Flower Clocks and States of Consciousness

expanding on "When the Hawkweed Blooms"

Like last week, this article is a reprint, from a previous blog at the cryptocurrency-powered site Steemit.com. Just click the link to go there, if you can’t get past the paywall. This is in part because I want to give people a little time to adjust, and in part because I’m still thinking about how to make the paywall work in the best way. Personally, I am often annoyed by previews.

I’d be happy to hear what you think.

Before we get started, here’s some background on circadian rhythms. This teaser quote should get your mind racing (especially if you read it in the morning).

This type of research has huge implications for drug development. Consider the use of rodents as test subjects. Pre-clinical studies use mice for their anatomical, physiological and genetic (99%) similarity to humans. But mice are nocturnal.

As are rats, which are even more common as animal models. But the article has one thing wrong. Neither species shares more than about 90% of their DNA sequence with humans (except maybe the ones in “Mason’s Rats” from Love Death & Robots, which I’ve been catching up on this month).

In a future version of Scotland, a farmer named Mason is distressed to discover the rats in his barn are bigger than before, standing upright on two legs, using tools and attacking him with crossbows as they pilfer his genetically modified supplies.

Apes are all above 95%, dogs in the mid 80s, and chickens in the mid 60s.

And now on to the reprint . . .

My very first short story was published by the Canadian semiprozine Lackington’s almost three years ago now. It’s “hard” science fiction, meaning that the science and tech in it are, if not real, at least realistic. I want to take the opportunity today to expand on two of the ideas from that story — flower clocks and a little-appreciated state of consciousness called The Watch.

• https://steemit.com/science/@plotbot2015/when-the-hawkweed-blooms-in-lackington-s-21