The NGF Journal of Medicine - Printable Version

The NGF Journal of Medicine - Printable Version

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The NGF Journal of Medicine - Pel - 11-27-2013

Welcome dear readers!

The New Gaian Front Journal of Medicine is dedicated to the promotion of the understanding of Gaian science throughout Sirius.

It is available to all in the form of a holographic film projection sent to your personal Data Display terminal account and available on all but the most remote of stations.

Should you wish to reply in this thread you are welcome to do so in the form of a "Letter to the Editor," using the following format:

Code:
To the Editor:

Re: [“headline”, Date of article]

[BODY, 1-3 paragraphs]

[CLOSING]

[Your character name]

When writing, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

BE CLEAR: Make one main point.

BE CONCISE: 1- 3 paragraphs, 3-8 sentences, 40-100 words. Short letters show confidence in your position.

BE ACCURATE: Letters that are factually inaccurate may be removed.

BE INTERESTING: Get your reader’s attention and keep it to the end of your letter. Open with an interesting fact or strong statement and keep your points as interesting as possible.

AVOID PERSONAL ATTACKS: Show respect for the opposite opinion. Being rude may cause people to disagree with you on principle.

PROOFREAD: Re-read your letter. Check for grammar and spelling mistakes. If possible, ask another person to read your letter for accuracy and clarity.

Without further ado, here is the first edition of the NGF Journal of Medicine!

The War on our Future

By Dr. Ezra Cure

The corporate powers and Bretonian government continue to turn a blind eye to the environmental destruction caused by mining, and the suffering of Gaia continues.

But laying such thoughts aside for a moment, I wish to share some observations about why the work we Doctors do is so important.

I come from the eco-village of Preseli Hills on Cambridge, where my wife and children still live. Every day when my daughter awakes she declares that she is a Sky Porpoise. Last month she was a Lunar Bee. Before that she was a Sandbat. Her world is full of animals and she, in her own experience of reality, shape-shifts into different animal forms like a figure out of aboriginal legend.

This is evidence for what our Gaian scientists recognize as “biophilia” — the fact that human beings are inherently attuned to other life-forms. It’s as though we have a deep well of attention set aside for animals, a powerful but uncategorized interest waiting to be channeled into more cogent feelings, like fascination or fear.

What most of us have lost in our journey into space is this connection with other life forms. And we are diminished by this. This natural connection is denied by our technological society and our grittier human world intrudes to blot out the wildlife in children’s heads.

Lest you think me silly to concern myself with children's imaginations and our sense of connection with primitive animals, it is not just our kinship with "lesser" beings that is endangered, it is our ability to connect at all.

We become morose and isolated adults when we deny ourselves a childhood with animals. We become increasingly occupied with devices and things. We interact through interfaces and modes of transportation rather than face to face, eye to eye, nose to beak, snout to cheek.

There is an interesting theory, supported by a wealth of archaeological data, that indicates that the Dom'Kavash created the Nomads as a sort of "surrogate" for their own lived experience-- equipping them with energy plants and memory devices to go out into the universe and explore while relaying the experience back to a "player" whose neural system was connected to a device that fed them images and sensations.

The nature of nomad artifacts is that they not only contain large amounts of power, but they operate on their own and are aware of each other. In addition, they are always aware of their own location in space.

Thus, they act as a vast communication network that relays information back to their point of origin.

Evidently, the nomads dropped these artifacts along their journeys as a way to maintain their communication link with their creators as they ventured farther and farther out into space.

Even the ability of the nomads to infect humans was a byproduct of their primary role-- to gather information and transfer it back to their creators. In this case, the neurological experience of another life form.

The problem is, as our scientists study the archaeological record they see the beginning of artifacts coincides with a sharp drop in the Dom'Kavash birth rate.

Rather than exploring space themselves, the Dom'Kavash remained in their devices and experienced space virtually. Rather than continuing to innovate they sated themselves with what they had already created, spending more and more time enclosed and shut off from reality. Rather than continuing to work, provide food and breed, they isolated themselves and slowly faded away-- lost in a virtual reverie.

This is why we never met the Dom'Kavash. They were too busy with their games to breed and survive. There was no war. There was no bomb. They just forgot to procreate.

This is the danger that threatens any intelligent species. We may easily become too enamored of our own creations and in so doing, neglect our most basic needs. We deny our connection with Nature at our own peril. We must maintain our connection with the source of all Life or we endanger the future of our entire species. That is why, just when she is learning to be human, my daughter surrounds herself with animals. When we are in love with Life, in all its forms, we are at our most human. These other creatures complete us.

The Gaian eco-villagers already understand exactly what the Great Temptation is, and how to avoid it. We insulate ourselves from the creative-class dreamworlds and game-world economics.

These things confer a false sense of well-being, while denying real human needs.

We will wait patiently for all those self-deluding narcissists to go extinct.

We practical-minded breeders will inherit Cambridge as like-minded aliens may have inherited a few other planets. When we finally achieve contact, it will not be a meeting of novel-readers and game-players. It will be a meeting of dead-serious super-parents who congratulate each other on surviving not just wars, but the temptation of virtual worlds and video games.

For this reason we Doctors must protect the living Universe from human exploitation, because we are dependent on Her for our existence and we must protect our children's inheritance against those who would despoil it for short-term gain.

RE: The NGF Journal of Medicine - Pel - 12-08-2013

Meddling with Gaia's Code: Invasive Genes

By Dr. Edwin Locke

Our doctoral students were up to some fun this last semester-- relieving some Wild of their ships and trussing them up for study.

Being scientists and physicians, we Gaians have long been interested in the Sluagh Sidhe, or Wild, who live next door to us in the Drake system.

The language of Gaia is DNA, so the way that Nomads differ from us in that respect is endlessly fascinating.

We kept the Wild sedated so that they couldn't practice any of their purported "mind control" on us and took samples from all of them to chart their DNA.

The parasite's genetic code is rather simple and consists kinetoplast-DNA (kDNA),which is not normally present in multicellular organisms. "It pollutes the human genome," graduate student Dod Baster says of kDNA.

We found several sites where the parasitic kDNA of the Nomad symbiont had been inserted into the human genome-- meaning that these changes would be passed along to any offspring and would persist, even if the symbiont were somehow removed. At several sites in their genetic code, all of the Sluagh Sidhe had the same transposed DNA from the parasite.

It seems, then, that there is positive selection for transposable elements at these sites, suggesting that insertion has a beneficial effect on the host. Such an effect has previously been shown for two insertions that give increased resistance against aerosolized toxins in other groups of humans. One example of this is when settlers on Junyo incorporated genes from alien organisms that at first sickened them, but afterward helped them breathe the planet's air.

The functions of the genes closest to the remaining insertions are highly diverse, so how these particular transposable elements may benefit the Sluagh Sidhe is unclear.

As graduate student Diana Haver puts it, "perhaps we shouldn't really think of transposable elements as parasites at all. They represent a way for the Wild to increase their genetic repertoire, which may be advantageous in helping them meet future challenges."

The first of which will be, "How do I untie myself and get out of this funny hospital gown they left me in?"

We'll see if the Mindshare can get them out of this one! (Hint: Check around B2 on your system map, Drakies. There should be some trussed-up treats in refurbished escape pods for you.)

Bones and Silicon - Pel - 01-04-2014

Bones and Silicon

By Dr. Ichabod Tickles

Gaia is wild. Gaia unsettles everything. Gaia overflows the banks. Gaia messes up your hair. Gaia is not tame. Gaia makes the placid Gaian begin to fear the evils of inaction. This is an ungrounded fear, for living apart from the wastefulness of a bloodthirsty society is enough, but unless we are making even the devout nervous, we are not preaching Gaia as we ought.

Gaia liberates us from guilt, and enables us to live in union with the Universe as we ought. We serve Her not by law, but simply because we want to. The pulse of Gaia flows within our veins and lives in our hearts, not in rules and law books. More than that, Gaia liberates us from false guilt, from the lying standards of the larger society, concocted to feed your cravings and torment you with endless desire. Let me give just one example.

A Bretonian who is happy with what they have and how they look is as rare as a comet. If he lives without a constant desire for more and better he is a rare specimen. Gaia doesn't care what kind of ship you fly. She doesn't care how fancy your clothes are or whether you can afford a bottle of fine wine. She doesn't care if you have upgraded your limbs or augmented your senses according to the latest style. All those magazines and silly talking heads on the broadcasts care. They think you must look like a preternaturally fit simulation of human perfection or you are worth less as a person. They think you must live a life of excess while burning up every cent you earn, just to keep up with the latest whims of the cybernetic and plastic surgeons. If you listen to them, you might wonder, "Why shouldn't I be made out of titanium and silicon? What could be more normal or expected?"

As you are aware, most of the public figures we see are augmented. Even that trollop the Queen has altered her features in profound ways. If even the face of the nation does so, how can not her subjects follow suit?

But we are subject to no one. Certainly not to the idiocies that run rampant in modern Bretonian society. We are the dwindling few who hunger for the light of Gaia, who dare to taste the wild darkness of space, to swallow it-- taking the night, quietly, into our bodies-- so that we may sense that when we protect the expanses of floating stone and guard Her ore, we are protecting ourselves. We are protecting the future of "human" humans, made of flesh and bone. We are the few surgeons who still wield a scalpel, while most other surgeries in modern society are performed by robots.

We dream and drift through the shadowed night so that Gaia may linger longer in the unlit expanses, feeding the darkness with Her fire, impregnating the depths with the diverse life that will eventually, after eons of gestation, blossom forth in the many corners of the Universe. We respect Her process, which is much larger than our finite lives, and try to remove the human activities that impede it.

If we heed Gaia, we will observe the Universe, and we will see that all is given-- more than we need. And when we listen to Her, we are free from the torment of idiotic desires and the need to be anything other than ourselves.

Obituaries - Pel - 01-17-2014

Today we mourn the loss of one of the pioneers of a distinctly Gaian science, that of excrement biography.

As any pilot knows, after long hours in a cramped space dealing with the ship's waste reclamation system you can end up with some pretty embarrassing problems once you touch down on land.

To help pilots, and other Gaian citizens, get back in the flow of things and tune those chutes back to their optimal condition we turn to the Excrement Biographer, who sleuths out the obstructions to a proper undocking procedure through a careful analysis of our every offering to the porcelain god.

And we Physicians of Gaia certainly need to get our pilots back in shape, firing rockets again, because that's the key to our innovative radiation shielding technology in our ships-- bags of poop!

Famous Excrement Biographer Dead

The well known Gaian biographer, Professor Proctor, was discovered dead today in his suburban home on the outskirts of Preseli Hills.

The names of his clients were never released, but his writings showed a profound understanding of their inner natures as reflected in his deep and probing biographies of their excrement.

To the seemingly mundane act of excretion, Proctor attached a deep pathetic significance. It was a business toward which he was unfailingly tender.

How well Proctor understood the principle that life is not exclusively a public affair, and that the at times solemn business of our private bodily functions can be a source of almost hectic charm. Dramas that are profound and impactful to us as individuals so often happen in private and cannot be adequately shared, except with the help of a biographer of Proctor's caliber.

At times his prose seemed almost to take the form of a still life, tracing the undulations and curves of the product of the hour's exertions with the eye of an artist. And at others he may as well have been a wine connoisseur, describing the vivid and vegetal tones of his subject, its inky coloration and liveliness during the flush.

Like his subject matter, he is forever gone, but his vivid prose can keep us company as we commemorate his legacy in our lives.

Society Column - Pel - 01-24-2014

Figuring Out the New Gaian Front's Lingering Mysteries

By Professor Alasdair Zuno

While it is well known that the Gaian Doctors are up to all sorts of nefarious experiments in their clandestine labs and hidden asteroid lairs scattered throughout the misty outskirts of Bretonia, one thing that cannot be fully explained is the existence of several apparent doppelgangers among the higher ranking surgeons of the Front.

They may have numerous captured Wild pilots locked in cryosleep, vials of strange serums extracted from artifacts and Nomad remains, and clones of their favorite Nurses, but each Doctor has a well-documented back-story establishing their separate origins. Nevertheless, at least three of these mysterious surgeons look almost exactly alike. The infinitesimal statistical chances of this occurring are mind boggling, and yet it seems to be so.

For example:

[Image: yCEZuG6.jpg]

We have never seen the eyes of Dr.Steel, but to all appearances his other features are strangely similar to those of his fellow Doctor Venture. Yet, we were unable to uncover any clues to their similarity by verifying their early histories.

In truth, all evidence indicates that they are completely different individuals. Being of similar age, it is unlikely that one could be the clone of the other.

However, the late Dr.Kynde was also nearly identical to these men. Since his life story is far more difficult to verify it leads us to surmise that either Dr.Venture or Dr.Steel could, in fact, be a clone of Dr.Kynde. As far as personality is concerned, we postulate that Dr.Steel is far more likely to be the clone, but without further evidence this is merely speculation.

But if there is one clone, there could be more. In fact, Dr.Kynde "died" in mysterious circumstances-- during a matter transference experiment-- so it is actually possible that he is still kicking about somewhere. Or, there could be an additional clone of which we are unaware.

Since we weren't able to get close enough to any of these individuals to gain a tissue sample without being accosted by a bevy of Nurses (a strangely pleasurable experience, though my hip is still dislocated) we may never be certain.

R&D Column - Pel - 02-03-2014

A Report from the New Gaian Front R&D Department

By Engineer Holtzapple Badger

I have submitted a preliminary sketch for a new light fighter, nicknamed the "Firtha".

Given that there is a limited R&D budget and our engineers are in dire need of more and better quality recycled and refurbished materials the R&D process should take quite a long time.

Nevertheless, feedback and offers of assistance are welcomed (in the form of a letter to the editor).

It is a very rough sketch and meant only to give a general idea of the design. The engine will be mounted on the back and the ram scoops will allow us to reclaim some of the floating gases in Leeds as fuel.

Its primary purpose will be as a scouting or interceptor craft and the focus of its design will be maneuverability, however if we get enough of these craft out there, perhaps we could also put a dent in the smog problem in Leeds.

If the bio-fuel rocket engine functions reliably we may also put it to use on our other craft.