Pameland: 3/4/07

Friday, March 9, 2007

"we'd like to confirm that the world is round."

"From space, the sight of Earth elicits a profound response. It may even have the power to change our consciousness.

Starting in 2007, we'll be seeing a lot more of the Earth from space. The Chinese are launching their first lunar satellite this year, with the US, India, and Japan following in 2008. The missions will investigate the moon for possible future human landings, but we'll still take the opportunity to send back new images of Earth against the infinite black...For those who have already experienced it, the beauty of the planet has been an epiphany, eliciting deep concern for Earth's health, a visceral understanding of human 'oneness,' and clarity about the interconnectedness of things. Unlike those of us here among the trees, they have seen the forest."
Cont.

Robo-Salamander Sheds Light on Evolution

...The team used the amphibious salamander as a model for their study because it is reckoned to be very similar to the first ever land-walker.

The researchers knew that different gaits — in salamanders and people — are regulated by a part of the brain quite far from conscious control (imagine the agony of everyday walking if it had to be as deliberately planned as a newly learned dance).

And in 2003, the same team found that real salamanders could be made to switch from one gait to another simply by turning up electrical stimulation to a certain brain-stem area. The more stimulation, the faster the walking motion and the faster it wiggles side to side until, at a certain threshold, it would seamlessly switch into a faster, wave-like swimming motion...

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