Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You by Dan Riskin, Ph.D.

Dan Riskin's book, Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You: A Lively Tour Through the Dark Side of the Natural World is not a happy feel good stroll through the beauty of the natural world. The desire of DNA to reproduce and the fierce competition for energy create an amoral world where the survival of the next generation is paramount. The book's chapters are organized according to the seven deadly sins in the bible. 

The extremely narrow variety of edible plants in this world provide evidence that they were not put here for us to consume.  Less than 20 plant species provide 90% of the diet for humans. Many plant were made edible/tasty through careful breeding of humans.  The tasty  apples of today have a much wider variety of flavors then the original ones found in nature. This is a shout out to the U of Minnesota for Honeycrisp and SweeTango.  The author views genetically modified crops as a natural extension of this breeding process.  It moves the process along faster with more precision.

The author gets very close to nature as he slides on his back through bat guano in South America as he attempts to find vampire bats roosting in a cave. He and his future wife lie on their backs in the scratching sand attracting bats who associate the sound with their primary food source.

In summary, the colorful examples in the book are not for those who have a weak constitution. As human beings we can rise up above our primitive survival instincts and treat others with kindness.  We can also appreciate nature for all its beauty, violence, and raw creativity as each species attempts to successfully live to reproduce another generation.

Radio interview with Dan Riskin - 12 minutes

Book summary by Dan Riskin, Ph.D. - 3 min.

All Things Dull and Ugly - from MontyPython with Portuguese subtitles - 2 min.

The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku

In Michio Kaku's book, The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind, he describes the current state of research on brain function, and explores the outer limits of this research that comply with the laws of physics as we currently know them.

Researchers currently have the ability to create a very low resolution video of a person's dream.  Blurry images of people's faces and other images are now visible.  This will improve in the future.

Treatment of brain disorders such as Parkinson's and some forms of depression can now be addressed by externally regulating the activity of certain parts of the brain. All of the talk therapy is useless if parts of the brain are not working right.  It is like trying to make an air conditioner work without the proper level of coolant in the system. 

If a certain section of the brain is stimulated a person can be made to have an out of body experience.  This experience can be turned on and off at the flip of a switch. The tunnel of light noted by many people having near death experiences can be duplicated by regulating blood flow to visual nerves.

He compares a dog's brain to a human's and notes that the dog's brain has much more space devoted to processing olfactory stimuli than humans.  An alien's brain is also likely to be much more differently arranged than ours.  An alien may view the world in a different light spectrum, detect different chemical odors, and communicate at different audio frequencies.

I appreciated the breadth and depth of the book's exploration.  It allows me to at least know enough to ask questions of researchers in the field when I interact with them at the University. 

Physics of the Mind summary - 3 min. 

Michio Kaku - speech - 67 min.