Friday, February 29, 2008

Old sacred texts influenced 3 Nobel Prize laureates in physics

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) was a celebrated German physicist and Nobel laureate, one of the founders of quantum mechanics and acknowledged to be one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century.









Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961) was an Austrian - Irish physicist who achieved fame for his contributions to quantum mechanics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1933.










Niels Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962) was a Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.







In his book, The Tao of Physics, the physicist Fritjof Capra later discussed his ideas with Werner Heisenberg in 1972:

I had several discussions with Heisenberg. I lived in England then [circa 1972], and I visited him several times in Munich and showed him the whole manuscript chapter by chapter. He was very interested and very open, and he told me something that I think is not known publicly because he never published it. He said that he was well aware of these parallels. While he was working on quantum theory he went to India to lecture and was a guest of Tagore. He talked a lot with Tagore about Indian philosophy. Heisenberg told me that these talks had helped him a lot with his work in physics, because they showed him that all these new ideas in quantum physics were in fact not all that crazy. He realized there was, in fact, a whole culture that subscribed to very similar ideas. Heisenberg said that this was a great help for him. Niels Bohr had a similar experience when he went to China. – Fritjof Capra, interviewed by Renee Weber in the book The Holographic Paradigm (page 217–218)

Also, As a result of those influences, Niels Bohr adopted the yin yang symbol as part of his family coat of arms when he was knighted in 1947.


According to Dr. C. P. Girija Vallabhan from the International School of Photonics, Cochin :

" One key idea that was utilized by Erwin Schrodinger in arriving at his wave equation was the wave nature of matter. The concept of matter waves was proposed by Louis de Broglie in 1923. He understood the universal duality of wave and particle. He was able to show that a particle with momentum p will possess a wavelength given by h/p where h is the Planck's constant. Experimental confirmation soon followed. Scientist began to accept the wave particle duality of matter. Thus it may be said that world is based on the wave phenomena, while particles are mere epiphenomena. This idea was to serve as a major theme in the development of wave mechanics as far as history of physics is concerned. However this does not tell us about the philosophical background with which Schrodinger approached the problem. Schrodinger read widely and thought deeply about the techniques of ancient Hindu scriptures and reworked them into his own words and eventually came to believe in them. This was evident from many of his writings.

In August 1918 he wrote 'The stages of human development are to strive for (1) Besitz (2) Wissen (3)Können (4)Sein" ie. Poseesion, knowledge, ability and being. It is obvious to an Indian mind that this is nothing other than the quadruplet Dharma, Ardha, Kama and Moksha of Upanishdic vision. Schrodinger wrote that he was under the very strong influence of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) who immersed himself in eastern Budhist culture.

It is evident that these thoughts recurred to Erwin Schrodinger when he devised his wave equation leading to discovery of wave mechanics. He found the reality of physics in wave motions and he also based this reality on an underlying unity of mind. Schrodinger was well versed in the techniques of Bhagavat Gita and he knew that he was a "Jnanayogi.". His intellect showed him the way, and throughout his life he expressed in graceful essays his belief in Vedanta but he remained what the Indians called a Mahavit, a person who knows that theory but has failed to achieve a practical realization of it in his own life. He knew from Chandogya Upanishad "I am Mahavit, a knower of the world and not an Atmavit, a knower of the atman" "


The Upanishads are texts that contain elaborations in prose and verse of the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu sacred literature. The Sanskrit term upanishad implies sitting at the feet of the teacher. The Upanishads, of which approximately 108 are known, record the views of a succession of Hindu teachers and sages who were active as early as 1000 BC.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

A Language

The handprint is a cave painting drawn 32,000 years ago and one of the oldest portrait of human. The Chauvet Cave was soon regarded as one of the most significant pre-historic art sites. Most of the artwork dates to the earlier, Aurignacian, era (30,000 to 32,000 years ago).

Me, Myself, Good by Michael (a silverback gorilla)


Gorillas are taught sign language. One can see that Michael signed with his own handprint.

The Gorilla Foundation : http://www.koko.org

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

What is an artist?

"If what AARON is making is not art, what is it exactly, and in what ways, other than its origin, does it differ from the 'real thing?' If it is not thinking, what exactly is it doing?" - Harold Cohen

Aaron the artist?

Painting by Aaron

AARON is a software program written by artist Harold Cohen
that creates original artistic images.



Harold Cohen is an English artist who established an international reputation in the 1960s when he represented Great Britain in the Venice Biennale, Documenta 3, the Paris Biennale, the Carnegie International and many other important international shows. He is also author of the celebrated AARON program, an ongoing research effort in autonomous machine (art making) intelligence which began when he was a visiting scholar at Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1973.
Cohen is one of the few artists ever to have become deeply involved in artificial intelligence. He has given invited papers on his work at major international conferences on AI, computer graphics and art technologies.



Origin of Art?

"The hand of the chimpanzee is quasi-human; the hand of Jackson Pollock is totally animal!" - Salvador Dali


What is Art?

DINOSAUR by Michael
11 x 14 acrylic on canvas, 1984

Do you know Michael? Never heard about him?


Michael was a silverback gorilla, and died at the age of 27 in 2000. He was like many others who paint; gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants.















Paintings by Congo

Congo was the name of a chimpanzee who learned to paint on paper and canvas, under the aegis of zoologist, ethologist, and surrealist painter Desmond Morris. He was most productive in the late 1950s. His style has been identified with abstract impressionism. American collector Howard Hong purchased three of Congo's works for US$26,000.



Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Non-random Clock Cycle Of Brain Waves

The principle of information coding by the brain
seems to be based on the golden mean.
What it means? There is no random wave motion,
brain waves repect the "divine proportion" of the golden mean*.

The golden mean as clock cycle of brain waves

The principle of information coding by the brain seems to be based on the golden mean. For decades psychologists have claimed memory span to be the missing link between psychometric intelligence and cognition. By applying Bose–Einstein-statistics to learning experiments, Pascual-Leone obtained a fit between predicted and tested span. Multiplying span by mental speed (bits processed per unit time) and using the entropy formula for bosons, we obtain the same result. If we understand span as the quantum number n of a harmonic oscillator, we obtain this result from the EEG. The metric of brain waves can always be understood as a superposition of n harmonics times 2Φ, where half of the fundamental is the golden mean Φ (=1.618) as the point of resonance. Such wave packets scaled in powers of the golden mean have to be understood as numbers with directions, where bifurcations occur at the edge of chaos, i.e. 2Φ=3+φ3. Similarities with El Naschie’s theory for high energy particle’s physics are also discussed.

Source: Harald Weiss and Volkmar Weiss,Rietschelstrasse 28, D-04177, Leipzig, Germany Accepted 20 February 2003. ; Available online 15 May 2003.


The brainwaves having a fundamental harmonic of 2Phi, implies that all other harmonics are infinitesimals or multiples of Phi, including the resonant frequencies which are powers of 2Phi/2. Even more, the brain can use powers of the golden section or the infinite Fibonacci word for its coding.

* read more on the golden mean (golden ratio) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

Brain waves

Wave Patterns


Delta is the frequency range up to 3 Hz. It tends to be the highest in amplitude and the slowest waves. It is seen normally in adults in slow wave sleep. It is also seen normally in babies.



Theta is the frequency range from 4 Hz to 7 Hz. Theta is seen normally in young children. It may be seen in drowsiness or arousal in older children and adults; it can also be seen in meditation.



Alpha is the frequency range from 8 Hz to 12 Hz. Hans Berger named the first rhythmic EEG activity he saw, the "alpha wave." This is activity in the 8-12 Hz range seen in the posterior regions of the head on both sides, being higher in amplitude on the dominant side. It is brought out by closing the eyes and by relaxation. It was noted to attenuate with eye opening or mental exertion.


Beta is the frequency range from 12 Hz to about 30 Hz. It is seen usually on both sides in symmetrical distribution and is most evident frontally. Low amplitude beta with multiple and varying frequencies is often associated with active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration. Rhythmic beta with a dominant set of frequencies is associated with various pathologies and drug effects, especially benzodiazepines. Activity over about 25 Hz seen in the scalp EEG is rarely cerebral (i.e., it is most often artifactual). It may be absent or reduced in areas of cortical damage. It is the dominant rhythm in patients who are alert or anxious or who have their eyes open.


Gamma is the frequency range approximately 26–100 Hz. Because of the filtering properties of the skull and scalp, gamma rhythms can only be recorded from electrocorticography or possibly with magnetoencephalography. Gamma rhythms are thought to represent binding of different populations of neurons together into a network for the purpose of carrying out a certain cognitive or motor function.


A Water Drop With A Frequency
















Water-Sound-Images (Wasser-Klang-Bilder)

According to Alexander Lauterwasser, a water drop with a frequency shifted between 30 and 120 cycles per second in oscillation...From the rigidly mechanical up and downward movement of the mother board the water makes a rhythmically swinging movement, which becomes impressively experiencable only in the film.
Alexander Lauterwasser website's

Chladnische Klangfiguren Wasser-Klang-Bilder : http://www.wasserklangbilder.de/

What is Sound?

Vibration Creates Form

Ernst Chladni (1756–1827) was a German physicist and musician.

His important works include research on vibrating plates and the calculation of the speed of sound for different gases. For this some call him the "Father of Acoustics". Chladni's technique, first published in 1787 his book, Entdeckungen über die Theorie des Klanges ("Discoveries in the Theory of Sound"), consists of drawing a bow over a piece of metal whose surface is lightly covered with sand. The plate is bowed until it reaches resonance and the sand forms a pattern showing the nodal regions.




The following is a drawing from Chladni's original publication.

He illustrated it with diagrams of the vibrations of thin metal plates.














Chladni Figures and Vibrating Plates
An applet that demonstrates the mode patterns of vibrating circular and rectangular plates :
http://www.phy.davidson.edu/StuHome/jimn/Java/modes.html

Sound = Electricity

A Sound Way To Turn Heat Into Electricity

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2007) — University of Utah physicists developed small devices that turn heat into sound and then into electricity. The technology holds promise for changing waste heat into electricity, harnessing solar energy and cooling computers and radars. Five of Symko's doctoral students recently devised methods to improve the efficiency of acoustic heat-engine devices to turn heat into electricity.

"You have heat, which is so disorderly and chaotic, and all of a sudden you have sound coming out at one frequency," Symko says.


University of Utah physicist Orest Symko demonstrates how heat can be converted into sound by using a blowtorch to heat a metallic screen inside a plastic tube, which then produces a loud tone, similar to when air is blown into a flute.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070603225026.htm

The Wave






























A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space and time, usually with transferrance of energy. While a mechanical wave exists in a medium (which on deformation is capable of producing elastic restoring forces), waves of electromagnetic radiation (and probably gravitational radiation) can travel through vacuum*, that is, without a medium.


*A vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than standard atmospheric pressure.

Sperm's motion

How your sperm moves?

Fig. 2. Phase-contrast video micrographs of rotational movement of bull sperm flagellum observed from the sperm long axis. (A) Clockwise movement. (B) Counterclockwise movement. The time interval between successive images is 1/60s.

Sperm rotation around its long axis

The rotational movement of a spermatozoon around its longitudinal axis was investigated by two methods: by observing a spermatozoon attached vertically to a coverslip by the tip of its head, and by observing a spermatozoon freely swimming in a medium by means of 'double-focal microscopy', which yielded simultaneous images at two different focal planes. Similar results were obtained by these two methods. Sea urchin, starfish, medaka, human, golden hamster and bull spermatozoa rolled in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions, although there was a large difference in the proportion of spermatozoa rolling in each direction in the different species. The majority of sea urchin and starfish spermatozoa rolled in a clockwise direction when an observer viewed the cell from its anterior end, whereas the majority of medaka, golden hamster, human and bull spermatozoa rolled in a counterclockwise direction relative to the same observer.

Source: ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT OF A SPERMATOZOON AROUND ITS LONG AXIS
BY SUMIO ISHIJIMA, MIYAKO S. HAMAGUCHI, MASAKAZU NARUSE, SANAE A. ISHIJIMA* AND YUKIHISA HAMAGUCHI
Biological Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152, Japan
Accepted 16 September 1991

Beyond the cell: Tracking its invisible patterns

Cell Motion


Figure 2.2: Cell paths resulting from applying the tracking algorithm to two microscope slides. (i) A control experiment, prepared as in Fang et al. (1999), with no electric field. (ii) A treatment experiment, with an electric field off 100 mV/mm. The cathode is at the top of the page.


How cells move? random or coherent or both? spiralling, rotating, fractalling, etc. Is there an invisible path? a common pattern?

Statistical Analysis of Cell Motion by Edward Luke Ionides

Some Background to Cell Motion

Active migration of blood and tissue cells is essential to a number of physiological processes such as inflammation, wound healing, embryogenesis and tumor cell metastasis (Bray, 1992). It also plays an important role in the functioning of many bioartificial tissues and organs (Langer and Vacanti, 1999), such as skin equivalents (Parenteau, 1999) and cartilage repair (Mooney and Mikos, 1999). Modern techniques in microscopy, genetics and pharmacology helped to make some progress in unraveling the complex biophysical processes involved in cell motion (Maheshwari and Lauffenburger, 1998). Although different cell types show diverse methods of locomotion, there are general principles that are widely applicable for cells moving along a substrate. First a cell extends a protrusion by actin filament polymerization (Mogilner and Oster, 1996), which then attaches to the substrate using integrin adhesion receptors (Huttenlocher et al., 1995). A contractile force is next generated which moves the cell body. Finally the cell must attach from the substrate at its trailing end.

Various mathematical models incorporating the above principles of cell motion have been proposed. The most ambitious of them attempt to represent all the physical and chemical processes involved in the motion of an entire cell (Tranquillo and Alt, 1996; Dickinson and Tranquillo, 1993; Dembo, 1989). Others concentrate on a specific process such as extension of a protrusion (Mogilner and Oster, 1996) or receptor dynamics (Lauffenburger and Linderman, 1993). The primary purpose of these biophysical models is to demonstrate that the proposed mechanisms can in fact produce the forces and behaviors observed experimentally.

Another approach to modeling cell motion is phenomenological in nature. The so-called correlated random walks of Alt (1980), Dunn and Brown (1987) and Shenderov and Sheetz (1997) have been proposed to describe observations of isolated cells locomoting on a substrate. For applications, the behavior of cell populations may be of more direct interest, and here diffusion approximations to population behavior are widely used, for example in Ford et al. (1991). The theoretical relationships between single cell models and population models are studied in Alt (1980), Dickinson and Tranquillo (1995), Ford and Lauffenburger (1991). An empirical comparison between single cell and cell population models is given in Farrell et al. (1990). Phenomenological models are used for quantifying experimentally observed cell behavior, and do not require justification in terms of a proposed mechanism. Nevertheless the line dividing biophysical from phenomenological models is in fact only a difference in complexity, and can become blurred as even the simpler phenomenological models can have implications concerning underlying biophysical mechanisms (Dunn and Brown, 1987).

The questions of scientific and engineering interest about cell motion can be broadly summarized into the following: What biophysical processes are involved in cell motion? How can the speed and direction of the motion be modeled? One approach toward answering these questions is to collect temporal sequences of images of moving cells. This is the data type that will be considered in later chapters. Various experimental protocols for studying cell motion are discussed in Alt, Deutsch and Dunn (1997) and Alt and Hoffmann (1990).
Source: Statistical Analysis of Cell Motion by Edward Luke Ionides - B.A. (Cambridge University) 1994M.A. (University of California, Berkeley) 1998 - A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of there quirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.

Cell Membrane

The animal cell membrane is bilayer

The cell membrane (also called the plasma membrane, plasmalemma or "phospholipid bilayer") is a semipermeable lipid bilayer found in all cells.

Cytoplasm is a gelatinous, semi-transparent fluid that fills most cells.
The cytoplasm has three major elements; the cytosol, organelles and inclusions. The cytosol is the gooey, semi-transparent fluid in which the other cytoplasmic elements are suspended. The cytoplasm holds organelles and protects them, such as the vacuole, endoplasmic recticulum, etc. Cytosol makes up about 70% of the cell and is composed of water, salts and organic molecules.

The cell membrane surrounds the cytoplasm of a cell and, in animal cells, physically separates the intracellular components from the extracellular environment, thereby serving a function similar to that of skin.

The barrier is selectively permeable and able to regulate what enters and exits the cell, thus facilitating the transport of materials needed for survival. The movement of substances across the membrane can be either passive, occurring without the input of cellular energy, or active, requiring the cell to expend energy in moving it. The membrane also maintains the cell potential.



A bilayer like a protective circle - life can start a new step.

The Electron's Motion


ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2008) With the use of a newly developed technology for generating short pulses from intense laser light, scientists in Sweden have managed to capture the electron's motion for the first time. (Credit: Image courtesy of Johan Mauritsson, Lund University)
"It takes about 150 attoseconds for an electron to circle the nucleus of an atom. An attosecond is 10-18 seconds long, or, expressed in another way: an attosecond is related to a second as a second is related to the age of the universe," says Johan Mauritsson, an assistant professor in atomic physics at the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University.

Ein Sof




Kabbalists speak of the first aspect of God as Ein Sof (אין סוף); this is translated as "the infinite", "endless", or "that which has no limits". In this view, nothing can be said about this aspect of God. This aspect of God is impersonal. The second aspect of divine emanations, however, is at least partially accessible to human thought.

Spiral Phenomena




Source : http://www.nasa.gov/



Spiral Phenomena

Whirlpool Galaxy (M51):
A Classic Beauty




End or Beginning of life?



Supernova
What kind of star becomes a supernova? Only a very big star with a lot of mass can turn into a supernova. Mass is how much matter there is in an object. A star that is at least five times bigger than our Sun can become a supernova.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Spiraling energy

Yin Yang [liǎngyí]
" two mutually correlated opposites"


a dot, an opposite dot, a field between the two entities - a movement is born
.

"...all the manifold motions are caused by a most simple and material force, just as all motions of the clock are caused by a single weight."- Johannes Kepler, letter to Herwart von Hohenburg, 1605

3


Archimedes explains in his work “On the Measurement of the Circle” that the whole number ratio 153:265 accurately approximates the irrational or incomeasurable ratio of the /3 as the measure of the fish. Archimedes also explains that this approximation was well known to his contemporaries: “It required no word of explanation at all.” This ratio 153:265 defines the measurement of the rhombus in its height and length within the central point of the vesica.
Mathematically, 153 is a triangular number, more precisely it is the sum of the integer numbers from 1 to 17 inclusive; more significantly, 153 also has the rare property that it is the sum of the cubes of its own digits (i.e. 153 = 1x1x1 + 5x5x5 + 3x3x3). In the time of Pythagoras, 153 was most significant for being one of the two numbers in the closest fraction known, at the time, to the true value of the square root of 3, the fraction in question being 265/153 (the difference between this and the square root of 3 is merely 0.000025......). The ratio of 153:265 was consequently known throughout the Hellenic world as the measure of the fish.

Plato states in Timaeus: “But two things cannot be rightly put together without a third; there must be some bond of union between them. And the fairest bond is that which makes the most complete fusion of itself and the things which it combines; and proportion is best adapted to effect such a union. For whenever in any three numbers, whether cube or square, there is a mean, which is to the last term what the first term is to it; and again, when the mean is to the first term as the last term is to the mean -- then the mean becoming first and last, and the first and last both becoming means, they will all of them of necessity come to be the same, and having become the same with one another will be all one.”

In John's Gospel, Jesus miraculously helps his disciples land a large catch of 153 fish: "Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn." (John 21:11) - It's an occult meaning. In fact, 153 is a sacred number associated with the vesica piscis or 'vessel of the fish', an ancient Pythagorean symbol. The ratio of length to height of this shape is 265:153, and is known as the 'measure of the fish'. It is a powerful mathematical tool, being the nearest whole number approximation of the square root of three and the controlling ratio of the equilateral triangle.

Holy Trinity

The Tripod of Life representing the Holy Trinity



The "Tripod of Life" also known as "Borromean rings" is formed from a third circle being added to the Vesica Piscis, where the third circle's center point is placed at the intersection of the first two circles' The name "Borromean rings" comes from their use in the coat of arms of the aristocratic Borromeo family in Italy. The Borromean rings have been used in different contexts to indicate strength in unity, e.g. in religion or art. In particular, some have used the design to symbolize the Trinity.

Sephirot


“Force never moves in a straight line, but always in a curve vast as the universe, and therefore eventually returns whence it issued forth, but upon a higher arc, for the universe has progressed since it started.” - Kabbalistic Text

The Tree of Life







The Fruit of Life





































The Seed of Life




Leonardo da Vinci's drawings



Leonardo da Vinci has studied the Flower of Life's form and its mathematical properties. He has drawn the Flower of Life itself, as well as components therein, such as the Seed of Life. He has drawn geometric figures representing shapes such as the platonic solids, a sphere, a torus, etc., and has also used the golden ratio of phi in his artwork; all of which may be derived from the Flower of Life design.