Science

Life after death? Largest-ever study provides evidence that 'out of body' and 'near-death' experiences may be real

will's picture

The largest ever study of it's kind has found evidence that Consciousness exists independent of the body. Not that this is news to me, but it's encouraging to see these kinds of studies are getting attention. I do expect it to be largely ignored within the mainstream scientific community, which has a heavily atheist bias. From an article on The Independent:

There is scientific evidence to suggest that life can continue after death, according to the largest ever medical study carried out on the subject.

A team based in the UK has spent the last four years seeking out cardiac arrest patients to analyse their experiences, and found that almost 40 per cent of survivors described having some form of “awareness” at a time when they were declared clinically dead.

Experts currently believe that the brain shuts down within 20 to 30 seconds of the heart stopping beating – and that it is not possible to be aware of anything at all once that has happened.

But scientists in the new study said they heard compelling evidence that patients experienced real events for up to three minutes after this had happened – and could recall them accurately once they had been resuscitated.

Dr Sam Parnia, an assistant professor at the State University of New York and a former research fellow at the University of Southampton who led the research, said that he previously that patients who described near-death experiences were only relating hallucinatory events.

One man, however, gave a “very credible” account of what was going on while doctors and nurses tried to bring him back to life – and says that he felt he was observing his resuscitation from the corner of the room.

Full Article

Complete Guide to the October 8th “Hunter’s Moon” Total Lunar Eclipse - Universe Today

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October 2014 means eclipse season 2 of 2 for the year is upon us.

Don’t fear the ‘Blood Moon’ that’s currently infecting the web, but if you find yourself on the correct moonward facing hemisphere of the planet, do get out and observe the total lunar eclipse coming right up on the morning of Wednesday, October 8th. This is the second and final total lunar eclipse of 2014, and the second of four in a quartet series of lunar eclipses known as a tetrad.

And the good news is, the eclipse once again favors nearly all of North America. From the western U.S. and Canada, the Moon will be high in the western skies when partial phases begin early in the morning on October 8th. The western U.S., Canada and Alaska will see the entire 61 minute span of totality, just 18 minutes shorter than last April’s lunar eclipse. The Moon will be high in the sky during totality for the Hawaiian Islands, and viewers in Australia and the Pacific Far East will witness the eclipse in the evening hours.

Full guide: http://www.universetoday.com/114747/our-complete-guide-to-the-october-8th-hunters-moon-total-lunar-eclipse/

Native tribes from Canada, U.S. sign treaty to restore bison to Great Plains

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BILLINGS, Mon. -- Native tribes from the U.S. and Canada signed a treaty Tuesday establishing an inter-tribal alliance to restore bison to areas of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains where millions of the animals once roamed.

Leaders of about a dozen tribes from Montana and Alberta signed the pact during a daylong ceremony on Montana's Blackfeet Reservation, organizers said.

It marks the first treaty among the tribes and First Nations since a series of agreements governing hunting rights in the 1800s. That was when their ancestors still roamed the border region hunting bison, also called buffalo.

The long-term aim of Tuesday's "Buffalo Treaty" is to allow the free flow of the animals across the international border and restore the bison's central role in the food, spirituality and economies of many American Indian tribes and First Nations -- a Canadian synonym for native tribes.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/native-tribes-from-canada-u-s-sign-treaty-to-restore-bison-to-great-plains-1.2021030

This is the most detailed map yet of our place in the universe - Vox.com

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We know that the Earth and the solar system are located in the Milky Way galaxy. But how, exactly, does the Milky Way fit in among the billions of other galaxies in the known universe?

In a fascinating new study for Nature, a team of scientists mapped thousands of galaxies in our immediate vicinity, and discovered that the Milky Way is part of a jaw-droppingly massive "supercluster" of galaxies that they named Laniakea.

This structure is much, much, much bigger than astronomers had previously realized. Laniakea contains more than 100,000 galaxies, stretches 500 million light years across, and looks something like this (the Milky Way is just a speck located on one of its fringes on the right):

Read more: http://www.vox.com/2014/9/4/6105631/map-galaxy-supercluster-laniakea-milky-way

Geomagnetic storm in progress, auroras visible at high latitudes

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Plasma cloud unleashed by M-class solar flare on August 22 reached our planed early Wednesday, August 27. Wind speeds increased from near 280 km/s to 340 km/s while density remained primarily between 5-10 p/cc (protons per cubic centimeter).

Active to minor storm (G1) conditions are expected throughout the day with a chance for a major geomagnetic storm level (G2). CME effects are expected to wane by the end of the day, replaced by the arrival of a positive polarity CH/HSS on August 29. Unsettled to active conditions are expected on August 29. Quiet  to unsettled conditions are forecast for August 30 ad the CH/HSS impacts subside.

Read More: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2014/08/28/geomagnetic-storm-in-progress-august-28-2014/

Mysterious Lost Kingdom Of Urartu And Its Enigmatic History

WHITEEAGLE14U2's picture

  The lost kingdom of Urartu is shrouded in mystery. Many of the artifacts created in this ancient region are puzzling, like for example the winged faceless sphinx or plate of the gods holding an unknown object in their hands.

Very little is known about this ancient place and the origins of its people.

Possible Meteor Shower May 23-24

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May 23-24, 2014 Camelopardalids
The peak night of the predicted Camelopardalid meteor shower is May 23-24, 2014. Because of the time predicted for the meteor display, observers in southern Canada and the continental U.S. are especially well positioned to see the meteors in the early morning hours of May 24 (or late at night on May 23). Will the predictions hold true? They are not always 100% reliable, which is why, no matter where you are on Earth, this shower is worth a try around the night of May 23-24. The meteors will radiate from the constellation Camelopardalis (camelopard), a very obscure northern constellation. Its name is derived from early Rome, where it was thought of as a composite creature, described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard. Nowadays we call such a creature a giraffe! Since meteor in annual showers take their names from the constellation from which they appear to radiate – and since this meteor shower might become an annual event – people are already calling it the Camelopardalids.

More: http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide#camelopardalids

The Earth is a Sentient Living Organism

Isis Ra's picture

John Nelson illustrated the “Breathing Earth,” (below) which are two animated GIFs he designed to visualize what a year’s worth of Earth’s seasonal transformations look like from outer space. Nelson--a data visualizer, stitched together from NASA’s website 12 cloud-free satellite photographs taken each month over the course of a year. Once the images were put together in a sequence, the mesmerizing animations showed what Nelson describes as “the annual pulse of vegetation and land ice.”

Can the Human Mind Influence the Physical World?

Isis Ra's picture

The human mind and energy field have always rumoured to have some form of effect on the surrounding of a human. These rumours have been studied in great detail in the past five decades. There have been a few researchers who have conducted experiments in this field and have drawn conclusive results; all of which indicate that the human brain and energy can influence any human surroundings.

Electrical devices 'disrupt bird navigation'

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Electrical devices may disrupt the migration of some birds, a study suggests.

A German team has found that weak electromagnetic fields produced by equipment plugged into mains electricity and AM radio signals interfere with the animals' "internal compass".

They believe the effect is greatest when birds fly over urban areas.

The study is published in the journal Nature.

Prof Henrik Mouritsen, from the University of Oldenburg in Germany, who carried out the research, said: "At first, I was highly sceptical that this could be the explanation.

"But if you have seemingly unlikely effects then the proof needs to be much stronger - and that is why we have done so many experiments over seven years and it has taken a long time before we were confident to come out with this to the public."

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27313355

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