Could Advanced Human Habitat Prevent/Cure Addiction? New Discovery suggests a Space of Love could be Pivotal

Image by Genesis EcoFund: Addiction Free in a Space of Love 

Credit: “Addiction” 

Source: https://loopylettuce.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/marijuana-myth-addiction/

“Addiction is an adaptation. It's not you. It's your cage.”

~ Bruce Alexander, Professor of Psychology

Source: Huffington Post: The Blog: "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think" by Johann Hari *

It’s not you. It’s your cage.

You can imagine our response to reading these words in The Huffington Post’s Blog Entry “The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think,” by Johan Hari, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs…

We could have told you that.

For years Genesis has advocated for reintroducing a healthy space of love into peoples’ lives by means of the incorporation of high-order rainforest ecosystems. The clinical name we gave this is Advanced Human Habitat, and after today perhaps psychologists and addiction specialists may finally take note and hear us out.

But let’s backtrack a bit.

As part of his three and a half year, 30,000 mile journey around the world in search of the real drivers of the war on drugs, Johann Hari stumbled across the likes of psychologist Bruce Alexander and physician Gabor Mate—both Canadian specialists in the field of addiction and mental health.

It was Dr. Mate who, according to Hari, first explained that despite having used the same drug for the same length of time which turns street-users into addicts, those who use elicit drugs for medical purposes simply stop once treatment is no longer required.

Hmmm…so what’s all this about the “opiate effect on the brain” and all the other stuff we’ve heard over the years about the nature of addictive substances? Surely if it’s a neurochemical phenomenon, then ANYONE exposed to “addictive substances” should get addicted. It turns out this is just not the case.

Bruce Alexander’s work suggests why. His experiments with rats showed that when kept in isolation and given a choice between drug-laced water and regular water, rats invariably become “addicted.”
 
However, when Professor Alexander created a “rat park” which consisted of “a lush cage where the rats would have colored balls and the best rat-food and tunnels to scamper down and plenty of friends: everything a rat about town could want,”* rats given the choice of drug-laced water and regular water simply shunned the drugs. They remained sober.

Image: “Rat Park” by Stuart McMillen 

Source: http://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comics_en/rat-park/

 
Next, after letting his test rats in the isolation cage use for 50 days (become seriously addicted), he transferred them to Rat Park and—remarkably—apart from a few withdrawal symptoms, they stopped their heavy usage and went back to living normal lives.
Although Hari seemed surprised by these results, we at Genesis are not. In his defense, Hari does make the admission and startlingly profound statement which we all need to take to heart:

“So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection.”*

Now, we are not ones to rat out the esteemed author and blogger whose work inspired today’s article and which we are so generously quoting from, but it’s not necessarily human connection which is lacking. Reconnecting with manic individuals and a toxic lifestyle won’t necessarily help prevent/alleviate addiction. We must understand the difference between Professor Alexander’s rat park and the rate race.

Image: “Rat Race” by www.polyp.org.uk

Source: polyp.org.uk: Cartoons about Consumerism

There are many people who feel isolated though they are surrounded by others. Many people are shy, or have all-out social anxiety disorder. They may feel more comfortable and at home with a good book, a pet, gardening, in nature, etc.

As a matter of fact, many individuals (ascetics, for instance) who thrive in isolation do so precisely because they “go back to nature.” Be it the lone hunter, trapper, woodsman, explorer, adventurer, castaway, etc., we are all familiar with the reality that nature provides more than enough “meaningful connection.”

Isolation is not absence of people. Isolation is an absence of love.

What human beings need is a space of love.

If we achieve that space of love through loved ones, family, friends, other positive relationships, good. But what happens when nobody’s around? Do we start having “separation anxiety?” Or, what if we don’t have the luxury or good fortune of a loving family, many friends, and positive relationships? What if our human support network is not all it’s cracked up to be? What then?

Advanced Human Habitat, with high-order ecosystems generating fields of collective harmony and symbiosis—spaces of love—can be for us what “Rat Park” was for Professor Alexander’s rats.

Advanced Human Habitat is humanity’s “nicer cage.”

A video can’t do it justice. But use your imagination.

Video: PeapodLife Living Wall EcoSystem Fitch Street – Advanced Human Habitat creates a Space of Love to help fight Addiction

Can’t you see this as a BIG STEP in the right direction toward preventing and alleviating addictions and many of the other “coping mechanism” we have for our inherently “isolated” lives?



=======================
* All Quotes in today’s blog sourced from Huffington Post “The Blog”: The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think by Johann Hari, Posted: 01/20/2015 3:20 pm EST

Did the Romans know more about the Nature of Concrete than we do?

Image: The concrete walls of Trajan’s Markets in Rome have stood the test of time and the elements for nearly 2,000 years.
Credit: Marie Jackson 

Source: sciencedaily.com: Back to future with Roman architectural concrete: Advanced light source reveals key to longevity of imperial Roman monuments

“The architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that all work done by the other arts is put to test. This knowledge is the child of practice and theory.”
~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, De architectura, ~ 15BCE.
Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vitruvius

It’s never an easy idea to swallow: the ancients may have known things that we don’t. They were able to accomplish things which we can’t, despite all our knowledge and technology.

Actually, the idea that the ancients were superior to us in any way at all is a “crackpot notion” which is never acknowledged by present day “experts,” despite there being hundreds of observable phenomena and material achievements which defy all explanation by modern scholars.

Egypt is a great source of such enigmas. From the colossal—the Great Pyramid of Giza itself—to the small—onyx vessels with a tiny neck perfectly carved from a single stone, no one knows for sure how the Egyptians could manage various feats of engineering given the “consensus” view of what tools, materials and technology were available to them at the time.

The Roman civilization had its own secrets which scientists have only recently begun to decode. Among them, the incredible durability and longevity of Roman concrete.

From the Pantheon, Trajan’s Markets and the Colosseum to any number of incredible concrete structures throughout the ancient capitol and beyond, modern architectural engineers can only gaze in wonder and marvel at technology which has stood the test of time and the elements for almost two millennia.

Image: Gardiner Expressway versus Roman Concrete. 

Sources: http://romeonsegway.com/10-facts-about-the-pantheon/, 

http://www.aviewoncities.com/gallery/showpicture.htm?key=kveit1352, 

http://www.thehistoryhub.com/colosseum-facts-pictures.htm, 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/what-to-do-with-toronto-s-crumbling-gardiner-expressway-1.2055339 

And if you think the above comparison of Roman concrete to the Gardiner Expressway, consider that Marie Jackson, lead author of two papers on the subject, said “Roman concrete has remained coherent and well-consolidated for 2,000 years in aggressive maritime environments…It is one of the most durable construction materials on the planet, and that was no accident. Shipping was the lifeline of political, economic and military stability for the Roman Empire, so constructing harbors that would last was critical.” Source: http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/06/04/roman-concrete/

Well thanks to Jackson, a team of researchers and advanced imaging techniques, modern technology has a shot at redemption.

“Using the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), a research team from the University of California, Berkeley, examined the fine-scale structure of Roman concrete. It described for the first time how the extraordinarily stable compound – calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate (C-A-S-H) – binds the material used to build some of the most enduring structures in Western civilization.” Source: http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/06/04/roman-concrete/

Here’s an idea of what it looks like:

Image: This scanning electron microscope image shows crystals of a rare mineral, Al-tobermorite, magnified about 25,000 times. UC Berkeley researchers characterized Al-tobermorite in samples of Roman concrete. Credit: UC Berkeley 

Source: newscenter.berkeley.edu: To improve today’s concrete, do as the Romans did

According to researchers, manufacturing Roman concrete not only promises a more durable product; it’s more sustainable too: using far less heat energy than the standard Portland cement (the key ingredient in modern concrete) and leaves a much smaller carbon footprint.

At 19 billion tons, some estimates place the carbon emission contribution of Portland cement to be 7% of our overall carbon footprint. No small sum, given all other sources of atmospheric CO2.

At Genesis Eco Fund, we think there’s something more fundamental about this research, which is sadly lost on the researchers but significant.

 Image: Nikola Tesla’s assertion that crystals are alive.   

Credit: crystal-life.com: Cosmic Portal – Crystals Are Alive

“Crystals are living beings at the beginning of creation."

~ Nikola Tesla

Source: http://www.unt-genius.hr/en/quotes.html

Crystals are alive.

The descriptions provided about how Roman Concrete was produced—and that it was composed of mortar formulated from lime, volcanic ash and chunks of volcanic tuff and brick—indicate an aggregate which is alive versus the lifeless concrete of today.

Consider:

“The mineralogical changes that Jackson and her collaborators observed showed the mortar reproduction gaining strength and toughness over 180 days as calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate (C-A-S-H) cementing binder coalesced and strätlingite crystals grew in interfacial zones between volcanic scoria and the mortar matrix. The toughening of these interfacial zones is reflected in the bridging crack morphology, which was measured by co-author Landis at the University of Maine, using computed tomography scans of the fractured mortar specimens. These experimental results correlate well with computations of increasing fracture energy determined by co-author Brune, now at Dupont Technologies. The strätlingite crystals show no corrosion and their smooth surfaces suggest long-term stability, similar to geological strätlingite that persists for hundreds of thousands of years.” Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141215185026.htm

In essence, the situ crystallization of the strätlingite crystals produces an interfacial microstructure which is superior to that of modern-day Portland cement, whose porosity is what gives rise to cracks and fractures.
In the end, it would seem the Romans knew something about the true nature of crystals and crystallization and its effects on the nature of concrete. 

The bottom line?

Given the climatic changes and geological challenges facing modern civilization, we would do well to continue looking into ancient methods and materials which have stood the test of time. More importantly, to expand our minds and embrace ancient philosophies related to the nature of things, philosophies which modern science is slowly discovering were really “natural philosophies” that is, the original name given to the study we know today as science.

Certainly, using living materials is the hallmark of any truly Advanced Civilization, and a requisite for Advanced Human Habitat.

“Smarty Plants” & the Roots of Plant Intelligence

Video Link: The Nature of Things with David Suzuki: Smarty Plants: Uncovering the Secret World of Plant Behaviour

Credit: cbc.ca: The Nature of Things: Episodes: Smarty Plants

“We think the Sagebrush are basically eavesdropping on one another.”
~Rick Karban, U.C. Davis Ecologist
Source: The New Yorker – The Intelligent Plant

A few weeks ago, PeapodLife posted a blog entitled Do Plants Hold the Secrets to Consciousness? . Today, we offer a good deal more dramatic evidence that plants not only behave, it is quite possible they have complex behaviour and even intelligence.

Genesis Eco Fund also wrote on the topic of plant communication as it relates to ecosystems back in July: Do Trees Communicate? Ecosystems & the Communication of Plants.

Mainstream materialist science has no choice but to accept plants are not the passive organisms it assumed them to be. And while many still dismiss the notion of plant intelligence, others are embracing a different view.

Probably the most well-known of these is Stefano Mancuso, Plant Neurobiologist. Here is his TED Talk from 2010:

Video: TED Talk - Stefano Mancuso: The roots of plant intelligence 

Credit: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIfwFLDXFyQ

Listening to the passion of his presentation, one can easily comprehend why Mancuso is the Co-Founder of LINV - International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology.

Plant Neurobiology? Plant Neurobiologist? But plants don’t have a brain. “If you are a plant, having a brain is not an advantage,” Mancuso says. And yet, he has dedicated his life to the pursuit of plant intelligence. Source: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/23/the-intelligent-plant

There is certainly much more which could be said on this topic.

For starters, the conversation must invariably and inevitably move from the question of individual plant intelligence, or indeed, plant and animal intelligence, to one of ecosystem intelligence. That is, the ability for the superorganism to exhibit behaviours which show intelligence.

And certainly, in the view of Genesis, the conversation must (and will) eventually migrate from the question of intelligence, to the issue of consciousness and the discussion of what these two terms describe and how they differ from one another.

But today, we think we’ll just share some more videos demonstrating that something is indeed going on with plants, and it’s a secret world that we’re only just beginning to explore in any meaningful way.

Video Link: Mind of Plants: Documentary on The Intelligence of Plants, produced by Gédéon Programmes, K Production, ARTE

Video Link: Nature: What Plants Talk About – Documentary

Mine Spill in B.C. Threatens MORE than Just Salmon

Screenshot: cbcnews Video: Mine spill threatens salmon run

Source: CBC.ca: CBC News: The National: Aug 7, 2014: Environment: Mine spill threatens salmon run 

“Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill.”

~ Stephen Hawking

Source: brainyquote.com: BrainyQuote, Planet Quotes

In our recent article, What Role can Ecosystems Play in Changing Education Paradigms?, we proposed the phrase “survival of the most fitting” as a more enlightened revision of the classical Darwinian axiom, “survival of the fittest.”

If Genesis is correct, and the natural world operates from the viewpoint of collective harmony and symbiosis—ecosystems—and not a collection of individuals struggling for survival, then THIS HUMANITY IS IN BIG TROUBLE.

The latest in our seemingly inexhaustible capacity to wreak havoc on the natural world comes in the form of a toxic spill of a mining operations’ tailings pond in British Columbia.

This waste water is filled with unnaturally concentrated levels of highly toxic / carcinogenic heavy metals and environmentally harmful elements which are a by-product of fracking: the process by which water is pumped into the ground under high pressure in order to release the desired resources from said rock.

Image: How hydraulic fracking works. 

Credit: Reuters. 

Source: http://energy-reality.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/fracking-diagram.jpg

Well that’s all well and good, except that the waste water is collected in tailings ponds and used over and over, with heavy metals and other elements accumulating in dangerous concentrations in what amounts to toxic sludge at the bottom of the ponds.

These ponds are often located near natural lakes and streams—sometimes crucial waterways, was the case in Mount Polley Mine. The close proximity of the tailings pond to both Polley Lake and Boot Jack Lake can be seen below.

Image: Mount Polley Mine: Pits and Infrastructure

Source: http://www.imperialmetals.com/i/maps/operations/Mt__Polley_3D_View_2014.jpg

Well that’s all well and good, until a breach in the tailings facility infrastructure caused a massive spill of the toxic tailings sludge into Polley Lake, a crucial spawning ground for Pacific Salmon, and which drains down along a tributary into the Fraser River—British Columbia’s premiere waterway.

Image: Aerial footage taken on Aug. 4, 2014, shows a breach of the dam of the Mount Polley Mine tailings pond, which spilled toxic waste water into neighbouring Hazeltine Creek and Polley Lake (top). (Cariboo Regional District) 

Source: theglobeandmail.com: The Globe and Mail: Waste water from central B.C. mine spills into waterways, prompting water-use ban

The impact on the salmon aside, what we really need to do as a species is ask a critical question:

HOW MUCH MORE WILL MOTHER NATURE TAKE BEFORE SHE PUTS THE NEEDS OF THE PLANET’S ECOSYSTEM BEFORE THIS HUMANITY’S “RIGHT” TO BE A PART OF IT.

To come back to our phraseology, how long before the law of survival of the most fitting rules against this humanity, and decides that we simply do not fit anymore, and it’s time for us to go!?

Or perhaps this process is already underway.

In terms of the lifespan of a planet, measured in billions of years, it doesn’t exactly function on a timescale we can comprehend. Therefore, if an ecosystem is a superorganism then a planet can be considered a megaorgansim. As such, the time it takes a megaorganism to sneeze may be measured in decades if not centuries. 

So, do we just carry on carrying on? Or do we at least make an effort to try to comprehend what it means to cohabit and coexist with other life on this planet in collective harmony and symbiosis? Do we at least make an effort to comprehend where we went wrong, and what it means to be a part of the ecosystem, not “above it.”

We are not above it. It is above us. And unless we make conscious efforts now to demonstrate our respect for the megaorganism of the Earth, it’s interconnected systems of superorganisms (ecosystems), built on harmonic symbiosis of communities of organisms, we are going to be deemed foreign invaders…a carconigenic species which must be eliminated sooner rather than later.

This is not conjecture. This is a scientific fact.

When an Ecological Political Cartoon Becomes High Art

Image by Pawel Kuczynski (Poland) - Niels Bugge Cartoon Award 2014

Source: Huffington Post

“I think that high art reposes on popular art, without one there cannot be another.”
~ Eric Rohmer
Source:  BrainyQuote - Eric Rohmer - High Art Quotes

Today we are going to offer something rather different. While it can be said that ecosystems have an inherent beauty & truth, as does all of nature, today we are going to look at political cartoons about nature—and our relationship with it—and see if something akin to universal truth & beauty.

“Human being, as all life on earth, came from the stars and landed through the ocean. Ocean is our very first foster mother, much more than the land where we, now, cut trees and plant transgenic corn. But, as we maltreat land, we have been maltreating our spring of life and now oceans are quite ill because of our activities: less fish but more plastic, less pure water but more oil, less coral but more garbage.”

– Oceans are in our hands;

Source: Niels Bugge Cartoon Award 

Thus went the challenge issued to cartoonists and illustrators by the Niels Bugge Cartoon Award. Participants from 75 countries submitted their works, both satirical and some unquestionably artistic.

As reported by The Huffington Post, “the international competition received over 1,000 entries, sent from everywhere from Iran, China, Syria, the U.S. and the host country, Denmark.”

Here ‘s what Canada’s own Bruce Mackinnon had to share.

Image by Bruce Mackinnon (Canada)  - Niels Bugge Cartoon Award 2014

Source: Huffington Post

And, we quite agree with their assessment that the political cartoons “seem to perfectly unfold the issue of climate change, encapsulating the issues and feelings wrapped up in discussions of humans' impact on our planet.” Source: Huffington Post

We’ll go one better. At least one of the finalists’ submissions transcends mere political commentary and ascends to heights of universal truth and beauty…unquestionably attaining the status of high art.

Image by Andrei Popov (Russia) - Niels Bugge Cartoon Award 2014

Source: Huffington Post

Far be it from us to tell you, dear reader, which one(s) achieve such lofty heights. Let’s just say you know which are our favourites (with the cream rising to the top) in our humble opinion.

Image by Shahram Rezaei (Iran) - Niels Bugge Cartoon Award 2014

Source: Huffington Post

But who don’t you judge for yourself? See all nine of the finalists here at:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/07/niels-bugge-cartoon-award_n_5455509.html .

Then, just for fun, you can compare YOUR FAVOURITES with what the official jury decided!...
http://www.nielsbuggeaward.org/

And if that’s not amusement enough for you, check out even more entries in the Nielsbugge Award Catalogue!...
http://www.nielsbuggeaward.org/catalogue2014.pdf

Trees Inside: Talk + Meet n’ Greet a Real Indoor Ecosystem In Person

Image: GAIA by BossLogic 

Image Source: deviantart.com: Gaia Desktopography 2012  by BossLogic

Trees Inside

A Talk on Indoor Ecosystems

Thursday, November 7, 2013
Time:  6:30 pm

Place:  The Inner Garden, 401 Richmond
Address: Suite 384, Third floor
401 Richmond Street W, Toronto (map)

REGISTER HERE: meetup.com: Trees Inside - A Talk on Indoor Ecosystems

Come join GenesisEcoFund.org and My Personal Tree at the Inner Garden at 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 384 @ 6:30pm for an intimate gathering with the world’s only compact, self-contained high-order indoor ecosystem.

Listen to a talk by PeapodLife Social Entrepreneurs and GenesisEcoFund.org Directors Martina Ernst and Attila Lendvai, in the company of a high-order rainforest ecosystem.

Talk is cheap. A recommended voluntary donation of $5 is all we ask for this unique opportunity to get up close and experience first hand the powerful life-giving energies emanating from the ecosystem.

Discover how these energies support a better expression of your own highest goals, the goals of your organization/company, and those of the planet as a whole.

Come experience a living, breathing expression of the “Tree of Life” within you; within all things, and learn how embracing nature in her highest expression via indoor ecosystems helps facilitate in a new healing chapter in Humanity.

Image: Tree of Life in The Flower of Life 

Image Source: wikipedia.org: Flower of life

About the Speakers:

Martina Ernst is the President and Co-Founder of PeapodLife, www.peapodlife.com, a Division of Wo-Built Inc. She is a design & build specialist who helps businesses improve the quality of their work spaces. Her education, both in architecture and business, and her 25-year building industry expertise give her a unique approach to designing spaces with a balanced emphasis on aesthetics, practicality and profitability. Featured on Extraordinary Women TV, the radio shows Small Business Big Ideas Show and From a Woman's Perspective, Martina's passion is to provide the healthiest indoor environment possible for her clients.

Attila Lendvai is the Co-Founder and Project Director of PeapodLife, www.peapodlife.com, a Division of Wo-Built Inc.  He’s a passionate social entrepreneur with one eye on the big-picture; the other on the bottom-line. Atilla has 20 years of international experience as a consultant and manager of both for-profit and non-profit ventures, working with companies such as IBM, ABB, Gas de France, Nova Scotia Power, Georgian Bancorp and Emilio & Coco. A seasoned speaker and emcee, Attila is also a blogger and author of The Attlas Project – SEE the World in a New Light, and contributing author of Competitive Intelligence and Global Business. Attila was recently interviewed on AllTalkTV.com with David Grossman and is a regular contributor to GreenAddition.blogspot.ca. Attila has made PeapodLife his life’s mission to bring clean air indoors to serve humanity in a deep and meaningful way.

This Event Was Featured recently on BlogTO.com:  Trees Inside - A Talk on Indoor Ecosystems

Come out and hear from speakers Martina Ernst and Attila Lendvai on the topic of indoor ecosystems.

Innovation meets Activism: “SaveCanada” Spoof of “TransCanada” Reveals New Tactics in War on Tarsands and Pipeline Projects

YouTube Movie: "SaveCanada" punks TransCanada - Energy East Tar Sands Pipeline
"http://www.save-canada.com -- TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline (from the Tar Sands to the East Coast) 
needs voices like yours to say, "nope, no thanks, etc." Join SaveCanada!
Energetic people vs Energy East Pipeline."
http://www.save-canada.com Published by Yan Piebird

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
~ Sun Tzu

Let’s pretend for a moment you represent the interests of a proposed trans-continental oil pipeline. Faced with the inevitable community consultations, you’re struck with an idea: replace the traditional town hall style meeting (which invariably turns to into a big-business-bashing session by the “local yokels”) with a tradeshow approach and take the wind out of the small town’s sails.

A brilliant…in theory. But what were to happen if a group of wily volunteer “yokels” managed to infiltrate your event, cleverly disguised, and managed to propagate their anti-pipeline message to greater effect than your own paid propagandists?

The result is not only a great story in innovative guerilla activism, but the “SaveCanada” movement. Complete with a website, www.save-canada.com, this organization provides a complete “how-to” guide to kyboshing TransCanada events, complete with a schedule of stops along the TransCanada East Pipeline public relations tour, along with everything you’ll need for an effective operation:

• Replica TransCanada “SaveCanada” shirts
• Brochures
• Oil spill sticky notes you can use to ‘illustrate’ the possible outcomes of the pipeline in your community

So if you’re opposed to the litany of proposed Alberta oil sands pipelines in the works, and are in the mood for some clever guerilla activism, you too can transform yourself from ‘concerned citizen’ to a thorn in the side of TransCanada at one of their own events.

Playing with Nature: Genetically Engineered Rapeseed Out of Control?

Image: GMO Rapeseed (Canola)

Source: sustainablepulse.com: Oregon Governor Signs Ban on GM Canola in Willamette Valley

Canada Implicated in Uncontrolled Spread of GMO Oilseed Rape

“Canada grows genetically engineered oilseed rape on a large scale. For about ten years it has been known that these plants are spreading uncontrolled into the environment. But so far no measures have been taken to stop them…What we are observing is a lack of accepting responsibility especially on the part of industry.”
~ Dr. Christoph Then, Testbiotech.
Source: testbiotech.de: Plants can no longer be withdrawn from the environment

Testbiotech is a German-based non-profit organisation founded in 2008 by a group of experts which, among other activities, “aims to make independent research and transparency higher priorities in political decision making.”

Today they published a global overview of countries where the spread of genetically engineered rapeseed (for processing into Canola Oil) is out of control, and Canada tops the list, among the U.S., Japan, Australia and Europe.

The announcement was made to coincide with the ABIC 2013 Conference in Calgary, Alberta, a forum for bio-agro-business professionals “discuss and learn from senior business development leaders, investors, government policy makers and scientist who, by working together, can achieve significant progress in the commercialization of ag biotechnology.”

This kind of announcement made at such an event illustrates what we categorize as evidence of exploitation. It highlights the unintended consequences of treating the natural world not with reverence, respect and dignity; rather, looking upon it as a big box of biotechnological Lego, ripe for the picking apart. Which we, behaving not unlike immature children, have gleefully done unchecked for decades now.

According to Testbiotech, it may now be too late to reverse any impending damages on the horizon of our callous carelessness. As for what those damages may be, we are in the dark since,

“Reliable risk assessment on an evolutionary scale is not feasible. For example climate change can cause unexpected interactions between the plants and the environment. Once adverse effects become noticeable it might be too late for taking action. The plants can no longer be removed from the environment.”

Mind you, we do know of one company, Monsanto, who is taking decisive action on the unintended spread of GMO crops in the environment, having filed—or threatening to file—nearly 850 lawsuits against farmers between 1997 and 2010 for patent infringement after finding evidence of contamination of their fields by Monsanto-brand GMO seeds.

Image: Comic strip spoofing Monsanto’s response to spread of GMO crops, posted by Seppo

Source: seppo.net: GM canola escapes into the wild

For more details on the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the issues of contamination and patent infringement, we highly recommend the Activist Post article by Randy Anada from August 10, 2013: Monsanto can sue farmers when GMO contamination goes over one percent of their crop.

It seems then, in the topsy-turvy world of genetically engineered agri-biz, neither compassion nor common-sense rule. Exploitation is the norm, not the exception. Is it any wonder that our lack of corporate conscience in relation to nature gets reflected in how large companies deal with farmers?

Is it any wonder that the GMO organisms themselves spin out of control in farmers’ fields, in just the same way as the science and the lawsuits do in their respective fields? There is a kind of terrifying poetry to it all, like the geometry of a fractal as it spirals outward at an exponential rate.

Mars One Project: One Giant Misstep for Humankind, without a Small Leap to Ecosystems

YouTube Video: Mars 2023 - Inhabitants wanted 

The search for life on Mars begins on Earth - apply now at mars-one.com 

Directed by James Yeats Smith http://nowandpartners.com/ 

Published by MarsOneProject 

Would you want to take a one-way ticket to Mars? Over 165,000 others would. That’s how many people applied for the ‘Mars One’ project, the first manned mission to Mars, slated to arrive on the red planet in 2023.

Official Mars One Project Website: http://www.mars-one.com/en/

Of interest to us at Genesis is the notion that they plan to grow their own food indoors. Currently, there is no proven way to grow food sustainably indoors with zero inputs from outside the closed system.

Industrial agricultural methods are certainly off the table. As for permaculture or other more ‘natura’ and/or ‘holistic’ approaches to farming, the fact of the matter is: soil dies indoors. Period. And there is no soil on Mars.

Hydroponics is not feasible for the simple reason there is no way to supply the chemicals required to replenish the nutrients in the water needed to grow food. As for getting that much water to Mars in the first place? One litre of water=1 kilogram.

Aquaponics? How are you going to get that many fish to Mars? As eggs? Embryos? In stasis? And are you going to be able to regulate and sustain a balanced system of animals to plants? How? For how long?

Now, Genesis isn’t saying this mission is doomed from the outset, not at all. What we’re saying is that without an in-depth comprehension of indoor ecosystem technology, the mission has very little hope of being a long-term success.

But a long term success it must be. The 165,000 applicants signed up for a one-way trip. There is no return trip; no rescue mission. And if there’s one thing history has taught us about human-conceived systems is this: they break down. They fail. They are unsustainable by very definition.

And it comes down to much more than food. What about atmosphere? Air quality? Habitat? There is a limit to how long astronauts can stay in space (and no, it’s not just because of zero-gravity and the effects of muscular atrophy).

It’s called going stir-crazy. It’s called being cooped up in a tin can breathing stale recycled air that’s mechanically filtered. Music, e-books and video games will only distract Homo sapiens’ need for interaction with nature for so long. Imagine living the rest of your life under such conditions.

Mars One needs a true life support system. One which provides the occupants with the comforts of home and feeds and nourishes them body, mind and spirit. They need a system designed on the matrix of all life support systems: the ecosystem.

To permanently colonize Mars requires a new kind of “Genesis.” Only then, will the inhabitants of Mars One have a fighting chance.  

Here is an interesting interview done by CBC News via Skype with Ken Flack, one of the 6,000 Canadians (and over 165,000 earthlings) who applied for the Mars One project. http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Technology%2Band%2BScience/ID/2403760204/ 

Image: CBC New Interview with Ken Flack, one of 6,000 Canadians who applied for the “Mars One” manned mission to Mars.
Image Credit: CBC.ca: CBC Player: Science: One-way trip to Mars

"My Green School Dream" (Ted Talk) - "The Greenest School on Earth"

 TED.com Video | John Hardy: My green school dream
Join John Hardy on a tour of the Green School, his off-the-grid school in Bali that teaches kids how to build, garden, create (and get into college)...
Credit: TEDGlobal 2010 • Session 5: Healthier Together • Filmed Jul 2010 • Posted Nov 2010

What John Hardy achieved in Bali, Genesis will help bring to your child’s school

“Our vision is of a natural, holistic, student-centered learning environment that empowers and inspires our students to be creative, innovative, green leaders.”
~ www.greenschool.org 

Welcome to the inaugural blog post for Genesis Foundation for Ecological Atmospheric Research.

Rather than fill this space with bland expositions on “who we are, what we do, etc.,” we’ll save all that for the website (which, at the time of this post is still under construction). Instead, this blog will be dedicated to sharing stories that matter to us—and you. 

Since part of the Genesis mandate is supporting education and helping children reestablish positive, mutually harmonious relationships with nature, we share the above TED Talk by Canadian designer John Hardy, founder of the Green School in Bali.

“The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools awarded Green School the “2012 Greenest School on Earth“. This was an affirmation of the program we provide to enrich and nurture our students.”
~ www.greenschool.org

It shows. Here is a school which prepares children and youth for the realities of tomorrow, today. While most educational programs have emphasized material science and mathematics in order to “prepare tomorrow’s workforce,” Hardy’s Green Schools seek to prepare tomorrow’s human beings.

Green Schools seem to foster a more enlightened, well-rounded (one could even say holistic) sense of community, one which leaves space for individuals of all gifts and ability to make a positive contribution. For instance, while engineering and artistry (design) trump technical skills and craftsmanship in the west, John Hardy has built a successful international business on embracing both artistry and craftsmanship.

Teaching kids essential ecological knowledge and practical skills in sustainability via Green Schools is only the latest in John Hardy’s vision. For more, including an even more fascinating and beautifully filmed look into his world, see PeapodLife’s blog: Recreating Eden: Designing Paradise (Video)—Has John Hardy discovered the Ultimate Expression of “the PeapodLife” in Bali?

Genesis looks forward to connecting with the likes of John Hardy and all forward-thinking, NOW-acting individuals who recognize the essence of this famous warning for a humanity “addicted” to the status quo:

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
~ Narcotics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous 
Source: goodreads.com: Quotes: Narcotics Anonymous