Author: Daniela

  • Sunday Prayer

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      The composer John Tavener, who died on November 12th, once said many artists were good at leading the listener into hell, but that he was more interested in showing the way to paradise.  John Rutter describes Tavener as having the “very rare gift” of being able to “bring an audience to a deep silence.” While Tavener’s earliest music was…

  • How Mysticism Affects the Brain

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    Douglas Todd writes about research being conducted by “non-traditional” neuroscientists that indicates that current scientific left-brain, right-brain theories are far too simplistic: …researchers such as Beauregard are discovering that spiritual and artistic states are linked with all parts of the brain, including white matter, grey matter, the temporal lobe and the postulate cingulate cortex. In other…

  • Organic Farmer Role Model for Educated Indian Youth – Many From Corporate World

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    A reader, who is also interested in the organic food movement, shared a link to the following article.  It is so encouraging to hear about educated young people taking up organic farming instead of heading off to corporate jobs. Many youngsters are pouring into Pakkam, a village in Thiruvallur district, about 35 km from Chennai…

  • Portraits of Cultures on the Brink of Extinction

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    Before They Pass Away is a powerful documentary series by photographer Jimmy Nelson featuring dozens of cultures around the world whose people live in seclusion and are at risk of fading away. Traveling across five continents, the English photographer manages to embrace the various cultures he has encountered and highlights each of the 35 tribes’ unique…

  • NASA | When Trees Fall, Landsat Maps Them

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    Twelve years of global deforestation, wildfires, windstorms, insect infestations and more are captured in a new set of forest disturbance maps created from billions of pixels acquired by the imager on the NASA-USGS Landsat 7 satellite. The maps are the first to measure forest loss and gain using a consistent method around the globe at…

  • Photo of the Day

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    Following is one of the hundreds of amazing, bizarre, and often-overlooked animals in Ross Piper’s new book, Animal Earth, that he’d like to see get some more attention. Humans have cataloged as many as 1.5 million species of animals, and Piper said there may be as many as 200 million more species still undiscovered. “We know a…

  • Friday’s Poem

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    Hedgehog The snail moves like a Hovercraft, held up by a Rubber cushion of itself, Sharing its secret With the hedgehog. The hedgehog Shares its secret with no one. We say, Hedgehog, come out Of yourself and we will love you. We mean no harm. We want Only to listen to what You have to…

  • GMO Apple Comment Period Opens

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    A final, 30-day public comment period on USDA consideration of opening the United States to the growing and sales of genetically modified apples began Nov. 8 and will conclude on Dec. 9. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is seeking public comment on its environmental assessment and plant risk assessment documents for the…

  • Tibetan Sand Mandala

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    Losang Samten’s intricate sand paintings carry many kinds of meanings. Mandalas represent aspects of the universe. Samten says, “First and foremost these mandalas are a form of communication through art. They tell stories that have meaning for Tibetans and other Buddhists, and for humanity in general. The witnessing of patience in the creative process helps…

  • Folklore Uses of Local Plants Effective in Treatment of Diabetes

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    The Guardian News reports that recent studies  are “validating the folklore uses of local plants and spices such as bitter leaf, scent leaf and Gongronema latifolium (Utazi in Ibo) among others in the management of diabetes.” A STUDY published in April 2013 edition of Journal of natural pharmaceuticals found that treatment of alloxan diabetic rats…