THE FLESH


Ps 139:1 <To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.> O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.
 2 You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
 3 You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
 4 For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
 5 I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
 6 Such knowledge is a wonder greater than my powers; it is so high that I may not come near it.
 7 Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there.
 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
 10 Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
 11 If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
 12 Even the dark is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day: for dark and light are the same to you.
 13 My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
 14 I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious.
 15 My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.
 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being.
 17 How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
 18 If I made up their number, it would be more than the grains of sand; when I am awake, I am still with you.
 19 If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
 20 For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
 21 Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me?
 22 My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
 23 O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
 24 See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.

 (BBE)


They're growing brains in Petri dishes.

"Excuse me?"

They are growing human brains in Petri dishes.

You may ask, "What's a Petri dish?"

pe·tri dish

ˈpētrē ˌdiSH/

noun

noun: Petri dish; plural noun: Petri dishes; noun: petri dish; plural noun: petri dishes

1. a shallow, circular, transparent dish with a flat lid, used for the culture of microorganisms.

Origin

late 19th century: named after Julius R. Petri (1852–1922), German bacteriologist.

This little environment has Matrigel, "a medium rich in chemicals that  stimulate cells to divide, prevent them from dying and provide...support for growth of bud-like appendages, a prelude to  development of fully formed brain structures."  Scientific American January 2017.  P. 29 "Lab Built Brains"  Into this medium, biologists place cells grown from stripped stem cells developed to match neuroectoderm or nervous system cells.  After the development process has gone between days 15-30, " Matrigel droplets are transferred to a spinning bioreactor or a device known as an orbital shaker.  In the gel, the embryoid bodies grow to into brain organoids-three dimensional, white balls of tissue  that resemble  the forebrain of a growing human fetus.  The organoids can then be used to study brain development and disorders that occur early in life."

Research on these mini brains is needed because the usual sources of brain research, animal studies, don't work as effectively on many cases of disease such as Alzheimer's due to the fact most animal brains do not have the wrinkling of our neocortex which enables the many neuron functions which we have dubbed "higher thinking,"  Study of the organoids has helped in the understanding of the effects of the Zika virus on the brain.  

When we first imagined robots, we saw them as human shaped beings.  Modern robotics tend to use the available structures for lifting and placing objects for factory work with pincers and clamps and the ball and socket joints for rotation.  Those were the simplest joints to copy.  Duplication of the human hand has proven vastly more complex.  We keep coming closer in prosthetics.   Though some of the gaps have been closed.


https://openbionics.org/affordableprosthetichands/

Prosthetic Hands

Anthropomorphism

Motivated by the structure and functionality of human hand, the most versatile and dexterous end-effector known, we argue that anthropomorphism is an important feature in hand design, resulting in improved performance for a variety of every day life tasks. In our design, anthropomorphism is reflected in two specific design choices: 1) the use of an anthropomorphic kinematic model and 2) the use of a bio-inspired finger actuation and transmission system. In order to optimize anthropomorphism we use the index described in the anthropomorphism section of this website.

Bio-inspired Compliant Robot Fingers with Soft Fingertips

The finger actuation and transmission system follows a bio-inspired design that structurally reproduces the flexion (with tendons driven through low-friction tubes) and extension (using elastomer materials) movements of human fingers. The structure of the finger is constructed with Plexiglas (acrylic) and the flexure joints are implemented with silicone sheets.

For the robot fingers we use also the following materials: 1) sponge like tape that is easily deformable (to enlarge contact patches, reduce contact forces impact to the grasped object and enhance stability), 2) rubber tape (to increase friction and constrain the sponge like tape on the robot phalanges) and 3) anti-slip tape (to maximize friction during contact, enhansing stability of grasps).

Thumb Mechanism

A selectively lockable toothed mechanism that can implement 9 different opposition configurations, is proposed for the thumb. The proposed mechanism substitutes the three Degrees of Freedom (DoF) that implement the human thumb opposition with only one rotational DoF. The proposed mechanism is completely stiff when it is locked and is not affected by torsional forces inherent in dynamic / unstructured environments. A separate tendon routing system is used for the thumb and its tendon is terminated to a separate servo pulley.

Selectively Lockable Differential Mechanism (Whiffletree)

We propose a novel selectively lockable differential mechanism that can block the motion of each finger, using a button. The differential allows the user to select in an intuitive manner the desired finger combinations, implementing different grasping strategies with only 1 motor. The top two bars of our whiffletree have appropriately designed holes and the palm accommodates a series of buttons that upon pressing are elongated. The idea is that when the button is pressed the elongated part fills the appropriate finger hole and the motion of this particular finger is constrained.

A total of 16 different index, middle, ring and pinky combinations can be implemented using the differential mechanism and a single motor. These can be combined with the 9 discrete positions of the thumb, to produce a total of 144 different grasping postures.

Personalized Designs

Τhe use of parametric models derived from human hand anthropometry studies, allows for the development of personalized prosthesis. The only parameters that we need in order to derive the finger phalanges lengths and the personalized finger base frames positions and orientations, are the human hand length (HL) and the human hand breadth (HB).

The proposed hands can be fabricated using off-the-shelf, low-cost materials and rapid prototyping techniques (3D printing) or standard machinery tools. All required materials can be easily found in hardware stores around the world.

And there are heart replacements:

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/HeartValveProblemsandDisease/Options-for-Heart-Valve-Replacement_UCM_450816_Article.jsp#.WLjgP2_yvIU

Valve Replacement

The aortic valve and the mitral valve are the most commonly replaced valves. Pulmonary and tricuspid valve replacements are fairly uncommon in adults.

Replacing a narrowed valve:

The most common valve surgical procedure is aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis, or narrowing of the aortic valve. Mitral stenosis is another condition that sometimes requires a valve replacement procedure.

Replacing a leaky valve: Aortic regurgitation, (sometimes referred to as aortic insufficiency) is another common valve problem that may require valve replacement. Regurgitation means that the valve allows blood to return back through the valve and into the heart instead of moving it forward and out to the body. Aortic regurgitation can eventually lead to heart failure.

Mitral regurgitation may also require a valve replacement. In this condition, the mitral valve allows oxygenated blood to flow backwards into the lungs instead of continuing through the heart as it should. People with this condition may experience shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats and chest pain.

Surgical options for valve replacement include:

• Mechanical valve — a long-lasting valve made of durable materials
• Tissue valve (which may include human or animal donor tissue)
• Ross Procedure — “Borrowing” your healthy valve and moving it into the position of the damaged valve aortic valve
• TAVI/TAVR procedure — Transcatheter aortic valve replacement
• Newer surgery options

The procedure chosen will depend on the valve that needs replacement, the severity of symptoms and the risk of surgery. Some procedures may require long-term medication to guard against blood clots.

And:

Imagine living without a heart. It is possible — if you have a new artificial heart pumping blood through your body. You can even go to the supermarket, watch your kid's soccer game or go on a hike.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has performed its first procedure to remove a patient's diseased heart and replace it with a SynCardia Temporary Total Artificial Heart. 

Chad Washington, 35, underwent the seven-hour transplant surgery at UCLA on Oct. 29, led by Dr. Murray Kwon, an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery. 

The temporary pump will act as a "bridge" until Washington receives a new donor heart.

"Historically, patients with a total artificial heart had to remain hospitalized while they waited for a transplant because they were tethered to a large machine to power the device," Kwon said. "Today, however, this device can be powered by advanced technology small enough to fit in a backpack."

"It sounds like a loud grandfather clock going 'tick-tock' in my chest, but it doesn't feel foreign. It's there to help," Washington said of the artificial heart. "I'm so glad to be living in an age where technology is moving so fast."

Yes, this is going somewhere, eventually.

Back to the brain first: The central nervous system is the first recognizable body part to develop in an embryo, one of the reasons the brain organoids are possible for lab work.  Gerald L. Schroeder in The Hidden Face of God:

"The adult human brain has approximately one hundred billion neurons (nerves).  So does an infant's at birth, though many of the connections among the nerves are not formed.  One hundred billion is also the approximate number of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and the estimated number of galaxies in the entire visible universe.  In an adult brain, the axon of each neuron connects with as many as a hundred thousand dendrites of other neurons.  The branching is stupendous, a million billion connections.  That's 1,000,000,000,000,000 points within our heads at which neurotransmitters are racing, sending information from nerve to target nerve.  A massive web of activity contained within just under one and half liters of volume, with most of our conscious thought emanating from a layer of 2 to 4 millimeters (about one-eighth inch) thick, the cerebral cortex, which covers the very top of the brain."

The complexity of the human brain goes on and on.  We know this by our study,  We possess that ability to study because of the complexity of the brain that studies the brain.  We know the complexity of the hand because of the complexity of the brain.  We use it to use the hand to turn the page in the book typed by the trained hand of  someone with an even more educated brain.  Ditto the heart and books about the heart typed by trained hands.  And the universe for that matter. 

We know all this because of something once testified to by the character portrayed by Joan Crawford in the TV series Night Gallery: "My sole preoccupation, Doctor,  is myself."   We re completely engulfed in the search for the answers to our physical ills.  We pursue every line of discussion and every possible study from biology, to history to physics to astrology to magic to literature and every one is focused on us: human beings.  What makes us tick?  What is the answer to us?  How  we got this way,(answer:evolution) and where we go from here (answer: in comics anyway: also evolution).  We are self made and, if there are any answers to be find, we find them and place the ones we can't take credit for we give that credit to  forces; nature, evolution, psychological factors of our past,  any force we can give a name to other than God.  Then we proceed with the larger lie that we don't name them as forces, but merely as a process, even as we grant them legitimacy AS forces, as kinds of god.  We inevitably see the universe in terms of what it means to us.  Asteroids destroy other planets.  Can it happen to us?  Stars erupt and destroy whole solar systems, Black holes swallow suns,   What would that look like if it happened near us?  What does it mean to me in terms of my mortality?

Because THAT is what hovers like a giant vulture and bothers us: death.  Death hangs behind all of it.  We want to know how we are built, so we can hold death at bay.  We want to know how quantum singularities eat up matter so we can learn how we might get away in a space ship or avoid them with light drives.  We want to know how to keep back ebola, how to frustrate plague, how to halt time.  Oh, yes, how to halt time.  We worship James Dean and Marilyn who died young and call them...immortal.  We fail to get the irony or perhaps we grasp the irony too deeply, are cut too far to admit the truth and the hurt.  

We miss Eden, but we miss immortality more.  We miss never having a thought of death, never knowing pain because pain is the effect of dying,  of being in a dying world. We miss the relationship of one to one so deep as if  we come from each other.  A relationship to God so deep that we know we come from Him.  We want to know how we can go back.

But sin demands that we do it our way, that we grasp how we are made so we can remake ourselves.  

48 Hours the TV news magazine, recently ran a show about stalkers, some impossibly crazy and lucky in ducking the law, laughing at restraining orders telling them to leave women alone, carrying on in  their constant pursuit of people until they are either stopped by their own crimes, are sent away for long enough for their victims to escape int new lives, or until the stalkers kill their victims in and act of "love."  Our sin behaves that way.  It pursues us everywhere.  It haunts us day and night.  The guilt for past sins, the gnawing desire for new sins.  Sin wants to drag jus back to it.

Because death remains out there.  We fear it so much we avoid the thought of it. We need some anesthetic to numb the fear.   Alcohol is a very legal, very available anesthetic.


http://darksidesubliminal.blogspot.com/p/alcohol-advertising.html#.WLoziG8rLIU

The top 5% of drinkers of alcohol account for 42% of the nation’s total alcohol consumption. (1)

About 17.6 million Americans abuse or are dependent on alcohol (2)

This equates to 5.61% of the United States population. (17.6 million out of 313,539,000 total resident population). (3) 

Jean Kilbourne, who is the Chair of the Council on Alcohol Policy and is on the Board of Directors of the National Council on Alcoholism, states:

“Recognizing this important marketing fact, alcohol companies deliberately devise ads designed to appeal to heavy drinkers. Advertising is usually directed toward promoting loyalty and increasing usage, and heavy users of any product are the best customers. The heavy user of alcohol is usually an addict.” (4)

Drug policy reform expert Pete Guither writes: 

“So do alcohol companies do any marketing to heavy users? Sure. Brand marketing (in fact, brand marketing makes up the vast majority of their efforts). That’s where they get you to drink Bud Light instead of Miller Light (not in addition to). It isn’t changing the use of alcohol, only what brand is getting the larger share of the market.” (5)

Advertisers for alcohol focus on anxiety, cravings, addiction, and death in order to increase alcohol sales.

The subliminal imagery in designated alcohol advertisements includes images of animals, aliens, faces, monsters, skulls, angels, devils, disembodied heads, and spirits (ghosts).  A world is shown that is very nightmarish in nature.  Many of these advertisements also portray the subject of death.

Do you see the skull in this glass of alcohol?

(I hate to say it but I see skulls in SEVERAL of those cubes. W.)

Leading to these conclusions:

IMAGERY CONCERNING FEAR AND DEATH

Many alcohol advertisements contain subliminal imagery like images of animals, aliens, scary faces, monsters, skulls, angels, devils, disembodied heads, and spirits (ghosts).  A world is shown that is very nightmarish in nature. 

There are two areas of study that shed light on why advertisers place this kind of subliminal imagery in designated alcohol print advertisements: Terror Management and Brain Fear Response

A.  TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY

Terror Management Theory investigates how people respond to their fears and anxieties concerning death.

“Terror Management Theory hypothesizes that human awareness of the inevitability and possible finality of death creates the potential for existential terror, which is controlled largely in two ways:

(a) faith in an internalized cultural worldview

(b) self-esteem, which is attained by living up to the standards of value prescribed by one’s worldview” (45)

The subliminal images pertaining to death in an alcohol print advertisement is mortality salience information. Mortality salience information means the awareness of one’s eventual death.  Undetected, these subliminal images provide mortality salience information to the subconscious mind of the viewer of an alcohol print advertisement. 

According to one terror management theory study on fear appeal and binge drinking showed that exposure “to mortality-related information about the risks of binge drinking was found to result in greater willingness to binge drink among binge drinkers and non-binge drinkers who perceived this behaviour to benefit self-esteem.” (46)

“Research findings suggest that mortality-related health promotion campaigns might inadvertently make mortality salient, and hence precipitate the very behaviours which they aim to deter among some recipients.” (47)

Rachel Carey and Kiran Sarma, from the School of Psychology at NUI Galway examined why ‘fear-appeals’ may not work when it comes to addressing risk-taking behavior.

“Social scientists have explored the psychological and socio-demographic factors that are believed to predict how young people  respond to health-related advice. In recent years attention has focused, in particular, on the efficacy of fear-messages (that you may suffer injury or death) on behaviour and this has been articulated within the theoretical paradigm, Terror Management Theory (TMT).” (48)

“TMT proponents ask the question: how can we continue to function in life, knowing that death is inevitable and can occur at any time? Terror of death is managed, they argue, by minimizing vulnerability.” (49)

“So when told by a clinician that risky…behaviour can lead to acquiring a serious… disease (mortality salient information), the young male is confronted with death and should cope through minimizing vulnerability (behaviour avoidance).” (50)

“However, behaviour avoidance clearly does not always occur and TMT postulates that this arises from two possible reasons. First, the youth may deny vulnerability to the threat through cognitive distortions that may, for instance, take the form of ‘it won’t happen to me because I’m young’  Second, and at an unconscious level, where the risk-taking behaviour is part of the individual’s self-esteem, he may react defensively to the message and actually engage in the behaviour more reverently as a defence mechanism. So in responding to mortality salient advice, and where the behaviour is part of the self-esteem of the youth, he may defend against the terror-emotion by bolstering self-esteem and continue to engage in the risky behaviour, potentially on a more extreme level. (51)

“Where self-esteem is linked to the risky behaviour, fear messages are less effective and can be counter-productive” (52)

“A wide range of other risk-taking behaviours have also been examined, including binge drinking…and studies have consistently suggested that where self-esteem is linked to the risky behaviour, fear messages are less effective and can be counter-productive.” (53)

“Not withstanding the limitations of the growing body of literature in this area, concern is growing that fear-based health promotion advertisements and one-on-one advice may be largely ineffective with some risk-takers, and may actually promote such behaviours.” (54)

Since the subliminal images pertaining to death in alcohol print advertising is mortality salience information that reaches the subconscious mind of the viewer of an alcohol print advertisement, could it be possible that the heavy drinker reacts defensively to this mortality salience information and actually engages in drinking more reverently as a defence mechanism?

As mentioned previously in the findings by Rachel Carey and Kiran Sarma,

“So in responding to mortality salient advice, and where the behaviour is part of the self-esteem of the youth, he may defend against the terror-emotion by bolstering self-esteem and continue to engage in the risky behaviour, potentially on a more extreme level.” (55)

B.  BRAIN FEAR RESPONSE

Psychologist Robert E. Corrigan and Hal C. Becker, an assistant professor in experimental neurology at Tulane performed extensive experiments in subliminal perception in the 1950’s.  They formed the company PRECON (from Preconscious) Process and Equipment Corporation in order to market the technique commercially.

Robert E. Corrigan and Hal C. Becker knew “from their laboratory experiments that viewers will react to words like BLOOD and to pictures of skulls with increased tremor activity, faster breathing, sweating palms and other indications of heightened emotions.” (56)

In a more recent study, researchers “at Columbia University Medical Center have found that fleeting images of fearful faces – images that appear and disappear so quickly that they escape conscious awareness – produce unconscious anxiety that can be detected in the brain with the latest neuroimaging machines.” (57) 

“It’s one of the first times that neuroimaging has captured the brain’s processing of unconscious emotion.  Using a high-resolution version of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) the researchers observed a structure in the brain important for emotional processing – the amygdala – lights up with activity when people unconsciously detected the fearful faces.” (58)

“Psychologists have suggested that people with anxiety disorders are very sensitive to subliminal threats and are picking up stimuli the rest of us do not perceive,” says Dr. Joy Hirsch, professor of neuroradiology and psychology and director of the fMRI Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center, where the study was conducted. “Our findings now demonstrate a biological basis for that unconscious emotional vigilance.” (59)

“While the subjects were looking at a computer, the researchers displayed an image of a fearful face onto the monitor for 33 milliseconds, immediately followed by a similar neutral face. The fearful face appeared and disappeared so quickly that the subjects had no conscious awareness of it.” (60)

“But the fMRI scans clearly revealed that the brain had registered the face and reacted, even though the subjects denied seeing it. These scans show that the unconsciously perceived face activates the input end of the amygdala, along with regions in the cortex that are involved with attention and vision.” (61)

“The amygdalas of anxious people was far more active than the amygdalas of less anxious people. And anxious subjects showed more activity in the attention and vision regions of the cortex” (62)

When drinkers of alcohol, that suffer from anxiety, view alcohol print advertisements that contain subliminal images of scary faces, monsters, skulls, devils, disembodied heads,  spirits (ghosts), or other nightmarish figures, these images register in their subconscious minds and have a neurological effect on their amygdalas. 

The power of death so infuses our beings that even our unconscious minds look to grasp escape from the fear, can be seduced into buying products just to assuage the fear.  

That fear is the Spirit knocking at our heart's door.  We have only so much time.  In terms of the universe, of the stars, of the Earth, certainly of immortal beings like the angels and demons. like God, we are mayflies.  A mayfly is a very familiar bug to a fisherman. 

Mayfly – a site of fascinating facts

Filed under: Mayfly  -    Pinned  | Spread the word !

 

All creatures great and small have a purpose on this earth no matter how annoying they are to humans. Even flies have their jobs in the bigger scheme of things, which would break down if just one of the elements in the loop was to die out. Frogs live off flies, other creatures live off frogs and so on and so on down the food chain. Although the mayfly has many predators, they also have a useful purpose, which is not just to breed and multiply. Using other things in nature like trees, flowers and fruits, the mayfly lives a very happy life until it is time to die off. The mayfly is classed as an insect because of its insect features, like the six legs and three segmented body. Like other flies, the mayfly has wings and the ability to fly, which makes it easy for them to collect foods and do what they need to do to survive.

Depending on the species of mayfly, the adult may only live long enough to transform from pupil stage, eat food, breed and then die. Sometimes, they do not even live long enough to eat for long. When a group of mayflies get together, predators like birds, spiders and other insects get together for a real feast. With millions of mayflies being born at one time, it is easy to eat most of them and still continue the cycle of life. The mayfly is actually one of the oldest living insects from many thousands of years ago, and are part of the same family as the dragonfly. During the nymph stage, which is their initial stage after the insect lays eggs in the water, the nymph is born and wriggles around eating and trying not to be eaten until it is ready to change into a mayfly.

There are thousands of different mayfly species all around the world, and they known by different names including the dune bug, Lake Fly, day fly, green bay flies and fish flies. The last name is obvious because the fish like to eat the larvae and the flies breed in water that contains fish. Some of the biggest bug collections in the world hold several hundred species of the mayfly from all different climates and terrain.

We are those mayflies.  We erupted on this planet and have grown to a huge wall of mayflies. grasping at life, eating and then dying.  Except we have the sense to see the temporality of it all.  We have the feeling of death closing in each day,  Hiding in a passing car driven by a drunk, in a gun carried by a burglar, in a knife wielded by a mad spouse, an anguished child.  We know we are small and unimportant and mortal,   In the face of that mortality we can do three things.

1) We can pretend we are not mortal.  We live with that delusion each day.  Jesus touched on it it when he told the parable of the man who filled his silos  and said he was at last saisified only to have God tell him he would die the next morning.  Money and its accumulation had driven him all his life to the exclusion of his family and God.  

2) We pretend there is no God, that we are the product of chance.  The evolutionary ideas of chance combined with the right circumstances creating life from nothing even though every lab test ever done of that theory has proven it false, even the one in the 1980's what was said to prove it was shown to be tainted.  These tests usually involve a sterile environment with the "soup" of elements believed to be in the original primordial world and introducing electricity believed to represent the lightning of that world to have it stimulate life.  This may be called the "Frankenstein Theory of Life' but it isn't. One experiment supposedly resulted in amino acids being formed and these are viewed as the basis of life except that experimental "soup"  was not made up of what is NOW thought to be that "soup" so that experiment wasn't accurate either.  

3) We turn to God.  

13 My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.

 14 I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious.

 15 My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.

 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being.

And, in turning to the Creator, we are crying out. "Please, save me.  Save me from death!" And, behind that cry: "Can you save me?  I know you are the Lord, but can you save me?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJce6F4d_O4


Generations cried it.  A few grasped the truth and held out in faith.  Some formed a nation based on that hope, though the nation kept forgetting.

So God sent a message, written in blood, pinned up at the top of a tree for everyone to see, the message of His Son.  The Message of Messiah.  Written in flesh to a fleshly world.