NatureBoy

Some of you may have heard of Mark Pesce. Years ago he spoke with Terence Mckenna (this is on youtube if you search), in 2006 he spoke at burning man (also on youtube) - More recently from his base in Sydney, he's been doing a lot of technology/internet consulting, and judging on the ABC's The New Inventors. In short, he's a pretty interesting guy, and a great speaker. - here is a brief description of him and this talk on 18 May, 2011 in Adelaide: Mark Pesce is an inventor, writer, entrepreneur, educator and broadcaster. In 1994 Pesce co-invented VRML, a 3D interface to the World Wide Web. Mark will introduce the future of co-operation where we come to rely more upon the content of this global, shared mind – helping us make better decisions, improve our effectiveness and lead more fulfilling lives – we must ask ourselves some big questions about knowledge, authority and trust. Sharing is fantastic, but it’s also fraught with dangers, and Mark Pesce – writer, researcher, engineer, futurist and teacher – helps explore the promises and pitfalls. It's almost booked out, but go here to book: http://riaus.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=41a11b24b381fa329a87d21b5&id=61d859df5f&e=2ce678c18a PS, it's worth noting, if this would be your main reason for going, that in this setting, the talk is unlikely to contain any discussion of psychedelics. That said, it should still be very interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8206045.stm Herbs 'can be natural pesticides' Common herbs and spices could help protect crops against pests Common herbs and spices show promise as an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional pesticides, scientists have told a major US conference. They have spent a decade researching the insecticidal properties of rosemary, thyme, clove and mint. They could become a key weapon against insect pests in organic agriculture, the researchers say, as the industry attempts to satisfy demand. The "plant essential oils" have a broad range of action against bugs. Some kill them outright while others repel them. Details were presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Washington DC. These new pesticides are generally a mixture of tiny amounts of two to four different herbs diluted in water. The research was led by Dr Murray Isman, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Some spice-based commercial products now being used by farmers have already shown success in protecting organic strawberry, spinach, and tomato crops against destructive aphids and mites, Dr Isman explained. "These products expand the limited arsenal of organic growers to combat pests," he said. "They're still only a small piece of the insecticide market, but they're growing and gaining momentum." Unlike conventional pesticides, these "killer spices" do not require more limited approval from regulatory bodies and are readily available. An additional advantage is that insects are less likely to evolve resistance - the ability to shrug off once-effective toxins - Isman says. They're also safer for farm workers, who are at high risk for pesticide exposure, he notes. But the herb-based pesticides also have shortcomings. Since the essential oils made from these herbs tend to evaporate quickly and degrade rapidly in sunlight, farmers need to apply them to crops more frequently than conventional pesticides. Some last only a few hours, compared to days or even months for conventional pesticides. As they are also generally less potent than conventional pesticides, they must be applied in higher concentrations to achieve acceptable levels of pest control, Dr Isman said. Researchers are now seeking ways of making the novel pesticides longer-lasting and more potent, he added. "They're not a panacea for pest control," Dr Isman explained. Conventional pesticides are still the most effective way to control caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles and other large insects on commercial food crops, he added. "It comes down to what's good for the environment and what's good for human health."

See article ScienceDaily (May 11, 2009) — Researchers are attempting, with the help of a special African tea, to develop a new treatment for type-2 diabetics. The tea is used as a treatment in traditional Nigerian medicine and is produced from the extract of Rauvolfia Vomitoria leaves and the fruit of Citrus aurantium. The scientists have recently tested the tea on patients with type-2 diabetes and the results are promising. The researchers have harvested the ingredients for the tea in Africa, totalling approximately fifty kilos of leaves and three hundred kilos of fruit from the wild nature of Nigeria. Afterwards the tea has been produced exactly as local healers would do so. The recipe is quite simple: boil the leaves, young stalks and fruit and filter the liquid. First mice, then humans Associate professor Per Mølgaard and postdoc Joan Campbell-Tofte from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry have previously tested the tea on genetically diabetic mice. The results of the tests showed that after six weeks of daily treatment with the African tea, combined with a low-fat diet, resulted in changes in the combination and amount of fat in the animals' eyes and protection of the fragile pancreas of the mice. The researchers have recently completed a four month long clinical test on 23 patients with type-2 diabetes and are more than satisfied with the result. "The research subjects drank 750ml of tea each day. The [tea] appears to differentiate itself from other current type-2 diabetes treatments because the tea does not initially affect the sugar content of the blood. But after four months of treatment with tea we can, however, see a significant increase in glucose tolerance," said postdoc Joan Campbell-Tofte from the University of Copenhagen. Changes in fatty acid composition The clinical tests show another pattern in the changes in fatty acid composition with the patients treated in comparison with the placebo group. "In the patient group who drank the tea, the number of polyunsaturated fatty acids increased. That is good for the body's cells because the polyunsaturated fat causes the cell membranes to be more permeable, which results in the cells absorbing glucose better from the blood," said Joan Campbell-Tofte. The researchers hope that new clinical tests and scientific experiments in the future will result in a new treatment for type-2 diabetics.

I wanted to make this one, but have family commitments, so.. another time! have fun

remember reading before that supposedly Titan has the most dynamic weather system of other known celestial bodies outside of Earth.. eg. rain exists there, but because of the temperature it is in the form of liquid methane instead of liquid water as on earth. Wiki's entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon) i love titan

a light show like that would be refreshing anytime, but if something along these lines happily coincides with parties in 2012 it would fit in nicely with my imagination.

Just looked at deoxy.org for the first time in a while - and found their news service for the first time. Was looking at this page: http://deoxy.org/news/view/TECHNOLOGY and found this article from 'Ars Technica' about an Aussie man who may have first leaked the new simpsons movie to the internet: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070...sons-movie.html "Aussies get lesson from pirated "Simpsons" movie: can't plug a digital leak Australian authorities have announced that they have arrested a man believed to be responsible for leaking The Simpsons Movie to the 'Net. A Sydney-area man is alleged to have used a mobile phone to record the film in a theater on the day of its release, which he then uploaded hours later, beating the street date for the movie throughout much of the world. The low-quality copy, which hit the wires a few hours before the movie's official release in the United States, was widely reported in the media as a threat to the much-anticipated Simpsons release. Despite the gloom and doom, the movie's opening weekend smashed expectations, much to the chagrin of elements in the industry who would have liked to point to a poor debut as a sign of the evil effects of piracy. There were fears that the Simpsons were played out, but the movie did far better than expected. Quick, but not quick enough The raid was the result of joint teamwork between the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) and Twentieth Century Fox (Fox). The three had also worked together to track the source of the film leak back in July but found that by the time they could do anything about it, it was too late. "Within 72 hours of making and uploading this unauthorized recording, AFACT had tracked it to other streaming sites and P2P systems where it had been illegally downloaded in excess of 110,000 times and in all probability, copied and sold as a pirate DVD all over the world," said Adrianne Pecotic, executive director of AFACT, in a statement. As it turns out, AFACT got a heads-up from Fox, which was monitoring P2P networks in search of the first Simpsons movie uploads. Yet even with this monitoring, it was too late to stop the leaks. AFACT said that in the short time it took to identify the leak, it had rapidly spread to other sites, and investigators even learned that it was rapidly re-edited into a French language version, and also transcoded into other formats and distributed via BitTorrent sites by two "organized release groups which facilitate file sharing." Hence, the "speedy removal" of the movie "within 72 hours of it being posted on the internet" was no removal at all, for the movie spread too fast. Once the cat's out of the bag, there's no putting it back in. Once copied, it cannot be "removed" from the Internet. The identity of the man accused of recording and uploading the film has not been released, but he is expected to appear in court in early October. There is no word on how AFACT tracked the upload to the man in question, but given that the group believes it has found the source web site, it was likely a simple IP address-based identification."

Sam was a wonderful person to be around, a talented artist and very dedicated to the things she loved and believed in. She was positive and helpful in good times and difficult times. I'm really glad I met her. I couldn't make it to the service... Thinking of Sam and all of you...

Dirt can make us feel good April 02, 2007 FORGET the spring-cleaning. A study has found evidence that bacteria common in soil and dirt can improve people's spirits. According to the British research, the action of Mycobacterium vaccae (M vaccae) on the brain is similar to that of common antidepressants. The bacterium, related to that which causes tuberculosis, appears to work by stimulating the body's immune system. This in turn prompts some cells in the brain to produce more serotonin, the hormone associated with feelings of wellbeing. "These studies help us to understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health," said Chris Lowry, a neuroscientist at Bristol University, who did the research. "They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all spend more time playing in the dirt." The findings follow separate research into the effects of bringing up children in over-hygienic conditions. They found that exposure to common microbes in early life helped to promote healthy development of the immune system. Interest in the project arose after cancer patients being treated with M vaccae reported improved quality of life. The Sunday Times http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...4-23289,00.html

Drinking causes a quarter of young deaths March 29, 2007 ALCOHOL alone is to blame for more than a quarter of all deaths among young people in the developed world, and Australia's statistics are among the worst. An Australian study published in prominent international medical journal The Lancet has found that liquor caused 27 per cent of deaths involving 15 to 29-year-olds in 2002. The review of death figures in economically-developed nations also found that illicit drugs claimed 4 per cent of young lives. Psychology professor John Toumbourou, who led the Deakin University study, said governments, particularly those in Australia, needed to get serious about teenage drinking. “The problem of alcohol abuse among young people in Australia is one of the most extreme, relative to comparable developed countries,” Professor Toumbourou said. He said he believed that current Australian policies promoted the problem. “The Lancet study is a systematic literature review and clearly shows that where alcohol is cheap and readily accessible, young people will experience more problems,” he said. “In Australia, there is a lot of resistance to increasing the taxes on alcohol or to restricting alcohol's availability.” This is despite proof that these are the best methods of limiting its appeal to young people, the researchers believe. Professor Toumbourou led an international group of experts to review approaches and strategies which prevent substance abuse in young people. The team found that death, injury and illness caused by substance use are among the top 10 contributors to the global disease burden. “What was once seen by many in developing countries as the disease of industrialised nations is now a worldwide trend,” Professor Toumbourou said. Rates of tobacco use, harmful alcohol use and illicit drug use could be significantly reduced with a combination of regulatory, early-intervention, and harm-reduction approaches, they wrote. AAP http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...3-23289,00.html

right, there is no mention of Mark touring or speaking. However, I have it on good authority that Mark is indeed touring with Jimmy Wales. At my workplace we often contact experts in various disciplines, and on the topic of 'futurism' (to keep the story short), I recommended Mark. My boss spoke to him on the phone, but he was unable to take part in our seminar/conference because of his touring commitments with Jimmy Wales. From talking to him on the phone a few weeks back, the impression my boss had was that not only is he touring with Jimmy, but that he would also be speaking. I am not 100% sure of Mark's specific role in this, but this is what he told us. I can't say I'm 100% sure that he will be speaking. Considering that these seminars go for the better part of a day, it doesn't seem out of the question that Mark could speak for at least a small portion of this.

here is the itinerary for Jimmy Wales (wikipedia founder)… it appears the Tour is organised by a company called ‘education.au’ And the dates are: Adelaide (April 23), Perth (April 24), Sydney (April 26) and Melbourne (April 27). http://www.educationau.edu.au/jahia/Jahia/home/pid/449 also I hear that Mark Pesce is either speaking at all or some of these as well... or at the very least is involved somehow. If you don't know who Mark is, check out his professional blog: http://blog.futurestreetconsulting.com/

at the moment Adelaide is hosting the World Police and Fire Games... so there are alot of policepeople and firepeople from a lot of different countries around the place... and you can tell who they are cos of their team T-Shirts and Games tags/passes hanging around their neck. Anyway, on the bus today I saw a guy who is maybe part of an Australian team (not sure), but on his t-shirt was written (on the front and back): Trained at DMT

if there is life found there, it raises questions about 'land that people have bought' on mars. http://me.moonestates.com/faq.php there has been land sold on the moon and mars, but I found a wikipedia article last night(which is being strangely elusive right now, so I can't find it ) that gave the best information about the 'real' situation of the legitimacy of these 'land rights'. anyhow, most/all of the websites that i looked at a while ago who were selling this land stated that if life was found ('sentient life'?) then all of these land rights would be void.

^RELAXONICA^ Dimensions of relaxonication, treats for your sensors Saturday 24th Feb, 2pm - Midnight tea haus gallery, upstairs Synagogue Place, off Rundle Street $10 entry Musique ambienta/atmosapherica/acoustica/instrumenala/chill 2-3 Dilate 3-4 Psyrush 4-4:30 Play Pay Go 4:30-5:30 Irukandji & Lufy 5:30-6:00 The Dream Reality 6-7 Izwoz 7-7:30 The ^relaxonica^ House Band 7:30-8:30 Gnome 8:30-9:10 Play Pay Go (including possible vs ^r^ House Band) **9:10-9:30 performance by Rambutan Circus Collective** 9:30-10:30 Sie Ben 10:30-11:30 BRAINDUMP Performancea -The Rambutan Circus Collective (Feats of Beauty and Grotesque from The Rambutan Circus Collective) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rambutan_Circus_Collective *these guys will be doing a special 20 minute performance at night, especially prepared for the relaxing environs :D . *They appeared at Adelaide Fringe 2006 and have a show at Fringe 2007! -Emma Hack *Emma is known around the world for her body painting. It will be quite a delight to see her paint live for us at ^relaxonica^. *http://www.emmahack.com.au ----------- Emma Hack ~6-7pm Joe and Ken (live art) ~7:30-9pm The Rambutan Circus Collective ~9:10-30pm Visual/ projectiona/ arta -ColourContinuum -Stormthing -Aurora -Tulip -El Duderino -Creations from Cat -Designs from Dimity -Izwoz -Joe and Ken (live art, see above, 'performance') -Dan (vj, fractals and more) -Emma Hack (see above, 'performance') **Comfortable places to sit and lounge around... 8) **close walk or roll to the Botanic Gardens, parklands, cafes, foodplaces, etc. **the venue is not especially wheelchair friendly, being situated up one flight of stairs on the first floor (apologies, we will make things as comfortable as possible if the need arises). **the attractor pulls forward and exerts its influence on the present... morphing the future... what it really is will be unknown until... so many people putting in positive energy is a good start :D **there are creative contributors with varied influences and of different styles becoming involved ***************the site of ^relaxonica^ is a fairly old building in a very expensive neighbourhood....apparently this old building is to be demolished sometime this year to make way for student accommodation****************** this could be the last party this old building sees. & here are some quotes for you: "Every work of art embodies the vision of its creator and reveals a facet of the collective mind. Artists offer the world the pain and beauty of their soul as a gift to open the eyes of and heal the collective. In order to produce their finest works, artists lose themselves in the energetic flow of creation, become possessed by an art spirit. Art history shows each successive wave of vision flowing through the world's artists. Like the seers and oracles of old, Art sings and shouts from the axis of truth to wake us up to who we are and where we are going" -Alex Grey, The Mission of Art p.8 "Art provides a mirror for its culture. What becomes popular art and what lurks in the shadows of a culture reveal much about the collective psyche of its people. Any work of art or body of work that successfully runs the art cycle gauntlet has the potential to influence the worldview of many individuals, thereby subtly transforming the entire culture. So take care, artist, you shoulder responsibility for affecting the collective mind. Even a tiny drop of a powerful tincture can change the color of an entire glass of water" -Alex Grey, The Mission of Art, p.26