Scientists Develop a Bioelectronic Device That Can Regulate Genes From Outside the Body

NEWS   May 29, 2020 | By Molly Campbell, Science Writer, Technology Networks

Credit: Federico Beccari on Unsplash.

Molly Campbell

Science Writer

 @mollyrcampbell Read Time: 3 min

Sounds like science fiction, right?

A team of researchers led by Martin Fussenegger, ETH Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel, have published a study which is the first to explore how gene expression can be directly activated and regulated using electrical signals.

The study, published in the journal Science, outlines the researchers’ prototype device being tested in mice, where they established that it works “perfectly”. “We’ve wanted to directly control gene expression using electricity for a long time; now we’ve finally succeeded,” Fussenegger says.

Designer cells are an emerging focal point of synthetic biology, poised with potential to produce or deliver therapeutics essentially on cue. Collectively, the research team have a large amount of experience in creating genetic networks and synthetic implants that are able to respond to certain physiological states in the body, such as varying blood lipid levels or blood sugar levels. Such networks have been demonstrated to respond to biochemical stimuli, in addition to external stimuli – such as light. But what about electricity?

A futuristic bioelectronic device

That was the next challenge. Fussenegger and team have designed a bioelectronic device made up of several components, including a printed circuit board and a capsule containing engineered human β cells, created so that they respond to membrane depolarization by rapidly releasing insulin from intracellular storage vesicles. Connecting these two components is a tiny cable. The bioelectronic device is implanted and a radio signal outside of the body activates the electronics within the device, which subsequently transmits a signal directly to the cells. The signal triggers a charge reversal at the cell membrane, and so calcium ions flow into the cell, and potassium ions flow out. The temporary charge reversal activates the insulin-producing gene, and as a result insulin is transported to the membrane where it is then released.

In this study, the researchers tested their device in a Type 1 diabetes mouse model, implanting it subcutaneously, and found that the electrotriggered vesicular release system could restore normal blood glucose levels in real-time, with insulin levels peaking within 10 minutes.

The researchers posit that, theoretically, the device could be implanted into the body of a diabetic individual and connected to an app on their smartphone. Once the patient eats food and their blood sugar levels begin to rise, they could use the app on their phone to trigger an electrical signal, and a short while afterwards the cells could be triggered to release the required amount of insulin to regulate the individual patient’s blood glucose levels.

The internet of the body

Fussenegger believes that there is an array of advantages to the team’s latest development: “Our implant could be connected to the cyber universe,” he says. “Doctors or patients could use an app to intervene directly and trigger insulin production, something they could also do remotely over the internet as soon as the implant has transmitted the requisite physiological data.”

“A device of this kind would enable people to be fully integrated into the digital world and become part of the Internet of Things – or even the Internet of the Body,” Fussenegger says.

It’s easy to get excited at the prospect, but the device is novel, and a myriad of considerations must be taken into account before this even gets close to humans.

Firstly, it’s well known that electrical devices are at the risk of being hacked. To this end, Fussenegger says: “People already wear pacemakers that are theoretically vulnerable to cyberattacks, but these devices have sufficient protection. That’s something we would have to incorporate in our implants, too.”

Furthermore, the device interacts with genetics, and, as the advent of technologies such as CRISPR and genome engineering tools have demonstrated, this is not taken lightly from a safety and regulatory point of view. The scientists will need to conduct more research to confirm that no damage is caused to the cells and the genes within those cells, and to determine what the maximum electrical current that can be adopted is.

Finally, in terms of logistics, how will the cells in the implant be replaced? The team’s current work suggests that this is something that would need to be done every three weeks. How practical would this be?

References:

Krawcyzk et al. (2020). Electrogenetic cellular insulin release for real-time glycemic control in type 1 diabetic mice. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.aau7187.

I’ve Tried Dozens of CBD Products for Sleep—These Are My Two FavoritesHarling Ross05.29.20

Have you signed up for MR Thoughtline yet? It’s Man Repeller’s new text-based service that lights up phone screens with good bits from around the internet, opportunities to chat with cool people, and digital recesses to help your mind take a break from the news in favor of a recipe, physical activity or, trust us, very useful WFH outfit ideas. 

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I am not one of those people who finds the flaws of their significant other “charming,” so while Austin is a wonderful person, I will never forgive him for his ability to fall asleep within minutes of getting in bed. As someone who has often battled insomnia, and who pretty much always has to court sleep like an unrequited love interest, watching this happen night after night feels like the ultimate betrayal–by him (for abandoning me, of course), but also by my own body for struggling to do something that should conceivably come naturally.

I have to maintain a rigorous sleep hygiene protocol if I don’t want to stay awake into the wee hours, chewing on urgent thoughts: what I should have for dinner the next day, whether someone is mad at me, how many followup emails is too many followup emails, and oh, did I remember to order more dental floss? My protocol for falling asleep as expediently as possible involves taking a bath, cutting out screen time an hour before bed, and reading for at least 30 minutes. But sometimes life gets in the way and I can’t do all of that, or sometimes I do all of that and I still feel wide awake–hence why I keep a supply of CBD supplements in my nightstand drawer.

I first tried CBD a little over two years ago when the acronym (short for “cannabidoil”) was just starting to enter mainstream vocabulary. I found it helpful for combatting my sleep issues right off the bat, but I ultimately found it even more helpful after continuing to experiment with which specific products work best for me. I’ve sampled dozens of CBD products since then, with a wide range of results. The more I’ve tried, the pickier I’ve become, which is why I’m eager to share the two that have proven to be most effective in my experience: Gossamer Dusk, and Not Pot Vegan CBD Gummies.

I opt for one or the other depending on the situation at hand. Gossamer Dusk is what I use most frequently–whenever I sense that I’m going to have trouble falling asleep, I’ll place a dropper’s worth under my tongue for 30 seconds before brushing my teeth (the oil doesn’t taste amazing, so it’s nice to follow it with something minty fresh). The effects are gentle enough to almost be imperceptible, but I definitely notice myself falling asleep more easily after taking it, and I wake up feeling totally refreshed with zero grogginess. If you’re interested in learning more about the active ingredients in this particular CBD blend, or about what CBD is in general, Gossamer’s website has an excellent primer.

Not Pot Vegan CBD Gummies are more akin to the idiom, “bring out the big guns”–in other words, they’re what I turn to when I need a more powerful sleep induction. In addition to 10 mg of CBD, each gummy is also infused with 100 mg of L-theanine, an amino acid derived from green tea that studies have shown can help alleviate anxiety, and this combination seems to be incredibly effective when it comes to calming my mind and getting me into sleepy-time mode. I take them sparingly because I do find that I am a bit drowsier than usual when I wake up in the morning after having one, but it’s barely noticeable compared to what I’ve experienced with Ambien or NyQuil P.M.

Though neither Gossamer nor Not Pot manufacture products with THC–the psychoactive compound in marijuana that makes you feel “high”–they share a commitment to acknowledging the complicated sociopolitical dynamics of weed and pushing for criminal justice reform alongside legalization. Not Pot uses a portion of their profits to pay for someone’s bail every month, and Gossamer has dedicated free ad space in their magazine for non-profits that do work related to criminal justice reform and drug policy issues, in addition to making donations to organizations like the Women’s Prison Association. (For an informative analysis of these issues as they relate to the mainstreaming of cannabis, I highly recommend this piece by Otegha Uwagba).

After many, many years of battling sleep issues–not to mention irrational jealousy of people who don’t, I’m so grateful these CBD products exist. I’ve been especially appreciative of them over the last couple of months, as the impact of quarantine on my mental health has made things even more difficult sleep-wise. If you’re in the same boat, I’m curious what has been helpful for you. Have you tried taking CBD? If so, from what brands? Does it fill you with petty rage when you witness someone else falling asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow? Please tell me I’m not alone.

Man Repeller editors endorse products we genuinely love. If you end up buying something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more here.

Harling RossHarling is the Brand Director at Man Repeller.

Pangolins may have incubated the novel coronavirus, gene study shows

Maggie FoxCNN
Published Saturday, May 30, 2020 11:58AM EDT

Watch CTV News Channel for ongoing coverage of breaking news, including the Prime Minister’s daily address to Canadians.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered hope to families separated by travel restrictions amid COVID-19. Glen McGregor explains.

Ex-police officer charged with murder of Floyd _{NOW PLAYING}A former Minneapolis police officer is now facing murder charges of a black man that sparked outrage in the U.S. Tom Walters reports.CTV National News: Fallout over COVID-19 cluster _{NOW PLAYING}A cluster of new COVID-19 cases is linked to a health-care worker who violated self-isolation rules. Laura Brown has the details.How does COVID-19 spread from person to person? _{NOW PLAYING}CTV’s Dan Riskin explains how the novel coronavirus spreads between people in a crowded area.Here are answers to FAQs about COVID-19 _{NOW PLAYING}Here are some questions most frequently asked about COVID-19, as laid out by what the WHO knows so far about the virus.

A deep dive into the genetics of the novel coronavirus shows it seems to have spent some time infecting both bats and pangolins before it jumped into humans, researchers said Friday.

But they said it’s too soon to blame pangolins for the pandemic and say a third species of animal may have played host to the virus before it spilled over to people.

What is clear is that the coronavirus has swapped genes repeatedly with similar strains infecting bats, pangolins and a possible third species, a team of researchers from Duke University, Los Alamos National Laboratory and elsewhere reported in the journal Science Advances.

What’s also clear is that people need to reduce contact with wild animals that can transmit new infections, the researchers concluded.

The team analyzed 43 complete genomes from three strains of coronaviruses that infect bats and pangolins and that resemble the new Covid-19 virus.

“In our study, we demonstrated that indeed SARS-CoV-2 has a rich evolutionary history that included a reshuffling of genetic material between bat and pangolin coronavirus before it acquired its ability to jump to humans,” said Elena Giorgi, a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who worked on the study.

But their findings may let pangolins off the hook. The animals, also known as scaly anteaters, are sold as food in many countries, including China, and have been a prime suspect as a possible source of the pandemic.

“The currently sampled pangolin coronaviruses are too divergent from SARS-CoV-2 to be its recent progenitors,” the researchers wrote.

Whether the mixing and matching between bat viruses and pangolin viruses was enough to change the virus into a form that now easily infects humans remains unclear, the researchers said.

“It is also possible that other not yet identified hosts (can be) infected with coronaviruses that can jump to human populations through cross-species transmission,” the researchers wrote. “If the new SARS-CoV-2 strain did not cause widespread infections in its natural or intermediate hosts, such a strain may never be identified.”

But people are setting themselves up to be infected with new viruses via “wet markets” where many different species of live animals are caged and sold, and by moving deeper into forests where animals live, the researchers said.

“While the direct reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 is still being sought, one thing is clear: reducing or eliminating direct human contact with wild animals is critical to preventing new coronavirus zoonosis in the future,” they concluded.RELATED IMAGES

• A white-bellied pangolin rescued from local animal traffickers at the Uganda Wildlife Authority office in Kampala, Uganda, on April 9, 2020. Isaac Kasamani/AFP/Getty Images

The Temptations Of Artificial Intelligence Technology And The Price Of Admission

Feroz MerchhiyaForbes Councils MemberForbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POST| Paid ProgramInnovationPOST WRITTEN BYFeroz MerchhiyaLeader, founder, consultant and board member. CTO of Kaygen, working at the intersection of Selfie and Self-Driving Car.

Photo:GETTY

If your work puts you in regular contact with technology vendors, you’ll have heard terms such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing and computer vision before. You’ll have heard that AI/ML is the future, that the boundaries of these technologies are constantly being pushed and broadened, and that AI/ML will play an integral role in shaping this tech-forward era’s most successful business models.

As a technology leader, I’ve heard all these claims and more. To say that AI/ML will play an increasingly impactful role in business is no overstatement. According to a recent Forbes article, the machine learning market is poised to more than quadruple in the coming years.

Many industry watchers agree that AI/ML solutions, when used to good effect, can equip your organization with a significant competitive advantage. And that makes it tempting to dive right in and start implementing these technologies without first gaining a comprehensive understanding of how they work. Accessibility to myriad options is not a barrier; almost every technology vendor now offers AI/ML services. If anything, we are often inundated with choices in this domain.

But how do we know we’re making the right choices and using these services to good effect? This is where a genuine, comprehensive understanding of technology becomes critically important.

For many of us, the world of AI/ML is a relatively uncharted terrain. What is artificial intelligence in modern computing? What is machine learning? The answers to these fundamental questions are the keys to unlocking the true potential of AI/ML as business solutions.

Understanding AI/ML And Its Price Of Admission

Current machine learning is a statistical process that employs a model/algorithm to explain a set of data and predict future outcomes. Many of these are “big data” algorithms that analyze huge quantities of data to generate predictions that are as accurate as possible. Once we understand this, we start to see what is required to effectively use ML as a business solution.

Simply put, we need data. We need a lot of it, and we need it to be high quality. Poor data quality is the biggest impediment to successfully adopting and deploying AI/ML solutions, and insufficient quantities of data can be a major hindrance as well.

Take IBM’s Watson for oncology as a cautionary tale. After being trained on a small number of synthetic cancer cases, the Watson supercomputer was discovered to generate “erroneous cancer treatment advice” which ranged from incorrect to outright unsafe.

The data management process, which covers everything from data creation or acquisition to transmission and storage, is therefore intrinsically linked to AI initiatives. When considering the cost of implementing any AI/ML solution, it’s vital to also consider the cost of obtaining a robust amount of high-quality data with which to feed that solution.

Considering AI/ML Solutions In The Context Of Your Needs

Now, with a better idea of what goes into deploying AI/ML solutions, we have to consider each of our options in the context of our vision. What do we hope to achieve by implementing AI/ML strategies?

Machines don’t learn in a vacuum. Any AI/ML technology we implement will function within a web of our existing applications, interfaces and platforms. So, when crafting our vision, we need to take our organization’s existing technology ecosystem into consideration.

Specificity is key in this regard. In order to choose the right model/algorithm to solve our problem, we first need to clearly define the problem we need to solve. Precise goals will help us ground our vision in reality, while a more ambiguous approach may lead to equally muddled (and unsatisfactory) results.

The Importance Of Adaptable, Unbiased Models

An effective machine learning model or algorithm must, of course, continuously learn. We won’t see much success with a “set it and forget it” mentality when it comes to machine learning algorithms. If our algorithms don’t rapidly adapt to changing requirements, they quickly become irrelevant and unproductive.

It’s just as imperative for an algorithm to be unbiased. Cathy O’Neil, the author of Weapons of Math Destruction, spoke to NPR about the dangers of placing blind faith in the objectiveness of ML algorithms when “we really have no idea what’s happening to most algorithms under the hood.”

Many of the models used today across the public and private sectors certainly suffer from the prejudices and misconceptions of their designers. In 2011, a Massachusetts man was informed his driver’s license had been revoked because a facial-recognition algorithm mistook him for another Massachusetts driver who was involved in criminal activity. In a similar vein, Google’s hate speech detector was reported to be racially biased.

The internal workings of ML algorithms are something of a black box, which makes vigilant monitoring of their predictions extremely important. To make the most of our AI/ML solutions, we have to invest the time and attention to governing them fairly and rigorously.

You might be excited, and reasonably so, about the seemingly boundless potential of AI/ML technology. Or maybe you subscribe to Stephen Hawking’s view that the development of AI could be “the worst event in the history of our civilization.”

In either case, there’s no question that AI/ML technology is here to stay. To make the most of it and avoid common pitfalls, we must keep in mind the fundamentals of AI/ML as we implement such solutions in our organizations.Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?Feroz Merchhiya

Feroz Merchhiya, Leader, Founder, Consultant, and a Board Member. CTO of Kaygen working at the intersection of Selfie and Self Driving Car. 

Have You Been Having Weird Dreams Lately? Here’s Why

Why you’ve been having such vivid dreams during quarantine.

Posted May 29, 2020

Source: Deposit Photos

Are you dreaming more vividly these days, and remembering more of your dreams? Are you having nightmares that wake you from sleep, or leave you feeling anxious the next morning?

If you said yes to either of these questions, you’re not alone. These days, a lot of us are having darker, more upsetting dreams—and remembering them more often.

A recent poll of more than 2,000 people showed:

• ·53% of the audience has had an increase in vivid dreams since quarantine began 
• 21% of the audience have had an increase in nightmares, with at least 1 this past week 
• 45% of the audience has noticed a small difference in their sleep for the worse… and
• 29% have noticed a significant difference in their sleep for the worse 

What are the obvious offenders? Social isolation, massive upheaval to daily routines, fears about health, finances, and deep uncertainty about what lies ahead. As well as a shifting combination of boredom, overwork, stress and anxiety. That pretty much describes how most of us are living these days, since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s challenging our diets. A lot of us are moving from one “comfort food” meal to the next (think of all the lasagnas and banana breads on Instagram).

It’s challenging our exercise. Stuck at home working and, in many cases, simultaneously taking care of children, many of us are struggling to get our regular exercise, mostly because we feel exhausted!

It’s challenging our sleep. I’m hearing from so many readers and patients about their insomnia symptoms, the restless awakenings, the racing thoughts they can’t quiet at night. I wrote recently about the deep connections between stress and sleep—connections we’re all experiencing strongly right now. And many of you are having nightmares and disturbing dreams. I wrote a couple weeks ago about the coronavirus and nightmares, and why our bad dreams aren’t an entirely bad thing.

Our dream content has changed (Normal vs Stress vs Nightmare)

I’ve had many people tell me their dreams are tackling the coronavirus directly, dreaming about hospitals and illness and trouble breathing (these dreams can also be signs of sleep apnea and snoring). Others are dreaming about the virus in different ways, such as nightmares about violence, loss, uncertainty, and threats.article continues after advertisement

One of my patients dreams of a friend who is an ER doc in a city hard hit by the virus, getting sick and dying on a gurney (This would be a nightmare. Thankfully that friend is healthy in real life.) Another told me she’s having a recurring dream about being lost inside an unfamiliar building she can’t find her way out of. (We consider this a stress dream.)

Dreams seem more REAL

People are having stranger dreams, with odd characters and vivid combinations of the ordinary and the bizarre. And these dreams often feel different—more striking, more charged with meaning, more vivid, more real—even if the circumstances of the dreams are fantastical. I’ve talked a lot about dreams and nightmares over the years, and the science behind how nightmares work, and how to help make your dreams more peaceful and positive.

The coronavirus pandemic is spurring a whole lot of bad dreams—and a lot of new science studying the phenomena of dreaming.

Here’s what’s being studied in the emerging science of the coronavirus dream world:

Scientists are racing to study every aspect of the coronavirus and Covid-19, the disease it causes. That includes the psychological impact of the global pandemic, its impact on sleep, and its effect on dreams. There is surely much more to come here, but these initial findings shine a light on the psychological upheaval that’s occurring, and how it is making its way into our dreams.

• Anxiety is UP: There’s been a major spike in anxiety in the past several weeks—no surprise here. Scientists at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University conducted a survey in April and found that about 40% of respondents had symptoms of anxiety intense and frequent enough to warrant clinical intervention.
• It’s almost like PTSD: People are having more nightmares and negatively-focused dreams during the pandemic. That’s according to research that’s been underway in several countries, including in Italy, one of the countries hardest hit so far by the coronavirus, as well as an ongoing study in France. The Italian study has found many of its subjects are experiencing nightmares with an intensity that corresponds to post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Dream recall has increased, which increases stress: People are remembering more of their dreams, experiencing what’s known in sleep science as higher dream recall, according to research. That means more of us are taking upsetting dream and nightmare content into our waking days, for an even greater effect on mood and psychological balance, and another source of stress.

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Why, exactly, are our dreams being so deeply affected by the pandemic? And how can we calm and quiet these upsetting, sleep disrupting dreams and nightmares so we can the sound sleep we need right now?

The answers to those questions touch on some of the most well-established, compelling theories of dreaming—and on the mechanics of sleep itself.

Stay Safe and have Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM

The Sleep Doctor™

www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Case Against Self-Actualization

How individualism has cultivated a “me” approach to living.

Posted May 29, 2020

Source: Glenn Geher

What is the meaning of life? Sure, we’ve all asked ourselves this one. And, of course, whether there is some actual right answer is kind of up for grabs and probably always will be.

Some people focus on finding true happiness (e.g., Maslow, 1943). Others focus on leaving a positive mark (see Geher & Wedberg, 2020). While others still might focus on serving a particular religious code as diligently as possible (see Wilson, 2002). And this list is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the age-old question surrounding the purpose of life. 

Is Self-Actualization the Answer?

In 1943, renowned psychologist, Abraham Maslow, presented the world with a powerful model regarding human needs. His basic idea, simple yet profound, was that needs are arranged hierarchically for humans. Basic, lower-level needs, such as the need for food and oxygen, are foundational. And it is hard to focus on higher-level needs, such as belonging-ness or love, if such lower-level needs are not being met.

Atop Maslow’s famed pyramid of needs is self-actualization, which can be seen as a state of being in which one’s lower-level needs are generally satisfied and one is able to focus on big-picture needs such as finding one’s true purpose in life; self-actualization largely focuses on the meaning of one’s life.

Hey, don’t get me wrong: I think that meaning and purpose are critical and worthy goals to pursue along one’s journey. And self-actualization, especially as conceptualized by the newest treatise on this topic, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, written by Scott Barry Kaufman (2020), is a significant part of the broader human experience. 

But as someone whose work focuses on the evolutionary origins of human social behavior, I would like to provide something of a counterpoint to this idea that self-actualization should somehow be the end-all/be-all. 

Individualism, Collectivism, and the Purpose of Life

While human cultures across the globe share a great many attributes with one another, cultural variation in important broad themes certainly exists. One of the primary ways that cultures differ from one another is found in the dimension of Individualism/Collectivism (see Triandis & Gelfand, 2012). Individualistic cultures tend to place a large emphasis on the needs and goals of individuals. The United States is often given as a classic example. In such cultures, people are taught from early on to stand up for themselves and to make sure to get their fair share.

In collectivistic cultures, with Japan often being given as a classic exemplar, people are taught, from early on, very much the opposite of what people in individualistic cultures are taught. In collectivistic cultures, there is a large emphasis on putting one’s own needs aside to help address the needs of one’s broader group or community.

A simple way to think about the difference between an individualistic culture versus a collectivistic culture pertains to the idea of standing out. In an individualistic culture, people are encouraged to stand out or to stand apart from others. People are encouraged to be unique or to gain a reputation as elite in some field.article continues after advertisement

In collectivistic cultures, standing out is often discouraged: Thus the adage: The nail that stands out gets hammered down. In collectivistic cultures, making waves is not typically encouraged. In individualistic cultures, on the other hand, making waves is, under some conditions, encouraged and can even be seen as admirable.

In his work over the years on this cultural dimension, Triandis has found that these cultural approaches can be so powerful as to literally seep into the identities of people’s unconscious minds. If you were raised in a hyper-individualistic culture, you may well have an individualistic mindset that flavors many facets of your identity without you even realizing it!

So now, let’s rethink about the purpose of life. In light of the fact that people vary in terms of how individualistic or collectivistic their worldview may be (largely as a result of cultural upbringing), doesn’t it make sense that life’s purpose should vary quite a bit between those with individualistic mindsets versus those with collectivistic mindsets? 

Now get back to the idea of self-actualization. Inherent in the term is a clearly individualistic slant. It is an ideal state of being that focuses on advancing oneself to a higher level. This goal makes a lot of sense from an individualistic perspective, but it may well seem a bit off from a collectivistic perspective. article continues after advertisement

Community, Evolution, and the Meaning of Life

As I’ve written about in much of my past work, community is a critical part of the human evolutionary experience. Until very recently in our evolutionary history (approximately 10,000 years, corresponding to the advent of agriculture), all Homo sapiens lived in nomadic clans that were capped at about 150 (see Dunbar, 1992). Such clans often would have relied on a collectivistic mindset, as is found in a majority of nomadic clans found around the world today. 

In short, humans largely evolved in collectivistic cultures, where the focus of one’s energies were not on oneself but, rather, were directed toward goals that would have been beneficial for one’s group and broader community. Higher-order goals in such a context were not likely about one finding his or her own personal meaning. Rather, higher-order goals likely focused on advancing the welfare of others around oneself. Perhaps, in such a cultural context, communal-actualization would be more appropriate as a life goal rather than self-actualization.

Bottom Line

Humanistic and positive psychologists, such as Abraham Maslow, Martin Seligman, and Scott Barry Kaufman, have shed enormous light on the inner workings of the human experience. In fact, these scholars have all contributed positively in adding to our understanding of what it means to live a life well-lived. And we should be grateful for their efforts and insights. article continues after advertisement

This said, an evolutionary perspective on the human experience that focuses on our small-scale, communal roots suggests that the focus on self-actualization, found in the work of many modern behavioral scientists, may be somewhat limited. We are, at the end of the day, a highly communal ape with roots in a collectivistic approach to being. As such, an ultimate life-goal of any person may well focus not so much on oneself as an individual but, rather, on one’s role in enriching the worlds of those around him or her and, more broadly, cultivating one’s surrounding community. 

What is the purpose of life? Sure, moving toward self-actualization may well be part of it. But let’s not forget community-actualization along the way. 

——————————————–

Note: This post was largely inspired by a conversation I recently had with a good friend who works as a therapist. I think that the current global pandemic is sparking all kinds of conversations among all kinds of people regarding life’s meaning!

References

Dunbar, R. I. M. (1992). Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates. Journal of Human Evolution, 22(6), 469–493.

Geher, G. & Wedberg, N. (2020). Positive Evolutionary Psychology: Darwin’s Guide to Living a Richer Life. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kaufman, S. B. (2020). Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization. New York: TarcherPerigree.

Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review. 50 (4): 370–96.

Triandis, H. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (2012). A theory of individualism and collectivism. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (p. 498–520). Sage Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249222.n51

Wilson, D. S. (2002). Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion and the Nature of Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

‘I thought it was some sick joke’: Toronto health-care worker hit with $10K cellphone bill

BY SEAN O’SHEA GLOBAL NEWSPosted May 29, 2020 8:16 pmUpdated May 29, 2020 9:54 pm

Many Canadians get angry about paying what they consider too much for mobile phone service, but when Sue Ellen Parrott got a cellphone bill for more than $10,000 she said she just laughed.

“I thought it was some sick joke,” she told Global News.

But the bill from Virgin Mobile was bona fide.

Parrott hadn’t crossed any international borders or lent her phone to a video-gaming child. In fact, she hasn’t had much in-person contact with her three children since she started living apart from them as the COVID-19 crisis began.

READ MORE: Canadian consumers stung by cellphone porting scam: ‘It’s the creepiest thing’

As a personal support worker in a long-term care home who has been caring for coronavirus patients, she said the distance is for her kids’ safety.

“I haven’t touched them since March,” she said, trying to hold back emotions as she discussed the predicament with the phone bill.

“Not being able to see my own family and hug them is hard for me,” she said in an interview.

Parrott said she depends on her mobile phone to communicate with her family through frequent phone calls, texts and video meetings, using platforms like FaceTime and Zoom.

READ MORE: B.C. government appoints MLA to work with Ottawa on reducing cellphone bills

Whenever possible, Parrott said she makes use of Wi-Fi services, not data on her phone.

But according to Virgin Mobile, Parrott consumed more than 172 gigabytes of data in her May billing cycle at a cost of $8,726.34.

Her normal monthly charge is $203. The June 4 bill included taxes of $1,167.32. In total, Virgin demanded Parrott pay $10,147.41.

“I never go over six gigabytes a month,” Parrott said, disputing the phone company’s claim.

READ MORE: What happens when a fraudster steals your phone number and dupes a cellphone provider?

Virgin Mobile said in a statement that Parrott “reactivated her mobile data after it was blocked at $50 in overage charges and later added more data to her account on a few occasions.”

Spokesperson Janelle Lee acknowledged the bill represented an “extraordinary level of data usage even during the current situation,” referring to the global pandemic.

“We had reduced Ms. Parrott’s billable data by about half already and will further reduce her total data charges to $500,” Lee wrote.

Under Canada’s Wireless Code, which came into effect in 2013, wireless service providers must notify customers about excessive data use to avoid what it called “bill shock.”

READ MORE: Consumer advocates wary of Liberals’ pledge to cut cell phone bills

“The Commission also requires WSPs to suspend data overage charges once they reach $50 within a single billing cycle unless the customer explicitly and knowingly agrees to pay additional charges,” according to the mandatory code of conduct for all providers of retail mobile wireless voice and data services.

While Parrott admitted she asked Virgin to provide more data, she was not told that the consumption was adding up in the thousands of dollars.

Eventually, when asked by Global News to consider Parrott’s bill further, Virgin Mobile agreed.

“We’ve taken another look and will waive the remaining data charges in this case,” Lee wrote.

READ MORE: Having your cell phone in your lap is distracted driving, rules B.C. judge

The decision comes as a relief to Parrott who said she was “losing sleep” over the bill, even though she’s working exhausting 12-hour shifts at the long-term care home.

“Definitely, it’s way better,” she said upon learning the bill was being reduced to $500.

When Parrott was told Virgin had erased the data charge entirely, she texted a sigh of relief.

“That’s amazing news. Still in shock,” she wrote.

Chinese Covid-19 Vaccine Expected to Begin Mass Output This Year

 Bloomberg News 15 hrs ago How this country of 95 million kept its death toll at zeroChina and India face off on the roof of the worldPicture only for representative purpose

A front-running Covid-19 vaccine candidate being developed in China is expected to be available as soon as the end of this year, according to a report published in the official Wechat account of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The vaccine, jointly developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and China National Biotec Group Co., has completed phase II testing and may be ready for the market at the end of this year or early next year, said the report.

The production line for the vaccine will be fully disinfected and closed in preparation for output to start Saturday, and will have a full manufacturing capacity of 100 million-120 million vaccines each year.

Drugmakers are racing to develop a cure for the contagion that has so far killed at least 365,000 people. More than 100 vaccines for the virus are being developed globally, but only a handful have made it to the crucial and final human clinical trial stage, with Chinese scientists leading the way.

In total, five vaccines developed by Chinese companies are being tested on humans, the most in any country. Beijing has mobilized its health authorities, drug regulators and research institutes to work around the clock with local companies to come up with the world’s first successful one for Covid-19.

President Xi Jinping has promised to share any successful vaccine globally, but Chinese companies still face challenges. Phase III testing needs to be done in a place where the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly, and China’s cases have dwindled to a handful each day. Also, an effective vaccine needs massive production capabilities in order to meet global distribution demands.

Sizing Up China’s Vow to Share a Vaccine With World: QuickTake

The vaccine candidate from Beijing Institute of Biological Products and China National Biotec Group employs a killed version of the novel coronavirus that can still trigger an immune response. Such inactivated vaccines have been developed for many years to protect populations from diseases including polio and hepatitis.

While inactivated vaccines may be slower to develop initially, their familiar path to mass production might allow them to overtake shots made by newer, cutting-edge approaches.

Use Vimium to Browse with the Keyboard in Chrome and Firefox

IAN PAUL@ianpaul
MAY 30, 2020, 6:40AM EDT

The mouse is a great invention, but don’t sell the keyboard short—even for web browsing. Thanks to a very effective browser add-on called Vimium, you can browse the web without ever touching your mouse.

Picture this: you’re lying on the couch with your laptop propped on your legs, so you’re stuck with the trackpad. However, moving back and forth between the trackpad and keyboard while lying down is less than useful.

With Vimium, you can browse comfortably without moving your hands and recline to your heart’s content.

Getting Started with Vimium

Vimium was inspired by the classic text editor Vim. A favorite among coders, Vim navigates text files with the keys on a QWERTY keyboard’s home row. Vim (and its predecessor, Vi) supports simple keyboard commands to move by line, word, or sentence, or to cut and paste text, delete lines, and a ton of other operations.

The Vimium browser add-on isn’t as complex as its progenitor. However, it borrows the idea of controlling a program from the home row to be super-efficient. Anyone who knows how to use Vim will have no trouble acclimating to the browser add-on, as they use similar commands.

Vimium is available for Chrome and Firefox. It also works with Opera, the new version of Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi, which are all based on Chromium—the open-source version of Chrome.

Vimium won’t work with every website, but it does with most. When it’s not working on a particular website, the Vimium icon in the browser will be grayed out, as shown below. When Vimium is working, its icon will be blue.

How to Use Vimium’s Keyboard Shortcuts

It takes a little practice to get the keyboard shortcuts down. Once you do, though, it will make navigating the web so much easier. We can’t cover all the Vimium shortcuts in this tutorial, so we’ll focus on those that will come in handy the most—especially for people new to Vimium.

Some Vimium shortcuts require lowercase letters. Others require uppercase so, for these, you also have to press Shift while typing the letters. We’ve shown the letters in their appropriate cases.

First, though, you need to know how to navigate a web page. These shortcuts are identical to those in Vim. To scroll down, press j—you can use short taps or hold down j for a fast scroll. To scroll back up, tap k. Again, short taps or holding down the key will give you faster or slower operation.

If you want to skip down a large section of the page, press d. To go up the same amount of space, press u. According to the Vimium team, these commands should scroll up or down about half a page, but in our experience, it’s more like one-third or less.

Finally, if you want to jump to the top of a page, press g twice. To go to the very bottom of a page press Shift+g. The latter command is a huge help if you’re trying to get to the bottom of a web page designed for endless scrolling. You’ll get there much faster, and without a repetitive strain injury from twirling a mouse’s scroll wheel.

You can also press f to open a link in the current page, or Shift+f to open a link in a new tab. After you press f or Shift+f, every link in the page (as shown below) is labeled as DE, F, SE, and so on. Type the label of the link you want to open it.

Opening links can take a little practice, especially on search engine pages, where each entry can have three links or more. Spend some time with Vimium, and you’ll get the hang of it, though.

Now that you understand the basics of navigating a page, it’s time to navigate between tabs. There are four keyboard shortcuts that will come in handy for this. To switch to the next tab to the right, press Shift+k. To move left, press Shift+j.

You can also go backward or forward in a tab’s history, just as you would by clicking the back or forward buttons with a mouse. Press Shift+h to go backward, or Shift+l to move forward.

A few other shortcuts that will help you get going are t to open a new tab, x to close a tab, and Shift+x to restore the most recently closed tab or browser window.

Vimium can also open bookmarks, search a page for a word or phrase, reload a page, open a web page’s HTML source, scroll left or right on a page that doesn’t fit on the screen, copy a link’s URL, and a whole lot more.

For a complete list of commands, check out Vimium’s GitHub repository. By convention, Vimium describes its keyboard shortcuts using lower- and uppercase letters. Assume that uppercase letters require you to also press Shift.

Troubleshooting Vimium

Once you’ve got the shortcuts down, Vimium is very easy to use, but there are a few problems you’re likely to run into. The first of these is a new tab. If you cycle back through the history to a new tab screen, you won’t be able to cycle forward, as Vimium doesn’t work with empty tabs.

You either have to use your mouse or trackpad to go forward one page in the history or press Ctrl+L to type a new URL in the address bar.

Another common problem is getting stuck in a text box or the address bar where your key presses will be interpreted as text. In these cases, the easiest thing to do is press Tab to escape the text entry section or use your mouse or trackpad to click away.

Overall, Vimium is a fantastic way to browse. Armed with these basic shortcuts, you’ll be blasting around the web in no time!

PSYCHOLOGY EXPLAINS A COUNTERINTUITIVE LINK BETWEEN HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS

Rational optimism may be the antidote to chronic stress.Richard SchneiderALI PATTILLO8 HOURS AGO

It’s a cliche by this point that the path to happiness is paved by achievement: graduate from a top university, score the dream job, find eternal love, and retire early in a sunny beachfront town. But psychological research flips this conventional formula for happiness on its head. It turns out, positive external outcomes cause only fleeting happiness. However, daily habits that cultivate positive thinking and optimism create sustainable happiness.

EARN REWARDS & LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.

“It’s not about what I accomplish, the title on the door, or the house that I’m able to buy. It’s really about this internal state that we can create, no matter where we’re at in our lives,” Michelle Gielan, a positive psychologist and founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research, tells Inverse.

This week, Gielan outlines the four evidence-based tactics to get happier over the long term: practice gratitude, relive good memories, activate your social network, and break the tension at work. These actions don’t just strengthen mental health; they lead to tangible, meaningful performance gains.

“As we focus on the positive parts of our reality, it allows our brain to see that success is possible and good results are within reach,” Gielan says. “Ideas flow more easily, creativity skyrockets, and then positive results follow.”

I’m Ali Pattillo and this is Strategy, a series packed with actionable tips to help you make the most out of your life, career, and finances.

DISRUPT NEGATIVITY BIAS — Before you can build happiness, you have to understand it. Based on positive psychology research, Gielan defines happiness as “the joy we feel growing toward our potential.”

“You can experience that happiness and joy in the midst of life’s ups and downs. It really connects more with a sense of meaning about an experience than the fleeting happiness that you can get from buying something new or eating a chocolate bar.”

Unfortunately, our brains are wired toward negativity and constantly vigilant to threats in the environment, a tendency that hinders happiness. Across a wide array of situations, adults attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information, studies show.

Some scholars argue negativity bias serves a crucial evolutionary function, keeping us safe and out of harm’s way. It’s great if we’re living out on the savanna where there might be animals attacking us, Gielan explains.

“It’s not so great if we’re feeling threatened by someone walking down the hallway at work or constantly scanning our world for all the things that could go wrong.”

Negativity bias can frequently push humans into a fight-or-flight state, contributing to chronic stress. In a 2019 study conducted with Frost Bank, Gielan found that an antidote to this problem is actively cultivating an optimistic mindset. In the study, Gielan surveyed more than 2,000 Americans about their financial health, optimism levels, attitudes, and behaviors around money.