A highly original theory of how the mind-brain works, based on the author's study of single neuronal cells. In I of the Vortex, Rodolfo Llinas, a founding father of modern brain science, presents an original view of the evolution and nature of mind. According to Llinas, the "mindness state" evolved to allow predictive interactions between mobile creatures and their environment. He illustrates the early evolution of mind through a primitive animal called the "sea squirt." The mobile larval form has a brainlike ganglion that receives sensory information about the surrounding environment. As an adult, the sea squirt attaches itself to a stationary object and then digests most of its own brain. This suggests that the nervous system evolved to allow active movement in animals. To move through the environment safely, a creature must anticipate the outcome of each movement on the basis of incoming sensory data. Thus the capacity to predict is most likely the ultimate brain function. One could even say that Self is the centralization of prediction. At the heart of Llinas's theory is the concept of oscillation. Many neurons possess electrical activity, manifested as oscillating variations in the minute voltages across the cell membrane. On the crests of these oscillations occur larger electrical events that are the basis for neuron-to-neuron communication. Like cicadas chirping in unison, a group of neurons oscillating in phase can resonate with a distant group of neurons. This simultaneity of neuronal activity is the neurobiological root of cognition. Although the internal state that we call the mind is guided by the senses, it is also generated by the oscillations within the brain. Thus, in a certain sense, one could say that reality is not all "out there," but is a kind of virtual reality.

The engaging adventure novel to support social and emotional learning for our youth today The scene was chaotic on the shore of the Opa River. A young woman darted from her kayak and raced to a large boulder along the riverbank. She stopped abruptly and shifted her gaze up the river. A boy in a yellow life jacket was heading her way, adrift in the middle of a raging rapid that was flowing directly toward a large, undercut boulder. Her expression was deadly serious as she retrieved the end of the rope from her rescue bag. She would have one chance to save him, and she knew her throw had to be perfect. The water struck the boulder with such force that spray was thrust skyward, creating a dark and threatening mood on the river. As the boy neared the large boulder, he shifted his legs to try to fend off the rock. The rope arched skyward on a perfect trajectory and the yellow bag landed directly in his hands. What happened next was surreal to everyone who witnessed the events on the river that fateful day.

Published in 1924 and widely acknowledged as a major work of twentieth-century Latin American literature, José Eustasio Rivera's The Vortex follows the harrowing adventures of the young poet Arturo Cova and his lover Alicia as they flee Bogotá and head into the wild and woolly backcountry of Colombia. After being separated from Alicia, Arturo leaves the high plains for the jungle, where he witnesses firsthand the horrid conditions of those forced or tricked into tapping rubber trees. A story populated by con men, rubber barons, and the unrelenting landscape, The Vortex is both a denunciation of the sensational human-rights abuses that took place during the Amazonian rubber boom and one of the most famous renderings of the natural environment in Latin American literary history.

"[A] tremendous new book." —The Boston Globe "Carney and Miklian write vividly in the fashion of a cinematic disaster flick." —The Washington Post The deadliest storm in modern history ripped Pakistan in two and led the world to the brink of nuclear war when American and Soviet forces converged in the Bay of Bengal In November 1970, a storm set a collision course with the most densely populated coastline on Earth. Over the course of just a few hours, the Great Bhola Cyclone would kill 500,000 people and begin a chain reaction of turmoil, genocide, and war. The Vortex is the dramatic story of how that storm sparked a country to revolution. Bhola made landfall during a fragile time, when Pakistan was on the brink of a historic election. The fallout ignited a conflagration of political intrigue, corruption, violence, idealism, and bravery that played out in the lives of tens of millions of Bangladeshis. Authors Scott Carney and Jason Miklian take us deep into the story of the cyclone and its aftermath, told through the eyes of the men and women who lived through it, including the infamous president of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, and his close friend Richard Nixon; American expats Jon and Candy Rhode; soccer star-turned-soldier Hafiz Uddin Ahmad; and a young Bengali revolutionary, Mohammed Hai. Thrillingly paced and written with incredible detail, The Vortex is not just a story about the painful birth of a new nation but also a universal tale of resilience and liberation in the face of climate emergency that affects every single person on the planet.

"The Alpha and Omega teams are in a race for the six essential elements that can fuse into a new source of clean energy, but the elements are scattered throughout the galaxy, and the teams are running out of time."--

"Vortex" tells the story of Turk Findley, the protagonist introduced in "Axis," who is transported 10,000 years into the future by the mysterious entities called "the Hypotheticals."

BEYOND THE VORTEX: THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY TO YOUR PERSONAL PLACE OF POWER AN ASCENSION MANUAL AND REMEMBRANCE OF THE SACRED SCIENCE OF THE SOUL A NEW BOOK BY RICHARD DANNELLEY, AUTHOR OF SEDONA POWER SPOT, VORTEX, AND MEDICINE WHEEL GUIDE Beyond the Vortex is a definitive statement on the science of Ascension. The information in this book is not limited to Sedona, but can be applied anywhere or this planet. Beyond the Vortex explores the relation between Soul Awareness, Vortex: Phenomenon, Sacred Geometry, the Merkaba, the Medicine Wheel, and Ascension. By using the meditations and practices that are detailed in this book we can learn to use "Vortex Energy," to activate our crystalline Body of Light (the Merkaba). Anyone who is interested in the possibility of Ascension will find this bool to be of great interest. CREATING THE NEW AGE OF PLANETARY PEACE AND HEALING THROUGH THE USE OF COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

A novel reminiscent of the works of Herman Koch and Rachel Cusk, in which a lesbian couple attempts to escape the secrets of their pasts. “[Mootoo’s] unsettling latest examines how secrets always come back to haunt us—especially the ones we’ve managed to keep from ourselves.” —Globe & Mail, one of the 100 Favorite Books of 2020 One of Autostraddle‘s Best Queer Books of 2020 Polar Vortex is a seductive and tension-filled novel about Priya and Alex, a lesbian couple who left the big city to relocate to a bucolic countryside community. It seemed like a good way to leave their past behind and cement their newish, later-in-life relationship. But there’s leaving the past behind—and then there’s running away from awkward histories. Priya has a secret—a long-standing on-again, off-again relationship with a man, Prakash. In Priya’s mind Prakash is little more than an old friend, but in reality things are a bit complicated. Why has she never told Alex about him? Prakash has tracked Priya down in her new life, and before she realizes what she’s doing, she invites him to visit. Alex is not pleased, and soon the existing cracks in their relationship widen, revealing secrets Alex herself would have preferred to keep. Into the fissure walks Prakash, whose own agenda forces all three to face the inevitable consequences of their choices.

When Nicky arrives back from Paris to his London family home with new fiancée Bunty in tow, relations with his friends, family, and particularly his mother Florence seem as good as they ever were. Cracks, however, soon start appearing: Nicky has a new drug habit (and there are other hinted-at transgressions); Bunty is uncomfortable in her new role with Nicky’s friends and family; and the façade Florence is vainly putting up against her increasing age and dissatisfaction with life is starting to fail. The Vortex is an early play of Noël Coward’s, and was the first to reach large acclaim. Given the themes of drug abuse, the censors in the UK at the time nearly chose to block its staging, and even after it was passed Coward (as writer, director, and star) had trouble finding a venue. Eventually it was picked up by a small theater in north London, and after critical success and popular interest it moved to London’s West End. The play has been adapted for television, film and radio many times over the years, and is still a popular choice for theaters today. While the drug abuse and coded homosexuality has less shock value than when first performed, Nicky and Florence’s increasingly obvious difficulties in living outside the boxes created for them by society is a theme that stands the test of time. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.