The Geller controversy

Suspension of PSI Belief (Greg Bishop)

I am not aware of any controlled study which examines reported instances of metal continuing to bend after Geller has finished touching it, or indeed after he has left the premises. In any case, I prefer to leave the Geller question open.

Adding to the strange soup is the fact that Geller said he had been contacted in the early 1970s by an alien entity called SPECTRA which relayed messages to him through a supercomputer that was orbiting the Earth -- shades of the contactees and of course Philip K. Dick's VALIS experience. He also claimed UFO sightings from a very young age.

The color of consciousness

I never thought parapsychological research would lend itself to interior design, but it appears I was wrong.

A lamp that reads your mind . . . maybe

The researchers claim -- and at this point the science sounds a bit fuzzy to the lay observer -- that the internal REG can be influenced by the human mind whether by intention, emotion, thought or subconscious processes. Apparently years of research have shown that REGs can be influenced by human consciousness. Even if the research sounds mind-boggling, the lamp is visually striking and most likely a source of light entertainment for family and friends.

Obama and "global consciousness"

Collective consciousness and the inauguration (Dean Radin)

This is an exploratory analysis, so it shouldn't be regarded as persuasive as a preplanned analysis would be. But still, the coincidence in time between what was arguably the single most anticipated moment by hundreds of millions of viewers during the inauguration, and the spike in odds at the same time, is quite striking.

Blog of the day: Intangible Materiality

'They're here': The mechanism of poltergeist activity

Brovetto and Maxia hypothesise that the changes in the brain that occur at puberty involve fluctuations in electron activity that, in rare cases, can create disturbances up to a few metres around the outside of the brain.

These disturbances would be similar in character to the quantum mechanical fluctuations that physicists believe occur in the vacuum, in which "virtual" particle and antiparticle pairs pop up for a fleeting moment, before they annihilate each other and disappear again.

Brovetto and Maxia believe that the extra fluctuations triggered by the pubescent brain would substantially enhance the presence of the virtual particles surrounding the person. This could slowly increase the pressure of air around them, moving objects and even sending them hurtling across the room.

A few off-the-cuff thoughts:

1.) I'm convinced poltergeist phenomena are real and ultimately amenable to science.

2.) I'm automatically wary of attempts to invoke quantum mechanics to explain "the unknown."

3.) Despite my reservations about unwarranted use of the "Q"-word, Brovetto and Maxia could very well be onto something. Assuming they're not pilloried for advancing what can only be an unpopular hypothesis, it's not entirely unreasonable to expect some form of laboratory confirmation.

"Non-Local" Effects on the Human Body

In my experience, and possibly in the experience of some yoga and/or Reiki practictioners (which, incidentally, I am not on both counts), there is one area outside of the body, approximately 1 1/2 feet above the scalp which, when "touched", can be felt as a distinct pressure at the top of the head. When analyzed, the sensation - initially felt as slight tug - might be described as a type of ray or vortex emmanating from or to the head; a primary locus point in what ultimately can be perceived as an envelope surrounding the upper body.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? I'm impressed with the writer's candor and clarity.

The PEAR lab has closed - an open letter from Jahn and Dunne

The enormous databases produced by PEAR have provided clear evidence that human thought and emotion can produce small but measurable influences on physical reality and have established numerous insights into their major correlates. They have also established the basis for several conceptual models that attempt to accommodate the empirical results within a scientific framework. While there are still many important questions to be addressed before we can hope for a full understanding of the nature, function, purpose, and utility of these phenomena, productive further study will require a coordinated interdisciplinary approach to the topic that has not been feasible under the prevailing intellectual and technological constraints of our university environment.

(Via The Anomalist.)