The Physical and Biological Sciences Which Could Explain the Origin and Nature of Life in the Universe
An interview with SETI’s Senior Director of Education and STEM Programs, Dr. Simon Steel
Ever wondered what life on other planets would look like from a scientific perspective? Well, if you lived on a planet with twice the gravity of Earth, you would come crashing down twice as hard if you fell. So, some creatures would perhaps be stronger, stockier and with legs close to the ground.
And what if there really were Martians? Well, Mars is a planet with low gravity so, think of creatures with thin, spindly legs. And if life evolved on a dense soupy planet then you could perhaps see creatures as big as whales or elephants flying not through air but, through a liquid atmosphere.
The humans species is not at the top of the evolutionary ladder. We are not the end point or the goal of evolution. Odd as it might sound to some but we where accidents. We eat and breath through our mouths and that means we can choke on food. That’s a terrible design! Maybe aliens evolved differently and don’t need to breathe through a mouth but, like worms do, through their skin. Anything is possible as long as it makes sense for the environment.
But how do we contact ‘them’ in this huge, vast universe and…what if we really do find complex life out there? Would it change our place in the universe because it is telling us that we are not alone?
I am your host Maria Anna van Driel… and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet” and this week we are going to make an adventurous journey through the universe with SETI‘s Senior Director of Education and STEM Programs, Dr. Simon Steel. So, fasten your seatbelts, put on your space helmets, get rid of those outdated alien stereotypes and let’s explore our cosmic freezer like galactic detectives.
STE(A)M; A New Wave in a Vast Ocean of Possibilities.
By Maria anna van Driel, www.medium.com
Don’t wait until they tell you you are ready, get in there! If you, as a freshman, want to write, direct and star in your own vibrating career, the lights are already aimed at you.
That particular moment in where you know you have to deal with you’re not allowed to do that you know you have presented yourself in an incredible way and it’s only a ‘tough thing’ to convince people that there is something more or that they might want to see something different.
I have always believed that it is not about convincing others of you fitting the profile of their thinking but, that it is about an illuminated spark. It is about who you are as a person. It is about your soul reaching out to your true purpose in live.
What is the struggle worth? The ‘safe road’ is going pay off way better! Well, there are many payoffs to it but can you travel that familiar road and have your soul be on a completely different track…away from whatever it is that is truly firing up your passion and curiosity? It is always worth asking questions, explore new territory and, take a risk every now and then by, for instance, bringing new thoughts into your essay. And if this exploring side of you is not excepted by the, so called, popular kids in school, so what. You are expanding your mind, yourself!
You are the vanguard of knowledge and consciousness…a new wave in a vast ocean of possibilities.
On the other side of those school doors there is a world starving for new ideas and new leadership. And even though fear might be a player in your life sometimes, deciding how you can spend your whole life imagining ghosts and worrying about the pathway to the future, all there will ever be is what is happening here and the decisions you make in this moment for you to walk up to tomorrow. Decisions which are based on either love or fear.
As a teenager I had so many dreams of where I wanted to go, who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a brilliant engineer and build space ships, write scripts for Science Fiction movies and earn billions and billions of Euro’s. It might take a little time I thought but it will happen. What I didn’t want to think about was what do I have to start tomorrow. Then, 30 years later, completely unexpected, I was thrown into this expansive, incredible feeling of freedom. A freedom from myself – my problems – I saw that I was bigger then what my 18 year old version wanted to do. I was bigger than my body – I was everything and everyone.
I was no longer a fragment of the universe, I was the universe. And in that moment I realized that the purpose of my life was never about me walking the illuminated places the stage of life is presenting so sparkly. My true purpose in life had always been to free people from concern, to make them familiar again with their own define rhythm, for them to present their amazing work while walking the stage of life.
Realizing that my Ego was trying to keep me trapped in the multiplex of the mind, in this allay of ‘materialistic thinking’ eventually resulted in the expanding my thoughts. Today, 30 years later, this has reached a myriad people and created an incredible effect in them feeling comfortable…a view that is making me smile time and time again.
Too many people choose a path/career out of fear for what they really want, what seems impossibly out of reach or is too ridiculous to expect. So they never dare to take that step towards their true purpose in life, never dare to ask the universe for it. I am saying, you can fail at what you don’t want so, you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
So, as soon as you start your favorite STE(A)M subject, your very first day at collage remember that your soul is not contained within the limits of your body, your body is contained within the limitlessness of your soul. And even if it might sound crazy to you at this moment, don’t search for defining moments because they will never come. These moments that define you have already happened and they will happen again.
And if you get a bit derailed along the way, that is alright…soon something starts to happen. A rhythm sets in just like it did after your first few days on the university. Just try not to wait, like me, until you are 48 before you find it, continue the one you have already found.
The world is yours!
[Top]Is Learning How to Expand Our Consciousness the Bridge to Build Between the Human Mind and AI?
For a long time, humans have wondered whether machines could eventually achieve consciousness or, whether artificial intelligence would ever reach a state of self-awareness.
The exact definition of AI is hotly debated and there are already many fantastic explanations of AI on the internet but broadly speaking, AI is advanced statistics and applied mathematics which harnesses new advances in computing power and the explosion of available data to give computers new powers of inference, recognition, choice and, eventually, possessing an awareness of its own consciousness.
Will future AI really be able to do so?
Well, the first thing that is important to understand is that all that exists, whether seen or unseen, when it is broken down into its simplest and most basic form of energy, consists of a rate of frequency. To begin to comprehend the nature of Consciousness, and to directly experience an ‘Expanding Consciousness’ through increasing ones personal frequencies, one must go beyond flat linear thinking, thought addiction and stop accepting everything one has been told by others as fact and truth.
Will AI be able to train its own ‘mind’, step into the realm of direct cognition and higher sensory perceptual experiences what then allows it to perceive things as they really are and not what it, perhaps, wishes them to be?
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 Partner & Trainer in accelerating thinking at Council for Human Development Swiss Association, Anna K. Hiltensberger and Founder, Director and CEO at Consciousness Coin, Kern Frost about how we can learn to expand our consciousness and if this is the future bridge to build between the human mind and AI?
A Message With an Impact From Your Scientific Community!
By Maria Anna van Driel, www.medium.com , edited by Cheryl Knight-Wilson
Life is a cruel system, is it not? Or should I say society is? As a young student, you work hard, really hard! For days, weeks, months…you put all your energy in your field/lab research, your calculations, or in finding the perfect words for your essay, thesis, book, article. During this period, you slowly start to see a fabulous outcome. Yes…you are going to ace this for sure! Proudly, you present the results of your hard work! And then, reality kicks in. People say your calculations are gibberish, you have researched in the wrong direction, and your book does not contain coherent grammar. SH*T!
Now you can throw all your notes out the window from the highest building you can find and crawl into a deep, dark cellar hiding yourself from the world and let this terrible feeling of disappointment consume you entirely. Okay, this sh*tty feeling is understandable, but do really think you have failed?
Well, the contributors of The Next Truth magazines have another thought on this that is backed up with both waterproof scientific evidence and years of life experience. And odd as it might sound to you at this point in your young life, but the successful people you see in this picture have experienced the needed ups and downs during their studies and professional careers. But whatever it was that crossed their paths, they never gave up on their passions and to become an expert in their fields.
And you know what, if these people can do it, you can too! So, when life knocks you down, try and land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up. If you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for, to work day and night for your passion, spent your time on making this your decade, you’ve got to start saying YES to your dreams and your unfolding future.
Believe it or not, you are going to be there one day, but you will never get there if you give up, if you give in and quit.
STEM education is YOUR path forward regardless if you are a boy or a girl, your country of birth, skin color…to build your confidence, skills, and knowledge to become an expert in a field that fires up your curiosity the most. So why would you let any barriers get in front of you and hold you back?
From left to right (top): 1) International PR & Space Technology Commercialization Transfer advisor and role model for Space4Woman Network by UNOOSA , Chiara Chiesa. 2) Theoretical physicist and expert on Albert Einstein’s theories, Prof. Emeritus Ronald Lawrence Mallett, who is best known for his research on gravitational frame dragging by light (aka Time travel by laser light). 3) Social psychologist and the Cornelia H. Dudley Prof. of Psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, Frank T. McAndrew, who became best known for his pioneering work on gossip, creepiness and the psychology of mass shootings.
From left to right (middle): 1) Global Young Academy Co-Chair and Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research Kolkata, Anindita Bhadra. 2) German-born theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) 3) Paranormal Underground Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Cheryl Knight-Wilson and PUG’s publisher, Chad Wilson.
From left to right (bottom): 1) Near-Death and Out-of-Body Expert and the author of “The Wonder of You”, Lynn Kathleen Russell. 2) Matthew J. Sharps, PhD, Professor of Experimental Psychology, California State University, Fresno, specializing in forensic cognitive science. 3) Shaman and author of the workbook, “The Way to Self-Healing Workbook: Your Guide for the Journey Inward through the Power of Your Mind” and contributor to TNT, Tony Damian.
Think Before You Deny Young People to Explore Science!
Odd as it might sound to some but, if we deny young people, who are our next generation scientists, to explore UFO technologies we deny them to explore the science of engineering. If we deny them to search for Bigfoot, the creature of Loch Ness, we deny them enroll studies like Mythology.
If we deny their curious minds to find out if their is extraterrestrial life in the universe, we deny them to become an Astronomer, Astrophysicist, or perhaps to become an Astronaut. And if we teach young people that it is childish to play with dinosaurs, Anthropology and Biology will be wiped out from their curious minds. If we hold our future generation scientists back by telling them to stick with ‘thinking inside the box’, we will destroy the future philosophers.
STEM is not just a subject at school it’s a way of thinking and doing and an important skill set that could see your generation working together to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.
Stem stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics but it’s not about being an expert in all of those things, instead it’s about harnessing the essential transferable skills behind them.
Scientists know how to hypothesize experiment analyze and evaluate what they discover.
Technology can make our lives better designers of all sorts work together to make everyday tasks more effective and more fun.
Engineers don’t solvers that work on some of the world’s biggest challenges like creating bionic limbs for people with disabilities or exploring outer space.
Mathematics teaches us how to quantify data and how physics rules the world around us. With mathematics we can implement change and minimize error.
You won’t have to master all of these skills either. Teamwork is an essential STEM skill. Take the search for new energy sources for example. Geologists and geophysicists search for gas deposits. Engineers help you design and run platforms and processing plants Construction. teams work to build essential infrastructure under the supervision of project managers. And environmental scientists work with everyone every step of the way.
Plane to your strengths and working in a team will have you creating a greater impact than if you are working alone. It would cost the Australian economy 9.3 billion in lost productivity profitability and employee satisfaction.
STEM skills are useful to almost every career 75% of today’s fastest-growing careers require STEM skills and 82% of today’s employees say they value STEM skills even if they’re not required for the job. STEM skills can even unlock your potential to earn a higher salary or become more employable. You don’t have to earn a university degree in stem to be successful either. There are plenty of courses to get you started in stem but we don’t have enough stem graduates to meet demand.
Numbers show the demand for STEM careers has grown 79% since 1990 but enrollments in stem degrees are at an all-time low compared to the last 20 years. And despite the job opportunities just 16 of stem professionals are women.
STEM careers can start small then change the world. Engaging in your high school stem classes or learning to code could be your first step to delivering tribalist vehicles to the roads, starting a research project at home or entering a science competition could see you to feeding cancer with a cure.
And that’s just the beginning! We don’t yet know what kind of jobs will exist 10, 20, 30 years from now but with STEM you’re prepared for anything.
How will you shape the future with your stem skills?
Ghosts; Do They Hide in the Light?
By Maria Anna van Driel
A ghostly apparition walking through the wall, an odd shaped craft hovering in the sky or strong ripples on the surface of a lake indicating that there might be a sea monster swimming by… even though many people have seen and reported these rare but remarkable events, they do not have an explanation for what they have witnessed.
Are those, in the dark hiding, eerie shadows, truly disembodied humans who are lost or, is this an effect of Sleep Paralysis.
Is walking through a forest at night only scary because we are breathing in these, released by the trees, small amounts of methane gas while the pineal gland in your brain is detecting the ultra– and infra sound-waves are bouncing off on the trees after it has released by your own body? Or is there something malevolent hiding behind the shrubs, waiting for you to become its prey?!
Hum, that is indeed a fascinating question. So, let’s imagine that we are standing in a forest with trees all around us. Odd as it might sound but these trees have the ability of releasing a kind of resonance what can ‘communicate’ with your personal frequencies which can turn into that infamous fear frequency sending shivers down your spine.
Did you know that trees have the capability of releasing CH4, aka methane gas? A gas some say is one of the sources of today’s global warming.
Not only do trees poop Methane, they also contain liquid crystal in which a piezo-electrical effect can be observed when encountering an ambience of bright light or a heat (electrical) source. Both of these source is what you are carrying when walking a dark forest…your flash light and your body what is now electrical charged by means of the mind is entering a fight-or-flight state.
The small amounts of the odorless methane gas released by the trees around you might be just enough for you to see creepy plasma clouds forming containing photo-generated electrons which are brought together by a piezoelectric effect, dancing on the surface of natural piezoelectric (semi)conductors.
In neuroscience (or neurobiology) it is well known that the pineal gland becomes active, or is waking up so to speak, once its host is in a dark environment meaning, you being active during those hours of the day in where UV-light is not present in large amounts. Walking this darkness means that you can’t rely on your eyesight anymore what converts your body into a biological radar devise emitting sound-waves in order not to bump into anything or, to survive any dangerous situations heading your direction with high speed.
These ultra- and infra sound-waves your body is emitting, are bouncing off on the objects in your surrounding and, sometimes, have a behavior of returning back to you as a relativistic microwave and creating this chilling feeling of static electricity
You, now acting as a human radar devise, breathing small amounts of odorless methane gas as well as sensing the vibrations of the trees and returning microwaves, which are communicating with your brain, have resulted in a blood-curdling form of vivid hallucinations while it is being combined with a personal fear frequency based on creepy stories you once have read or watched via You Tube or Netflix.
Suddenly you are right in the middle of a spine-chilling situation what seems to be written by Alfred Hitchcock himself! This effect in sensing ‘things’ which seem to have no clear and visible source is based on inaudible to the ear sound-waves and chemical reactions and is one of the two ingredients of nature creating ghostly apparitions in a dark forest.
A second ingredient to create this blood-curdling effect falls in the range of an unnatural source. By means of an ambiance of LED light the liquid crystals inside the trees are triggered and create an effect of being elastic. Aka the expansion and shrinking of crystals what is giving them the ability to record and play vague but hearable sound effects and even create visible images.
Like a laser directed to a LP made of wood, LED-light can function similar to a laser, faint but not impossible.
Imagine walking through this dark forest while carrying a torch with LED-light … you will instantly understand which kind of effects this bright light source can create without your awareness. Being focused on, for instance, a paranormal investigation and not on the, seemingly, logical reactions when certain elements are being brought together, a creepy surrounding containing real ghostly effects has being created unintentional which can scare the hell out of you when it is combined with your personal fears.
I am wondering, what will be the effect seen, or sensed, when we are we adding an extra element to this natural event…a stressed cellular memory?
[Top]Walking the Thin Line of Reality
By Maria anna van Driel, (a fictional short story)
The evening has fallen and the darkness of the night is grabbing hold of the evening more and more. This unnatural white light spread by a lamp post standing across the road is creating a distorted image in the cold rainwater that is gathering in small puddles on the ashes.
Barefooted she walks along the road, her head bend slightly to keep the rain pelting her face. Her jeans, white T-shirt and denim jacket are soaked from the rain what, like a transparent curtain, is surrounding her. In a haze she sees a car rushing past carrying optical signals. Disorientated, cold and exhausted she wraps her arms a little tighter around her chest. Her long dark hair hanging over her shoulders like frayed rope. The night is grim and, with every step she takes, the rain becomes colder and the wind stronger. How she would love to lie down, fall asleep, and forget all the misery of the past hour.
Her body seems to work on autopilot and has taken over her mind, and with every beat of her heart, a new rush of survival-drift runs through her veins.
Another car approaches her, slows down and drives at walking pace with her. The window opens, ‘What happened?’, the driver asks. ‘Can I help you with anything?’ She stops walking but does not look at the man behind the wheel. ‘Could I perhaps offer you a ride?’ he asks. With her head still slightly bend and her arms tightly wrapped around her chest, she passes in front of the car and silently gets in. The gray fabric upholstery of the passenger seat eagerly absorbs the rainwater from her drenched clothing. Within a few seconds the chair has turned dark gray in color. ‘What is your name?’ he asks but is not receiving any answer.
Her hair, weighed down by the rain, falls forward covering her face. He presses the button of the interior lighting and sees that her T-shirt contains watered-down traces of blood. ‘Are you hurt?’ he asks concerned. He carefully removes the hair from her face, ‘My name is Alex, will you tell me yours’, he asks in a friendly tone. Alex can see several small and shallow cuts on her face from which blood is dripping. ‘Who did this? What happened to you ?’ But his passenger does not move and remains silent. The only movement he can trace is the shaking of her body as she fights an incipient hypothermia. Alex grabs his coat from the backseat and drapes it around her shoulders. ‘The hospital is nearby’, he says and turns the car heating on the highest setting.
After twenty minutes they drive into the hospital parking lot. Alex, who has already called the hospital on the way, drives without any hesitation to the entrance of the emergency room. Two nurses rush towards them pushing forwards a stretcher. Alex gets out of his car and says hurriedly to the nurses, ‘She has hypothermia and several small cuts on her face. Prepare an examining room for her and call the police so they can find out her identity.’
One of the nurses guides the still unknown woman through the spotless white hallway to one of the treatment rooms. Shortly after Alex walks in. He has exchanged his sweater for a three-quarter-length white coat, a pager and a stethoscope. Dr. A. Green she reads on his nameplate. Alex rolls a chair over to the hospital bed and sits in front of his patient. ‘Let me introduce myself properly, I am Dr. Green. I see they have given you clean and dry clothes. Will you tell me what your name is?’ She lifts her head and looks at him with a frightened look. ‘Melanie’, she whispers, pressing her arms firmly against her chest.
‘Is the blood on your t-shirt coming from your chest?’ Melanie slowly shakes her head as a sign that she doesn’t feel any pain. ‘Will you tell me your last name, so I can contact your family.’ Melanie lowers her head.
A male nurse sticks his head through the doorway, ‘I have been in contact with the police and they are on their way.’ ‘Thank you.’ Alex says while reaching for a clean gauze from a drawer behind him. ‘I am going to clean your face so I can see if any of these cuts have to be stitched.’ Melanie agrees with a gentle nod in silence, as if she is afraid to make a noise.
Alex supports Melanie’s chin with his hand and begins wiping away the blood from around the cuts. Then the pager in his coat goes off. He looks at the number that has appeared in the small display… ‘I will be right back, I have to make a call to my brother. He is the sheriff at the station.’ Melanie looks startled, grabs Alex by the arm and start shaking her head violently.’ ‘Don’t be afraid, Alex says, you are safe here.’ With a slight hesitation she lets go of his arm and bends her head again as if she is giving up.
Alex walks back to where he left Melanie 15 minutes earlier. Suddenly a strange feeling of dread creeps over him. He looks into a now dark treatment room. Then a bright flash of light with a loud bang almost immediately after as if someone fired a firearm. “Melanie!” he shouts and runs into the treatment room where the sound of the fluorescent tubes, flickering on and off, can be heard. On the empty hospital bed, like a silent witness, a shining yellow police badge is laying, reading the name ‘Green’.
One hour earlier…
Bleeding profusely, she sits in a narrow dead end alley, in the pouring rain of New York.
‘Is this how it is all going to end?’ she thinks and frowns indignantly. She leans against the iron garbage container that rests against the outside wall of the pizzeria. Her hair is soaked and hanging over her shoulders like frayed black rope. Her T-shirts and denim jacket are slowly absorbing the blood pouring out of the wound in her chest.
Dazed, she watches the raindrops fall down from the black iron fire escape and burst onto a pair of garbage bags. In the distance she hears two cars come to a stop in quick succession with their tires skidding in front of the only entrance to the alley. The bright light from the headlamps creates a grim and cold image in the alley. She hears the car doors slam and the voices of the men looking for her.
She tries to pull her legs towards her but her jeans has absorbed too much rainwater. Exhausted from the chase, she let her head rest on her shoulder. Her legs fall back into the shallow pool of rainwater she sit in and hears the water splashing when her legs hit the cold wet ground, but she doesn’t mind anymore.
Breathing becomes more difficult. The pain in her chest intensifies with every breath of oxygen she takes. She tries to suppress the pain by crossing her arms around her chest.
The red and blue light from the optical signal on the roofs of the police cars reverberate like a glare against the wet walls. Two police officers are carefully walking into the narrow alley with their weapons drawn. One of the detectives has her in sight and with his firearm drawn, he walks towards her. “She is over here!” He shouts to his colleagues who are now running in his direction.
In a haze she hears the splashing sound of the rainwater caused by their shoes while approaching her. Instinctively she reaches for the small firearm lying next to her in a shallow pool of water. A stabbing pain shoots through her chest as she tries to raise her arm. She looks glassily at the young police officer standing in front of her. Slowly the image starts to fade and her eyes get heavier. ‘Officer down, officer down!, he shouts, ‘call an ambulance, she got hit!’
[Top]Does Our Consciousness Holds the Key to a More Fulfilling Life on Every Level?
With philosopher, teacher and internationally renowned consciousness researcher, Justin Faermen
“Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That yet we sleep, we dream”
William Shakespeare, among others, already spoke about the different states of consciousness. Still, none have yet a clue what this state of mind truly is or, why we are in the possession of it.
Simply said, consciousness is “sentience of internal and/or external existence.” But despite millennia of analyses, definitions, explanations and debates by philosophers and scientists, consciousness remains a mysterious puzzle.
Is conscious the true reality? And if so, who is perceiving who? Are we perceiving consciousness or is consciousness perceiving us?
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 teacher, philosopher, internationally renowned consciousness researcher Justin Faerman … about what consciousness is, why we posses it and, how we can apply the knowledge received from our consciousness to our life and daily activities.
[Top]Does the Human Brain Serves as the Conduit for the Flow of Information from Alternate Realities?
With radio host, UFO investigator and author, Philip Kinsella
We often wonder whether or not we are alone in this universe. Pondering of the question, “If life arose relatively quickly on Earth, could it then be common in the universe?”
It is indeed promising, hearing scientists say that some bodies in the Solar System have the potential for an environment in which extraterrestrial life can exist, particularly those with possible subsurface oceans.
But what are the basic requirements for life? Could life have arisen outside the solar system? Perhaps thermodynamically, photosynthesis based on stellar radiation may be the optimal source of energy for extraterrestrial life to rise.
Many scientists search for bio-signatures within the Solar System by studying planetary surfaces and examining meteorites. Some even claim to have identified evidence that microbial life has existed on Mars. Still, the exact origin of life remains an unfathomable mystery, however this does not mean that it will always remains so.
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 clairvoyant medium, UFO researcher and co-host of the radio show “Twin Souls”, Philip Kinsella…about, how likely is the evolution of intelligent life outside the borders of our cosmic freezer?
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“Scientist”…I bet the first image that comes to mind is an intelligent man or woman wearing a white lab-coat and goggles while mixing odd looking and bubbling liquids in a laboratory. Or, someone writing, on a blackboard, the most complicated formulas which seem to come straight from an alien language. 😲
If you would ask someone what is “Science”, you most likely gain an answer what is similar to; “Science comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning “knowledge”. It is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. 🤨
Whooow…slow down a bit! Even though the above where and are correct, it does not quite seem to answer you question of what science is, what is it and, especially, how you can become an expert in that particular scientific field what has captured your deep interest.
Together with renowned scientists and citizen scientists, The Next Truth is tapping-in those corners of science which gives you the opportunity to explore those questions you do not easily find in the myriad books libraries have in their possession.
