Tiny gaming (2021.04.08) Photoshoot by me
Bills provide solutions to record homelessness and worsening eviction crisis
In response to Mayor Adams’ executive order suspending the rule that requires individuals to stay in a homeless shelter for 90 consecutive days before qualifying for a CityFHEPS housing voucher, the New York City Council, homeless services providers and advocates called on the Mayor to sign all of the recently-passed Council bills into law. The four bills were passed by the Council on May 25 with votes of 41 to 7, far more than a veto-proof majority.
First heard in January, the bills were overwhelmingly approved by the Council after nearly one year of inaction by the Administration to eliminate the 90-day rule, despite first pledging to end it in June 2022. As the city continued to welcome tens of thousands of people seeking asylum in the U.S. throughout the past year, the Council continued to call for the Administration to eliminate the rule in statements, hearings, and reports, as a solution to better assist New Yorkers in transitioning out of the shelter system to permanent housing.
According to data for the first four months of Fiscal Year 2023 in the most recent Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report, the average length of stay in shelter was 802 days for adult families, 485 days for families with children, and 441 days for single adults. The Mayor’s Housing Blueprint estimates that it cost the city nearly $8,773 per month to house a family of two in the shelter system in 2022. A CityFHEPS voucher for the same family would cost a maximum of $2,387, and likely less, resulting in a lower total annual expense.
At a time of record homelessness, the Administration has also left thousands of apartments vacant. It has failed to place homeless New Yorkers into over 2,000 vacant supportive housing apartments, while cutting funds from and understaffing the agencies responsible for making the placements. It has also cut funding from NYCHA to help fill vacant apartments, when over 6,500 remain empty and unavailable for tenants. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s administration has failed to intervene as the number of evictions has skyrocketed, surpassing 100,000 cases in the courts.
“Passing legislation to reform city policies that have blocked New Yorkers’ access to CityFHEPS housing vouchers was a critical and long overdue step to help people move out of shelters, find and maintain stable housing, and reduce homelessness,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “The 90-day rule is just one of several counterproductive barriers that the Administration failed to take action to eliminate, leaving too many New Yorkers stuck in shelters far longer than necessary. The efforts to transition people from homeless shelters to permanent housing have been inadequate, straining the City’s shelter capacity under additional pressures. While we welcome the Administration finally seeming to drop its opposition to end the 90-day rule, the Council’s legislation importantly codifies the change and provides a more comprehensive approach to remove other obstacles to housing vouchers that can help protect New Yorkers. The only reliable path forward to truly confront the city’s eviction and homelessness crises is for the Mayor to sign the entire package of legislation.”
“The policies and systems we have in place right now to address homelessness within our city do not work,” said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala. “Rather than reforming the system to prevent families from becoming homeless, our current policy is to force New Yorkers into the shelter system before we agree to help them. It doesn’t make sense and the City Council acknowledged that. We collectively took a stand and passed a package of bills aimed at addressing the issue. I ask the Mayor to join the City Council in putting the needs of New Yorkers first.”
“We are at a critical juncture in our city’s housing and homelessness crisis, with record levels of individuals and families affected, especially as we welcome new New Yorkers,” said Council Member Pierina Sanchez. “My district knows the heartbreaking consequences firsthand. One in ten households of Bronx community district 5 faced eviction last year. This has meant more children forced to commute over 90 minutes from shelters in Queens or Brooklyn to the Bronx, severing vital social bonds and support networks that are crucial for their development. As we welcome new New Yorkers, we need solutions that ease our over-burdened systems and stabilize our communities. This is why our Council passed Int 893 and Int 894, which position CityFHEPS as an upstream eviction prevention tool. Int. 893 would end the requirement that a family become homeless before they are eligible for a voucher, keeping families in their homes and out of shelter. Int. 894 will ease work and income requirements, again, preventing folks from entering shelter in the first place. These bills are fiscally prudent. Per the Mayor’s Housing Blueprint, it cost the city nearly $8,773 per month to house a family of two in the shelter system in 2022. A CityFHEPS voucher for the same family would cost a maximum of $2,387, and probably less, resulting in a lower total annual expense. Signing these bills would represent commitment to fighting for housing and against homelessness. I urge the Mayor to sign these bills into law.”
“A comfortable, reliable home is the essential pillar of a dignified life, and a key foundation of true public safety, not to mention public health,” said Council Member Tiffany Cabán. “The bills recently passed by Council, taken together, constitute an important step toward a city where the purpose of the housing system is guaranteeing all New Yorkers housing, not maximizing profits for corporate landlords and billionaire developers. In the interest of safety, health, and dignity, the Mayor must move swiftly to sign this critical package of bills into law.”
The bills, which include elimination of the rule that requires individuals to stay in a homeless shelter for 90 consecutive days before qualifying for a CityFHEPS housing voucher, also help ensure vouchers can prevent evictions, do not undermine economic advancement, and are adequately valued to include utility costs.
Introduction 878-A, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, would remove shelter stay as a precondition to CityFHEPS eligibility. This would remove eligibility barriers, reduce lengths of stay in the shelter system and prevent new shelter entrants. [1]
Introduction 893-A, sponsored by Council Member Pierina Sanchez, would remove certain eligibility restrictions for CityFHEPS to allow applicants at risk of eviction or experiencing homelessness access to vouchers. [2]
Introduction 894-A, sponsored by Council Member Pierina Sanchez, would change the eligibility for a CityFHEPS voucher from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 50 percent of the area median income and remove work and source of income requirements that make it difficult for individuals to pursue employment and housing concurrently. [3]
Introduction 229-A, sponsored by Council Member Tiffany Cabán, would prohibit the Department of Social Services from deducting a utility allowance from the maximum amount of a CityFHEPS voucher, except in limited circumstances. [4]
Alongside the CityFHEPS bills, the Council has pushed for increased funding for the city’s affordable housing capital budget, right-to-counsel program, and agencies responsible for homelessness and housing, like the Department of Homeless Services, Human Resources Administration, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and New York City Housing Authority.
“Low-income and immigrant New Yorkers are struggling to deal with the increasingly drastic affordability and shelter crises – but with the bold action taken by the City Council, there is a path forward to permanent housing and self-sufficiency,” said Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of New York Immigration Coalition. “Mayor Adams is rightfully ending the 90-day rule for the CityFHEPS voucher program, but this step is not enough to address the magnitude of our current situation. If we continue putting forward half-measures and band-aid fixes, we are destined to perpetuate the longstanding problems of our City’s overburdened shelter system. Mayor Adams must sign the entire City Council package, to expand eligibility to vouchers and help New Yorkers skip entering the shelter system altogether. With these cost-effective policies in place, New York families will be able to move out of the shelters and streets, and into permanent housing where they can begin to build the lives they deserve.”
“We must remain focused on implementing solutions that prevent homelessness, rapidly rehouse homeless New Yorkers, and avoid petty distractions in the form of a Mayoral veto,” said Celina Trowell, Homelessness Union Organizer at VOCAL-NY. “If we had a real partner at Gracie Mansion, the administration would have ended the abhorrent 90-day rule unilaterally instead of the Council having to force the Mayor’s hand by passing Int. 878-A. We hope this executive action honors the full scope of Int. 878-A and strongly urge the Mayor to sign the CityFHEPS reforms passed by the Council, including Int. 229-A, Int. 894-A and Int. 893-A.”
“Temporary suspension of a bad policy is fine, but permanent legislation to end it is much better,” said Jose Lopez, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York. “We urge the Mayor to immediately sign the Council’s strong CityFHEPS package, which includes several measures that will help get New Yorkers out of the streets and shelter system, and into permanent housing.”
“We welcome this decision by the Adams Administration to suspend the arbitrary and punitive ‘90-day rule,’ an overhaul we have long advocated for,” said Judith Goldiner, attorney-in-charge of the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “However, this should not supplant enacting the package of comprehensive CityFHEPS reforms recently passed by the Council that would improve housing stability for the thousands of New Yorkers who are experiencing or on the verge of homelessness. Following Albany’s failure to advance any significant housing policy this session to address the state’s unprecedented housing crisis, it’s now incumbent on Mayor Adams to sign these crucial bills into law immediately.”
“While we applaud the Mayor’s decision to take quick executive action to eliminate the 90-day rule, this reform alone is not enough, said Catherine Trapani, Executive Director of Homeless Services United. “Our City is facing an enormous crisis and we need the response of our government to match the magnitude of the need. The package of bills passed by the City Council not only addresses the 90-day rule but also makes several other critical changes to streamline eligibility for housing assistance for those living in shelter while also improving our ability to prevent people from having to enter shelter in the first place. Taken together, once enacted, these reforms will greatly reduce pressure on our overburdened shelter system. We urge the mayor to sign the Council’s bills and move to implement all of them as quickly as possible.”
“Housing vouchers are one of the best tools we have to support homeless families, but we all know they can be more effective. This crisis requires creative solutions and I was proud to work with the City Council on historic legislation to improve CityFHEPS vouchers — especially repealing the 90-Day Rule — so we can help homeless New Yorkers move out of shelter faster, creating more capacity for those seeking asylum and saving the city millions of dollars,” said Christine C. Quinn, President & CEO of Win, the largest provider of shelter and supportive services for homeless families with children in New York City & the nation. “While I applaud Mayor Adams for repealing the outdated, illogical 90-Day Rule more must be done to break the cycle of homelessness — and I stand with the Council in urging him to sign the entire package of housing voucher reforms.”
“The groundbreaking CityFHEPS bill package passed by the New York City Council on May 25th provides critical improvements to the efficacy of the voucher program for New Yorkers in need of housing and at risk of eviction. These four pieces of legislation will together expand eligibility, eliminate requirements that currently hinder efficient access to assistance, and ensure that the full value of the voucher can be utilized. While we appreciate the administration’s move to eliminate the 90-day waiting period for those in DHS shelters to apply for CityFHEPS, this is just one of several critical changes these bills would enact. We urge Mayor Adams to sign the entire package into law and implement it as quickly as possible. Multiple tools are needed to successfully combat homelessness, and effective vouchers that allow households to both obtain and maintain housing in the community is an essential one of those tools. As we celebrate the City Council’s bold move to alleviate homelessness, we recognize that the City cannot do this work alone. The State and Federal governments must provide support to ensure these efforts can be sustained into the future,” said Frederick Shack, Chief Executive Officer of Urban Pathways. - - City Hall NY
Blog Admin K, notes: [1] Imagine seeing your financial situation clearly spell next unhoused crisis entry, having the proof of this and still not be able to be approved for a housing voucher because the city requires that you go through homelessness for that approval. I went through this myself and I'm currently in over $20k in rent debt since I can't afford to pay because I had to stay in this apartment. There wasn't a lot of legal help and still isn't around this. This is literally abusive and torturous. This measure can help against this. Governments shouldn't be legalizing forcing others to experience being unhoused for housing resources. [2] This is great because it opens eligibility standards to include people who are in such debt that they clearly need financial assistance with housing before legally allowing them to be sent to the streets only to overpolice them and provide them with fucked up medical care. [3] Again, the less requirements for people to receive housing help because the government and city can account for people by providing and not ask about income the better since most of the housing provided are still beyond "affordable" housing. [4] So would this then prevent people who are receiving help with utilities from the city to have this remove how much that can receive for overall housing assistance? If so, awesome. If not, feel free to add your comments and opinions on these posts.
Source: council.nyc.gov
Official U.S PlayStation Magazine #47, Aug 2001 - ‘Final Fantasy’ cover.
what a time
if anyone’s interested, here’s a direct link to the most recently passed n.y. bill on reparations titled 2619–A: ‘Establishes the New York state community commission on reparations remedies‘. it now needs signage from the governer for approval.
Hoodoo Swim Story Aesthetic: Retro-Afrofuturistic Inter-dimensional Space Traveller
The split personalities of an AI consciousness can result in strikingly different visual manifestations
New York would create a commission to consider reparations to address the lingering, negative effects of slavery under a bill passed by the state Legislature on Thursday.
"We want to make sure we are looking at slavery and its legacies," said state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages before the floor debate. "This is about beginning the process of healing our communities. There still is generational trauma that people are experiencing. This is just one step forward."
The state Assembly passed the bill about three hours after spirited debate on Thursday. The state Senate passed the measure hours later, and the bill will be sent to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for consideration.
New York would be following the lead of California, which became the first state to form a reparations task force in 2020. That group recommended a formal apology from the state on its legacy of racism and discriminatory policies and the creation of an agency to provide a wide range of services for Black residents. They did not recommend specific payments amounts for reparations.[1]
The New York legislation would create a commission that would examine the extent to which the federal and state governments supported the institution of slavery.[2] It would also address persistent economic, political and educational disparities experienced by Black people in the state today.
According to the New York bill, the first enslaved Africans arrived at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, then a Dutch settlement, around the 1620s and helped build the infrastructure of New York City. While the state Legislature enacted a statute that gave freedom to enslaved Africans in New York in 1817, it wasn't implemented until 10 years later.[3]
"I'm concerned we're opening a door that was closed in New York State almost 200 years ago,"[4] said Republican state Assemblymember Andy Gooddell during floor debates on the bill. Gooddell, who voted against the measure, said he supports existing efforts to bring equal opportunity to all and would like to "continue on that path rather than focus on reparations."[5]
In California, the reparations task force said in their report that the state is estimated to be responsible for more than $500 billion due to decades of over-policing, mass incarceration and redlining that kept Black families from receiving loans and living in certain neighborhoods. California's state budget last year was $308 billion.[6] Reparations in New York could also come with a hefty price tag.
The commission would be required to deliver a report one year after its first meeting. The panel's recommendations, which could potentially include monetary compensation for Black people,[7] would be non-binding. The legislature would not be required to take the recommendations up for a vote.
New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who is the first Black person to hold the position, called the legislation "historic."[8]
Heastie, the governor and the legislative leader in the state Senate would each appoint three members to the commission.[9]
Other state legislatures that have considered studying reparations include New Jersey and Vermont, but none have passed legislation yet.[10] The Chicago suburb in Evanston, Illinois, became the first city to make reparations available to Black residents through a $10 million housing project in 2021.[11]
On the federal level, a decades-old proposal to create a commission studying reparations has stalled in Congress.[12]
Some critics of reparations by states say that while the idea is well-intentioned, it can be misguided.[13]
William Darity, a professor of public policy and African and African American Studies at Duke University said even calling them reparations is "presumptuous," since it's virtually impossible for states to meet the potentially hefty payouts.[14]
He said the federal government has the financial capacity to pay true reparations and that it should be the party that is responsible.[15]
"My deeper fear with all of these piecemeal projects is that they actually will become a block against federal action because there will be a number of people who will say there's no need for a federal program," Darity said. "If you end up settling for state and local initiatives, you settle for much less than what is owed."[16] K, Blog Admin notes: [1] This is useful because it's attempting institutionalization of the divestment in needing money to solve the issue of slavery reparations and instead aims to provide a means to account for such a system by way of adhering to necessities. This seems like a legislative path to that. A formal apology is well overdue so the creation of these institutions, paired with divestment in money (which are literal enslavement notes) makes for said apology more effective and honest.
[2] Correct, slavery is handled and supported to this day at a state and federal level. Any strategies aimed at changing this enslavement system requires changes at both state and federal levels, otherwise what's the point? [3] Legislature like the one in 1817 what it did was make enslavement go covert while continuing to operate with the same engine. Which is why we need to correct any semblance of it existing by abolishing institutions that were created from slavery and repurpose ones sabotaged by past and existing pro slavery legislature. Reparations fixes itself to do just that.
[4] Read [3] because slavery's door was never shut. There's never been enough evidence, something I hope this legislature corrects, with regards to presenting when this "end of slavery" ever occurred. As far as everyone experiencing this god awful system is concerned slavery continued just fine.
[5] Slavery as a system created such a historical inequivalence for all involved that a path has never honestly been formed to claim we're all equal. How can we "continue" on something we've never even established?
[6] Translation: The enslavers who own this system over us and invested so much in slavery can't put their money where their labor is. This is our issue how? Legislature like this will help correct that.
[7] I would hope that this conversation around monetary compensation and reparations from enslavement systems involves a divestment plan from a currency note that has factual connections to and will continue to be looked at as an enslaver note to those who study slavery historically. So this might look like an institution that can help communities divest from ever even needing to use money due to their systemic connections to slavery.
[8] This legislature is needed and overdue, I wouldn't call it historic yet. People within government tend to have a low bar for what's historic and epic.
[9] Not enough people. 3 is not enough. This is a ridiculously low amount considering how easy it can be to sabotage this work as they have in the past, this increases that chance. They need more community input. Otherwise, what's the point?
[10] Further implicating these states with systemic slavery.
[11] Not enough for similar reasons that a slaver creating their own paper and telling you to live off of it is not enough to stop slavery.
[12] So the one thing that did have a semblance of working, you let it rock there, doing nothing? Seems like an institutional trend.
[13] How? Explain using evidence in the same way we abolitionists use evidence to prove slavery is not needed.
[14] Agreed, and they don't have the capacity to make their enslaver dollars mean much into the future. Money temporarily becomes pay outs which are like the apology letter you include system changes with otherwise its just enslavers recycling their image.. AGAIN.
[15] Agreed, but I hope this doesn't mean shift in focus from what needs to structurally change at a state level and what these types of legislature can do. I think federal changes should come with state strategizing as well.
[16] see [14] and [15]
NGC 1499 | California Nebula
The California Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. [**]
Jens enjoys his Dinner Treatie and Voigt helps with Excellent Gnawing and a Face-Hug!
lmao that hop
Could New York Lead In Movement For Reparations?
By Patricia Battle
In a Q&A with state Sen. Jabari Brisport, the lawmaker discusses establishing a commission that would explore reparations for Black New Yorkers.
CASNY: Your bill would establish a commission to consider how to implement reparations for slavery in New York state. What is your vision for the commission? Who will be on the commission, and what are the technicalities of it?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: So my vision for this commission is to engage in a robust statewide discussion on the harms of slavery and the ripple effects of slavery beyond in New York state. So they’ll be tasked with examining all the laws, the economic motives and all things related to the slave trade in New York state and any interactions that it would have had with other states. In terms of who gets on the commission, it is a community-led commission, which is very important. It’s an 11-person commission with five political appointees, one each from the governor, and the leaders of both houses in both parties for that five, and then six from community-led reparations groups, two from the Institute of the Black World, two from N’Cobra, which is the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, and two from the December 12th Movement.
CASNY: What led you to create a bill that would establish this commission? Has there been an increased call for reparations from the public?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: What led me to this was really seeing the incredible work that former Assembly Member Charles Barron had been working to get this through and wanting to ensure that we actually saw it passed in both houses of the state government. But I’ve also always been a strong supporter of reparations for years, and this is one area where the federal government should be doing it, but it’s not doing it, and so individual states need to lead. And New York state is in a position to lead on this.
CASNY: What’s holding up the bill in the state Senate? The bill is still in committee, and the chamber has never voted it out of committee in previous sessions, even though it passed the Assembly.
Sen. Jabari Brisport: This is a bill that will begin a process of repair for hundreds of years of racism and anti-Black legislation policies and society. And we wanted to make sure we took every step possible to be very clean and clear on what we were doing to be very thorough, and I am working hard to make sure we do it, that we pass it this month in Black History Month.
CASNY: Native Americans and Japanese Americans have received reparations in the United States in the form of a public apology and compensation from the government. What does reparations look like to you for Black Americans?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: It’s those things and more. I mean, the apology is absolutely necessary, financial compensation is absolutely necessary, but it’s not limited to those. We must work to make sure these things never happen again. And that means changes to education, especially the history that is taught, the correct history. Things that help to restore the deep wealth imbalances, and that may not just be immediate financial compensation but access to building things that others were entitled to. So it can take a variety of forms, and we’ve seen many attempts to start reparations like in California or in other municipalities around the state. And so what this commission is to do is after a year of vigorous research and engagement with communities across New York is (to have) a list of proposals. I think in California, after their commission, they produced a 600-page report of various proposals. So I’m expecting to see something very robust.
CASNY: How long do you think it would take to disperse reparations in the state?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: That’s up to the commission, because reparations is not just financial. So if there are policy changes, policy changes can be done on a dime, but also in terms of money, there’s no fiscal commitments in this bill. It’s up to the commission. But you know, New York is one of the richest states in America, and billionaires were able to enrich themselves by tens of billions of dollars in the first several months to a year of COVID-19. So it’s definitely possible for billions of dollars to move in the state.
CASNY: Why do you think it is taking a long time for the government to find a way to compensate Black Americans for slavery?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: I think it’s extremely complicated. And also, I think a lot of politicians have not found the political will. And in terms of the complication, it’s widely accepted that it’s not simply just slavery leading up to 1865, but that Black Americans have been systematically disenfranchised. Even with all the ripple effects of slavery, whether it was Jim Crow, it’s going to be sharecropping immediately after the Jim Crow era, redlining, and for-profit policing and prison systems. Even now, with the political moment we’re in with the protests over Tyre Nichols, it’s worth remembering that a lot of our police force had their roots in slave-catching patrols. And so slavery extends into today. So I think it’s addressing this much larger question of not only how do we repair from slavery but also repair from slavery and the aftereffects? And then also just the lack of political will from a lot of politicians to really dig into this and make it a priority.
CASNY: How will the commission determine which Black people in the state receive reparations since not every Black person in America has lineage that ties back to slavery in this country? For example, people who immigrated to America from the Caribbean after slavery may not have ancestors that were enslaved in America, but they still deal with the effects of slavery in their everyday lives.
Sen. Jabari Brisport: We need to have a discussion on what the harms were specifically. But, you know, it’s important not to preemptively divide ourselves based on where the slave ships dropped us off. These were deeply intricate and connected systems of operation. And there were people in America and institutions that benefited from the slave trade of sugar in the Caribbean, just as there are people in the Caribbean and economies that benefited from the slave trade of cotton in America. There were ports, and slaves themselves were traded back and forth between the Caribbean and America. These are extremely intricate systems. And that’s part of what the commission does is just a study, with a broad brush, on how these were connected and make recommendations as to what makes sense based on the research.
CASNY: What effects from slavery do you see present in New York state?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: That’s wide ranging from very blatant things, like the fact that we still have streets that are named after slave owners in New York state, to the way that redlining has played out in New York state and from the years after, to just acknowledging that New York state is also home to Wall Street. And we had a situation where slaves were literally bought and sold as capital just blocks down the street from it. And we can see our current financial system disproportionately empowers white Americans over Black Americans.
CASNY: As you may know, New York City Mayor Eric Adams backed the push for a reparations bill in Albany, and he said something really interesting: “We need to zero in on some of those corporations and companies that the foundation of their wealth came from slavery.” Will this commission address the companies in New York that profited off of slavery and, if so, how?
Sen. Jabari Brisport: In New York, we’re surrounded by companies that have profited off slavery, from Domino Sugar to major Wall Street banks and insurance companies. The commission has a wide scope to conduct research on any entities that profited or engaged with slavery directly or profited from it as an institution, so those corporations would be in the scope.
Source: cityandstateny.com
Two studies give us a glimpse into our ancestors’ microbiome — you know, those trillions of bacteria that live in the human gut.
Image: Maria Fabrizio for NPR
And the take-home message of the studies is clear: Western diets and modern-day hygiene have wiped a few dozen species right out of our digestive tracts. One missing microbe helps metabolize carbohydrates. Other bygone bacteria act as prebiotics. And another communicates with our immune system.
In other words, Americans’ digestive tracts look like barren deserts compared with the lush, tropical rain forest found inside indigenous people.
“The concern is that we’re losing keystone species,” says microbiologist M. Gloria Dominguez-Bello, at the New York University School of Medicine. “That’s a hypothesis, but we haven’t proved it.”
Dominguez-Bello and her colleagues are the first to characterize the gut bacteria of people completely isolated from modern medicine, food and culture.
In 2009, her colleagues and a medical team with the Venezuelan government took a helicopter to a remote Yanomami tribe at the border of Venezuela and Brazil. Members of the tribe have lived as hunter-gatherers for more than 11,000 years in a mountainous area of the Amazon rain forest.
The visit was the first time that particular tribe had direct contact with modern society. “They knew about us, but we didn’t know about them,” Dominguez-Bello says. “They had names [in their language] for our helicopters and planes.”
Dominguez-Bello’s colleagues took samples from 12 of the villagers’ fecal matter. Back in New York City, the team used DNA analysis to figure out which species thrived in the hunter-gatherers’ guts.
The biggest surprise was how many different species were present in the Yanomami’s microbiome. The tribe had about 50 percent more ecological diversity than the average American has, Dominguez-Bello and her colleagues reported Friday in the journal Science Advances.
Continue to Article by MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF for NPR
Source: NPR
The Invisible Universe Of The Human Microbiome
Never seen this before but it’s a really cute introduction into the microbiome and its functions as a part of the human body. Peep! The lil microbiomes are so adorably drawn. I wish we had more animations like these when I was learning biology. The way they used art direction to simplify this science enough to pull you in for more is also amazing <3
As the human species evolved over the last six million years, our resident microbes did the same, adapting to vastly different conditions on our skin and in our mouths, noses, genitalia and guts.
A team of Duke University scientists has tracked how this microbial evolution unfolded, using mathematical tools originally developed for geologists.
The scientists identified microbes that diverged into new species as they colonized one area of the body after another. Their study provides a new way of looking at complicated microbial data to tease out the evolution of bacteria associated with our bodies.
The research, published in the open access journal eLife, could prompt new theories and treatments for managing these bacterial communities, collectively known as the human microbiome, to improve our personal health.
Justin D Silverman, Alex D Washburne, Sayan Mukherjee, Lawrence A David. A phylogenetic transform enhances analysis of compositional microbiota data. eLife, 2017; 6 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.21887
Duke scientists have identified microbes that diverged into new species to specialized in colonizing one area after another of the human body. The new analysis used mathematical tools originally developed for geologists. Credit: Jonathan Fuller, Duke University
Source: sciencedaily.com
by Adriana Marais , Betony Adams , Andrew K. Ringsmuth , Marco Ferretti , J. Michael Gruber , Ruud Hendrikx , Maria Schuld , Samuel L. Smith , Ilya Sinayskiy , Tjaart P. J. Krüger , Francesco Petruccione and Rienk van Grondelle Published:14 November 2018
Abstract
Biological systems are dynamical, constantly exchanging energy and matter with the environment in order to maintain the non-equilibrium state synonymous with living. Developments in observational techniques have allowed us to study biological dynamics on increasingly small scales. Such studies have revealed evidence of quantum mechanical effects, which cannot be accounted for by classical physics, in a range of biological processes. Quantum biology is the study of such processes, and here we provide an outline of the current state of the field, as well as insights into future directions.
1. Introduction
Quantum mechanics is the fundamental theory that describes the properties of subatomic particles, atoms, molecules, molecular assemblies and possibly beyond. Quantum mechanics operates on the nanometre and sub-nanometre scales and is at the basis of fundamental life processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and vision. In quantum mechanics, all objects have wave-like properties, and when they interact, quantum coherence describes the correlations between the physical quantities describing such objects due to this wave-like nature.
In photosynthesis, respiration and vision, the models that have been developed in the past are fundamentally quantum mechanical. They describe energy transfer and electron transfer in a framework based on surface hopping. The dynamics described by these models are often ‘exponential’ and follow from the application of Fermi’s Golden Rule [1,2]. As a consequence of averaging the rate of transfer over a large and quasi-continuous distribution of final states the calculated dynamics no longer display coherences and interference phenomena. In photosynthetic reaction centres and light-harvesting complexes, oscillatory phenomena were observed in numerous studies performed in the 1990s and were typically ascribed to the formation of vibrational or mixed electronic–vibrational wavepackets. The reported detection of the remarkably long-lived (660 fs and longer) electronic quantum coherence during excitation energy transfer in a photosynthetic system revived interest in the role of ‘non-trivial’ quantum mechanics to explain the fundamental life processes of living organisms [3]. However, the idea that quantum phenomena—like coherence—may play a functional role in macroscopic living systems is not new. In 1932, 10 years after quantum physicist Niels Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on the atomic structure, he delivered a lecture entitled ‘Light and Life’ at the International Congress on Light Therapy in Copenhagen [4]. This raised the question of whether quantum theory could contribute to a scientific understanding of living systems. In attendance was an intrigued Max Delbrück, a young physicist who later helped to establish the field of molecular biology and won a Nobel Prize in 1969 for his discoveries in genetics [5].
All living systems are made up of molecules, and fundamentally all molecules are described by quantum mechanics. Traditionally, however, the vast separation of scales between systems described by quantum mechanics and those studied in biology, as well as the seemingly different properties of inanimate and animate matter, has maintained some separation between the two bodies of knowledge. Recently, developments in experimental techniques such as ultrafast spectroscopy [6], single molecule spectroscopy [7–11], time-resolved microscopy [12–14] and single particle imaging [15–18] have enabled us to study biological dynamics on increasingly small length and time scales, revealing a variety of processes necessary for the function of the living system that depend on a delicate interplay between quantum and classical physical effects.
Quantum biology is the application of quantum theory to aspects of biology for which classical physics fails to give an accurate description. In spite of this simple definition, there remains debate over the aims and role of the field in the scientific community. This article offers a perspective on where quantum biology stands today, and identifies potential avenues for further progress in the field.
2. What is quantum biology?
Biology, in its current paradigm, has had wide success in applying classical models to living systems. In most cases, subtle quantum effects on (inter)molecular scales do not play a determining role in overall biological function. Here, ‘function’ is a broad concept. For example: How do vision and photosynthesis work on a molecular level and on an ultrafast time scale? How does DNA, with stacked nucleotides separated by about 0.3 nm, deal with UV photons? How does an enzyme catalyse an essential biochemical reaction? How does our brain with neurons organized on a sub-nanometre scale deal with such an amazing amount of information? How do DNA replication and expression work? All these biological functions should, of course, be considered in the context of evolutionary fitness. The differences between a classical approximation and a quantum-mechanical model are generally thought to be negligible in these cases, even though at the basis every process is entirely governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. What happens at the ill-defined border between the quantum and classical regimes? More importantly, are there essential biological functions that ‘appear’ classical but in reality are not? The role of quantum biology is precisely to expose and unravel this connection.
Fundamentally, all matter—animate or inanimate—is quantum mechanical, being constituted of ions, atoms and/or molecules whose equilibrium properties are accurately determined by quantum theory. As a result, it could be claimed that all of biology is quantum mechanical. However, this definition does not address the dynamical nature of biological processes, or the fact that a classical description of intermolecular dynamics seems often sufficient. Quantum biology should, therefore, be defined in terms of the physical ‘correctness’ of the models used and the consistency in the explanatory capabilities of classical versus quantum mechanical models of a particular biological process.
As we investigate biological systems on nanoscales and larger, we find that there exist processes in biological organisms, detailed in this article, for which it is currently thought that a quantum mechanical description is necessary to fully characterize the behaviour of the relevant subsystem. While quantum effects are difficult to observe on macroscopic time and length scales, processes necessary for the overall function and therefore survival of the organism seem to rely on dynamical quantum-mechanical effects at the intermolecular scale. It is precisely the interplay between these time and length scales that quantum biology investigates with the aim to build a consistent physical picture.
Grand hopes for quantum biology may include a contribution to a definition and understanding of life, or to an understanding of the brain and consciousness. However, these problems are as old as science itself, and a better approach is to ask whether quantum biology can contribute to a framework in which we can repose these questions in such a way as to get new answers. The study of biological processes operating efficiently at the boundary between the realms of quantum and classical physics is already contributing to improved physical descriptions of this quantum-to-classical transition.
More immediately, quantum biology promises to give rise to design principles for biologically inspired quantum nanotechnologies, with the ability to perform efficiently at a fundamental level in noisy environments at room temperature and even make use of these ‘noisy environments’ to preserve or even enhance the quantum properties [19,20]. Through engineering such systems, it may be possible to test and quantify the extent to which quantum effects can enhance processes and functions found in biology, and ultimately answer whether these quantum effects may have been purposefully selected in the design of the systems. Importantly, however, quantum bioinspired technologies can also be intrinsically useful independently from the organisms that inspired them.
3. Quantum mechanics: an introduction for biologists
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the success of classical physics in describing all observable phenomena had begun to be challenged in certain respects. In 1900, as a means to explain the spectral energy distribution of blackbody radiation, Planck introduced the idea that interactions between matter and electromagnetic radiation of frequency ν are quantized, occurring only in integer multiples of hν, where h is the fundamental Planck constant. Five years later, Einstein further developed the notion of energy quantization by extending it to include the photon, a quantum of light. This concept is illustrated by the photoelectric effect where light incident on a material leads to the emission of electrons. It is, however, not the intensity of the light that determines this emission but rather its frequency. Even low-intensity light of a suitable frequency will lead to electrons being emitted whereas high-intensity light below this threshold frequency will have no effect. Einstein explained this by proposing that in this instance light behaves as a particle rather than a wave, with discrete energies hν that can be transferred to the electrons in a material. Bohr’s 1913 model of the hydrogen atom, with its discrete energy states, and Compton’s 1923 work with X-rays all contributed to the beginning of a new era in modern physics. These ways of explaining blackbody radiation and the photoelectric effect, as well as atomic stability and spectroscopy, led to the development of quantum mechanics, a theory that has proved extremely successful in predicting and describing microphysical systems [21,22].
Whereas Planck and Einstein began the quantum revolution by postulating that radiation also demonstrates particle-like behaviour, de Broglie, in 1923, made the complementary suggestion that matter itself has wave-like properties, with a wavelength related to its momentum through Planck’s constant. This hypothesis suggested that matter waves should undergo diffraction, which was subsequently proved by experiments that demonstrated that particles such as electrons showed interference patterns. Schrödinger built on this observation in his formulation of quantum mechanics, which describes the dynamics of microscopic systems through the use of wave mechanics. The formulation of quantum mechanics allows for the investigation of a number of important facets of a quantum state: its mathematical description at any time t, how to calculate different physical quantities associated with this state and how to describe the evolution of the state in time [21,22].
Source: royalsocietypublishing.org
July 2, 2013 by Emerging Technology from the arXiv
Teleportation is one of the more extraordinary phenomena in the quantum world. It allows a quantum object, such as a photon or electron, to travel from one location to another without passing through the space in between.
Teleportation is a standard procedure in any decent quantum mechanics laboratory. Physicists use it on a daily basis for quantum communication and quantum computation.
If that sounds exotic, you ain’t seen nothing yet; teleportation is about to get a whole lot weirder. That’s because until now, physicists have only been able to teleport single particles, one at a time. Today, Christine Muschik at the Mediterranean Technology Park in Barcelona and a bunch of mates say they’ve worked out how to teleport quantum stuff continuously.
That will allow them to manipulate one quantum particle while watching the effects occur in another particle elsewhere. That’s essentially quantum remote control.
The basic set up is a straightforward extension of traditional teleportation. This is possible because of a strange quantum phenomenon known as entanglement, which occurs when two quantum particles are so deeply linked that they share the same existence.
In mathematical terms, both particles are described by a single wave function. So any manipulation of one particle automatically influences the other instantly, regardless of the distance between them.
Teleportation occurs when the first of these entangled particles interacts with another quantum particle, let’s call it X. This interaction immediately influences the state of the second entangled particle.
The trick that physicists have perfected is to arrange this interaction so that the second entangled particle ends up in the same state as the quantum particle called X. This isn’t just a very similar state, it is an identical state—no measurement could distinguish this particle from the original X. When this happens, X has been teleported.
The new technique works in a similar way. First, physicists create a pair of entangled particles. They then place one particle in a varying magnetic field to influence its state.
The new trick that they’ve discovered is to arrange this experiment so that manipulation of the first particle causes the state of its entangled partner to change in the same way.
In other words, they use the magnetic field in one region of space to continuously control the state of a particle somewhere else in space. Or as Muschick and co put it: “We show how the ability to perform quantum operations continuously and deterministically can be leveraged for inducing nonlocal dynamics between two separate parties.”
Source: technologyreview.com