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Dr. Arlene J. Lennox was a pioneer, and leader in the treatment of cancer as Director of Neutron Therapy at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). She began this innovative medical approach alongside the actual construction of the world’s largest particle accelerator in the late 1960s.

“The beam in the linear accelerator is four feet below floor level, below street level…we have the right energy, we might be able to take those protons, hit a berilyum target and make neutrons, and treat cancer patients… And it turns out that there was a freight elevator kind of halfway down the linear accelerator…and we said okay, this freight elevator is going to become our treatment room.” Her groundbreaking work applying quantum physics to treat cancer patients that were previously considered incurable, was recognized the world over. “I made my career change in 1985 from quantum physics to medical…It’s my opportunity to take all this knowledge and all this hard science and apply it someplace to where it is really helping people.”

As well, she worked on reducing the side effects, the so-called ’skin burns’ associated with radiation therapy, using low level electricity called microcurrents. “Once you stimulate circulation, nutrients start to get in; byproducts that should be disposed of get moved into the kidneys to get washed out and once that system starts to work, there’s nothing magic about it. Once an injured body part is getting the nutrients it needs, it can heal itself. So the research that I worked on was actually trying to get people who had side effects from cancer treatments and see if we could minimize or reduce the side effects, and we had very good results with that. And I actually published a paper.

The most exciting thing which I have not been able to follow through on but would dearly love to whenever I get the chance again, is if a patient is going through radiation and you give him this microcurrent treatment…like on alternate days, on the days he is going through radiation, concurrently, you can prevent the side effects. You can prevent them from ever happening!”

In our film interview, she spoke about dangers due to a lack of public understanding with science through the cautionary tale of the development of the nuclear bomb. On the upcoming DVD, we have also dedicated a section of the special features to Dr. Lennox’s work in Neutron Therapy at Fermilab.

A remarkable, true humanitarian and a force to be reckoned with, it was with much sadness to hear that on May 24, 2008 Dr. Arlene J. Lennox passed away. She is greatly missed.

We’d like to thank our good friend and editor, Bill Towgood for creating this trailer for The Matter Of Everything. In a very short time, he has exquisitely conveyed the vital energies of the documentary, and brought what we are learning the world over, closer to home for us all. Hope you enjoy it!

To see more of Bill’s wonderful work, click here.

Have a look into the fascinating, 11th annual Subtle Technologies Festival between May 29 - June 1 (Innis Town Hall at University of Toronto). This year’s theme is LIGHT. The festival is presenting many amazing things happening with light today as it “blurs the lines between art and science.”

While you’re there, be sure to pencil in Friday May 30 on your calendar at 1:30 pm as York University Professor of Physics, Scott Menary, explains the mysteriously revealing world of neutrinos in a talk entitled Illuminating the Universe with Neutrinos. To demonstrate, he will also be previewing clips from The Matter Of Everything.

http://www.subtletechnologies.com

What is the matter…the connectedness of everything?

The connection includes even light. Look again.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/02.08/99-hau.html

Here’s an idea: A One-Way, One-Person Mission to Mars

Check out this amazing new photo from Mars: Avalanches Caught in Action
and while you’re there, see more incredibly detailed landscapes of Mars
captured by HiRise.

Help physicists at CERN to uncover the fundamental building blocks of nature.
Lend your computer while it is in sleep mode, to facilitate the huge amounts of data being gathered by the biggest scientific instrument ever created. The Large Hadron Collider is scheduled to turn its beam on in May 2008. Go to the LHC@Home page to set it up.

If a billionth of a billionth of the human scale is too small for you, then how about
the universe, and giving a hand to the University of California at Berkeley? Lend your computer’s idle time to the SETI@home program where you can help the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Your computer would help gather data received from the Allen Telescope Array. Check out the full story while you’re there.

Share your dreams with your computer while it sleeps.

Geologists propose the past 200 years marks the beginning of a new era.

Human-Driven Planet: Time to Make it Official?

From the tiniest forms of life,

Microbes Make the Best Climate Engineers

Welcome to 2008! What is there to look forward to?

Lords of the Ring at CERN

…or do something about?

2007 Tied for the Second Hottest Year on Record

Wednesday, December 19, 2007It is a pleasure to announce the release of the site today, and some of the latest clips from The Matter of Everything. We hope that you find meaning at this time from all of nature, a closer look around, to share everywhere.

What’s the matter keeping us together?

The Matter of Everything: A Panel Discussion
York University - November 29 2007 12-2pm
Sylvester’s at 201 Stong College

Selected clips from the film will be shown, with a panel discussion to follow that includes Edward Jones-Imhotep (Science and Technology Studies), Scott Menary
(Dept. of Physics), and Enrico Lappano (Filmmaker).

Everyone is welcome.