Vampires may not be a well-thought-out monster. A surprising number of academic analyses shows vampires would wipe out humanity very quickly.
Check out a great blog post on the topic at AtlasObscura.com here.
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Near Death Experience
A number of people have died and been resuscitated but report having a lucid experience during death, which have been popularly dubbed near-death experiences (NDEs).
Science offers several theories but still cannot properly account for why this happens. If all experience occurs in the brain, how can such lucid experiences occur when the brain is starved of oxygen and there’s little to no activity? And if an NDE occurs under certain physical conditions, why isn’t the effect consistent?
The writer of this Salon article reviews the phenomenon and science in a very even-handed way and proposes that brain and consciousness may capable of operating separately, suggesting the possibility of consciousness living on after death.
It’s a fascinating subject. The review of the research is worth the read alone. I’m not sure I would agree with the conclusion. Our inability to find a consistent physical cause-effect isn’t proof of consciousness and brain being separate things. If that were true, wouldn’t all people get NDEs instead of a minority? We should let scientists continue to study it while keeping an open mind.
Personally, either way, I hope I get one when it’s my time to go.
Click here to read the article.
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Parasites As Puppet Masters
Nature abounds in cleverness. These parasites infect organisms and force them to do their bidding. I used a similar device in SUFFER THE CHILDREN.
The Chilling Sound of Space
Space may be a vacuum, but it can still transmit sound in the form of electromagnetic vibrations. NASA recorded these vibrations and translated them into sounds we can hear. Here’s the result.
Stanley Kubrick wasn’t far off in SPACE ODYSSEY 2001. The NASA-recorded space sounds instantly reminded me of the Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano he used for his film:
Scientists Reproduce Sensation of Ghostly Presence
Scientists have reproduced the sensation of a ghostly presence in the human brain. They hypothesize it’s a glitch in brain function related to self awareness, resulting in the sense of another person nearby when there isn’t one there. Fascinating stuff. Check it out here.
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Rise Of The Superbug
Fascinating TED Talk on antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The average human body has more than 10,000 bacteria in and on it–in fact, the average human has more bacterial cells than human cells. Everywhere we look, there are millions of bacteria. Some bacteria are harmful, causing disease, and are commonly treated with antibiotics, the wonder drugs credited with extending the average human lifespan by 10 years.
The problem is that while human genes are relatively fixed for life, bacteria exchange genes all the time, resulting in growing resistance to antibiotics because of overuse, use of antibiotics in agriculture, and people stopping taking them when feeling better before the full dose is administered. This is resulting in superbugs, previously treatable, that are becoming lethal.
What can be done? More funding to develop the next generation of antibiotics.