2 Timothy 3:1-5
Ephesians 6:12
Matthew 24:21-22
Yuval Noah Harari “home Deus” a brief history of tomorrow writes: “Attributing FREE WILL to humans is not an ethical judgment – it purports to be a factual description of the world. Although this so-called factual description might have made sense back in the days of John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Jeffersons, it does not sit well with the latest findings of the life sciences. The contradiction between free will and contemporary science is the elephant in the laboratory, whom many prefer not to see as they peer into the microscopes and fMRI scanners. The best of our scientific understanding, determinism and randomness have divided the entire cake between them, leaving not even a crumb for ‘freedom’. The sacred word ‘freedom’ turns out to be, just like ‘soul’ a hallow term empty of any discernible meaning. Free will exists only in the imaginary stories we human have invented. The last nail in freedom’s coffin is provided by the theory of evolution. Just as evolution cannot be squared with eternal souls, neither can it swallow the idea of free will. For if humans are free, how could natural selection have shaped them? According to the theory of evolution, all the choices animals make -whether of habitat, food or mates – reflect their genetic code. If, thanks to its fit genes, an animal chooses to eat a nutritious mushroom and copulate with healthy and fertile mates, these genes pass on to the next generation. If, because of unfit genes, an animal opts for poisonous mushrooms and anemic mates, these genes become extinct. However, if an animal ‘freely’ chooses what to eat and with whom to mate, then natural selection has nothing to work with. Doubting free will is not just a philosophical exercise. It has practical implications. If organisms indeed lack free will, it implies that we can manipulate and even control their desires using drugs, genetic engineering or direct brain stimulation. If you want to see philosophy in action, pay a visit to a robo-rat laboratory. A robo-rat is a run-of-the-mill rat with a twist; scientists have implanted electrodes into the sensory and reward areas in the rat’s brain. This enables the scientists to maneuver the rat by remote control. After short training sessions, researchers have managed not only to make the rats turn left or right, but also to climb ladders, sniff around garbage piles, and do thing that rats normally dislike, such as jumping from extreme heights. Armies and corporations are showing keen interest in the robo-rats, hoping they will prove useful in many tasks and situations. To the best of our understanding, the rat doesn’t feel that somebody else controls here, and she doesn’t feel that she is being coerced to do anything against her will. When Professor Talwar presses the remote control, the rat WANTS to move to the left, which is why she moves to the left. When the professor presses another switch, the rat WANTS to climb a ladder, which is why she climbs the ladder. After all, the rat’s desires are nothing but a pattern of firing neurons. What does it matter whether the neurons are firing because they are stimulated by other neurons or by transplanted electrodes connected to professor Talwar’s remote control? If you ask the rat about it, she might well tell you, ‘sure I have free will! Look, I want to turn left – and I turn left. I want to climb a ladder – and I climb a ladder. Doesn’t that prove that I have free will? Experiments performed on Homo sapiens indicate that like rats humans too can be manipulated, and that it is possible to create or annihilate even complex feelings such as love, anger, fear and depression by stimulating the right spots in the human brain.”
www.cdc.gov
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Nanotechnology – Overview
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on a near-atomic scale to produce new structures, materials and devices. The technology promises scientific advancement in many sectors such as medicine, consumer products, energy, materials and manufacturing. Nanotechnology refers to engineered structures, devices, and systems. Nanomaterials have a length scale between 1 and 100 nanometers. At this size, materials begin to exhibit unique properties that affect physical, chemical, and biological behavior. Researching, developing, and utilizing these properties is at the heart of new technology.
Worker Risks
Workers within nanotechnology-related industries may experience exposure to uniquely engineered materials. This includes novel sizes, shapes, and physical and chemical properties. Occupational health risks associated with manufacturing…nd using nanomaterials are not yet clearly understood. Minimal information is currently available on dominant exposure routes, potential exposure levels, and material toxicity of nanomaterials.
Current Research
Studies have indicated that low solubility nanoparticles are more toxic than larger particles on a mass for mass basis. Particle surface area and surface chemistry are strong indicators for observed responses in cell cultures and animals. Studies suggests that some nanoparticles can move from the respiratory system to other organs. Research is continuing to understand how these unique properties may lead to specific health effects.
Janis Siegel, a news journalist and columnist that has covered international health research around the world, wrote an article in the Epoch Times published March 4, 2022
Nanotechnology Used in Covid Vaccines, 2,000 Foods, Goes Unlabeled: Extremely small particles of various compounds are being used as food additives, with unknown effects
A NEW INGREDIENT
Nanotechnology has become widely used in food production and manufacturing since the 1990s, and its components are unimaginably small—one-hundredth the size of a strand of human hair. They make our food more colorful, brighter, creamier, or crunchier, and they keep it fresher for longer as well. Nano-sized additives also make some of our medicines more effective. Nanotechnology is used in the manufacturing of everyday products, such as electronics, food and food packaging, medicine, toys, clothing, sunscreens, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and much more. While they can provide a myriad of benefits, these increasingly popular product enhancers come at a price, according to consumer groups and health experts—and that price is our health.
HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
Because these particles are so small, studies have shown that they can breach the blood-brain barrier. Researchers are already exploring this quality for drugs meant to treat neurological conditions. But when it comes to food, that’s not a feature anyone is asking for. These particles are also able to circulate throughout the body and get absorbed into the bloodstream and organs. They can penetrate cell walls and potentially create inflammation and disease. “They may pass through the lining of the gut and enter the bloodstream, which may trigger an inflammatory or immune response,” Harvard School of Public Health’s Georgios Pyrgiotakis told WebMD. “They may also build up in various parts of the body, including the lungs, the heart, and reproductive organs.”
In a July 2020 study, a group of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that titanium dioxide, which is commonly added to gum, candy, drinks, and desserts, caused changes in the gut microorganisms of two groups of mice. Both were given doses of titanium oxide. One group was fed a low-fat diet and the other a high-fat diet. After further testing to isolate the titanium dioxide effect, both groups had inflamed colons, which can lead to abdominal pain and diarrhea. The obese mice had more pronounced symptoms.
VACCINE TECHNOLOGY
Nanotechnology is currently being used in two of the three mRNA COVID-19 vaccines being given in the United States today. There’s a lipid nanoparticle coating surrounding the mRNA in the vaccines, which allows them to penetrate the cell’s wall. “Lipid nanoparticles are a vital component of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, playing a key role in protecting and transporting the mRNA effectively to the right place in cells,” stated the Chemical Abstracts Service, a division of the American Chemical Society. “Of the many COVID-19 vaccines under development, the two vaccines that have shown the most promising results in preventing COVID-19 infection represent a new class of vaccine products: They are composed of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) strands encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP).” But scientists have continued to call for greater oversight of these substances by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of their size. Because they easily cross the blood-brain barrier, they may damage it by altering the layer of cells that line the inner wall of blood vessels.
TINY PARTICLES, GROWING PROBLEM
By 2020, the FDA reported that applications for the approval of products containing nanotechnology had skyrocketed in the previous 10 years. According to many experts in the United States, there are 1,900 to 2,500 food products that use nanotechnology. In response to health concerns about these products, countries around the world have taken steps to limit or ban some or all nanotechnology in their food. In 2010, Canada banned nanotechnology in organic food production. Since 2011, the European Union has required all food to be labeled if it contains engineered nanomaterials. In 2015, the bloc required additional testing to ensure health safety. In 2018, the European Food Safety Commission was petitioned by a group of scientists within the agency to reject the food additive silicon dioxide as safe for consumption because of nanoparticles in it, until a particle size distribution could be confirmed. Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, France banned any foods containing titanium dioxide from entering the country. In the United States, the FDA doesn’t require any products produced with nanoparticles to be labeled or banned, and its guidelines recommend oversight on a case-by-case basis. Research on the long-term effects of ingesting nanoparticles remains scant. The article actually begins with two paragraphs which I thought would be better to wait with until the end. WHY? Why is it important to understand a little more about nano-technology and HOW does it effect my personal life and personal health?
“If you’re one of those people that can often be found in the food aisles of grocery stores reading labels and looking for ingredients you can’t pronounce and don’t want to eat, you’ve most likely noticed several ingredients that, unbeknownst to you, are made using nanotechnology—a process that converts silver, copper, gold, aluminum, silicon, carbon, and metal oxides, among other metals, into atom-sized particles that are one-billionth of a meter in size. Commonly used nano-sized ingredients include titanium dioxide, which may be the most well-known additive. Others, such as silicon oxide, calcium carbonate, iron oxides and hydroxides, calcium silicate, tricalcium phosphates, and synthetic silicas, are only a few of the additives that may be in your pantry right now.”
Ray Kurzweil, “The Singularity Is Near”
“Nano technology promises the tools to rebuild the physical world – our bodies and brains included – molecular fragment by molecular fragment, potentially atom by atom.”