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News Briefs 10-10-2008

All things… reconsidered.

• Answering the secrets of the early universe with cosmic strings… presuming the lab-coats actually find them.
• A canary in the coal mine no more? More here on the collapsing animal populations.
• Underwater menagerie discovered off Tasmanian coast.
• First polar bears were in trouble, now the Tropics. And lest we forget about the whales.
• With “Gecko Grip”, glue may no longer be necessary.
• Microscope watches single cell become embryo. More here.
• Giant telescopes on the moon?
• The “first reporter on the scene” at Roswell in 1947, Frank Joyce, has sadly filed his last byline.
• UK’s Science Minister wants to put a man in space for the kids.
• ‘Unbreakable’ encryption forever, or for now?
• Last of the Seven Ancient Wonders gets a twenty-first century facelift, courtesy of Big Brother.
• Can you hear me… now? Scientists discover key protein that enables hearing.
• Roman sculptures found at the bottom of the Aegean Sea. Imagine what they’ll find if they keep digging deeper…
• Virgin births of the aquatic kind.
• Ultra-thin solar cells could generate power through windows.
• Scientists are unsure if a Jupiter-sized object is a planet or a failed star.

Many thanks to Greg, Rick MG, Red Pill Junkie, Kat and Bordeo!

Quote of the Day:

“Don’t look back… something might be gaining on you.”

Leroy “Satchel” Paige

Inside the Psilocybin Room

TDG reader Michael M. Hughes wrote in to let me know about an article he's just had published:

My article on the Johns Hopkins psilocybin studies went live yesterday: "Sacred Intentions: Inside the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Studies". I got full access to several of the study volunteers and the researchers, and I think it's the best article yet on the studies (yes, I am modest).

Jokes aside, I've got to agree with Michael - it's a wonderful article, not least because he's familiar with the topic and therefore not prone to the usual mistakes/hype that other reporters normally include. But the best part is the personal touch of talking to subjects Sandy Lundahl, John Hayes and Anne Dorsey Emmons, as well as study designer Roland Griffiths and psychedelic therapist Bill Richards:

Richards describes the final, and as far as his work is concerned, most important, stage. "After the archetypal realm comes the mystical state," he says. "There's a dimension of awesomeness, of profound humility, of the self being stripped bare. In the psychology of religion, mystical experience is well-described--unity, transcendence of time and space, noetic knowledge, sacredness, ineffability....It's the sacred dimension of revelation, but it can be what Kierkegaard called `fear and trembling'--incredibly profound and powerful terrain to travel.

"People who have never studied the psychology of religion hear `mystical,' and it sounds like `misty'. . . something vague, not very precise or clear. We know what we're talking about, but the man on the street doesn't. So who would want a mystical experience? I'd rather get drunk!" He laughs.

Richards frowns upon so-called recreational use of psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs: "There are a lot of people who have taken psilocybin who haven't had a mystical experience. Especially college students taking `shrooms' who experience minor perceptual changes and view it as recreational. With the higher doses [like those in the study], when you get to those transcendental experiences...that's not recreational at all. If you want a recreational drug, this is not a good drug for you. You want to be cool with your friends, and all of a sudden you start reliving your mother's death...it spoils the party!"

The article also discusses the use of psilocybin in helping terminally ill patients. Bill Richards again discussed some of his past experiences in the area:

"There are a lot of people with cancer lying in bed, depressed, just lying there, suffering, preoccupied with pain and estranged from their family members. Sort of half alive while they're waiting for the cancer to advance. We found that people who have mystical experiences tend to benefit most dramatically. They resolve conflicts of guilt, grief, estrangement from family members, breaking through the denial and pretense that often accompanies cancer. That's incredibly helpful. They are less anxious, less depressed, closer in their personal relationships, less preoccupied with pain.

"And, perhaps most significantly, those who have mystical experiences claim loss of a fear of death...that they somehow feel part of something eternal. Not necessarily personal immortality--there's a paradox there--it's not denying death, but that somehow in spite of the reality of death, it's a good universe. Life makes sense. And there's every reason to live the rest of this lifetime as fully as possible. It's pretty inspiring."

These substances have been a part of human history from the very beginning. After a brief time of rejecting them completely - and on the flipside, abusing them as playthings - it's so wonderful to see people seriously discussing the use of entheogens as tools for exploring the inner world of the psyche. Thanks Michael, great job!

Love/Hate the Alien

A new commemorative edition of 'alien abduction' researcher Dr. John Mack's final book, Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters (originally published in 1999) has just been released:

In 'Passport to the Cosmos', Dr. Mack focuses on the human dimension of alien encounters - how they affect people's lives, how they force a reexamination of our sense of reality, and how the aliens' presence may change our relationship to the world.

A magnificent new introduction by Michael Cohen is presented at the start, and we worked with one of the experiencers in the book to secure some of her artwork, which has been lovingly set into the book by Kunati Press' art department. We are also grateful to Budd Hopkins for writing a lovely new blurb, which is reproduced in whole on the back cover.

...'Passport to the Cosmos' remains Dr. Mack's definitive contribution to the subject of alien encounters, and is, in his own words "a better book than Abduction".

The book is available from Amazon US and UK. Also, there is a lot of great reading - and listening - available at the original Passport to the Cosmos website.

On a related note, Mac Tonnies has posted a review on his AboutSETI.com blog of Terry Matheson's Alien Abductions: Creating a Modern Phenomenon (Amazon US and UK). Though published by Prometheus Books (which acts as the propaganda arm of CSI/COP), Mac gives props for Matheson's "astute familiarity with the principal texts" and "valid points about the way popular authors present strange memes to an astonished (if often credulous) readership."

News Briefs 09-10-2008

"Will brief news for food" :-(

• Quetzalcóatl has returned! And in the form of... a house?? (More pics here)
• "LSD cured my headache, man!"
• This year's Nobel prize in Medicine opened old wounds —pardon the pun— and in Chemistry, scientist were awarded for their brilliant discoveries.
• Forensic analysis suggests Bach's wife may have written some of his music. With Einstein, that makes two who prove that REAL geniuses know how to relegate obligations ;-)
• Leading geneticist says human evolution has stopped. And now we go backwards to the tune of "Whip It".
• "One of these days, Chandrayaan-I: POW! to the Moon!!"
• McCain might hate planetaria, but the Bad Astronomer hearts them.
• Scientists meet for alien summit. Vulcan ears and Vader helmets are NOT welcome, though.
• Metallic vapor behind noctilucent reflectivity? 'Noctilucent'. Now THERE'S a word to write down, all you Scrabble fans out there.
• Incoming Reticulan vessel *implant activating* I mean, asteroid! exploded over Africa.
• Mother and son watched cow rise in golden-orange beam to disc. Poor, poor Bessie...
• Cattle mutilations is NOT a phenomenon exclusive to the U.S.A., you know.
• Deepest! Fish! Ever! Filmed!
• Ice Age people in Florida (video)? Come on, Nat Geo! Those retired folks are not *that* old ;-)
• The fight to save Ireland's sacred Hill of Tara from a freeway could end in a draw.
• You remember that 'uncontacted tribe' that was mentioned all over the web last year? Well, I've got some bad news for you...
• Now, Google wants to prevent drunk e-mailing—if suddenly I stop posting my weekly news briefs, you'll know why.
• Wikipedia: the answer to the prayers of lazy—and manipulative!— journalists all over the globe.
• Man in frenzied attack on priest after watching The Da Vinci Code. Perhaps the priest looked like Tom Hanks? :-P
• 'Miracolo!'. Italian plumbing bungle turns water into wine.
• Rating the paranormal TV shows.
• "Fosset. Steve Fosset." Take a look at the adventurer/millionaire's (RIP) super-secret flying submersible spaceship prototype —hot female side-kick not included.
• I haven't met Jay Walker, but because of his library, he's now my BFFL (Best Friend For Life).

Big thanks to Rick, Kat & Greg

Quote of the Day:

(On the defense of Oil companies):"Many people talk about loving the planet, but how many of them actually PENETRATE it"

Stephen Colbert ... Read More »

Baby Mind Reader Failure

So-called 'baby psychic' Derek Ogilvie was brought crashing to Earth last week when he failed several scientific tests on national TV, some of which were administered by James 'The Amazing' Randi (see Skepchick's blog for YouTube episodes):

Baby psychic Derek Ogilvie has blasted a TV documentary which branded him a fake — insisting: "I’m a failure, not a fraud." The Paisley-born medium was put through a series of 10 simple tests by US paranormal investigator James Randi, who offered $1million to anyone who can provide evidence of the supernatural.

...But last night Ogilvie, 42, said: "I failed the tests. I can’t make any excuses because I put myself up for it. I took the challenge and at any time I could have stopped it, but I didn’t because I was convinced I could prove my abilities."

Derek is seen breaking down in tears at the professor’s conclusion. He pleads: "I know I’m real. I’m not full of bulls***."

As most readers here know, I don't have much respect for the Million Dollar Challenge as a scientific test, but at least in this case Ogilvie - a high profile medium - went into the test happy with the conditions of Randi's testing - and so can have little to complain about with the end result. A wonderful publicity victory for Randi, in any case.

For further reading on the subject, Robert McLuhan has offered some further opinion at his Paranormalia blog, and Randi has commented about the tests in his most recent newsletter.

News Briefs 08-10-2008

It'll be hard to follow-up on Greg's brilliant interview with Michio Kaku. Ganbarimasu!

• Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi, and Toshihide Maskawa are the joint winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on 'broken symmetry' in subatomic particles. Big prizes can be found in the smallest of things.
• Scientists are amped by the power possibilities of electric eel cells.
• NASA's Messenger spacecraft takes spiffy pics of Mercury. And slideshow.
• A Brazilian UFO cult has been forced to remove Carl Sagan's name from their institute. I wish Forgetomori wouldn't call them UFOlogists however, that's a term for proper researchers (Vallee, Friedman, et al).
• Brookhaven scientist confirms UFO crash site near Socorro, New Mexico.
• Mac Tonnies wonders if alien-human hybrid programs are originating from extrasolar regions, or if those responsible have been with us all along.
• Glowing green creature and strange lights have been seen in Pennsylvania recently.
• Newly released files reveal the British MoD have been studying psychic abilities for use in the war against terror. Thirty years behind, mutters Paul Smith, author of Reading the Enemy's Mind (Amazon US).
• Feeling out of control sparks magical thinking. There must be a lot of Harry Potters.
• Disgraced chief of Lehman Brothers bank (in the centre of the US economic crisis) denies he got US$450million handshake -- he only got US$340million.
• Roman Villa unearthed at Budapest supermarket site. Wrens' livers, Jaguars' earlobes, Wolf nipple chips are in aisle 7.
• Prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings could show how humans survived dramatic climate change during the Ice Age. By living in caves?
• Has the oldest human skeleton in the Americas been found in an underwater Mexican cave? Put on your snorkel and flippers, RPJ.
• There's an alarming increase in the number of penguins washing up on Brazilian beaches, and no one knows why.
• The world's mammals face an extinction crisis, with one in four at risk. All because of one mammal in particular.
• In Japan, monkeys serve drinks in a restaurant. Poor Pigsy washes dishes.
• A life-like robot girl not exactly how Osamu Tezuka imagined it would be. Video.
• US Navy sonar is linked to whale beachings and deaths.
• Whale-cam is giving scientists unprecedented glimpes into the lives of whales.

Many thanks to Greg and Kat.

Quote of the Day:

People – especially people in positions of power – have invested a tremendous amount of effort and time to get to where they are. They really don't want to hear that we're on the wrong path, that we've got to shift gears and start thinking differently.

David Suzuki

Michio Kaku - Impossible Science

Recently, I was lucky enough to chat with theoretical physicist Professor Michio Kaku. Professor Kaku is one of a rare breed; working at the cutting edge of complex maths and physics, but also able to talk about his research topics with a layperson, in their language. He specialises in string field theory, but is also an eloquent populariser of science, having appeared on nearly every major television network in the United States and hosted a number of documentaries. He also has written numerous popular books on cutting edge science and future thought, the latest being Physics of the Impossible (Amazon US and UK).

Our discussion covered everything from the UFO phenomenon, to whether consciousness defines reality, and also touched on some of the more controversial science stories about today (most notably, the LHC and Active SETI). Professor Kaku was quick to assure me that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will definitely not destroy the world, instead listing some of the benefits that science could reap from the project - not least, a refining of the current understanding of particle physics. He didn't shy away from the fact that in its current form "the Standard Model...is supremely ugly... It's like gluing together an aardvark, whale, and platypus and declaring it to be nature's supreme evolutionary creation."

We also touched on the 'mainstream' view that human consciousness is simply an epiphenomenon of the brain - which in many respects, does not match up with the supreme importance that some branches of quantum physics accord consciousness. Professor Kaku agreed that "consciousness is one of the great problems facing science," and stated plainly that despite the mainstream view, "most scientists cannot even define it, let alone explain it." To illustrate how consciousness is important to quantum physics, he discussed the well-known "Schrodinger's Cat" paradox, and then explored various theories which might explain it. One of those was put forward by Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner - he assumed that consiousness is the key factor in creating reality. Furthermore, extrapolating Wigner's theory means that, as Professor Kaku put it, "eventually, we need an infinite chain of observers, each watching the other... Wigner implied that this chain was a cosmic consciousness or even God."

One of the main reasons I was interested in talking to Professor Kaku was his openness to some of the more 'heretical' areas of science. One of those topics is the scientific investigation of the UFO phenomenon, something which he has gone on the public record as supporting. Professor Kaku said that generally UFOs were subject to the "giggle factor" with scientists, because most assume that the distance between possible civilisations is far too great. But he thinks differently.

"Once you imagine a civilization a million years more advanced (which is a blink of an eye compared to the 13.7 billion year age of the universe) then new laws of physics and technologies open up," Dr Kaku told me. "For such a civilization (a Type III civilization, according to the Kardashev scale), travel between stars might not be such a problem."

He also pondered on how we might struggle to relate to such technically advanced alien civilisations - or more correctly, how they might fail to recognise our 'sophistication'. "Imagine walking down a country road, and meeting an ant hill. Do we go down to the ants and say, 'I bring you trinkets. I bring you beads. I give you nuclear energy and biotechnology. Take me to your leader?' Or we have the urge to step on a few of them??"

Given the likely differences between us and alien civilisations, the next obvious question to me was to ask whether Professor Kaku thought SETI was worth the time and effort. His reply? "Yes, because it's all we have today. So by default, we should fund it, but not expect too much."

He wasn't as charitable, however, about the idea of Active SETI (beaming messages out to space, rather than listening). "I think it's an awful idea to advertise our existence in space, without understanding the motives and intentions of possible alien civilizations," he said, comparing us to the inhabitants of the New World encountering "Cortez and his band of cut-throats". Instead of David vs. Goliath, Professor Kaku suggests it would be more akin to "a fruit fly versus Goliath".

The full interview transcript is after the fold, click 'Read More' to view it. Also, there is plenty of wonderful reading on Professor Kaku's personal website, for those who want to explore these topics further. ... Read More »

Tuesday Blogscan 07-10-2008

A strange assortment to get you through the week...

• The latest Skeptiko podcast features Ben Radford (editor of Skeptical Inquirer) responding to questions about his investigations of psychic detectives.
• Filip Coppens has a new essay on his website, concerning the other archaeological enigma of Bosnia: giant stone spheres.
• Michael Prescott asks: "Will the Real You Please Stand Up".
• This week's eSkeptic newsletter discusses a Marilyn Monroe hoax and it's ramifications for one 'psychic'.
• The Parapsychology Foundation blog features Carlos Alvarado's survey of "Charles Richet’s Work in Psychical Research".
• The latest podcast from the Psychedelic Salon is Robert Anton Wilson's lecture, "Can the Human Lifespan Be Extended”.
• Skeptic Randi's latest newsletter touches on Billy Meier, Derek Ogilvie, and announces a change of format for the future.
• This week's Fate Radio interview is with Dr Bob Curran, discussing zombies (mp3 or Real Audio).
• Kevin Randle reveals a new Roswell insight in his blog entry "Moore Knew Mogul's Name".
• Nick Redfern reviews Brad Steiger's Otherworldly Affaires (Amazon US and UK).
• UFO Casebook #327 is now online.
• The latest Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast features Martian snow, PETA nonsense, and a chat with a descendant of Charles Darwin.
• Anthony North looks at the pre-eminence of superstition in the modern world, at Beyond the Blog.

Enjoy!

Woes & Chants from the Mayan World

This year has been pretty violent here in Mexico, but most of that violence has been related to fights among the drug cartels to gain new territories. However, this news from Associated Press is different; and sadly it rings a familiar bell…

Last Sunday five state police officers were arrested in San Cristóbal de las Casas - a municipality located in the southern state of Chiapas - in relation with a raid to remove protesters that had trespassed a Mayan archaeological site, in which 6 villagers were killed.

These Indian villagers had occupied the entrance to the Chinkultic ruins, that are close to the border with Guatemala. They had stayed there for nearly a month. ... Read More »