Author: timbatchelder

  • Sugar as a toxin: YouTube video of biochemistry and evolutionary medicine

    Recently a YouTube video explaining the biochemistry of sugar has elevated public awareness of thousands of Americans enough to question heir intake. Much of the research, this speaker notes, points to sugar as a direct toxin, including more recent discoveries on its effect on insulin signaling and cancer. Of course anthropologists have long documented the…

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  • The promise and perils of cities

    Cities have been the engines of civilization for millennia, serving as places where the arts, commerce, and ideas flourish.  But as we are reminded in a recent article, the close social interactions that make a city so productive also proved ideal for tuberculosis, measles, the plague, and many other diseases. In European capitals, circa 1800,…

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  • Juan Downey: Energy anthropologist and artist

    I really like this guy’s stuff. A self proclaimed “energy anthropologist” this video artist travelled deep into South America to find a primal, invisible forms of energy which he documented. Juan Downey, like all the best avant-gardists going right back to the 19th century, had a utopian streak.  He spent seven years traveling back and…

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  • Johns Hopkins researchers identify health benefits in hallucinogenic mushrooms

    Anthropology has long documented that most traditional medical systems use indigenous plants often with psychoactive, spiritual effects. Recently researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been studying the effects of psilocybin, a chemical found in some psychedelic mushrooms, that’s credited with inducing transcendental states. Now, they say, they’ve zeroed in on the perfect…

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  • Black Coral Capital: Private Equity Fund Investing in CleanTech Space

     Another link from Jay. Black Coral Capital is a fund investing in the alternative energy / cleantech space. The fund can invest in a wide variety of cleantech arenas, both directly and through funds. Black Coral was formed in late 2008 and is presently building out its presence in North America. Black Coral Capital –…

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  • Intelligence agencies, mired in inefficiencies, begin to adopt social science and crowd sourcing methods

    As with other fields such as medicine, after years of massive costs and sometimes ineffective methods, resulting in catastrophic failures such as 9/11, new leadership at our intelligence agencies such as Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper are adopting digital and social science methods such as crowd sourcing, data science, knowledge management.  Social scientists have…

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  • Tangled in an endless web of distractions

    Colleges are limiting access to social media during classes due to concerns about impacts on learning. Tangled in an endless web of distractions – Boston.com. Related articles Viral Marketing in 2013 Hinges on Content Creation, Social Media (prweb.com) Tangled FX for iOS – Unique New Photo Effect – Currently #35 in Photo (themactrack.com) Oh what…

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  • BU Executive Leadership Center: Leading Clean Energy Ventures

    Nice new center that will work to build clean energy ventures. Executive Leadership Center: Leading Clean Energy Ventures. Related articles United States Aims To Win Clean Energy Race (earthtechling.com) The New Sustainable Energy Factbook: A Strong Case for Consistent Policy (thinkprogress.org) Department of Defense: Clean Energy Tied to National Security (climateandsecurity.org) Greenpeace report urges 100%…

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