mind? what mind?

The whole of humanity is one human family. This planet is our only home.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

I’m an avid reader of science fiction books, as well as a person that enjoys SF movies the most.  Usually, in these stories (or accounts of possible futures, as some call them in not-so-tongue-in-cheek manner) humans –excuse me, “hupersons” (don’t want to be called a sexist!) strive to find or make new homes among the planets of our solar system, or out among the stars.  As families generally do, they splinter off, finding or building new homes.  Can you imagine attempting to build a house to fit all the billions of your brothers, sisters, cousins, parents, grand-parents, and children, all descendants from the single mother that at least some geneticists claim we all share?  Before long, even that immense house will become to crowded, too limiting for our sanity.

Home is not where we hang our metaphorical hat, it’s where we come from; and for our species that is this small, insignificant ball of matter and energy that we call “Earth” or “Terra”.  As when each of us grows up and moves out of our parents houses (huts, tents, igloos, caves, or whatever) we remember where we grew up.  Usually, we think of that as “home”: “I’m going ‘home’ to visit my family”, “I’ve just gotten a letter from ‘home’”, etc.  And so, what H H the fourteenth Dalai Lama says is true.  We humans (excuse me again, “hupersons”), according to the geneticists, are one family and this planet is our Family Home.

Now listening to:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced - Third Stone From The Sun

So Dr. Steven Wolf of Brooke Army Medical Center is quoted in the CNN news article by Larry Shaughnessy, titled Salamander-inspired therapy may aid injured vets. 

Story Highlights

“Regenerative medicine” pursued by the Pentagon, top U.S. and medical facilities

Key to regeneration is powder nicknamed “pixie dust”

Powder forms a microscopic “scaffold” that helps cells grow into desired tissue

This is very exciting; let’s hope that the trials prove this medical advancement to be every bit as productive as it is hoped it will be.

(I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to post it.  I’ve since watched the entire series, and remain impressed.)

Maybe I’ve had just a little bit too much Maker’s Mark Bourbon tonight, but I am seriously  impressed by the season one videos of  Battlestar Galactica that I’ve been watching.  I am not easily impressed, at least I’d like to think so, anyway, but damn, I am impressed by the TV series.  Today I’ve been watching the miniseries and the season one episodes of the “new” version of this sci-fi TV phenomenon.  Being the sci-fi fiend that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed the original TV series, as campy as it was; but I have to admit, that having finally succumbed to the temptation of watching this new version, I am seriously impressed.  The acting is much better than the original, and much better than I expected this time around.  And the graphics, the effects… wow!  This is one jaded viewer that is seriously impressed.  Aside from the “artificial gravity”, it looks like that, for the most part, the laws of physics are being observed.

I surprised myself with this book; I began reading it expecting, for some reason, to be less than impressed.  It captivated me.  I found Kay Kenyon’s creation of the artificial “Universe Entire” to be both fantastical and believable, and her portrayal of our universe, the “Rose”, every bit as gritty as the reality.

This is the first book of a series, and I look forward to the next installment.