Scared of the dark? Don’t be a WIMP!

Would you be afraid to chase a cosmic ghost? The ghost in question is the ever-mysterious presence of dark matter, which is said to encompass 80% of the mass of our universe and has eluded astronomers since the 1930’s. But it is only within the past twenty years that scientists have begun to actually discover measurable evidence of what has presented itself as un-space. You can’t see it, but it’s there – surrounding everything in an amorphous cloak which, by default, gives shape and form to adjacent celestial bodies through the inexorable force of its own gravity.

Evidence of dark matter is, to say the least, tricky. We’ve invented sensors that detect “events” that lead to a hypothesis of its potential presence quantified by WIMPs – weakly interacting massive particles leftover from the Big Bang. Weakly-interacting because they’re invisible (or at least undetectable) and massive because of their immense gravity.

The ongoing question is whether our existing sensors are in fact detecting WIMPs or merely ordinary subatomic particles. In one experiment, detectors made from germanium and silicon crystals were able to map a WIMP interaction, whereby the particle bounced off of an atom, which left a barely detectable residual heat signature. But it is not yet clear whether these signatures represent background noise. 

The related theory of Supersymmetry could elucidate many ongoing questions about dark matter and their invisible, formless particles. This theory postulates that for every boson, there exists a corresponding fermion with the same mass. And though this theory has not been proved, it is said to be a modern explanation of dark matter.

For further reading on this, Adam Mann’s article Cosmology: The hunting of the dark  published in Nature News is an excellent study these topics.

Urges and Desires

It has been said that the most primal desire of the heart is to be understood, and the most fundamental desire of the human body is oxygen.

Roughly 75% of women on the planet suffer from uterine fibroids. What’s interesting is the number of women within that percentage that have never given birth. Passionate debate surrounds the medical question of
whether fibroids cause infertility or if never giving birth is a contributing cause of fibroids.

Think about it. Looking back at the evolutionary history of the female gender, the most primal job of the female uterus is to do what? Grow something, presumably, a fetus. What urge, then, could be more fundamental to the human body than even respiration?

The urge… to grow.

Hormones secreted by the body’s endocrine system regulate many types of growth. And genetics is a dominant factor in determining how much and how fast we develop. Many physiological growth processes slow or stop during late adolescence to early twenties. Teeth, bones, organs. American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, most known for his Hierarchy of Human Needs model, theorized about the human or existential urge to grow. From a humanistic psychology perspective, this growth surpasses just biological and also encompasses psychological and spiritual growth as we develop toward our potential.

The Dalai Lama teaches that meditation practice is the very heart of spiritual evolution and growth. That to deepen a connection with our inner selves grows and evolves our connection to our own innate Divine wisdom.

So let’s presume, for a moment, that the primary and most fundamental urge of the human body, mind and spirit is to grow. My theory, then, is that abnormal growths, like benign uterine fibroids or more perilous malignant tumors are caused when we stop growing in some other way. Even if parts of the physical body reach maturity in early twenties, the idea is that we continue to grow and evolve our minds and spirits to develop our personalities, learn to manage our emotions, and deepen our connection to our selves and the external world.  And when those processes stop or even slow, the body’s natural drive to grow kicks in and forces growth to happen another way – abnormally, in the form of imbalance, illness and disease.

Now, I’m by no means suggesting that human beings consciously cause their own cancer or fibroids. There are multitudes of studies on the biological causes of cancer and other pathology. In 2008, Harald zur Hausen received a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery that the human papilloma virus was a cause of cervical cancer. The bacterium, Helicobacter Pylori (H. pylori), has been discovered to cause stomach cancer. Alcohol and
liver cancer. Tobacco and lung cancer. My contention, rather, is based on a more global and cosmic examination of what happens to the human body and why.

This is the first in what will be an ongoing examination in several parts. Please subscribe to this blog to be notified of the next installment, and I welcome your comments.

Thank you for visiting!

Every man has in himself a continent of undiscovered character. Happy is he who acts the Columbus to his
own soul. – Sir J. Stephen

Silent Retreat

Today just being just breathing

listening observing wondering hearing

watching noticing

these many actions without actually

moving or talking

this stillness this silence

is FOOD that I savor

comfort that drapes my shoulders

desire augmented by its observation

like quantum physics where

observes don’t merely influence

but determine

an outcome

I am not merely quiet

but in a state of silence

not merely unmoving

but practicing stillness

I hear in this layer

new music

prana drawn in through my nose

slippers scuff on a dhurrie rug

the buzz and swarm of electrons

holding the shape of my cells

the squeaks and gurgle of watercress

navigating the labyrinth of my core

a jet scraping the skin of

big sky

9 cosmic moons

arranged in a vertical string

the gluons of perception

I see now the beauty in stasis

not knowing what

but attuned to possibility

this blanket of silence

weaves me through space and time

gratitude for this glimmery moment

and the many layers of now

that show their faces

after nothing more than an inquisitive

“show me”

Career change possible after 40 years of oppressive rule?

Born Wild

I’m bad for the economy. I don’t buy anything retail. And it’s not that I necessarily dispute the importance of shopping malls to the realm of global commerce. It’s just that I avoid them other than for my clandestine research. An example: Ed Hardy’s “Born Wild” perfume. A dizzying scent of sweet, freshly sliced passionfruit. If I could dig the top off I’d drink it. Retail: $75. Ebay, however, has several established fragrance resellers who, if you dig a little, offer brand new, actual department store fragrances at 1/5 the cost. In the end, I pay $28 for a full size (2.5 ounce) bottle, shrink-wrapped in the original box. Despicable, I know. 

My sister said, many years ago, “don’t buy anything full price…you can always find it on sale…somewhere.” I grew up in a picturesque, elitist, nautically-inspired suburb of Boston, where I first came in contact with George Orwell’s Animal Farm equality mantra:

 “All pigs are equal. But some pigs are more equal than others.”

My mother, my rebellious role model, still lives in this town and frequently walks into the original Talbots clothing store purposely wearing baggy sweatpants, a paint-stained ill-fitted sweatshirt holding a dripping chocolate ice cream cone. The skinny, manicured retail marionettes swarm like flies to sugar. “Red Alert!!”  My mother smiles while counting the seconds till she’s forcibly extricated from the premises. “I’ll be careful,” my mother assures them and heads not toward the clearance rack but the $298 gabardine slacks. “I am terribly sorry but (feigned, meekish laugh) we have a store policy of …”

“No food? Really?” my mother jumps in. “Where is that policy documented? I’d like to have a look.”  Cool, gray eyes stare back from a plate of Botox and synthetic collagen. “Oh…uh…”

Today I went to San Francisco’s Stonestown Galleria to drink too many lattes and write in the Borders bookstore café. To stretch my legs after an hour or two, I took a field trip to Nordstroms next door and (as Rod Serling says) somehow found myself in…The Twilight Zone.”

The Chinese paging system every three seconds begins as a welcomed curiosity and quickly grates on my nerves. A suited pianist rakes through Bach Two-Part Inventions on a 7 foot grand by the escalators. Upon my arrival on the second floor, seven (that’s right) sales people approach to greet me with 7 variations of “give me not some but all your money.”

Then I am chaperoned in the fitting room with an attendant to which I have been personally assigned. I must verbally dispute her intentions to sit in the actual dressing chamber with me to help ensure proper fit. “I know how to put on pants,” I explain, to which she replies “Maybe not.”

So I ask myself, why can’t you eat ice cream in Nordstroms, and just browse peacefully through their racks of $195 t-shirts unfettered by hungry chaperones? Is the economy so bad off, are retail stores so financially ailing that sales staff are saddled with undue pressure to sell, sell, sell and that toxicity is passed down to the unwitting consumer? Perhaps people like me, who refuse to pay more than $30 for an $85 bottle of perfume perpetuate this infamous cycle. If so, I’m sorry, but I am the daughter of a rebel and have inherited nearly every molecule of my mother’s bad behavior. What she cares about, like playing Chopin on the piano and teaching homeless women to read, she cares deeply. And everything else, well…

So I retreat, contemplating my biological deficiencies in a leather chair in the good company of Steinbeck and Updike. Time for another latte…

Particle Physics and Political Trauma

Lately I’ve been reading about a geometrical discovery called E8 Theory (by A. Garrett Lisi), which neatly binds together two of my most insatiable passions – mathematics and physics. E8 Theory, as my limited mind can comprehend, is a complex geometrical structure formed by the energy trails of various particles as they extend into four dimensional spacetime. This theory, though still in development, relates to all previous theories of everything – string, super string, M, quantum entanglement – except that none of its predecessors could sufficiently explain and validate quantum relativity. E8 has all its strings, so to speak, in the right place to reconcile all previous unanswered questions about particle physics and quantum mechanics. It does this through mapping a geometrical pattern referred to by physicists as E8.

I find myself reflecting on these recent Lisi-readings in the wake of Jared Loughner’s tragic shooting spree last weekend. To me, this story is not about Democrats, Republicans, Gabby Giffords, Sarah Palin, or President Obama. In fact, I don’t view it as relating to politics at all. It’s about, like everything I suppose, the psychology of human behavior. Of course, Jared Loughner is responsible for his actions and he will no doubt answer for his crimes, and we will be forced to hear the sad, pernicious commentaries that will, no doubt, polarize an already drastic political landscape.

But what does Jared Loughner have to do with mathematics and physics? Everything’s interconnected with everything else, and on a far deeper level than we realize. Loughner relates to quantum physics because we are related to him. We, as a civilization, society, community, grew him in essence, and if something in his 22 years on earth has gone so terribly wrong as to cause him to commit premeditated murder, there is much more that’s wrong here than an unstable, homicidal young man.

We are connected and, as such, he is a reflection of some part of our world as it is right now, so in some small way we are all responsible for these tragedies. So I ask myself – what needs to change in the collective consciousness of our world, in our communal thoughts, to prevent this tragedy from recurring? What kind of care was absent from Loughner’s life when he needed it to allow hate and revenge to so deeply flourish in his heart and mind?

I’m reminded, again, of the nature vs. nurture question. Is Loughner simply a textbook example of a bad seed or, instead, is he a victim of a love-less, structure-less upbringing? Perhaps both? What in the collective framework of our world has caused young 22 year old men to feel justified in committing violence on this level and what, as a society, can we do about it? Or perhaps the question I’m really asking is what can I, as one person, do about it? How can my thoughts and actions and energy change as a result of this tragedy? I hope Gabby Giffords lives and recovers, and I hope others ponder these disturbing, philosophical questions. If so, I hope you share your insights with me and everyone else. But even more, I hope we can learn something from this unfortunate wakeup call.

Don’t Talk to Aliens

Or so says Stephen Hawking in his new Discovery Channel documentary series on the universe. 

“To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational,” he said, and then comments that the true challenge is to consider what these extra terrestrials might actually be like.  Didn’t we address that question in the film Independence Day, if not 7 seasons of The X-Files?  What I keep reminding myself of is that this is the man who wrote A Brief History of Time, who’s considered the foremost authority on theoretical physics and cosmology of the past century.  If Stephen Hawking believes not only in the possibility but the actual existence and presence of extra terrestrials in our world, what else could be possible?

Yes, Jodi Foster, if we did not share our universe with any other beings, it would be an awful waste of space.  But Hawking’s new theory of alien life evokes larger questions to me than simply cosmic real estate and greeting practices.  What if we have already met them and, scarier still, what if we’ve been (unbeknownst to us) “meeting  them” for a long time and the lines between human and alien species are somewhat blurred?

I recall being a bit jarred by the notion, years ago, that the all-powerful mimi virus (Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus) contained more than one genome that did not necessarily exist in our known universe.  Currently frozen in Marseilles, scientists have suggested that mimi existed before anything else on this planet, and may have, how did they put it, unknown origins.   Not only that – she doesn’t outsource anything – all her replication efforts are done in-house.  She’s a one-stop shop for everything and is the veritable missing link between viruses and living cells.  Is she a cryogenically-preserved life form or potential life form?  And if she indeed came from let’s just say somewhere other than this planet, is Mimi, in essence, an alien?

Check out “Into the Universe” on Discovery: http://tinyurl.com/27ajj43

Contemplating NOW. Ready…set…

The “address” of the soul? Hmmm, interesting question, which probes further to inquire whether this particular location is inside or outside our sphere of BEING. I don’t believe in the efficacy of New Year’s Resolutions because self improvement should be ongoing, not something you think about for a week between January 1st and 7th. That said, I find myself wondering how more “now” oriented I could be in my life – not necessarily because a year has just been born but, perhaps, simply as I continue to age and evolve I wonder about the status and quality of such evolution. So I return once again to the concept of nowness. I am in “now” so to speak when I meditate, which is typically daily, though after all these years of meditating, I experience the somewhat universal struggle of monkey-mind stretching out into distraction, dragging my attention away from my breath and into the frivolity of clocks, lists, tasks, groceries, and so it is for even the tatooed yogis meditating unwashed in caves for multiple decades. Where does this elusive now go? Does it travel of its own accord, or does our own uncomfortability with the present moment push it under the bed? A mirror, perhaps, this present moment – coated glass reflecting an image of our inner self – showing the puffy eyes, wrinkles, and blemishes of all that we have neglected. I would like to inquire as to the nature of this image. Last year’s mantra was More God – perhaps this year’s will be More Now. Not that this is a new year’s resolution or anything…

A Poem by my friend, Rob Spiegel

The Angel’s Awkward Fortune

 

A million steps and suddenly this next

one cracked the code of an adjacent

world. In peeked a girl looking for

a lost locket. Why are you in my poem,

and why have the skies shifted so quickly

from New Mexico blue to such a Mississippi green?

Some girls look for lost lockets their whole

lives through, world to world,

and I could no more entice her

into domesticity in this young world than you

could get Anorexia to eat this peanut butter cookie.

But the problem persists as the girl digs my

backyard dirt for a locket that likely lies

in an oil and muddy curbside three worlds to

the left. But, my, she has a lovely voice,

and I could win her were it not for my

unlucky lot in this toddler world. Eight worlds

ago she would have begged the briefest of my attention.

But here in my infant world,

she has sliced ribbons from my bloody heart

as she swears, christ, there’s nothing in your damn yard.

Buddhist Transformation Shrine

I created a transformation shrine in the backyard of our Oakland, CA house.  Arranged above our compost heap, an organic writhing stew of decaying food and lovely nutrient-rich bacteria, is a Buddhist shrine to bless the transformation process of rotting food scraps into fertile, sustainable, sacred soil.

 Om Mani Padme Hum

#2

Water alters

expanding pores

in the earth’s skin

intensifying the fragrance

of Lilacs

revealing the secret

colors of stone

Water reaches

like hungry hands

sliding into crevices

and unknown caves

Water touches

like curiosity

all that wants to be known

and seen and felt

Water senses

need and hunger

arriving in the guise of rain

on the starving desert floor

Water balances

like a cool, sacred Mother

adjusting to change

co-existing as the silent partner

to the eternal Source

Midnight Poem

water below swirling

obsidian cerulean froth

invokes my path to the

sacred underworld

an imprint, ancient

of another self

another version

lurks nearly touching

yet unseen

I sense eyes upon me

they are mine

they gaze up

toward the blue divine

existing in two realms

motionless

watching

the parody of

past and future

The Most Comfortable Boots Ever

Born BOC Ashlyn boots – rare and hard to find, soft leather, velvet lined, knee-high, rubber sole, so comfortable and warm omg awesome

Favorite Books

What are your favorite books, what books have changed your life, and what’s on your nightstand right now? 

All of these books have changed my life in some way, but this one made the most lasting dent on my consciousness:

 

Isn’t That Special…

“Special” (as opposed to General) Relativity is a theory Albert Einstein established and published in 1905.  Specifically, this theory postulates that light is constant; and as velocity increases, length decreases, mass increases, and TIME slows down.  (Time slows down – hmmm, I need to chomp on that for a while…)

 

Relativity also tells us that e=mc² and that gravity is the net effect of the curvature of space-time as a result of mass. 

 

Dead Space

This red section above is the hypothalamus – a tiny region of all mammalian brains.  In humans, it’s located just above the brain stem and is roughly the size of an almond.  It’s function is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system, and it controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, anger, hormones, and circadian cycles.  

This brings me to my  cosmic question of the day: How much of an average human brain ACTUALLY gets used in a day?  How much of your brain have you used?  As for me, about 45% (but it’s only Wednesday).

Marinara Monger

NAPOLI MARINARA SAUCE

 Serves 3-4 people:

Ingredients:

• 3 16-ounce cans of organic whole tomatoes (preferably pomodoro)
• 1 can tomato paste
• olive oil (first cold pressed, extra virgin, yada yada)
• 3-6 cloves garlic
• cippolino onions
• red table wine (anything is ok here)
• Italian spices (any combination of the following: oregano, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, basil)
• Pinch of sugar

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat – when it’s hot, add garlic (make sure it’s as mashed up as you can get it – use 2 forks)

• After 1 minute, add chopped onion (I’m not big on specific quantities – use your own judgment) – let that cook for 2 minutes
• Then add spices – let that cook for 1-2 minutes
• Then add the cans of tomatoes – GENTLY mash up the tomatoes with your hands for a few minutes, savor this, inhale the intoxicating fumes, close your eyes, get a little dizzy
• Then add the can of tomato paste – also mix this up with your hands – NO WOODEN OR METAL SPOONS – ONLY HANDS!!!
• Then add a little bit of red wine, cook for 5 minutes, then add a pinch of sugar, cook for anther 5 minutes, lower the heat a little, cover it, and let it all soak in for 10-15 minutes
• Open a bottle of Sangiovese and let it breathe while the sauce is cooking
• Sit someplace quiet and think about how the mountains meet the sea in Naples
• Slice some fresh Italian bread

Serve it over al dente tagliatelle (with any kind of meat you like)

 Buon Apetito!!

Top Five Things To Say To Intolerable Strangers (at cocktail parties)

5. How’s your relationship with your mother?

4. Are you paying enough attention to your colon?

3. I wonder what the starving children of the world are doing right now…oh yeah, probably crying (OR DYING).  How’s the caviar?

2. I think rats are misunderstood. Don’t you?

1. I wanna talk to you about colonics…

Hiring Do’s and Don’t's

Hire people who are mentally slow and inefficient – they’ll make you look better to your superiors.

Hire people who dress sloppily, to make you look super sharp!

Hire people who are shy – they’ll be afraid of you.  Fear is good.

Hire someone who stutters, then make them give impromptu presentations to your Board.

If you are forced to hire someone smarter than you, make them bring you coffee and pick up your drycleaning. If this doesn’t make them quit, promote them to management and, on their first day, make them fire a really angry person who’s been there a long time.

Last resort: Drop a box of paperclips on the men’s room floor and make them pick them up.

i need an inventor, quick!

 

 

The Spacesaver Car 

Here’s how it works: it’s a fully collapsible car (can be any kind) that folds down into the size of a briefcase, sprouts a handle, and you can actually carry it off to wherever you’re going. Purpose: saves you from having to find a parking space in the city. Someone can do that, right?