Future thrills

We all need to understand science – it bears directly on how we live. Non-scientists should be able to grasp what is going on in the world of science. The knowledgeable citizen is probably a good citizen.

The most basic part of science is that there is life and consciousness, and that this is not limited to humans. Humans are probably not special at all as they may be part of a greater whole and in symbiosis with a huge number of organisms.

All the atoms that are you has a life force binding it all together. We don’t know this life force or why our atoms hang together the way they do. The cooperation of these atoms is at present a mystery, but there must be a logic or system behind it all. Humans are also developing or changing all the time as they adapt to “conditions” – internal and external. There seems to be a wholeness that require that you do this – or rather carries you along – or you disappear. Species of the Earth regenerate for a while – millions of years or shorter – and then they disappear. These processes are going on around us all the time.

We know of lots of species that have been here, but we don’t really know what is going on now – the numbers are unknown. These processes are only found on the Earth as far as we know, and scientists are looking for more.

The conditions under which we live on this Earth seens to be precisely balanced – there are restrictions that make us live on a very small part of the Earth and its atmosphere.

The lack of knowledge about the Earth is unbelievable. The numbers of organisms here seems to be huge and we are maybe surrounded by millions of species we have not yet seen.

And how did it all start? One spot of creation and then gradual adaptation into what we have today and that is not nearly finished or ever will be. And the big question for us now is: Is it possible for us to destroy it all? Ecologically we are behaving badly: bad air, dirty water, removing forests, emptying the ground, depleting resources….So where will we go: into destruction or into new positive developments?

Does it mattter what we do? Is science on the right rack? Do you understand it all – how serious is it? You should take an interest – it is about you and the future of mankind. Is that too big an issue for us?

The babyboom has turned into a pensioners boom now, and people also live much longer than before. Our increased wealth, improved methods, more knowledge has made the average age of people increase rapidly – it is now increasing several months every five years.

Old age does not seem so frightening as before as your chances of dying as a person full of days are good and increasing all the time. Old age is still considered bad by youngsters, but remember – the years fly by for all of us – one day it is your turn.

The strange thing is that the processes of aging are not understood – there is no commonly accepted theory of aging – the factors involved, the processes.

But a longevity industry is prospering: substances, processes, treatments are there in a market with hundreds of billions of dollars. People are thus obviously willing to pay for a longer life, and some say a lot of it is rather good. There is also lots of research going on on a wide array of topics.  Aubrey de Grey is well known – he wants us to live a thousand years. Processes in our cells have attention, nutrition, psychology and fitness too – and genes. Knowledge is increasing.

In the meantime we have to accept that one day death will reach us all. Dying at an old age with most of your senses intact seems to be a good way out for most people. There is no need to think otherwise, that this is tragic or horrendous or fearsome – it is not. It is also of no use to think like that and it will all be in your mind only anyway.

Before you get there you should look after yourself as best you can: Eat well, work your body well, think well, live well, laugh and take part. You may beat the statistics too and get a good long life and a very short bad period before you die full of good days. So let us not worry, but accept and have a fine life until then.

“When death comes make it fast and sudden, preferably in my sleep. I have lived enough”.

Is this OK or should we think differently? Aubrey de Grey and his kind may be right you know, and one day they may show us how to keep on.

So we say that aging and dying is a natural thing – what if it is not? It may be due to our present lack of knowledge and lack of proper care.

But see to it that you live till you die!

The oceans and the deep seas are not well known to man. We know the extent, the depths, etc. but the processes going on, the influence on the environment, the lifeforms down there are not well known. We  know about most fish, some plants, surface currents, some metals, maybe there is oil down there – but a lot is lacking in what we know. The high water pressures are a challenge.

These areas are huge – Norway alone has a seabed area 7 times as large as the country itself. Large areas are common to humanity – many parts of the big oceans. We know more about the surface of the moon than about our own seabed.

This is about to change. Many nations are now starting cooperative efforts to map the bottom, establish time series of data that can be used to describe the processes taking place, getting hold of samples of materials, finding out more about life-forms in the deep. Environmental and sustainability questions are also part of it. Volcanic processes of the seabed are different, and we need more knowledge about how the magma moves and forms in the deep sea. The lack of light in deep waters make the processes different also.

There are now recommendations from European researchers that a system of marine observatories should be put in place. Canadian observatories are already in place near Vancouver. The Russians are at it already, so is the US, and further international cooperation will be sought.

The observatories will be high tech marvels that can collect data from the surface to the bottom many thousands of metres down there. They can measure currents, acoustics, water properties, sonar, tempeatures …., and they can be connected to each other in a network. Remotely controlled vessels, communication systems will be needed too.

Industrial partners are coming in as well – there may business to be done.

There is also a big administrative challenge: How do we share these resources, what kind of rights do nations have, what will be the extent of international cooperation.. Get your fair share or occupy what you want?

Surely much of these waters are a common pool resource for humanity?

Surely we could establish underwater communities at the bottom of the oceans, working, living, finding food there?

The functioning of the brain is not well understood – we try as best we can to help people with disorders – of which some are medical, some are mental “only”. Some times just a change of behaviour would be beneficial to people themselves or their associates. Researchers are working hard to understand mechanisms, find tools, find drugs or treatments to improve peoples lives.

Psychology is a science of thinking, feeling and maybe also an art. It deals with human mental activity and and our behaviour: perception, attention, personal choices, emotion, relationships, group action….

Psychology is found in all human activity: singles, groups, organizations. Humans are not stable and can change their behaviour or be made to change behaviour in many ways. There are many -isms in psychology and we are really striving to understand human behaviour – healthy or not is often a question in itself.

When we turn our attention to the medical side of brain functioning we are in the realm of psychiatry – we deal with the brains circuitry, tissues, connections.

This is obviously not easy terrain: Do you have a need for a good therapist or are your case about medicines or even surgery?

It all starts with the primary care doctors who need tools in the form of guidelines. Many countries have them, and the WHO has them: the Intervention Guide. In psychiatry the symptoms tell you what the disease is, but the understanding is not always good, and the resources are not always there. Research is heavy, and themes are genetics, mechanisms, side-effects, drugs.

Many people are not treated today – depression is rampant, many people with epilepsy are left on their own.

So good work is being done and we will gradually find out more and treat more people.

Do you believe in spirits of the non-corporeal kind? By spirits we mean inexplicable phenomena or mental, maybe emotional happenings or powers materializing. It is often associated with the soul, consciousness or things your senses register.

Spirits may be thought of as supernatural ghosts or the souls of dead people, it may have to do with energy, your mind or with the gods. We say it is all in your mind, but sometimes physical phenomena are seen. In many cultures shamans or special people are said to have powers to heal, to repair, to work wonders.

So is there substance in the spirits some people see or hear? Are they real phenomena or are they just occurring in people’s minds?

Natural phenomena may explain many effects – lightning, storms, frost, heat, growth, water flow – resulting in phenomena that to an  untrained mind are seen as beyond normality or even caused by supernatural powers.

The powers of the mind and consciousness – mind to mind contact, psychic powers, extrasensory powers, telepathy – are other happenings that has had the attention of the public. Most have been characterized as self-delusions or tricks. Parapsychology and similar research is often called fringe science – maybe there is something in it – but is largely refuted.

Prophets have been part of culture of man claiming to know what will happen, authors have been using spiritual themes to make a good story, magicians show intricate tricks involving mental powers and through mythology, life and death experiences, reincarnation there has been untold episodes unfolding, psychics causing sensation by what they do.

People with extraordinary contact with nature, more knowledge than others of natural systems often claim psychic powers and abilities and psychologists have sometimes claimed supernatural knowledge.

For the time being we must say that we don’t know what there is. Can there be effects out there that we don’t understand or don’t know? Our knowledge of the human mind including consciousness is not impressive so we must keep searching till we know. Natural phenomena are not fully understood or mapped.

The fact that this is a constantly appearing theme among humans shows that there is activity we need to know more about. Lack of knowledge or understanding must not stop us from trying to find out – it might even be helpful to know, improve our lives, show us connections to other areas. So let us have an open mind and not be too harsh with the people trying to find out. Let us not judge – but try to see and understand.

New knowledge has been found always and will continue to be found.

The explanation of what life is is said to be found in the DNA both human and nonhuman. The first (incomplete) sequencing of the human genome was done 10 years ago.

We are hearing all the time about modifying genes of plants, animals and even reconstructing old genes to make new plants and animals. Cloning of animals is a fact. Both knowledge and practice moves briskly along.

But the human DNA is proving harder to crack. The commercial promise is still there, but so far few people are doing business – the big activity seems to be research – and for a long time to come too.

We want to find the DNA sequence related to illnesses, develop drugs to correct the DNA flaws. Especially cancers have been a serious contender for developments. This process is not going speedily forward – the truth is hard to find. Is there more to human life than chemistry – is there more we need to know? What has happened to DNA over time – how has it developed? The time span is enormous – millions of years.

All human genomes are different – DNA from crime scenes can be used to determine who was there. If we could determine what is good DNA and what is bad DNA we could sort people according to their qualities, as well as fix their obvious faults. This kind of thinking is obviously scary!

DNA sequencing for humans can be done ever cheaper, but there is as of now fairly little we can use the sequence for. The promise of business is there so developments are going on.

We are now trying to find the DNA relations surrounding human health so that we can develop drugs to correct illnesses. From what we know now it already seems clear that not all illnesses are treatable by drugs. Diagnosis based on your DNA is not yet a reality, and the drugs are not there either.

But non-human genomics are thriving and/or progressing: fuels, agriculture, micro-organisms, animals, plants.

There is also discussion about patents and copyright: What is patentable?

Only time will tell – there is obvious promise – but is there more to it than we have now? DNA research will continue – it seems to be well funded – but we need more time to understand. Is the approach of cell processes correct – maybe it is more about systems, networks, life sciences.

Genomics will be coming to us all – soon.