Many of us have goals, but how are those goals aligning with our life's purpose?
When looking towards passion, many people think about what they can do — what gets them excited or what they would happily do every day. But a better way to look at it is not what you can do, but rather what you can’t not do that is key.
As humans evolved throughout history, they grew to understand the value of living in groups and numbers. This became evident as all humans realized that for the most part, they shared similar needs and goals. As a result, societies and communities were formed.
Over time, mass food production was developed along with the notion that each member of their society could bring a unique set of skills that would benefit everyone. Then as they gradually elected leaders, created a set of laws to live by, and formed a military to protect them from opposing communities, the civilization was born.
These civilizations became very sophisticated and organized. Many built schools and practiced the arts. In fact, all the technologies found in today’s world owe a debt of gratitude to these ancient communities.
We have listed below eight (8) ancient civilizations that began during the BC era. There are listed from the most recent formation to the earliest of these civilizations.
Period: 550 BC–465 AD
Location: Rome
Most Noted For: Most Powerful of all Ancient Civilizations.
The powerful Roman civilization was formed during the sixth century BC. Its existence is so legendary and significant that even the story of its beginning is a myth and legend. At the peak of its rule, the mighty Roman Empire had encompassed a huge part of the known world. This included every single one of today’s Mediterranean countries, some of Western Asia, and large chunks of the Middle East and Northern Africa.
During its initial stages, Rome was ruled by kings, but the people were very displeased with this type of rule after withstanding only seven of them. They then decided to take over their own government by electing a Senate and the Republic was born. This model of government still lives today in many countries.
Eventually, Rome’s Republic became an Empire after the populous decided upon having Emperors rule them along with the Senate. Many of these Emperors were great leaders such as Caesar, Augustus, and Trajan. But there are some tyrants who ruled as well such as Caligula and Nero.
Over the centuries as the Empire grew, it became more difficult to maintain this massive civilization under one rule. As has happened many times throughout history, it was ultimately overrun by barbarians and its enemies.
Period: 550 BC–331 BC
Location: Persia (Modern-day Iran)
Most Noted For: Wise Rulers and Strong Military.
There was a brief period of time when the ancient Persian civilization was by far the most powerful Empire in the world. The most incredible aspect of this fact was that it was only in existence for around 200 years.
During this relatively short amount of time, the Persian armies had conquered a total land mass that was greater than two million square miles. This included parts of Southern Egypt, most of Greece, and a large chunk of India. This Persian rule can be attributed to its wise rulers and the massive strength of its military.
Prior to the formation of this civilization, Persia was controlled by a number of various factions – each of which had a unique leader. It was in 550 BC that King Cyrus II achieved power and brought the entire kingdom of Persia together as one. He then went on to capture Ancient Babylon.
The conquests of King Cyrus II were so quickly achieved that by 553 BC; he had managed to invade India, which was very far to the East of Persia. After he died, his successors went on to expand even more as they invaded Greece and took part in the famous battle at Sparta.
This incredible Empire came to an abrupt end because of perhaps the greatest military commander of all time – Alexander the Great from Macedon.
Period: 2600 BC–900 AD
Location: Around present-day Yucatan
Most Noted For: Complex Understanding of Astronomy
The Ancient Maya civilization resided in the region of Central America. It was formed around 2600 BC and was renowned for introducing a remarkable calendar. After this civilization was well established, it greatly prospered and became quite advanced for its time. Its population peaked at around 19 million, which was amazing.
And by the year 700 BC, the Mayans were reading and writing their own language. They went even further by creating solar calendars. The Ancient Mayans believed that the Earth was created on August 11, 3114 BC and that it was going to end on December 21, 2012 – a story that many of us remember quite well.
These people were also incredibly rich when it came to both wealth and culture. They actually built their own pyramids; some were even bigger than the ones in Egypt.
As to how this great civilization ended is one the mysteries of history. No one is quite sure how a civilization that was as sophisticated as the Ancient Mayans came to such a sudden end.
Period: 2700 BC–479 BC
Location: Greece
Major Highlights: Concepts of Democracy and the Senate, the Olympics
The Ancient Greek civilization was not the most powerful or the oldest of all time, but they were perhaps the most influential of all ancient civilizations. This remarkable group of people was actually derived from the Minoan and Cycladic civilizations. There is also data from cave burials located in Argolid, Greece that dates back to before 7000 BC.
The Greek civilization’s history extends over a period of time so vast that historians actually divided it across different periods, which includes Classical, the Archaic, and the Hellenistic periods. During these periods the world witnessed quite a number of ancient Greeks who gained notoriety, many of which altered the world forever and still has significance today.
Standard components of modern society like the Olympics, Democracy, and the Senate were all derived from the Ancient Greek civilization. They also gave us the basis for fields of study such as physics, biology, and modern geometry. These feats were accomplished through the amazing efforts of people like Plato, Socrates, Euclid, Archimedes, Pythagoras, and Aristotle who brought countless beliefs, theories, and inventions to the entire world.
Period: 2700 BC–1912 AD
Location: Country of China
Most Noted For: Invention of Paper and Silk
The cultural contributions from the various dynasties coming out of the Ancient Chinese Civilization are beyond remarkable. Their rich history is probably the most diverse of any other civilization to ever exist. When you go back to their very first dynasty to the very last one, then you will see precisely how resilient they have been across a very long period of time.
It is believed that it all started with the Yellow River civilization which was when the dynasties began. It was around the year 2700 BC when the Emperor first ruled the Yellow civilization. This led to the formation of the many Chinese dynasties that came later within mainland China.
It was the Xia dynasty that first ruled the entirety of China around the year 2070 BC. From that point forward, history witnessed numerous dynasties that ruled throughout various time periods of time. The last of these was the Qing dynasty that ended because of the Xinhai Revolution in 1912 AD.
The world witnessed this remarkable civilization survive for over four millennia. During that time, the Chinese people gave to the world a number of useful products like paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass, alcohol, and much more.
Period: 3150 BC–30 BC
Location: Egypt
Most Noted For: Construction of pyramids
The ancient Egyptian civilization is certainly among the oldest and most culturally rich of any other on this list. This fascinating civilization first sprang up on the banks of the Nile River. It is well known for many facets of its culture such as building its mammoth pyramids, the Pharaohs, and the infamous Sphinx.
The civilization formed around 3150 BC when Lower and Upper Egypt combined under the rule of the first pharaoh. It was the early settlers in the Nile Valley around 3500 BC that started the community which later grew into the Egyptian Empire.
Upon examining the span of its entire history, we notice that the rule of Ancient Egypt was characterized by a series of both stable kingdoms and those that brought instability.
Ultimately, Ancient Egypt provided to the world many fascinations such the construction of the great pyramids, and mummies that are still preserving many of the ancient pharaohs today, its rich hieroglyphics, and much much more. The Ancient Egyptian civilization reached its peak under the rule of Ramesses the Great.
Period: 3300 BC–1900 BC
Current Location: Northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India
Most Noted For: One of the most widespread civilizations, covering 1.25 million km.
The Indus Valley civilization was the first to grow into both a massive number and encompass a large area of territory. It was considered a trail blazer for all the big civilizations that followed. From the Indus Valley region, this society grew from northeast Afghanistan all the way to northwest India and Pakistan. When compared to the other two earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, it was by far the most widespread.
There were actually entire populations that settled within this fertile Indus river basin. This was where the major rivers from Asia, along with another river called Ghaggar-Hakra used to run through eastern Pakistan and northeast India.
Sometimes the Indus Valley civilization is called the Mohenjo-Daro civilization or the Harappan civilization, which has been named after excavation sites that have uncovered remains from the civilization. It is believed that the peak period of this society lasted from 2600 BC to 1900 BC. Remains have also indicated that a very sophisticated and advanced urban culture existed within the Indus Valley civilization. Thus, its capital became the region’s first urban center.
The Indus Valley civilization cultivated the ability to measure mass, time, and length with amazing accuracy, based on items uncovered in these excavations. Findings also revealed a culture that was also quite rich in arts and crafts.
Period: 3500 BC–500 BC
Location: Iraq, Syria, and Turkey
Most Noted For: First civilization in the world
Finally, we come to the very first known civilization in history. The birth of Mesopotamia is so ancient that no evidence exists of other civilized community that came before them. The historical span of ancient Mesopotamia runs from around the year 3300 BC through 750 BC.
While Mesopotamia is typically the place that is credited with being the first civilization on Earth, it is also believed people in this region first developed agriculture around 8000 BC. Shortly thereafter, the domestication of farm animals began taking place. Needless to say, these developments were critical in supporting a mass population.
It is well known that ancient people created art way before the Mesopotamians came into existence, but this was merely a cultural entity, and did not lead to civilization growth. The Mesopotamian civilization found a way to embrace the most effective of all the systems that came before them. It was though the combining and refining of these early systems and ideas that allowed the very first civilization to flourish. This first civilization ultimately resided within the ancient regions of Babylonia, Sumer, and the Assyria Highlands.
The post 8 Ancient Civilizations that Began during the BC Era appeared first on Mind Guild.
Recently, we have seen a new technology materialize that is known as “bioprinting”. For those people who have wondered what 3D printing can be used for, here’s about as good an example as you find.
Bioprinting is a new process that employs 3D printers to create three-dimensional objects made from biological materials. And these materials can formulate most anything by using a very precise layer-by-layer positioning. The overall goal is to duplicate tissue and material that is functional – like body organs, which are then ready to be installed into live humans. This is what 3D printers can do.
As we follow these fascinating 3D printing technologies through the rigors that are associated with health care, we see some familiar roadblocks that are hindering the process. The biggest of these obstacles are the regulatory factors involved. This is why we are not utilizing these artificial organs as of yet.
Since these 3D printed organs are new to the field of healthcare, authorities have not determined how to regulate these bioprinting processes and their finished products. This has actually proven to be a huge bottleneck for the bioprinting production operations as the printers can crank out far more product than can be approved for use.
In the field of medicine, medical researchers employ 3D printers for many purposes. It is used to create replicas of human body parts. This tech is used in both reconstructive as well as plastic surgeries, and implants are actually customized for a specific patient. This was unheard of just a few years ago. The potential here is enormous. Imagine how people today who have been waiting for an organ donor for months and months. Perhaps in the near future they will only have to wait for a 3D printers to make an organ for them.
However, bioprinting can offer even more to the field of healthcare. Thanks to recent developments, theses high tech printers can create a wider variety of products that range from human tissue to biological components and even vaccines.
Medical scientists still have a ways to go in creating 3D-printed organs that is ready to use in actual humans. There are several reasons for this. To begin with, it is quite challenging to introduce a printed structure into living bodies that use real blood and lymph.
However, there has been lots of success in the 3D printing of nonvascularized tissue such as some cartilages. In addition, there has also been success in printing out metal ceramic objects that are used to support the tissue of bones. And there have been quite a few encouraging animal studies that have successfully used blood vessels, cardiac tissue, and skin. This is a strong indicator that bioprinting scientists are getting closer and closer to transplanting artificial organs.
The post 3D Printing Has Evolved into Bioprinting that Can Make Body Parts appeared first on Mind Guild.
There are several people mentioned in the Bible that have written or spoken prophetic statements, but more of them are not prophets. One example of this is Saul, who eventually became the King of Israel that the people had sought for so long. Saul fell under God’s influence and makes several prophetic statements, but he is not considered to be one of the Major Prophets in the Bible.
The fact is that God employed prophets throughout biblical history for the purpose of guiding and warning his people. As was often the case with humans, they tended to ignore and not follow warnings or instructions very well.
Let us take a look at the 4 Major Prophets from the Bible.
Isaiah is considered by many religious scholars to be perhaps greatest of all prophets in the Bible. His very name actually means “YHWH (the LORD) is salvation.” He reside within Jerusalem and the prophecies he was given by God were specific toward Israel, Judah as well as other nations. The local Jewish tradition makes a claim that he came from royal descent, and many believe he might have been a distant cousin to King Uzziah. This most likely provided access for him to the Kings of Judah within Jerusalem.
Biblical accounts claim that Isaiah got visions from God during the rule of four Kings from Judah, who were Ahaz, Uzziah, Jotham, and Hezekiah. The biblical timeline here extends from the end of King Uzziah’s rule up until the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian King Sennacherib. His ministry lasted 40-years during the later stages of the 8th century B.C. Jewish writings indicate that he was executed by King Manasseh who had him sawed in half.
If you read the biblical book of Jeremiah, then you will notice it depicts Jeremiah as a major prophet of Yahweh, the Israelite god. During Jeremiah’s lifetime, the nation of Judah was divided over by both religion and policy and there were many prophets that brought forth opposing messages from Yahweh. The Bible claims that Jeremiah fiercely preached the word of Yahweh against all opposition during those times and it eventually strengthened his authenticity. He was not shy about pointing out those who were prophesying lies.
Jeremiah gave warnings that Judah will suffer disaster from Yahweh because the people had rebelled against him as they began worshipping other gods. Not only that, they had adopted certain policies of Babylon that led to widespread social injustices.
Ezekiel conducted his ministry in both Babylon and Jerusalem during first few decades of the 6th century BC. For Ezekiel and his followers, these were terrible years as the Israelite nation and the tiny state of Judah was both eliminated by the Babylonians under the rule of Nebuchadrezzar. Jerusalem eventually surrendered in year 597 BC. However, the Israelites built a resistance which led to the city’s destruction following a long siege. This resulted most of the survivors getting deported.
Prior to the surrender of Jerusalem, Ezekiel was seen as a very effective priest. He was deported along with his followers to Babylonia and lived at Tel-abib (near Nippur). It was apparent that he was seen as someone with uncommon stature. Ezekiel’s first vision was the popular “throne-chariot” of God. This was followed up by many more prophesies.
All biblical accounts about Daniel claim that he was also taken captive by Babylon under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar around 604 B.C. This Babylonian captivity went on for some 70 years – something that God foretold using the prophet Jeremiah. During that time period, Daniel served in various governmental positions under the reign of several Babylonian as well as Medo-Persian rulers – among them were King Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Belshazzar, and Cyrus.
Sometime during the initial year under the rule Darius, Daniel began to understand this prophecy by the Prophet Jeremiah who forecasted his people would remain in captivity for 70 years. This took place as this 70 year stretch was coming to an end. It is assumed that Daniel was around 80 or 90 years old at this time. He obviously lived a very long life, but biblical accounts do not specify how old he actually was. Daniel authored the book of Daniel throughout the 6th century B.C.
We should also address how what the Bible refers to as false prophets, who are people that claim to speak on behalf of God, but really are not. And in addition to this, there are those people who are speaking as representatives of other gods as well. Perhaps the biggest example of this is when a showdown involving Elijah against over 400 prophets of Baal, the Canaanite god. In this instance, Elijah fully demonstrates that he is the only one who has the right to speak on behalf of the true God.
The post 4 Major Prophets in the Bible appeared first on Mind Guild.
MIT researchers recently employed a machine-learning algorithm to identify a new powerful antibiotic. This new drug has proven quite effective in treating many of the world’s most troublesome disease-causing bacteria, and this includes several strains that are known to be antibiotic resistant. This has been observed both in lab tests and using mice.
Yet again, we see artificial intelligence playing a huge role in modern medicine. This deep learning computer model is capable of sifting through over a hundred million various chemical compounds in just a few days. And it has been specifically designed to screen out antibiotics showing a potential of killing bacteria with mechanisms that differ from drugs that currently exist in the market.
“We wanted to develop a platform that would allow us to harness the power of artificial intelligence to usher in a new age of antibiotic drug discovery,” said James Collins, who is a Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science at the MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and Depart of Biological Engineering. “Our approach revealed this amazing molecule which is arguably one of the more powerful antibiotics that has been discovered.”
“The machine learning model can explore, in silico, large chemical spaces that can be prohibitively expensive for traditional experimental approaches,” claims Regina Barzilay, who is the Delta Electronics Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
Barzilay and Collins are the faculty co-leaders for the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (J-Clinic), are also the authors of study’s final report, which was recently posted in Cell.
Amazingly, medicine has not seen very many new antibiotic drugs over the last few decades. And most of those were simply spin-offs of drugs that already exist. One big reason for this is that existing methods of screening out new antibiotics have been very expensive. Not only do existing methods come with a huge cost, they are also very time consuming, and are also limited to a very narrow spectrum of drug classes.
“We’re facing a growing crisis around antibiotic resistance, and this situation is being generated by both an increasing number of pathogens becoming resistant to existing antibiotics, and an anemic pipeline in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries for new antibiotics,” Collins points out.
In order to identify completely novel compounds, this research team has created artificial intelligence that analyzes the molecular structure of compounds and then correlates them with traits that has the potential to kill off bacteria.
This method of employing predictive computer models to screen drugs has actually been around for a while. However, the older models weren’t accurate enough to create new drug discoveries. In these previous methods, molecules were treated as vectors that determined the absence or presence of certain groups of chemicals.
These new neural networks can identify these group representations automatically, and they can map molecules straight into continuous vectors that will accurately predict their properties. Watching this antibiotic identified by artificial intelligence is very exciting.
The post Powerful New Antibiotic Identified by Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Mind Guild.
There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has enjoying lots of notoriety over the past decade or so – and for good reason. Some of the buzz about it has been incredibly negative, which is totally normal. We have seen throughout history how most every new technology has been scrutinized. This is because we human beings are not crazy about change. The fact of the matter is that that are several amazing benefits of artificial intelligence.
While many people like using the term “artificial intelligence”, they do not always understand what it is or what it means. In the simplest of terms, AI is when machines can solve problems that have been solved by humans in the past. Thus, rather than using our natural intelligence to address issues in our lives, we instead use artificial intelligence to solve them.
With that said, let us examine some examples where AI is helping us – or will be helping us in the near future.
Recent statistics claim that one out of every six Americans now own a smart speaker of some sort. And Edison research tells us that this figure has risen by over 120% since 2017.
When you consider how this simplifies many computerized tasks, it is easy to see why the popularity has grown. Non-technical people and the elderly are finding computers much easier to use with this technology.
Super Targeted Advertising – While most of us detest the number of ads we are bombarded with on a daily basis, you have probably noticed how the majority of those ads are actually addressing our interests. This is because artificial intelligence is picking up on our search tendencies and cataloging the blogs and websites that we frequently visit.
As a result, when we navigate the web and social sites, we are seeing ads that pertain to our recent activities. This is actually a good thing for businesses – as they can get more bang for their buck on their marketing budget. It is also better for us because the things we are interested in are finding us rather than the other way about.
Computer Vision Will Revolutionize Surveillance – Computer vision has improved tremendously in the last few years. In fact, it has improved by over 70% since 2015. The biggest challenge with computer vision has always been the ability to pinpoint objects based on its accuracy to recognize pixels. There is also the speed at which computer visions algorithms can focus on a standardized image datasets that is used by the majority research facilities and is known as ImageNet. This average speed increased by an incredible 16 times within an 18 month period recently.
Many computer scientists see this increased ability to surveil society as having an amazing effect. For instance, the biggest problem with camera surveillance now is the amount of data to examine. Often times, criminals are long gone before crimes are even identified from this visual data. This will not be the case any longer. And when quantum computers come into play, we could possibly predict crimes before they even happen!
As you can see, there are many benefits of artificial intelligence when it is applied properly. We just mentioned a few of them above, but there are literally thousands of benefits to be experience from AI. Stay tuned.
The post The Amazing Benefits of Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Mind Guild.
For centuries, we humans have been enchanted by the mysterious life that lurks below the surface of the seas in our world. This curiosity is strengthened even more by the fact that that the majority of our oceans remained unexplored. It wasn’t until May of 1853 that the world’s very first aquarium was opened at the London Zoo. America shortly followed suit with an American aquarium that opened in New York City. Before long, the best aquariums in the world began taking shape.
It is from these humble beginnings that aquariums began to pop up all over the world. And of course, over that time they have dramatically improved and have utilized the latest technologies in designing incredible exhibits of this mysterious ocean life.
One notable innovation has been the “walk through” aspect of many of the world’s greatest aquariums. This design allows people to feel as if they have been thrust into the ocean’s worldview. Let us examine the 5 best aquariums in the world.
This amazing aquarium was first opened up to the public in the year 2005. This was made possible when one of the co-founders of Home Depot provided a $250 million grant for this project.
There are a couple of unique features that gives The Georgia Aquarium its earned reputation. The first is a massive and breathtaking 6.3 million gallon tank that houses the famous Ocean Voyager exhibit. The second feature is its exciting whale shark population. This Georgia Aquarium is the only one that houses whale sharks – outside of Asia.
People that have visited any of these high caliber aquariums fully realize what a remarkable experience can had at the Georgia Aquarium. On the other hand, if you have only been to local aquariums, then you will have life changing moment when you visit this exciting place.
One of the great features about the Dubai Aquarium is that it is actually located within a shopping mall. As of this writing, this amazing aquarium has the honor of being the biggest indoor suspended aquarium anywhere on Earth. It features an incredibly massive walk-through tank that contains almost 3 million gallons of water.
In all, it has around 140 marine species along with a stunning 33,000 individual sea creatures. Additionally, it has over 300 rays and sharks. And the cool thing is that this aquarium has created some awesome ways for visitors to get very close to these creatures. This makes it very unforgettable.
The Dubai Aquarium also offers some additional close encounters with ocean life. There are Cage Snorkeling Experiences, Shark Dives, the Shark Encounter, and even more. Kids are able to bolster their knowledge about sea creatures in the Underwater Zoo – which is very interactive.
This very popular aquarium was first opened in the year 2002. It offers the Kuroshio Sea which is among the most famous aquarium exhibit throughout the world. Its tank holds around 2 million gallons of water and features a huge acrylic glass panel. It is particularly well known for its manta rays and whale sharks. As mentioned earlier, very few of the world’s aquariums have whale sharks for the public to see.
In addition, this aquarium has successfully bred several whale sharks and manta rays while in captivity – this is something that no location had been able to achieve. And to round out your visit at this world aquarium, there are lots of interactive tours and activities.
This is actually privately-owned aquarium that is located in Western Australia and is on the famous and beautiful Hillary’s Boat Harbor – which is about 30 minutes from downtown Perth. It features an underwater aquarium which is considerable different from the other best aquariums in the world.
While it is certainly dedicated to offering a stunning array of marine animals, it also participates in marine animal conservation and rehabilitation. It is here where one can check out the world’s largest living coral exhibit that is absolutely teeming with brilliant corals and tropical fish.
The most massive of its aquarium tanks offer not only sharks and stingrays; it also has some enormous sea turtles. And these can be viewed from its mind blowing moving walkway as you travel through its underwater tunnel.
Valencia’s fabulous L’Oceanographic aquarium feature amazing architecture which sets the stage for your visit into Europe’s most massive largest indoor/outdoor aquarium. There you will experience an amazing education about the conservation and general knowledge of the world’s marine environment.
Unlike many other world exhibits, Oceanographic Aquarium has developed created some very carefully constructed habitats. All of these habitats are laid out over nine underwater towers that are designed to mimic the actual ones that exist in the world’s oceans.
Their biggest aquarium tank contains some 1.8 million gallons of water. This is where people are able to get close to sharks, whales, manta rays, and much more.
There is also a remarkable and unique arctic tank that contains families of beluga whales. And finally there is the massive dolphinarium. This is definitely the aquarium to visit if you want to observe your most favorite marine mammals.
While all of the best aquariums in the world can offer magnificent displays, they will also teach people how underwater ecology on our planets actually works. Most of these are operated by some of world’s finest marine scientists who happen to be heavily involved with vital marine conservation projects, so the admission fee that you pay to visit them will go a long way in helping the world’s sea creatures. So it is a win-win for everyone.
The post The 5 Best Aquariums in the World appeared first on Mind Guild.
What is the Difference Between Purpose and Goals? Find Your True Calling Find your true calling Many of us have goals, but how are th...
