Earth's orbit experiences an “Orbital Eccentricity”, 100,000 year cycle orbit and inclination variation, going from circular to elliptical, the hemispheres experience more or less sun or exposure to the sun for extended periods, causing ice ages. Scientists estimate we are near the minimum, a 6% change in solar energy. At peak, the earth experiences a change of 30%.
Modern Day Primates, in the wild and captivity, are able to communicate, near and far, using verbal and gesture components, even to other species. Have been observed using wood as tools, and in using medicinal plants to treat wounds.
44 million y a - Hominid ancestors acquire Herpes virus.
10 million y a - Primate ancestors develop genes to digest alcohol.
6 million years ago - Primate ancestors split from Chimpanzee/Bonobo line (15 million DNA mutations have occurred since then; each person born today has 100 mutations distinct to them, most don’t survive.)
5.3 m y a - Mediterranean Sea experiences the Messinian Salinity Crisis, for 600,000 years the Straight of Gibraltar closed off, causing the Mediterranean to shrink down to two inland seas with Italy and Greece separating them. Ends in the Zanclean Flood, a river of Atlantic sea water flows thru Gibraltar and fills the Mediterranean in 2 years.
5 m y a - Arabian-African continent reconnects with Asia. Land based Turtle species start going extinct.
4 - 3 m y a - Hominid ancestors acquire pubic lice from Gorillas (genetic evidence).
3.6 - 2.58 m y a - Considered the Neogene Period.
3.3 m y a - Stone tools found in Kenya and Ethiopia.
2.6 m y a - Mode One Stone Tools found in Ethiopia, would subsequently spread. Flourished to 1.7 million y a in southern and eastern Africa. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) Era (2.6 m y a till end of last Ice Age, 11,000 y a). Subdivided into the Early- or Lower Paleolithic (c. 2,6 million years ago - c. 250,000 years ago); the Middle Paleolithic (c. 250,000 years ago - c. 30,000 years ago); and the Late- or Upper Paleolithic (c. 50,000/40,000 - c. 10,000 years ago)
2.58 million - 11,700 years ago - Considered the start of the Quaternary Period, and covers the Pleistocene.
2.4 – 1.4 m y a – Homo Habilis (4.5-3.5 feet tall).
2 m years ago - Earliest Hominids start eating meat.
1.9 – 1.8 m y a – Homo Rudolfensis.
1.89 m y a to 110,000 y a - Homo Erectus (first to leave Africa and spread across Asia).
1.8 m years ago - Mode One Stone Tools found on Java.
1.7 m years ago - Mode Two Stone Tools (slicing, hand-axe/butchering, evidence of drilling tools) appear in Kenya and southern Africa.
1.6 m years ago - Mode One Stone Tools found in northern China.
1.6 - 1.5 m y a - Africa, Turkana Boy dies, likely from a tooth cavity infection. He was either 8 or 11-12 years old and 61 inches tall. Brain 880 ccm.
1.5 m y a - Kenya, possible start of Hominids using fire to cook food. (increase in caloric intake, which would lead to evolution; however, Paranthropus Boisei is the local species, brain 500-550 ccm, 54 inches tall)
1 million years ago - Likely split between ancestor of Homo Sapiens and proto-Neanderthal-Denisovan species. (Mitochondrial DNA evidence.) South Africa, evidence of fire use for cooking.
1 m - 700,000 y a - Java, Java Man dies, brain 900 ccm. 5' 8" tall.
900,000 y a – Possible earliest use of boats.
820,000 - 580,000 y a - Durum Wheat develops out of natural hybridization with Einkorn Wheat (genetic analysis).
800,000? y a - Low world temperatures recorded. Height of Ice Age?
790,000 y a - Levant, oldest Fire hearths found. (Homo Heidelbergensis, 1,250 ccm brain, 69 in tall)
740,000? y a - Height of Ice Age?
7-200,000 y a – Homo Heidelbergensis (East Africa and Europe, likely first to hunt large animals with spears)
640,000? y a - Height of Ice Age.
550,000? y a - Height of Ice Age?
540,000 - 430,000 y a - Art: Sea shell formed into decoration by Homo Erectus. (Could indicate when sea shells began to be used as whistles and horns.)
530,000? y a - Interglacial Peak (between Ice Ages, high CO2 content in the atmosphere, 524-474,000).
500,000 y a - South Africa, evidence of Spears. Genetic evidence of Neanderthal spread from Europe to Caspian Sea, Denisovans occupied land from Caspian to the east.
450,000 y a - Earliest physical evidence of Neanderthal.
450,000 y a - Global temperatures had dropped, stayed that way for thousands of years.
430,000 - 230,000 y a - Durum Wheat cross-breeds with wild Goat Grass (genetic analysis).
400,000 y a - Interglacial Peak (between Ice Ages, 424-374,000).
400,000 y a - Germany, oldest Spears found. France (Terra Amata), possible evidence of manmade shelter using prepared wood.
360,000? y a - Height of Ice Age.
335-236,000 y a – Homo Naledi (South Africa, 4’9”)
310,000 y a - Interglacial Peak (between Ice Ages, 337-300,000).
300,000 y a – Mode Three Stone Tools (smaller knife-like, scrapers, developed in Europe by Neanderthals)
300,000-200,000 y a – Africa, Origin of Male Y-Chromosome that all current males are descended from. (40% of males do not reproduce.)
270,000? y a - Height of Ice Age.
240,000 y a - Interglacial Peak (between Ice Ages, 242–230,000).
200,000 y a - France, evidence of Neanderthals fishing. Africa, "Mitochondrial Eve," source of all Human Haplo-groups that everyone is descended from, existed at this time.
194,000-135,000 y a - Penultimate Glacial Period.
190,000 y a - Early physical evidence of Denisovans. (At least three interbreeding events would occur with Homo Sapiens. EPAS1 gene, hemoglobin concentration, Tibetan plateau.)
190,000-50,000 y a - Flores Island, evidence of tool use by the Human Hobbit.
170,000 - 80,000 y a - Body Lice evolve (genetic evidence, feed on human skin, live in clothing; evidence of clothing)
164,000 y a – South Africa, heat treating Silcrete Stone to enhance stone tool production.
140,000 y a - Homo Sapiens found in Europe.
130,000 y a - Evidence of humans in North America. Crete, earliest human settlements found on the island. Art: Neanderthal necklace made of eagle talons. Croatia: Neanderthal teeth show possible dental work.
125,000 y a - Interglacial Peak (between Ice Ages, 130-115,000). Sea levels 4-6 meters (18 feet) higher then today.
110,000-15,000 y a - Last Glacial Period. Grey Wolves would migrate from North America back to Asia prior to the maximum.
100,000-60,000 y a - Flores Island, bone fossil evidence of the Human Hobbit.
100,000 y a - Oldest example of proper human burial. South Africa, Pigment (paint) Creation Kit found. (would cover bodies in mud/clay and then spray the paint over the bodies, sun screen-protection from insects)
90,000 y a – Harpoons.
86,000-37,000 y a – Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens begin interbreeding, based on genetic evidence found so far.
75,000 years ago - Likely rise of Hunter Genotype in Homo Sapiens.
75,000 y a - Art: Drilled snail shells found in South African cave.
73,000 y a - South Africa (Blombos Cave), evidence of Red Ochre art on pieces of stone, stone with deliberate lines cut into it possibly representing count marks.
72,000 y a - South Africa, Beads found in cave.
70,000 y a - Mitochondrial DNA suggests this is when the Haplo-group of early humans migrated out of Africa to populate the rest of the world.
70-60,000 y a - Earliest evidence of bone and stone arrowheads (for Spear Throwers), found in South Africa. 64,000?
70,000 - 35,000 BCE - Neanderthal burials in Europe and Middle East.
68-16,000 y a – Smallpox evolves from an African Rodent Virus.
67,000 BCE - France, burial shows skulls with Trepanation (cutting holes to relieve brain pressure), earliest example of surgery.
65,000 y a - First humans settle Australia.
64,000 y a - Spain, oldest evidence found of Cave Art (Neanderthal hand).
61,000 y a - South Africa, possible evidence of a Sewing Needle.
60,000? y a - Height of Ice Age?
60,000 y a - Evidence of man/Neanderthal using herbal medicine.
55,000 - 40,000 y a - Italy, evidence of Neanderthal using Pine Tree Resin and Beeswax for hafting tools, in cave. (Beeswax can be used in making Candles.)
52,000 y a - Last evidence of Denisovans.
52,000 – 41,000 y a – Archaeological find of “Bast” tree fiber twisted into primitive cordage, possibly as handle for a Stone Tool. (meaning they had access to Clothing, Nets, Cord for Fishing or Hafting tools, rope; thinking processes of Counting, Sets, Patterns, and possibly abstract thinking)
50,000 - 10,000 y a - Mode Four Stone Tools (long blades).
50,000 y a - Australia, last evidence of megafauna. Siberia, needle made from bone found in Denisovan cave. Genetic evidence of Neanderthal spreading to western edge of China.
50,000 years ago - End point of development of Gatherer Genotype (can survive famine), Teacher Genotype (can handle new and different environments, analytical).
45,000 y a - Evidence of Neanderthal and Homo Sapien interbreeding. (Fossil found, DNA tested.) (France, to create stone tools required precision, “Soft Hammers” were likely used.)
44,000 y a - Evidence of art found in Indonesia.
44,000-40,000 y a - Europe experiences cold and dry weather, displacing populations.
43-42,000 y a - Germany, oldest musical instruments (flutes) found.
42,000 y a - Australia, skeleton of man suggests Atlatl use, pre-dating earliest evidence; earliest example of cremation found. Spain, small amounts of Natural Gold found in a cave.
40,000 y a - (Mankind is at the “Forager” level.) Last evidence of Neanderthal. (Inheritance of "STAT2" gene, immune response. HYAL2 gene, helps skin recover from sunburns.) China, test on body found that ate a lot of fresh water fish. Possible example of oldest petroglyphs. Beads found in Lebanon.
40,000 - 26,000 y a - Studying toe bones, showed they became smaller and weaker, indicating shoes were worn. Prior to this, shoes were likely bags wrapped around feet to protect from cold.
38,000 BC - First appearance of Mode Five Ground Stone tools on Japan. (rock was quarried; thin slivers of flint stone, attached to hafts, man is learning the use of a "handle" for tools and "leverage", create Adzes, Celts, and Axes; grinding helps to penetrate trees and was likely discovered when grinding plant matter; found buried with owners; were traded) Lasted till 14,000 BC. (Would not become popular elsewhere until 10,000 BC?) Germany: Clay Figurine featuring human with lion like appearance, thought to be earliest representation of a Deity.
35,000 BCE - Europe, earliest examples of "Venus figurines" found buried in graves (some showing they were deliberately broken or stabbed repeatedly); would later spread to rest of Eurasia. Early examples of skulls and long bones showing red ochre, indicating possible relic worship.
35,000 y a - Germany, flute made from a vulture bone found.
30,000 BCE – Solomon Islands, first humans settle (60 km sea voyage).
31,000 - 27,000 y a - Evidence of Pit Fire (Earthernware) Pottery developing.
30,000-20,000 years ago - Explorer genotype (Ice Age refugees, idiosyncratic, asymmetrical, contrarian mentality)
30,000 y a - Evidence of starch residue on rocks, indicating where plant matter was pounded and ground. (Would likely be the pre-cursor of developing bread from roots of cattails and ferns. Quern Grinding Stones would spread and gain popularity.) Georgia, Flax used as a textile (harvested, dyed, and knotted) found in Dzudzuana Cave. Fertile Crescent, Einkorn wheat harvested in it's wild form. Evidence of man using the Atlatl. Poland: Boomerang carved from mammoth tusk found. France, Lunar Calendar. Likely when Bolas (stone weight(s) and length of cord) began to be used.
28,000 y a - Europe, oldest evidence of rope.
25,000 - 15,000 BCE - Blood Type A develops in the Fertile Crescent. (able to survive Plague, Cholera, Smallpox)
27,000 y a - Australia, oldest example of petroglyphs found. Czech Republic, earliest example of "Weaving" of material together to create baskets and basic cloth. (Leads to counting and simple math, organizing.)
26,000-13,300 y a - Considered "Glacial Maximum", ice sheets extend to the 45th parallel north. (26,500 considered to be maximum glacial reach.)
23,000 - 12,000 y a – Europe, Perforated Batons found, made of antler, assumed to be a form of Atlatl that uses a leather strap or string to wrap around the spear and give it a slight spin, arrow or spear thrower (similar to Swiss Arrow). Right and left handed throwers find preference. Most carved with Horses, have one or two holes (one had 8 holes).
23,000 y a - Israel, Ohalo archaeological site, hunter-gatherer society (6 brushwood shelters, 132 stone tools some attached to hafts, stone Sickles, dwellings showed flint tools were made at entrance, cooking at other end, grind stone showed sand and cobbles to place and had U-shape of seeds around it) that grew/harvested Barley, Millet, Bromus (grass in same tax tribe as wheat/barley/rye, can be used for fermenting beverages, can be eaten by humans and animals), Rubus (same family as Rose plants, similar to blackberries), and various fruits (seeds from 13 different species), earliest evidence for “Bedding” material.
22,000 – 17,000 y a – France, Solutrean inhabitants make use of Antler.
21,000-17,000 y a - France, Atlatl's found in caves.
20,000 y a - Height of the Ice Age, sea levels 120 meters (360 feet) lower. Mode Five Stone Tools (microliths glued to handles, Fertile Crescent). Earliest example of a building/house found. Ukraine, Bullroarer (wood on rope that is swung around to create sound over long distance) found. Iraq-Iran, Zarzian Culture, had domesticated Dogs.
19,050? - 13,050 y a - Oldest Dryas Period, stadial, abrupt cooling period. Sea levels rose 10-15 m in 500 years.
17,000 BCE - Mesopotamia, Wild Emmer Wheat harvested.
18,000 - 17,500 y a - Siberia, earliest example of a domesticated dog found frozen. Germany, Bow and Arrows found. Early evidence of Darts used.
18,000 y a - Japan, oldest pottery discovered.
15,100 - 14,000 y a - Morocco, earliest example of a cemetery.
15,000 y a – Mode Five Stone Tools reach Europe. Southern France, cave art depicting possible Musical Bow, Nose Flute; "The Sorcerer," a figure showing human and many animal qualities (bison), made out of Clay.
15,000 – 10,000 y a – France, Stone Oil Lamps.
14,500 y a - Oldest example of bread making, Jordan desert.
14,160 - 13,820 y a - Archaeological find: infected tooth partially cleaned out with flint tools.
14,600 - 13,600 y a - "Melt Water Pulse," sea levels rose 16-24 m.
14,000? y a - Older Dryas Period, around 200 year cooling period.
13,500 - 8,200 y a - China, wild Rice domestication event occurs.
15-10,000 BCE - Himalayas, development of Blood Type B.
11,050 BCE - Syria, attempts at domesticating Rye.
13,000 y a - Greece, evidence of lentils found. Earliest evidence of Amber used in jewelry. Israel, archaeological evidence of beer like gruel for ceremonial purposes found at Haifa. Likely beginning of Slavery.
13,000 - 12,700 y a - Fertile Crescent, archaeological evidence of man corralling and using pigs.
12,900 - 11,700 y a - The Younger Dryas Period, when temperatures went cold instead of warming from the Last Glacial Maximum.
10,000 BCE - Jericho, considered mankind's first town, is established. Buildings of clay and straw, dead buried under homes. (Would reach 70 dwellings by 94,000 BCE.) Chickpeas domesticated. Earliest evidence of the Bottle Gourd being domesticated and used (Africa and Asia variety). Azerbaijan (Caspian Sea), petroglyphs of reed boats. Starting point of Ocarina type flutes. Cyprus, humans arrive. Germany, Jet artifact (Botfly larvae, which can be eaten). Curved Stone Oil Lamps.
11,700 y a - Considered the beginning of the Holocene.
9600 BCE - Southern Levant, earliest use of wild Emmer Wheat.
11,500 - 11,000 y a - "Melt Water Pulse," sea levels rose 28 m.
11,400 y a - Cypress, archaeological evidence of pigs (indicating they had been domesticated and brought from the mainland).
9400 - 9200 BCE - Jordan Valley, Fig trees found, indicating earliest agriculture since these trees could not reproduce.
9130 - 7370 BCE - SE Turkey, Gobekli Tepe, oldest known worship location.
9000 BCE - Syria, oldest (Saddle) Quern found. Mesopotamia, Copper first used. Bartering of Cattle and agricultural products likely occurring at this time.
9000 - 3300 BCE - Neolithic Era, roughly. Time period of when man has begun herding, before using bronze.
11,000 - 9,000 y a - Mesopotamia, domestication of Sheep; Rammed Earth construction technique developed. Iran, Domestication of Goat (focused on management of the animal, varieties would come later).
11,000-4,000 years ago - Warrior genotype (farmers, soldiers, inventors); Nomad genotype (life upon a horse, can handle different environments, good immune system)
11 or 10,000 y a - Last Ice Age ends.
8800 BCE - Emmer Wheat spreads beyond the Levant.
8700 BCE - Iraq, Copper pendant.
8500 BCE - Domestication of Barley. Domestication of peas occurs around this time. Turkey, Beer production found at Gobekli Tepe. Domestication of Cattle from the Aurochs (two separate populations, one in Mesopotamia [pop. 80], the other Pakistan). (Rendering cattle bones into Tallow allows for the creation of Candles. Beeswax also used.) Oregon, oldest pair of shoes found made from bark twine. Oats possibly start to be harvested, crop mirrors wheat (is like a weed).
8400 BCE – Cyprus, earliest dug Water Well (26 ft).
10,300 - 8,700 y a - China, Millet harvested.
10,200 - 9,500 y a - Emmer Wheat domesticated(?).
10,000 - 7,000 y a - Archaeological evidence of boats.
8000 BCE (10,000 years ago) – Genetic evidence of breeding Pigeons. Palestine, archaeological evidence of pastoralism. Pre-Pottery Neolithic people in the Fertile Crescent form perfectly smooth stone vases. Iran, Goat domestication. Believed to be when primitive dairy-cheese making began. Flax cultivation. China, Quern Grinding Stones. England, Antler used in headdress costume.
9,500 y a - Cyprus, earliest evidence of cat domestication. SE Anatolia, cold-working, annealing, smelting, lost wax casting of Copper.
7570 BCE – Indus Valley, Lapis Lazuli artifacts.
7500 - 5700 BCE - Anatolia, Catal Hoyuk develops as a spiritual center, found many clay figurines and impressions (feminine, phallic, hunting).
7400 BCE - A monolith ends up submerged in the Straight of Sicily.
7176 B.C. – Earth hit by one of the most massive Solar Storms from the sun ever recorded (visible at night with the magnetic field interaction).
7000 BCE - Archaeological evidence for pastoralism in Africa. China: evidence of mead (honey, rice, water fermented) in pottery; evidence of musical instruments. India, first archaeological evidence of Dance (cave art); evidence of dentistry. Armenian Highlands, art depictions of Cymbals. Durum Wheat made thru artificial selection in Europe and Near East. Greece, earliest evidence of grain silos. Turkey, Catal Hoyuk, art depiction of a Slinger. Afghanistan, Lapis Lazuli mined and traded to Indus and Mesopotamia societies. Europe, Cave Wall art of Honey Collecting.
7000 - 6600 BCE - China, domestication of Soy beans.
7000 - 6000 BCE - Turkey, domestication of Bitter Vetch. (Too bitter for human consumption without being boiled several times, has been found to be great for cattle feed.)
6500-3800 BCE - Ubaid Period (Mesopotamian citystates rise, evidence of specialized workers, evidence of taxation)
6500 BCE - Turkey, evidence of lead smelting at Catal Hoyuk. (Wrapping the dead in textiles, too.) China, archaeological evidence of Silk. Kosovo, oldest Ocarina found in Europe.
8,200 - 7,600 y a - Sea levels rise rapidly. Linked to North American great fresh water lake (Agassiz, Ojibway) sudden draining into Atlantic Ocean. 8,400 y a?
6050 BCE - Moldova, evidence of man extracting salt from a natural spring.
8,000 y a - Western Europe, white skin first appears. Iran: earliest evidence of irrigation; man starts choosing sheep for their wooliness, not just meat and skin (2-3,000 years later, would start wearing wool). Georgia, earliest evidence of wine. Spain, cave painting shows people collecting honey from a wild hive, using a container to hold. China, Buckwheat cultivated (near Tibetan plateau), possible first example of Influenza. Earliest evidence of the Ard Plow used (castrating bulls to train 4 years to become Draft Oxen, also means they can be used to haul logs thru and from forests). Mediterranean, Broad (Fava) Beans, Broccoli. Portugal: Almendres Cromlech, begins, aligned to equinox and solstice, occupied for 2,000 years, would become largest complex in Iberian peninsula, equal to other large complexes in Europe. Anatolia: Obsidian polished into mirrors. Spelt Wheat appears. First Stone hafted Axes. Earliest evidence of “Cock Fighting” game fowl. (Iraq, Kiln.)
6000 - 3500 BC - Mesopotamia (Sumer), Poppy domesticated.
7,8-5,000 y a - SE Turkey, Einkorn Wheat grown and domesticated.
5600 BCE - Evidence of The Black Sea Flood, turning the fresh water lake into a salt water sea, rose shorelines and displaced populations (source of flood myths in religions).
7500 y a - Earth experiences a cold climate period? Lasts for 500 or more years.
7500 y a - Earliest example of chickpeas being used. Poland, archaeological evidence of cheese making. Ukraine, Romania, earliest examples of traps used for hunting. Pakistan, evidence of Cotton found in copper beads. Egypt, earliest Combs found (placing a leaf in the teeth can create a primitive sound instrument).
5500-5000 BCE - Serbia, Copper Smelting.
5200 - 4700 BCE - Iran, earliest evidence of a wheel, for pottery, made of stone or clay.
7,000 y a - Earliest example of Dolmen, single chamber tomb, consists of two stones supporting another on top (table design), found in western Europe, would spread and be common 4000 - 3000 BCE in Europe. Iranian plateau, evidence of Bronze made with naturally occurring arsenic. Tin would replace as the major ingredient (and releasing non-toxic vapors) in the late 3000 BCE period. Iran, evidence of wine found, using sealed containers. China, Hemp domestication (smoking was likely cause for spread, Iron Age would use for production); Rammed Earth construction technique, Silkworm domestication begins. Egypt, Badarian culture starts farming, used boomerangs. Roundels, circular enclosure often with entrances aligned to solstice, would be constructed in Central Europe (Germany, 120-150 altogether). Siberia, oldest carpet found (likely a funeral gift, from Armenia, featured griffons). Mesopotamia: first use of Stamp Seals for government purposes; Rotary Quern milling stones are introduced. Armenia: possible origin of Apricots. Lake Zurich, cultivation of Pear. Indus Valley Civilization, using Bitumen aka Asphalt for waterproofing (a basket), adhesive. Bulgaria, Turquoise beads.
6950 - 6440 y a - Papua New Guinea, cultivation of Taro and Yam.
4800 BCE - Egypt, early evidence of peas being grown. Cairn of Barnenez, Brittany, England, begins (burial monument and later bronze age use, considered one of the oldest and largest man made structures).
4700 - 4200 BCE - The town of Solnitstata, considered the oldest known settlement in Europe. Built around a salt deposit.
6,500 y a - Croatia, earliest example of an oven found. Slovenia, dental filling made with beeswax. Indus Valley, irrigation. Wine production reaches Greece. Carnac Stones, Brittany, France; would become large complex of standing stones, menhirs, domens, tumuli (burial mounds, with passage tombs), large rectangle formed by stone. Americas: various tribes domesticated “chili peppers.” Bulgaria, Carnelian beads. Manufactured Red Pottery Oil Lamps.
4500-4000 BCE - China, Investment Casting develops.
4200 - 4000 BCE - Mesopotamia develops true, easy to spin pottery wheels.
6,000 y a - Earth experiences a cold climate period? (Starting maybe 500 years earlier and ending 500 years later.)
4000 BCE - (Mankind has achieved “Farmer status.”) (Thought to be when Cattle were turned into Oxen for Draft Animal purposes.) Egyptians start building big Brick structures; manufacturing Papyrus; Gold artifacts; (domesticated Donkeys?). Earliest examples of Kilns. NE Italy, archaeological find of Appleseeds. Sicily, evidence of wine found. Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Horse domestication begins (they became small and varied in size as compared to their wild ancestors). “Pontic Language Explosion”. [People from north of the Caspian and Black Seas migrated around Eurasia, ancestor of western languages. (shared origins with: milk, horses, sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, grain, copper, carts, yoke, weaving, mead; patrilineal clans)]. Earliest examples of Viticulture (wine making). Levant, earliest examples of harvesting Olives; start using grain Silos. Art: Earliest depiction of Shoes, Sandals. China: example of a Loom for Silk production; Ramie (similar to flax, requires chemical processing, not as popular, believed to be used for Egyptian mummy wraps). Persia (Iran), Mung Bean domestication?, Chang (precursor to Harp) found on artwork, made with sheep guts. Mesopotamia: Stamp Seals come into use; Mirrors made of Copper; 30-40% of animal bones in settlements were pork (understood to be a way of removing trash from community, easy to feed and raise many); Uruk clay tablet describes two temples owning a herd of 95 pigs to be rendered into soap to clean linen; clay pipes for sewage. Europe, farming reaches northern regions. Anatolia, Silver production.
4000 - 1000 BCE - Ethiopia, Teff is discovered (can feed people and livestock, building material).
3800 - 3500 BCE - Czech Republic, possible evidence of earliest plowed fields.
5,700 y a - Lolland Island, a blue eyed, dark haired, dark skin woman spits out some Birch Bark gum; oldest complete human genome extracted; had Mononucleosis ("kissing disease"). Possible archeological evidence of pit traps used for migrating animal hunting.
3630 BCE - Oldest example of silk fabric found.
3600 BCE – Pork bones in settlements (Levant, Mesopotamia) dropped to 16-30% of total livestock.
5,500 - 4,700 y a - Georgia, tomb found had honey remains on pottery. (This culture could identify Linden, Berry, and Meadow-Flower varieties.)
3500 BCE - City of Uruk: (Mesopotamia) begins outward expansion and influence, later first example of organized warfare (would influence Egyptians to start building pyramids); "Cylinder Seals," a type of noble seal, that can be rolled unto wet clay (would be popular until 1000 BCE). Iraq, Kish Tablet, considered to represent the early transition from pictographic to cuneiform. Mesopotamia, earliest Harps and Lyres found; Gold artifacts. Modern humans settle the western coast of Europe, hunter-gatherers. Egyptians show Cat domestication; Gold Smelting; used a vertical Gnomon as a primitive Sundial? Iran, Beer made from Barley. Armenia, earliest Leather Shoe found. China, Pottery in shape of silkworm indicates earliest example of Sericulture (silk worm production).
3500 - 3350 BCE – Mesopotamia, earliest evidence of wheeled vehicles. Indus Valley civilization uses Stamp Seals with a type of script.
3400 BCE (5,400 years ago) - First metal casting. France, Cow skull showing Trepanation found.
5,400 -5,100 y a - Itzi the Iceman dies in the mountains of Northern Italy. Had a copper axe. Earliest evidence of tattoos. Shoes made from two types of animal skin (bear and deer). Arsenic residue in his hair.
3300 BCE - Egypt, tomb paintings show people Dancing. Indus Valley, develop Sanitation.
3200 BCE - Examples of using symbols to represent real life objects (would go to form written language). Ireland, construction begins on Newgrange, largest passage tomb in Europe, aligned to winter solstice. Egypt, Bead made of Meteoric Iron found.
3100 - 2900 BCE - Jemdet Nasr period (following fall of Uruk) would be known as establishing Cuneiform as a proper language.
3100 BCE - Upper and Lower Egypt unified. Mesopotamia, likely evidence of the earliest Lute type device.
3000 BCE - Onset of Bronze. Mesopotamia, Irrigation; Glass Beads appear (possible side effect of making metal); possible earliest Iron working (required higher temperatures), cuneiform mention of Pigeons. Sumer, Medical text found on tablet, believed oldest ever found. Egypt, Hieroglyphs of Pigeons and use of Homing Pigeons for message delivery, first record of a Doctor named, Imhotep; Antimony harvested from rock and made into eye makeup; earliest evidence of domestic Donkeys in the south. Egyptian Mummies show evidence of Smallpox (deathrate 30% especially among babies, can leave people blind). Dromedary Camels likely domesticated in Somalia at this time. (Camel hair can be harvested for shelter and clothing, outer guard hairs make for water proof coats. Camel milk readily turns into yogurt. To turn into butter requires a clarifying agent and extended process.) Chicken reaches Europe from Asia. England, earliest Stone Circles found. Slovakia, Romania, earliest chainmail found. Sheep chosen for wooly coat, not long hair. China, Clay Bells found. India, River Buffalo domesticated (water buffalo); Jute grown for fiber (burlap). Northern Iran, earliest examples of Trumpets. SE Asia, earliest records of Radish. Pakistan, Terracota female figurines.
2800 BCE - Solid evidence of plowed fields. China, Copper smelting discovered. Babylon, evidence of manufacture of soap like substance.
2700 BCE - Chinese treatise on health. 40 kinds identified.
2650 BCE - Egypt, dental work found.
2630-10 BCE - Egypt, Pyramid of Djoser constructed by Imhotep, considered first.
2600 BCE – Egypt, domestication of Honey Bee complete.
2600 - 1900 BCE - Indus Valley, Stoneware Pottery (meaning fired at 1000 degrees Celsius), would become a major industry; (Ivory?).
2580-50 BCE – Egypt, creates first true Ocean Dock for sea trading vessels (with Indus Valley).
2560 BCE - Great Pyramid of Giza completed.
2500 BCE - Evidence of The Amber Road, trade route from the Baltic Sea to Mediterranean Sea. E Iran, Bactrian Camels domesticated. Iraq, "Lyres of Ur," considered world's oldest stringed instruments. Peru, oldest Sling ever found. Egypt, earliest depiction of a Khopesh (sword). Sumerian Clay Tablet with instructions for manufacturing soap (heating mixture of oil and wood ash, earliest record chemical reaction, used for washing woolen clothing). China, axes with Corundum (precious stone). Harappan Culture of Indus Valley, chicken used for Cock Fighting, not food.
2500 - 2000 BCE - Mali, domestication of Pearl Millet. Turkey, Meteoric Iron dagger.
2400 BCE - Sumer, description of Prostitution and a Brothel-Temple to Fertility Goddess.
2300 BCE - Mesopotamia, Urukagina of Lagash, considered the earliest Law Code. (Widows and orphans exempt from taxes, state pays for funeral expenses, the rich must pay in silver and cannot force the poor against will, checked power of priests, protect from usury, abolished polyandry). Iran, Quince (fruit). China, oldest Gnomon (painted stick that casts a shadow for sundial purpose).
2200 BCE - China, first known tax, using salt. Iraq, tablet reads “22 jars of Pig Fat” (each jar 18 liters of Lard, 396 liters total, require 45 adult pigs; likely used to make soap to clean wool of sheep before turning them into textiles)
2200-2000 BCE - Turkey, Iron Smelting.
2100 - 2050 BCE - City of Ur: Earliest written Code of Law discovered. References Butter. (Fines for bodily harm, references murder, robbery, adultery, rape. Two classes of people: free and slave.)
4000 - 3000 y a - Mesopotamia, earliest Scissors (shear, spring type). India, Mung Bean domesticated.
2000 BCE - Murals show horses pulling chariots. Horses become common in western Europe. England, Great Orme Mine started, would become largest copper mine in region (most productive between 1700 - 1400 BCE), used bone and stone tools. China, Bells made out of metal (Bellfounding); domestication of the Swamp Buffalo (water buffalo). Ghana, earliest evidence of Cowpea (black eyed pea). India, Canola/Rapeseed; Diamonds being used to drill beads. Egypt, Lupin Beans. Greece, Kale grown.
1900 BCE – Homing Pigeons used for warfare.
1800 BCE - Egypt, medical text on gynecological issues; Safflower for pigment. India, Iron working.
1754 BCE - Code of Hammurabi (recognized Prostitution and gave women protection and inheritance; theorized that a fertility goddess had a temple that offered sex workers).
1700 - 1200 BCE - (Late Bronze Age) 8 societies in Middle East: Aegean, Egyptian, Hittite, Canaanite, Cypriot, Mitanni, Assyrian, Babylonian. Considered a "globalized world system." Next time this would occur is today.
1700 BCE – Mesopotamia: The "Mari Letters" reference Minoan society, King Hammurabi; clay tablets list Trigonometry Tables and Applied Geometry (for land ownership, speculated to aid in construction).
1628 BCE - Island of Thera/Santorini experiences huge volcanic eruption, possibly causing a tsunami thru eastern Mediterranean.
1600-1500 BCE - Greece, Helmet formed of boar tusks found.
1600 BCE – Levant, Mesopotamia, Pork bones rarely found in settlements (banned from temples in Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Egypt). (Found amongst the poor classes, difficult to tax since it did not produce wool or milk or could plow a field.)
1550 BCE – Papyrus Ebers, Egyptian medical text, mentions Chlamydia.
1500 BCE - Modern Trumpet design found in eastern Mediterranean. India, Pigeon Pea domesticated. Egypt, Mercury found in tombs; archaeologists find earliest Sundials; Emerald mines. China, Water Clocks.
1400 BCE - Syria, Hurrian Songs, cuneiform music tablet in Ugarit. Greece, oldest body armor found, made of bronze, Dendra Panoply (not actually worn, more of a showpiece, but clear representation of body armor for battle). China, Meteoric Iron axeheads. Art representation of Scale Mail in Egypt. Art: representation of Shields.
1350 BCE - Turkey, Hittites chronicle Egyptian prisoners of war bringing "the plague.”
1300 BCE - Uluburun Shipwreck, off coast of Turkey, had 300 sixty pound copper ingots (10 tons), 1 ton of tin, and tin objects and ingots of colored glass (blue, rose, brown). From Cypress/Minoa.
1300? - 900? BCE - Eastern Mediterranean experiences a 300? year drought. (Could also be: Cypress 1200- 850. Syria 1250-1187. Galilee 1250-1100)
1279 BCE - Battle of Qadesh (Egypt vs Hittites).
1200 BCE (3,200 years ago) - Onset of Iron smelting. Earliest Camel saddles appear. Last appearance of Megaliths. India, earliest evidence of Firewalking.
1200 BCE - Eastern Mediterranean civilization collapse. Drought in Greece. Earthquake series.
1188-1177 BCE - Egypt suffers invasions from "The Sea People."
1185 BCE - Syria, Ugarit Letter, Famine.
1140? BCE - Ramses 6th, mummy found to have Smallpox. No record of people dying from Smallpox.
1100 BCE - Phoenicians establish nation. Europe, Iron Age.
1100? BCE - Earth experiences a cold temperature period?
1100-750 BCE - Egypt, Iron Smelting.
1070 BCE - Egyptian mummy found with Silk in hair, earliest evidence of Silk Road.
1000 BCE - Early Cuneiform script (late stages, still pictograph in nature). Bactria, Barbat (primitive lute). Egypt, Kenaf is grown for fibers, leaves can be eaten by animals and humans (similar to Jute and Hemp; rope, rough fabric, sails). Mediterranean, Cabbage domesticated. China, Iron Age. Sport: racing Homing Pigeons.
930 BCE - Camel bones found in Arabian peninsula. Jordan, earliest Bloomery for Iron working found.
800 - 600 BCE - Ethiopia, Sorghum Wheat begins to be harvested.
800 BCE - Considered the beginning of Ancient Greece, after the Mycenae Civilization. China, Bloomeries used.
700-500 BCE - The Illiad orally composed. India, Diamond mining starts.
708 BCE – Greece, Olympics, Discus Throw.
700 BCE - Turkey, first Coins in Lydia. Assyria, first equipment recognized as a Saddle for a Horse.
660 BCE – Massive Solar Storm hits Earth.
600 BCE - Earliest example of a Steel Sword.
600-400 BCE - Ancient Greece rise of scientific inquiry and philosophy
550 BCE - The Illiad written down.
540 BCE – Sri Lanka, earliest record of Pearls.
500 BCE - Camels used in warfare. Persians use kettle drums for military maneuvers, frighten enemies. Greece, Grape Syrup, early form of sweetener and preservative; earliest written mention of what could be Influenza. Blackberries consumed around Europe. Spain, Disk Quern developed. India, Cholera described in Sanskrit. Romans manufacture dipped Candles.
430 BCE – Athens, Typhoid Fever outbreak during siege by Sparta.
400 BCE - The "Celts/Gaeil" settle Ireland. Greece, the “Hippocratic Corpus” seventy collected medical texts, mentions Pneumonia, Meningitis, Valerian Root.
396 BCE - Olympics, horn blowing competitions.
314 BCE - China, first mention of Sweet Orange.
298 BCE - Foot powered Loom.
200 BCE - China starts making paper.

I have always pretty much only done edibles but recently switched to smoking due to a medical condition (it helps my nausea more than the edibles, and quicker) and just a few days ago received my Venty as I'm smoking pretty regularly and I want something better for my lungs long-term.
Anyways, this may be a dumb question but how do I best enjoy this thing? I smoke using a one-hitter and I like that because I can portion things out very exactly vs. joints or even pipes where I feel like I'm just burning too much weed (I'm not cheap, I just hate being wasteful).
The Venty chamber is pretty big and they say to pack it to the brim in order to best use it. When I do that I find myself rushing to suck through the bowl because I fear that once it is heated it will just burn quickly through the whole reservoir of pot. I know it's probably unnecessary but does anyone have any advice here who has more experience than me? How long does a full bowl last? Do you keep the airflow open in between hits or does it help to close it... does that save THC vapor? Can you turn the Venty off in between sessions and keep the same bowl for a bit? (Seems like it... though it seems like the quality goes down after the initial heating?)
I figure most of the time I probably just need to do much smaller loads in the thing, like I did with my one-hitter, and it'll just be kind of a PITA. No problem--but if I feel like just sitting down and, like, getting pretty high what is the best way to casually enjoy the Venty? I figure I'll figure it out but any advice to get me there quicker would be appreciated!

I'm sure there are many factors, and I was just sitting here curious if my utillian 722 dry herb vaporizer could work well with my herbal blends. I mainly smoke mugwort. But lately I've been getting into focusing herbs together. Everything from Marshmellow, Motherwort, Skullcap, Mint, ETC. Normally I just use a pipe. But I haven't put my vaporizer to work on my weed in awhile, and I'm wondering if that would be something that could work in this case.

PATHOLOGIC JOURNAL - ALMANAC OF THE WORLD WITHIN
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♠ CULTURE ♠ [1.0]

♣ TOWN CULTURE ♣ [1.1]
♦ INFORMATION ♦ [1.A]
- Named "Town-On-Gorkhan"
- The date is very early 20th century.
- Located on the Steppe plains
- Ruled by the "triumvirate", headed by the Patron. The Patron was Simon before his death
- The town provides the entire Northeastern region with beef
- The beef industry in town is known as the "Bull Project" and controlled by the Olgimskys
- Townsfolk don't seem to hold the Steppe people in too high regard
- There are three springs in the town which provides fresh, clean spring water to the populace. Cathedral Stone spring, Spin-A-Yarn Square, and the Sugagh Khadugh which was once held as sacred, but is now avoided by locals due to it's proximity to the Rotten Field.
​
♦ CULTURE ♦ [1.B]
• Mistress: As per the town's culture, there are only ever - and no more than, three Mistresses... each being the wife of one of the most powerful males, if not the patriarch himself, of that family. The "Mistress" of every ruling house possess special abilities like clairvoyance. Nina Kaina was the "Scarlet Mistress" and inclined towards the dark - in tune with the night, Victoria was the "White Mistress" mistress who was inclined towards the light - in tune with the day, and Katerina walked the middle road, more in touch with the Earth itself as the "Earth Mistress". The Scarlet Mistress and the White Mistress are not necessarily evil and good, as "dark and light" do not transcribe directly to "evil and good". A more proper notion would be to consider the Scarlet Mistress a force of chaos, attuned to chaotic powers, while the White Mistress is a force of law, attuned to order. The Earth Mistress is beyond the dichotomy of Light and Dark, and exists as an in between, a "True Neutral" if you will.
• Focus: To put it simply, a focus is an object capable of holding a human soul.
• Memory: "Memory is the very fine particles of a person that exist between that which is the person and all that isn't. Some have the ability to collect those particles. For as long as people are able to retain the particles inside themselves, they are not dead. They remain here, but their soul is not imprisoned. It flies off to where it is supposed to be."
• Children: The Children of the group seem to have divided themselves into three "organizations" (I use that word loosely). One under Khan that reside in the Polyhedron (their 'agents' are most notable for the doghead masks they don to scare their enemies', another under Capella which does not seem to have any one single area as these children can be found all over town and are the ones you can barter with, and three, Notkin's group whom call themselves the "Souls-In-A
• Tragedians: Thespians, actors, playwrights. Mimes of a sort.
• Gobo Taglur: A sort of epic, native to the town.
• Executors: They are the ones who wear the strange bird costumes. In the theater they are stage hands, who set up the stage and direct the play, change the lights, draw the curtains, et cetera. Once the plague hit the costumes were worn by another group for protection from the plague, those who tend to the sick, clean the plague districts, bury (or burn) the dead, et cetera. They are, for all intents and purposes, plague doctors.
• Necromancy: The Kains practice a form of Necromancy, theorized and perfected by Grigory, in which the "memory" of a person is kept "alive", and thus communicated with. To further facilitate this form of Necromancy, "Foci" (plural for Focus) are used as a sort of phylactery for the soul. Furthermore the facilitation of the soul in conjoinment with a proper Foci is the end goal of Grigory, to grant his brother Simon a form of eternal life. Necromancy indeed.
• The Train: Women of the kin bid it farewell with songs of sorrow upon each departure as some sort of tradition or ritual
• History: The history of the town started with the bull project. As the bull project became more successful and the rulers became more rich, the town sprung up around it.
• Utopia: "Utopia" is an ideal primary put forth by the Kains. It does not hold the standard definition of the word, i.e. prosperity and stability, but rather meant to be a world in which the mystical laws of existence have been broken... a sort of symbiosis between the mystical unseen world and the natural world. The state of Utopia is described by Maria as an earthly form of an unearthly miracle.
• Nuts: The children play a game with nuts in which each one is considered to be it's own story, and it is taken on all sorts of "adventures". It has gotten to the point where a child will likely be able to identify an individual nut just by looking at it. The children consider these nuts Foci in and of themselves.
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♦ MYTHOLOGY ♦ [1.C]
• Uncategorized:
- Child's fable(?) about a translucent cat known as "the unseen cat".
- A Mara is some kind of creature who appears beautiful at first, but her face is made of twigs. They can "suck your life out", and is considered a maneater. Possibly similar to a Spriggan?
- Drinking Steppe water is believed to give the individual who drank it "bad fortune"
- It is believed that the reason spirits always speak in riddles is because their consciousness is fragmented. Their "mind", if that could be the proper word, is in a clouded haze, and thus what they say and what the communicate is never a full, complete thought.
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♦ NOTES ♦ [1.D]
• Drunks: Sell bandages and tourniquets for water
• Toddlers: Trade medication and occasionally "Shmowders" for pins, needles, nuts
• Children: Sell ammunition for pints, needles, jewelry, nuts (only the male children)
• Teenager: Sells medicine for razors, knives
• Women: Can mend and repair clothing for money
• Factory Workers: Can repair weapons and tools for money
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♦ MISCELLANEOUS ♦ [1.E]
- Herba Tvirinae is said to have psychoactive properties, along with wormwood.
- Beladonna or jimson weed causes "visions" upon digestion.
- In August and September, various herbs that grow around the town release noxious vapors.
- The builders of the Termitary and the stone houses in Earth state that the water springs of the area are encased in solid compacted clay with sand deposits, through which water is supplied as if through pipes. Something like that is obviously man made, and would imply some sort of ancient irrigation system. Over the years people have bored countless holes into the ground, only to reach solid compacted clay every time.
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♣ STEPPE CULTURE ♣ [1.2]
♦ CULTURE ♦ [1.F]
• The Kin: The Kin are Steppe people, the tribals of the Steppe. There are two types of "Kin", those being the ones who live in town and the ones who still live in the Steppe. The ones who live in town work in the abattoir, and live in the Termitary. They are a patriarchal society that still practice the old tradition of the Steppe people, with the factory workers being among them.
• The Earth: The earth is sacred to the people of the Kin, who worship it and have a shamanistic style of view towards it. The King consider it to be their "foremother". Only those who are allowed to butcher animals are likewise allowed to dig into the ground.
• Odongh: Means "he who holds Him by the horns." They are people of the Steppe who bring bulls into town. They are also known as "Worms".
• Haruspicy: The people of the Steppe are known to practice Haruspicy, a psuedo-mythological rite in which one can attain divination, that is - knowledge of the future, by investigating corpses, entrails, organs, or sometimes even just blood. At it's most simple version, it is a method of fortune telling.
• Menkhu: The special caste allowed to open a human body, rather for surgical needs or otherwise, according to the traditions of the Steppe. It is said to be both a honorable and despised position. This is because the Menkhu are not ordinary surgeons, but trained to make their cuts into and dissect the body in very particular ways in line with tradition and that will also "please the Earth". They are something akin to a surgeon/butcher and wise man in one.
• The Human Body: To the people of the Steppe, the human body represents the world. Only a very specific caste may open a human body. For an non-Menkhu to open a human body is a blasphemy of the worst kind, more repulsive than even incest. The blood of a Steppe person is said to "belong to the Earth". A wound in a human body is considered to be a "window" to the world.
• Bulls: A sacred animal to the people of the Steppe. They are not considered to be any ordinary child, they are considered to be the children of Earth herself, which is deserving respect. This ties into why rites around them are complicated, and why the Steppe people consider those who cut into a body a special caste that has to make their cuts in particular ways to appease the Earth.
• Rite Of The Bull: The Steppe people bring bulls in with a song, thank him, clean him, and honor him, as well as draw things on him. Then they butcher him quietly and respectfully. The process of the butchering is very intricate and each individual cut or piece of meat holds meaning. I.e. "this piece goes here, that one goes there. One for the warmth, one for the harvest." The bones of the bull are then buried in a very particular way, with half the meat going to consumption and the other half to be used in a rite.
• Inheritance: For the Steppe people, the son is always meant to gain their inheritance upon the passing of their father. The inheritance in question however is not necessarily what the civilized world would deem inheritance, it is not property or money, though that can be apart of it too. The inheritance is the values and power of the father, passed down onto the son. Their position in society, their worldview, etc. For a son to directly disobey their father is the desecration of ancient oaths established in the distant past.
• Burial: Due to the fact that the Earth is considered sacred, not all are allowed to be buried in the ground. Only holy men and those of high honor deserve the "honor" of burial.
​
♦ MYTHOLOGY ♦ [1.G]
• Udurgh: An udurgh is a really large living creature, an animal god made from soil. It produces sticky yellow tar instead of saliva, and it's with this tar that the sky is attached to the ground.
• Shabnak-Adyr: Known as the "Steppe Demon", and is considered a man eater made of clay and exhumed bone matter. It is said to be "belched up from the Earth" to punish deliquency. It takes the form of a young, beautiful woman. When set to fire it is said to harden and break rather than burn. Bovine tails and milk-teeth are said to offer protection from her. A shabnak is said to be detected by various signs, it's arms are too long, it's toes are all the same length, and teeth peak out from under it's skin.
• Souls-In-A-Half: Children mention something known as "Souls-in-a-Half". Steppe culture regarding soul splitting with familiars, animal pets. You take care of the pet as it's young, then when it's grown it's the other way around and it takes care of you, and thus you two are bound.
• Baur Meges: A book of Steppe legends. Explains what a turnskin (like a werewolf) is.
• Mara: An evil spirit. Possibly similar to shabnak.
• Suok: A deity of the Kin. Not much is known about it.
• Local Legends:
- According the local legends of the Steppe, there is no point in digging a well because you'll never find water. "The blood of the Earth is hidden from the people".
​
• Rites:
- Smearing ones doorstep with horse milk and putting bull bones in ones pillow can act as some sort of protection rite.
- The earth is believed to be the people's foremother. Some get buried deep in the ground, but not all. It is suggested they "make use of" the bodies that do not get buried.
​
♦ LANGUAGE ♦ [1.H]
The language of the Steppe people is a Turkic language that seems to be a mixture of various Turkic and Asiatic steppe languages. Though it does not have any one official name in it's own right, for academic purposes and as is my right as a scientist, academician, and bachelor coming across something heretofore either undocumented (in detail) or unnamed; I am here on out going to brand and name it "Khatan", a shortened form of the word "Khatanghe" which represents these particular people of the Steppe as a whole. Now that the object of our consideration has been given a name and thus the first barrier of the "unknown" has been broken, we can begin to study it in detail.
Khatan is a Turkic language that uses old-Turkic as it's base and building blocks. It is a unique language with minor to intermediate but varying amounts of influence from Tuvan and Mongolian, taking and using elements of both interchangably, though is unique in it's speech patterns enough to differentiate it from merely being a dialect of Tuvan or Mongolian. This would suggest that the language was born either out of a people who had regular contact with both ethnic groups or were a cultural offshoot from one of them that split away from it's parent culture/language at an uncertain point in history, likely having members of the other cultural group within it. Whichever theory may be correct, it would likely be accurate to posit that due to the sheer size and landmass of the great Steppe, which would undoubtedly result in prolonged periods of isolation from neighboring cultures, in it's isolation the language of the group would evolve to the point where it only contained remnants of the parent language(s) it was born of, becoming a language of it's own.
Etymology and the history of linguistics shows us that languages are not static but rather subject to constant evolution, with a large number of languages being born out of the evolution of another language and the influences the region and it's culture has upon it, not to mention the fact that words are "borrowed" from neighboring languages often. It is with this information that I base my theory on the etymology of Khatan off of.
~•~ Definitions ~•~
• Khatanghe: The Kin. Refers to the people of the Steppe as a whole.
• Odongh: Means "he who holds Him by the horns." Refers to the Worms.
• Taglur: A Circle / A Kin Circle A Group
• Menkhu: Those who set apart parts of the whole - loose translation
• Sugagh: Literally, "water crag". Though it is used often to denote one spring in particular between the Steppe and Rotten Field
• Oynon: A title of respect used for doctors and scientists, meaning "wise man"
• Nastail: An evil spirit
• Bos: Bull
• Boos: A "master of bulls"
• Boddho: Earth
• Suok - A deity of the Steppe.
​
♦ ALPHABET ♦ [1.I]
The Steppe language, Khatan, has it's own alphabet, though it is not as often employed as that of a language from a more modern or industrialized region. The Steppe alphabet can not be said to contain letters, but rather consists of markings that are somewhere between runes and hieroglyphs, though not quite either. It is for this reason that I am going to refer to them as "glyphs". Said glyphs usually have more complex designs, requiring more pen strokes, than your classic Steppe language alphabets, such as Old Uyghur, and this could be why written language is only used sparingly amongst the Khatanghe... possibly due to the difficulty of mastering such a writing system. In fact, it's depiction is less like Old Uyghur and more similar to the Sogdian alphabet.
​
♦ NOTABLE PEOPLE ♦ [1.J]
• Mother Superior: Taya Tycheek
• Foreman: ??? Not much information on him other than that he exists
​
♠ THE COUNTRY ♠ [1.3]
♦ INFORMATION ♦ [1.K]
• Town-On-Gorkhon: Located somewhere within the northeastern part of the nation, which is to say - presumably the Steppe, and is the agricultural beef center of the region, providing the entire region with beef.
• Powers That Be: What those who refer to the national government called.
• February Revolution: At an unspecified point in the nations history, though likely to have occured within the last twenty years or so, the nation had a civil war known as the 'February Revolution'. The war effected the majority of the nation, including remote areas like the Steppe and the towns within it. Heavy damage was inflicted on the national infrastructure as a result due to the war, however by the modern day most if not all of that damage has been repaired, and the nation has more or less healed it's war wounds.
• Ace Of Diamonds Caravan: A dark period in the history of the nation that only ended fairly recently. The Ace of Diamonds Caravan was a circus troupe, while the inner workings and structure of the caravan was more akin to a cult. They were primarily known for child slavery, black market organ exchange, and bizarre rituals. Their primary modus operandi was to travel the country, and set up a one day act. Children would come by for the day show, which was standard carnival affair, while the adults would come by for the night show, known as "The Macabre Theater" where freak shows were displayed and bizarre plays were performed with dark themes. During the day while the children's show was happening, the crowd would be watched and children whom they liked or showed talent were picked out. During the night, members of the carnival would sneak into the town to kidnap the children and leave circus freaks in their place. The children were usually then raised into the Caravan itself, to become either performers, cultists, or prostitutes, while other children were simply sold into slavery, and others still meeting more horrifying fates according to rumors. The Caravan was eventually ambushed by the military and mob they had attracted following in their wake, in which the Caravan was massacred down to the last man and woman. Rumors persist however that a few may have escaped... and due to these rumors, legitimate performers, actors, and artists have come under heavy oppression and scrutiny by both the government and the public.
• Inquisitors: Special agents employed by the government, or "Powers That Be". They can be said to be something akin to a highly specialized secret police, mixed with the role once played by Catholic inquisitors of the church, albeit without religion being a factor of their jobs. They are usually given highest authority to use as they see fit, above all laws and organizations except for the top of the government itself. They are sent by the government into unique situations which, for whatever reason, cannot be dealt with via whatever normal b apparatus the government has at hand to deploy, and are given permission to solve the issues they are presented with by "any means necessary", and that includes the exclusion of civilian casualties being an issue (unless of course, the government provides special stipulations within the task required of them). Young children who are shown to have extraordinary talents and skills, especially for that of deductive reasoning, are taken by the government and trained as inquisitors.
• The War: There is currently an ongoing war, separate from the February Revolution. Not much is known about it.
• The Capital: Not much is known about it, and that's including it's name. What can be said is that it's the seat of power for the government, and that it is widely considered to be the national center for the nation's arts, sciences, and culture.
​
♦ GEOGRAPHY ♦ [1.L]
- The Town-On-Gorkhon is somewhere in the north east of the nation, possibly the extreme north east end of it's borders.
- The Great Steppe runs throughout the eastern part of the nation, stretching from it's north east corner all the way to it's south east corner, and continues on eastward outside of the nation's borders for untold miles.
- There is no direct information to indicate where the Capital is, but from secondary and teritary sources I've deduced a plausible theory that the Capital is likely somewhere near or in the center of the nation, possibly further towards it's western border than it is towards it's eastern.
- No information exists on how large the country is down to any accurate numbers, however existing information does show that the country is very large (landwise, not necessarily population wise), and when an area is described as "remote", it is done so with great emphasis. Minor fourth wall break, due to the fact that the nation is heavily based upon 19th - early 20th century Russia, the country is likely massive, though not as massive as Russia is in our own world considering the national borders end before the Steppe does. This is a sheer guess, but I am theorizing that the country is about as large as Russia from it's western borders, to the Ural mountain range.
​
♦ THEORY ♦ [1.M]
• Path Of Logic: As told by the Inquisitor, "the Law" or the "Path of Logic" dictates that anything unnatural must be destroyed.
• Cosmos Theory: The Inquisitor posits the theory that the town is it's own small universe, too distant from the rest of the world to operate as part of a mechanism, and so it is a mechanism in and of itself.

♠ TOWN GEOGRAPHY ♠ [2.0]

♣ THE DISTRICTS ♣ [2.1]
The Districts is what the town proper is called. It is divided into three sectors, from west to east, which are Stone Yard, Knots, and Earth. These sectors are further divided into sub-sectors. The primary river is known as the Gorkhon, with two tributaries running through town, the Guzzle on the left and the Gullet on the right.
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♦ STONE YARD ♦ [2.A]
- Two subsectors: Bridge Square and Atrium
- Contains Mistress's Tomb, and Cathedral which is always empty.
- This is the higher end of town, where the large majority of the town's aristocrats and upper class live (excluding two of the three families)
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♦ KNOTS ♦ [2.B]
- Seven sectors: Spleen, Marrow, Chine, Backbone, Mouth, Flank, Gut
- Contains the Warehouse district (which technically doesn't count as a subsector)
- Contains the Train Station
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♦ EARTH ♦ [2.C]
- Four residential sectors: Skinners, Tanners, Hindquarters, Crude Sprawl
- Rebuilt after a fire
- The Rotten Field is where they bury the bull's bones underground
- Contains the Works, which are not considered a subsector but a specialized area
♥ Skinners ♥
Northern area of the Earth district. It's back is against the Gorkhon river, and one must go through the district to enter the Termitary.
• Bone Stake Lot - Used to be used for "barbaric practices". It contains a large upright boulder that has been there since the "beginning of time". After the death of Simon and the second onset of Sand Plague, it has been used as witch hunting trial grounds by the populace, where women assumed to be the Shabnak-Adyr are taken, and often burned.
♥ Tanners ♥
Perhaps the 'Plaza' or 'Forum' area of the Earth District, where the Rod and the town pub is. It leans against the Gullet tributary river of the Gorkhon.
• The Rod - The residential home and court of the Saburov family.
• The Pub - The only known tavern and pub in the entire town.
♥ Hindquarters ♥
The central sector of the Earth district.
♥ The Crude Sprawl ♥
A group of homes and narrow winding roads, it borders the Abattoir.
♥ The Works ♥
There are five major buildings in The Works, the first four are arranged in a square/diamond. Starting from the top of the "diamond" and moving clockwise, they are: The Old Facility, the Long Facility, the Butchering Room, and the Boiler Room. Below these four places inside of the works, on the other side of the railroad, is place known only as "The Machine". What it is, what it's used for, how it works, why it is there, and who built it is all at the time unknown. Any attempts thus far to enter by the Bachelor have been met with a locked door that cannot be broken into using lockpicks. This district also contains a small amount of houses above the primary facility proper.
​
♣ UNIQUE BUILDINGS ♣ [2.2]
♦ ABATTOIR ♦ [2.D]
- Due to it's size, it can be classified as a mega-structure according the the rules of architectural engineering.
- Child states Abattoir is inhabited by god's "So old that even beasts believed in them before humans even existed". People say it's so big because it holds "the cavities of the unburied udurgh"
- Drunkard claims it has been in town "since nothing else was", that it is an operational "temple of death" where large amounts of bull's are slaughtered
- Was built before the town was settled, and was a place where rites were once conducted by the Steppe people to "feed the Earth". It is known to some as "the mother" or "the foundation"
- Has two entrances, the "Gates of Sorrow" which leads out into the Steppe and railroad, and the "Gates of Labor" which leads into the Termitary
​
♦ TERMITARY ♦ [2.E]
- The Termitary is a huge bunkhouse where the Bull Project workers live
- Home to five thousand people. Unsure what effect the plague had, or would have, on this number.
- On the outside the appearance is very drab, a large building made of solid gray stone brick with no decor or designs.
- Divided into two blocks, the larger Long Block and the smaller Short Block.
- The workers live there as a commune, they are among the Kin (aka Khatanghe).
- People there appear to be starving
- When an uprising happens they block off the termitary and wait for them to calm down
- Parents won't let children go near the Termitary. The people there aren't "bad" but can "cause a lot of harm", according to a child. They have strange beliefs, like a cultural acceptance of cannibalism and that being buried alive is a "gift" or "Great Honor". Generally, they can "do something abominable to you"
- Some sort of feud going on between the butchers in the Termitary. They have effectively split in half, one group wants to kill the Foreman and the other wants to kill Olgimsky. Taya claims that the feud is over her and the lower Termitary not feeding the people in the upper Termitary, however she states that they locked themselves up there on purpose and that it isn't her or her people's fault
​
♦ POLYHEDRON ♦ [2.F]
- Designed by the Stamatins, with help from the Kains. The Stamatin's designed the mechanical structure, while the Kains were behind it's more... "mystical" attributes.
- Overcomes the laws of physics and Euclidean geometry.
- Adults see the "walls of the tower", which have some sort of strange writing on them as well as architectural designs, some of which look to be for the tower itself. Children however do not see the walls, they see a variety of different scenes, different worlds, different places of both the world and from myths of legend. Places such as the coast of the New Sea, Cleft Islands, et cetera.
- The average adult sees the walls as reflective mirrors, while Daniil seems to see them as paper with writing on them. The "design" was created so that each adult would only see infinite reflections of themselves, hence why the townsfolk call it the "Specular Tower".
- Khan and his group are holed up in the Polyhedron.
- The Sand Plague does not enter the tower.
- Both Khan and Capella claim the Polyhedron can bring a child's dreams to life.
- Nina Kaina gave Peter everything he needed to build the Polyhedron.
• Inside the Polyhedron (As Daniil)
- I have made it inside. Perhaps it is the atmosphere, but I feel a strange emotion I've rarely felt before in my life, as if my mind is unsure whether it should be in a state of hope or a state of dread, yet somehow within me is evoked a feeling of both. I can see now how such a structure could hold a thousand children... somehow, just as externally, so too does the internal workings of this structure manage to defy all laws of architectural logic. It's internal proportions are larger than it's external, stairs of paper ascend upwards with no support structure and sometimes seemingly branch off with no logical purpose, only for certain branches to end at no destination but mid-air. I see paper cranes frozen in air and time alike as if plucked directly from memories of my own childhood, and upon viewing them for reasons beyond my comprehension a sense of lost innocence or naivety is evoked within me. Meanwhile, walls of paper somehow hold the weight of hundreds...
It is... beautiful. Even if I don't see what the children here do, I can see why it would be considered a miracle.
• Blueprints of the Polyhedron
- According to the blueprints, the Polyhedron is held aloft via some sort of steel woven spring buried deep underground meant to serve as a giant stem, approximately five and a half meters in diameter - and more than three hundred meters long. In order to screw this mechanism (the spring which holds the tower and keeps it collapsing) into the ground, the Olgimsky's had the entirety of the Termitary help out as a work force. A massive trench was dug into the ground, into a dry riverbed. The pintle was laid down gradually as the digging went deeper, and the sting (the end of a screw) was dug into the ground underground at an acute angle. For all intents and purposes, the Polyhedron's "spring" runs directly beneath the town at a curvature.
- Though I already had my suspicions, Peter has now confirmed the Polyhedron was built as a vessel capable of holding a human soul. Meanwhile, Andrey describes it as a mirror that preserves the reflection of whoever looked at it last.
- Peter built it using prisms and mirrors in order to "focus them and capture the perfect trick of light and dream". He describes it as a multidimensional space with no mass and no ends.
​
♣ THE STEPPE ♣ [2.3]
• Eghe-Gola Rise: also known as "the herdsmen's landings"
• Sugagh: A spring between the Steppe and Rotten Field
​

♠ PLAGUE JOURNAL ♠ [3.0]

♣ INFORMATION ♣ [3.1]
This section will detail what is known about the plague currently ailing Town-On-Gorkhon.
​
♦ ORIGIN ♦ [3.A]
The origins of the plague is unknown, though information gathered points to the Steppe and it is likely 'Patient Zero' originated from the Steppe, and brought it into town. It goes by many names however the most common is "Sand Plague". Five years prior to my arrival, the town suffered it's first and only known outbreak. The contagion however was quickly contained and curbed by Isidor Burakh, though it is not known what exact methods that he used, only that elements of quarantine were quickly employed. Other than this, nothing is known. It has not been officially 'discovered' by any known doctor, scholar, virologist, etc. nor has it been recorded, catalogued, or classified in any medical textbook. Disregarding Isidor, this would theoretically make me the first scholar to "discover" it. Plenty of other diseases are rife in, and stalk the Steppe, but it is readily apparent that the Sand Plague is not one of them, nor is it so local variant/strain of an otherwise already classified illness.
​
♦ SYMPTOMS ♦ [3.B]
- Dizziness (Usually the very first symptom one gets with the disease)
- Heavy fever (A sign of when the disease has entered it's critical phase)
- Coughing
- Yellow skin
- Excruciating migraine Bodily pain
- Festering boils
- Loss of faculties / capability of logic and reasoning after some time has passed

‘03 Altima by Spose reverberates from the rolled-down windows of my grandma beige 2001 Nissan Altima. I yell in time to the lyrics throwing counterfeit gang signs out the window, without so much as a single thought towards public decency, I pass row upon row of townhomes. Each home is perched atop its one-car garage with a shallow wooden deck protruding above the garage and front doors. Arriving at my usual parking space next to the dumpster and across from the last row of townhomes in the neighborhood, I finally crank the volume dial on the stereo to the left from deafening to a borderline courteous level. After a quick check of my hair in the rearview mirror ensuring it hasn't moved from its glued and hairsprayed perfection I proceed to the front door of the second home from the right. At the door I straighten my leather jacket and brush off my jeans, Brooke and I are still in the honeymoon phase so when we are together she wears lingerie and I dress punk chic and do my hair. A few seconds after my knock I’m greeted by my girlfriend Brooke bouncing the 18-month-old whom she nannies on her hip.
“Hey babe, how are you?” I say after a quick peck on her lips, then turning to the toddler I tickle her under her arm saying, “And how have you been Maddy? Have you been good for Brooke today?”
Maddy looks at me without even a hint of a smile, the resentment in her eyes speaks volumes, “Not you again, you junkie son of a bitch I'm tired of you cutting in with my nanny friend.”
“Wow, she's not having it with you today. What did you do last week?” Brooke chuckles as we head up the stairs to the main floor.
“I dunno, but she sure isn't happy to see me,” I reply as we settle in together on the cream-colored sectional.
Brooke has been Maddy's nanny since she was 2 months old, and thus far it has been a good gig. 7:30-6:00 Monday through Friday, is the perfect schedule while she lives at home and finishes up her last bit of school. After a couple of months of Brooke and I dating it had become routine on Thursdays for me to come over after I finish my day of spraying neurotoxins in and around people's homes under the guise of pest control, and today is no different. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse plays on the TV and Brooke preps Maddy's dinner while I try my best to entertain the kiddo. I chase her as she toddles away as quickly as she can, her head leading the way, her feet working double time to keep her upright. Around the coffee table, past the stairs and the dining table, then into the kitchen to circle the island and back to the coffee table to repeat the loop. Maddy and I circle through the main floor again and again, stopping only when I catch and tickle her until she squeals like a piglet. After too many laps I stand by the table with my hands on my head catching my breath all while Maddy looks at me expectantly, when Brooke's voice erupts from the kitchen.
“Alright baby girl time for some dinner, why don't you give J a rest.” Says Brooke as she walks past me to pick up Maddy and strap her into her highchair.
“Thanks, babe, I was gonna have to tap out here pretty soon, if only we could harness all that kid energy. Damn near infinite power source right there.” I respond while pointing my finger at Maddy who waves her hands, anxiously awaiting her tray of purees and puffs.
“I'm pretty sure that would be considered child abuse, using your kids for power,” Brooke says with a hint of concern after connecting Maddy's tray to her chair.
“I don't mean putting kids in cages. Just like a device that absorbs kid energy in the walls of houses so when kids are playing and being crazy inside it powers the house and the extra is stored in a battery, like they do with solar. It definitely wouldn't be abuse, just kinda slightly unethical maybe…” I rebut, trailing off as I begin to ponder the ethics of my proposal more deeply.
“Oh yeah, much better, just draining children's life forces while they play in your home to power your TV, laundry machines, dishwasher, and lights. I'm sure the public will love that idea, there are no moral quandaries there... J, sometimes I worry about you.” She replies, drowning each word in a sea of sarcasm.
“Well, there goes my plan to save the planet,” I say with a shrug, returning her sarcastic tone.
We exchange a smile before she returns her attention to Maddy ensuring the pureed fruit and veggies weren't becoming a painting medium. With both Brooke and Maddy preoccupied I move towards the deck to get my nicotine fix. Just before reaching the sliding door, I pivot left on the ball of my foot and casually enter the half bath, sealing myself inside with a press of the button lock on the door handle.
The bathroom is barely sixteen square feet but like a room hidden behind an invisible wall in Doom this place holds my soul spheres. I loudly lift the toilet lid and fiddle with my belt buckle while opening the medicine cabinet to ensure any sound heard beyond the door will validate my time spent here. I tap my feet and feign pooping sounds while silently removing a short wide prescription bottle from the top shelf and a green-capped bottle labeled rosehip supplements. I wrap my hands around the outside of the prescription bottle to mute any rattling and place the rosehips on the back of the toilet. Removing the prescription lid reveals 14 oblong white tablets, Norco 10/325. I smile, even with the Tylenol hydrocodone has always been my favorite of the Codone brothers. Beads of sweat develop across my brow as my next moves mustn't be heard beyond the door. I jingle my belt buckle a couple of times and push down the knob to flush the toilet, at the crescendo of the flush I dump all 14 Norcos into my jeans left pocket.
“Alright, halfway there…” I mutter under my breath, turning the water on in the sink.
The sink reaches equilibrium with a half-inch deep pool of water constantly draining while I open the bottle of rosehip supplements and arrange it next to the empty prescription bottle in my left hand. Placing my right elbow in the stream of water to mimic the sound of washing my hands I transfer 14 oblong rosehip tablets into the prescription bottle. Quickly I cap the bottles taking just a brief moment to inspect the quality of my deception. Through the orange-tinted plastic, the rosehip decoys are almost indistinguishable from actual Norcos. Satisfied with the subterfuge I place the bottles in their respective spots, close the cabinet, and flip the water off.
I emerge from the bathroom satisfied with my haul, the sentinel guards of the opiate ocean have kept me at arm's length for too long, tonight the prodigal son returns home. I close the bathroom door behind me as Brooke turns to look at me, there is a hint of both suspicion and potential concern.
“Everything go alright in there? You look a little sweaty.” She asks sarcastically.
“Smooth as a rock slide…” I retort in jest, motioning over my shoulder with my thumb toward the bathroom door. “You may want to give that a bit.”
“Gross…” Brooke moans with a subtle smirk, turning back to help Maddy finish her dinner.
While her back is turned I slip my left hand in my pocket and scoop up five Norcos while grabbing a glass from the drying rack on the counter and filling it from the sink. Quickly I toss the pills in my mouth and chug down the water. “Back to the promised land,” I mutter under my breath.
Out on the deck I lean against the railing looking out on the neighborhood, puffing on my vape. Each row of townhomes is identical; the only difference is the color of the vinyl siding between each garage and the corresponding front door. Copy and paste neighborhoods like this remind me of where I grew up in the suburbs of California. Where white collar dads work for the man, leave in unison at 8 with a kiss from their wives, and return at 5 to hugs from their children and dinner on the table. I try for a moment to envision myself as a cog in that societal machine; is this where I end up in 15 years? Selling my soul each day to some mega-corporation in exchange for a salary and two weeks vacation per year? Baseball games, dance recitals, the occasional BBQ on the weekends? Mortgages, car loans, scheduling “date” night sex with my wife? Is this all that lies ahead on my life's path?
My head spins and I can feel the anxiety building within me, my future has never been a comforting subject for me. I do my best to focus on the evening sky and breathe deep with my belly. As I do this the anxious pressure in my stomach subsides and Brooke comes through the door bouncing Maddy on her hip.
“Whatcha up to out here babe?” She asks sweetly, coming up to my side and placing her hand on my back.
“Nothing, just looking,” I reply calmly, pressing the button on my vape five times to turn it off and slipping it into my pocket.
“In that case why don't you take little Ms. Maddy and watch for her mommy to come home while I clean up?” She says, offering Maddy into my arms, and hurrying through the sliding glass door.
As I hold Maddy and point at birds, clouds, and trees I feel it approaching. The strain in my back from holding this 19-pound child begins to go numb, and subtle waves of soft warm relaxation begin to lap against me. The tide of the opiate ocean rises through my body, and today's worries and pains fade away as the current tows me far from shore. By the time I see a black Subaru sedan coming up the street, I'm fully immersed in the supple euphoric embrace of the opiate ocean. The Subaru pulls into the driveway as I hold Maddy up and point to it.
“Look Maddy, who's that? Do you know who that is?” I say bouncing her high so she can see her mother emerge from the vehicle and wave.
We come inside and wait at the top of the stairs for Maddie's mother to appear. Once she comes up Maddy immediately demands Mommy hold her and Brooke gives a summary of their day together. After making our exit we sit in my car with the windows down, the cool evening breeze whirls throughout the sedan mixing with the scents of weed, grape Game cigarillos, and sweaty teenage coitus. Brooke has a “girls' night” tonight according to her parents and isn't expected home until tomorrow afternoon and I am the ranking adult of my home. So our only obligation is a half-hearted promise to meet Lucas at family home evening.
The young single adult or YSA ward of the Mormon church has a family home evening activity one night per week for the members to hang out. Of course, these activities intend to create new couples to eventually get married and “graduate” from the YSA ward. Personally, FHE is not a place I have ever gone intending to find a potential wife, however, the activities are often fun and my friends are usually there so I go anyway.
With 45 minutes until FHE begins and our stomachs empty I drive towards Cookout, while Brooke packs my blue and green swirled spoon pipe with some pre-ground bud I keep under the driver's seat. Parked between a lifted Chevy Tahoe and the dumpster we pass the bowl back and forth, skunky purple-tinged smoke billowing from the cracked windows. Now comfortably roasty toasty we walk arm in arm to the window, order our trays, and sit at a picnic table. Brooke zones out on the sky, western clouds burn red and orange with the last fiery vestiges of the day, but subtle streaks of purple and deep indigo signal the moon leading the inevitable march of night from the east.
Looking at the majesty of the heavens I take a brief moment to do inventory. I'm already pleasantly buzzing but soon condescending church leaders and self-righteous peers will require appeasement and jovial conversation, I must prepare. I fiddle with the tablets in my pocket, debating, “2? Or 3? Maybe even 4? No 3, it's dodgeball not a movie night.” I think to myself just before I hear our order number called from the window.
I pop the 3 pills splitting each in two with my front teeth, the bitter taste of acetaminophen coats my tongue before I can get my drink from the pickup window. Immediately after I set down the bag and drinks on the table Brooke rips into her chicken finger tray like a feral beast. She has a habit of forgetting to eat so I'm sure this is much-needed sustenance. My appetite leaves much to be desired and the thought of the pills in my stomach being forced to compete with actual food for absorption is abhorrent, but I eat my burger, quesadilla, and corndog nonetheless.
Once we finish our food Brooke daintily blots her mouth with her napkin like some kind of nobility, though the past 5 minutes of her eating resembled a T-Rex more than the royal family. I gather up our pile of single-use plastic and Styrofoam and stuff it into an already full trash can on our way to my car. In the car, Brooke puts on Headstrong by Trapt while I roast the blackened leftovers in the pipe for one last hit. We pull out of Cookout cruising the bustling suburban streets on our way to FHE.
The clock on the dash reads 7:15 as we pull into the church parking lot. Brooke applies some Victoria's Secret body spray she keeps in my glove box while I roll past the main entrance making a mental tally of who is here by what cars are parked. Finally I eye Lucas's blue 4runner parked on the far side of the building next to my usual spot, I pull in next to it and flip down my mirror. At this point I hardly try to cover the smell of weed on my clothes however I drown my eyes in Visine constantly when high, blood red eyes are difficult to explain away. After quenching our eyes and freshening up Brooke and I pack the weed and the bowl in the Tupperware and stash it under the driver's seat, as nice as they are Mormons can be a nosy bunch.
We walk into the church building right as opening announcements end so we slip right into the stream of people headed to the cultural hall. The cultural hall is separated from the chapel by a faux wood accordion door, with a basketball court painted on the shiny hardwood floor. Tonight the basketball hoops are retracted up to the ceiling since we are playing dodgeball. Whoever is in charge of the activity is MIA, so like everyone else, I look around for some friendly faces. Brooke quickly breaks away to hug someone, once I hear a shrieking “Hey girl!!!” squeal I know I am on my own, but before I can spot Lucas I feel a thick middle-aged hand plant itself firmly on my shoulder. Even before turning around, I know who this meaty paw belongs to, I flip around to face the bishop, a 6’8” early grandpa-type man, casually dressed in jeans and a cranberry red Kirkland brand sweater.
“Hey bishop, how are you doing?” I ask him sticking out my hand for a handshake, my greeting bolstered by opiate confidence.
“J Halston, how have you been? I haven't seen you at church in a few weeks.” He asks, meeting my eye and firmly clasping my hand. His words and demeanor exude an almost fatherly concern for my soul.
“Oh, yeah, I went to my parents' ward, we had some family in town for a couple of weeks.” I lie through a serpent's smile. No way I spent the past two Sundays shooting pilfered oxy and morphine, nodding in and out on the bathroom floor. Nah man, that ain't me.
“Oh, is that right? Well, I'm glad you got to see some family, how's work going? Are you and Lucas still working together?” He says disregarding my blatant lie, hoping I will give him some real insight into my life.
“Yeah, we're still doing pest control, but it's better now cause it's cooled down outside. Plus when it rains nobody wants us to spray so Fall is a good time to do pest control.” I explain to him while my mind fumbles to find an exit.
“Well I'm glad work is going well for you J, if you need help finding contacts for a new job or if you need someone to talk to my door is always open to you J. It's good to see you here.” Bishop says earnestly, patting my shoulder caringly before moving past me to greet a recently engaged couple who just came in.
“Good to be here,” I say with a slight sigh of relief just before he walks past, in a different time I enjoyed talking with the bishop but these days my spiritual well-being is not on my list of priorities.
At that moment the leader of tonight's activity whistles to get everyone's attention and asks us all to line up so they can count us off into two teams. As everyone lines up I join Brooke who stands next to Lucas and his girlfriend Kara, giving Lucas a fist bump and a “what's up” nod. We are counted off into 1's and 2’s and told to pick a team name, Lucas and I are 1’s while Brooke and Kara are 2’s. Our team lacks creativity so when we are asked for our name Lucas yells “Team Team,” which is repeated by me and 3 other men jamming our fists in the air as though Lucas had led a war cry. On the other side of the court, I see Kara and Brooke laugh and shake their heads unsurprised by our outburst, while their team name is written as The Dolphins.
With the teams named and balls set in a line in the center of the court, the game begins, the first team to win three matches will be the champion. Balls fly through the air with the speed of peregrine falcons towards the easy prey, quickly both teams are whittled down to the agile and athletic. I escape the initial onslaught but after a minute I fumble a catch and am out of the game waiting in line to be called back to the battlefield by a successful catch. Team Team and The Dolphins battle back and forth rotating players in and out with each successful hit and catch until only one is left on each team. Cheers of encouragement sound from both teams' sidelines until my teammates and I begin to chant.
“Team team. Team Team! TEAM TEAM!!!” We roar in unison.
Caught off guard by our rally cry the lone player on the Dolphins is hit in the leg as he jumps to doge. With the first win our team charges from the sidelines to the center to celebrate. Jumping and pumping our fists in the air we continue our jubilant chant, “TEAM TEAM! TEAM TEAM!!! YEAH!!!”
After a couple of minutes, we calm down from our victory and are quickly and sternly reminded this is a fun and respectful activity for all, not a competitive tournament, thus our behavior should reflect that. We agree to tone down our competitive aggression and prepare for the next match. The second game begins and proceeds much like the last however it is obvious Team Teams morale is noticeably lower after our chastisement. I get out early on, my throw is caught and I join the line waiting to be called back into play. Before the game ends I slip into the hallway and quickly dash to my car, I can feel my temper becoming volatile as nicotine vacates my brain taking my patience with it. I get to my car and begin puffing away on my vape tapping my fingers on the six hydros left in my pocket.
The high from the first handful I took is beginning to fade and the beast within isn't ready to leave the ocean's warm embrace. I take a rip from my vape and pull 4 of the pills from my pocket when a face appears from the darkness behind Lucas's 4 runner. Like lightning, I shove the pills back and stuff my vape in a pocket of Brooke's bag on the floor of the passenger seat. With panic on my face and a lung full of sweet vapor, Lucas opens the passenger door with a shit-eating grin.
“Hey buddy, whatcha up to?” He asks with a smirk, as I exhale vapor with a sigh.
“Fuckin eh bro, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you were the bishop or someone.” I say retrieving my vape from Brooke's bag and taking a rip, before handing it to him.
“Sorry bro, I saw you leave and I wanted to hit this.” He laughs in reply, holding up my vape.
“Oh also I got my script filled today, you want a couple?” Lucas says through a thick cloud while fishing his hand in his jacket.
“Hell yeah man, thanks! Oh, I got a few Norcos, do you want one?” I reply, again pulling four from my pocket.
Lucas pauses for a moment looking intently at the white oblong tablets in my hand almost in a trance. “No… Nah, man, I don't do that stuff anymore. Had a problem with it a few years back ya know?” He says apprehensively breaking his gaze from the pills and puffing on the vape.
“Alright man. Hey, good for you for recognizing you had a problem and saying no, I'm sure that was hard.” I say, pushing down the guilt for saying something so hypocritical, and promptly swallow the pills.
“Thanks, dude, yeah it never gets any easier but you get stronger, so be careful with that stuff. But we should probably get back in there, we can't just abandon Team Team.” He says now back to his happy-go-lucky self.
“Oh, but here take these,” Lucas says quickly, pouring two 20mg Ritalin from his bottle and handing them to me with my vape.
“Sweet thanks man, oh I've got some good weed if you wanna smoke after FHE,” I reply, placing my vape out of sight and stashing the Ritalin in the breast pocket of my jacket.
We get back to the activity just in time for the tiebreaker game and take our places against the far wall. The game proceeds like all the previous but once both teams are down to one player each Lucas and I begin to chant.
“Team team. Team Team. Team Team.”
Quickly all of Team Team join in the chant.
“TEAM TEAM! TEAM TEAM!! TEAM TEAM!!!” We bellow together.
Just like before The Dolphins last man fumbles a catch and we rush onto the court chanting and jumping as the family home evening dodgeball champions. The Dolphins and a few people who didn't play all leave the cultural hall and head to the kitchen for refreshments leaving us to finish our victory celebration. Eventually, all of Team Team settles down and heads off to find refreshments, while I excuse myself to the restroom.
In the relative privacy of a stall in the men's room, I crush and chop up one of the Ritalin in a dollar bill trough. Rolling up another dollar I quickly hoover up half the line in each nostril, lick the dollar trough, and shove everything back in my wallet. I manage to rinse my sinuses with a couple of drops of water before a twenty-some-odd guy dressed like an East Coast prick comes in. We exchange a nod and he washes his hands while I dry mine sniffling and snorting to keep that sweet pharmaceutical crack from running down my face.
Rejoining the group I slide in next to Brooke and Kara. Lucas catches my eye and raises his eyebrow at me. I wipe my nose and wink in reply, Lucas smiles before we both return our attention to the group. The methylphenidate lights up my mind sharpening my wit and enhancing my perception, while the hydrocodone makes a resurgence taking me deeper into the ocean's warm blissful embrace. The lively conversation continues until 9:00 when Lucas, Kara, Brooke, and I decide to head over to Kara's for a nightcap.
Hopping in the car Brooke puts on Liquid Stranger and cranks the volume, rattling the teeth of everyone within 20 feet meanwhile I pop the last two hydros and put the car in drive. We arrive at Kara's one-bedroom apartment and I grab my weed tupperware from under my seat before we stomp up the stairs like a herd of elephants. It's always warm here due to Kara's downstairs neighbors who apparently moved from Hell, but on this chilly night, we welcome the warmth radiating from the floor. Lucas offers up some Fireball shots from a bottle forgotten at the last party held here. Brooke eagerly accepts three, being underage she jumps at any offer of alcohol, while Lucas and I each settle for one. Kara and Brooke begin to commiserate over the children they both work with while Lucas and I head to the porch for a toke.
The porch is only as wide as the sliding glass door, and five feet deep, barely enough room for a tiny thrift store side table and two camp chairs. This is the only place Kara allows smoking so at parties it becomes standing room only, but it's still better than trying to smoke weed in the parking lot. Lucas and I look into the inky black night beyond the screen, while I pack my bowl.
“So how are things with you and Kara?” I ask Lucas before taking the first hit and passing it to him.
“Good man, I think she might be the one.” He replies, before taking a hit and coughing hard.
“Really? The future Mrs. Steele huh? And to think you met her cause Brooke and I ditched you at that dance at Duke.” I chuckle through a plume of hazy smoke, before tamping the bowl and handing it back.
“Yeah man, she's quite the woman. By the way, ditching me to drive to the beach for sunrise was a dick move, but since I met Kara I'll let it slide.” Replies Lucas, briefly looking stern before his hit erupts from his face in a fit of coughing. I have to grab the bowl from him before he drops it coughing his lungs out.
“Yeah… Sorry about that bro we got a little caught up in ourselves that night. But it all worked out.” I say before roasting the bowl for a last hit.
“Oh, I'm sure you were…” Lucas teases, finally having caught his breath.
I pack another bowl this time letting Lucas scorch it on the first hit. Once Lucas and I look like Chinese nationals we head back to our women. Inside we play Cards Against Humanity laughing hysterically at the crude humor. When 11:00 rolls around we decide to call it a night, tomorrow is a work day after all. Brooke and I leave with hugs goodbye walking briskly through the frosty night. As we drive to my townhouse Brooke grabs my hand rubbing her thumb across my knuckles. Usually, I would rub or tap her hand back in a playful game but tonight my mind floats three feet above my skull. Up here every sensation is toned down, aches and pains are replaced by rolling waves of warm euphoric apathy. At home I lay with Brooke cuddled tightly next to me, her head on my chest.
“What will I do when it's time to move on from this?” I ponder, before closing my eyes and drifting off toward tomorrow.

*i want to preface this by saying that if you disagree with the use of cannabis, you have no reason to read this post or comment saying something like "dont do drugs" or otherwise degrading those who do use weed. telling people not to do drugs simply does not work, as every single smoker has at one point in time had that middle school drug intervention. i am not encouraging the use of weed, neither am i attempting to make it appear harmless.*
*this list will be separated into multiple categories: (1) methods of consumption, (2) and safety measures, (3) potential long-term risks/harm, and (4) ways to deal with addiction. it will mainly contain the more common methods. some methods that will be excluded are: dabbing, topicals, transdermal patches, capsules, inhalers, lubricants, snorting, eye drops, and suppositories.*
TELLING AN INDIVIDUAL NOT TO USE CANNABIS WILL NOT STOP THEM, ANYBODY WHO HAS EVER USED IT HAS ALSO HEARD THAT AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER
Methods
Smoking: -Pipes: handheld devices for smoking cannabis. (among smoking methods, pipes tend to produce smaller hits and might involve less inhalation of smoke compared to larger devices.)
-Joints: rolled cannabis in paper. (rolling papers used in joints are typically thinner than blunt wraps, potentially resulting in less overall smoke inhalation.)
-Spliff: combination of cannabis and tobacco rolled together, like a hybrid of a joint and a cigarette. (potentially introduce additional risks associated with tobacco exposure, including nicotine addiction and the associated health issues linked to tobacco use.)
-Blunts: cannabis rolled in cigar paper or tobacco leaf. (blunts are often rolled in tobacco leaves or cigar papers, which can lead to increased exposure to tobacco-related substances, making them potentially more harmful than joints.)
-Bongs/Water Pipes: filter smoke through water for a smoother hit. (whilst bongs filter smoke through water, offering a smoother hit, the process of combustion still occurs, producing potentially harmful byproducts. the water might reduce some irritants but doesn't eliminate all harmful components.)
Vaping: -Dry Herb Vaporizers: heats cannabis without combustion, producing vapor. (dry herb vaporizers are considered to potentially carry fewer health risks because they vaporize whole cannabis flower without combustion, avoiding the creation of harmful byproducts found in smoke.)
-Cannabis Vapes: heats cannabis concentrates, (oil, distillate, or wax), turning it into vapor. (it's important to be careful with cannabis vapes, making sure they come from reputable sources and have undergone proper testing to minimize potential health risks, as in recent years, reports of vaping related lung diseases have been linked to certain additives or contaminants in some unregulated or illicit cannabis vape products. cannabis vapes simply haven't existed long enough to be sure of their full effects.)
Edibles: -Food/Drink: cannabis-infused into various foods or beverages like brownies, gummies, teas, etc. (overconsumption of edibles can result in intense and uncomfortable experiences, including increased heart rate, anxiety, paranoia, or nausea. these are not often considered fatal, and tend to subside over time.)
-Tinctures: concentrated cannabis extracts consumed orally or added to food/drink. (when used responsibly, tinctures pose lesser risks of overconsumption compared to edibles. however, improper dosing or exceeding recommended amounts can still lead to unwanted effects, although they typically have similar, yet less severe effects than those from overconsumption of edibles.)
Safety Precautions
-Different methods have different dosages, so you should research the effects of different methods. (ex: for your first few times smoking, you should only take 1-3 hits. however if you are using a large bong, take no more than one hit, as large bongs are meant to deliver larger amounts of cannabis per hit.)
-For your first few times doing weed, you should be under the supervision of a sober individual, this can be anyone from a friend to a family member, as long as you trust them and they are sober. (cannabis can induce many different side effects depending on the person, some of which include but are not limited to: seizures, paranoia, anxiety, etc.)
Long-Term Risks
-Respiratory Issues: long-term smoking of cannabis, similar to tobacco, can lead to chronic bronchitis, coughing, and other respiratory problems due to the inhalation of smoke and irritants.
-Cognitive Impairment: prolonged heavy cannabis use, particularly when initiated in adolescence, may potentially impact cognitive function, memory, attention, and learning abilities. there's ongoing research on the effects of chronic use on brain development, especially in younger individuals.
-Mental Health Effects: long-term heavy use of cannabis might be linked to an increased risk of developing mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, and in some cases, psychosis or schizophrenia, particularly in individuals predisposed to these conditions.
-Dependency and Addiction: while the risk of physical dependence on cannabis is lower compared to substances like alcohol or opioids, some individuals can develop a psychological dependence on cannabis, leading to cravings and withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation.
-Social and Occupational Impact: chronic cannabis use can affect performance at work or in academic settings and might impact relationships and social interactions, especially if it leads to impaired cognitive function or motivation.
-Cardiovascular Risks: long-term use might contribute to cardiovascular issues, such as an increased heart rate, hypertension, and potential strain on the heart, which could pose risks, especially for individuals with pre-existing heart conditions.
Dealing With Addiction
-Recognize the Problem: acknowledge that there might be a dependency on cannabis. Understanding the impact it has on your life is the first step towards addressing the addiction.
-Seek Support: consider reaching out to friends, family, or a support group to talk about your addiction. supportive relationships can provide encouragement and understanding during the recovery process.
-Professional Help: consider seeking guidance from healthcare professionals, counselors, therapists, or addiction specialists. they can offer personalized support, strategies, and treatment plans to help manage the addiction.
-Develop Coping Strategies: find healthy alternatives or coping mechanisms to manage stress, boredom, or anxiety. engage in activities like exercise, hobbies, meditation, or socializing to distract from cravings.
-Practice Self-Care: focus on self-care by prioritizing healthy habits, including proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and regular exercise. taking care of your physical and mental well-being can support your recovery.
-Stay Persistent and Patient: overcoming addiction is a gradual process that takes time and effort. Relapses can happen, but it's essential to stay committed to recovery and learn from setbacks.
-Contact the SAMHSA National Helpline: the national helpline provides 24-hour free and confidential treatment referral and information about mental and/or substance use disorders, prevention, and recovery. (i do not know if i would get banned for typing their phone number, so if needed, simply look it up.)
IT IS POSSIBLE I GOT SOME INFORMATION WRONG, SO IF I DID, SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT OR A DM
I DO NOT ADVISE THAT ANYBODY USES CANNABIS, I PERSONALLY DO, AND SINCE I CANNOT CONTROL WHETHER OR NOT OTHERS DO, I WANTED TO AT LEAST INFORM PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT THEY WOULD BE PUTTING INTO THEIR BODY
I AM NOT ENCOURAGING THE USE OF CANNABIS, NOR AM I ATTEMPTING TO DOWNPLAY THE POTENTIAL SEVERITY OF IT'S SIDE EFFECTS

I HAVE NOW MADE A SECOND POST WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONAL USEFUL INFORMATION
blunts/joints (marijuana wrapped in tobacco leaves) [often considered most harmful due to the combination of cannabis and tobacco]
pipe (pure marijuana smoked from the bowl of a pipe) [often considered as the method that falls in between blunts and bongs in terms of harmfulness]
bongs (water vaporizes the cannabis, reducing the risk of harmful inhalants) [often considered to be the least harmful, though keep in mind that it is still not harmless]
vapes (electronic blunt/joint) [different pros and different cons from blunts/joints, it’s better to do your own research for vaping weed, as some may find it worth it while others may not]
all will give you a different high. keep in mind that all of these are harmful, some are just inherently less harmful than others
i use pipe, and just a tip for anyone who doesn’t know, anyone who smokes bongs, blunts/joints, or bongs, rather than using a lighter, you can use hempwick to get rid of the taste of butane, as would be present if using a lighter
probably got sum shit wrong somewhere, but yea this about it i think. oh n just in case you should be supervised by sum1 sober your first few times smoking any of these (could be anyone, a friend, a family member, literally just anyone you trust). for your first few times, take only 1 or 2 hits, 3 at max. if using a large bong, only take 1 hit, as larger bongs are meant to deliver the cannabis in large amounts
edit: pls stop commenting things abt how i shouldn’t be saying this. i’m not saying this to convince ppl to smoke weed. im saying this so that if ppl do, they could be more educated about it. i did my best to explain the different variants and listed them in order of harmfulness to the extent of our current knowledge. that’s why i separated vapes, because they are a lot newer and their full effects are not yet known. i tried helping ppl understand what they’d be putting in their body, how to do it so they don’t harm themselves, and proper precautions

This is my first post on Reddit and I'm not sure how all this works. This is copyrighted material I found in an unpublished manuscript. I’m just posting an excerpt under Fair-Use. I wish I could share more. This shit is absolutely wild. It’s hard for me to believe that all of this is real – but some parts kinda ring true. What do you think? Has everyone ever heard of this guy? ______________________________ The Life and Times of a Hollywood Drug Dealer By Dante Quixote Castellano (aka Doctor Dan) Excerpt: I was their dealer and was showing them this new hasheesh pipe. Lenny's shrooms that I snuck him earlier in his chicken salad sandwich about 45 minutes prior during lunch musta just kicked in. He grabbed the pipe and I pulled out something that looked like a lighter that I stole from Richard (I called him Dick) Feynman when I was delivering his "order" at CalTech.
Shit -- I just thought it was lighter. That's why I stole it. But when I pushed the button a narrow pillar of blue light slowly rose and made this gentle humming sound. I know what you're thinking. It looked like a mini-lightsaber. But keep in mind -- this was 1966. Star Wars was still 11 years from hitting the screen. It scared the shit out of Bill, Lenny, and me. But Lenny is the one who had his lips on the pipe and the gasp from the scare at the exact moment that the "beam" vaporized the entire pipe bowl of hasheesh into a whisp of a blue orb. You could see his mouth light up as the "hit" of the glowing plasma hasheesh vapor ball raced through the glass stem of the pipe -- then his lungs. That fucker lit up like a Christmas tree. I was already a little high from the light toke I always take after lunch. Honest to God, my first thought was --- Lenoard Nemoy IS A FUCKING ALIEN IN REAL LIKE! (and seriously, what kinda name is "Nemoy" anyway? Sounds alien AF to me, n'est pas?)
Then you know, you know how weed makes you paranoid and shit? I thought I was getting punked by that bastard ALLEN FUNT from Candid Camera – getting filmed with all those drugs and wind up getting blackmailed by that queue-ball-headed motherfucker from now on. (That’s how Candid Camera really made its money – pay up or see your ass on TV)
But it wasn't either one of those. That beam from Dick Feynman's light changed the moleular structure of the hasheesh -- and it was like Spock had been "leveled up" in a video game with that most awesome electrified and plasmatized hash vapor ball. The pipes glass bowl and stem started to turn molten. So, Nemoy dropped it in that trashcan in the picture. The pipe was so hot it vaporized before hitting the can's bottom. And y’all can see all the smokey vapor in the picture.
It fucked him up bad and changed television and cinematic history. You see, Geney (Gene Roddenberry) had originally written Spock as a comic relief character with those funny, stupid-ass elf-ears. He became like instantly somewhere on the Asperger’s – weird but still socially functional. THIS IS WHERE SPOCK WAS BORN.
When we went back on set, Geney thought Leonard was putting him on at first. Geney kinda laughed when this new "Spock" character started delivering his lines. He repeated his direction to Leonard again --- but the new "Spock" just repeated them in that dead-pan way again. Gene started to boil. He thought Leonard was just taking the piss at his expense. But the "Spock" raised that one eyebrow like Spock always does -- you know, when he's telling Kirk or Bones they're complete dumbasses without having to say a word. Gene was sold. He screamed, "That's it! You're brilliant! I get it. I get it."
Man, I was relieved, to say the least. I was afraid Paramount was going to ban me from the studio for fucking up their new TV space cowboys show if Spock went into a coma or something. That would have killed my “delivery” business. Lenard Nemoy stayed in that Spock character for about a month after that. The half-life of that hit was nothing like anyone had ever experienced. It was cool for the first two weeks. People were like -- we're in the future doing method acting on Star Trek. But by the 3rd and 4th weeks, it was wearing thin. People weren't so much aggravated but worried Leonard might be slipping away. He eventually came back to normal. I worked with him on a normal dosage with a normal lighter and he was able to slide in and out of the Spoke character effortlessly. Though, that whole “Vulcan Mind Meld” was 100% real and legit. He made more money at the track betting on horses than he ever did acting. He’d “innocently” mind-meld with trainers and jockeys to figure out what handful of horses had been juiced to win the long-odds weekly race at the track. Made a foturne – and he was good to share with me. I was the source of his super power – and he knew it.
Certain waste-management professionals associated with the track got wind of what Nemoy was doing gambling wise and they sent Bobby the Bulldog to provide some “feedback”. But it turned out that when “Spock” was stoned, the Vulcan-Death-Grip was for real too. He grabbed Bobby by the nut sack and transitioned him to Bobbie in a brutal 10 seconds. I had to turn away. I’d never heard a warrior scream transform into an agonizing whimper like that. I hope I never hear anything like that again. The squishing popping sounds of the first nut and then the second stilll haunt me. I’m hoping by writing this I can exorcise it from my mind. Nobody touched Nemoy after that. They even comped him free drinks even though he was costing them a load – including Bobbie in more ways than one. I lost the Feynman “lighter” to a stationary salesman’s son who had wandered on the set that day. Little Georgey’s dad was delivering engraved invitations to some swingers' party Bill Shatner was hosting. I dropped “lighter” or whatever it was. Honestly, I’m glad the kid took it. When I saw it on the floor, I saw a Property of the USA Government sticker with the phone number of the FBI on it. As an herbalist for the stars, I did not need that level of complication in my life. Of course, the kid made those cool space opera movies with the first of the three great ones premiering in 1977. He did remember where he got the whole lightsaber idea. I got to do all the cast and crew “special deliveries” for episodes 4, 5, and 6 – as well as countless conventions. I’m set for life whether or not I work another day. Yet, I still love my work. Giving folks the tools they need for “deeper insights” or just to chill with friends has been very rewarding. (Chewbacca LOVED pot brownies, by the way) George got rich and thought he could use the creativity of all the engineers and computers like he did for special effects. He wanted to ditch “practicals” in all parts of his life, I guess. He thought he could make some synthetic weed cheaper than I could deliver. George is always wanting to make everything cheaper and computer-generated. Well, that fake shit is how we got Jar Jar Binks. Ruined his whole franchise quality but George made some righteous coin when he flipped it to Disney. Do I need to explain why the whole Kathleen Kennedy takeover was a totally buggered, bleeding disaster??
Two words —- BOXED WINE. You give a woman an opportunity to be creative with nothing but other women and a few non-binaries and you’ll wind up with empty wine boxes everywhere littering the writing room, dressing rooms, restrooms, set, and all around the trailers. And hung over bitches everywhere. God. Nothing truly creative and inspiring can come out of that cesspool of a giant catfight of sarcasta-bitches with headaches blaming “toxic” men for all their problems with zero character arc. The highest arts of men and women have always been nurtured by carefully cultivated herbals and fungals – not a toxic mix of Mary Sues and industrially produced alcohol.
​

Here you can find all the best Black Friday offers on glass, pipes, grinders, concentrate & dry herb vapes. Feel free to share any good codes and sales you find and I will add them to the list.

Store	Offer	Code	When	Ships To
Auxo	Up to 45% off	N/A	Nov 20-27th	USA
Bear Quartz	25% off sale	N/A	Unknown	USA, UK, Can
Blazy Susan	35% off code	BLAZYBFCM2023	Unknown	USA, UK, Can, EU
Boundless Tech	Up to 25% off sale	N/A	Ends Nov 27th	USA, Can
Cali Crusher	25% off sale	N/A	Nov 24-27th	USA
Canadian Smoke	20-60% off sale	N/A	Ends Nov 24th	Can
Cannabolish	25% off code	BLACKFRIDAY	Unknown	USA
CCELL	20% off sitewide	N/A	Nov 20-27th	USA
DabTech	BOGO 50% off	N/A	Unknown	USA
Daily High Club	20% off the smokeshop	LOADUP	Ends Nov 23rd	USA
Daily High Club	15% off multi-month subs	SAVE15	Nov 24th only	USA
DankStop	25% Off	FIRE	Nov 24th - 27th	USA, UK, Can, Aus
DaVinci Vapes	25% off sitewide	N/A	Unknown	USA, Can, EU
Dr Dabber	30% off select devices	N/A	Unknown	USA
E-Nail.com	Up to 80% off sale	N/A	Nov 24th only	USA, UK, Can, Aus
Everything 420	30% off sale and free gifts with orders	BFCM23	Nov 24th only	USA, UK, Can, Aus, EU
FocusV	Up to 30% off sale	N/A	Starts Nov 23rd	USA, UK, Can, Aus
Furna	30% off code	BLACK30	Ends Dec 1st	USA, UK, Can, Aus
Grasscity	20% off code	BFCM20	Ends Nov 27th	USA, Can, UK
Headshop.com	Up to 65% off sale	N/A	Nov 24th Only	USA
Healthy Rips	20% off code	HOLIDAY	Ends Nov 30th	USA
Herb Ripper	15% off code	STAYRIPPED	Unknown	USA, UK, Can, Aus, EU
High 5 Vape	50% off sale	N/A	Ends Nov 24th	USA, Can
Higher Standards	25% off sitewide	N/A	Unknown	USA
HØJ	30% off sale plus additional 10% with code	CVoucher10	Unknown	USA, UK, Can, Aus, EU
Inhalco	20% off code	BFCM20	Unknown	USA, Can, EU
Kind Pen	50% off all vapes		Unknown	USA, UK, Can
King Palm	25% off code	BF23	Unknown	USA, UK, Can, Aus, EU
Levo Oil	$10 off over $75, $50 off $250, $70 off $350, $110 off $550	BF1 and BF2 and BF3 and BF4	Ends Nov 27th	USA, Can
Lookah	20% off sale	N/A	Nov 23-26th	USA
Mamba Grinders	25% off code	255AGFHC	Ends Nov 23rd	USA, Can
Myster	Up to 30% off sitewide	N/A	Unknown	USA, UK, Can, Aus, EU
NY Vape Shop	35% off code	MoneySave	Unknown	USA
PAX	30% off sale	N/A	Nov 22-27th	USA
Pilot Diary	20% off code	BFD20	Unknown	USA, Can
Phoenician Grinders	30% off 4 piece grinders	N/A	Until Nov 30th	USA, UK, Can, Aus
Purple Rose Supply	30% off sitewide	N/A	Unknown	USA, UK
Session Goods	Up to 50% off sale and 15% code	HOLLYJOLLY	Nov 20-28th	USA
Smoke Cartel	30% off code	SAVE2023	Nov 24-27th	USA, UK, Can, Aus, EU
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Terporium	BOGO 50% off and free gifts over $75.	BLACK23	Unknown	USA
To The Cloud Vapor Store	25% off Storz & Bickel	N/A	Unknown	USA, Can
Vapefully	Up to 40% off sale	N/A	Ends Nov 27th	UK, EU
Vapor.com	25% off Marley Natural code	MARLEYBF25	Unknown	USA
Vaporize USA	20% off sitewide.	N/A	Ends Nov 24th	USA
Vessel	Up to 50% off sale	N/A	Until Nov 30th	USA, Can
Victory Glassworks	First code 30% off almost everything and second 15% off sitewide.	LETSGOO and MFPRESENTS	Unknown	USA
Vivant	35% off 2 items with code	VBLACK	Nov 22-26th	USA
Weed.com	Various sales and codes	See homepage	Ends Nov 24th	USA
World of Bongs	Up to 80% off sale	N/A	Unknown	USA

Disclaimer\* Some links are affiliate links and if you purchase using them I may earn a few dollars for referring you.

I'm a 27M, 5'11", 190lbs
Prescriptions: 37.5mg Phentermine daily (about half the week I take half doses)
2.5-5mg Cialis as needed before bed (no ED, just makes things easier with the accompanying vasoconstriction of Phentermine)
Supplements: 1.5g of Acetyl L-Carnitine
Drug use: 0.2g weed in dry herb vaporizer nightly (low volume but harder sucking required compared to cigarette, bong, pipe)
320-500mg of caffeine daily
This is only my 3rd week ever of being prescribed a stimulant/amphetamine and sometimes I'll have occurrences of mild sharp aches in my sternum and ribs, most of the time its either the middle sternum or right ribs proximal to the sternum, only occasionally left of sternum, I never have any accompanying shortness of breath, no other cardiac symptoms really, normal heart rate in the 60's and 70's during the occurrence, normal blood pressure 110-124 systolic, and a normal EKG. It usually only lasts minutes or maybe a mild ache for an hour in some cases.
I'm no stranger to weird aches in the chest from exercise, illness/congestion, and palpitations throughout my life but I'm new to phentermine and to Cialis. Probably unfounded but one of my worries is that somehow Cialis would mask ischemic pain for me or something!
These occurrences seem to correlate with periods of increased anxiety/stress though, but like I said with normal vitals, and even tachycardia in the 120's doesn't seem to bring about any pain/palpitations, the less stressed I am and the better I take care of my feeding/hydrating the less likely I seem to have this happen.
Is it possible it's just anxiety?
Troponins would probably put me at ease but I have no insurance and where would one even go for troponin and a repeat test with a complaint of "chest pain" that's not an ER? In my locale I have a feeling every other option would turn me away and call an ambulance

Hello,
I’ve never caught myself in any bad situations with law enforcement so this is all new to me. I’m 25 and have a clean record, besides speeding tickets from highschool. I also have a Utah medical marijuana card. I was camping this weekend with a buddy who does not have a medical marijuana card and he decided to smoke weed out of a pipe which it is illegal to combust weed under Utah state law. My buddy set the pipe down and a ranger walked up and asked to see the pipe. He asked a few questions about ownership and I said it wasn’t mine. I told him I had a weed vaporizer which I showed him as well as my medical marijuana card. I didn’t smoke out of the pipe and told him it wasn’t mine. He confiscated the pipe and took my license and medical marijuana card with him. My buddy was not asked to identify himself and wasn’t asked if ownership was his. The ranger completely disregarded my buddy. Later the cop came back and charged me with 2 counts or paraphernalia. This doesn’t seem like a valid case to me as nothing was mine and I felt I was only changed because I had a medical marijuana card and this ego driven cop wanted to make an example. This doesn’t seem like a full investigation was attempted by leaving another individual unidentified or without questioning when he is in the same vicinity of the crime being committed.

Been a stoner for years and only smoke flower in a joint or water bong or pipe. I like weed pens for their simplicity.
What's a different way to get my daily medicine with flower, vaporizer maybe? Looking for some different options and see what y'all recommend

Alternative Potion Forms:
What physical form does the potion take.
Potion grants effect by: (applying it to a surface / bathing in it / breathing it / drinking it / eating it / injecting it into blood stream / massaged in / smoke bath / smoking it / snorting it / soaking in it / staunch wound / steam bath, etc)

1. Adhesive Patch with skin contact time release potion
   
2. Acupuncture Needles (coated in potion / alchemical tips)
   
3. Bathing Oils
   
4. Bathing Salts
   
5. Candle Smoke
   
6. Chemical reaction by mixing 2+ (chemicals, metals, potions, substances) together.
   
7. Chew (gum, tobacco)
   
8. Creams / Crème
   
9. Cyst growing off the body of a tiny creature (mouse, rat, etc) pop to drink. Potentially regrows after use
   
10. Ear Drops
    
11. Eye Drops
    
12. Flakes
    
13. Food Bar (granola bar)
    
14. Gas
    
15. Gels
    
16. Herbs
    
17. Hot Wax dripped onto skin or wound
    
18. Incense
    
19. Infused Alcohol (ale, beer, grog, mead, moonshine, rum, wine, etc)
    
20. Infused baked goods (arepas, bread, corn bread, flat bread, muffins, pancakes, etc)
    
21. Infused Bandage
    
22. Infused Brewed Drink (coffee, hot chocolate, tea)
    
23. Infused butter
    
24. Infused Candy
    
25. Infused Cheese
    
26. Infused Chocolate Bars
    
27. Infused Compress
    
28. Infused Dried Fruit (dates, raisins, dried fruit slices or wedges)
    
29. Infused Fermented Foods - Fermented in a alchemical solution. (cheese, cream, fruit, grains, meat, seafood, vegetable, yogurt)
    
30. Infused Gelatin
    
31. Infused Gummies
    
32. Infused Hard Candy (butterscotch, caramels, drops, rock candy, toffee)
    
33. Infused Hardtack
    
34. Infused Honey Pot Ant
    
35. Infused (Jam, Jelly, Preserves)
    
36. Infused Jerky
    
37. Infused Mint
    
38. Infused Molasses
    
39. Infused Mud
    
40. Infused Nut Roll
    
41. Infused Nuts
    
42. Infused Pemmican
    
43. Infused Pepper or stuffed pepper
    
44. Infused Pickles or Pickled Food (eggs, fruit, grubs, vegetables, etc)
    
45. Infused plants or fungi - alchemical solution injected into plant / (brined, marinated, pickled) in an alchemical solution / grown in alchemical (fertilizer, solution) - berries, fruit, gourd, leaves, melon, mushroom, nuts, petals, roots, seed pods, seeds, shoots, stalks, syrup, tuber, vegetables
    
46. Infused Popsicles
    
47. Infused Spices
    
48. Infused Stinger (bee, hornet, scorpion, wasp) + potion replaces poison
    
49. Infused Tobacco (smoking: cigar, pipe)
    
50. Infused Tofu
    
51. Infused Unappetizing Edibles (bugs, eyeballs, fungi, grubs, insects, spiders, worms, etc)
    
52. Infused Vinegar
    
53. Infused Wafers
    
54. Infused Yogurt
    
55. Injection (via needle) - Coated or treated acupuncture needles / Syringe filled with alchemical solution / IV Bag filled with alchemical solution
    
56. Injection (via needleless injection) - ( hypo-injection gun, jet injector) loaded with alchemical solution
    
57. Injection (via parasitic creature) - lamprey, leech, tick - creature raised on alchemical solution. It delivers a potion effect with its bite. Potion only remains in effect so long as it remains attached.
    
58. Injection (via venomous creature) - bee, centipede, fish, jelly fish, octopus, scorpion, sea anemone, snail, snake, spider, wasp - creature raised on alchemical solutions until it's venom becomes a potion.
    
59. Innately Magical Fruit, Mushroom, Nut, Roots, or Vegetable
    
60. Liniment
    
61. Liquid
    
62. Liquid + chunks
    
63. Liquid + layered
    
64. Lotion
    
65. Magical Honey
    
66. Magical Spores
    
67. Mask with inhaled potion (gas, mist, smoke, vapor)
    
68. Nasal Spray - Some sort of device for shooting alchemical (liquid, mist) up the nose
    
69. Nectar
    
70. Oils
    
71. Ointment
    
72. Ooze / Slime - Ingested or coating
    
73. Paste
    
74. Pellets
    
75. Perfume / Cologne
    
76. Pills
    
77. Poison (frog, toad) - creature raised on alchemical solutions until it's poison secretions becomes a potion. Potion effect achieved by licking the creature.
    
78. Potions
    
79. Poultice
    
80. Powders / Dust
    
81. Salve
    
82. Saturated Absorbent Paper (dissolves in mouth or under tongue)
    
83. Saturated Cube (bouillon cube, sugar cube)
    
84. Serum
    
85. Smelling Salts
    
86. Smokable - cigar, cigarette, pipe, water pipe (bong, hookah) + alchemical powder, tobacco, weed
    
87. Smoke Bath - Alchemical substance must be burned to produce smoke. User must bathe in the smoke to gain the effects.
    
88. Snuff
    
89. Soap
    
90. Steam Bath - Alchemical liquid must be boiled or poured over hot coals to produce steam. User must bathe in the steam to gain the effects.
    
91. Suppository
    
92. Symbiotic Fungi - fungi grows on skin while providing potion effect
    
93. Tablets
    
94. Tincture
    
95. Tiny creature that gets crushed in the container just before use. User drinks the resulting mess.
    
96. Tonic
    
97. Unguent
    
98. Unstable substance submerged in oil. If removed and not used immediately it sublimates.
    
99. Vapors
    
100. Vapor Rub
     

Similar Post:
Definitely Not Potions
Things an Alchemist Would Make
Alchemy Related:
Alchemy – Low Magic Creations
Alchemy – Beneficial Potions
Alchemy – Dangerous or Harmful Potions
Alchemy Tables
Contributors:
caine2003
felicidefangfan

Gotta review my Swans journey so far (TGM discussion begins at paragraph seven).
Honest to god it’s only been a few months but I cannot remember how my Swans journey begun. I taste-tested with Screen Shot sometime early last year, and did not connect with it—but felt it was the kind of thing I could come back around to. When I came back around to re-sample the band, I tried A Little God In My Hand and was swept a-fucking-way. Those cacophonous synth hits just got tastier with each contorted wave, and was left by the end of the track going, “This is it. This is what I didn’t know I was looking for. Time to eat this shit up.” At this point I joined the subreddit to get community insight and chart a listening course forward. I delved into Filth first just to lay the groundwork. I grew up saturated in classic rock, singer-songwriter, 80s pop and rock, and 90s grunge and alternative, so when I say that my jaw dropped hearing an album from '83 with the sonic palette and cutting themes Filth has, it was an informed disbelief. Nothing that hasn’t already been said--crushingly brutal, like rusted metal sheets sliding up and down each other, pounded by industrial machinery in the lower deck of a transatlantic ship. This is slave music of patriarchal capitalism, born in the forge of its belly: early 1980s' New York City.
I followed this with White Light, which was another shock in terms of contrast to Filth, and its occasional ecstatic beauty. The melodic section of Love Will Save You? The heartbreaking, depressive honesty of Blind (even more with the Israeli prison context)? Song for Dead Time? Between these two albums I was locked in. I’m a _sucker_ for album experiences (call me a Pink Floyd refugee), so The Great Annihilator was next on my list. The overt spirituality of Mind/Body/Light/Sound and I Am The Sun (especially the clippingly loud Flesh Club live cut tucked at the end) screwed me tighter to the side of this escape-velocity rock. From the subreddit, I knew the reputation of the “post-rock trilogy,” post-rock being my choice genre (This Will Destroy You, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Mogwai, etc.), and knew these albums couldn’t be sitting-in-my-living-room casual listening.
To start with, The Seer. I packed a bowl of home grown, threw it in an apothecary’s satchel, double-knotted my boots, and set out into a foggy afternoon in the community Redwood forest. Ignition of Lunacy as I entered the gate of the woods. I slowly veered further and further from the main trails, until I was climbing the steep side of an earth mound with more and more accelerating pace, broke out into a monstrous, heaving gallop up each switch-back of the deer trail as The Seer’s tension culminated in a frenetic crescendo of predatory fervor. I was the Wolf. I did not stop snarling up the mountainside until the percussive strikes abated--each crash more infinite, more symbolically potent, more deeply rooted than the last. I was at the top now, with short-changed breath. Perfect time to burn the bowl. As the crashes continued to roll like the alarm bells of a paranoid schizophrenic, I drew in the deepest breath I could and began slowly floating down the main trail I’d re-intersected on the park’s far-side. The Seer Returns whispered sweet, Godly nothings in my ear as I clomped off-trail again, this time plodding my own path through ferns and fresh-born mushrooms to the detritus-laden stump of a two-hundred year old tree. Sitting, facing out across the narrow valley as the overcast sky began its slow, evening dim, 93 Ave. Blues showed the Wolf the bigger fish which had been following me from the sky, through the trees. The Daughter Brings the Water baptized my hallowed bones, Song For a Warrior lit something inside of my chest I’d long forgotten was possible, and Avatar brought me back to my feet. I made a winding exit from the forest, allowing ample space and solitude to bask in the hands that held my life and soak in the unspeakable longing of the first half of A Piece of the Sky. When those bells finally broke through, it was like the subtlest spiritual rapture flowing in stream from the spring that was Song For A Warrior. Apostate turned me over in its mouth, with Michael’s “G-g-g-g-get out!” sounding like the voice of some forest spirit whom I had not properly consecrated myself to meet. The exhaustive clamor that foams the album to a close was the thirty-legged monstrosity from 93 Ave. Blues finally warded off—yet I could no longer tell if the monster was in the sky, ushering me away from its abode, or if its percussive footsteps were the spidery legs of my soul crawling back to the web I came from. Did I have any idea of what to make of the album after that first listen? No. But I had enough sense to let the feeling in my bones settle like a sedimentary layer of some mass extinction from the remote depths of my psyche, whose frailty has allowed my tectonic unconscious to fold mountains up out of the debris. When I returned home, the walls were smaller. I pledged my allegiance to Michael Gira then and there.
The next day, I began in on To Be Kind. I got through She Loves Us before I had to go to work. On the way home, I picked up with Kristine Supine and finished out the album. I’ll be honest, To Be Kind did not immediately connect with me like The Seer did. It’s true that the listening experience was interrupted by obligation, and that my setting was far less pointedly cultivated than it was for The Seer, but neither did it strike me quite as cohesively in theme or flow. In subsequent listens I have pulled the threads together and can appreciate its totality and humanity, and did enjoy the flow more when it was, well, uninterrupted. Still, fan-favorites like Bring The Sun and Oxygen left me feeling a smidge underwhelmed for reasons I couldn’t place. I was irked by the disproportionality between the first and second halves’ subject matters, feeling like the second disc was a lot more one-note, with She Loves Us, Kirsten Supine, Nathalie Neal, and To Be Kind revolving around either sex or romantic love. I later read that Nathalie Neal is about Michael’s daughter and She Loves Us is about adolescent love a la sex, which concretized the second half of the album, and the narrative arc of the album, much more clearly for me—especially following the outro of “Some Things We Do” off the first disc. She Loves Us is lusty teenery, Kirsten Supine is the all-consuming involvement and attachment to your first love(s) ("May plan-ets crash, may god rain ash//I will let it go, I can’t let it go…"), Oxygen is aging into vitality, overcoming mid-life crisis, and taking ownership of our simplest will to live ("I still love the oxygeeen!”), Nathalie Neal is the devotion to and love for your children (“Cut your name on to the sky, Nathalieeeee!”), and To Be Kind is the settling at the end of life with your committed partner and your child—the “millions and millions of stars in your eyes” is the depth of love you must feel for a partner you spend the rest of your life with, as well as the boundless potential you can see in the eyes of your child. Considering the album opens, narratively, with Just A Little Boy, very much about the complexes we develop in childhood which follow us as we grow (“I’m not—I’m not human!”) and how the adults around us dismiss and reinforce these complexes (“[Laughter]”), the endless potential of staring into your child’s eyes places the ““protagonist”” in the position of shaping the next generation, of doing better by them than was done for us. While the music’s finale felt a little stunted upon first listens, I now hear it as an echo of the ending of Oxygen, a wheezing, a heart palpitation, the successive injuries of ever-increasing age—death. We have come full circle, from an incisive call to presence (tonal opener, Screen Shot, catching the listener wherever they are in life and putting them in position for the album), through the tribulations of youth which we are largely powerless to affect, all the way to reclamation of self and inhabiting the responsibility of the agency we grow into. It’s like Dark Side of the Moon, but does the whole “unpacking sources of contemporary repression” theme with a finer scalpel and less of the forgiveness of 70s rock showmanship. I make this crude comparison only to emphasize what I see as the importance and staying power of To Be Kind. As others have said, I can see why it’s the stereotypical fan favorite, even if I don't agree it’s Swans' best. A prime intersection of experimentation, honed technique, and thematic accessibility certifies it a classic.
Okay. So. After two thirds of this trilogy had demarcated my life up until this point as unrecognizable from my life hereto onward, and seeing that The Glowing Man was less discussed than the previous two albums, but lauded with descriptors like “transcendent” and “spiritual,” as well as seeing Gira himself state it was his favorite of the trilogy, I had a feeling this would be the installment for me. I gave myself some time to prepare, to get my affairs in order. I brushed up on Cop and Love of Life, as well as picked up “Blood Promise” from Swans Are Dead into my morning routine (thank you whomever commenter here offered this song under a post asking what Swans’ fans’ favorite Swans songs are. You really did that for me), as well as fingered through the tracks on My Father, which I found less compelling, as well as the first Angels of Light album, which I think I'll return to at a later date. You see, the latter third of my teens was bespeckled with psychedelic use. It became a religious practice for me, especially LSD, not letting a month go by without cleansing myself from the aggregate muck of male egoic jealous self-delusion. Into my early twenties, I cooled the engines on all but sonorous cannabis and the occasional psilocybe excursion, and picked up mindfulness practices from Buddhism and the four yogas of Hinduism, focused more on daily breath work, diet, and art practice, and generally rounded myself out to be a grounded participant in society. Woohoo! But. It’s been two years since my last LSD trip, and I miss it. Like a friend you haven’t talked to for some time with whom you’ve been meaning to catch up, I’ve heard the ringing of a call to pick up the phone for awhile. Yet, armed with a personal maturity unmatched in my younger ventures, I am now more sculptor than abstract expressionist—more Rodin than de Kooning. And more than ever before, I had a backed up catalogue of music which I had good reason to believe I’d not only enjoy, but could thoroughly appreciate, waiting in the wings. So, I looked a few months out. I considered the seasons and consulted a moon calendar, and picked a target date which was in line with my personal development intentions. There was one window which my intuition made evident resonated most deeply with all that I had lined up—a few days separated the winter solstice (yesterday, December 21) and the new moon (tomorrow, December 23). The shortest day of the year, or the day most submerged in Earth’s shadow from the sun, about on-beat with the point at which the moon is invisible under its own shadow. I have a fairly androgynous personality, but recognize as I grow older that my shadow, in the Jungian sense, is deeply entwined with my masculinity. I’m 6’ and have broad shoulders, and while I’m not particularly built or anything, neither am I particularly talkative—which makes some people uncomfortable. I know my principles and my limits and I know I’m no danger unless acting in self-defense, but others have no insurance of that. As I've become entranced in the Swans discography and their albums have fallen into my daily rotation, I’ve been a bit more forthright with myself about the intensity of my presence and how it could come off to others. So, while the Earth and moon were in their shadows, what better time for me to venture into my own? First problem: my work schedule. The business I clock in to for a living is open all that week, and are short-staffed at that because of people taking time off for the holidays. I had five days off the week prior to dog sit for some family, so I really had no wiggle room to make things work. For a minute, I thought I’d have to applaud my careful planning, but move the ceremony back to the time between Christmas and New Years, or even into early January. Then, an act of God. My town was rattled with earthquakes the morning I got back from the dog-sitting gig, and everywhere was without power. Well, our business was very proud of its backup generator—a generator which had apparently broken down not a month prior! I got no advance warning from my boss, just passed by the store on the way home with groceries to see all the lights out. Which meant, no closing shift for me. And I didn’t have to work until four o’clock the next day, which meant I had an unexpected 25 hours of free time to care for. Well, well, well, if it wasn’t LSD’s last name.
I sauntered home in a lucid daze with my food, picking up some jasmine incense along the way, tidied up my apartment, centered my small altar of lost and found things on the bedroom floor, set my kneeling mat out in front of it, strapped my speaker to the ceiling above my bed, and changed into sweatpants and an Alex Grey cosmic eye tee. The power being out, I had no heater, and the cold slowly set in. Once all was in order, all lights off, all blinds shut to pitch blackness—I kneeled before the altar, slipped two and a half gel tabs flecked with gold flakes on to my tongue (at 6:48pm), pressed play on my prepared playlist, closed my eyes, and began breathing into my body. The playlist was a sequence of albums, none of which I’d ever heard, introduced by a symphonic tone poem by Rachmaninoff called The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, based on a painting of the same name by Böcklin. This was to embrace the symbolic death of my unwanted attachments and accompany the settling and centering of mind for the journey ahead. Following Rachmaninoff, the playlist consisted of the following: Omnium Gatherum by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, 10,000 Days by TOOL, The Glowing Man by Swans, Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada by Godspeed! You Black Emperor, and finally, Soundtracks For The Blind, by Swans. After Rachmaninoff concluded and the ‘Stralian boys were a few songs deep, I broke meditation to set the incense upon the altar and light it, for some reason dripping in sweat. The lighter’s flame was blinding in the viscous dark, and I tried to hold my hand between the fire and my eye, while still directing the flame to the head of the incense. The apartment began to fill with smoke as King, Wizard, and Co. deftly weaved genres and lyrics that pulled me between giggles, solemn approval, and pure groove. By the end of the album, The Funeral, I had progressed to bed. Fitting! From there, TOOL took over. Those guys know how to play, and keep the energy up. At this point, creeping into the eight o’clock hour, I was becoming self-aware about bothering my neighbors with the constancy of this sonic barrage. So, scaling down the volume every so often through the album, spasming at my core with reactive entanglement in the music that massaged laughter from typically clenched places within myself, finally Viginti Tres passed overhead into the veiled beyond. I admit, I'd heard The Pot and Viginti Tres off 10,000 Days before, so I knew those lumbering dragons wings meant the beast was here. Yes, I was excited to hear all of these albums (and thoroughly enjoyed them all at that!) but I knew what I had come for. I knew that he was here.
The Glowing Man. What the fuck! From the moment Cloud of Forgetting faded in, the sleek, synthesized ambience teleported me. The fidelity is on another level, the sustained pads complement Swans’ percussive guitar and drums like a fine mist complements Stonehenge, or the Paris Catacombs. It was like watching a time-lapse of the ground eroding out from under my feet, exposing the shape of bedrock as we plunge further into the Earth, into the inner sanctum of a diamond-forged mind as M. Gira’s. Isle of the Dead is a twenty minute piece, Omnium Gatherum sports a runtime of an hour twenty, and 10,000 Days is an hour fifteen—which meant, as I crossed under the first archways of Gira’s voice (“Waaalking out…”) we were entering the third hour, the ascension to the peak and its subsequent waves, just as I had planned. Though I wore headphones, it was I who was subsumed into it. This music sounds like some a stamp in wax of the force which first lit stars and strung them across the sky. Now we meet the brink of language. What was going on within me for Cloud of Unknowing? Rapture. IIIIIII AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM, the mystic Gira cries out. IIIIIIII AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM NOOOOOOOT, he then concedes. Reminds me of the Buddhist contemplation: I am; I am not; “I am.” The final quotation is recognition of the reality of the first statement, as well as acknowledgement of our imperfect access to it, limited by the nature of our concepts. You know, I’ve seen many people claim that Gira’s references to spirituality, be it in A Piece of the Sky, Cloud of Unknowing, Children of God, or elsewhere, is mocking, tongue-in-cheek, or satirical, but I think that’s bullshit. Cloud of Unknowing, and truly The Glowing Man as a whole, is like a resistance band for mindfulness. The repetition of zombie, as though we are all mindless beings inhabited by God, could also be an indictment of religious people who are divorced from their own spirituality. Sucker refers to the most fundamental human instinct, to drink from our mothers, but also to people who buy into the institutions of religion without the slightest participation in its truly existentialist dimensions. Christianity has had mystical sects throughout its history which have reached the same self-transcendence and kenosis as Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and Sufis. But, to come into clarity of mind, you cannot become caught up in the threads of concern, confusion, or consideration. Gira rolls these words out of his sternum like he is daring your mind to wander from one-pointedness, daring you to succumb to awareness of your powerlessness over these most fundamental elements of what we are. After all, that’s what God was always known to be by the mystics: the invisible structure underlying all things, apparent in ourselves in the biological coding that allows us to feed as needed from the moment we’re this side of the birthing canal (A Red Velvet Corridor, if you will). As The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black buried my mind, I was with all the lingering ghosts of bodies buried out of respect for the sanctity of their spirit. A planet of bodies awash in an ocean of insects, the sleeper men. Aren’t we all following the words and deeds of the dead? Somewhere in the tail end of the climax, my headphones died. Jarred awake, I rose from my bed (with the sun in my head) and found my headphones' charging case. I couldn’t entertain the possibility of playing this album at that time through my speaker, so I took a moment out of my heightened state to sit down with an art project of mine I’m in the weeds with, a mandalic film built around near-death experience. I spent about an hour swept away in my work before, satisfied with my insight and headphones graciously charged, I returned to bed. Hitting play immediately submerged me back into the momentum of the album as I stood upon the peak of the acid, like Moses, while People Like Us spoke two commandments to me: Sit down and shut up. The lyrics there are Michael’s most poetic ever, and his instruction to drink from the vine foresaw my next maneuver. You see, I had brought something to bed with me after getting up from my work. In a small desk drawer, I’ve held a rechargeable, white dimethyltryptamine vaporizer. While Frankie M burned into its first half, I took one, two, and then a third long, medium breaths in. Every story I’d ever heard danced in pictographs, compressed flat against the edge of every surface in my mind like the tessellation of a hyperbolic plane. Some sense of center was retained, but just as soon as I recognized such as being the case, I saw the small geometric designation kerploof apart like falling water, like smoke off dry ice, like a squirrel grazing an electrical line. Then came, “Frankie MMMMMM. Frankie MMMMMM. Frankie MMMMMM. Frankie MMMMMM.” I rose firmly back into my body, and the first coherent thought that reemerged followed a laugh from my gut, and I asked aloud, “What is Gira _talking_ about here?” Literally trading the end of my last syllable with the beginning of the first syllable of “Heroiiiin.” My face when. “Butterflies! Butterfliiies!” More laughter. When he started talking about killing his friends, it made me glad of two things: one, that I was undertaking this journey alone, and two, that my common sense seemed perfectly intact amidst all these influences. When Will I Return made me forget my breath. I forgot everything, twisted off the end of every word Jennifer sang with mounting apprehension. The thought crossed my mind, “Okay, but why would you commit this to song for eternity?” when came, “AAAAAAAAAH—I’M ALIVE.” Fuuuuuuck, fuck, fuck. The feeling there was incomparable. At this point, I thought I knew what everyone meant when they said they transcended during this album. This album had made me realize I was real, killed me, swept me away to another realm, spoken to me, and then made me forget anything like “me” existed. Height after height, ascension after ascension. And then…
The Glowing Man. What the fuck! This song legitimately scared me. Coming right off the heels of When Will I Return, something in me felt utterly convinced that what I was hearing was a r*pe confession by Michael Gira. I know Larkin Grimm’s accusation, but that was neither here nor there in my mind at that moment. I do see, though, how her allegation coming the same year this album came out could've created a buffer of people not wanting to touch it. I read some people’s interpretations of the title track yesterday, about how it’s the superior man, the ideal Gira aspires to, etc., but that is not what struck my mind. From the opening line ("Heeeeee’s a reeal go-getterrrr! Getterrr!”), there’s a homophone between “getter” and “get her,” then “heart-breaker, break her,” and “head-splitter, split her.” Coming directly after a song about r*pe, the undertones seem to me self-evident. I compare it to Death of a Salesman, which showed how the 1950s American cultural ideal of the “alpha male businessman” bred toxic behavior in young men through the very way they were encouraged to succeed. I hear Gira expressing normatively positive sentiments that have these abyssal shadows to them, demonstrating how a person that takes these instructions to heart could easily go too far and cross lines that can’t be uncrossed. Theft, r*pe, murder. And then, just as my anxious wondering fully ensnared the sphere of my attention, the Bring The Sun reprise struck, and hit so much harder than in Bring The Sun! Again, the pads beneath the pummeling regularity of the band’s measures were the moment nothing was left of me. Theia struck Earth. A galactic nebula tied a knot into our sun. A black hole star fused Sagittarius A*. The primordial chaos that lurks in the thrust of the big bang bled into my third eye. Time had ceased, I had always been here. Though I’d never heard The Glowing Man before, amidst this cacophony I was at peace with the totally familiar. Like a song I heard broken into fragments throughout dreams since childhood. Like the skeleton of God. The chorus of voices that pan behind the Joseph section sounded like pagan trances from across space and time, all tuning into this hyperobject downloaded from some higher plane of reality and reaching my ears through it. After watching Gira’s interview about Joseph, which I think he was wholly sincere about, this passage becomes part of the thematic lynchpin of the album in my eyes. Joseph is a higher self, a not-me that moves through-me. But not like God’s presence in you reveals you to be a zombie, as in Cloud of Unknowing. No, Gira sees clearly what Joseph does: digs his hands in his chest, moves his tongue in his throat. Joseph is accessible, a teacher, a guide for who Michael could be—precisely, who he becomes when he performs. “Joseph is me and you are a liar!” Michael dissociates, Michael gropes for identification with his higher self, Joseph screams accusations potentially revealing he is not as glowing as he thinks he is. Jospeh was making my body fly, but my fear, however, had not abated. “I am a glowing man, I am. I am a glowing, glowing man!” are the eeriest words I’ve ever heard in my life. A celebration, self-delusion, an irreducible fact—and a potent image, at that. Then, he is a nothing, no-thing man, again rescinding all attributes in favor of embodying a transcendental gestalt. "What is is is is is is is is whaaat?” What is, is. What is, is what? What is, is. The last five minutes of this song were hypnotic in ways I haven’t yet caught in words. The entire song was patterned by amorphous shapes and colors, constantly becoming and radiating, passing through itself and revealing new depths. Hypnotic and transcendental don’t begin to touch it. Psychedelic and entheogenic, cinematic and Jungian. Apocalyptic renewal. A complete out of body experience. As those last pipes are squeezed quiet and Finally, Peace, sparkles into sight, I was quivering. Waiting for tears. All creation is hollow, the shining void. Again, the album ends with this faint homophone: "You glorious miiiind, the glory is miiiine!” It’s like a rejection of God and Joseph to inhabit your due credit in being as glowing as you are. I’M ALIVE. In fact, I’ve never felt so alive. If there was a stone inside me, this album destroyed it. And, now, to begin again.
My listening carried straight into Moya by Godspeed!, which I was not aware was a transition between the albums. I was halfway through Helpless Child when I decided to check, for the first time in the evening, where exactly I was in the playlist. You know, everyone says Soundtracks For The Blind is a scary record, but Red Velvet Corridor was soothing and I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull had me giggling again. I settled in for another life-changing ride, and was very intrigued as the tracks passed, but myself faded out into sleep sometime after Volcano. I will have to sit down from the jump and have a SFTB listening session in the near future, because I loved what I heard. It really does have a Sound alien to their past albums, and foreshadowing of the post-rock era. I have to say, the field recording in Blaise Bailey Finnegan III carried so perfectly into Red Velvet Corridor I’m bummed I didn’t get to hear all of Soundtracks off the momentum of the back end of The Glowing Man and Zero Kanada. But, as far as complaints go, that’s pretty well cherry-picked. Not only was the solstice ceremony transportive, but the Swans discography has changed me. Read a comment somewhere here recently saying some people just aren’t miserable enough for this music, and I got a laugh out of it—but it’s also true. Yet, for all the loathing, depression, hopelessness, and existential dread that Michael Gira has fit into his forty years of musical endeavoring, these records have brought me unparalleled companionship, new artistic horizons, and barer emotional honesty than I have found anywhere else. It’s changed my life, so much for the better. I thought Little God In My Hands was a game-changer, I thought A Piece of the Sky was an achievement of spiritual expression, I thought God Damn The Sun moved the cornerstone of my heart. Nothing could have prepared me for The Glowing Man. If this trilogy isn’t spoken of in art history classes in a hundred years, it will be wildly overlooked. Michael Gira isn’t just a musician, mystic, artist, my new daddy, or the voice of God. He’s all of them at once. Jesus Christ, y’all. Swans. What is this?
Needless to say, can’t wait for The Beggar.

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From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent. Sometimes it enters directly into the composition of the events, while sometimes it relates only to their fortuitous position among persons and places. The latter sort is splendidly exemplified by a case in the ancient city of Providence, where in the late forties Edgar Allan Poe used to sojourn often during his unsuccessful wooing of the gifted poetess, Mrs. Whitman. Poe generally stopped at the Mansion House in Benefit Street—the renamed Golden Ball Inn whose roof has sheltered Washington, Jefferson, and Lafayette—and his favorite walk led northward along the same street to Mrs. Whitman's home and the neighboring hillside churchyard of St. John's, whose hidden expanse of Eighteenth Century gravestones had for him a peculiar fascination.
Now the irony is this. In this walk, so many times repeated, the world's greatest master of the terrible and the bizarre was obliged to pass a particular house on the eastern side of the street; a dingy, antiquated structure perched on the abruptly rising side hill, with a great unkempt yard dating from a time when the region was partly open country. It does not appear that he ever wrote or spoke of it, nor is there any evidence that he even noticed it. And yet that house, to the two persons in possession of certain information, equals or outranks in horror the wildest fantasy of the genius who so often passed it unknowingly, and stands starkly leering as a symbol of all that is unutterably hideous.
The house was—and for that matter still is—of a kind to attract the attention of the curious. Originally a farm or semi-farm building, it followed the average New England colonial lines of the middle Eighteenth Century—the prosperous peaked-roof sort, with two stories and dormerless attic, and with the Georgian doorway and interior panelling dictated by the progress of taste at that time. It faced south, with one gable end buried to the lower windows in the eastward rising hill, and the other exposed to the foundations toward the street. Its construction, over a century and a half ago, had followed the grading and straightening of the road in that especial vicinity; for Benefit Street—at first called Back Street—was laid out as a lane winding amongst the graveyards of the first settlers, and straightened only when the removal of the bodies to the North Burial Ground made it decently possible to cut through the old family plots.
At the start, the western wall had lain some twenty feet up a precipitous lawn from the roadway; but a widening of the street at about the time of the Revolution sheared off most of the intervening space, exposing the foundations so that a brick basement wall had to be made, giving the deep cellar a street frontage with door and one window above ground, close to the new line of public travel. When the sidewalk was laid out a century ago the last of the intervening space was removed; and Poe in his walks must have seen only a sheer ascent of dull gray brick flush with the sidewalk and surmounted at a height of ten feet by the antique shingled bulk of the house proper.
The farm-like ground extended back very deeply up the hill, almost to Wheaton Street. The space south of the house, abutting on Benefit Street, was of course greatly above the existing sidewalk level, forming a terrace bounded by a high bank wall of damp, mossy stone pierced by a steep flight of narrow steps which led inward between canyon-like surfaces to the upper region of mangy lawn, rheumy brick walks, and neglected gardens whose dismantled cement urns, rusted kettles fallen from tripods of knotty sticks, and similar paraphernalia set off the weather-beaten front door with its broken fanlight, rotting Ionic pilasters, and wormy triangular pediment.
What I heard in my youth about the shunned house was merely that people died there in alarmingly great numbers. That, I was told, was why the original owners had moved out some twenty years after building the place. It was plainly unhealthy, perhaps because of the dampness and fungous growths in the cellar, the general sickish smell, the drafts of the hallways, or the quality of the well and pump water. These things were bad enough, and these were all that gained belief among the persons whom I knew. Only the notebooks of my antiquarian uncle, Doctor Elihu Whipple, revealed to me at length the darker, vaguer surmises which formed an undercurrent of folklore among old-time servants and humble folk; surmises which never travelled far, and which were largely forgotten when Providence grew to be a metropolis with a shifting modern population.
The general fact is, that the house was never regarded by the solid part of the community as in any real sense "haunted." There were no widespread tales of rattling chains, cold currents of air, extinguished lights, or faces at the window. Extremists sometimes said the house was "unlucky," but that is as far as even they went. What was really beyond dispute is that a frightful proportion of persons died there; or more accurately, had died there, since after some peculiar happenings over sixty years ago the building had become deserted through the sheer impossibility of renting it. These persons were not all cut off suddenly by any one cause; rather did it seem that their vitality was insidiously sapped, so that each one died the sooner from whatever tendency to weakness he may have naturally had. And those who did not die displayed in varying degree a type of anemia or consumption, and sometimes a decline of the mental faculties, which spoke ill for the salubriousness of the building. Neighboring houses, it must be added, seemed entirely free from the noxious quality.
This much I knew before my insistent questioning led my uncle to show me the notes which finally embarked us both on our hideous investigation. In my childhood the shunned house was vacant, with barren, gnarled and terrible old trees, long, queerly pale grass and nightmarishly misshapen weeds in the high terraced yard where birds never lingered. We boys used to overrun the place, and I can still recall my youthful terror not only at the morbid strangeness of this sinister vegetation, but at the eldritch atmosphere and odor of the dilapidated house, whose unlocked front door was often entered in quest of shudders. The small-paned windows were largely broken, and a nameless air of desolation hung round the precarious panelling, shaky interior shutters, peeling wall-paper, falling plaster, rickety staircases, and such fragments of battered furniture as still remained. The dust and cobwebs added their touch of the fearful; and brave indeed was the boy who would voluntarily ascend the ladder to the attic, a vast raftered length lighted only by small blinking windows in the gable ends, and filled with a massed wreckage of chests, chairs, and spinning-wheels which infinite years of deposit had shrouded and festooned into monstrous and hellish shapes.
But after all, the attic was not the most terrible part of the house. It was the dank, humid cellar which somehow exerted the strongest repulsion on us, even though it was wholly above ground on the street side, with only a thin door and window-pierced brick wall to separate it from the busy sidewalk. We scarcely knew whether to haunt it in spectral fascination, or to shun it for the sake of our souls and our sanity. For one thing, the bad odor of the house was strongest there; and for another thing, we did not like the white fungous growths which occasionally sprang up in rainy summer weather from the hard earth floor. Those fungi, grotesquely like the vegetation in the yard outside, were truly horrible in their outlines; detestable parodies of toadstools and Indian-pipes, whose like we had never seen in any other situation. They rotted quickly, and at one stage became slightly phosphorescent; so that nocturnal passers-by sometimes spoke of witch-fires glowing behind the broken panes of the fetor-spreading windows.
We never—even in our wildest Halloween moods—visited this cellar by night, but in some of our daytime visits could detect the phosphorescence, especially when the day was dark and wet. There was also a subtler thing we often thought we detected—a very strange thing which was, however, merely suggestive at most. I refer to a sort of cloudy whitish pattern on the dirt floor—a vague, shifting deposit of mold or niter which we sometimes thought we could trace amidst the sparse fungous growths near the huge fireplace of the basement kitchen. Once in a while it struck us that this patch bore an uncanny resemblance to a doubled-up human figure, though generally no such kinship existed, and often there was no whitish deposit whatever.
On a certain rainy afternoon when this illusion seemed phenomenally strong, and when, in addition, I had fancied I glimpsed a kind of thin, yellowish, shimmering exhalation rising from the nitrous pattern toward the yawning fireplace, I spoke to my uncle about the matter. He smiled at this odd conceit, but it seemed that his smile was tinged with reminiscence. Later I heard that a similar notion entered into some of the wild ancient tales of the common folk—a notion likewise alluding to ghoulish, wolfish shapes taken by smoke from the great chimney, and queer contours assumed by certain of the sinuous tree-roots that thrust their way into the cellar through the loose foundation-stones.

2

Not till my adult years did my uncle set before me the notes and data which he had collected concerning the shunned house. Doctor Whipple was a sane, conservative physician of the old school, and for all his interest in the place was not eager to encourage young thoughts toward the abnormal. His own view, postulating simply a building and location of markedly unsanitary qualities, had nothing to do with abnormality; but he realized that the very picturesqueness which aroused his own interest would in a boy's fanciful mind take on all manner of gruesome imaginative associations.
The doctor was a bachelor; a white-haired, clean-shaven, old-fashioned gentleman, and a local historian of note, who had often broken a lance with such controversial guardians of tradition as Sidney S. Rider and Thomas W. Bicknell. He lived with one man-servant in a Georgian homestead with knocker and iron-railed steps, balanced eerily on the steep ascent of North Court Street beside the ancient brick court and colony house where his grandfather—a cousin of that celebrated privateersman, Captain Whipple, who burnt His Majesty's armed schooner Gaspee in 1772—had voted in the legislature on May 4, 1776, for the independence of the Rhode Island Colony. Around him in the damp, low-ceiled library with the musty white panelling, heavy carved overmantel and small-paned, vine-shaded windows, were the relics and records of his ancient family, among which were many dubious allusions to the shunned house in Benefit Street. That pest spot lies not far distant—for Benefit runs ledgewise just above the court house along the precipitous hill up which the first settlement climbed.
When, in the end, my insistent pestering and maturing years evoked from my uncle the hoarded lore I sought, there lay before me a strange enough chronicle. Long-winded, statistical, and drearily genealogical as some of the matter was, there ran through it a continuous thread of brooding, tenacious horror and preternatural malevolence which impressed me even more than it had impressed the good doctor. Separate events fitted together uncannily, and seemingly irrelevant details held mines of hideous possibilities. A new and burning curiosity grew in me, compared to which my boyish curiosity was feeble and inchoate.
The first revelation led to an exhaustive research, and finally to that shuddering quest which proved so disastrous to myself and mine. For at the last my uncle insisted on joining the search I had commenced, and after a certain night in that house he did not come away with me. I am lonely without that gentle soul whose long years were filled only with honor, virtue, good taste, benevolence, and learning. I have reared a marble urn to his memory in St. John's churchyard—the place that Poe loved—the hidden grove of giant willows on the hill, where tombs and headstones huddle quietly between the hoary bulk of the church and the houses and bank walls of Benefit Street.
The history of the house, opening amidst a maze of dates, revealed no trace of the sinister either about its construction or about the prosperous and honorable family who built it. Yet from the first a taint of calamity, soon increased to boding significance, was apparent. My uncle's carefully compiled record began with the building of the structure in 1763, and followed the theme with an unusual amount of detail. The shunned house, it seems, was first inhabited by William Harris and his wife Rhoby Dexter, with their children, Elkanah, born in 1755, Abigail, born in 1757, William, Jr., born in 1759, and Ruth, born in 1761. Harris was a substantial merchant and seaman in the West India trade, connected with the firm of Obadiah Brown and his nephews. After Brown's death in 1761, the new firm of Nicholas Brown & Company made him master of the brig Prudence, Providence-built, of 120 tons, thus enabling him to erect the new homestead he had desired ever since his marriage.
The site he had chosen—a recently straightened part of the new and fashionable Back Street, which ran along the side of the hill above crowded Cheapside—was all that could be wished, and the building did justice to the location. It was the best that moderate means could afford, and Harris hastened to move in before the birth of a fifth child which the family expected. That child, a boy, came in December; but was still-born. Nor was any child to be born alive in that house for a century and a half.
The next April, sickness occurred among the children, and Abigail and Ruth died before the month was over. Doctor Job Ives diagnosed the trouble as some infantile fever, though others declared it was more of a mere wasting-away or decline. It seemed, in any event, to be contagious; for Hannah Bowen, one of the two servants, died of it in the following June. Eli Lideason, the other servant, constantly complained of weakness; and would have returned to his father's farm in Rehoboth but for a sudden attachment for Mehitabel Pierce, who was hired to succeed Hannah. He died the next year—a sad year indeed, since it marked the death of William Harris himself, enfeebled as he was by the climate of Martinique, where his occupation had kept him for considerable periods during the preceding decade.
The widowed Rhoby Harris never recovered from the shock of her husband's death, and the passing of her first-born Elkanah two years later was the final blow to her reason. In 1768 she fell victim to a mild form of insanity, and was thereafter confined to the upper part of the house; her elder maiden sister, Mercy Dexter, having moved in to take charge of the family. Mercy was a plain, raw-boned woman of great strength; but her health visibly declined from the time of her advent. She was greatly devoted to her unfortunate sister, and had an especial affection for her only surviving nephew William, who from a sturdy infant had become a sickly, spindling lad. In this year the servant Mehitabel died, and the other servant, Preserved Smith, left without coherent explanation—or at least, with only some wild tales and a complaint that he disliked the smell of the place. For a time Mercy could secure no more help, since the seven deaths and case of madness, all occurring within five years' space, had begun to set in motion the body of fireside rumor which later became so bizarre. Ultimately, however, she obtained new servants from out of town; Ann White, a morose woman from that part of North Kingstown now set off as the township of Exeter, and a capable Boston man named Zenas Low.
It was Ann White who first gave definite shape to the sinister idle talk. Mercy should have known better than to hire anyone from the Nooseneck Hill country, for that remote bit of backwoods was then, as now, a seat of the most uncomfortable superstitions. As lately as 1892 an Exeter community exhumed a dead body and ceremoniously burnt its heart in order to prevent certain alleged visitations injurious to the public health and peace, and one may imagine the point of view of the same section in 1768. Ann's tongue was perniciously active, and within a few months Mercy discharged her, filling her place with a faithful and amiable Amazon from Newport, Maria Robbins.
Meanwhile poor Rhoby Harris, in her madness, gave voice to dreams and imaginings of the most hideous sort. At times her screams became insupportable, and for long periods she would utter shrieking horrors which necessitated her son's temporary residence with his cousin, Peleg Harris, in Presbyterian Lane near the new college building. The boy would seem to improve after these visits, and had Mercy been as wise as she was well-meaning, she would have let him live permanently with Peleg. Just what Mrs. Harris cried out in her fits of violence, tradition hesitates to say; or rather, presents such extravagant accounts that they nullify themselves through sheer absurdity. Certainly it sounds absurd to hear that a woman educated only in the rudiments of French often shouted for hours in a coarse and idiomatic form of that language, or that the same person, alone and guarded, complained wildly of a staring thing which bit and chewed at her. In 1772 the servant Zenas died, and when Mrs. Harris heard of it she laughed with a shocking delight utterly foreign to her. The next year she herself died, and was laid to rest in the North Burial Ground beside her husband.
Upon the outbreak of trouble with Great Britain in 1775, William Harris, despite his scant sixteen years and feeble constitution, managed to enlist in the Army of Observation under General Greene; and from that time on enjoyed a steady rise in health and prestige. In 1780, as a captain in the Rhode Island forces in New Jersey under Colonel Angell, he met and married Phebe Hetfield of Elizabethtown, whom he brought to Providence upon his honorable discharge in the following year.
The young soldier's return was not a thing of unmitigated happiness. The house, it is true, was still in good condition; and the street had been widened and changed in name from Back Street to Benefit Street. But Mercy Dexter's once robust frame had undergone a sad and curious decay, so that she was now a stooped and pathetic figure with hollow voice and disconcerting pallor—qualities shared to a singular degree by the one remaining servant Maria. In the autumn of 1782 Phebe Harris gave birth to a still-born daughter, and on the fifteenth of the next May Mercy Dexter took leave of a useful, austere, and virtuous life.
William Harris, at last thoroughly convinced of the radically unhealthful nature of his abode, now took steps toward quitting it and closing it for ever. Securing temporary quarters for himself and his wife at the newly opened Golden Ball Inn, he arranged for the building of a new and finer house in Westminster Street, in the growing part of the town across the Great Bridge. There, in 1785, his son Dutee was born; and there the family dwelt till the encroachments of commerce drove them back across the river and over the hill to Angell Street, in the newer East Side residence district, where the late Archer Harris built his sumptuous but hideous French-roofed mansion in 1876. William and Phebe both succumbed to the yellow fever epidemic of 1797, but Dutee was brought up by his cousin Rathbone Harris, Peleg's son.
Rathbone was a practical man, and rented the Benefit Street house despite William's wish to keep it vacant. He considered it an obligation to his ward to make the most of all the boy's property, nor did he concern himself with the deaths and illnesses which caused so many changes of tenants, or the steadily growing aversion with which the house was generally regarded. It is likely that he felt only vexation when, in 1804, the town council ordered him to fumigate the place with sulfur, tar, and gum camphor on account of the much-discussed deaths of four persons, presumably caused by the then diminishing fever epidemic. They said the place had a febrile smell.
Dutee himself thought little of the house, for he grew up to be a privateersman, and served with distinction on the Vigilant under Captain Cahoone in the War of 1812. He returned unharmed, married in 1814, and became a father on that memorable night of September 23, 1815, when a great gale drove the waters of the bay over half the town, and floated a tall sloop well up Westminster Street so that its masts almost tapped the Harris windows in symbolic affirmation that the new boy, Welcome, was a seaman's son.
Welcome did not survive his father, but lived to perish gloriously at Fredericksburg in 1862. Neither he nor his son Archer knew of the shunned house as other than a nuisance almost impossible to rent—perhaps on account of the mustiness and sickly odor of unkempt old age. Indeed, it never was rented after a series of deaths culminating in 1861, which the excitement of the war tended to throw into obscurity. Carrington Harris, last of the male line, knew it only as a deserted and somewhat picturesque center of legend until I told him my experience. He had meant to tear it down and build an apartment house on the site, but after my account decided to let it stand, install plumbing, and rent it. Nor has he yet had any difficulty in obtaining tenants. The horror has gone.

3

It may well be imagined how powerfully I was affected by the annals of the Harrises. In this continuous record there seemed to me to brood a persistent evil beyond anything in nature as I had known it; an evil clearly connected with the house and not with the family. This impression was confirmed by my uncle's less systematic array of miscellaneous data—legends transcribed from servant gossip, cuttings from the papers, copies of death certificates by fellow-physicians, and the like. All of this material I cannot hope to give, for my uncle was a tireless antiquarian and very deeply interested in the shunned house; but I may refer to several dominant points which earn notice by their recurrence through many reports from diverse sources. For example, the servant gossip was practically unanimous in attributing to the fungous and malodorous cellar of the house a vast supremacy in evil influence. There had been servants—Ann White especially—who would not use the cellar kitchen, and at least three well-defined legends bore upon the queer quasi-human or diabolic outlines assumed by tree-roots and patches of mold in that region. These latter narratives interested me profoundly, on account of what I had seen in my boyhood, but I felt that most of the significance had in each case been largely obscured by additions from the common stock of local ghost lore.
Ann White, with her Exeter superstition, had promulgated the most extravagant and at the same time most consistent tale; alleging that there must lie buried beneath the house one of those vampires—the dead who retain their bodily form and live on the blood or breath of the living—whose hideous legions send their preying shapes or spirits abroad by night. To destroy a vampire one must, the grandmothers say, exhume it and burn its heart, or at least drive a stake through that organ; and Ann's dogged insistence on a search under the cellar had been prominent in bringing about her discharge.
Her tales, however, commanded a wide audience, and were the more readily accepted because the house indeed stood on land once used for burial purposes. To me their interest depended less on this circumstance than on the peculiarly appropriate way in which they dovetailed with certain other things—the complaint of the departing servant Preserved Smith, who had preceded Ann and never heard of her, that something "sucked his breath" at night; the death-certificates of the fever victims of 1804, issued by Doctor Chad Hopkins, and showing the four deceased persons all unaccountably lacking in blood; and the obscure passages of poor Rhoby Harris's ravings, where she complained of the sharp teeth of a glassy-eyed, half-visible presence.
Free from unwarranted superstition though I am, these things produced in me an odd sensation, which was intensified by a pair of widely separated newspaper cuttings relating to deaths in the shunned house—one from the Providence Gazette and Country-Journal of April 12, 1815, and the other from the Daily Transcript and Chronicle of October 27, 1845—each of which detailed an appallingly grisly circumstance whose duplication was remarkable. It seems that in both instances the dying person, in 1815 a gentle old lady named Stafford and in 1845 a schoolteacher of middle age named Eleazar Durfee, became transfigured in a horrible way, glaring glassily and attempting to bite the throat of the attending physician. Even more puzzling, though, was the final case which put an end to the renting of the house—a series of anemia deaths preceded by progressive madnesses wherein the patient would craftily attempt the lives of his relatives by incisions in the neck or wrist.
This was in 1860 and 1861, when my uncle had just begun his medical practise; and before leaving for the front he heard much of it from his elder professional colleagues. The really inexplicable thing was the way in which the victims—ignorant people, for the ill-smelling and widely shunned house could now be rented to no others—would babble maledictions in French, a language they could not possibly have studied to any extent. It made one think of poor Rhoby Harris nearly a century before, and so moved my uncle that he commenced collecting historical data on the house after listening, some time subsequent to his return from the war, to the first-hand account of Doctors Chase and Whitmarsh. Indeed, I could see that my uncle had thought deeply on the subject, and that he was glad of my own interest—an open-minded and sympathetic interest which enabled him to discuss with me matters at which others would merely have laughed. His fancy had not gone so far as mine, but he felt that the place was rare in its imaginative potentialities, and worthy of note as an inspiration in the field of the grotesque and macabre.
For my part, I was disposed to take the whole subject with profound seriousness, and began at once not only to review the evidence, but to accumulate as much more as I could. I talked with the elderly Archer Harris, then owner of the house, many times before his death in 1916; and obtained from him and his still surviving maiden sister Alice an authentic corroboration of all the family data my uncle had collected. When, however, I asked them what connection with France or its language the house could have, they confessed themselves as frankly baffled and ignorant as I. Archer knew nothing, and all that Miss Harris could say was that an old allusion her grandfather, Dutee Harris, had heard of might have shed a little light. The old seaman, who had survived his son Welcome's death in battle by two years, had not himself known the legend, but recalled that his earliest nurse, the ancient Maria Robbins, seemed darkly aware of something that might have lent a weird significance to the French raving of Rhoby Harris, which she had so often heard during the last days of that hapless woman. Maria had been at the shunned house from 1769 till the removal of the family in 1783, and had seen Mercy Dexter die. Once she hinted to the child Dutee of a somewhat peculiar circumstance in Mercy's last moments, but he had soon forgotten all about it save that it was something peculiar. The granddaughter, moreover, recalled even this much with difficulty. She and her brother were not so much interested in the house as was Archer's son Carrington, the present owner, with whom I talked after my experience.
Having exhausted the Harris family of all the information it could furnish, I turned my attention to early town records and deeds with a zeal more penetrating than that which my uncle had occasionally shown in the same work. What I wished was a comprehensive history of the site from its very settlement in 1636—or even before, if any Narragansett Indian legend could be unearthed to supply the data. I found, at the start, that the land had been part of the long strip of home lot granted originally to John Throckmorton; one of many similar strips beginning at the Town Street beside the river and extending up over the hill to a line roughly corresponding with the modern Hope Street. The Throckmorton lot had later, of course, been much subdivided; and I became very assiduous in tracing that section through which Back or Benefit Street was later run. It had, as rumor indeed said, been the Throckmorton graveyard; but as I examined the records more carefully, I found that the graves had all been transferred at an early date to the North Burial Ground on the Pawtucket West Road.
Then suddenly I came—by a rare piece of chance, since it was not in the main body of records and might easily have been missed—upon something which aroused my keenest eagerness, fitting in as it did with several of the queerest phases of the affair. It was the record of a lease, in 1697, of a small tract of ground to an Etienne Roulet and wife. At last the French element had appeared—that, and another deeper element of horror which the name conjured up from the darkest recesses of my weird and heterogeneous reading—and I feverishly studied the platting of the locality as it had been before the cutting through and partial straightening of Back Street between 1747 and 1758. I found what I had half expected, that where the shunned house now stood the Roulets had laid out their graveyard behind a one-story and attic cottage, and that no record of any transfer of graves existed. The document, indeed, ended in much confusion; and I was forced to ransack both the Rhode Island Historical Society and Shepley Library before I could find a local door which the name of Etienne Roulet would unlock. In the end I did find something; something of such vague but monstrous import that I set about at once to examine the cellar of the shunned house itself with a new and excited minuteness.
The Roulets, it seemed, had come in 1696 from East Greenwich, down the west shore of Narragansett Bay. They were Huguenots from Caude, and had encountered much opposition before the Providence selectmen allowed them to settle in the town. Unpopularity had dogged them in East Greenwich, whither they had come in 1686, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and rumor said that the cause of dislike extended beyond mere racial and national prejudice, or the land disputes which involved other French settlers with the English in rivalries which not even Governor Andros could quell. But their ardent Protestantism—too ardent, some whispered—and their evident distress when virtually driven from the village down the bay, had moved the sympathy of the town fathers. Here the strangers had been granted a haven; and the swarthy Etienne Roulet, less apt at agriculture than at reading queer books and drawing queer diagrams, was given a clerical post in the warehouse at Pardon Tillinghast's wharf, far south in Town Street. There had, however, been a riot of some sort later on—perhaps forty years later, after old Roulet's death—and no one seemed to hear of the family after that.
For a century and more, it appeared, the Roulets had been well remembered and frequently discussed as vivid incidents in the quiet life of a New England seaport. Etienne's son Paul, a surly fellow whose erratic conduct had probably provoked the riot which wiped out the family, was particularly a source of speculation; and though Providence never shared the witchcraft panics of her Puritan neighbors, it was freely intimated by old wives that his prayers were neither uttered at the proper time nor directed toward the proper object. All this had undoubtedly formed the basis of the legend known by old Maria Robbins. What relation it had to the French ravings of Rhoby Harris and other inhabitants of the shunned house, imagination or future discovery alone could determine. I wondered how many of those who had known the legends realized that additional link with the terrible which my wider reading had given me; that ominous item in the annals of morbid horror which tells of the creature Jacques Roulet, of Caude, who in 1598 was condemned to death as a demoniac but afterward saved from the stake by the Paris parliament and shut in a madhouse. He had been found covered with blood and shreds of flesh in a wood, shortly after the killing and rending of a boy by a pair of wolves. One wolf was seen to lope away unhurt. Surely a pretty hearthside tale, with a queer significance as to name and place; but I decided that the Providence gossips could not have generally known of it. Had they known, the coincidence of names would have brought some drastic and frightened action—indeed, might not its limited whispering have precipitated the final riot which erased the Roulets from the town?
I now visited the accursed place with increased frequency; studying the unwholesome vegetation of the garden, examining all the walls of the building, and poring over every inch of the earthen cellar floor. Finally, with Carrington Harris's permission, I fitted a key to the disused door opening from the cellar directly upon Benefit Street, preferring to have a more immediate access to the outside world than the dark stairs, ground-floor hall, and front door could give. There, where morbidity lurked most thickly, I searched and poked during long afternoons when the sunlight filtered in through the cobwebbed above-ground windows, and a sense of security glowed from the unlocked door which placed me only a few feet from the placid sidewalk outside. Nothing new rewarded my efforts—only the same depressing mustiness and faint suggestions of noxious odors and nitrous outlines on the floor—and I fancy that many pedestrians must have watched me curiously through the broken panes.
At length, upon a suggestion of my uncle's, I decided to try the spot nocturnally; and one stormy midnight ran the beams of an electric torch over the moldy floor with its uncanny shapes and distorted, half-phosphorescent fungi. The place had dispirited me curiously that evening, and I was almost prepared when I saw—or thought I saw—amidst the whitish deposits a particularly sharp definition of the "huddled form" I had suspected from boyhood. Its clearness was astonishing and unprecedented—and as I watched I seemed to see again the thin, yellowish, shimmering exhalation which had startled me on that rainy afternoon so many years before.
Above the anthropomorphic patch of mold by the fireplace it rose; a subtle, sickish, almost luminous vapor which as it hung trembling in the dampness seemed to develop vague and shocking suggestions of form, gradually trailing off into nebulous decay and passing up into the blackness of the great chimney with a fetor in its wake. It was truly horrible, and the more so to me because of what I knew of the spot. Refusing to flee, I watched it fade—and as I watched I felt that it was in turn watching me greedily with eyes more imaginable than visible. When I told my uncle about it he was greatly aroused; and after a tense hour of reflection, arrived at a definite and drastic decision. Weighing in his mind the importance of the matter, and the significance of our relation to it, he insisted that we both test—and if possible destroy—the horror of the house by a joint night or nights of aggressive vigil in that musty and fungus-cursed cellar.

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We found that participants respected opponents who based their views on their experiences more than on facts These findings run counter to people’s intuitions, but support past research showing that narratives can improve social behaviors such as increasing donating behavior and empathy.
Face-To-Face Conversations Confirm This Effect
We went up to people on the street and asked them to speak with someone who disagreed with their views on gun policy. If they said yes, they were introduced to a research assistant (who they believed was another participant). This research assistant pretended to have opposing gun policy views, either based on their own experiences or facts. The two engaged in a recorded face-to-face conversation about their opposing gun policy views. The recordings showed that participants saw opponents as more rational (and respected them more) when they based their views on experiences rather than facts. https://www.spsp.org/news-centeblog/kubin-gray-reducing-political-hostility
Survey reveals the lengths Brits will go to stop climate change https://wellbeingnews.co.uk/news/survey-reveals-the-lengths-brits-will-go-to-stop-climate-change/
Marine animals with shells made of aragonite (a type of calcium carbonate mineral) are particularly susceptible to ocean acidification. Scientists use shells from "sea butterflies," a type of swimming sea snail, to study ocean acidification in the present and recent past. This study shows that shells from fossilized mollusk species can be analyzed in a similar manner, opening the door to more extensive research on ocean chemistry in Earth's past and its connection to climatic events. http://astrobiology.com/2022/01/fossil-snail-shells-offer-new-tool-for-analyzing-ancient-ocean-chemistry.html
A trial in a naturalistic store setting found parents bought fewer sugary drinks when products displayed pictorial warnings about type 2 diabetes or heart damage, as compared with barcode labels. The study suggests that policies requiring pictorial health warnings on sugary drinks could reduce purchases of these products. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/941215
Dr Nina Attridge, study co-author and a senior psychology lecturer at the university, said: 'Such activity – any activity – does help people stay well and feel better than not exercising, but mild exercise does not appear to have a long-term effect on the development of chronic pain.
'Activity needs to not only be vigorous, it needs to be done at least once a week. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10465211/Only-vigorous-exercise-running-tennis-swimming-spare-study-claims.html
New research shows that fuel poverty makes people's physical and mental health worse. Researchers found that not being able to keep homes warm enough affects people's levels of life satisfaction. But they also found that it impacts people's physical health by causing higher levels of inflammation, measured by fibrinogen, a blood-based biomarker. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201115210.htm
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) can cause serious liver inflammation and is the most common cause of acute virus-mediated hepatitis worldwide. Infection can be prevented through appropriate hygiene measures. Scientists have investigated the effectiveness of various common hand disinfectants against HEV. They were able to show that most formulations do not completely inactivate the virus. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201115219.htm
There’re ch-ch-ch-changes at ExxonMobil. On Monday, the oil giant announced major shakeups in how it will do business moving forward—and continued its attempts to convince the public that it’s working towards a brighter climate future. The company is relocating offices, restructuring, and touting a new flashy but dubious “low carbon” division. https://gizmodo.com/exxon-cares-1848461199
The Public Library of Science (PLOS) today announced that PLOS Climate published its initial cohort of papers. The journal’s mission is to disseminate rigorous science that empowers researchers, policymakers, governments, international organizations, and industry to understand dynamic, changing climates and take positive, evidence-based action in the face of climate change. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/941909
Unlocking Section 1201 is an essential part of the broader right-to-repair movement, which aims to combat the measures that make it difficult or impossible to improve or fix electronics. Limiting the ability to repair a broken device destroys independent repair shops and encourages consumers to dispose of a machine instead of fixing it. This is bad for device owners, and it contributes to the rising tide of electronic waste around the world. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/some-electronics-repairs-are-illegal-federal-law-could-change-that/
Myelin is a gift from retroviruses https://phys.org/news/2022-02-myelin-gift-retroviruses.html
Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming increasingly widespread. Until now, however, the underlying causes of the inflammation responses were unclear. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now identified a mechanism that triggers a problematic interaction between intestinal bacteria and cells in the intestinal mucus layer in XLP2, a condition associated with IBD. The team believes that the results can be applied to other intestinal diseases and could offer approaches to the development of new drugs. https://www.newswise.com/articles/cause-of-inflammatory-bowel-disease-discovered-interaction-between-gut-bacteria-and-mucus-layer-cells
However, after these “cash crops” are harvested, many farmers are encouraged to avoid leaving their fields bare. Instead, they plant “cover crops” to reduce erosion and help the soil retain nutrients, among other benefits. While cover crops ultimately improve the yields of cash crops through improved soil health, new research suggests that they might also protect them from disease https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942015
Model simulations found that the region’s extreme insolation means that ablation — loss of surface mass by melting or vaporization — can accelerate by a factor of more than 20 if snow cover gives way to ice. And while warming air temperatures caused most of the sublimation, declining relative humidity and stronger winds also were factors.
“Climate predictions for the Himalaya suggest continued warming and continued glacier mass loss, and even the top of the Everest is impacted by anthropogenic source warming,” says Potocki, a glaciochemist and doctoral candidate in the Climate Change Institute who collected the highest ice core on the planet. https://www.newswise.com/articles/human-induced-climate-change-impacts-the-highest-reaches-of-the-planet-mount-everest
Beyond Langer, psychologists and sociologists throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century have been intrigued by the success of the Big Lie strategy — meaning a story pushed by a political leader that is clearly bald-faced, yet so grandiose as to make it hard to believe that someone would fabricate it. Indeed, it is an intriguing question as to why this works politically, and why so many millions are so quick to believe Big Lies — be it about voting fraud or Jewish conspiracies. The counterintuitive nature of the Big Lie tactic is perhaps what is most peculiar: wouldn't a small lie be easier to pass off than a large one? .
Not necessarily, psychologists say. .
"Repetition is important, because the Big Lie works through indoctrination," Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology who is noted as an expert on narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse, told Salon by email. "The Big Lie then becomes its own evidence base — if it is repeated enough, people believe it, and the very repetition almost tautologically becomes the support for the Lie." https://www.salon.com/2022/02/03/the-psychological-reason-that-so-many-fall-for-the-big-lie/
Those and other companies have sought approval for plans that would loft as many as 50,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit. “Hundreds will be visible to the eye on any night,” says NOIRLab’s Connie Walker, who will be co-director of the IAU center. “It will have a substantial impact on all telescope operations.”
Assessing the impact of future constellations is one goal for the center. Studies have already shown that survey telescopes with wide fields of view will be the worst affected. For instance, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, due for first light in 2023, will have as many as one-third of its images ruined by satellite streaks during part of the night. Radio telescopes could also be affected by interference from radio downlinks that satellite constellations use to https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-set-center-counter-threat-satellite-swarms
We now know the microbes that live in our intestines — often called our microbiome — influence our health in many ways. The balance among competing microbial species is believed to contribute to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), immune disorders, food allergy, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and more.
The sugars in our diets, in turn, influence that balance — which microbes thrive and which don’t. Added to that, the microbes excrete thousands of different metabolites that influence each other’s survival — and our health. https://answers.childrenshospital.org/intestinal-microbiome/
Hong Kong’s car pollution sensors help it clean its air in world first
Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide pollution have fallen sharply in Hong Kong since it introduced a world-first scheme to detect and repair vehicles with the highest emissions https://www.newscientist.com/article/2306769-hong-kongs-car-pollution-sensors-help-it-clean-its-air-in-world-first/
The stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) after cold exposure, exercise, and calorie restriction is well known to induce fat browning. Dietary polyphenols may also activate BAT, causing heat to be dissipated from our bodies. BAT activation and white fat browning are thus both therapeutically significant in the fight against cardiovascular diseases and their comorbidities.
A group of scientists examined the browning of fat induced by dietary administration of flavan 3-ols (FLs), a family of "catechin" containing polyphenols abundant in cocoa, apple, grapeseed, and red wine. In a new study published in the journal Nutrients, the team led by Professor Naomi Osakabe of Graduate School of Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan proved that FLs enhance browning of adipose tissue by activating the SNS. The findings revealed a direct correlation between fat browning and FLs consumption, https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220202/Study-reveals-a-direct-correlation-between-fat-browning-and-consumption-of-flavan-3-ols.aspx
The U.S. has changed its position from opposition to such a treaty under President Donald Trump, to support under President Joe Biden, but has yet to articulate exactly what it wants in an agreement. While environmental NGOs are pushing for a comprehensive treaty, plastics companies, who say they support regulation, likely will want to limit the treaty’s scope.
At the end of February, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) will tackle a challenging task: the creation of a landmark treaty to control plastic pollution worldwide. https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/as-world-drowns-in-plastic-waste-u-n-to-hammer-out-global-treaty/
The recent normalization of historical marine heat extremes https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000007
We're excited about this study because it shows that this process isn't only for antibiotic resistance. The horizontal gene exchange among microbes is likely used for anything that increases their ability to survive, including sharing vitamin B12," Degnan said.
Results of the study have been published in the journal Cell Reports.
Previously, Degnan worked on a project in which he and his colleagues identified an important transporter responsible for getting B12 into gut microbial cells. More recently, he was studying jumping genes, trying to identify what kinds of information they were transferring. Quickly, Degnan recognized the vitamin B12 transporters as the cargo. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220202/Gut-bacteria-transfer-genes-through-sex-to-take-vitamin-B12-study-shows.aspx
. Digitizing fecal material is the future."
The team found that roughly 40 percent of ulcerative colitis patients show an overabundance of proteases -; enzymes that break down other proteins -; originating from the gut resident Bacteroides vulgatus. They then showed that transplanting high-protease feces from human patients into germ-free mice induced colitis in the animals. However, the colitis could be significantly reduced by treating the mice with protease inhibitors.
The team suggested that a stressor in the gut, such as nutrient deprivation, may increase protease production in an attempt to use proteins as an alternative nutrient source. However, these bacterial proteases may be damaging to the colonic epithelium or lining of the colon, allowing an influx of immune cells to then further exacerbate the disease. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220202/Study-uncovers-a-class-of-microbial-enzymes-that-drive-ulcerative-colitis.aspx
Skeeter's 1 of 2 The olfactory gating of visual preferences to human skin and visible spectra in mosquitoes https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28195-x
Colloquially known as Ausmap, the citizen science project has collected more than 3.5m pieces of microplastic from more than 300 beaches around the country, ranging from Thursday Island in the north to Bruny Island, off Tasmania’s south-east coast.
Volunteers collect plastics between 1mm and 5mm in length; pellets, fibres and fragments are meticulously sorted and documented. “That’s what we can see easily in our sieves,” Ausmap’s program director, Dr Michelle Blewit, says.
“Microplastic doesn’t always refer to things that are microscopic,” she says. “Obviously it breaks up further and further … the smaller it gets, then there’s more chance of it being ingested by animals.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/06/australians-ingest-a-credit-cards-worth-of-plastic-a-week-so-whats-it-doing-to-us
“We built a very, very, very conservative estimate of what might be NFT-related wash trading,” Kimberly Grauer, director of research at Chainalysis, told NBC.
All investment takes on a certain amount of risk, but until the NFT market is more transparent and regulated, investors are going in almost blind. Why sink money into a market where sellers can’t even come clean about actual value? https://futurism.com/the-byte/nft-jpeg-scams
Moral Polarization Predicts Support for Authoritarian and Progressive Strong Leaders via the Perceived Breakdown of Society https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pops.12787
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Optimising indoor lighting may help reduce the metabolic effects of prolonged indoor lighting exposure https://www.thedailystar.net/star-health/news/optimising-indoor-lighting-may-help-reduce-the-metabolic-effects-prolonged-indoor-lighting-exposure-2955076
The military built the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in the early 1940s by excavating caverns within the mountain ridge to protect 20 fuel tanks from aerial attacks. Each tank is about the height of a 25-story building and can hold 12.5 million gallons (47.32 million liters.)
The tanks are connected to underground pipelines that send fuel about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) to Pearl Harbor and to ships and planes used by the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy.
The Navy hasnt determined how petroleum got in the water. Officials are investigating a theory that jet fuel spilled from a ruptured pipe last May and somehow entered a fire suppression system drain pipe. They suspect fuel then leaked from the second pipe on Nov. 20, sending it into the drinking water well.
Within a week, military families started complaining about health problems.
Lauren Wright remembers her skin peeling, feeling nauseous and vomiting. Her symptoms disappeared only when she stopped drinking, showering and washing dishes with her homes water. https://apnews.com/article/science-business-navy-veterans-hawaii-16c3422dd7463ca7a5ef588c50dd44ee
The group of Emmanuelle Volle at Paris Brain Institute and their international collaborators established for the first time a link between real-life creativity, semantic memory structure and brain functional connectivity. The results, published in Science Advances, indicate that real-life creativity relies on individual differences in semantic memory organization that can be predicted from brain functional connectivity.
Creativity is a cognitive function that we use in our everyday life, to solve problems, cope with change, and innovate. In neuroscience, it is usually defined as the ability to produce something new and appropriate to a specific context. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942337
"Genome-wide scans identified novel genetic variants associated with odor perception, providing support for the hypothesis," the researchers said. The findings support the ongoing theory that humans are slowly losing their sense of smell due to gene changes. Previous studies had only been done on Caucasian subjects, so these findings also suggest that smell behaves and changes the same way across all races. This study is nothing to be concerned about for the time being, but interesting information to have. https://www.healthdigest.com/757510/thanks-to-our-genes-we-might-be-losing-one-of-our-five-senses/
School meals are a vital source of nutrition for children. The USDAs own study, the most comprehensive of its kind, found that the nutritional quality of school lunches and breakfasts has increased by 41 percent and 44 percent (measured through Healthy Eating Index scores), respectively, between school years 2009-10 and 2014-15 thanks to the updated nutrition standards. Not only are healthy kids better learners, they grow up to be healthier adults. The improvements made to the school meals program since the adoption of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act has been an historic success, but we can do better still and await the Biden administrations commitment to strengthening the nutrition standards for the longer term this fall. https://cspinet.org/news/usda-provides-much-needed-temporary-help-school-meals-commits-strengthening-standards-longer
Skeeter's 2 of 2 Mosquitoes showed no preference during control experiments with two white gloves displayed in the window, but significantly preferred skin (Fig. 3f; KruskalWallis test with multiple comparisons: P < 0.001). However, when optical filters were placed over the window, blocking the longer wavelengths (550700 nm), the attraction was significantly reduced (KruskalWallis test with multiple comparisons: P < 0.001) and not significantly different from the negative control (Fig. 3f; KruskalWallis test with multiple comparisons: P = 0.34). Collectively, these results demonstrate that the long-wavelength band of the visual spectrum plays an important role in determining mosquito attraction to skin color. In addition, knockout of either visual or olfactory detection receptors suppresses mosquito http://www.sci-news.com/biology/mosquito-visible-spectra-10525.html
The same technology companies that helped drag the U.S. stock market back from the depths of the pandemic recession in 2021 led the market into a sharp plunge on Thursday after Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook, revealed that user growth on its marquee product has hit a plateau, and revenue from advertising has fallen off sharply.
Meta was not the only U.S. tech company to suffer on Thursday. Snap Inc., the owner of Snapchat; Pinterest, Twitter, PayPal, Spotify and Amazon all suffered sharp sell-offs during trading
https://www.voanews.com/a/ready-hold-for-fri---facebook-share-price-plummets-leading-broad-rout-of-us-tech-stocks-/6426172.html %
Feeling dizzy when you stand up? Simple muscle techniques can effectively manage symptoms of initial orthostatic hypotension Two cost-free, non-drug treatments can improve a patients quality of life https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220209093301.htm
Tech giants climate plans arent as aggressive as they sound, according to an assessment of 25 of the worlds biggest companies published on Monday. The plans many companies have put together rely too much on offsetting their emissions through unreliable methods rather than setting specific targets to prevent pollution in the first place.
We set out to uncover as many replicable good practices as possible, but we were frankly surprised and disappointed at the overall integrity of the companies claims, Thomas Day, lead author of the new study released by the nonprofit NewClimate Institute, said in a statement.
The report, which includes both tech giants and other companies operating in sectors like shipping and brick-and-mortar retail, gave Amazons and Googles climate pledges a low integrity rating. Apple and Sony fared somewhat better, with moderate integrity ratings for their climate pledges. None of the 25 companies received a high integrity rating. The companies were rated based on how clear their climate goals are, how upfront they are about their emissions, and how much theyre reducing that pollution versus relying on controversial offsets. https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/9/22925436/big-tech-climate-change-goals-weak-report
New research in mice for the first time draws a definitive causal connection between changes in the gut microbiome to behavioral and cognitive changes in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220208124437.htm
have found that some pollen has survived mass extinctions thanks, in part, to its nanofoam wall structure. This may explain why the survival of certain plants. It is the first time scientists have described a biological nanofoam structure https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942614
After a few months exploring this area, Im on the move. Thanks to my self-driving function, I can cover more ground in a day than ever before. Just set a new Martian record of 243.3 meters, and then yesterday, another: 245.76 meters. Places to go, rocks to see! ­Ъфе pic.twitter.com/XCHSdN1mZBFebruary 6, 2022
The rover had been squatting in place for several weeks to troubleshoot a rock sample it collected, which temporarily choked the machine's "throat" with Mars rocks. With that problem now cleared, Perseverance is doing some last-minute scouting before attempting a multi-kilometer drive to a nearby delta, recent blog posts indicated.
"The science team has been hard at work preparing for our next phase of science operations, which will take us towards [a] western delta," a Jan. 31 blog post indicated.
Deltas are areas where water flowed, which could provide a rich environment for the rover's ultimate mission to collect samples that could have hosted ancient microbes. https://www.space.com/perseverance-distance-record-mars
Why are there such strict rules around ski jumping suits?Is it possible to get a ski jumping advantage with physics? https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/ski-jumping-weight-winter-olympics-disqualifications/?amp=1
Last year, a team of researchers suggested the disease was caused by a complex interaction between microbes and the environment the sea stars call home.
Their study indicated huge blooms in microbes like phytoplankton (triggered by warming waters) are stealing much of the local oxygen supply and drowning the starfish. The sea star's decaying bodies then further increase nutrients for microbes, fueling a horrible feedback loop of further blooms and suffocation.
However, other explanations are also yet to be ruled out, such as non-viral pathogens (viral pathogens are thought to be unlikely culprits). It is possible multiple causes are resulting in the same disease conditions in these marine creatures, which can usually regenerate damaged extremities.
"Regardless, it is clear that the disease is exacerbated in warmer conditions, and that severe population reductions occurred in warmer southern regions," Burton and her co-authors write in their paper. https://www.sciencealert.com/some-sea-stars-resist-the-mysterious-condition-that-s-melting-others-but-no-one-know-how
"We're basically looking at a battle royale between commercial satellite operators and astronomers," Gorman told ScienceAlert.
"We're being led to believe that without mega-constellations half the world won't have internet. Well, that is simply not true and people should be a lot more critical of the rhetoric around this."
The IAU has a lot of work ahead of it yet. The center has highlighted its focuses as keeping an eye on satellite constellations, working out how to remove them from images, engaging with industry, and suggesting satellite modifications which could limit astronomical issues.
This last one is important. Starlink already exists, and many other projects like OneWeb and Amazon's Project Kuiper are already in development.
As well as pushing back against new developments, it's also important for astronomers to work out how to live with these satellites now. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-international-astronomical-union-launches-new-center-to-fight-back-against-starlink-and-other-mega-constellations
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. The United States generates more plastic trash than any other country about 46.3 million tons of it -- or 287 pounds per person a year, according to a 2020 study.
The countrys 9% rate of recycling will never keep up. Why so low? The chemistry of todays plastics makes most difficult to recycle. Even thermoplastics that can be melted down weaken with each re-use. And that leads to the real barrier to recycling economics. Theres just no profit incentive.
But now a group of chemists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have turned the tables by discovering a method to break down plastics to create a new material that is stronger and tougher than the original meaning its potentially more valuable. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942639
So, as cute as they may be, it's best to leave the ladybugs outside. They're not meant to live indoors and are more likely to end up dying at your windows than actually eating the bugs on your houseplants. https://www.salon.com/2022/02/07/um-why-are-people-releasing-ladybugs-inside-their-homes_partne
Could there be a link between mothers taking paracetamol during pregnancy and later signs of depression in some of their children? Acetaminophen (paracetamol), also commonly known as Tylenol...
A University of Auckland study shows a small but significant statistical association.
Professor Karen Waldie and her colleagues analysed data from Growing Up in New Zealand, the nations biggest longitudinal study, relating to 3,925 eight-year-olds and their mothers.
Women shouldnt be alarmed, but mounting evidence suggests it may be wise to use as low a dose of paracetamol as possible for the shortest time possible during pregnancy, says Professor Waldie, of the School of Psychology in the Faculty of Science. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE2202/S00037/paracetamol-during-pregnancy-a-link-with-childhood-depression.htm
FortisBC announced in April 2021 that it was seeing "record participation" in its energy efficiency programs, with high-efficiency natural gas furnaces being the most popular rebate.
"Now, high efficiency gas furnaces might have lower [greenhouse gas emissions] than older furnaces," Klein said. "But they're still emitting GHGs. And every time households use one of those rebates to get a high efficiency gas furnace, that's 15 years where they're not going to convert [to a non-emitting option]." https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/what-on-earth-energy-efficiency-natural-gas-1.6346764
Why do victims send money?
Watching from the safety of your living room couch, its easy to say I wouldnt go along with that. But we must not underestimate a skilled offenders ability to identify a weakness or vulnerability and exploit it mercilessly.
Using surveys with victims and non-victims, research has revealed a handful of traits associated with falling victim to romance fraud. Crucially, people with higher levels of romanticised beliefs, or who believe in the idea of true love, are more likely to become victims. https://theconversation.com/first-the-love-bomb-then-the-financial-emergency-5-tactics-of-tinder-swindlers-176807
Exposure to high levels of this chemical has been linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and other health issues. While scientists don't know what the impact of exposure to lower levels of the herbicide might be, they do know that 2,4-D is an endocrine disruptor and this study shows children and women of childbearing age are at higher risk of exposure.
Children can be exposed if they play barefoot on a lawn treated with the weed-killer or if they put their hands in their mouths after playing outside, where the soil or grass might be contaminated with the chemical. People also can be exposed by eating soybean-based foods and through inhalation. The now widespread use of 2,4-D on GMO soybeans and cotton leads to more 2,4-D moving in the air, which can expose more people to this chemical, according to the researchers.
"Further study must determine how rising exposure to 2,4-D affects human health-especially when exposure occurs early in life," Melissa Perry, a professor of environmental and occupational health and senior author of the paper, said. "In addition to exposure to this pesticide, children and other vulnerable groups are also increasingly exposed to other pesticides and these chemicals may act synergistically to produce health problems."
Consumers who want to avoid exposures to pesticide can purchase organically grown food, which is less likely to be grown with weed killers. They can also avoid using 2,4-D or other pesticides on their lawn or garden, the researchers said. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210084951.htm
found that on journeys typical of school or nursery runs, the average concentration of coarse air pollution particles in a bike trailer is 14% higher than at cyclist height and 18% higher than cyclist height in the afternoons when parents or carers typically collect children.
The researchers found that young children were exposed to even higher concentrations of air pollution during peak morning periods at urban pollution hotspots, such as traffic lights.
Air pollution is a leading cause of death in children under the age of five.
Professor Prashant Kumar, Founding Director of GCARE at the University of Surrey, said:
"It's unfortunate that the very people who help minimise pollution by cycling rather than driving can be exposing their children to higher levels of pollution, and I'd encourage adults pulling bike trailers to use covers in heavy traffic. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210084957.htm
What are asteroids made of? A sample returned to Earth reveals the Solar Systems building blocks https://theconversation.com/what-are-asteroids-made-of-a-sample-returned-to-earth-reveals-the-solar-systems-building-blocks-176548
Theres so much debate about what type of diet is better low carbohydrates or fat, increased protein, intermittent fasting, and so on and I think time will tell which of these are important, said Vishwa Deep Dixit, Professor of Pathology, Immunobiology, and Comparative Medicine at Yale University, who led the study.
But, for now, our study shows a simple reduction in calories, and no specific diet, has a remarkable effect shifting the immuno-metabolic state in a way that protects our health, he said. https://inews.co.uk/news/science/diet-calorie-reduction-restriction-t-cells-1453894?ITO=newsnow
Researchers from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy have discovered a new clue in the search for the origin of life, by showing that peptides can form on dust under conditions such as those prevailing in outer space. These molecules, which are one of the basic building blocks of all life, may therefore not have originated on our planet at all, but possibly in cosmic molecular clouds. https://phys.org/news/2022-02-team-clue-extraterrestrial-peptides.html
For this research, the co-authors worked with TVision Insights, a TV performance metrics company that developed innovative technology to passively monitor whos in the room and whether theyre actually looking at whats on the TV screen, while respecting viewer privacy.The research analyzed 4 million ad exposures over the course of a year.
Their findings including the fact that nearly a third of TV ads play to empty rooms, and that viewers are four times more likely to leave the room than change the channel are detailed in How Viewer Tuning, Presence and Attention Respond to Ad Content and Predict Brand Search Lift, which published Feb. 9 in Marketing Science.
Among other results, the team found that ad viewing behaviors vary depending on channel, time of day, program genre, age and gender. For example, older viewers are more likely to avoid ads by changing channels; younger viewers are more likely to avoid ads by leaving the room or diverting their visual attention likely due to multitasking with a second screen.
Additionally, ads for recreational products beer and video games, for example do the best at retaining viewers, the researchers said. Among the worst at keeping eyes on the screen are prescription drug ads, particularly those for serious conditions. https://www.newswise.com/articles/who-s-watching-nearly-a-third-of-tv-ads-play-to-empty-rooms
Doctors overlook a curable cause of high blood pressureA hormonal abnormality is gaining recognition as a common cause of hypertension, but few patients are screened for it. https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/doctors-overlook-a-curable-cause-of-high-blood-pressure/
To illuminate and kill cancerous tumors, researchers in China have developed a nanoplatform that non-invasively eliminates solid liver cancer tumors in mice with a single five-minute dose. The mice had no perceivable side effects and all lived at least 30 days post-treatment, a milestone marker in animal model cancer research, according to the investigators.
They published the work on Jan. 24 in Nano Research. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/943353

Cellular pumps protect the gut from toxins
Cells that provide structural support to the intestine's interior lining also have special defenses against toxins https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/dms-cpp082618.php
Nordic countries' 'happy' reputation masks sadness of young, says report
Exclusive: Significant minority of young people in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland ‘struggling or suffering’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/25/nordic-countries-happy-reputation-masks-sadness-of-young-says-report
Eye twitches are usually harmless, but here’s what you can do about them https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/08/27/eye-twitches-are-usually-harmless-but-heres-what-you-can-do-about-them/
E. coli doesn't just give you food poisoning—it can also help you get essential nutrients
Not all strains are the same. https://www.popsci.com/gut-microbiome-iron?dom=rss-default&src=syn
Sludge: How corporations 'nudge' us into spending more https://phys.org/news/2018-08-sludge-corporations-nudge.html
Scientists Accuse Big Tobacco of Trying to Undermine Anti-Smuggling Efforts http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2018/08/scientists-accuse-big-tobacco-of-trying-to-undermine-anti-smuggling-efforts/
How Extreme Summer Heat Affects Your Body And Brain https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/how-extreme-summer-heat-affects-your-body-and-brain/all/
Been Bitten By Something? Here's How To Tell What Did It https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/been-bitten-by-something-heres-how-to-tell-what-did-it/all/
Centuries-Old Plant Collection Now Online — A Treasure Trove For Researchers https://www.npr.org/2018/09/02/641310268/centuries-old-plant-collection-now-online-a-treasure-trove-for-researchers?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=science
If nothing else, Elliott says that when consumers buy certified coffee, they tell the industry that they want and value sustainable coffee. "They signal that they want these improvements to happen," she says. That can spur the industry to work harder to meet sustainable standards. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/09/02/642269900/do-sustainable-certifications-for-coffee-really-help-coffee-growers
Can we consume less without wrecking the economy? https://www.dw.com/en/can-we-consume-less-without-wrecking-the-economy/a-45308242
Now we’re finding out you should do two kinds of stretching https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/now-were-finding-out-you-should-do-two-kinds-of-stretching-slow-and-vigorous/2018/08/31/cd256266-9047-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html?noredirect=on
Chemicals in Consumer Products May Promote Weight Gain. But There's an Easy Fix. https://www.livescience.com/63487-chemicals-environment-weight-gain.html
'Ticking Time Bomb' of Heated Ocean Discovered Hidden Under The Arctic https://www.sciencealert.com/ticking-time-bomb-hidden-heated-ocean-water-under-arctic-canada-basin-chukchi-sea
Dishwashers Need Cleaning Too! https://home.howstuffworks.com/dishwashers-need-cleaning-too.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1
There have been many studies linking consumption of red meat with diseases like atherosclerosis and diabetes, but they have not been able to show why or how this occurs until recently http://theconversation.com/cracking-the-sugar-code-why-the-glycome-is-the-next-big-thing-in-health-and-medicine-97750
“We found that time pressure tends to magnify the predisposition that people already have, whether it is to be selfish or pro-social. https://www.spring.org.uk/2018/09/situation-true-personality.php
The Geometry of Emotions: Using Chakra Acupuncture and 5-Phase Theory to Describe Personality Archetypes for Clinical Use. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30147818/
The blunder made people appear more human and approachable.
The trick works well when other people already see you as competent. https://www.spring.org.uk/2018/09/trick-people-like-you-more.php
Here's A US Army Trick For Falling Asleep Anywhere In 120 Seconds https://www.iflscience.com/brain/heres-a-us-army-trick-for-falling-asleep-anywhere-in-120-seconds/
The Largest Ever Clinical Study on Vitamin D Shows We're Wrong About Its Benefits https://www.sciencealert.com/the-largest-ever-clinical-study-on-vitamin-d-shows-we-re-wrong-about-its-benefits
Scottish heather honey is enjoying a boom around the world, while a recent study showed it can have just as many medical healing properties as its more expensive New Zealand rival.
The Glasgow University report found the Scots produce was among several honey brands that proved to be just as effective as the Manuka type. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Scottish+honey..+it%27s+the+bees%27+knees%3b+HEALTH+CRAZE+THERE%27S+A+BUZZ...-a0344639311
"These results reveal a new and potentially alarming adverse side effect of probiotic use with antibiotics that might even bring long-term consequences, http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2018/09/stewardship-resistance-scan-sep-07-2018
Can sustainable development co-exist with current economic growth? https://phys.org/news/2018-09-sustainable-co-exist-current-economic-growth.html
Scientists Say They've Found The Driver of False Beliefs, And It's Not a Lack of Intelligence https://www.sciencealert.com/feedback-study-explains-why-false-beliefs-stick
First evidence that soot from polluted air is reaching placenta https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/elf-fet091318.php
Air pollution affects thyroid development in fetuses, USC research finds
Particle pollution is the culprit, raising concern about health impacts later in life https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/uosc-apa091418.php
Cases of thyroid cancer are on the rise in the United States, and experts want you to know how people at high risk for the disease can detect it early. https://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/thyroid-cancer-news-727/look-for-early-signs-of-thyroid-cancer-experts-urge-737575.html
Household cleaning products may contribute to kids' overweight by altering their gut microbiota She suggests that the use of eco-friendly products may be linked to healthier overall maternal lifestyles and eating habits, contributing in turn to the healthier gut microbiomes and weight of their infants. https://scienceblog.com/503319/commonly-used-household-cleaners-could-be-making-children-overweight/
Last week's fake honey scandal, involving Australia's largest honey producerCapilano, prompted calls for better purity tests and regulation of the industry. https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-legal-deterrence-mess-left-fake.html
a consortium of European funders, including major research agencies in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Italy, published their “Plan S”. It insists that, from 2020, research we have already paid for through our taxes will no longer be locked up. Any researcher receiving money from these funders must publish her or his work only in open-access journals. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/13/scientific-publishing-rip-off-taxpayers-fund-research
NOW THAT'S IMPORTANT
If you have a friend who starts to pull back and refuses to hang out, don't stop inviting them to go places, but don't make them feel bad if they don't go, says Celeste Viciere."As a therapist, [clients] will tell me, 'I said, 'no' too many times, and they just stop asking' ... https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/depression/questions/help-friend-with-depression.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1
11 Science-Backed Tips for Winning an Argument http://mentalfloss.com/article/555447/expert-tips-for-winning-an-argument
THE WHIFF OF SANDALWOOD MAKES THE HUMAN HEAD SPROUT EXTRA HAIR https://www.newscientist.com/article/2179973-the-whiff-of-sandalwood-makes-the-human-head-sprout-more-hai http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05973-0
Solving the gut inflammation puzzle
Molecular 'lock' that keeps inflammation in check identified, yielding potential therapeutic targets for IBD https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/sbpm-stg091218.php
Mannose's unexpected effects on the microbiome and weight gain https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/sbpm-mue091418.php
mannose https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannose
Glucomannan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannan_oligosaccharide-based_nutritional_supplements
First gut bacteria may have lasting effect on ability to fight chronic diseases
Discovery could eventually allow doctors to establish beneficial gut bacteria in infants right after birth https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/uoa-fgb091818.php
Colon cancer is caused by bacteria and cell stress
The microbiota in the intestines fuels tumor growth https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/tuom-cci091818.php
The panelists were unaware that the cheese samples were identical, and rated the pungency of the blue cheese significantly higher in the cow barn setting than in the sensory booth or the virtual park bench. http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/09/eating-your-eyes-virtual-reality-can-alter-taste
Their findings show, in unprecedented detail, the variety of bacteria, viruses, chemicals, plant particulates, fungi, and even tiny microscopic animals that enter our personal space -- a bombardment known as the human "exposome." [[ organic paint milk ]] https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/sm-wab091318.php
Gut branches of vagus nerve essential components of brain's reward and motivation system Previous research established the gut as a major regulator of motivational and emotional states but until now, the relevant gut-brain neuronal circuitry remained elusive. The vagus nerve, the longest of the cranial nerves, contains motor and sensory fibers and passes through the neck and thorax to the abdomen. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/tmsh-gbo092018.php
Study finds a conserved role for serotonin in regulating behavior in octopus, humans "If a gene sequence is conserved for 500 million years, it must be very important," https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/mbl-sfa092018.php
Intestines modify their cellular structure in response to diet https://phys.org/news/2018-09-intestines-cellular-response-diet.html
We Now Know Why We Haven’t Found A Cure For Alzheimer’s Yet https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/we-now-know-why-we-havent-found-a-cure-for-alzheimers-yet/
said: "While there is good evidence that yogurt can be beneficial to health, products on the market vary widely in nutrient content. Items labelled 'organic' are often thought of as the 'healthiest' option, but they may be an unrecognised source of added sugars in many people's diet."
"Many of the products that were suggested for children's lunchboxes were high sugar dessert yogurts, rather than lower sugar options. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/uol-siy091718.php
Eating foods with low nutritional quality ratings linked to cancer risk in large European cohort. In their study, Deschasaux and colleagues analyzed food intake data from 471,495 adults from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002651
Salt in bread baking: how much and why https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/salt-in-bread-baking-how-much-and-why/
Smartphone App IDs Bacteria in Just One Hour https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2018/09/smartphone-app-ids-bacteria-just-one-hour
Billionaires buying up media: https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-billionaires-media-savior-complex-civic.html
New proof that fish farm escapees interbreed with wild salmon: DFO
Researchers worry interbreeding diminishing Newfoundland's wild salmon stocks https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labradofish-farms-escapes-wild-salmon-breeding-1.4831259?cmp=rss
And now John Hancock, the U.S. division of Canadian insurance giant Manulife, requires customers to use activity trackers for life insurance policies
Now, customers who don’t want to offer up their health data to John Hancock have two choices: Don’t report it and pay higher premiums, or go somewhere else for their insurance. http://theconversation.com/why-life-insurance-companies-want-your-fitbit-data-103732
There's a Serious Problem With The Way We Measure Global Food Security
We are producing more than enough calories. https://www.sciencealert.com/insufficient-measure-global-food-distribution-masks-hidden-hunger
A new meta-study has now revealed that a commonly found species of gut bacteria can more than double the risk of intestinal bleeding when combined with aspirin. https://newatlas.com/aspirin-gut-bacteria-ulcer-bleeding/56462/
About half of the palm oil used last year in Europe was for biofuels that ended up in gas tanks, according to environmentalists.
Indonesia and Malaysia have threatened retaliatory sanctions on European products over the proposed palm oil ban, which calls for a complete phase-out from biofuels by 2030. https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-eu-palm-oil-bitter-seeds.html
Can't Get Comfortable In Your Chair? Here's What You Can Do https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/24/649169060/cant-get-comfortable-in-your-chair-heres-what-you-can-do
The “liking gap” – we tend to underestimate the positive first impression we make on strangers https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/09/24/the-liking-gap-we-tend-to-underestimate-the-positive-first-impression-we-make-on-strangers/
The new study found that people who were prompted to either think about others, or to have spiritual thoughts, were more likely to become more physically active. https://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/behavior-health-news-56/thinking-of-others-makes-healthy-choices-easier-737826.html
You’re too addicted to your phone to quit cold turkey—here’s what to do instead https://www.popsci.com/psychology-reduce-smartphone-addiction?dom=rss-default&src=syn
Science Reveals How Fruit Keeps A Lid On Ripening Until The Time Is Right https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/09/24/650585212/science-reveals-how-fruit-keeps-a-lid-on-ripening-until-the-time-is-right
People Are Putting Their Dogs on Vegan Diets. Here's What It Actually Does to Them https://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-can-survive-on-vegetarian-diet-but-it-is-not-recommended
Prevention And Therapy May Be The Key To Slowing Down How We Age Successfully https://scienceblog.com/503475/prevention-and-therapy-may-be-the-key-to-slowing-down-how-we-age-successfully/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29 …
Prevention And Therapy May Be The Key To Slowing Down How We Age Successfully https://scienceblog.com/503475/prevention-and-therapy-may-be-the-key-to-slowing-down-how-we-age-successfully/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
Deciphering the link between skin allergies and the gut microbiota https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/c-dtl092518.php
Indoor HEPA filters significantly reduce pollution [ pm 2.5 ] indoors when outside air unhealthy, study finds https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/imc-ihf092518.php
Study finds that a lifestyle intervention may mitigate PFAS-related weight gain https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/hphc-sft092518.php
The ten sites with the highest detected PFAS levels in groundwater include bases in California, Florida, Delaware, Virginia and Texas, as well as former base sites in Louisiana, South Carolina and Illinois. These sites have PFAS levels in groundwater more than 100,000 times higher than the suggested threshold. https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/PFAS-military-bases
has shown that DEET acts not by repelling bugs, but rather by confusing them, messing with neurons that help the animals smell their surroundings. Moreover, the effects of DEET are not limited to insects: spiders, ticks, and many other pests also act strangely in the chemical's presence.
In this sense, DEET may be less of an insect repellent and more of an invertebrate confusant.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/ru-sih092418.php
Plants colour their fruits to flag down the right animals
New study finds fruit colours in Uganda and Madagascar match what the local wildlife can easily see https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/fruit-colour-animals-1.4838033?cmp=rss
On Reddit, Russian propagandists try new tricks https://www.techvows.com/on-reddit-russian-propagandists-try-new-tricks/
How to shop for an electric car https://phys.org/news/2018-09-electric-car.html
The world's largest biometric identity database has already been hacked An Indian newspaper has already bought access to personal data by paying hackers about $10 http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-26/aadhaar-biometric-identity-database-approved-by-indian-court/10309052?pfmredir=sm
China Assigns Every Citizen A ‘Social Credit Score’ To Identify Who Is And Isn’t Trustworthy
Country Determines Your Standing Through Use Of Surveillance Video, Plans To Have 600 Million Cameras By 2020 https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/04/24/china-assigns-every-citizen-a-social-credit-score-to-identify-who-is-and-isnt-trustworthy/
Four Reasons You Should Avoid Activated Charcoal https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/four-reasons-you-should-avoid-activated-charcoal-at-all-costs/all/
New Zealand children's medicine prescriptions examined for first time The use of methylphenidate to treat attention-deficit disorder, mainly in children older than six, increased by 37.7 per cent. Prescriptions of fluoxetine, an antidepressant, increased by 50 per cent in children over 12 over the five year period. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/uoo-nzc092518.php
non-stick cookware, ect.. The health risk for consumers from the uptake of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluo-rooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) via food is currently being reassessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As some questions have arisen regarding the technical relevance of selected scientific studies
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/bfif-pa092618.php
The Warm Glow Of Kindness Is Real, Even If There’s Nothing In It For You https://scienceblog.com/503522/the-warm-glow-of-kindness-is-real-even-if-theres-nothing-in-it-for-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
Researchers measure how sweet the deal is for corporate political donors https://phys.org/news/2018-09-sweet-corporate-political-donors.html
Bad air and inadequate data prove an unhealthy mix https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-bad-air-inadequate-unhealthy.html
Amazon, Apple, Google and other companies say they'd support privacy laws, but there's a catch Executives told the panel that the United States needs federal legislation to protect personal data—but told lawmakers not to emulate California and Europe. They said restrictions on data collection would diminish user experience. https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-amazon-apple-google-companies-theyd.html
Not a social media influencer? You can still get paid https://m.phys.org/news/2018-09-social-media-paid.html
Facebook under fire for 'shadow' advertising, which let brands target content based on users' private information https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6212357/Facebook-fire-shadow-advertising-targeted-ads-based-users-private-information.html
Had companies like Nest and Wink required two-step authentication, he says his team wouldn't have been able to so easily access the family's cameras or open their front door.
Two-step authentication ensures you can only access your account using a trusted device. If someone tries to log in on a new device, a code is automatically sent to the trusted device, like your phone. Without this code, a hacker can't access your account — even with your password. https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/smart-home-hack-marketplace-1.4837963?cmp=rss
and other researchers discovered that numbers provided to Facebook in two-factor authentication became targeted by advertisers within a matter of weeks https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-said-to-use-peoples-phone-numbers-for-ad-targeting/
"We use some that are made out of cardboard and cutlery that's made out of cornstarch so they break down quicker than your traditional plastics and styrofoams," Gallant said.
"We chose to either take the hit ourselves or transfer a bit of the cost onto our consumer, it's just a few cents more." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-wheat-bran-plates-poland-1.4840638?cmp=rss
Now that's a-peel-ing! Eco-friendly packaging for chips is made from POTATO PEEL https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/now-thats-peel-ing-eco-13323980
EcoBerries has developed a number of solutions and technologies for extending the shelf life and preserving the quality of fresh and processed berry and fruit products.
EcoBerries is 1 of 11 projects carried out under the CORE ORGANIC PLUS umbrella. https://phys.org/news/2018-09-packaging-safe-high-quality-berry-products.html
Fog’s Role In Microbial Transport https://scienceblog.com/503564/fogs-role-in-microbial-transport/
A new study, led by French and American physicians and published in JAMA Internal Medicine, presents compelling early evidence that recurrent UTIs can be avoided by regularly drinking lots of water https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/this-simple-step-could-stop-you-getting-utis/
For Pain Relief, Why Not Try Drug-Free Alternatives? https://consumer.healthday.com/bone-and-joint-information-4/pain-health-news-520/for-pain-relief-why-not-try-drug-free-alternatives-736852.html
Why vitamin E effect is often a matter of luck until now https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/fj-wve100218.php
The devastating impact of the tobacco industry on human health is well known. However, a new report systematically outlines for the first time the substantial impact of the tobacco industry on the environment. https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-cigarettes-significant-impact-environment-health.html
Age-related changes in skin structure & lymphatic system promote melanoma metastasis
Reduced expression of the HAPLN1 protein in older patients was implicated in these changes https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/twi-aci100118.php
"The findings from the study showed that philosophers and the general public made moral judgments in similar ways. This indicates that the structure of moral intuition is the same, regardless of whether one has training in ethics," Dubljevi? says. "In other words, everyone makes these snap moral judgments in a similar way." https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/ncsu-so100218.php
More bad news for artificial sweetener users according to Ben-Gurion University researchers
New study demonstrates artificial sweeteners have toxic effects on gut microbes https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/aabu-mbn092818.php
How Helpful Are Product Recommendations, Really? https://scienceblog.com/503580/how-helpful-are-product-recommendations-really/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
nobody is immune to back injury. But if you understand your body, you’ll protect yourself from a lot more pain. https://www.popsci.com/lift-carry-protect-back?dom=rss-default&src=syn
Why your online data isn't safe since late 2016, some of the biggest names in cutting-edge tech have seen their most sensitive customer data—including the content of emails, credit card numbers, and cellphone numbers—fall into the hands of hackers https://phys.org/news/2018-10-online-isnt-safe.html
Scientists seek a deeper understanding of how silver kills bacteria https://phys.org/news/2018-10-scientists-deeper-silver-bacteria.html
Optimistic thinking is leading people to set up businesses that have no realistic prospect of financial success, shows new research which may help explain why only fifty per cent of businesses in the UK survive their first five years. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/uob-ipt100318.php
Alternatives to pesticides -- Researchers suggest popular weeds https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/ei-atp100318.php
Why not? More big companies commit to addressing environmental impacts
https://phys.org/news/2018-10-big-companies-commit-environmental-impacts.html
Sexual Assault And Harassment May Have Lasting Health Repercussions For Women https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/10/03/653797374/sexual-assault-and-harassment-may-have-lasting-health-repercussions-for-women
During the day, the air pollution inside your home can be worse than outside due to activities such as vacuuming, cooking, dusting or running the clothes dryer. The results can cause health problems, https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-visualizing-bad-air-quality-home.html
The trio behind the latest hoax say their work was research in itself.
Academic journals are caught up in massive hoax involving 20 FAKE papers
'For us, the risk of letting biased research continue to influence education, media, policy and culture is far greater than anything that will happen to us for having done this', Dr Lindsay said. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6239071/Academic-journals-caught-massive-hoax-involving-20-FAKE-papers.html
This corrupt, illegal war on wildlife makes losers of us all https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/04/illegal-wildlife-elephant-tusks-treaties-animal
A brief jog sharpens the mind, boosting attentional control and perceptual speed http://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/brief-jog-sharpens-mind-boosting-attentional-control-and-perceptual-speed
and recommended consumers use mineral-based sunscreens such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, or wear sun-protection clothing. https://www.afp.com/en/news/2265/hong-kong-research-warns-sunscreen-health-risks-doc-19r4lk1
Common herbicide compound may save millions of lives https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-common-herbicide-compound-millions.html
Study details how business districts target homeless people https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-business-districts-homeless-people.html
Last week, Diet Coke hit the headlines, after a study revealed that sweeteners in the popular drink were toxic to gut bacteria.
Now, a new study builds on that research, and suggests that these sweeteners can actually increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes . https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/another-reason-ditch-diet-coke-13366487
Pentagon’s pursuit of insect-delivered genetic modification of crops prompts warnings https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/pentagons-pursuit-of-insect-delivered-genetic-modification-of-crops-prompts-warnings/3009596.article
Climate change apathy, not denial, is the biggest threat to our planet https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/05/climate-change-apathy-not-denial-threat-planet
How to stop workers from being exploited in the gig economy https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-workers-exploited-gigeconomy.html
A study led by environmental health scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health examined the release of vapors from gas station vent pipes, finding emissions were 10 times higher than estimates used in setback regulations used to determine how close schools, playgrounds, and parks can be situated to the facilities. Findings appear in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Gasoline vapors contain a number of toxic chemicals, notably benzene, a carcinogen. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/cums-gsv100418.php
Mexico’s new science minister is a plant biologist who opposes transgenic crops http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/mexico-s-new-science-minister-plant-biologist-who-opposes-transgenic-crops
Our study is one of the first to reveal the link between soil organic matter and crop nutrient content for a staple crop in a developing country. We found that wheat grown around Arsi Negele had more nutrients, like zinc and protein, when grown on soils rich in organic matter http://theconversation.com/study-in-ethiopia-links-healthy-soils-to-more-nutritious-cereals-103940
Here are 30 health consequences of sleep deprivation. https://www.sciencealert.com/sleep-deprivation-can-be-deadly-here-s-what-sleeping-less-than-7-hours-per-night-does-to-your-body-and-brain
Acetaminophen — better known by the brand name Tylenol https://www.livescience.com/42785-acetaminophen.html
FDA Bans Use of 7 Synthetic Food Additives After Environmental Groups Sue. The decision comes in response to a petition brought by environmental and consumer groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Food Safety, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/06/655135633/fda-bans-use-of-7-synthetic-food-additives-after-environmental-groups-sue
“The person lying on top of you — who she’d previously met — you’re not going to forget that,” said Richard Huganir, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “There’s a total consensus in the field of memory ... If anything, fear and trauma enhances the encoding of the memory at a molecular level." https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2018/10/07/republicans-who-believed-ford-doubted-her-memory-relied-junk-science-researchers-say/
Giving up plastic is not as hard as it sounds, when you have a plan
Advice from two women who've gone (relatively) plastic-free https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labradohabits-to-reduce-single-use-plastic-1.4838980?cmp=rss
50 years ago, a 550-year-old seed sprouted
Since then, much older seeds have proved resilient
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/50-years-ago-550-year-old-seed-sprouted
So how much should you take? Since 1 teaspoon of turmeric has 200 mg of curcumin, you'd need to add about three teaspoons to your food each day (see sidebar for some recipe ideas). You can also buy the active ingredient curcumin as a supplement in health food stores. A dose of 500 to 1,000 mgeach day can help you fight body inflammation.
Be sure to let your doctor know if you're going to be taking curcumin https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/food-facts/truth-about-turmeric-what-health-benefits-does-it-really-have.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1
The moringa tree, also known as the drumstick tree because of its slender foot-long pods, has been consumed mainly in parts of Southeast Asia for centuries.
The plant is distantly related to cruciferous vegetables https://phys.org/news/2018-10-moringa-superfood.html
A root extract of the Fallopia multiflora, or Chinese knotweed, has special properties: it enables the nematode C. elegans to live longer and protects it from oxidative stress. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/mh-reo100818.php
In the absence of bees, flies are responsible for pollination in the Arctic region https://phys.org/news/2018-10-absence-bees-flies-responsible-pollination.html
What you should know about the new climate change report
We have the technological capability to stop our earth from warming further. https://www.popsci.com/ipcc-climate-change-report?dom=rss-default&src=syn
Why we can't reverse climate change with 'negative emissions' technologies https://phys.org/news/2018-10-reverse-climate-negative-emissions-technologies.html
Water quality is threatened by a long history of fertilizer use on land, Montreal scientists find in new study. https://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2018/10/09/when-yesterday-s-agriculture-feeds-today-s-water-pollution/
Even When Presented With Facts, Supported By Evidence, Many People Choose Not To Believe Them https://scienceblog.com/503737/even-when-presented-with-facts-supported-by-evidence-many-people-choose-not-to-believe-them/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
Global warming: How you can help the environment right now https://www.cbsnews.com/news/global-warming-what-you-can-do-to-help/
added How Do You Catch A Killer Tiger? With Calvin Klein's Obsession, Of Course https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/how-do-you-catch-a-killer-tiger-with-calvin-kleins-obsession-of-course/all/
Research into equine vision leads to trial of new fence and hurdle design to further improve safety in jump racing horse http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_686716_en.html
Protein has unique effects in neural connections related to information processing https://sciencesources.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/piam-phu100918.php
that much of patients' preponderance to hyperuricaemia and gout is non-modifiable, countering these harmful but well-established views and practices and providing an opportunity to address these serious barriers to reducing the burden of this common and easily treatable condition." https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/b-scw100918.php
Decongestants should not be given to children under 6 - and given with caution in children under 12 - as there is no evidence that they alleviate symptoms such as a blocked or runny nose, and their safety is unclear, say experts in The BMJ today. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/b-dng100918.php
Here's Another Good Reason to Not Pick Your Nose https://consumer.healthday.com/infectious-disease-information-21/misc-infections-news-411/here-s-another-good-reason-to-not-pick-your-nose-738496.html
have found that low levels of cellular copper appear to make fat cells fatter by altering how cells process their main metabolic fuels, such as fat and sugar https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/jhm-lc101018.php
Analysis done for the nonprofit Center for Environmental Health revealed some jewelry sold with women's dresses and shirts was nearly pure cadmium, which can cause cancer and reproductive harm after prolonged exposure. https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-toxic-metal-chain-jewelry.html
Walmart wants to track how its customers are feeling as they peruse the snack aisle. The firm filed a patent for a internet-connected cart that can measure and track biometric data https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6262933/Walmart-patents-creepy-internet-connected-shopping-carts-measure-heart-rate.html
Flaxseed in particular is exceptionally rich in ALA, or alpha-linolenic acid, one of the omega-3 fatty acids. Grind the seeds before you eat them https://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/food-and-nutrition-news-316/the-skinny-on-fats-736972.html
shows that two inflammatory proteins in the colon increase in parallel with increasing weight in humans. An incremental rise in these pro-inflammatory proteins (called cytokines) was observed along the entire spectrum of subjects’ weights, which extended from lean to obese individuals. In participants with obesity, there was evidence that two pre-cancerous cellular pathways known to be triggered by these cytokines were also activated. https://scienceblog.com/503803/inflammatory-proteins-in-the-colon-increase-incrementally-with-weight/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
shows that a “good” bacterium commonly found in probiotic digestive supplements helps eliminate Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that can cause serious antibiotic-resistant infections. https://scienceblog.com/503806/nih-study-finds-probiotic-bacillus-eliminates-staphylococcus/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29
A bioeconomy uses renewable resources and helps society meet current environmental challenges so consumers need to be aware of the benefits of bio-based products. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-bio-based-products-consumers.html
Many farmers who have turned to regenerative, organic or biodynamic agriculture talk about the change of mindset they went through as they realised they could no longer manage a drying landscape without major changes to their farming practices. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-farmers-climate-denial-wane-reality.html
A new study finds that bacteria develop antibiotic resistance up to 100,000 times faster when exposed to the world's most widely used herbicides, Roundup (glyphosate) and Kamba (dicamba) and antibiotics compared to without the herbicide. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-links-common-herbicides-antibiotic-resistance.html
Study: Ketogenic diet appears to prevent cognitive decline in mice https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/uok-skd101118.php
Older adults who felt sleepy during the daytime when they wanted to be awake were almost three times more likely to have deposits of beta-amyloid, the protein that clumps in the brain as part of Alzheimer’s pathology, https://scienceblog.com/503840/daytime-sleepiness-linked-to-elevated-brain-amyloid/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28ScienceBlog.com%29

No, there's still no evidence e-cigarettes are as harmful as smoking In only one small part of the article, not covered in the press release and not picked up by the media, do the authors mention that they also exposed some cells to tobacco smoke, using media from Marlboro Red filter cigarettes. Yet the authors could not directly compare the cigarette and e-cigarette treated cells, because the cigarette treated samples all died within 24 hours. Cigarette smoke was so toxic that the cells did not survive beyond this short period, whereas the e-cigarette cell lines were topped up with e-liquid every three days, and the testing continued for several weeks. http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/dec/31/no-theres-still-no-evidence-e-cigarettes-are-as-harmful-as-smoking
This restrictive feeding schedule boosted the ghrelin hormone in the rats, encouraging them day-by-day to eat more, until they eventually learned to double their usual food intake. http://www.sciencealert.com/study-suggests-restricted-meal-times-might-not-be-the-best-idea-for-dieters
Habitual late-night snacking could damage a type of memory and learning, a new study suggests. http://www.spring.org.uk/2015/12/the-widespread-habit-that-may-damage-memory.php
Let hunger be your guide The results of the study showed that individuals who were moderately hungry before the meal tended to have lower blood glucose levels after consuming the meal than individuals who were not particularly hungry before consuming the meal. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151230043603.htm
Anxiety Acts Like A Sixth Sense That Can Save Your Life http://www.techtimes.com/articles/120443/20151231/anxiety-acts-like-a-sixth-sense-that-can-save-your-life.htm
Music therapy increases effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151223221648.htm
http://ideas.ted.com/the-strange-healing-properties-of-water-zapped-by-lightning/ http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/hack-into-a-linux-computer-by-hitting-the-backspace-28-times
How to procrastinate like an expert
http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2016/jan/04/how-to-procrastinate-like-an-expert
Procrastination is more than simply “not doing something” – it’s “not doing something and feeling bad about it”, typically through a mixture of guilt, fear and laziness. As soon as you realise you’re procrastinating, it’s important to diagnose why and take action.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/03/put-off-procrastinating-forever-tips-on-being-more-productive
Watch: The nearsighted epidemic is real
Up to 50 percent of young people in the US are nearsighted.
http://www.sciencealert.com/watch-the-nearsightedness-epidemic-is-real
People are four times as likely to order dessert when their waiter is overweight.http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2016/01/04/people-four-times-likely-order-dessert-waiter-overweight/
According to Elizabeth Loftus you could start with “covert sensitization”. This is the process whereby you repeatedly picture getting ill from the food you want to eat less of.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-strawberry-ice-cream-diet-hacking-your-memories-for-a-skinnier-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciam%2Fmind-and-brain+%28Topic%3A+Mind+%26+Brain%29
"Willfully ignorant consumers put ethical shoppers down because of the threat they feel for not having done the right thing themselves," she said. "They feel bad and striking back at the ethical consumers makes themselves feel better."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/osu-tuc123115.php
What one man learned from obsessively tracking his vital signs for 48 years
http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/1/3/10693820/ultimate-quantified-self
Important Basics Food Charts -
4: PROTEIN:
http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/serveinfo/books-phds/books/foodfacts/html/data/data2d.html
Banana peel is just as nutritious as the flesh http://www.sciencealert.com/banana-peel-surprisingly-just-as-nutritious-as-banana
Manure Elevates Nitrogen Accumulation And Loss http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/asfh-mae010416.php
Health Issue Brewing? 'Kefir Beer' May Someday Help http://livescience.com/53246-kefir-beer-health-inflammation.html
Going booze-free? The effects of a month without alcohol (spoi... na) http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2016/jan/05/alcohol-abstain-dryathlon-dry-january-health-science-spoof
Your relationships are just as important to your health as eating well and exercise https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/01/05/your-relationships-are-just-as-important-to-your-health-as-exercising-and-eating-well/
At the functional level, time-of-day-dependent high fat meal feeding tended to influence cardiac function to a greater extent in WT versus CCM mice. Collectively, these data suggest that CLOCK (a circadian clock component) is important for metabolic adaption of the heart to prolonged elevations in fatty acid availability. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388198115002346
The man who studies the spread of ignorance How do people or companies with vested interests spread ignorance and obfuscate knowledge? Georgina Kenyon finds there is a term which defines this phenomenon. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160105-the-man-who-studies-the-spread-of-ignorance
They found a tone of precisely 484 Hertz, the frequency of a female Aedes aegypti’s wings, brought 95 per cent of male mosquitoes to the trap. https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2015/decembelove-hertz
Countries far from equator at higher risk of leukaemia due to lower sunlight exposure, vitamin D deficiency http://www.ibtimes.com.au/countries-far-equator-higher-risk-leukaemia-due-lower-sunlight-exposure-vitamin-d-deficiency-1498232
Exercise to Boost Spine Muscles Can Ease Back Pain, Study Suggests http://consumer.healthday.com/bone-and-joint-information-4/backache-news-53/exercise-to-boost-spine-muscles-can-ease-back-pain-study-says-706761.html
CES Attendees Get Crash Course in What’s Worth Being Paranoid About http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/ces-attendees-get-crash-course-in-whats-worth-being-paranoid-about
The Company You Keep: Other's Perception Of You Is Influenced By Who You're Standing Next To http://www.medicaldaily.com/company-you-keep-others-perception-you-influenced-who-youre-standing-next-368298
It makes no sense to have your teeth bleached if you are not willing to change your habits that cause discoloration. This only creates more demand for bleaching and leads to overuse of bleaching products http://www.techtimes.com/articles/122847/20160109/over-the-counter-teeth-whitening-products-may-cause-permanent-damage-how-to-whiten-teeth-naturally.htm
Romantic break up..Dweck noted, "To them, a rejection reveals that it is fixed at a deficient level. On the other hand, people who believe in their ability to grow and develop, while of course hurt by rejections, can more readily bounce back and envision a brighter future." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-01-people-difficulty-recovering-romantic-breakups.html
The warning signs that YOUR pet is unwell: From dogs constantly shaking their heads to white spots on goldfish and hunched hamsters, we reveal the key symptoms you should be looking for http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3390200/The-warning-signs-pet-unwell-dogs-constantly-shaking-heads-white-spots-goldfish-hunched-hamsters-reveal-key-symptoms-looking-for.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
scientists shows that two specific metallic elements in the right kinds of clay can kill disease-causing bacteria that infect humans and animals. http://phys.org/news/2016-01-scientists-blue-green-clays-bacteria.html
Britons Warned To Cut Alcohol Consumption To Less Than One Drink A Day http://www.techtimes.com/articles/122861/20160108/britons-warned-to-cut-alcohol-consumption-to-less-than-one-drink-a-day.htm
Recovering From Food Poisoning? Here’s What You Should Eat http://www.techtimes.com/articles/123114/20160110/recovering-from-food-poisoning-here-s-what-you-should-eat.htm
This research suggests that exposure to different types of light (both artificial and natural) at different times now needs to be part of the conversation about the weight of children." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160107104820.htm
This finding raises the important issue that, for exercise to remain protective against future LBP, it is likely that ongoing exercise is required," the study concludes. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/tjnj-eaw010716.php
Regular practice of Transcendental Meditation enables some active duty service members battling post-traumatic stress disorder to reduce or even eliminate their psychotropic medication and get better control of their often-debilitating symptoms, researchers report in the journal Military Medicine. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/mcog-tmm011116.php
Close to one in every 15 American homes is estimated to have radon levels at or above the EPA's designated action level. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/123388/20160112/radon-is-a-cancer-causing-odorless-gas-and-heres-what-you-should-know-about-it.htm
It's all in your VOICE: Altering the tone you use when talking drastically changes your mood http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3395340/The-secret-feeling-happy-s-VOICE-Altering-tone-use-talking-drastically-changes-mood.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Food preservative kills cancer cells, superbugs "The application of nisin has advanced beyond its role as a food biopreservative," Kapila said. "Current findings and other published data support nisin's potential use to treat antibiotic resistant infections, periodontal disease and cancer." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160111135429.htm
Low-fiber diet may cause irreversible depletion of gut bacteria over generations http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160113160657.htm
This research shows that eating a flavonoid-rich diet is as good for erectile function as briskly walking for up to five hours a week. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160113160654.htm
Why (almost) everything you know about food is wrong http://www.vox.com/2016/1/14/10760622/nutrition-science-complicated
Lab study sheds light on how chronic stress may make it harder to burn off body fat http://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/stress-health-news-640/stress-may-make-it-harder-to-lose-weight-706796.html
To Resist Cravings, Tell Yourself You'll Indulge "Some Other Time" http://mic.com/articles/132541/to-resist-cravings-tell-yourself-you-ll-indulge-some-other-time
A team of researchers from Yale University have some pretty good news for humanity: Most people are inherently good and kind-hearted, and it’s the mean girls and guys who deviate from the norm. http://www.medicaldaily.com/pay-it-forward-being-nice-part-human-nature-369376
“It is not always bad that parents separate,” Hansson noted. “But there are 'unnecessary divorces' that are a result of communication problems or a temporary downturn in the relationship, which could be avoided with more support.” http://www.medicaldaily.com/how-save-your-marriage-swedish-researchers-offer-relationship-advice-parents-small-369380
How builder bots are taking construction work out of human hands https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22930562-900-how-builder-bots-are-taking-construction-work-out-of-human-hands/
WEF Founder: World Unprepared to Deal with 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' http://m.voanews.com/a/wef-founder-world-unprepared-to-deal-with-fourth-industrial-revolution/3143406.html
Scientists pinpoint one way nanoparticles damage immune cells http://www.nanomagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3013:scientists-pinpoint-one-way-nanoparticles-damage-immune-cells&catid=38&Itemid=159
When a product features a strong claim, consumers are more likely to make a purchase if they see the claim presented on a package versus in an ad. http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-consumer-psychology/forthcoming-articles/where-you-say-it-matters-why-packages-are-a-more-believable/
Therefore washing fruits and vegetables using clean water at home – including pre-washed products – before consumption may help minimise the risk of foodborne infections. http://www.science20.com/the_conversation/do_you_need_to_wash_fruit_and_vegetables-163558
If you're a breakfast eater, carry on; just make sure to choose healthy foods. If you're not, don't fret. The best science we have suggests you're fine either way. http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10771626/is-it-bad-to-skip-breakfast
In the future, we may clean our produce with cavitation in order to better wash away harmful substances like salmonella and pesticides. http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/watch-how-bubbles-in-water-can-be-a-powerful-cleaner
Tea or coffee: Which drink is better for you? http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160115-tea-vs-coffee-which-drink-is-better-for-you
A new study found that eating less fiber, more saturated fat and more sugar is associated with lighter, less restorative, and more disrupted sleep. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160114213443.htm
Low Bicarbonate Levels May Be a Danger for Seniors Fruits and vegetables are a source of bicarbonate. http://consumer.healthday.com/senior-citizen-information-31/misc-aging-news-10/low-bicarbonate-levels-a-danger-for-seniors-706876.html
Liver recovery difficult even with improved diet, but faster if sugar intake is low http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160113195100.htm
Continuing debate regarding the validity of the evidence used to create the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Presented in Mayo Clinic Proceedings http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/ehs-cdr011416.php
Want to sleep better? Then lay off the chips and chocolate http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/want-sleep-better-lay-chips-7188245
Scented candles and other air freshener products used in homes contain limonene. When this chemical reacts with the ozone, it produces formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/124930/20160116/scented-candles-other-perfumed-products-contain-ingredient-that-could-give-you-cancer.htm
Elevated Indoor Carbon Dioxide Impairs Decision-Making Performance http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2012/10/17/elevated-indoor-carbon-dioxide-impairs-decision-making-performance/
This is the First Flower Grown in Space http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2016/01/this-is-the-first-flower-grown-in-space/
With the help of tactics like these, you’ll catch poor decisions before they happen, and learn something useful about yourself when you do slip up. You don’t have to be a saint or a guru to make wise decisions, but you do need a send of awareness of your own mental foibles, and a willingness to be honest with yourself, about yourself. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2016/01/15/decision-hacks-making-smarter-choices/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20discovercrux%20%28The%20Crux%29
Diet Can Make A Difference In Your Sleep: Foods That Insomnia Sufferers Should Eat http://www.techtimes.com/articles/125138/20160118/diet-can-make-a-difference-in-your-sleep-foods-that-insomnia-sufferers-should-eat.htm
Industry groups including PepsiCo and Coca-Cola helped fund scientific research that claims diet drinks are better than water at helping individuals lose weight. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/125235/20160118/coca-cola-pepsi-helped-fund-research-touting-benefits-of-diet-drinks-on-weight-loss.htm
Science
Forget yellow snow, you shouldn't eat any of it! The white stuff acts as a sponge for pollutants emitted by car exhausts http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3401578/Forget-yellow-snow-shouldn-t-eat-white-stuff-acts-sponge-pollutants-emitted-car-exhausts.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
How to Avoid Getting Pummeled by a Cold http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/10/common-cold-treatment.html
About two million human jobs are expected to be gained in smaller job fields, but about 7.1 million jobs will be lost to AI workers, for a net replacement of about five million jobs by 2020.
The 150-plus page report is full of charts and graphs looking at all fields of employment. The report is in preparation for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum starting tomorrow in Switzerland. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/165948-Millions-of-Administrative-and-Office-Jobs-Expected-to-Be-Automated-By-2020?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tags
Marketers have a stake in studies like this, as they could benefit from pitching brands in a servant way to regions and groups shown to be more materialistic than others. These populations include younger consumers as well as urban dwellers.
Older consumers and those living in rural and suburban areas, on the other hand, could be better lured by brands acting as partners. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/125608/20160119/materialist-consumers-with-poor-personal-relationships-use-servant-brands-to-gain-sense-of-power-study.htm
While research has already established that B vitamin supplements can help slow mental decline in older people with memory problems, an international team have now found that having higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in your body could boost the B vitamins' effect. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uoo-ola011916.php
The Science of Healing Thoughts Journalist Jo Marchant explores surprising new research into curing the body with the mind http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-of-healing-thoughts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciam%2Fmind-and-brain+%28Topic%3A+Mind+%26+Brain%29
What Happens to the Data Collected On Us While We Sleep http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/what-happens-to-the-data-collected-on-us-while-we-sleep
experts agree that the best course of action is to avoid honey produced mostly from plants such as Paterson's curse, which is often sold at specialty markets.
"There is unlikely to be a significant human health risk from consuming normal amounts of Australian honey," said Andrew Bartholomaeus from the University of Canberra, who wasn't involved in the research. "Those consuming high levels of honey may wish to seek honey produced from other plants." http://www.sciencealert.com/study-finds-cancer-causing-toxins-in-significant-portion-of-our-honey
Between 1997 and 2013, an average of 2,813 kg of saffron was produced annually in Spain. However, Spain exported 35,978 kg of this product on average each year. Where did those remaining 33,165 kg come from? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160120113714.htm
The link between the “lazy” variant of the ADH1B gene and a greater alcohol consumption has long been proven by science within Asian populations. This study is one of the first to offer conclusive proof of this also being the case in the West. http://www.science20.com/news_articles/alcohol_consumption_in_the_west_has_a_genetic_component-163922
frying in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is the cooking method that increases the phenolic fraction present in raw vegetables used in Mediterranean diet (potato, pumpkin, tomato and eggplant) the most. (vs steam?)http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uog-vfw012016.php
Yo-yoing between eating well during the week and bingeing on junk food over the weekend is likely to be just as bad for your gut health as a consistent diet of junk, new UNSW research suggests. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uons-wbj011916.php
"Our results indicate that strong performance brands can cause an effect that is akin to a placebo effect," Germann said. "Our results also suggest that the use of a strong performance brand causes participants to feel better about themselves when undertaking a task -- that is, to have greater task-specific self-esteem. This higher self-esteem lowers their performance anxiety which, in turn, leads to the better performance outcomes." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uond-cpb012016.php
Are intelligent agents the beginning of the end for journalism as we know it? http://phys.org/news/2016-01-intelligent-agents-journalism.html
Voice analytics software helps customer service reps build better rapport with customers http://phys.org/news/2016-01-voice-analytics-software-customer-reps.html
Swap statins for a daily apple to improve heart health, say health experts http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12115433/.html
New study shows aged garlic extract can reduce dangerous plaque buildup in arteries
Supplement can help prevent progression of heart disease http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/labr-nss012116.php
Maths Hack: 12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School http://www.earthcribs.cf/2016/01/maths-hack-12-useful-math-hacks-that.html?m=1
Spaced repetition: a hack to make your brain store information http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/23/spaced-repetition-a-hack-to-make-your-brain-store-information
Based on the new findings, the researchers suggested that visualizing a successful performance as well as a positive audience reaction may help ease anxiety if you tend to tense up under pressure. http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/pressure-performance-anxiety_us_56a0e3b0e4b0d8cc1098cf6b
What is ‘bad science’ and how to spot it? http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/why-some-science-is-actually-bad-science/article/455538
Weed blasting offers new control method for organic farmers http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160121130658.htm
That genetic information shared between plants isn’t DNA—the two grafted plants keep their original genomes—but epigenetic information is being communicated within the plant. http://www.salk.edu/news-release/grafted-plants-genomes-can-communicate-with-each-othe
Thanks to big data, US parties know all about voters http://phys.org/news/2016-01-big-parties-voters.html
"This means that the impact of environmental events, such as being bullied or losing a job, is of limited duration. The effect of the events that cause social anxiety at one point will pass. The fact that social anxiety disorder is so unstable should give hope for those who are struggling with it," he adds. http://www.science20.com/news_articles/social_anxiety_is_highly_heritable_but_is_affected_by_environment-163844
Toxic algae may cause dementia as scientists find higher rates of brain disease near contaminated lakes http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/toxic-algae-cause-dementia-scientists-7238137
How to avoid ‘bad science’ and promote 'good science' http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/how-to-avoid-bad-science-and-promote-good-science/article/455716
The science of magic tricks: From misdirection to 'pausing' time, experts reveal how illusions… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3412382/The-science-magic-tricks-misdirection-pausing-time-experts-reveal-illusions-mess-minds.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Warning: dietary supplements could seriously mess with your medication http://theconversation.com/warning-dietary-supplements-could-seriously-mess-with-your-medication-52352
Toxic chemicals found in most outdoor gear: Greenpeace http://m.phys.org/news/2016-01-toxic-chemicals-outdoor-gear-greenpeace.html
Paints Used In Playgrounds Contain 40 Times Recommended Lead http://www.techtimes.com/articles/127366/20160125/paints-used-in-playgrounds-contain-40-times-recommended-lead.htm
On the other hand, those who did not link the rejection to their own self-image fared better emotionally. These types of participants thought of the breakup instead as a more unpredictable event, an indication of incompatibility, or something inevitable ("It happens to everyone at some point or another"). http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/romantic-rejection-breakups-study_us_56a64e47e4b076aadcc73f84
What to check to make sure the phone you're buying works well and isn't stolen http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technology/buying-smartphones-1.3420867
Pepper the robot is going to staff an entire phone store http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/26/pepper-the-robot-staffs-a-whole-phone-store/
E-cigarette Vapor Boosts Superbugs And Dampens Immune System http://www.science20.com/news_articles/ecigarette_vapor_boosts_superbugs_and_dampens_immune_system-164276
Using cardboard, Teflon tape, and a pencil to generate energy, a postdoctoral student from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne discovered the device that works as well as two AA batteries.
The system is inexpensive and environmentally friendly, the researchers say, and relies on static electricity to produce more than three volts of power – enough to power a tiny LCD screen. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3418029/The-power-plant-build-home-Researchers-reveal-cardboard-tape-pencil-produce-electricity.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
The Right Way to Stretch Before Exercise http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2016/01/21/stretching-back-to-the-past/?_r=0&referer=
We show that while the Mozart K.448 has positive cognitive effects, the retrograde version has a negative effect http://www.nature.com/articles/srep18744
Kisameet Clay Exhibits Potent Antibacterial Activity against the ESKAPE Pathogens http://mbio.asm.org/lens/mbio/7/1/e01842-15#figures
Higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss: a randomized trial http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2016/01/26/ajcn.115.119339
“Earthworms used for bait should never be released in the forest,” Lapointe said. “Anglers who use them for fishing should pack them back out afterwards, or if that’s not possible, throw them into the lake,” she added. http://www.financialexpress.com/article/lifestyle/science/earthworms-could-threaten-plant-diversity-study/203448/
According to the authors, these results suggest that the global community has responded to the calls-to-action, such as in the Stockholm Convention, to limit the release of potentially harmful chemicals into the environment.
The authors caution that although pollutant concentrations in marine fish are steadily declining, they still remain quite high, and that understanding the cumulative effects of numerous exposures to pollutants in seafood is necessary to determine the specific risk to consumers. http://www.science20.com/news_articles/study_finds_toxic_pollutants_in_fish_across_the_worlds_oceans-164424
How to Cultivate Your Creativity http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-cultivate-your-creativity-book-excerpt/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciam%2Ffeature-articles+%28Content%3A+Feature+Articles%29
it's only when we exercise beyond a moderate activity level that our bodies seem to stop burning extra calories. And secondly, the benefits of exercise go far, far beyond weight loss. http://www.sciencealert.com/exercise-on-its-own-won-t-make-you-lose-weight-and-scientists-have-finally-shown-why
Gut microbiota lipopolysaccharide accelerates inflamm-aging in mice http://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-016-0625-7
A compound found in the natural food additive annatto prevents the formation of cancer cells and skin damage from UV radiation in mice, new research shows. In the future the compound, bixin, may be valuable in the prevention and treatment of human skin cancers. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160128155109.htm
Here's what to do if you wake up before your alarm and don't want to feel like crap http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what-to-do-if-you-wake-up-before-your-alarm-and-don-t-want-to-feel-like-crap
WATCH: What would happen if you only drank soda?
Even sugar-free won't save you.
http://www.sciencealert.com/watch-only-drink-soda
Researchers Are One Step Closer to Mind Reading in Real Time http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/researchers-are-one-step-closer-to-mind-reading-in-real-time
So with all this lead around—in workplaces, supplements, food, toys, dust, house paint, and water systems—what’s the best way to reduce exposure? http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examine2016/01/the_lead_pipes_in_flint_are_a_tiny_part_of_a_huge_problem.html
The biggest myth about warming up your car in winter is doing your engine more harm than good http://www.sciencealert.com/the-biggest-myth-about-warming-up-your-car-in-winter-is-doing-your-engine-more-harm-than-good
This old maths study aid turns out to have a scientific basisStudy shows simply tracing over what you're learning about makes it easier to remember. http://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2016/01/this-old-study-aid-for-math-turns-out-to-have-a-scientific-basis/
People who eat more nuts, fish, poultry and certain fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s, research finds.
Set against this, those who eat more red meats, organ meats, butter and high-fat dairy products have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. http://www.spring.org.uk/2016/01/food-types-alzheimers-disease.php
Don’t Go Hollow: How 'Dark Souls' Is Defeating Depression http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/dont-go-hollow-how-dark-souls-is-defeating-depression
'BPA-free' plastic accelerates embryonic development, disrupts reproductive system http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uoc--pa012816.php
Here's How To Avoid The Gout, Ebenezer http://www.science20.com/the_conversation/heres_how_to_avoid_the_gout_ebenezer-164635
3D printing ready to reshape home building http://m.scidev.net/global/design/opinion/3d-printing-reshape-home-building.html
The findings suggest that even a short rest without actually sleeping could help boost memory. https://www.braindecoder.com/a-15-minute-rest-might-boost-memory-no-sleep-needed-1582823376.html
Regardless of which explanation fits best (or even if more than one does), the authors believe the “association of declining weight and BMI with MCI may have implications for preventative strategies for MCI.” http://www.medicaldaily.com/weight-loss-brain-health-golden-years-371752
By training in front of a supportive audience, people could strengthen the connections in their brains, Harrison said. For example, before an actual public performance, a musician could perform in front of family and close friends and receive a lot of applause. This might re-train the neural network, and it's something the researchers are planning to study next, Harrison added. http://livescience.com/53544-why-anxiety-makes-you-stumble.html
Increasingly, young people are being warned that future employers, college admissions departments and even banks will use their social media profiles to form assessments. In response, many of them seem to be using social media more strategically. http://theconversation.com/so-long-social-media-the-kids-are-opting-out-of-the-online-public-square-53274
How to tell if someone is lying to you by watching their face http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-to-tell-if-someone-is-lying-to-you-by-watching-their-face-a6846611.html
"It took weeks to really understand what Windows 10 does under the hood," he said. Zimmerman says that even if users opt out of all of Microsoft's data collection during the Windows 10 setup, there are still hidden data-sharing features that only those who buy the Enterprise version of the operating system — or use his software — can disable. http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technology/windows-10-1.3223168
A College Is Telling Students To Wear Mandatory Fitbit Activity Trackers 24/7 Christian University Requiring Students to Use Fitbits Says It Won’t Track Sex http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/christian-university-requiring-students-to-use-fitbits-says-it-wont-track-sex
Scientist creates AI algorithm to monitor machinery health http://m.phys.org/news/2016-02-scientist-ai-algorithm-machinery-health.html
If the “lamestream” media had bothered to take even 10 minutes to investigate who was behind this latest attack on organic food, it would have realized that corporate food giant Cargill, the Monsanto-aligned Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, British Petroleum (BP), and Goldman Sachs are among the many corporate donors that made the study possible. And since both Cargill and Monsanto have a vested interest in seeing organics fail, it is no surprise that the study came to the ridiculous conclusions that it did. http://www.prisonplanet.com/agricultural-giant-cargill-and-others-behind-anti-organic-stanford-study.html
Organic agriculture key to feeding the world sustainably It is the first such study to analyze 40 years of science comparing organic and conventional agriculture across the four goals of sustainability identified by the National Academy of Sciences: productivity, economics, environment, and community well being.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/wsu-oak020116.php
A New Advocacy Group Is Lobbying for the Right to Repair Everything http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/a-new-advocacy-group-is-lobbying-for-the-right-to-repair-everything
The level of seafood intake in the study population was moderate, and therefore the findings cannot be generalized to populations with higher seafood consumption or to populations with high mercury exposure. Further, the protective association of seafood was only observed among individuals with a common genotype (APOE-ε4) that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160202124013.htm
If you struggle with feeling stressed, powerless or under-confidence in your everyday life, Dr Cuddy advises you work power poses into your daily routine – and this begins as soon as your alarm goes off. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-harvard-psychologist-says-everyone-should-do-this-as-soon-as-they-wake-up-a6848271.html
Hunger Hormone Slows Aging in Mice Signs of getting older are less common among rodents with ramped-up ghrelin production. http://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/45238/hunger-hormone-slows-aging-in-mice
People Eat Fewer Calories After A Straightforward Change To Home Environment http://www.spring.org.uk/2016/02/eat-fewer-calories-after-this-change.php
Children Who Eat High-Protein Breakfast Consume Fewer Calories At Lunch http://www.techtimes.com/articles/130649/20160204/children-who-eat-high-protein-breakfast-consume-fewer-calories-at-lunch.htm
for men to eat their lima beans--If research in male fruit flies holds up, it might help extends lifespan, increases fitness levels, and improves their glucose balance. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/foas-ppl020516.php
Better Sleep Habits Connected To These Everyday Kinds of Exercise http://www.spring.org.uk/2016/02/better-sleep-habits-connected-everyday-kinds-exercise.php
Neurobiological changes explain how mindfulness meditation improves health http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/cmu-nce020416.php
“The moral concern of purity, out of all the moral values, was the best predictor of distance between two people,” said Morteza Dehghani, lead author of the paper. http://www.medicaldaily.com/twitter-purity-morals-relationships-372342
How to make your car green http://www.euronews.com/2016/02/04/how-to-make-your-car-green/
The researchers believe that the protein, collagen 17A1, could provide a future target for hair loss. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3433247/So-s-causes-bald-spots-Hair-follicle-cells-confused-older-turn-SKIN-instead.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Online shopping might not be as green as we thought http://phys.org/news/2016-02-online-green-thought.html
Get the most out of your broccoli by steaming it "The total content of glucosinolates of fresh broccoli increased by steaming methods," http://www.sciencealert.com/this-common-way-of-cooking-broccoli-is-leeching-important-compounds-from-it-study-finds
Science
Will artificial intelligence mean the rich get even richer? Superwealthy are ALREADY using robo advisors to manage their stocks http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3434161/Will-artificial-intelligence-mean-end-traders-Claims-superwealthy-using-robo-advisors-manage-stocks.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
5-MINUTE PROJECT: HAND WARMERS MAKE YOUR OWN PORTABLE HOT PACKS http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2012-02/5-minute-project-hand-warmers
"Through my research I wanted to show the potential for honey as a healing agent to break through these biofilms and in doing so increase the process of healing. What I found amazing is that honey actually works better than some antifungals." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160205112639.htm
Advice for fish eaters http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-fish-toxins-box-20160208-story.html
Teens who eat slowly control their weight better than those who don’t, a new study finds https://student.societyforscience.org/article/control-overeating-slow-down
When bananas age they become covered in black spots caused by the enzyme tyrosinase. It is a natural browning process common among certain organisms, including food. This same enzyme also plays a role in the type of skin cancer known as melanoma. http://phys.org/news/2016-02-banana-stages-melanoma.html
There's no cost and pure benefit from adhering to simple rules: Don't talk on your mobile while it's charging and never use it within 50cm of your groin. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/1.702087
Meet the ‘rented white coats’ who defend toxic chemicals
How corporate-funded research is corrupting America’s courts and regulatory agencies http://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/08/19223/meet-rented-white-coats-who-defend-toxic-chemicals
ABM is a computer-assisted intervention aimed at improving a threat-detecting cognitive bias that characterizes SAD.48 In concordance with previous studies, the ABM was delivered twice a week over 4 weeks. ABM has been described in detail elsewhere.27, 42,49 While ABM has shown promise,50, 51 it has been found to be less effective when delivered through the Internet49and we used ABM as a control in the present trial. http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n2/full/tp2015218a.html
The good news is going back on a low-fat diet for just two months, at least in mice, reverses this trend of shrinking cognitive ability as weight begins to normalize, http://www.thebiph.org/blog/high-fat-diet-prompts-immune-cells-to-start-eating-connections-between-neurons
the findings highlight the natural resistance of wild plant varieties and suggests we need to "breed some of that wildness back in" instead of continuously looking for new methods of pest control. "By selecting for certain characteristics we have inadvertently lost some really useful ones," http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/nu-bwb020816.php
Me Against The World: 6 Ways To Make It Through A Bad Day, Based On Science http://www.medicaldaily.com/how-survive-bad-day-make-it-through-science-372900
Acrobatic Workouts Are More Popular Than Ever — Here's Why They're So Good for You http://mic.com/articles/134499/acroyoga-is-bigger-than-ever-heres-why-its-so-good-for-you

I have been selling on etsy for 2 years and keep having problem with their supposedly paraphernalia policy. They wroth me an email falsely stating that I sell :
Etsy prohibits the sale of drug paraphernalia, including (but not limited to):

• any items with carburetors (e.g., steamroller pipes)
• slides and/or any items with slides
• bongs, bubblers, and their component parts
• vaporizers and electronic cigarettes
• hash oil rigs, domes, dabbers, carb caps, nails, and dab kits
• roach clips
• cocaine spoons (e.g., "snuff" or "festival" spoons)
• any item marketed as drug paraphernalia (e.g., pipes tagged with terms like "marijuana", "weed", "bong", etc.)

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It has been an ongoing issue with them where I contacted them a month ago for more information regarding this specific policy. The chat person couldnt answer the question and told me they were going to come back to me by email, which never happened. Not only did they not explain their policy after my request, they decided to permaban my vendor account without notice, telling me again the same policy without telling me which listing would be categorized as illicit. Not only that.. many other sell the exact same thing as us with high success.
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Does anybody else have the same issue with etsy where they seem to apply their paraphernalia policy only when they want to and not uniformly? Very arbitrary and ultimately wrongfully. Thanks yall and happy selling.