While attending a biology course at the University of Florida in 1969, the professor made a statement I have always remembered. He said, "Remember the word ecology. It will become the most important word in your lifetime." It certainly was an understatement as we have given it less importance than was needed. And now we have little time left.

Earth Day is a day that holds special significance for environmentalists and nature enthusiasts around the world. The celebration of Earth Day is a global event dedicated to raising awareness of environmental issues and promoting conservation efforts. The day serves as a reminder, today and every day, of the importance of protecting the planet's natural resources for future generations.

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For years, many have feared that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over national security mechanisms, leading to human slavery, domination of human society and perhaps the annihilation of humans. One way of killing humans is medical misdiagnosis, so it seems reasonable to examine the performance of ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that is taking the world by storm. This is timely in light of ChatGPT’s recent remarkable performance in passing the US medical licensing exam.

Computer-aided diagnosis has been attempted many times over the years, particularly for diagnosing appendicitis. But the emergence of AI that draws on the entire internet for answers to questions rather than being confined to fixed databases open new avenues of potential for augmenting medical diagnosis.

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https://innerself.com/living/health/healing-disciplines/28554-how-good-is-chatgpt-at-diagnosing-disease.html

Spending time alone can induce fear in a lot of people, which is understandable. At the same time, the difference between moments of solitude and loneliness is often misunderstood.

As a psychologist, I study solitude – the time we spend alone, not interacting with other people. I started this research more than ten years ago and, up to that point, findings on young people’s time alone had suggested they often experience low moods when alone.

On social media, television or in the music we listen to, we typically picture happiness as excitement, enthusiasm and energisation. From that perspective, solitude is often mistaken for loneliness.

In psychology, researchers define loneliness as a distressed feeling that we experience when we don’t have, or are unable to get, the kind of social connections or relationships we hope for. Solitude is different.

While people’s definitions of solitude might vary, what is interesting is that for many, being solitary doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no one else around. Instead, many people can, and do, find solitude in public spaces, whether this be sitting with a cup of tea in a busy cafe or reading a book in a park. And my research suggests that taking some time for yourself could have a positive impact on your daily mood.

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Written and Narrated by Marie T. Russell.
The focus for this weekend is:
I make time to relax and nurture my life.

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The focus for today is:
The deeper my joy, the more deeply meaningful my life becomes.

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The focus for today is:
With daily practice, I can improve my level of happiness.

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The focus for today is:
Moment by moment, gesture by gesture,
I give understanding and support.

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The focus for today is:

I aspire to happiness grounded in connection, purpose, and hope.

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The last few years have been truly catastrophic. One might easily argue that, during “The COVID Years”, we have witnessed more dramatic social and political change than at any time since 1939-1945. In terms of its scale and duration, we should call this pandemic a catastrophe rather than merely a disaster in terms of the loss of life and more mundane issues such as the reorganisation of work and city life.

We have also grappled with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the increasing possibility of nuclear catastrophe, the spread of monkey-pox, food shortages in Africa, a drought across much of Europe, a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, North Korean missile tests, rising authoritarianism in eastern Europe, the threat of civil unrest in the United States, and the terrible earthquake in Turkey and associated crisis in Syria. This has been a cascade of catastrophes.

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Written by Robert Jennings.

Once upon a time, a baby elephant was chained to a stake in the ground. The chain was only a few feet long, so the baby elephant could only walk around in a circle around the stake. As the days went by, he tried to pull and tug at the chain, but it was too strong. Eventually, he gave up and accepted its limited range of movement.

Years passed, and the baby elephant grew into a strong adult elephant. Even though the elephant was now strong enough to break free from the chain, it never tried to do so. The elephant had become accustomed to the chain and its limited space to move in. It believed it was still limited today, just as it had been as his younger self.

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