Spotlight on Religion: Buddhism

Robert Thurman on Buddhism part 1 of 2
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Robert Thurman on Buddhism part 2 of 2
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Buddhism, Meditation, Yoga and Nirvana-Interview with Ven Dhammadipa
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Tibetan Buddhism; Lama Thubten Yeshe: "Anxiety in the Nuclear Age,"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2932554957344849758&q=buddhism&ei=qWFOSJCqLIOWrgKz7eTNDA

Dalai Lama - The Four Noble Truths Part 1/4

Dalai Lama - The Four Noble Truths Part 2/4

Dalai Lama - The Four Noble Truths Part 3/4

Dalai Lama - The Four Noble Truths Part 4/4

Human Evolution

Human Evolution: Tracing Our Origins with DNA



Human Evolution - Bones of Contention



Session 1 - Stony Brook Human Evolution Symposium 2005



Session 2 - Stony Brook Human Evolution Symposium 2005


Session 3 - Stony Brook Human Evolution Symposium 2005


Critical Analysis of Evolution vs. Creation - Part 1


Critical Analysis of Evolution vs. Creation - Part 2


The Origin of the Human Mind: Brain Imaging and Evolution


Primate Evolution and Human Disease


The Creation of Man! (Islamic View)


Sumerian Origins of Humans
Sumerian Origins of Humans



Creationism & The Origin Of Races



The Puzzle of Ancient Man

Evolution by Jim Kent

Evolution
By Jim Kent

We are here to make a choice.


According to classical Shamanism, existence can be compared to a seven tier "Tree of Life", which really didn't mean a lot to me, as I couldn't understand what this meant. It was only when I became aware of the paradigm of what has been called by some contemporary Shamanic sources a seven layered Universe, starting with "First-Density" and reaching up to "Seventh-Density", that I began to grasp what this meant. As this paradigm is the one I'm most comfortable giving the benefit of the doubt, I shall detail a little more about this multi-billion year Universal-Spiritual-journey as described by The Confederation and others.

The Confederation claim to not know the precise nature of the beginning of the Universe, but claim that they are aware of the evolutionary Spiritual journey as follows:

Planets evolve up through the densities with their accompanying beings…

1st Density: Spirits start out in physicality as the elements, earth, air, fire and water.

2nd Density: Then they eventually evolve to inhabit tress and animals.

3rd Density:
Humanity's current evolutionary level of existence, involving a 75,000 year cycle of opportunity. This density is called "the density of choice" and is claimed to be specifically structured to promote the natural tendency towards "polarizing", which is choosing either the path of "Service-To-Others" or the path of "Service-To-Self" in time to "graduate during a Harvest Season at the end of a major 75'000 year cycle".

4th Density:
"The density of understanding". Having reached "Harvestable Polarity", 4th density inhabitants can expect average life spans of 90,000 years and be telepathic and telekinetic.
We are in a "Harvest Season" now, an opportunity that will cease as of the end of 2012!!!!
But Humanity's transition to 4th density proper might take a few hundred years longer.

5th Density: "The density of wisdom".

6th Density: "The density of unity"

7th Density: "The Gateway density"

According to the Confederation group, Ra, there is at least another density beyond 7th which not surprisingly is called 8th density, but they claim that this is a "mystery that they do not plumb"!

In my opinion, the most significant AND urgent claim I have come across, is the claim that Earth and Humanity are in a "Harvest Season", and I'm quite prepared to give this claim the benefit of the doubt, not only because I'm starting to trust this source, but because if this opportunity is genuine reality, it is an opportunity of massive global significance and I'm not prepared to ignore something so potentially universally important!!!!

Especially when the primary necessity to qualify for "4th density positive Harvest" is being at least 51% STO consistently, something I believe is a very positive ethic anyway…

So if the opportunity were to turn out to be false, then I feel that I would have lost nothing!

This (edited) excerpt is taken from "A Wanderer's Handbook"
By Carla L. Rueckert

Harvest On Planet Earth

"Harvest" is a trigger word for a lot of new age personalities across a wide range of orientation. I feel there are two harvests going on in the Earth world today, a harvest of its peoples and a harvest of the planet itself. This sense of living in a time of culmination or completion is very common among wanderers. Confederation entities have talked about cycles of time within which the planetary population has the opportunity to learn the lessons of love that make up the curriculum of the Earth school of hard knocks. According to them, we are at the end of a minor cycle of 25,000 years, roughly, and also at the end of the major cycle of 75,000 years. There is a harvest of souls possible at the end of each of the three minor cycles within a major cycle, but Earth's first two minor harvests have not happened except for a tiny few who were able to graduate, and so all those incarnate at this time are living in a time of mandatory major harvest. Some will graduate and move on to further lessons, some will repeat this "grade" or density of the school, as their lessons have not yet been learned. So many people have set ideas, and my feeling is that all the timetables are probably wrong! It's hard to realize, from the earthbound perspective, how foreshortened time itself is when seen from the metaphysical universe. Truly is it said that "A thousand ages in His sight are but a moment gone." I feel quite certain that metaphysical processes are indeed occurring, but that they will be far more subtle and take place over a far longer period of time than is generally thought by those keen on bringing in this new age. In orienting us to my version of what's happening in this harvest, I begin with the concept of seniority by vibration. I feel that each person on the Earth today has achieved an incarnation at this time because each has the capacity to achieve a successful graduation.

Those of Q'uo state:
There has been a radical upswing, shall we say, in awakening souls. It is for this reason that some within this group chose incarnation upon this sphere at this time. This is indeed an harvest season for those entities who now dance the dance of third density. This is a time when each of those who has been allowed to incarnate has the possibility of graduating into the next density at the end of this incarnation. The line to get into the physical third-density planet Earth atmosphere is a long one, for the need here is great at this time.

How does one judge seniority of vibration? Don asks those of Ra:

Questioner: Would the red ray, an intense red ray, then be used as an
index for seniority in incarnation as well as an intense violet ray?

Ra: I am Ra. This is partially correct. In the graduation or harvesting to fourth-density positive, the red ray is seen only as that which, being activated, is the basis for all that occurs in vibratory levels, the sum of this being violet ray energy. This violet ray is the only consideration for fourth-density positive. In assessing the harvestable fourth-density negative, the intensity of the red as well as the orange and the yellow rays is looked upon quite carefully as a great deal of stamina and energy of this type is necessary for the negative progression, it being extremely difficult to open the gateway to intelligent infinity from the solar plexus center. This is necessary for harvest in fourth-density negative.

This quote presents a tangle of information on energy systems and polarity.
We will look at the concepts of chakras and energy centers in the next chapter and the concept of metaphysical polarity in Chapter Six. There is also information on these topics in the Glossary. The concept of a mixed harvest is central, for that is what we are having, with some few souls now able to graduate from this density in the positive or service-to-others sense, and some, even fewer, souls graduating in the negative sense. There is still time for people not quite sufficiently polarized to achieve adequate polarization to make the grade, and at present, the Earth is populated by those who have won the right to a life now because it is within their reach to do it:
Many of those who are seeking at this time are those who have, by seniority of vibration, been given the opportunity of incarnating at a time when both the positive polarity and the negative polarity are attempting to increase the intensity of their distortions toward service to others for the positive entities and service to self for the negatively
polarizing entities. As we Earthlings say, "Katie, bar the door!" We certainly are having interesting catalyst these days! And all to prepare us for something called harvest. A more clear term for it, I feel, is "graduation." We are in the third density, call it the third grade. We may have wandered here from a position in late-third, fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, but when we incarnated here, we all became third graders again, and we shall join all Earth natives in having to pass this third-density graduation in order to leave third density at the end of this incarnation. Again, bear with me here, we will discuss densities further in the next chapter. Now what are the requirements of this graduation of souls at harvest on planet Earth? The first requirement sounds simple enough: we need to be thinking about service to others more than half the time: It is necessary that the student have the persistent desire to be of service to others in excess of the fifty-one percentile in order that this student might be able to withstand the more intense light emanations that are the normal boundaries or givens, shall we say, of the fourth-density experience.
This 51% rule, let's call it, applies to those who are on the service-to-others, or positive path. For those with a less stringently literal and scientific bent, we could say that the rule is to think of others more than of ourselves. For those who are on the service-to-self, or negative path, the requirements are different:

Ra: The entity who wishes to pursue the path of service to self must attain a grade of five, that is five percent service to others, ninety-five percent service to self. It must approach totality. The negative path is quite difficult to attain harvestability upon and requires great dedication.

Questioner: Why is the negative path so much more difficult to attain harvestability upon than the positive?

Ra: I am Ra. This is due to a distortion of the Law of One, which indicates that the gateway to intelligent infinity be a gateway at the end of a strait and narrow path as you may call it. To attain fifty-one percent dedication to the welfare of other-selves is as difficult as attaining a grade of five percent dedication to other-selves [i.e. ninety-five percent service to self ]. The, shall we say, sinkhole of indifference is between those two.

So positively polarized people need to reach 51% service to others, whereas negatively polarized people need to reach a grade of 95% service to self. We may see here the action of polarity, with one's will very important in keeping the self focused upon one's goals within the daily life. It is in this focus that so many people remain distracted or sleeping during this momentous time. Even the keenest among us may sometimes rest in what those of Ra called the sinkhole of indifference, where we are doing a good deed, then a selfish one, then a good one again, back and forth, never getting off dead center and starting that swing of intent and focus to one or the other pole of love of and service to others, or self. To polarize, we need to choose again and again to serve others at the expense of the self, for the path of service to others or radiation, or to manipulate and control others for benefit to the self, for the path of service to self or magnetism. Next, the usual requirement is that graduation or harvest take place after the death of the physical body: The end times are not drawing near, the end times have well begun; and they shall continue for many of your years to come. It is impossible to tell you, even if we could, when the transition will be complete. We can tell you that it shall be non-dramatic, that those who are harvested shall be harvested as their natural lifetime of incarnational lessons draws to a close.
Although it is extremely rare, there is, very occasionally, a special soul who achieves graduation while in incarnation, but the chance to leave the Earth plane and advance alone is almost never taken:

Questioner: You stated at an earlier time that penetration of the eighth level or intelligent infinity allows a mind/body/spirit complex to be harvested if it wishes at any time/space during the cycle. When this penetration of the eighth level occurs what does the entity who penetrates it experience?

Ra: I am Ra. The experience of each entity is unique in its perception of intelligent infinity. Perceptions range from a limitless joy to a strong dedication to service to others while in the incarnated state. The entity which reaches intelligent infinity most often will perceive this experience as one of unspeakable profundity. However, it is not usual for the entity to immediately desire the cessation of the incarnation. Rather the
desire to communicate or use this experience to aid others is extremely strong.
The last requirement for harvest or graduation is, surprisingly perhaps, knowing that one does not know anything:

Questioner: I am assuming that it is not necessary for an individual to understand the Law of One to go from the third to the fourth density. Is this correct?

Ra: I am Ra. It is absolutely necessary that an entity consciously realize
it does not understand in order for it to be harvestable. Understanding is
not of this density.

It occurred to Don to ask how usual it is for a harvest to be mixed:
Questioner: How common in the universe is a mixed harvest from a planet of both positively and negatively oriented mind/body/spirit complexes?

Ra: I am Ra. Among planetary harvests which yield an harvest of mind/ body/spirit complexes approximately 10% are negative; approximately 60% are positive; and approximately 30% are mixed with nearly all harvest being positive. In the event of mixed harvest it is almost unknown for the majority of the harvest to be negative. When a planet moves strongly towards the negative there is almost no opportunity for harvestable positive polarization.

There we have it. About one in three harvests is mixed as ours is now. We are not as weird as some may feel! Harvest, as far as I have been able to determine, takes place after the physical death. Just how does that work? Those of Ra say:

Those who, finishing a cycle of experience, demonstrate grades of distortion of that understanding of thought and action, will be separated by their own choice into the vibratory distortion most comfortable to their mind/body/spirit complexes. This process is guarded or watched by those nurturing beings who, being very close to the Law of One in their distortions, nevertheless, move towards active service.
Thus, the illusion is created of light, or more properly but less understandably, light/love. This is in varying degrees of intensity. The spirit complex of each harvested entity moves along the line of light until the light grows too glaring, at which time the entity stops. This entity may have barely reached third density or may be very, very close to the ending of the third-density light/love distortion vibratory complex.
Nevertheless, those who fall within this octave of intensifying light/love then experience a major cycle during which there are opportunities for the discovery of the distortions which are inherent in each entity and, therefore, the lessening of these distortions.
This "line of light" or "proper place of love/light" is something I have come to call "the steps of light." It is easier for me to visualize the process this way. I can see walking into the light that grows ever dense and more light-filled, until the glare stops me. I just hope that fullest light I am able to welcome, when I walk the steps of light, is that of my home density!

Now, for the other harvest: the harvest of the planet, Earth, Terra, or Gaia. How does this planetary harvest work? Don asks:

Questioner: How does a third-density planet become a fourth density planet?

Ra: I am Ra. This will be the last full question. The fourth density is, as we have said, as regularized in its approach as the striking of a clock upon the hour. The space/time of your solar system has enabled this planetary sphere to spiral into space/time of a different vibrational configuration. This causes the planetary sphere to be able to be molded by these new distortions. However, the thought-forms of your people during this transition period are such that the mind/body/spirit complexes of both individual and societies are scattered throughout the spectrum instead of becoming able to grasp the needle, shall we say, and point the compass in one direction. Thus, the entry into the vibration of love, sometimes called by your people the vibration of understanding, is not effective with your present societal complex. Thus, the harvest shall be such that many will repeat the third-density cycle. The energies of your wanderers, your teachers, and your adepts at this time are all bent upon increasing the harvest. However, there are few to harvest. Obviously, our planet is having trouble being born into fourth density time/ space and space/time. Hence the many catastrophes, as the planet attempts to balance itself. The Confederation feels that we are basically in fourth density space/time already, that it has been moving into it as a solar system for some time. We cannot see this with our third-density senses. When this process is completed, in a century or three, what will Earth be?

Questioner: On this planet after the harvest is complete, will fourth density beings be incarnate on the surface as we know it now?

Ra: I am Ra. The probability/possibility vortices indicate this to be most likely.
Some few souls are already incarnating in fourth-density bodies:

Questioner: Would the purpose in transitioning to Earth prior to the complete changeover then be for the experience to be gained here before the harvesting process?

Ra: I am Ra. This is correct. These entities are not wanderers in the sense that this planetary sphere is their fourth-density home planet. However, the experience of this service is earned only by those harvested third-density entities which have demonstrated a great deal of orientation towards service to others. It is a privilege to be allowed this early an incarnation as there is much experiential catalyst in service to otherselves at this harvesting.

So we have early souls pioneering fourth density. But will fourth density take over from third density? Not on this Earth plane. Those of Ra clarify:

Questioner: At present we have, in third-density incarnation on this plane, those third-density entities of the planet Earth who have been here for some number of incarnations, who will graduate in the three-way split, positive polarity remaining for fourth-density experience on this planet, the negative polarity harvestable going to another planet, and the rest [of ] unharvestable third-density going to another third-density planet. In addition to these entities I am assuming that we have here some entities already harvestable from other third-density planets who have come here and have incarnated in third-density form to make the transition with this planet into fourth-density, plus Wanderers. Is this correct?

Ra: I am Ra. This is correct except we may note a small point. The positively oriented harvested entities will remain in this planetary influence but not upon this plane.

For us third-density folks who are working towards harvest, what are our aims? The first and central one is to BE. Those of the Confederation talk about this challenging concept:

During the incarnation, it is well if one attempts to be one's self, to be that pattern, to be that choice, to be true to the self, for the self to which you are true is the greater self, the higher self that has laid the path before you in a fashion which allows for the free will interpretation of many, many details and yet which assures each entity that the path has been laid and laid clearly.

Two wanderers talk about being:

For me, it is about balance. Yes, the potential for any number of disasters or disastrous events is there. And quite probable. And yes, our time on this planet is growing shorter. All the more reason to be and not react.

Follow your own heart. If you are led to help with the harvest, help with the harvest. If you believe you will be here after the harvest, be here after the harvest. If you believe Jesus Christ is coming again, look for the coming. If you know that ETs are trying to contact us, listen for the message. Just be who you are, and know that no matter how unique or alienated you may feel, you are not alone. Just BE and the rest will take care of itself. Being is a hard thing for us to think about, because of our Doing mentality, the work ethic of our culture. But once we are able to see the task clearly, the way is open for our efforts. Another worthy aim for those working towards graduation is oneness with the heart of self and Creator:

As you enter this season of harvest you know there is service to perform and you wish to be about it, and we say to you that the way to serve the Creator at this time is to open the heart to the present moment and practice that precious oneness with the Creator.
A central aim of those approaching harvest is polarizing:

Each of you is capable within this lifetime of achieving a harvestable attitude towards love. That is, each of you is capable of caring more for another, for loving another, understanding another, comforting another, consoling another, forgiving another, more than each cares for being understood or being loved or being consoled or being forgiven. This sacrificial nature of love, where one spends more of one's time concerned with aiding others than one does concerned with aiding oneself, is a tremendously helpful way to move in polarization ever closer to the point where, when you do enter the larger life after the death of the animal which has carried you about, you shall be able to use the requisite amount of light from the infinite Creator.

Those of Ra suggest that balance is an aim for those working on harvestability:

Each mind/body/spirit complex has its own patterns of activation and its own rhythms of awakening. The important thing for harvest is the harmonious balance between the various energy centers of the mind/body/spirit complex. This is to be noted as of relative import. Work with the will and intensity of desire round out this short look at the aims of those approaching harvest:

As your planet nears that [which is] called the harvest, the experiences of many shall be intensified, for as time for harvest grows short, the work in order to achieve harvest must be accomplished in a shorter time. When time is short, then intensity must replace the time that is no longer available. Great work in consciousness can be done in this short time that remains before the harvest of souls from your planet. There is, of course, the risk that the work shall be more difficult, yet there is the great opportunity to move forward in the process of evolution as has never been possible before upon this planet.
It is to be noted that another name for wanderers is harvesters. Our being here now has everything to do with the harvest: The overriding reason for the offering of these Brothers and Sisters of Sorrow in incarnative states is the possibility of aiding other selves by the lightening of the planetary consciousness distortions and the probability of offering catalyst to other-selves which will increase the harvest. There are two other reasons for choosing this service, which have to do with the self. The wanderer, if it remembers and dedicates itself to service, will polarize much more rapidly than is possible in the far more etiolated realms of higher density catalyst. The final reason is within the mind/body/spirit totality or the social memory complex totality which may judge that an entity or members of a societal entity can make use of third-density catalyst to recapitulate a learning/teaching which is adjudged to be less than perfect. This especially applies to those entering into and proceeding through sixth density wherein the balance between compassion and wisdom is perfected.

The Confederation entities are here in thought to aid us at this time:

We are those who come to your peoples at this time in hopes of being of service by providing information and opinion concerning spiritual evolution. It is our understanding that this present period, which you now enjoy, is part of a season of harvest or completion upon your Earth world. In this time of transition to a more densely lit illusion there is great opportunity, we feel, for entities who are seeking to accelerate their process of spiritual evolution to do so. We are those who wish to assist, as we may, those who request our opinion and presence.

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This chapter is taken from Jim Kent's on-line book and can be found at the following address:

http://www.eternal-unity.org

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Robot Technology

From USA Today 3/1/08
By Hiroko Tabuchi, Associated PressTOKYO — At a university lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust.

Hooked up to a database of words clustered by association, the robot — dubbed Kansei, or "sensibility" — responds to the word "war" by quivering in what looks like disgust and fear. It hears "love," and its pink lips smile.

"To live among people, robots need to handle complex social tasks," said project leader Junichi Takeno of Meiji University. "Robots will need to work with emotions, to understand and eventually feel them.

While robots are a long way from matching human emotional complexity, the country is perhaps the closest to a future — once the stuff of science fiction — where humans and intelligent robots routinely live side by side and interact socially.

Robots are already taken for granted in Japanese factories, so much so that they are sometimes welcomed on their first day at work with Shinto religious ceremonies. Robots make sushi. Robots plant rice and tend paddies.

There are robots serving as receptionists, vacuuming office corridors, spoon-feeding the elderly. They serve tea, greet company guests and chatter away at public technology displays. Now start-ups are marching out robotic home helpers.

They aren't all humanoid. The Paro is a furry robot seal fitted with sensors beneath its fur and whiskers, designed to comfort the lonely, opening and closing its eyes and moving its flippers.

For Japan, the robotics revolution is an imperative. With more than a fifth of the population 65 or older, the country is banking on robots to replenish the workforce and care for the elderly.

In the past several years, the government has funded a plethora of robotics-related efforts, including some $42 million for the first phase of a humanoid robotics project, and $10 million a year between 2006 and 2010 to develop key robot technologies.

The government estimates the industry could surge from about $5.2 billion in 2006 to $26 billion in 2010 and nearly $70 billion by 2025.

Besides financial and technological power, the robot wave is favored by the Japanese mind-set as well.

Robots have long been portrayed as friendly helpers in Japanese popular culture, a far cry from the often rebellious and violent machines that often inhabit Western science fiction.

This is, after all, the country that invented Tamagotchi, the handheld mechanical pets that captivated the children of the world.

Japanese are also more accepting of robots because the native Shinto religion often blurs boundaries between the animate and inanimate, experts say. To the Japanese psyche, the idea of a humanoid robot with feelings doesn't feel as creepy — or as threatening — as it might do in other cultures.

Still, Japan faces a vast challenge in making the leap — commercially and culturally — from toys, gimmicks and the experimental robots churned out by labs like Takeno's to full-blown human replacements that ordinary people can afford and use safely.

"People are still asking whether people really want robots running around their homes, and folding their clothes," said Damian Thong, senior technology analyst at Macquarie Bank in Tokyo.

"But then again, Japan's the only country in the world where everyone has an electric toilet," he said. "We could be looking at a robotics revolution.

That revolution has been going on quietly for some time.

Japan is already an industrial robot powerhouse. Over 370,000 robots worked at factories across Japan in 2005, about 40% of the global total and 32 robots for every 1,000 Japanese manufacturing employees, according to a recent report by Macquarie, which had no numbers from subsequent years.

And they won't be claiming overtime or drawing pensions when they're retired.

"The cost of machinery is going down, while labor costs are rising," said Eimei Onaga, CEO of Innovation Matrix Inc., a company that distributes Japanese robotics technology in the U.S. "Soon, robots could even replace low-cost workers at small firms, greatly boosting productivity.

That's just what the Japanese government has been counting on. A 2007 national technology roadmap by the Trade Ministry calls for 1 million industrial robots to be installed throughout the country by 2025.

A single robot can replace about 10 employees, the roadmap assumes — meaning Japan's future million-robot army of workers could take the place of 10 million humans. That's about 15% of the current workforce.

"Robots are the cornerstone of Japan's international competitiveness," Shunichi Uchiyama, the Trade Ministry's chief of manufacturing industry policy, said at a recent seminar. "We expect robotics technology to enter even more sectors going forward.

Meanwhile, localities looking to boost regional industry clusters have seized on robotics technology as a way to spur advances in other fields.

Robotic technology is used to build more complex cars, for instance, and surgical equipment.

The logical next step is robots in everyday life.

At a hospital in Aizu Wakamatsu, 190 miles north of Tokyo, a child-sized white and blue robot wheels across the floor, guiding patients to and from the outpatients' surgery area.

The robot, made by start-up Tmsk, sports perky catlike ears, recites simple greetings, and uses sensors to detect and warn people in the way. It helpfully prints out maps of the hospital, and even checks the state of patients' arteries.

The Aizu Chuo Hospital spent about some $557,000 installing three of the robots in its waiting rooms to test patients' reactions. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, said spokesman Naoya Narita.

"We feel this is a good division of labor. Robots won't ever become doctors, but they can be guides and receptionists," Narita said.

Still, the wheeled machines hadn't won over all seniors crowding the hospital waiting room on a weekday morning.

"It just told us to get out of the way!" huffed wheelchair-bound Hiroshi Asami, 81. "It's a robot. It's the one who should get out my way.

"I prefer dealing with real people," he said.

Another roadblock is money.

For all its research, Japan has yet to come up with a commercially successful consumer robot. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. failed to sell even one of its pricey toddler-sized Wakamaru robots, launched in 2003 as domestic helpers.

Though initially popular, Sony Corp. pulled the plug on its robot dog, Aibo, in 2006, just seven years after its launch. With a price tag of a whopping $2,000, Aibo never managed to break into the mass market.

One of the only commercially successful consumer robots so far is made by an American company, iRobot Corp. The Roomba vacuum cleaner robot is self-propelled and can clean rooms without supervision.

"We can pretty much make anything, but we have to ask, what are people actually going to buy?" said iRobot CEO Helen Greiner. The company has sold 2.5 million Roombas — which retail for as little as $120 — since the line was launched in 2002.

Still, with the correct approach, robots could provide a wealth of consumer goods, Greiner stressed at a recent convention.

Sure enough, Japanese makers are catching on, launching low-cost robots like Tomy's $300 i-Sobot, a toy-like hobby robot that comes with 17 motors, can recognize spoken words and can be remote-controlled.

Sony is also trying to learn from past mistakes, launching a much cheaper $350 rolling speaker robot last year that built on its robotics technology.

"What we need now isn't the ultimate humanoid robot," said Kyoji Takenaka, the head of the industry-wide Robot Business Promotion Council.

"Engineers need to remember that the key to developing robots isn't in the lab, but in everyday life.

Still, some of the most eye-catching developments in robotics are coming out of Japan's labs.

Researchers at Osaka University, for instance, are developing a robot to better understand child development.

The "Child-Robot with Biomimetic Body" is designed to mimic the motions of a toddler. It responds to sounds, and sensors in its eyes can see and react to people. It wiggles, changes facial expressions, and makes gurgling sounds.

The team leader, Minoru Asada, is working on artificial intelligence software that would allow the child to "learn" as it progresses.

"Right now, it only goes, 'Ah, ah.' But as we develop its learning function, we hope it can start saying more complex sentences and moving on its own will," Asada said. "Next-generation robots need to be able to learn and develop themselves.

For Hiroshi Ishiguro, also at Osaka University, the key is to make robots that look like human beings. His Geminoid robot looks uncannily like himself — down to the black, wiry hair and slight tan.

"In the end, we don't want to interact with machines or computers. We want to interact with technology in a human way so it's natural and valid to try to make robots look like us," he said.

"One day, they will live among us," Ishiguro said.

"Then you'd have to ask me: 'Are you human? Or a robot?"

'Robot fair in osaka japan (2006) www.dombower.com



Robot technology of Japan evolved innovatively.


Robotics convention in Japan Caught on Video with incredible..

Click to see Video

Lifelike Robots In Japan



High Tech Dancing Robots


Android Video

Real Milk

The Benefits of Real Milk
by
Kelly Harrison, M.S.

Let's Talk Milk!

For our nutrition discussion today, I think we should talk about milk. The first question I will address is what is milk?

(I’m pulling a lot of this information from http://www.realmilk.com/ because I’m freaking lazy but I do have other sources I can give you if you’re interested. I am a biologist and I have read a lot of this information and verified it and I drink raw milk myself so I am not blowing smoke up your ass ;-) )

Yes I’m sure you all know it’s that white stuff that comes out of a cow. But what are you drinking? The source of most commercial milk is the modern Holstein, bred to produce huge quantities of milk three times as much as the old-fashioned cow. Look at that udder on her. Seriously…that shit isn’t normal!!!! Holstein cows need special feed and antibiotics to keep them well. Their milk contains high levels of growth hormone from the pituitary gland, even when the cow is spared the indignities of genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone to push her to the udder limits of milk production.

This is a Jersey cow. See how much smaller her udder is and more normal looking?

Then there’s what they feed the cows. Real feed for cows is green grass in Spring, Summer and Fall; green feed, silage, hay and root vegetables in Winter. It is not soy meal, cottonseed meal or other commercial feeds, nor is it bakery waste, chicken manure or citrus peel cake, laced with pesticides. Vital nutrients like vitamins A and D, and the "Price Factor" (a fat-soluble catalyst that promotes optimum mineral assimilation) are greatest in milk from cows eating green grass, especially rapidly growing green grass in the spring and fall. Vitamins A and D are greatly diminished, and the Price Factor disappears, when milk cows are fed commercial feed. Soy meal has the wrong protein profile for the dairy cow, resulting in a short burst of high milk production followed by premature death. Most milk (even most milk labeled "organic") comes from dairy cows that are kept in confinement their entire lives and never see green grass! AND, let’s not forget that soy in fact mimics estrogen and therefore is probably activating the estrogen receptors and causing more hormone imbalance in these cows. We’ll have to talk about soy next week but let’s get back to the milk for now…

I know it’s all been pounded into your head that pasteurization is good. The fact of the matter is that milk is a living substance. Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer. Calves fed pasteurized milk do poorly and many die before maturity. Raw milk sours naturally but pasteurized milk turns putrid; processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process of centrifugal clarification. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk. Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But times have changed and modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks and inspection methods make pasteurization absolutely unnecessary for public protection. And pasteurization does not always kill the bacteria for Johne’s disease suspected of causing Crohn's disease in humans with which most confinement cows are infected. Much commercial milk is now ultra-pasteurized to get rid of heat-resistant bacteria and give it a longer shelf life. Ultra-pasteurization is a violent process that takes milk from a chilled temperature to above the boiling point in less than two seconds. Clean raw milk from certified healthy cows is available commercially in several states and may be bought directly from the farm in many more. Pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations and squeeze out small farmers. When farmers have the right to sell unprocessed milk to consumers, they can make a decent living, even with small herds.

Then there is homogenization. Homogenization is a process that breaks down butterfat globules so they do not rise to the top. I mean really…is it that hard for you to turn the carton over a few times to mix up the cream that rises to the top? In addition to that, homogenized milk has been linked to heart disease.

Average butterfat content from old-fashioned cows at the turn of the century was over 4% (or more than 50% of calories). Today butterfat comprises less than 3% (or less than 35% of calories). Worse, consumers have been duped into believing that low-fat and skim milk products are good for them. Only by marketing low-fat and skim milk as a health food can the modern dairy industry get rid of its excess poor-quality, low-fat milk from modern high-production herds. Butterfat contains vitamins A and D needed for assimilation of calcium and protein in the water fraction of the milk. Without them protein and calcium are more difficult to utilize and possibly toxic. Butterfat is rich in short- and medium chain fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. It contains glyco-spingolipids which prevent intestinal distress and conjugated linoleic acid which has strong anticancer properties. Powdered skim milk, a source of dangerous oxidized cholesterol and neurotoxic amino acids, is added to 1% and 2% milk. Low-fat yogurts and sour creams contain mucopolysaccharide slime to give them body. Pale butter from hay-fed cows contains colorings to make it look like vitamin-rich butter from grass-fed cows. Bioengineered enzymes are used in large-scale cheese production. Many mass produced cheeses contain additives and colorings and imitation cheese products contain vegetable oils.

So yeah, don’t you feel good about drinking that Grade A pasteurized, homogenized with Vitamin D added milk from the grocery store? Mmmmmm…milk…it does a body bad is more like it when they do all that to it. I don’t know why it’s so hard to just get the stuff that comes out of the cow. I mean really…stay clean and milk the damn cow. How hard is that??? But everyone has their hand in the cookie jar when there’s money in there now don’t they. It really sucks we’re being screwed when it comes to our food because someone wants to make more money and they go about it the cheapest and most profitable way possible. Anyway, drink real milk would ya. It’s actually good for you and it makes my lungs feel better :-) I actually get sick when I don’t drink it. I like the Claravale milk myself. It’s from Jersey cows…it’s really good :-) Jersey cows are toally cuter anyway aren't they? haha The organic pastures stuff is ok in a pinch but it’s from a mix of cows and it tastes like cow because it has Holstein milk in it. Blech. You can get both at Mother’s Market here in CA. Here’s where you can find milk near you: http://www.realmilk.com/where.html

Be good to your bodies!