ReflectionsArtwork, Stories, Interests, Chat on all subjects...
Home | Original Art | Fan Art | Craftwork | Photo Gallery | Fan Fiction | Original Stories | Fan Stories | Book List | Music Section | Weird and wacky world | Itzcoatl's brain | Funnies | Thought Research | The Movies | Essays about novels | Historical Essays | Native Amer. Indians | The Paranormal | Spirituality | Guestbook | Links
|
The Weird and Wacky World of Heather M Welcome to my world of the weird, wacky and the wonderful.
My contributions to the subject of the weird, the wonderful, the scientific and sometimes the disturbing.
"The shining Ones " 4th September 2006 Last night on the James Whale late night radio show, Philip Gardiner (author of Serpent Grail) and Gary Osbourne were discussing aspects of their wonderful new, joint book “The Shining Ones”.The book researches `enlightenment`, the sudden spine tingling, mind stunning awakening of spiritual knowledge (and for some, religious power). It is the profound moment of entering the brilliant white light of spiritual clarity, of understanding of spiritual knowledge. This enlightenment has been sought after by shaman and religious peoples for thousands of years, sometimes by the use of meditation and also by the use of mind altering drugs. For others it just comes to them out of the blue. Gary Osbourne claims his came one morning just before he rose from bed. For myself, it happened one night years ago while coming out of a dream sleep. It was a moment of sheer WOW! It was a moment, a fraction of a second when I felt I had suddenly been filled with all the spiritual knowledge and wisdom of the universe. A profound knowledge, the answers to life the universe and everything. It all became clear to me in an instant just like it had been downloaded into my brain in a fraction of a second. Unfortunately, it was just a moment. It was as though the knowledge had been poured into me only to have someone pull the plug on me and it drained away. I was just left with the feeling, the sense of having known. Maybe, it was because the knowledge had entered my non-physical mind, my astral mind and was not laid down into the neural networks of my physical brain. who knows? I guess nobody does.......
Global warming or global cooling? 3rd August 2006 A Russian astronomer has predicted that earth will experience a “mini ice-age” in the middle of this century, caused by low solar activity. Khabibullo Abdusamatov of the Pulkovo Astronomic Observatory in St Petersburg says temperatures will begin falling six or seven years from now, when global warming caused by increased solar activity in the 20thy century reaches it’s peak, RIA Novosti reported. The coldest period will occur 15 to 20 years after a major solar output decline between 2035 and 2045. Dramatic changes in the earth’s surface temperatures are an ordinary phenomenon, not an anomaly and as a result from variations in the Sun’s energy output and ultraviolet radiation. The northern hemisphere’s most recent cool-down period occurred between 1645 and 1705. The resulting period, known as the “Little Ice Age”, left canals in the Netherlands frozen solid and forced people in Greenland to abandon their homes to glaciers, the scientist said. Brain cells fused with silicon chips The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed “neurochips” in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together. The achievement will one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders, or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons. To create the neurochip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto silicon chips just one millimetre square in size. They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells – neurons- onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just simple adhesive. “They also provided the link between ionic channels and the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip.” Said study team member Stefan Vassanelli from University of Padua in Italy. The proteins allowed the neurochip’s electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip’s transistors, while the chip’s capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons. “Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research,” Vassanelli said. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron’s genetic instructions to control the neurochip.
Regeneration - the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs or even limbs - has a limited capacity in mammals. While skin and hair cells constantly renew themselves, unlike a newt, if a human loses a leg, there is no second chance. But the discovery of a strain of mouse, the Murphy Roths Large (MRL), with remarkable regenerative capabilities has opened up the possibility that those properties could be transferred to other mammals. Professor Ellen Heber-Katz, a scientist from the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, US, was part of the way through an immunological study when she first stumbled across the MRL mouse's amazing abilities. She was looking at the effects of a drug, and had marked the mice that had received the drug by punching a small hole in their ear to distinguish them from those who had not. "I went upstairs and I looked in the cage, but none of the mice were marked," she said. "I looked at them and thought: 'what's happened?' I thought the post doc hadn't done the experiment. "So we did it again, and we watched them, and there it was - the holes had closed up. I thought, 'Oh my God, this is just amazing'." When they looked closer they saw that there had been DNA synthesis, cell proliferation and both cartilage and new hair follicles had also grown. Digit regrowth The MRL mouse has been used in research for years - mostly as a model for autoimmune diseases because the genetic mutations they carry mean they have a lupus-like disease. But the accidental discovery by Professor Heber-Katz of this rapid regrowth opened up a new avenue of research. After talking to colleagues and realising that this kind of healing had never been seen before in a mouse, Professor Heber-Katz's team switched from immunology to regeneration and began to look at the mouse to see the extent of these regenerative properties. Ellen Heber-Katz "Everything we have looked at has been different to what our control mouse looks like," said Professor Heber-Katz. When the team used a cold probe to make a small injury to the heart of the MRL mice they found that the tissue regenerated and there was no scarring. When they examined what happened after spinal cord injury, again they found cell re-growth and little scarring. The MRL mouse has even been shown to have some digit regrowth. "It is known that if you cut off the digit tip in mice it always seems to come back; but if you cut any further, you get no growth. "We did that in the MRL mouse and there is a blastema [area of growth] that forms, there is DNA synthesis and cell proliferation, and we also think that maybe there is the beginnings of a joint that is formed. I must say that we have not seen the whole digit grow back" The membrane factor Professor Heber-Katz has begun to look at why the MRL mouse has such unusual healing abilities. "This animal has an unusual ability to show cell proliferation and lack of scarring which I think are two key elements to why we don't regenerate." She believes that one of the factors that blocks regeneration in most mammals is a membrane that forms as the body starts to repair itself. The team are trying to find out how the MRL regenerates She points out that when amphibians regenerate their limbs, a basement membrane does not form, but if you promote the growth of this membrane, then it seems to stop cell growth and causes scarring. When the team looked at the formation of the membrane in the ears of MRL mice, they found that it did form initially, but disappeared soon after and then cell growth begins. Further work has shown that two genes, mmp9 and mmp2, may be implicated. The team have also carried out an interesting experiment whereby they injected foetal liver stem cells from a MRL mouse into the tail vein of a non-healing mouse, and then a month later caused a small injury to the heart. "We found that you get islands of cardiomyocytes [heart muscle cells] that are forming in these mice. If you look at the degree of scar formation, you don't see any scars." They then transferred foetal liver stem cells from the non-healing mice to the MRL mice and saw that the mice formed a lot of scar tissue and little cardiomycoyte island formation. "If we can deplete the cell factor causing scarring, then we might be able to enhance the regenerative ability of mammals in general." Genetic mapping Professor Heber-Katz's team are now looking to see if they can breed mice have the regenerative capabilities but do not carry autoimmune disease. Ellen Heber-Katz So far they have managed to create mice that can regenerate ear holes, but not mice that can do that and repair heart tissue. "The genes involved in heart regeneration are no doubt overlapping with the ear hole closing ones, but it requires more or some different genes." The team are now in the process of mapping genes to try and shed more light upon the genetic combinations that may be at the root of the mouse's regenerative process. "It is a long term project, but once we know the molecules involved we can the try to modify them to see if we can get this kind of response in mammals" The complicated nature of mammals means that we might still be a long way off the day when mammals can begin to display MRL-like regenerative properties, but Heber-Katz says the mouse could provide the first step on the path. "You never really know when you're going to find the answer - it could be very far off or it could be very close. You just don't know." "The mouse definitely is not perfect, it is not like a newt in terms of its powers of regeneration, but it does do a lot of things that other mammals don't do, and therefore it's definitely an important thing to study." By Rebecca Morelle
UFO fleet appears in sky before Katrina March 28th I heard an interesting story the other day, it concerned a report that a fleet of UFO’s or light orbs to be precise, were spotted in the sky above Florida and Mexico days and hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. There is speculation as to whether these orbs were alien observers coming here to warn us of impending danger or as to whether the orbs were some kind of atmospheric weather conditions. It is interesting to note though that at one point the orbs formed the shape of the Latin Cross in the sky. Weird eh? If you’d like to follow up on this report and see video stills then go to www.cropcircleanswers.com.
Alien in the Attic 15th feb 2006 I heard quite a strange story on the radio last night. A few weeks ago while renovating a newly bought cottage in North Norfolk (25 miles from Mildenhall and in an area of U.S military bases), screen writer Barny Broom discovered an alien in a cookie jar, hidden in his attic. The alien appeared to be pickled inside a large glass jar. It was described as being about eighteen inches tall and the alien inside being around a foot tall, though curled in a foetus position. I believe he said that the cookie jar was wrapped in an old newspaper. Being rather curious Barny opened the jar to inspect the alien remains. He said it felt soft and stank to high heaven. Rather than pass it on to the MOD for investigation he contacted the Sci-Fi Channel and handed the jar over to them. The Sci-Fi channel has since given the item to a professor/expert for testing. Mr Boom is currently awaiting test results. It could be a hoax of course and Mr Broom says as much. But I think Mr Broom is rather hoping that it may be something left in the attic by perhaps, a U.S soldier who resided there at some time and found and hid a real alien. It certainly is a strange story but I seem to recall that during the days of The X-Files popularity, part of the merchandise that came onto the market was linked to an episode called the `Erlenmeyer flask` It was an episode where Scully breaks into a top secret cold storage facility to steal a small alien foetus pickled in a glass specimen jar. The merchandise if my memory serves me, was a copy of that pickled alien. I think there was also an alien in a cookie style jar sold at the same time. These replicas were extremely authentic looking. The `pickling` agent in the jars may well have had an added smell just to make it seem more real. I can’t help wondering whether Barny Broom found one of these old X-Files mementos. Someone may have stored their X-Files collection in the loft and it got forgotten or lost or left there deliberately as a joke hoax for future residents to find. I would be extremely interested to hear what the test results on this alien turns out to be.
Sleep per chance to dream 14th Feb 2006
I read in the daily express recently that a new kind of sleeping pill is being developed by the biotech company Actelion. This new sleep drug called Orexin-RA-1 is revolutionary in as much as it avoids some of the worse side effects of normal sleeping pills, such as tiredness next day. It also provides a good nights sleep accompanied by vivid dreams and also improves the memory. Scientists believe the new tablets could be marketed within the next six years if results continue to be positive. That seems to rather a long time to wait if you need some decent sleep now, but by the sounds of it, it is well worth the wait. I wonder if it helps you to recall the dreams? Laboratory tests on rats showed that those given the drug slept soundly and performed better in maze tests the next day compared to rats who were given conventional sleeping pills. This suggests the drug improves memory capacity. When scientists measured muscle tone and brain activity, the dream phase of sleep, known as rapid eye movement period, was increased. This phase is when most dreaming occurs and is the most restorative type of rest. The Chief executive of Actelion said “The problem with most older medication is that people often feel tired and unwell, and memory is affected because they don’t dream enough.”
The below article was sent to me in an E-mail. It's a highly fascinating theory.Scientists moot gravity-busting hyperdriveMars in three hours - theoreticallyBy Lester Haines The US military is considering testing the principle behind a type of space drive which holds the promise of reaching Mars in just three hours. The problem is, as New Scientist explains it's entirely theoretical and many physicists admit they don't understand the science behind it. Nonetheless, the so-called "hyperdrive" concept won last year's American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics award for the best nuclear and future flight paper. Among its defenders is aerospace engineer Pavlos Mikellides, from the Arizona State University in Tempe. Mikellides, who reviewed the winning paper, said: "Even though such features have been explored before, this particular approach is quite unique." The basic concept is this: according to the paper's authors - Jochem Häuser, a physicist and professor of computer science at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzgitter and Walter Dröscher, a retired Austrian patent officer - if you put a huge rotating ring above a superconducting coil and pump enough current through the coil, the resulting large magnetic field will "reduce the gravitational pull on the ring to the point where it floats free". The origins of this "repulsive anti-gravity force" and the hyperdrive it might power lie in the work of German scientist Burkhard Heim, who - as part of his attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and Einstein's general theory of relativity - formulated a theoretical six-dimensioned universe by bolting on two new sub-dimensions to Einstein's generally-accepted four (three space, one time). As New Scientist explains, Heim's two extra dimensions allowed him to couple together gravity and electromagnetism, and permits conversion of electromagnetic energy into gravitational and vice-versa - something not possible according to Einstein's four dimensions, because "you cannot change the strength of gravity simply by cranking up the electromagnetic field". Heim, then, proposed that "a rotating magnetic field could reduce the influence of gravity on a spacecraft enough for it to take off" - an idea which caught the eye of Wernher von Braun when it was first proposed in 1959 and the rocket scientist was working on the US's Saturn launch vehicle. After the initial excitement died down, however, Heim moved on to other projects and his hyperdrive theory slowly gathered dust until the arrival of Walter Dröscher in 1980. Dröscher expanded on Heim's work, in the process reactivating two further dimensions the latter had originally discarded. Thus "Heim-Dröscher space" was born - an eight-dimensional concept of which Dröscher says: "If Heim's picture is to make sense, we are forced to postulate two more fundamental forces." The said extra forces are: "A repulsive anti-gravity similar to the dark energy that appears to be causing the universe's expansion to accelerate"; and a second resulting from the "interaction of Heim's fifth and sixth dimensions and the extra dimensions that Dröscher introduced". Crucially, it "produces pairs of 'gravitophotons' - particles that mediate the interconversion of electromagnetic and gravitational energy". The groundwork done, Dröscher then teamed up with Häuser to produce the award-winning "Guidelines For a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim's Quantum Theory." So far so good - in theory. However, as NS notes: "The majority of physicists have never heard of Heim theory, and most of those contacted by New Scientist said they couldn't make sense of Dröscher and Häuser's description of the theory behind their proposed experiment." Furthermore, Dröscher and Häuser's proposed practical experiment to prove their theory requires "a magnetic coil several metres in diameter capable of sustaining an enormous current density" - something which the majority of engineers say is "not feasible with existing materials and technology".* So, Mars in three hours? As NS puts it: "Dröscher is hazy about the details", but "suggests that a spacecraft fitted with a coil and ring could be propelled into a multidimensional hyperspace" where "the constants of nature could be different, and even the speed of light could be several times faster than we experience". Then, he says, a quick three-hour jaunt to Mars would indeed be on the cards. Bootnote*Roger Lenard, a space propulsion researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico does think it might be possible, though, using an X-ray generator called the Z machine which "could probably generate the necessary field intensities and gradients".
The Rabid Vampire 3rd January 2006
I have always enjoyed reading or watching vampire stories, as many others do. There’s something very exciting and scary about these blood sucking, unearthly creatures of the night. I have often wondered what may have spurred the myths and legends that have created such wonderful tales. What were the true origins of these legends? Could vampires have been suffering some now explainable medical condition? A recent episode of the hospital series “House” showed a patient suffering from Rabies. It occurred to me at the time that the patient was manifesting some very strange and vampire like symptoms. Doing some research on the possible Rabies, vampire link showed that there are many similarities between the disease and the legends of old. There are in fact many similarities between the two conditions. Examining the facts I discovered that Rabies in humans can be contracted by being bitten by an infected animal or person or by being in places like bat caves (where there may be infected bats)where the virus can be inhaled. Bats, wolves, foxes, dogs and cats are all primary animals for spreading the disease, hence the connection with vampires, bats and wolves. Symptoms include Hypersensitivity – this can manifest as an aversion to water, light and odour. Here we have the connection with vampires aversion to day light, a dislike of strong smells such as garlic and a very great aversion to water. Vampires do not like to cross over water nor do they like being sprinkled with Holy Water. Perhaps the dislike of the sign of the Cross was just another aversion. Symptoms also include paranoia, aggression, 25% of rabid men had tendencies to bite others (in some cases the aggression is replaced with lethargy) and delusions and hallucinations. It has also been discovered that Rabid humans sometimes have an aversion to mirrors. General responses to aversions manifest in contortions and spasms of the facial muscles giving the effect of grimacing or the barring of teeth. There is another symptom, albeit rather rare, which causes the infected person to seem to be impervious to pain. This makes the person seem stronger than normal. It has also been noted that due to the effects of the virus on parts of the brain, the infected person can suffer disrupted sleep cycles and have a heightened libidos (with up to 30 sexual encounters a day). Here we have many more similarities. Vampires are generally aggressive, they bite people, often barring their teeth and grimacing in the process. Vampires have voracious sexual appetites, they sleep during the day, they appear to be impervious to pain and have super human strength. Other symptoms include foaming of the mouth, fever and death. It is interesting to note that cases or stories of vampires seemed to coincide with outbreaks of Rabies. Between 1721 and 1734 there was a big outbreak of rabies in Hungary. This was a great time for vampire legends. The first legends really began in 1721 which coincided with a big Rabies outbreak which swept across East Prussia and into the Hungarian Empire.The original `Dracula` or Count Dracul was connected with Hungary. The word vampire didn't come into the English language until 1732. The subject of the link between vampires and Rabies sufferers was also noticed by Spanish neurologist, Dr Juan Gomez-Alonso in 1998. He did much research and came to the same conclusions. So, there you have it – were the old legends of vampires inspired from encounters with victims of the rabies disease? Did the corpses of the dead victims have stakes put through their hearts just to make sure they were dead and not in a coma< Is that how that tradition came into being? Looking at the medical evidence, I think Rabie is a very possibly link to the stories of old.
Posted 3rd Dec 2005
New Brains for U.S soldiers. Apparently the Pentagon has decided that one of the things its soldiers are lacking is brains, or at least the ability to remember details of their training. Researchers at the University of Southern California’s bio-engineering department have developed a micro chip which they claim acts in exactly the same way as the hippocampus, the part of the brain that deals with memory. The chip can send out electrical signals which are similar to how the hippocampus operates. So far, so good, I like the sound of anything that might improve my own memory. So far the chip has worked well with on dead rats (dead rats?) The Pentagon hopes that one day experiments will be carried out on soldiers to create a new type of super soldier. That is a little worrying. What happens when the soldier retires, is the chip removed or left in? Would it damage the ex-soldiers memory and what if a soldier were to be captured by his enemy, could the chip be removed and decoded for information? And anyway, sci-fi movies always point out how the creation of super soldiers always ends in tears. The Braingate Chip. With the above in mind. Imagine being able to control your environment simply by thinking. Matthew Nagel, who is paralysed from the neck down, has been playing pong, drawing circles and manipulating a computer with thoughts alone via the Braingate. A tiny chip which is surgically implanted onto the surface of the brain. Extending down into the cortex are hundreds of thin, platinum tipped electrodes, each a millimetre long and 90 microns at the base. These pick up the brain’s electrical signals which are then transmitted to a computer via slender gold wires connected to each electrode. This technology promises profound changes for the lives of millions of paralysed and handicapped individuals, but its implications run much deeper and may one day affect us all. Now scientists are reading this cortex-generated electrical information, much like your first CD player read songs. Very soon they plan to be able to `write` information as well, just like a CD burner. This could change the way we communicate. We could think directly at our friends instead of speaking, learn in our sleep and remember perfectly. Our memories could be stored `off line` on some external device. More importantly, the BrainGate would affect how we interact with our environment. I can see the benefits of such a micro chip – the ability to learn something by simply down loading the information directly into the brain (no more schooling for children?) but I can also see some rather worrying disadvantages. Would it enable us to only direct thoughts when we wished or would it be like a kind of telepathy and our thoughts might stray into the minds of people we would rather not have the information. What would become of our own memories, would we lose the natural ability to store memories and experiences? What happens if the chip was damaged, or the external memory was lost or damaged, would we forget everything? If the chip was our source of interaction with our environment, allowing us to turn on lighting, watch tv, drive our cars etc, through a computer, what would happen if the chip malfunctions? Hmm, too many what `if’s` for my liking, but knowing technology, it will no doubt happen and probably within the next thirty years.
Male Mice sing songs of love (posted 1st Nov 2005) The ultrasonic chirps emitted by mice resemble birdsong Male mice serenade potential mates with ultrasonic love songs, a study by US scientists has revealed. The research adds mice to the exclusive club of mammals that can sing, which has until now comprised only human beings, bats and cetaceans. A University of Washington, St Louis, team studied ultrasonic squeaks emitted by mice when they smell a female and found that they form complex songs. They have published details in the scientific journal PLoS Biology. Scientists have known for some time that mice emit sounds at a frequency outside the range of human hearing. But it was always possible that these could have been random vocalisations. Washington researchers Tim Holy and Zhongsheng Guo now demonstrate that this is not the case. Accidental discovery They discovered the songs by accident, while investigating how male mice responded to sex pheromones released in the urine of female mice. When the males encountered cotton swabs dunked in female mouse urine, they broke into song. Dr Holy and his team processed the sound recordings to make them audible to humans, lowering the pitch without interfering with the tempo. Instead of making the ultrasonic chirps randomly, the mice used several different types of syllables arranged in regular, repeated time signatures resembling birdsong. Their vocalisations meet the characteristics of song, Dr Holy and Dr Guo claim. Singing plays a prominent role in the courtship rituals of amphibians, birds and insects. But it is known only in a handful of mammals, including bats, humans, cetaceans - including whales and porpoises.
Serpent Myths posted 25th Oct 2005
In the book `Supernatural` (recently discussed on this page), the author presented his theory of how primitive man was awakened to spirituality through the discovery of and the taking of hallucinatory drugs. The plant extract drugs produced vision of half human half, animal beings, spirit beings and wise and knowledgeable snakes and serpents who told man how to live in harmony with the earth and which plants were cures for diseases. This theory ties in nicely with Egyptian God myths and Bible stories. Remember the symbol for medicine today is a snake entwined staff. Now another book has been written by Philip Gardiner and Gary Osborn which seems to follow a similar theme. The book titled “The Serpent Grail” puts forward the theory that the `Elixir of life` (the real Holy Grail) was a hallucinatory drug made from snake venom and blood. The venom drug produced enlightening, spiritual visions and also had health giving properties. One of the authors discussing the book on radio said he took the drug and had a high for three days. Amongst other effects, the high was similar to a high caffeine hit. After the effects wore off, he said he felt fitter. Previously he’d suffered terrible headaches which occurred frequently, but after taking the drug he became headache free. Below is an extract from a book review. The Serpent Grail – The intrepid authors delved back beyond what historians regard as the great civilisation of Sumaria. What they found was a Grail heritage common to prehistoric cultures across the world. The heritage involved a serpent or snake worshipping cult that even today has resonance’s in the major world religions. The research took in ancient myths, alchemy, anthropology, archaeology, etymology, mysticism, religion and more, revealed secrets about a triad of mystery, the Holy Grail, steeped in the physical realm: the Elixir of Life, bound up in the mental and the Philosopher’s Stone (was the Philosophers Stone the white powdered gold that it is alleged that the Ark of the Covenant produced and was taken by the enlightened, Gods priests and by the Great Pharaohs), the attainment of the spiritual state of enlightenment – super-consciousness itself. This triad has its roots in shamanism, where mysterious potions were utilised to take the shaman to other planes of consciousness. The Medium, suggests the authors, was a mixture of snake venom and blood that in combination was not poisonous but produced intense visionary experiences and had healing properties. The snake was venerated for these qualities and its ability to shed its skin symbolised rebirth. The ingredients were extracted using utensils such as a staff to collect the drips of venom, a knife to cut off the snakes head, a bowl (perhaps a skull cap) to collect the venom and blood and a plate to hold the dead snake. More recent esoteric traditions symbolise these artefacts in ritual wands, swords, cups and discs found in magical rituals and the tarot deck.
`Supernatural - Meetings with the ancient teachers of mankind`
Last night, Graham Hancock was on the radio talking about his new book `Supernatural` A truely fascinating book which took Hancock ten years of research to complete. He traveled to the Peruvian Amazon to drink powerful hallucinogenic plant drugs to gain his own shamanic-like visionary experiences of spiritual awareness. I was going to write up my own article on it but I can't tell it half as well as Hancock himself so the below is an extract taken from his website. I'll add an extra bit on the end.
· " The evolution of modern humans has taken more than five million years but until less than 50,000 years ago we had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no creative and innovative thinking, and quite possibly no language. Then, a dramatic and electrifying change overtook our ancestors in every part of the globe, and all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves today appeared suddenly, already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers. Scientists describe this change as “the greatest riddle in human history”. · The first art of mankind, in the painted caves and rock-shelters of southwest Europe and South Africa, dates back to the time of the great change. Why do these ancient paintings, tens of thousands of years old, depict beings of a kind that are never found in nature – strange and eerie hybrids with the heads of animals and the bodies of humans? · In the depths of the Amazon rainforest tribal shamans drink a powerful hallucinogenic brew called Ayahuasca (“the vine of souls”) in order to induce visions. When they return to normal consciousness, after experiencing what they believe is out-of-body travel in the spirit world, they make paintings of the “intelligent beings” they have encountered. Why are many of these beings also depicted as uncanny hybrids with the heads of animals or serpents and the bodies of humans? And why do the shamans say that they have taught them everything they know about how to live in the jungle, and about the medicinal value of rainforest plants? · Why do Western lab volunteers, placed experimentally under the influence of hallucinogens such as DMT, psilocybin, mescaline and LSD, report visionary encounters with “beings” in the form of animal-human hybrids – beings identical to those the Amazonian shamans claim to meet and to those painted by our ancestors in the prehistoric caves? · What is the significance of the astonishing similarities between the entities known as “aliens”, ET’s” or “greys” in modern popular culture, the entities known as “fairies”, “elves” and “goblins” in the Middle Ages, and the entities that shamans in surviving tribal cultures know as “ghosts”, “gods” and “spirits”? Why are such figures depicted in prehistoric art as far a field as Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australia? · Why have eminent scientists at the cutting edge of consciousness research, especially those who study the ways that hallucinogens work in the brain, recently begun to question long-established theories about the nature of reality? Why are some now even ready to consider the possibility, long ago embraced by shamans, that, far from being “false perceptions”, what we see in the strange imagery and experiences of hallucinations may be real perceptions of other “dimensions” and the beings inhabiting them? · Why did Nobel Prize-winner Francis Crick keep concealed until his death the astonishing circumstances under which he first “saw” the double-helix structure of DNA? And why did he become convinced that natural laws are unable to explain the mysterious complexity of the DNA molecule itself? · Why does the 97 per cent of DNA that scientists do not understand – so-called “junk DNA” – contain chemical “sequences” arranged in patterns and frequencies that are otherwise only found in the deep coding of all human languages? · Could the “supernaturals” first depicted in the painted caves and rock shelters – and still accessible to us today in altered states of consciousness – be the ancient teachers of mankind? Could it be they who first ushered us into the full birthright of our humanity? And could it be that human evolution is not just the “blind”, “meaningless” “natural” process that Darwin identified, but something else, more purposive and intelligent, that we have barely even begun to understand? "
It's interesting to note that Hancock mentioned the fact that serpents often appear in these visions. These serpents are linked with the attainment of knowledge and wisdom. Are these where the serpent related Bible legends and other lmyths and legends come from? Also, he mentioned that animal headed beings are seen. Beings such as these are also featured in the ancient Egyptian myths and legends. They represented their gods. Did the ancient Egyptians find spirituality through similar drugs?
Graham Hancock also mentioned that many people who claim to have had alien abduction experiences have been found to have high levels of DMT in their brains which could be giving them similar experiences to those deliberately taking the drug.
To read more on the subject visit www.grahamhancock.co.uk.
A Hand-bag is a girls best friend. 26th September 2005 I spotted this article on the BBC technology site. I thought it was really cool.
Happy endings16th Sept 2005 Eight bottlenose dolphins swept out of their aquarium in Marine Life Oceanarium, Gulfport, Mississippi, by the hurricane Katrina have turned up off the flooded American coast begging for fish and trying to find their way back to the zoo. The group squealed with delight and clapped their flippers (awwww…) when trainers spotted them from a helicopter and launched a boat to take food to them. One of the trainers was so overjoyed at finding his dolphin that he had to be prevented from jumping from the helicopter into the sea to hug them. The group of dolphins were found to be thin and hungry and are now being fed fish and antibiotics to help prevent them from becoming infected by the polluted waters. Trainers are now trying to teach the dolphins to jump onto airbeds so they can be floated back to another zoo.
Sweet Dreams13th September 2005 Researchers (working for the British Cheese Board) have discovered that cheese eaten before bedtime is actually good for you and aides a restful, sweet dream sleep. Bizarrely, the researchers found that the type of cheese you eat affects the type of dreams you have. A piece of Cheddar actually aids a restful sleep and sixty five percent of the cheddar eaters reported dreaming of celebrities, including Johnny Depp and Jordan. Stilton consistently provides the most vivid and crazy dreams. Red Leicester sparks nostalgic nightly forays into the past including dreams of childhood and old school chums. Two thirds of the volunteers who ate Lancashire cheese dreamed about work. Those who ate Cheshire cheese reported no dreams but a blissfully deep nights sleep. 72 percent of the volunteers who ate a 20-gram piece of cheese 30 minutes before bed slept very well and remembered their dreams. So it would seem that the old wives tale that eating cheese before bed gives you nightmares, just isn’t true.
Proof the brain is evolving. 10th September 2005
I spotted a highly interesting article on the BBC web news. I've copied and pasted it below.
By comparing modern man with our ancestors of 37,000 years ago, the Chicago team discovered big changes in two genes linked to brain size.
One of the new variants emerged only 5,800 years ago yet is present in 30% of today's humans, they believe.
This is very short in evolutionary terms, suggesting intense selection pressures, they told Science.
Survival benefit
Each gene variant emerged around the same time as the advent of so called "cultural" behaviours.
The microcephalin variant appeared along with the emergence of traits such as art and music, religious practices and sophisticated tool-making techniques, which date back to about 50,000 years ago.
It is now present in about 70% of humans alive today.
The other, called the ASPM variant, originated at a time that coincides with the spread of agriculture, settled cities and the first record of written language.
Researcher Dr Bruce Lahn said the big question was whether the genetic evolution seen had actually caused the cultural evolution of humans or was merely chance.
Their hunch is that it might have something to do with the important role that these genes play in brain size, but stressed that did not necessarily mean better intelligence.
"Just because these genes are still evolving doesn't necessarily mean they make you any smarter," said Dr Lahn.
Ongoing changes
But he added: "Our studies indicate that the trend that is the defining characteristic of human evolution - the growth of brain size and complexity - is likely still ongoing.
"If our species survives for another million years or so, I would imagine that the brain by then would show significant structural differences from the human brain of today."
The researchers said the next step was to examine whether biological differences imparted by the genetic differences caused natural selection to favour that variation over others.
They must have conferred some evolutionary advantage, such as a desired change in cognition, personality, motor control or resilience to neurological or psychiatric diseases, they said.
Dr Geraint Rees, a cognitive neurologist at University College London and Wellcome Trust senior research fellow, said: "It's very interesting.
"I do find it surprising that they can pinpoint these changes to a point relatively recently in evolutionary history.
"It gives us a clue to perhaps follow up on and try and understand why they emerged at that time and what the consequences were."
He said it would be too big a leap now to conclude that the genetic changes were responsible for some of the cultural changes we have seen, such as the emergence of agriculture. "But that's a tantalising prospect," he said. Are men really cleverer than women? 31st August 2005 After analysing the `reasoning Tests` of more than 20,000 university students from around the world, psychologists have concluded that men do have bigger brains and higher IQ’s than women. Professor Richard Lynn states there are more men than women with higher IQ’s. Psychologists have found that women’s IQ’s are up to five points lower than men’s. Girls do better in IQW tests up to the age of early teen-hood, while boys draw level by sixteen and on average by twenty one they are significantly more intelligent. Having said that and being a woman myself and wanting to argue the point, it has also been discovered that while men’s brains are bigger, it seems men are not so clever at using them. The extra brain power makes men better suited to tasks of `high complexity` but men tend not to use their brains as well for every day tasks. Women with equal IQ’s to men can achieve more as they are better adapted to sustained periods of hard work. I’ve also read that men are better at complex tasks (maths, science, computers etc) because they tend to be more focused on one thing at a time. This rule obviously doesn’t apply to men and DIY jobs. Show me a man who can finish one DIY job before starting another and you’ll have found yourself a real gem. Women are far better at multi-tasking. One reason why a man will for instance, make more mess in a kitchen while cooking. He’s too focused on the actual cooking rather than thinking about the mess he is creating. Women will think about the mess and the time it will take to clean up afterwards, so they tend to clean up, wash up while they are cooking (probably be doing umpteen other things too, like doing the washing, feeding the cat, playing with the kids and talking on the phone at the same time, while remembering what to put on the shopping list). I think women have to be more multifunctional to be able to cope with just being a woman in what is I think, still a man’s world. I would rather have the ability to be multifunctional in my thinking. As to women having lower IQ’s than men, I would still argue that point. I still don’t reckon IQ’s depend on gender.
Strange mathematics of the Moon28th August 2005 A controversial new book was mentioned on the radio last week, it’s called “Who built the Moon” written by Alan Butler and Christopher Knight. The book contains amazing mathematical facts and figures about the moon and its mathematical coincidences and relationship to the Sun and Earth. The two authors who claim to be devout agnostics put forward their research findings in such a way that you would almost believe them to be creationists. Knight and Butler discovered some odd mathematical relationships between the size of the Moon, Earth and Sun. The orbital characteristics of the Moon and the Earth are unlikely chances. For example, the earthy revolves 366 times in one orbit of the Sun and the earth is 366% larger than the Moon. Conversely, the Moon takes 27.32 days to orbit the Earth and is 27.32% of earth’s size. The authors say “There is no possible relationship between the relative size of the earth and the Moon and their orbital characteristics – yet the number is the same. And that was just the first of many such underlying patterns. The number 366 was the basis of the ancient measuring system we have reconstructed and that number keeps popping up along with a small group of round numbers such as 400 and 10,000. For example, the Moon is 400 times closer to the Earth than the sun and exactly 400 times smaller than the Sun. And in 366 orbits of the Moon the Earth experiences 10,000 days.” Butler admitted “We were confused at first, where there should have been random, disconnected numbers there were beautifully harmonious relationships and repeating patterns. It struck us though we were looking at some kind of engineering blueprint involving the Earth and the Moon’s interaction around the Sun.” Coincidentally, Butler and Knight made another surprising discovery. The metric system which is now universally adopted across the world for scientific measurement, appears to have been created specifically to highlight the peculiarities of the Moon. The earth is 109.3 times smaller than the Sun, while the circumference of the moon when measured in kilometres is 10,930 km. And also that the Moon is turning at exactly 1% of the earth’s spin, which gives a speed at the lunar equator of precisely 400 kilometres per hour. Quoting from the press release of the book, “According to the authors, there can only be one logical explanation. Some agency saw life-bearing potential of the Earth/Sun system and added the Moon as means to create and nurture life. But the same agency did much more. It made certain that the resulting mathematics would be particularly relevant to a species with 10 fingers and also in the absolute knowledge of the eventual use of the Metric system. Butlers said “Our first realisation, is that all experts agree that the Moon is a highly improbable object and it has been nothing less than an incubator for life on Earth. Quite simply, we humans would not be here if the Moon had not been exactly the size it is in the various positions it has held over the last four and a half billion years”
I’m highly sceptical of all of that. In my opinion patterns of all kinds, particularly mathematical patterns occur in nature all the time. We see it daily in our life, in leaves and flowers (scientists and photographers will tell you this is called the `golden mean`. The repeating patterns in leaves on a tree and in a snails shell is used by a professional photographers to position a subject in the most pleasing way.) also in cell structures, in snow flakes and in the mathematics of the heavens. It wouldn’t surprise me if the whole of our universe followed a gigantic mathematical and glorious pattern with many reoccurring figures. As to the moon having to be where it is for us to be here, well, you could say in an infinite universe where anything is possible, there has to be somewhere that has all the right mathematical properties and conditions for life to be created. If the earth, the Sun and the Moon weren’t exactly where they are (all by cosmic chance) we wouldn’t be here doing the maths at all. I don’t think a kind of universal agent created the moon to start life here, I just think life started here because by chance we had all the correct ingredients for it to happen so it did. As for the metric system, I also don’t think that is much of a wonder for a race of beings with ten fingers and toes to logically (eventually) use units of tens and hundreds to adopt as our scientific mathematical system. Base ten is the easiest for any intelligent species to use no mater how many fingers it has. Indeed in our early times, before base ten, we tended to use base twelve despite having ten fingers. For confirmation of that you only have to look at a clock face and the old imperial monetary and measurement system.
The best explanation for Crop-Circles yet…. I have just read an extremely interesting article claiming the new theory that ultra sound may create crop-circles. Crop circles have been documented as far back as 1678. there was one eye witness report in 1890 and 200 reports world wide in the 1900’s/ There have been 10,000 crop circles catalogued in 29 countries world wide. While some crop circles are fakes, created by people with planks of wood and balls of string, these fakes do not exhibit the same anomalies as the real ones. These were found to have stalks bent an inch above the soil, their cellular structures altered. The stems slightly burned around the base, alterations to the crystalline structure of the effected soil. Evaporation of ground water. Alterations of the local electromagnetic field and dowsable, long lasting energy patterns. Not to mention hundreds of measurable effects on the human biological field. All this suggests that particular sonic frequencies could create these beautiful, mysterious designs in the crops. Beautiful and perfectly natural patterns occur in nature all the time. We see it in snow flakes, the formation of crystals, plants and flowers. Patterns also occur in music, song, in sound and frequencies. The Hopi and Navajo religious traditions assert that in ancient times shamen could utter words or chant onto sand and create patterns not dissimilar to the Hindu mandalas – geometric paintings held to be expressions of vibrations from the universe. Islam in particular chose this sacred geometry to express the image of God. These designs were incorporated into the designs of gothic cathedrals and their application is known to enhance these buildings sonic effects. When the Hindu sound `OM` is sung into a tonoscope, it is possible to see geometric shapes. During the 1950’s Hans jenny discovered a way to capture sound as images on to film, using powders and liquids/ Low frequencies produce simple circles encompassed by rings and high frequencies increase the number of concentric rings. As the frequencies rise, so to do the complexity of the shapes to the point where tetrahedrons, mandalas and other sacred geometric forms can be seen. There are many accounts given by eye witnesses of crop circles that they have heard a high pitched trilling sound. The sound is apparently a cross between a rushing waterfall and a cicada. This trilling sound was actually captured by a BBC cameraman who was conducting an interview in a crop circle. To his horror, the frequency was enough to render his camera equipment useless. Crop-Circles appear in the Australian Aborigine traditions and myths. They relate to this trilling sound. They contact their Sky Spirits by whirling a `Bora` (a small piece of shaped flat wood, tied to a length of string) around their heads. The noise, when analysed is practically the same as the crop circle sound. Sound frequency experiments have been performed on plants to see how they are affected. It has been known for some time that the growth of plants respond to certain musical notes and music in general. It’s interesting to note that when exposed to Heavy metal music, the plants tilt away from the speakers. When classical music is played, the plants lean towards the speakers. I can only deduce that plants are indeed intelligent thinking creatures and obviously have good taste too! All this goes a long way to prove that sound as one energy source is capable of creating crop circles. Ultra sound is capable of interacting with physical elements to such an incredible degree, it can be aimed like a laser beam and specific frequencies cause certain kinds of molecules to vibrate, while others nearby are left unmoved. Okay, so now if we assume the above findings to be correct and make the assumption that crop circles are created by high frequency sound…here comes the million dollar question…what or who is causing the sound? Some folk believe they are still of an extraterrestrial origin. Some psychics believe they are the work of the `Watchers`, a universal group consciousness who serve as helpful guides to humanity in tumultuous times and that the complex circles are a sign from them. Or is it caused by a natural phenomena. My own theory is that perhaps they could they be created by the frequencies, vibrations or resonance’s of underground rock/crystal (quartz in particular) formations. That perhaps these crystals naturally rub together and vibrate due to geophysical pressure (ground movement/stress) or similar. Could that cause the visible effect of crop circles?
Time travellers could never alter the past. The laws of physics seem to permit time travel and with it, paradoxical situations such as the possibility that people could go back in time just like Quantum Leaps’ Dr Sam Beckett, to right wrongs that once occurred, to correct events and to avert minor or major disasters. But it turns out that such paradoxes might be ruled out by the weirdness inherent in the laws of physics. Some solutions to the equations Einstein gave us has that the general theory of relativity lead to situations in which space time curves back on itself, theoretically allowing travellers to loop back in time and meet younger versions of themselves. Because such time travel sets up paradoxes, many researchers suspect that some physical constraints must make time travel impossible. Now physicists Daniel Greenberger and Karl Svozil have shown that the most basic features of quantum theory may ensure that time travellers could never alter the past. Quantum theory allows time travel because nothing prevents the waves from going back in time. When Greenberger and Svozil analysed what happens when these component waves flow into the past, they discovered that the paradoxes implied by Einstein’s equations never arise. Waves that travel back in time interfere destructively, thus preventing anything from happening differently from that which has already taken place. If you travel back in time, quantum mechanically, you would only see those alternatives consistent with the world you left behind. So I guess that means we can never travel back in time and interact with the world of the past, we can only be observers of it.
My thoughts on the alien abduction phenomena (in general). I’ve read numerous articles, seen many tv programmes on the subject of alien abductions. It’s a scenario which has been used time and again in movies and tv series. It’s an interesting subject whether you believe in UFO’s and aliens or not. Most abductees believe they have been abducted from their homes by aliens at night. They all have extremely similar stories to tell, that during the hours of darkness, something awakens them but they are unable to move. They feel themselves lifting up off their beds, they see a bright glowing, eerie light. They feel as if they are being transported through their ceilings or walls. These people then find themselves in a strange and unfamiliar place which they take to be an alien space craft. They are either wheeled along strange corridors to a strange operating theatre like room, or wake up finding themselves there. They then find themselves unable to move, pinned to an operating table. Strange aliens with grey skin, large dark eyes, tiny noses (or no noses to speak of) and with tiny slit like mouths, perform all kinds of horrible intrusive and often painful examinations and investigations on them. Most of these at some point include probes being inserted up into the nose or into other body orifices. Sometimes in the background the abductee sees other, smaller blue aliens. These blue aliens tend to hand the greys their equipment. Some abductees say they are talked to by these aliens inside their minds (the aliens mouth do not move) Some research has been done to find an alternative, none alien explanation for this phenomena. One suggests that these people have a dysfunction in the temporal lobes of their brain. That when an area of the temporal lobes is electrically stimulated, it causes hallucinations of alien abductions. Why, is not known? I have my own theory. It’s quite a weird and wacky one but bare with me on it. After reading it, give it some extra thought. It might not turn out to be so ridiculous as you first thought. First off – the first `symptom` of an alien abduction is that it takes place at night. The abductee wakes up but cannot move. They see a strange light. They feel as if they are floating up out of their bodies towards and through either the ceiling or window. This to me is a classic case of astral travel. Any of you who have done this, will recognise the similarities. The mind of that person is temporarily leaving its body. They can’t actually move because their body is still asleep. Now for the wacky part – the rest of the alien abduction scenario parallels what happens to someone during an ordinary hospital operation.. Image for a moment that you could sense and see through your minds eye, albeit a distorted view an operation being performed on yourself. Many surgeons wear a grey overall, They wear gloves and cover their heads with a cap like covering. They often wear glasses, goggles or even in some cases, visors. The face mask covers their noses and mouths. The concertina shaped mask may give an impression of a small slit mouth. Think what that would look like through a very distorted view…sounds familiar doesn’t it. Nurses in the background wear blue and hand the surgeons their equipment. Surgeons and nurses chat through operations but you would never see their mouths moving because of the masks. Add to the scenario the bright lights of the operating theatre, the noises the equipment makes, the intrusive operations being performed, it would seem a very alienesque and scary place. What if alien abductees have something in common that for some reason allows them to astral travel and then attracts them to enter the unconscious, anaesthetised minds and bodies of people undergoing surgery. For some reason they join with the person under surgery. Because these abductees are witnessing the operation through their minds eyes and ear and senses, (they may even be able to sense the unconscious persons pain, discomfort and fears) they have this weird, distorted, frightening view. Perhaps there is a link to the kind of operations being performed –maybe these are short duration investigations, or operations where the anaesthesia is lighter. Such operations could be cosmetic surgery (nose jobs) liposuction, or medical investigations – stomach, bowel or gynaecological investigations. As the real patient begins to regain consciousness, the actual mind of the abductee returns to its’ own body. As all this takes place during sleep and as an astral projection event, it would have dream like qualities to it. And as with dreams, when you wake up you often don’t recall it, you just have a sense of something having happened. Hypnosis, draws out that strange scenario, one which like a bad dream should have been best left forgotten.
Watch out – they’re out there…
A mass UFO sighting took place on Friday 24th June 2005 in Xalapa, Mexico. The strange event was witness by Xalapa’s governor, Fidel Herrera Beltran and members of his staff, officers of the police dept, and the general public newspaper reporters and TV crew as they were gathered in attendance at Casa Veracruz for an official ceremony and delivery of a new patrol car unit. The Amazing incident took place at 10.30 am, causing much excitement and a little alarm among the people involved. Beltran had just finished an inauguration speech when it was noticed that 14 unknown flying object were hovering in the sky above them. Beltran took the microphone and jokingly said `It seems the Martians have arrived`. The UFO’s remained in the sky, in a perfect V shaped formation for 30 minutes. Did little grey men take time out of their busy schedules to come and see the local ceremony? Who knows?
Even more bizarre….. Like Mexico, Brazil is also no stranger to mass UFO sightings. During July 1996 in the city of Varginha, north of Sao Paulo a very strange and remarkable UFO event took place…a real live alien encounter of the Third Kind. Apparently a UFO crash incident took place in the vicinity of the city and a couple of surviving aliens (as I understand it, very strange looking creatures not quite the standard big eyed greys)interacted with the populace for a short time before being hunted, captured and whisked away by Brazilian military police. There are a number of eye witnesses to this incredible event including people who’d not previously met each other but whose stories have uncanny similarities. There are statements obtained in interviews from three young girls who encountered one of the aliens and from medical staff on duty at the medical hospital where the injured aliens were first taken before being taken away again to a more secure and secret location. Sounds like a real case for Mulder and Scully. I’ve read several accounts of this incident over the past few years and I have to say they are very convincing. What or who could these creatures have been? Something from another planet or something bred by our own scientists for experimental flights on human created space crafts?
In contrast to the above…. On 9th April 2005, a wild boar hunter in Texas, was relaxing during the evening outside his motor home when a large UFO appeared in the sky above him. The man had with him a rifle which was set up with high tech Leupold optical sight scope, which is extremely accurate and highly specialised for great light gathering ability and performs best in low light. The scope magnifies the target image with great sharpness and definition and the magnification is adjustable from 4.5 to 24 times that of the natural image. The man first noticed the UFO as three unfocussed lights moving towards him at an estimated altitude of 800 feet and at a speed of around 30mph. The craft was about 60 feet wide by 80 feet long. The UFO appeared to float rather than to fly. The witness to this event took up his rifle and aimed the sight at the underside of the craft as it neared him and passed directly over head. The underside was v shaped rather like the under belly of a speed boat and was covered in what looked like well fitted tiles, much like those used on the space shuttles. Through the telescopic rifle sights the man was astonished to see a red arrow pointing to one edge of the craft with the writing on it, in English, “Emergency Release and Rescue” There were another set of words which were a little fuzzy but he thought they said something like “Pull For …” To his relief, he realised it was a military craft of human origins. He kept the craft in view until it disappeared, silently off into the darkness of the night. So it would seem someone out there does have silent, space craft like technology. I think that it’s quite likely that most of these UFO sightings are of our own technology.
Allergy links to schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Thirty years ago a person very close to me became mentally unstable and exhibited symptoms of schizophrenia (multiple/delusional personality disorders). Since that time I have been very interested in the workings of the mind, brain and it’s dysfunctions and disorders, particularly the connection between certain mental conditions and food/environmental allergies. In the past thirty years controlled research has been done, much of it in mental institutions and prisons which indicates that food allergies in particular can and do cause mental problems, especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorders-depression). I’ve read many articles on the subject but there are few books on the subject, particularly ones written in layman’s terms. One such book has just come on to the market. It’s called “Welcome to the Dance” Caffeine a masked cerebral allergy and progressive toxic dementia. Written by Ruth Whalen MLT, a woman who due to undiagnosed caffeine allergy suffered symptoms of schizophrenia. Doctors and psychiatrists treatments made her condition worse to the point where she was placed in a psychiatric ward for a time. After cleansing her body of the allergen, she is fine, but still has to avoid all caffeine products including anaphylaxic shock due to coffee bean aroma. Ruth whalen explains in her book of the links between mental disorders and allergies and explains that some drugs prescribed for these mental disorders contain caffeine, thus exacerbating an existing caffeine allergy. Caffeine is found in soft drinks, chocolate and some teas as well as coffee. The caffeine anaphylaxis Whalen endured was like being chronically drugged on amphetamines, altering perceptions, thoughts and actions. If you think you may have a caffeine allergy, you’d be well advised to investigate the literature on the subject and Ruth Whalen provides extensive listings. In other words, this book is for you. Near Death Experiences ………………….. Have I Been Here Before …………. Depression and diet ……… The Elephants Trunk …………… There's less up there than we think! The June/July issue of Nexus had lots of very interesting articles and letters. One report was rather worrying. It stated that during the spring of 2004, gigantic solar storms destroyed nearly 60% of the ozone layer above the Arctic. Data collected from seven satellites showed that a record barrage of charged particles from the sun in Oct and Nov of 2003, destroyed large amounts of our ozone layers over the poles. It began when the earth’s magnetic field funnelled some of the electrons from the solar storm into the upper atmosphere over the poles. The electrons ionised nitrogen molecules in that region and the ions then combined with oxygen to form nitrogen oxides – levels of which rose dramatically towards the end of 2003. These molecules were sucked down into the stratosphere by polar vortex winds, where each one ripped apart hundreds of ozone molecules. ………….. Lightening …………. Eyes and Ears ………… The origins of christianity ……….. Childrens stories ………… Little grey men …………. More to hauntings than meets the eye. Derek Acorah was on the Talksport radio show recently. He's a terrific showman when you see him on stage or in something like `Most Haunted`(for those of you unfamiliar with him, he's one of our top Clairvoyants). |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It gives us a clue to perhaps follow up on and try and understand why they emerged 
