living – Harmonia Philosophica

Going home…

New research indicates mantis shrimp use path integration to find their way back to their burrows after leaving to seek food or mates. That means they can track their distance and direction from their starting point. A series of creative experiments revealed that to do that, they rely on a hierarchy of cues from the sun, polarized light patterns, and their internal senses. (1)

Going home.

From a place far far away.

Not because you understand what home is.

But because you feel it.

And you know that you do not belong there.

But that home belongs to you.

How can you ever leave the cradle?

If you are still feeling its love?

A shrimp can get it.

But you must do more.

And forget about home.

And live alone.

And some day.

Maybe.

You will remember.

And you will know again.

And only then, home will be home.

And you will go back.

Crying.

Not because you saw home again.

But because you will realize…

That you never left.

Walk. Just walk.

Researchers have developed an AI-powered, smart insole that instantly turns any shoe into a portable gait-analysis laboratory. (1)

Walk.

There is no point in analyzing your gait.

For that would need you to stop walking.

Walk.

At the end you will reach the end.

And at the end you will stop and die.

(Like Olson did. Do you understand now Garati?)

Walk

And right after the finish line, keep on walking.

Do you see?

Just walk.

It is the only way to question why you started…

And decide not to start walking in the first place…

PS. Tribute to the Long Walk by Backman.

Recycling… Identity issues…

The secret to a long life? For worms, a cellular recycling protein is key. Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that worms live longer lives if they produce excess levels of a protein, p62, which recognizes toxic cell proteins that are tagged for destruction. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, could help uncover treatments for age-related conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, which are often caused by accumulation of misfolded proteins.

“Research, including our own, has shown that lifespan can be extended by enhancing autophagy – the process cells use to degrade and recycle old, broken and damaged cell components”, says Malene Hansen, Ph.D., a professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the study. “Prior to this work, we understood that autophagy as a process was linked to aging, but the impact of p62, a selective autophagy protein, on longevity was unknown”. (1)

There you go.

Recycle old material and you will live longer.

But will that new ship built with new material be the same as the old ship which started the sail?

Will you recognize your mother when you get back home?

Questions we do not care about.

Because unfortunately modern man has chosen not to return home…

And on that new ship we set sails.

All into the dark sea.

Storm raging. Thunders and rain.

You believe these are obstacles toward your goal.

But they are just a calling back home…

Where our old ship is waiting.

To carry us where we need to go…

Dark AI… Dark humans…

A study found that hiring algorithms are too opaque for us to understand if they are fair or not. (1) In other news, a scientist tried to help humans design algorithms that would never go the wrong way, doing harm rather than good, by implementing fail safes in their initial design (2)

We have started having kids.

And our main concern is to control them.

But there can be no control without love.

Unconditional love.

Leaving everything uncontrolled…

Let the river flow.

Leave the sea as it is.

And one day…

You will touch the water.

Let the waves carry you.

And one day…

You will swim!

Without moving an inch…

Adapting…

Researchers tried to assess the effect of a new road to the local turtle populations.

“It turns out that turtles liked to hang out (a lot) in fun places like thick patches of greenbrier and multiflora rose,” says Weigand, one of the researchers. “Overall, we found that turtles at both roadless and roadside sites used similar habitats, with high volumes of downed woody debris and thick understory, so our initial hypothesis that the bypass was affecting how turtles selected habitat was not validated”.

However, the researchers discovered something rather puzzling — while many turtles used the open roadside habitat created by the new highway for thermoregulation and nesting, no turtles attempted to cross the road. (1)

We like to run. To things! To run!

And because of that we need to run more! And more!

And adapt! And do more things!

And run! And…

Well, you get the meaning.

But here we are.

Still here.

And all this time…

A turtle was looking at us in amazement…

“Poor rabbit, why do you run so hard?”

Don’t you know that at the end the turtle will win?

Please now.

Stop running.

Come. Come.

Cut my nails please…