Sound Fountains

Sound Fountains at Nottingham Contemporary - Caroline Locke from Caroline Locke on Vimeo.

Why me must save the NHS!

Michael Sheen speaks on protecting the NHS - Bedwellty Park

Earth Before Life

A Lifeless Planet

Let us imagine a totally lifeless world!

Let us place it exactly where the Earth is now, in a containing situation very similar to that which pertains there today – but without either a single living thing of any kind present, nor anything that would have been made by Life.

What then would we have?

Starting with the nature of the substance of that planet and how it was originally constructed, it would certainly be hot! Indeed, having aggregated via millions of collisions with other solid bodies, both large and small, arriving at cosmic (very large) speeds, and arriving literally incessantly over a very long period – indeed, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years, it would certainly have been transformed to contain truly vast amounts of energy, which as it grew in size, would find it ever harder to escape as the ratio of surface area to contained volume would rapidly decline. And, with all these collisions turning into such accumulated heat, the planet would soon have become a molten world (or very close to it).

Such a temperature would have turned that very common substance in our Solar System, namely ICE, via water into clouds of water vapour, and from outside the planet would look very like the condition of the present-day Venus, with voluminous clouds hiding the surface completely. And once this state was fairly constant, without any further large and numerous collisions, the major transformations to its surface could only be due to volcanic eruptions, as Hot-Spot convection currents in the molten mantle reached the surface with vast outpouring of extensive lava flows across its already solidifying surface, which would take the form of ever larger floating rafts of lighter-weight materials (for it would be packed with dissolved gasses, that increasingly were released and headed for the surface under tremendous pressures. And these ejections would build ever-larger islands of solidity all over the globe.

No other real changes, apart from the constant thickening of the crust, would occur just yet, and if the substance of that crust were investigated, it would consist of layer upon layer of purely igneous rocks. At that time none of the major sedimentary rocks would yet be present, and certainly none of those produced by living organisms.

But, ever since the constant bombardment finally ceased, such a hot surface would begin to lose heat at a high rate, and two important processes would start to occur.

First, the solid crust would thicken as new lave flows cooled and added to it.

And second, the abundant water vapour in the planet’s atmosphere would start to be precipitated as both rain and snow. But, on reaching the still, very hot ground, this would be rapidly turned back into vapour again, and air currents and consequent weather would begin to form systems within the atmosphere, but in so doing, movements of the atmosphere between areas of different temperature would be inevitable, so newly evaporated water vapour would again in cooler conditions turn in to rain again. So repeated precipitation cycles would constantly be extracting heat from the crust to return it to the atmosphere, from where it could escape to the empty space beyond. 

Finally, cooler regions that were not heated as much by that other factor – heat from the Sun, say closer to the poles of the planet, would receive rain and snow that was not immediately returned from whence it had come, and surface movement of this liquid water would form streams, rivers and finally ever-larger reservoirs of water, and finally collecting into seas and indeed oceans. 

It is quite possible, with very little of this locked up as ice, that these bodies of water may well have finally covered the entire planet, as at this stage no mountains, in the usual sense, were present. It was basically a low relief surface with occasional volcanoes dotted about.

NOTE:  This means that at a certain point the only land would have to be adjacent to such volcanoes, so that the actual situation for Life to originate could be in the shallows close to such active sources of the most exotic ejaculations and constant heat.

And though the amount of land was either zero or very small, that would in no way affect the subterranean volcanic processes beneath the solid bottoms of the planet-wide oceans would still be just as active (both in mantle current Hot Spots, and in drowned volcanoes, so new volcanic islands would be emerging out of the ocean across the planet (just as Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands still do today).

Also, with continuing cooling, the water at the poles would spend some of the time as ice and new land made, at least at the surface of this new rock would grow at the expense of all-covering oceans, and the primaeval-raised areas of prior vulcanism would appear again a land.

In slightly warmer areas the rains could well fall again, and rivers would head downhill, carrying easier dislodged and picked up solids from the higher ground to both lower ground and finally to the sea, where they would be deposited as a descending series of gravels, sands and finally silts. Over many millennia these deposits would harden under increasingly-heavy overlayers into rock, and thus would therefore produce the first sedimentary rocks to add to the solid structures at the landward side, and to undersea surfaces of the planet.

But remember, all of this “land” would even then been as it is now, as a series of floating rafts upon a mantle of molten or near-molten matter. And, though in the end it would extend both above and beneath the waves into a continuous crust right around the whole planet, differences between dry land areas, and those constantly beneath the oceans, would gradually change and the “always-land” would break into tectonic plates driven by currents in the underlying mantle, and would slowly move, independently of one another, across the globe. Such movements would have several separate centres, and, therefore, the plates would move in various independent directions.

This new feature could not but lead to a series of eras on these floating blocks. For in time, there can be no doubt that these plates would finally collide, and when they did, wholly new phenomena began to occur. The colliding plates generally caused a crumpling of both plates, where the collision occurred, and for the first time mountains began to rise, which were not volcanoes.

Clearly, such increasingly high areas, would accelerate the run-off streams and rivers, and, due to erosion on the land, depositions upon the adjacent seabed would inevitably increase.

But these chains of high mountains also grew large enough to hinder the collisions, and the main thrusts would take one plate to be deflected downwards to travel under the other (Subduction). And this diving in towards the underlying mantle caused other, wholly new phenomena to begin to happen too. The diving place, often, but not always, from under the sea, would unavoidably bring large amounts of sea water with it that had seeped into the layer when under the sea, and the effect of this water, and the increasing temperature from the mantle, caused parts of this layer to melt, and increasingly released, previously dissolved gasses would cause great up ward pressures as they found various cracks and routes to the surface of the overlying land,

On reaching the surface a new kind of volcano occurred, with markedly different characters to the original Hot Spot types.

All along the tectonically-caused mountain chain, the volcanoes appeared and added greatly to the atmosphere of the planet, in addition to up upwelling of rock-making lava and exploded ash.

So, via these major collisions, the nature of the atmosphere of the planet was dramatically, and significantly changed, for, in the crucible of that volcanism, the ejected materials from both the mantle and the surface rocks, wholly new combinations were possible both between dissolved solids in the lying water, and in the ever more complex and reactive atmosphere: the planet, which had become a very different place with innumerably more substances, and their mutual reactions with one another.

And as the movements within the atmosphere became more vigorous, and effecting of ever-wider areas on the planet, extreme local conditions were more and more likely in a very diverse surface and atmosphere. In particular, the strength of the atmospheric storms could be so violent that vast numbers of electrons were torn from their parent atoms, leading to returns to normality via frequent and powerful bolts of lightning. So even electricity became common in atmospheric storms and an extra source of energy and components was added to an already complex mix.

But, still, as yet, free Oxygen was not yet a part of that heady mix, for as soon as it was Fire would be added to the many forces involved in the planets reactions.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere, at that stage, was a mix of reactive and dangerous compounds by any means of judgment.

Yet, it was in this precise environment that Life appeared upon this planet. It wasn’t anything like what we now consider to be Life, for almost none of the modern life forms would survive in that deadly mix.

Yet, they were certainly, and only for a short period in the life of the planet, certainly conducive to some initial, and very primitive lifeforms, which we know, in retrospect, would again completely transform the conditions and pave the way for very different forms that would follow. 

And we know it would, in yet another phase, wherein Life as we know it, or at least know about it from the fossil evidence, would finally begin to appear.

You may wonder why this small story was written?
It was to demonstrate the true essence of Science – NOT Equations, but Explanation!

For, without that we could never understand anything.

The Means to Inform

How are opponents of a System in Power to publish their ideas?

The crucial opposing factor in informing the general populace of "the truth" has always been the ownership and control of the means of dissemination by a very limited class with very different interests and motives than the bulk of the population in any given country. And this means that it would be universally extremely unlikely to be allowed access via any form of Mass Media (to socialists in a capitalist society for example). And, in the same way the bureaucracies in the so-called 'socialist countries' such as the Soviet Union and China, were in a similar position, and thus determined exactly what was allowed to be delivered to their populations at large.

Yet, though these two supposedly different political systems led to a similar degree of crucial misinformation, it is not necessarily true that the problem cannot be overcome - at least for now! For the answer to the problem is surely the internet.

With minimal resources and a modicum of computer skills, a colleague and I have established several successful websites, and one of them made a worldwide impact. With our Dance-Interactive site, my small team and a professional dance colleague, over a period of some six years, managed to build a global database of some 3,800 genuinely interested contacts, and got our products in users hands in 80 different countries. And, crucially, in spite of the almost universal opposition of the dance education establishment, we did indeed outflank them via a policy of free demo discs offered on the site (in return for their contact details)  while, of course, providing them with what they needed, and indeed wanted, to empower their work - interactive video resources for the teaching of dance.   

Currently, another of our websites, the SHAPE journal, has been augmented by the blog you are currently reading, and the inclusion of videos and animations on Youtube - and our current total visits are approaching 35,000 in a relatively short period.

The point that I believe has been demonstrated, is that the Internet can empower financially poor individuals and fledgling organisations to establish the means to communicate, without being totally controlled by "those in charge".

The socialist organisations must therefore totally back those who fight for online freedom and the exposure of damning 'leaks' from secret areas to inform the public. They may be liberals and not share our political objectives, but they are addressing the area that makes so-called Democracy so clearly a total fraud, when in the sole hands of the privileged classes.

The Arab Spring proved it. Social networking on the web allowed those protesters to not only organise their forces, but also react quickly to counter actions by the forces of repression, and to flexibly deploy their forces in a way that the police and paramilitary forces could not subdue. And, an almost entirely non-violent uprising was still able to be effective. In spite of their liberal tactics they still managed to topple the dictators one after the other.

Needless to say, the leaders of the capitalist powers quickly intervened to ensure both influence (and oil?) from the seemingly non-socialist revolutionaries. But, even that clever move may prove entirely insufficient. In spite of many calls for the Rule of Law in Libya, and for the disarming of the revolutionary fighters, the latter have continued to keep their arms and be ready if required to use them again.

Though some nations have tried it, it has proved difficult to gag the web, and those who know exactly how to use their newfound communications, are already using them to ask new questions of each other.

So, with this relatively cheap and instant media, with all the power to change the world, the question for the socialist groups must be, "What must be published?" For even the dedicated socialist organisations tend to still be doing what they have for decades. The activists of the Arab Spring rushed past them as if they were rooted to the spot! That must change.

A detailed search through what currently exists on the internet, looks more like the old established "socialist news from across the world" - indeed, the reassuring message - "Look! There are others like us across the World!"

But that is nowhere near enough.

Not only must there be a substantial dissemination of Left news, but the far more important regular dissemination of empowering Theory , and by this I do not just mean quotes from the original theorists of the 19th and 20th centuries, but crucially fresh and appropriate Marxist theory being developed NOW. Not just agitational materials, but profound contributions upon all areas of human endeavour, achieved on the basis of the most powerful philosophy and method ever created by mankind.

There needs to be a constant flow of required developments in Marxist theory on literally everything. Fitting up the contributions of the original masters to modern scenarios, just isn't good enough. There are revolutions to be won.

What is currently available upon this powerful media is far from sufficient, and doesn't seem to appreciate what a weapon the internet could really be. 

So, what has to be done?

My Mind to Me A Kingdom Is

The myth of the philistine scientist is not about experience, it is about prejudice. And the sentiments of Sir Edward Dyer express Mankind and not merely the artistic subset...

In Praise of a Contented Mind

My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such perfect joy therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
That world affords or grows by kind.
Though much I want which most men have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.

No princely pomp, no wealthy store,
No force to win the victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to feed each gazing eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall.
For why my mind doth serve for all.

I see how plenty suffers oft,
How hasty climbers soon do fall;
I see that those that are aloft
Mishap doth threaten most of all;
They get with toil, they keep with fear.
Such cares my mind could never bear.

Content I live, this is my stay;
I seek no more than may suffice;
I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look what I lack my mind supplies;
Lo, thus I triumph like a king,
Content with that my mind doth bring.

Some have too much, yet still do crave;
I little have, and seek no more.
They are but poor, though much they have,
And I am rich with little store.
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
They lack, I leave; they pine, I live.

I laugh not at another’s loss;
I grudge not at another’s gain;
No worldly waves my mind can toss;
My state at one doth still remain.
I fear no foe, nor fawning friend;
I loathe not life, nor dread my end.

Some weigh their pleasure by their lust,
Their wisdom by their rage of will,
Their treasure is their only trust;
And cloaked craft their store of skill.
But all the pleasure that I find
Is to maintain a quiet mind.

My wealth is health and perfect ease;
My conscience clear my chief defense;
I neither seek by bribes to please,
Nor by deceit to breed offense.
Thus do I live, thus will I die.
Would all did so as well as I!

Dreaming of Jupiter

The Dream

Last night I had a dream...

I must have been thinking a great deal about the problem of holisitic, emergent change before I dozed off, because my dream 'solved' the problem in a very beautiful, purely filmic way.

No concepts were involved, no intellectualism - only a sequence of images in glorious technicolour. Entities, as areas of colour, were being changed into other entities, easily distinguished by their clearly evident changes in characterisitic hue. Things were constantly appearing and disappearing, but NOT according to any single mathematical rule. The happenings evidently depended on what entities were present, what they seemed to absorb, and what they produced. The ever-changing context seemed to be crucial in what the sequences of changes were. The most important feature seemed to be the creation of localities, which tended to have some sort of persistence. These appeared to be dependent upon certain preponderances of a particular type of entity. And within these localities the changes occurring were either small or involved sequences or cycles of processes and entities.

But, most interestingly, it was around the edges of the localities that the quickest tempo of changes occured. The best picture of what was happening was that it seemed like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. Just as there, the spot itself seemed permanent, but involved cycles within it, whereas around the edge, things were happening much more dramatcially, and could either be sucked into the Spot or emanate from it. Other peripheral activities seemed to sail by with minimal interaction. Sometimes various appearances in the border region seem to accelerate away and from a different new locality.

This dream was purely visual, but of breathtaking beauty. It reminded me of watching a rough sea on rocks. It implied incessant, constant cause, but infinite possibilities. The dream though was much more cogent and simplified. It was like an abstract symphony of form and colour.

On waking, my mind was filled with thoughts that imagined all sorts of significant events that had occured and precipitated an interlude of changes, before something else took hold and drove the patterns onwards. It was clear to me that the periferies of the relatively stable localities were special. Within the main localities, too much was constrained, while outside of every locality nothing seemed to be present for long. Colour succeeded colour in rapid succession. At the boundaries there certainly seemed to be a reliable provision of resources from within the locality, while elsewhere on this periphery the locality's edge was itself being fed by the absorption of passing entities. But while peripheral forms were being supplied from within the localities, they were also in immediate contact with the external churning void. When it came to a budding off, it was clear that the dependence on the parent locality was no longer necessary, and each offspring gathered around itself very similar peripheral streamings as were present around the main locality. The "Great Red Spot" was producing new entities which could then exist anywhere within the chaotic soup in the same way as the parent did.

Now, I am well aware that this was only a dream, but where do we start addressing the intractable problem of Emergent Changes?