At this scale, so large and so small, there are no expectations. MICHELLE THALLER: Everything about you has been here for the entirety of time, and everything that you are will utterly vanish in the blink of an eye. No telescopes, small or giant, needed. Often, I feel overwhelmed with even my small, limited perception of the larger universe and my deep connection to it. The nighttime sky has long been a source of awe and wonder. For nearly my entire life, I have felt lonely.
,A state lab in Russia's Siberia is beginning research into prehistoric viruses preserved in the remains of animals found in melting permafrost.
Spearheaded by the Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology and the University of Yakutsk, the study will start by analyzing tissues from a prehistoric horse from at least 4,500 ago. And I’m sure that Michelle would agree. Birth and death bonded together cheek to jowl, so tightly that one leaks into the other, across a galaxy. With some time to spare, I go outside to walk around the dome, scan the sky for any approaching weather, and honestly, just enjoy the moment with the unaltered night sky. GUNATILLAKE: The nighttime sky has long been a source of awe and wonder. From this vantage point, every single thing you’ve thought, felt, or known has arisen within this human experience of ours. Jump to. Meeting the world. That’s all you need to do to feel its effect. We are a part of it all the same. It’s an example of lost technology, not unlike the Pyramids or Stonehenge. For Northwell Health president and CEO Michael Dowling, having an Ivy League degree and a large office is not what makes a leader. A universal fact: every atom of iron, from the metal in your cooking pans to the tiny mineral reserves in your blood that turn it red, is formed in a moment of death. Part of that vastness. I walk back through the woods and look back up at the sky, I feel unequal to the task of even trying to understand what that means. Begin by picturing yourself in the space that you’re in. You can just let go. I’m Rohan, and I’ll be your guide for Meditative Story. In today’s episode, Michelle takes us up to the heavens, to consider our significance and connectedness in a universe whose scale means that human life is almost imperceptible. For those who haven't heard of it, it is a series that combines guided mindfulness meditation with a well-told story about a transformative experience in someone's life. The oceans, the land masses, the weather systems. Perhaps as one of those top-down aerial shots. Facebook. This is also the universe trying to know itself; there is nothing less perfect about your real, authentic self, no matter your expectations. How to go about doing that is another problem. The universe doesn’t care about the definitions, limitations, and expectations you’ve put on yourself. If you can’t – and it’s safe to do so – just look up at the space above you. Everything about you has been here for the entirety of time, and everything that you are will utterly vanish in the blink of an eye. The actual moment of death for a giant star is one of the few things in the sky that actually happens quickly, to a human sensibility: they explode violently in what we call a supernova explosion. Some atoms in my body were formed, literally, a hundred thousand trillion miles away from where I sit tonight. If that doesn't cause anxiety, nothing will. That might be fun. Of course, even an astronomer can be overwhelmed by the cosmos. THALLER: With some time to spare, I go outside to walk around the dome, scan the sky for any approaching weather, and honestly, just enjoy the moment with the unaltered night sky. Either way, just stay inside the story. That is what I am. And we are a consequence of this cycle.
On the other hand, she added, if you look at a grain of sand, you "can see that most of it is made up of silicates, but it's also got little patches of carbon in it—and that carbon is extra-terrestrial, because it also contains nitrogen and hydrogen, which is not a terrestrial signature. Everything about you has been here for the entirety of time, and everything that you are will utterly vanish in the blink of an eye. Besides Thaller, plenty of other thinkers have looked up at the heavens, considered how small we are compared to it, and written about the anxiety it can produce. And if you can’t right now, that’s totally fine, the practice will still work for you, but you might want to try it again at a time when you can be still with eyes closed. To be so significant and yet so insignificant all at once is the essence and the balance of what it means to be alive. Join Facebook to connect with Michelle Thaler and others you may know. NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller explains the size of the universe. See more of Michelle Thaller on Facebook Lovecraft used the vast, uncaring cosmos as a source of horror and madness in his stories. And I am alive. Even now, when I’ve spent decades learning the physics of the hot gases in their interiors, doing the math to calculate their orbits, I still go outside just to look at them with my own eyes. All of this is happening in your awareness. Others, perhaps not so much. I crave connection and intimacy. But coronaviruses can circulate more widely in the animal kingdom, and within it scientists have identified hundreds of unique strains.
Some animals can become infected with multiple coronaviruses at the same time. To be so significant and yet so insignificant all at once is the essence and the balance of what it means to be alive. Notice how not a single thing arises outside of your experience. Email or Phone: Password: Forgot account? Is AI a species-level threat to humanity? I have no memory of when this started – and now I have no idea what it would be like to experience a single moment of my life without it. I have no memory of when this started – and now I have no idea what it would be like to experience a single moment of my life without it. What might it be like to not be judged at all? Sign Up. The thing that Carl Sagan did better than anybody else was connecting to the science through emotion and stories, says NASA's Michelle Thaller. THALLER: There is another amazing secret that even today, scientists are teasing out of the universe. Every Meditative Story ends in a closing meditation from our host, Rohan. At this scale, so large and so small, there are no expectations. For more than 100 years now, going back to the work of Albert Einstein, we have begun to understand that time is not a progression, not a river that runs in one direction. Anything you can imagine as being outside of it, including the vast magnitudes of space, arises as a thought within this experience.
So, in which animal species might the next novel coronavirus originate through recombination?
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, Sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies. This goes on around us every night, every day, every hour. Part of that vastness. Facebook. I am vast. This is an incredible thing to know, and it remains my favorite single fact. From the right perspective (and yes, unfortunately one that three-dimensional creatures like us can’t see), all of time would be laid out before you, every instant that has ever existed or ever will exist. And I’m soaked to the core of my existence in death; unimaginably vast death. And as you relax, let your attention settle on the inner cinema screen of your mind, the screen of your imagination. 739 Followers, 282 Following, 0 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Michelle Thaller (@michellethaller) And at the same time grounded, connected to the earth. His characters often find themselves face to face with the cosmic insignificance of humanity and rarely come out of it whole. For more than 100 years now, going back to the work of Albert Einstein, we have begun to understand that time is not a progression, not a river that runs in one direction. These remains were located in the region of Siberia called Yakutia, where Paleolithic animals like mammoths are often found.Other prehistoric animals the researchers aim to study include elk, dogs, partridges, hares, rodents, the 28,800 year old Malolyakhovsky woolly mammoth and more. Yes, and it can help you deal with regular anxiety, too, as David Goleman explains in this clip. We love citing the big names in science: Einstein. I think of that when contemplating love and loss; it helps me, honestly just a little, but it does help me, to deal with the fear and loneliness that are as much a part of my life as breath. We are a part of it all the same. To be so significant and yet so insignificant all at once is the essence and the balance of what it means to be alive. Now allow the picture to expand to include your city. I became more and more stressed, then pushed harder and harder, until it all came crashing down and I had to, for the first time in my life, actually listen to my feelings. While it might just have the right conditions for life, does this moon have little octopus E.T.s swimming about? You can just let go. You are part of it just by existing. All the animals were found because of the thawing permafrost.
,One might wonder if this kind of research is in some way's opening a Pandora's box to ancient viruses, but this it not the first time such viruses have been studied. Future studies will tell. Michelle Thaller. I constantly yearn to feel accepted, be part of a family. Who hasn't looked up at the night sky and felt small? Sign Up. Dr. Michelle Lynn Thaller was born on November 28, 1969, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Made of it even. They’ve always felt like old friends, and they make me feel safe. Even the path to Palomar feels like a journey away from the mundane world. But for as long as I can remember, there’s one place I don’t feel lonely: under a clear, star-filled sky. I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.". Imagine the setting, the layout. Labels put there by others, or by ourselves. Michelle takes you there. "
Where would the creatures live on this moon of Jupiter? A new study suggests that hundreds of animal species may harbor multiple types of coronaviruses, meaning recombination events could be more likely than previously thought. Now. Switchback roads that never fail to disorient me and make me a little seasick, a desert that gives way to tall trees and far vistas around each turn. Ok. "
,As for Europa, it has certainly figured in conversations about alien life previously. Somewhere below the very thick layer of ice, which goes 15 miles deep in some places. GUNATILLAKE: How settled do you feel right now? We are a part of it all the same. Now allow your mind’s eye to move out even further, all the way to the point where you’re taking in the whole of the Milky Way galaxy. All Right Reserved – Terms & Conditions – Privacy PolicyBuilt on Wordpress. The body relaxed. The death of entire solar systems ripping themselves apart gives us all life. Michelle Thaller Dr. Michelle Thaller is an astronomer who studies binary stars and the life cycles of stars. During this whole thought experiment, every single thing you’ve imagined has been in your mind. "We will be able to determine the epidemiological potential of currently existing infectious agents. Everything about you has been here for the entirety of time, and everything that you are will utterly vanish in the blink of an eye. My mother told me she used to find me, barely able to walk, trying to go outside and look at the stars. I ask the woman working that night how many supernovas she’s found so far. In a few hours. Don’t let this be another way to judge yourself. These feelings have led me to try to hold on to people too fiercely, fall in love too quickly, fear change too intensely. As settled as Michelle, ready for her long night observing the heavens? Not everyone has seen this vastness as a good or even neutral thing though. She then discusses the joy she finds in looking at the heavens by describing a typical night at the observatory: "I walk back through the woods and look back up at the sky, I feel unequal to the task of even trying to understand what that means. I would not be standing here, looking up at the sky, had not generations of stars lived and died to bring me here, to this moment. See more of Michelle Thaller on Facebook They could be getting water from the ice buried deep down. Your senses open. I wouldn't be here tonight had many millions of stars not died before.