Story by Hiyah Zaidi

 

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
Not alive, not dead, but a third state. Sounds spooky, but it’s the future of medicine. More specifically, this ‘third state’ is when the cells of an organism adopt new functions even after ‘death’. Or in other words, the cells are functioning, but the being is dead. And this spooky phenomenon is revolutionising synthetic biology as, usually, death is considered to be irreversible. But with this new discovery of a ‘third state,’ different cells from a range of organisms can be repurposed into biological ‘robots’. But what can they do? 

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death

In a review published in the journal Physiology, researchers are contemplating the implications of taking cells from organisms (dead or alive) and turning them into biological robots that have new functions. For example, researchers have managed to successfully create tiny 'robots' from human cells which could be used to heal wounds, regenerate tissue and treat diseases, known as anthrobots. In another instance, researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts have also created xenobots from the cells of already dead frogs. The cells, despite coming from a dead organism, can self replicate and perform simple tasks 

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
The creation of these biobots essentially points to the ‘third state’. In The Conversation, biologists Dr Peter Noble and Dr Alex Pozhitkov, co-authors of the review, wrote: ‘The third state challenges how scientists typically understand cell behaviour. While caterpillars metamorphosing into butterflies, or tadpoles evolving into frogs, may be familiar developmental transformations, there are few instances where organisms change in ways that are not predetermined. Tumours, organoids and cell lines that can indefinitely divide in a petri dish, like HeLa cells, are not considered part of the third state because they do not develop new function’ 

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
So, to break it down even further, third state ‘beings’ are those that can undertake new functions after death. This means cancer cells are also excluded, since they don’t exhibit new functions either. Going back to the anthrobots, they were taken from human lung cells. But somehow they managed to repair damaged neuron cells placed in a nearby petri dish. They managed to move by using their own hair like projections, also known as cilia (Picture: Getty)

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
Dr Noble and Dr Pozhitkov wrote: ‘Taken together, these findings demonstrate the inherent plasticity of cellular systems and challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the inherent plasticity of cellular systems and challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways’ 

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
Although the third state beings have semi-cheated death, they only last for no more than 60 days, and biograde when they’re dead – they are natural organisms, after all. Even so, 60 days is still a wonder since it's unclear how these repurposed cells are able to live so long after an organism dies, and we still don’t know the extent of their new functions 

(Picture: Getty)

Scientists discover a ‘third state’ between life and death
The authors give one hypothesis, however: ‘One hypothesis is that specialised channels and pumps embedded in the outer membranes of cells serve as intricate electrical circuits. These channels and pumps generate electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with each other and execute specific functions such as growth and movement, shaping the structure of the organism they form’ 

Xenobots can move, heal and interact with their environment on their own.

Diagram A shows an anthrobot building a bridge across a scratched neuron over the course of three days. Diagram B highlights the ‘stitch’ in green at the end of Day 3.

Gumuskaya et al. 2023/Advanced Science, CC BY-SA

Different cell types have different capacities for survival, including white blood cells.

Ed Reschke/Stone via Getty Images

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

31-10-2024 om 21:15 geschreven door peter  

Tom DeLonge Claimed There’s A Massive Underground Pyramid In Alaska, Larger Than The Great Pyramid Of Giza, Potentially Suppressing Human Consciousness

In 2021, on the Peer Pleasure Podcast, Tom DeLonge claimed there is a huge underground pyramid beneath Alaska, bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza that might be suppressing the consciousness of Human Beings. He said the pyramid is near Valdez, Alaska and had been studied for decades and alleged that people from the Pentagon and defense contractors have been involved in researching it.

According to him, the pyramid was discovered after seismic activity revealed an anomaly in the area, possibly after a large earthquake in Valdez. DeLonge claims that the pyramid might be “suppressing consciousness,” based on what a Pentagon contact reportedly told him. He adds that some information about the pyramid has been intentionally hidden, including a news piece that was supposedly suppressed.

He mentions hearing about this from people who were aware of the situation, some even speaking about it on their deathbeds. He also refers to the involvement of organizations like Bell Labs or AT&T in the pyramid’s discovery or study, but he’s uncertain about the details. Finally, he states that he has shared all he knows about the pyramid.

If you have not yet heard of the lost pyramid of Alaska, it is understandable. News of the structure has not crept into the mainstream media, but if you type “Alaska pyramid” into Bing’s search engine you will find the fictional structure has attracted plenty of attention from alternative and fringe media.

“World’s oldest pyramids found in Alaska shocks the scientific community,” New Earth Media headlined in 2017. “An underground pyramid giving out giant amounts of energy is being ‘covered up’ by the U.S. government, a documentary has revealed,” Daily Star reported in 2019.

“Traces of GIANT PYRAMID Beneath Alaska Uncovered by Journalist,” Russia’s, state-owned Sputnik News disclosed before going on to claim that “a nuclear blast that occurred in China nearly 30 years ago apparently led to a surprising discovery hundreds of kilometers away, in Alaska, where US government seismometers detected some peculiar geological anomalies, which in turn led a number of dedicated enthusiasts to pursue claims of a massive pyramid located far below the surface of the frozen peninsula.”

Sputnik cited as its source “the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens TV show journalist Linda Moulton Howe (who) was contacted by an ex-naval worker who told her on condition of anonymity that his father, an engineer, was able to see the pyramid while he was working on a top-secret government project.”

All these things would be easy to spot in the wild and remote areas of Alaska. The story from Sputnik mentioned a Naval officer who supposedly said there was a large pyramid and that they “would go down to the base of a huge pyramid using the elevators.”

However, building elevators that go hundreds of feet underground would be a major construction project. This would be something that small planes flying over the area could easily see. Small, single-engine aircraft are as common in Alaska as cars are in the lower 48 states. Planes fly almost everywhere, all the time.

While Alaska has grown, and fewer people now own planes, the state still has six times as many private pilots and 16 times more planes per capita than the rest of the U.S., according to the Alaska Department of Transportation. The wild, undeveloped land of the state makes it easier, not harder, for planes to spot large construction projects from above. But those who believe in the idea of a hidden pyramid (or pyramids) in Alaska don’t see it that way.

As writer Anthony Tyler said in an article for The Last American Vagabond, “good parts of Alaska are ‘totally uninhabitable under their current climate conditions…and the government presence overall in the state is pretty overwhelming, with an Air-Force/Army joint base nearly the size of Anchorage right outside of the city itself.’”

He argued that it would actually make sense for the government to hide secret facilities in such remote areas. Tyler writes, “It would almost seem silly for the government to not utilize these tactical advantages.” He then raises the question, “Why can’t people see this from the sky?” The answer, according to him, is because “the pyramid is supposedly located underground.” And, even more surprisingly, he claims that it’s said to be “four times the size of Giza.”

Read also:

• This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic M atrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It

• This Man Went To Find Giant Alien Pyramid Buried Deep in the Alaskan Wilderness & Never Seen Again
• This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

Tyler even speculated on how the pyramid could have ended up hidden, saying that “the ability for an earthquake to subsequently collapse the pyramid in a sort of catacomb underneath the Earth’s surface would be theoretically possible if one took into account Charles Hapgood’s Earth crust Displacement Theory.” He admits, though, that “even this is a wild and unlikely truth.” Instead, the legend suggests that the pyramid is thousands of years old and “was not built by humans.” (Source)

During a podcast with Daniel P Carter of BBC Radio 1 Rock, DeLonge disclosed that he has a secret official Pentagon document from a UFO program that shows telekinesis is a real ability. He believes that telekinesis has been proven in the lab and that consciousness precedes matter, and once we discover that, life is going to get very interesting.

He suggests that we have the ability to heal ourselves and create new types of Sciences and Engineering tweets. He also believes that telepathy is going to be a part of it, and that they have found an area in the brain that they believe is where telepathy happens. He thinks that once people accept all of the stuff that they have been talking about, it’s going to change the world. Below is the transcript of his conversation with Carter:

“I always tell people there is this really cool document (that I have) that was a part of the UFO program where they were studying a kid in China who can move objects with his mind. He is around 10 years old, so they wanted to figure out how that’s possible, and they recreated it in the lab.

I have the whole Department of Defense document, and it goes through it and says they were able to put a piece of paper in a glass jar, screw the lid on it, and move the paper through the lid and then six feet across the floor, all with their mind. 100 people can do this, only 10 have mastered it, and it was just wild.

So telekinesis has been proven in the lab, but no one knows about it. I’m like, to be able to move things with the force, like in Star Wars, is a big deal. It sounds ridiculous, that’s why, and within the current paradigm, it sounds ridiculous. I’m sure, or you won’t remember, but we had a conversation at the Reading Festival many years ago where I think I probably came across as a total maniac, even to someone as open-minded as yourself. But, I was talking about reading a bunch of different things, which means nothing, but I was looking at different realms of consciousness because that’s the basis of everything I believe.

I believe that consciousness precedes matter and I highly agree with you. Because the current paradigm is that consciousness is a facet that’s created by matter, which is just this weird thing that’s come about because our brains are complicated and that’s nonsense. I think it’s exactly the opposite and once we discover that stuff, life is going to get very interesting.

Once we discover that mind over matter, not the other way around, we will have the ability to heal ourselves, create new types of Sciences and Engineering, and become a civilization where telepathy is a part of it. I believe that’s all going to happen. There is one person, who was up for the Nobel last year, is one of the top geneticists in the world, at one of the Ivy League schools that we are working with, who worked on part of the UFO program at the Pentagon. I was talking to him, and they found an area in the brain that they believe is where telepathy happens, and he believes he can create something to enhance it by a thousand times, like some type of drug that targets that area of the brain.

So, that’s the thing, people do think it’s ridiculous, but not the people who have an open enough mind to research and jump in. These guys are like World leading PhDs, and that’s been the kind of the story of my life, is everything I’ve told, even on Rogan, is not made up, it’s coming from somewhere, and I can’t say where it’s coming from, but at the end of the day, it’s all real. I think it’s going to be a very exciting time once people accept all of the stuff that we’ve been talking about here on this interview, I think it’s going to really change the world.”

Moreover, as in the January 2022 Thrasher Magazine issue, DeLonge was asked: “Would you say UFOs are driven by aliens or do you think it’s more like a drone?” He replied: “I think both.” He suggested that it is important to note that while studying UFOs, we must be aware of the fact that they could be remotely controlled and may have occupants. (Source)

“I think the biggest misconception is that they are coming from other planets. Evidence doesn’t really support that. The evidence supports that it’s dimensional and that it’s parallel timelines that exist with frequency. It’s really complicated, different, and interesting. But once you understand that, you have no way out of reexamining the religious world and wondering what the Star of Bethlehem really was,” DeLonge explained.

• https://youtu.be/DdS5HknsWBo

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

27-10-2024 om 18:27 geschreven door peter  

Het raadsel van de Sfinx is het oudste enigma over de menselijke conditie: ken je de betekenis ervan?

door Janine

Carole Raddato/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 2.0

Mensen zijn al sinds de oudheid gefascineerd door puzzels en raadsels, zozeer zelfs dat ze vandaag de dag nog steeds van dit tijdverdrijf genieten.

Hoewel we niet precies kunnen vaststellen wanneer deze passie begon, weten we dat een van de eerste bekende enigma’s het beroemde raadsel van de Sfinx is.

Het is een episode die deel uitmaakt van de mythe van Oedipus en die ook vandaag de dag, na duizenden jaren, nog steeds fascineert.

En ondanks het feit dat dit raadsel bij veel mensen bekend is, verbergt het nog steeds betekenissen die het onderzoeken waard zijn.

Raadsel van de Sfinx: het verhaal

Het Enigma van de Sfinx is een van de beroemdste episodes uit de Griekse mythologie en in het bijzonder uit de mythe van Oedipus. Zoals we zullen zien, past het verhaal perfect in de reeks gebeurtenissen die ertoe zullen leiden dat de jonge Oedipus zijn voorspelling en zijn lot vervult.

In de Griekse mythologie is de Sfinx een wezen met het lichaam van een leeuw, het hoofd van een vrouw en de vleugels van een vogel die in de buurt van de stad Thebe leeft. Aan voorbijgangers legt het wezen een raadsel voor dat beroemd is geworden als het raadsel van de Sfinx, hier in een van zijn bekendste varianten:

Wat is het dier dat 's ochtends op vier benen loopt, 's middags op twee en 's avonds op drie?

Wat is het antwoord?

Het antwoord op het raadsel van de Sfinx

Geen van de voorbijgangers kan een antwoord vinden en daarom kan hij zijn weg niet vervolgen.

Op een dag wordt Oedipus echter geconfronteerd met het mythologische wezen dat hem, zoals gewoonlijk, ook het raadsel voorlegt. Oedipus denkt er even over na en geeft dan zijn antwoord:

Het dier is de mens, die zich als kind op vier benen voortbeweegt, als volwassene rechtop op twee voeten, en als oude man een stok nodig heeft om zich voort te bewegen, het derde been.

De Sfinx kan zich alleen maar overgeven en de jonge Oedipus laten passeren, die dan Thebe kan binnengaan. Maar dat is nog niet alles, want juist door het verslaan van de Sfinx zal Oedipous koning van Thebe worden.

Enigma van de Sfinx: de betekenis

Project Gutenberg - Public Domain

Tegenwoordig is het raadsel van de Sfinx zo beroemd dat iedereen het antwoord kent. Niet iedereen is zich echter bewust van de betekenis ervan, die diepgaand en symbolisch is en verband houdt met de menselijke conditie. Dit raadsel doet in feite denken aan concepten als:

De cyclus van het leven. Het menselijk bestaan ​​is opgedeeld in drie grote fasen, terwijl het leven van de mens wordt afgebeeld als een hele dag, van zonsopgang tot zonsondergang.

Zelfkennis. Om het raadsel van de Sfinx op te lossen, moet ieder mens zichzelf begrijpen voordat hij een antwoord kan vinden. Om de Sfinx te verslaan moet je zelfbewust zijn.

Wijsheid en verlossing. Kennis wordt gezien als een sleutel om de beproevingen en gevaren van het leven te overwinnen: dankzij zijn antwoord redt Oedipus Thebe en de Thebanen.

Technisch gezien kunnen we nog een andere hypothese naar voren brengen. Het enigma van de Sfinx is het bewijs dat kennis ook tot ondergang kan leiden, zoals Oedipus uit de eerste hand zal ervaren zodra hij koning van Thebe wordt.

Het tweede raadsel van de Sfinx

Zoals we al zeiden kent iedereen het raadsel van de Sfinx, maar niemand weet dat sommige versies van de mythe ook een tweede raadsel bevatten.

Nadat het mythologische wezen één keer was verslagen, zou het Oedipus een tweede, nog ingewikkelder raadsel hebben gesteld:

Er zijn twee zussen: de eerste zet de ander op de wereld, en zij baart op haar beurt de eerste. Wie zijn het?

Opnieuw denkt Oedipus hier een tijdje over na en geeft dan zijn antwoord, dat het juiste is: de twee zussen zijn dag en nacht. Om te begrijpen waarom, moeten we onthouden dat “dag” en “nacht” in het klassieke Grieks vrouwelijk zijn.

Net als bij zijn eerste raadsel stelt de Sfinx dus ook hier een raadsel over diepzinnige concepten als de cyclische aard van de tijd. 

In ons geval kunnen we eenvoudigweg erkennen dat deze raadsels helemaal niet zo eenvoudig op te lossen zijn, tenzij we buiten de gebaande paden denken. Of Oedipus zijn.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

26-10-2024 om 18:55 geschreven door peter  

A strange image has been circulating across social media in Thailand, showing a large, dark pillar-like structure mysteriously appearing in the sky over Ubon Ratchathani. According to the photographer, the picture was taken on Sunday, October 20, 2024, while they were trying to capture the "beautiful, colorful sky.

This peculiar sighting isn't entirely unprecedented. Similar strange phenomena have been reported before. On October 7, 2015, a mysterious "floating city" with skyscrapers appeared in the clouds over Foshan, Guangdong province in China. Again, on March 18, 2016, ghostly buildings were seen above the sea along the port of Dalian, in Liaoning Province, China, lingering in the sky for several minutes. 

Most recently, on September 11, 2020, an eerie image resembling the Hogwarts School from Harry Potter was spotted hovering over modern buildings in Jinan, Shandong Province. On July 14, 2022, a bizarre occurrence was also witnessed by residents in Haikou, Hainan, where a mysterious floating city appeared in the sky. 

Scientists suggest that these events are most likely optical illusions, with mirages being the leading theory. Mirages occur when light rays bend, causing distant objects or parts of the sky to appear displaced. One specific type, known as a Fata Morgana, can create towering, distorted images of distant objects, contributing to these surreal sights. 

Although the sightings between 2015 and 2022 were witnessed by many, the photographer in Thailand later realized that the mysterious pillar hadn't been visible to the naked eye at the time. This discovery has led some to speculate that the phenomenon might have been caused by a Project Blue Beam test, holographic technology, or even a temporary vortex connected to a parallel universe.

  

{ https://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

26-10-2024 om 18:37 geschreven door peter  

Many unusual phenomena are witnessed in the sky, ranging from UFOs and mysterious orbs to figures from parallel universes. One notable incident occurred during a recent thunderstorm from an unknown location when amidst the raging storm, a powerful flash of lightning illuminates the night sky, revealing the haunting silhouette of a demon, caught mid-air. 

While this eerie vision was likely a result of the lightning itself, some claim it resembled Raijin, the Shinto god of lightning and thunder, a chaotic being born of death who brings the world vital rains as well as chaos and destruction . 

Regardless of the true nature of this event, it serves as a reminder that countless mysterious phenomena exist on and around our planet. Whether tied to the afterlife, parallel universes, intelligent extraterrestrial life, or folklore with roots in truth, most of these occurrences remain unexplained.

Link to the short video posted on TikTok:

• https://www.tiktok.com/@nc_batman_official/video/7417359739828440351/

{ https://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

26-10-2024 om 18:20 geschreven door peter  

This Physicist Claims Human Consciousness Comes from Hidden Dimensions of the Universe & suggests Jesus could be a Hyperdimensional Being

Physicist Michael Pravica claims that human consciousness arises from hidden dimensions of the universe rather than solely from brain activity. He suggests that Jesus could be a hyperdimensional being, as referenced in the Bible. According to him, our consciousness has the ability to transcend the physical world during moments of heightened awareness.

Dr. Michael Pravica’s theory is about the idea that the universe has more dimensions than the four we know: height, length, width, and time. He explains this concept using a hypothetical scenario involving a two-dimensional being. “Imagine you’re a two-dimensional being living in a two-dimensional world, like a character in a comic book,” he stated. As a three-dimensional sphere passes through, it would appear as a dot that grows and shrinks, illustrating how limited perceptions can hinder understanding of higher dimensions.

Michael Pravica is an expert in general physics, specializing in high-pressure  science, X-ray spectroscopies, and nuclear magnetic resonance. He studies matter under extreme conditions, focusing on high pressure, temperature, and radiation, while also advocating for science through media outreach.

Dr. Pravica has developed innovative concepts like “useful hard X-ray chemistry” for novel chemical reactions and Ion Beam Nuclear Transmutation Doping for semiconductor doping. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Physics from Harvard University and a B.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.

Hyperdimensionality, Bible & Jesus!

Dr. Pravica concept ties into the theory of hyperdimensionality, or the idea that our universe is not just made up of the three dimensions we perceive. Instead, the universe might actually be part of a much larger nexus with hidden dimensions, he suggests.

If this controversial theory turns out to be true, we would have to accept not only that some beings may be residing outside the physical realm, free from the limitations of space and time, but also that our consciousness might have a similar capacity, He claims.

Dr. Pravica is an Orthodox Christian who earned a Ph.D. from Harvard. He thinks hyperdimensionality is a special way to connect his scientific knowledge with his religious beliefs. This idea puts him outside traditional scientific views, as he takes common ideas to new extremes to explore complex topics.

He believes that hyperdimensionality is more common than we realize. For instance, he suggests that Jesus could be a hyperdimensional being, among others. “According to the Bible, Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after being on Earth. How do you ascend into heaven if you’re a four-dimensional creature?” Dr. Pravica asks. But, if you’re hyperdimensional, it’s very easy to travel from our familiar world into heaven, which could be a world of higher or infinite dimensions, he says. (Source)

Pravica believes that we all have the ability to connect with higher dimensions when we use our brains in certain ways. This can happen when we create art, do scientific work, think about deep questions, or even explore different places in our dreams

During these times, our awareness goes beyond the physical world and connects with these higher dimensions, which then inspire us with new ideas and creativity. Pravica says, “The fact that we can imagine dimensions beyond the four we see is a special gift… it goes beyond just biology.”

This idea of our consciousness connecting with higher dimensions relates to advanced physics theories like string theory.

String theory suggests that everything in the universe, from tiny particles to the forces between them, is made up of tiny, vibrating strings. The way these strings vibrate in hidden dimensions creates all the different particles and forces we see. Pravica explains, “String theory is basically about understanding how the universe is built on a very small scale.”

Hyperdimensionality might help us understand why spacetime is curved. This means that space and time bend around huge objects like stars or planets, creating gravity. Pravica suggests that if spacetime is curved, it could be because of a higher dimension.

Many physicists believe in the idea of higher dimensions, but not everyone agrees with Pravica’s thoughts on how hyperdimensionality connects to consciousness. Some scientists might even see these ideas as very unconventional or as an extreme logical argument that doesn’t hold up.

Skepticism

Dr. Pravica believes in a view of God that fills in the gaps where  science doesn’t have answers. Stephen Holler, a physics professor at Fordham University, explains that this way of thinking is not helpful. It stops people from being curious and learning more about the world. Instead of saying “I don’t know,” people should see that admitting ignorance is a chance to learn.

Holler gives an example from history to show how science improves our understanding. In the past, people thought the Earth was at the center of the universe (the geocentric model). To explain the movement of planets, they created complicated ideas like epicycles, which were small circles added to the larger paths of planets around Earth. This made things confusing and delayed the acceptance of the correct model, where the sun is at the center (the heliocentric model). Holler points out that while exploring new ideas can be exciting, we should be careful not to get lost in unnecessary complexity that doesn’t reflect reality.

Moreover, the limitations of current technology, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), pose challenges to exploring these dimensions. The LHC, which smashes particles at high speeds, allows physicists to study fundamental particles but cannot access the high-dimensional strings predicted by quantum physics. Holler states that “not even the most powerful particle accelerator in the world can provide real proof that these dimensions exist,” reinforcing the need for concrete evidence.

Read also:

• This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic Matrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It
• This Professor Claimed That Out of 225 Cases Studying Reincarnation, 75 Had Birthmarks Corresponding with Past Life Memories.
• This Man, Hired by the CIA, Reveals the Mysterious ‘Bands’ Surrounding Earth Where Individuals Congregate After Physical Death

Agree with Dr. Pravica or not but there is more to consciousness. Billionaire Robert Bigelow the only billionaire who spent millions of dollars searching for the soul or consciousness after death, and what he found might disturb you. We are all servants of a supreme consciousness. He claims that G-LOC makes our consciousness leave the body, allowing us to see beyond the room while being outside the body.

In an interview with Jeffrey Mishlove, billionaire Robert Bigelow discusses how out-of-body experiences can be triggered artificially. He learned about this from an Air Force general who had such an experience during centrifuge training. In this training, people endure high gravitational forces until they pass out. The general described how, after one session, he saw himself from above, observing his body walking and hearing conversations he wouldn’t normally hear. Separately, in 1962, American engineers found unusual electromagnetic signals aimed at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, leading the Pentagon to start a secret program to replicate these effects. Years later, the U.S. studied the Soviet interest in controlling human behavior through psychic means, fearing it was a threat.

The U.S. military has conducted extensive research into this potentially dangerous phenomenon and has officially named the experience “G-LOC.” The popular television show Sightings did an entire segment on G-LOC-induced OBEs that was titled “Simulated Out-of-Body Experiences.” Several U.S. military pilots participated in an experiment where G-LOC was created in a NASA centrifuge. Each interviewed pilot reported that he had passed out and then described a detailed out-of-body state of consciousness.”— The Secret of the Soul: Using Out-of-Body Experiences to Understand Our True Nature by William Buhlman. (Source)

Even though Holler identifies as nonreligious and an atheist, he acknowledges that spiritual beliefs that are consistent with established physical principles can strengthen both faith and science. Still, he says that “hyperdimensionality borders on science fiction.”

Dr. Pravica has faith that, within his children’s lifetime, we’ll figure out a way to generate the incredibly high energies required to investigate other dimensions. Meanwhile, he remains a vocal supporter of hyperdimensionality.

“I see no point otherwise,” he says. “Why study? Why live?” Hyperdimensionality gives the physicist a purpose, a happiness that “transcends this universe.”

The shocking official CIA documents on human consciousness that says Consciousness is not a part of our body at all, it’s stored in our brain, but not a part of it. Our consciousness (us) is its own being, a ghost version of us.

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

04-10-2024 om 22:06 geschreven door peter  

Terrifying 'skyquakes' are being heard around the world including the US - and scientists don't know what they are

• READ MORE:  NASA analyzing mysterious flash and sonic boom over Minnesota

By Nikki Main Science Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Mysterious 'skyquakes' have been heard around the world for more than 200 years, but scientists have yet to uncover the cause and origin of the bizarre noises.

The sounds could be mistaken for a gunshot or a car backfiring, and have been heard in areas ranging from Belgium and Japan to the Finger Lakes region in New York.

Scientists have tried to uncover where the resounding booms are coming, proposing theories like a meteor exploding in the atmosphere, military exercises, quarry blasts and distant storms or earthquakes. 

A strange skyquake has shaken the world since the early 1800s, causing scientists to speculate what could be the cause. They have considered earthquakes, military exercises and storm blasts - but none seem to be the root cause

The first skyquakes were documented in 1811 after people in New Madrid, Missouri heard the strange sounds during a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.

Residents reported hearing 'artillery-like sounds' before or during the quake hit.

Similar noises were then reported during an earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina in August 1886, which were heard for weeks afterward the 7.3-magnittude.

The skyquakes were described them as a 'roaring sound' or 'loud detonations.'

These noises have also been labeled as Lake Guns or Seneca Guns, after Seneca Lake in central New York state which also experienced the phenomena in 1850. 

James Fenimore Cooper, who lived in Seneca Lakes during one of these skyquakes, described the experience in his short story 'The Lake Gun.'

'It is a sound resembling the explosion of a heavy piece of artillery, that can be accounted for by none of the known laws of nature,' Cooper wrote. 

'The report is deep, hollow, distant and imposing. The lake seems to be speaking to the surrounding hills, which send back the echoes of its voice in accurate reply.' 

In the years that followed, the booms were unidentifiable due to their random timing and were unaffiliated with any other natural events.

It wasn't until 2020 that scientists started using seismic data obtained from the EarthScope Transportable Array (ESTA) since 2013. 

ESTA is a network of more than 400 seismic stations across the US that detects earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. 

A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cross-referenced ESTA's data with news articles to determine if the noises were caused by earthquakes.

'Generally speaking, we believe this is an atmospheric phenomenon – we don't think it's coming from seismic activity,' Eli Bird who, a researcher who was involved in the study told Live Science at the time.

'We're assuming it's propagating through the atmosphere rather than the ground.'

The researchers speculated that another possibility could be bolides - which are space rocks that explode when they hit the Earth's atmosphere.

Bird said another possibility could be oceanic events like large waves crashing offshore or thunder cracking over the ocean.

'The atmospheric conditions could be such that that gets amplified in a particular direction, or is primarily affecting this localized area,' he told Live Science.

However, despite their efforts, seismologists have still been unable to definitively pinpoint where the skyquakes are coming from.

Residents in 15 Alabama counties were shocked by a boom in November 2017, prompting them to call 911 operators in fear.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham informed people that they couldn't clearly explain the noise and satellite imagery and radar scans didn't show signs of an explosion in the region. 

The agency posted on X at the time a similar sentiment that is still being relayed today: 'We don't have an answer, and we can only hypothesize with you.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

04-10-2024 om 00:44 geschreven door peter  

Has Nessie finally been FOUND? Seasoned Loch Ness skipper shares images of monster-like shape caught on sonar

• READ MORE: NASA is asked to help in the search for the Loch Ness Monster

By Shivali Best For Mailonline 

It's the mythical creature that has captured the attention of people around the world for decades.

And now the search for the Loch Ness monster has been taken up a gear.

Shaun Sloggie, a seasoned Loch Ness skipper, was cruising across the loch when he spotted a mysterious shape on sonar. 

While its source remains unclear, Sloggie, 30, admits he's 'never seen anything like it'.

'The strangeness of it was chilling – it's the sort of thing that leaves you speechless,' he said.  

Shaun Sloggie, a seasoned Loch Ness skipper, was cruising across the Loch when he spotted a mysterious shape on sonar

The sonar indicated that a large, object was lurking at a depth of around 98-metres, described by the stunned skipper as 'the biggest thing I've ever seen'

Slogg and maritime pilot Liam McKenzie, 29, were doing their usual rounds at Cruise Loch Ness when they stumbled upon the strange shape.

On September 22, 2024, while preparing for another vessel's arrival, Sloggie's sonar flashed up.

The sonar indicated that a large object was lurking at a depth of around 98-metres. 

He described it as 'the biggest thing I've ever seen.'

With its elongated shape and distinct features hinting at air pockets, the team couldn't help but wonder if the sonar reading was tied to the infamous Loch Ness Monster.

It's the mythical creature that has captured the attention of people around the world for decades. And now the search for the Loch Ness monster has been taken up a gear (artist's impression) 

Despite returning to the scene to investigate, the mysterious contact had vanished, leaving the team baffled

'We've seen all sorts of fish that shouldn't be here, but this? This was different,' Sloggie said.

Despite returning to the scene to investigate, the mysterious contact had vanished, leaving the team baffled.

Sloggie admitted: 'We're not sonar experts, but I've never seen anything like it.'

Spookily, the last major sonar contact in Loch Ness occurred almost exactly four years ago, on September 24, 2020. 

The news comes shortly after a photographer revealed 'compelling' photographs of what she suggests is the mythical Loch Ness Monster, after keeping them a secret for five years. 

With its elongated shape and distinct features hinting at air pockets, the team couldn't help but wonder if the sonar reading was tied to the infamous Loch Ness Monster

Chie Kelly, 52, took the pictures of the creature from Scottish folklore half a decade ago but did not share them out of fear of public ridicule.

The first 15 images were revealed last year and now The Cryptid Factor podcast has released and analysed all 71 frames. It hoped that the photographs taken by Ms Kelly, who works as a translator, would spark debate in investigators around the world.

The images have been put into a video and appear to show something moving across the loch in the Highlands.

Despite many images of the so-called monster - including a famous photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson - proven to be fakes, it has not stopped tourists flocking to the area each year in hope of seeing the mythical beast.

What IS the Loch Ness Monster?

Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.

One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.  

On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.

Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.

It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.

Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.

Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake 

The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.

But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.

An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com. 

So what could explain these mysterious sightings? 

Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.

Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.

Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.

Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.

While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.

Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

04-10-2024 om 00:36 geschreven door peter  

Are we living in a simulation? Scientist claims we're simply characters in an advanced AI world - and says the proof is hidden in the BIBLE

• Passages from the Bible support the simulation hypothesis, physicist claims
• READ MORE: These everyday clues seem to suggest we're living in a simulation 

By Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline 

If you feel like you're living in a convincing virtual reality akin to The Matrix, a scientist thinks you may well be right.

Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, claims our entire universe may be an advanced computer simulation. 

And the proof that this so-called simulation hypothesis is correct may be hiding in plain sight in the Bible.

Professor Vopson told MailOnline: 'The bible itself tells us that we are in a simulation and it also tells us who is doing it.

'It is done by an AI – an artificial intelligence.' 

Professor Vopson points to the Gospel of John, one of the first four books of the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible

Professor Vopson points to the Gospel of John, one of the first four books of the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. 

Gospel of John opens with the powerful statement: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'

The professor says this verse has 'deep theological significance in Christian doctrine', but it also carries 'intriguing implications' when considered in the context of the universe as a simulation. 

He argues that 'the Word' in this famous sentence refers to the underlying computer code that governs and controls the simulation. 

As anyone who has seen The Matrix will know, any computer simulation, big or small, consists of letters and numbers that write the rules for the entire creation. 

The academic further argues that 'the Word was God' could mean that God is part of the simulation, rather than separate from it. 

In other words, the entity that is controlling the whole thing – God – is written into the code too. 

Professor Vopson explains: 'The code running the simulation is not separate from the divine, but rather an integral part of it, perhaps an AI.'

Ale Belly

8 hours ago

commented on article

AB

Are we in a simulation? Scientist claims proof is hidden in the BIBLE

If we are living in a simulation then I want to know who to speak to to upgrade my package. I appear to be on the budget plan.

Reply1

56

Share

Reply

In the blockbuster movie The Matrix, protagonist Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, discovers we're living in a simulated reality. By the end of the film, Neo is able to see the simulated world for what it is - computer code (pictured)

The simulated universe hypothesis proposes that what humans experience is actually an artificial reality, much like a computer simulation, in which they themselves are constructs. It formed the basis for the 1999 film The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves (pictured as his character wakes up in the real world)

Gospel of John goes on to say: 'All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made...'

Again, this statement supports the simulated universe theory, the professor suggests. 

'It implies a Creator who brought the simulated universe into existence through the Word (i.e. the code)' he says.

'It suggests that the act of creation, as described in the Bible, could be analogous to a divine act of programming and simulation.' 

Arguably, the theory offers an answer to a question that many Christians struggle with – how did God create the universe in six days?

If the theory's to be believed, he did so by creating a simulated reality encapsulated in a computer programme – something we know to be possible. 

The simulation theory 

Professor Vopson has outlined his hypothesis in his new book, 'Reality Reloaded: The Scientific Case for a Simulated Universe'. 

He says it is not even something he necessarily believes in, but a 'extraordinary observation that deserves attention'. 

'What is truly remarkable is that the interpretation given is fully aligned to the events of our times: the emergence of the AI, and also it is exactly what 'The Matrix' was projecting,' he told MailOnline. 

While the professor's thoughts may seem sacrilegious to some, he says it could have 'profound implications for Christian theology'. 

He believes there's an overlap where a belief in the simulated universe theory and the religious need for a almighty creator 'can coexist harmoniously'.  

'This perspective aligns with religious beliefs that hold human life to be meaningful and purposeful, even within the context of a larger design,' he says. 

'Instead of viewing the simulated universe hypothesis as antagonistic to religious beliefs, one can see it as offering a complementary perspective.'  

The professor has already said our lives contains several clues that suggest we're merely characters in an advanced virtual world. 

Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, has outlined the clues that suggest we live in a simulated reality  

Professor Vopson thinks the prevalence of symmetry in the universe (pictured) suggests we are in a simulated reality because it's a way to save computational power 

For example, the fact there's limits to how fast light and sound can travel suggest they may be governed by the speed of a computer processor. 

The laws of physics that govern the universe are also akin to computer code, he says, while elementary particles that make up matter are like pixels. 

He also thinks the abundance of symmetry in the world – from flowers to butterflies and snowflakes – is a power-saving technique the machines use to render the digitally constructed world. 

The simulation theory is not unique to Professor Vopson; in fact, it's popular among a number of well-known figures including Tesla founder Elon Musk and American astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson. 

At a 2016 conference, Musk said the odds that we're living in a 'base reality' – the real universe as opposed to a simulated one – are 'one in billions'. 

The term 'base reality' is part of an expansion on the theory that there are layers upon layers of fake realities that we need to somehow wake up from, akin to the film 'Inception'.

But as French philosopher René Descartes pointed out in 1637, 'Cogito, ergo sum', translated from the Latin as 'I think, therefore I am'. 

In other words, the ability to doubt the nature of our reality is essentially proof that we exist, in some shape or form. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

30-09-2024 om 20:37 geschreven door peter  

The legendary SR-71 Blackbird, as soon as it has its successor, may certainly redefine the way aerial reconnaissance and strike capabilities are to be perceived because it is given its unparalleled speed and altitude. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works team is working on the SR-72 "Darkstar," a hypersonic aircraft that aims to reach Mach 6.0. This would be twice the capability of the predecessor./

The SR-71 was unveiled to the world over half a century ago and could reach an altitude of 85,000 feet and Mach 3.2.

The SR-71 was unveiled to the world over half a century ago and could reach an altitude of 85,000 feet and Mach 3.2.

Its retirement in the late 1990s meant it would never be challenged for this record, but the supposed SR-72 has promised much more.

Popularized by its appearance in the latest Top Gun movie, it promises to transcend feats that would never have been seen or imagined in this aircraft's lifetime.

Firm Lockheed Martin partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne for the new engine for the SR-72; it would take advantage of technology from the now-canceled HTV-3X.

The turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine that the SR-72 will be using is a dual-mode ramjet engine, which will enable take-off at conventional jet speeds and then zoom up to hypersonic speeds of potentially over Mach 6.0.

It has not been an easy ride to develop the SR-72. The latest reports show that in Q2 2024, the program overspent by an additional $45 million, leaving it with a comprehensive loss since 2022 to $335 million.

Still, hope for the SR-72 remains alive. Lockheed Martin will continue to be extended with the program as shrouded in secrecy, marching toward operational status, perhaps to meet future U.S. Air Force needs.

Hence, the SR-72 would be an ISR asset with strike capability; whereas the SR-71 aircraft could only be used for reconnaissance missions, the SR-72 aircraft would engage the target directly.

Based on this feature added to hypersonic missiles, it would be possible for a weapon system to breach any airspace and strike any point on a continent within sixty minutes.

It would be an entirely new kind of strategic advantage, said Lockheed Martin's program manager, as such a machine "penetrates denied airspace and strikes at nearly any location across a continent in less than an hour."

It's a capability no other weapon in the U.S. Air Force's inventory can especially with rising tensions between Washington and Beijing continuing unabated.

The SR-72 has been classified, but Lockheed Martin upped its advanced development programs unit by 75 percent and hired more than 2,300 new employees since early 2018.

That kind of investment means that the production will be of a new classified aircraft for use in operational service.

The SR-72 is taking shape as an aircraft that will revolutionize the air reconnaissance and strike capabilities, permitting the United States Air Force to achieve unprecedented speed and strategic advantage.

VIDEOS

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/  }

28-09-2024 om 01:00 geschreven door peter  

Two Scientists Say That The Human Soul is A Type of Quantum Field

Two scientists propose that the human soul is a type of quantum field that interacts only with certain fields in the physical universe, not directly with matter, and that electromagnetic fields affect the soul and help create memories and self-awareness in a fetus or child during reincarnation.

Fields that interact with the soul field include electromagnetic waves as evidenced by near-death experiences where events that could not have been seen through the eyes of the individual are verified.

Edward W. Kamen of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Roger D. Kamen of Ferris State University propose that, since electric fields and electromagnetic fields both have quanta consisting of photons, electric fields may also interact with the so-called “soul field.”

This interaction could potentially result in the transfer of information, such as working memory content, to the soul via the electric fields generated by neural ensembles in the human brain. Furthermore, the soul field may influence neurons at the molecular level through interactions with electric fields, as well as the recently proposed mechanism of cytoelectric coupling.

The possibility of the existence of realms beyond the physical universe is now accepted by many cosmologists who subscribe to the eternal inflation theory of multiple universes.

However, the existence of the multiverse does not provide an explanation for where souls might reside. The key point is that other domains outside our universe may exist. Although the laws of physics likely vary from universe to universe in the multiverse scenario, it is conceivable that quantum fields and quanta (discrete packets of energy) underlie the existence of every universe in the multiverse, as they do in our own. [Source]

The study says if human souls exist, they come from a different realm and return there after the body dies. In this realm, the usual laws of physics might not apply, but there could be similarities to our physical universe. It introduces the concept of “quasi-fields,” which are similar to quantum fields in our universe but exist in the domain of the soul.

These quasi-fields may give rise to massless particles, similar to how quantum fields produce massless particles like photons in the physical world.

Researchers suggest that if there’s no Higgs-like field in the soul realm, then everything there would be massless. It also notes that while many discussions about the soul view it as a fothe “soul field” is expected to have specific values or strengths related to the energy and particles that make it up. However, these values might be impossible to measure directly with any devices. The soul field’s values would depend on the physical space and time because the soul exists in a body while it’s alive. Additionally, the soul field might also involve different types of space and time when it exists in a separate, non-physical realm. This implies that there is a kind of space in the soul domain, allowing for movement and the passage of time, rather than everything happening instantly of spiritual energy, this idea alone doesn’t fully explain its nature.

Ultimately, it proposes that the human soul can be understood as a type of quantum field (quasi-field) that shares some properties with the quantum fields we know in our universe. This perspective is somewhat different from previous discussions in the literature on the topic.

The “soul field” is expected to have specific values or strengths related to the energy and particles that make it up. However, these values might be impossible to measure directly with any devices.

The soul field’s values would depend on the physical space and time because the soul exists in a body while it’s alive. Additionally, the soul field might also involve different types of space and time when it exists in a separate, non-physical realm. This implies that there is a kind of space in the soul domain, allowing for movement and the passage of time, rather than everything happening instantly.

The interaction between the soul and matter, focusing on ideas from quantum field theory (QFT). It mentions a question raised by physicist Sean Carroll about how the soul interacts with matter, specifically electrons. Carroll suggests that if the soul interacts with electrons, there should be a part in the Dirac equation that describes this interaction, but no evidence supports this. [Source

The conclusion drawn is that either QFT is incorrect or the soul does not exist. To resolve this, the text proposes that the soul does not directly interact with matter like electrons or other particles with mass (like quarks). Instead, the soul interacts with specific fields in the universe, particularly electromagnetic (EM) waves.

Evidence for this interaction comes from near-death experiences (NDEs), where individuals report seeing events that they couldn’t have seen physically, but these events are confirmed by others present. The text suggests that the soul can sense and process EM waves, likely through interactions with photons (light particles) that impact the soul field. This is compared to how humans perceive light through electrons in the eye, but how the soul processes this information to achieve vision remains uncertain.

Read also:

• This Woman Nearly Died & Found Humans Are a Temporary Symbiosis Between TWO Beings: One Mortal, One Immortal. Death Does Not Exist, Only Transition
• This Professor Claimed That Out of 225 Cases Studying Reincarnation, 75 Had Birthmarks Corresponding with Past Life Memories.
• This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

A verified account of a near-death experience (NDE) was reported in the case of a female physician Bettina Peyton whose heart stopped during surgery. Despite her eyes being taped shut, she described seeing a white-haired senior doctor in scrubs entering the operating room and working on her. This event was later confirmed to have actually happened. [Source]

Her description of the experience, where she seems to view the situation from outside her body, suggests that the soul might behave like a “floating cortex” after it separates from the physical body. When someone goes through a near-death experience, they report being able to hear conversations around them, which raises questions about how this is possible if their heart has stopped.

One idea is that, even though the heart isn’t beating, the cells responsible for hearing can still work for a short time. These cells can send electrical signals through the auditory nerve to the brain, which the soul can interpret as sounds.

The study describes how electric fields created by brain activity can contain information, including memories. If the soul can pick up on these electric fields, then memories might continue to exist after death, moving with the soul. This suggests that memories don’t just disappear when someone dies.[Source]

Furthermore, the connection between the soul and these electric fields might work both ways. Not only can electric fields affect the soul, but the soul might also influence brain activity. This could play a role in how memories and self-awareness are transferred to a new body during reincarnation.

Scientists know that the brain’s electric fields can affect nearby neurons, which might mean the soul field could impact how neurons work as well. [Source]

However, if the soul does interact with electric fields in the body, it’s tricky to measure this interaction. This means proving the existence of the soul through its effects on these fields might be impossible.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

25-09-2024 om 23:23 geschreven door peter  

This Man Went To Find Giant Alien Pyramid Buried Deep in the Alaskan Wilderness & Never Seen Again

Nathan Campbell was last seen on June 13, 2020, near Carey Lake, Alaska. He told his bush pilot that he was searching for the lost pyramid of Alaska. In May 2020, a small floatplane flew 41-year-old Campbell deep into a remote part of Alaska. During the flight, he told the pilot he was searching for Alaska’s lost pyramid. No one has seen Campbell since.

The National Park Service wasn’t told he was missing until mid-September, 2020. They began searching a remote area in Denali National Park and found supplies he had left at Carey Lake, where the plane had dropped him off. They also found a collapsed tent some miles away. Inside the tent was a damaged diary, likely chewed on by animals. (Source)

The diary didn’t offer many clues about what happened to him. It mostly described his daily camp activities. The last entry said Campbell had left the tent to “get water.” After finding the diary, Alaska State Troopers added Campbell to their missing persons list, but the notice didn’t give much more information.

On May 27, 2020, Campbell hired a small plane in Talkeetna, Alaska, to take him to a remote lake in Denali National Park. He brought basic camping gear, a lot of food stored in plastic tubs, and a satellite communicator to stay in touch with his wife and kids. His plan was to spend four months alone in the wilds of Interior Alaska.

Campbell chose a very isolated spot for his summer trip. The plane dropped him off at Carey Lake, a small blue lake surrounded by hundreds of miles of untouched wilderness. The area was tough to navigate, filled with dense bushes and deep beaver ponds. If he wanted to get to the nearest town, Lake Minchumina (which only has 13 residents), he would need to walk for a week through difficult terrain. If he was looking for solitude, he definitely found it.

However, Campbell wasn’t there just for a vacation; he had a specific purpose. During the long flight to Carey Lake, as they flew over the vast green forests below, Campbell opened up to his pilot, Jason Sturgis, about his plans for the summer.

“He was a pretty quiet individual,” said Jason Sturgis, the charter pilot who flew Campbell to Carey Lake, but Campbell revealed his interest in the rumored pyramid as the plane approached its landing after a long flight across the Alaska Range from near Talkeetna.

“His ‘Indiana Jones adventure’ is what he called it,” Sturgis said.

Campbell went to Carey Lake because he was searching for something very mysterious: the Black Pyramid. This huge underground structure is said to be four times bigger than the famous Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt and is believed to be thousands or even millions of years old. Some conspiracy theorists think the pyramid is so important for national security that any evidence of it—and the military base that supposedly protects it—has been erased from satellite images.

For many years, bush pilots, trappers, and local people have traveled around Carey Lake, but a quick look through old newspapers from Fairbanks shows few mentions of a giant alien pyramid or a secret base in central Alaska. However, before Nathan Campbell arrived, nobody had really been searching for it. His reasons for looking in this remote part of Alaska, if you consider the strange logic of conspiracy theories, seem to make sense.

If you have not yet heard of the lost pyramid of Alaska, it is understandable. News of the structure has not crept into the mainstream media, but if you type “Alaska pyramid” into Bing’s search engine you will find the fictional structure has attracted plenty of attention from alternative and fringe media.

“World’s oldest pyramids found in Alaska shocks the scientific community,” New Earth Media headlined in 2017. “An underground pyramid giving out giant amounts of energy is being ‘covered up’ by the U.S. government, a documentary has revealed,” Daily Star reported in 2019.

“Traces of GIANT PYRAMID Beneath Alaska Uncovered by Journalist,” Russia’s, state-owned Sputnik News disclosed before going on to claim that “a nuclear blast that occurred in China nearly 30 years ago apparently led to a surprising discovery hundreds of kilometers away, in Alaska, where US government seismometers detected some peculiar geological anomalies, which in turn led a number of dedicated enthusiasts to pursue claims of a massive pyramid located far below the surface of the frozen peninsula.”

Sputnik cited as its source “the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens TV show journalist Linda Moulton Howe (who) was contacted by an ex-naval worker who told her on condition of anonymity that his father, an engineer, was able to see the pyramid while he was working on a top-secret government project.”

According to, Craig Medred, an independent Alaska journalist, There are no government projects, either secret or otherwise, within 50 miles of Carey Lake. If there were any, people would notice them because these types of projects need access, such as roads, airports, or even a landing spot for a helicopter. At the very least, there would need to be a clearing by a lake to bring in supplies by a floatplane.

All these things would be easy to spot in the wild and remote areas of Alaska. The story from Sputnik mentioned a Naval officer who supposedly said there was a large pyramid and that they “would go down to the base of a huge pyramid using the elevators.”

However, building elevators that go hundreds of feet underground would be a major construction project. This would be something that small planes flying over the area could easily see. Small, single-engine aircraft are as common in Alaska as cars are in the lower 48 states. Planes fly almost everywhere, all the time.

While Alaska has grown, and fewer people now own planes, the state still has six times as many private pilots and 16 times more planes per capita than the rest of the U.S., according to the Alaska Department of Transportation. The wild, undeveloped land of the state makes it easier, not harder, for planes to spot large construction projects from above. But those who believe in the idea of a hidden pyramid (or pyramids) in Alaska don’t see it that way.

As writer Anthony Tyler said in an article for The Last American Vagabond, “good parts of Alaska are ‘totally uninhabitable under their current climate conditions…and the government presence overall in the state is pretty overwhelming, with an Air-Force/Army joint base nearly the size of Anchorage right outside of the city itself.’”

He argued that it would actually make sense for the government to hide secret facilities in such remote areas. Tyler writes, “It would almost seem silly for the government to not utilize these tactical advantages.” He then raises the question, “Why can’t people see this from the sky?” The answer, according to him, is because “the pyramid is supposedly located underground.” And, even more surprisingly, he claims that it’s said to be “four times the size of Giza.”

Tyler even speculated on how the pyramid could have ended up hidden, saying that “the ability for an earthquake to subsequently collapse the pyramid in a sort of catacomb underneath the Earth’s surface would be theoretically possible if one took into account Charles Hapgood’s Earth crust Displacement Theory.” He admits, though, that “even this is a wild and unlikely truth.” Instead, the legend suggests that the pyramid is thousands of years old and “was not built by humans.” (Source)

In June, Campbell, who had just turned 41, decided to go on a solo adventure in the Carey Lake area, looking for pyramids. It’s unclear why he chose to do this alone. Sturgis, the pilot who dropped him off, said he felt uneasy about leaving Campbell without a set pickup date, but Campbell reassured him.

He told the pilot that he had a Garmin InReach device, which could help him communicate and share his location via GPS. Campbell explained that if he needed an early pickup, his wife would contact the pilot. Otherwise, he planned to stay until late August or early September.

Read also:

• This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic Matrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It
• This Professor Claimed That Out of 225 Cases Studying Reincarnation, 75 Had Birthmarks Corresponding with Past Life Memories.
• This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

Campbell was well-prepared, bringing along some large containers of food and a big backpack. Sturgis recalled that Campbell took fishing gear with him too, which was later found by park officials at Carey Lake. Campbell stayed in touch with his wife through the InReach device until mid-June.

After that, his wife stopped hearing from him. “It was a Friday she called me,” Sturgis said, explaining that she reached out in June, concerned because there had been no contact. Sturgis asked her for Campbell’s last known GPS coordinates, which showed that he was about five miles away from the lake. Unfortunately, Sturgis couldn’t land his floatplane in that area to check on Campbell. He advised Campbell’s wife to call a helicopter company to go and check the location.

Sturgis assumed the helicopter search would happen, but after a while, he forgot about the situation. “I just figured they did that,” he said, until September, when he got a call asking him to go and pick up Campbell. By that time, the man had been reported missing, and both the state authorities and the park service had begun searching for him.

Another pilot, David Lee, said the situation was strange. He had considered starting his own search mission for Campbell before the park service began theirs. “It’s pretty bizarre,” Lee said, adding that someone should have started looking for Campbell sooner, given that he’d been out of contact for nearly three months. However, he admitted, “I don’t know if it would have made any difference.”

Campbell is not the first to disappear into the wilderness on the north side of the park. About 50 miles to the east, a young man named Chris McCandless moved into an abandoned and deserted bus along an abandoned and overgrown road in April 1992.

The 24-year-old son of a comfortably well off East Coast family, McCandless fled into the wild for reasons that will never be known. Some have suggested he was struggling with mental illness. Whatever the case, McCandless was found dead of starvation in the bus in the fall of the year, and four years later writer John Krakauer authored a book portraying McCandless as a young man on a search for the meaning of life who died tragically after accidentally eating poisoned seeds.

The book became a bestseller that turned the dead McCandless into a mythical figure. The idea McCandless accidentally poisoned himself was eventually debunked, but it didn’t matter.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

22-09-2024 om 23:33 geschreven door peter  

This Professor Claimed That Out of 225 Cases Studying Reincarnation, 75 Had Birthmarks Corresponding with Past Life Memories.

In his book Reincarnation and Biology, Ian Stevenson documented 75 cases of people with birthmarks and defects on the head and neck, which he believed might be linked to past lives. Stevenson’s cases with 19 similar cases found in a systematic review by Laura Borges Kirschnick and her colleagues. Stevenson’s reports were much longer and more detailed than those found in journal publications (averaging 9 pages vs. 2.1 pages). Additionally, the cases in the journals didn’t represent the same variables Stevenson used in his research.

Reincarnation research is unusual because it relies heavily on books rather than just journal articles. Stevenson’s books are considered key resources in this field, and literature reviews should include books alongside journal papers. Finally, a trustworthiness scale is suggested to help researchers evaluate reincarnation case studies.

Ian Stevenson (October 31, 1918 – February 8, 2007) was a Canadian-born American psychiatrist, the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine for fifty years.

Stevenson began studying children who claim to remember previous lives— an endeavor that will surely be remembered as the primary focus of his life’s work—almost by accident.

Recently in this journal, Laura Borges Kirschnick and colleagues published a review of birthmarks and birth defects of the head and neck region in reincarnation cases, following the 2020 PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews. (Source)

Birthmarks and birth defects have different causes, and many of these causes are not fully understood. Some people believe that certain birthmarks might come from past lives, even though this idea sounds strange.

In a study of newborns in Thailand, which is often studied for reincarnation, the most common birthmarks were Mongolian spots (66.7%) and sebaceous gland hyperplasia (60.9%). The most common vascular birthmarks were salmon patches (36%), while infantile hemangiomas (1.1%) and port wine stains (0.7%) were much rarer.

Birthmarks thought to be linked to reincarnation are mostly large spots and moles, sometimes lighter or darker than the skin around them, and areas without hair, especially on the head. Birth defects that seem connected to reincarnation are usually very rare types.

Reincarnation is a debated idea, but it seems interesting in cases where birthmarks match the location and look of fatal wounds or scars on people who have died. Some people also remember details about the lives of these deceased individuals, which adds to the belief in reincarnation. Additionally, they may show behaviors, emotions, and personality traits similar to those who have died, making the idea feel even more real.

The main researcher on this topic was Ian Stevenson from the University of Virginia. He spent the latter part of his career studying what he called “cases of the reincarnation type.”

In 1997, he published a large two-volume work called Reincarnation and Biology, focusing on physical differences in these cases. This study included reports of 225 cases from places like Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe. Most of the birthmarks and defects matched fatal injuries, but some were related to other scars, like earring holes or tattoos. A few were linked to marks made after death, which is a common practice in South Asia.

Ian Stevenson outlines his views on evidence for life after death in this video from 2004, emphasizing that his findings go beyond the accounts of children who claim to remember past lives.

Stevenson identifies six significant sources of evidence for life after death:

Apparitions: He refers to these as “hallucinations of the mentally well.” These are experiences where individuals claim to see or sense the presence of someone who has died. Stevenson considers these phenomena important in the discussion of life after death.

Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): He mentions experiences of individuals who come close to death but survive. These experiences have gained significant public interest, as many report profound and transformative insights during such moments.

Statements from the Dying: Stevenson points out that those who are nearing death often make comments or express thoughts that deserve attention. These statements may reflect insights or awareness beyond the ordinary understanding of life.

Possession Experiences: He describes instances where a person’s personality seems to disappear, replaced by the characteristics of another individual. This phenomenon raises questions about the nature of identity and consciousness.

Mediumship: Stevenson discusses people who claim to communicate with the deceased. He refers to these deceased individuals as “discarnate personalities.” He believes that some mediums can relay credible messages from those who have died, suggesting a form of continued existence after death.

Vivid Dreams: Finally, he intends to share accounts of significant dreams experienced by a colleague, which he believes provide additional evidence supporting the idea of life after death.

Ian Stevenson wrote a synopsis, Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect, that contained color photographs of some of the marks and defects along with far fewer pages than the two-volume set (Stevenson, 1997b). Cases with such lesions continued to be found, and several of us, led by Ian, later published a paper of additional birthmark/birth defect cases that included two American cases (Pasricha et al., 2005). (Source)

He was interested in how certain children acted. He wrote a paper about fears, called phobias, that many of these children had, often connected to how they said they died in a past life. In his study of 387 cases, he found that 36% of the children showed these fears. These fears often appeared when the kids were very young, sometimes even before they talked about their past lives.

For example, he mentioned a baby girl in Sri Lanka who was so scared of baths that three adults had to hold her down to give her one. By six months old, she was also afraid of buses. Later, she talked about the life of another girl who had died after stepping back to avoid a bus and falling into floodwater. Ian observed that the fears often lessened as the children stopped discussing their past lives, but this didn’t always happen.

Stevenson wrote about children’s play in a study he did. He found that in 278 cases, nearly a quarter of the children played in ways that connected to lives they described, even though these lives were different from their families and had no role models. For example, one boy played as a biscuit shopkeeper so much that he fell behind in school, while a girl in India enjoyed sweeping and even cleaned up after her younger brothers, surprising her Brahmin parents.

Read also:

• This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic Matrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It
• This Man, Hired by the CIA, Reveals the Mysterious ‘Bands’ Surrounding Earth Where Individuals Congregate After Physical Death
• This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

Ian also looked at Burmese children who said they lived as Japanese soldiers during World War II. Many of these kids showed behaviors that were unusual in Burma but typical of Japanese soldiers, like wanting to wear Japanese clothes instead of traditional Burmese attire and preferring raw fish over spicy Burmese food. Some also displayed traits like being hardworking and, like the soldiers, being cruel.

Ian believed this research was very important because it suggested there might be a third factor in how personalities develop. He pointed out that not all unusual behaviors can be explained by genetics or the environment alone; he thought some personality traits of the deceased people might have influenced the children in ways that couldn’t be easily explained.

Question: If reincarnation were widely accepted, how would it change the world?

Ian Stevenson answered: It would lessen guilt on the part of parents. They wouldn’t have as much of a burden that, whatever goes wrong with a child is all their fault, either through genes or mishandling during the child’s infancy. People themselves would have to take more responsibility for their own destinies. . . . I don’t expect any great moral transformation. On my first trip to India I met a respected Indian monk, a swami. I told him I had come out to see what evidence there was in India for reincarnation. He remained silent for a long, long time. Then he said, ”We here in India regard it as a fact that people are reborn, but, you see, it doesn’t make a difference because we have just as many rogues and villains in India as you have in the West.” (Source)

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

22-09-2024 om 23:18 geschreven door peter  

Scientists analyse the 'alien song' coming from the Mariana Trench - and finally reveal the truth about the mysterious noises

• READ MORE: Listen to mysterious 'alien song' heard deep in the Mariana trench 

By Shivali Best For Mailonline 

The Mariana Trench is one of the most mysterious places on Earth.

Measuring almost seven miles (37,000ft) deep, the trench sits on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and is so difficult to reach that just a handful of people have ventured down there.

So it's no surprise that unusual sounds coming from the Mariana Trench sparked fears of an alien invasion when they were first recorded back in 2014.

Lasting between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds, the noises were dubbed 'biotwangs', yet their source was unknown.

Ten years later, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have reanalysed the sounds - and believe they've finally revealed the truth.

The eerie noises were first recorded in 2014 by underwater gliders, which were being used to carry out acoustic surveys of the trench.

Lasting between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds, the five-part sounds included deep moans at frequencies as low as 38 hertz and a finale that pushed as high as 8,000 hertz.

Researchers were initially baffled by the noises.

However, in 2016, a team from Oregon State University (OSU) suggested that they could be a new type of previously unheard baleen whale call.

Speaking at the time, Sharon Nieukirk, senior faculty research assistant in marine bioacoustics at Oregon State, said: 'It's very distinct, with all these crazy parts.

'The low-frequency moaning part is typical of baleen whales, and it's that kind of twangy sound that makes it really unique. 

'We don't find many new baleen whale calls.'

Now, scientists have reanalysed the noises using a combination of visual and acoustic survey data – and their findings suggest that the OSU team wasn't far off.

Measuring almost seven miles (37,000ft) deep, the Mariana Trench sits on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and is so difficult to reach that just a handful of people have ventured down there

The eerie noises were first recorded in 2014 by underwater gliders, which were being used to carry out acoustic surveys of the trench. Lasting between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds, the five-part sounds included deep moans at frequencies as low as 38 hertz and a finale that pushed as high as 8,000 hertz

Rather than being produced by baleen whales, the new study suggests that Bryde's whales are responsible.

In a study published in the Frontiers in Marine Science journal, the team, led by Dr Ann Allen, explained: 'It was assumed to be produced by a baleen whale, but without visual verification it was impossible to assign a species.

'Using a combination of visual and acoustic survey data collected in the Mariana Archipelago, we determined that Biotwangs are produced by Bryde's whales.'

Bryde's whales can be found around the world in warm, temperate oceans including the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific.

Bryde's whales can be found around the world in warm, temperate oceans including the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific

The unusual sounds coming from the Mariana Trench sparked fears of an alien invasion when they were first recorded back in 2014

The researchers spotted ten of the whales swimming in the area, and even recorded nine making the distinctive noises.

However, to prove these whales were indeed the source, the team turned to artificial intelligence.

'We used a combination of manual and machine learning annotation methods to detect Biotwangs in our extensive historical passive acoustic monitoring datasets collected across the central and western North Pacific,' they explained in the study.

'We identified a consistent seasonal presence of Biotwangs in the Mariana Archipelago and to the east at Wake Island, with occasional occurrence as far away as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and near the equator (Howland Island).'

The team still doesn't know why the whales' calls are so unusual, or why they're being made in the first place. 

However, speaking to Popular Science, Dr Allen suggested: 'It's possible that they use the biotwang as a contact call, a sort of "Marco Polo" of the ocean. 

'But we need more information before we can say for sure.'

{https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

20-09-2024 om 18:45 geschreven door peter  

Miraculous Jesus Figure in Forest Fire: Sacred Heart Revealed? AI Enhanced Image, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Sept 2024

Location of sighting: Farmington, Utah, USA

 

Now this is very rare, an image of a person on a hilltop during a forest fire, or is it something more? I used ai artificial intelligence to enhance it, then added darkness and to show a second arm, eyes, nose, flowing hair, and heart, which all look like this Sacred Heart painting. The fire suddenly died down and disappeared that day, even though the city said it was zero percent contained, so...Devine intervention perhaps? 

Scott C. Waring

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

19-09-2024 om 23:42 geschreven door peter  

Life and death are traditionally viewed as opposites. However, the emergence of new multicellular life forms from the cells of a dead organism introduces a “third state” that lies beyond the traditional boundaries of life and death.

Usually, scientists consider death to be the irreversible halt of the functioning of an organism as a whole. However, practices such as organ donation highlight how organs, tissues, and cells can continue to function even after an organism’s demise. This resilience raises the question: What mechanisms allow certain cells to keep working after an organism has died?

We are researchers who investigate what happens within organisms after they die. In our recently published review, we describe how certain cells — when provided with nutrients, oxygen, bioelectricity, or biochemical cues — have the capacity to transform into multicellular organisms with new functions after death.

Life, death, and emergence of something new

The third state challenges how scientists typically understand cell behavior. While caterpillars metamorphosing into butterflies, or tadpoles evolving into frogs, may be familiar developmental transformations, there are few instances where organisms change in ways that are not predetermined. Tumors, organoids, and cell lines that can indefinitely divide in a petri dish, like HeLa cells, are not considered part of the third state because they do not develop new functions.

However, researchers found that skin cells extracted from deceased frog embryos were able to adapt to the new conditions of a petri dish in a lab, spontaneously reorganizing into multicellular organisms called xenobots. These organisms exhibited behaviors that extend far beyond their original biological roles. Specifically, these xenobots use their cilia — small, hair-like structures — to navigate and move through their surroundings, whereas in a living frog embryo, cilia are typically used to move mucus.

Researchers have also found that solitary human lung cells can self-assemble into miniature multicellular organisms that can move around. These anthrobots behave and are structured in new ways. They are not only able to navigate their surroundings but also repair both themselves and injured neuron cells placed nearby.

Taken together, these findings demonstrate the inherent plasticity of cellular systems and challenge the idea that cells and organisms can evolve only in predetermined ways. The third state suggests that organismal death may play a significant role in how life transforms over time.

Postmortem conditions

Several factors influence whether certain cells and tissues can survive and function after an organism dies. These include environmental conditions, metabolic activity, and preservation techniques.

Different cell types have varying survival times. For example, in humans, white blood cells die between 60 and 86 hours after organismal death. In mice, skeletal muscle cells can be regrown after 14 days postmortem, while fibroblast cells from sheep and goats can be cultured up to a month or so postmortem.

Metabolic activity plays an important role in whether cells can continue to survive and function. Active cells that require a continuous and substantial supply of energy to maintain their function are more difficult to culture than cells with lower energy requirements. Preservation techniques such as cryopreservation can allow tissue samples such as bone marrow to function similarly to that of living donor sources.

Inherent survival mechanisms also play a key role in whether cells and tissues live. For example, researchers have observed a significant increase in the activity of stress-related genes and immune-related genes after organismal death, likely to compensate for the loss of homeostasis. Moreover, factors such as trauma, infection , and the time elapsed since death significantly affect tissue and cell viability.

Factors such as age, health, sex, and type of species further shape the postmortem landscape. This is seen in the challenge of culturing and transplanting metabolically active islet cells, which produce insulin in the pancreas, from donors to recipients. Researchers believe that autoimmune processes, high energy costs, and the degradation of protective mechanisms could be the reason behind many islet transplant failures.

How the interplay of these variables allows certain cells to continue functioning after an organism dies remains unclear. One hypothesis is that specialized channels and pumps embedded in the outer membranes of cells serve as intricate electrical circuits. These channels and pumps generate electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with each other and execute specific functions such as growth and movement, shaping the structure of the organism they form.

The extent to which different types of cells can undergo transformation after death is also uncertain. Previous research has found that specific genes involved in stress, immunity, and epigenetic regulation are activated after death in mice, zebrafish, and people, suggesting widespread potential for transformation among diverse cell types.

Implications for biology and medicine

The third state not only offers new insights into the adaptability of cells. It also offers prospects for new treatments.

For example, anthrobots could be sourced from an individual’s living tissue to deliver drugs without triggering an unwanted immune response. Engineered anthrobots injected into the body could potentially dissolve arterial plaque in atherosclerosis patients and remove excess mucus in cystic fibrosis patients.

Importantly, these multicellular organisms have a finite life span, naturally degrading after four to six weeks. This “kill switch” prevents the growth of potentially invasive cells.

A better understanding of how some cells continue to function and metamorphose into multicellular entities sometime after an organism’s demise holds promise for advancing personalized and preventive medicine.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by Peter A Noble at University of Washington and Alex Pozhitkov at Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope. Read the original article here.

{ https://theconversation.com/ }

17-09-2024 om 17:33 geschreven door peter  

This Man, Hired by the CIA, Reveals the Mysterious ‘Bands’ Surrounding Earth Where Individuals Congregate After Physical Death

Robert Monroe, who was hired by the CIA, was a true pioneer in the evolution of human consciousness. In his book, he details his discovery that the Earth is surrounded by ‘bands’ where individuals congregate after physical death, for varying lengths of time, based on their individual resonant vibrations and belief systems.

Robert Monroe (1915-1995) was a radio executive who researched altered consciousness and founded The Monroe Institute. In 1958, he had a strange experience where he felt vibrations and floated out of his body. Despite initial panic, he learned to control it and dedicated his life to studying out-of-body experiences. He developed “Hemi-Sync” technology, using audio patterns to harmonize brain hemispheres, and proved its effectiveness through EEG scans. Monroe’s work pioneered the path to tangible altered states.

Robert Monroe is well known for writing three books: ‘Journeys Out of the Body‘, ‘Far Journeys‘, and ‘Ultimate Journey’. He was an important figure in exploring human consciousness. His book Far Journeys is especially important for its ideas about the future of humanity.

In Far Journeys, Monroe talks about how, after people die, they gather in invisible layers or “bands” around the Earth. How long they stay in these bands depends on their personal beliefs and the energy they give off. These ideas can also be seen in a book called War in Heaven, which discusses how some belief systems control people even after death in these same bands.

Monroe’s discoveries about these bands are important because, later, he learns something crucial about them, especially related to the time around the year 3,000 AD. This future discovery reveals more about what might happen to humans in these bands after death.

Monroe found that the Earth is surrounded by several layers, like rings, that look dark grey or brown. These layers are filled with beings or spirits. Some of these spirits are still connected to living people, while others come from people who have recently died.

These layers, or bands, are arranged in order, starting from the closest to Earth and going further away.

• The First Band: The first group of beings/Entities seemed to be stuck on old ideas about how to survive and were still tied to physical reality. From the viewpoint of advanced entities Monroe was in regular communication with, this first band reflected “a mass of discordant, undirected thought radiation”. The First Band has several smaller groups within it. The first smaller group was made up of beings who had left their physical bodies but were still trying to interact with the physical world without success. They didn’t seem to know or care about anything beyond their previous physical life.
• The second sub-band was filled with entities who were not fully in their bodies but were still connected to them. These beings were in an out-of-body experience, trying to do things they would normally do while awake. From a broader viewpoint, it looked like they suddenly vanished right in the middle of what they were doing, as they returned to their physical bodies.
• The Third Band, or ring, is made up of beings who have died but still have strong beliefs about what happens after death. This is similar to what was described in “War in Heaven.” Because these beings have different beliefs, the Third Band is divided into many smaller groups based on those beliefs. For example, if many people share the same religious beliefs, they create a shared “reality” where they come together in that belief.

This band is perhaps the largest band, and is also a very manipulative place with all the same game-playing and power struggles that went on in physical embodiment on Earth. This band is also the source for the comment “there are many mansions in heaven”. It is also worthy to note that those to “believe” that “there is one life to live and then nothing” congregate at their own resonant level within this band. Monroe described seeing billions of entities, lying in stasis, side by side, in rows. UNLESS YOU KNOW THAT CONSCIOUSNESS, ENERGY AND INTENT CREATE THE NATURE OF REALITY, welcome to a long stay in this area within the Third Band.

• The fourth sub-band is a place where beings who used to live in the physical world but are now in a different state of existence reside. Even though they know they have left the physical world behind, they still act like they are in it. They have an “anything goes” attitude and express themselves in strange and unusual ways that mimic the physical world.

Monroe illustrated one example of a bizarre manner of expression when he told of coming across a seething, squirming pile of human forms trying to sexually stimulate each other to no avail since they did not in reality still have a physical body capable of such interaction.

But, why come to Earth in the first place?

According to Monroe, any time-space scenario (of which Earth is a whopper!) has unique aspects which contribute interesting ways to the development of both intelligence and consciousness itself.

Some higher-level beings wouldn’t want to experience this kind of environment. Because of this, many beings on different levels don’t really understand what love, compassion, and empathy are. Instead, they focus on needing to be obeyed and worshipped, and they are more about control and manipulation. Going to a place where normal non-physical rules don’t apply is something they are not willing to do because it would mean giving up their need for control.

Chapter 15 of Far Journeys, “Promised Plan,” delivers Monroe’s vision of a future we may come to, sometime beyond the year 3000.

When Robert Monroe was taken to a period in his travels to the Earth in the future, around 3,000 AD, he was surprised to learn that the deep gray and brown bands/rings were no longer around the planet. Instead, there was a single flat ring that radiated light of its own accord.

This ring was full of signals and communication, but there was no annoying noise. There were no cities or signs of advanced technology on the planet’s surface. The air was clean and the planet’s environment was healthy again. When Monroe asked his guide about these changes, he was told that a healthy environment was planned, not a result of a disaster followed by natural recovery. There were no large groups of people living on the planet, and this was also intentional. The entire planet seemed to be operating at a different frequency or level of existence.

Read also:

• This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic Matrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It
• This Former NASA Engineer Has Discovered a Way To Overcome Earth’s Gravity
• This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

Monroe eventually came across entities on the planet, but they were non-physical. They communicated without speaking and explained that sometimes they use physical bodies, which they called “containers.” These containers were created from their thoughts and kept safe in “energy cocoons” so they would be ready to use whenever needed.

These beings had amazing abilities, even when they were in a body. For example, one of them created a piece of fruit out of thin air and gave it to Monroe, which he ate and enjoyed. The beings also told Monroe that he could learn in a special, fast way. They called it “compressed learning,” where he could understand life from the perspective of any living creature on Earth by connecting his mind to theirs. They could experience what it was like to be any animal or plant, and then quickly return to their own form.

These beings had moved far beyond the old way of life on Earth, where survival and the need for a physical body were so important. They could even feel what it was like to be “eaten alive”—something that’s a deep fear for humans—but they could escape it easily without any harm. They didn’t need to sleep, and whether they were in a body or not, they could get energy from the space around them.

Now, this is the interesting part. They told Monroe that entities newly arriving on Earth at that time period first had to experience one human life cycle in a period of time before the changes were made, and then they were allowed to spend time there.

Monroe was told that these one-time experiences were going on in the 20th century for some of those destined to return to occupy the dimensional area around Earth in 3000 AD+. Those who graduated from the Earth environment in 3,000 AD did not return to Earth.

They no longer needed to experience Earth and could take on physical forms in lessening degrees of density and radiation patterns until they no longer felt the need to do so….on their journey to the infinite growth patterns of consciousness that were developing all the time.

Monore’s book Ultimate Journey went over some of the same ground from a different angle. It seems that Ultimate Journey was motivated by one underlying belief of Monroe’s that is stated concisely within one paragraph in Chapter Six.

It may help to accept, as a belief to be converted into a Known, that we, as Human Mind-Consciousness, have both an individual and a species purpose, or purposes, for being in the Earth Life System which is not usually an understood part of our physical waking awareness. Conflict arises when the Human Mind demands an action and the Earth Life System self has trouble handling it.

Monroe describes The Earth Life System as “an exquisitely self-adjusting, autotuning, self-regenerating organization of energy…. The entire system is one of polarities, yet each part is interconnected.” It is, he said, a food chain predator system, although it is rarely accepted as such. It may appear chaotic and complex, but it is organized and operates under a few simple rules:

• Grow and exist as long as you can.
• Get what you need to exist.
• Maintain your species by reproducing.

There are no limitations or conditions in applying these rules…. Every participant is a predator and the process cannot be altered or changed as long as the Earth Life System exists. Survival is difficult if not impossible without predatory action. He points out that “The Earth Life System, for all its shortcomings, is an exquisite teaching machine.” (p.83)

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

15-09-2024 om 19:55 geschreven door peter  

God and the Question of Intelligent Extraterrestrials

The discovery of numerous exoplanets, some seemingly habitable, and rumors and claims about UFOs have piqued public interest in the possibility of intelligent extraterrestrial life. In this article, I will discuss four questions: (1) How likely is it that intelligent ETs exist? (2) How likely is it that they have ever visited earth or that humans will ever encounter them? (3) Would the existence of intelligent ETs conflict with Catholic belief? And (4) how might such beings be redeemed, if indeed they exist and stand in need of redemption?

How Likely is it That Intelligent ETs Exist?

The answer to this question is that no one knows. We cannot assert that it is likely, nor can we assert that it is unlikely. There is simply no way to estimate the probability. It depends on two unknown factors: (a) the number of habitable planets, and (b) the probability that on a typical habitable planet intelligent life would evolve. About the first factor, one can only give a lower bound, because we only have information about the part of the universe that is within our cosmic “horizon,” i.e. the part from which light has had time to reach us since the Big Bang. Within this so-called “observable universe,” which is tens of billions of light-years across, there are roughly 10²² stars; and it is thought that a substantial fraction of them have habitable planets, based on what recent exoplanet research has shown. But there are very strong theoretical reasons to believe that the entire universe is exponentially larger than the observable part. (This would explain the remarkable “flatness” of the spatial geometry of the observable part. An analogy is that the Earth’s surface appears flat if you can only see a small part of it.) In fact, in the standard Big Bang theory, the universe can be of infinite spatial volume, and nothing we know at present proves that it is not. Therefore, all we can say, and probably ever will be able to say, is that the number of habitable planets is at least 10²², probably exponentially larger than that, and possibly infinite.

As far as the second factor, the probability of highly intelligent life evolving on a typical habitable planet, we only know that it is not zero, because we exist. It could be, however, exponentially small. For example, there could be some hurdles on the road to intelligent life that it is very difficult for evolution to surmount. One such hurdle might be the formation of the first living and self-reproducing one-celled organism. A second might be the making of eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) from simpler prokaryotic cells. A third might be making multicellular organisms—on Earth that step took several billion years. Another might be developing high intelligence. Suppose (using round numbers for the sake of illustration) that there were five such high hurdles and that the chance of evolution surmounting each of them on a typical habitable planet was one in a thousand. Then the chance of surmounting all of them would be (1/1000) raised to the fifth power or 10^-15. Because the probabilities of getting over multiple hurdles get multiplied, one sees that the chances of highly intelligent life evolving on a typical habitable planet could be exponentially small—though it might not be.

So the statistically “expected” number of planets in the universe with highly intelligent life is some exponentially large number times some number which could be exponentially small, where the exponent in each case is unknown to us. The answer, therefore, could be anything. If it is very small compared to one, it would mean that our existence is an amazing statistical fluke, and that we are almost certainly alone in the universe. If it is very large compared to one, then almost certainly there are a vast number of intelligent species scattered throughout the universe. Could the answer come out in between, say a number like 2 or 3? That would be very strange, as it would require that the large number of habitable planets and the small probability per habitable planet closely counterbalance each other, which they have no reason to do. In short, if there are intelligent extraterrestrials at all, it seems most likely that a vast number of planets have them rather than just a few. And, as we will see, that has some bearing on some theological questions.

How Likely is it That Humans and Rational ETs Have Met or Will Ever Meet?

There has been a lot of hoopla in the press recently about UFOs (or UAPs as they have been rebranded). Whatever UFOs are, it seems extremely unlikely from a scientific standpoint that ETs have ever visited us humans or ever will. There are two reasons for this. The first is that faster-than-light (or FTL) travel is almost certainly impossible in light of what is presently known about fundamental physics. It is easily shown on the basis of Special Relativity that if FTL travel were possible then time travel would also be, and that would lead to bizarre “temporal paradoxes” (such as the famous “grandfather paradox,” in which a person travels back in time and prevents his own parents from being born). While the equations of General Relativity seem to allow the hypothetical possibility of “traversable wormholes” in spacetime, which would permit both time travel and FTL travel, the formation of such wormholes would require the existence of negative-energy matter that does not exist in the real world. The impossibility of FTL travel means that any ETs who wanted to make a round trip to Earth would have to be from a planet very close to us. And the number of habitable planets within, say, forty light years of Earth is only in the tens, not hundreds, let alone 10²².

The second reason that alien visitations are extremely unlikely is that even if an intelligent species were to evolve on a planet of a nearby star the probability that they would exist at the same time as humans do in the history of the cosmos would seem to be utterly negligible. Our species has been around for about 200,000 years, which sounds like a lot but is a blink of an eye in comparison to the 14 billion years of cosmic history. It is vastly more likely that we and any given species of intelligent ETs would miss each other by hundreds of millions of years than that we would overlap in time. So, the idea that any humans have encountered ETs or ever will is quite far-fetched, even if theoretically possible.

However, even though the existence of intelligent extraterrestrials will probably always remain in the realm of pure speculation, it is important to reflect on it theologically. For, given what we know, intelligent ETs might well exist, and surveys indicate that a large fraction of the general public believes that they do. Therefore, it is a pastorally important question whether the existence of such beings would be consistent with the Catholic faith.

Would the Existence of Intelligent Alien Species be Contrary to the Catholic Faith?

It is important to clarify that what is at issue here is not “intelligence” in the sense that one might talk about a dog or dolphin being intelligent. Many terrestrial creatures have intelligence of that sort, and no one has ever imagined this to be theologically problematic. Rather, one is talking about what in Catholic tradition is called “intellect” or “rationality,” which is conceived of as a spiritual power. Even in this regard one must remember that angels are traditionally taught to be purely intellectual, spiritual beings, and their existence is not only unproblematic theologically, but an article of faith. What is specifically at issue, then, is the existence elsewhere in the physical universe of other embodied creatures who possess rationality—and thus also free will—and who would therefore possess “immortal spiritual souls” and be made in the “image of God.” For clarity, let us call such hypothetical creatures “rational extraterrestrials.” Of course, by Catholic teaching, if such beings do exist, they are not purely the result of an evolutionary process, since their rational souls would be “directly” created by God.

Now, certainly it is the case that the existence of such rational extraterrestrial species is nowhere mentioned in Scripture and does not seem even to have been contemplated by any of the scriptural writers. Therefore, it would be out of place to read into scriptural verses answers to questions about ET life that their authors did not ask themselves. That would be to commit what one theologian (in another context) has aptly called “the fallacy of the unasked question.” For example, when St. Paul says in Philippians 2:10-11 that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,” he doubtless was thinking of the blessed in heaven rather than space aliens.

The question naturally arises whether one would expect Scripture to mention ETs, if they do exist. It is hard to see why one would. There are many aspects of the universe that Scripture is silent about, including the very existence of planets outside the solar system, the vast size of the universe, and its immense age. It is also silent about the existence of many kinds of terrestrial life, including dinosaurs. Even on many matters that are important in a practical sense, Scripture tells us nothing, whether it be electricity, or agriculture, or medicine. God has left it to human reason, effort, and responsibility to learn about this world and how to make our way in it. Scripture is not about Nature and its secrets, but about God and mankind’s relationship to him, as well as our relationship to each other. For reasons mentioned in the previous section, the human race is extremely unlikely ever to encounter rational extraterrestrials, and so they are not a part of the story of mankind and its redemption. Nor would we humans be part of their story or their “salvation history.”

Even though there is no obvious reason why God would reveal anything to us about rational extraterrestrials, there also is no obvious reason why he would not create them, and some reasons to think he might. Generally, a composer does not create just one work, a novelist just one novel, or a poet just one poem. And God is not stingy with his love. After all, the human race itself comprises many tens of billions of individuals, and God does not love any of them any less for that.

In fact, Christians have been speculating for centuries about life elsewhere in the universe, and the prevailing view seems to have been that it is more in accord with God’s generosity and munificence to have created life all throughout the universe. Some even suggested a “principle of plenitude,” according to which the universe should be as full of life as possible. There is nothing in Christian tradition or teaching that militates against the possibility that rational ET life exists and perhaps in great abundance. Where things get trickier is with the question of how such beings would be saved.

How Would Rational ETs be Saved?

The first question to consider is whether ETs, if they exist, stand in need of redemption. Perhaps all rational ETs species are unfallen, as are those in C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy. However, if the number of rational species in the universe is exponentially large—which is the most likely case if ETs exist at all—it would be an astonishing coincidence if only we humans were fallen. The problem lies not in the notion that only one rational species has fallen, but rather with the idea that we would happen to be that one. So if rational ET species exist, it seems most likely that many of them, if not all, are fallen and stand in need of redemption. The question is how God would save them.

There are two theories. One is that all rational embodied creatures throughout the universe would be saved through the unique and unrepeatable sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth on a cross on Calvary two thousand years ago. The other is that God the Son would have multiple Incarnations, taking the forms (or in the traditional terminology “assuming the natures”) of every kind of rational embodied species in the universe, or at least those that had fallen. (Though here one must note that some of the Church Fathers as well as later theologians held that God would have become incarnate as a man even had humanity not fallen.)

Of course, we do not know which of these theories is correct (if there are rational ETs), as God has not revealed anything about it, and consequently there is no Catholic teaching on the matter. One is in the realm of free speculation. That has not stopped theologians from having strong opinions. (I vividly recall the vehement negative reaction of a friend of mine, who was a Jesuit theologian of considerable reputation, when I broached the topic of multiple Incarnations to him some years ago.) Opinion, however, is divided among Catholic theologians who have considered the question.

There seem to be three main arguments given by proponents of the single-Incarnation theory. First, if the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary can be the means of salvation for human beings who lived before the time of Christ and for those who have lived since but have never heard of Christ, why could it not also be the means by which ETs are saved? Second, there are a number of scriptural verses that suggest a cosmic scope to Christ’s salvific work and others that state that there is just a single mediator of salvation; though, as we will see, these do not necessarily prove the single-Incarnation theory. And, third, the very notion of multiple Incarnations seems problematic and even scandalous to some, as for example the Jesuit friend I referred to.

The first argument is quite logical, but its plausibility would be diminished in two ways if the number of planets with rational ET life is exponentially large. For while it might not be surprising that an Incarnation would happen on only one planet, it would be surprising if that one just happened to be ours. Moreover, it would be making the exception into the rule. It is true that there have existed many human beings—tens of billions, in fact—who never heard of Christ; but it is likely that by the end of human history a majority of all humans who will have ever lived will have heard of him, assuming that the human race carries on for at least a few more centuries and the gospel continues to be preached. So, one can regard those human beings who never heard of Christ but were nonetheless saved as exceptions to the rule. But if there are, say, trillions of rational ET species throughout the universe, and there is only the one Incarnation here on Earth, then the embodied rational beings who will never have heard of Christ would vastly outnumber those who will have. In that case, being saved by hearing “Christ crucified” preached would not be the rule, but rather the very rare exception. That would be analogous to the salvation of the human race being accomplished through an Incarnation that happened on some remote South Sea island with a population of only a few people, who witnessed the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God and were then wiped out by a tsunami, leaving the rest of humanity completely unaware that the Incarnation had ever happened. That would be a strange “plan of salvation,” especially as it seems that Christ wanted the human race to learn of his mission, given that he commanded his disciples to “baptize all nations.”

Having looked at the single-Incarnation theory, let us see what can be said for and against the alternative.

Multiple Incarnations?

For many people, no doubt, the idea of multiple Incarnations is so strange as to seem absurd or even impious. However, so great a theologian as St. Thomas Aquinas did not regard it as such. Of course, he was not thinking of extraterrestrials, but of multiple human Incarnations of the Son of God. He posed the question, in Summa Theologiae, part III, question 3, article 7, “Whether One Divine Person Can Assume Two Human Natures.” His answer was yes. In fact, St. Thomas argued that the Son of God is able in principle to assume numerous distinct human natures, in the sense that it would be neither logically nor metaphysically impossible for him to do so. And, if that is the case, then it would seem also to be possible for the Son of God to assume the natures of a multiplicity of different rational species.

I will return in the last section to the question of whether and how this makes metaphysical sense. But first let us examine the question why multiple Incarnations might make sense as a means of saving extraterrestrials, if they exist. There are at least three interconnected reasons why it would.

The first reason has to do with the connection between the Incarnation of Christ and the Fall of Man. Christ, the “last Adam” or “second Adam” (1 Cor 15: 45-47), came to undo what had been done by the “first Adam.” By Catholic teaching, the first human beings had enjoyed a friendship with God and certain graces and “preternatural gifts,” which by turning away from God they forfeited for themselves and their descendants—that is, for the human race. And only the human race, not any ET races that there might be; for the effects of that primordial Fall, according to the Council of Trent, are passed on “by propagation.” If the work of the “second Adam,” Christ, is to repair the damage done by the first, it would seem that it is to spiritually heal the human race, and only the human race, and restore it to friendship with God.

This leads us directly to the second reason, which is a theological principle enunciated by many of the Fathers of the Early Church, namely that “what has not been assumed cannot be healed.” Human nature, which had been wounded by the transgression of our “first parents,” can only be healed if that nature is “assumed” by the Son of God, i.e. taken up into himself in the Incarnation. This principle was used to answer those in the early centuries of Christianity who argued that Christ was not fully human—that he lacked, for example, a truly human body or a human soul. It was answered that if he did not possess humanity fully then humanity would not be redeemed fully. That is why, in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews, Christ had to be a “man like us in all things but sin.” But if we generalize this principle it would appear that the nature of a rational ET species, if wounded by sin, could not be healed unless that ET nature were assumed into the Son of God as well. Their redeemer must be like them in all things but sin. In 1 Timothy 2:5, one reads, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” Here again we see it emphasized that the mediator shares the nature of those whose relationship to God he mediates.

And this brings us to a third and most fundamental point. Some who discuss the Incarnation seem to conceive of it as merely a means to an end, salvation. However, it is not just the means to salvation, but the very substance of salvation. Salvation is not merely the avoidance of punishment or perdition, nor is it merely traveling to Heaven conceived of as a place; rather it is total union with God. God desired to unite humanity to himself in an intimate and indeed “nuptial” union. This nuptial union is both spiritual and corporeal. It began in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, who in himself unites the divine and human; but others were to be brought into this union by becoming joined to Christ as members of his Body, the Church, which is Christ’s body in a quite literal sense (though not a “biological” sense). Thus, being members of this Body as it will be in its glorified state, and intimately united thereby with God and with each other, is the substance of being “in Heaven.” The Body of Christ, when it reaches its ultimate completion on the “last Day” will be the “whole Christ” (or “totus Christus”), in which God and Man achieve that definitive union. That is what Heaven is. That is why Joseph Ratzinger in his book Eschatology wrote,

The perfecting of the Lord’s body in the pleroma of the “whole Christ” brings heaven to its true cosmic completion. Let us say it once more before we end: the individual’s salvation is whole and entire only when the salvation of the cosmos and all the elect has come to full fruition. For the redeemed are not simply adjacent to each other in heaven. Rather, in their being together as the one Christ, they are heaven.

When one recognizes this, one sees that Incarnation is not just one good way among others for God to save his creatures, it is the very substance of the salvation and the life he offers. Indeed, this is why some of the early Church Fathers said that God would have become Incarnate as a man even if man had not sinned.

Incidentally, this perspective sheds light on what some regard as a “hard saying” of the Church’s tradition, namely that “extra ecclesiam nulla salus” (“outside the Church there is no salvation”). The Church has explained that this does not mean that all human beings who never heard of Christ in this life or who never received baptism cannot be saved. But it does mean that those of them who are saved and end up in heaven, also by definition end up in the “totus Christus,” the Body of Christ, the “Church Triumphant.” So, in the end, they will not be “extra ecclesiam.”

So, applying all this to other rational species that might exist elsewhere in the universe, it suggests that if any such species is to be redeemed it would be through an Incarnation by which that species, its nature, and its members collectively and as individuals are united to the Son of God.

Now, if this is true, it would lead to some corollaries. More than one Incarnation would imply more than one Body of Christ—as many as there are rational species whose natures God assumed. And perhaps one should also say, therefore, as many “Heavens.” The human race had an original unity with itself and with God that was shattered by sin. In the human Body of Christ, when it achieves completion, that unity will be restored. But there was no original unity of the human race with ET rational species (if they exist), except, of course, that all rational species have their origin in God. So, while all rational creatures in this universe who are redeemed will be united to God in his Son, we do not know whether they will be united in a single Body with those of other rational species.

And finally we come to an absolutely vital point. Even if, hypothetically, there were multiple Incarnations of the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, they would all be Incarnations of one and the same divine Person. While, as St. Paul wrote, our knees must bend “at the name of Jesus,” it may be that those in other parts of the universe bend their knees (or make whatever the analogous bodily gesture would be) at a different-sounding name, but not the name of a different Person. It would be the name of the same Son of God as he came among them and “dwelt among them” as one like them “in all things but sin.” And if the Son of God undergoes rejection, suffering, and death on multiple planets, it would be the same divine Person undergoing them in every case. It would be one and the same eternal decision on the part of that divine Person to humble himself and offer himself for all his children. It is that eternal decision of the Son of God that is referred to in Revelation 13:8, which speaks of the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Similarly, 1 Peter 1:19-20 refers to “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” That one and only Lamb was manifest for us humans as Jesus Christ, but perhaps could be manifest in a different form for other rational species. Therefore, it can be argued that scriptural passages that emphasize a single sacrifice and a single mediator and passages that imply a cosmic dimension to Christ’s sacrifice do not have to be interpreted to exclude multiple Incarnations.

Would Multiple Incarnations Make Metaphysical Sense?

Before getting to that question, one must review how it is that the human Incarnation of the Son of God makes metaphysical sense. It raises some very puzzling questions that were much debated in the early Church. At first it seems like a contradiction in terms. How can the same Christ be both God and man, if God is infinite and man is finite? If Jesus of Nazareth is human, then as a human his thoughts, emotions, and sensations would change from moment to moment and his memory would have finite capacity. He would be capable of forgetting and of learning. Hebrews 5:8 tells us he “learned obedience by what he suffered.” Luke 2:52 says that “he grew in wisdom.” On the other hand, if Jesus of Nazareth is God, then as God his mind is infinite and unchanging, and he knows all things in one timeless act of understanding. To resolve the puzzle, some denied his full humanity, saying that it was swallowed up in his divinity, or that he only appeared human. Others denied that he was fully God, saying that he was only an exalted creature, or that while on earth he laid aside his divinity. But all of these were false solutions and dead ends. They were contrary to both Scripture and Apostolic Tradition and were condemned by a series of Ecumenical Councils. The Church resolved the apparent contradiction in a different way that accorded with both Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, by teaching that Christ, though “one Person,” has “two natures,” a divine nature and a human nature, and therefore must have two minds and two wills. He has both a divine intellect and a human intellect; he has both a divine will and a human will; and so on. (Those who denied that Christ had two wills were called “monothelites,” or one-willers, and monothelitism was condemned by the Third Council of Constantinople in 680-1 AD.)

This resolves the apparent contradiction, but not, of course, the mystery. How can one person have two minds? We, who have only a human nature, obviously cannot imagine it. But perhaps we can make the mystery seem a bit less strange by an analogy, taken from the Athanasian Creed, a doctrinal statement dating to about the late fifth century. That creed makes an analogy between the union of the divine and human natures in Christ and the union within a human being of the spiritual soul and the body: “For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ.”

Let us push this analogy further. The “one Christ” is both God and Man, and so he has two ways of knowing, through his divine Intellect and through his human intellect. In a human being, there is both the “rational soul” and “flesh,” and, correspondingly, a human being has two ways of knowing: namely through rational intellectual knowledge and through the bodily senses. And so even we who are just human, experience having two quite disparate modes of knowledge. In fact, the analogy can be pushed further still. Ordinarily, what I know through the bodily senses I also know rationally; but I know many things rationally that my senses cannot. Thus, for example, my reason knows that I am feeling pain or having the sensation of warmth or seeing the color red. But my senses cannot know most truths that are grasped by my reason, such as, for example, moral truths and mathematical truths. By analogy, Christ’s divine Intellect knows all things, including what his human mind knows; but his human mind, being finite, cannot know everything grasped by his divine Intellect. Of course, any analogy between created things and God must be extremely inadequate. We should not push them too far, but they can be useful.

As the foregoing analogy can help us see how the Incarnation of the Son of God as a man does not involve a contradiction, it can also help us understand how multiple Incarnations might also be consistent. A human being does not just have two modes of knowing, the rational and the sensory, but many: namely the rational and several bodily senses. Moreover, while what is known by the reason encompasses (generally) what is known by all the senses, each sense is ignorant of most of what the reason knows as well as what is known by all the other senses. My sense of sight does not know sounds, nor my sense of hearing know smells, for instance. The analogy would be that the Son of God would know in his divine Intellect all that is known through his many assumed natures, but each assumed nature would be ignorant of most of what the divine Intellect knew as well as what all the other assumed natures knew (unless by supernaturally “infused knowledge”).

Of course, all this is at the extreme limit of speculation. And the analogy made in the Athanasian Creed is, like all analogies, imperfect. Nevertheless, it may help at least to make the idea of multiple Incarnations seem less problematic.

Conclusion

We do not know whether rational ETs exist or have existed or will exist. We do not even know enough to say whether their existence is probable or improbable, scientifically speaking. In any case, it is highly unlikely that we will ever encounter them. Nevertheless, their possible existence raises theological questions that many wonder about. There seems to be no conflict between the existence of such beings and anything Christianity teaches. Indeed, many Catholics and other Christians have argued over the centuries that if the universe can harbor such life one might expect such life to exist in abundance, because of God’s boundless creativity and generosity. We do not know whether such beings, if they exist, would require redemption, or how God would choose to redeem them. But there seem to be good reasons to suppose that it would be by God dwelling among them as one like them, as he “dwelt among us” as “one like us.” But as the Church has taught nothing about all these possibilities, one is at present free to weigh the evidence and arguments and form one’s own conclusions.

• EDITORIAL NOTE: This article is part of a collaboration with the Society of Catholic Scientists (click here to read about becoming a member). You can ask questions and join a wider discussion of this essay at the bottom of this page where the original version of it is linked, which includes extensive notes.

{ https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/ }

12-09-2024 om 17:05 geschreven door peter  

10-09-2024 om 17:53 geschreven door peter  

(Credit: James St. John/Flickr.)

On one of his initial expeditions, Rintamaki struck out in the early morning hours to scour Lake Superior’s beaches. Under the illumination of his UV flashlight, he began to find a few small, fluorescent stones, which he began calling “yooperlites,” a name derived from the nickname given to residents of Michigan’s upper peninsula. With time, the small pebbles eventually began to be replaced by larger and larger samples of these curious stones.

It soon became apparent that the strong fluorescent qualities these stones possessed were something unique, and with the aid of geologist Gabe Reyna, the unique characteristics the samples displayed, including their translucent appearance and distinctive mineral composition, led to the positive identification of sodalite, a mineral that somehow had gone unnoticed in previous mineralogical surveys of Michigan’s upper west peninsula.

Under detailed analysis, the Yooperlites Rintamaki discovered were revealed to exhibit fluorescence consistent with hackmanite, a rare chloric sodium aluminum silicate mineral that is rich in sulfur. Most often appearing in pink or violet shades, it can sometimes also appear in tones of grey or even white. However, due to a unique optical quality hackmanite possesses known as tenebrescence, this unique mineral has the unusual ability to change its coloration under certain kinds of light and even glow in the dark, qualities that helped it garner a rather fitting nickname: “the chameleon stone.”

Hackmanite (above) exhibiting fluorescent qualities similar to “Yooperlites” when observed under UV light

(Credit: Parent Gery/Wikimedia Commons).

In addition to its hackmanite-like fluorescence, tests of Rintamaki’s samples involving scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy carried out at Michigan Technological University helped reveal several key elements. The presence of aluminum, chlorine, oxygen, silicon, and sodium was confirmed in the samples, all of which were consistent with sodalite.

At the time, the positive identification of sodalite had been something of a mystery. Although syenite clasts are a relatively common feature in Michigan, the fluorescent syenite samples containing sodalite that Rintamaki had revealed with the aid of his UV flashlight probably had origins much further away, along the north side of Lake Superior within the Coldwell Alkaline Complex in Ontario, Canada. So how could the samples have made their way all the way to the lake’s southern shores where “Yoopers” like Rintamaki could find them?

As far back as 1779, Swiss geologist Ferdinand de Saussure described massive granite boulders that had somehow found their way onto limestone deposits in the sub-alpine Jura Mountain range. These out-of-place granite bounders were dubbed “erratics” by de Saussure, derived from the Latin word errare meaning “to wander.” For a time, these curiosities of nature baffled early geologists, although, by 1840, Swiss-American geologist J.L.R. Agassiz proposed that these massive “wandering” boulders had actually been transported thousands of years ago with the help of glaciers that once blanketed the northern hemisphere.

Much like the erratics that once baffled 18th—and 19th-century geologists, the samples Rintamaki had discovered along the shores of Lake Superior had also been transported there from their original home far to the north through natural processes related to continental glaciation during the last Ice Age.

The discovery of “Yooperlites” in Michigan helps to reveal the extent to which the region’s mineral diversity remains underexplored and has helped to almost double the number of mineral species now recognized in the state. Indeed, it could be that there are still other minerals in the region that remain undiscovered, awaiting the discerning eye of collectors like Rintamaki who are willing to employ unique methods—and often at odd hours—in their search for mineral wonders and curiosities that would otherwise remain hidden along the shores of the Great Lakes.

For those interested in learning more about Yooperlites, Rintamaki’s official YouTube channel provides a wealth of information about these unique gemstones and other aspects of his rock-hounding pursuits.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/science/ }

06-09-2024 om 01:31 geschreven door peter