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"Adopt ( Science and Medicine) as a lifestyle. That is a great concept" 
- Romesh Japra - Cardiologist -Silicon Valley

"This book is going to be a landmark in science education. Just a 3-minute read.” 
-Chani Pangali Ph.D. - Theoretical Physicist, Executive Consultant at Workday

"He (Ramana) can look at things differently" 
- Dr. Mark Kishel - Fmr. Chief Medical Officer BlueCross- BlueShield 

"It is going to be a big hit with colleges" 
- Brandon Kregel - Harvard Business Graduate 

"I haven't seen a book that is (so) active in multimedia” - Thank you for the history lessons in (medicine) 
-Dr. Joseph Chalil - Professor Nova Southeastern Medical University President of Novomerica Health Group Testimonial

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The Most Beautiful Equation in Medicine!

Doctors may not know his name, but he is immortal in the field of oncology. Paul Adrien Dirac (1902-1984) was known among his friends, as a quiet man with a few words.  But he was not so quiet with his brain, which was filled with mind-boggling mathematical equations.

One such equation has given birth to the present-day Positron Emission Tomography ( PET) scanner. British-born physicist Paul Dirac imagined a universe through his mathematical logic that is filled with antimatter. We don't know the address of the antimatter, but it is exactly the opposite characteristics of the particles that our universe is made of. The "Electron" is a negatively charged particle, whereas the counter particle of the antimatter is "Positron," which is positively charged with the same mass. The same goes with proton and antiProton. On occasions, the antimatter particles seep into our universe with a destructive force. Before Paul Dirac's publication, there was no such idea in existence in the scientific world. It is a tribute to the pure genius mind of Paul Dirac. 

Paul Dirac won The Nobel prize in physics in 1933 for his groundbreaking predictions. 

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is often used to determine the shape and location of suspected tumors within the body. Oncologists use FDG molecule, a radiopharmaceutical source that emits "Positron" to detect Cancer. In every way, FDG molecule is equivalent to Glucose molecule, except it is tagged with a radio transmitter. Since tumors consume more glucose /sugar than usual, we can see the actual movie with precise details at the cellular level in real-time. PET-CT scanner is a medical device used in recording that movie. Cardiologists also use PET Scanner to analyze the heart's viability and functionality. 

Thanks to the science of "Positron" envisioned by Paul Dirac's equation, saving countless lives with early detection of fatal diseases. That's why I call this equation "The most Beautiful Equation in Medicine."  

Last decade of his life, Paul Dirac immigrated to America. He was employed as Professor at Florida State University and died in 1984. He went out quietly, just like his famous personality. A tombstone was built in his honor at the university campus, along with his famous equation. 
 

There once lived a legendary scientist for whom the medical community and cancer survivors owe a great deal of gratitude. 

Now as some question the validity of the vaccines, Paul Dirac demonstrated the power of science and vigorous mathematical logic to detect, cure and prevent diseases.

Avicenna - First Cardiologist

Avicenna (980 AD-1037 AD) is an Einstein of medicine. He might be the first cardiologist and the first author on Cardiac diseases in the history of medicine. He may have inadvertently discovered the clinical pathology behind Lie Detector Test. Given the period and resources, this 10th-century physician's insights into the human body are simply amazing.

“Calcium Channel Blockers” are widely used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases to reduce blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and other pathologies. Avicenna has written a remarkable book entitled “Kitab al-Adviyt-al-Qalbiye” which translates into “The book on drugs for cardiac diseases”.  There is a reference to a drug in this book called, “‘Zarnab".  Zarnab was used as a drug to put the heart at ease. Zarnab is derived from a poisonous evergreen tree (English Yew) widely grown in northern Iran, where Avicenna comes from.  Taxus baccata, a botanical name for Zarnab, found to have calcium blocking capabilities. Avicenna used a drug with calcium channel blocking activity much earlier than the arrival of synthetic drugs.

But his masterpiece of work is a medical encyclopedia called "Canon of Medicine”, consisting of several volumes. These volumes are standard textbooks for medical students for over a thousand years in every part of the world.  There was no other medical book that can match the anatomy and physiology before his body of work.

In the 10th century, one of the main diagnostic tools is the understanding of pulse and pulse rate. Avicenna is the first one who gave the right clinical explanation for pulsation. He describes every beat of the pulse comprises two movements and two pauses. Thus: expansion; pause; contraction; and pause.

Avicenna may have recognized "love sickness" manifests in biological responses. He may have indirectly found the clinical pathology behind the lie detection. He used to ask some of his love-struck patients to recite, starting from country, town, street; while watching their pulse. He would pinpoint exactly where patients’ love-struck was residing.

Avicenna can give a master class on Medical Ethics for present-day audiences. Avicenna recognized medical ethics as important as delivering care. He has written extensively about medical ethics. UNESCO instituted the “Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science” in 2003.  Noteworthy recipients of that prize are Professor Margaret Somerville Director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and US-based Environmental and Ethics lawyer Donald Brown.

Avicenna made important contributions to cardiology. He understood neurogenic syncope and vasovagal syncope. He associated "Exercise" with heart well-being.

Avicenna used to be called, “Emir” (Prince) of physicians in the west. He is certainly a physician's physician.  He is a towering personality in the history of medicine. By honoring him we honor every medical professional that is on the front lines today.

Quantum Computers -Richard Feynman Finest!

In the entire history of science, this is the only Nobel Laureate who gave public testimony on behalf of a topless club to remain it open, truly topless. "Gianone", a strip club in Pasadena, California, was a regular hangout for celebrated theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman is not surely joking this time! He went on record with official testimony when Los Angeles county was trying to ban topless performers. Probably he was also the only physicist who was contemplating how to put the entire encyclopedia of Britannica on the tip of the pinhead while watching bare breasts. His mathematical scribblings on placemats of drinks from the strip club went for more than $5 million at auction.

Imagine a couple of things whenever you hear the word, “Quantum".  The first one is a particle in New York can affect the outcome of its twin particle's outcome, located 3000 miles away in Los Angeles. It is true even if they are billions of miles apart. The scientific term for this phenomenon is called, "Quantum Entanglement."

The second thing you need to remember is "Superposition,” which is the ability of a quantum system to be in multiple states at the same time until it is measured. For example, if your kid takes your hand gloves,  place the left- hand in one box and the right-hand in another without your knowledge. Now you are looking for your gloves. You open one box; if that has the left-hand glove, you immediately know the other box has the right-hand glove. This is called correlation.  Superposition is a little trickier than that. In Superposition, the glove in each box contains the left and right hands together. It is in ghost form! When you open the box, the glove stops being a ghost and assumes either left-hand or right-hand without any preference and without your input. It is a random selection. Just before opening the box, it decides which hand will be.  The glove does not know which hand it will be until we observe.  Then, you know the other box contains the opposite hand.  It happens instant even the boxes are a billion miles apart. There is no known communication between the boxes. Albert Einstein called it "Spooky action at distance".  

This is experimentally verified and re-verified at the quantum level; these are counterintuitive ideas. Though we are made up of the same particles, we don't experience either quantum entanglement or Superposition in our everyday lives. Why that is still a mystery. The name for that mystery in physics is referred to as the "measurement problem."

Richard Feynman tried to simulate quantum systems on a classical computer, similar to the ones that we use today. Fynemnan quickly realized, it is not possible to simulate quantum behavior on a classical computer. For example, designing truly cost-effective routes and schedules for airlines takes hundreds of years on classical computers. In computer science, it is called the "Traveling Salesman Problem”. The option is to build a Quantum computer that solely works on quantum principles. Quantum Computers can solve the "Traveling Salesman Problem” in less than two minutes.

There is another urgent need to build a Quantum Computer. Designing drugs for Covid-19 treatment. The notorious spike Proteins on Novel Coronavirus put the entire humanity hostage, with their constant morphing. To simulate protein folding, the crazy dance of proteins, takes thousands of years on present-day computers. But whereas the quantum computer can do that in a few minutes.

A byte or a bit in the computer has either 1 "or" 0 value (ON or OFF). The analogous to that bit in quantum computing is called Qubit which contains both values "1" and "0" and all the possible vector values in between them, same time. The fastest computer on the planet is no match to the simple 4 Qubit quantum computer. IBM claims it has a 50-bit Qubit chip. If you give every atom in the universe a name, 50 Qubit computers can hold that storage without any sweat. Quantum computers provide unimaginable powers to humans.

The simple way to explain the inner workings of a quantum computer is a mouse going after cheese through a maze. In a classical trial, the mouse keeps trying one trial after the other in a series, until it finds the cheese. In a Quantum system, the mouse splits into hundreds of ghost replicas of itself and tries all possible paths to cheese simultaneously.  Success and Failure have no meaning here.

There is a fierce war going on between Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft to find this holy grail of computation, once envisioned by a genius scientist named Richard Feynman.

When Richard Feynman said, “ Nature is not classical dammit,” very few people understood what he meant. Many believe the quantum phenomenon is just limited to particles.  We humans don’t have the purview to see the direct effect. It is widely reported, the first symptom of Covid-19 is loss of smell. Now a new field is emerging, called “Quantum Biology”, putting forward a tantalizing theory. We, humans, experience the direct effects of the quantum phenomenon through smell. From just chemistry, we know there are only 400 receptors in the nose. We should only smell up to 400 different odors. Experiments confirm we can smell up to 10,000 distinct smells. Wine drinkers can recognize subtle differences between northern Italian wines from Southern Italian wines. A phenomenon called Quantum Tunneling allows humans to experience different smells of wines and a wide variety of tastes. Richard Feynman's words come true when he said, “Nature is not classical dammit.”

On a personal note, I met his long-time friend and colleague, famous in his own right, Leonard Susskind, of Stanford University. I asked him what the next big thing in science is going to be,  and he said without hesitation,  "Quantum Computers"! 

Diversity of thought is not a need, it is a requirement!

Genius of Enlightenment

This 18th-century woman is a sex bomb. Probably sex addict. Men did not use her. The other way around, she used them all. She treated men as sex objects. She said in her own words, "I will not invest a single minute of emotion with men". She gave full meaning to the French slang, 'manaja twa', staying with two lovers in the same house. Did I say she is also a gambling addict?. Indeed, she is blasphemous for the 17th-century religious institutions. 

Who is this woman?

If you ask that question, you have already failed. Not just you, We, humanity, failed. Religious zealots wanted her name to be wiped out from history. She was judged by her sexual behavior than her tremendous contributions to science. No wonder only a few women pursue science even now.­­

Her name is Gabrielle Émilie du Châtelet (1706-1749)  born into a wealthy French aristocratic family. She is an enlightenment baby. The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith. She is an 18th-century physicist and mathematician. She confronted Newton and gave clues to Einstein. 

Newton E = m v  

E stands for the energy, m is for the mass of an object - v is for the velocity (Speed) 

In the early 1700s, Newton's laws of moving bodies and their relation to energy are in their infancy. Initially, Newton described the energy (E) of a moving object is "Proportional" to its "Speed. (V). ( E proportional to V). 

Emilie Du Châtelet, in her 20s, had an unbounded passion for science and mathematics. But unfortunately, this was the period no woman was allowed to enter scientific meetings. So on occasion, she dressed as a man to slip into these meetings. 

She did not agree with Newton's theory that the energy of an object is just proportional to its Speed. So she built a hiding place, château at Cirey in northeastern France, turned that into a base for her scientific research. She had amassed books on mathematics and physics. It is a library comparable to that of the Academy of Sciences in Paris. Money is not an issue for her family. She imported state-of-the-art equipment from London. She came up with an ingenious idea with metal balls and sand to test the laws of Newton. She concluded that the energy of the moving object is not just proportional to its Speed as proposed by Newton, but it is proportional to the square of its Speed (E is proportional to V squared).

The world scientific community started noticing her. She got admitted into French: Académie des sciences (French Academy of Science) is quite an exception. Germany's prestigious scientific journal published her works "The science of Fire and Light" first-ever by a woman. Italy embraced her and admitted her to Italian scientific society. A woman in the scientific organization was unheard of in the 1700s; Du Chatelet is an exception, got the rare honors.

Einstein  E=m c^2

The idea of "squared" and its experimental validation was a significant milestone in the 1700s. After more than 200 years, Du Chatelet's "Squared" was plucked by Albert Einstein for his famous equation e=m C squared. Remind you C is the Speed of light like the Speed in Newton's law. If an Atom gets destroyed, the energy it releases is the Speed of light squared. The reason behind such a destructive force, "Square" of the 186,000 miles/sec, is the Speed of light. The scientific community started noticing the connection between Einstein's famous equation and Emilie Du Chatelet's proof in recent years. 

Though she is a rebel, she went through an arranged marriage. She was blessed with three children. She was a devout mother by all accounts despite her affairs. She loved to teach math and science to her children. She even wrote a mathematics textbook for children. (On the left is Emilie Du Chatelet's own drawing).  She spoke six different languages. 

Calculus was just introduced into mathematics. Calculus was dreadful even for seasoned mathematicians in the 1700s.  She is the one girl who took on calculus and mastered it. Though she did not agree with Newton on everything, she generally admired him. By the way, Newton was still alive during her lifetime. She started translating Sir Isaac Newton’s crown jewel of work, “Principia” into French which is still a standard textbook in France today.

She got pregnant at the age of 43. It is almost a death sentence for women to get pregnant over 35 years of age for those days. She was aware of the threat of possible death. She gave birth to her fourth child.

Within a week of giving birth, Emilie du Chatelet slumped on her desk and took her last breath. She was laying her head on top of the final pages of the French version of Principia while next to her new baby.  She died on September 10, 1749, from a pulmonary embolism.

Atlanta native, screenplay writer, Lauren Gunderson produced an award-winning play, called Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight on Emilie Du Châtelet with humor and with a powerful ending.

Emilie du Chatelet's unwavering passion for mathematics and physics is bigger than her life itself. She stood between two giants of science, Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Her name is Gabrielle Emilie Du Châtelet.

Now, you should know her name!!!!

The Unsung Hero of my home town - Somarama

Dr. Subbarow reminds me of my late father - Teacher, Doctor, and Exrodniare. Both have the same name, both helped people. My father had nothing; he provided "care" for people who had nothing in a small southern village in India. People come and go, but the nobility of these people, who serve silently, create, and shape a better tomorrow for all of us.            

He was not known in his hometown; His name is hardly mentioned in his motherland, India. His adopted country, America, discriminated against him, Nobel Prize Committee ignored him. History is not kind to him. His name is behind the first chemotherapy drug, the first broad-spectrum antibiotic drug. His other discovery is on the World Health Organization's list of the essential drugs. All his discoveries are still in use today. Who is this remarkable man that no one knows!

HHis name is Dr.Yellapragada Subbarao (1895 - 1948), whom they call him later, with the anglicized name, Dr.Subbarow. I refer to him in this article, with my native language Telugu name, Dr.Subbarao. Dr.Subbarao was born in the coastal town of Bhimavaram, the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Another name for this town is Somarama, home of, one of the five sacred temples of Lord Shiva. Bhimavaram is a picturesque place surrounded by rice paddies, bananas, and palm trees.

Education is not Subbarow's first choice. He failed high school three times. He wants to be a banana trader, unheard of for a brahmin boy. In a series of coincidences and tragedies (both of his brothers died of Tropical infection a few days apart), he enrolled in Madras Medical school in 1915. After graduation, he had a brief stint teaching at Madras Ayurveda school.

Then there was life calling. Traveled to America and enrolled in Tropical medicine at Harvard medical school in 1923. He also earned Ph.D. in biochemistry along with his diploma in Tropical medicine.

Dr. Subbarow's discoveries, one after the other, can amaze even seasoned scientists. The first of his series of discoveries is, the measurement of phosphorus in the body...Phosphorus is essential for bones and teeth. Ironically, Banana is high in phosphor. The subsequent discovery is the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as an energy source for the cell.

Then came the mother of all his discoveries, the drug for cancer. In 1946 cancer prognosis was grim. Childhood Leukemia is a cancer of the blood which is prevalent cancer among children. Since blood is disseminated throughout the entire body, surgery or radiation would not work. The only option is a targeted drug.

Then Dr. Subbarao's discovery changed it all. "Methotrexate" is a chemical analog of folic acid developed by Dr. Subbarao, became the go-to medicine for chemotherapy. Methotrexate is still being widely used in cancer of the uterus, breast cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia. It is also prescribed for ectopic pregnancies, Rheumatoid arthritis, Skin Psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, Lupus, and ulcerative colitis.

His discoveries did not stop there. He is instrumental in developing the most popular and World Health Organization essential drug called "Hetrazan". It is being used against the most pervasive tropical disease called pulmonary eosinophilia and other types of tropical diseases.

Dr. Subbarao left his staffing position at Harvard Medical school and became Director of Research at Lederle laboratories in 1940. Lederle was a small but prestigious company located in Pearl River, NY, 30 miles from Manhattan.

Benjamin Duggar, an eccentric Botanist in his early 70s and son of a plantation owner from Alabama, was looking for a job,. But no one wanted to hire him because of his advanced age and declining demand for his specialty. Dr.Subbarao wanted an experienced Botanist to assist him in hunting for the holy grail of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

It paid off. This odd couple found a unique gold-colored mold from the fields of Missouri just doing that, killing both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in Petri dishes. They named the drug “Aureomycin “( Latin for Gold). They were elated with the results. They could not find a hospital to conduct clinical trials. 

Dr. Subbarow and Duggar approached Dr. Louis Wight, an eminent African American surgeon from Harlem Hospital. Dr. Louis Wright was the son of slaves from LaGrange, Georgia Harvard alumni a highly respected physician. He has already published more than 90 papers in prestigious scientific journals.

The clinical trials in early 1948 turned with resounding success. The first broad-spectrum antibiotic, Aureomycin, a class of tetracyclines, wiped out chlamydia bacteria. It was very effective with a host of other bacterial infections. Aureomycin became the preferred prescription by the end of 1948.

Unfortunately, Dr. Subbarow did not see the glory of his discoveries. He passed away in his sleep at age of 53 on August 8th,1948, in Pearl River, New York. Later through a series of changing hands, Dr. Subbarow's Lab Lederle became part of present-day Pfizer labs. 
This odd triple, a plantation owner’s son, a son of slaves, and a hard to pronounce foreigner from my hometown joined hands together and made history in medicine. Dr. Subbarao’s series of discoveries are nothing but stellar. He was not just an unsung hero of my hometown but turned out to be a true savior of the world.

Simply mind-boggling for a man, you may not know how to say his name, but his name is inscribed with golden letters in the world of medicine. He died the same year as India's freedom fighter Gandhi. Gandhi won freedom for India, an his ardent follower Dr. Yallapragada Subbarow, won freedom from fatal diseases for the entire world.

The New York Herald‑Tribune hailed him as "one of the most eminent medical minds of the century". The Jewish Advocate remembered him as "a giant among pygmies". 
One magazine simply said, "Because he lived, you live longer"!!

On a personal note, his discovery of "Hetrazen" tablets saved my life from fatal tropical disease. I was born and grew up in the same town as he was. I walked on the same streets as he was. I attended the same temple as he was. His name is the same as my father's name. I would be surprised if I am not related to him. But the irony is that I never heard his name!!. I am honored to bring my hometown hero to the limelight through this T-shirt.

A Nurse with Data

A lady with extraordinary data analytical skills might have been known to us as "a lady with a lamp." She was the first woman; for a matter of fact, either man or woman, she was the first to utilize population health analytics to fight diseases and get funding for her causes.

Florence Nightingale arrived in Istanbul with a small team of nurses to set up a hospital. It is present-day Istanbul, a city across Crimea. A historian writes, " This frail young woman ... embraced in her solicitude the sick of three armies". She lobbied and imported prefabricated hospitals from England. She might be a nurse, but she was also a brilliant mathematician. Her skills came in handy. She demonstrated through health data that good sanitation practices and well-ventilated rooms could save lives. In honor of her data analytical skills, Edward Jarvis, president of the American Statistical Association, paid a special visit to her in 1861 in London. Nightingale reduced the death rate from 42% to 2% by making improvements in hygiene. Nightingale implemented handwashing and other hygiene practices in the Crimean hospital for injured soldiers. 

History repeats itself. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is exactly for the same reason. Crimean peninsula is again the center of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Here is the reminder for Russia. They lost the war to England in 1856. 

She used to make late-night rounds in the hospital with a lantern in her hand. The injured men in the hospital fondly referred to her as "lady with the lamp." 

Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow celebrated her in the “Santa Filomena” poem: 
Lo, in that house of misery 
A lady with a lamp I see 
Pass through the glimmering gloom 
And flit from room to room.  

"Lady with the lamp" became an iconic symbol of compassion. She inspired millions of women to pursue nursing. Every year the President of India presents the prestigious "Florence Nightingale Award" to a nurse. The award became more meaningful to front line health care workers during the current pandemic. In Turkey several hospitals are named after her. Millions of nurses worldwide recite Florence Nightingale's pledge during their graduation ceremonies.

In  1860, Nightingale republished her most famous book in the U.S., “Notes on Nursing.” The notes became the basis for nursing the injured soldiers for both the Northern and Confederate Armies during the Civil War. In honor of her data analytical skills, Edward Jarvis, President of the American Statistical Association, paid a special visit to her in 1861 in London. 

While America is still under slavery, Florence Nightingale welcomed and hosted a Jamaican-born Black Nurse Practioner, Mary Seacole, to Turkey's battlefield-run hospital.

Her compassion towards fellow humans was boundless. Once a self-incriminating prostitute asked Florence Nightingale, "am I going to hell for my sins?" Florence Nightingale responded, "Oh, my girl, are you not now more merciful than the God you think you are going to be, yet is far more merciful than any human creature ever was or can ever imagine."

It is a disservice to call a celebrated statistician, the most compassionate nurse, and one of the great social reformers of our times just "a lady with the lamp". It is time to acknowledge Florence Nightingale as 19th-century prolific public health researcher, an influential lobbyist, and an originator of the field of nursing.

Lone Woman in Man's World-Soul of Genius                 

Most know Marie Curie (1876-1934) was a true woman of science, but few knew that she was a modern-day entrepreneur, social media influencer, a prolific fundraiser for her times.  

Marie Curie made huge contributions in the world of medicine. Curie studied x-rays and x-ray machines and wanted to build mobile x-ray units for World War 1. Polish Born-French immigrant Marie Curie was frustrated by delays in getting funding from the French military.  Curie approached the women’s networking group called “Union of Women of France” and bagged funding for her first X-ray mobile jeep.

As World War I was raging more Mobile X-ray cars were needed. So she went after true angel investors, a wealthy Parisian women to donate vehicles. Soon she had 20 vehicles, which she outfitted with X-ray equipment. But the cars were useless without trained X-ray operators. So Curie started to train women volunteers. She recruited twenty (20) women for the first training course, joined by her daughter Irene Curie.

Marie Curie added two elements to the Periodic Table with her discovery. Radium and Polonium Radium and its related isotopes are being used to treat bony metastatic sites caused by breast and prostate cancers.

She is the only woman who won the Nobel Prize twice in two different fields of science: Physics and Chemistry.

Marie Curie has faced unprecedented backlash as a woman of her times. The French Press published reports of Curie’s affair with a younger married physicist, her late husband’s assistant. The news might have raised little interest had Curie been a man, but it caused an onslaught of condemnation.  It severely damaged her personal and professional reputation and threatened her second Nobel Prize. The issue is still familiar, even to modern-day women. (See below the letter written by Albert Einstein to Marie Curie about public shaming)

Letter from Einstein to Marie Curie about Public Shaming: Albert Einstein's letter to Marie curie on 23rd November 1911 told her to ignore haters. "Highly esteemed Mrs. Curie, Do not laugh at me for writing you without having anything sensible to say. But I am so enraged by the base manner in which the public is presently daring to concern itself with you that I absolutely must give vent to this feeling. However, I am convinced that you consistently despise this rabble, whether it obsequiously lavishes respect on you or whether it attempts to satiate its lust for sensationalism! I am impelled to tell you how much I have come to admire your intellect, your drive, and your honesty, and that I consider myself lucky to have made your personal acquaintance in Brussels. Anyone who does not number among these reptiles is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages among us as you, and Langevin too, real people with whom one feels privileged to be in contact. If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don’t read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptile for whom it has been fabricated With most amicable regards to you, Langevin, and Perrin, yours very truly, - Albert Einstein" 

Marie Curie's decades of exposure to radioactive materials left her chronically ill. She became nearly blind from cataracts and it ultimately caused her death at the age of 67.

She didn’t allow her gender to hamper her in a male-dominated world. Instead, she mobilized a small army of women to reduce human suffering.

Next time we come across a medical trailer on our highways, we are remind of the soul of a genius Marie Curie.  Her name is itched in invisible neon lights.

An extraordinary woman who sacrificed her life for the true love of science.  Whom the medical community owes a great deal of gratitude.

"It was like a new world opened to me, the world of science, which I was at last permitted to know in all liberty." MARIE CURIE

Imposter syndrome is not real.  If there is anyone who can say that it is Marie Curie!

CV Raman - The Cancer Avenger

There is no field without Raman imprints.   Raman spectrometers help identify undesired substances, fake medicines, fake art, analyze the chemical composition of samples, or monitor their changes. Raman Spectroscopy is presently being used on Mars with the Perseverance rover looking for life.

Ancient China's Master Pharmacologist

On 1967, May 23, then China’s premier Mao Zedong ordered a secret military project, bearing the date and month of the project called “Project 523”. Unlike all other, his brutalities that killed and tortured millions of his fellow countrymen, this time "Project 523", saved millions of people around the world.

The controversial Anti Malaria drug "Hydroxychloroquine" took the center stage in the past American elections. This is not the first time Anti Malaria drugs played a role in history. There was another period, and it took center stage. The notorious "Fall Of Saigon" during the Vietnam war was attributed to the Anti Malaria drug. Chairman Mao’s love for wars and violence is unbounded. He was openly supporting North Vietnamese rebels to take over Saigon, then the capital city of Vietnam. But he encountered a serious setback to his ambitions. That was Malaria. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that causes high fevers chills and can lead to death. North Vietnamese rebels, including Mao’s own troops, fell ill in large numbers. If that continues, China could lose the war.

The only solution left was a cure for Malaria. Mao had an aversion towards doctors and scientists. He assigned them to rural villages for hard labor. But on the advice of his Military generals, Chairman Mao reluctantly initiated Project 523 and mobilized the same number of scientists and doctors (approx. 523) to find a cure for Malaria.

Then Chinese Scientists zeroed on one particular ancient Chinese physician’s treatment of intermittent fevers. His name is Ge Hong.  He lived in the latter part of the third Century (283 AD - 343 AD). In his book, the Chinese medical scholars concluded that GE Hong referred to intermittent fever, the exact present-day Malaria.

Ge Hong authored several books. Among them is “Manual of Clinical Practice and Emergency Remedies" (I don't know Chinese terminology for this).  In this book, he prescribes treatment for intermittent fevers. It is the extraction liquid from a blue-green plant called “Qinghao”.  This plant is also referred to as "Sweet WormWood," which is wildly grown all over China.

Chairman Mao’s recruitment for "Project 523" is a brilliant young woman named Tu Youyou. She was neither physician nor a scientist in a western sense. But she mastered Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and its related literature. First, Chinese medical scholars wrongly translated Ge Hong’s prescription for Intermittent fevers (Malaria).  “Wring out Qinghao" is the original prescription that is the plant leaves are supposed to be treated with lukewarm water for a period of time and drink the extracted water.  Instead, medical translators believed it was hot tea or boiling water with Qinghao, which turned out to be a big mistake.

Tu Youyou followed Ge Hong’s instructions letter to letter and was able to identify the exact process. Tu Youyou identified the compound underneath the “Qinghao” plant. It is called Artemisinin. The lukewarm water treated with Qinghao contained more Artemisinin than boiling water or hot tea.

The first western-styled clinical trial with Chinese herb became a resounding success, The manufacturing of Artemisinins license was awarded to drug manufacturer Novartis. The mass production of Artemisinins saved millions of lives around the globe from Malaria. It is still the goto medicine for Malaria treatment. Tu Youyou, now 90+ yrs old, was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2015. She also won the prestigious Lasker-Debakey award.  She credited her work to Ge Hong’s and his masterpiece manual.                                                      

Compendium of Materia Medica is a translation of the Ancient Chinese medical manuscript Bencao Gangmu. The Nobel Prize win is a triumph for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Part of the credit belongs to the ancient brilliant Chinese pharmacologist Ge Hong. 

In Zhejiang Province near Yiwu the small village goes by the name of Ge Hong and named the Ge Mountain, Ge Peak, and Ge Creek.

Entropy of Life and Death

Wood burns into ashes. Eggs get rotten. Roads get potholes. The buildings get rusted. We get sick as we get older. The expression 'things always go bad' may be true, even for the entire universe. The universe meets its death at the end. It is called “Heat death”. That is the universe we live in.

The question is, why do things progressively go bad? Is there any mysterious evil hand, pushing all of us from bad to worse? No, it is not a mystery hand, but it is the “law of disorder.”  That is pushing us from bad to worse. This process is scientifically referred to as the second law of thermodynamics. The first law of Thermodynamics is the law of conservation. Energy is neither created nor destroyed.

Thermodynamics is a branch of science that studies the movement of heat between different objects. On the surface, the second law of thermodynamics looks like a pretty trivial process. But believe me, this law can send genius scientists into depression. That is exactly what happened to the scientist who discovered this law, he hung himself!

His name is Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906), born in Vienna, Austria. This eccentric genius not only understood the law of disorder but also gave us a mathematical formula. With that equation, we can quantify the progression of the disorder. That quantification is denoted as entropy.

Entropy is a measurement of disorder, either increases or decreases for you or me, rocks, or any system.  But the entropy is forever going up, never going down for the whole universe.  Entropy is a bookkeeper of the order and disorder like credit and debit ledger.  More the disorder higher the entropy, less the disorder, lower the entropy.

The progression from bad to worse is a cosmic reality. That kind of reality also manifests in disease progression. For example, cancer starts from stage I progresses to stage IV. There is a correlation between the universal law of entropy and cancer progression. An obscure mathematics professor from the Indian Institute of Technology of Kanpur, India realized that stunning insight.

His name is Jagat Narain Kapur, he passed away in 2002. He came up with a special statistical method that bears his name 'Kapur method', where entropy can be applied to living organisms.

Mammography is specialized medical imaging that uses a low-dose x-ray system to see inside the breasts. The challenge is, looking at malignancy is like looking for a needle in the haystack.  Radiologists constantly struggled for years to correctly identify cancer.  Calcifications in the breasts look very similar to cancer, which leads to unwanted biopsies.  Computer-Aided Design (CAD), a software application used in the manufacturing sector, is deployed along with Mammography machines to help radiologists make a correct diagnosis.  However, there is still a possibility of misdiagnosis.  Breast cancer detection is one of the most missed diagnoses in medicine.

Another tool came from a completely unrelated field for the detection of cancer. It came from the world of football. In America, it is called Soccer. A vivid football fan, Computer Professor Navid Razmjooy from Iran, came up with an algorithm to see who is going to win the world cup. That algorithm, coined as the World Cup Optimization Algorithm (WCOA)  is now being deployed to detect cancers.  Skin cancer melanoma is top on that list. Entropy measures the disorderliness of a system. Cancer growth is also a kind of disorder. We can make use of entropy mathematics to quantify cancer growth much more accurately.

But it seems cancer remission is going against the second law of thermodynamics. Just life, an ordered collection of molecules, itself seems to go against the second law. But there is an exception. The second law of thermodynamics or the law of entropy allows going from disorder to order in open systems like 'life',  at least on a temporary basis. But there is a trade-off. When we get better from disease, we are doing it at the expense of the Universe. Every order that takes place, we are forever increasing the entropy of the Universe. So life, death, chaos, and order are intrinsically connected to the Universe.

All this happened because of a  man named Ludwig Boltzmann from the 19th century.  He understood the laws that are embedded in the universe and he revealed them through a famous mathematical formula. He struggled to convince his peers and colleagues about his findings, He battled depression and finally committed suicide while on vacation. We may not know his name, but we owe tons of gratitude to his discovery!

Additional Read:   The equation in the diagram is non-intuitive but the meaning of it is very profound.

In the formula 'S' is the entropy of the total system (a measure of disorder) that can be calculated by the logarithmic function of its microstates log (W) multiplied by the Boltzmann constant 'k'. In math, huge numbers are represented in logarithmic functions. For example, showing the total number of Covid cases in a given month can run into huge numbers. You can not print a million pages. So, Logarithmic functions are used to show on one piece of paper without losing the integrity of the total cases. You can call it scaling down the numbers.

Example:  104 =10,000.  Log10(10,000) =4

10,000 cases you can represent with just simply a number  4

There is another depressing secret behind the second law of Thermodynamics.   

Why can you not get younger instead of getting older?. There are no other laws in science preventing you from becoming younger, except the Boltzmann equation.

Entropy can also be measured through the information available to you. The left side Teacup has one sugar cube. If you don't want sugar, you can take it away before it melts. You have enough information about where that cube is. The entropy of the left side teacup is low. Rightside the sugar is melted.  All the sugar molecules in the cube are spread across the cup. Now you lost track, or much more difficult to pinpoint their location.  Your ignorance of the system or lack of information available to you can also can make the entropy higher.

Now getting back to the question,  why can you not get younger. The secret lies in the teacup. The problem is 'irreversibility'. Once the sugar is melted, you can not get the cube back. This is the only place, the concept of "time" pops in. So we can not go back.  We are always moving forward in "Time".  The "irreversibility" of the process created "Time".  If there is no irreversibility, there is no "time".  Lack of information in the process created the "time."  It is not just a teacup problem.  Cells in your body have the same problem like everything else in nature.

Another aspect of entropy is tied with the beginning of our universe. You keep on asking questions, like where you came from, where your mother came from, where your grandmother came from, and so on and that takes you, all the way to the beginning of the Universe.

That is what Second law thermodynamics says. So you and I and everything else are intrinsically connected with that cosmic reality. Ludwig Boltzmann just explained that reality with an elegant equation!

BrainCAFE Ventures

Note: Before watch video make the sound little louder and watch in full screen

Mental Health - Catastrophe

Do not Condone drugs - Do not take drugs - This is a serious educational exercise - alternative to drugs.

Dr. Sunil Kumar Aggarwal of Seattle, Washington is not an everyday Indian doctor you meet. He is creating his own version of the David and Goliath's story. HIM vs. Mighty Institutions of American Medicine, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Drug Administration (FDA), Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA), and a host of local and state medical boards. Who is on his side? The end-stage cancer-stricken mother of two from the Seattle area.

ERINN BALDESCHWILER’S breast cancer is terminal. The patients in her situation, constantly worry about their loved ones and never-ending thoughts of dying. The fear and worries consume the remaining part of their lives. How do you treat dying patients with unrelenting depression? Doctors have plenty of tools available on their hands for the sick but not for the dying. They are mostly left to hospice care and spiritual counselors.

Dr. Aggarwal, a Physical Medicine, and Rehabilitation specialist, and the doctor for Erinn Deschwiler, wants to prescribe a hallucinogenic drug called “Psilocybin”. The drug goes by the street name Magic Mushrooms, Spirit drug, etc.. . This is a highly restrictive drug that can not be prescribed or administered in the United States.

The Trump administration signed the “ Right to Try” allows physicians to administer even unapproved drugs on dying patients. Despite the law, the Federal agencies are reluctant to act upon it, to some extent rightly so. Dr. Aggarwal and his end-stage cancer patient Errin Baldeschwiler filed a lawsuit in federal courts.

Psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) and naturally occurring Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), LSD, Acid, belong to the same family of Psychedelic drugs. A high dosage of DMT is believed to create a blissful and mystical God-like presence. Ayahuasca brew which contains DMT is widely consumed by Amazonian Indians on ceremonial occasions for spiritual experience.

To the surprise of many, DMT is also found in the cerebrospinal fluid in human brains and spinal cords. The purpose of endogenous DMT in our brain is still under study. It is believed to release during the last gasps of death, thus creating the effect of seeing white lights and space-time distortions.

Late Terence McKenna,(1946-2000) an American Botanist, a former new-age hippie who frequently experimented with ‘Ayahuasca’ (DMT), vividly explains his experiences with DMT in several videos. Here is a short clip.

The 15 minutes drug-induced experience is believed to create a long-lasting effect on the brain. It keeps the patients free of those dreadful thoughts, particularly for end-stage cancer patients.

Reputable medical institutions started paying attention to the so-called magical powers of psychedelic drugs. Randomized trials between John Hopkins, NYU, UCLA came up with stunning outcomes for a single dose of “Psilocybin”, against depression. 

It produced rapid antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects in large magnitude. The data is stunning, 80% of the participants felt better.  NYU Langone Health is the first ever by any medical institution, “Center for Psychedelic Medicine”. John Hopkins study even suggests that “Psilocybin” can be effective for common depression and work better than traditional antidepressants.

It is not just terminally ill patients going through depression nowadays.  The pandemic is putting  humanity at the brink of a mental health catastrophe. Since 2019, anxiety rates have tripled and overdose rates skyrocketed, A growing percentage of youth in the U.S. live with major depression.

Over half of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment. That is 27 million adults in the U.S. who are going untreated. Both domestic and street violence is lurking behind this untreated medical condition. The reality is policymakers and governments are lost. They have neither tools nor resources to address on a large scale mental health problems.

We are in serious trouble. Humanity is at a crossroads, survival vs extinction. Self-sufficiency is gone out of the window for most countries. With global dependency, two months of supply chain disruption can plunge the countries into more depression. The first symptom of systemic collapse is mental health. Next, racial, ethnic tensions and communal violence will follow. Every republic is in danger.

Psilocybin, DMT, and similar psychedelic drugs can put reset buttons on the human operating system. But it is not practical to provide drugs and individualized therapies to the entire population. Psilocybin is still classified as a schedule 1 substance, defined as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”. Studies are not large enough to give "Psilocybin” give free hand. 

There is potential leakage from a controlled environment to recreational use. Though a small number, some subjects reported seeing monsters, kept them on edge with the use of “Psilocybin”.

We need mass mental health treatment. In the world of despair, there is hope. The human spirit is indomitable. It is that part of a person which provides hope, strength, and courage to get up and face each day with a smile. There is an alternate mass treatment for mental health which is easily affordable, accessible, and legal.

It can bring the same results as psychedelic drugs. The prescription is without a prescription from a doctor, absolutely no drugs are involved. It is unorthodox, I may say so, and it is a quite strange solution. The actual prescription is a "Mathematical Equation!", as a prescription!!!?? Hold that thought, for my next column!

Mental Health - Math of Symmetry

Do not condone or do not take drugs. This is a serious educational exercise ..

We all consider  Marilyn Monroe, Will Smith, Jennifer Lawrence of American cinema, to be beautiful-looking people! What makes them beautiful?  We consider certain features of them to be the most attractive. The secret may be facial symmetry. Symmetry is the quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other. If you draw a vertical line between the two eyes of Marilyn Monroe the left side looks very much like the right side. We consider people with facial bilateral symmetry to be more attractive.

Humans have an inherent appreciation for symmetrical shapes and structures. For example, diamonds are naturally occurring perfect crystal symmetries. Diamond’s price and quality depend on its symmetry. The more symmetrical it is, the more expensive it is. Therefore, when we see A-symmetric shapes or unfamiliar patterns, we perceive them as a threat.

If you ever visit the home of a friend with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD),  you may notice everything seems perfectly in place: a coffee cup, milk, sugar has to be lined up in a straight line. Towels are placed in impeccable order. If you ever misplace that order, they go nuts. Now psychologists believe OCD is a behavioral disorder, maybe the by-product of an extreme dimensional response to the need for symmetry. An evolutionary genetic disorder!

Now here is a fantastic correlation between Psychedelic drugs and Geometrical Symmetries. Mathematicians and Scientists who experimented with Ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew from Amazon, gave detailed accounts of their experiences  It was during the hippie movement in the 60s. They found an odd connection between the  DMT Dosage, a chemical compound in Ayahuasca, and the complexities of geometrical symmetries. As the dose of DMT increased so did the complexity in geometrical symmetries. That is what they see through their mind while closing their eyes.

4mg DMT Experience                  

Rabbit Duck Illusion

Most people in ordinary settings can not see Rabbit in the pic. - With DMT, most recognized Rabbit immediately.  You are increasing your pattern recognization capabilities. 

Geometry: These are 2-dimensional symmetries - More pixels, Defined shapes, and Crisp colors-like Watching High Definition quality TV program.

8mg DMT Experience

You see an array of colors.  The number of colors dramatically increased.

The complexity of shapes increased. You see these kinds of high-quality colors in art portraits hanging in luxury hotels like Ritz Carlton.

Geometry: still 2-dimensional - Dramatic Symmetry increase in shapes and colors.

15mg DMT Experience

When Swiss watch boss, Christoph Grainger-Herr, could not fly to a global trade show in China because of Covid-19 restrictions, he decided to beam in Star Trek-style instead and appeared in hologram. With the DMT, similar holographic characters are played in front of their eyes.

When you are watching a movie, the people and locations may look real but still a two-dimensional screen. With this DMT dosage, your depth perception increased to 10 fold. The movie is a holographic movie playing in three actual dimensions. You see moving crystals in three dimensions!

Left is "Holographic Doctor," developed for the Star Trek series. They experienced the world of crystals in all its grandeur.

Geometry: Now, you are stepping into 3-dimensional symmetries.

*****************

Popular Radio Personality Joe Rogan, gives his experience with DMT in straightforward language.

You see all the visuals simultaneously in two and three-dimensional Euclidian geometry. Euclid is a 4th-century Greek mathematician who has written the rules for geometry. Therefore, all visualizations have to follow mathematical logic.

Don’t worry.  This story is not about Geometry lessons. I agree that geometry teachers are not the most popular in high school. For your information, the the field of geometry was invented for farmers to resolve land disputes, not for rocket scientists.

Now the question is, can we simulate the complex shapes and colors they experienced with DMT through mathematical geometries?  Yes, it came from an unexpected engineer from Poland working for a computer company in America!

Benoit Mandelbrot (1923 -2010)   was hired by IBM to solve a nagging problem in the early days of telecommunications. That is “noise” popping up while sending the data across telephone lines. ‘Noise’,  is an undesirable or unwanted signal that gets randomly added to the actual information-carrying signal. While working on it, Mandelbrot noticed a peculiar pattern in chaotic noise.

The structure of the noise pattern is exactly the same irrespective of the length and intervals. The noise pattern is the same if the data is traveling between New York to Washington DC or New York to Los Angeles.  

Mandelbrot recollected seeing a similar idea before! Giant wave picture on children's spiral notebooks! The famous woodblock print was made by well-known Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1831.  It is called 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa'. Look at any part of the great wave; it looks very similar to the whole wave.  The whole contains the parts.  The whole contains the parts. It may be counterintuitive, but the part also could include the whole! The concept is called "Self Similarity".

A specific and unique geometry runs the nature that we see and feel.  That basic geometrical pattern is known as 'Mandelbrot Sets', bearing his name.  Mandelbrot realized that his observed geometrical patterns are not limited to just some telephone wires.  

The same geometrical patterns are everywhere, in the clouds, in seashores, in the trees, even in the human bodies. The EKG of the heart signal is strikingly similar to the noise signal in telephone wires. Unseeingly related nervous systems look very similar to that of a lightning strike.

They all look the same because they are generated from the same Mandelbrot set. That basic pattern repeats itself and forms complex structures. We can also observe Mandelbrot set at the beginning of life in a woman's body.  The pattern is also known as Fractal.  Fractal is a repetition of the Geometrical pattern you see in the picture (Mandelbrot set).   

Mandelbrot found nature's hidden law in a mathematical equation.

The equation is spectacularly simple, it finds patterns in an utterly chaotic environment, and in reverse, it also creates complex systems from a simple unit of geometry.  Before the public understood the power of the Mandelbrot equation, Hollywood jumped in. We can not imagine StarTrek movies without Fractals. Fractals gave the real natural look for computer-generated graphics.

The laws of nature gave us the tools to understand our own minds.

We can confidently create and simulate a Psychedelic experience with Fractals. Fractals could be our medicine without drugs.

In summary Part 1, 2, and the influences of Psychedelics were well articulated by new-age hippies in 60s and 70s.  Under the DMT influence, they started seeing various geometrical structures with well-defined shapes with highlighted colors.  The results are profound.  Scientific research papers and general recreational users reported seeing a reduction in anxit and other mental health disorders.  

I argue it is not the chemicals creating relief from depression.  Visualizing fast-moving geometrical patterns creates that soothing effect on the mind.  Humans are fascinated with symmetrical structures and shapes.  Patterns' inherent quality is repetition.  Since the preceding pattern did not pose a danger, we infer the following pattern similar to the past one will not cause harm.  That comfort zone relaxes us.  Mixing those patterns with Virtual Reality can further enhance the relaxing experience.  Combining Mandelbrot sets with three-dimensional Euclidean geometry can create the same effect on the mind without chemicals or substances. Mandelbrot Equation can generate those geometries.  

PS: This is not a treatment. This is not peer-reviewed. This is my intuitive idea connecting medicine with mathematics.

But with an increased dose of 25mg DMT the experience takes on a different and extreme level! 

BrainCAFE - Mind Bending Math Equation

We are entering into the next phase of the human consciousness journey.

Reported experiences:  With an increased dose of DMT 25mg

This high dose of DMT experience takes a stark departure from previous experiences with the lower doses. Totally different experience!

This is a summation of all experiences reported by scientists, doctors, celebrities who experimented with DMT.

Space-time Distortions.

Space opens up right in front of you and closes behind you.  You are a front row passenger in warp drive passing through the space-time continuum. Warp is a fictional device that can bend space-time. We probably see them in sci-fi movies ( Star trek).

Deities: Hindu Gods, Buddhist chants, Mandalas, and chakras commonly appear along with other religious symbols and Patterns.

Time: Subjects feel Time stops. Past, Present, future all becomes one.

Ego: Egoism dissolved  -  Ethical, Psychological and Rational egoisms are dissolved and wonderment takes over.

Objective: I like to take all these subjective experiences with DMT and simulate them through the Mandelbrot Fractal equation and bring mental relaxation without any chemical dependency..

Subjects feel these experiences are not quantifiable. But, when thermometers were invented, skeptics said, how do you quantify dampness, freezing cold, and frying heat!

Space-Time Distortions: Space, the environment around you, appears and disappears like magic.  These mesmerizing space distortions can be created through a special kind of geometry called “Hyperbolic Geometry”. Hyperbolic tessellations and Hyperbolic fractals create unusual shapes and colors. Hyperbolic shapes are pleasant but have a haunting influence on our minds. But unfortunately, we don't come across these shapes in real life.

The famous painting called, "Relativity" by MC Escher, a Dutch artist, comes close to the description of hyperbolic geometry. Later the  'Relativity' drawing is of special interest to Oxford mathematician Sir Roger Penrose. Roger Penrose redrew the impossible steps with a mathematical lens. In the impossible steps, you keep climbing forever, but still, you keep ending up in the same place, where you started.

These impossible steps are shown in Christopher Nolan's mind-bending movie "Inception".  Leonardo DiCaprio plays the main character.

The plane has zero curvature, the sphere has positive curvature, whereas the hyperbolic structure has negative curvature. The famous person who used this kind of geometry was Albert Einstein. He was trying to understand the universe through geometry. He proposed a compelling theory in 1915, that blew everyone’s mind. Gravity is not a force, it is a dent in the fabric of space-time. We are constantly falling into that dent, that he calls gravity.

According to Einstein, the place you were born, and the time of your birth, are graphical points in the space-time continuum. Your life history is being recorded in a series of points in that space-time graph. Yes, it is theoretically possible you could meet your young self. Gravity is a simple geometrical construct of non-Euclidian negative curvature, thus creating the illusion of force. The functions with negative curvatures can create mind-boggling graphics.

If you are lost in the Amazon jungle you have a better chance of finding a way back than in hyperbolic space. In hyperbolic space, it could be a small room. It becomes exponentially harder to return to the original spot with every step you take. You are in the land of the abyss. If you go on jogging in hyperbolic space it is almost impossible to return to the starting point. The Hyperbolic walks are widely used in Virtual Reality platforms. You can move in so many ways virtually, though you are confined to a small area. DMT-influenced Space-time distortions are hyperbolic functions, and Mandelbrot Hyperbolic Fractals can easily recreate that.

So far, we explored the outside world but how about inner experiences? Conscious experiences? How mathematics and science can explain blissful feelings. These kinds of questions bothered scientists and philosophers alike, for centuries.

Emmanuel Kant, an 18th-century German philosopher, considered space as an inbuilt principle of the mind. The architecture behind the mind is geometry. It is known that savants remember sounds and memories with shapes and colors.

The brain and mind are two distinct entities. Radio is the brain and music is the mind.  Scientists say your “mind” isn’t confined to your brain or even to your body.

In 2014 the Nobel prize in medicine was awarded for the discovery of special kinds of neurons in the 'hippocampus' of the brain. They are named   “place cells” and “grid cells”.  These cells are the inner GPS system for us. They let you navigate to locations and places. .  If you turn your head to the left, these cells fire up and create a map. That's how you know your head is now, moved to the left. These cells are brain positioning systems for us, constantly creating geometrical coordinates for your next movement.

The “place and grid” cells temporarily suspend their activity during a deep meditative state. It makes you feel that you are lost in space and thus creates the feeling of omnipresence That is interpreted as blissfulness!

In the case of Alzheimer's,  “place and grid” cells are permanently damaged. These cells in dementia patients are not able to produce geometrical maps. So they lose the sense of location, wandering not knowing where they are at.

Recent studies suggest the functions of Place and Grid cells can be extended to even the concepts like Thought and Time. Thought can be a geometrical construct in the brain. Even abstract concepts are believed to be stored in geometrical patterns in the brain.

BrainCafe 
Virtual Reality(VR)  is not just for entertainment, it is a serious tool for mental relaxation. Mental Health professionals started using VR for PTSD and Phobias. VR is also being used as a tool in pain management.

I designed a "BrainCAFE"  program in  2015. BrainCAFE is a physical space similar to yoga centers but equipped with VR and neuro meditation devices. Every day 10-15 minutes of watching this dazzling array of fractals with guided meditation, maybe the mass solution for impending mental health catastrophe.

Bernardo Kastrup, a former CERN computer engineer, philosopher, eloquently summarizes the human mind. We are all one mind, but we all humans are afflicted with mental health disease, called Dissociative identity disorder (DID). This disorder gives you a false impression that you are separate from everyone else. He argues, there is ample scientific evidence that we are all one mind!

Benoit Mandelbrot, an unassuming IBM engineer, and his elegant mathematical equation with Virtual Reality, just exactly does that!  Creating one Universal conscious mind!

I believe if you spend 5-10 minutes everyday watching Mandelbrot equation generated-Hyperbolic Fractals in a Virtual Reality setting, along with  meditative music, it will ease the pressures of the day.  MedBricks designed BrainCAFE enterprise in a hospital setting, will immensely help healthcare professionals who are mentally at the breaking point.

It is not all known, but fractal geometry has a profound effect on brain and mind well being.   

It is not all known , but the fractal geometry has profound effect on brain and mind well being:

Watch my proposed venture  and let me know what you think of it.

Personal Note:

I am so honored to meet one of my heroes and a living legend, Oxford Mathematical Physics Professor Sir Roger Penrose. In his book "Emperor's new mind", he argues, computers will never replace human consciousness because nature's mathematical laws do not permit it!

Money-Medicine-Entropy-Information

A petty thief in the state of Michigan botched up a  robbery. He left one shoe at the scene while trying to flee. Authorities ran a DNA profile on the shoe. The biological DNA sample data is not sufficient enough to identify anyone in the database. Then the authorities sent the 'extracted data' without biological samples to a unique company in New Zealand. The company specializes in mathematical algorithms based on the law of Entropy.

The entropy-based algorithm extracted relevant data from the chaotic data otherwise seemed impossible. The culprit was identified convicted with the extracted data without using any biological sample. But, the robber decried, it is a computer conviction, not with the law. He did not realize the conviction stemmed from a universal law that is more powerful and more convincing than any law from this planet. That is the second law of thermodynamics; even the Universe can not escape from this law. The court upheld his conviction and sentenced him.   

Which one do you pick? Million dollars pack on the left or scrambled cash on the right? How do you for sure know there is less money in the piled cash? The answer is embedded in the law of Entropy. First, if you pick up cash that was not counted, there is additional work involved. First, you have to hire and pay the workers to count. Before that, you have to run background checks on employees, which costs money. 

Then You have to put security cameras, that cost money too; Still, the workers may steal money. These are additional costs incurred with scrambled cash. Overall, you take home less cash. There is a random chance there may be more cash with the uncounted pile. But the randomness by its default, creates uncertainty. Uncertainty lowers the value of money. The law of Entropy says the less information you know about a system, the higher the value of Entropy will be. When the Entropy value keeps going up, eventually, it results in a market crash.  

Entropy is a measuring tool for the second law of thermodynamics. It may look strange, but there is a deep connection between Entropy and Information. That connection was realized by a brilliant American Engineer and MIT Professor, Claude Elwood Shannon (1916 to 2001).

With all its mistakes, you could read this sentence "dootcr has aimttded the pintaet". It is not because you are a genius as in social media claims to be, but rather it is related to the Entropy of the English language. In 1951, Claude Shannon published a paper, "Prediction and Entropy of Printed English", showing upper and lower bounds of Entropy. English may not be an efficient language, but it furnishes abundant Information with punctuations, commas, and embedded silent letters. Therefore, you could easily comprehend without asking further questions. On the other hand, my native language Telugu from India does not have periods or commas. If there is a single letter missing in a word, it is hard to understand even for people who know the language. 

It means you have to ask more questions to clarify what it is. Fewer questions mean Information has the lower Entropy, and more questions mean the Information has the higher Entropy. Claude Shanon calculated entropy of each English letter is approximately 2.62 bits. Claude Shannon is truly ingenious in calculating and quantifying abstract Information.  

If you are President of a country when designing economic policies or if you are a software engineer, developing a platform for eCommerce, or if you are a CEO of a hospital concerned about Healthcare Access and Equity, you have to understand the concept of Entropy. Once you have a basic understanding of this concept, you will be amazed at what a powerful tool indeed it is, in your everyday performance. 

The law of Entropy bounds Energy, Money, and Information. In a free-market society, the price is by far the most important Information. This is where money "wants" to go. Some economists argue Bitcoin will be the future of money because of its low Entropy value compared to Fiat money. Fiat money is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver and is typically declared by a decree from the government to be legal tender. The high Entropy-based money like Fiat money allows corruption and other chaotic conditions to arise because the Information available is opaque to the public. 

Software makers are under the impression that growth in eCommerce is the panacea of all economic owes. Rasing stock value and increased salaries, who does not like it? But in reality, more 'orders' you generate result in more consumption and more production. Energy consumption and demand for resources will keep increasing. According to the law of Entropy, it creates an ever-increasing 'disorder'. That disorder manifests in chaos. 

The ever-increasing demand for resources widens the gap between rich and poor, resulting in unrest and violence. The unprecedented energy consumption by humans creates natural calamities of those never seen before: uncontrollable fires and ever-increasing floods. Whether we believe in God or not, we have to trust the Second Law of Thermodynamics for ourselves and for our children. 

Robert Ayers a renowned Economist and Physicist, an ardent supporter of Law Entropy puts this argument "We burn oil. We mine ores and smelt them into metals, which we fashion into goods. But we do so at the expense of the depletion of those irreplaceable natural resources".The unprecedented energy consumption by humans creates natural calamities of those never seen before: uncontrollable fires and ever-increasing floods. Whether we believe in God or not, we have to trust the Second Law of Thermodynamics for ourselves and for our children.

If you are a healthcare leader, it is important to notice that Entropy is at the center of Healthcare Equity and Access. Shannon Entropy is successfully used in several countries for unevenness in healthcare delivery. 

It may be surprising, but the nation of Iran is one of them. There is no reason we can not apply here in America. The hospitals in rural America may need more Physicians than the physician-to-population ratio. The burden of multiple chronic conditions specific to ethnic populations may need additional resources. Varied topography like the Appalachian mountain region plays a role. Whenever and wherever there is complexity and randomness of healthcare needs, Entropy-based mathematics sheds light. You have crystal clear information right in front of you. Access and availability to Information for a CEO are more precious than diamonds. 

We can not separate Entropy and Information. For this, we have to thank this remarkable American of the 20th century, Claude Elwood Shannon. It is a well-deserved honor to call him the "Father of Information Theory." 

PS: On a personal note, I apologize to my friend Laura Turner, daughter of CNN founder Ted Turner. In a friendly debate at the Silicon Valley festival, I argued that higher consumption increased living standards in countries like India and China. I am wrong! 

Laura is much more far-sighted than me. As a leader of the Captian Planet Foundation, she envisioned the insatiable appetite for consumption results in environmental disaster. Laura Turner has the rock-solid, Second law of Thermodynamics behind her cause.

Additional Read:

(The law of Entropy bounds Energy, Money, and Information. The following equation in the picture demonstrates that relationship. TE = Themo Dynamical Entropy, ME- Monitory Entropy, and IE stand for _Information Entropy. X=- Technological ) innovation's eXponential order of scaling.)  

Belfast-born John Stewart Bell was less known outside of the physics circles, but he is the most admired scientist by his peers. John Bell took on the EPR Paradox of "Hidden Variables," astonishingly a metaphysical concept, and turned that into a provable mathematical theorem. John Bell's theorem called "Bell's inequality" proved no hidden or secrets pact between the entangled particles before they go away.  He put the mystery of "quantum entanglement" back in action. His stunning insight is a remarkable milestone in physics.   Alain Aspect of France put the final nail on the EPR Paradox coffin with his experimental verification of Bells Theorm.  Einstein was wrong.  EPR paradox was dead. Niels Bohr won the argument with flying colors. The universe is stranger than we thought.

Quantum phenomenon, threw child's peekaboo game into real la la land of wonders. Children might be experiencing wonders of the universe before our racial, cultural, and social prejudices malign them.

"The same blood runs in your veins"

The saying, "The same blood runs in your veins", is more figurative, but one man took it to heart and went on a mission to save thousands of lives, if not millions around the world. Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950) an African-American, became one of America's most celebrated doctors, lauded for his pioneering work in establishing blood banks.

Charles Drew was allowed to apply for only two U.S. medical schools at the height of segregation. One was Howard University with its associated Freedom Hospital, and the other was Harvard Medical school. But he chose Harvard of Canada, McGill University at Montreal, without all the hassles of U.S. conditional requirements. That turned out to be best for him; first time living in a society where the color lines were not as strictly drawn as they were in the United States. Charles excelled both in academics and athletics at McGill. That is where young Charles started working with British visiting Professor Dr. John Beattie, working on blood transfusion. Later in his career, this relationship played a crucial role. Charles Drew graduated in 1933 with a Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Surgery with distinction from McGill University Medical School. He then completed a one-year Residency requirement at Montreal General Hospital. 

In 1939, Dr. Charles Drew developed novel methods of separating plasma from Red Blood cells and dramatically increased the shelf life of plasma for two months. The shelf life of whole blood is very short, can be counted in hours, and is prone to deterioration during transport. The blood plasma is an extract from whole blood and yet retains the essential parts of blood, the nutrients, and enzymes.  The blood plasma can then be packaged and transported without constraints of the whole blood.  It is a remarkable achievement in the history of blood chemistry and worthy of the Nobel Prize. During Covid-19, Convalescent plasma became a popular reference.  Convalescent plasma with antibodies is authorized treatment for Covid-19. This work is drawn from the initial work of Dr. Charles Drew.

The United States Army and Navy tapped him for the "Blood for Britain's project". At the height of World War II, Germany’s mighty air force dropping bombs on England indiscriminately and creating mass causalities. Britain requested the American Government for blood supply. Dr. Charles Drew's old mentor from McGill University, Dr. John Beattie was now head of the Royal Society of Surgeons in England. The U.S. army tapped Dr. Charles Drew to spearhead the Blood for Britain Project.  Dr. Charles Drew was a prolific researcher in medicine but also exhibited outstanding leadership qualities worth noting. In a letter to his old nemesis, Dr. John Battie, Dr. Drew describes his detailed plan of action and gave complete confidence that the American government could meet all the requirements for Britain's blood supply needs. With his astute leadership and a strong background in blood chemistry, he saved thousands of British and American soldiers during World War II.

American Red Cross selected Dr. Charles Drew to set up the first blood bank in America. However, only whites were allowed to donate blood. Ironically, the person who started the blood bank cannot donate his own blood. Dr. Charles Drew complained that it is insulting to African Americans, and there is no scientific basis to do so.  He quit his job in protest and took a teaching job at Howard medical school. He inspired many young African Americans to pursue medicine during his life at Howard University Washington D.C.  

Dr. Charles Drew's life came to a sudden halt at the prime age of 45 that of a physician.  He met with an accident while driving to attend Black Doctors conference in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Dr. Charles Drew became a symbol of intellect, determination, and courage for humanity's struggle against racism. Dr. Charles Drew was honored by the U.S. Navy by naming a cargo ship in his honor.  In June 2021, McGill University launched a new fellowship for Black graduate students in honor of one of its famous alumni. The African American Community celebrated his legacy by naming several schools and universities in his honor.

On a Personal Note:

I am fortunate enough to visit Charles Drew Medical School in Los Angeles. Thanks to another living legend Dr. Richard Allen Williams, founder of ASSOCIATION OF BLACK CARDIOLOGISTS.

PS: It is only for educational purposes, NO merchandise per family request.

Making science communication, part of everyday life

Astrophysicist Neal De Grasse Tyson can fill up stadiums, while a doctor can hardly convince a handful in a room to sit down.

What Covid is exposing is the colossal failure of science communication at every level. It is disheartening to see that 6 out of 10 Americans do not trust Science or Medicine. In democratically run countries, the scientific enterprise is funded by the public. Science does not happen in a vacuum. It is intertwined with people, society at large, and its norms, cultures, and institutions. In 1945 at the end of World War II, the American public made a landmark pact with the government called “Science -Society Contract”. That is related to public support of science.

Scientific institutions need support from all walks of life, which includes the fair participation of rural Whites, inner-city African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and other underrepresented communities.  It should not be limited to the upper echelons of society.

"Scientific Messengers" are as important as a message itself, if not more so. The scientific enterprise must look for new ways of communicating and expressing science and medicine to every stakeholder.  We should do that and without challenging someone’s faith or beliefs. Extending someone's faith to science is an art of storytelling. For a long time, I have struggled to communicate a counterintuitive idea of quantum physics to a general audience.  That an object can be in two places at the same time.

Eventually, I found a way to explain without challenging their beliefs. If God can be in multiple places at the same time, then what is the big deal about an object.  After all it is God's creation. It can be in two places at the same time. The equation 1+0=1 is a faith-based statement, so are all the mathematical axioms! We have created entire laws of the universe from faith-based statements. Bingo! Instead of outright dismissal of their belief system, I found a way to create curiosity.

We have heard many stories about miracles in religions. Prophets were master communicators of those stories while keeping the underlying principle of compassion. On the other hand, science also does miracles but "science communication” is really bad.  It is a disaster on all fronts.  Medicine in particular, a mRNA vaccine is a true scientific wonder. The medical community failed to communicate that wonderment. Started lecturing from a pedestal with probable self-interests.

Scientific establishments both public and private should fund new ways of communication. Promoting and funding the country and rap music artists who like and write/sing about science and medicine. Medical illustration videos by Yemini born science communicator.  Hashem Al-Ghaili is another example.

Well, the last one is my startup, www.DailyWearForMedicine.com. Making science communication, part of everyday life through regular T-shirts, Grocery bags, Mugs, etc.

Let us exploit the best virtue of humans, that is curiosity. Let us create a science system for all and by all. The feeling of modern miracles being an extension of ancient ones is a beautiful feeling!

Show the Past and Win the Future!

She is Uncomfortable His Ear on Her Breasts

By Jennifer Niemier - MedBricks science concepts contribution by Ramana Annamraju

Origins of Stethoscope - For over 200 years, the stethoscope has remained a worldwide trusted medical tool of all time.  Dr. Rene Laennec (Rene), a renowned French physician, invented the stethoscope in 1816.  He was also a talented musician who played the flute.  He carved his own flutes from raw wood.  This skill was instrumental in designing the first stethoscope.

Before his invention, the only way to diagnose an ailment of the lungs or heart was to press the ear directly on the patient's body.  It could be the heart or lungs.  It created awkwardness for young female patients.  Rene came up with an idea from watching children listening to sounds traveling through strings.  

 In the summer of 1816, it was a quarantine of a different kind.  It is not a plague but a catastrophic volcanic eruption in Mount Tambora, Indonesia.  The summer abruptly turned into extreme winter. Volcanic ash blanketed the sky and covered the entire northern hemisphere - the most significant natural catastrophe in human history.  

The people in the northern hemisphere experienced illnesses like no other time.  There were food shortages, freezing temperatures, and flooding.  The health hazard conditions prevented people from going outside.  During the self-imposed quarantine, Mary Shelley wrote the famous novel "Frankenstein" reminding the horrors of the time.  She created a human character that turns into a scary monster.

By his profession, Rene was a physician.  The next passion for him was playing the musical instrument flute.  He carved wood to make his flute.  In a moment of insight by reversing the process of making the flute, he invented the first Stethoscope. The stethoscope has been improved over the years. Finally, after 100 years Dr. David Littmann of Harvard Medical School patented the new stethoscope, still in use today.  

Dr. Laennec died at the age of 45 of tuberculosis, the very disease he came to diagnose with his own invented stethoscope.  The year without a summer, the darkest times of human existence, inspired the most significant innovation, the iconic medical device by Dr. Rene Laennec.  

Rene’s life story inspires physicians to pursue other hobbies and passions.  In addition, it allows imagining new solutions to the present-day health care crisis.    

Innovations can arise from other hobbies and passions.

Mother Teresa Effect

Mother Teresa took intensive medical training. She spent six months in 1948 with the American Medical Missionary Sisters hospital in Patna, India. She may not be a qualified nurse, but her six months of serious training is substantial compared to only three years of training for medical doctors in those days. Mother Teresa took leprosy patients to her home while the world outcasted them with utmost stigma.

In the Science versus Stigma war, science has shown how to beat the stigma. Here is the sad story of stigma and the triumph of science.

These destitute are fellow Indians forced to live in remote colonies, far away from their homes. There is no electricity nor running water. Their children will not even come to see them. Also, they have not seen their sisters and brothers in decades. Probably they die lonely without their loved ones. Society has shunned them. Their country doesn't even acknowledge their existence. Their people treat them with unbelievable cruelty. They have endured unrelenting physical and emotional pain. 

You can see their stories of human cruelty in their piercing eyes. Humanity showed no empathy or compassion. The indifference shown towards these humans is beyond guilty. I have to admit with shame that I was no exception. The award-winning BBC news presenter Seyi Rhodes is the young Rastafarian-looking kid in the picture, a rare visitor to this destitute colony. The Indian citizens sitting down are afflicted with " Leprosy " disease.  Seyi Rhodes is making a documentary of this isolated leper colony in India for BBC Television in 2010.

Leprosy is a bacterial infection that produces skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. If not treated, the disease slowly progresses into a notorious disfigured look described in the bible, loss of fingers, and deformed facial structures. It is not any more infectious or more contagious disease than any other infection, but the stigma associated with it is unparalleled to any condition in history. Possibly around 95% of people are naturally immune to this disease. The people at risk are minimal percentages attributed to a cell defect that causes leprosy susceptibility. The region of DNA responsible for this is also involved in Parkinson's disease, giving rise to current speculation that the two disorders may be linked.

Leprosy is an easily treatable disease with Multi-Drug Therapy. Unfortunately, leprosy is in the last leg on this planet. Thanks to Pharma company Novartis, an unsung hero in the battle against this disease providing free medicines to more than 100 million. A few decades ago, Leprosy patients in India suffered the worst conditions like many parts of the world. The afflicted were quarantined and forcibly removed from their homes to the remote locations called leprosariums. Men were sterilized, while pregnant women were forced to have abortions. Afflicted children were forcibly removed from their parents and sent to leper colonies using the draconian laws. India, Japan, Korea, Hawaii are too few on the worst offenders list. 

In 2010, a 16-year-old girl, Pooja, from Baripur village in Uttar Pradesh, India, tells a heart-wrenching story through tears, how her neighbors drove her out of the town after the initial diagnosis. 

In a class-action lawsuit filed by one of the Japanese leprosy victims, Mamoru Kunimoto, she said, "for 60 years, I was not treated as a human".   Instead, south Korean Leprosy victims were sent off to an island to add to the horror. Now at 86 years old, Park Tae-yeon endured forced sterilizations. In a riveting testimony against the government, she cries, "We're so lonely; we've never had a family."  

Growing up in rural India, I was like everyone else and showed no compassion. I ran away from them out of unknown fear when Lepers begged for their last meal.  That feeling of guilt still bothers me even today. But one great soul defied this taboo; it is my late father. He was a teacher, doctor, and extraordinaire. With his limited knowledge of medicine available to him for those days, he was brave and compassionate and tried to help the best way he could! 

Not just my father, countless fathers from Christian missionaries who took an arduous journey across the dangerous oceans gave an uplifting hand to those who needed human touch. Undoubtedly, Christian missionaries are the only ones who stand in the front lines of taking care of the leprosy victims.

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus cleansed a leper by going against the law of those days. Faithful to his calling, Father Damian went from Belgium to Hawaiian islands in 1864 to care for lepers and eventually died by contracting the disease himself. India's Mahatma Gandhi, called Father Damien, inspires his calling to care for untouchables. Dr. Che Guevara Argentinain Physician radicalized, in the deep jungles of Amazon, while taking care of leprosy patients, witnessing their suffering.    

Mother Teresa took lepers from the streets of Calcutta to her home as a faithful servant of Jesus. In a Life magazine interview, Mother Teresa announced, "No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds," and "Yet I willingly care for him for the love of God."

Covid-19 pushed compassion fatigue to the extreme for healthcare professionals. But, to the researchers' surprise, spirituality may not only serve as a protective factor in moderating compassion fatigue but also increase compassion and satisfaction among professional caregivers called the "Mother Teresa Effect."

President Reagan said of Mother Teresa while presenting the highest civilian award, Medal of Freedom, "Most of us talk about kindness and compassion, but Mother Teresa, the saint of the gutters, live it"!

On a Personal Note:

We will lose our moral compass when we forget the people who served humanity and when we fail the people who invented for others' benefit! Mother Teresa is a short woman, but in the service of humanity, she is taller than all of us!!!

Just Commerce is meant to social consciousness, nothing more!

Fractal Geometry

By Jennifer Niemier - MedBricks science concepts contribution by Ramana Annamraju

When I was a senior in high school in 1983, I created an art piece of the New York skyline and Twin Towers. As a young girl living in Nebraska, I never had an opportunity to visit New York. However, my fascination with the architecture and the lights of New York inspired me. My art piece was specially selected as part of a traveling exhibition. I graduated high school, went to college, married, and was blessed with two children.

Time lapsed, and I lost track of the art's whereabouts that was traveling in exhibitions.  Then in 2001 9-11 happened.  I was devastated watching the Twin Towers collapsing into the ground.   I never got the opportunity to see the towers in person.  The art meant so much more to me after 9-11.  A few weeks after 9-11, my mother called me and said that I had received a  package containing my long-lost art.  When I opened the cylinder, I became highly emotional!   It was a painful memory that brought me joy and sadness.  It is a mystery that the art came back to me from nowhere without a return sender.

When I think about my art and how it makes me feel, it reminds me of other great artists like Jackson Pollock.  Appreciating the beauty of art is the perfect human expression.  Albert Einstein says, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”

Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), an abstract expressionist artist, was born in Cody, Wyoming, into a dysfunctional family.  His abusive alcoholic father abandoned him.  At 18, he moved to New York and got training from well-respected artists.   He took a drastic turn from his early style and created a new class of art called abstract expressionism.

He mastered a special kind of art called drip art. He perfectly mastered how to mix the paint with extraordinary precision. Then, he splattered the paint across the canvas, seemingly random but found to be very well thought out designs. His unique style of splattering created curiosity among mathematicians and physicists.

On a personal note:

Art is a powerful therapy. Here we are celebrating artists that inspired science and mathematics. Jackson Pollock is a giant among them like MC Escher!

“I have done all that I could”

"I have done all that I could"

These are the last words of Dr. Anandi Gopal Rao Joshi ( First Indian Physician in America in 1883).

While the first overhead electric wires were being deployed in Roselle, New Jersey by Thomas Edison, the new immigrant from India, barely 18  was arriving in the same town.  She was trying to get admission into medical school in the United States. The year is 1883. To give the context of that period, Thomas Edison was at his prime, India was under British rule, Queen Victoria was at the helm. India’s famous freedom fighter Gandhi, not so famous then, still in high school. Automobiles were not even invented, Trains and horse buggies are the modes of transportation.  Johnson and Johnson just started producing gauze band-aids for wound care. That is the period, the first Hindu woman reached American shores by ship accompanied by missionaries, defying all the customs and traditions that prevailed during that era.

Her name is Anandi Gopal Joshi, a traditional Hindu Marathi woman. She got admission into the second-ever established women’s medical college in America. It was situated in Philadelphia downtown, called "Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania,” now part of Drexel University Medical Campus.  Anandi Joshi was not afraid of wearing sarees and jewelry. She became an instant celebrity in the American Press.  According to her autobiographer, feminist non-fictional writer  Caroline Dall, whom she met and corresponded frequently. Dall describes in her book, Joshi was a fluent speaker of English and non-apologetic in expressing her Indian traditions.  

Joshi is a prolific writer and speaker, way more mature for her age.  . In a series of letters to her host family in New Jersey, she describes her experience in medical school,  “The lectures useful and interesting to every in- dividual, the subject being Practical Hygiene. It was timely and benefitted me as well as the general public. He had a large audience. The day after, my work began; I have to attend all the lectures except those on Materia Medica and Surgery, which I will take up next year. I work from fifteen to sixteen hours”.

Doctors can relate to her long hours. Even the subjects she is referring to still look familiar.  Anatomy, Physiology, Psychology, and pharmacology.  Materia Medica is a Latin word for Pharmacology.  Dr. Joshi might have learned the medicines of those days,  which still ring a bell to us, which are all plant-based, quinine, digitalis, and cocaine. Quinine is used for treating fever, digitalis is for edema, and Cocaine is for pain. Surgeries involve most cesarean sections. Cadavers and skeletons are widely used as part of the study.

After spending three years at the school, she presented a final dissertation titled “Obstetrics among Hindoo Women”. It is not truly scientific but she writes with a force that  "Ayurveda", the field of medicine practiced in India, can not be easily dismissed. She writes “As the importance of obstetrics can be measured only by the value of life and health, and both being of paramount consequence it is deserving of most careful study."  When we realize how difficult and vast the subject is, it is not surprising to find so many great minds thoroughly absorbed in its magnitude from time immemorial.

Since our study naturally embraces the cause and effect, race, habits, climate, influences, and means of assisting Nature in her operations, we must not entirely overlook the history of past ages, and consider the superior minds, which labored, with marked success, in the same field of investigation, under the promptings of the same motives, as far back as 15 century B.C.  (She is referring to Sushruta Samhita and other Vedic medical literature) They may enable us to better appreciate science and pay due respect to the discoveries, theories & mode of application of remedies of minds of different nations at different times.  I, therefore, need not apologize for choosing this subject".

While embracing modern medicine, she might be referring to the most controversial subject of those times, “C sections”. Present microbiome research shows the overdone C sections can contribute to autism spectrum and other childhood diseases.

Officially she became “Dr.” Joshi in 1885 and moved to Boston’s, New England Women’s hospital to get more clinical experience.

Unfortunately, she was struck with Tuberculosis, and moved back to her hometown; Pune, India. Shortly after arriving, she died on February 26, 1887.

In 2015 Sarah Ross Kapit, a historian in her dissertation for Ph.D., describes the short life of Dr. Anandi Gopal Joshi in glowing terms. She describes how well she struck the balance between Eastern and Western Medicines with courage and resolve against some of the prevailing views of Christian missionary agendas.

If history is any lesson, Vaccines and overall science should be free from all political and religious ideologies. We as humanity owe gratitude to this unwavering woman of past years, Dr. Anandi Rao Gopal Joshi.

Bose Einstein Condensate

Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Plasma are 4 states of matter that we are all familiar with. There is another state of matter, peculiar of peculiars, that is called “Bose-Einstein Condensate” ( BEC). This state is as strange as the name sounds.BEC can put sudden breaks on light rays, that are traveling at speeds of 186,000 miles/second,. BEC can bring light rays to an almost grinding halt.BEC allows a rare spectacle, to witness a quantum phenomenon on a macroscopic scale. One example is the same object could be in two places at the same time, which is a quantum phenomenon. In BEC, individual particles lose identity and behave like the waving in football games.

BEC is a relatively new field of research but is expected to come out with mind-boggling applications, in the field of medicine and computer science. The largest organ in the body is the endothelium, an organ wrapping around all other organs. Endothelium functions are not well understood because of the effect of gravity. Scientists are studying endothelium's structure and functions, which are immersed in BEC at the International space station. Another medical application is pinpointing the locations of the few cells that are causing epilepsy in the brain. Magnetoencephalography is a medical device that uses BEC as the medium to detect feeble effects of magnetic radiation in the brain.

The real rock star, who envisioned this phenomenon was Indian-born Mathematician, Satyendranath Bose. He created an entire branch of mathematics, along with Albert Einstein, called Bose-Einstein Statistics. Bose worked with several eminent scientists like Marie Curie, DeBroglie, Niels Bohr, and of course Albert Einstein.  BEC was experimentally realized, 75 years after Bose’s death. Another legendary scientist Paul Dirac gave the name "Bosons" to special kinds of particles who lost their individual identity, in honor of Satyendranath Bose. His name is even more memorialized with God's particle called 'Higgs Boson'.It is a tribute to the human mind, how well scientific thought and curiosity can benefit humanity even, long after their passing. Please watch the video I made a while ago, it's still good.

As the Novel Coronavirus devastating humanity, it stunned from the front line healthcare workers to world-class scientists with its mysterious beginnings to its elusive behavior.

But it did not bypass the premonition of a young man who lived almost one hundred years ago in Southern India. He scribbled mathematical equations on a slate with chalk to save paper, which could unravel the virus-like structure to its core.

When he was pressed, how he arrived at those equations, he claimed that local Goddess Namagiri, a different form of Goddess Lakshmi, an idol sent him a message in his dreams. That would have been the end of the story for anyone's career, but wait until you hear the accolades from world-class mathematicians and scientists.

His name is Srinivasa Ramanujan ( Dec 22, 1887- April 26th, 1920) was born in a town of temples, home of countless gods and goddesses in the state of Tamilnadu, India. He was a self-taught mathematician with barely any book on his hand of relevance.

Physicist Michio Kaku says of Ramanujan, “Srinivasa Ramanujan was the strangest man in all of mathematics, probably in the entire history of science. He has been compared to a bursting supernova, illuminating the darkest, most profound corners of mathematics."

He (Ramanujan) had some sort of magic tricks that we don’t understand,” says the late Freeman Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study from Princeton University.

Facebook Mark Zuckerberg - “With a partial math book, he did entire modern mathematics and moved the field forward.”

Just think if he had access to the internet.

Ken Ono, professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, who studied Ramanujan papers in detail says,” Ramanujan's work in mathematics is the epitome of intuition, for a brief window of time, five years, he lit the world of math on fire."

GH Hardy the well-respected Professor of mathematics at Cambridge and the direct supervisor of Ramanujan said, "the most satisfying thing in my life was meeting my student, Ramanujan".

Mathematics is the language of science, it includes physics, chemistry, biology, and of course medicine. The infamous spikes on the surface of the Novel Coronavirus are Protein molecules. Proteins are everywhere. Without them, we do not exist. Proteins are essential workers of the body, They take instructions from DNA algorithms.

It is believed that around 20,000 to 400,000 protein types exist in the human body. But surprisingly they are all made up of just 20 amino acids. Just these 20 amino acids use different permutations and combinations to fold and form proteins. How do we get this vast diversity of life just from 20 amino acids?.

Here is the mathematical kick.!

Folding! How many ways can you crumple a piece of paper? You cannot answer! It is beyond human comprehension. If you take the smallest chain with 100 amino acids long, and each position has 20 options, the resulting permutations and combinations are 20 to the power of 100. It is a huge number!

Let me show how big, just 10 to the power of 100 is: 

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000. If you give a name to every atom in the universe, you may still be left with zeros.  The smallest protein molecule can fold an astounding number of ways.

Our human minds are not geared to grasp exponents. Multi-Level marketing guys try to explain, and most of them are wrong even at the second order. To understand the complexity of life, first, we have to understand the mathematics of exponents. To understand these gigantic numbers, we need Sreenivasa Ramanujan!

The complexity of protein folding can be explained through another example, your wife’s jewelry box. After returning from a nice party, she takes her necklace and drops it off into her jewelry box. The necklace randomly folds into a certain pattern. Now, would you like to guess how long and how many attempts it takes to repeat the exact pattern?

Hold your breath …If she does this every day, it takes a jaw-dropping Billion years, even that, she will not come close to halfway to reaching the exact pattern. Human minds cannot wrap around this absurdly simple process, but it runs into unfathomable complexity and gigantic numbers. But, not for one man in this story, that is, Sreenivasa Ramanujan.

Spike Protein folding is similar to necklace folding but a million times more complex. The fastest computer on the planet, like the IBM summit at National Oak Ridge laboratories near Knoxville, Tennessee, will take thousands of years to emulate protein folding without the help of number theory. That is where Sreenivasa Ramanujan's mathematics comes to the rescue. Ramanujan was not afraid of these mind-boggling numbers. Ramanujan sees beauty and patterns in these numbers. He was Brahmin by birth, but Brahmin is not a caste unlike popular belief, it is being perfectly in tune with nature. Viruses or any other micro-living or non-living have to follow nature’s laws that are expressed through mathematics.

Mathematics is the underpinning of our nature. Spike Protein and its complex folding, unfolding, and wiggling are no exceptions. They have to follow the embedded equations of nature. Ramanujan knows what those equations are. Ramanujan may not have heard the word "Virus" but surely he knows their behavior through his mathematical imagination.

There are two mathematical ways to extract the patterns from spike protein 1) Fourier series invented by famous French Mathematician Joseph Fourier, 2) Ramanuajn’s Sum by Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Vaidyanathan an Indian from the same state of Ramanujan is the Kiyo and Eiko Tomiyasu Professor of Electrical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and his doctoral student Srikanth Tenneti, further developed "Ramanujan Sums" into “Ramanujan Subspaces.

Scientists were able to unravel the virus structure, by using next century devices like X-ray Crystallography with the power of unparalleled detection and sophistication, combined with the mathematics of Fourier series and/or Ramanujan Subspaces. The spike protein folding is photographed and videotaped in record time.

The prize goes to eminent biophysicist, Zihe Rao, at ShanghaiTech University in China who extracted the virus structure, immediately after the Wuhan outbreak. Subsequently, that data was validated by the Austin-based physicists, Daniel Wrapp and Nianshuang Wang of the University of Texas. Probably this would not have been possible in such a short period without the help of those mathematical models envisioned by mathematicians of the past century Joseph Fourier or Sreenivasa Ramanujan.

It is a stunning insight into this deadly virus by a man who lived 100 years ago, even before the word “virus” is invented. Ramanujan lived in a simple home with no running water and no electricity. He produced some of his best work in front of oil-lit lanterns. It is not that uncommon to find even today several Indian physicians and engineers in America who studied under oil lanterns, including myself.

Ramanujan's mathematical functions pervade every field of science, modern cosmology, string theory, computational biology, and quantum computers to name a few. You may not recognize his presence behind the ATMs. Distributing cash in different permutations and combinations ( $100=( $20x3) + ( 4x5) +(20x1) ) is a really unsolved problem in mathematics. .The integer partitions are the most complex ones, the closest solution to this problem came from Ramanujan.

Ramanujan was inducted into the Royal Fellowship of Great Britain, an unprecedented honor for a dark-looking man for those times, where once Isaac Newton was a fellow.

Shortly after returning to India from his fellowship in England, Ramanujan died at the age of 32, with Tuberculosis on April 26th, 1920.

Ken Ono, Professor of Mathematics at Emory University on Ramanuajn's centennial lecture, said that he is still trying to grapple with the mind of Ramanujan..

A man who prayed to an idol, produced the most dazzling mathematical equations of this century. On one end of the spectrum, blind faith and the other end is a rigorous logical process of the highest order, Ramanujan entertained blind faith on one side and logic and reason on the other, without any conflict in his mind.. An Indian programmer can pray to a cow in the morning and writes incredible computer code in the afternoon without conflict. It is a tribute to those people like Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Faith and logic are two sides of the same coin. That is a hidden secret of India’s incredible success. We can extend this concept to other diametrically opposing ideas of capitalism and socialism, ideas of containment, and freedom. If there is morale, that is Republicans. Democrats, Americans, Chinese, Indians, and Mexicans are all just labels and belong to the same human race. Sreenivasa Ramanujan is the ultimate symbol of the human imagination and sheer power of the human mind, what we can achieve, and what we can imagine!    

Indian Nobel Prize-Winners & Nominees 

FAMOUS NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN 
SCIENCE AND MEDICINE 

Sir Venkataraman Ramakrsihnan

Nobel Prize in Chemistry - 2009

Birth Place Chidambaram,Tamilandu

We are hearing a lot about mRNA vaccines nowadays.

Venky Ramakrishnan's discovery is in the middle of it.

mRNA is a messenger particle that carries the genetic information to a ribosome.  Ribosome is a minute cellular particle.

The ribosome then read that information. (like scanner)

Ribosome takes that information and produces proteins that are front-line workers of our bodies.  

Until recently, we did not have a clear idea of the structure of ribosomes.      

That is where Venky Ramakrishnan's discovery place a role. The finding is mapping out the ribosome's atomic structure, i.e., the locations of the atoms in the ribosome. He used state of the art, Xray crystollogrphy and Neutron diffraction devices to locate those atoms.

For that, he won the Nobel prize.

His discovery can revolutionize the science of targeted drug delivery.

His discovery will play a significant role in designing future Vaccines and in treating cancers and a host of other diseases.

He was knighted in England by Queen.  He is referred in the scientific circle as "Ribosome Reader".  

Hara Gobind Khorana

Birth Place: Raipur, West Punjab (British India)

Nobel Prize in  Medicine - 1968

He is the first one to produce a synthetic gene. The genes that are synthetically manufactured in the labs.

He won the Nobel Prize for discovering the function of RNA in Protein making.

Oligonucleotides are synthetic strands (parts) of DNA/RNA that are made in labs. His publications are widely cited in Gene Editing tools (CRISPR ) research.

He is referred to as the father of Chemical Biology.

I am sure Venky Ramakrishnan benefitted from his predecessor Hara Gobind Khorana's research.

C.V. Raman

Nobel Prize in Physics- 1930

Birth Place: Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu

There is no field without Raman imprints.   Raman spectrometers help identify undesired substances, fake medicines, fake art, analyze the chemical, and

composition of samples, or monitor their changes. Raman Spectroscopy is presently being used on Mars with the Perseverance rover looking for extraterrestrial life.

https://medbricks.blogspot.com/2021/09/cv-raman-real-vs-fake.html

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Birth Place Lahore, Pakistan (British India )

Nobel Prize in Physics 1983

Professor - University of Chicago

Chandrasekhar was the nephew of another Nobel Prize winner C.V. Raman.

Chandrasekhar won the Nobel Prize for his studies on the evolution of stars an at what stage they become black holes.

1.44 solar masses,  the minimum limit that is needed before a star collapses into a neutron star or black hole (following a supernova). That limit is called the "Chandrasekhar limit."

NASA named one of its famous observatories the 'Chandra X-ray.'

Carl Sagan was his student.

Google showed a Google Doodle in honoring Chandrasekhar's 107th birthday.

Dr. Ronald Ross

Birth Place: Almora, Uttarakhand, India

Nobel Prize in Medicine - 1902

An employee of Indian  Medical Services.

Dr. Ronald Ross is the first to identify malaria parasites in mosquitoes and birds.

He was awarded The Nobel Prize for discovering the life cycle of malarial parasites in birds. Ross was the first to show that the bite of infected mosquitoes transmitted malarial parasites.

Ethnically British, but he spread  research  across all over India,

Secunderabad, Ooty, Calcutta, Assam, to name a few.

His mosquito sketches still are on display in Tea hospital in Assam.

Famous Nobel Prize Nominees in 
Science and Medicine

Satyendra Nath Bose

Birth Place: Kolkata, India

Higgs Boson bears part of his name

Bose-Einstein Condensate -  Fifth State of Matter

The real rock star who envisioned this phenomenon was Indian-born Mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose. He created an entire branch of mathematics with Albert Einstein called Bose-Einstein Statistics. Bose worked with several eminent scientists like Marie Curie, de Broglie, Niels Bohr, and Albert Einstein. BEC was experimentally realized 75 years after Bose's prediction. Another legendary scientist Paul Dirac gave the name "Bosons" to special particles who lost their individual identity in honor of Satyendra Nath Bose. His name is even more memorialized with God's particle called 'Higgs Boson'. It is a tribute to the human mind, how well scientific thought and curiosity can benefit humanity long after their passing. Please watch the video I made it a while ago. Still good.  https://youtu.be/UYyeg_duTho

Jagadish Chandra Bose

Birthplace: Bangladesh (British India)

Polymath-wireless communications Radio-Microwave

He discovered that plants could produce electrical signals.   

He met in person Italian Radio inventor Marconi.        

    G. N. Ramachandran

    Birth Place: 2, Ernakulam, Kerala

    Protein folding Protein and Polypeptide Conformation

E. C. George Sudarshan

Birth Place: Pallam, Kerala

Inventor of Phantom particles called tachyons travels faster-than-light.

 Meghan Saha

Birth Place:  Dhaka, British India

He worked on Spectral analysis of the stars and predicted their composition.

C. N. R. Rao

Birth Place "Bengaluru, India

Liquid Nitrogen - Carbon Nano Tubes

Upendranath Brahmachari

Birth Place: Sardanga, Purbasthali, British India

 Skin Disease - post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL)         

Birth Place: Kulithalai, Tamilnadu

Indian highest Civilian award Padma Bhushan

Plant Chemistry

Oxygen heterocyclics -congestive heart failure 
Spent several years at Andhra University (My alumni) as a Head of the Department of Chemistry

Asima Chatterjee

Birth Place: Calcutta, India

Alkaloids - morphine, quinine

 Homi Bhabha

 Birth Place: Bombay (British India)

 Cosmic Rays interaction with Earth's atmosphere

 The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility. 
                                    

It has been a pleasure and an honor working with Ramana on this ebook. His vast knowledge, intelligence, and expertise are exceptional. What an incredible journey adding "writer" to his list of accomplishments. He has created curiosity in the medical and science worlds.  Jennifer Niemier