Peyton Rowlands

Peyton Rowlands

Texas

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Published on Apr 06, 2014

Our new additions to the study

Hello readers and backers,I would like to begin by apologizing for the frequent delays. Most of them were unpreventable and many of them were out of our hands, but none of these excuses change the ...

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Published on Mar 31, 2014

Please forgive the delay...

While we had planned to begin our vitamin A deficient diet at the end of last week, we have unfortunately run into a snag. Ian G., our fourth test subject, has been forced by personal circumstances...

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Published on Jan 16, 2014

Our Equipment is In!!!

UPDATEJeff has sent out all of the ERG testing equipment, and it has arrived safe and sound at the private residences of the test subjects! Here are some pics of my stimulator and ERG units, parts ...

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Published on Jan 06, 2014

Back in the Saddle

Happy New Year!We hope you had an excellent holiday season; we certainly had a productive one! To end our long period of radio silence, here's what we've been up to:Stimulator Units/ERG UnitsJeff h...

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Published on Nov 16, 2013

The NIR LED Stimulator (Work in progress)

Here's a pic of the prototype LED stimulator unit Jeff has been slaving over the past few weeks. Expect a full update like the ERG post soon!

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Published on Oct 08, 2013

Our Fundraiser is Near Completion....

.....and it's time to start digging into the real meat 'n potatoes! (No offense to our vegan backers!) I've been working on creating several avenues for us to keep in touch with you, our backers. ...

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Thanks Thomas! We really appreciate the massive amount of support our backers have offered; you guys are great!
Jan 17, 2014
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Haha! Merely a figure of speech I can assure you; there should be no pain. Although if the NIR lights appear bright enough to cause any discomfort, that would certainly be an indication that we've met with some success, so perhaps we should all be crossing our fingers ;)
Jan 17, 2014
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Haha! Merely a figure of speech I can assure you; there should be no pain. Although if the NIR lights are bright enough to cause any discomfort, that would certainly be an indication that we've met with some success, so perhaps we should all be crossing our fingers ;)
Jan 17, 2014
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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We're excited about it too! Thanks so much for your support :)
Nov 12, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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We are using the Bitrix intranet service for task management at the moment. For general information distribution & discussion, we use a mailing list. Currently, we are recording biometric data independently; when data management becomes a more pressing priority, we will shift over to something more substantial. We will be giving individual progress reports for the duration of the experiment, and subjects will report subjective experiences on our blog.
Nov 12, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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It has more to do with the batch-and-queue method of production. These blends are produced in bulk months or even years prior to being packaged, sold, and consumed. Switching production methods to form this special VAD blend and placing a rush on a VERY SMALL amount of this product is not something most companies would be thrilled to hear from a purchaser. We're lucky to have Mr. Rhinehart's help in working through this roadblock.
Nov 11, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Unfortunately no. However, feel free to head over to http://scienceforthemasses.org/ for a more in depth look at our methodology. We also have a donation page there if you're interested in helping out, but test results will be posted on Microryza for our backers until the study is complete, at which point we will be publishing the results free & open source.
Oct 25, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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In vivo, this isn't feasible. However, this is a very interesting synthesis method...thanks, I'll pass this on to Gabriel, our biochem guy :)
Oct 25, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Sorry for the late reply, Denny. We've been exceedingly busy finalizing our budget and the ERG design. Here's where we're at currently: 1. The VAD Soylent has a 3 wk lead time. We'll be ordering that sometime this week, so we're looking at a month max before we begin complete vitamin A dietary deficiency. 2. We want to put AT LEAST 2500-2800 into purchasing A2. This will put us at 1mg per day, which is right in the sweet spot for seeing a shift toward the NIR. To do this, Jeff has been working nonstop on trimming our testing equipment costs as much as possible, and we've decided to pay for things like basic biometric equipment--blood pressure cuff, thermometer, scale, body fat calipers--as well as the Soylent out of pocket. As soon as we have some more info for yall, I'll be sure to let you know, but at the moment it's really just a waiting game.
Oct 23, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Mr. Gill, I sent you a thank you email for your contribution; feel free to reply with anything you'd like to discuss with the team :)
Oct 04, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Sal Lara, for budgetary reasons, we have decided to purchase the A2 rather than synthesizing it. In all honesty, I don't know exactly what synthesis process our suppliers utilize; however, we have previously discussed alternate synthesis methods that could be performed in a DIY settings, and that's certainly something we would explore further should this pilot study prove successful.
Oct 04, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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Absolutely! Without going into too much detail, retinoic acid is the derivative of retinol responsible for the vast majority of metabolic functions of vitamin A in the body. It plays a role in maintenance of epithelial & connective tissue, reproduction, and electrochemical reactions in the brain essential for cognition. Unfortunately, previous research has indicated that retinoic acid is not metabolized from vitamin A2 in significant quantities, and since this stuff is so essential, supplementation is necessary. The reason for the cyclic supplementation is due to an interesting metabolic function whereby retinoic acid deficiency causes the body to go into "overdrive" and tap into retinol stored in fatty tissues. The vast majority of retinol used is from the liver, and the fat stores remain untouched in cases of emergent deficiency. This cyclic pattern allows us to burn through fat stored retinol exceptionally quickly and proceed with the remainder of the experiment. A quick google search will tell you that VAD can take a year or more to reach in you average healthy human being; this pattern allows us to cut the waiting period down to approximately a month.
Sep 30, 2013
Can we biologically extend the range of human vision into the near infrared?
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