“As far as we can tell from a purely scientific viewpoint, human life has absolutely no meaning. Humans are the outcome of blind evolutionary processes that operate without goal or purpose. Our actions are not part of some divine cosmic plan, and if planet earth were to blow up tomorrow morning, the universe would probably keep going about its business as usual. As far as we can tell at this point, human subjectivity would not be missed. Hence any meaning that people inscribe to their lives is just a delusion.” Yuval Noah Harari
This is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope called The Hickson Compact Group 40. This year NASA celebrated Hubble’s 32nd birthday by showcasing this image. The telescope was put into orbit around earth by the crew of the space shuttle Discover on April 25, 1990. The Hickson group is about 300 million light years away in the direction of the constellation of Hydra. It has the designation 40 because it is the 40th entry in the catalog of relative small galaxy groups compiled by Paul Hickson. In 1982 he published a list of 100 compact galaxy groups based on his examination of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey plates. In the above image you see five galaxies in all: three spiral shaped galaxies, an elliptical galaxy, and a lenticular or lens shaped galaxy. Image credit: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI). If you are interested in the above image please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/celebrating-hubbles-32nd-birthday-with-an-eclectic-galaxy-grouping and https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2022/012/01FYSACDTCSR43GVXBWTHDFHCT and https://skyandtelescope.org/sky-and-telescope-magazine/hickson-compact-groups/ and the YouTube video below!
“Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths. Any large-scale human cooperation – whether a modern state, a medieval church, an ancient city or an archaic tribe – is rooted in common myths that exist only in people’s collective imagination.” Yuval Noah Harari
The above image is from the Hubble Space Telescope. It is showing a galaxy that is named GAMA 526784. It is what is know as an ultra-diffuse galaxy and appears in the above image as a fuzzy patch of light. It is about four billion light years away in the constellation Hydra. These types of galaxies have a few interesting quirks. One of which is the either / or property of having an abundance of dark matter or the almost complete lack of dark matter. Another feature of these types of galaxies is the increased number, as comparted to other galaxies, of “globular clusters.” Globular clusters are spherical collections of stars. They have a high concentration of their stars in the center of the structure, thought to be due to gravity. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. van der Burg; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz. If you are interested in the above image please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2002/hubble-views-a-galactic-oddity and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globular_cluster and https://www.universeguide.com/galaxy/gama526784
“Morality doesn’t mean ‘following divine commands’. It means ‘reducing suffering’. Hence in order to act morally, you don’t need to believe in any myth or story. You just need to develop a deep appreciation of suffering.” Yuval Noah Harari
This image was taken by the Hubble space telescope and it is a picture of the spiral galaxy M99, but is also known as NGC 4254. Depending on which catalog of galaxies you are looking at. The M or Messier catalog, which was begun by astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th Century is one that is popular with amateur astronomers due to the listing of objects that can be seen with small telescopes. The NGC or the New General Catalogue was compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. It list many more objects (in the 1000s) than the Messier Catalogue (about 110), some of which can only be seen with very large telescopes. The above galaxy is called a “grand design” spiral galaxy due to it’s well defined spiral arms. It is in the constellation Coma Berenices and is 42 million light-years from Earth. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Kasliwal, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team. If you would like to learn more about the above image please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubbles-double-take-on-a-spiral-galaxy and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_99 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_General_Catalogue and Explore – The Night Sky | Hubble’s Messier Catalog | NASA
“When the faithful are asked whether God really exists, they often begin by talking about the enigmatic mysteries of the universe and the limits of human understanding. ‘Science cannot explain the Big Bang,’ they exclaim, ‘so that must be God’s doing.’ Yet like a magician fooling an audience by imperceptibly replacing one card with another, the faithful quickly replace the cosmic mystery with the worldly lawgiver. After giving the name of ‘God’ to the unknown secrets of the cosmos, they then use this to somehow condemn bikinis and divorces. ‘We do not understand the Big Bang – therefore you must cover your hair in public and vote against gay marriage.’ Not only is there no logical connection between the two, but they are in fact contradictory. The deeper the mysteries of the universe, the less likely it is that whatever is responsible for them gives a damn about female dress codes or human sexual behavior.” Yuval Noah Harari
The above is another NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. It shows a section of the spiral galaxy NGC 247 and it is located about 11 million light-years away in the Sculptor Group. The Sculptor Group is a loose group of galaxies visible near the south galactic pole. Or for us Northern Hemisphere viewers it would be on our southern horizon around November depending on how far North you are. Sculptor was named by the French astronomer Nicolas Lacaille in the 1700s. The North Galactic Pole lies in the northern constellation Coma Berenices and as mentioned above the South Galactic Pole lies in the southern constellation Sculptor. The Sculptor Galaxy is one of the closest galaxies to earth. NGC 247 is also know as the Needle Eye Galaxy due to a dark hole containing very little stars in the galaxy. Below is a better close up view of this galaxy and you can see the dark hole at the bottom of the galaxy. Image credit for the above picture: NASA, ESA, and H. Feng (Tsinghua University); Image processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America) and image credit for the below picture: Mark Hanson of Hanson Astronomy Photos: https://www.hansonastronomy.com/ngc-247-the-needles-eye-galaxy
If you would like to learn more about these images or the Sculptor Group or the galaxy NGC 247 then please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-images-a-dwarf-spiral-with-multiple-mysteries and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculptor_Group and https://earthsky.org/constellations/constellation-sculptor-galaxy-south-galactic-pole/#:~:text=Also%20above%20Alpha%20Sculptoris%2C%20but%20below%20the%20Sculptor,0h%2051m%2026.00s%2C%20Dec%20%3D%20-27d%207m%2042.0s. and https://www.hansonastronomy.com/ngc-247-the-needles-eye-galaxy
“Fiction isn’t bad. It is vital. Without commonly accepted stories about things like money, states or corporations, no complex human society can function. We can’t play football unless everyone believes in the same made-up rules, and we can’t enjoy the benefits of markets and courts without similar make-believe stories. But stories are just tools. They shouldn’t become our goals or our yardsticks. When we forget that they are mere fiction, we lose touch with reality. Then we begin entire wars `to make a lot of money for the corporation’ or ‘to protect the national interest’. Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our life in their service.” Yuval Noah Harari
HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!
If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I! Yea for us again! I am still hoping that I can keep saying this until the Covid Marry-Go-Round is done! Lol. Enough is enough.
By the 6th of May we were back to 70 thousand cases plus per day – the start of a new surge as some would see it. The number was probably much higher with some experts saying that it was closer to 140,000 per day. This discrepancy is due to home testing that is not reported and states that have stopped reporting in a timely manner. Oh well what are you going to do? The good news was that the official death rate and hospitalizations had continued to drop. In the last 30 days from April 6th, to May the 6th, we had added approximately 13,000 to 14,000 new deaths for a total of 1,024,500 . That is about half from what it was the previous 30 days when we added 26,000 new deaths. So that is a good direction to be going. Even though this number is high it seems like we are making progress. Of course with a rise in cases there is always the possibility for a subsequent rise in hospitalizations and eventually deaths. Time will tell and there should be a better picture with this by the end of the month.
Well the above picture for total deaths and total cases still has not changed. These have been the top 10 states for infections and deaths for a very long time. The only exception to the above is when you look at the number of total infections, then North Carolina jumps in to the picture, with infections higher than Michigan and New Jersey. When I see this kind discrepancy it leads me to believe that North Carolina is under reporting deaths just like Florida is doing. NC even has a bigger population than Michigan and New Jersey so they should have a similar death rate. But NC’s is around 14 to 15 thousand less than the other two states. What is the old saying? Something is a little fishy in North Carolina. Oh well, I guess it would look bad for business to be reporting accurate numbers.
By the middle of the month, we were continuing to increase the number of new cases. The official count was 90,000 plus cases per day or probably double to triple that number. The number of deaths per day was still holding steady at 200 to 300. The Covid variant BA.2.12.1 was fast becoming the cause of a majority of cases. This is a subvariant of the BA.2 virus and has been deemed much more transmissible than BA.2. There are new variants (BA.4 and BA.5) in South Africa that are of concern, unfortunately at this time there is not enough information to make any predictions on them as of yet.
By the end of the month, we had added another 6500 deaths due to Covid ( one million and thirty one thousand total or 1,031,000) and on paper this is a very good thing. We are going in the right direction. The only fly in the ointment so to speak are states that have stopped reporting. As I have looked at the numbers each day there are very large discrepancies between states with similar population. With one states not reporting any deaths and another consistently reporting multiple deaths each day. So I am not really comfortable with the accuracies of these numbers. My guess is that the death count is much, much higher than what is reported.
If you interested in looking at the numbers for yourself, please see this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
If you interested in getting a good understanding of what is going on with Covid each week without having to watch the news, check out this link for the Osterholm Update on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FC1G09xkOFc
And if you don’t want to listen on YouTube you can check out Apple Pod cast. Dr. Michael Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm gives an update each week on where we are with the virus. Really good information directly from the source and not spun by the news media channels.
Enough about Covid! Damn I am going to be so glad when this is over with. It has gone on way too long but not too unexpected. It is a coronavirus after all and will never totally go away.
On a somewhat more positive note, the month of May was another great one for air quality. This was due to the continued windy weather that we seemed to have had just about every other day. Unfortunately we are still in drought like conditions. Therefore, while it was really great for AQ it was not so great for fire weather. Fortunately we have not had any fires of significant size. There have been a few popping up here and there around the state but nothing like what is going on in New Mexico.
With the continued rehab of the knee injury, I did not get in a lot of running for the month, but I did get in a lot of walking and some biking.
While I did not have a lot of foothill or mountain scenes due to the knee injury, this was a good thing. I did not spend as much money. Lol. With the price of gas and diesel going up as high as it has, it has become very expensive to drive anywhere of significant distance. My guess is that fuel prices are not headed down anytime soon due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I have missed two races (one half marathon and one ultra) so far this year due to the knee injury and will miss another one at the start of June. (another ultra) This will leave me three more to get ready for. The closest one being the first week of July – the Silver Rush 50. Not really sure at this point if the knee will be up for it. But I will keep rehabbing it and hoping for the best as we roll forward into summer.
It was another great month for reading and I would like to give a couple of book recommendations.
The first one is called “The Run Walk Run Method” by Jeff Galloway. If you are someone that wants to get back into running or someone that is coming off of an injury from running (like myself), or someone that just wants to get healthier, then this book is for you. I got the book after suffering a knee injury back in March of this year and this is one of the first books I came across when doing a google search. So after reading a little more on the author’s ideas, I thought this would be a good one to invest in and I am glad that I did. There are some parts of the book that are very repetitive. And a few sections where the author wants to sell you a Galloway Timer. But if you can read past these parts and finish the book, you get the overall idea of the run walk run method. And how it works.
One of the parts that I really liked the most in the book was the “psychology of walking” and how it is “very much” ok to just walk. It really made me think about how I feel when “just walking”? Did I feel like a failure deep down and if I did why was that? Pretty interesting when I started to think about it. I did not get the book as an audio book but as an e-book. Lol. Surprise. Almost all of my other book reviews have been audio books. But it was cheaper as an e-book so I opted for that. And, most importantly, it does not come as an audio book. If you do decide that this book is for you, get a good timer. I opted for a phone apt called Seconds Pro Interval Timer. It was about 5 dollars but it works great and is very configurable.
Of course you can find this book at Amazon: https://amzn.to/39DX2ij
The next book I would like to give a recommendation to is called “The Happy Runner” by David Roche and Megan Roche MD. As I have gotten older my running times have slowed ever so slightly and this is a little concerning to me. My wife tells me I am just old. Lol. Of course, she is right, it is normal with getting older, but that still does not mean we cannot improve. So, I am always on the look out for books that help with this aspect. I came across this book just by accident and the title intrigued me a bit so I ordered it and I am happy that I did. It is not your typical running book with all the science and pathophysiology of running. Instead, it is all about how to “enjoy” the running process. To not be event or time orientated. It gets back to the old saying, “It’s the journey and not the destination.” They go into great depth on the mental aspects of how to become a happy runner.
I liked this book a lot. But if you are new to running or if you want a better understanding of running science, then this is not the book for you. This is a book that you read in addition to a book like “The Science of Running” by Steve Magness. No this is a book more about happiness. You could even say it is not just about running. That running is just the background story and it is really about how to be happier. And oh, by the way, you can do it while running. I got this book in paper back form and I am glad that I did. I have found myself going back and rereading a few chapters and sections over again. It is not available as an audio book.
Of course you can find this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KRCRKv
Another great book if you want to know more about the science behind running effectively is called just that, “The Science of Running: How to Find Your Limit and Train to Maximize Your Performance” by Steve Magness. In the Amazon description the first sentence is, “If you’re looking for how to finish your first 5k, this book isn’t for you.” I thought that was pretty funny, but in reality it could be you. Especially if you are someone that wants to know more, a lot more, about that “Science,” even if it is only your first 5k.
The first part of the book is all the pathophysiology of what happens when you are running. And in my opinion it is the best part. The second part is on turning all that pathophysiology into the proper type of training. This is where “the not for you part, if you’re looking to do you’re first 5k” comes in. Lol. With all kidding aside, it is a great pathophysiology book on running but you probably need a different one in describing how to train for your first 5k.
Now one other warning, this book was published in 2014, so a little bit of it could be dated. Science is always changing. My suggestion is to start with this book but don’t let it be your only book on “running science.” I listened to the book as an audio book but I liked it so well I am re-reading it again in the paperback version. The audio book makes it hard to flip back and forth between sections. So traditional format is probably better for a deeper understanding.
Of course you can find this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3kYWZQv
Another book I would like to give a recommend on is called “Regenesis” by George M. Church and Ed Regis. The book was first published in 2012. George is a geneticist, molecular engineer and chemist. Ed Regis is a science writer. I first heard about George when he spoke on Synthetic Biology while watching a Ted Talk on YouTube and that piqued my curiosity.
Before I go too much further, let me explain on some of the background of why I am interested in this book besides the Ted Talk. First, I had become much more intrigued in the potential for genetic manipulation in all aspect of life since I first read Nancy Kress’s SiFi book Beggars and Choosers (2nd book of a trilogy). This is a great science fiction book on the potentials of genetic manipulation. That book was published in 1994. Second, fast forward to the CRISPR gene editing techniques in the last 5 years and the mRNA technology that allowed our current two main vaccines against Covid. These techniques are very significant because they allow for genetic material to be edited with extremely high precision and best of all it is much cheaper when compared to older practices. So when Mr. Church talks about some of the potential applications of genetics and synthetic biology it is worth taking note. Synthetic biology is the redesigning of organisms for other useful purposes by re-engineering them to have new abilities.
Now for a little bit of the down side. The book is a little hard to understand in some sections, especially for the general reader. I found it tedious at times on some of the technical sections and wondered if it might have been better for the author to leave some of that out. If you can get around this, then the book gives you a lot to ponder on where we are going with this technology. The book was first published 10 years ago and a lot of what is talked about has not come to pass, but I see that as a good thing. This technology is so revolutionary in scope, it needs to be well thought out and then some, before being used in the real world. We don’t want the “unintended consequences” scenario to be humanities epitaph. Lol. I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work well in any format.
Of course you can find this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3shxZrw
The last book I would like to give a recommendation to is the final book in a series called The Expanse. This is book 9 and is called “Leviathan Falls: Expanse, Book 9” by James S.A. Corey. This was a Science Fiction series that also has a TV adaption started by the SiFi Channel and then later picked up by Amazon. It was called simply the Expanse. If you have not read any of the books or seen the TV series, they are all well worth the read and watch in my opinion. I first became interested in the series when I saw a few of the first episodes on SiFi and wondered if it was based on a book. Lol. I was not disappointed. What I liked best about the series in the books was how earth and the geopolitics were depicted in the future. Especially with the establishment of mars as a colony and eventually as its own separate self-governed planet independent from earth. Another area that was good was the rise of the “Belters.” Humans that were instrumental in the mining and colonization of the asteroid belt and how they were marginalized and abused by the Inners (people from Earth and Mars). Now imagine, setting this against a back drop of “bigger things going on” that could change all of humanity’s future for the better or maybe for the worse. And this is what gives you great story telling for the entire book series.
The last book gives a good and satisfying conclusion in my opinion to the entire series. The author’s name for these books is actually two people, Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham. I got all the books as audiobooks. This worked well for long runs and bike rides as well as doing chores around the house. I think the story would work well in any format.
Of course this book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KQn7ro
Last but not least I would like to show case a new piece of art work. This one is the fourth in a series that I call “Transhumanist Jesus.” It is done in pen and ink, mounted on painted white board and protected by Mod Podge. It has a protective final finish of acrylic spray sealant. It measures 7.25 inches wide by 10.25 inches tall and when hanging it is about 15 inches tall. I have called these studies in Jesus by several different names, Jesus of Borg or SiFi Jesus or the current name of Transhumanist Jesus.
I decided to do these pieces initially over anger of the Texas GOP’s enactment of their draconian anti-abortion law. I had only planned to do a limited number, but now with the possibility of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade, I will continue to make them. I have three adult daughters and while they might not agree on whether it is right or wrong to get an abortion, they all agree that it is “their right” to choose. And I agree with them. So that is how the project started out, but it morphed into something a little different. Did you know that there are at least 10,000 different denominations of Christianity in the world? Of course, some say this number is much higher, but I figure 10,000 is a safe estimate. Knowing this I thought why not make up my own Jesus?! A lot of other people have. So, I did. And what I came up with was a tough but accepting LGBT SiFi Jesus. A Jesus that would assimilate all other Jesuses, even Republican Jesus, into a hive mind and create an accepting and loving collective for all people and all religions. In Star Trek, the Borg are considered the enemy but, in my version, I have turned it around and made “Jesus of Borg” the good guy, the savior.
Now you might be wondering where “Transhumanist Jesus” comes into the picture. It started after I read a book called Transhumanism and Transcendence – Christian Hope in an Age of Technological Enhancement by Ronald Cole-Turner. In a nutshell so to speak, Christianity and depictions of Jesus will have to change to keep up with the “Biotech” or risk the fate of all previous mythologies that have become nothing more than footnotes in history. Since time immortal, we have been defined as a species, by our technology. As it advances so must our depictions of god.
TRANSHUMANIST JESUS # 4
This piece and other types of art work are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Well I have come to the end of another blog post! Yea! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Before I go I want to touch on something that might help with this crazy inflation we are having on just about everything! And of course, you might have guessed, I am going to say become minimalist. Lol. So why minimalism you might ask? Well on the surface it is about owning less stuff. Having fewer possessions which translates into buying less. Our society encourages overindulgence and overconsumption at every turn. Think about all the commercials you see in just a single day telling you to buy, buy, buy. Either directly or indirectly. And that is the problem. We buy and buy and buy always looking for the happiness the commercials have promised, but never finding it because it is not there. I am going to let you in on a little secret, happiness is not a destination but a path. Minimalism is one of many paths that can provide you with the happiness you seek. And at the same time help you with inflation because you are buying less. It is just that simple. You buy less. Of course this assumes that you have enough to cover all your basics – food, clothing and housing. But after that ask yourself what do you really need?
Being minimalist is not all black or all white. There are many shades of gray. Minimalism is different for each individual. You can choose how much “minimalism” you want in your life and how much you don’t want. It is about understanding what matters most in life and removing the things that do not support the “what matters most part.” It is a way to break free of a rigged consumeristic system. A way to buy time for yourself and the planet. It is a way to bring back the joy we all want and need in our lives. The really cool part, there is nothing to buy. It is just a change in mindset. A change in attitude.
Ok, ok, enough of the soapbox, but if your interested and want to learn more about sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy, please see these sites: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ and https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ and https://steadystate.org/ and https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/12/27/35-ways-reduce-carbon-footprint/
So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated, then get it done. We all want this “Groundhog Day – Covid – Marry- Go – Round” to end. Until next time Adios!!
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey
