing is, I’m not comfortable with placing power in the hands of a select few.  And the fact that Congress, who we elect to actually make laws (for better or worse) isn’t even responsible for this one?  Sorry, but this is always going to make me nervous.

from:    http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/10472-obama-signs-executive-order-permitting-seizure-of-communications-systems

Solar “Slinky”

SOLAR SLINKY: Solar activity is low this week. Nevertheless, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spotted something interesting happening on the sun’s southwestern limb. Click to view the “solar slinky” in action:

The loops in the movie are made of magnetism, glowing red-hot because they are filled with 80,000 K solar plasma. They move with slinky-action as they are buffeted by winds in the sun’s atmosphere and jostled by minor explosions on the stellar surface below. Of course they are much bigger than a terrestrial slinky. The entire Earth could fit through any of the loops with room to spare.

fr/spaceweather.com

Doggies Quickly Getting Dry

Wow! How Dogs Get Dry in 1-Second Shake

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 14 August 2012
A dog shaking water off.
Dogs shake about four to six times per second and can get rid of 70 percent of the water in their fur in just a fraction of the second.
CREDIT: © Dickerson and Hu, Georgia Tech

Next time the family dog bounds out of the nearest body of water and shakes itself off right beside you, don’t get irritated: You’re witnessing a feat of evolution that engineers can only dream of re-creating.

Furry mammals can shake themselves 70 percent dry in just a fraction of a second, according to new research. The study, which looked at the shaking speeds of 16 species of mammals, from mice to lions to bears, found that the smaller the animal, the faster it must shake to dry its fur.

“We think this has been evolving over millions of years of time to become so good,” said study researcher David Hu, who studies biolocomotion at Georgia Tech. “Imagine if you could come out of the shower and, instead of using a towel, you could just press a button and in one-thirtieth of a second you’re 70 percent dry.”The findings could provide inspiration for self-cleaning and self-drying robotics, Hu told LiveScience. [Video: Watch the Animals Shake Dry in Slow-Motion]

Shaking to survive

For mammals, drying off is a matter of life and death, Hu said. A relatively hairless human emerging from a bath can carry up to a pound of water on his or her body. An immersed rat will emerge with 5 percent of its body mass in water clinging to its fur. And a wet ant can find itself staggering under three times its body weight in liquid. (Hu previously studied how mosquitoes can survive direct hits by raindrops during a storm.)

Drying off quickly is particularly critical in winter. Hu and his colleagues calculate that a 60-pound dog with a pound of water on its fur would use a full 20 percent of its daily caloric intake staying warm as it air-dried.

“Imagine you fell into the lake in the winter and had wet clothes all around you and couldn’t dry,” Hu said.

Water would also be a challenge for autonomous robots that traipse around outdoors. Dust poses similar problems for electronics, Hu noted, citing NASA’s Mars rovers. Modern Earthbound electronics often include internal shakers to dislodge dust, he said.

To find out how biology solved the self-cleaning problem, Hu and his colleagues went to the zoo and the park, as well as to the lab. They measured body sizes and shake speeds in 33 mammals from 16 species, ranging from guinea pigs and tiny juvenile mice to bears and lions. They also tested five breeds of dog.

“My graduate student had the pleasure of dousing them with a hose and measuring the frequency” of their shakes, Hu said, adding that no animals were harmed beyond momentary dampness in the process of the study.

To test drying speeds, the researchers also set up a “wet-dog simulator,” a device that shook tufts of wet fur.

Shake it up

The researchers found that the bigger the animal, the slower it could shake to dry off. That’s because the fur of a large animal shaking travels farther and is subject to more centripetal force than the fur of a small animal shaking. Centripetal forces are those that move an object in a circle. It’s a bit like being on a merry-go-round: If you’re at the edge of the merry-go-round, you’re subject to greater force than if you’re at the center.

So while a bear shakes about four times a second and a typical dog shakes four to six times per second to dry off, mice and rats have to move up to 10 times as quickly, the research revealed.

“They have to shake 30 times per second, which is unimaginable because their whole body is whipping back and forth,” Hu said.

The researchers also found that loose skin helped the drying process immensely, because the extra movement resulted in nine times the force than if the skin were tight. That could explain why hairy mammals tend to have some give in their skin, Hu said.

No matter their size, all of the mammals were about as efficient as possible as drying off quickly, Hu said.

“I don’t think we’re going to make a Mars rover in the shape of a dog or anything like that,” he said. “But if people can think about how animals do this so quickly, they’ll get an idea of what is possible.”

 

http://www.livescience.com/22366-wet-mammals-shake-dry.html

Portable 3D Printers

Weapons of Mass Creation: Portable 3-D Printers Have Arrived

William Shakespeare is credited with coining the term ‘luggage’ in Henry IV in 1597. It took over 400 years before someone figured out it would be easier if the baggage had wheels. (The first wheeled carry-on was sold in 1970.) But it has only taken four years for a designer to create a carrying case for a 3-D printer.

That designer is Emmanuel Gilloz, a 24-year-old Frenchman who built the FoldaRap. Gilloz’s portable machine is a variant of the RepRap model that inspired the MakerBot and a variety of other popular 3-D printers. While other machines are optimized for resolution or build-size, Gilloz focused on convenience and portability. Wired caught up with him to hear more about the project.

Wired Design: Why was portability so important to you?

Emmanuel Gilloz: Constraints are great, I’m fond of origami, and I always try to make things that can be folded.

Most importantly I don’t have a car, and I moved a lot in the past two years. Bringing my machine to events or meetups meant I had to carry a big, heavy thing that wasn’t made for that kind of usage. Even the RepRap Huxley becomes heavy when you hold it for a long time, so as a designer and frustrated user I designed one tailored to my need.

Wired Design: What was the biggest design challenge you’ve had to overcome?

Gilloz: The biggest challenges were designing the hinge mechanism and finding the suppliers of all the non-printed parts. That kind of information is quite time-consuming to obtain, almost like chasing a treasure. It’s an even greater reason to share it in the wiki, because those who try to self-source a RepRap are not all interested in that type of hunt.

Wired Design: What other improvements would you like to see in RepRap 3-D printers?

Gilloz: Technically I’m quite happy with the RepRaps as they are. Their big advantage is the continuous improvement and modularity that makes each year’s machines more reliable, faster, simpler to build, and more capable.

From the RepRap family tree I see three trends: performance, self-replication, and simplicity. Simplicity is my favorite, I thrive for it. The choice to use some components rather than others can greatly simplify things.

In 10 years we will have even more awesome bots, if we remember to share our ideas. I’m trying to address that with the FoldaRap by showing the entire design process and mentioning all the suppliers.

Wired Design: Are there any other fabrication tools that excite you?

Gilloz: Paste extruders, powder sinterers, lasers (I want to make a foldable one), open source ecology … everything that contributes to make us more independent. In the long term it’s a matter of resilience and survival, being able to make stuff and empowering everyone else to.

I grew up with MacGyver and reading the US Army Survival Guide and did I mention making stuff is the coolest way to learn things and have fun?

Wired Design: How important do you think aesthetics are in 3-D printing?

Gilloz: We often heard people saying the bare threaded rods (on RepRap 3-D printers) look too “garage-made” for them, but they also have their charm. We will see how the 3D Systems Cube does with the opposite approach.

Personally I think that with the right amount of work in collecting the information of how to source, build, and run a 3-D printer it can be made as attractive as a mass-produced solution, but we do need more designers in DIY. It will be a good part of my future efforts.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. All photos courtesy of Emmanuel Gilloz.

from:    http://www.wired.com/design/2012/08/portable-3-d-printer/

August 12-17

 

August  12-18

Overall Color for the Week:    Frosty White

More surprises this week on every level.  Be strong in WHO you are as there can be some shake-ups, unexpected announcements, setbacks, and/or victories on the family front, and this includes those whom you consider your closest friends.  This is a week also for revelations, and some of them will be concerning yourself.  It is time to be aware of your own uniqueness, of your own specialness. Many of the things that you take for granted about yourself are things that others would never, ever be able to do.  It is time to realize just what it is that you are capable of.  Do not trivialize your abilities. They are amazing.  And you will need all your capabilities, all your power, all your knowing, all your compassion as the shifts and change accelerate  as this month progresses and as the year goes forward.  You have the strength, knowledge, wisdom, depth, resources, etc. to deal with everything that comes your way.  It is important to stay centered and grounded in your heart’s true knowing.  Stay rooted in your Core Self.  And use that wonderful vision that allows you to see not only what seems to be but also what lies beneath the seeming.  There can be surprises, upsets, tears, but there can also be revelations, messages, and love.  Never doubt that.  Love is there if you just call for it.

 

Sunday, August 12:    Grainy White

There are things going on around you that can distract and disturb.  You need to know where you stand in relation to the stuff around you.  If you are rooted and strong, your vision will be clear and your knowing single-pointed.  There is no longer the time to play the popularity game.  It is a game with no meaning, a game no one wins.  It is ephemeral.  A game anyone can define and does.  Silly stuff.  High school is over.  It is time to let all that go.  We have all grown, changed, expanded.  Change your perspective.  Open your vision.  All is energy, and energy is all.  Let go of the regrets, the sorrows and welcome the new energy that comes in to assist, to accompany, to direct.  It is all over the place today.

Monday, August 13:    Light Yellow Green

This is a good day for relaxing, stepping back from all the stuff that has been clamoring for your attention, from all the tasks you have to get done, correspondence to acknowledge, dust bunnies to attack. You know how it is, that as you go through the day to day all sorts of stuff accumulates on the periphery.  Let it go today.  It is interesting that when you take your concern or angst away from some stuff, it just melts away.  Priorities are changing.  You are moving into WHO you are.  Today you can get a sense of just what that means as you bye-bye things that you never cared about, only thought you should.  Enjoy the feeling.  You might just go to bed tonight with a smile on your lips and a greater sense of your own power.

Tuesday, August 14:    Light Blue Green

The energies today seem calming and friendly, however there is a bit of the pixie behind it all, that little charmer, that little Trickster who can throw stones in your path.  You may find yourself being tongue-tied or out of step with things around you.  That is the pixie playing her tricks.  This is a good vibration in which to hone your skills of observation as there is a clarity she brings that can allow you to find focus on things at the periphery that were hidden or somewhat obscured before.  This can lead to some interesting ah-ha moments.  The pixie also brings thoughts of childhood, so be ready for some remembrances of things past.  When they come, look at them from your current perspective to see what the messages were at that time.  We all forget the wisdom we had a s children, before all the stuff of adults and others was dumped n us, making us question what we knew.  There are things of today that you will wish to remember later on, so it is a good idea, as the night arrives, to do some journaling or tie some strings that you can refer to as the weeks go by.

Wednesday, August 15:   Bermuda Blue

You are in the middle of things in so many ways.  The middle of the month.  The middle of the quarter.  The middle of all the changes that are happening.  You will see this today and it will take on a most interesting meaning for you according to  what level you are willing to/able to/brave enough to take a look at things.  A sense of humor coupled with compassion will bring new revelations and new connections.  The day can end with a the wow, but only if you go into it with no definition, no judgment, no limitations.  You know how to do this.  So just be.  Oh, and it is a good idea to be aware of things that are going on beneath the surface.  These things will be drifting to the top as the weeks go on.  If you get a feel for them now, when they come closer you will be able to identify them, classify them, and put them in their places.

Thursday, August 16:    Cloudy White

Emotions can be close to the surface today, so be ready to step back from situations that will evoke quick responses.  This is an excellent time in which to be the observer.  Much of what will be happening around you is merely a shifting of positions.  It is not time to react now as everything is still in flux.  It is important that you are grounded and centered in your Core Self.  Use the wisdom eyes of your heart to see through a lot of the seems-to-be out there.  Agendas are at work, but only item by item.  You will not have enough information to know the whole thing.  It is best always to formulate your opinions based on real facts.  As the day winds to a close some unexpected information can be coming your way.

Friday, August 17:     Blue and Orange

So, there are things to be said today, but watch out for the emotions.  You are conflicted in terms of who and what you want to be right now. You will feel the pull of societal norms and all the so-called right things, while standing on the precipice and seeing all the could-be’s.  Which way will you go?  This is a day for dealing with WHO you truly are.  You know the answer to that on an intuitive level, however whether or not you will act upon your knowing is up to you.  This is a dress rehearsal.  Be glad of that.  Many questions and issues will pop up.  Work with them.  Play the part.  See how they fit you.  Just know that the real performance is not far away. Oh, and since you are the star, and the audience and the critic are you, well, you have the freedom to make it be as you wish.

Saturday, August 18:    Light Rose

Well, the week is finally drawing to a close, and in retrospect, there are some things you are proud of, some things you got done, some things that you might have done better, and some things that made absolutely no sense at all.  (Did you expect them too?)  It is such crazy energy now that from one moment to the next you may question what you were doing and how you got there and is this the right rabbit hole and …  But the week is over and there is a bit of a respite in the air today.  You will find that you will be looking at things differently.  Your reactions are changing.  Those same old buttons do not work as they did before. (This can be a challenge for some of those who thought they knew you so well.)  In many ways you have paid your dues, done the right thing, been the proper person, but all that is shifting now.  Today you are at the proverbial (stinking) crossroads.  What to do?  Follow the deep knowing of your heart, and a new world can open up to you.

Now Showing — Perseid Meteor Shower

THE PERSEID METEOR SHOWER IS UNDERWAY: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Worldwide observers are now reporting more than 30 Perseids per hour, a number that could triple during the weekend when Earth reaches the heart of the debris zone. Forecasters recommend looking during the dark hours before dawn, especially Sunday morning, August 12th, when activity is expected to be highest.

Got clouds? Tune into SpaceWeather Radio for live echoes from Perseid meteors flying over the US Space Surveillance Radar in Texas.

The multi-station Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, sponsored by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, is also monitoring the Perseids. Live data are available here. Bright spots in this sample radar sky map show the radiants of currently active showers:

Clearly, the Perseids are not the only meteors in the sky this weekend. The Northern and Southern Delta Aquarids (NDA and SDA) are also active. These showers, which are minor compared to the Perseids, spring from 96P/Machholz, a comet that some researchers suspect is a visitor from another star system.

This is a great weekend for watching meteors–but that’s not all. Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon are lining up in the pre-dawn sky right in the middle of the Perseid display. The conjunction of planets guarantees that you will see something beautiful even in the unlikely event that the shower fizzles.

from:   spaceweather.com

Vertical Forest Being Created in Milan

World’s First Vertical Forest Under Construction in Milan

 

By Catherine de Lange at Green Futures

In Milan, a forest will soon be planted in the sky. Building works for a pair of skyscrapers that will become home to the world’s first vertical forest is underway. The brainchild of architect Stefano Boeri, the €65 million ‘Bosco Verticale’ is already under construction. When complete, the skyscrapers will contain luxury apartments, each one equipped with a copious balcony specially designed to hold around 900 small trees and other plants. If planted on the ground the total vegetation would cover an area of 10,000 square metres.

As well as providing green outdoors space for residents, and providing the city with some much needed green views, the project should have a range of other benefits, including:

  • filtering pollution
  • absorbing CO2 and dust particles
  • reducing noise pollution to the building
  • improving the microclimate
  • saving energy by sheltering the building from solar radiation in summer
  • reducing rainwater run-off so curbing flooding.

And all this, claims Boeri, for a premium of just 5% on the cost of normal high rises.

On the surface, it is a simple idea – with growing populations requiring land use for lodgings, why not plant our greenery upwards, rather than outwards? It is certainly becoming increasingly popular, with schemes in Chicago and Suwon, South Korea

Alexander Felson, Director of the Urban Ecology and Design Laboratory at Yale University, agrees that “there will potentially be microclimate and air particulate removal benefits”, but warns that the “overall energy required to construct a building that would support both trees and the wet weight of soil” places some serious question marks over its overall sustainability. He favours a more modest approach focusing on green roofs.

This article originally appeared in Green Futures, the magazine of independent sustainability experts Forum for the FutureImages courtesy of Daniel Iodice

from:    http://thisbigcity.net/worlds-first-vertical-forest-under-construction-in-milan/?utm_source=scribol.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=scribol.com