The Apendix

What if the “useless” appendix is actually the brain’s secret ally in your belly?

For decades, the appendix was written off as a biological relic useless, expendable, and routinely removed without hesitation. But cutting-edge research from Duke University is flipping that narrative on its head.

Scientists have now discovered that the appendix is far from a vestigial organ. It contains over 200 million neurons more than the spinal cord wired into intricate networks that allow it to communicate directly with the brain and operate semi-independently. That’s right: your appendix may actually act as a second brain for your gut.

This small, overlooked organ functions as a reservoir for good bacteria, preserving your microbiome during illness and helping repopulate your gut afterward. It also plays a critical role in immune memory and gut-brain signaling something people who’ve had theirs removed are now missing. In fact, studies show that individuals without an appendix may experience weaker digestion, higher vulnerability to intestinal infections, and slower gut responses to stress.

The medical world is now rethinking routine appendectomies. Some hospitals are shifting away from surgery toward antibiotics for milder cases, recognizing the long-term value this organ may hold. And for those who’ve already had their appendix removed? There’s still hope.

You can support your gut-brain axis and restore microbial balance by eating fermented foods, taking high-quality probiotics, and nourishing your gut lining with healing nutrients like collagen, zinc, and bone broth.

Turns out, the appendix isn’t some leftover evolutionary scrap it’s a critical guardian of your gut and a key player in your body’s hidden communication network.

#GutBrainConnection #AppendixTruth #NewScience #MicrobiomeHealth #FermentedFoods

Here

Selfie e a multiplicidade de espelhos

Aqui

Goodbye Cuco's Nests / Welcome to the Pan-Optic digital where Big Brother is laughing at you

"No lendário anúncio da Apple que, em 1984, cintilava no ecrã durante a Super Bowl, aquela aparece como uma figura libertadora contra o Estado vigilante de Orwell. Numa grande sala, trabalhadores sem vontade e apáticos escutam, olhando para o ecrã, o discurso fanático do Big Brother. Uma mulher que corre irrompe na sala, perseguida pela polícia do pensamento. Avança sem hesitar e transporta um grande martelo [...]. Carrega decididamente sobre o Big Brother e arremessa ferozmente o martelo contra o ecrã que explode. os homens despertam da sua apatia. Ouve-se uma voz anunciar: "A 24 de janeiro, a Apple Computer lançará o Macintosh. E verás então porque é que 1984 não será como 1984". Ao contrário do que sustenta a mensagem da Apple, o ano de 1984 não assinala o fim do Estado vigilante de Orwell, mas o começo de uma nova sociedade de controle que supera sobejamente a sua eficiência. Comunicação e controle coincidem na totalidade. Cada um de nós é o pan-ótico de si próprio."
Byung-Chul Han, "Psicopolítica"

Egocasting

“egocasting” — a world where we exercise an unparalleled degree of control over what we watch and what we hear.

"By giving us the illusion of perfect control, these technologies risk making us incapable of ever being surprised. They encourage not the cultivation of taste, but the numbing repetition of fetish. And they contribute to what might be called “egocasting,” the thoroughly personalized and extremely narrow pursuit of one’s personal taste. In thrall to our own little technologically constructed worlds, we are, ironically, finding it increasingly difficult to appreciate genuine individuality."

"The more control we can exercise over what we see and hear, the less prepared we are to be surprised."

"We are turning into a nation of instant but uninformed critics and we are developing a keen impatience for what art demands of us."

"What we don’t seem to realize is that ritual thoroughly personalized is no longer religion or art. It is fetish. And unlike religion and art, which encourage us to transcend our own experience, fetish urges us to return obsessively to the sounds and images of an arrested stage of development."

Mais, aqui.

das Redes Sociais / Social media

One thing social media is doing and it can be great, and it can be also dangerous, is that it has muted the impact of the established filters as far as what sort of art gets into the public's conscious, and at the end of the day that's really great! I think we are in a slightly awkward period with it, where people are not quite sure what to do with all of the power that used to be distributed amongst these 'figure heads', whether it was whoever the head editor of Rolling Stone was or the record labels that were just deciding what you were going to hear. Now you hear everything. I think we are in a slightly awkward phase where people aren't sure exactly where to find and how hard to work and how to appreciate it...
Chris Thile, aqui.

A vida relatada

"The best solution is to remember that there will always be a new social media tool, a new gadget, or a new technology that will ask for our attention, but there will never be a tool that replaces our memories when we allow ourselves to be fully present. There are several recent studies that say not only can’t we multitask successfully, but that multitasking prevents us from remembering life experiences as well as we could. The next time you are having a breath-taking experience, try not to do a Pavlovian reach for the smartphone."

Muito mais aqui.

Solitude / da privacidade

"Contemporary Western culture makes the peace of solitude difficult to attain. The telephone is an ever-present threat to privacy. In cities, it is impossible to get away from the noise of motor traffic, aircraft, or railways. [...] Hence, the menace of 'Muzak' has invaded shops, hotels, aircraft, and even elevators. Some car drivers describe driving as relaxing, simply because they are alone and temporarily unavailable to others. [...] The current popularity of techniques like 'transcendental meditation' may represent an attempt to counterbalance the absence of silence and solitude which the modern urban environment inflicts upon us. [...] Removing oneself voluntarily from one's habitual environment promotes self-understanding and contact with those inner depths of being which eludeone in the hurly-burly of day-to-day life.

... e o prazer de ler no café, digo eu.
... e nem falemos na invasão da privacidade causada pela incorrecta utilização das redes sociais.

Não confundir solitude com loneliness.

eheh

eheh

What goes around, comes around

eheh

Para quem anda pelo "face" e preocupa-se com segurança e privacidade.

(clicar na imagem para ampliar)
Mais aqui.

Para que não restem dúvidas

Again the European privacy laws clearly state: The user has to unambiguously consent to any use of its data, after being properly informed about the specific form of use.



Mais aqui e aqui



Aqui.

Geracional

FB

Aguardamos o teu regresso! LOL

eheh

O sonho de Mark Z

What did you see, when you were there? Nothing that doesn't show.

Mark Zuckerberg não se importa nada de ser conotado com aquele gajo solitário que não larga o Facebook, só para ver se a ex-namorada lhe dá bola. Afinal de contas não é isso que ele quer que a gente faça? Não largar o Facebook?
E por falar em ex-namorada, a tal moça era o único exemplar feminino que aparece em todo o filme que parece ter dois dedos de testa.

Ursula Rucker / Menina Limão

Até serei capaz de compreender o que afirma UR sobre as redes sociais. Até serei capaz de compreender o comentário "Bingo" da Menina Limão, porque também já reflecti sobre isso tudo, mas não posso estar mais em desacordo. O que as pessoas esquecem é que do outro lado também estão pessoas bastante parecidas com elas. Na forma como sentem as tristezas e as alegrias, na maneira como choram, na forma como desprezam e odeiam, na vergonha que sentem... Coisas da raça humana.
Ah! E é preciso não esquecer que os amigos das redes sociais não nos são impostos. Somos nós que os escolhemos. E a forma como cada um escolhe estar nas redes sociais é com cada um. Então porquê tanto nojo?

Aqui também há coisas pertinentes.

In the company of nudists, no one is naked / A nossa liberdade acaba onde começa a dos outros

Ok, Ok, eu sei que vocês não vão ter tempo para ver isto com a calma e a atenção necessárias, ou, se calhar, com o mesmo entusiasmo que eu vi, mas este senhor (Jeff Jarvis), nesta palestra que deu, sobre as tão actuais e polémicas questões sobre o público e o privado, diz coisas muito importantes e pertinentes.



Jeff Jarvis também aconselha vivamente a ler o Cluetrain Manifesto , fala-nos da Declaration of Independance of Cyberspace de John Perry Barlows, da importância de podermos estar ligados em rede e em redes. De George Carlin e disto:


e também disto:


Busquei aqui.

E depois há isto, e isto e isto.

Jeff Jarvis ainda refere duas coisas interessantes, na parte final da palestra, no seguimento da abertura da sessão a perguntas do público (muito pertinentes, diga-se). É que Jeff Jarvis é totalmente a favor do "default public" (grande polémica que surgiu por causa do Facebook), mas ele também diz que: I don't want to bring other people into my glass house, quando se trata de publicar fotos ou informação acerca de outros, e também: If you say that you don't want to know [certain] things then don't look.

e ainda isto.