Science Special News

[Rasputin]

Can prayer influence healing ?

At the Fairfax Community Church in Virginia, the faithful regularly pray for ailing strangers. Same goes at the Adas Israel synagogue in Washington and the Islamic Center of Maryland in Gaithersburg. In churches, mosques, ashrams, "healing rooms," prayer groups and homes nationwide, millions of Americans offer prayers daily to heal themselves, family, friends, co-workers and even people found through the Internet. Fueled by the upsurge in religious expression in the United States, prayer is the most common complement to mainstream medicine, far outpacing acupuncture, herbs, vitamins and other alternative remedies."Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism -- every religion believes in prayer for healing," said Paul Parker, a professor of theology and religion at Elmhurst College outside Chicago. "Some call it prayer, some call it cleansing the mind. The words or posture may vary. But in times of illness, all religions look towards their source of authority."The outpouring of spiritual healing has inspired a small group of researchers to attempt to use the tools of modern science to test the power of prayer to cure others.

[gg666]

i have heard that reading quran for patients is healing, and they get cured faster...it was a research in US...but im not sure of its details

[Rasputin]

The missing library of Iona

The island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland is steeped in ancient lore and mystery. Known internationally as the monastic birthplace of Scottish religion, it is a place of pilgrimage and deep spirituality.St Columba landed there in 563 AD with 13 followers and established a monastery. This isolated island, off the south-western tip of Mull, was soon to become the intellectual powerhouse of the medieval world.There are those who say that Columba didn't choose this island by accident, but that it is a place which has magnetically attracted spiritual seekers since before the birth of Christ. To them this island is a special place thought to have been the repository of many ancient items and many ancient mysteries.They believe that Iona once housed an incredible library and held the most extraordinary books known to man. Think Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose or the recent international best-seller The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason and consider that a hunt for hidden knowledge and elusive manuscripts could actually be very real. Pre-Columba the island was sometimes referred to as Innis nam Druidneach, the Isle of Druids. Old stories record St Columba and his followers fighting off the local Druid elders when they landed to take possession of the island.This version of history sees fifth-century Druids escaping persecution from Imperial Rome and finding sanctuary on the outer wilds of civilisation. There, it is said, they founded a library – which if true would be extraordinary, as the Druids were not known as a people who wrote down their teachings. The impact that finding this library would have on our interpretation of history would be explosive. But as revelatory as this would be, it gets even better.Another story attached to the island suggests that as well as housing the written records of the Druids it was also home to books from the greatest library in Europe.

[Rasputin]

40 years of UK big cat sightings

The phenomenon of the big cat thriving in the wilds of the UK has been making headlines for the past 40 years. Some people believe big cats roaming the British countryside were released into the wild after 1976, when it became illegal to own them as pets. Others suggest they are descendants of animals that lived pre-Ice Age.Some of the best video footage of a big cat in the country is believed to be of the Mid-Anglia Fen Tiger.Since big cats can cover huge areas, the Fen Tiger could appear in Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex.The most recent report was in 2004 by Vernon Whiterod, who claimed to have spotted it while travelling from Waterbeach to his home in Cottenham."I saw it, no doubt about it," said the 63-year-old Cambridge University cleaner. "I could see these two greeny blue eyes looking at me. The lights of the car behind me were on it and I could see the shape of the animal quite well."I could see its face. It was a bit dark around the muzzle. It was a blotchy fawn colour."It was bigger than a fox and was about the size of a labrador b****. It was long and thin along the back."

[Rasputin]

Crowds flock to see ‘ghost’ on tree

For the past month, large crowds have been flocking to Kampung Bukit Kechil in Sungai Nibong, Pe-nang, because of a ‘sighting’ of a spectre. Village Development and Se-curity Committee (JKKK) chairman for Sungai Nibong Besar, Julastri Ibrahim, however, said the object was actually a parasitic plant growing on a branch of a durian tree. In the moonlight, he ex-plained, the plant's leaves reflected a lighter patch against the dark leaves of its host tree, causing people to speculate that the illuminated shape resembled some supernatural being. According to Julastri, it all started on the night of Feb 27, after the announcement of the increase in petrol prices. Crowds flocked to the Caltex and Shell stations next to each other on Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, causing a traffic crawl. “Some drivers and passengers got out of the car to stretch. It was then they saw the tree in the nearby village, and the ridiculous rumour spread.”

He said hundreds of people had been coming throughout the night to see the sight. He said many visitors brought cameras and a few even brought equipment to detect ‘paranormal activity'. “The irony is that the tree is next to a cemetery. We have some people trying to conduct strange rituals beneath the tree.”

[Rasputin]

Sixth sense can come from within

To sense where the various parts of our body are, we sometimes rely on signals that originate in our brain rather than in our fingers or toes, a new study shows. The so-called sixth sense, known as proprioception, is essential to many basic actions, including walking without having to look at your feet or touching your nose with your eyes closed. But scientists have long pondered how this sense works. It is generally accepted that sensors in the skin, muscles and joints send information to the brain that is crucial to sensing limb position. Now researchers in Australia have evidence of the importance of outgoing messages from the brain."This will provoke debate, because the idea that the sense of position is mostly the result of the sensory receptors is well-entrenched," says Timothy Miles, a physiologist at the University of Adelaide, Australia, who is independent of the study.

Janet Taylor from the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Sydney and her colleagues strapped the forearm and hand of volunteers into a covered apparatus that prevents the subject from seeing the position of their hand. Under normal conditions, the subject could accurately tell if and how their hand had been moved by an experimenter or by themselves.

[Rasputin]

Science and religion: A connection ?

Amy Weins: Science is a fact of life. At the same time we must not be ignorant to the existence of our creator. The world had divided itself up into two divisions. One who stem their beliefs only on scientific findings and ones who stem their beliefs on religious doctrine. Very few seek for a connection between the two. They appear to be caught up in proving one another wrong that they are missing the answers that fill in the gaps which are present in both belief systems.There is a branch of science that seems to be putting these two realities into one, that being Quantum Physics. I am uncertain if their intentions are to combined the two,,however there is significant connections between them. For this column I will discuss one of them, which is according to quantum physics and cosmology our present physical form is in existence in another dimension.

They suggest that we are nothing more than energy particles. The source of this energy exists in the dimension that we reflect. Can this finding informs us of what the ancient world was trying to tell us right from the beginning, that we are a reflection of God? Genesis 1:26 says,"Let us make man in our image after our likeness.."Acknowledging our creator and his realm, we know that he dwells in a dimension other than the one we consume. Therefore, the connection that is within the findings of quantum physics and the writings of ancient documents are that our image in our space in time is the likeness(reflection) of our creator in his space in time.The connections between our creator and science are deeply rooted. Not only within quantum physics, in all other branches of science as well. It is worth noting that the word "wisdom" is defined as scientific knowledge. This being said, one can find the word "wisdom" in the texts that make the body of the bible approximately 233 times. Therefore one must ask just how important is it to consume scientific knowledge? The answer can be found in King Solomon's writings in Proverb 4:7"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding."It is safe to speculate that scientific knowledge is very important to obtain. According to the ancient world, science is the most important subject to be educated on. Although the bible is not regarded as a science book there is an abundance of scientific knowledge recorded within its texts.

[Rasputin]

Hollywood oddities: 3 men and a ghost

Anthony Langlois: The movie "Three Men and a Baby" is notorious not because it was directed by Mr. Spock or because Steve Guttenberg wasn't that bad an actor in it, but because of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it "ghost" who invited himself on the set. I you have seen the movie, or intend to after this read, you'll find the appearance during the scene where Jack (Ted Danson) is visited by his mother. Right in the background, in front of the window, a small figure can be seen standing, not too tall, dressed in black and white, just lurking there. It isn't exactly clear when controversy over the apparition began, but by all accounts, the sequel's impending release was surrounded by the now-strong "urban legend", which circulated under many variations. In most of them, the figure would be a little boy who died horribly in the apartment where the movie takes place, and returned during filming. Some versions have a mother recognizing her dead son in the movie and falling into near-madness over it, while others have her sue the studio for making her suffer such anguish.

[Rasputin]

Evidence of life in Martian meteorite ?

A new study of a meteorite that originated from Mars has revealed a series of microscopic tunnels that are similar in size, shape and distribution to tracks left on Earth rocks by feeding bacteria. And though researchers were unable to extract DNA from the Martian rocks, the finding nonetheless adds intrigue to the search for life beyond Earth. Results of the study were published in the latest edition of the journal Astrobiology. Martin Fisk, a professor of marine geology in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and lead author of the study, said the discovery of the tiny burrows do not confirm that there is life on Mars, nor does the lack of DNA from the meteorite discount the possibility. "Virtually all of the tunnel marks on Earth rocks that we have examined were the result of bacterial invasion," Fisk said. "In every instance, we've been able to extract DNA from these Earth rocks, but we have not yet been able to do that with the Martian samples. "There are two possible explanations," he added. "One is that there is an abiotic way to create those tunnels in rock on Earth, and we just haven't found it yet. The second possibility is that the tunnels on Martian rocks are indeed biological in nature, but the conditions are such on Mars that the DNA was not preserved." More than 30 meteorites that originated on Mars have been identified.

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Brighter sun adds to fears of climate change

The amount of sunshine reaching earth is increasing, accelerating the pace of climate change, scientists have found. A series of independent studies around the world show a significant rise in the amount of sunshine penetrating the atmosphere to be absorbed by the earth’s surface and turned into heat. The research will concern climate researchers who are already predicting a rapid rise in global temperatures due to man-made emissions of so-called greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. “The enhanced warming we have seen since the 1990s along with phenomena such as the widespread melting of glaciers could well be due to this increased intensity of sunlight compounding the effect of greenhouse gases,” said Professor Martin Wild of the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science in Zurich, Switzerland. Researchers will present their findings to the European Geophysical Union conference in Vienna next week.

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NASA restores funds to search for alien life

NASA is planning to restore about $30 million to its astrobiology research programme over three years, agency officials said on Monday. Astrobiologists welcomed the news but vowed to put pressure on US lawmakers to reinstate all of the $160 million or so that has been cut from the programme over the next five years.Astrobiology research grants were $32.5 million per year in NASA's 2007 budget request to Congress, half of funding levels in 2005. The request, announced in February 2006, called for funding to remain constant through 2011.The cuts meant that NASA could still afford to fund the three-year grants it had already committed to through 2006, but not any research proposals it had solicited in 2005 or any new proposals in 2006, said Carl Pilcher, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology. But now some of those projects may be funded, he told scientists on Monday at a NASA-sponsored astrobiology conference in Washington DC, US. "During the past week, a plan was developed to add money back into the astrobiology budget," he said.

He said the plan, which has yet to be finalised, would allow NASA to fund about half of the proposals it had solicited in 2005. That amounts to restoring about $10 million per year for the three years from 2006 to 2008, he said. But he added that the plan would not allow NASA to solicit new research proposals in 2006.Researchers said NASA was responding to protests from scientists and lawmakers and called for the pressure to continue. "It seems to me that instead of going away quietly with what we were given, we ought to be emboldened to ask for more," said Jill Tarter, director for the Center for SETI Research in Mountain View, California, US.

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Noah's Ark plan from top Moon man

The European Space Agency's chief scientist has said there should be a "Noah's Ark" on the Moon, in case life on Earth is wiped out by an asteroid or nuclear holocaustSpeaking exclusively to BBC News at the British Association Festival of Science, Dr Bernard Foing said the ark should be a repository for the DNA of every single species of plant and animal. Dr Foing is head of Europe's Moon missions, so his thoughts on matters lunar should be taken seriously. He is concerned that if the Earth were destroyed, there would be little or nothing left of the rich diversity of life on the planet. His solution is to build a DNA library on Earth's satellite. "If there were a catastrophic collision on Earth or a nuclear war, you could place some samples of Earth's biosphere, including humans, [on the Moon]," he said. "You could repopulate the Earth afterwards, like a Noah's Ark," he said. For the time being though, Dr Foing is awaiting the arrival of Europe's first probe to the Moon.

The Smart 1 mission is due to arrive ahead of schedule in November. The spacecraft is testing a range of innovative technologies that should find their way on to many future European Space Agency probes. It is the first of what he hopes will be a fleet of robotic spacecraft sent to the Moon. They would be used to build a lunar colony.

[Rasputin]

Pagans in prison

The Home Office has finally recognised Paganism as an “official” religion. CJ Stone speaks to the woman who is charged with ensuring that the spiritual needs of Pagans are being met... CJ Stone: For the first time in the UK paganism is being recognised as an official religion by a government department. That department is the Home Office, and the specific circumstance it has recognised paganism is in relation to prisoners who declare themselves while in prison. Meanwhile, the Prison Ministry Manager of the Pagan Federation, Carrie de Fey, is in consultation with the Home Office preparing a new set of guidelines for use by prison staff and inmates, setting out prisoners’ rights. These include the right to worship and to practice ritual, the right to association with other prisoners of similar faith, the right have certain ritual articles in their possession (including tarot cards and incense) and the right to either see or write to an outside minister (or chaplain, as the Home Office prefers to call them).

They have also recognised the eight sacred days of the pagan calendar. Officially prisoners are allowed to celebrate any two of these, although one prison already allows for all eight days. Generally ritual is carried out in the multi-faith room, but may also at times be permitted outside in the exercise yard. Prisoners also have the right to meet up once a week with fellow prisoners. Preferably, this should be with a chaplain present, but, where no chaplain is available, they can also be allowed to meet up on their own, which till now has not been possible. The new document is due out in the next couple of months. Estimates vary as to the numbers of pagans currently either on remand or convicted in British prisons. The Home Office says that the figure is in the region of 60 to 70.

[Rasputin]

Brain cells fused with computer chip

The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.The achievement could 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 neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive."They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

[Rasputin]

Mysterious Earth

Frank B. Glover: This world the third stone from the Sun our planet Earth holds many mysteries in its past. We have just a basic idea of what this world has witnessed since its birth in the solar system. But yet we spend billions of dollars to look deeper in space for answers when in fact we may be sitting on them. Everyone has a hypothesis of what they lean more towards and I have mine. But being not a scientist or a scholar I have many different directions to lean towards. And finding as the plot thickens in some of them while others I can lead you to a dead end with. Bearing an open mind to what is physical evidence and just plain speculation can even disrupt what many scientist agree upon. While digging a little deeper in our planets mysteries we will find that even a scholar will tend to just speculate on what cant be explained away by words. I would like to go straight to the point about each subject of interest. And not spend hours getting lost in each subject.

UFO sightings: UFO’s have been spotted all over the planet. MUFON has a map of these sightings and when you look at all the red dots of each sighting they cover most of the land mass on the planet. But the key word here is sighting not evidence of a sighting just a person who said they saw one. That’s a big difference in my opinion because that takes us down the road towards speculation based on hear say and not physical evidence.