Category: Consciousness
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Ayahuasca. Hallucinations. Miracles. Subjectivity. Freedom.
Drink ayahuasca and you may see yourself being eaten by a crocodile. You may find a miraculous resolution to a crippling sadness. Or, more likely, you’ll land somewhere in between. Regardless, you will definitely throw up. Author and ethnobotanist Chris Kilham says all of these things have happened to him after drinking this psychoactive Amazonian…
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Neil deGrasse Tyson. Dogmatic atheists…
Neil deGrasse Tyson undoubtedly hoped (at least we suppose so) you and your family are having a wonderful holiday season. Nevertheless, a series of tweets sent by the astrophysicist on last Christmas have incensed some, as he provocatively questioned both the significance of the holiday — and the reason we celebrate it. The messages drew…
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Fate, Intelligence, Bombs.
On a bright fall day last year off the coast of Southern California, an Air Force B-1 bomber launched an experimental missile that may herald the future of warfare. Initially, pilots aboard the plane directed the missile, but halfway to its destination, it severed communication with its operators. Alone, without human oversight, the missile decided…
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Brain as a TV. Science as a dogma.
Scientists in Cambridge have found hidden signatures in the brains of people in a vegetative state, which point to networks that could support consciousness even when a patient appears to be unconscious and unresponsive. The study could help doctors identify patients who are aware despite being unable to communicate. The researchers showed that the rich…
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Sleep. Learn how to walk.
A University of Iowa study has found twitches made during sleep activate the brains of mammals differently than movements made while awake. Researchers say the findings show twitches during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep comprise a different class of movement and provide further evidence that sleep twitches activate circuits throughout the developing brain. In this…
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