Via LiveScience
Long after a near-death experience, people recall the incident more vividly and emotionally than real and false memories, new research suggests.
“It’s really something that stays in the mind of people as a clear trace, and it’s even more clear than a real memory,” said Vanessa Charland-Verville, a neuropsychologist in the Coma Science Group at the University of Liege in Belgium. She, along with colleagues, detailed the study online March 27 in the journal PLOS ONE.
Mysterious phenomenon
Roughly 5 percent of the general population and 10 percent of cardiac-arrest victims report near-death experiences, yet no one really knows what they are, Charland-Verville told LiveScience.
Across cultures and religions, people describe similar themes: being out of body; passing through a tunnel, river or door toward warm, glowing light; seeing dead loved ones greet them; and being called back to their bodies or told it’s not time to go yet.
Some think near-death experiences show the spirit and body can be separated. Others say oxygen deprivation or a cascade of chemicals in the failing brain are to blame. Some believe near-death experiences reveal the existence of God or heaven.
But what makes finding an explanation even more complicated is that healthy people in meditative trances and those taking hallucinogens, such as ketamine, describe very similar experiences, Charland-Verville told LiveScience.
Life-changing events
Because it’s impossible to monitor these events in real time, Charland-Verville and her colleagues spoke with those who had gone through these trancelike states, sometimes years earlier.
Also see: Trippy Tales: The History of 8 Hallucinogens
Related articles
- Near-Death Experiences More Vivid Than Real Life, Memory Study Shows (secretsofthefed.com)
- Near-Death Experiences More Vivid Than Real Life (livescience.com)
- Coma Study Spotlights Strange Power Of Near-Death Experiences (accidentvictimsalliance.com)
- Coma Study Spotlights Strange Power Of Near-Death Experiences (filemakerinfo.wordpress.com)
- Memories of near death experiences: More real than reality? (allowinglove.wordpress.com)
- Memories of near death experiences: More real than reality? (sciencedaily.com)
- My Almost-death Experience (socyberty.com)
- ‘Fox & Friends’ guest claims she smelled God during near-death experience (rawstory.com)
- ‘Proof Of Heaven’ Bestseller to be made into movie (doubtfulnews.com)
Consumers see a lot of value in organic foods and new research has found that those shoppers are willing to pay a great deal more for that value.
A strange sight in the Texas night sky over the weekend had many people talking about fireballs and alien invasions. But, alas, the real culprit has been identified, a much more Earthly one.
The idea of people being able to move objects through mind power alone has intrigued people for centuries, though only in the late 1800s was it seen as an ability that might be scientifically demonstrated. This occurred during the heyday of the early religion Spiritualism, when psychic mediums claimed to contact the dead during séances, and objects would suddenly and mysteriously move, float, or fly by themselves across the darkened room, seemingly untouched by human hands. Sometimes small tables would tip or levitate, disturbed either by unseen spirits or the psychic’s mind.
Beyond the artistry of carved crystal, many believe the skulls have special abilities, such as aiding psychic abilities, healing the sick, and even having power over death.
When the Zoroastrian Persians conquered the ancient Jews, they passed their end-of-the-world beliefs into Jewish culture, which subsequently handed them to Christianity. Now, everyone from Protestant preachers like Harold Camping, who predicted Armageddon in 2011, to UFO cultists and New Age mystics occasionally jump on the doomsday train.
Most of the hundreds injured were reportedly hurt by falling glass in the blast, 112 of whom have been hospitalized, due to cuts from the shattered glass resulting from the blast. In addition, an estimated 297 buildings were damaged, including six hospitals and 12 schools, according to translations of updates by the Russian Emergency Ministry.
If you believe in ghosts, you’re not alone: A 2005 Gallup poll found that 37 percent of Americans believe in haunted houses, and about one-third believe in ghosts. Tens of thousands of people around the world actively search for ghosts as a hobby. Researcher Sharon Hill of the 
Personal experience is one thing, but scientific evidence is another matter. Part of the difficulty in investigating ghosts is that there is not one universally agreed-upon definition of what a ghost is. Some believe that they are spirits of the dead who for whatever reason get “lost” on their way to The Other Side; others claim that ghosts are instead telepathic entities projected into the world from our minds.
If ghosts are the spirits of those whose deaths were unavenged, why are there unsolved murders, since ghosts are said to communicate with psychic mediums, and should be able to identify their killers for the police. And so on; just about any claim about ghosts raises logical reasons to doubt it.
Up to a half-second after an object disappears from view, the brain can “edit” the experience to retain that object, a new study from France shows. The finding may partly explain 
Intuitively, people think of a linear progression from seeing or hearing something to consciously noticing it. But consciousness and 
The word “angel” can be traced back to the Greek word “anglos,” which means “messenger” in Hebrew. Angels can take many forms, usually appearing as human or a glowing light or aura. Often—especially in cases of averted tragedy or disaster—angels will not be seen at all, but instead recognized by their actions. If something good, unexpected, and seemingly inexplicable happens, it’s often assumed to be the result of angelic intervention. [
Then, in 2003, a British philosopher, 
To some observers, it looked like an ordinary grilled cheese sandwich. But to the Miami woman who put it up for sale on eBay, and to some people who viewed it, there was an image of the Virgin Mary seared on this seemingly run-of-the-mill snack.
Aromatherapy, which involves Inhaling the vapors from essential oils, may be beneficial for short periods, but could harm the heart if done for too long, a new study from Taiwan suggests.
Bigfoot, also known as 
There’s plenty of brain activity even when people are thinking nothing at all. But it’s the brain’s right side — for most people the less-dominant half — that stays busiest while you’re at rest, according to surprising new findings.
Harsha Maddula, a Northwestern University pre-medical student from Long Island, N.Y., went missing Sept. 22, last seen leaving an off-campus party in Illinois. Police and volunteer searchers were unable to find him, but Maddula’s family said reassuring words from psychics had raised their spirits.
Indeed, as a news article on Michigan Live.com noted, the mother of a missing woman will be seeking advice from a nationally-known psychic next week: “The mother of 
The idea of special — apparently paranormal — mental abilities such as 
The program, called Stargate, tested “remote viewers” to see if their feelings and visions were accurate. The research continued for about two decades, ending in the mid-1990s with little apparent success. Finally the CIA took over the program and asked scientists to review the results. They concluded that the psychics did no better than chance, and that the psychic information was neither validated nor useful. 
Area 51 is a military base about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. With a few exceptions, though, it’s mostly conspiracy theorists — and those who have been influenced by them through the countless TV, magazine, and website references — who call it “Area 51.” To the U.S. government, it’s simply the Nevada Test and Training Range, part of Edwards (formerly Nellis) Air Force Base. Employees will sometimes refer to it as simply “the site” or “the ranch.”
Though the existence of the base was classified for decades, it has been officially acknowledged for nearly 20 years. It is a secret military base, and there are, of course, perfectly legitimate government and military reasons for keeping the base’s activities secret that have nothing to do with aliens or 
New research suggests we may be able to sniff out psychopaths by their poor scores on a smell test.
The elderly are recognized as being vulnerable to fraud. A study last year found that American seniors lost at least $2.9 billion to financial exploitation in 2010, and two months ago, the newly established 
The biggest of its stones, known as sarsens, are up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall and weigh 25 tons (22.6 
Bad news for 
Scratched on the ground, they number in the thousands and depict creatures from both the natural world and the human imagination. They include animals such as the spider, hummingbird, monkey, lizard, pelican and even a killer whale. Also depicted are plants, trees, flowers and oddly shaped fantastic figures. Also illustrated are geometric motifs such as wavy lines, triangles, spirals and rectangles.
I’m bemused that we are smart enough to land an 
By Benjamin Radford via 
Whether you’re gay, straight or somewhere else on the spectrum, the truth of who attracts you could be in your eyes.
Can you remember what you ate for lunch on March 8, 1999? What about what you were wearing on Oct. 29, 1985? A handful of people — only 33 confirmed to date — can remember such minutiae, recalling almost every moment of their lives after about age 10 in near-perfect detail. They have what scientists call a highly 
Lucid dreamers, people who can deliberately control their dreams during sleep, have long fascinated scientists. And now 
Your brain may be more likely to recognize new things as new when the unknown is already on your mind, according to new research.
He wears a caped bat costume in public and funds an alter ego out of his personal fortune. As a child he witnessed his parents’ murders; as an adult, he puts his own life on the line, practicing a personal brand of vigilante justice.
They are dramatic, irrational and scream for seemingly no reason. And they have a deep need for both greater independence and tender loving care.
