Nova Spivack – Minding the Planet

Here is an interesting article, written by a chess grandmaster, on how to trade information with alien civilizations, assuming they are ever contacted. The article proposes that at interstellar distances, the only realistic form of trade would be a trade in information — such as technology and scientific knowledge. He suggests that the best way [...]

A new study claims that life on earth emerges and is wiped out in 62 million year cycles. The dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago. That implies we are 3 million years overdue for a mass-extinction cycle. Or maybe we’re 3 million years into one? Data indicates that species are presently going extinct at an [...]

Dr. Ian Stevenson has amassed 3000 documented cases of children remembering events from past lives. In each case of children’s past life memory, Dr. Stevenson methodically documents the child’s statements.  Then he identifies the deceased person the child remembers being, and verifies the facts of the deceased person’s life that match the child’s memory. He [...]

A new twist on the classic "Double Slit" experiment, an often cited illustration of quantum mechanics, demonstrates quantum interference in time, rather than in space. Related Posts:Speed of Light Broken?Roswell Officer's Deathbed Confession: UFO's Are RealBritish Ministry of Defense Chief Resigns; Cites Concerns About UFO'sIs There Room for The Soul? – Good Article on Cognitive [...]

I was fortunate enough to wander across this amazing online Flash presentation that reveals the hidden meaning of the film, "2001." It’s a thoroughly engaging, brilliantly produced, fascinating production — one of the best uses of Flash animation that I’ve ever seen. It also makes some really interesting points about human evolution, our relationship to [...]

The New York Times has published a wonderful and fascinating set of mini-essays by leading scientists about their beliefs in the unknkown and unexplained — from consciousness, to God, to life on other worlds, and the existence of true love.  There are some terrific thoughts in it — one of thoses rare articles that breaks [...]

A new study has found that particular types of dreams take place during different phases of sleep, lending credence to the theory that dreams are not random. Related Posts:Is There Room for The Soul? – Good Article on Cognitive ScienceQuantum Evolution — A Radical TheoryBig Thinkers' Most Dangerous IdeasNew Study: Human Hands, Feet and Foreheads [...]

This just in: Read this article about an amazing child prodigy who may be one of the greatest musical geniuses in 200 years. Not only can he compose like a master, but he can compose multiple pieces of music at once! How does he do it? It’s a bit spooky — maybe he’s the reincarnation [...]

Frank Drake, the originator of the present-day radio-telescope-driven search for extraterrestrial intelligence — has written an editorial suggesting that his famous Drake Equation may need an update. In short, he believes his equation should be changed because there may be a lot more intelligent life out there than has been previously suggested. Related Posts:British Ministry [...]

Here is an interesting true story about how a group of humans were saved from a shark attack by a group of dolphins. Related Posts:Big Thinkers' Most Dangerous IdeasScientist Says "Never in Our Imagination Could This Happen." Famous Last Words?British Ministry of Defense Chief Resigns; Cites Concerns About UFO'sA World Without ElephantsDolphins are Smarter Than [...]

Deep beneath the South Pole ice-cap is a strange fresh water lake — Lake Vostok. Lake Vostok is the subject of intense speculation, debate and strange conspiracy rumors. Because it hasn’t been exposed to our atmosphere since at least the last ice-age, it may contain ancient microorganisms that do not exist anywhere else on our [...]

Interesting new research has found a measurable effect from homeopathic medicines on inflammation. The research has been published in a respected peer-reviewed medical journal. The authors admit they cannot explain the cause of this effect, and they are hoping others will join them in trying to figure it out. The basic issue is that homeopathic [...]

In August of 2003, I posted an article that suggested the SETI folks ought to look at our own DNA to see if there happens to be a hidden message from aliens in there waiting to be discovered. Putting a message in human DNA, particularly in the junk DNA regions, is guaranteed (a) not to [...]

This just in from Jack Park at SRI… Get this: a macaque got really sick, darn near died, and when it was all over, the monkey started walking upright like a human. Doctors think it was brain damage. Maybe all upright walking humanoids are similarly “brain damaged?” Go figure… Here is the article and picture [...]

Here is a fantastic article on the futuristic physics of Dr. Nikolai A. Kozyrev, the Tesla of Russia. Kozyrev’s theories are only now beginning to be understood. He made fundamental proposals related to zero-point energy (the energy of the quantum vacuum) as well as gravity and “anti-gravity” propulsion, as well as hidden reasons for various [...]

It just occurred to me that distribution of primes looks VERY much like the output of a cellular automaton rule. This makes me wonder whether it might be possible to use a cellular automaton to generate prime numbers. If we can find the rule that generates the prime numbers, perhaps this rule has other important [...]

Of course I’ve been tracking this one for nearly a year already, but now that mainstream press is discussing this I guess it’s ok to post it here without you all thinking I’m a wacko. The fact is that there are serious rumblings and changes taking place at Yellowstone and nobody knows what could happen [...]

This evening I had an interesting idea for a new way to look for patterns in the distribution of numbers such as the prime numbers and the digits of Pi. In a nutshell I propose that there may be patterns in these number sequences that might not be evident to a computer but could be [...]