The Magnetic Earth and Auroras--How it Works and Tantalzing Possibilities

So, I was reading about the magnetic stripes emanating from the mid-oceanic ridges and how they formed--by the poles reversing periodically over millions and thousands of years (It's timed irregularly.  Sometimes in as little as a few tens of thousands of years and other times making it 40 million years.)--and wondered something quite tantalizing...

If the auroras at the poles are caused by the magnetic field of the Earth (more on this below) then what would happen if the magnetic pole was in the process of switching?  Could there be auroras in the mid-lattitudes?  Could Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Mexico City and Calcutta all get astronomical light shows temporarily?  Might I see Northern Lights right here in the South?  Laser light show in the sky over Florida?!?!  Just maybe!!  And, quite possibly, at any moment!  We're kind of due for a switch!!

Red is caused by nitrogen and green by oxygen.

Auroras are caused by charged particles (electrons and protons) flowing from the Sun hitting the upper atmosphere.  They hit the nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere and cause the electrons to become excited and then relax releasing photons.  They typically only happen at the poles because the Earth produces a doughnut shaped magnetic field and the charge on the particles are repelled by the doughy part of the doughnut and flow to the doughnut hole, which is at the poles.

Just like in a generator, magnets moving cause electric currents and electric currents cause magnetic fields to be created.  So, we can think of the metal core of the Earth as a big churning magnet that is caused both by the rotation of the Earth, convection and subduction--move the metal around and create a current that creates a magnetic field.  So, that's why the north pole is at the north and not on the equator or whatnot--the way the spin of the Earth causes a molten flow.

What triggers the switches?  It gets even more interesting!  Probably a lot of things, but one impetus could be asteroid impacts!  What are the effects of a switch?  Possibly mass extinctions!  Without the protective magnetic field we'd be bombarded with some pretty nasty charged particles from the Sun *and* since Earth's magnetic field also holds a significant amount of charged particles in place, in the Van Allen radiation belt, without the magnetic field a flood of charged particles would rain down.  This could have caused some of the mass extinctions in the past.  (But, it also might not have.  There's scant correlation between switching events and known extinctions event.  And no known switching event for the well known extinction of the dinosaurs.)

So, it might be a big cancer causer, but the light show could be amazing!

Pix:

http://whatilearntingeographythisweek.blogspot.com/2011/04/revision-tectonics.html
http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/aurora/index.html
http://www.physics.sjsu.edu/becker/physics51/mag_field.htm
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/29dec_magneticfield/

Bats! (Stuff I Compiled Teaching a Halloween Themed Science Camp)

  Bat Faces:

Bat Ears:

Bat Noses:

Bat Feeding Methods:

Some places they live:

Neat facts I learned (mostly from my science teacher mom, Lucy-Kate!):

• Bats are closer related to humans than they are mice/rats.
• 900 species worldwide
• Mexican free-tailed bats can migrate up to 1,300 miles
• Largest: flying fox--6 ft wing spam
• Smallest: bumblebee bat from Thailand--2 oz weight
• 70% of bat species are 'microbats'--typically insectovores
• 30% are megabats--typically frugivores
• Bat specialist Merlin "Batman" Tuttle has estimated that a single mouse-eared bat can catch up to 600 mosquitoes in just one hour
• Frog-hunting bats, found in tropics, can tell if a frog is poisonous or too big to ear just by listening to the frog's call
• Some bats echolocation is fine-tuned enough to "see" something the width of a human hair
• Often bear one pup a year
• Many fruit eating bats are -vital- for seed dispersal
• Bat echolocation often uses multiple frequencies--high pitched that goes straight out and a lower pitched tone that is more diffuse.  Based on the percent reflection the bats can pin point where the reflection is coming from.  
• Tree lures bats with specially shaped leaves that sound pretty.

Mudita and the Fine Art of Enjoying Others Sermon

(Sermon delivered 10/23/11 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee)






There are only two kinds of people in the world...Those that say there are two kinds of people in the world and those that don’t. haha No, but seriously, I had a dear mentor growing up at a church in Orlando (who was one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met and I’m not just saying that to make this story sound more interesting) that would say that there are two kinds of people in the world: those that enter a room and say, “HERE I AM!!!” and those that come in to a room and say, “THERE YOU ARE!!!”.



Do you see the difference there? Can you think of examples? Tougher question: which are you? Here I am or there you are? Which do you think is more popular? Who do you think everyone wants to be around? Furthermore, which person do you think is happier?



But it isn’t just about being popular and happier. It’s also about bringing joy to a dark world. What do you think is the single greatest gift that you can give the vast majority of people that you bump in to? Your wife? Your husband? Your coworkers? Your friends? The cashier at Walmart? Certainly different relationships necessitate different approaches, but there’s a theme I’d like you to become fully aware of if you’re not already. Look around you. Look in the mirror. What’s the greatest unmet need in others lives? In your life? Let me give you some possible options, we’ll rule some out and then see what’s left. Ok, things that you can give to benefit the people around you with:

1. Advice on how to run their life better or do their job more productively. 
2. Some essential, saving knowledge that will transform their lives, prevent eternal damnation, help them lose 20 lbs, look ten years younger, become better parents, husbands, wives that are more productive, better looking, happier and in amazing health.
3. The exalted privilege of being around you. 

I believe we’ll have to think of some better options...On this morning, I’d like to introduce you to, what I believe to be, the single greatest way you can love the people around you, serve their greatest unmet need and find the greatest means of fulfillment possible--enjoying others. We’ll look a little at Christianity, a little at evolution (O, how I do love that pairing :)) and a little at the teachings of Buddhism to gain some guidance and insight and at the end there will be a time for reflection and application.



And to start off I’d like for you to consider the relationships you seek out. I suggest that those people offer you something that you need. So, think of someone that you really, really enjoy, like gut, deep down enjoy--someone that feeds your soul, makes you more of a human, more of a man, more of a woman. Why? Why do you enjoy them? What is it that they offer you? And, maybe, in turn we can start to offer that to others. What deep longing within you are they able to touch? Why do you like them?



Is it because they’re funny? Or, is it because they think you’re absolutely hilarious.



Is it because they make you smile? Or, is it because when you’re around they can’t stop smiling.



Is it because you respect them? Look up to them? Or, is it because you’re their hero.



Is it because they’re interesting or because they’re interested?



Entertaining or entertained?



What’s sexier than feeling truly sexy?



Think, if you will, of the people (maybe a teacher, a friend, relative or mentor) that have made an impact on you. Was it just that they were cool that they made an impact on you? Or, was it that they thought you were the coolest. They believed in you. They thought you were the deal. You brought a smile to their face.



You were enjoyed.



Uber (and I mean uber) conservative theologian John Piper puts it eloquently with this hypothetical story which I think is quite telling.



Suppose on this day I bring home a dozen long-stemmed roses for Noel [who is his wife]. When she meets me at the door, I hold out the roses, and she says, “O Johnny, they’re beautiful; thank you” and gives me a big hug. Then suppose I hold up my hand and say matter-of-factly, “Don’t mention it; it’s my duty.”

What happens? Is not the exercise of duty a noble thing? Do not we honor those we dutifully serve? Not much. Not if there’s no heart in it. Dutiful roses are a contradiction in terms. If I am not moved by a spontaneous affection for her as a person, the roses do not honor her. In fact, they belittle her. They are a very thin covering for the fact that she does not have the worth or beauty in my eyes to kindle affection. All I can muster is a calculated expression of marital duty.

Here is the way Edward John Carnell puts it:


Suppose a husband asks his wife if he must kiss her good night. Her answer is, “You must, but not that kind of a must.” What she means is this: “Unless a spontaneous affection for my person motivates you, your overtures are stripped of all moral value.”



So, what’s the right way for that story to go? (wait for responses.) “I’m giving you these roses because there is no greater pleasure than for me to see you happy. I’m only happy when you’re happy. Your joy is my joy. Your pleasure, mine.




Meaning, she/he needs to be enjoyed. Relished. Adored. Cherished. Savored. Found to be captivating.



Piper further elaborates this mentality in a spiritual context by submitting that, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”



Translation: God is happy when we’re happy and we’re happy when we find our happiness by enjoying God.



You’ll notice the contrast this way of viewing Christianity has standing next to other ascetic forms of spirituality. Life isn’t about how much suffering you can endure, it’s about enjoyment--gluttonous, hedonistic enjoyment...of the right thing--God. And in the same way that Piper could see God as most loved when we most enjoy him, so are people most loved when they’re most enjoyed.



And I think this is insight is absolutely backed up and proved true (if you will) by the pragmatic logic of evolution.



In my reading of evolution this logic of life--symbiosis, synergy, win-win, non-zero sum interaction--this mutually beneficial, mutual enjoyment is written on nearly every helices of our DNA. From the very beginning our success and survival has been deeply enmeshed and entangled in our ability to cooperate and seek a mutualistic outcomes.



For just one example one could look to a study done in 1964 by Whechkin and Masserman. One way of stating the point of the study was to see if animals care about each other. They used Rhesus monkeys who were trained to receive food by pulling a chain. Once habitualized, the food delivery system was modified by connecting it to an adjacent cage that had another rhesus monkey in it that had electrodes fixed to its body. When the chain was pulled food still dropped down, but the neighboring monkey was also severely shocked. It didn’t take long for the food receiving monkey to realize the connection and lose all taste for food. One noble rhesus monkey starved itself for 12 days to avoid hurting its friend.



We’re all connected.



“No man is an island.”



Interdependent web of existence.



We have porous emotional states. What I feel, you feel. What you feel, I feel. Don’t you feel tense around tense people? Aren’t you uplifted by an ebullient friend? Aren’t *YAWNS* contagious? We feel what others feel. So, why not try to make others joyful so that we’re joyful?



Much of the idea for this sermon came as a response to several key conversations with Amy Menard, our former music minister here. It started as debate between we two logophiles about the best antonym for the word schadenfreude--or the enjoyment of an other person’s pain. The word we landed on was the Buddhist term ‘mudita’ (at her suggestion).



Let me tell you about ‘mudita’. Mudita is part of the Brahmaviharas which can be translated as the “heavenly dwellings” or the “abodes of Brahma”. They are four virtues accompanied by meditation practices to cultivate them. Mudita, a part of this set, can be translated as vicarious or sympathetic joy. It is the highest form of enjoying another person--the enjoyment of an other person’s joy.



Most of what I found in my research on this topic of Mudita centered around combating the opposite of this reciprocal joy--fighting envy, fighting bitterness, fighting anger, fighting fighting! But, in the same way that, “Look forward,” is better advice for a tightrope walker than, “Don’t look down,” so I’ll try to give you a couple ideas to focus on building this skill up rather than tearing down its opposite. Let me give you three character traits of someone that embodies this philosophy of mudita. People that really understand how to love others by meeting their greatest unmet need--to be enjoyed--are good at...


1. Being playful.






Have you ever stopped to appreciate that humans are THE most playful of all the animal kingdom? None other even comes close--no otter, no puppy, no kitten. It’s what we do. At every age, those that stay connected to this deeply human aspect of ourselves, challenge, laugh, have inside jokes, flirt. They enjoy the dance and repartee of relationships.



2. They’re curious.



They genuinely want to know more about a person. They’re fascinateable. I remember asking my youth minister growing up how a person knows that they’ve “met the one”--while I was in teenage star struck love. His response for when he knew he wanted to ask his wife to marry him was when he thought that his wife was the most interesting person in the world--that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, talking to her, talking about her, learning more about her. He truly enjoyed her.



3. They’re capable of adoration.



Which is something not everyone is. People that exemplify mudita have heroes, people that they look up to. They have mentors, even if those those mentors are completely unaware of it. They aspire to be like other humans that are living life darn well. They can step aside and let others enjoy the spot light, the throne, the pedestal. They live the Bible verse, “In humility consider others better than yourselves.”





They’re able to celebrate other’s victories and successes.



They love it when the other guy wins.



Enjoy others because it’s good for them, but also because it’s good for you. A 1976 study by Langer and Rodin on elderly patients in a nursing home who (among other things) were given a plant to care for were half as likely to die in a year and half’s time and showed marked improvements in mental and physical well being in as little as three weeks. Caring for others is caring for yourself (within boundaries).



You know, one of my favorite things about being UU is feeling freed to enjoy people as they are. I can give up on my power trip of trying to convert everyone, change their mind, change their way of thinking, prevent their eternal damnation. And as of right now I’m thoroughly convinced that if you really want to change someone, then sometimes not tyring to change them but instead loving and accepting and -enjoying- them exactly as they are right now may be the most effective way to actually change them for the better.



I think of the significance of enjoyment often with teaching and working at a school. I work at a local school for kids with emotional/behavioral problems that are unable to make it in a mainstream school. What’s the most important thing I offer the kids? Is it knowledge? Just another fact they’ll forget after a test? Critical thinking skills? While those are definitely important and I can’t reduce my job to one thing, I do think that the most fundamental gift I give my kids--as people, rather than just students-- is to enjoy them, enjoy their learning process, enjoy asking and answering important questions, enjoy their brilliance. I’d like to ask you, what’s the most important thing you offer your friends, lover, coworkers, children?



But, enjoying people can, at times, be really, really, really, really difficult. And even that’s kind of an understatement. That’s kind of one of the ways you know that it’s the right thing to do--it’s hard. Getting the focus off yourself and on to enjoying another person can, in addition to helping with nervousness and social anxiety (I totally focused on this to deal with my nervousness today) can be the greatest means of loving another person by meeting their greatest unmet need and let you tap into the deepest well of joy possible in your life. After one song we’ll focus on fostering this practice through mudita meditation.



***SONG INTERLUDE



Gratitude is the key to happiness. If you want to be happy, you absolutely have to be grateful. And enjoyment is active gratitude. Enjoyment is active gratitude. It’s gratitude in the moment, NOW, viscerally experiencing the object of gratitude.



To foster what we’ve spoken of today I’d like to give you several meditation practices. The reason that they’re called ‘practices’ is that we’re practicing having these emotional states until they’re second nature, automatic, sincere and deeply held.



The highest form of enjoyment that we can foster is the enjotment of another’s joy--mudita. In order to work this emotional muscle I’m going to give you several phrases to repeat as a part of mudita meditation and I challenge you to consider four categories of people for each mantra phrase--someone you already enjoy dearly, a neutral person (an acquaintance, someone you don’t have strong feelings about one way or another), someone who it’s very difficult to enjoy, and lastly all beings, everywhere. And I’d just like to remind you that if something is difficult then often you know you’re doing the right thing. :) If you’re having too much difficult focusing directly on the image of the difficult person, imagine that they’re beside you and that you’re wishing the below phrases for “us/we”.



Focus on feeling sincerely the emotion and not just repeating the words. Let it seep deep within you. Open the expanses on your heart. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Let yourself feel again.
Bring to your mind the image of the person you easily enjoy. Repeat in your heart:
May your life be free from suffering, worry, futility, loneliness, pain, loss.



Bring to your mind the neutral person:


May your life be free from suffering, worry, futility, loneliness, pain, loss.



Bring to mind the difficult person.


May your life be free from suffering, worry, futility, loneliness, pain, loss.



Connect yourself to all beings, everywhere. Sense the room expanding to infinity reducing the distance of all beings to zero.


May your life be free from suffering, worry, futility, loneliness, pain, loss.



Bring to mind the person you enjoy.
May your good fortune continue and increase. May you be happy. May your life be filled with joy, hope, success, love, fulfillment. May you be happy.



Bring to mind the neutral person.



May your good fortune continue and increase. May you be happy. May your life be filled with joy, hope, success, love, fulfillment. May you be happy.



Now the difficult person.



May your good fortune continue and increase. May you be happy. May your life be filled with joy, hope, success, love, fulfillment. May you be happy.



Now all beings, everywhere--known and unknown.



Lastly, I want you to take out your phone while the next song is playing and I challenge you to text the person you truly enjoy and tell them one thing you truly enjoy about them.



To quote the very quotable Winston Churchill, "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

Pupil Dilation--How It Works

Did you know there's an eye within your eye?  Tis true.  The top layer of your retina contains cells called photosensitive ganglion cells that both receive and process light separately from your normal rod and cone cells that form the images we see.  About 1-3% of the nerve cells cells within your eye (ganglion cells) have evolved to see light for a couple special reasons.

1. To set your circadian rhythms.  Ever noticed how difficult it can be to sleep with the sunshine pouring in your room?  I actually choose to keep my blinds open so that I wake up easier in the morning.  I had the effectiveness of this proved by travel quite a bit and having to deal with jet lag.  There's a reason for that.  These photosensitive ganglion cells talk to the pineal gland in your brain and, among other things, release or suppress hormones like melatonin which helps put you to sleep.
2. Cause your pupils to dilate or constrict!

These aforementioned cells use a photopigment called melanopsin that detects light that is essentially blue (460-484 nm).  Why blue?  If I had to guess, I'd bet that's the frequency that makes it through the eye lid the best!  

Very helpful flash representation!!

Really interesting article about pupil size, the appearance of attraction and therefore attractiveness.  

Other interesting questions: How is it that our pupils can dilate due to psychological reasons and we don't experience our vision brightening?  What is the brain mechanism that dims our vision during psychological dilation?

More:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitive_ganglion_cell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupillary_light_reflex
http://www.bettermedicine.com/article/pupil-dilation
http://www.carlyjcais.com/in-advertising-size-matters-pupil-size-that-is/
http://www.bettermedicine.com/article/pupil-dilation

Pix:

 http://www.images.missionforvisionusa.org/anatomy/2005/10/retina-answers.html

http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Notes/eye.htm

How Does Joint Cracking Work?

I'll give my best understanding here, but let the reader know that there does seem to be some ambiguity and contradiction in what I read on this subject.  Some of what you shall read is only my interpretation and hypothesizing about how the process most likely works.

Our joints are lubricated in a liquid called synovial fluid that

• Is free of cells
• Separated from our blood and internal matrix by a sturdy fibrous joint capsule 
• Has non-Newtonian characteristics that make it more fluid with movement and use
• Etymologically means that it has similarities to egg whites--'ovial' from 'ovum' for egg
• When a joint is bent or torsioned that liquid has to move between the bone, the capsule and the surrounding areas.

It is this movement of the fluid that causes cracking.  For instance with our knuckles, by pushing them in one direction we pressurize the synovial fluid on one side of the joint.  This pressurized fluid is then rapidly released between the bones to the opposite side of the joint.  In the process a bubble cavitation (think cavity) is formed.  Cavitation happens when a shock wave of liquid moves so quickly that behind it it creates a vacuum.  This vacuum collapses with great force creating a loud popping sound we recognize as a knuckle cracking.  A very similar process happens much more intentionally with pistol/snapping shrimps: 

And boat propellers:

The controversy behind knuckle cracking shall some day be quelled as video MRI technology advances!

Some mo':

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synovial_fluid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracking_joints
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7790795

Pictures from: 

http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthritisbyanatomy/ss/causejointpain_2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synovial_fluid