Aristotle "ON YOUTH AND OLD AGE, ON LIFE AND DEATH, ON BREATHING"

All perfectly formed animals are to be divided into three parts, one that by which food is taken in, one that by which excrement is discharged, and the third the region intermediate between them. In the largest animals this latter is called the chest and in the others something corresponding; in some also it is more distinctly marked off than in others. All those also that are capable of progression have additional members subservient to this purpose, by means of which they bear the whole trunk, to wit legs and feet and whatever parts are possessed of the same powers. Now it is evident both by observation and by inference that the source of the nutritive soul is in the midst of the three parts. For many animals, when either part-the head or the receptacle of the food-is cut off, retain life in that member to which the middle remains attached. This can be seen to occur in many insects, e.g. wasps and bees, and many animals also besides insects can, though divided, continue to live by means of the part connected with nutrition. While this member is indeed in actuality single, yet potentially it is multiple, for these animals have a constitution similar to that of Plants; plants when cut into sections continue to live, and a number of trees can be derived from one single source. A separate account will be given of the reason why some plants cannot live when divided, while others can be propagated by the taking of slips. In this respect, however, plants and insects are alike. It is true that the nutritive soul, in beings possessing it, while actually single must be potentially plural. And it is too with the principle of sensation, for evidently the divided segments of these animals have sensation. They are unable, however, to preserve their constitution, as plants can, not possessing the organs on which the continuance of life depends, for some lack the means for seizing, others for receiving their food; or again they may be destitute of other organs as well. Divisible animals are like a number of animals grown together, but animals of superior construction behave differently because their constitution is a unity of the highest possible kind. Hence some of the organs on division display slight sensitiveness because they retain some psychical susceptibility; the animals continue to move after the vitals have been abstracted: tortoises, for example, do so even after the heart has been removed.

1 # Aristotle "ON YOUTH AND OLD AGE, ON LIFE AND DEATH, ON BREATHING"

WE must now treat of youth and old age and life and death. We must probably also at the same time state the causes of respiration as well, since in some cases living and the reverse depend on this. We have elsewhere given a precise account of the soul, and while it is clear that its essential reality cannot be corporeal, yet manifestly it must exist in some bodily part which must be one of those possessing control over the members. Let us for the present set aside the other divisions or faculties of the soul (whichever of the two be the correct name). But as to being what is called an animal and a living thing, we find that in all beings endowed with both characteristics (viz. being an animal and being alive) there must be a single identical part in virtue of which they live and are called animals; for an animal qua animal cannot avoid being alive. But athing need not, though alive, be animal, for plants live without having sensation, and it is by sensation that we distinguish animal from what is not animal. This organ, then, must be numerically one and the same and yet possess multiple and disparate aspects, for being animal and living are not identical. Since then the organs of special sensation have one common organ in which the senses when functioning must meet, and this must be situated midway between what is called before and behind (we call 'before' the direction from which sensation comes, 'behind' the opposite), further, since in all living things the body is divided into upper and lower (they all have upper and lower parts, so that this is true of plants as well), clearly the nutritive principle must be situated midway between these regions. That part where food enters we call upper, considering it by itself and not relatively to the surrounding universe, while downward is that part by which the primary excrement is discharged. Plants are the reverse of animals in this respect. To man in particular among the animals, on account of his erect stature, belongs the characteristic of having his upper parts pointing upwards in the sense in which that applies to the universe, while in the others these are in an intermediate position. But in plants, owing to their being stationary and drawing their sustenance from the ground, the upper part must always be down; for there is a correspondence between the roots in a plant and what is called the mouth in animals, by means of which they take in their food, whether the source of supply be the earth or each other's bodies.

Mengapa sih Facebook terus

Keharusan untuk membuka situs Facebok saat  berinternet merupakan telah menjadikannya menjadi budaya masa dalam dunia maya. Membuka situs jejaring social seperti Facebook bukanlah suatu keharusan karena banyak juga orang yang sedang bekerja di kantor namun diusahakan untuk mengakses situs jejaring social tersebut. penelitian yang dilakukan bahwa orang membeli Blackberry bukan saja karena fitur canggih yang bisa digunakan untuk beragam hal tetapi karena untuk alasan agar bisa menggunakan Facebook dengan nyaman. Biaya yang dikeluarkan untuk mendapat teknologi tetapi teknologi tersebut digunakan bukan berdasar fungsi aslinya tetapi digunakan untuk mendapatkan layanan pertemanan dengan teman-teman mereka yang ada di Facebook. Ada sebuah penelitian di inggris menyebutkan bahwa Sebanyak 50 persen dari sekitar 1460 pekerja yang disurvei mengaku selalu mengakses Twitter dan Facebook selama hari kerja. Tiap-tiap pekerja juga mengaku menghabiskan waktu sekira 40 menit per pekan. Artinya waktu 40 menit selama sepekan dianggap terbuang percuma. Survei juga mengungkapkan, sepertiga dari seluruh responden itu seringkali memposting informasi sensitif perusahaan di situs jejaring sosial. Ada orang yang memperkirkan karena orang sering menggunakan Facebook Negara Britania tersebut di perkirakan mengalami kerugian sebesar 1,38 miliar poundsterling per tahun karena Facebook dinilai menurunkan produktivitas karyawan[1]

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[1] http://www.reep.web.id/twitter-facebook-berpotensi-rugikan-ekonomi-negara.htm. diakses pada 8 januari 2009

Obat Kanker yang Murah (dari teh pepaya)

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Daun pepaya tidak hanya enak dibuat masakan, tetapi lebih dari itu, teh dari daun pepaya juga bisa dimanfaatkan menjadi senjata pelawan kanker yang efeknya disebut para ilmuwan "sangat dramatis". "Terutama, untuk membunuh sel-sel tumor di tubuh," ujar peneliti dari Universitas Florida, Nam Dang. Bersama koleganya, ia meneliti efek pepaya sebagai anti kanker dan mempublikasikannya di Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

Dalam penelitiannya, ia menggunakan sample dari lima macam kanker berbahaya yaitu kanker serviks, payudara, hati, paru-paru, dan pankreas. "Efeknya sungguh di luar dugaan," ujarnya.

Dalam penelitian Dang, ekstrak daun pepaya mampu mendukung produksi molekul yang disebut cytokine tipe Th1, yang sangat bermanfaat secara reguler bagi sistem imun tubuh. Molekul ini juga mampu mendukung tubuh melawan berkembangnya sel-sel kanker di kelima organ utama tadi.

Dang juga menyebut, pepaya adalah pohon yang dimanfaatkan sebagai tanaman obat hampir di seluruh suku bangsa di dunia, terutama di Asia. Hasil penelitiannya diilhami kebiasaan masyarakat Aborigin di Australia dan suku asalnya di Vietnam yang secara reguler mengonsumsi teh daun pepaya.

Menurut mereka, ekstrak pepaya juga tidak mempunyai efek samping apapun bagi sel normal. "Dia bisa dipersandingkan dengan pengobatan kanker secara modern," ujarnya.

sumber berita: http://www.republika.co.id/
suber gambar:

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