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A research group in China has shown that many entangled photons can be generated inside the myelin sheath that covers nerve fibers...It could explain the rapid communication between neurons, which so far has been thought to be below the speed of sound, too slow to explain how the neural synchronization occurs.

P. maluti. (Cullen Clark) Planet Earth is home to possibly hundreds of species of magic mushroom that contain the hallucinogen, psilocybin. Systematic fieldwork surveys of the genus, Psilocybe, however, are "entirely lacking" for many regions of the world. Now, a new paper describes two species of magic mushroom in southern Africa that are wholly new to science. That brings the total number of reported Psilocybe mushrooms on the continent from just four to six. One of the species, called Psilocybe maluti, is the first scientifically documented magic mushroom with traditional, spiritual uses in Africa. P. maluti was originally photographed in...

New research has uncovered that sleep can be detected by brief, millisecond-long brain activity, highlighting that individual brain regions can independently switch between sleep and wake states, which could impact the understanding of neurological diseases. =================================================================== The study broadly reveals how fast brain waves, previously overlooked, establish fundamental patterns of sleep and wakefulness. Scientists have developed a new method to analyze sleep and wake states by detecting ultra-fast neuronal activity patterns, just milliseconds long, challenging traditional understandings based on slower brain waves. This research also uncovered that individual brain regions can briefly transition between sleep and wake independently, revealing complex,...

Observing consciousness as physical allows insights not available to most. Ever since my NDE over 35 years ago, I've been observing and learning how consciousness flows in the human soul, and how it changes as it grows toward the Higher Consciousness many call God. Human consciousness, and the stored memories in people's souls became physical to me after the NDE. My comments below are a result of direct observation and experience, some involving exorcisms dealing directly with evil over the past 35+ years. I've been following the research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) since it began, beginning in the 1970's when...

Since Galileo’s time the physical sciences have leaped forward, explaining the workings of the tiniest quarks to the largest galaxy clusters. But explaining things that reside “only in consciousness”—the red of a sunset, say, or the bitter taste of a lemon—has proven far more difficult. Neuroscientists have identified a number of neural correlates of consciousness—brain states associated with specific mental states—but have not explained how matter forms minds in the first place. As philosopher Colin McGinn put it in a 1989 paper, “Somehow, we feel, the water of the physical brain is turned into the wine of consciousness.” Philosopher David...

One of the obvious reasons that human beings’ destiny after they shuffle off this mortal coil is such an enduring mystery is that nobody ever comes back to tell us what really happens. Or do they? This is a question that has been the subject of intense speculation, particularly among people who focus on paranormal phenomena. Referred to frequently as “near-death experiences,” (NDEs) people do sometimes undergo what most doctors would refer to as “death,” including a complete cessation of brainwave activity, but are then “brought back to life.” And some of them claim to have memories of that period...

In a pioneering study, a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital have identified a brain network essential for human consciousness. Aided by advances in ultrahigh-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, researchers discovered previously unknown pathways connecting various brain regions, forming what they termed the “default ascending arousal network” (DAAN). In findings published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers propose that this brain network plays a pivotal role in maintaining wakefulness and integrating arousal with awareness in the resting human brain. The discovery could be a significant breakthrough in understanding a range of neurological disorders while shedding...

This holographic concept could explain a mystery about black holes, but the math may not represent reality.As theoretical physics delves deeper into the fundamental nature of reality, we’re left to grapple with the questions it leaves us. For example, some physicists claim that our universe is merely an illusion, a product of quantum machinations happening in a lower-dimensional setting—in other words, a hologram. Black Holes May Be Evidence The trouble began with those bothersome boogeymen of the cosmos, black holes. On the surface (and careful readers will be rewarded later with the realization that this is a pun), black holes...

A letter, signed by 124 scholars and posted online last week1, has caused an uproar in the consciousness research community. It claims that a prominent theory describing what makes someone or something conscious — called the integrated information theory (IIT) — should be labelled “pseudoscience”. Since its publication on 15 September in the preprint repository PsyArXiv, the letter has some researchers arguing over the label and others worried it will increase polarization in a field that has grappled with issues of credibility in the past. “I think it’s inflammatory to describe IIT as pseudoscience,” says neuroscientist Anil Seth, director of...

For many people, the mind and brain are interchangeable. They use one word or the other to talk about the same thing: the organ in our skull that we use to think. However, the mind and brain are actually two very different, but interconnected, entities. As a neuroscientist, this reality is the foundation of my life's research and work: The mind works through the brain but is separate from the brain. What is the difference between the mind and the brain? So what exactly is the difference between the mind and the brain? Well, the mind is separate, yet inseparable...

A study on monkeys found that stimulating a certain part of the forebrain wakes monkeys from anesthesia. Research suggests a tiny part of the brain plays a key role in enabling consciousness. The findings might someday be used to bring people out of comas, treat consciousness disorders or ensure patients stay anesthetized during intensive procedures. Past research has suggested that certain brain areas, like the parietal cortex and thalamus, are critical to consciousness. In the study, published in Neuron, a team of scientists used electrodes to stimulate various parts of the brains of two macaque monkeys. Macaque brains closely mirror...

When and why did human brains decrease in size 3,000 years ago? New study may have found clues within ants. =========================================================================== The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Now, a new study has brought us closer to understanding some of its evolution. It shows that human brains decreased in size approximately 3,000 years ago. By studying ants as models to illustrate why brains may increase or decrease in size, the researchers hypothesize that brain shrinkage parallels the expansion of collective intelligence in human societies. Studying and understanding the causes and consequences of brain evolution helps us...

Explanation: Sure, you can see the 2D rectangle of colors, but can you see deeper? Counting color patches in the featured image, you might estimate that the most information that this 2D digital image can hold is about 60 (horizontal) x 50(vertical) x 256 (possible colors) = 768,000 bits. However, the yet-unproven Holographic Principle states that, counter-intuitively, the information in a 2D panel can include all of the information in a 3D room that can be enclosed by the panel. The principle derives from the idea that the Planck length, the length scale where quantum mechanics begins to dominate classical...

Futurism: Your paper argues that the universe might fundamentally be a neural network. How would you explain your reasoning to someone who didn’t know very much about neural networks or physics? Vitaly Vanchurin: There are two ways to answer your question. The first way is to start with a precise model of neural networks and then to study the behavior of the network in the limit of a large number of neurons. What I have shown is that equations of quantum mechanics describe pretty well the behavior of the system near equilibrium and equations of classical mechanics describes pretty well...

Timeline of Secret Government Projects LSD, Esalen, HAARP and the Cosmic Cointelpro or When You Dance With the Devil... note: because important web-sites are frequently "here today but gone tomorrow" the following was archived from http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/timeline.htm on November 3, 2002. This is NOT an attempt to divert readers from the aforementioned web-site.  Indeed, the reader should only read this back-up copy if it cannot be found at the original author's site.This timeline, prepared by a researcher of our Quantum Future School, [JH] with many linked sources, barely scratches the surface. It is our hope that readers will do additional research,...

The block universe theory says that our universe may be looked at as a giant four-dimensional block of spacetime, containing all the things that ever happen, explained Dr. Kristie Miller, the joint director for the Centre for Time at the University of Sydney.In the block universe, there is no "now" or present. All moments that exist are just relative to each other within the three spacial dimensions and one time dimension. Your sense of the present is just reflecting where in the block universe you are at that instance. The "past" is just a slice of the universe at an...

A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection. In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1 that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate world of strings, which exist in nine dimensions of space plus one of time, would be merely a hologram: the real action would play out in a simpler, flatter cosmos where there is no gravity. Maldacena's idea thrilled physicists because it offered a way to...

Atheists are embracing Gods and creationism Elon Musk, the billionaire inventor and entrepreneur, the twenty-first century’s answer to Howard Hughes, believes we are living in a computer simulation. The chances that we exist in ‘base reality’ are billions to one, he says.Last week he told an audience of Silicon Valley tech evangelists: ‘Forty years ago we had Pong. Like, two rectangles and a dot. That was what games were.’‘Now, 40 years later, we have photorealistic, 3D simulations with millions of people playing simultaneously, and it’s getting better every year. Soon we’ll have virtual reality, augmented reality.’‘If you assume any rate...

As neuroscientists from around the world continue to unravel brain processes they include a multidisciplinary approach that goes beyond the brain cells. New research has used neurobiology and nano-scale engineering to study neural circuits and their link to behavior.

Finding could offer insight into autism and other disorders Related Links: Dr. Ralph Adolphs Pasadena, Calif.—In a finding that sheds new light on the neural mechanisms involved in social behavior, neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have pinpointed the brain structure responsible for our sense of personal space.The discovery, described in the August 30 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, could offer insight into autism and other disorders where social distance is an issue.The structure, the amygdala—a pair of almond-shaped regions located in the medial temporal lobes—was previously known to process strong negative emotions, such as anger and...