Space Boat: A Nautical Mission to an Alien Sea

By Adam Hadhazy

TiME This capsule designed to explore Titan's seas is one of three projects being considered to receive NASA funding next year. Graham Murdoch

In 2006, while flying by Saturn’s moon Titan, the radar on NASA’s Cassini orbiter discovered seas of liquid ethane and methane on the moon’s –300ºF surface, the only bodies of liquid we know of that exist anywhere but on Earth. Some of the oily seas appeared on Cassini’s radar to be larger than Lake Superior, but visibility was poor because Titan’s atmosphere is thick and hazy. Now NASA is considering sending a probe called the Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) to splash down on one of Titan’s seas for a closer look. The mission would be humankind’s first extraterrestrial nautical expedition.

In May, the TiME project received a $3-million development contract from NASA. If the space agency green-lights the mission, the capsule will lift off in 2016. By 2023, TiME will be about 800 million miles away in Titan’s north-polar region, home to its biggest lakes and seas. The capsule will take photographs, collect meteorological data, measure depth, and analyze samples. TiME will have no means of propulsion once it is on Titan, so it will float, carried by breezes across the sea’s surface. Then, by the mid-2020s, it will enter a decade-long winter of darkness as the moon’s orbit takes it to the dark side of Saturn, away from the sun and communication. It won’t have a line of sight to Earth to beam back more data until 2035.

Methane clouds drift in Titan’s smoggy orange skies, sometimes releasing hydrocarbon raindrops, which replenish the seas and sculpt the landscape the way water does on Earth. But Titan’s seas probably don’t contain life. “Life as we know it requires liquid water, and Titan’s surface is far too cold for this,” says Ralph Lorenz, a physicist at Johns Hopkins University who is working on TiME. “Its seas can tell us about how molecules organize and evolve, and how life may arise more generally.” TiME’s principal investigator, planetary geologist Ellen Stofan, wonders about the waves: “Are there hazes, sea spray? Is the liquid clear or cloudy? Is there scum floating on the surface? With Titan’s seas, there are endless questions.”

Splash Landing on Titan's Sea

DROP IN

After a seven-year journey, including gravitational slingshots around Earth and Jupiter, the Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) passes through Titan’s thick nitrogen and methane atmosphere, protected by its heat shield.

DRIFT DOWN

At an altitude of about 100 miles, TiME deploys its parachute. During the remainder of its roughly two-hour descent, the probe’s camera snaps pictures while a thermometer and barometer record meteorological data.

FLOAT AROUND

After landing in the ethane and methane sea Ligeia Mare, TiME’s mass spectrometer collects a sample to analyze its chemical composition, while its sonar measures the sea’s depth. Without its own means of propulsion, the capsule will bob along in the gentle wind and currents. It might even experience alien rains or wash up on an extraterrestrial beach.

Cosmic Contenders

Next year, NASA will give full funding to one of three missions: a Mars probe to study how the planet formed, a “comet hopper” that will repeatedly land on a near-Earth comet, or a capsule to float on a sea on Titan, one of Saturn’s 53 known moons.

Geophysical Monitoring Station:  Graham Murdoch

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Geophysical Monitoring Station would study Mars’s interior structure and composition to better understand its geological history.

The Comet Hopper:  Graham Murdoch

The Comet Hopper, conceived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, would land several times on a comet, studying how the icy body evolves as it warms up while approaching the sun.

பட்ட பிறகே புத்தி தெளிந்தேன் தங்கமே, ஞானத் தங்கமே

நீண்ட காலமாய் தீராத ஏதோ ஒரு பிரச்னை / அல்லது நீண்ட கால ஆவல் ஒன்றை நிறைவேற்ற அம்மனை நினைத்து - மனதார ஒரு முறை வேண்டுங்கள். ஒரே மாதத்தில் அது நடந்து , நீங்கள் அம்மாவை தேடி வருவது உறுதி.

 இன்று நாம் பார்க்க விருப்பது - முருகப் பெருமானின் அருமை பெருமைகள், மற்றும் அதிகம் அறியப்படாத ஒரு மகத்துவம் வாய்ந்த ஆலயம் பற்றியும்.

மேஷம், விருச்சிகம் லக்கினத்தில் பிறந்தவர்களும், மிருக சீரிஷம், சித்திரை, அவிட்டம் நட்சத்திரத்தில் பிறந்தவர்களும் - அதாவது பிறக்கும்போது செவ்வாய் தசை நடக்க பிறந்தவர்களும், பிறந்த ஜாதகத்தில் - செவ்வாய் நீசமாக இருக்கப் பிறந்தவர்களும், செவ்வாய் தோஷம் இருக்கப் பிறந்தவர்களும் , தற்போது செவ்வாய் தசை நடக்கப் பெறுபவர்களும், ஜனன காலத்தில் லக்கினத்தில் செவ்வாய் இருக்கப் பிறந்தவர்களும் - இந்த கட்டுரையை சற்று கவனமுடன் படிக்கவும்.

குரு ஸ்தானத்தில் இருப்பவர்கள், ஜோதிடம் சொல்லுபவர்கள் - ஒரு சில தீய பலன்கள் சொல்லும்போது வெளிப்படையாக சொல்வது கிடையாது. கெட்ட பலன்கள் நடப்பதாக இருந்தாலும் , அதை சூசகமாக சொல்வரே ஒழிய , உடைத்து பட்டவர்த்தனமாக கூறுவது இல்லை. அந்த வாக்குக்காகவே அவை விரைவிலும் நடந்து விடுவது உண்டு.

ஜாதகப் பொருத்தம் பார்க்கும்போது , எல்லோரும் பார்க்கக்கூடிய ஒரு பொதுவான விஷயம் செவ்வாய் தோஷம். செவ்வாய் தோஷம் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு, செவ்வாய் தோஷம் இருப்பவர்களின் ஜாதகமே பொருத்துதல் நலம் என்று கூறுகிறார்கள். செவ்வாய் உணர்ச்சியை தூண்டக்கூடிய கிரகம். கலகம், கோபம், ரத்த காரகன். பெரிய , பெரிய காவல் துறை, ராணுவ அதிகாரிகளுக்கு செவ்வாய் பலத்துடன் காணப்படும். உடல் ரீதியாக சற்று ஆராயும்போது செவ்வாய் தோஷம் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு , அதே அமைப்புள்ள வரனை பொருத்துதல் - அவர்கள் தாம்பத்திய வாழ்க்கையை மகிழ்ச்சியுடன் நடத்த உதவுகிறது. தோஷம் இல்லா ஜாதக அமைப்புள்ளவர்கள் இவர்களுடன் இணையும்போது , ஒரு திருப்தி காணாத இல்லற சுகமே பெற முடிகிறது. இது உண்மை . ஏன்? எதற்கு? அந்த ஆண்டவனே அறிவான்.

சரி, இயல்பிலேயே அசுப கிரகமான செவ்வாய் , தான் பார்க்கும் இடத்தை அழிக்கிறது. லக்கினத்தில் செவ்வாய் இருக்க, அவருக்கு செவ்வாய் தசை நடக்கும்போது - முறையே நான்கு, ஏழாம் , எட்டாம் இடம் பார்வை பெறுகிறது. இந்த இடங்களை சுப கிரகம் பார்த்தால் நலம். இல்லையேல் - அந்த கால கட்டத்தில் படுத்தி எடுத்துவிடும். கல்வி, தாய் , வாழும் வீடு, வாகனம், நண்பர்கள், மனைவி, தன் உயிருக்கே ஆபத்து ஏற்படும் அளவில் - விபத்து, மருத்துவம் - என்று ஒரு மனிதனின் அத்தனை முக்கிய விஷயங்களையும் ஆட்டிப் படைத்து விடும்.

இவை அத்தனை விஷயங்களுக்கும் அடிப்படையாக உங்கள் கோபம் இருக்கும்.

மேஷ , விருச்சிக லக்கினத்தில் பிறந்தவர்களுக்கு கோபமே குழி பறிக்கும் விஷயமாகி விடுகிறது. கோபப்படும் சமயத்தில், மற்றவர்கள் அடங்கிப் போவது போல தோன்றினாலும், முதுகில் குத்த சமயம் பார்த்துக் கொண்டுதான் இருப்பார்கள்.

விதி வலியது. இவர்கள் இதை அனுபவித்துத் தான் ஆக வேண்டும். சரி, வேறு வழியில்லையா? ஏன் இல்லை? யாருமே பட்ட பிறகுதான் புத்தி தெளியனும்னு இல்லையே. உங்கள் கோபமும், ஆக்ரோஷமும் - முழுக்க , முழுக்க positive energy ஆக்கிட்டா பிரச்னை இல்லையே. - சரி, இவங்களுக்கு விதியை சாதகமாக்குறதுக்கு என்ன வழி?

முறையான இறை வழிபாடு மட்டுமே, உரிய பரிகாரம். வணங்கவேண்டிய இறைவன் : முருகப் பெருமான்.

ஒரே நிமிஷம் , உங்க பழைய அனுபவங்கள் எதையாவது நினைச்சுப் பாருங்க. முருகனை வணங்கிய நொடியிலேயே, ஒரு சில விஷயங்கள் நீங்க நினைச்ச படி நடந்து இருந்து இருக்கும்.

உங்க Problem solve பண்ண உருப்படியான formula - முருகனை அடி பணிவது தான். உடனடியாக நீங்கள் தரிசிக்க வேண்டிய ஸ்தலம் - திருச்செந்தூர். ஒரு முறை - வைத்தீஸ்வரன் கோவில் சென்று வாருங்கள். வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்தால் சேர்ந்தாற்போல் - முருகனின் ஆறு படை வீடுகளையும் ஒரு முறை தரிசித்து வாருங்கள்.

முடியவில்லையா? மாதம் ஒரு ஆலயம் / அல்லது இரண்டு ஆலயம் என்று முறை வைத்து - முருகனை தரிசித்து , அறுபடை வீடு தரிசனம் முடியுங்கள். வாழ்வில் உங்களுக்கு எந்த கெடுதலும் நிகழாது - ஒரு கவசம் போல நின்று அந்த கந்தனின் வேல் உங்களை காக்கும்.

வணங்க வேண்டிய நேரம் : செவ்வாய் கிழமை - செவ்வாய் ஹோரைகளில் . காலை - 6 டு 7 , - மதியம் - 1 to 2 , இரவு - 8 டு 9 . இவற்றில் ஏதாவது ஒரு நேரத்தில் - உங்கள் அருகில் இருக்கும் முருகன் கோவிலில் , வார வாரம் செல்வதை வழக்கமாக வைத்துக் கொள்ளுங்கள். வாய்ப்பு கிடைக்கும்போதெல்லாம், சஷ்டி பாடுங்கள். செவ்வாய் கிழமை விரதம் , அல்லது சஷ்டி விரதம் இருக்கலாம். முருகனுக்கு பாலபிசேகம் செய்யலாம். குழி பறிக்கும் கூட்டம் , டயர்ட் ஆகி ஓடி விடும். எதிரி என்று எவனும் இருக்க மாட்டான். சொல்லி அடிக்கலாம் - நான் ஜெயித்து காட்டுவேன் என்று.

நம்பிக்கையுடன் அந்த முருகனைப் பற்றிக் கொள்ளுங்கள்.

இன்று நாம் பார்க்க விருப்பது - நம்பிக்கையுடன் முருகனை நினைத்த போதெல்லாம் தரிசித்து - அவனுடன் ஒன்றி விட்ட பாம்பன் சுவாமிகள் இன்றும் அடிக்கடி தென்படுவதாக கூறப்படும் வள்ளிமலை பற்றி.

பாம்பன் சுவாமிகள் பற்றி ஒரு அதிசய நிகழ்ச்சி கேள்விப்பட்டேன். காலில் அடிபட்டு, எலும்பு முறிவு ஏற்பட்டு சென்னை அரசு ஆஸ்பத்திரியில் மருத்துவம் பார்த்துக் கொண்டு இருந்தாராம். ஆங்கிலேயர்கள் காலம் அது. அவருக்கு வைத்தியம் பார்த்த ஆங்கிலேயர், நிலைமை மோசம் , அவரால் இனிமேல் முன்போல் எழுந்து நடக்க முடியாது என்று கைவிரித்து விட்டாராம். இந்த நிலையில் நடந்ததுதான் அந்த அதிசயம். கையில் வேலுடன் வந்த ஒரு பெரியவர் , அவரது அடிபட்ட பாகத்தை தடவிவிட , சில மணி நேரத்தில் - முறிந்து இருந்த எலும்பு ஒன்று கூடி விட்டது. பாம்பன் சுவாமிகள் மகிமை பற்றி மக்கள் அதன் பிறகே உணரத் தொடங்கினர். பாம்பன் சுவாமிகள் குணமாகி விட்டதைப் பார்த்து அரண்டு போய் விட்டாராம் , அந்த டாக்டர். இதை , அவர்கள் குறிப்பிலும் எழுதி , பிரேம் போட்டு வைத்து , ஆஸ்பத்திரியில் மாட்டி இருக்கிறாராம்.
அதனாலே , நாமும் முழு மனதுடன் அந்த குமரனை நம்பலாம். கண்டிப்பாக அவன் அருள் கிடைக்கும்.


*அரிது, அரிது மானிடராக பிறத்தல் அரிது' என்று புலவர்கள் எல்லாம் சொல்கிறார்கள். இந்த மனிதப்பிறவி எவ்வளவு நல்ல விஷயமோ அதே அளவிற்கு அஞ்சத்தக்க விஷயமும் ஆகும். ஏனெனில், மனிதர்கள் தங்கள் செய்கையால் இந்த பிறவியை மேலாகவோ, கீழாகவோ செய்கிறார்கள். நல்லதைச் செய்தால் இதைவிட நற்பிறவி கிட்டும். தீமையை செய்தால் மீண்டும் விலங்காகப் பிறக்க வேண்டி வரும்.

* ஒரு மனிதனின் தயவைப் பெறுவதற்குக்கூட நீண்டநாள் போராடுகிறீர்கள். அரசாங்கத்தின் தயவு வேண்டுமானால் இன்னும் அதிகநாள் காத்திருக்க வேண்டி உள்ளது. இந்த சாதாரண ஜென்மங்களுக்கே இப்படி காத்திருக்க வேண்டியது என்றால், கடவுளின் அருளைப் பெறுவதற்கு எவ்வளவுநாள் காத்திருக்க வேண்டும் என்பதை சொல்லித் தெரிய வேண்டியதில்லை. எனவே அவரது கருணையைப் பெற பொறுமையுடன் காத்திருங்கள். மிகப்பெரிய பலன் கிடைக்கும்.

* பாவம் செய்யும்போது எப்படி மறைவாக செய்கிறீர்களோ அதேபோல மிகுந்த புண்ணியமான அன்ன தானத்தையும் எவ்வித தம்பட்டம் இல்லாமல் அமைதியாக செய்ய வேண்டும். அப்படியானால்தான் அந்த தானத்திற்குரிய பலன் வெகுவாக கிடைக்கும்.

சார், பிரமாதம் சார்.. எப்படி சார் இப்படி எழுதுறீங்கன்னு கேட்டுறப் போறீங்க.. மேலே நச்சுனு சொன்ன மூணு விஷயமும் பாம்பன் சுவாமிகள் சொன்ன விஷயங்கள்..

வள்ளி மலை பற்றி , அதன் பெருமைகள் பற்றி காண்போம். வேலூர் மாவட்டம், பொன்னை கிராமத்துக்கு அருகில் உள்ளது. ஆற்காடு, ராணிபேட் , திருவலம், வேலூரில் இருந்து பேருந்து வசதி உள்ளது. பொன்னை அருகில் - ஓட்டநேரி என்னும் இடத்தில் விநாயகர் ஆலயம் உள்ளது. வேறு எங்கும் எளிதில் காண முடியாத அதிசயமாக நவகிரகங்களும் தனி தனி பீடத்தில் அமர்ந்து அருள் பாலிக்கும் நவ கிரக கோட்டை உள்ளது. வெளியூரில் இருந்து வருபவர்கள், அருகில் இருக்கும் இந்த கோவிலுக்கும் சென்று வரலாம். இங்கிருந்து திருத்தணி - அரை மணி நேர பயணம் தான்.

சரி, இனி வள்ளிமலை... :

ஒருசமயம் திருமால், முனிவர் வேடத்தில் பூலோகத்திலுள்ள ஒரு வனத்தில் தவமிருந்தார். அப்போது மகாலட்சுமி மான் வடிவில் அவர் முன்பு வரவே, முனிவர் மானை பார்த்தார். இதனால் கருவுற்ற மான், வள்ளிக்கொடிகளின் மத்தியில் ஒரு பெண் குழந்தையை ஈன்றது. அவ்வழியே வந்த வேடுவ தலைவன் நம்பிராஜன் குழந்தையை எடுத்து, "வள்ளி' என பெயரிட்டு வளர்த்தான்.

கன்னிப்பருவத்தில் அவள் தினைப்புனம் காக்கும் பணி செய்தாள். அங்கு வந்த முருகன், வள்ளியைத் திருமணம் செய்ய விரும்பினார். இதையறிந்த நம்பிராஜன், திருத்தணியில் முருகனுக்கு முறைப்படி வள்ளியை திருமணம் செய்து கொடுத்தார்.

நம்பிராஜனின் வேண்டுதலுக்கு இணங்க இங்குள்ள குன்றில் முருகன் எழுந்தருளினார்.

மலைக்கோயிலில் சுப்பிரமணியர் குடவறை சன்னதியில் வள்ளி, தெய்வானையுடன் காட்சி தருகிறார். வள்ளி வேடர் குலத்தில் வளர்ந்ததால் அர்த்தஜாம பூஜையில் தேனும், தினை மாவும் நைவேத்யமாக படைக்கப்படுகிறது.

வள்ளி வாழ்ந்த இடம் என்பதால் அவளது பெயரிலேயே இத்தலம் அழைக்கப்படுகிறது. அடிவாரம் மற்றும் மலைக்கோயிலில் "குமரி வள்ளி'க்கு சன்னதி இருக்கிறது. இவள் கையில் பறவை விரட்ட பயன்படுத்தும் உண்டி வில், கவண் கல் வைத்திருக்கிறாள்.

முருகன், வள்ளியுடன் பேசிக்கொண்டிருந்தபோது, அங்கு நம்பிராஜன் வந்து விட்டார். எனவே முருகன் வேங்கை மரமாக உருமாறி தன்னை மறைத்துக் கொண்டார். இந்த மரமே இத்தலத்தின் விருட்சமாக இருக்கிறது.

தேரோட்ட சிறப்பு: பெரும்பாலும் கோயில்களில் தேரோட்டம் ஒரு நாளில் முடிந்து விடும். ஆனால் இத்தலத்தில் தேர், நான்கு நாட்கள் ரதவீதி (மலைப்பாதை) சுற்றி நிலைக்கு வருகிறது. வழியில் வேடுவ மக்கள் தங்கள் வீட்டுப்பெண்ணான வள்ளிக்கு சீதனமாக அரிசி, வெல்லம், தானியம், காய்கறி, தேங்காய், பழம், ஆடைகள் கொடுக்கின்றனர்.

விழாவின் கடைசி நாளன்று (மாசி பவுர்ணமி) வள்ளி கல்யாணம் நடக்கிறது. அப்போது வேடுவர் குலத்தினர் தேன், தினைமாவினை தங்கள் மருமகனான முருகனுக்கு படைக்கின்றனர்.

முருகன், தெய்வானை திருக்கல்யாணம் கந்தசஷ்டிக்கு மறுநாள் நடக்கிறது. ஆடிக்கிருத்திகையை ஒட்டி நான்கு நாட்கள் தெப்பத்திருவிழா நடக்கும். அப்போது சுவாமி, சரவணப்பொய்கைக்கு எழுந்தருளுகிறார்.

கோபுரத்தின் கீழ் முருகன்: பொதுவாக விமானத்தின் கீழ்தான் சுவாமி காட்சி தருவார். ஆனால், இங்கு முருகன் சன்னதிக்கு மேலே கோபுரம் இருக்கிறது. அருணகிரியாரால் பாடப்பெற்ற தலம் இது. மலைக்கோயிலில் கொடி மரத்திற்கு எதிரே விநாயகர் இருக்கிறார். முன் மண்டபத்தில் நவவீரர்கள், நம்பிராஜன் இருக்கின்றனர். இங்கிருந்து சற்று தூரத்திலுள்ள வனத்திற்குள் வள்ளி பறவைகள் விரட்டிய மண்டபம், நீராடிய சுனை, மஞ்சள் தேய்த்த மண்டபம், முருகன் நீர் பருகிய "குமரி தீர்த்தம்' என்னும் சூரிய ஒளி படாத தீர்த்தம் ஆகியவை உள்ளன.

யானையாக வந்து வள்ளியை பயமுறுத்திய விநாயகர், மலை வடிவில் இருக்கிறார். இதை, "யானைக்குன்று' என்றழைக்கிறார்கள். இவ்விடங்கள் வனத்திற்குள் இருப்பதால் தகுந்த பாதுகாப்போடு சென்றால் பார்த்து வரலாம். மலையடிவாரத்தில் ஆறுமுகன் தனிச்சன்னதியில் இருக்கிறார். இங்கிருந்து 50 கி.மீ., தூரத்தில் திருத்தணி இருக்கிறது.

சுவாமிக்கு தேன், தினைமாவு படைத்து, வஸ்திரம் அணிவித்து, அபிஷேகம் செய்து நேர்த்திக்கடன் செலுத்துகிறார்கள்.திருமண பாக்கியம் வேண்டுபவர்கள் இங்கு பிரார்த்தனை செய்கிறார்கள்.

 

மேலே உள்ள படத்தைப் பாருங்கள். மின்னஞ்சலில் நம் நண்பர் ஒருவர் அனுப்பி இருந்தது. 

பொதுவாக சூக்கும உருவங்கள் அல்லது ஆவி உருவங்களைப் பலர் நம்புவதில்லை; அவை புகைப்படத்தில் சிக்குவதும் இல்லை. ஆனால் வள்ளிமலையில் 61-ஆம் ஆண்டு மலைவலம்-படிவிழாவில் மலைப்பாதையில் அன்பர்கள் திருப்புகழ்-திருமுறைப் பாராயணம் செய்து கொண்டு சென்ற போது திரு.T.சிவானந்தம் என்கிற சென்னை அன்பர் ஒருவர் செல்போன் காமராவில் படமெடுத்து வந்து அதைக் குறுந்தகடாக்கிப் போட்டுப் பார்த்த போது சுமார் 85 ஆண்டுகட்கு முன் மறைந்த முருகன் அருள் பெற்ற அடியவரான பாம்பன் சுவாமிகள் மலையின் மீது சூக்கும உருவில் அமர்ந்திருந்தது பதிவாகி இருப்பது தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.

இந்த அற்புதம் நிகழ்ந்தது 13 -1 -2009 .


நம்புபவருக்கு ஆண்டவன் , ஏதோ ரூபத்தில் தொடர்ந்து உதவி கொண்டுதான் இருக்கிறான்..

சரி, கட்டுரை  ரொம்பவே நீண்டு விட்டது. மற்றவை ,  மீண்டும் அடுத்த கட்டுரையில் பார்க்கலாம்.  அற்புதங்கள், அதிசயங்கள்.. தொடரும்..!

Read more: http://www.livingextra.com/2011/08/blog-post_17.html#ixzz1VIOaeKi1

Obesity disrupts heartbeats

THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

University of Adelaide research has shown for the first time that obesity directly causes electrical abnormalities of the heart. Cardiologist and PhD candidate Dr Hany Abed says there is growing evidence that obesity changes the structure and size of the heart muscle and the way it works and contracts, as well as its electrical function. The latter leads to atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder in the world, affecting 10% of people over 75 years of age. Dr Abed is working with the University of Adelaide's Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders and the Discipline of Medicine to ascertain how obesity affects the heart and whether losing weight can actually reduce the risk of developing atrial fibrillation. "We already know that obesity causes an increase in blood pressure and puts strain on the heart. Current basic laboratory research using a sheep model also shows that obesity causes electrical abnormalities in the heart chamber," Dr Abed says. The PhD student was last weekend awarded the prestigious Ralph Reader Young Investigator Award from the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand for his research. Hospital admissions due to atrial fibrillation have more than tripled in Australia over the past 15 years with older, overweight men at most risk. The condition is also linked directly to strokes and heart attacks. "It is now more common to be admitted to hospital with atrial fibrillation than it is for heart failure," Dr Abed says. "The problem with atrial fibrillation is that it is usually picked up incidentally, in health check-ups, or when someone suffers dizzy spells, heart palpitations and chest pains. Unfortunately, often the first sign of this heart rhythm disorder is when someone has a stroke." Dr Abed says the health sector estimates that two thirds of the incidence of atrial fibrillation expected by 2020 will be solely due to obesity. "Unless we tackle the obesity problem it will be like trying to rescue the deck chairs from the Titanic." He says while obesity is not restricted to an age group, those most at risk of atrial fibrillation - the elderly - are becoming fatter and therefore escalating their chances of developing the heart disorder. "The costs to the health system and the community are enormous. However, early results in our research show that atrial fibrillation can be reversed if people lose weight."

New ‘window’ into the brain found

THE VISION CENTRE

The EEG signal from the K cells was found to match the signal of the brain. Image: Yakobchuk/iStockphoto An unexpected discovery has led scientists to open an intriguing new window into the human brain, via the visual system. Their finding may have implications for better understanding of states such as sleep, epilepsy and anaesthesia say the research team leaders Dr Sam Solomon and Professor Paul Martin of The Vision Centre and The University of Sydney. Potentially it could open up a new pathway for manipulating brain rhythms to manage disorders such as insomnia and epilepsy, the team speculate in an article published today in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. “It was purely a chance observation we made while we were activating the three cell layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), which is the part where the optic nerve actually connects to the brain,” Prof. Martin recounts. Two of these layers are linked with our ability to perceive edges and movement, he explains. The third, koniocellular or ‘K’ layer, is much more primitive – part of our deep evolutionary ancestry – and its function is still mysterious. “When we stopped applying a stimulus, two of the three layers ceased to respond while the K layer continued to pulse, slowly and rhythmically – like a sleeping brain.” At the suggestion of a colleague, the research team then compared the signal from the K cells to an EEG readout from the brain itself: “To our surprise and delight we found the two were marching in time,” Dr Solomon says. The observation has provided physical evidence to support a scientific theory that the more primitive parts of the brain serve as regulators for the more advanced parts, responsible for conscious thought and feelings. It could also lead to a deeper scientific understanding of the nature of sleep and unconsciousness. However an intriguing idea is that this pathway might also be used to influence the patterns of the brain itself, Prof. Martin adds. “We know this K pathway is affected by blue light. This raises the tantalising possibility that by stimulating it with light of the right wavelength you could actually alter the rhythms of the brain.” The slow theta rhythms of the brain, as seen on an EEG, are commonly associated with sleep, anaesthesia and epilepsy, he says. “Just possibly, the K cells might offer a way to use visual stimuli to alter brain rhythms – to modify sleep patterns, say, or to arrest or prevent an epileptic state. At this stage it is simply an idea flowing from our discovery – but it is well worth exploring further.” Their research is published today in a paper entitled “Slow intrinsic rhythm in the koniocellular visual pathway” by Soon Keen Cheong, Chris Tailby, Paul R. Martin, Jonathan B. Levitt and Samuel G. Solomon in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

‘Magnet’ genes up cancer risk

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

The switching off of anti-cancer genes starts with a 'tiny spelling mistake' in the DNA sequence. Image: cosmin4000/iStockphoto Medical researchers have discovered a new type of mechanism causing cancer susceptibility, showing that tiny changes in some anti-cancer genes can act as magnets to attract modifying “biochemical tags”, effectively switching them off and predisposing families to an increased risk of the disease. The study and its findings are reported in the leading international journal Cancer Cell. The researchers, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), believe a tiny spelling mistake involving a single letter in the DNA sequence near the start of the genes is what attracts the biochemical tag – known as methylation. This biochemical tag directly impacts on our DNA, by switching genes off. “Methylation sits on top of our DNA, and provides the instructions to turn the gene off,” explains study co-leader, Dr Megan Hitchins, from UNSW’s Lowy Cancer Research Centre. In one well-known cause of hereditary cancer, changes in the cancer-prevention gene MLH1 are passed from parent to child creating up to 80 percent risk of developing bowel, uterine and other cancers. However, some families with hereditary cancer have no spelling mistakes in MLH1, but instead have methylation sitting on the gene. “When the methylation attaches to the MLH1 gene in these families, it causes it to be completely switched off and as a consequence cancer develops,” says study co-leader and head of the adult cancer program at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre, Professor Robyn Ward. “But until now, we did not understand how these methylation tags were being passed from parent to child.” “In this family, biochemical tags attached to the MLH1 gene were present in all three generations. This was intriguing since these markers are usually removed during the production of eggs and sperm,” Dr Hitchins said. “What we found was that a subtle change near the gene was acting like a magnet to attract methylation. So it was not the methylation itself that was being passed from parent to child, but rather the DNA change, and this acted as a methyl magnet,” she said. The methylation was cleared away in the sperm and eggs and then recreated in each new generation, the researchers said. Professor Ward said the discovery pinpointed the cause of cancer in this family and it offered new options for genetic diagnosis, counselling and early interventions in other families at risk of hereditary cancers. The team is also exploring the use of certain drugs to clear away the methylation in cancer to switch the anti-cancer genes back on again. In the future these drugs may be used to create a more targeted approach to cancer treatment and possibly prevention. Other researchers involved in this study were the Genetic Services of Western Australia and School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia.

Key Mechanism That Regulates Shape and Growth of Plants Discovered

Arabidopsis. Researchers have discovered a key mechanism that -- much like a construction site foreperson -- controls the direction of plant growth as well as the physical properties of the biopolymers that plants produce. (Credit: © Vasiliy Koval / Fotolia)

Science Daily — UBC researchers have discovered a key mechanism that -- much like a construction site foreperson -- controls the direction of plant growth as well as the physical properties of the biopolymers that plants produce. The finding is a major clue in a 50-year-long quest to explain how plants coordinate the behaviour of millions of cells as they grow upward to compete for light, penetrate soil to obtain nutrients and water, and even open petals to flower.

"These are tiny multipurpose cylinders that grow, shrink and self-organize to transport cargo, capture and position large structures such as chromosomes, and establish the shape of cells. But we haven't been able to determine how these tiny microtubules are organized into scaffolds in the first place.""We've known for decades that structures in plants called microtubules act as scaffolding to define the direction of cell expansion," says Professor Geoffrey Wasteneys, a UBC botanist and Canada Research Chair in Plant Cell Biology.

An interdisciplinary team of plant cell biologists and mathematicians led by Wasteneys discovered that the inherent geometry of the cell itself plays an important role in the self-organization of microtubules into parallel arrays that guide cell growth and division. They also identified that a protein called CLASP plays a key role as a foreperson, modulating the geometric constraints of the cell.

Their findings will be published in the August 16 issue of the journal Nature Communications.

The research team used a specialized microscope that collects 3D images of plant components genetically engineered to fluoresce when irradiated with specially filtered light. They observed a striking difference in the way microtubules were arranged in normal plants compared to those of a dwarf mutant that fails to produce CLASP.

"Paradoxically, the microtubules appeared to be better organized in the severely stunted mutant plants than they were in the non-mutant plants," says Chris Ambrose, the post-doctoral fellow in Wasteneys' lab whose observations led to the discovery. "By examining how microtubules behave at the sharp edges between adjacent cell faces, we noticed that in the mutant, microtubules would grow into the edges and then undergo catastrophic disassembly. In the non-mutant plants containing the CLASP protein, microtubules would easily bend through 90 degrees and continue growing on the adjacent cell face upon encountering an edge."

Ambrose and Wasteneys then joined forces with UBC mathematicians Eric Cytrynbaum and Jun Allard to run three-dimensional computer simulations to test the ideas that emerged from imaging the living plant cells.

The researchers found that the simulations, which typically take about a day to run on a super computer, closely recapitulated the microtubule patterns observed in living cells.

"Simulation after simulation showed us that microtubules would form parallel arrays in the same patterns seen in living cells," says Allard, now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis. "We confirmed that the self-organization depends on the extrinsic cues from the cellular geometry, and that the presence of the CLASP protein along select edges modified the pattern dramatically."

The finding may also be relevant to the burgeoning interest in stem cell biology in the biomedical research field. "Microtubules and the CLASP protein are common to all cell types in plants animals, fungi and many unicellular organisms," says Wasteneys. "So what we find out about their behaviour in plant cells is relevant to understanding their function in cells types as diverse as neurons and disease-causing protozoans."

The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation

Possibility of Temporarily Reversing Aging in the Immune System

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism controlling aging in white blood cells. The research opens up the possibility of temporarily reversing the effects of aging on immunity and could, in the future, allow for the short-term boosting of the immune systems of older people. (Credit: © nyul / Fotolia)

Science Daily — Researchers have discovered a new mechanism controlling aging in white blood cells. The research, published in the September issue of the Journal of Immunology, opens up the possibility of temporarily reversing the effects of aging on immunity and could, in the future, allow for the short-term boosting of the immune systems of older people.

Professor Arne Akbar of UCL (University College London), who led this research, explains "Our immune systems get progressively weaker as we age because each time we recover from an infection a proportion of our white blood cells become deactivated. This is an important process that has probably evolved to prevent certain cancers, but as the proportion of inactive cells builds up over time our defenses become weakened.Weakened immunity is a serious issue for older people. Because our immune systems become less effective as we age we suffer from more infections and these are often more severe. This takes a serious toll on health and quality of life."What this research shows is that some of these cells are being actively switched off in our bodies by a mechanism which hadn't been identified before as important in aging in the immune system. Whilst we wouldn't want to reactivate these cells permanently, we have an idea now of how to wake them from their slumber temporarily, just to give the immune system a little boost."Until now, aging in immune cells was thought to be largely determined by the length of special caps on the ends of our DNA. These caps, called telomeres, get shorter each time a white blood cell multiplies until, when they get too short, the cell gets permanently deactivated. This means that our immune cells have a built-in lifespan of effectiveness and, as we live longer, this no longer long enough to provide us protection into old age.However when Professor Akbar's team took some blood samples and looked closely at the white blood cells they saw that some were inactive and yet had long telomeres. This told the researchers that there must be another mechanism in the immune system causing cells to become deactivated that was independent of telomere length.Professor Akbar continues "Finding that these inactive cells had long telomeres was really exciting as it meant that they might not be permanently deactivated. It was like a football manager finding out that some star players who everyone thought had retired for good could be coaxed back to play in one last important game."When the researchers blocked this newly identified pathway in the lab they found that the white blood cells appeared to be reactivated. Medicines which block this pathway are already being developed and tested for use in other treatments so the next step in this research is to explore further whether white blood cells could be reactivated in older people, and what benefits this could bring.

Professor Akbar continues "This research opens up the exciting possibility of giving older people's immune systems a temporary boost to help them fight off infections, but this is not a fountain of eternal youth. It is perfectly normal for our immune systems to become less effective and there are good evolutionary reasons for this. We're a long way from having enough understanding of aging to consider permanently rejuvenating white blood cells, if it is even possible."

Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, said: "This is a fantastic example of the value of deepening our understanding of fundamental cell biology. This work has discovered a new and unforeseen process controlling how our immune systems change as we get older. Also, by exploring in detail how our cells work, it has opened up the prospect of helping older people's immune systems using medicines that are already being tested and developed. By increasing the incidence and severity of infection, weakened immunity seriously damages the health and quality of life of older people so this research is very valuable."

This research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

Major Breakthrough On How Viruses Infect Plants

Tobacco plants affected by the virus and resistant to it. (Credit: Carl Davies CSIRO)

Science Daily — CSIRO plant scientists have shed light on a problem that has puzzled researchers since the first virus was discovered in 1892 -- how exactly do they cause disease?

"Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) is a common, destructive virus that affects a wide range of food crops and ornamental plants," Dr Wang said.In a major breakthrough that helps us better understand how viruses cause diseases in plants -- and potentially in animals and humans -- Dr Ming-Bo Wang and Neil Smith of CSIRO Plant Industry have revealed a genetic mechanism that enables viral organisms to infect hosts and cause diseases.

"What we found was that CMV, accompanied by a special type of viral particle called a 'satellite', causes its distinctive yellowing symptoms in plants by slicing a gene that makes chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves. By preventing the production of chlorophyll, the virus causes the leaves to become partially or entirely yellowed which dramatically affects growth and productivity."

Importantly, Dr Wang and Mr Smith determined the exact gene affected by this virus -- a gene called CHL1.

"Pinpointing this gene represents a major step forward in understanding exactly how some viruses cause disease symptoms in susceptible organisms," Dr Wang said.

Until recently, scientists did not fully understand why viruses only affected a small range of host organisms. This discovery shows that the accompanying satellite gene of CMV must directly match the host plant's genes to cause the yellowing disease.

When the viral satellite's genes match the host plant's genes, the satellite genes 'lock' onto and slice the host's genes, preventing the host from forming green chlorophyll pigment.

"Think of it as like doing up a zipper on your jacket -- two opposing but different sections have to come together for it to work," Dr Wang said.

"So one half of the 'zipper' genes come from the virus and the other half of the genes from the host, and when they match up the virus causes disease."

This finding means researchers can focus on finding genes in viruses that match known genetic sequences in plants, and this can help to reveal the cause of diseases by other viruses.

Knowing how CMV causes symptoms, Dr Wang and Mr Smith also experimented to see if they could block the viral disease in plants. They created specially altered plants with an extra copy of the chlorophyll-producing gene. This gene had been changed so that it no longer matched the viral gene, allowing the plants to produce the green chlorophyll pigment.

Remarkably, this small change in genetic makeup prevented the plants from becoming yellow and diseased but did not change any other aspects of the plants' growth, habit or form.

This research was funded by CSIRO and the Australian Research Council (ARC) and will be presented at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne, 23-30 July 2011.

Holograms Reveal Brain's Inner Workings: Microscopy Technique Used to Observe Activity of Neurons Like Never Before

This is a 3-D image of living neuron taken by DHM technology. (Credit: Courtesy of Lyncée Tec)

Science Daily  — Like far away galaxies, powerful tools are required to bring the minute inner workings of neurons into focus. Borrowing a technique from materials science, a team of neurobiologists, psychiatrists, and advanced imaging specialists from Switzerland's EPLF and CHUV report in The Journal of Neuroscience how Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM) can now be used to observe neuronal activity in real-time and in three dimensions -- with up to 50 times greater resolution than ever before. The application has immense potential for testing out new drugs to fight neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

"DHM is a fundamentally novel application for studying neurons with a slew of advantages over traditional microscopes," explains Pierre Magistretti of EPFL's Brain Mind Institute and a lead author of the paper. "It is non-invasive, allowing for extended observation of neural processes without the need for electrodes or dyes that damage cells."Neurons come in various shapes and are transparent. To observe them in a Petri dish, scientists use florescent dyes that change the chemical composition and can skew results. Additionally, this technique is time consuming, often damages the cells, and only allows researchers to examine a few neurons at a time. But these newly published results show how DHM can bypass the limitations of existing techniques.

Senior team member Pierre Marquet adds, "DHM gives precious information not only about the shape of neurons, but also about their dynamics and activity, and the technique creates 3D navigable images and increases the precision from 500 nanometers in traditional microscopes to a scale of 10 nanometers."

A good way to understand how DHM works is to imagine a large rock in an ocean of perfectly regular waves. As the waves deform around the rock and come out the other side, they carry information about the rock's shape. This information can be extracted by comparing it to waves that did not smash up against the rock, and an image of the rock can be reconstructed. DHM does this with a laser beam by pointing a single wavelength at an object, collecting the distorted wave on the other side, and comparing it to a reference beam. A computer then numerically reconstructs a 3D image of the object -- in this case neurons -- using an algorithm developed by the authors. In addition, the laser beam travels through the transparent cells and important information about their internal composition is obtained.

Normally applied to detect minute defects in materials, Magistretti, along with DHM pioneer and EPFL professor in the Advanced Photonics Laboratory, Christian Depeursinge, decided to use DHM for neurobiological applications. In the study, their group induced an electric charge in a culture of neurons using glutamate, the main neurotransmitter in the brain. This charge transfer carries water inside the neurons and changes their optical properties in a way that can be detected only by DHM. Thus, the technique accurately visualizes the electrical activities of hundreds of neurons simultaneously, in real-time, without damaging them with electrodes, which can only record activity from a few neurons at a time.

A major advance for pharmaceutical research

Without the need to introduce dyes or electrodes, DHM can be applied to High Content Screening -- the screening of thousands of new pharmacological molecules. This advance has important ramifications for the discovery of new drugs that combat or prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, since new molecules can be tested more quickly and in greater numbers.

"Due to the technique's precision, speed, and lack of invasiveness, it is possible to track minute changes in neuron properties in relation to an applied test drug and allow for a better understanding of what is happening, especially in predicting neuronal death," Magistretti says. "What normally would take 12 hours in the lab can now be done in 15 to 30 minutes, greatly decreasing the time it takes for researchers to know if a drug is effective or not."

The promise of this technique for High Content Screening has already resulted in a start-up company at EPFL called LynceeTec (www.lynceetec.com

This Thorn In My Side

“Your business is to elevate yourself to perfect Krishna consciousness and nothing more. If you deviate from this law, if you don't accept this principle, if you want to enjoy more, then you have to suffer more.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System, Ch 9) The big game is on tonight. You’re really excited to watch it. The team you can’t stand might lose, so this makes your anticipation increase even more. You can’t wait to get your work for the day done beforehand so you can sit down, relax and enjoy the thrill that comes from watching sporting events. Though the matchups are broken down on paper and the commentators give their analysis and predictions, the games never pan out the way they should. This brings an air of uncertainty to every game, the potential for a desired outcome to happen. When the time arrives, you watch the game, and though it seems like the team you hated would lose, they come back to win in the end. Now you are dejected. “I can’t believe they won. This stinks.” Yet with this trivial experience comes the potential for learning a great lesson. The distresses that we encounter on a daily basis are actually rooted in our desires not related to the interests of the soul. There is only one business for the human being, and anything done outside of this scope eventually results in misery. Those who notice the pattern can make progress in fulfilling the mission of life. To see the same concept in a larger scope, let’s say that we want to grow some crops in a field that we have. The crop can be anything, even something as simple as a rosebush. The first step is planting the seed, putting the potential crop into the ground. The wonders of nature are too great to count. Who would have ever thought you could get a fully blossoming tree just by placing a tiny object into the earth? Yet this is precisely what happens when the seed is planted and regularly maintained. With the maturation comes the desired object, the fruit of your labor. You now have the nice rosebush that you wanted. However, to traverse through the field that was previously barren and now filled with flowering objects, you must watch out for the thorns in the bushes that resulted from your hard work. To reap the fruits you have to suffer so much, you have to withstand every thorn that tears into your sides and causes you to bleed. Fruitive activity, or karma, works this way every time, even if we don’t notice the pattern. The desire for sex life carries the result of a newborn child, who must be taken care of for at least the first eighteen years of its life. Can we imagine taking on a full-time job that doesn’t end until eighteen years later? This is a lot of pressure to assume, so in this respect parents deserve the highest praise and sympathy for their hard work and dedication. At the same time, the responsibility came about through a planted seed, which was rooted in a desire. The joy of watching your children grow up is tempered by the constant worry over their future health and safety. In the end, you’re left with an empty house and a lot more hair lost over the stress applied to the body and mind over the many years of care. “The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.9) The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, are unique in that they provide detailed guidelines on how to live during every stage of life. These recommendations are tied together to meet the ultimate mission in life, that of becoming God conscious by the time of death. As soon as there is birth, death is guaranteed. Since we don’t know the exact date of the soul’s future exit from the body, the event tends to get overlooked. Regardless of our acceptance of its inevitability, death will occur. Therefore the wise and the fortunate live their lives in just the right way to guarantee that their consciousness will be situated on the permanent while exiting the body. One must be both intelligent and lucky to have this happen, for mental scholarship will not be able to conjure up the need to remember God, as thinking power is limited by time and space. Since the Supreme Lord is sanatana, or eternal, there is no way for the mind to realize His properties on its own. One must be fortunate enough to accept the dust of the lotus feet of someone who was previously fortunate enough to approach a spiritual master, a teacher following a line of instruction descending from the original Person Himself. Thinking of that which is permanent, or sat, is difficult when the entire time on earth is spent in the association of asat, or the nonpermanent. The spirit soul is fixed in its position, but when it seeks enjoyment through the senses and association with matter, consciousness drifts further and further away from God. It is not that enjoyment should be denied or that activities required for the maintenance of the body should be ignored. Everyone gets their allotment of fortune from material nature, which makes these measurements based off past karma, or activities performed for a desired result. The key is to not overstep your bounds; otherwise the thorns will increase in number and so will the bleeding caused by the puncturing of the sides. The need for moderation in ambition shouldn’t be very difficult to understand. Greed is generally frowned upon in any civilized society. Greed is rooted in desires that are never fully satisfied. The animal kingdom, which is much less intelligent than the human community, doesn’t even have this defect in them. If there is a large collection of food somewhere, the animal will come and take what it needs. It will not think, “Let me grab as much as possible before the other animals come. Let me store this somewhere so that I never have to worry about food.” In the human community, hoarding is very common. From something as simple as downloading heaps of music and movies illegally to more involved practices like buying excess land to extend the reach of ownership, greed can take over the otherwise sober mind. Greed should be avoided because it does not lead to any benefit. If we have every single album of music ever produced, are we any better off? There are only a certain number of hours in a given day. Hence there is no way that the music hoarder will be able to listen to all of the songs they have collected. Similarly, the wealthy man can only enjoy so much. The rows of expensive cars he has in his garage will likely sit idly for the rest of his life, thereby serving as unused furniture more than anything else. Greed can only arise when the proper destination for the soul is not known. When desires are successfully met, the resulting happiness is short-lived. Therefore new desires must crop up. The mind has a difficult time remembering the labor that went into the previous work and also the fact that the newly met desires will fail to provide happiness in the same way that the just met desires did. But if we are fortunate enough to take up bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, peace and calm can be found very quickly. Yoga studios are popular today because they teach a method of exercise that bears no resemblance to anything else. Yoga means “plus”, or “addition”, so it is really a spiritual activity. When the influence of the senses is too strong, a person can sit in quiet meditation and contemplate on the expansion of the Supreme Lord residing within the heart. This expansion is known as the Supersoul, or Paramatma. Anyone who is able to successfully practice yoga through this method will diminish the influence of their senses, and thereby gain tremendous health benefits. In today’s fast paced world, the interest in yoga focuses primarily on the ancillary results, with the main purpose of the discipline ignored. Nevertheless, yoga practice will still have some benefits; hence its popularity. But if you break down the practice even further, you see that peace, calm, and control over emotions and the senses are required. Even if a person does yoga for an hour a day, they at least get to have some escape from the seeds of desire that continually sprout up. If we take the same principles of yoga and apply them perfectly, the benefits are further enhanced. With bhakti-yoga, the same concentration and focus is there, but the target of thought is the Supreme Lord. Instead of sitting in different postures that can be difficult to perfect, one simply has to chant, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. It is best to chant this out loud with friends and family, but even reciting it to oneself on a set of japa beads is highly effective. If the same yoga studios were filled with instructors reciting the maha-mantra and getting their students to follow along, there is no question that peace would no longer be a scarce commodity. This is a bold assertion, but its validity lies in the potency of the names recited. Krishna and Rama are Sanskrit words that describe the Supreme Absolute Truth’s features of all-attractiveness and having the ability to give transcendental pleasure to His devotees. The young girl in school who has a crush on a classmate will write the boy’s name many times on a piece of paper and draw hearts around it, and the boy will similarly derive pleasure from thinking of his beloved’s name. Since the spirit soul is naturally a lover of God, the more times a living entity can recite God’s name in a loving way, the more their consciousness will be purified. If on a hot summer day we were to turn on the fan in the room, we would feel some relief from the scorching heat. But a fan has limitations because it can only cool the area that is directly in contact with its airflow. Moreover, once the fan turns off, the room returns to being as hot as it was previously. With an air conditioner, however, the entire room cools, even if the occupants aren’t in the direct line of the machine’s output of air. Even when the machine is turned off, the room stays cool for a considerable period of time. The benefits of bhakti-yoga, and especially chanting the holy names of the Lord, can be thought of in the same way. Prayer, meditation on void, and even study of the differences between matter and spirit can be beneficial for the time of the engagement, but only bhakti keeps the benefits rolling in. Bhakti’s aim is to change consciousness, which represents the predominant thought processes of the mind, so its practices have lasting effects. “He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady both in success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 4.22) For misery coming from fruitive activity, the seeds of desire are actually the root cause of the distress. These take birth within the mind, which constantly works, irrespective of what the body may be doing. If somehow or other we can learn to control the mind, to keep it focused on something beautiful and bliss-evoking, then the unwanted seeds can be eliminated. This is precisely what occurs with devotional service. Therefore it is not surprising to hear Lord Chaitanya declare that the living entity’s original form, orsvarupa, is that of devotee of Krishna. God is God; He is not sectarian or the exclusive property of anyone. Thus chanting His name is open to every single person. Yoga practice may be difficult to perfect, but chanting is not hard at all. Even a child can do it. Bhakti-yoga plants seeds of spiritual desires, hankerings to please Krishna, see His wonderful face, and hear His glories throughout the day. The plants that grow from these seeds are thus free of thorns. The fruits on the desire tree that is Shri Krishna’s holy name only carry positive consequences.