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Thanks to Corwin for this little gem from First Avenue Machines:
Thanks to Harlan, maker of 11:11 Diamond Portal (Burning Man 2004/05), for reminding me of the upcoming Bioneers Conference coming up next month (San Rafael, California, October 14th-16th, 2005). There will be nearly 100 speakers there. I can't think of a more important conference to attend.
Here is the schedule lineup:
FRIDAY PLENARIES
9:00am - 1:00pm
What Life Knows: New Ideas from Biology that Could Change the World
JANINE BENYUS
You Are Where You Eat: Growing Urban Food and Community
WIL BULLOCK
From Russia with Snow Leopards: The Future of Wilderness Protection
VYACHESLAV TRIGUBOVICH
Global Warming: A Climate of Fear and Opportunity
BILL MCKIBBEN
An UnReasonable Woman: UnReasonableness and Where It Gets You
DIANE WILSON
FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
2:45pm - 4:15pm
Nature's Recipe Book: Re-Imagining Industrial Chemistry (A1)
Food Security: A Blueprint for Sustainable Food Systems (A2)
Social Entrepreneurship: Making Dreams Come True (A3)
The Coming Plague: A Public Health Response to Infectious Disease (A4)
Beauty Made Me Do It: Art and Social Change (A5)
Connecting the Drops: Watershed Protection (A6)
Busted: Whistleblowers, Power and Democracy (A7)
Interactive!
Revolutionary Communication In Theory and Practice (A8)
New World Water Tour of ‘Toxic City’: Anti-Oppression Training & Alliance
Building (2 session workshop)
FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
4:30pm - 6:00pm
High Noon: Showdown over Global Warming (B1)
Eater Beware: Food Safety (B2)
Click Here: Movement Building on the Internet (B3)
Mission-Driven Companies: The Inside Story (B4)
First Peoples: Protecting and Restoring Indigenous Cultures (B5)
Restoring Balance: When Women Lead (B6)
Wild Heart: Wildlands and Wildlife Conservation (B7)
Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities (B8)
Interactive!
Herb Walk with 7Song (B9)
New World Water Tour of ‘Toxic City’: Anti-Oppression Training & Alliance
Building (2 session workshop)
FRIDAY EVENING
7:00 - 8:30pm
Young Bioneers Mixer
7:30 - 10:00pm
Bioneers Moving Image Festival
SATURDAY PLENARIES
9:00am - 1:00pm
Intelligence in Nature: A Predator's Inquiry
JEREMY NARBY
Bold Precaution: The Precautionary Principle Gains Traction
CAROLYN RAFFENSPERGER
Greening the Inner City: Jobs, Health, Justice and the Environment
OMAR FREILLA
Beyond Framing: How Deep Neuro-Linguistic Programming Communicates
THOM HARTMANN
Who's Got Next? Cultivating Feminine-Centered Leadership in a Hip-Hop Era
RHA GODDESS
SATURDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
2:45pm - 4:15pm
Diversity at the Table: Food Justice and Access (A9)
Blogs, Wikis and Indies: Citizen Media and the Fate of Democracy (A10)
Power Play: Innovative Anti-Corporate, Pro-Democracy Strategies (A11)
Campaigning Women: Building an Environmental Health Movement (A12)
Urban Dreams: Remaking Cities for Sustainability (A13)
Connecting the Dots: Defending Indigenous Lands and Cultures (A14)
Peace Technologies: The Art and Science of Compassion (A15)
Interactive!
Both/And: Cultivating a Common Home in the Scorched Earth of Politics (A16)
Educator's Forum: Educating Our Children For a Sustainable World
SATURDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
4:30pm - 6:00pm
The Eco-Agricultural-Industrial Park: The Intervale Project (B10)
Fast Food, Slow Food: From Addiction to Health (B11)
What's the Story? Reframing Progressive Media (B12)
Corporate Rights vs. Human Rights: New Directions in Challenging Corporate Power (B13)
Better Safe Than Bankrupt: Precaution Pays (B14)
Restoring Cultural Balance: Raising Women's Voices (B15)
Nature's Treasures: Preserving and Restoring Large Ecosystems (B16)
Interactive!
Pan-Global Indigenous Peace Technologies (B17)
Seeding the Present: Youth Taking Action
SATURDAY EVENING
6:30 - 8:00pm
Food and Farming Community Reception
7:30 - 10:00pm
Bioneers Moving Image Festival
8:00 - 9:30pm
Visionary Activism (C1)
8:00pm - midnight
Drumming and Dance Party
SUNDAY PLENARIES
9:00am - 1:00pm
Field of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey to the Frontiers of American Agriculture
MICHAEL ABLEMAN
Return of the Ancient Council Ways: Indigenous Survival in Chiapas
OHKI SIMINE FOREST
Restoring Los Angeles: Healing the Nature of Our Cities
ANDY LIPKIS
The Fifth Revolution: Teh Evolution of Ecological Design Intelligence
DAVID ORR
"And, there are those of us who straddle..."
BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON
SUNDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
2:45pm - 4:15pm
Ecological Design: Nature's Operating Instructions (A17)
Certified Orgasmic: Fertility from Soil to Markets (A18)
Larger Than Life: Food and Farming at the Movies (A19)
From Value to Values: Fair Trade and the Marketplace of Relationship (A20)
The Politics of Psychoactive Plants: Religious Freedom, Shamanism and Sacred Plants (A21)
Embracing the "Other": Cultural Diversity and Resilience (A22)
Money Talks: Transforming Attitudes Toward Money and Philanthropy (A23)
Interactive:
Transforming the Mainstream Media: Training and Practice (A24)
Interactive:
Herbal Street First Aid with 7Song (A25)
Art in Action: Igniting the Power of Community and the Spirit of Joy (2 session workshop)
SUNDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
4:30pm - 6:00pm
Mystery, Complexity and Ambiguity: Native Education for Sustainability (B18)
The Future of Green Building (B19)
Genetic Roulette: Tinkering with Creation (B20)
Cooperatives: The Economics of Mutual Aid (B21)
Young and Wired: Youth Media, New Voices (B22)
Reclaiming Faith: Spirituality, Religion and Keeping the Faith (B23)
Deep Water: Saving the Oceans (B24)
Art in Action: Igniting the Power of Community and the Spirit of Joy (2 session workshop)
VAYA CON GAIA - CLOSING CEREMONY
6:30PM
Hall and Exhibits close at 8:30pm
'A lot of ink has been spilled over the biotechnology debate. The basic arguments haven't changed much in 20 years: Recombinant DNA technology is unproved and risky, or it's saving lives and the environment. The controversy rages on, as passionate and polarized as ever. The more interesting and dynamic part of this discussion is its subtext: the interrelationship between science, nature and society.
"Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies" dives right into that issue and unabashedly declares that science today is stuck in the industrial paradigm. This compelling collection of essays eloquently lays out an array of imaginative and practical solutions for some of the most perplexing environmental challenges of our time. The book both captures the spirit of Rachel Carson's "Sense of Wonder" and calls for a new, engaged, ecological vision for technology. It suggests sustainable solutions for how we feed ourselves and for environmental restoration that are both grounded in solid science and deeply respectful of the natural world. As contributor John Todd put it, this work weds "human ingenuity with the wisdom of the wild."'
Some related Links:
John Todd and the Ocean Ark Institute, is also the originator of Living Machines, using living things and clever engineering to clean waste water, and supply alternative energy for a wide range of domestic and industrial uses.
According to this story on the Korean Times, a women who has not stood up for 19 years was able to walk because of stem-cell therapy.
A team of Korean researchers claimed Thursday they had performed a miracle by enabling a patient, who could not even stand up for the last 19 years, to walk with stem cell therapy.During a press conference, the scientists said they had last month transplanted multi-potent stem cells from umbilical cord blood to the 37-year-old female patient suffering from a spinal cord injury and she can now walk on her own.
The team was co-headed by Chosun University professor Song Chang-hun, Seoul National University professor Kang Kyung-sun and Han Hoon, Ph.D, from the Seoul Cord Blood Bank (SCB).
``The stem cell transplantation was performed on Oct. 12 this year and in just three weeks she started to walk with the help of a walker,¡¯¡¯ Song said.
The patient¡¯s lower limbs were paralyzed after an accident in 1985 damaged her lower back and hips. Afterward she spent her life in bed or in a wheelchair.
For the unprecedented clinical test, the scientists isolated stem cells from umbilical cord blood and then injected them into the damaged part of the spinal cord.
The sensory and motor nerves of the patient started to improve 15 days after the operation and she could move her hips. After 25 days, her feet responded to stimulation.
If only Christopher Reeve had lived a few more months he may have been cured too, and in turn lived a long longer without the delibating condition that permaturely ended his life.
And yet the Bush administration and his right-wing cohorts want to make this illegal worldwide.