Category: Advanced Technology, Modern Science and the unexplained

Science is Boring, Creativity is Stupid!…uh-whaaauh? (part I)

The brain is a Wi-Fi system for ideas.

Read the full article via the website of Medium.com

Let’s briefly discuss an issue most pressing and urgent and that is the so-called open science movement which is vile and will inevitably lead to a more educated nation, country and world. I know it is a horrible thing!

What is this open science movement you ask.  Allow me to explain… it is a movement happening within the science community what is aiming its arrows on making data resources and information freely available to anyone who can read.  But not only that,  it is a movement wherein researchers are encouraged to make their data publicly available to young people and other researchers. What?! Why would anyone want to do that?


It also means full transparency as you are reporting your results which means that if you began with one hypothesis and suddenly found that it was not supported but instead found another hypothesis that was supported, you are supposed to tell people that your first hypothesis failed. Can you believe it? What has the world come to?

Okay, okay, enough silly sarcasm. But let’s be honest, too many scientists, mentors, are still doing their work in ‘tunnels’ so to speak. But by becoming more transparent – open it up for everybody to read – young people can see what you as a scientist are doing and which awe-inspiring theories and thoughts you have what they can apply to their upcoming thesis’s.

Using an open access journal also means that young people can both learn from you and respond to the scientific research published what in turn is keeping their fiery curiosity alive and can even accelerate a scientific evolution.

Is that not the main reason why you became a professor, or mentor, in the first place…to teach?

Read the full article via the website of Medium.com

Sleep Disorders and the Paranormal; Is There a Scientific Connection?

An interview with Clinical Psychologist Dr. Brian Sharpless.

“The ghost in the machine”, many people have heard this term at least one time in their life. It was a paper which was written by Coventry University lecturer Vic Tandy and published in April 1998 by the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.

Working alone in the lab one night, Tandy suddenly gained the feeling he was being watched. He claimed a dark, shadowy figure appeared in the corner of his vision. When Tandy turned to face this shadowy figure…it vanished.

Listen to the interview of Dr. Brian Sharpless via You Tube (see below) or, click the ‘PLAY-button’ in ‘THE NEXT TRUTH…ONLINE RADIO’ on the right and listen to his Podcast via the TNT website.

To many, these shadowy figures are better known as the Shadow People.

They are being skests as a malevolent and creepy phenomenon and have being reported by witnesses as human-like shaped dark shadows having ill intentions standing alongside your bed…watching you.   

Even these eerie phenomena’s have being reported for decades, it is not your mind simply playing tricks on you.  There might be a more simpler and scientific explanation for things like ghosts, demonic hauntings and…shadow people.

I am your host Maria Anna van Driel… and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet”,   and this week I am speaking with clinical psychologist, Dr. Brian Sharpless about  the most creepiest sleep disorders, what treatments are there and…how deeply these disorders are woven into the paranormal.

Are those things you see in the darkness more than just a shadow?

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Jack the Ripper; A Man or A Myth?

An interview with Retired British Murder Squad Detective Trevor Marriott.

In the autumn of 1888 a series of brutal murders in the East End of London lit a flame that sent shockwaves reverberating around the civilized world and caused a scandal that struck right at the heart of the British establishment.

Listen to the interview of Mr. T. Marriott via You Tube (see below) or, click the ‘PLAY-button’ in ‘THE NEXT TRUTH…ONLINE RADIO’ on the right and listen to his Podcast via the TNT website.

During the 1880s, the city of London was in parts a dirty, rotten, festering maze of slums replete with wandering gin addicts and foul-mouthed harlots and was experiencing a population explosion, with immigrants from around the world coming to the great city to find work. 

But it wasn’t exactly the land of hope and glory for everybody, and some of the streets in the poorer East end of the city were a long way from being a yellow brick road.

This is where our man Jack the Ripper chose to ply his trade.

I am your host Maria Anna van Driel and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet”.  This week I am speaking with retired British murder squad detective Trevor Marriott about what drove this serial killer nabbing mostly working girls from the streets and brutally killing them in 1888 and… did he figured out this mystery of who Jack the Ripper was?

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The philosophy of The Next Truth Magazine

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“I had 6 wonderful years at Indiana University doing research as a graduate student, and I didn’t want to graduate.”

By Maria Anna van Driel, www.medium.com

Can’t you keep your eyes off those twinkling stars that shine so brightly in the night sky? Are you that glued to your telescope that they have to surgically remove you from it? If so, then the astronomy bug has bite you and directed you towards a scientific career in astronomy.

“Children are natural explorers”, Dr. Kafka explains in an interview with The Next Truth. They naturally follow the scientific method of theorizing, experimenting, revising their theories and, experimenting again and come up with a conclusion. Being an explorer seems to be part of who we naturally are.”

Executive Officer & CEO at American Association of Variable Star Observation (AAVSO), STEM promoter and Astronomer, Dr. Stella Kafka: “I would like to see more woman in astronomy but at the same time, more diverse voices within this field. Because this way we can learn better from each other in a respectable and non-hostile environment.”

So, do you like to build things? Make things work? Write computer programs? Solve equations? “Boldly go where no-one has gone before”?

Well, there are astronomers who do all different things like these while asking the questions, ‘what are the building blocks?’, ‘what are the processes?’ and “what is our place in the universe?” Where do you want to look next?

Read the full article on the website of Medium.com

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Women in Astronomy: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going!

An interview with Executive Officer & CEO at AAVSO and Astronomer, Dr. Stella Kafka.

Listen to the interview of Dr. Stella Kafka via You Tube (see below) or, click the ‘PLAY-button’ in ‘THE NEXT TRUTH…ONLINE RADIO’ on the right and listen to her Podcast via the TNT website.

Can’t you keep your eyes off those twinkling stars that shine so brightly in the night sky? Have you read all those books that take you on an incredibly and cool journey through the universe?

Does your bedroom look like a direct copy of our cosmic freezer and, are you that glued to your telescope that they have to surgically remove you from it?

If so, then you were most likely born to have a scientific career in astronomy.

Astronomy, needless to say that this is the scientific study of celestial objects such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies and, phenomena that originate outside the Earth’s atmosphere such as the cosmic background radiation.

Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, the making of calendars, and even, at one time, astrology. But, did you know that, since the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy has split into observational and theoretical branches?

I am your host Maria Anna van Driel and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet”. This week I am speaking with Executive Officer & CEO at AAVSO, STEM promoter and Astronomer, Dr. Stella Kafka, and discus with her the fascinating science of Astronomy and, the importance and influence of female scientists.

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Can we Locate the Source of a Mysterious and Blood Curdling Noise called, The HUM

An interview with ethnographic researcher and HUM expert, Dr. Glen MacPherson.

Listen to the interview of Dr. MacPherson via You Tube (see below) or, click the ‘PLAY-button’ in ‘THE NEXT TRUTH…ONLINE RADIO’ on the right and listen to his Podcast via the TNT website.

Do you ever hear a noise, not a bump in the night but, a mysterious, constant and very low frequency noise? If so, you may be one of an estimated 2% of the global population that can hear “The Hum”.

These strange noises, reported by many, can become that loud for your ears to pick it up as an odd ringing sound. Second, is nauseating.  And thirdly, if it is really bad, it actually feels like your brain is being squeezed.

The Hum is the name given to an ominous and very mysterious deep-rumbling noise that can reportedly be heard by thousands of individuals across the globe.

The Hum, a very low-pitched rumbling sound, kind of like a diesel-engine truck idling in the distance, does not appear to be a single phenomenon. Different causes have been attributed, including local mechanical sources, often from industrial plants, as well as manifestations of tinnitus or other biological auditory effects.

But no matter how hard people search, no one has been able to locate the source of the sound, and it sounds like it’s coming from all directions equally.

I am your host Maria Anna van Driel and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet”. This week I am speaking with ethnographic researcher, and high school teacher of physics, mathematics, psychology, general science, and biology, Dr. Glen MacPherson and discus with him what might be the source of one of the most mysterious and blood curdling noises people have heard in their lives…The HUM.

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What Turns Your Hamburger Into…Poop?!

An interview with practicing Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, Dr. Sameer Islam who was standing outside of his practice at the moment The Next Truth interviewed him.

Listen to Dr. Sameer Islam’s interview via You Tube (see below) or, click the ‘PLAY-button’ in ‘THE NEXT TRUTH…ONLINE RADIO’ on the right and listen to his Podcast via the TNT website.

Ridiculous as it might sound to some of you but, ‘poop’ has a history too.  No, not this brown smelly stuff that you find after visiting the bathroom but the word itself.   

According to Eric Partridge in his excellent book of word origins (Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English), “poop” comes from the Middle English word “poupen” or “popen”, and it originally meant “fart.” The word was based on the sound of a fart.

But what is it that makes us poop and fart this often? Why does it sometimes smell that bad and others times it seems as if it does not have a smell at all?   And, how does the steak on our plate or the drinks we drink, being turned into this brown smelly stuff we call ‘poop’?

By the way, did you know that whale poop is used by microorganisms to photosynthesize and produce oxygen?

I am your host Maria Anna van Driel and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet” and this week I am speaking with practicing gastroenterologist and hepatologist, Dr. Sameer Islam and take with him an astonishing journey through the sewers of the human body, our intestinal system.   And see if we can answer this question, which valuable information does our poop hold about our health?

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The Antisocial Behaviour of a Psychopathic Serial Killer; Does its Origin Lies in an Evolutionary Defect?

By Maria Anna van Driel, www.medium.com

Throughout history, humans have committed horrific crimes, which seem to reflect a primordial and animalistic behavior in human survival. But what exactly makes someone a serial killer? Are they the product of bad genes, the victim of environmental factors, or should we look in the direction of an evolutionary defect?

In my article “Pareidolia; Does it Teach us the Difference Between Life and Death With Affection?” I viewed the question if Pareidolia is teaching us what affection is as well if this phenomena has any influence on how we treat both our own emotions and those of others in our adult life’s.  Writing a plausible answer to this mind dazzling question made me think about if there is a possibility that the gruesome actions of psychopathic (serial) killers has its origin in the absence of ‘feeling’ the effects in this phenomenon?   Meaning, ‘them’ not having the full experiencing of this evolutionary effect in face-recognition, aka Pareidolia, could be the cause of these ‘humanoid predators’ not being able to recognize and acknowledge the human emotions in the facial expressions of their victims?

Killing or Hunting

Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer…the mind of a psychopath is indeed a curious entity. Not only are many of us intrigued by their way of thinking, we also have, in one way or another, a macabre fascination for their grisly actions.  

Not that we are taking an example from their actions but more with the question ”What is it that triggers someone to follow a path of violence and committing horrible crimes?” and, “Is it possible to unravel the mind of a serial killer and unlinking the many narrow alleys of this entangled labyrinth they are walking in their mind?”

As with most things in life, the answer to a question is not always a simple yes or no. The same platitude can be applied to the question if someone has the potential of developing the characteristics of that of a psychopathic (serial) killer or not. Although the answer is not that simple, it appears that there is a requirement for a genetic, physical, and social combination for a person to show an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Those born with the so called ‘genes’, and possible associated brain structures, of a psychopath are not guaranteed to become one. Likewise, those who suffer some form of childhood trauma or abuse are also not likely to become psychopaths. Is it when both these conditions are merged that psychopathic behavior is presenting itself?

Honestly, I have no concrete answer for what drives these ‘celebrity monsters’ as Prof. Scott Bonn refers to them in his article “What Drives Our Curious Fascination With Serial Killers?” on his blog of Psychology Today.

But, personally, I do agree on the thought that most of us have a ‘phobia-level response’ to violence, as the author Dave Grossman described in his book, “On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society”.  The human species is not born with the skill to ‘kill’, we are born with the skill to ‘hunt’. Even though these two skills sound different, these behaviours can be seen as one and the same act but viewed from a different angle by means of the situation, and environment, in where ‘the kill’ is taken place. What for us is seen as killing is, for a psychopathic (serial) killer, considered as a hunt. The difference between us ‘hunting’ a deer for food and a psychopathic (serial) killer ‘killing’ his/her victim in a, for instance, sound proof cellar, seems to lie in the thrill of both seeing the ‘target’ suffering and the end results.

Born or Made?

For years, neuroscience and psychology have become progressively focused on the brain differences between individuals and specifically trying to identify what makes someone kill another human being without feeling any regrets and guilt.  But, despite the efforts of modern criminology to decode the brain of a typical serial killer, a concrete explanation has not reached yet.

However, while not all killers are psychopaths, psychopathic traits are seen in many of them and may be well a combination of environmental factors and the lack of support in a personal psychological evolution during childhood.

I wonder if severe trauma’s as such can cause the brain making a conscious choice to exclude certain effects when distinguishing between what is ‘dead’ and what is ‘alive’ what in turn can trigger the grisly behavior(s) we see with psychopathic (serial) killers.

It is a thin line indeed! Fortunately, for most of us, taking the life of another is an act we cannot imagine. We have an innate brake system, something which tells us that this is an act we just cannot carry out.

Can we consider this form of ‘defect’ in an evolutionary process during childhood being a reality and thus link their ‘acts’ into their adult lives?

Although the question Have these humanoid predators developed a robotic view what is causing them not being able of recognizing and acknowledging the human emotions in the facial-expressions of their victims might still lie in front of us like an open and abandoned piece of dry desert, the possibility of the brain learning how to make a clear distinguish between something being alive or dead by means of the effects in Pareidolia, should not be ignored when trying to decode the behavior of a psychopathic (serial) killer.  

As I stated in my article “Pareidolia; Does it Teach us the Difference Between Life and Death With Affection?” this paranormal phenomena seems to be an important evolutionary process in one’s life as it is teaching us how to treat both ourselves and others in our adult life. And, not to serve ‘time’ as a psychopathic (serial) killer.  

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Paranormal Phenomena; Does the Origin Lie in a Forgotten Human Ability?”

An interview with film director, science-based paranormal investigator and award winning author Benjamin Radford.

Listen to Benjamin Radford’s interview via You Tube (see below) or, click the ‘PLAY-button’ in ‘THE NEXT TRUTH…ONLINE RADIO’ on the right and listen to his Podcast via the TNT website.

It is being said that when a ghost, spirit or demonic force is in the near…your hair is standing up straight due the static electrical charge it is moving in and/or with. But what if there is another reason for our hair to act this crazy from time to time?

What if we, the modern version of the Homo Sapiens, still possess a primordial but natural ability of blowing ourselves up, so to speak, as soon as we are in a stress or dangerous situation?

Indeed, an idea as such could be for some a ridiculous one but imagine you walking home from work and you are passing a dark allay. You will feel a little bit stressy due to the fact of you not knowing what might be hiding in the dark corners. This feeling of fear could be a left over from ancient times in order for us to sense if there is a blood thirsty predator or not and then to flee or fight?

I am your host Maria Anna van Driel and you are listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet”. This week I am speaking with, film director, science-based paranormal investigator and award-winning author and co-author of over twenty books and thousands of articles on a wide variety of topics including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy, Benjamin Radford about if there could be a more Earthly explanation for what we have become to understand as “The Paranormal”.

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