Category Archives: Science

Gazing Into Someone’s Eyes For 10 Minutes Creates Altered States Of Consciousness

Most people have gotten bored to the point that they will stare at walls, and objects in varying degrees of lighting. By focusing our eyes and shifting attention, we can blur the outline of objects or watch plain surfaces bend and take on unorthodox properties. Staring randomly out of windows during class or looking at the multicolored designs of public space carpets, another phenomena occurs. We start to see faces and animals where none was apparent or intended.

Giovanni Caputo is a psychologist at the University of Urbino, Italy. He combines the abstract theories of dissociation, hallucination, dysmorphia, and projection to stretch what humans can create, perceive and experience.  He shows how a meditative and altered state of consciousness can be created out of nothing more than staring into another person’s eyes for ten minutes.shutterstock_346324367

He took twenty individuals and paired them up randomly. The participants were not informed about the purpose of the experiment, they were only told that researchers were exploring meditative avenues.

There was a control group of another twenty people that were also randomly paired up. Instead of staring at each other, the control group pairs sat in the room with one another and stared a a blank wall.

The experimental group was instructed to sit facing one another at a distance one meter (3.28 ft) from one another and stare into their partner’s eyes. The room was dimly lit to distort their color perceptions. There was enough light to easily distinguish each other’s features.

shutterstock_168190661At the end of the ten minute stare down, participants given two questionnaires. One was geared towards exploring any dissociation symptoms experienced during the sessions.

Dissociation symptoms are disruptions of perception, awareness, or identity. Basically the experience of reality and how it changes. The other survey was about the specific perceptions of their partner’s face. The results were wild!

The experimental group (the group that stared at each other) reported high levels of dissociation. All test subjects experienced wild distortions in time, colors, and sounds. 90% of the participants hallucinated their partner’s face morphing and distorting.

shutterstock_2710513075% saw their partners change into variations of monsters. 50% saw their own faces be super imposed and 15% saw their partner change into a relative of theirs.

Remember that they hadn’t been told that the researchers were looking for dissociation trances.

Caputo had done another study back in 2010, involving mirrors. Fifty participants were asked to look at their reflections under similar lighting schemes. The results were similarly fantastic.

Participants saw their parents, animals, monsters and portrait styled archetypes that weren’t readily recognized.

Coca Cola Funded Their Own Study, Stating Drinking Coke Is Healthier Than Water

Yes, you read the headline correctly. To be sure, Coke funded a study that did in fact ‘prove’ their product is healthier than water. Water being the most basic and fundamental element to our health, this is an astonishing claim. To reiterate, Coke funded this study.

The finest doctors from Nestle, Mars, Unilever, Pepsi and Coca Cola make up the back bone of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI). The ILSI funded the study:Does low energy sweetener consumption affect energy intake and body weight?’. There was a small acknowledgement that the authors were employees and shareholders of companies that manufacture products containing sugars and low energy sweeteners.

The study did not disclose that  the co authors each received 750 Euro’s (about 850 American dollars). When asked about the intentional lack of information, the response was priceless, other organizations had supported the work and it had not provided details of funding for ‘reasons of space’.

Members of society at large argued against the study, for its conflict of interest. Members of the scientific community pointed out the fact that the document was peer reviewed and is riddled with mistakes in methodology and wild speculations. Peer reviews have a large capacity for allowing mistakes to go ‘unnoticed’.

Cardiologist and adviser to the National Obesity Forum, Dr. Aseem Malhotra said, “To suggest that diet drinks are more healthy than drinking water is laughable unscientific nonsense.

This isn’t the first time Coca Cola’s audacity has surpassed the public’c and academia’s gullibility. Last year the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine was gifted with one million dollars from the beverage company to promote their diet drinks.

The University was supposed to promote Cola’s diet drinks while down playing  the role of their drinks in the obesity epidemic.  The University declined and returned the funds very publicly.

Cola tried to make this exchange seem like a ‘hands off’ deal but email correspondence showed that the company was trying to manipulate science as a public relations tactic. Coke’s chief health and science officer, Rhona Appelbaum wrote, “Akin to a political campaign, we will develop, deploy and evolve a powerful and multi-faceted strategy to counter radical organizations and their proponents.

This is just one example of corporations influencing science as a PR tactic. It happens all the time as these behemoths try to humanize their actions and products. Its disgusting that these companies would try to pervert truth so thoroughly, to simply turn a profit.

Harvard Studies: Meditation Literally Changes Your Brain

Many studies have been done to diagnose the physiological changes in humans during meditation. None have been this comprehensive or had detailed information about a before and after. Sara Lazar, senior author at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, has done studies on meditation before. They found that first time practitioner’s cerebral cortex’s thickened in the areas associated with attention and emotional integration. Those studies were not sufficient to say the changes were from meditations.

 “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing,” Lazar reports.

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This study took  sixteen participants with no serious history of regimented or consistent meditative practice. The participants answered questionnaires and submitted to have magnetic resonance images (MRI) taken of their brains two weeks before and after they took part in a meditation program. The University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness accepted the participants in an eight week long Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program.

The program focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings and state of mind. Participants attended a weekly guided group meditation session and were given audio recordings for independent guided sessions. They were asked to keep track of the amount of time and frequency of their independent meditations. There was also a control group of non meditators that had MRI’s over the same schedule.

Meditation group patients reported spending an average of twenty seven minutes every day. When the final results were jotted down it became obvious meditation had a profound effect on the physiology of the brain and consciousness. The post questionnaires showed marked improvement in every area for every participant.

MRI’s showed that grey matter density had increased in the hippo campus. The hippo campus has a strong role in learning and memory. There were various improvements to neurological structures associated with self awareness, compassion, and introspection.

The participants all reported significant reductions in stress, which correlated well with a decrease in the density of the amygdala, which plays a large role in stress and anxiety. The control group showed none of these improvements, showing that these changes were not from the passage of time.

 “These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an eight-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amygdala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR’s potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder,” says Amishi Jha, a neuro scientist at the University of Miami.

3 Strong Signs We’re Being Visited By Extraterrestrials

Since man started to understand the basic concepts of space, (what stars are, that there are other planets and what conditions on them are like) we have been free to wonder if there is other sentient life out there. YouGov, a market research company, recently polled Germany, America and Britain. They asked if people believed in intelligent alien life and more than half of the participants said yes in every country (in Germany 56% of people believe in ET existence, in America 54% believe, and Britain 52%). Around one third to a quarter of the populations surveyed nations did not believe in the existence of extra terrestrial life at all.

Here is a little information to spark conversations with people who don’t believe in the potential of life elsewhere in the universe. People who do believe, will undoubtedly find some of this information entertaining and useful. To be clear this article is not attempting to support any conspiracy theories specifically, this is written in the spirit of persuading readers to acknowledge the possibilities of the infinite universe.

The Universe Is Infinite And Not Understood

shutterstock_88231261Given our advancements in astronomy and space exploration, we have learned in leaps and bounds. Sadly this doesn’t amount to much. We have only explored less than one tenth of your own backyard. We can speculate and wonder all day but in the end we don’t know much about the simple content of you galaxy let alone the universe.

Consider this we had many questions about the bottom of the ocean for decades. This environment is on our planet and is effected my few factors than that of space. Some of our theories were correct and others were wrong. But we din’t even realize what questions to ask. There were and still are many surprises no one saw coming. Space is infinitely larger and has more variables of influence, many of which we haven’t been able to witness first hand. We just now witnessed black holes and gravitational waves.

It would be ignorant to say something doesn’t exist when we see no conclusive evidence pointing either way.

Whistle Blowers

There have been a handful of scientists and other credited specialists that have stepped away from certain organizations to say some pretty amazing things. Amogngthem Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are the most notable but hundreds of professionals have come forward. These aren’t publicity chasers, most are respected scientists with advancing careers.

Paul Hellyer, is the former Canadian Defense Minister, is responsible for combining the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy into one united force, now known as the Canadian Forces. This man came forward with some fairly remarkable information.

“Decades ago, visitors from other planets warned us about where we were headed and offered to help. But instead, we, or at least some of us, interpreted their visits as a threat, and decided to shoot first and ask questions after… . Trillions, and I mean thousands of billions of dollars have been spent on projects about which both the Congress and the Commander in Chief have been kept deliberately in the dark.”

There is very little reason this gentleman and others like him would say things like this for selfish reasons. Many careers and lives have been ruined over certain information spilled.

Anomalous Evidence Throughout History

Through out history there are cave drawings, wall inscriptions, oral stories and paintings from almost every era that are unexplained to this day. Cavemen drew people with out certain human features coming from the sky in round shapes. There are Renaissance paintings in which there are floating objects in the sky. News clippings from around the world detailing strange lights in the sky. The fact that the occurrences have remained so consistent over the thousands of years should be of interest to anyone.

This is What Sound Looks Like Through The Eyes of A Dolphin

Cymatics is the study and creation of models of vibrations. Everything vibrates at a certain level and these scientists are placing different mediums in direct interaction with sound waves and other distinguishable vibrations. Different  sounds create distinct geometric representations in different mediums.

The CymaScope device registers vibrations by sounds on the surface of distilled water. The surface tension of the water provides the stark clarity you can see in the video below. It has been used to record representations of various music and speeches. This representation is how scientists believe that dolphins ‘hear’ and recognize words. Though we don’t quite understand how.shutterstock_369692897

Each medium is beautiful unique in it’s representation of sound. The spiraling geometry is not only an amazing visual but a revealing metaphor for perception. Seeing the shifting shapes in relation to tonal changes is created by crazily simple science.

The medium (in this case water) is vibrated, causing the regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible. The Cymascope registers the variations of displacement and clarifies them through imaging technology. Continue reading

7 Signs You’re Deficient In This Important Vitamin

B12 is a B vitamin that regulates your bodies metabolic rates, DNA creation, the formation of blood and normal functioning of the nervous system. It is important to note that plants, fungi, animals (including humans) can’t produce B12. So if we don’t consume it we can’t use it. It has to be consumed. Vegans and vegetarians are most likely to experience deficiencies. Below are listed the major signs of this deficiency.

Fatigue

shutterstock_271483541B12 is an important energy source for our bodies. If you frequently feel tired and low energy you maybe experiencing a deficiency.

With out this complex the body won’t get enough oxygen or producing sufficient energy.

If you experience a lot of lightheadedness or headaches this could be another sign.

Tingling And Numbness

Losing sensation in parts of your body or the feeling of pins and needles stabbing an extremity could be caused by a lack of B complexes. It could also be an indicator of more serious internal issues, please contact a health care professional for advice and blood work.

Joint Pain

Barring previous injuries, unexplained severe joint pain and chronic inflammation could be fixed by upping your B complex intake. People with this deficiency also experience markedly slower reflexes.

Rapid Heart Beat And Shortness Of Breath

If you experience these while resting or preforming low stress and impact activities, you may want to re examine your B12 intake. As these are serious symptoms please consult a healthcare specialist.

General Weakness

Your muscles are significantly weaker with out B12. Besides muscular weakness, balance problems and frequent staggering are symptoms inked to a lack of B12. There was even a case study in which a man with a severe deficiency, could barely walk as a result of his low intake.

Jaundice

This is a serious symptom in which your eyes and skin can turn yellow. If you are experiencing any discoloration of your skin or eyes seek medical attention immediately.

Swollen Tongue

Certain people manifest their deficiency with changes in their tongues. There can be frequent swelling or the tongue will seem to lose it’s bumps, which leads to a decrease in taste. Please seek medical attention if you are experiencing either of these symptoms.

How To Treat B12 Deficiency

shutterstock_116448289Any concerns should be brought to the attention of a licensed nutritionist or doctor.

Each body is so unique and varied that a professional is required to specifically detect and isolate problems. They can provide a shot of B12 that will be immediately felt. It is recommended that you rotate the proteins you consume to maximize the benefits of each.

If you are vegan or vegetarian please be careful. Be sure to eat a B complex vitamin everyday.

There are foods that stay in the style of your dietary choices but realize the amounts of B12 are small. Roasted seaweed, yeast, tempeh, eggs, milk  and yogurt are a few suggestions. Check the packages of the food your eating and do the math to ensure your getting at LEAST 100% of your daily allotment. There is no known danger in going over, so I would recommend 150%, especially if  you lead an active lifestyle.