Blog archive
May 2024
Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024
Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024
No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024
An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024
Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024
Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024
The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024
Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024
April 2024
Rumor of Humor #2410
04/28/2024
Rumor of Humor #2411
04/28/2024
Rumor of Humor #2412
04/28/2024
Rumor of Humor #2413
04/28/2024
Rumor of Humor #2414
04/28/2024
Rumor of Humor #2415
04/28/2024
Rumor of Humor #2416
04/28/2024
Stimulated by "Caste"
04/22/2024
Tulsa reparations, Religion and Politics
04/09/2024
March 2024
Trumps War with Black Women
03/31/2024
Addressing The Needs of Older Adults Through Pasadena Village
03/25/2024
Coming Soon: More Resources for Older Americans, Online and in Person
03/25/2024
Community Building Locally and Nationally
03/25/2024
Preparing for the Future with Ready or Not
03/25/2024
Volunteering is at The Heart of the Village
03/25/2024
Women's Liberation: Then and Now
03/25/2024
Writing Memoirs Together
03/25/2024
Current Views on Current Events
03/20/2024
Unchained
03/18/2024
Rumr of Humor issue # 2409
03/10/2024
Blacks Portrayed by European Artists
03/03/2024
Rumor of Humor #2408
03/03/2024
February 2024
Caring for Ourselves and Each Other
02/27/2024
Doug Colliflower Honored
02/27/2024
Great Decisions Connects Us to the Worldwide Community
02/27/2024
Letter from the President
02/27/2024
Pasadena Village's Impact
02/27/2024
The Power of Touch
02/27/2024
Villages as a New Approach to Aging
02/27/2024
Addressing Gang Violence in Pasadena-Altadena
02/21/2024
Rumor of Humor Issue 2407
02/19/2024
Thank You For Caring.
02/12/2024
Rumor of Humor 2405
02/11/2024
Curve Balls
02/10/2024
Sylvan Lane
02/10/2024
Rumor of Humor 2404
02/09/2024
Larry Duplechan, Blacks in Film
02/03/2024
January 2024
Pasadena Village Joins Community Partners in Vaccination Campaign
01/29/2024
Rumor of Humor #2403
01/28/2024
Pasadena Village Joins Two Healthy Aging Resource Projects
01/25/2024
Decluttering: Do It Now
01/24/2024
Village Volunteers Contribute to the Huntington Magic
01/24/2024
Villagers Creating Community
01/24/2024
Villagers Reflect on Black History Month
01/24/2024
Walk With Ease, 2024
01/24/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2402
01/21/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2401
01/15/2024
Re- Entry Programs, a Personal Experience
01/08/2024
Science: Nueroplasticity, Quantum, Chernobyl
By Bob SnodgrassPosted: 05/10/2021
We enjoyed a pleasant meeting with good natured discussions. Sally had sent around two papers for us from Nature. She began with the one about tiny drums and quantum entanglement. These vibrating aluminum membranes or drum -like structures were 70 picograms in mass and 10 micrometers (millionths of a meter) in size. The review in Nature suggests that “although these structures are barely visible to the naked eye, they are enormous by quantum standards”. The scientists tickled the membranes with microwave photons to make them vibrate in sync, producing what the original paper called “two massive mechanical oscillators” and directly observed their state. Wiki lectures informs me that the normal human eye in good light is unable to distinguish two lines 0.78 millimeters, or 780 um at a distance of 185 cm, about 7.4 inches.
So, these ‘massive oscillations’ were massive in one sense (compared to atoms and molecules
studied in past studies of quantum entanglement) but not in every day casual discussion and
humans can’t see an object 10 um long. I had thought that quantum entanglement would require
one of the ‘massive vibrators ‘to be moved to another building or some distance away, but that
was simplistic. Careful reading of the paper showed that a subsequent study showed that moving one membrane with a single photon induced an opposite phase vibration in the other. If one knew that was happening with one tiny drum, one could predict what happened with the other. This is one demonstration of one kind of quantum entanglement. We should wait for others.
Howard was next; he had also mailed papers to all of us before the meeting; I found his story of
‘America’s Amazon in Alabama’ eye opening. He went through a series of aquatic species such
as Turtles – 27 kinds of freshwater turtles – 57% of all turtle species in North America,
Freshwater Mussels – 180 kinds of mussels – 59% of all mussel species in North America,
Crayfish – 85 kinds of Crayfish – 22% of all crayfish species in North America – in all these
examples, Alabama ranked in the nation. I have been to Mobile, AL twice but didn’t notice this
treasure trove of aquatic species, Minnesota has fewer lakes and rivers than Alabama.
Leni followed with a discussion taken from the book, The Brain’s Way of Healing, by Norman
Doidge. A doctor Moskowitz had years of chronic neck pain. As he became aware of studies
competitive neuroplasticity, he decided to use these principles, he concentrated on using those
ideas (no drugs) to end his pain. Initial progress was slow, but now he is more or less pain free, a remarkable story. I accept this account as possibly true. Several of the group speculated that this was a form of self-hypnosis. The main issue is: is this reproducible, or is it a one-off? I doubt
that it is reproducible. Likewise, the second chapter reports a man who walked off his Parkinsonian symptoms. Again, I think this is a one off beyond the pale of science. Many studies if exercise in Parkinsonism have been done and reported. They typically report some improvement in mood, some walking improvement, no change in falls or in overall quality of life. More than twenty studies have been done without producing any dramatic cures.
Bob finished up the presentations with a report of suspected resurgence of active nuclear fission
within the ruins and concreted over structure of Chernobyl reactor #4, which exploded
disastrously in 1986, In recent years, authorities monitoring the site have noticed increased
emission of neutrons, a hallmark of nuclear fission, and have noticed a waxing and waning of
neutron emissions after heavy rains, consistent the known ability of water to modulate fission
reactions. Chernobyl was once within the USSR, but when the Soviet Union broke up, it became
part of Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly promised to send money, experts, etc. to help but has done nothing. Now Ukraine has enlisted the help of Japan and the European union. Radiation intensity is too severe in reactor #4 to allow humans. There has been discussion of constructing a robot able to withstand the tremendous radiation, to go down into the basement and drill holes in the FCMs, fuel containing materials formed when everything melted down. It would then insert
boron cylinders which are neutron trapping materials.
Our next meeting will be Monday, June 14 th . I hope to see more people and more people with
items to present. We welcome all interested people and always benefit from comments made by
non-presenters. See you next month.
Something to think about:
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