Podcasts about Scientific Reports

Why do we smoke honey bees—and how much smoke do they really need? In this installment of his Bee Science mini-series on Beekeeping Today, Dr. Dewey Caron sends an audio postcard from Portland, Oregon, during a wildfire smoke advisory. He uses the smoky skies as a starting point for a discussion of the beekeeper's smoker, the behavior of honey bees, and the challenges wildfire brings to the bee yard. Dewey's central message about smoker use is simple: use it sparingly. He walks through lighting a smoker, choosing fuel that produces cool, white smoke, keeping it working throughout an inspection, and directing smoke where it helps move bees away from fingers and hive equipment. He also describes ways to reduce unnecessary disturbance as frames are removed and the colony is closed. The conversation then turns to what smoke actually does. Dewey explains why he describes smoke as changing bee behavior rather than simply calming bees. He discusses alarm odor, bees retreating from smoke, and honey-stomach filling, while identifying the proposed wildfire escape response as a theory. Liquid smoke, water, sugar water, and inspections without a smoker each get a look, along with their limitations. Wildfire smoke raises a different set of questions. Dewey reflects on Oregon's 2020 fires, threats to apiaries, and the difficulties of caring for surviving colonies. He discusses native bee nesting habitat, changes in post-fire forage, and how smoky skies can interfere with the polarized-light patterns honey bees use to navigate. He also considers research on ash exposure and emphasizes how much remains unknown about its effects on flower visitors. To close, Dewey offers ten points covering smoker safety, inspection decisions, evacuation preparedness, defensible space, supplemental feeding, clean water, documentation, and habitat recovery. Throughout, the emphasis is on thoughtful smoker use and avoiding additional stress on colonies during smoke events. Notes and references: Reynolds, Kamon. What is best bee smoker fuel? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_vqphnp04w Garvey, K.K. 2020. The Bee People, The Bees, and The Fires. UCANR Bug Squad. https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/bee-people-bees-and-fires Andony Melathopoulos, Brooke Edmunds and Jim Rivers. Reviewed 2024. How do Wildfires affect bees?  https://extension.oregonstate.edu/forests/fire/how-do-wildfires-affect-bee Tan, Y.Q., Dion, E. and Monteiro, A., 2018. Haze smoke impacts survival and development of butterflies. Scientific Reports, 8(1), pp.1-10. Detweiler, A.J. and Fitzgerald, S.A., 2006. Fire-resistant plants for home landscapes: Selecting plants that may reduce your risk from wildfire. OSU Extension Catalog PNW 590 Evangelista, C., Kraft, P., Dacke, M., Labhart, T. and Srinivasan, M.V., 2014. Honeybee navigation: critically examining the role of the polarization compass. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1636), p.20130037. ______________ Brought to you by Betterbee – your partners in better beekeeping.   Betterbee is the presenting sponsor of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Faraday by BeGun; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Wedding Day by Boomer; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; Red Jack Blues by Daniel Hart; Bolero de la Fontero  by Rimsky Music; Perfect Sky by Graceful Movement; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott. Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC ** As an Amazon Associate, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

What shapes us more: our DNA or the way we're raised? The “nature” camp points to genetic research and studies of twins raised apart, arguing that traits from personality to abilities are strongly influenced by inherited biology, limiting how much parenting can shape who children become. The “nurture” camp argues upbringing, culture, and parental choices profoundly influence development and behavior. So which matters more? This ethical conundrum is at the crux of this week's debate, originally broadcast in November 2019 ARGUING YES:  Robert Plomin, Professor of Behavioral Genetics at King's College London  Nancy Segal, Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton and Director at the Twin Studies Center  ARGUING NO:  Paige Harden, Psychology Professor at the University of Texas  Ann Pleshette Murphy, Author & Parenting Expert  Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates  Recent twin studies: ⁠Parenting in Childhood Predicts Personality in Early Adulthood: A Longitudinal Twin-Differences Study⁠ (APA, 2025) ⁠Genetics of monozygotic twins reveals the impact of environmental sensitivity on psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes⁠ (Nature Human Behavior, 2025) ⁠Longitudinal associations between cognitive ability and socioeconomic status are partially genetic in Nature⁠ (Scientific Reports, 2026) Join the conversation on Substack—share your perspective on this episode and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated insights from our debaters, moderators, and staff.  Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and TikTok to stay connected with our mission and ongoing debates.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

En Diez Capital Radio, Hugo Luengo impulsa un espacio orientado a la reflexión y al pensamiento crítico, articulado desde una perspectiva analítica y rigurosa, deliberadamente alejada de las simplificaciones habituales. Tormentas de verano - por Hugo Luengo Recogemos algunas tormentas de este verano de desconcierto. Sobrevaloradas por falta de noticias o abordadas sin resultados visibles a corto plazo. De fondo el anuncio de un final de etapa nacional, con cambio de ciclo político en Ceuta. Aumenta la desconfianza de las fuerzas políticas y de los ciudadanos, que ven cómo se levantan muros al interno, mientras se deja abierto el muro de la soberanía de España y de la UE, frontera sur ante África. Es curiosa la distorsión noticiosa de los «tiempos geológicos» de los volcanes. Que sitúan a nuestro Teide, conforme al estudio publicado en Scientific Reports, con participación de Involcan, la UCM, el ITER y el IVAR portugués, que mediante tomografía sísmica describen el gran almacén de magma, de varios KM cúbicos, bajo el «Pico Viejo» del Teide. Una zona de alta probabilidad de sismicidad y volcanismo, cuyos tiempos geológicos son largos e imprevisibles. Pero nos hacen temblar. Otra tormenta veraniega desde el Ayuntamiento de Adeje, para eliminar el mayor asentamiento ilegal de la isla, en coordinación con el Gobierno de Canarias y las cuatro policías. En el Puertito de Adeje, colindante con la urbanización de lujo «Cuna del Alma», poblado ilegal donde viven unas 500 personas, sobre suelos protegidos y rústicos, incluso sobre la franja marítimo-terrestre. Actuación compleja, donde asumen atender la vulnerabilidad habitacional y suprimir el fenómeno de segundas residencias y formas de vida alternativa. Fenómeno extendido entre Granadilla y Adeje con no menos de 4.000 okupas, muchos de origen italiano y alemán, donde en sus países serían puestos en frontera. Se agrupan en tribus nacionales y ofrecen por internet el alquiler de cueva o caseta, a 10-12 euros cama día. Pretender mantener Adeje, una de las mejores marcas turísticas de Canarias, «Costa Adeje», implica recuperar la legalidad y seguridad jurídica y en este caso también la física. Nos anuncian que los «barrancos se desbordan», colocando a Santa Cruz como punto negro de las inundaciones de la isla. Todos estos fenómenos deben ser atendidos desde la prevención, conocido el nuevo mapa de riesgos de Tenerife, con medios económicos que se anticipen al conflicto. Al igual que con las políticas forestales y con las redes integrales de saneamiento y del ciclo del agua. Prevenir no curar. Otra tormenta de verano con el Tenerife en la «liga nacional de segunda división», que empezó líder y en la tercera jornada va el sexto con seis puntos. Razón y pasión futbolera, en uno de los escasos escenarios donde ésta es «políticamente correcta». Como pudimos ver en el Mundial 2026, ganando bajo una única bandera sin complejos, pero con himno acomplejado sin letra. Y de aquí a la tormenta de Ceuta, que ha abierto las distancias entre el ciudadano que detenta la soberanía y el gobierno que se ausenta de ella. En encuesta de Sigma Dos, el 82% opina que el presidente no hace lo suficiente por Ceuta. El 90% piensa que Marruecos está implicado, organizó la marcha y abrió las puertas. El 73% apoya la devolución de los MENAS y de la totalidad de invasores ilegales. La mayoría opina que España no es solidaria con Ceuta y en el Mundial de Fútbol 2030, con España, Portugal y Marruecos, el 84,4% propone dejarlo fuera. De manera que la inmigración ha pasado a ser el primer problema país. Violación de soberanía de Ceuta, que lo es de España, de la UE y de la historia. Donde 22 países están en contra de la ilegal «Ley de Nietos» y del caos de Ceuta, que dejan abierto el espacio común «Schengen». Distopía gubernativa, con una política de apaciguamiento exculpatoria del socio desleal marroquí. Dos monarquías en conflicto, la de Mohamed VI, «constitucionalista» donde nada se mueve sin su consentimiento y la «parlamentaria» de Felipe VI, atrapado por un gobierno desleal que niega a su Jefe de Estado, símbolo de unidad e independencia, a personarse en Ceuta donde le reclaman sus ciudadanos. La frontera militar del sur de la UE la protege el mando funcional de Canarias, desde la Capitanía de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, MCANA al mando del teniente general Julio Salom Herrera (2022), desde Menorca a El Hierro, mando operativo territorial de Canarias, Ceuta, Melilla y Baleares, un frente de 3500 km, casi tan largo como el Mediterráneo, con 3700 km. Canarias además ocupa una Zona Exclusiva Económica, que en su despliegue ocuparía en torno al millón de km cuadrados. La solidez de la frontera militar Sur, que lo es de la UE, equilibra nuestra posición con Marruecos y en África. Ceuta desequilibra Canarias, enfrentada a la inmigración de un Sahel descontrolado.

REBEL Rundown Key Points Attention is a finite resource. Emergency medicine heavily taxes directed attention through interruptions, task switching, threat monitoring, and constant high-stakes decisions. Nature gives directed attention a chance to recover. Natural environments engage “soft fascination”. That's referring to the effortless, bottom-up attention- which allows our effortful, goal-directed attention systems to rest and recharge.  Nature helps downshift the stress response and may reduce stress physiology, support parasympathetic activity, improve mood, and potentially improve emotional regulation. Exposure can be brief to reset: even a 40-second view of greenery was associated with improved sustained attention in one study. Windows, plants, nature imagery, and brief outdoor breaks can make a difference. We can even design nature into healthcare. Nature is a tool but not a treatment for broken systems. Nature exposure shouldn’t become another individual “wellness” obligation or substitute for fixing understaffing, moral injury, or other structural problems. And it's also okay to go outside simply because being outside feels good, without optimizing anything. Click here for Direct Download of the Podcast. Previously Covered and Related Content: REBEL MIND: Rest is not Sleep: 7 Dimensions of True Recovery Introduction Welcome to Rebel MIND, the podcast where we explore concepts that help us understand our minds so that we can take better care of our patients and ourselves. MIND stands for Mastering Internal Negativity during Difficulty. In this episode, Dr. Kim Bambach talks with emergency physician and neuroscientist Dr. Adrienne Taren as well as emergency physician and wilderness medicine expert Dr. Linda Keyes about the Nature Reset: how exposure to nature can restore attention, downshift our stress response, and help our brains recover from the cognitive demands of medicine. Dr. Adrienne Taren is an emergency medicine physician, clinical neuroscience faculty at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, and adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University in medical education. She completed her MD/PhD (Neuroscience) at the University of Pittsburgh-Carnegie Mellon University. Her current research focuses on the neural circuit function underlying occupational traumatic stress symptoms in frontline healthcare workers.Dr. Linda Keyes is a board-certified emergency physician, an adjunct professor at University of Colorado, Vice President of the International Society of Mountain Medicine, and past-president of the Wilderness Medical Society.  Since she was a medical student at Yale University, she has travelled the globe in pursuit of science. Dr. Keyes has partnered with researchers and clinicians on five continents to understand the effects of high altitude on the human body. She has authored of scores of original research articles and international guidelines on high-altitude medicine with a focus on women's health and understanding acute mountain sickness. The mountains are her happy place. She believes in wilderness as medicine and in conservation for the health of the planet. Cognitive Question How can nature help us recover during or after a difficult shift? How does nature exposure affect our cognition? Clinical medicine keeps our brains in a near-constant state of cognitive and physiologic activation. We sustain attention despite interruptions, track multiple patients simultaneously, make high-stakes decisions with incomplete information, and continuously scan for threats and changes in our environment. This heavily taxes directed attention, the effortful, top-down attentional system we use to deliberately focus on a task. Importantly, attention is a finite neurobiological resource that fatigues with sustained use. Nature provides a unique form of cognitive recovery. Rather than demanding directed attention, natural environments engage what researchers call soft fascination: our attention is gently captured by things like moving leaves, shifting light, clouds, or water without requiring deliberate effort. This allows our directed attention systems an opportunity to rest and recover. Through soft fascination, nature gives our directed attention a break and creates space for the default mode network (DMN) which allows our minds to wander, consolidate memories, reflect, and make connections between ideas. Nature exposure may also help downregulate the physiologic stress response, with evidence suggesting reductions in cortisol and increased parasympathetic activity.Importantly, meaningful nature exposure doesn’t necessarily require a hike in the wilderness.The 40-Second Reset: In one study, participants who took a 40-second microbreak viewing a green roof subsequently demonstrated better sustained attention than those viewing a concrete roof. This suggests that even very brief nature exposures may have cognitive benefits.Nature Between Shifts: Longer exposures may allow more complete autonomic downregulation, while outdoor light exposure and low-intensity movement may also support circadian regulation which is particularly relevant for shift workers.Biophilic Design: We can also bring elements of nature into the environments where we work. Windows, natural light, plants, nature imagery, green walls, and accessible outdoor spaces may offer opportunities to incorporate restorative nature exposure into healthcare design. Immediate Action Steps for Your Next Shift **Step Outside**: Try to step outside on your next shift for even a few minutes. Even a brief dose of nature may help interrupt sustained directed attention.**Look for Nature**: When getting outside isn’t possible, intentionally notice natural elements around you—a window view, trees, plants, daylight, or even nature imagery.**Let Your Mind Wander**: Give yourself a few minutes with a cognitive task. Allow soft fascination to create space for reflection and the default mode network. **Write Yourself a Nature Rx**:What would be restorative to you? It might be a hike, a visit to your local botanical garden, or some time in a hammock just to enjoy yourself.  Conclusion Spending time in nature can provide a meaningful reset for attention and stress. Natural environments give directed attention a break while creating space for reflection and mind-wandering. Even brief, intentional doses of nature like stepping outside during a shift or taking a walk after work may help restore cognitive resources and reduce stress. Building small moments of nature into  your day can support your well-being and resilience. Nature isn’t a “fix-all” for system pressures and stressors like understaffing. We still need to advocate for better systems, but nature can be a cost-effective, beneficial, and relatively simple adjunct that can improve well-being.  Clinical Bottom Line Give yourself permission for a “nature reset” or “nature Rx”. An intentional dose of nature that can reduce stress, restore depleted attention, and replenish the cognitive resources we rely on to think and focus in challenging clinical environments.  Post Peer Reviewed By: Mark Ramzy, DO (X/IG: @MRamzyDO) Further Reading Lee et al.40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2015;42:182–9.Ulrich, et al.Stress Recovery During Exposure to Natural and Urban Environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 1991;11(3):201–30.Kaplan, S. The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 1995;15(3):169–82.Bergman, et al.The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science. 2008;19(12):1207–1212.PMID: 19121124Bratman, et al. Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. PNAS. 2015;112(28):8567–8572.PMID: 26124129White, et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports. 2019;9(1).PMID: 31197192The Wilderness Medical Society The International Society for Mountain Medicine The International Sisters High Altitude Research Expedition Meet the Authors Kim Bambach, MD Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Assistant Residency Program Director The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH Adrienne Taren, MD, PhD Emergency Medicine Physician, Associate Investigator at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Adjunct Professor, Oklahoma State University School of Medicine Ascension St John's, Tulsa, OK Linda Keyes, MD, FACEP Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine, Past President of the Wilderness Medical Society, Vice President of the International Society of Mountain Medicine University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO Showing Slide 1 of 3 The post REBEL MIND – The Nature Reset appeared first on REBEL EM - Emergency Medicine Blog.

40 Zutaten im veganen Burger, nur eine im Steak – damit scheint eigentlich klar, was gesünder ist. Oder? In dieser Folge nehmen wir vegane Fleischersatz- und Convenience-Produkte wissenschaftlich unter die Lupe. Wir sprechen darüber, warum die NOVA-Klassifikation Beyond Burger und Cola in dieselbe Kategorie einordnet und was tatsächlich passiert, wenn Fleisch durch Produkte von Beyond Meat, Quorn und Co. ersetzt wird. Was zeigen die Studien zu LDL-Cholesterin, TMAO, Blutzucker und Entzündungsmarkern? Können solche Produkte trotz ihres Verarbeitungsgrades den Muskelaufbau genauso gut unterstützen wie tierische Lebensmittel? Und woran erkennt man im Supermarkt einen geeigneten Fleischersatz? Außerdem geben wir euch konkrete Kriterien zu Proteingehalt, Proteindichte, Kalorien, Ballaststoffen, Proteinquelle und Salzgehalt an die Hand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dominiks Buch zur pflanzenbasierten Sporternährung im UTB-Verlag: https://www.utb.de/doi/book/10.36198/9783838560328 Dominiks Gesundheitscommunity: www.gsundes-hannover.de Dominiks Online-Knie-Kurs: https://gsundes-hannover.de/knieschmerzen/ Dominiks Online-Rücken-Kurs: https://copecart.com/products/34bd5abb/checkout Marcs veganes Online-Fitness-Coaching: https://vegainer-academy.com/ Marcs Online-Kurs: https://www.copecart.com/products/a50f88f2/checkout ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Werbung: Dieser Podcast wird unterstützt von der Firma Watson Nutrition. Die Firma bietet als einzige umfassend laborgeprüfte Nahrungsergänzungsmittel für eine optimierte Nährstoffversorgung. Zum Angebot zählen Multi-Supplemente, Mono-Supplemente, Sportsupplemente wie Kreatin oder auch Proteinriegel, Shakes und essenzielle Aminosäuren Mit dem Code veganperformance erhältst du 5 % Rabatt auf deine Bestellung.  Zur Firmenwebseite: Watson Nutrition ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kapitelmarken: 00:00 Welchen Fleischersatz sollte man besser meiden? 03:21 Woher kommt die Angst vor verarbeiteten Lebensmitteln? 09:25 Die NOVA-Klassifikation und ihre Schwächen 17:45 Beyond Burger und Cola in derselben Kategorie 18:20 Supplements und angereicherte Lebensmittel 25:22 Werbung: Watson Nutrition 26:25 Was passiert, wenn Fleisch durch Ersatzprodukte ersetzt wird? 28:32 SWAP-MEAT: Beyond Meat gegen Rindfleisch 34:06 Quorn, Mycomeat und die Meta-Analyse 38:13 Der Gegenbefund aus Singapur 39:43 Die praktische Checkliste für den Einkauf 44:19 Muskelaufbau mit Quorn versus Mischkost 48:24 Aminosäureprofil: Weizen und Kichererbse versus Hähnchen 50:35 Die Coaching-Realität: Protein, Zeit und Convenience 53:53 Die Gegenseite: Pflanzliche UPF in der UK Biobank 56:09 Fleischersatz als Ergänzung einer vollwertigen Ernährung 59:56 Fazit: Weder Gesundheitsfood noch Gift ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quellen: Alessandrini, R., Brown, M. K., Pombo-Rodrigues, S., Bhageerutty, S., He, F. J., & MacGregor, G. A. (2021). Nutritional quality of plant-based meat products available in the UK: A cross-sectional survey. Nutrients, 13(12), 4225. Crimarco, A., Landry, M. J., Carter, M. M., & Gardner, C. D. (2022). Assessing the effects of alternative plant-based meats v. animal meats on biomarkers of inflammation: A secondary analysis of the SWAP-MEAT randomized crossover trial. Journal of Nutritional Science, 11, e82. Crimarco, A., Springfield, S., Petlura, C., Streaty, T., Cunanan, K., Lee, J., Fielding-Singh, P., Carter, M. M., Topf, M. A., Wastyk, H. C., Sonnenburg, E. D., Sonnenburg, J. L., & Gardner, C. D. (2020). A randomized crossover trial on the effect of plant-based compared with animal-based meat on trimethylamine-N-oxide and cardiovascular disease risk factors in generally healthy adults: Study With Appetizing Plantfood–Meat Eating Alternative Trial (SWAP-MEAT). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 112(5), 1188–1199. Farsi, D. N., Lara Gallegos, J., Finnigan, T. J. A., Cheung, W., Muñoz-Muñoz, J. L., & Commane, D. M. (2023). The effects of substituting red and processed meat for mycoprotein on biomarkers of cardiovascular risk in healthy volunteers: An analysis of secondary endpoints from Mycomeat. European Journal of Nutrition, 62(8), 3349–3359. Fernández-Rodríguez, R., Bizzozero-Peroni, B., Díaz-Goñi, V., Garrido-Miguel, M., Bertotti, G., Roldán-Ruiz, A., & López-Moreno, M. (2025). Plant-based meat alternatives and cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 121(2), 274–283. Ferreira, J. P., Marques, P., Zhang, G., Possik, E., Mavrakanas, T. A., Tsoukas, M. A., & Sharma, A. (2026). Processed plant-based meat-supplemented diet versus red meat-based supplemented diet randomized cross-over trial Finding Optimal Oral Diet-1 (FOOD-1) trial. Scientific Reports, 16, 13104. Fruit, S. E., Keirns, N. G., Higgins, M. E., Quirk, A., Schifferer, J., Romanovich, O., Yakos, A. C., Osborne, K. E., Trappe, S. W., & Keirns, B. H. (2025). Acute effects of a reformulated plant-based meat alternative compared to beef within a high-fat meal on inflammatory and metabolic factors: A randomized crossover trial. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 50, 1–11. Fu, A. S., Osman, F., Cameron-Smith, D., Lam, N. Y. L., Mehta, K. A., Leow, M. K.-S., Haldar, S., Henry, C. J., & Toh, D. W. K. (2026). Micronutrient intake and status of adults consuming plant-based meat analogues or animal-based meats as primary protein source: An 8-week randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition, 59, 106610. Gehring, J., Touvier, M., Baudry, J., Julia, C., Buscail, C., Srour, B., Hercberg, S., Péneau, S., Kesse-Guyot, E., & Allès, B. (2021). Consumption of ultra-processed foods by pesco-vegetarians, vegetarians, and vegans: Associations with duration and age at diet initiation. The Journal of Nutrition, 151(1), 120–131. Kouw, I. W. K., Pinckaers, P. J. M., Le Bourgot, C., van Kranenburg, J. M. X., Zorenc, A. H., de Groot, L. C. P. G. M., Verdijk, L. B., Snijders, T., & van Loon, L. J. C. (2022). Ingestion of an ample amount of meat substitute based upon a lysine-enriched, plant-based protein blend stimulates postprandial muscle protein synthesis to a similar extent as an isonitrogenous amount of chicken in healthy, young men. British Journal of Nutrition, 128(10), 1955–1965. Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J.-C., Louzada, M. L. C., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: What they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. Monteyne, A. J., Coelho, M. O. C., Murton, A. J., Abdelrahman, D. R., Blackwell, J. R., Koscien, C. P., Knapp, K. M., Fulford, J., Finnigan, T. J. A., Dirks, M. L., Stephens, F. B., & Wall, B. T. (2023). Vegan and omnivorous high protein diets support comparable daily myofibrillar protein synthesis rates and skeletal muscle hypertrophy in young adults. The Journal of Nutrition, 153(6), 1680–1695. Rauber, F., da Costa Louzada, M. L., Chang, K., Huybrechts, I., Gunter, M. J., Monteiro, C. A., Vamos, E. P., & Levy, R. B. (2024). Implications of food ultra-processing on cardiovascular risk considering plant origin foods: An analysis of the UK Biobank cohort. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 43, 100948. Román, S., Sánchez-Siles, L. M., & Siegrist, M. (2017). The importance of food naturalness for consumers: Results of a systematic review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 67, 44–57. Toh, D. W. K., Fu, A. S., Mehta, K. A., Lam, N. Y. L., Haldar, S., & Henry, C. J. (2024). Plant-based meat analogs and their effects on cardiometabolic health: An 8-week randomized controlled trial comparing plant-based meat analogs with their corresponding animal-based foods. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 119(6), 1405–1416.

40 Zutaten im veganen Burger, nur eine im Steak – damit scheint eigentlich klar, was gesünder ist. Oder? In dieser Folge nehmen wir vegane Fleischersatz- und Convenience-Produkte wissenschaftlich unter die Lupe. Wir sprechen darüber, warum die NOVA-Klassifikation Beyond Burger und Cola in dieselbe Kategorie einordnet und was tatsächlich passiert, wenn Fleisch durch Produkte von Beyond Meat, Quorn und Co. ersetzt wird. Was zeigen die Studien zu LDL-Cholesterin, TMAO, Blutzucker und Entzündungsmarkern? Können solche Produkte trotz ihres Verarbeitungsgrades den Muskelaufbau genauso gut unterstützen wie tierische Lebensmittel? Und woran erkennt man im Supermarkt einen geeigneten Fleischersatz? Außerdem geben wir euch konkrete Kriterien zu Proteingehalt, Proteindichte, Kalorien, Ballaststoffen, Proteinquelle und Salzgehalt an die Hand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dominiks Buch zur pflanzenbasierten Sporternährung im UTB-Verlag: https://www.utb.de/doi/book/10.36198/9783838560328 Dominiks Gesundheitscommunity: www.gsundes-hannover.de Dominiks Online-Knie-Kurs: https://gsundes-hannover.de/knieschmerzen/ Dominiks Online-Rücken-Kurs: https://copecart.com/products/34bd5abb/checkout Marcs veganes Online-Fitness-Coaching: https://vegainer-academy.com/ Marcs Online-Kurs: https://www.copecart.com/products/a50f88f2/checkout ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Werbung: Dieser Podcast wird unterstützt von der Firma Watson Nutrition. Die Firma bietet als einzige umfassend laborgeprüfte Nahrungsergänzungsmittel für eine optimierte Nährstoffversorgung. Zum Angebot zählen Multi-Supplemente, Mono-Supplemente, Sportsupplemente wie Kreatin oder auch Proteinriegel, Shakes und essenzielle Aminosäuren Mit dem Code veganperformance erhältst du 5 % Rabatt auf deine Bestellung.  Zur Firmenwebseite: Watson Nutrition ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kapitelmarken: 00:00 Welchen Fleischersatz sollte man besser meiden? 03:21 Woher kommt die Angst vor verarbeiteten Lebensmitteln? 09:25 Die NOVA-Klassifikation und ihre Schwächen 17:45 Beyond Burger und Cola in derselben Kategorie 18:20 Supplements und angereicherte Lebensmittel 25:22 Werbung: Watson Nutrition 26:25 Was passiert, wenn Fleisch durch Ersatzprodukte ersetzt wird? 28:32 SWAP-MEAT: Beyond Meat gegen Rindfleisch 34:06 Quorn, Mycomeat und die Meta-Analyse 38:13 Der Gegenbefund aus Singapur 39:43 Die praktische Checkliste für den Einkauf 44:19 Muskelaufbau mit Quorn versus Mischkost 48:24 Aminosäureprofil: Weizen und Kichererbse versus Hähnchen 50:35 Die Coaching-Realität: Protein, Zeit und Convenience 53:53 Die Gegenseite: Pflanzliche UPF in der UK Biobank 56:09 Fleischersatz als Ergänzung einer vollwertigen Ernährung 59:56 Fazit: Weder Gesundheitsfood noch Gift ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quellen: Alessandrini, R., Brown, M. K., Pombo-Rodrigues, S., Bhageerutty, S., He, F. J., & MacGregor, G. A. (2021). Nutritional quality of plant-based meat products available in the UK: A cross-sectional survey. Nutrients, 13(12), 4225. Crimarco, A., Landry, M. J., Carter, M. M., & Gardner, C. D. (2022). Assessing the effects of alternative plant-based meats v. animal meats on biomarkers of inflammation: A secondary analysis of the SWAP-MEAT randomized crossover trial. Journal of Nutritional Science, 11, e82. Crimarco, A., Springfield, S., Petlura, C., Streaty, T., Cunanan, K., Lee, J., Fielding-Singh, P., Carter, M. M., Topf, M. A., Wastyk, H. C., Sonnenburg, E. D., Sonnenburg, J. L., & Gardner, C. D. (2020). A randomized crossover trial on the effect of plant-based compared with animal-based meat on trimethylamine-N-oxide and cardiovascular disease risk factors in generally healthy adults: Study With Appetizing Plantfood–Meat Eating Alternative Trial (SWAP-MEAT). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 112(5), 1188–1199. Farsi, D. N., Lara Gallegos, J., Finnigan, T. J. A., Cheung, W., Muñoz-Muñoz, J. L., & Commane, D. M. (2023). The effects of substituting red and processed meat for mycoprotein on biomarkers of cardiovascular risk in healthy volunteers: An analysis of secondary endpoints from Mycomeat. European Journal of Nutrition, 62(8), 3349–3359. Fernández-Rodríguez, R., Bizzozero-Peroni, B., Díaz-Goñi, V., Garrido-Miguel, M., Bertotti, G., Roldán-Ruiz, A., & López-Moreno, M. (2025). Plant-based meat alternatives and cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 121(2), 274–283. Ferreira, J. P., Marques, P., Zhang, G., Possik, E., Mavrakanas, T. A., Tsoukas, M. A., & Sharma, A. (2026). Processed plant-based meat-supplemented diet versus red meat-based supplemented diet randomized cross-over trial Finding Optimal Oral Diet-1 (FOOD-1) trial. Scientific Reports, 16, 13104. Fruit, S. E., Keirns, N. G., Higgins, M. E., Quirk, A., Schifferer, J., Romanovich, O., Yakos, A. C., Osborne, K. E., Trappe, S. W., & Keirns, B. H. (2025). Acute effects of a reformulated plant-based meat alternative compared to beef within a high-fat meal on inflammatory and metabolic factors: A randomized crossover trial. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 50, 1–11. Fu, A. S., Osman, F., Cameron-Smith, D., Lam, N. Y. L., Mehta, K. A., Leow, M. K.-S., Haldar, S., Henry, C. J., & Toh, D. W. K. (2026). Micronutrient intake and status of adults consuming plant-based meat analogues or animal-based meats as primary protein source: An 8-week randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition, 59, 106610. Gehring, J., Touvier, M., Baudry, J., Julia, C., Buscail, C., Srour, B., Hercberg, S., Péneau, S., Kesse-Guyot, E., & Allès, B. (2021). Consumption of ultra-processed foods by pesco-vegetarians, vegetarians, and vegans: Associations with duration and age at diet initiation. The Journal of Nutrition, 151(1), 120–131. Kouw, I. W. K., Pinckaers, P. J. M., Le Bourgot, C., van Kranenburg, J. M. X., Zorenc, A. H., de Groot, L. C. P. G. M., Verdijk, L. B., Snijders, T., & van Loon, L. J. C. (2022). Ingestion of an ample amount of meat substitute based upon a lysine-enriched, plant-based protein blend stimulates postprandial muscle protein synthesis to a similar extent as an isonitrogenous amount of chicken in healthy, young men. British Journal of Nutrition, 128(10), 1955–1965. Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J.-C., Louzada, M. L. C., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: What they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. Monteyne, A. J., Coelho, M. O. C., Murton, A. J., Abdelrahman, D. R., Blackwell, J. R., Koscien, C. P., Knapp, K. M., Fulford, J., Finnigan, T. J. A., Dirks, M. L., Stephens, F. B., & Wall, B. T. (2023). Vegan and omnivorous high protein diets support comparable daily myofibrillar protein synthesis rates and skeletal muscle hypertrophy in young adults. The Journal of Nutrition, 153(6), 1680–1695. Rauber, F., da Costa Louzada, M. L., Chang, K., Huybrechts, I., Gunter, M. J., Monteiro, C. A., Vamos, E. P., & Levy, R. B. (2024). Implications of food ultra-processing on cardiovascular risk considering plant origin foods: An analysis of the UK Biobank cohort. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 43, 100948. Román, S., Sánchez-Siles, L. M., & Siegrist, M. (2017). The importance of food naturalness for consumers: Results of a systematic review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 67, 44–57. Toh, D. W. K., Fu, A. S., Mehta, K. A., Lam, N. Y. L., Haldar, S., & Henry, C. J. (2024). Plant-based meat analogs and their effects on cardiometabolic health: An 8-week randomized controlled trial comparing plant-based meat analogs with their corresponding animal-based foods. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 119(6), 1405–1416.

Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsBibliographyCurses, Blessings, and Ritual HarmCannon, Walter B. “‘Voodoo' Death.” American Anthropologist 44, no. 2 (1942): 169–181.Faraone, Christopher A. Ancient Greek Love Magic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.Gager, John G., ed. Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.Graf, Fritz. Magic in the Ancient World. Translated by Franklin Philip. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.Ogden, Daniel. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.Stratton, Kimberly B., and Dayna S. Kalleres, eds. Daughters of Hecate: Women and Magic in the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. “The Magical Power of Words.” Man 3, no. 2 (1968): 175–208.Placebo, Nocebo, and Medical CommunicationBarsky, Arthur J., Ralph Saintfort, Malcolm P. Rogers, and Jonathan F. Borus. “Nonspecific Medication Side Effects and the Nocebo Phenomenon.” JAMA 287, no. 5 (2002): 622–627.Benedetti, Fabrizio. Placebo Effects: Understanding the Mechanisms in Health and Disease. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.Benedetti, Fabrizio, Marina Lanotte, Lorella Lopiano, and Luana Colloca. “When Words Are Painful: Unraveling the Mechanisms of the Nocebo Effect.” Neuroscience 147, no. 2 (2007): 260–271.Colloca, Luana, and Fabrizio Benedetti. “Nocebo Hyperalgesia: How Anxiety Is Turned into Pain.” Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology 20, no. 5 (2007): 435–439.Colloca, Luana, and Damien Finniss. “Nocebo Effects, Patient–Clinician Communication, and Therapeutic Outcomes.” JAMA 307, no. 6 (2012): 567–568.Colloca, Luana, and Franklin G. Miller. “The Nocebo Effect and Its Relevance for Clinical Practice.” Psychosomatic Medicine 73, no. 7 (2011): 598–603.Enck, Paul, Fabrizio Benedetti, and Manfred Schedlowski. “New Insights into the Placebo and Nocebo Responses.” Neuron 59, no. 2 (2008): 195–206.Häuser, Winfried, Ernil Hansen, and Paul Enck. “Nocebo Phenomena in Medicine: Their Relevance in Everyday Clinical Practice.” Deutsches Ärzteblatt International 109, no. 26 (2012): 459–465.Inner Speech and DevelopmentFernyhough, Charles. The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves. New York: Basic Books, 2016.Vygotsky, Lev S. Thought and Language. Revised and expanded ed. Edited and translated by Alex Kozulin. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.Winsler, Adam, Charles Fernyhough, and Ignacio Montero, eds. Private Speech, Executive Functioning, and the Development of Verbal Self-Regulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.Rumination and Repetitive Negative ThinkingBrosschot, Jos F., Bart Verkuil, and Julian F. Thayer. “Conscious and Unconscious Perseverative Cognition: Is a Large Part of Prolonged Physiological Activity Due to Unconscious Stress?” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 69, no. 4 (2010): 407–416.Ehring, Thomas, and Edward R. Watkins. “Repetitive Negative Thinking as a Transdiagnostic Process.” International Journal of Cognitive Therapy 1, no. 3 (2008): 192–205.Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan. “Responses to Depression and Their Effects on the Duration of Depressive Episodes.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 100, no. 4 (1991): 569–582.Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan, Blair E. Wisco, and Sonja Lyubomirsky. “Rethinking Rumination.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3, no. 5 (2008): 400–424.Smith, Jeannette M., and Lauren B. Alloy. “A Roadmap to Rumination: A Review of the Definition, Assessment, and Conceptualization of This Multifaceted Construct.” Clinical Psychology Review 29, no. 2 (2009): 116–128.Treynor, Wendy, Richard Gonzalez, and Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. “Rumination Reconsidered: A Psychometric Analysis.” Cognitive Therapy and Research 27, no. 3 (2003): 247–259.Watkins, Edward R. “Constructive and Unconstructive Repetitive Thought.” Psychological Bulletin 134, no. 2 (2008): 163–206.Watkins, Edward R. Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression. New York: Guilford Press, 2016.Self-Talk and PerformanceHardy, James. “Speaking Clearly: A Critical Review of the Self-Talk Literature.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 7, no. 1 (2006): 81–97.Hatzigeorgiadis, Antonis, Nikos Zourbanos, Evangelos Galanis, and Yiannis Theodorakis. “Self-Talk and Sports Performance: A Meta-Analysis.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 6, no. 4 (2011): 348–356.Theodorakis, Yiannis, Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, and Nikos Zourbanos. “Cognition: Self-Talk and Performance.” In The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Performance Psychology, edited by Shane M. Murphy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.Affect Labeling, Emotion, and LanguageBarrett, Lisa Feldman. “Solving the Emotion Paradox: Categorization and the Experience of Emotion.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 10, no. 1 (2006): 20–46.Lieberman, Matthew D., Naomi I. Eisenberger, Molly J. Crockett, Sabrina M. Tom, Jennifer H. Pfeifer, and Baldwin M. Way. “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli.” Psychological Science 18, no. 5 (2007): 421–428.Lindquist, Kristen A., Lisa Feldman Barrett, Eliza Bliss-Moreau, and James A. Russell. “Language and the Perception of Emotion.” Emotion 6, no. 1 (2006): 125–138.Torre, Jared B., and Matthew D. Lieberman. “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling as Implicit Emotion Regulation.” Emotion Review 10, no. 2 (2018): 116–124.Self-Distancing and Reflective ProcessingAyduk, Özlem, and Ethan Kross. “From a Distance: Implications of Spontaneous Self-Distancing for Adaptive Self-Reflection.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 98, no. 5 (2010): 809–829.Kross, Ethan, and Özlem Ayduk. “Making Meaning out of Negative Experiences by Self-Distancing.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 20, no. 3 (2011): 187–191.Kross, Ethan, Özlem Ayduk, and Walter Mischel. “When Asking ‘Why' Does Not Hurt: Distinguishing Rumination from Reflective Processing of Negative Emotions.” Psychological Science 16, no. 9 (2005): 709–715.Kross, Ethan, Emma Bruehlman-Senecal, Jiyoung Park, Aleah Burson, Adrienne Dougherty, Holly Shablack, Ryan Bremner, Jason Moser, and Özlem Ayduk. “Self-Talk as a Regulatory Mechanism: How You Do It Matters.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 106, no. 2 (2014): 304–324.Moser, Jason S., Adrienne Dougherty, Whitney I. Mattson, Benjamin Katz, Tim P. Moran, Darwin Guevarra, Hannah Shablack, et al. “Third-Person Self-Talk Facilitates Emotion Regulation Without Engaging Cognitive Control: Converging Evidence from ERP and fMRI.” Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 4519.Affirmation and Counter-IncantationCascio, Christopher N., Matthew B. O'Donnell, Francis J. Tinney Jr., Matthew D. Lieberman, Shelley E. Taylor, Victor J. Strecher, and Emily B. Falk. “Self-Affirmation Activates Brain Systems Associated with Self-Related Processing and Reward and Is Reinforced by Future Orientation.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 11, no. 4 (2016): 621–629.Cohen, Geoffrey L., and David K. Sherman. “The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention.” Annual Review of Psychology 65 (2014): 333–371.Wood, Joanne V., W. Q. Elaine Perunovic, and John W. Lee. “Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others.” Psychological Science 20, no. 7 (2009): 860–866.Implementation Intentions and ActionGollwitzer, Peter M. “Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans.” American Psychologist 54, no. 7 (1999): 493–503.Gollwitzer, Peter M., and Veronika Brandstätter. “Implementation Intentions and Effective Goal Pursuit.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73, no. 1 (1997): 186–199.Gollwitzer, Peter M., and Paschal Sheeran. “Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38 (2006): 69–119.Schweiger Gallo, Inge, Andreas Keil, Kathleen C. McCulloch, Brigitte Rockstroh, and Peter M. Gollwitzer. “Strategic Automation of Emotion Regulation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 96, no. 1 (2009): 11–31.Ritual, Identity, and Psychological FormationBell, Catherine. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.Hobson, Nicholas M., Juliana Schroeder, Jane L. Risen, Dimitris Xygalatas, and Michael Inzlicht. “The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 22, no. 3 (2018): 260–284.Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Xygalatas, Dimitris. Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2022.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. 

What if one of the most powerful tools for improving your cardiovascular resilience was already built into your body—and completely free? In this science-forward solo episode, Darin dives into the fascinating physiology of breath holding and the mammalian dive response, an ancient survival mechanism humans share with seals, whales, and dolphins. Simply holding your breath triggers an extraordinary cascade inside the body: your heart rate slows, blood vessels constrict to preserve oxygen for vital organs, and your spleen contracts to release oxygen-rich red blood cells into circulation. Darin explores research on elite freedivers, Southeast Asian sea nomads, cardiac hypoxic resistance, and the remarkable ways the human body can adapt to repeated breath-hold training. But he also separates the evidence from the hype, explaining why breath holding alone isn't a miracle intervention and why some of the most promising benefits appear when hypoxic stress is combined with movement and resistance exercise. This episode is a reminder that some of the most extraordinary tools for improving human performance aren't expensive supplements or complicated technologies—they're capacities your body has possessed all along. What You'll Learn What happens inside your body the moment you hold your breath How the mammalian dive response slows your heart rate and redirects blood flow Why your spleen acts like a biological reservoir for oxygen-rich red blood cells How humans share this ancient survival mechanism with marine mammals Why Southeast Asian sea nomads developed remarkable adaptations for freediving How breath-hold training can amplify the body's natural dive response What researchers discovered when elite divers reached extraordinarily low blood oxygen levels How repeated training may create greater hypoxic resilience in the heart Why the long-term benefits of breath-hold training in everyday people are still being studied Why combining hypoxic stress with movement may be more powerful than breath holding alone Chapters 00:00:03 – Welcome to SuperLife 00:00:34 – Sponsor: Alkemis 00:03:26 – The incredible thing happening when you hold your breath 00:03:57 – The ancient survival program you share with dolphins and whales 00:04:31 – The hidden cardiovascular tool almost nobody trains 00:05:03 – A free physiological capacity already built into your body 00:05:38 – What the science actually says about breath-hold training 00:06:09 – Understanding the mammalian dive response 00:06:37 – Your heart, blood vessels, and spleen react within seconds 00:07:11 – Your spleen is a biological oxygen reservoir 00:08:05 – Sponsor: Manna Vitality 00:09:59 – Why cold water amplifies the dive response 00:10:07 – The extraordinary physiology of Southeast Asian sea nomads 00:10:39 – Humans performing underwater like marine mammals 00:11:14 – The mammalian dive response is trainable 00:11:54 – What happened when elite divers reached extremely low blood oxygen 00:12:30 – How the heart adapts during extreme breath holds 00:13:08 – Cardiac hypoxic resistance and a stronger trained heart 00:13:55 – The important limitations of the current research 00:14:41 – Why breath holding alone isn't a miracle 00:15:09 – Combining hypoxic stress with resistance exercise 00:15:42 – Breath holding as a multiplier, not a replacement 00:16:33 – Practical takeaways for training the dive response 00:17:48 – Final thoughts and closing Thank You to Our Sponsors Alkemis: Go to https://alkemispaint.com/ and use code DARIN10 for 10% off your order. Manna Vitality: Go to mannavitality.com/ and use code DARIN12 for 12% off your order. Join the SuperLife Patreon: This is where Darin now shares the deeper work: - weekly voice notes - ingredient trackers - wellness challenges - extended conversations - community accountability - sovereignty practices Join now for only $7.49/month at https://patreon.com/darinolien Find More from Darin Olien: Website: darinolien.com Instagram: @darinolien Book: Fatal Conveniences Platform & Products: superlife.com New Show: Roadmap to Happiness Key Takeaway "You already have an ancient cardiovascular survival mechanism built into your body. Breath holding can trigger measurable changes in heart rate, blood flow, oxygen availability, and the body's response to hypoxic stress—and with training, that response appears capable of adapting. The goal isn't to treat breath holding like a miracle hack. It's to recognize it as another powerful physiological tool that may become even more effective when intelligently combined with movement and training. Bibliography/Sources Hypoxic Training & Cardiovascular Adaptation Bosco, G., et al. (2021). Effect of apnea-induced hypoxia on cardiovascular adaptation and circulating biomarkers of oxidative stress in elite breath-hold divers. Frontiers in Physiology . https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8458773/ Combined training in hypoxic environments improves cardiometabolic health in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2025). Frontiers in Medicine . https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1728637/full Costalat, G., et al. (2021). Physiology, pathophysiology and (mal)adaptations to chronic apnoeic training: A state-of-the-art review. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 121, 2669–2685 . https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-021-04664-x Palada, I., Bakovic, D., Valic, Z., et al. (2007). Cardiovascular regulation during apnea in elite divers. Hypertension, 50(2) . https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/hypertensionaha.108.127530 Patrizio, I., et al. (2021). Cardiac hypoxic resistance and decreasing lactate during maximum apnea in elite breath-hold divers. Scientific Reports, 11, 3676 . https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-81797-1 The Mammalian Dive Reflex & Genetic Adaptations Ilardo, M. A., Moltke, I., Korneliussen, T. S., et al. (2018). Physiological and genetic adaptations to diving in sea nomads. Cell, 173(3), 569–580 . https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/04/19/enlarged-spleen-key-to-diving-endurance-of-sea-nomads/ Schagatay, E. (2000). Studies on trained apnea divers' amplification of the diving response. Mid Sweden University . https://freedivecafe.com/2019/06/04/42-transcript-erika-schagatay-the-science-of-freediving/ Speck, D. F., & Bruce, D. S. (1978). Effects of varying thermal and apneic conditions on the human diving reflex. Undersea Biomedical Research . https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/breath-holding-dive-reflex-extends/ Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST) Craighead, D. H., Heinbockel, T. C., Freeberg, K. A., et al. (2021). Time-efficient inspiratory muscle strength training lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function, NO bioavailability, and oxidative stress in midlife/older adults with above-normal blood pressure. Journal of the American Heart Association, 10(13) . https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.121.022203

Despite being the most studied supplement of all time, creatine is making a big resurgence. That's why we decided to rebroadcast this highly informative episode, that is more relevant now, than when it was originally posted. It's been the hot topic in the health podcast space, as new scientific evidence is showing creatine is about more than looking big, but has big and important effects on brain health and overall longevity. But, like all things, creatine needs to be handled with care. It needs to be the right type, at the right dose, at the right times, with the right movement and for the right person. That's why it was fundamentally important for me to get a true creatine expert on the show, Dr Darren Candow.Dr. Darren Candow is a professor specializing in exercise physiology, nutrition, and aging. He supervises the Aging Muscle and Bone Health Laboratory, where the primary research focus is to develop effective lifestyle interventions involving nutrition—primarily creatine monohydrate—and physical activity, particularly resistance training. These interventions aim to improve muscle, bone, and brain health and function, with both practical and clinical relevance. To date, Dr. Candow has published over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles, supervised more than 20 MSc/PhD students, and secured research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Nutricia Research Foundation.Join us as we explore:Everything about creatine! What it is, is it right for you, the safest form, dosage, its most important (and surprising) effects, why it's the most studied supplement ever and some risks and side effects.Creatine's incredible effects on a sleep deprived and exhausted brain!Creatine's relationship to caffeine, hyperbaric chambers/hypoxia and TRT.Dr Candow's recommended morning exercise and creatine protocol.Does creatine cause you to gain weight, retain water, and is the loading phase a real thing?Veganism and creatine.Mention:Study - Creatine and anti-depressants, Roitman, S., Green, T., Osher, Y., Karni, N., Levine, J., & Levine, S. (2012). Creatine monohydrate in resistant depression: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(7), 779-784. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.11091452Study - Creatine and pregnancy, Ellery, S. J., LaRosa, D. A., Kett, M. M., Della Gatta, P. A., Snow, R. J., Walker, D. W., & Dickinson, H. (2016). Dietary creatine supplementation during pregnancy: A study on the effects of creatine supplementation on creatine homeostasis and renal excretory function in spiny mice. Amino Acids, 48(8), 1819–1830. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-015-2150-7Study - Creatine and sleep deprivation, Gordji-Nejad, A., Matusch, A., Kleedörfer, S., Patel, H. J., Drzezga, A., Elmenhorst, D., Binkofski, F., & Bauer, A. (2024). Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation. Scientific Reports, 14, 4937. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54249-9Person - Stuart Phillips, https://experts.mcmaster.ca/display/phillisSupport the showFollow Steve's socials: Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTokSupport the show on Patreon:As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I'd be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShowSend me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308. Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

14-year-old, Maeryn, a nationally ranked tennis athlete, shares her advice for showing up on bad days.

+++ Vanille-Kekse aus Plastikflaschen +++ Schlaf-Verhalten anders seit Industrialisierung +++ Uni-Mensen bieten mehr veganes und weniger vegetarisches Essen an +++ Heavy-Metal-Fans halten Schmerz länger aus +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Kekse aus aufbereitetem Plastik, Paper-Präsentation auf Konferenz der American Chemical Society: "Engineered yeast consortia for converting plastic and biomass-derived compounds into valuable food additives", 24.08.2026Verändertes Schlaf-Verhalten, die Studie "Hunter-gatherers sleep no longer than we do: review suggests industrialization changed sleep timing more than duration", 25.08.2026Untersuchung zum Mensa-Essen an deutschen Hochschulen im Fachmagazin "Communications Sustainability": "Decade-long shift toward vegan meal options as part of dietary transition in German university canteens", 22.08.2026Studie über Schmerz-Toleranz von Heavy-Metal-Fans im Fachmagazin "Scientific Reports": "Increased pain resilience among heavy metal music festival attendees", 20.08.2026**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

The gang discusses two papers that use fossils to understand ecological interactions in the past. The first paper reports predation patterns on fossil blastoids, and the second paper finds brooding in the soft tissue of fossil bivalves. And then… the gang gets very much back on their bullshit… Meanwhile, James simplifies his life, Curt discusses new business ventures, and Amanda is seen.   Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition): The friends look at two papers that look at how animals from a long time ago lived their lives. The first paper looks at a group of animals made of small hard parts with a big round head and tiny things coming off the head that it uses to eat. People did not think that animals ate these animals in the past, but this paper finds a few bits that show they were eaten. It uses a lot of looking at other things to say that this may have been eaten by a fish. The question then is, do we not see more of these animals that have been eaten because the fish don't try to go for them most of the time, or because when they do go for them they completely blow them up when they eat them. The second paper looks at a group of animals that has two hard parts on either side of them. These animals usually fall to pieces when they die because of the soft bits that go away. This paper looks at dead animals that did not fall to pieces because they got covered in the ground before that happened. This paper looks at parts of these that they show are soft bits from a long time ago. They also show the parts where the animal would get water in to breathe, and in that part they find small little animals of the same animal. This is a group that makes little ones that live in these parts that take in water, but start in the parts of the mother. This shows that this was happening in the past in ways that are like how they happen today.   References: Delvene, Graciela, et al. "Exceptionally preserved embryos reveal maternal care in freshwater bivalves since the Cretaceous." Scientific Reports 16.1 (2026): 17691. Drumheller, Stephanie K., Colin D. Sumrall, and J. Richard Kyle. "Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside: evidence for vertebrate predation and recovery in the Mississippian blastoid Pentremites spicatus." Lethaia 60.1 (2026): 1-12.

The scientific work submitted on Bryan Kohberger's behalf in support of moving his trial out of Latah County had focused on whether years of publicity, community involvement and emotional exposure to the murders had created a jury pool that could realistically be considered impartial. Defense experts examined media saturation, public attitudes and psychological research concerning how people formed and retained opinions after repeated exposure to highly emotional information. Social psychologist Dr. Amani El-Alayli explained that greater exposure to publicity about Kohberger was associated with stronger negative attitudes toward him and a greater tendency to view him as guilty. She also emphasized that fear and anger could make initial beliefs unusually resistant to later contradictory information, because people tended to favor information that reinforced opinions they had already formed. In her assessment, the problem in Latah County went beyond whether prospective jurors consciously believed they could be fair; residents had lived much closer to the murders, the University of Idaho and the investigation itself, creating emotional and psychological connections that could influence them even without their recognizing it. She concluded that the safest way to provide Kohberger with an impartial jury was to select people who were both physically and psychologically removed from Latah County.The defense also relied heavily on survey research conducted by trial consultant and social psychologist Dr. Bryan Edelman, who compared prospective jury populations in Latah, Ada, Canyon and Bannock counties. His research found widespread familiarity with the case throughout Idaho, including 98 percent recognition among Latah County respondents, while 67 percent of those familiar with the case there said they believed Kohberger was guilty. Although similar levels of presumed guilt appeared elsewhere, Edelman explained that Latah County's much smaller population dramatically reduced the number of potentially unbiased jurors available, while a county such as Ada offered a vastly larger pool from which an impartial jury could be selected. More importantly, his research found significantly greater levels of fear, stress, anxiety and personal connections to the University of Idaho and local law enforcement among Latah County residents. Dr. Veronica Dahir separately evaluated Edelman's methodology and testified that the surveys had been conducted according to accepted standards and produced sound results. Taken together, the scientific evidence supported the defense's argument that the combination of intense publicity, a small population and the community's personal and emotional connection to the killings created a reasonable likelihood of prejudice in Latah County, an argument Judge John Judge ultimately found persuasive when he granted the change of venue.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

Wykład prof. dr hab. Mikołaja K. Zapalskiego w ramach Dnia Paleontologa na Wydziale Geologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego [25 kwietnia 2026 r.]Dlaczego Maroko jest jednym z najciekawszych miejsc na świecie dla paleontologów? Co można odczytać ze skał odsłoniętych na pustyni? I jak wygląda praca badacza, który próbuje zrekonstruować morskie ekosystemy sprzed setek milionów lat?Prof. Mikołaj Zapalski zabiera słuchaczy do marokańskiego Antyatlasu – regionu zbudowanego głównie ze skał paleozoicznych i prekambryjskich. Suchy, niemal pozbawiony roślinności krajobraz pozwala śledzić warstwy skalne na bardzo dużych odległościach. Skamieniałości są często doskonale wypreparowane przez pustynne wietrzenie, dzięki czemu można zobaczyć nawet najdrobniejsze szczegóły ich budowy.Prowadzący opowiada o geologii Maroka, pracy terenowej oraz niezwykłym lokalnym rynku skamieniałości. Szczególną popularnością cieszą się trylobity, choć kompletne okazy należą do rzadkości. Wiele sprzedawanych egzemplarzy jest składanych z fragmentów różnych osobników, a czasem nawet różnych gatunków.Jednym z najważniejszych paleontologicznych stanowisk w Maroku jest Fezouata, położona w okolicach Zagory. Odkryto tam wyjątkowo zachowane skamieniałości sprzed około 480 milionów lat, pochodzące z ordowiku. Oprócz zmineralizowanych szkieletów zachowały się także delikatne części organizmów, między innymi odnóża i czułki, które zwykle nie ulegają fosylizacji.Główna część wykładu dotyczy jednak dewonu i dawnych raf koralowych. Prof. Mikołaj Zapalski pokazuje pozostałości rafy, która rozwijała się w ciepłym morzu u wybrzeży Gondwany. Na jej zboczach znaleziono płaskie i listkowate kolonie koralowców, przypominające formy występujące współcześnie w miejscach, do których dociera niewiele światła.Dlaczego koralowce żyjące głębiej przybierają płaski kształt? Wiele współczesnych gatunków pozostaje w symbiozie z glonami, które dzięki fotosyntezie dostarczają im część pożywienia. Im mniej światła dociera do dna, tym większą powierzchnię muszą tworzyć kolonie, aby je skutecznie wychwytywać.Na tej podstawie badacze zrekonstruowali pierwszy rozpoznany paleozoiczny ekosystem mezofotyczny z Gondwany. Płaskie koralowce żyły na większej głębokości, w sąsiedztwie głównej części rafy. Ich zmienny kształt może świadczyć o okresowych zmianach przejrzystości wody powodowanych przez sztormy i przemieszczanie osadu.Wykład wyjaśnia także pojęcie ewolucji konwergentnej. Paleozoiczne koralowce nie były blisko spokrewnione ze współczesnymi, a mimo to w podobnych warunkach środowiskowych wykształciły zbliżone formy. To przykład sytuacji, w której środowisko prowadzi odległe grupy organizmów do podobnych rozwiązań.Kolejnym miejscem badań jest Hamar Laghdad, słynące z dewońskich kopców mułowych. Powstały one w związku z podmorskim wulkanizmem i przepływem zmineralizowanych wód. Środowisko to przyciągało liczne organizmy, dlatego skały zawierają ogromne nagromadzenia trylobitów, koralowców, ramienionogów i liliowców.Prof. dr hab. Mikołaj Zapalski – paleontolog i profesor nauk o Ziemi i środowisku, związany z Wydziałem Geologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Specjalizuje się w badaniach paleozoicznych koralowców, dawnych raf i fotosymbiozy. Odkrywał jedne z najstarszych znanych ekosystemów raf mezofotycznych, między innymi w Górach Świętokrzyskich i na Gotlandii. Laureat nagród naukowych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, redaktor czasopism „PLOS One” i „Scientific Reports”, a także popularyzator wiedzy geologicznej i biologicznej.#paleontologia #Maroko #skamieniałości #koralowce #rafykoralowe #dewon #ordowik #trylobity #liliowce #Antyatlas #Gondwana #ewolucjakonwergentna #WydziałGeologiiUW #MikołajZapalski #WszechnicaZnajdź nas: https://www.youtube.com/c/WszechnicaFWW/https://www.facebook.com/WszechnicaFWW1/https://anchor.fm/wszechnicaorgpl---historiahttps://anchor.fm/wszechnica-fww-naukahttps://wszechnica.org.pl/

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is one of the most promising new technologies in psychiatry. Essentially, it allows us to reach inside the brain, stimulate it, and alter the brain circuits that go awry in disorders like depression. As the late Nolan Williams once explained, we've known for a long time that mental health disorders are caused by changes in electrical circuits in our brains, until TMS came along, we didn't had a good way of nudging those circuits back toward healthier function.But for all its promise, there is still much we don't understand about what exactly TMS is doing. We know it sends electromagnetic waves into the brain and changes the flow of electricity within. What we don't know is how it changes brain circuits and networks or why that helps treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or any of the other conditions where it's being used.Today's guest, Corey Keller, is dedicated to addressing that gap. He's been developing methods for recording inside the brain to help us understand how treatments like TMS change our brain circuits and address psychiatric disease.Learn moreStanford Precision Neurotherapeutics LabKoret Human Neurosciences Community LabClosed-loop Optimized rTMS for Depression (Stanford Medicine Clinical Trials)Probing the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Central Executive Network for Improving Neuromodulation in Depression (Stanford Medicine Clinical Trials)Non-invasive brain stimulation opens new ways to study and treat the brain (Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, 2025)Music supercharges brain stimulation (Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, 2025)How brain imaging is transforming mental health (From Our Neurons to Yours 2025)Psychiatry 3.0 (From Our Neurons to Yours, 2023)Stanford Psychiatry's Corey Keller Awarded Grant to Research Biomarkers to Improve Efficacy of rTMS for Treatment-Resistant Depression (Stanford Medicine Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 2026)Personalizing Brain Stimulation for Psychiatric Disorders: From Circuits to Closed-Loop Control (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2026)Transcranial magnetic stimulation with intracranial recording in humans and primates: a review (Brain: A Journal of Neurology, 2025)Neural effects of TMS trains on the human prefrontal cortex (Scientific Reports, 2023)Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.eduLearn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsDarkness, Sensory Deprivation, Caves, and Visionary ConditionsUstinova, Yulia. Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind: Descending Underground in the Search for Ultimate Truth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.Use for: caves, descent, darkness, ancient Greek revelation, incubation, inspired prophecy, and altered states in underground sacred settings.Lewis-Williams, David. The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.Use for: caves, prehistoric imagery, altered consciousness, visual phenomena, and symbolic environments. Use carefully because some interpretations of prehistoric religion remain debated.Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. New York: Harcourt, 1959.Use for: sacred space, threshold, the difference between sacred and profane space, and the way religious environments reorganize orientation and meaning.Zuckerman, Marvin, and Nathan Cohen. “Sources of Reports of Visual and Auditory Sensations in Perceptual-Isolation Experiments.” Psychological Bulletin 61, no. 1, 1964: 1–20.Use for: sensory deprivation, perceptual isolation, visual/auditory sensations, and internally generated experiences under reduced stimulation.Wackermann, Jiří, Peter Pütz, and Carsten Allefeld. “Ganzfeld-Induced Hallucinatory Experience, Its Phenomenology and Cerebral Electrophysiology.” Cortex 44, no. 10, 2008: 1364–1378.Use for: Ganzfeld states, reduced/uniform sensory fields, pseudo-hallucinatory imagery, altered perception, and EEG findings.Metzger, Wolfgang. “Optische Untersuchungen am Ganzfeld.” Psychologische Forschung 13, 1930: 6–29.Use for: early Ganzfeld research and the effect of homogeneous visual fields on perception.Shenyan, O., et al. “Visual Hallucinations Induced by Ganzflicker and Ganzfeld Differ in Frequency, Complexity, and Content.” Scientific Reports 14, 2024.Use for: modern comparison between Ganzfeld and flicker-induced visual phenomena. Useful if connecting this episode back to the earlier flicker-light show.Candlelight, Firelight, Sacred Atmosphere, and the Agency of LightBille, Mikkel, and Tim Flohr Sørensen. “An Anthropology of Luminosity: The Agency of Light.” Journal of Material Culture 12, no. 3, 2007: 263–284.Use for: light as a social, material, emotional, and cultural agent; how light shapes atmosphere, social meaning, and movement.Bille, Mikkel, and Tim Flohr Sørensen, eds. Elements of Architecture: Assembling Archaeology, Atmosphere and the Performance of Building Spaces. London: Routledge, 2016.Use for: architecture, atmosphere, materiality, embodied space, and how built environments shape experience.Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: Wiley, 1996; later editions.Use for: architecture as multisensory experience, not just visual design; helpful for sacred architecture, embodied space, and sensory atmosphere.Barrie, Thomas. “Sacred Space and the Mediating Roles of Architecture.” European Review 20, no. 4, 2012: 505–514.Use for: sacred architecture as a mediating threshold between ordinary and sacred worlds.Kieckhefer, Richard. Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.Use for: Christian sacred architecture, spatial theology, light, ritual orientation, and the way buildings teach belief through space.Do, Michael T. H. “Melanopsin and the Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells: Biophysics to Behavior.” Neuron 104, no. 2, 2019: 205–226.Use for: melanopsin, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, non-image-forming vision, and the biological effects of light beyond ordinary sight.Hattar, Samer, H. W. Liao, Motoharu Takao, David M. Berson, and King-Wai Yau. “Melanopsin-Containing Retinal Ganglion Cells: Architecture, Projections, and Intrinsic Photosensitivity.” Science 295, no. 5557, 2002: 1065–1070.Use for: retinal ganglion cells that detect light for non-image-forming functions, including circadian-related pathways.Blume, Christine, Corrado Garbazza, and Manuel Spitschan. “Effects of Light on Human Circadian Rhythms, Sleep and Mood.” Somnologie 23, 2019: 147–156.Use for: light, circadian rhythms, sleep, mood, and why sunlight, darkness, dawn, and dusk matter biologically.Cajochen, Christian. “Alerting Effects of Light.” Sleep Medicine Reviews 11, no. 6, 2007: 453–464.Use for: light's alerting effects beyond image-forming vision.Stained Glass, Religious Light, and Visual TheologyBinski, Paul. Gothic Wonder: Art, Artifice, and the Decorated Style, 1290–1350. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.Use for: Gothic visual culture, sacred display, ornament, and the emotional force of medieval religious space.Camille, Michael. Gothic Art: Glorious Visions. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.Use for: Gothic imagery, religious seeing, visual devotion, and sacred art as visionary environment.Kessler, Herbert L. Seeing Medieval Art. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2004.Use for: medieval Christian theories of seeing, devotional image use, sacred art, and vision as religious practice.Hamburger, Jeffrey F. The Visual and the Visionary: Art and Female Spirituality in Late Medieval Germany. New York: Zone Books, 1998.Use for: visionary art, devotional seeing, mystical imagery, and the relationship between images and religious experience.Freedberg, David. The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.Use for: why images provoke emotion, devotion, fear, desire, reverence, and acts of ritual engagement.Scrying, Black Mirrors, Crystal Gazing, and Reflective VisionCaputo, Giovanni B. “Strange-Face-in-the-Mirror Illusion.” Perception 39, no. 7, 2010: 1007–1008.Use for: mirror-gazing under low light, face distortion, visual instability, and apparitional perception.Caputo, Giovanni B. “Apparitional Experiences of New Faces and Dissociation of Self-Identity During Mirror Gazing.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 110, no. 3, 2010: 1125–1138.Use for: mirror-gazing, dissociation, altered self-recognition, and strange-face experiences.Caputo, Giovanni B. “Strange-Face Illusions During Inter-Subjective Gazing.” Consciousness and Cognition 22, no. 1, 2013: 324–329.Use for: prolonged eye-to-eye gazing, face alteration, dissociative effects, and interpersonal gaze phenomena.Caputo, Giovanni B. “Visual Perception During Mirror-Gazing at One's Own Face in Patients with Depression.” The Scientific World Journal, 2014.Use for: mirror-gazing research and altered self-perception. Useful for grounding black mirror and psychomanteum discussion, but do not overgeneralize.Moody, Raymond A., with Paul Perry. Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones. New York: Villard, 1993.Use for: modern psychomanteum practice, mirror-gazing, grief, and visionary encounters. Use cautiously; this is experiential/parapsychological material, not mainstream neuroscience.Roll, William G. “Psychomanteum Research: A Pilot Study.” Journal of Near-Death Studies 22, no. 4, 2004: 251–270.Use for: psychomanteum research, bereavement visions, mirror-gazing, and altered perception. Use cautiously.Northcote, Thomas. “Scrying.” In The Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, edited by J. Gordon Melton. Detroit: Gale, various editions.Use for: general historical overview of scrying traditions, crystal gazing, mirror gazing, and divinatory seeing.Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Translated by James Freake; edited and annotated by Donald Tyson. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1993.Use for: Renaissance magical imagination, correspondences, planetary symbols, spirits, and visual/ritual operations.Barrett, Francis. The Magus. London, 1801.Use for: later ceremonial magic, mirrors, spirits, correspondences, and visual ritual imagination. Use historically, not as scientific evidence.Magical Gaze, Concentration, Visualization, and Ceremonial PracticeCrowley, Aleister. Liber E vel Exercitiorum. In The Equinox.Use for: concentration, posture, breath, mental discipline, and the training of attention as a magical foundation.Crowley, Aleister. Magick: Liber ABA, Book 4. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, various editions.Use for: ceremonial magic, concentration, visualization, ritual method, symbols, and disciplined magical practice.Regardie, Israel. The Golden Dawn. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, variousAlso want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. 

How one teen turns comparison into fuel instead of letting it crush her confidence. Learn more about EMG here, mom → https://trainhergame.com/mom

In this School of Doza episode, Nurse Doza opens the Metabolic Series with the adrenal glands — and why you may feel tired all day, crash between 2 and 4 PM, and wake up unrested. He explains how chronic stress can keep the body stuck in fight-or-flight, why that pattern is hard to shift, and the daily levers he leans on: belly breathing, less screen time at night, and morning sunlight. Then he breaks down Zen by MSW Nutrition — adrenal glandular plus four adaptogens — for stress support. FEATURED PARTNER Zen by MSW Nutrition is built in three layers rather than a single botanical: **125 mg of adrenal glandular tissue** (bovine, sourced from Argentina), **four standardized adaptogens** — Asian ginseng, rhodiola, eleuthero, and schisandra — plus **cofactor nutrients** (vitamin C, B6 as P5P, and pantothenic acid). Licorice rounds out the 9-ingredient formula. It's the supplement Nurse Doza reaches for when the goal is supporting the adrenal glands and the body's stress response, instead of layering more caffeine on top of a depleted system.

O Santo Sudário, preservado na Catedral de Turim, é considerado por fiéis a mortalha que envolveu o corpo de Jesus Cristo após a crucificação, enquanto para a arqueologia representa um dos maiores enigmas da história. Um estudo publicado na revista Scientific Reports trouxe novas evidências ao aplicar técnicas modernas de sequenciamento genômico em amostras do linho. A análise revelou a presença de microrganismos, vestígios vegetais, DNA animal e traços biológicos de diversas regiões do mundo. Entre o material genético humano identificado, cerca de 55% pertence a populações do Oriente Médio e 38% apresenta vínculo com o sul da Ásia, sugerindo rotas comerciais antigas. O programa analisa a complexidade do tecido diante da ciência e da história, abordando os debates sobre a datação por Carbono-14 realizada em 1988, as perspectivas de historiadores e a relação do objeto com os relatos dos Evangelhos canônicos.

Disclaimer: This episode and article are for educational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or trauma history. If you're in crisis, please contact a licensed mental health professional or crisis line in your area.TL;DR* Generational trauma isn't just a psychological concept — it's biological, written into a layer of chemical “tags” on top of your DNA called the epigenome.* A landmark 1997 quantum entanglement experiment out of the University of Geneva showed two particles can stay instantaneously connected across nearly seven miles — a finding that reframes how connected biological systems, like families, might really be.* Studies on Holocaust survivors, lab mice, and Syrian refugee families all show that trauma experienced by a parent or grandparent can alter stress hormone systems and gene expression in children and grandchildren who never lived through the original event.* Symptoms like a hair-trigger stress response, unexplained anxiety, chronic inflammation, digestive issues, and difficulty feeling safe can all be signs your body is carrying inherited survival programming.* The good news: epigenetic changes are reversible. Therapy, breathwork, meditation, nature, sleep, and nutrition have all been shown to create measurable biological change — meaning your healing doesn't stop with you.* Ready to map out your own healing roadmap? Book a complimentary Metabolic Blueprint session.The Patient Who Started It AllA patient — I'll call her Maria — came into my office anxious, trembling, dealing with night tremors, sleep problems, digestive issues, and a stress response that fired at the smallest provocation. Nothing catastrophic was happening in her life. She had a good job and a loving family, yet she lived like she was waiting for something terrible to happen.When I asked about her family history, she mentioned it almost in passing: “My grandmother survived the war. She escaped with nothing. She never really talked about it.”That's when it clicked. I'd been deep in the epigenetics literature — the science of how experience changes the way our genes express themselves — and here was living proof sitting across from me. Maria wasn't broken. Her body was running a survival program written by someone she never met.The Physics of ConnectionBefore we get to the biology, it helps to understand just how connected things can be — even across vast distances.In 1997, physicist Nicolas Gisin and his team at the University of Geneva ran one of the most mind-bending experiments in the history of science. They entangled two photons at the quantum level, then separated them — sending one north through a fiber-optic cable toward the village of Bellevue and the other south toward Bernex, roughly seven miles apart. When they measured one photon, the other responded instantaneously — faster than light could travel between them. Einstein famously called this “spooky action at a distance” because it violated everything he believed about how the universe should work. The finding has since been replicated many times over, and in 2022 the Nobel Prize in Physics recognized the pioneering work of Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for demonstrating and harnessing quantum entanglement — the same phenomenon Gisin's Geneva experiment helped bring out of the lab and into the real world.So what does quantum physics have to do with your anxiety? If two particles can remain deeply connected across physical distance, instantly sharing information, what does that suggest about biological systems — families that share DNA, a womb, a developing nervous system? The universe appears to be far more entangled than we were taught, and the idea that your grandmother's terror ends cleanly with her story doesn't hold up under the research.The Biology: Epigenetics, Explained“Epi” is Greek for “on top of.” Epigenetics is the layer of biological information that sits on top of your genes and tells your DNA what to do — and it can be changed by your environment, your experiences, and your stress.Some of the most compelling research in this space comes from studying Holocaust survivors and their descendants. Dr. Rachel Yehuda at Mount Sinai, a pioneer in this field, found that children of Holocaust survivors had measurably different stress hormone profiles — altered cortisol systems and stress-response machinery — not because of what they experienced, but because of what their parents experienced. Her 2016 study went further, identifying epigenetic changes on the same region of a stress-related gene in both Holocaust survivors and their adult children, one of the first demonstrations that a parent's trauma before conception can leave a measurable epigenetic mark on their offspring.In 2014, researchers Brian Dias and Kerry Ressler at Emory University trained male mice to fear the smell of cherry blossoms by pairing the scent with a mild shock. Their offspring and grandoffspring — mice that had never been exposed to the scent-shock pairing — showed heightened sensitivity and fear responses to that same smell. The learned fear had been encoded epigenetically in sperm and passed down two generations.More recently, a 2025 study published in Scientific Reports by researchers including a team affiliated with Yale examined three generations of Syrian refugee families, looking at DNA methylation patterns across the genome. They found altered epigenetic markings not just in grandmothers directly exposed to war violence, but in grandchildren who never experienced war at all — including epigenetic age acceleration in children whose mothers were pregnant during violent exposure. As the researchers put it, “the experience of violence is preserved and embedded in the genome.”What Generational Trauma Can Look Like in Your BodyIf any of these sound familiar, it's worth paying attention:* A hair-trigger stress response. Your HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) — your stress command center — may be calibrated for a threat that no longer exists, keeping you on high alert without a clear reason why.* Unexplained anxiety or fear not tied to any specific life event — just a low hum of dread that's always been there.* Chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation, since epigenetic changes can affect the genes that regulate inflammation.* Digestive issues — the gut is exquisitely sensitive to stress signaling, including inherited stress patterns.* Difficulty feeling safe even in safe situations — you have everything you need, and some part of you is still scanning for danger.None of this makes you broken. It makes you human — carrying biological information from people who loved you and survived things you'll never fully know.The Part That Matters Most: It's ReversibleEpigenetic changes aren't permanent. Dr. Yehuda's research also found that combat veterans with PTSD who went through cognitive behavioral therapy showed measurable changes in their epigenetic markers after treatment — the healing showed up in the biology, not just the mindset.Other research points to meditation, breathwork, time in nature, safe social connection, quality sleep, and proper nutrition as genuine epigenetic interventions — not just wellness trends, but practices that change the chemical tags sitting on your genes. And here's the most important part: if you do this work, you may be changing the inheritance of the generations that come after you. Your healing isn't just for you — it's for your children, your grandchildren, and people who haven't been born yet.Five Things to Do This Week* Do a family history audit. Write out what you know about two or three generations back — not just medical history, but life history. War, famine, displacement, loss, abuse, addiction, poverty. You're not doing this to assign blame, just to understand the inheritance.* Name what's not yours. Next time an irrational fear or outsized stress response shows up, try saying: “This may not be mine. I'm going to feel it, and I'm going to let it move through me.” That simple reframe starts to change your nervous system's relationship to the sensation.* Start one epigenetic healing practice. Pick one: daily meditation, five minutes of diaphragmatic breathing, cold exposure, a phone-free walk in nature, or journaling. These aren't luxuries — they're medicine.* Consider trauma-informed therapy. If this episode resonated and you're carrying weight you can't explain, look for an EMDR specialist, a somatic therapist, or an internal family systems practitioner — modalities that work at the level where generational trauma lives.* Share this episode. Ask yourself who in your life needs to hear this today — a parent, a sibling, a friend who's struggling. Understanding is where healing begins.Ready to Go Deeper?If today's episode stirred something in you — if you're sensing there's a layer of your health you haven't fully explored — I'd love to support you. We'll take a complete look at your picture, map out your top three priorities, and figure out whether the Metabolic Momentum Accelerator, the Cellular Reboot Accelerator (where we work on emotional clearing down to the epigenetic level), or the Total Health Restore program is the right fit for you.Book your complimentary Metabolic Blueprint session here.Thank you for spending this time with me. This wasn't easy material, but you showed up for it — and showing up is always the first step in healing. Until next week, be well and aloha.References* Salomon, R. et al. “Quantum correlations with spacelike separated beam splitters in motion: experimental test of multisimultaneity.” Physical Review Letters / Gisin, N. et al., University of Geneva Bell test experiments (1997), demonstrating quantum entanglement over ~10 km (Bernex–Bellevue, Switzerland).* The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 — awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science.” NobelPrize.org* Yehuda, R. et al. “Holocaust Exposure Induced Intergenerational Effects on FKBP5 Methylation.” Biological Psychiatry (2016). Summary coverage: Scientific American; Mount Sinai* Dias, B.G. & Ressler, K.J. “Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations.” Nature Neuroscience (2014). Coverage: Emory University News* “Epigenetic signatures of intergenerational exposure to violence in three generations of Syrian refugees.” Scientific Reports 15, 5945 (2025). Nature.com | PMC* Yehuda, R. et al. Epigenetic changes associated with CBT treatment in combat veterans with PTSD — referenced in Yehuda lab research overview, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. labs.icahn.mssm.edu/yehudalab* Wolynn, M. It Didn't Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle. Viking, 2016. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tripleplaydoc.substack.com/subscribe

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsBibliographyCore Eye Anatomy, Retina, Optic Nerve, and Visual PathwaysBelliveau, A. P., & Somani, A. N. “Pupillary Light Reflex.” StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing, updated 2023.Cleveland Clinic. “Optic Nerve: What It Is, Function, Anatomy & Conditions.” Cleveland Clinic, updated 2024.Gupta, M., & Ireland, A. C. “Neuroanatomy, Visual Pathway.” StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing, updated 2022.Kolb, H. “Simple Anatomy of the Retina.” Webvision: The Organization of the Retina and Visual System. University of Utah / NCBI Bookshelf.Purves, D., Augustine, G. J., Fitzpatrick, D., et al., eds. Neuroscience. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.Szabadi, E. “Functional Organization of the Sympathetic Pathways Controlling the Pupil: Light-Inhibited and Light-Stimulated Pathways.” Frontiers in Neurology 9, 2018.University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “Ocular Motor System.” Neuroscience Online.Pupillometry, Cognitive Load, Attention, and Mental EffortBeatty, Jackson. “Task-Evoked Pupillary Responses, Processing Load, and the Structure of Processing Resources.” Psychological Bulletin 91, no. 2, 1982: 276–292.Beatty, Jackson, and Brennis Lucero-Wagoner. “The Pupillary System.” In Handbook of Psychophysiology, edited by John T. Cacioppo, Louis G. Tassinary, and Gary G. Berntson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.Kahneman, Daniel, and Jackson Beatty. “Pupil Diameter and Load on Memory.” Science 154, no. 3756, 1966: 1583–1585.Kahneman, Daniel. Attention and Effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973.Laeng, Bruno, Sylvain Sirois, and Gustaf Gredebäck. “Pupillometry: A Window to the Preconscious?” Perspectives on Psychological Science 7, no. 1, 2012: 18–27.Mathôt, Sebastiaan. “Pupillometry: Psychology, Physiology, and Function.” Journal of Cognition 1, no. 1, 2018.Piquado, Tepring, David Isaacowitz, and Arthur Wingfield. “Pupillometry as a Measure of Cognitive Effort in Younger and Older Adults.” Psychophysiology 47, no. 3, 2010: 560–569.Zekveld, Adriana A., Sophia E. Kramer, and Tammo Houtgast. “The Pupil Dilation Response to Auditory Stimuli: Current State of Knowledge.” Trends in Hearing 22, 2018.Emotion, Attraction, Arousal, and the PupilBradley, Margaret M., Laura Miccoli, Miguel A. Escrig, and Peter J. Lang. “The Pupil as a Measure of Emotional Arousal and Autonomic Activation.” Psychophysiology 45, no. 4, 2008: 602–607.de Winter, Joost C. F., et al. “Replicating Five Pupillometry Studies of Eckhard Hess.” International Journal of Psychophysiology 165, 2021: 145–161.Hess, Eckhard H. “Attitude and Pupil Size.” Scientific American 212, no. 4, 1965: 46–54.Hess, Eckhard H., and James M. Polt. “Pupil Size as Related to Interest Value of Visual Stimuli.” Science 132, no. 3423, 1960: 349–350.Lang, Peter J., Margaret M. Bradley, and Bruce N. Cuthbert. International Affective Picture System (IAPS): Affective Ratings of Pictures and Instruction Manual. Gainesville: University of Florida, 2008.Pan, J., et al. “The Effects of Emotional Arousal on Pupil Size Depend on Background Luminance and Stimulus Type.” Scientific Reports 14, 2024.Locus Coeruleus, Norepinephrine, Salience, and AttentionAston-Jones, Gary, and Jonathan D. Cohen. “An Integrative Theory of Locus Coeruleus–Norepinephrine Function: Adaptive Gain and Optimal Performance.” Annual Review of Neuroscience 28, 2005: 403–450.Joshi, Siddhartha, Yin Li, Ram M. Kalwani, and Joshua I. Gold. “Relationships Between Pupil Diameter and Neuronal Activity in the Locus Coeruleus, Colliculi, and Cingulate Cortex.” Neuron 89, no. 1, 2016: 221–234.Murphy, Peter R., Ian H. Robertson, James H. Balsters, and Redmond G. O'Connell. “Pupillometry and P3 Index the Locus Coeruleus–Noradrenergic Arousal Function in Humans.” Psychophysiology 48, no. 11, 2011: 1532–1543.Sara, Susan J. “The Locus Coeruleus and Noradrenergic Modulation of Cognition.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 2009: 211–223.Uddin, Lucina Q. “Salience Processing and Insular Cortical Function and Dysfunction.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 16, 2015: 55–61.Memory, Emotion, Initiation, and Ritual EncodingCahill, Larry, and James L. McGaugh. “Mechanisms of Emotional Arousal and Lasting Declarative Memory.” Trends in Neurosciences 21, no. 7, 1998: 294–299.McGaugh, James L. “Memory—A Century of Consolidation.” Science 287, no. 5451, 2000: 248–251.McGaugh, James L. “The Amygdala Modulates the Consolidation of Memories of Emotionally Arousing Experiences.” Annual Review of Neuroscience 27, 2004: 1–28.Seligman, Rebecca, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. “Dissociative Experience and Cultural Neuroscience: Narrative, Metaphor and Mechanism.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry 32, 2008: 31–64.Seligman, Rebecca, Ryan A. Brown, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. “Theory and Method at the Intersection of Anthropology and Cultural Neuroscience.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 5, no. 2–3, 2010: 130–139.Whitehouse, Harvey. Arguments and Icons: Divergent Modes of Religiosity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.Whitehouse, Harvey. Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004.Ritual, Synchrony, Social Bonding, and Embodied MeaningHobson, Nicholas M., Juliana Schroeder, Jane L. Risen, Dimitris Xygalatas, and Michael I. Norton. “The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 22, no. 3, 2018: 260–284.Jackson, Joshua Conrad, Brock Bastian, and others. “Synchrony and Physiological Arousal Increase Cohesion and Cooperation in Large Naturalistic Groups.” Scientific Reports 8, 2018.McCauley, Robert N., and E. Thomas Lawson. Bringing Ritual to Mind: Psychological Foundations of Cultural Forms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago: Aldine, 1969.Xygalatas, Dimitris. Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2022.Xygalatas, Dimitris, et al. “Extreme Rituals Promote Prosociality.” Psychological Science 24, no. 8, 2013: 1602–1605.Meditation, Prayer, Trance, and AbsorptionFox, Kieran C. R., Matthew L. Dixon, Savannah Nijeboer, et al. “Functional Neuroanatomy of Meditation: A Review and Meta-Analysis of 78 Functional Neuroimaging Investigations.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 65, 2016: 208–228.Jerath, Ravinder, John W. Crawford, Vernon A. Barnes, and Kyler Harden. “Self-Regulation of Breathing as a Primary Treatment for Anxiety.” Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback 40, 2015: 107–115.Lutz, Antoine, John D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson. “Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness, edited by Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, and Evan Thompson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.Tellegen, Auke, and Gilbert Atkinson. “Openness to Absorbing and Self-Altering Experiences (‘Absorption'), a Trait Related to Hypnotic Susceptibility.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 83, no. 3, 1974: 268–277.Vago, David R., and David A. Silbersweig. “Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, and Self-Transcendence: A Framework for Understanding the Neurobiological Mechanisms of Mindfulness.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 6, 2012.Darkness, Sensory Deprivation, Ganzfeld, and Visual InstabilityCaputo, Giovanni B. “Strange-Face-in-the-Mirror Illusion.” Perception 39, no. 7, 2010: 1007–1008.Caputo, Giovanni B. “Visual Perception During Mirror-Gazing at One's Own Face in Patients with Depression.” The Scientific World Journal, 2014.Caputo, Giovanni B. “Strange-Face Illusions During Eye-to-Eye Gazing in Dyads.” Imagination, Cognition and Personality 38, no. 1, 2018: 51–77.Metzger, Wolfgang. “Optische Untersuchungen am Ganzfeld.” Psychologische Forschung 13, 1930: 6–29.Shenyan, O., et al. “Visual Hallucinations Induced by Ganzflicker and Ganzfeld Differ in Frequency, Complexity, and Content.” Scientific Reports 14, 2024.Wackermann, Jiří, Peter Pütz, and Carsten Allefeld. “Ganzfeld-Induced Hallucinatory Experience, Its Phenomenology and Cerebral Electrophysiology.” Cortex 44, no. 10, 2008: 1364–1378.Zuckerman, Marvin, and Nathan Cohen. “Sources of Reports of Visual and Auditory Sensations in Perceptual-Isolation Experiments.” Psychological Bulletin 61, no. 1, 19Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. 

>p>Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 7-30-2026: A type of coffee brewed from beans that have been altered by passage through the digestive track of civet cats is a delicacy in Southeast Asia. A Scientific Reports paper using gas chromatography analyzed Kopi Luwak (civet-processed coffee beans) versus fresh-picked beans, finding elevated caprylic and capric acids that carry the characteristic flavor notes found in dairy products. Dr. Manuel Esteller sampled and tested the blood, saliva, urine, and stool of the oldest human Maria Branyas Morera, who died last year at 117. Despite exceptionally short telomeres, she carried anti-inflammatory genetic variants seen in long-lived dogs, worms, and flies, and had unusually high Bifidobacterium levels—likely boosted by her three-daily-servings-of-yogurt habit. Dr. Dawn defends sunscreen use against Environmental Working Group scare campaigns, noting that concerns about absorption of sunscreen ingredients into blood remain theoretical while sunburn's melanoma link is well-established. She argues that a badly sunburned toddler starts a clock that can produce melanoma by the late teens. The FDA advisory committee is reviewing certain short amino acid chains popularly known as "peptides" for potential compounding-pharmacy production, covering proposed to treat ulcerative colitis, wound healing, insomnia, insulin resistance, migraines, and osteoporosis. Dr. Dawn flags that five to seven committee members have industry conflicts of interest, but argues that even flawed approval is preferable to the current gray market, where analysis shows vials contain only 4-28% of labeled content along with endotoxin and toluene contamination. She proposes surveillance tracking of prescribed peptides to catch adverse effects early, citing a foreign melanocortin nasal spray tanning product that caused rare nasal melanomas as a cautionary example. Utah State biochemists working with the Cas12a2 CRISPR enzyme discovered that instead of behaving as a precise gene-editor like Cas9, it goes into an indiscriminate DNA-shredding mode after recognizing its target RNA. By programming it to recognize RNA sequences uniquely activated in cancer cells (embryonic-development genes that shouldn't be running in adults), researchers destroyed only the cancer cells in tissue culture, potentially offering a way to eliminate small metastases without healthy tissue toxicity. Cancer patients who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy showed dramatically improved outcomes, with median survival in advanced lung cancer rising from 20 to 37 months. Non-mRNA vaccines (flu, pneumonia) showed no such benefit. Lab work suggests the mRNA triggers type-1 interferon release that activates tumor-infiltrating immune cells and drives them to lymph nodes to train other immune cells against the tumor. Researchers redesigned a CD40 agonist antibody to bind multiple receptors simultaneously by clustering with a second antibody, stretching the cell surface and triggering a powerful immune response. In a 12-patient trial, injecting one tumor caused all tumors to shrink in six patients and produced complete remission in two—including a melanoma patient with dozens of leg tumors and a metastatic breast cancer patient whose lung and liver tumors resolved after skin injection. Two small trials of CAR natural killer cells—engineered like CAR T-cells but derived from donor umbilical cord blood and thus potentially available off-the-shelf—showed remarkable results in autoimmune disease. All 27 systemic lupus patients targeting the CD19 protein on autoantibody-producing cells showed improvement, with some remaining in remission at nearly two years. A single Shanghai patient with systemic sclerosis showed restoration of normal skin and blood vessel structure. A paradox has emerged in advanced prostate cancer: while blocking testosterone halts early tumor growth, cancer cells eventually adapt to low-androgen conditions such that flooding tissues with testosterone in advanced disease can actually halt tumor progression by triggering cellular redifferentiation. Separately, Dr. Dawn reviews conflicting evidence on Parkinson's risk from androgen deprivation therapy, singling out enzalutamide (Xtandi) as the most concerning drug due to blood-brain barrier penetration, and recommending darolutamide as the safest alternative with matching prostate efficacy but minimal CNS entry.

Selon l'OCDE, entre 2000 et 2019, la production de plastique a doublé pour atteindre 460 millions de tonnes en 1 an. Il est omniprésent. Partout où nous allons, le plastique nous suit… même dans les océans. À tel point qu'un 7ème continent, uniquement composé de déchets plastiques, se développe depuis les années 70 dans l'océan pacifique. Selon l'étude de l'organisation Ocean Cleanup publiée en 2018 dans la revue Scientific Reports, il s'étend sur 1,6 million de km², soit 3 fois la taille de la France. Certains historiens prédisent même que notre époque sera étudiée comme étant l'ère du plastique, au même titre que l'Âge de bronze ou l'âge de pierre par exemple. Comment le plastique peut-il définir notre époque ? Produit-on autre chose que du plastique à aussi grande échelle ? Un monde sans plastique est-il possible ? Écoutez la suite de cet épisode de "Maintenant vous savez". Un podcast Bababam Originals, écrit et réalisé par Samuel Lumbroso. Première diffusion : juillet 2023 À écouter aussi : ⁠Comment les champignons peuvent-ils nous sauver de la pollution plastique ?⁠ ⁠Que sont les microplastiques ?⁠ ⁠Qu'est-ce que la plasticroûte, cette nouvelle forme de pollution ? Retrouvez tous les épisodes de "Maintenant vous savez". Pour rester informé et recevoir le meilleur de “Maintenant vous savez” chaque semaine, abonnez-vous à notre ⁠newsletter⁠. Suivez Bababam sur Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Bioactive Podcast, Dr. Riley Kirk sits down with cannabis research scientist Ben Cleary to unpack groundbreaking research published in Scientific Reports examining THC variability in cannabis flower and what it means for consumers, cultivators, laboratories, and regulators. If you've ever wondered why the same strain can feel different from batch to batch—or why chasing the highest THC percentage often leads to disappointment—this conversation explains the science behind it. Ben shares how his team's research demonstrates the natural variability of THC within a single cannabis plant and why reporting one THC percentage may not accurately represent what consumers actually purchase. Together, Riley and Ben discuss the future of cannabis labeling, range-based THC reporting, lab testing variability, terpene science, chemical diversity, and how better education can improve purchasing decisions and consumer trust. They also explore why aroma may be a better guide than THC percentage alone, how Canada's cannabis industry is beginning to implement THC ranges, the role of laboratory variation in cannabis testing, and what future cannabis packaging could look like as science continues to evolve. Whether you're a cannabis consumer, cultivator, scientist, budtender, regulator, or simply curious about how cannabis testing really works, this episode offers an evidence-based look at one of the industry's biggest conversations. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Meet Ben Cleary 01:04 Inside Village Farms 02:56 Why Study THC Variability 07:19 What the Data Shows 10:28 Range Based Labels 14:08 Low Dose Access Debate 16:37 Health Canada Pilot 19:06 Beyond THC Terpenes 22:56 Lighting and Scale Limits 30:31 Sampling Protocol Shortcut 33:23 Lab Testing Variability 35:26 Measured THC Reality 36:56 Quality Metrics Beyond THC 38:56 Industry Adoption Push 40:48 Why Village Farms Did It 43:05 Next Research Frontiers 45:11 Real World Data Approach 46:20 Science Community Stories 49:02 Medical Education Gap 52:50 Chemical Diversity Score Idea 56:15 Simplifying Labels for Consumers 57:39 Where to Follow the Research 59:40 Closing and BC Invite   Read the Scientific Reports paper discussed in this episode:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-06962-2 Connect with Ben Cleary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-cleary-746b00172/ Village Farms International: https://villagefarms.com/ Want Exclusive Content and ad-free episodes? Join the Bioactive Patreon community for as little as $1/month to ask guests your burning questions, access exclusive content, and connect with Dr. Kirk one-on-one.  www.Patreon.com/Cannabichem      Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more expert insights into cannabis science, plant biology, and more!   Sign Up for Emails!  www.AppliedPharmacognosy.org     Keep up with Dr. Riley Kirk: https://www.bioactivepodcast.com/  https://www.youtube.com/@cannabichem  https://instagram.com/cannabichem  https://www.appliedpharmacognosy.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

HEALTH NEWS   Berberine Shows Beneficial Effects on Metabolic Health, Study Reports Cooperation beats selfishness more often than scientists thought Sleep Disorders Don't Just Exhaust You. New Research Shows They Change Your Brain Two Hours of Strength Training Weekly Linked to Lower Heart Attack Risk in Women, Study Finds Planetary Health Diet lowers cardiovascular risk in older women     Berberine Shows Beneficial Effects on Metabolic Health, Study Reports Peking Union Medical College (China), July 24 2026 (Natural News)     A review published in the journal Molecules has summarized evidence indicating that berberine, a compound found in several plants, may influence glucose and lipid metabolism. According to the review, berberine has been associated with improvements in metabolic health markers across multiple studies. The compound is a yellow alkaloid extracted from plants such as European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, Oregon grape, and tree turmeric. The review cited evidence that berberine may reduce blood glucose levels and improve insulin sensitivity, according to clinical trials. A systematic review of seven randomized clinical trials from China published in Nutrients revealed that berberine consistently alters the composition of gut bacteria in patients taking the supplement, and the analysis examined data across conditions including Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and colorectal adenoma. Lipid panel improvements, including lower total cholesterol and triglycerides, were also reported in the reviewed studies.   Cooperation beats selfishness more often than scientists thought Hebrew University of Jerusalem & Rutgers University, July 20 2026 (Eureaklert)  For decades, one of the most influential ideas in evolutionary biology has suggested that when individuals act purely in their own self-interest, cooperation should eventually collapse. But a new study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Rutgers University demonstrates that evolution may be far more optimistic than previously believed. Their findings reveal that cooperation does not require close family ties, reputation, repeated favors, or rigid social structures. Instead, cooperation can flourish simply because individuals respond differently to different opponents. The research proposes a new solution to one of biology's oldest puzzles: how cooperation survives in a world shaped by natural selection. Using mathematical models, evolutionary simulations, and populations of artificial intelligence agents, the researchers found that cooperation consistently evolved when individuals adjusted their willingness to cooperate according to whom they encountered. Rather than treating everyone identically, simple opponent-specific responses created stable communities in which cooperative behavior repeatedly outperformed purely selfish strategies. Perhaps the study's most surprising finding is that cooperative societies are not fragile exceptions. Across thousands of simulations, populations repeatedly evolved toward highly cooperative states, while purely selfish populations often failed to dominate. Even when mutations introduced new defectors, cooperative communities remained remarkably resilient.   Sleep Disorders Don't Just Exhaust You. New Research Shows They Change Your Brain Florida International University, July 26, 2026 (SciTech Daily) A poor night's sleep can affect far more than energy the next day. Research from Florida International University links sleep disorders with structural differences in brain regions that help control attention, motivation and decision-making. Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the findings provide one of the broadest comparisons yet of how different sleep disorders are associated with the brain.  The researchers compared two broad categories. Dyssomnias, such as insomnia and sleep apnea, interfere with falling asleep or remaining asleep. Parasomnias, including sleepwalking, nightmare disorder and sleep terrors, involve unusual events that disrupt the sleep cycle. Both categories were associated with decreases in the thalamus, a region that filters incoming information, supports concentration, and contributes to higher-level thinking. The researchers identified changes specifically in the pulvinar, an area within the thalamus that directs attention and helps manage cognitive control. These differences were connected with wider brain networks that support concentration and task performance. That pattern may help explain why disrupted sleep is associated with slower reactions, poorer decision-making and a greater likelihood of errors and accidents.   Two Hours of Strength Training Weekly Linked to Lower Heart Attack Risk in Women, Study Finds Harvard School of Public Health, July 26 2026 (Natural News) A large-scale study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has found that women who engage in regular strength training have a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The study examined data from 117,025 women over an average follow-up period of 14.5 years.   Women who performed any amount of resistance training had a lower risk of cardiovascular events compared with those who did none. The association persisted after adjusting for overall lifestyle and health factors, the study stated.  Among the study's specific findings, women who performed at least two hours of resistance training per week had a 44% lower risk of heart attack relative to women who did no resistance training, the report said. Any cardiovascular disease risk was 20% lower for that group, with an additional 5% reduction per extra hour of weekly resistance training, according to the study. The benefits of strength training were more pronounced among women who maintained resistance training consistently and trained both upper and lower body, according to the study. Adding strength training to regular aerobic exercise – such as walking or running – was linked to better heart health.   Planetary Health Diet lowers cardiovascular risk in older women University of Caliornia at Irvine, July 25 2026 (News-Medical) A 20-year study of more than 65,000 postmenopausal women found that higher adherence to the Planetary Health Diet was associated with a lower risk of overall cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. The findings showed that women whose diet most closely followed the Planetary Health Diet had about a 28% lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with women in the group scoring the lowest for adherence. However, even moderate adherence to the diet was linked with lower risk. The Planetary Health Diet emphasizes foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and unsaturated fats while limiting foods such as red and processed meats, added sugars, refined grains and saturated fats. The investigators followed 66,892 participants in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).  Overall, the results showed that women in the group whose diets were more closely aligned with the Planetary Health Diet had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease. These women also showed a decreased risk of heart disease, heart failure and stroke risk compared to the women in the lowest-adherence group. However, even moderate adherence to the diet was associated with a decrease in risk, with each 10-point increase in Planetary Health Diet Index score linked to further risk reduction.

The gang discusses two papers that look at early tetrapods. The first paper investigates the transition to terrestrial environments in early tetrapods, and the second paper looks at some very small Dimetrodon. Meanwhile, Amanda has a disproportionate cat, James talks smack about a dead synapsid, and Curt gives gardening tips.   Up-Goer Five (Amanda Edition): This week our friends look at two papers on animals with hard bits in their back and four legs. The first paper asks when did animals with hard bits in their backs and four legs first start doing a big change as they grew up. Today the sort of early group of animals with hard bits in their back and four legs are really not that early and are actually really different but a lot of people use them to talk about early animals with hard bits in their backs and four legs. They do a big change as they grow up. They start out using water to breathe and then change to breathing air. Some of them grow legs when they don't start with legs. People like to say that this means early animals with hard bits in their back and four legs also must have done a big change as they grew. But actually maybe not, because old animals with hard bits in their back and four legs don't show the big change at all. So it seems like maybe the big change either came about once before a big branch between groups, and then went away in animals with hard bits in their back that live on land, or it came about twice in two different groups of animals that do a big change as they grow, one of which might have become the living group of animals with hard bits in their back and four legs that do a big change and live in both water and on land. Both of those might have been the right answer but we can't tell right now, we need more old animals to find out. The second paper is about a animal with hard bits in its back and four legs that is close to animals with hair, but probably did not have hair. Instead it has a big back with things sticking out and skin on it. These ate other animals and were really important when they lived. But the paper looks at animals in this group that are small. It's very different too because many of these animals are found in one part of the world, but one of the small ones is found far away. It's the only one not found with all the others. The other small one is found with all the others. This paper wants to find out why are they small and do they get small in the same way, so they cut up the inside hard parts and look at them really close and find that they actually get small in different ways because they can see how they grow when they look at the inside hard parts up close. They also think that the animals that lived in the far away place from the others were small for a different reason, because the place they lived was not great and they maybe didn't have a lot of food to eat. The small ones that are found with all the other animals were small because there were all those other animals with big backs with things sticking out and skin on it that would fight it. So they probably lived more in water and ate fish, maybe.   References: Pardo, Jason D., and Arjan Mann. "Direct development of stem tetrapods across the fin-to-limb transition." Science 392.6804 (2026): 1292-1296. Canoville, Aurore, et al. "Contrasting life history in the diminutive Dimetrodon species from North America and Germany." Scientific Reports 16.1 (2026): 16279.

This evening at sundown marks the onset of Tisha B'Av, a 25-hour period in the Jewish calendar which is the saddest of the year. We commemorate and remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples, among the most important events in Jewish history. These disasters led to the dispersal of the Jewish people for thousands of years. They never abandoned their dream of returning to their ancient homeland, but throughout the centuries of exile they were persecuted ruthlessly and relentlessly. In Spain. England. Throughout Europe. In the middle east. And today, we are clearly in the early stages of yet another era of extreme tumult. For Jews.In this episode I speak with Dr. Yiftach Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Shalev and his team discovered charred wooden beams used in the construction of a grand home adjacent to the First Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians. The parallels regarding what transpired during this time and on October 7 are eerie. And we are only able to understand the commonalities because of strides in scientific and forensic analysis. Think about it. For a wooden beam charred more than 2,000 years ago to be preserved so that it can be analyzed is extraordinary. What kind of wood was used? Where did it come from? Why did it not decay? Dr. Shalev analyses the detail to preserve and present the big picture. The attackers had a plan. They ignited concentrated fires that incinerated the Temple and adjacent buildings, with temperatures reaching 700 degrees Celsius. Just as Hamas did on October 7. They had a similar plan, going house to house, torching the living and murdered.Everything about this story is fascinating; the scientific advances that make this forensic archaeological work possible. And how much it enhances our understanding of the present, in the context of the past. This is more than archaeology. It is history, war, conquest, and political reality tumbled together. If nothing else listen to the introduction and watch the two minute video. You'll be hooked by then. Trust me. I have never been one to show great interest in “archaeological” stories. This changed everything.Podcast NotesDr. Yiftah Shalev is a leading field archaeologist and the Scientific Advisor for the Jerusalem District of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Over the course of his career, he has directed and participated in major excavations throughout Israel. He spent fifteen years excavating at Tel Dor, one of the most important archaeological sites on Israel's Mediterranean coast, before turning his primary research focus to Jerusalem.Since 2017, Shalev has co-led the Givati Parking Lot excavations in ancient Jerusalem. The excavations he directs have reshaped our understanding of the city's development from the Iron Age through the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Among the remarkable discoveries he has helped bring to light are a monumental rock-cut moat that once divided ancient Jerusalem, an elite public building destroyed during the Babylonian conquest of 586 BCE, the first decorated ivory panels discovered in Jerusalem, and vessels that once contained wine flavored with vanilla. He is also advancing a pioneering interdisciplinary project that uses cosmic-ray muons to investigate underground spaces and structures without excavation.Following the October 7, 2023 attacks, Shalev was called upon to take part in the emergency effort in the communities near the Gaza border, where he used archaeological methods as part of the search for missing persons.Shalev is a teaching fellow at Tel Aviv University and Jerusalem University College. He has published extensively on the archaeology of Jerusalem, ancient economy, and Mediterranean trade networks. His interdisciplinary research has appeared in leading journals, including PNAS, Scientific Reports, PLOS ONE, the Journal of Applied Physics, the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Tel Aviv, and the Israel Exploration Journal. He is married, a father of three, and enjoys hiking and traveling with his family.Show your support for STLV at buymeacoffee.com/stateoftelavivState of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stateoftelaviv.com/subscribe

Es steht vor Deiner Haustür, kostet nichts und lädt Deinen Kopf schneller auf als jede Couch: ein Stück Grün. In dieser Folge erfährst Du, warum Dein Gehirn Natur regelrecht braucht – für mehr Fokus, ein niedrigeres Stresslevel und bessere Regeneration.Du erfährst, was fast 20.000 Menschen über die richtige Dosis verraten (Spoiler: rund 17 Minuten am Tag reichen), warum ein Spaziergang Dein Arbeitsgedächtnis messbar verbessert – selbst wenn Du überhaupt keine Lust drauf gehabt hättest. Und warum das Training draußen langfristig oft leichter fällt als drinnen. Plus: wie Du das Ganze in Deinen Alltag schmuggelst, ohne Dir Extra-Zeit dafür nehmen zu müssen.Versprochen: Es geht weder ums Bäume-Umarmen noch um sonstigen Esoterik-Kram. Nur Wissenschaft, die Du ab heute nutzen kannst. Denn Dranbleiben schlägt Perfektion – auch auf dem Weg zum nächsten Park.____________*WERBUNG: ➜ Infos zum Werbepartner dieser Folge und allen weiteren Werbepartnern findest Du hier.

⁠⁠Enio Augusto⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ e ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Marcos Buosi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ trazem as notícias do mundo da corrida com os comentários, informações, opiniões e análises mais pertinentes, peculiares e inesperadas no Redação PFC. Escute, informe-se e divirta-se.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SEJA MEMBRO DO CANAL!!!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

You spend time reading ingredient labels, buying organic, choosing healthier foods—but what if the biggest threat isn't what's in your food... it's what your food is touching? In this eye-opening Fatal Conveniences episode, Darin uncovers the hidden health risks lurking inside everyday food packaging. From takeout containers and greasy wrappers to microwave-safe plastics and canned food linings, he explains how chemicals like PFAS, BPA, phthalates, and microplastics migrate directly into your meals—especially when heat, fat, and time are involved. Using newly introduced federal legislation, peer-reviewed scientific research, and practical solutions you can implement immediately, Darin reveals why food packaging may be one of the most overlooked sources of toxic exposure in modern life. Most importantly, he shares simple steps you can take today to dramatically reduce your family's exposure without waiting for government regulation. This episode isn't about fear—it's about reclaiming your sovereignty, making informed choices, and recognizing that what touches your food matters just as much as what's inside it. What You'll Learn Why food packaging may be contaminating your meals How PFAS, BPA, and phthalates migrate into hot food Why heat, fat, and time dramatically increase chemical exposure The truth behind "microwave-safe" plastic containers What the new No Toxics in Food Packaging Act proposes How endocrine disruptors interfere with hormones and metabolism Why microplastics and nanoplastics increase during reheating Which plastic recycling codes to eliminate from your kitchen Why grease-resistant paper can be just as problematic as plastic Practical ways to reduce your family's exposure immediately How choosing glass, stainless steel, and ceramic can lower toxic burden Why informed consumers—not regulators—will drive lasting change Chapters 00:00:00 – Welcome to SuperLife 00:00:35 – Sponsor: Bite Toothpaste 00:02:51 – The fast-food wrapper that changes everything 00:03:54 – Why packaging deserves as much attention as ingredients 00:04:51 – The overlooked Fatal Convenience hiding in plain sight 00:05:13 – Introducing the No Toxics in Food Packaging Act 00:06:10 – Why plastic isn't chemically inert 00:06:52 – BPA, phthalates, PFAS, and food-contact chemicals explained 00:07:49 – How heat, fat, and time pull toxins into your food 00:08:39 – The dangerous assumption that "legal" means "safe" 00:09:41 – Inside the new federal legislation 00:11:01 – The science proving chemical migration is real 00:12:08 – Why hot, fatty foods absorb the most contaminants 00:13:34 – Millions of microplastics released during microwaving 00:14:15 – Sponsor: Manna Vitality 00:16:09 – New research on microwavable containers 00:17:48 – PFAS: the forever chemicals in food packaging 00:18:46 – Fast food consumption and higher PFAS blood levels 00:19:24 – What these chemicals actually do inside the body 00:20:39 – Why carcinogens are still legally used in food-contact materials 00:21:37 – The FDA loophole allowing chemicals into the food supply 00:23:36 – Practical steps to reduce exposure today 00:24:13 – Why you should immediately transfer takeout into glass 00:25:13 – Plastics to eliminate from your kitchen 00:26:17 – Supporting better legislation and voting with your wallet 00:27:51 – Awareness creates freedom and better choices 00:28:58 – The future of safe food packaging 00:29:37 – Final thoughts: reclaiming your health through everyday decisions Thank You to Our Sponsors Bite Toothpaste: Go to trybite.com/DARIN20 or use code DARIN20 for 20% off your first order Manna Vitality: Go to mannavitality.com/ and use code DARIN12 for 12% off your order. Join the SuperLife Patreon: This is where Darin now shares the deeper work: - weekly voice notes - ingredient trackers - wellness challenges - extended conversations - community accountability - sovereignty practices Join now for only $7.49/month at https://patreon.com/darinolien Find More from Darin Olien: Website: darinolien.com Instagram: @darinolien Book: Fatal Conveniences Platform & Products: superlife.com New Show: Roadmap to Happiness Key Takeaway "The health of your food isn't determined solely by where it came from or what's listed on the nutrition label—it's also determined by what touches it before it reaches your body. Heat, fat, time, and modern packaging create opportunities for chemicals to migrate directly into your meals, but awareness gives you the power to interrupt that process. By choosing glass over plastic, transferring takeout immediately, minimizing processed packaging, and making conscious daily decisions, you reduce toxic exposure while reclaiming sovereignty over your health. Real wellness isn't built through fear—it's built through informed choices repeated every day." Bibliography/Sources: Legislation & Government Sources Food Dive. (2025, September 11). FDA takes first step toward closing GRAS ingredient 'loophole' . https://www.fooddive.com/news/food-ingredient-safety-gras-fda-rule/759938/ Office of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. (n.d.). Schakowsky, DeLauro, Dingell introduce legislation to ban harmful toxics in food packaging [Press release] . https://schakowsky.house.gov/media/press-releases/schakowsky-delauro-dingell-introduce-legislation-ban-harmful-toxics-food U.S. Congress. (2026, June 9). H.R. 9231 - No Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging Act of 2026 (119th Congress). House Committee on Energy and Commerce . U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 4724 - No Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging Act of 2026 (119th Congress). Congress.gov . https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4724 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2025). HHS Secretary Kennedy directs FDA to explore rulemaking to eliminate pathway for companies to self-affirm food ingredients are safe . https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/revising-gras-pathway.html U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2024). FDA announces PFAS used in grease-proofing agents for food packaging no longer being sold in the U.S. . https://www.fda.gov/food/hfp-constituent-updates/fda-announces-pfas-used-grease-proofing-agents-food-packaging-no-longer-being-sold-us Verdant Law. (2026). Federal legislation would deem 15 chemicals unsafe in food packaging . https://www.verdantlaw.com/federal-legislation-would-deem-15-chemicals-unsafe-in-food-packaging/ Industry & News Coverage Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. (n.d.). Support the federal 'No Toxics in Food Packaging Act of 2026'. Action Network . https://actionnetwork.org/forms/support-the-federal-no-toxics-in-food-packaging-act-of-2026 Flavorist. (2026). No Toxics in Food Packaging Act 2026: A major push to remove harmful chemicals from food packaging . https://www.flavorist.com/the-push-to-ban-forever-chemicals-and-toxins-from-food-packaging-what-the-new-bill-means-for-consumers-and-industry/ Food Dive. (2026). Bill in Congress targets 'forever chemicals' in food packaging . https://www.fooddive.com/news/no-toxics-in-food-packaging-act-2026/822803/ Packaging Dive. (2026). Bill in Congress targets PFAS, phthalates, BPA in food packaging . https://www.packagingdive.com/news/no-toxics-in-food-packaging-act-2026/822601/ Migration & Packaging Chemistry Studies A simulation study on the temperature-dependent release of endocrine-disrupting chemicals from polypropylene and polystyrene containers. (2025). Scientific Reports . https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-05036-7 A systematic review: Migration of chemical compounds from plastic material containers in food and pharmaceutical fields. (2025). PubMed Central . https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12641956/ European Parliamentary Research Service. (2026). Food contact materials in the EU: State of play. European Parliament . https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2026/782669/EPRS_BRI(2026)782669_EN.pdf Migration of bisphenol A and its derivatives from epoxy coatings and demand for BPA-NI products. (n.d.). PubMed Central . https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12711388/ Seref, et al. (2025). Food packaging and chemical migration: A food safety perspective. Journal of Food Science . https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1750-3841.70265 Stevens, S., Bartosova, Z., Völker, J., & Wagner, M. (2024). Migration of endocrine and metabolism disrupting chemicals from plastic food packaging. Environment International, 189, 108791 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108791 Tanzer, M., Boissiere-O'Neill, T., Sly, P., & Vilcins, D. (2025). Phthalates, bisphenols and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances migration from food packaging into food: A systematic review. Reviews on Environmental Health, 40(3), 616–625 . https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2025-0027 Heat, Microwaving & Microplastics Food Safety Magazine. (2026). Report raises concerns about microplastics, chemicals released by microwavable meals . https://www.food-safety.com/articles/11211-report-raises-concerns-about-microplastics-chemicals-released-by-microwavable-meals Greenpeace International. (2026). Reheating plastic food containers: What science says about microplastics and chemicals in ready meals . https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/81649/reheating-plastic-food-containers-what-science-says-about-microplastics-chemicals-ready-meals/ INTEGRIS Health. (2025). Is it safe to reheat food in plastic? . https://integrishealth.org/resources/on-your-health/2025/november/is-it-safe-to-reheat-food-in-plastic ScienceInsights. (2026). What happens if you microwave plastic: Health risks . https://scienceinsights.org/what-happens-if-you-microwave-plastic-health-risks/ ZeroToxins. (2026). Food packaging and chemical migration: What happens when heat meets plastic . https://www.zerotoxins.com/post/food-packaging-and-chemical-migration-what-happens-when-heat-meets-plastic PFAS in Fast Food & Grease-Resistant Packaging Consumer Reports. (2022). Consumer Reports finds dangerous PFAS chemicals widespread in fast food packaging tested . https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/press_release/consumer-reports-finds-dangerous-pfas-chemicals-widespread-in-fast-food-packaging-tested/ Determination of several PFAS groups in food packaging material from fast-food restaurants in France. (2023). ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653523020015 Environmental Health News. (2023). Burgers and fries with a side of PFAS . https://www.ehn.org/fast-food-pfas Food Manufacturing. (2022). Pressure growing to remove PFAS from fast food wrappers . https://www.foodmanufacturing.com/packaging/news/22250166/pressure-growing-to-remove-pfas-from-fast-food-wrappers Endocrine Disruption, Fertility & Cancer Risk Associations between endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure and fertility outcomes: A decade of human epidemiological evidence. (2025). PubMed Central . https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12299029/ Medtigo Journal. (2026). Endocrine disrupting chemicals and health in Europe: A systematic review and meta-analysis . https://journal.medtigo.com/endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-and-health-in-europe-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis/ Trasande, L., & Sargis, R. M. (2024). Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Mainstream recognition of health effects and implications for the practicing internist. Journal of Internal Medicine, 295, 259–274 . The GRAS Loophole & FDA Oversight Environmental Working Group. (2026). Secret GRAS: How 100+ food chemicals bypassed government safety review . https://www.ewg.org/research/secret-gras-how-100-food-chemicals-bypassed-government-safety-review Epstein Becker Green. (2025). Eliminating the GRAS pathway: An update . https://www.healthlawadvisor.com/eliminating-the-gras-pathway-an-update Food Safety Magazine. (2024). 'Toxic Free Food Act' would close FDA GRAS 'loophole' allowing potentially toxic additives in food . https://www.food-safety.com/articles/9768-toxic-free-food-act-would-close-fda-gras-loophole-allowing-potentially-toxic-additives-in-food New York University. (2024). How a legal loophole allows unsafe ingredients in U.S. foods . https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/august/legal-loophole-unsafe-ingredients.html Thompson Coburn LLP. (2026). The changing landscape of U.S. food additive regulation: MAHA and the end of business as usual . https://www.thompsoncoburn.com/insights/the-changing-landscape-of-u-s-food-additive-regulation-maha-and-the-end-of-business-as-usual/

If you think executive function challenges only affect your ADHD and autism clients, this episode will change how you see your entire caseload. In this episode, we break down the latest 2025 research, revealing that executive function difficulties are far more widespread than previously recognized, including in populations SLPs have historically underestimated. You'll learn: Adele Diamond's 3-part framework for understanding executive function (attention and inhibitory control, verbal working memory, and cognitive flexibility) Why do children with developmental language disorder almost universally show verbal working memory deficits across all ages and native languages The surprising finding that even children with mild articulation errors, like distorted R's and S's, show statistically significant executive function risk New 2025 data linking stuttering to verbal and visual working memory difficulties How Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles can help you build one powerful, inclusive activity that targets executive function across your whole caseload The bottom line: We need to stop treating a mouth and start treating the whole child. Next week: Part 2 covers what the research says actually works to improve executive function and how to bring it into your sessions starting Monday. References: Afshar, M., Zarifian, T., Khorrami Banaraki, A., & Noroozi, M. (2022). Executive functions in Persian-speaking preschool children with speech sound disorders and comparison with their typically developing peers. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 11(4), 702–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622965.2021.1937169 Kakuta, K., et al. (2025). Executive function in preschool children who stutter: A behavioral assessment study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), Article 16159. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00981-9 Lee, D., Boulton, K. A., Sun, C., Phillips, N. L., Munro, M., Kumfor, F., Demetriou, E. A., & Guastella, A. J. (2024). Attention and executive delays in early childhood: A meta-analysis of neurodevelopmental conditions. Molecular Psychiatry. Advance online publication. Niu, T., Wang, S., Ma, J., Zeng, X., & Xue, R. (2024). Executive functions in children with developmental language disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 18, Article 1390987. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1390987 Keywords: executive function, speech language pathology, developmental language disorder, speech sound disorders, apraxia of speech, stuttering, verbal working memory, UDL, SLP caseload, 2025 research

Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsPart 1 focuses on the drum as an ancient technology of altered consciousness. The argument is not that every beat causes trance, or that neuroscience has proven spirits. The stronger argument is that rhythm enters the human organism through hearing, motor prediction, breath, movement, attention, emotion, expectation, culture, and social synchrony. The drum becomes powerful when sound, body, group, ritual frame, and meaning converge. These sources support the archaeology, neuroscience, EEG research, shamanic studies, possession studies, Indigenous and culturally specific drum traditions, ritual theory, placebo and meaning-response research, ceremonial magic, and modern witchcraft material used in the episode.Core Academic and Scientific SourcesHuels, Emma R., Hyoungkyu Kim, UnCheol Lee, Tirsa Bel-Bahar, Ana V. Colmenero, Alexandra Nelson, Stefanie Blain-Moraes, George A. Mashour, and Richard E. Harris. “Neural Correlates of the Shamanic State of Consciousness.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 15 (2021): 610466.Gordon, Yoel, Golan Karvat, Noa Dagan, and Ayelet N. Landau. “Neural Tracking at Theta Predicts Drumming-Induced Altered States of Consciousness.” Scientific Reports 16, no. 1 (2026): Article 10204.Aparicio-Terrés, R., et al. “The Neurobiology of Altered States of Consciousness Induced by Drumming and Other Rhythmic Sound Patterns.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2025.Neher, Andrew. “Auditory Driving Observed with Scalp Electrodes in Normal Subjects.” Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 13 (1961): 449–451.Neher, Andrew. “A Physiological Explanation of Unusual Behavior in Ceremonies Involving Drums.” Human Biology 34, no. 2 (1962): 151–160.Maurer, R., V. K. Kumar, L. Woodside, and R. J. Pekala. “Phenomenological Experience in Response to Monotonous Drumming and Hypnotizability.” American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 40, no. 2 (1997): 130–145. Use for monotonous drumming, subjective altered experience, imagery, absorption, and hypnotizability.Maxfield, Melinda C. “Effects of Rhythmic Drumming on EEG and Subjective Experience.” PhD diss., Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 1990. Use as older supporting context on drumming, EEG, imagery, body-image changes, and subjective altered experience. Do not make this the main scientific proof; use it as background.Nozaradan, Sylvie, Isabelle Peretz, and André Mouraux. “Tagging the Neuronal Entrainment to Beat and Meter.” The Journal of Neuroscience 31, no. 28 (2011): 10234–10240. Use for EEG evidence that the brain can track beat and meter. This supports the claim that the brain does not merely hear rhythm as background sound; it can represent rhythmic structure in measurable ways.Nozaradan, Sylvie. “Exploring How Musical Rhythm Entrains Brain Activity with Electroencephalogram Frequency-Tagging.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 369, no. 1658 (2014). Use as broader rhythm/EEG entrainment support. This helps explain frequency-tagging, beat tracking, meter, neural entrainment, and the measurable relationship between rhythmic structure and brain activity.Thaut, Michael H., Gerald C. McIntosh, and Volker Hoemberg. “Neurobiological Foundations of Neurologic Music Therapy: Rhythmic Entrainment and the Motor System.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2015). Use for rhythm as motor-system timing information. This supports the claim that a beat can become bodily instruction, not just sound for the ear. Especially useful when discussing rhythmic auditory stimulation, motor planning, gait, entrainment, and the auditory-motor bridge.Ross, Jessica M., John R. Iversen, and Ramesh Balasubramaniam. “Time Perception for Musical Rhythms: Sensorimotor Perspectives on Entrainment, Simulation, and Prediction.” 2022. Use for rhythm, timing, prediction, sensorimotor entrainment, and the way musical rhythm interacts with time perception.Hove, Michael J., and Jane L. Risen. “It's All in the Timing: Interpersonal Synchrony Increases Affiliation.” Social Cognition 27, no. 6 (2009): 949–960. Use for synchrony and social bonding. This helps support the group-body argument: moving or acting in time with others can increase affiliation.Wiltermuth, Scott S., and Chip Heath. “Synchrony and Cooperation.” Psychological Science 20, no. 1 (2009): 1–5. Use for the claim that synchronized movement can increase cooperation and attachment among participants.Tarr, Bronwyn, Jacques Launay, and Robin I. M. Dunbar. “Music and Social Bonding: ‘Self-Other' Merging and Neurohormonal Mechanisms.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014): 1096. Use for music, synchrony, bonding, endorphin/social mechanisms, and why group rhythm can feel like more than private listening.Fancourt, Daisy, Rosie Perkins, Sara Ascenso, Louise Atkins, Fatima Kilfeather, and Aaron Williamon. “Effects of Group Drumming Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, Social Resilience and Inflammatory Immune Response among Mental Health Service Users.” PLOS ONE 11, no. 3 (2016): e0151136. Use for modern group-drumming research showing psychological and physiological effects, including anxiety, depression, social resilience, wellbeing, and inflammatory immune response. Use carefully: this does not make group drumming a cure-all. It supports the more grounded claim that embodied rhythm and group participation can affect mood, social connection, and body chemistry.Bittman, Barry B., et al. “Composite Effects of Group Drumming Music Therapy on Modulation of Neuroendocrine-Immune Parameters in Normal Subjects.” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 7, no. 1 (2001): 38–47. Use as older supporting material on group drumming and neuroendocrine-immune measures. Keep secondary. Fancourt is cleaner for the main script body.Archaeology and Deep History of DrumsLawergren, Bo. “Neolithic Drums in China.” In Music Archaeology in China. 2006. Use for clay drums in Neolithic China and the deep-history claim that drums are not just poetic symbols of antiquity. They appear in the archaeological record as instruments tied to early sound-making, ceremony, and social order.Both, Arnd Adje. “Music Archaeology: Some Methodological and Theoretical Considerations.” Use as general support for why ancient instruments should be treated as ritual and social evidence, not merely decorative objects.Anthropology, Ethnomusicology, Ritual, and TranceRouget, Gilbert. Music and Trance: A Theory of the Relations Between Music and Possession. Translated by Brunhilde Biebuyck. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Essential source. Use for the caution that music does not mechanically or universally cause trance. Rouget helps keep the argument academically serious by emphasizing culture, ritual frame, meaning, and expectation.Becker, Judith. Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004. Use for music-linked trancing, emotional absorption, religious experience, and culturally trained ways of listening. This supports the “hearing versus entering” distinction.McNeill, William H. Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Use for marching, dance, drill, muscular bonding, synchronized movement, and rhythm as social glue. This is useful both for Part 1's group-body material and Part 2's war-drum material.Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964. Use carefully. Eliade's phrase “archaic techniques of ecstasy” is powerful, but the episode should also note that later scholarship criticizes his tendency to universalize shamanism.Winkelman, Michael. Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010. Use for shamanism as a ritual technology involving altered consciousness, healing, social integration, symbolism, and body-brain processes.Winkelman, Michael. “Shamanism and Psychedelics: A Biogenetic Structuralist Paradigm of Ecopsychology.” European Journal of Ecopsychology 4 (2013): 90–115. Use as supplemental background on shamanism, altered consciousness, and comparative models of trance and visionary states.Kontouli, Athanasia, Michael J. Hove, Alexandre Lehmann, Peter Vuust, and Peter E. Keller. “The Rhythms of Trance: Cultural Phenomenology and Neural Mechanisms of Music-Induced Lewis-Williams, David. The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Use cautiously for altered states, entoptic imagery, ritual vision, and the relationship between neuropsychology and symbolic culture.Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2026. Use for the bridge between cultural phenomenology and neuroscience. This supports the point that music-induced trance is not only acoustics; it involves body, training, expectation, culture, environment, and interpretation.Tart, Charles T., ed. Altered States of Consciousness. New York: Wiley, 1969. Use as classic altered-state background.Hultkrantz, Åke. “The Drum in Shamanism.” Use for classic comparative material on the shamanic drum, especially Arctic, SiberiAlso want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A

ReferencesCold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 2011. 76:31-38. Scientific Reports 2024 volume 14, Article number: 1773 Guerra, DJ.2026. Unpublished Lectures.Stevens, C. 1970. Father and Sonhttps://open.spotify.com/track/476V2d6iA2tWXgQboKmTtA?si=c4c5d1b6a34043e1Mydland, B. 1989. I will Carry You Home. Grateful Dead.https://open.spotify.com/track/1Q3AmIjEbPYemA6UkjUUu0?si=b3b29503e29c4b5c

What if one of the most important health crises affecting men today wasn't being caused by aging, but by the environment we live in? In this eye-opening solo episode, Darin Olien investigates the alarming decline in testosterone levels, fertility, and reproductive health among men worldwide. Drawing on decades of research, epidemiological studies, environmental science, endocrinology, and public health data, Darin examines the growing evidence connecting endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics, sleep deprivation, chronic stress, poor lifestyle habits, and environmental toxins to declining testosterone levels across generations. From BPA, phthalates, atrazine, PFAS, and microplastics to sleep quality, circadian rhythms, cholesterol metabolism, cortisol regulation, and natural testosterone-supporting strategies, this episode explores what may be one of the most underreported public health issues of our time—and what men can do to take control of their health today.     What You'll Learn Why testosterone levels have been declining for decades The startling research on global sperm count decline How endocrine-disrupting chemicals interfere with hormone production Why BPA and phthalates may disrupt testosterone synthesis The role of atrazine, PFAS, and environmental toxins How chronic stress diverts resources away from testosterone production Why sleep may be the most important testosterone intervention The connection between cholesterol and hormone production How microplastics are being found throughout the human body The surprising relationship between statins and testosterone levels Natural lifestyle strategies that support healthy hormone production Practical steps to reduce environmental exposure and improve health     Chapters 00:00:00 – Welcome to SuperLife 00:00:33 – Sponsor: Fatty15 and cellular health 00:04:17 – The testosterone collapse explained 00:04:51 – Testosterone levels have been declining for decades 00:06:03 – Global sperm count decline and accelerating trends 00:07:02 – Why treating symptoms misses the root cause 00:07:27 – The hidden public health crisis 00:08:03 – Why low testosterone isn't just about aging 00:09:12 – Why hormone health affects longevity 00:09:53 – Low testosterone and increased mortality risk 00:10:35 – Testosterone's role in metabolism and cardiovascular health 00:11:27 – Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and hormone disruption 00:12:44 – BPA and its effects on testosterone production 00:13:59 – Phthalates and their impact on hormone pathways 00:16:00 – Glyphosate, atrazine, and pesticide exposure 00:17:07 – PFAS and reproductive health concerns 00:17:55 – Environmental toxins and population-wide effects 00:18:11 – Sponsor: Shakeology 00:20:02 – Cholesterol and hormone production 00:20:53 – Chronic stress and cortisol dominance 00:21:45 – Actionable solutions begin 00:21:56 – Why sleep is essential for testosterone production 00:23:07 – How sleep deprivation rapidly lowers testosterone 00:23:21 – Light pollution and circadian disruption 00:23:41 – Foods and nutrients needed for hormone health 00:24:23 – Microplastics and testicular tissue 00:24:53 – Statins and unintended hormonal consequences 00:25:39 – A practical testosterone sovereignty protocol 00:25:48 – Water filtration and reducing toxic exposure 00:26:13 – Eliminating plastics and fragrance chemicals 00:26:35 – Why organic food matters 00:26:45 – Sunlight and vitamin D 00:27:05 – Magnesium, omega-3s, and iodine 00:27:26 – Pine pollen and natural androgen support 00:28:01 – Tongkat Ali and ashwagandha 00:28:48 – Strength training and lifestyle interventions 00:29:10 – Habits that naturally support testosterone 00:29:27 – Darin's approach to healthy aging 00:29:37 – Plants, herbs, and common sense 00:29:51 – Reclaiming your health and sovereignty 00:30:00 – Final thoughts and closing message     Thank You to Our Sponsors Fatty15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/DARIN and using code DARIN at checkout. Shakeology: Get 15% off with code DARINO1BODI at Shakeology.com.     Join the SuperLife Patreon: This is where Darin now shares the deeper work: - weekly voice notes - ingredient trackers - wellness challenges - extended conversations - community accountability - sovereignty practices Join now for only $7.49/month at https://patreon.com/darinolien     Find More from Darin Olien: Website: darinolien.com Instagram: @darinolien Book: Fatal Conveniences Platform & Products: superlife.com New Show: Roadmap to Happiness     Key Takeaway "The testosterone crisis may be about far more than aging. It may be a reflection of the modern environment itself—one increasingly saturated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals, chronic stress, poor sleep, circadian disruption, and toxic exposures. While many of these forces feel outside our control, the encouraging reality is that many of the most powerful interventions remain accessible: improving sleep, reducing toxic load, eating whole foods, getting sunlight, managing stress, exercising regularly, and reclaiming responsibility for our health. The goal isn't fear. The goal is awareness—and action."     Bibliography/Sources: The Decline — Primary Research Levine, H., Jørgensen, N., Martino-Andrade, A., et al. (2022). Temporal trends in sperm count: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis of samples collected globally in the 20th and 21st centuries. Human Reproduction Update, 29(2), 157–176. https://doi.org/10.1093/humupd/dmac035 Lokeshwar, S. D., Patel, P., Fantus, R. J., et al. (2021). Decline in testosterone levels in men aged 15–40: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999–2016. World Journal of Urology, 39(2), 447–452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-020-03227-1 Spital Clinic. (2026, March). Declining testosterone levels by generation. https://www.spitalclinic.com Travison, T. G., Araujo, A. B., O'Donnell, A. B., Kupelian, V., & McKinlay, J. B. (2007). A population-level decline in serum testosterone levels in American men. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 92(1), 196–202. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2006-1375 Low Testosterone — Mortality & Disease Risk Muraleedharan, V., Marsh, H., Kapoor, D., Channer, K. S., & Jones, T. H. (2013). Testosterone deficiency is associated with increased risk of mortality and testosterone replacement improves survival in men with type 2 diabetes. European Journal of Endocrinology, 169(6), 725–733. https://doi.org/10.1530/EJE-13-0321 Shores, M. M., et al. (2006). Low testosterone associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(15), 1660–1665. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/410754 Yeap, B. B., Marriott, R. J., Dwivedi, G., et al. (2024). Associations of testosterone and related hormones with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and incident cardiovascular disease in men. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-2781 Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Associations between endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure and fertility outcomes: A decade of human epidemiological evidence. (2024). PubMed Central (PMC12299029). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12299029/ Hayes, T. B., Haston, K., Tsui, M., et al. (2002). Herbicides: Feminization of male frogs in the wild. Nature, 419, 895–896. https://doi.org/10.1038/419895a Mechanisms of testicular disruption from exposure to BPA and phthalates. (2020). Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(2), 471. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7074154/ Meeker, J. D., Calafat, A. M., & Hauser, R. (2014). Urinary phthalate metabolites and their biotransformation products: Predictors and temporal variability among men and women. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140814124330.htm Zhao, Q., et al. (2023). Male reproductive toxicity of microplastics: Head and tail of the sperm. Science of the Total Environment, 872, 162181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162181 Zhong, B., et al. (2024). Mixed EDC exposure associated with reductions in testosterone and free androgen index. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76972-z Cortisol, Stress & the HPG Axis Bielohuby, M., et al. (2012). Swiss military cadets prolonged stress study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. Preprints.org. (2025). Sleep deprivation: A modifiable cause. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202505.0580.v1 SiPhox Health. (n.d.). Summary of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism data. https://www.siphoxhealth.com Viau, V. (2002). Functional cross-talk between the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and -adrenal axes. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 14(6), 506–513. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2826.2002.00798.x Sleep & Testosterone Leproult, R., & Van Cauter, E. (2011). Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men. JAMA, 305(21), 2173–2174. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1029127 Reiter, R. J., et al. (2021). Melatonin and male reproductive health: Relationship to oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, and Leydig cell protection. Endocrine. Tan, D. X., Hardeland, R., Manchester, L. C., et al. (2023). Melatonin as a pleiotropic antioxidant hormone. Journal of Pineal Research. Nutrition — Zinc, Vitamin D, Cholesterol Corona, G., et al. (2010). Statin therapy and testosterone levels in men: A systematic review. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Daniell, H. W. (2002). Hypogonadism in men consuming sustained-action oral opioids. The Journal of Pain, 3(5), 377–384. https://doi.org/10.1054/jpai.2002.126790 Pilz, S., Frisch, S., Koertke, H., et al. (2011). Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men. Hormone and Metabolic Research, 43(3), 223–225. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0030-1269854 Prasad, A. S., Mantzoros, C. S., Beck, F. W., Hess, J. W., & Brewer, G. J. (1996). Zinc status and serum testosterone levels of healthy adults. Nutrition, 12(5), 344–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0899-9007(96)80058-X Natural Testosterone Support — Botanical Evidence Pine pollen impacts testosterone-related symptoms in men. (2024). ACMCR Case Reports, 14(5), 1–9. Chinnappan, S. M., George, A., et al. (2021). Effect of Eurycoma longifolia standardised extract Physta on testosterone levels in ageing males: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicentre study. Food & Nutrition Research, 65. https://doi.org/10.29219/fnr.v65.5647 Lazarev, A., & Bezuglov, E. (2021). Testosterone boosters intake in athletes: Current evidence and further directions. Endocrines, 2(2), 109–120. https://doi.org/10.3390/endocrines2020011 Leisegang, K., et al. (2022). Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali) improves serum total testosterone in men. Food & Nutrition Research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36013514/ Leitão, A. E., et al. (2021). 6-month double-blind RCT: Eurycoma longifolia 200mg + concurrent training. Maturitas. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2020.10.005 Lopresti, A. L., Smith, S. J., et al. (2019). An investigation into the stress-relieving and pharmacological actions of an ashwagandha extract. Medicine, 98(37), e17186. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000017186 Pandit, S., Biswas, S., Jana, U., De, R. K., Mukhopadhyay, S. C., & Biswas, T. K. (2016). Clinical evaluation of purified shilajit on testosterone levels in healthy volunteers. Andrologia, 48(5), 570–575. https://doi.org/10.1111/and.12482 Saden-Krehula, M., Tajic, M., & Kolbah, D. (1971). Testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione in the pollen of Scotch pine Pinus sylvestris L. Experientia, 27(1), 108–109. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02137731 Wankhede, S., Langade, D., Joshi, K., et al. (2015). Examining the effect of Withania somnifera supplementation on muscle strength and recovery: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12, 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-015-0104-9

Send us Fan MailThis episode comes from two threads that have been weaving together in my practice lately: training in Polarity Champissage — a beautiful Ayurvedic marma-based body therapy developed by my friend and mentor Caroline Crichton — and developing Somatic Stretch and Shake, the movement class I've been teaching at Soma in Belfast, Maine.I want to be upfront: these ideas are still in process for me. I'm researching this both academically and in my own body, and it doesn't feel fully cooked yet. But there has been so much synchronicity around this topic lately that it felt like a sign to share what I have so far — and keep exploring from here.What we cover:The neurogenic tremor — the natural, involuntary shaking response that animals use to discharge stress (and that we've learned to suppress), and why somatic shaking gives this built-in mechanism somewhere to goWhat shaking does to fascia — the connective tissue web running through the entire body, richer in nerve endings than muscle tissue, and how trauma and chronic stress can cause it to tighten, thicken, and lose its fluid qualityMechanotransduction and hyaluronan — how vibration triggers cellular responses in fascia, including the cycling of hyaluronan, the gel-like substance that keeps fascial tissue hydrated and gliding freelyThe interstitium — the recently mapped, fluid-filled connective tissue network discovered somewhat by accident in 2015, and why it was invisible to traditional biopsy methods for so longA possible bridge between systems — emerging research suggesting the interstitium may be the physical substrate for the meridians of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and how this connects to marma points and Polarity ChampissageThe rasa dhatu connection — why interstitial fluid flow decreasing with age (especially after 50) may be one physical mechanism behind the dryness and depletion of rasa dhatu in perimenopause, and how movement and shaking help keep this fluid circulatingHow to actually shake — shaking in sets of three to six minutes, followed by a minute of stillness to let the body integrate; why subtle shaking is just as effective as big movement; and why consistency matters more than intensityThe synchronicities: Thinking about a chapter on the interstitium in Abigail Rose Clark's book Returning Home to Our Bodies — and getting an email from her about an emboided anatomy class she is teaching on the interstitium hours laters. A New York Times article on the interstitium. An interview with Dr. Neil Theise, the NYU pathologist at the center of the 2015 discovery, on fascia, the interstitium, and consciousness. All arriving within days of each other.Somatic Stretch and Shake: In-person classes are held Thursdays from 9:30–10:30am at Soma in Belfast, Maine. Online on-demand classes and a live series are coming soon — join the email list to stay in the loop.Bibliography & ReferencesThe Interstitium — Discovery & ResearchBenias, P.C., Wells, R.G., Sackey-Aboagye, B., et al. (2018). Structure and Distribution of an Unrecognized Interstitium in Human Tissues. Scientific Reports, 8, 4947. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23062-6Theise, N.D., & Mahler, S. (2024). Fascia, the Interstitium, and the Living Matrix: Implications for Consciousness Research. [Interview/lecture referenced]Fascia & MechanotransductionEffectiveness of Vibration on Myofascial Trigger Points. World Journal of Yoga, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. https://irispublishers.com/wjypr/pdf/WJYPR.MS.ID.000583.pdfDynamic Responses of Human Skin and Fascia to an Innovative Stimulation Device — Shear Wave Stimulation. PMC/NIH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11351488/Understanding Fascial Tissue on the Molecular Level — The Calcium-Hyaluronan (CHA) Axis. PMC/NIH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12785924/Interstitial Fluid Flow & AgingInterstitial fluid flow decreases with age, especially after 50 years. NMR Biomed, 2024 Jul;37(7):e5030. PMID: 37675787. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38796942/Regulation of interstitial fluid flow along adventitia of vasculature by heartbeat and respiration. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422400628XSomatic Shaking & TRE ResearchThe Science of Shaking Medicine: Unlocking Neurogenic Tremoring for Trauma Release and Nervous System Balance. https://www.shakingmedicine.com/science-of-shaking-medicineThe science of somatics: how shaking resets the nervous system — Rori Cross Brown Yoga. https://www.roriyoga.co.uk/resources/the-science-of-somatics-and-shakingBooks MentionedClark, A.R. Returning Home to Our Bodies. [Chapter on the interstitium]Resources:Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsBiblioBernardi, Luciano, Peter Sleight, Gabriele Bandinelli, Simone Cencetti, Luciano Fattorini, Johanna Wdowczyc-Szulc, and Alfonso Lagi. “Effect of Rosary Prayer and Yoga Mantras on Autonomic Cardiovascular Rhythms: Comparative Study.” BMJ 323, no. 7327 (2001): 1446–1449.Benson, Herbert, John W. Lehmann, Mark S. Malhotra, Ralph F. Goldman, Jeffrey Hopkins, and Mark D. Epstein. “Body Temperature Changes During the Practice of g Tum-mo Yoga.” Nature 295 (1982): 234–236.Benson, Herbert, Mark S. Malhotra, Ralph F. Goldman, Gregory D. Jacobs, and Jeffrey Hopkins. “Three Case Reports of the Metabolic and Electroencephalographic Changes During Advanced Buddhist Meditation Techniques.” Behavioral Medicine 16, no. 2 (1990): 90–95.Bremer, Brandon, Lorenzo Wu, Zoran Josipovic, and colleagues. “Mindfulness Meditation Increases Default Mode, Salience, and Central Executive Network Connectivity.” Scientific Reports 12 (2022).Brewer, Judson A., Patrick D. Worhunsky, Jeremy R. Gray, Yi-Yuan Tang, Jochen Weber, and Hedy Kober. “Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 50 (2011): 20254–20259.Britton, Willoughby B. and colleagues. Research associated with the “Varieties of Contemplative Experience” project on meditation-related challenges, adverse effects, and safety considerations in contemplative practice.Crowley, Aleister. Liber E vel Exercitiorum sub figura IX. In the A∴A∴ training corpus. Relevant sections include asana, pranayama, and dharana as foundational magical exercises.Dennison, Paul. “Insights From an EEG Study of Buddhist Jhāna Meditation.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 13 (2019).Fialoke, Shantala, Helen Weng, and colleagues. “Functional Connectivity Changes in Meditators and Novices During Yoga Nidra Practice.” Scientific Reports 14 (2024).Fox, Kieran C. R., Savannah Nijeboer, Matthew L. Dixon, James L. Floman, Melissa Ellamil, Samuel P. Rumak, Peter Sedlmeier, and Kalina Christoff. “Is Meditation Associated with Altered Brain Structure? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Morphometric Neuroimaging in Meditation Practitioners.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 43 (2014): 48–73.Hölzel, Britta K., James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, and Sara W. Lazar. “Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density.” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 191, no. 1 (2011): 36–43.Kozhevnikov, Maria, Olesya Louchakova, Zoran Josipovic, and Michael A. Motes. “The Enhancement of Visuospatial Processing Efficiency Through Buddhist Deity Meditation.” Psychological Science 20, no. 5 (2009): 645–653.Kozhevnikov, Maria, John A. Elliott, Jennifer Shephard, and Klaus Gramann. “Neurocognitive and Somatic Components of Temperature Increases During g-Tummo Meditation: Legend and Reality.” PLOS ONE 8, no. 3 (2013): e58244.Laukkonen, Ruben E., and Heleen A. Slagter. “From Many to (N)one: Meditation and the Plasticity of the Predictive Mind.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 128 (2021): 199–217.Lomas, Tim, Juan Carlos Ivtzan, and Itai K. Fu. “A Systematic Review of the Neurophysiology of Mindfulness on EEG Oscillations.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 57 (2015): 401–410.Lott, James P., Richard J. Davidson, John D. Dunne, Thupten Jinpa, Antoine Lutz, and colleagues. “No Detectable Electroencephalographic Activity After Clinical Declaration of Death Among Tibetan Buddhist Meditators in Apparent Tukdam.” Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2021): 599190.Lutz, Antoine, Lawrence L. Greischar, Nancy B. Rawlings, Matthieu Ricard, and Richard J. Davidson. “Long-term Meditators Self-induce High-amplitude Gamma Synchrony During Mental Practice.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101, no. 46 (2004): 16369–16373.Lutz, Antoine, Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, Tom Johnstone, and Richard J. Davidson. “Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise.” PLoS ONE 3, no. 3 (2008): e1897.Matko, Karin, Peter Sedlmeier, and colleagues. “Adverse Effects of Meditation and Mindfulness in Clinical Practice.” 2025.Patanjali. Yoga Sutras. Especially Book III, traditionally describing dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.Riegner, Gretchen, Fadel Zeidan, and colleagues. “Disentangling Self from Pain: Mindfulness Meditation-Induced Pain Relief Is Driven by Thalamic-Default Mode Network Decoupling.” Pain 164, no. 2 (2023): 280–291.Tang, Yi-Yuan, Britta K. Hölzel, and Michael I. Posner. “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 16 (2015): 213–225.Vago, David R., and David A. Silbersweig. “Self-awareness, Self-regulation, and Self-transcendence: A Framework for Understanding the Neurobiological Mechanisms of Mindfulness.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 6 (2012): 296.Zeidan, Fadel, and colleagues. Research on mindfulness meditation, pain modulation, attention, and the neural mechanisms of pain relief.Slagter, Heleen A., Antoine Lutz, Lawrence L. Greischar, Andrew D. Francis, Sander Nieuwenhuis, James M. Davis, and Richard J. Davidson. “Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources.” PLOS Biology 5, no. 6 (2007): e138. Use for: Attentional blink, limited attention, and meditation changing how the brain allocates resources.Hölzel, Britta K., James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, and Sara W. Lazar. “Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density.” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 191, no. 1 (2011): 36–43. Use for: Neuroplasticity, repeated practice leaving measurable marks on the brain, and the “practice writes itself into the practitioner” idea.Laukkonen, Ruben E., and Heleen A. Slagter. “From Many to (N)one: Meditation and the Plasticity of the Predictive Mind.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 128 (2021): 199–217. Use for: Predictive processing, the brain as a prediction machine, meditation loosening automatic models, and the “veil” argument.Lutz, Antoine, Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, Tom Johnstone, and Richard J. Davidson. “Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise.” PLOS ONE 3, no. 3 (2008): e1897. Use for: Compassion meditation, loving-kindness, emotional circuitry, and training compassion as a repeatable state rather than just a moral idea.Kok, Bethany E., Kimberly A. Coffey, Michael A. Cohn, Lahnna I. Catalino, Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk, Sara B. Algoe, Marc A. Brantley, and Barbara L. Fredrickson. “How Positive Emotions Build Physical Health: Perceived Positive Social Connections Account for the Upward Spiral Between Positive Emotions and Vagal Tone.” Psychological Science 24, no. 7 (2013): 1123–1132. Use for: Loving-kindness, social connection, vagal tone, and the cautious “social nervous system” bridge.Black, David S., and George M. Slavich. “Mindfulness Meditation and the Immune System: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1373, no. 1 (2016): 13–24. Use for: Immune-system caution, inflammation markers, cell-mediated immunity, biological aging, and why this material should be framed as tentative rather than miracle healing.Burić, Ivana, Miguel Farias, Jonathan Jong, Christopher Mee, and Inti A. Brazil. “What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices.” Frontiers in Immunology 8 (2017): 670. Use for: Stress biology, inflammatory gene expression, NF-kB-related language, and the cautious claim that mind-body practices may affect biology below ordinary mood.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsWORKS CITEDArnold van Gennep. The Rites of Passage. 1909; English translation, University of Chicago Press, 1960. Use for: separation, transition, incorporation, initiatory structure, and the candidate's movement through old identity, liminal state, and return.Victor Turner. “Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites of Passage.” In The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Cornell University Press, 1967. Use for: liminality, threshold identity, the candidate as “betwixt and between,” and darkness as embodied transition.Victor Turner. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Aldine Publishing, 1969. Use for: liminality, communitas, anti-structure, social transformation, and the ritual pressure placed on ordinary identity.Catherine Bell. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. Oxford University Press, 1992. Use for: ritualization, ritual power, the ritualized body, and the temple as a structured environment that trains perception and action.Catherine Bell. “The Ritual Body and the Dynamics of Ritual Power.” Journal of Ritual Studies 4, no. 2 (1990): 299–313. Use for: ritualized bodies, spatial discipline, gesture, power, and the way ritual arrangements shape action.John C. Lilly. The Deep Self: Profound Relaxation and the Tank Isolation Technique. Simon & Schuster, 1977. Use for: the isolation tank, reduced stimulation, altered consciousness, and the modern technological black room.John C. Lilly. The Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space. Julian Press, 1972. Use carefully for: Lilly's altered-state/counterculture context, isolation tank work, consciousness exploration, and the bridge between research and psychedelic-era experimentation.Justin S. Feinstein et al. “Examining the Short-Term Anxiolytic and Antidepressant Effect of Floatation-REST.” PLOS ONE 13, no. 2 (2018): e0190292. Use for: Floatation-REST, reduced environmental stimulation, anxiety reduction, mood change, and the clinical side of float tanks.Hannah Hruby et al. “Induction of Altered States of Consciousness During Floatation-REST Is Associated With the Dissolution of Body Boundaries and the Distortion of Subjective Time.” Scientific Reports 14 (2024). Use for: float tanks, altered states, body-boundary dissolution, and subjective time distortion.Madison K. M. Garland et al. “A Randomized Controlled Safety and Feasibility Trial of Floatation-REST in Anxious and Depressed Individuals.” PLOS ONE 18, no. 6 (2023): e0286899. Use for: safety, tolerability, repeated Floatation-REST, and caution against overclaiming.Lashgari et al. “Floatation-REST Systematic Review.” 2025. Use for: the broad current state of Floatation-REST research, including anxiety, pain, stress, sleep, well-being, and the need for stronger standardization and larger studies.Michael T. H. Do. “Melanopsin and the Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells.” Neuron 104, no. 2 (2019): 205–226. Use for: ipRGCs, melanopsin, non-image-forming vision, circadian entrainment, pupil response, sleep, and light as biological timing information.Lorenzo Lazzerini Ospri, Glen Prusky, and Samer Hattar. “Mood, the Circadian System, and Melanopsin Retinal Ganglion Cells.” Annual Review of Neuroscience 40 (2017): 539–556. Use for: light, mood, circadian rhythm, melanopsin, and the biological consequences of light exposure.Charles A. Czeisler and related circadian medicine research. Use for: artificial light, circadian disruption, melatonin suppression, shift work, and modern light exposure as a biological intervention.Anne-Marie Chang, Daniel Aeschbach, Jeanne F. Duffy, and Charles A. Czeisler. “Evening Use of Light-Emitting eReaders Negatively Affects Sleep, Circadian Timing, and Next-Morning Alertness.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 4 (2015): 1232–1237. Use for: screens, evening light, melatonin suppression, delayed circadian timing, altered sleep, and modern light's effect on the body.A. Roger Ekirch. At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. W. W. Norton, 2005. Use for: premodern night, darkness before electric light, nocturnal fear, dreams, prayer, crime, labor, and the cultural history of darkness.A. Roger Ekirch. “Sleep We Have Lost: Pre-Industrial Slumber in the British Isles.” The American Historical Review 106, no. 2 (2001): 343–386. Use for: segmented sleep, first sleep and second sleep, night waking, dreams, prayer, and premodern sleep culture.Craig Koslofsky. Evening's Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2011. Use for: early modern night culture, artificial lighting, urban night, public space, and the transformation of darkness.Elisabeth Bronfen. Night Passages: Philosophy, Literature, and Film. Columbia University Press, 2013. Use for: symbolic and cultural readings of night, dream, fear, darkness, passage, and the imagination.Robert F. Taft. The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today. Liturgical Press, 1993. Use for: night offices, vigils, prayer through darkness, sacred time, and Christian ritual use of night.Bernard McGinn. The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century. Crossroad, 1991. Use for: Christian mystical traditions, contemplative darkness, early mystical theology, and the development of mystical language.Pseudo-Dionysius. The Complete Works. Translated by Colm Luibheid. Paulist Press, 1987. Use for: divine darkness, apophatic theology, mystical unknowing, and darkness as a theological category.John of the Cross. Dark Night of the Soul. Various editions. Use carefully for: spiritual darkness, purification, absence, mystical trial, and transformation.“The Neophyte Initiation Ritual.” Public Golden Dawn ritual material. Use carefully for: hoodwink, darkness, “Light dawning in darkness,” staged revelation, and the candidate being brought from night into day.Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. Routledge, 1986. Use for: Dzogchen context, light, vision, and the broader framework around contemplative perception.Christopher Hatchell. Naked Seeing: The Great Perfection, the Wheel of Time, and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet. Oxford University Press, 2014. Use for: visionary practice, Great Perfection, Tibetan contemplative contexts, and careful treatment of luminosity and appearance.R. Shane Burns. “Dark Retreat in Tibetan Buddhist Practice.” Use for: dark retreat, preparation, disciplined context, and the difference between contemplative practice and casual sensory deprivation.Raymond Moody. Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones. Villard, 1993. Use for: modern psychomanteum practice, grief, mirror-gazing, and encounters with the dead.Arthur Hastings. “The Psychomanteum: A Modern Oracle of the Dead.” Use for: psychomanteum procedure, grief, memory, mirror-gazing, and structured encounter.Marcia K. Johnson, Shahin Hashtroudi, and D. Stephen Lindsay. “Source Monitoring.” Psychological Bulletin 114, no. 1 (1993): 3–28. Use for: inside/outside ambiguity, origin judgments, memory, imagination, and how dark or altered environments complicate interpretation.Shahar Arzy et al. “Induction of an Illusory Shadow Person.” Nature 443 (2006): 287. Use for: sensed presence, body-self disruption, temporoparietal junction, and the feeling of another being nearby.Olaf Blanke et al. “Neurological and Robot-Controlled Induction of an Apparition.” Current Biology 24, no. 22 (2014): 2681–2686. Use for: sensorimotor conflict, apparition-like presence, body-boundary disturbance, and the embodied basis of sensed presence.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A

This episode's guests:Ken Walczak, Night Light Consulting.Mark Baker, Soft Lights Foundation.Charles Hood, Author of Nature at Night.Bill's News Picks:  Finland's longest bridge reaches completion in Helsinki, Starr Charles, Dezeen.The Bay Lights Come Back On Tonight After Three-Year Hiatus, SF Gate. Light and ultrasonic noise pollution displaces trawling Daubenton's bats, Scientific Reports.Assessing the benefits of part-night lighting on a tropical bat species endemic to Reunion Island, Biological Conservation.From gas lamps to LEDs: The 100-year war on headlight glare, Kris Culmer, Autocar. Send Feedback Text to the Show!Support the showA hearty thank you to all of our paid supporters out there. You make this show possible.For only the cost of one coffee each month you can help us to continue to grow. That's $3 a month. If you like what we're doing, if you think this adds value in any way, why not say thank you by becoming a supporter!Why Support Light Pollution News?Receive quarterly invite to join as live audience member for recordings with special Q&A session post recording with guests.Receive all of the news for that month via a special Supporter monthly mailer.Satisfaction that your support helps further critical discourse on this topic.About Light Pollution News:Ever wonder why migrating birds crash into buildings? Or why you can't sleep at night? What about where you can still see the Milky Way? Light Pollution News explores how our 24/7 lit world affects everything from wildlife and human health to our understanding of the stars, travel, and the future of our cities. Host Bill McGeeney brings on rotating guests to help dig into the latest research, policy activity, and real-world solutions - from how irresponsible lighting degrades our health to the best dark sky destinations for your next trip. Whether you're a birder, conservationist, astrophotographer, or just someone who misses sleeping in darkness, this is the show that connects the dots between your disappear...

June 5, 1981. The Centers for Disease Control identifies five cases of a rare infection striking gay men in California—a disease that will become known as AIDS. This episode originally aired in 2024. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of keeping candy in the bathroom. Dr. Don - not risky

Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsPart 1: The Road of RhythmPart 1 focuses on the drum as an ancient technology of altered consciousness. The argument is not that every beat causes trance, or that neuroscience has proven spirits. The stronger argument is that rhythm enters the human organism through hearing, motor prediction, breath, movement, attention, emotion, expectation, culture, and social synchrony. The drum becomes powerful when sound, body, group, ritual frame, and meaning converge. These sources support the archaeology, neuroscience, EEG research, shamanic studies, possession studies, Indigenous and culturally specific drum traditions, ritual theory, placebo and meaning-response research, ceremonial magic, and modern witchcraft material used in the episode.Core Academic and Scientific SourcesHuels, Emma R., Hyoungkyu Kim, UnCheol Lee, Tirsa Bel-Bahar, Ana V. Colmenero, Alexandra Nelson, Stefanie Blain-Moraes, George A. Mashour, and Richard E. Harris. “Neural Correlates of the Shamanic State of Consciousness.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 15 (2021): 610466. Use for the strongest modern EEG anchor. This study used high-density EEG with shamanic practitioners and controls during rest, shamanic drumming, and classical music listening. It assessed altered-state reports alongside brain measures such as power, connectivity, signal diversity, and criticality. Use carefully: the study does not prove spirits or show that drumming mechanically causes trance in everyone. It supports the more careful claim that trained practitioners entering shamanic states with drumming show measurable brain-state differences.Gordon, Yoel, Golan Karvat, Noa Dagan, and Ayelet N. Landau. “Neural Tracking at Theta Predicts Drumming-Induced Altered States of Consciousness.” Scientific Reports 16, no. 1 (2026): Article 10204. Use for the strongest updated drumming/theta/neural-tracking source. This study tested drumming at theta, delta, and alpha-rate rhythms while recording EEG, and found that stronger rhythmic neural tracking at theta was linked to stronger altered-experience reports. Use carefully: this does not mean theta equals the spirit world or that one frequency opens a portal. The serious point is that altered experience may depend partly on how strongly the nervous system tracks rhythmic stimulation.Aparicio-Terrés, R., et al. “The Neurobiology of Altered States of Consciousness Induced by Drumming and Other Rhythmic Sound Patterns.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2025. Use for the newer review literature showing that rhythmic sound is now a serious altered-consciousness research topic. This supports the opening claim that modern academia is examining drumming, rhythmic sound, absorption, relaxation, cognition, and neural activity without reducing the subject to one simple “trance frequency.” The review is especially useful for framing the field as promising but still complex.Neher, Andrew. “Auditory Driving Observed with Scalp Electrodes in Normal Subjects.” Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 13 (1961): 449–451. Use for the historical bridge between repetitive sound, EEG, auditory driving, and early scientific interest in rhythmic stimulation.Neher, Andrew. “A Physiological Explanation of Unusual Behavior in Ceremonies Involving Drums.” Human Biology 34, no. 2 (1962): 151–160. Use carefully. This is useful as an early attempt to connect ceremonial drumming and physiology, but it should be balanced with Rouget because the “drum simply causes trance” argument is too mechanical.Maurer, R., V. K. Kumar, L. Woodside, and R. J. Pekala. “Phenomenological Experience in Response to Monotonous Drumming and Hypnotizability.” American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 40, no. 2 (1997): 130–145. Use for monotonous drumming, subjective altered experience, imagery, absorption, and hypnotizability.Maxfield, Melinda C. “Effects of Rhythmic Drumming on EEG and Subjective Experience.” PhD diss., Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 1990. Use as older supporting context on drumming, EEG, imagery, body-image changes, and subjective altered experience. Do not make this the main scientific proof; use it as background.Nozaradan, Sylvie, Isabelle Peretz, and André Mouraux. “Tagging the Neuronal Entrainment to Beat and Meter.” The Journal of Neuroscience 31, no. 28 (2011): 10234–10240. Use for EEG evidence that the brain can track beat and meter. This supports the claim that the brain does not merely hear rhythm as background sound; it can represent rhythmic structure in measurable ways.Nozaradan, Sylvie. “Exploring How Musical Rhythm Entrains Brain Activity with Electroencephalogram Frequency-Tagging.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 369, no. 1658 (2014). Use as broader rhythm/EEG entrainment support. This helps explain frequency-tagging, beat tracking, meter, neural entrainment, and the measurable relationship between rhythmic structure and brain activity.Thaut, Michael H., Gerald C. McIntosh, and Volker Hoemberg. “Neurobiological Foundations of Neurologic Music Therapy: Rhythmic Entrainment and the Motor System.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2015). Use for rhythm as motor-system timing information. This supports the claim that a beat can become bodily instruction, not just sound for the ear. Especially useful when discussing rhythmic auditory stimulation, motor planning, gait, entrainment, and the auditory-motor bridge.Ross, Jessica M., John R. Iversen, and Ramesh Balasubramaniam. “Time Perception for Musical Rhythms: Sensorimotor Perspectives on Entrainment, Simulation, and Prediction.” 2022. Use for rhythm, timing, prediction, sensorimotor entrainment, and the way musical rhythm interacts with time perception.Hove, Michael J., and Jane L. Risen. “It's All in the Timing: Interpersonal Synchrony Increases Affiliation.” Social Cognition 27, no. 6 (2009): 949–960. Use for synchrony and social bonding. This helps support the group-body argument: moving or acting in time with others can increase affiliation.Wiltermuth, Scott S., and Chip Heath. “Synchrony and Cooperation.” Psychological Science 20, no. 1 (2009): 1–5. Use for the claim that synchronized movement can increase cooperation and attachment among participants.Tarr, Bronwyn, Jacques Launay, and Robin I. M. Dunbar. “Music and Social Bonding: ‘Self-Other' Merging and Neurohormonal Mechanisms.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014): 1096. Use for music, synchrony, bonding, endorphin/social mechanisms, and why group rhythm can feel like more than private listening.Fancourt, Daisy, Rosie Perkins, Sara Ascenso, Louise Atkins, Fatima Kilfeather, and Aaron Williamon. “Effects of Group Drumming Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, Social Resilience and Inflammatory Immune Response among Mental Health Service Users.” PLOS ONE 11, no. 3 (2016): e0151136. Use for modern group-drumming research showing psychological and physiological effects, including anxiety, depression, social resilience, wellbeing, and inflammatory immune response. Use carefully: this does not make group drumming a cure-all. It supports the more grounded claim that embodied rhythm and group participation can affect mood, social connection, and body chemistry.Bittman, Barry B., et al. “Composite Effects of Group Drumming Music Therapy on Modulation of Neuroendocrine-Immune Parameters in Normal Subjects.” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 7, no. 1 (2001): 38–47. Use as older supporting material on group drumming and neuroendocrine-immune measures. Keep secondary. Fancourt is cleaner for the main script body.Archaeology and Deep History of DrumsLawergren, Bo. “Neolithic Drums in China.” In Music Archaeology in China. 2006. Use for clay drums in Neolithic China and the deep-history claim that drums are not just poetic symbols of antiquity. They appear in the archaeological record as instruments tied to early sound-making, ceremony, and social order.Both, Arnd Adje. “Music Archaeology: Some Methodological and Theoretical Considerations.” Use as general support for why ancient instruments should be treated as ritual and social evidence, not merely decorative objects.Anthropology, Ethnomusicology, Ritual, and TranceRouget, Gilbert. Music and Trance: A Theory of the Relations Between Music and Possession. Translated by Brunhilde Biebuyck. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Essential source. Use for the caution that music does not mechanically or universally cause trance. Rouget helps keep the argument academically serious by emphasizing culture, ritual frame, meaning, and expectation.Becker, Judith. Deep Listeners: MAlso want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsEPISODE 1 BIBLIOGRAPHYThe Building That Changes YouAckerman, Joshua M., Christopher C. Nocera, and John A. Bargh. “Incidental Haptic Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions.” Science 328, no. 5986 (2010): 1712–1715. Key use: Haptics, touch, weight, texture, hardness, and the idea that physical sensation can influence judgment and social interpretation. This supports the tactile layer of the episode: heavy doors, cold stone, worn rails, kneelers, relic cases, and sacred matter as meaningful contact.Higuera-Trujillo, Juan Luis, Carmen Llinares, and Eduardo Macagno. “The Cognitive-Emotional Design and Study of Architectural Space: A Scoping Review of Neuroarchitecture and Its Precursor Approaches.” Sensors 21, no. 6 (2021): 2193. Key use: Neuroarchitecture, emotional response to built environments, and the idea that architecture can be studied as a cognitive-emotional stimulus rather than only as art or style.Kilde, Jeanne Halgren. Sacred Power, Sacred Space: An Introduction to Christian Architecture and Worship. Oxford University Press, 2008. Key use: Major backbone source for Christian architecture as a system of worship, power, spatial order, and embodied religious experience. Oxford's description emphasizes Kilde's argument that church buildings represent and reify different forms of power, especially divine power.Morgan, David. The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice. University of California Press, 2005. Key use: Religious seeing, visual culture, sacred images, and the idea that vision is an active religious practice that can invest images, persons, times, and places with spiritual meaning.Taves, Ann. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Things. Princeton University Press, 2009. Key use: Helps frame religious experience without reducing it to one fixed category. Useful for the episode's approach to how experiences become interpreted, named, and treated as religious or sacred.Clark, Andy. Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind. Oxford University Press, 2016. Key use: Predictive processing, active inference, and the idea that perception is not passive recording but active prediction and model-building. This supports the “brain does not enter a church like a camera” argument.Krueger, Joel. “Extended Mind and Religious Cognition.” 2016. Key use: Extended and embodied cognition applied to religious practice, ritual objects, and environments. Useful for arguing that worship is not only inside the head but supported by bodies, tools, spaces, and shared action.Oxford Academic. “Embodied Cognition in Ecclesial Practices.” In Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology, 2023. Key use: Christian practices, embodied cognition, Eucharistic action, and religious material culture as cognitively significant rather than merely symbolic.Piff, Paul K., Pia Dietze, Matthew Feinberg, Daniel M. Stancato, and Dacher Keltner. “Awe, the Small Self, and Prosocial Behavior.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 108, no. 6 (2015): 883–899. Key use: Awe, vastness, the “small self,” and the psychological effects of encountering something perceived as larger than the ordinary self. This supports the cathedral-scale and sacred-vastness argument.Tarr, Bronwyn, Jacques Launay, and Robin I. M. Dunbar. “Music and Social Bonding: ‘Self-Other' Merging and Neurohormonal Mechanisms.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014): 1096. Key use: Music, synchrony, social bonding, rhythmic action, and group cohesion. This supports the sections on chant, group singing, ritual synchrony, and bodies acting together in sacred space.Ittyerah, Miriam. “Memory for Curvature of Objects: Haptic Touch vs. Vision.” 2007. Key use: Haptic memory, touch-based object recognition, and the idea that touch can produce durable memory traces. Useful for worn rails, thresholds, beads, icons, relic cases, and repeated sacred contact.Lange, Lisa S., et al. “Tactile Memory Impairments in Younger and Older Adults.” Scientific Reports, 2024. Key use: Modern tactile-memory framing; useful for the claim that tactile experience is remembered and retrieved as part of embodied life.Freedberg, David. The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response. University of Chicago Press, 1989. Key use: Image response, embodied reaction to sacred or charged images, and why religious images can provoke devotion, fear, destruction, reverence, or bodily response.Plate, S. Brent. A History of Religion in 5½ Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to Its Senses. Beacon Press, 2014. Key use: Material religion, objects, sensory experience, and the idea that religion is encountered through things, not only beliefs.Meyer, Birgit. Mediation and the Genesis of Presence: Toward a Material Approach to Religion. Key use: Material religion, mediation, presence, and how religious traditions use media, objects, images, sounds, and spaces to make the sacred present.Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Key use: Architecture as a multisensory experience, especially touch, materiality, atmosphere, and the limits of treating architecture as only visual.Mallgrave, Harry Francis. The Architect's Brain: Neuroscience, Creativity, and Architecture. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Key use: Architecture and neuroscience, built form, emotion, perception, and embodied response to space.Robinson, Sarah, and Juhani Pallasmaa, eds. Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design. MIT Press, 2015. Key use: Embodiment, neuroscience, architectural perception, and how built environments shape lived experience.Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Key use: Sacred space, threshold, center, axis mundi, and the distinction between ordinary space and holy space. This becomes more important in Episode 2, but it also supports Episode 1's general sacred-space framework.van Gennep, Arnold. The Rites of Passage. Key use: Separation, threshold, and incorporation. Useful for the threshold logic that runs through the whole series.Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Key use: Liminality, transition, communitas, and the ritual power of in-between states.Tuan, Yi-Fu. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Key use: Lived place, memory, experience, and the difference between abstract space and meaningful place.Smith, Jonathan Z. To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual. Key use: Ritual as place-making; sacred places are produced through repeated action, interpretation, and return.Morgan, David. Visual Piety: A History and Theory of Popular Religious Images. Key use: Popular religious images, devotional seeing, sacred practice, and how visual material becomes part of lived religion.Kieckhefer, Richard. Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley. Key use: Church architecture as theology in built form, useful as a broad Christian architectural bridge source.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A