You probably didn’t need ESP to see this one coming: using state-of-the-art technology, neural evidence for the existence of telepathy, clairvoyance or precognition is lacking. Harvard researchers used fMRI in an attempt to detect any changes in BOLD signals when participants looked at different images, including ones that were being “sent” to them by a relative, friend, or partner in another room. The participant in the scanner should have recognized some of the images as “familiar”, if they had previously “received” the image from the participant in the other room. No changes in the fMRI response to any of the images meant no ESP.

Although interesting, there are plenty of problems with this study, the most glaring being that participants were randomly selected as opposed to using individuals with established paranormal talents. But independent of that, and despite the nice design of the experiment, the absence of evidence is not the same as the evidence of absence, as stated by Daryl Bem, a psychology professor at Cornell University in an article covering this study.

Discussion Points

1. Should scientists waste time and resources testing the claims of pseudoscience?

2. Is fMRI the best technique to determine the existence of ESP?

3. How does this evidence compare to the strength of evidence in favor of ESP?

I’ve listened regularly to just about every major scientific podcast out there, and this one really stands out.

What is the evidence that increased water intake results in lower incidence of any or all of the following:
Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

..........
DRINK WATER ON EMPTY STOMACH

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven its value. We publish below a description of use of water for our readers. For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

METHOD OF TREATMENT

1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4×160ml glasses of water
2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minutes
3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.
4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours – ie you can drink straight after a meal (within the first 15 minutes) but not for 2 hours after that.
5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.

6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases of the sick and others can enjoy a healthy life .

The following list gives the number of days of treatment required to cure/control/ reduce main diseases:

1. High Blood Pressure – 30 days
2. Gastric – 10 days
3. Diabetes – 30 days
4. Constipation – 10 days
5. Cancer – 180 days
6. TB - 90 days
7. Arthritic patients should follow the above treatment for only 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards – daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times. It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life .

Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

This makes sense … the Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals ..not cold water. maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain…

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this “sludge” reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks: Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms.

60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive…

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to everyone they know, you can be sure that we’ll save at least one life .

Please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about. I just did!!!

Do any of you know of evidence to support any of these claims regarding using food as Medicine?

Food as Medicine

HEADACHE? EAT FISH!
Eat plenty of fish—fish oil helps prevent headaches.
So does ginger, which reduces inflammation and pain.

HAY FEVER? EAT YOGURT!
Eat lots of yogurt before pollen season.
Also-eat honey from your area (local region) daily.

TO PREVENT STROKE DRINK TEA!
Prevent build-up of fatty deposits on artery walls with regular doses of tea. (actually, tea suppresses appetite and keeps the pounds from invading….Green tea is great for our immune system)!

INSOMNIA (CAN’T SLEEP?) HONEY!
Use honey as a tranquilizer and sedative.

ASTHMA? EAT ONIONS!!!!
Eating onions helps ease constriction of bronchial tubes. (onion packs place on chest helped the respiratory ailments and actually made breath ingbetter).

ARTHRITIS? EAT FISH, TOO!!
Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines actually prevent arthritis. (fish has omega oils, good for our immune system)

UPSET STOMACH? BANANAS - GINGER!!!!!
Bananas will settle an upset stomach.
Ginger will cure morning sickness and nausea.

BLADDER INFECTION? DRINK CRANBERRY JUICE!!!!
High-acid cranberry juice controls harmful bacteria.

BONE PROBLEMS? EAT PINEAPPLE!!!
Bone fractures and osteoporosis can be prevented by the manganese in pineapple.

MEMORY PROBLEMS? EAT OYSTERS!
Oysters help improve your mental functioning by supplying much-needed zinc.

COLDS? EAT GARLIC!
Clear up that stuffy head with garlic. (remember, garlic lowers cholesterol, too.)

COUGHING? USE RED PEPPERS!!
A substance similar to that found in the cough syrups is found in hot red pepper. Use red (cayenne) pepper with caution-it can irritate your tummy.

BREAST CANCER? EAT Wheat, bran and cabbage
Helps to maintain estrogen at healthy levels.

LUNG CANCER? EAT DARK GREEN AND ORANGE VEGGIES!!!
A good antidote is beta carotene, a form of Vitamin A found in dark green and orange vegetables.

ULCERS? EAT CABBAGE ALSO!!!
Cabbage contains chemicals that help heal both gastric and duodenal ulcers.

DIARRHEA? EAT APPLES!
Grate an apple with its skin, let it turn brown and eat it to cure this condition. (Bananas are good for this ailment)

CLOGGED ARTERIES? EAT AVOCADO!
Mono unsaturated fat in avocados lowers cholesterol.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE? EAT CELERY AND OLIVE OIL!!!
Olive oil has been shown to lower blood pressure.
Celery contains a chemical that lowers pressure too.

BLOOD SUGAR IMBALANCE? EAT BROCCOLI AND PEANUTS!!!
The chromium in broccoli and peanuts helps regulate insulin and blood sugar.

Kiwi: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, Vitamin E & fibre. It’s Vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

Apple: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low Vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of Vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

Strawberry: Protective fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protects the body from cancer causing, blood vessels clogging free radicals. (Actually, any berry is good for you..they’re high in anti-oxidants and they actually keep us young…......blueberries are the best and very versatile in the health field….....they get rid of all the free-radicals that invade our bodies)

Orange: Sweetest medicine. Taking 2 – 4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessen the risk of colon cancer.

Watermelon: Coolest Thirst Quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene – the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients
found in watermelon are Vitamin C & Potassium. (watermelon also has natural substances [natural SPF sources] that keep our skin healthy, protecting our skin from those darn uv rays)

Guava & Papaya: Top awards for Vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high Vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fibre which helps prevent constipation.

Papaya is rich in carotene, this is good for your eyes. (also good for gas and indigestion)

Tomatoes are very good as a preventative measure for men, keeps those prostrate problems from invading their bodies …...GOOD AS MEDICINE.

Do we do enough to present our ideas and opinions in ways that will be understood by the lay public?

When communicating with the public do we tend to oversimplify our arguments to the extent that they may appear weak in comparison to the often detailed and apparently well referenced arguments of those opposed to science or pseudoscientists? Do we underestimate the lay public?

Do scientists now rely too much on Blogs that tend to be just read by those on “our” side? Do we need to make more detailed debunking of pseudoscience available in properly organized websites that can be more easily searched by interested members of the public (and scientists who need to rebut an argument that falls outside their own area of expertise)?

Do we do enough to stand up for and publicly support fellow scientists and institutions which find themselves the victim campaigns of intimidation or terror (many of which are driven or justified in part by misrepresentation of science)?

Do scientific organizations do enough to encourage and support individual scientists who may wish to engage in public debate on scientific issues?

Is our ability to engage in public debate being stifled by security concerns about attracting the “wrong” type of attention?

The following quote taken from How Does Telepathy Work? illustrates one of my favourite examples of pseudoscience.

“Recent discoveries in quantum physics (the study of the physics of sub-atomic particles) and in cosmology (the branch of astronomy that deals with the universe taken as a whole) shed much light on how mind interacts with the universe. These discoveries compel acceptance of the idea that there is far more than just one universe and that we constantly interact with many of these “hidden” universes.”

This idea captures the imagination!

>I would prefer to live in a world where telepathy was a definite, possible thing.

>I have spent just enough time in the company of people talking about quantum physics to be caught up in the ideas without ever properly understanding of the theories/facts.

I wonder how many intelligent people have been fooled into believing that that there is a ‘proven high-level quantum physics’ explanation for telepathy.

What is your favourite example of pseudoscience?