Good Life Project - Using DNA as Sunblock. Creating Daily Transition Windows.

Episode Date: August 10, 2017

Good Life Riff: There's this thing that happens at the end of the day when you're near the water. The breeze settles down, everything slows and there's a window where everything becomes still.It only lasts for 15-20 minutes, but it's a powerful moment. Kind of nature's way of transitioning its environment from the high-pitch, frenetic, creative energy of the day into the ramped-down, chiller, more reflective energy of the evening. Thing is, it's not just nature that needs this. We need it to. That's what today's riff is all about.Good Life Science: And, in our Good Life Science segment, we're diving into some very cool new research that comes out of Binghamton University. Researchers used DNA as a sort of a second-skin that could take the hit before the UV rays could damage the skin. And the results are kind of remarkable. That's what we're talking about in today's Good Life Science Update. And, as always, for those want to go to the source, here's a link to the full study.-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

and today's good life project update is about two different things one have you ever noticed what happens when you actually have a bit of a transition in the day that allows you to go from grumpy and overworked to chill and the second really cool new science update that comes out of my alma mater, and it's about kind of an interesting breakthrough on DNA and sunblock. So, excited to dive into that with you. Stay tuned. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman.

I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot?

Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you 8

hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. So as I sit here taping this, I am back in New York City in my home studio for my regular listeners. You know, the last two weeks we've been kind of hiding out, working on the other side of the country in a little sort of a sleepy little town

called Encinitas, north of San Diego. And we were kind of pretty much close to the water. So we could see the sun start to drop down into the sky and eventually drop into the ocean at the end of the day. And on my last day, I realized that my patterns had changed pretty dramatically. And one of the things that I got into the habit of doing was kind of stepping outside later in the day. And it reminded me that there's this thing that happens that's really important to, I think, human flourishing. And you feel it on the water in the way that you don't feel it in many other places. So I grew up on the water, actually. So this actually kind of reconnected me with my youth as well. And there's this really interesting thing that happens, whether you're on a bay or the ocean, it really doesn't matter.

I think this probably also happens even on large lakes, large bodies of water like that. So towards the later part of the day, as the sun to lower the air temperature starts to change and invariably what tends to happen a couple hours before the sun actually sets is that everything becomes really still it could be breezy it could be stormy all sorts of stuff you know for most of the day there's all sorts of different weather and then what happens five six o'clock is that the air becomes very still. When you're on the water, as the sun lowers, it actually changes the air temperature. So very often, the direction of the breeze changes as the sun starts to get closer and closer to setting. But in the middle of that, there's a period where the wind will blow from one direction,

and it essentially just drops to total stillness. And then it'll pick up, you know, maybe half an hour later and very often start blowing in the other direction. And when you're by the water and you're kind of just sitting outside when this is happening and you're really just kind of still and you tune into it, you notice it because what happens is it feels like the world just starts to slow and become still. And I was sitting outside our last day in Encinitas, and I reconnected with that. And I realized I used to feel it all the time when I was a kid. And it's this really fascinating reminder that nature gives us. You know, nature is set up in a way where if you go outside at a certain time stillness, and then transitioning into sort of the next part of the day or the evening. And it was really cool because it reminded me that

nature has its own rhythms that have been developed over a bazillion years in order to best sustain the planet. And we have our own rhythms. And what it reminded me is that when we tap into those same natural rhythms, we tend to flourish on a much higher level. So when we actually go out, we work, we do our work in the world during the day, and we may be hair on fire, frenetic, all sorts of different things. And so many of us go from that. And we never actually move to a part of the day where we say, okay, work is ending. I'm transitioning now. Like there's this transition window that I'm going to

emerge and I'm going to be in my evening mode now. I'm going to be in a stiller, calmer place. And this is what nature does. And sitting out there kind of reminded me that there's this natural rhythm that says alive, awake, alert with energy. And then there's this saying into a pause, a transition, and then we move into an evening energy. And I think when we've stopped doing that, and I think it's been destroyed a lot by technology to a certain extent, because we never actually give ourselves the opportunity. It used to be, you know, you'd walk out, you'd close the door in the office or wherever it was, and you were kind of forced to transition. And the world commuted much more. Also,

there was a window in my life where I was on a train and I didn't hate the community. It was about 45 minutes for me. And it was this beautiful transition time. And this was a time where there were no cell phones and there were no smartphones. There were no, you know, there was no Wi-Fi in the sky. There was no 3G or 4G. You just kind of had to sit there and breathe and reflect and maybe talk to people, sometimes read. And it was really powerful because it would create a defined space in your day where you would transition from high energy and invested in production and creation to chill energy and

kind of like closing the book on the day and being out there this time of day and reminding myself how nature creates this on a huge on a mass planet scale on a daily basis how we used to create it very often with a commute that was disconnected from technology and how that window for transition is kind of being destroyed these days. Reminded me that it's important to create it even when it doesn't exist in your natural environment, when you're not near the water and you can't really tune into it, when you're not still and chill with the breeze and the waves. And when you have the type of job or you own a business, whatever it may be, and you're hyper-connected, as pretty much all of us are these days, that when it's not organically created, maybe it's time to think about actually intentionally creating these windows for transition in your life as you move from high energy creation, contribution, connection,

face-to-face, all this stuff, to creating that window for transition. So what would happen, my invitation today, what would happen if you don't have these naturally created? What would happen if you actually did an experiment, do a seven-day experiment building with these windows for transition into your day. So that's my invitation. What if you took this week and you said, huh, I'm going to actually create a deliberate window of transition where I go, I mentally and emotionally, maybe even physically, kind of close the book on the high alert, high engagement part of my day and transition. Maybe that's exercise for you. Maybe it's going for a walk. Maybe it's walking home or driving home or training home or busing home and being

very intentional about actually turning off your device or doing whatever you need to do to actually not respond to anything that's related during the day. Maybe it's listening to a podcast or music or whatever it may be. But what would happen if for the next seven days, you created an intentional window of transition to allow you the space to move from the activity of the day into the more chill energy of the evening. And just let your brain and your body process. I'm making the shift. I'm letting this go. Even if you love the work you do, it's really important and healthy to make this transition on pretty much a daily basis. That is what's on my mind in today's Good Life Project riff. And that is a seven-day invitation that you might want to explore. I know I'm back in New York City, so I'm not easily

reminded by the natural vibes. So I'm going to kind of be deliberate about trying to recreate that in my own life these days. Be sure to stay tuned because after the break, we're talking about some really cool research that actually comes out of my alma mater, Binghamton University, around DNA sunblock and moist, hydrated skin. Excited to share that with you. Back shortly. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals.

No pressure to be who you're not, just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. and we're back with today's science update good Good Life Science update, and this is kind of a fun one because it comes from my alma mater, Binghamton University, which back in the day when I went to Binghamton University was actually known as SUNY Binghamton, SUNY B for short, which stood for State University of New York.

Now they've kind of cut the SUNY off of it and turned it into Binghamton University. So I guess we're all more fancy pants at this point. Anyway, what's this update about? Well, this is based on a study that was actually recently published called Non-Ionizing UV Light Increases the Optical Density of Hygroscopic Self-Assembled DNA Crystal Films that was published in scientific reports. What does that actually mean to you? Well, it turns out that researchers at Binghamton developed a DNA sunscreen that gets better the longer you wear it. Here's the question. Why use regular sunscreen when you can apply a DNA film to your skin. So the researchers at BU have developed a

coating made out of DNA that gets better at protecting your skin from ultraviolet light the more you expose it to sun. And it also keeps your skin hydrated. So we all know that in general, you know, we're all told to be wearing sunscreen on probably pretty much a daily basis these days. But also, as a general rule, it's strongest when you put it on and slowly kind of wears away during the day. So this is fascinating because instead of the protection degrading throughout the day, this actually starts to get better the more it's exposed to UV light. Researchers said ultraviolet light can actually damage DNA, and that's not good for the skin. This is according to Guy German,

the assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Binghamton University, who continues, we thought, let's flip it. What happens instead if we actually use DNA as a sacrificial layer? So instead of damaging DNA within the skin, we damage a layer on top of the skin. Pretty cool idea, right? It's almost like you're wearing this undetectable suit of armor that takes the hit instead of you.

So German and a team of researchers developed thin, optically transparent, crystalline DNA films, and they irradiated them with UV light in the experiment. What they found was that the more they exposed the film to UV light, the better the film actually got at absorbing it. And German adds, if you translate that, it means to me that if you use this as a topical cream or sunscreen, the longer that you stay out on the beach or outdoors or wherever it is, the better it gets at being a sunscreen. And as an added bonus, DNA coatings are also what's called hygroscopic. So what does that mean? It means that skin coated with these DNA films can

actually store and hold water much more than uncoated skin. So when you apply that to human skin, they're capable of slowing water evaporation and keeping tissue hydrated for longer periods of time. And we all know, especially as we sort of move a little bit further into life, that tissue tends to lose fluid pretty quickly. So something that can help it maintain hydration and keep fluid is a good thing. So German actually says he's going to see if these materials might be good as wound coverings as well for, quote, hostile environments where you want to be able to see the wound healing without removing the dressing. And you want to protect it from the sun and you want to keep the wound in a moist environment to provoke faster healing. And finally, he adds, not only do we think this might have applications for sunscreen and moisturizers directly,

but if it's optically transparent and prevents tissue damage from sun, and it's good at keeping the skin hydrated, we think this might be potentially exploitable as a wound covering for extreme environments. Pretty cool. Yeah, it's first again, I love, love seeing really awesome things come out of my, my college where I went to undergrad, at least not law school, but undergrad. And it's really neat to see how people are just thinking completely outside of the box. And when you think, okay, so what if we essentially created like a fake skin with DNA that would absorb the ultraviolet the same way that our own skin absorbs it, but instead sort of take the hit instead of our skin. And it turns out that this film, this DNA film that they created actually gets better at

doing that over time. So it's in the research sort of mode right now, exciting to see what they do with this and whether they can actually take it from the lab and bring it out to commercial products that we might be able to use to benefit in some way. As always, we will include a link to the actual study report so that for those who are also science geeks in our awesome listening community, you can dive a little bit deeper into what this is all about. I hope you've enjoyed today's update. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.

If the stories and ideas in any way moved you, I would so appreciate if you would take just a few extra seconds for two quick things. One, if it's touched you in some way, if there's some idea or moment in the story or in the conversation that you really feel like you would share with somebody else, that it would make a difference in somebody else's lives, take a moment and whatever app you're using, just share this episode with somebody who you think it'll make a difference in somebody else's lives. Take a moment and whatever app you're using, just share this episode with somebody who you think it'll make a difference for. Email it if that's the easiest thing, whatever is easiest for you. And then of course, if you're compelled, subscribe so that you can stay a part of this continuing experience. My greatest hope with

this podcast is not just to produce moments and share stories and ideas that impact one person listening, but to let it create a conversation, to let it serve as a catalyst for the elevation of all of us together collectively, because that's how we rise. When stories and ideas become conversations that lead to action, that's when real change happens. And I would love to invite you to participate on that level. Thank you so much as always for your intention, for your attention, for your heart. And I wish you only the best. I'm Jonathan Fields,

signing off for Good Life Project. The Apple Watch Series 10 need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10.

Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary.