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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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: