Quote Of The Week
“Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes.”
-Hugh Prather
Fun Fact
Free Food Available In Your Area
-by Ellen Sovryn
Autumn olives are ready to be harvested! These invasive plants, also known as Japanese silverberries, were introduced to North America in the 1800’s as ornamental shrubs. Today they span from the East Coast to Nebraska, and are often planted for erosion control. They can survive a wide variety of poor soil conditions partially due to their ability to create their own from of absorbable nitrogen. This can alter the local nitrogen cycle for surrounding plants. Autumn olives may be pretty and provide fruit, but their alteration to local ecosystems pushes out native species. If you do find one of these out in the wild, their berries are highly nutritious, containing high amounts of lycopene, vitamins A, C, and E. Those interested in keeping wildlife from spreading the silverberry seeds might consider baking a pie or making jam.
Inspiration
More Than Just A Touch Of Class
-by Ellen Sovryn
The musical group A Touch of Class was formed by four friends who found each other through musical theater in Germany. Their success was in part thanks to their diversity: Tracey Elizabeth Packham from England, Joseph Murray from New Zealand, Sarah Egglestone from Australia, and Livio Salvi from Italy. The hit song “Around the World” was an English cover of a Russian song “Pesenka”. Tracey was quoted as saying of the band’s origins, "We were there sitting watching television one day, seeing groups and saying 'there's no reason [...] why we can't do this.” Well, she’s right: there is no reason why you can’t!
Health and Wellness
The Rise To Fame Of Sulforaphane
-by Ellen Sovryn
Cruciferous Vegetables are a family of plants that includes broccoli, kale, cabbage brussel sprouts, bok choy, watercress and cauliflower. These powerful veggies host many phytonutrients which contribute to overall health, including intestinal immune function and reduction of cholesterol levels while boosting antioxidant capacity. The main chemical responsible for cruciferous super powers is sulforaphane, capable of fighting autism brain inflammation, enhancing liver function, and protecting DNA from oxidative stress. Even modest broccoli consumption has been shown to aid survival in many types of cancer (1) (2) (3).
Did you know that you can test the acidity of your urine with purple cabbage? Or that cabbage has been a poor man's poultice in European folk medicine for ages? Consuming more cabbage and broccoli may be the cheapest and easiest way to counter not only the negative effects of aging, but air pollution as well.
If you are passionate about fresh and healthful ingredients, sprouting your own broccoli seeds can provide hundreds of times more sulforaphane than regular broccoli crowns! Anyone interested in learning more about the endless reasons to love cruciferous vegetables should browse the research of Dr. Jed Fahey, a nutritional biochemist for 27 years at Johns Hopkins University who helped to create the Cullman Chemoprotection Center to study chronic disease prevention. His mission is enhancing healthspan, which he encourages in people through his study of broccoli sprouts.
Wheather you are dousing your sandwiches in horseradish or enjoying some collard greens, be sure to include cruciferous veggies in your daily routine. The more the merrier! Dr. Greger recommends a half cup of chopped greens, or a quarter cup of sprouts per day.
Spirituality
You Are Not Meant For Mundanity
-by Dr. Brian Sovryn
I want to take a quick break from the (very important) Naturism conversation this issue to answer a question I often get ever since I started more openly discussing the mystical, spiritual, and esoteric:
"Dr. Sovryn, this spirituality/Kabbalah is great and all, but what does this all end up looking like in practice? Where does this go?"
Well, without getting into the notion of "repairing the universe" just yet, I have a video I want you to watch. It's not long, I won't waste your time, and yes it's a video game commercial, but I want you to trust me and listen to the words very carefully:
Really, the opening words are enough: "Who are you not to great? You, with the imagination of a brilliant child and the powers of an ancient god?"
Those are ridiculously powerful (and -- depending on one's effort -- potentially true) words that have no right to be in, of all things, a Sony PlayStation console advertisement. But there it is.
It's perhaps fitting -- and not so coincidental -- that I write about this ad (which I have talked about on Sovryn Tech many times) as I am modding a PlayStation 3 console. While the history of this commercial from 2013 is legendary, and the entire "Greatness Awaits" campaign by Sony would (rightfully) go on for years, I don't think it's fully appreciated for what it says and visually delivers. Sure, it's exciting, and it probably helped sell a whole Hell of a lot of PlayStation 4's and Vita's (which frankly, everyone should own a modded Vita, it's the last game console you'll ever need, trust me), but there is a lot more going on here than just slick production.
If you don't mind me dalliancing in the mystical for a moment, nearly every word spoken by the charismatic narrator has a ring of truth to it when one considers the spiritual realm and powers that exist thereto (yes, perhaps even the "travel time like the oceans" bit). Even the comment of "rewriting history with a single word" highlights the importance of words and language and their effect on space-time(-thought...we'll get to that "thought" part in the future). Every line of the commercial could have entire books written about it.
In fact it's almost odd, nearly everything said -- besides perhaps the comment about "hoarding infinite lives" -- isn't really applicable to video games, and is spoken of so broadly as if it were an ancient Egyptian mantra right out of the Book of the Dead (which should actually be called the "Book of the Ever-Living", but that's another conversation, and no Mumm-Ra jokes, please).
But it gets even better. The very end, when our lead character says, "We will not be denied", suddenly the chaos of the reality he exists within becomes clear. And I can't help but see that chaos he enters as a visual representation of the spiritual realm that we -- unless trained to do so -- normally don't see but is always there, right down to the "demons".
This is a masterpiece of mysticism, my friends, and the person who devised it knows a lot more about how the universe actually works than most scientists, I think.
The beauty here, though, is that this doesn't even have to be about mysticism. The call to action from the very beginning of it can be integrated right now in a very simple, "Level 1" way. "Who are you not to be great?" That simple line is rhetorical, and I think it beautifully conveys the idea that all people have the capability of greatness, regardless of whatever limitations life has dealt you. As stewards, this is the kind of rhetoric we should be confronting children with every day. Not asking them what they want to be when they grow up, or any of these other questions that can't possibly have proper answers for decades, at least...but instead instilling in them that they have every tool they need within themselves to be absolutely fucking extraordinary. And yes, greatness is not a zero-sum game. We can all be great, because there's infinite ways of expressing greatness, and there's plenty of universe to go around last time I pulled out the telescope.
Now that I write this, adults need this kind of rhetorical questions asked of themselves, too. Wake up every day saying to yourself, "Who am I not to be great?" And as the narrator said, if you deny greatness to yourself, you deny it to the entire world. What a pity if Mozart, Einstein, or Tony Hawk (I'm serious) denied the world of their brilliance that launched the entire species into another level of existence with their music, their words and theories, and their acts of extreme physical ingenuity.
So here's the deal: I dare you to defy the ordinary. Because who are you not to be great?
Articles of the Week
News: Tesla Autopilot Under Investigation
-by Ellen Sovryn
Before you start to think that human drivers will be replaced by automation any time soon, read this article! Initially this story was published in June 2022 when the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration upgraded an investigation into Tesla’s autopilot systems which began in August 2021. Many crashes have been reported while “vehicle operators” were using the Tesla autopilot functionality to transport them. In the Ars Technica story, “Tesla says that in Q4 2021, ‘we recorded one crash for every 4.31 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology (Autosteer and active safety features). For drivers who were not using Autopilot technology (no Autosteer and active safety features), we recorded one crash for every 1.59 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA's most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 484,000 miles.’”
As a more recent story points out, contrary to what some vehicle operators think, these vehicles still require humans to operate them at all times even with autopilot settings engaged as the technology is not anywhere close to perfect. It may seem on the surface that self driving vehicles are 3 times safer than human operated vehicles. Consider however, the ease with which a human could have navigated their way out of the reported Tesla crashes by utilizing their senses. Granted, the numbers suggest that humans are worse drivers than automated self driving vehicles. Is that really true?
Humans do struggle with maintaining their attention span, especially today with nearly everyone on the road using smartphones for GPS while simultaneously using these devices to communicate with others or be entertained. Additionally, humans struggle with egos which become sensitized after unsafe traffic events caused by poor driving choices, pushing them to react with road rage. Self driving vehicles don’t have this issue as they are programmed with a singular purpose. Yet, a living human is what self driving vehicles yield authority to when they can’t compute a solution for unsafe conditions. Humans have ingenuity and instinct: qualities that automation doesn’t.
While it seems that the best solution to avert tragedy would be to have a fully alert and attentive human behind the wheel of a self driving vehicle, that is not what occurs in real life. Perhaps the feelings of security imbued to owners of Teslas gives them permission to not pay full attention to the road, and to use that time doing other tasks. Who wouldn’t want to read a book or watch videos instead of perform their daily commute? Or as (at least) one person did, use their Tesla as a chauffeur when they were too drunk to drive. Yet in some emergencies, Teslas revert to operator inputs just a second before collision. Every second of your attention truly does count when your vehicle is speeding towards disaster.
Another important question to consider for the driverless future is, who is responsible for driverless vehicle collisions? In the absence of a human operator the company which created the self driving system usually is held accountable. It seems that Tesla is facing such a scenario now with it’s Models X, Y, S and 3 from the 2014 through 2021 model years under scrutiny, with the possibility of recall. If individual humans were at fault, the usual fines and possible jail time would be the consequence. As a company willing to take the responsibility for so many automated vehicles, Tesla’s lineup is now suffering the consequences.
We are being shown evidence that our technology is not advanced enough to be the peerless caretakers that some want it to be. Even worse, humans are not prepared for the ease of life and moral ambiguity which this technology tantalizingly offers. How many deaths per million miles of road travel are acceptable? And who (or what) would you trust your life with more in a roadside emergency situation? As you consider your answer to these questions, also consider taking classes in defensive driving and collision avoidance.
Space: Green Light To The Red Planet For Two Company Collaboration
-by Ellen Sovryn
SpaceX is not the only game in town trying to get to Mars. According to this article published on Gizmodo, there are two other companies eyeing the red planet. According to the story, a collaboration, “between Impulse Space and Relativity Space could be the first commercial landing on the red planet.” What are these two new companies all about?
Impulse Space is a company headed by CEO and founder Tom Mueller, formerly of TRW and SpaceX, with 30 years of propulsion design. The COO, Barry Matsumori of SpaceX, Virgin Orbit, and BridgeComm heads business development and mission management. On their website, Impulse Space discusses their contribution to the first commercial Mars mission.
“The integrated Cruise Vehicle, Entry Capsule, and Mars Lander developed by Impulse Space will launch in 2024 on the Relativity Terran R launch vehicle. After traveling through interplanetary space for over half a year, the Cruise Vehicle will inject the Entry Capsule into the correct landing trajectory and detach. The Entry Capsule will use the proven combination of heat shield and parachute to slow down enough to safely deploy the Mars Lander into freefall. The lander will then perform a propulsive landing using purpose-built engines developed in-house at Impulse Space, completing the first commercial payload delivery to the surface of another planet.”
Relativity is a company headed by founder and CEO Tim Ellis. Their mission is to help establish humanity as a multiplanetary species, beginning with Mars. This company specializes in the additive manufacturing process of 3-D printed rockets. Their first launch of the Terran 1 rocket in a mission lovingly known as GLHF (Good Luck, Have Fun), will be launched from Cape Canaveral on September 30th of 2022. This novel manufacturing method of rockets allows for the Terran 1 to have fewer seams, lighter construction and less wasted materials. On their website, Relativity discussed the specs of their novel rocket.
“As a two-stage, 110ft. tall, 7.5 ft. wide, expendable rocket, Terran 1 is the largest 3D printed object to exist and to attempt orbital flight. Working towards its goal of being 95% 3D printed, Relativity’s first Terran 1 vehicle is 85% 3D printed by mass. Terran 1 has nine Aeon engines on its first stage, and one Aeon Vac on its second stage.
Like its structure, all Relativity engines are entirely 3D printed, and use liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid natural gas (LNG), which are not only the best for rocket propulsion, but also for reusability, and the easiest to eventually transition to methane on Mars. As one of the few LOX/LNG fueled rockets in the industry, Terran 1 is racing to be the first LOX/LNG rocket to fly. “
It is exciting to see new ideas enter the arena of space travel! Admittedly, we are hoping to see someone besides Elon Musk have the privilege and honor of this high caliber achievement. Will this mission be a success, ushering in an era of more commercial Mars missions? Watch the launch livestream to find out.
Science: Next Generation Nuclear
-by Ellen Ball
Without dispute, the modern world is desperately in need of renewable, sustainable and cleaner power sources. With rising demands on the electrical grid, much of the electricity in the USA still comes from natural gas and coal power. Nuclear power plants offer clean, reliable and safe electricity. Though the majority of people support the use of nuclear energy as a power supply, not many people would feel comfortable with a nuclear facility in their local area. With new developments in nuclear plant technologies however, small local plants may be just the solution to our energy demand issues.
Nuclear pollution is relatively minuscule when compared to pollution from coal and oil combustion. Nuclear material carries danger along with its use, but so does air pollution from coal combustion and water pollution from oil spills. New generations of nuclear power plants are cheaper, safer, and more reliable than previous generations. They provide energy consistently and produce tiny amounts of waste, most of which are recyclable and recovered for more usable fuel. Fortunately mistakes from the past have informed current design so that nuclear containment is more thorough and safer than ever. Even the threat of terrorist attacks on nuclear facilities is being addressed.
What makes new generations of nuclear reactors like the NuScale nuclear power plant highly attractive is that they are modular, being prefabricated at a factory and assembled on site, cutting the billions of dollars on construction down significantly. This reactor can be assembled quickly to power a city, has no moving parts in the cooling system which can fail, and has other passive safety features to keep operators safe. Small power plants can easily be integrated into pre-existing power grids and not require extra work setting up new infrastructure.
Another novel type of nuclear reactor is from the Bill Gates funded company TerraPower. They plans on using liquid sodium in the cooling system in place of water. This reactor design also has convective cooling that doesn’t rely on pumps in the event of emergency shutdown, as in the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Modern waste recycling can also cut down on spent fuel storage space by as much as two thirds.
While there are so many different models of nuclear reactors being used around the world, public acceptance and the risk of investment are the two largest hurdles new nuclear plants face. If we are going to stem the tide of pollution on our home planet while maintaining power supply to the growing population, nuclear acceptance needs to be part of that strategy. Smart design and smaller construction have made nuclear the oil of the future.
Culture: Western Chemotherapy Costs More Than It Delivers
-by Ellen Sovryn
Cancer is the second largest cause of natural death in the USA, only surpassed by heart disease. Nearly 2 out of every 5 people will be diagnosed with cancer on any site at some point in life. While there are many forms of cancer and other complicating factors, one thing remains constant. Chemotherapy has become known as the treatment for cancers, though the survival rates for those who receive chemotherapy are not high enough to justify the amount spent on chemo treatments each year.
There is no price that can be put on life. And yet people run their lives into financial ruin funding treatments for themselves or loved ones. In the USA alone, we spend $200 billion dollars each year on chemo. According to this SciTech Daily article, “the United States spends twice as much on cancer treatment as typical high-income countries, yet its cancer death rates are only marginally better than average.”
In fact, the rates of cancer survival here are no better than several other high income countries like Switzerland, Australia, or Japan. We spend more money on cancer treatments and yet gain less in the battle against cancer than other countries. The decrease in cancer deaths over the last two decades has more to do with cancer vaccines, early screening and new drug development than chemotherapy access. This indicates that the best way to survive from cancer in the first place may be to focus on prevention through healthy lifestyle choices.
Nature: Sex and Bitches
-by Ellen Sovryn
In the wonderful natural world teeming with life of thousands of species, there is a lot of sex happening. All the time. In every species there are different mating strategies and sexual expression. As for humans, we are different from other animals in our cultural beliefs and moral attitudes surrounding sex. For example, the antiquated belief that men are promiscuous while women are chaste.
This has proven to be a fallacy over time, one which scientists such as Angus Bateman and Charles Darwin perpetuated without truly understanding the implicit biases within their statements. Even the concept of sexual gender is chaotic and not entirely definite. As zoologist Lucy Cooke describes in this Nautilus interview, “ [T]he genes involved in making testes or ovaries are basically the same 60 genes. They just play to a different tune. And these two pathways involving these 60 genes are neither separate nor linear. They’re enmeshed, and they work antagonistically. So, to create an ovary, you have to suppress the testes at the same time.” Sometimes the suppression of ova or testes is not complete however, leading to ambiguous genitalia.
In her new book Bitch, Lucy hopes to overthrow more patriarchal and Victorian ideas about sex. She highlights the many weird and wonderful genitalia that have evolved to serve various needs for each species. The labyrinth that is the duck vagina for example, and the complementary crazy duck penis.
The crowning glory of Cooke’s work is pointing out how the female gender is dominant in most species. In addition to being the bearers of life, females are often the judges who decide on their mate, and can be much larger than the males, making it easier to postcoitally consume them.
Also on the chopping block is the concept that sex is solely for reproduction. Humans are related as closely with bonobos as we are with chimpanzees. While chimps are patriarchal and aggressive, bonobos are peaceful and matriarchal. Better yet, female bonobos maintain their dominance through a closely bonded sisterhood which stays connected due to rampant homosexual relationships.
Cooke states, “I’m not suggesting that we all have sex with each other. But forming alliances with females is clearly a good thing if you want to gain power. And it also shows the flexibility of sexuality.” She’s right, we don’t all need to be homosexual or even sexually fluid, even if humans are capable of such things. But having a broader understanding of how sexuality is diverse within each species can be freeing. There is no right way to do it! Just go out there and have (safe) fun.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Sovryn Technica Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.