A Battered Old Brain

These are the poetic ramblings of a very creative man. They are humorous, tragic, uplifting and deeply spiritual (but not "religious"). You will love the people and situations that gave Dennis the "oomph" to put on paper the thoughts that someitmes run slipshod thourgh his mind. You may be amazed that poerson under such a load can think in the medium of thyme! A wonderful glimpse into a creative man's brain that has gone through Hell - and Back!

The Oldest Living Things in the World is an epic journey through time and space. Over the past decade, artist Rachel Sussman has researched, worked with biologists, and traveled the world to photograph continuously living organisms that are 2,000 years old and older. Spanning from Antarctica to Greenland, the Mojave Desert to the Australian Outback, the result is a stunning and unique visual collection of ancient organisms unlike anything that has been created in the arts or sciences before, insightfully and accessibly narrated by Sussman along the way. Her work is both timeless and timely, and spans disciplines, continents, and millennia. It is underscored by an innate environmentalism and driven by Sussman’s relentless curiosity. She begins at “year zero,” and looks back from there, photographing the past in the present. These ancient individuals live on every continent and range from Greenlandic lichens that grow only one centimeter a century, to unique desert shrubs in Africa and South America, a predatory fungus in Oregon, Caribbean brain coral, to an 80,000-year-old colony of aspen in Utah. Sussman journeyed to Antarctica to photograph 5,500-year-old moss; Australia for stromatolites, primeval organisms tied to the oxygenation of the planet and the beginnings of life on Earth; and to Tasmania to capture a 43,600-year-old self-propagating shrub that’s the last individual of its kind. Her portraits reveal the living history of our planet—and what we stand to lose in the future. These ancient survivors have weathered millennia in some of the world’s most extreme environments, yet climate change and human encroachment have put many of them in danger. Two of her subjects have already met with untimely deaths by human hands. Alongside the photographs, Sussman relays fascinating – and sometimes harrowing – tales of her global adventures tracking down her subjects and shares insights from the scientists who research them. The oldest living things in the world are a record and celebration of the past, a call to action in the present, and a barometer of our future.

A car accident leaves Leo Brodie disabled and dependent on ineffectual disability services and government bureaucrats. The past is forgotten and the present chaotic. Service providers complain that Leo does not accept his new status, although his anger achieves action. Other people with disability look to him for leadership. He is articulate and charismatic despite his brain injury. But Leo is not all he seems.Clients of disability services strive to obtain control of their lives in contemporary Australia. Some workers are supportive while others are out for what they can get. Occasionally clients and workers forget their roles and come together as people first. Meanwhile their lives are turned upside down through changes wrought by public servants and politicians jostling for power. Projects get cancelled, services get reorganised and scapegoats are found for failures.

AARP Digital Editions offer you practical tips, proven solutions, and expert guidance. Scientific American and Scientific American Mind have good news about getting older! AARP The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain taps into the most current research to present a realistic and encouraging view of the well-aged brain, a sobering look at what can go wrong––and at what might help you and your brain stay healthy longer. Neurologists and psychologists have discovered the aging brain is much more elastic and supple than previously thought, and that happiness actually increases with age. While our short-term memory may not be what it was, dementia is not inevitable. Far from disintegrating, the elder brain can continue to develop and adapt in many ways and stay sharp as it ages. Offers new insights on how an aging brain can repair itself, and the five best strategies for keeping your brain healthy Shows how older brains can acquire new skills, perspective, and productivity Dispels negative myths about aging Explores what to expect as our brains grow older With hope and truth, this book helps us preserve what we’ve got, minimize what we’ve lost, and optimize the vigor and health of our maturing brains.

Our brain is the source of everything that makes us human: language, creativity, rationality, emotion, communication, culture, politics. The neurosciences have given us, in recent decades, fundamental new insights into how the brain works and what that means for how we see ourselves as individuals and as communities. Now – with the help of new advances in nanotechnology – brain science proposes to go further: to study its molecular foundations, to repair brain functions, to create mind-machine interfaces, and to enhance human mental capacities in radical ways. This book explores the convergence of these two revolutionary scientific fields and the implications of this convergence for the future of human societies. In the process, the book offers a significant new approach to technology assessment, one which operates in real-time, alongside the innovation process, to inform the ways in which new fields of science and technology emerge in, get shaped by, and help shape human societies.

Chiang Mai is the most fascinating place on earth…and so is the food. Have you eaten a termite or met a Blacking Man? Have you seen the tree top spear fisherman, or tried to chew your way through a deep fried chicken head or a plateful of live shrimps? Have you ever wondered why there is a huge, stagnant, six mile and otherwise pointless canal running around the outer reaches of the south side of the city? This is a book about food, Chiang Mai, termites, sausages, ghosts, history, cooking, Islam, markets, death, noodles, forest fires, mushrooms and fish farming. (I think I’ve covered all bases). “Definitely on par with Bill Bryson but with more of a personal touch.” Alan, goodreads.com “Easily accessible, humorous and often embarrassingly honest.” Chiang Mai City Life “Love his books. Very funny, inspiring and interesting. Highly recommend to anyone.” Valerie, amazon.co.uk “Laugh out loud funny.” Sam, goodreads.com “He’s very, very funny and quirky and easy to read.” Ashley, amazon.com For more information about food and Chiang Mai visit the blog at: www.thelifechangepeople.com