Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Militarization of Mind Power

By John Horgan, Scientific American

Of all scientific fields, neuroscience has the greatest potential for revolutionary advances, philosophical and practical.

Someday, brain researchers may figure out how precisely the brain encodes thoughts like the ones Iím thinking now. Cracking the neural code could help solve the mind-body problem, ending millennia of pointless metaphysical chitchat.

We may finally understand how brains work and why sometimes they donít. We might even discover truly effective treatments for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and dementia and chuck our current quasi-therapies.


It is because I have such high hopes for neuroscience that Iím so upset by two trends in financing of the field. One involves neuroscienceís growing dependence on the Pentagon, which is seeking new ways to help our soldiers and harm our enemies.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

How to Escape the Matrix

By Edwin Spina / Creator of Energy Center Clearing

The Matrix was one of the most popular and thought-provoking movies of all time. Viewers all over the world were captivated by the film’s primary message: People get into deep trouble when they mistake what they perceive for reality.

What most viewers do not realize is that prior to the release of this groundbreaking film, western intelligence agencies were already using the term "the Matrix" to describe today's world. This was in contrast to their work with remote viewers, who would "escape the matrix" to gather intelligence. Art truly does imitate life.


In the movie, the Matrix is an elaborate Artificial Intelligence computer simulation that's so captivating that people mistake it for reality. People perceive they are walking about and interacting with others, but their physical bodies are actually submerged in fluid-filled pods, "plugged into" the Matrix, while their vital life force is harnessed to power the Matrix.


After Neo (Keanu Reaves) learns the truth, with the help of Morpheus's (Lawrence Fishburne) training, he is able to overcome his misconception that the Matrix is reality. Neo rebels against the machines that create his false reality and, eventually, he escapes the limitations of the Matrix. To others, he has developed superhuman abilities, but, "in reality," he has merely recognized the truth.


Escaping the Matrix is a metaphor for the mystic path to enlightenment.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Dutch Prisons Use Psychics to Help Prisoners

By Bruno Waterfield / The Telegraph

Paul van Bree, a self-styled "paragnost" or clairvoyant, has been hired by the Dutch prison service to teach prisoners how to "love themselves".

"I tell them that dead relatives are doing well and that they love them. That brings them peace. Big strong men burst into tears," he said.

Mr van Bree, who also publishes annual predictions of the future, claims to be from a long line of clairvoyants, including his mother and grandmother.

The Dutch paranormal, who describes himself as the "happy Buddha" told De Tijd magazine that he is not the only psychic healer employed by the Dutch justice ministry.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Brain Power Peaks at Age 27

Source: BBC

Mental powers start to dwindle at 27 after peaking at 22, marking the start of old age, US research suggests.


Professor Timothy Salthouse of the University of Virginia found reasoning, spatial visualisation and speed of thought all decline in our late 20s.


Therapies designed to stall or reverse the ageing process may need to start much earlier, he said.


His seven-year study of 2,000 healthy people aged 18-60 is published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.


To test mental agility, the study participants had to solve puzzles, recall words and story details and spot patterns in letters and symbols.


The same tests are already used by doctors to spot signs of dementia.

In nine out of 12 tests the average age at which the top performance was achieved was 22.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY

Saturday, March 20, 2010

How to Reclaim Ownership of Your Mind

By Jonathan Mead / IlluminatedMind.net

The views and opinions of others are a petty tyrant when compared to your opinion of yourself. What you think of yourself is more valuable than any external validation or outward symbol of authority.


Self-validation and internal congruence is where the real battle takes place. Winning over your own heart and mind — not those of others — is what truly makes the difference between an unfulfilled or a purposeful, full life.


But so often we do the exact opposite of what we truly want. We have habits or addictions that hold us back. We have unwanted thought patterns stuck on auto-repeat.


A stop button, unfortunately, isn’t built into the dashboard of our minds. We’re born without a manual, so we have to do the best we can to find our own path.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Therapeutic Ringtones Create a Buzz in Japan

By Leo Lewis, Times Online

“Well . . . I can definitely feel a bit of adrenalin,” says Yukari Sendo, savouring the mobile phone ringtone like a fine wine, “but it really doesn’t make me want to do any housework.”

She flicks through a menu of alternative tunes and settles on one that offers to improve her skin tone through the power of alpha-waves.


Ms Sendo and her friend Ayaka Wakabayashi are among an army of young Japanese drawn to the allure of “therapeutic ringtones” — a genre of melodies that promises to ease a range of day-to-day gripes, from chronic insomnia to a rotten hangover.


Japan is no stranger to bizarre phone fads but the popularity of the ringtones is perhaps surprising given the flimsiness of the science behind them.


Much of the tones’ credibility rests in the solid reputation of Matsumi Suzuki, the head of the Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory, an eight-year-old subsidiary of the Japan Acoustic Laboratory.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Monday, March 15, 2010

'Psychic' Computer Can Read Your Mind

By Fiona Macrae / Source: Daily Mail

A computer program that can read your mind has been developed by British scientists.


In tests, it was able to access and interpret memories by scanning the brain patterns of volunteers.


The computer had a high success rate in telling which of three short films the subjects were thinking about.


Eleanor Maguire, of the University College London research team, said the work meant we were 'approaching the realm of mind-reading'.


The seven-second film clips showed women going about daily tasks, such as posting a letter. Then, while their brains were scanned, the volunteers were asked to think about what they had seen.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Sunday, March 14, 2010

How to Connect With Other People's Minds... Anywhere in the World

By Jim Frances / Source: Real Mind Power Secrets

Imagine how useful it could be to attract luck and be given 'urges' and 'hunches' to create financial windfalls in your life.


Imagine if you could program up dreams for yourself that actually HEAL your mind and body (for instance, reverse feelings of depression almost overnight).


Sound incredible? This is just the tip of the iceberg...


Imagine if you could find inspired answers to all your problems, almost at will.


Or bring back the closeness and passion with your partner, or attract a new romantic partner using just the power of your mind.


Take a look at the video that explains everything...

Friday, March 12, 2010

Sunshine Helps Fight Disease

By Fiona Macrae / Source: Daily Mail

A spot of sunshine doesn't just lift your spirits, it also boosts your immune system.


Research shows that vitamin D, made when our skin is exposed to sunlight, plays a key role in activating white blood cells that protect the body from flu, food poisoning and even cancer.


Without the 'sunshine vitamin', the cells do not join the fight against disease.


The discovery could help in the development of vaccines and ways to combat auto-immune diseases and cancer.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Could Universal Meditation Pay for the Public Option?

By T Goodman / Source: Inventor Spot

Yes, there was a time when meditation and yoga were scorned upon as "hippie" or "new age" fads. But over and over again scientific studies have shown that meditation improves everything from heart health to study habits to forgiveness!

Why wouldn't everyone want to learn meditation as a life skill? It would cut down the cost of medications, hospitalizations, surgeries, therapy needs, medical costs... Heck, everyone would be healthy! And maybe even nicer to each other.


Scientifically Proven Benefits of Meditation

I'll just do a quick sweep of some of the medical and scientific findings on the physiological, physical, and psychological benefits of meditation, just of studies in the last 5 years...


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The Aging Brain is Slower But Smarter

By Michelle Trudeau / Source: NPR

For baby-boomers, there is both good news and bad news about the cognitive health of the aging brain.


Brain researcher Gary Small from UCLA conveys the bad news first: "Reaction time is slower," he says. "It takes us longer to learn new information. Sometimes it takes us longer to retrieve information, so we have that tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon — where you almost have that word or that thought. That's typical of the middle-age brain."


As we age, our ability to multi-task diminishes. "We're quick, but we're sloppy when we're in middle-age. We make more errors when we're in middle age," says Small.


But Small has found that it's not all bad news. He points to a continued improvement in complex reasoning skills as we enter middle age. Small suggests that this increase may be due to a process in the brain called "myelination."


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Sunday, March 07, 2010

How to Order from the Universe

By Steve Pavlina / Source: StevePavlina.com

The universe you live in works very much like a popular restaurant. You go in, you decide what you want, you order it, you receive it, and you digest it.


Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t seem to know how to order. Some are downright inept at it. They walk into this restaurant, behave like complete idiots, and they end up hungry and disappointed. Then they complain about the restaurant and post negative reviews online, despite the fact that the restaurant has received rave reviews from the most experienced food critics.


I can’t tell you how many times I encounter people who set goals like, “I want a romantic partner,” or “I want a stable job that pays more money,” or “I want to lose weight.” I’ve heard enough of this drivel to last a lifetime. It’s reached the point where I may start carrying around a squirt gun and shoot people in the eye when they say stuff like this.


Those are crap goals. Don’t waste your time on them. And definitely don’t say them within earshot of me.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Can Imaginary Exercise Make You Fit?

By Jonathan Fields

Breakthrough research in the field of exercise physiology has yielded stunning revelations about the way we get fit. The big surprise, though, is not what we “have” to do, but what we might “not” have to do.


Our thoughts can literally redefine the size, shape and strength of our bodies.


For decades, exercise scientists have worked to discover how we get fit. Getting stronger, we were told, was about creating enough resistance in a muscle to create millions of micro-tears that would, over days, weeks and months, rebuild themselves, bigger, leaner and stronger. So when we lift weights, sprint or engage in pretty much any kind of exercise, we set this whole process in motion.


The entire cycle is known as hypertrophy and it’s always been considered a pretty mechanical experience. Weight loss has been tossed off with similar assumptions. Regardless of he method used for short-term weight loss, sustained loss always comes back to calories in and calories out.


Nothing foofy, just hard work. Thus, the famed old coach’s chant, “no pain, no gain!” But, what if we could make a change to that slogan?


No pain…huge gains.


It seems there may be a giant kink in this system. And, it has to do with the brain’s role in whole process.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY

Friday, March 05, 2010

Naps Clear the Mind and Help You Learn

You might not need to feel so guilty about taking a mid-day snooze. A new study suggests that napping for an hour or so can refresh your brain, boosting your ability to learn.

On the other hand, the more hours we spend awake, the more sluggish our minds become, according to the findings.


"Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap," said study author Matthew Walker, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Thursday, March 04, 2010

How to Melt Away Stress and Sickness

By Dr. Alex Loyd / Creator of The Healing Codes

The Healing Codes are a revolutionary healing technology that utilizes the body’s healing energy to eliminate destructive energy patterns residing in cellular memories, thereby enabling the body to remove the root cause of disease. Thus, it restores the body’s immune system to its normal functioning.


Most medical doctors agree that the immune system is capable of healing just about anything if it is not suppressed by stress. And it is a widely accepted belief that when your immune system is working correctly, it's impossible to get sick.


Although The Healing Codes are designed to eliminate internal stress, they can ALSO be used to eliminate stress caused by external conditions such as ...


... a job you hate
... a demanding boss
... messy relationships
... stacks of unpaid bills
... tight deadlines
… or a downturn in the economy

READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Happiness Wards Off Heart Disease

Source: BBC

Being happy and staying positive may help ward off heart disease, a study suggests.


US researchers monitored the health of 1,700 people over 10 years, finding the most anxious and depressed were at the highest risk of the disease.


They could not categorically prove happiness was protective, but said people should try to enjoy themselves.


But experts suggested the findings may be of limited use as an individual's approach to life was often ingrained.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Our World May Be A Giant Cosmic Hologram

By Marcus Chown / Source: New Scientist

Driving through the countryside south of Hanover, it would be easy to miss the GEO600 experiment. From the outside, it doesn't look much: in the corner of a field stands an assortment of boxy temporary buildings, from which two long trenches emerge, at a right angle to each other, covered with corrugated iron. Underneath the metal sheets, however, lies a detector that stretches for 600 metres.


For the past seven years, this German set-up has been looking for gravitational waves - ripples in space-time thrown off by super-dense astronomical objects such as neutron stars and black holes. GEO600 has not detected any gravitational waves so far, but it might inadvertently have made the most important discovery in physics for half a century.


For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.


If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."


READ THE FULL STORY HERE...