Old Friends

I have always wondered why small children are so delighted with dinosaurs. Its seems instinctive, like a race memory. They seem to want to work and co-operate with them. Books and games like Dinotopia are popular. I have come up with only one idea why so far.
As we all know, human beings and dinosaurs did not walk the earth at the same time. Dinosaurs were around long before homosapiens. However, our probably quite crafty ancestors were around in the age of the dinosaur. When the dinosaurs were in their heyday, our ancestors were small furry rodent like creatures, yet to evolve into lemurs, monkeys and apes. I suspect we might have stayed close to large predatory dinos for protection. Smaller creatures would hunt us, and the big dinos would hunt our predators. We would have been too small for the large dinosaurs to bother eating. We may have even deliberately lead the small predators to the large dinosaurs to get rid of them and to work in a symbiotic relationship.
Or maybe it isn't some old instinct, it's just that kids like big monsters that roar.

Does the Living God Look Like a Double Helix?

This is just speculation. Here is the concept. All living things have one thing in common: the blue print DNA. Could it be that the "Living" God mentioned in various religious texts looks like a DNA strand. Maybe that is the likeness to God we are all supposed to have. I have difficulty imagining something as reportedly great as God as a human figure, but God as a spiralling cooperative mass of basic information on how to build life makes a lot more sense. Especially for a "living God". Of course, if all of these premises are correct it implies that anything with DNA is made in the image of God. Animals, plants, even people we don't like. I think something as multidimensional as God is capable of that. Of course, we all know that the Eternal Life of the Living God is (or maybe produces) pure light/energy, and is a thing of the spirit. However, as is common with a spiritual things, it could be true in both the spirit and the physical. They could even be affecting each other. I'm not presuming that any of this is true, but it is a rather a pleasant neat concept.

Chaff Paper

We have all seen rice paper. Here is another idea. How about using chaff from wheat to make paper? That way we reduce the amount of trees that need to be logged for paper. If the cleared land becomes chaff producing farmland, it will reduce further logging. I googled chaff paper and it does not seem to have been done. I was wondering why.

Solar Powered Kettles

I had this idea for a solar powered kettle that works like a sun oven. However, when I googled it I found that not only has it already been done, but there are some very advanced ones on the market. Google it yourself. I was thinking it would be great for camping. So this is more of an ad. I would like to get one myself.

Painting the Desert Posts

In many places in the world there are long, straight and featureless roads passing through grasslands, farmlands, and deserts. These stretches are notorious for people nodding off at the wheel, and for vehicle breakdowns where the person does not see another vehicle for days. Both have proven deadly. My idea is to put shady sculptures beside the roads every 20km with a water spout, especially for desert roads. It would help people give their eyes and minds a rest from the road. It would also help people survive if their car breaks down. Also, many people have difficulty explaining where they are on a featureless landscape if they call for help on a mobile. Putting features in is a great way to explain eg. "I'm at the mermaid between the giant .T.v. and the flamingos".
It could be a money earner too! Imagine the tourists taking happy snaps. It would good for the tourist industry in the towns and cities that these roads lead to. To install them, the government can make it a project for arts students, technical college students and even high school students. People have told me they would love to do that for free, just to have their name on it. If the initiative payed for the materials only, there would still be plenty of volunteers.

Rebellious Brain Stem

The emotions that are in the hard-wiring of the brain causes one to think of what survival instincts are active in a fit of rebellion and how that evolve to effect the brain structure.

When you have a "hissy fit" of rebellion it is your hypothalamus and amygdala that are most active. Logically, rebellion is a way of getting to resources (essential to survival, in your primal hard-wiring) that are threatened if co-operation isn't going to satisfy your resource needs. Lets walk through the necessary stages for rebellion to occur instinctively, with and without gaining the loot.

Firstly, through your senses (very animal part of the brain), you must perceive a lack or restricted resources, usually that someone has sway over, but not necessarily. If you are cold, hungry, unsheltered, under fire, or in some way not getting your basic needs met (including sex), and being compliant is unlikely to change that, a set of defiance-for-survival primal triggers in your hypothalamus. You are more likely to "tell someone where to get off" if you are cold, wet, lost and hungry (needs not being met) then if you are warm, dry safe and eating. This includes getting enough social stroking. If a teenager with cold parents gets grounded on a socially important weekend, they are very likely to sneak out for social strokes and sex as a survival instinct.

So basically modern humans take on a "fair" and co-operative based interaction to get needs met, but if basic resources is perceived to be ungainable through the softer (and less energetic) method, at a certain point rebellion kicks in in the fight or flight department, (social, actually resource based"Its unfair"etc) as an alternative way to get needs met.

So the hypothalamus sends a signal to the amydala that homeostasis is inadequate because of the current situation. If we get a hit from the adrenal glands as well (the boss yells at you), it will kick in the defiance-for-survival instinct in rebellion. The irritability when hungry is similar to the feeling of rebellion on a low level. It is the amygdala that causes us to be disgusted with (eg. status quo), and become angry enough to rebel. People are more likely to mob for food then fiber optics. Not only does the amygdala provide us the uncomfortable "red alerts" of disgust and anger as a motivating force, but it controls the fight or flight responses as well. So it works with its close neighbour the hypothalamus to set off the whole fight or slight of hand (passive aggressive) instinct range.

If you look where then hypothalamus, pituarity gland and amygdala are placed in the physical brain, one sees them gather at the top of the brain stem, under the bulk of the brain. It seems to me as a group they are bit of a gate between more conscious thought and brain stem instincts. Where they are is like the frontal lobes if the brain stem were a whole brain. To the brain bulk, the hypothalamus and amygdala are in the more primal hard wired instinct part of the brain. If there was no brain stem, the hypothalamus is at the most instinctive area, and the amygdala is part of the limbic brain, more evolved then the brain stem but still very hard-wired. The limbic system and the stuff at the top of the brain-stem are comparatively like the brain stem. If the brain was a hologram, the limbic/hypothalamus system is the small to the bulk brains big, and big to the brain stem's small.

The hypothalamus is triggered by smell quite profoundly and it could be mentioned here that we smell more then we consciously acknowledge. When we smell a lack in resources it effects us. If we smell others have been eating better then us, or what stage a person is at sexually (resource orientated), it affects our instinctive mood. We may not be conscious of it, it is like the smell of fear, strongly affecting the primal driving force.

Drug addiction is an interesting double link with the rebellious instinct. The hypothalamus is tricked into thinking the drug is an essential to homeostasis, causing the lack of said intoxicant to trigger the rebellious instinct like a positive feedback loop.

Compulsive kleptomania is very much a resource instinct (therefore primal) gone awry. Can't get what you need? Justify it to yourself that "they" are being unfair and then even righteously steal it. The need is met and guilt can washed away with gain and righteousness of fighting the unfairness.

One Liners

I admire old people because they made it to old, and a lot don't.

Rainbow Stir-fry

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup soup mix (lentils, barley etc.)

handful of seaweed

1 can fish (of choice)

1 small can mushrooms

handful of nuts (cashews are best)

pesto (to taste)

garlic (to taste)

salt (to taste)

mixed herbs

sweet chili sauce (to taste)

lemon pepper (to taste)

lemon or lime juice (to taste)

soy sauce (to taste)

miso (to taste)

olive oil

tomatoes and/or red capsicum (red)

carrots (orange)

corn or squashes (yellow)

bok choy or similar (green)

parsley (green)

Broccoli (green)

maybe eggplant (blue)

red cabbage (purple)

How to:

1. Put rice and soup mix on the boil with a teaspoon of garlic and a large dose of mixed herbs and salt. Add a handful of shredded seaweed (very healthy).

2. After about half an hour, make a sauce in a large frying pan, using water, olive oil, any favorite herbs, garlic, pesto, chili sauce, soy sauce, lemon or lime juice. Tasting is the best way to get it right. You can also improvise with promite (marmite) and peanut butter as thickeners. Add can of fish and can of mushrooms. Add nuts.

3. Chop up vegetables to go in the frying pan (not too hot to retain vitamins). Things with a small surface area goes in first (carrots, eggplant, squashes). This is where aesthetics comes in, so chop the carrots diagonally and halve them. Things that need less cooking like greens, cabbage and capsicum go in second. Miso goes in last as it should not get too hot.

4. As the rice mix should be cooked (try to avoid draining to retain b vitamins), it is ready to be served. Scoop a ladle of rice mix into each bowl, them top it with the frying pan mix (make sure they get enough sauce). It should be filling and attractive in colour and taste.

Eureka! Water fills the Space!

Recycling water is a very sensible idea in this day and age. Firstly, we have less living biomass to bring naturally clean, filtered water. Also, with metropolises bursting at their overfed seams, it is time for the piping of water to be rethought.

The dual pipe system is a very good idea. Household and industrial water is removed and reused (cleaned) as industrial water (after all, industry rarely needs distilled standard water). Clean river and rain water is used for household use. Effluent (toilet) water could be kept on a third system, separate from household water and commercial use. Commercial water that was first used as toilet water is fine, but for something else the future is bringing to us. The small methane gas power generators that will be a standard feature of a house, just like the rainwater tank or the solar power grid. These things are inevitable as the well fed populations of today expand.

Using the recycled effluent water for drinking is unwise as it may still have traces of minerals and antibiotics that contaminate it. Sure, it is probably clean physically, but energetically one cannot be so certain. In homeopathic schools of thought, water retains the vibration of what it has contained. If it has flowed through rivers or fallen as rain, it is fit for consumption. Also, psychologically, having water that is "pure" can really effect public morale.

Also, with cleaning water to reuse for drinking, mistakes can be made. Although it is a slim risk, if it went wrong (old, dirty equipment, wear and tear, human error) the effects could be dire, with huge class actions (legal bills). The costs of maintaining a system to a very high standard so the risks of disaster are lessened and insurance must be taken into account by both governments and private operators who are contemplating using waste water for household use. When times are easy it can look good to do, but what about when times are tough? If there are serious cutbacks on spending in leaner times, could cost saving endanger users?

I think letting recycled flow back into the ground water system is fine. Ponds, pools, lakes, rivers, mires (particularly) will clean the water as it passes through silt and plant life. In the homeopathic sense, it is re-energized by being in nature. If returning it to river systems, deltas are a better choice then rivers flowing inland, because of cases of disaster, but also there are more bogs and swamps, which is one natures ways of causing extremely clean waters.

Rates and taxes (and tax exemptions) could easily arranged to encourage good water use, pay for production costs and even raise revenue for other projects. One can imagine that in the near future laws being passed that the building industry must include a water tank, recycled water pipes, solar panels and methane gas power generators. New suburbs will require water recycling facilities. These are all potential cash cows for governments. At worst, they will pay their way.

Medics With Arms

There is a sad fact that people either are not aware of or ignore. When people are in pain or unwell they can sometimes mistake a helping hand for a threat. Animals do too, as a vet can tell you. The more acutely they are damaged, the more likely to see a threat instead of aide. So jobs like the red cross or ambulance drivers have difficulty with some of the people they are trying to help. Doctors are often the worst patients! I have heard horrible stories both from the media and personal accounts.
Also, during wars or gang fights or personal vendettas, sometimes medics are attacked by bystanders because the people who have injured the patient do not wish them to recover. Humans are territorial hunters by nature, with an ability to be ruthless, a sad fact.
A solution to the dangerous task of helping the injured is to arm medics. Most medics would not like that, because they are the caring type usually, so you can imagine they would only use it in extreme cases. However, in the light of human nature, it could be wise to anyway.
If they had a gun with three shots of tranquillisers, followed with three shots of rubber bullets, it is my belief that in dangerous situations, that could be a life saver, for for the medic, the patient, and the bystanders. In war zones, a second weapon with just pure bullets may be a necessary evil. Medics are not the type to like the idea, but veteran medics are the best type to consult about it, as they are more realistic about the dangers of the job. A rookie probably have stars in their eyes still about being Florence Nightingale reincarnated.

Creative Thinking vs Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is a catch cry and common philosophy throughout society. We often tell ourselves and others to think positively, especially when the chips are down. However, if you have ever tried to edit your thoughts or speech to only think positive thoughts you may have first got tired, then irritated, and then had a hopefully minor explosion of negativity. This is because ignoring the unpleasant doesn't make it go away, even if you try to put a positive spin on it. It will bubble up like a revolution of the downtrodden. In fact, trying to Pollyanna in a volatile situation can actually be dangerous to the person or others (like trying to pat a rabid dog).
Also positive thinking vs negative thinking is very dualistic in it's philosophy (this is good/this is bad), and is judgement based. It is a very black and white (as opposing extremes) in it's scope. You can only be wrong or right. The scope is very limited. Here is an alternative that allows the full spectrum.
The idea is Creative Thinking. If you have a problem to solve, you work beyond the scope of positive and negative, and try to start to look at the full spectrum of options available to come up with a solution. It is the domain of brainstorming. Think of the elements to the objective that are necessary or fixed, and then bring other elements in and out of your thinking until you come up with a solution that makes you feel like it could be beneficial or constructive. You, if you want, are looking for something that works. Or you have the options of leaving it as it is, abstracting because you can, or giving it to someone else etc. The full gamut of possibility is there. It is absolutely necessary in creative thinking to think outside the box, even if the end conclusion is conservative.
If you have difficulty thinking beyond the normal viewpoint (whatever that is for you and yours), look into the ideas behind the Dada art movement. Alternatively, flip a coin while deciding what to do about a current problem, or what to plan to do in the next year. It isn't necessary to do what the coin decides, but it helps to think about it from an angle you may not have looked at from before. Also, imagining you are another person in the situation helps with thinking outside the box in a relevant way.
It is fine also to think in the black and white, positive and negative way as well. But I find it restrictive in the dualism, and two dimensional. I personally prefer the full spectrum of Creative Thinking. It accepts the rainbow of existence, including it's darknesses. And accepting all the elements is a better way to more thoroughly solving the problem.

The Importance of Being Living Biomass

If you compare the weather extremes of a rocky desert to the weather extremes of a rain forest, you will see a vast difference. A lot of the difference is caused by the plant mass. It is the plant mass that changes the environment as much, if not more, then the elements allowing the plant life to grow. The animals also help in maintaining the biomass as well of course.
In a desert with rocks and cliffs, there is little to shelter a physical being from the elements. If the sun is shining, it full strength of light, including ultra violet, and all it's other waves (gamma, radiation etc.) hit all things directly. It gets unrespitingly hot. At night, when there is no sun, it gets icy cold, because there is nothing to keep the heat in the land, living biomass like a blanket.
When the wind blows, dry earth and sand is lifted into the unrestricted wind. There is no living plant biomass to buffer the gusts and keep the earth in place. It is basically down to raw element on raw element, breaking the other down, an unfriendly place for any lone life form.
Inside a rain forest though, the air is still (staying more in the tree tops) and often smells very pleasant. It is a lot cleaner, like blood that comes straight from the lungs, rich with oxygen.
The light (and other waves such as U.V.) is filtered through other living things (plant biomass), and is therefore buffered and softened. This probably reduces cancer. Just like it is good to eat plants with antioxidant properties to reduce damage from free radicals, it is good to have the living plant biomass around you to shelter you from the harsher elements of radiation (such as free radicals), by absorbing and filtering them.
Inside the rain forest, the temperature is regulated by the living biomass to be fairly cool and still near the bottom, probably so they get knocked about less. The plants do this by releasing aerobacter, shading etc. The temperature extremes are lessened by the consistency and softening effect of a blanket of plant life.
Environments like cities have quite harsh desert like effect. If a wind blows, it is unfettered by wind breaks in the form of thick foliage, dissipating the wind current. If the sun shines, there is little to buffer one from it's harder waves.
I think it is essential to have a healthy environment with lots of living biomass around you to soften the elements if you want to reach any kind of rest on the body from the insidious hardness of the environmental elements. Cities, and building in general can be vastly improved with chunks of solid living biomass to bring rest from the raw elements to residents and workers.
It improves your health.

Cooling Forest Fires

Here is an idea for reducing the severity of wild fires, bushfires and forest fires where they are very common. Anywhere that has had several instances of severe heat fires, especially where it was so hot it was difficult for the plants to rejuvenate or regerminate, replanting the hot spots with fire resistant plants or stone structures such as roads or walls, may well be an idea for cooling future fires.
This could save home and land owners, governments and insurance brokers a small fortune in finances and human cost.
With global warming tipping the balance gently, it could be wise to buffer up the hot spots like that, just to tip it back the other way again. To do the full effort to counteract global warming through deforestation, planting a multilevel living biomass of fire resistant plants could help absorb some of the greenhouse gases. Some fire resistant plants are cash crops.

Sensible Cars

In this day and age, we have the technology to have sensors that measure distance and speed such as motion detectors, speedometers, speed cameras, alarms etc. We are more then capable of putting sensors on the front and back of cars for accident prevention purposes.
The idea goes like this. There is a sensor above every wheel of the car that can measure the distance between it and the nearest object. All this goes to a calculator type electronic chip. It can also measure how fast that object is going by deducting the speed between from the the speed of itself. Then it connected to the gears/brakes. It is programmed to calculate the likelihood of a collision and slow or stop the car accordingly. You could have a highway mode (long distance gaps between cars because of the high speeds), or parking mode (things can be a short way away, but the speed has to be slow).
The purpose of this is to prevent car accidents, one of the most fatal and crippling health problems of modern life. It could prevent or reduce everything from car park dings to pedestrian hits to highway pile ups. This will save fortune in hospital costs (for victims and governments alike), and in insurance payouts. The cost of putting the sensors in would be well and truly saved in mop up operation costs. It would also make life a whole lot more pleasant.
Because we can put sensors in cars as a safety mechanism, and car accidents are so horrific, I think putting them into vehicles should be compulsory by law.

One liners

Any living thing, given half a chance, will grow into abundance. You have to really work hard at stopping the living from growing, because the living's instinct to grow is very strong. It has eons of experience driving it.

Nature will provide, given the space and time. Life's nature is abundant, given the chance to grow at will.

Love never hurts. If you are hurting, it is not the love doing it.

Braille Body Map of the Chakras

Chakras are "wheels" of energy located throughout the body. They are associated with different vibrations, starting with the highest vibrations at the top, down to the lowest vibrations at the bottom. Just like with particle physics, things that are vibrating fast tend to become gaseous or liquid (less solidly manifest), and things that vibrate slowly become denser (more solid, recognisably physical). Like the particle speed in steam as opposed to the particle speed in ice. Chi is the name for the energy that flows through these chakras, so the sensations of them are activated, which helps when they are being located.

Can't find your chakras? Not sure they are really there?

This is to help you find your chakras in your body in a practical description of the directions.

Base Chakra
This is where you feel the need to go to the toilet, or sexual arousal. It is called your root chakra, and it is your lowest major chakra. It can be felt down to the knees or further, and it is your grounding point. It has the slowest vibration, and all about manifesting things into the physical world (hence sex and childbirth, also bodily wastes). It is an earth element. It is from here that the you ground yourself in the physical world, via the chakras on the soles of your feet (or why feet tend to be sensitive or ticklish). The base chakra pulls the earth energy up through the feet, exactly like a root.

Sacral Chakra

This chakra is what is sometimes referred to as the "pit of your stomach". It is where you can feel your stomach drop with disappointment, or bubble up with excitement (butterflies in your stomach). It can be mistaken for "love", but it is lower down then your heart. It is where the womb area is on a woman. It is associated with sex, but it is more the energy and drive behind sex (I personally think it means digested food being turned into physical body/mass, action, or procreation, because it is also where you feel "turned off food", or drive{for food}). If you are a woman, it is where you feel period pain. It is associated with creativity. It is associated with the element of water (bladder, stomach, womb), being more emotive and higher vibrational.

Solar plexus

This is your centre, where "you" are. Anyone who has done yoga or martial arts for any time probably knows where their core strength lies. It is associated with digestion. It is where you feel you personal drives and opinions, where you feel your restlessness and determination. It is your will. Being a higher vibration again, it is associated with the element of fire (body heat from carbohydrates, I guess, on one level). It is the sun's energy, and is sort of like "id" or maybe "ego" in psychology. It is what is "I". If you point at yourself saying "I", you are probably pointing at your solar plexus. It is your centre, about where your belly button is, or a bit above, and when you firmly decide something, it is the bit that feels like the "firmly" of the decision.

Heart Chakra

This one is easy to describe. It is where you feel love. When you see something (a favourite pastime, a great passion, a treasured possession) or someone you love (your pet, or child, or lover, or parent), or give or receive a wanted hug, your heart "opens up", sometimes "until it could burst". That spot opening up with good feelings in your chest is your heart chakra. If you feel someone is emotionally attacking you or you think of something emotionally distressing, you can feel it close down and shrink like a closing flower to defend itself. It is associated with air, and the "breath of the soul".

Throat Chakra

This is the chakra of self expression, or creative expression. It is easy to locate. Put a hand gently across your throat and make a sound. Where you feel the sound vibrating is where your throat chakra is. It is like a mini version of all the chakras, with different tones (high and low sounds) effecting different vibrational rates, and therefore different chakras. The sounds are like keys, unlocking high vibrations with high sounds, and low vibrations with low sounds. It is associated with ether (spirit).

Third Eye

This is another commonly known of chakra, although many don't always understand it. If you need to, close your eyes. Imagine something, a face or place from your memory (like your Grandmothers house, or a childhood friend), the last dream you had, a plan for tomorrow. Or imagine a purple giraffe sticking it's head over your shoulder (for instance). The spot where you are getting the picture in your head is your third eye. For some it at the front of their head, for others it is the back. It is where we visualise anything that is not physically in front of us. So memories, daydreams, dreams, ideas of the future, visions, ideas, imagining or anything like that is found at it's centre. It is associated with ether.

Crown Chakra

This is the chakra at the top of your head that aligns you with the Cosmic Knowing. When you are thinking hard about something you feel a joy for (as opposed to worrying), and you make a realisation, this is where you feel a "rush" of energy and information, or expansion of your mind. If you having a fascinating conversation with someone on a topic you love (usually with rapid talking and agreement), and you receive a piece of information about it that "clicks into place", that "rushing up" of the mind feeling at the top of your head is your crown chakra. It is where your mind "expands", when 'the penny drops'. A "flight of the mind" can feel like soaring at the top of your head. It is associated with the ether.

I hope that helped clarify what is meant in your physical being by the various chakras. Base, solar plexus, heart, throat and third eye are the easiest to find. A great site to visit for more information and a great meditation is www.SacredCentres.com particulatarly the sample of the DVD The Illuminated Chakras.

Insects As Earthquake Warnings

It has been observed that some insects and animals start behaving like they are distressed or are anticipating a distress (like they are running away from a trip to the vet or a coming storm) before an earthquake. Research has been done into different types of ants that react to earthquakes (some species seem to, while others don't), and it would be wise to thoroughly explore this very portable system (you could have an ant farm at every fire station telephone reception). The ant farm case could be hung on a form of suspension that increases vibrations, so the ants are more reactive to smaller tremors.
Certain cats and dogs (not all) have anecdotally been known to react to a coming earthquake before the effective quakes. Elephants, who are very sensitive to low vibrations (their hearing reaches sounds far lower then human ears), have been known to react as well. Here is an idea. If you bred any cat or dog who has been known to react before a quake with other cats or dogs who have done the same, you could come up with an animal with the right temperament to be a guide for earthquake indication. They may be a bit jumpy or skittish to have as a pet per se, but they would be an excellent working animal for emergency services.
If the gene pool of likely looking animals isn't big enough and earthquakes aren't frequent enough to observe behaviour, I suspect animals that react strongly to the wind, atmospheric changes, lightning or storms could be appropriate candidates. As a breed I think they would be in high demand. So could animals who are sensitive to the smell of turned earth (obsessive diggers) or grinding minerals (they can smell the mineral pill hidden in their food).

Rock Rodents

By observing modern day collective behaviour I have come up with a hypotheses. I suspect that as small furry rodent like mammals, which all mammals have been early on in their evolution, that we spent a lot of time in amongst rocks, caves, and eventually burrows, like guinea pigs or rock rats, for the same reasons that the modern rodent lives there, protection from predator and element alike. I think we spent more time in our evolutionary path amongst rocks then trees for nesting purposes.
Firstly, observing how we prefer our infrastructure and social arrangements, you will see on a physical level, we gather together in communities, such as cities, where the environment, probably by the collective subconscious, appears to have evolved to look like piles of rock, cliffs and caves (the physical structures). Gardens are desired, but considered optional by most. They are less distressed by the loss of a garden then a house generally. If you have a breeding pair of humans, they seek an adequately secure building (cave, rock) before a garden that is big enough "to play in", even if that garden represents food. If you have a person who feels they are in danger, they will run for the cover of a rock like building before they climb a tree for security. Our classic image of security is a house, not a tree. This leads me to believe that we evolved oppossable thumbs through rock climbing, burrow digging, and moving stones, sticks and tools. Also, food gathering would have played a part, hence plant contributions, and could have lead us to the next, tree based lifestyle. We could have learnt to stand in part from climbing up rocks to evaluate the terrain for dangers and opportunities.

Disease free Mosquitoes

This is an idea on how to reduce disease spread by mosquitoes. The mosquito's saliva glands produce an enzyme (reactive protein) that prevents blood coagulation (thins the blood) when they bite. It could be really easy to genetically change that enzyme so that it is caustic to viruses and bacteria. If the disease (such as malaria) is dissolved/killed at the point of transference, the disease cycle is broken.
If changing the enzyme so that it is antiviral/ antibacterial is too hard for some reason, though I think it could be very simple, or is uncomfortable in some way such as causing a sting instead of an itch (although I think it could cure the itch), there is another way. If you genetically transplant the code for an antibacterial and antiviral enzyme that is produced by individual cells into the saliva glands of the mosquito, it could have the same effect of killing the virus/bacteria at the point of transference. The active ingredients of lemon balm (melissa officialis), or any other antiviral organically produced compound could do the job.
This idea can be extended possibly into using mosquitoes for immunisations. If you transplanted quinine production into mosquitoes, for instance, the more you are bitten by the designed mosquito, the more immunised you are against malaria, for instance. The idea can also be extended into any disease carrying pests, such as ticks, flies, cockroaches etc.
Dispersing the genetically improved mosquito looks like a technical nightmare for the financially minded (how do you make money from it?), but it isn't really. Firstly, it would take decades to cure the whole world even if we all worked really hard at it. Basically, the area would have to be gassed to kill the original mosquitoes, or the larva killed, or timed when the numbers are low, but are about to seasonally increase. There are channels already to sell the products relating to those tasks. Then you could have a "Good Mosquito Kit" (rest assured, financially minded people, it's a sure bet in the right locations) to start a population of benign mosquitoes in the treated area. It could be like an ant farm or a sea monkey kit. Children can do it. The new population would take up mosquito territory, thus preventing or diluting the return of the disease spreading mosquitoes. Anywhere where mosquitoes are deadly would be very interested, as well as anyone who finds them annoying to them or their livestock etc. Because the kit would be relatively low cost (essential), people all over the world could use it. High turn over is the way with this idea, as well as an essential niche market, that great business trophy. And it has a feel good buzz!

Travel in Space and Time.

The other part of Einstein's general theory of relativity has been proven by NASA. It is true that gravitational forces (g forces) bend space and time (the space time continuum), like the curve of a tight cloth with a heavy object on it. Here is an idea on how to utilise this to flow through space and time, potentially for long distances or maybe even "times" (you would have to take the effects on time into consideration, if not to actually utilise it).
If you could get a object with a gravitational force, you could use it's effects on space and time to mobilise 'where' it goes, by directing it in relation to other forces towards the desired destination. Where do you find large enough gravitational forces? I think dark matter, which is vastly more available then carbon, is the most likely candidate. Dark matter has a gravitational force, and I guess the more you harvest, the more g forces you would have at your disposal. The greater percentage of the universe is dark matter. Get some near you today!
You would have to take larger g forces into consideration, using it's space time 'flow' to maneuver around it, like a judo expert. The way to map a path from point a to point b when there are other objects involved could be like considering the currents when using an underpowered boating vessel. When Christopher Columbus or Captain Cook or whoever it was was watching the waves on the shore which convinced him there was another continent, he was using the right observational skills for the task of mapping a path through the g forces of space and time at large. It isn't a matter (excuse the pun) of forcing a path, so much as using what is already happening.
A nice other effect of getting something along the lines of harvesting dark matter for it's g forces so as to bend space and time, is how little energy has to be expended in "fuel" to mobilise the effect of moving through space and time via gravity. There is no pollution, you simply use the g forces you have in relation to the g forces around you, like steering a sailing ship or using currents as a scuba diver. I think it is well worth researching this idea, as it could open horizons and decimate transport energy costs, especially in the long term/ long time/ long distance department. The financial and physical expenditure would be in setting it up, not using it. If you could bend the space time continuum enough, you could 'save' time especially when it relates to distance (space).
Actually, for something that takes up very little space and has a very dense gravitational pull is the matter in a white dwarf (a star that has gone through supernova, become a red giant, collapsed in on itself (imploded) and become the incredibly dense matter of a white dwarf. It has an intense gravitational pull, so you would only need a little of it (teaspoon). However, harvesting it could be tricky, considering it isn't nearly as available as dark matter, and it's incredible gravity would probably crush you before you even got close to it.
I have a little dream. This is pie in the sky, but I can see a metal electronic door, with a keyboard next to it. You walk up to the control panel, plug in the address of where you want to be, and then you step through the door and arrive at the destination, easily and instantly. But you have to bend the space time continuum at will to do that.