jimmydasaint

Another couple of worrying statistics: 1. black women are more likely to die in childbirth than white women, regardless of demographic factor matches between both races. 2. As much as one third of the deaths were preventable. In the richest nation in the world, people are dying from having poor healthcare, or poor healthcare education - the purview of public healthcare bodies. My worry is that propaganda and political shenanigans have started in the UK to privatise and polarise healthcare in this country by picking on the conditions for junior doctors (this makes my blood boil, but I don't want to sideline your thread).

Of course I hope it goes smoothly and that you are fit and well again. But, if you have time and you could ask the surgeon to put a photograph on top of the lights just in case . But in reality, my very best wishes for the operation and hope that you will come back at a time that 10 extrasolar Earth-like planets are discovered, just to cheer you up.

With respect, your OP is what I answered. That subject is not closed unless you comment on the paper extract that I gave you and then we come to a conclusion. If you are creating another question, why not start a new thread?

I don't understand why this is posted in the "speculations" thread. Nevertheless, the restoration of telomere length is a poorly understood process, but this seems to occur at an early developmental stage, not during meiosis but possibly during post-fertilisation mitosis, if I have read this paper correctly: I gave you a fairly long quote without editing by me: http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/v9/n12/full/ncb1664.html

I wonder if it is a good idea to "integrity" test scientists like cops. RANDOM INTEGRITY TESTING: Random integrity tests are designed to observe and evaluate an officer’s conduct in situations in which a specific set of circumstances has been created that requires police intervention. Several major police departments, including the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) routinely conduct random integrity tests of their officers to determine if their conduct in handling their official duties is appropriate. There exist two schools of thought on this type of orchestrated integrity test. Many consider such action distasteful and unnecessary. Others argue that this type of testing is necessary to ensure that law enforcement officers do not abuse their powers and that the random testing of officers is a legitimate and necessary safeguard in maintaining integrity in a police organization. The purpose of this article is not to resolve the tension between these competing points of view, but instead to provoke discussion of the issues surrounding this process. In the 1970’s, ABC News conducted an integrity test in Miami, where 31 wallets containing money and identification were turned over by role players to 31 police officers. Nine of the officers kept the money and were subsequently fired and/or prosecuted. http://llrmi.com/articles/legal_update/le_integrity_tests.shtml In my opinion, as a former research scientist (Biochemistry, Immunology, Molecular Genetics) I was under pressure to publish and put myself in a better position for a new short-term contract. I would, under normal conditions, prefer those experiments which supported my hypotheses rather than those that negated them. Of course my emphasis was on repeatability and reliability and I would explore and then mention anomalies whenever I saw them. I was a young idealist and would honestly report my results like the vast majority of scientists with whom I collaborated or communicated. Only one of my papers negated a hypothesis rather than supporting it but I did feel that more experiments should disprove hypotheses. Not all research needs statistical proof, taking away one of the premises from the video. However, there is a need for researchers to rigorously test out the experiments of other researchers in their field. Confirming the findings of someone in your small area of a researcher (as a PhD or post-doc) is an excellent form of peer review. If the findings are not reproducible, then more papers should be retracted as a consequence. It is just ethical behaviour in my opinion.

My feelings for posting the OP were genuine. I wanted the studies on Near Death Experiences and Out of Body Experiences to succeed but the numbers are not yet high enough and the accounts of a unified ego watching operations were anecdotal. Science has some explanation for why people can feel that their bodies float or feel in a different place but I do not have the opinion that this is proof of what happens to those people who can see the top of the heads of their medical attendants and hear snatches of conversation. Even if objects or cards are placed around hospital surgeries on high shelves for a "disembodied" spirit to observe, and the occasional person identifies those object clearly, the mystery of soul or no soul will still remain a controversial area for scientists.

Sure. If you count this article as evidence. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105834/Career-atheist-Richard-Dawkins-admits-fact-agnostic.html Sorry, I came back a little late. hope that is satisfactory. From my phone calculator. you can round that up to 0.99 or 99%. From what iNow has said, this was stated less dramatically in "The God Delusion" but I have not read the book so I am not able to make any other comment on it. Uh, oh! I missed the latter part of iNow's reply which has ample evidence rather than the rehashed quotation from a "newspaper".

Some guys from my hometown-Glasgow, Scotland which is in the UK and also part of Europe.

I don't know if mainstream is the right word but religious institutions are not for me. Too many people have been bogged down/dragged down by dogmatism and insistence on the rituals of religion. I want to worship an intelligence that can create a Universe with my tiny part in it. I don't think that there needs to be a priest as a middleman.

Fascinating topic. Do they smell the breath of the person and are the more sensitive dogs selected and then trained in an action when they smell outliers, e.g. to paw at the person?

I think that you know that I believe in a soul and that the soul, by its actions which affect others then reaches spiritual evolution through life until the final reward, or punishment. I am a Theist with personal opinions outside the mainstream. Another opinion, no-one is wholly atheistic or totally a believer. Even Richard Dawkins is probably about 99% atheistic. Interesting topic.

That is a brave worldview, to have no fear or doubt. I just live between fear and hope. You must have gone round this block many times as I have. To stop yourself from getting bored just plug into your heavy metal and forget everything.

I didn't answer this because I didn't know what extant meant. Now that I know, I am not sure that psychological/physiological phenomena are emergent processes (epiphenomenological). I think it is a good theoretical framework to explain how thoughts and actions arise but events like long term potentiation (memory) occur. I am quite interested in Penrose and Hameroff's theory of consciousness http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24070914 where the role of a soul in providing qualia (single unified thoughts, e.g. "Oh, good! Ice cream") allows for a soul to be involved in the processs of conscious behaviour by influencing neuronal outputs in the brain. That was my main aim. I was hoping that Science would be able to explain, or not explain, out of body experiences and then means would be encouraged to measure a "proto-soul". Sorry to answer for DrmDoc, he can certainly answer for himself. But I thought that animals are purely instinctive beings with a consciousness without the ability to rise above their instincts or to negate what their instincts tell them. We have: 1. Complex language; 2. thoughts that can reflect on the thinking process; 3. A unified sense of self/ego for the most of humanity, although there are anomalies. I am not trying to patronise you here or to be pedantic and I apologise if I sound that way. There are obviously faith groups who believe in metempsychosis, but I don't know anything about this topic. That is the tough question. If a soul is like a rewriteable CD and carries the right and wrong actions of a human being and then prepares to evolve to an afterlife soul that is enlightened, then, to a certain segment of the world population, the answer would be yes. It is the battlefield of the soul that provides the domain of faith. However, there are also agnostic atheists who want to believe in a "soul". Actually, to be honest, I only exchanged comments with one, but he seemed to believe in a soul-driven existence without faith involved. I don't really know the answer. What is the alternative? Mind-body states interacting with each other? From what I have read, scientists have identified parts of the brain in great detail for doing "a", "b" or "c". However, what is the cause to the effect? Just sensory information? There are more questions than answers for me personally.

From that paper Moontanman, This seems to bring out hope for some sort of life form. Our cells have a protective useful fat-based (phospholipid membrane). In methane, it is possible that acrylonitrile forms membrane-like structures like bubbles (liposomes) that they called azotosomes at such low temperatures (-180 Celsius or so). the simulations could show a potential cell membrane, which could allow protection for cell reactions, which are useful for life to form. So, the search for life could be much wider than we previously thought. Was that the main aim for the O.P.?

I have stated my thoughts several times. If you read them Tampitump, come back and let's continue in a civil and friendly way. If you find my views incomprehensible then fine! They are what they are.

Moontanman, this evidence about something unusual on Titan is six years old. Is there any update? http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/titan20100603.html Artistic rendering of Titan's surface. Awe inspiring!

I always thought Boric acid powder embedded in flour dough and placed as doughballs everywhere would do the trick, unless my heart medicines are making me hallucinate and imagine things which have never existed. Get back to you on this... I didn't imagine it! Here it is: http://tipnut.com/how-to-get-rid-of-cockroaches-roach-ball-recipe/

Exactly so. I deliberately referred to cardiac arrest because I don't think anyone in the whole of humanity has returned to life after brain functions have collapsed.

Hi,Memammal, I needed a break from the intense atmosphere here for a couple of days. However, I was not trying to ignore you. I think I will end up repeating what I have been saying all along which is a personal belief, based on my limited understanding and reasoning and also following my education. I have doubts, I have asked myself questions which I cannot answer. As far as I can ascertain, the Abrahamic God Yahweh, Ela/Allah are the same. It was the God that called Moses to duty. I am not going to argue that one religion gave rise to the later two. Let people believe what they want to, as a fundamental human right. IMO, I disagree with the idea of an interfering God. However, I do believe in the illusion of freewill which provides a sufficient condition for a choice which then has consequences which are specific to the choice (this sounds more and more like Harry Potter, I know). IMO, God made the Universe as a single act in which everything was predetermined. My prayers which get answered or not, all predetermined. The creation of evil people to show others what is good, predetermined. This is my personal opinion. http://www.islamweb.net/en/article/113432/ Besides, even if most of these things weren't due to religion, religion still does not help things. They are debunked beliefs, based on debunked books, with debunked principles. You have to split hairs to find any teachings in them that are even useful or positive to modern civilization. Even the good parts are nothing special and don't offer any teachings that we don't already know or couldn't have derived from some other source or just through living and learning. Let's say you inherit a desert island which has a small population, like Diego Garcia and you are the boss. What are you as a human, showing human behaviour (which preceded religious behaviour) going to do on that island to sustain peace and order. Then, if you have a revelation from a higher, more perfect authority, what would you do? You would put the equivalent of the ten commandments in place, right? Now if there was a war between your island and a neighbouring island, which laws would you put in place to allow humane behaviour? Of course you see the point. You seem angry at religion but it is a human right to have a belief - even in a same-religion group of people there will be a whole spectrum of beliefs. Please don't blame all for the actions of a few. MigL, thank you man. I am isolated in having to be a spokesman for religion, when even I believe that priesthood/rabbihood and imamhood are totally unnecessary when a human needs to commune with God by himself/herself. I am deeply concerned how religious institutions become so easily corruptible and responsible for misguided beliefs in my opinion.

I am quite upset. I had hoped that Near Death Experiences (where patients in hospitals have been resuscitated following cardiac arrest) would provide enough evidence to show that there is an ego/soul/self that leaves the body after heart stoppage and then returns during resuscitation. Unfortunately, there is a very small number of anecdotal accounts and the evidence is that these experiences occur in the brain. First the anecdotal evidence: http://iands.org/resources/media-resources/front-page-news/1060-aware-study-initial-results-are-published.html The sample number is one, and the evidence is not strong, but, if these findings are replicated across the world, then it seems to indicate a "self" with some sensory capacity leaving the body. However, Science says: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/real-outof-body-experiences/# and: This particular "evidence" comes from a website calling itself the scientifically elegant "sploid gizmo" so I don't account for its veracity. http://sploid.gizmodo.com/scientists-unlock-mystery-of-woman-who-sees-herself-out-1538196076 I hope that others who believe in a spirit or soul can add to this particular study and that the Science can be critically evaluated. I am deliberately posting in Speculations due to the nature of the material.

That paper was from 2008 buddy. Hardly a relevant new topic for the Science News thread. If you can update scientific news or comments please come back and elucidate or extend your arguments.

Yes it is happening. Two of my friends (one a political activist on the "Left" side of the political spectrum) and another (former Ministry of Defence IT scientist) have complained about hearing voices and then also feeling body pains unaccountably. The voices are designed to frighten - for example, one of them is told the exact amount of his electricity bill to the nearest penny before he opens his letter. Another is teased about his marriage or asked to be a better Christian etc...As far as I can ascertain, the two men are sane and have not undergone treatment for mental health issues. They have told me that this is a post MK Ultra experiment on large proportions of the public which is covered by Black Ops. However, if this is happening (as they say) at an accelerated scale worldwide, then this has to stop. Human rights include a right not to be tortured.

Enya? You are kidding Stringy? Normally I would listen to something that would rock hard - Guns N Roses, Gun,Thunder, UFO, Metallica, Dream Theater...But Enya? What happened? Even on a dark day I would never play this stuff. . If there are Enya fans out there I apologise to both of you.

Moontanman, these are the best answers I can give from my knowledge and my knowledge is definitely lacking. Our society has evolved to become different although the murder rates around the world suggest that human nature/behaviour has not changed. I cannot apologise for what God said or why. But at least I am trying to be bloody honest friend. I think that we are now at the point here t which my answers are exhausted and we will go round and round to a standstill. I cannot answer fr God because I don't have the viewpoint of a Creator. I have the limited view and limited knowledge of a creation. Religious people have a different view of God than atheists do, it is a certainty because we are not tied to the material but the spiritual. When I looked into the face of my children when they were born, I did not think "ah, sentient meat without a soul" I saw a soul and a spark in their eyes. The love I felt for them did not come from a temporary chemical imbalance, I felt it in my gut to my soul. I am sorry I could not answer your questions friend. Maybe I have to read a bit more.