Dick Swanson, our next speaker on the Science of Solar, recently recorded a four part podcast with the folks over at Greentech Media. Dick discusses the history of PV solar to the development and maturation of Sunpower, and finally with an eye to the future.

(If you click the icon next to the link, you will be able to hear each part)
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

An attendee at the “Neuroscience of Meditation” event recently published an article on Divine Caroline detailing her experience with meditation. The article also details her experience at the DtaS event. Personally, I found the article deeply touching…I encourage everyone to check it out.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

After a break, I explained to Goldin that I had experienced the same results. I told him that my boyfriend, who had practiced mindfulness meditation for almost four years and had initially benefited, ultimately had a hard time with meditation in the end. I told Goldin that I was a writer searching for answers, and that my boyfriend had taken his own life last January, and so I wondered if mindfulness meditation was really for everyone.

He spoke about skillfulness in a meditation practice, and how we needed to have the awareness to ask ourselves, “Do I have the cast iron mind space, or the ability to hold the experiences that come up when I do deeper meditation practice?” Ultimately, his answer was the one I had been searching for all along.

Later, the woman sitting next to me handed me a folded piece of paper and said to me, “This isn’t from me; it’s from another women who just left.” On the front it read, “To a writer who will write a book I will read.” I opened the note from this mystery woman and read, “I came tonight thinking I would take my life. I won’t now because of you. Thank you.” I gasped. Once again, I became reminded of how we were all interconnected. My quest for truth had taken my breath away.

Takeaway
It is amazing the impact we have on each other, especially when we share our passions, our vulnerabilities, our humanity. In many ways, that’s all I’m trying to do with this science cafe.

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Paper on Suicide Prevention using Mindfullness

Our friends at How Its Made deliver this video on solar cell manufacturing:

Below is my friend’s personal experience with the medical/pharamaceutical industry over the past 15 years. I suspect the story is not unique and underlines the profound lack of trust many feel with the industry. Without further ado….

I’ve had a couple of long-term conditions (migraines, chronic back pain after a back surgery) over many years, and so I’ve been to the doctor more frequently than many people my age (mid-30s). Since my early 20s, I’ve noticed a dramatic uptick in my doctors’ pill pushing.

Partly I think it’s managed care, which dictates that I only get 10-15 minutes with my doctors, so they really don’t have time to get to know me, to look at the “whole patient.” A pill solution signifies to the insurance company and to me that they are Doing Something.

Partly it’s our health care model as a whole, which is focused on putting out fires, not on preventative care or health maintenance, alternative approaches, encouraging exercise, etc.

And then there are the BigPharma reps I see in the elevators at the medical buildings, dressed to the nines with their little wheelie suitcases of samples, making rounds.

Read the rest of this entry »

You may have noticed over the past few months….the plethora of political debates, myriad of formats (sitting down, standing up, standing in reverse order, blatantly partisan liberal moderator, blatantly partisan conservative commentator). One thing I’ve noticed, the topics are always the same. Not that these are important issues, but how many times do we need to hear the same thing?

A grassroots movement has developed in order to have the candidates debate scientific issues. The folks over at Science Debate 2008 have created a tremendous movement, now with the support of 20 Nobel laureates & 10 members of Congress along with thousands of others.

Here’s a list of topics to be covered in the science debate:

The Environment
* » Climate Change
* » Conservation and Species Loss
* » The Future of The Oceans
* » Fresh Water: Drought, Pollution, Ownership
* » Population Growth and Its Effect on Environment
* » Renewable Energy Research

Health and Medicine
* » Global Diseases and Pandemics
* » Stem Cell Research
* » Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
* » Drug Patents, Generic Drugs
* » The Genome
* » Bioethics

Science and Technology Policy
* » Scientific Innovation and Economic Growth
* » Improving Science Education
* » Space Exploration
* » Preserving Scientific Integrity in Government
* » Energy Policy

Do you know where the candidates stand on these issues? Take this quiz to find out.

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Science Debate 2008
Science Friday discusses the science debate