The Last Free People On Earth
Joanna Eede writes for National Geographic:
Deep in one of the remotest parts of the Brazilian Amazon, in a clearing at the headwaters of the Envira River, an Indian man looks up at an aeroplane.
He is surrounded by kapok trees and banana plants, and by the necessities of his life: a thatched hut, its roof made from palm fronds; a plant-fiber basket brimming with ripe pawpaw; a pile of peeled manioc, lying bright-white against the rain forest earth.
The man’s body is painted red from crushed seeds of the annatto shrub, and in his hand…
Plasticize Me: The Ethics Of What To Do With The Dead
Will recent advances in human tissue preservation change the way we think about bodies, death, God…and China?
Guernica discusses how “plasticization” and other advances create new questions regarding how we may make use of corpses. Cadavers are in-demand like never before, for all sorts of purposes, including macabre exhibitions:
Von Hagens is a tireless promoter of the ethical difference between his exhibits and the others. “All the copycat exhibitions are from China,” he told the New York Times. “And they’re all using unclaimed bodies.”
Both “Bodies…The Exhibition” and “Body Worlds” make use of a new technology von Hagens calls “Plastination,” by which all water is removed from human tissues and replaced with soft silicone polymers. A macabre detail included in the story von Hagens tells of the development of this process hints at the ethical questions that were to come: He first thought of creating perfectly preserved cross-sections of human bodies when he was…
India’s Population Reaches 1.21 Billion
The world’s population has had a rapid increase in the last decade, but India takes the cake. With the 2011 census updated, India’s population reaches 1.21 billion. BBC reports:
India’s population has grown by 181 million people over the past decade to 1.21bn, according to the 2011 census.
More people now live in India than in the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined.
India is on course to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation by 2030, but its growth rate is falling, figures show. China has 1.3bn people.
The census also reveals a continuing preference for boys – India’s sex ratio is at its worst since independence.
Female foeticide remains common in India, although sex-selective abortion based on ultraso
Just Keep Going, You Got Nothing To Lose (Video)
A thought-provoking video by Luke Rudkowski on happiness, freedom, government, humanity, and life in the words of subway passengers. Via WeAreChange.org:
U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan Posed in ‘Trophy’ Photos With Murdered Civilians
Jon Boone writes in the Guardian:
The face of Jeremy Morlock, a young US soldier, grins at the camera, his hand holding up the head of the dead and bloodied youth he and his colleagues have just killed in an act military prosecutors say was premeditated murder.
Moments before the picture was taken in January last year, the unsuspecting victim had been waved over by a group of US soldiers who had driven to his village in Kandahar province in one of their armoured Stryker tanks.
According to testimony collected by Der Spiegel magazine the boy had, as a matter of routine, lifted up his shirt to reveal that he was not hiding a suicide bomb vest.
That was the moment Morlock, according to a pre-arranged plan, threw a grenade at the boy that exploded while other members of the rogue group who called themselves the “kill team” opened fire.
They would later tell military investigators that…
CNBC’s Larry Kudlow on Japan Quake: Be Grateful Human Toll Much Worse than Economic Toll (Video)
In case you were wondering why Wall Street is so detested by actual human beings, here’s CNBC’s Larry Kudlow:
Humanity 3.0: How Will We Evolve Next?
Writing in SEED Magazine, Mark Changizi expounds on his vision of human advancement in the centuries to come. He argues that the greatest progress will not come through changing our brains and bodies via genetic engineering or cyborg-like enhancement, but by developing technology that better accommodates the magnificently-designed brains and bodies that evolution has already given us:
Where are we humans going, as a species? If science fiction is any guide, we will genetically evolve like in X-Men, become genetically engineered as in Gattaca, or become cybernetically enhanced like General Grievous in Star Wars. All of these may well be part of the story of our future, but I’m not holding my breath.
There is, however, another avenue for human evolution, one mostly unappreciated in both science and fiction. It is this unheralded mechanism that will usher in the next stage of human, giving future people exquisite powers we do not currently…
The Pets We Kept Before Dogs Found In 16,500-Year-Old Cemetery
Source: Mariomassone (CC)
Alasdair Wilkins writing at io9.com:
A burial site recently uncovered in Jordan is the oldest ever discovered in the Middle East, at least 1,500 years older than any other cemetery previously discovered. But it’s not just its great age that makes it special — the cemetery also reveals what animals humans kept as pets long before the domestication of dogs.
The site, which dates back about 16,500 years, was discovered in ‘Uyun al-Hammam in Jordan. The University of Toronto researchers discovered the site back in 2000, but it’s taken eleven years just to come to grips with what the site has to teach us. Indeed, this cemetery stands to be particularly useful, as it has eleven different sets of human remains — more than all other burial sites of this type combined.
But it isn’t just the human corpses that have attracted attention, as they’ve also discovered remains of ancient pets.…
Study Finds Possible Link Between Genes and Friendship
Could your genes help decide the friends you choose? BBC News reports:
Researchers in the United States say they have uncovered tentative evidence of a genetic component to friendship.
Using data from two independent studies, they found carriers of one gene associated with alcoholism tended to stick together.
However, people with another gene linked with metabolism and openness, stayed apart.
Details are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers looked at six genetic markers in two long-running US studies, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the Framingham Heart Study, which contain both genetic data and information on friends.
[Continues at BBC News]
Haitians Mark One Year Anniversary Of Earthquake
The Haitian National Palace after the earthquake on January 12, 2010
A year after tragedy hit Haiti, survivors are marking the anniversary of the devastating earthquake. A year later and hundreds of thousands of people are living in shelters, communities are slowly being rebuilt and there is a constant battle against cholera. BBC News reports:
Haitians are preparing to mark the anniversary of the earthquake that devastated their country and left some 250,000 of their fellow citizens dead.
Church services are due to be held around the nation, including at the ruined cathedral in Port-au-Prince.
There will also be a minute’s silence at 4.53pm (2153 GMT) – the exact moment when the 7.0 magnitude quake hit.
Traffic stopped as the streets of Port-au-Prince turned quiet and businesses were closed.
People walked in solemn processions to prayer services marking the anniversary of the worst natural disaster in the nation’s history. Many people wore white, a colour associated with…
Discover The Lost History of ‘Hidden Wisdom’
Here’s author and Freemason Tim Wallace-Murphy speaking at the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York in May 2010. This presentation is based on his book Hidden Wisdom: Secrets of the Western Esoteric Tradition.
The 33 (Formerly) Trapped Chilean Miners Have A Contract to Stop Any Individual From Profiting at the Expense of the Group
Interesting way to deal with a horrible situation that these fellas found themselves into. Glad to see the rescue operation is going well, Godspeed. Fiona Govan writes in the Telegraph:
The 33 trapped Chilean miners have moved to stop any individual from profiting at the expense of the group, drawing up a legal contract to share the proceeds from the story of their ordeal.
The men have called in a lawyer to draw up a contract ensuring they will equally profit from the lucrative media deals they expect to secure for sharing the story of their two month survival in the hope that they never have to work again.
The group have already rejected requests for interviews and have instead made plans to jointly write a book about the days spent trapped below the Atacama Desert following the mine collapse on August 5.
The details of the discussions between the men were disclosed in…
How Halley’s Comet Has Changed History Over the Past 2,500 Years
What a great article from Alasdair Wilkins on io9.com. Truly insightful. Alasdair Wilkins writes:
Ancient Greek texts reveal the earliest recorded sighting of the solar system’s most famous comet 2,500 years ago.
Since then, Halley’s Comet has repeatedly cameoed in history, getting credit for toppling armies, birthing empires, and even killing Mark Twain.
Halley’s Comet is the most famous of the short-period comets, which are comets that complete their eccentric orbits in 200 years or less.
It’s the only short-period comet that’s visible to the naked eye, and its 76-year circuit means it’s the one comet that pretty much everyone can hope to see once, if not twice, during their lifetime. Because of this uniqueness and its often dazzling appearances, it’s become something of humanity’s companion throughout human history, popping up again and again in historical records.
A Conversation With Mel Gibson
From the First Church of Mutterhals:
Perhaps you’ve heard that Mel Gibson is not the most pleasant man to live with. There’s been a slew of leaked audio tapes featuring Gibson saying all sorts of horrible things to his former live in lover and mother of his child.
Thanks to my contact in La La land (i.e. a herpetic bum who roots around in celebrity trash for a living), I got my hands on a transcript of the most recent diatribe. Behold:
Mel’s Baby Maker: How are you doing, Mel! It is a glorious day in this most wonderful country and I am glad to be the common law wife of such a dynamic individual!
Mel Gibson: Listen you silly cunt, how many times have I told you, do not look me in the eye when you talk to me.
MBM: I am ever so sorry Mel!
MG: You goddamn should be. Why is there a boom mike hanging from…
Humanity and Beyond
Stacie Adams writes on Smirking Chimp:
A week or two ago the internets were ablaze with the news that not only did famed physicist Stephen Hawking appear to believe in the existence of life on other planets, but he was also of the mind that we should avoid them at all costs, because in his opinion they would be of the face sucking, giant lizard variety.
Many expressed dismay at his sentiment, but it’s really not that fantastic. Hawking’s theory is that if the universe is infinite, it would make sense mathematically for there to be other life forms in existence at various stages of development. His second point really isn’t that bold either. Why do we, in our limited knowledge, assume that advancement entails humanity?
Look at our species. As we advance, are we becoming more or less humane? And look at our history. We happen upon a new land, and what…
