{"id":1517,"date":"2023-01-25T17:57:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T15:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soaringwords.dops.digital\/?p=1517"},"modified":"2023-01-25T17:59:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T15:59:10","slug":"the-secrets-of-pond-scum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/the-secrets-of-pond-scum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secrets of Pond Scum"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/Chquz1Klcet\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/Chquz1Klcet\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Soaringwords (@soaringwords)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Molecular Biologist Elizabeth Blackburn was studying pond scum when she stumbled across an incredible discovery about human psychology that has a far-reaching impact well beyond the petri dishes in her laboratory. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As she peered through her microscope at the pond scum samples, Dr. Blackburn was stunned to observe a cell that did not age. This led to the discovery of something called a telomere. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s go back to biology class: DNA is a self-replicating material that is present in all living organisms and contains our genetic code that resides within the cells of our bodies. A telomere is a small attachment on the end of our DNA. Everytime the DNA is copied, one little portion of the telomere is removed and the telomere tail gets shorter and shorter. This naturally-occurring action is part of the aging process. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medical researchers were enamored by the discovery of telomeres, and so were psychologists. Psychologists wanted to know if stress could negatively impact telomere length, which would contribute to weakening our physical health. After studying the telomeres of mothers of severely chronically ill children, psychologists learned that stress did in fact result in shorter telomeres. But, they also identified several factors that counter-balanced the negative stress response. They learned that being part of a tight-knit community and having  secure friendships could help to lessen exposure to toxic stress and actually keep the mothers\u2019 telomeres longer for greater periods of time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This research shows that being connected to other people\u2014our family or our friends and neighbors who can be our \u201cchosen\u201d family\u2014has a positive impact on our physical and emotional health. The desire to connect is one of the most basic human needs beginning at birth when a newborn seeks to connect with their caregivers. One of the first social actions toddlers make is seeking to create a joint experience with their caregiver by pointing at something that excites their attention so that their caregiver can also join in the excitement. Research shows that this connection through joint attention is critical for cognitive and developmental well-being for a lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what can we learn from Dr. Blackburn\u2019s pond scum discovery? The lesson of the telomere is that we are built for connection\u2014down to the very building blocks of our DNA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m sending you strength and love. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soaringwords is the power to heal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lisa<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; View this post on Instagram &nbsp; A post shared by Soaringwords (@soaringwords) Molecular Biologist Elizabeth Blackburn was studying pond scum when she stumbled across an incredible discovery about human psychology that has a far-reaching impact well beyond the petri dishes in her laboratory. As she peered through her microscope at the pond scum samples, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,54],"tags":[35,167,61,140,80,163,165,168,166,22,162,26,169,92,160,161,41,164,159,24],"class_list":["post-1517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health","category-mind-body-well-being","tag-anxiety","tag-children-with-illness","tag-chronic-illness","tag-depression","tag-dna","tag-ecosystems","tag-elizabeth-blackburn","tag-ill-children","tag-motherhood","tag-nature","tag-pond","tag-positive-psychology","tag-psychologist","tag-psychology","tag-research","tag-science","tag-stress","tag-telomeres","tag-therapist","tag-therapy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soaringwords.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}