As you read this sentence, the millions of neurons in your brain are frantically whispering to each other, resulting in the experience of conscious awareness.

The nature of consciousness has intrigued philosophers and scientists for thousands of years. But can modern neuroscience ever hope to crack this mysterious phenomenon? At the World Science Festival, an annual celebration and exploration of science held here in New York, a panel of experts debated what scientists can and can't learn about the mind by studying the brain.

Plenty of great minds have pondered the meaning of consciousness over the ages, said philosopher Colin McGinn of the University of Miami. The 17th-century French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes famously introduced the notion of mind-body dualism, which holds that the world of the body is fundamentally separate from the world of the mind, or soul, although the two may interact. In the 19th century, the English biologist Thomas Huxley helped develop the theory of epiphenomenalism, the idea that physical events in the brain give rise to mental phenomena. On the panel, McGinn also talked about panpsychism, the view that the universe is made of minds. [Watch a replay of the program here]

McGinn himself believes that no matter how much scientists study the brain, the mind is fundamentally incapable of comprehending itself. "We're rather like Neanderthals trying to understand astronomy or Shakespeare," McGinn said. Human brains suffer from a "cognitive gap" in understanding their own consciousness, he said.

Panelist Christof Koch, a neuroscientist and chief scientific officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, took issue with McGinn's view. "I think it's a defeatist argument," Koch said. His rebuttal was as colorful as his outfit — a flamboyant Hawaiian shirt and orange pants. "Historically, philosophers have a disastrous record of explaining things," Koch said. Philosophers are very good at asking questions, he said, but not so good at finding satisfactory answers.

Searching for answers

Koch and the other members of the panel turn to scientific experiments to find answers. For example, the so-called mirror test, developed by psychologist Gordon Gallup in 1970, is a test of self-awareness in babies and animals. A colored dot is placed on the face of a baby or an animal subject positioned in front of a mirror. If the subject recognizes that the dot in the mirror is the same as the one on its own body, it is said to be self-aware. Babies show self-awareness after about 8 months of age. Animals such as chimpanzees, dolphins and even octopi show it, too. [That's Incredible! 9 Brainy Baby Abilities]

Koch's own work focuses on how the activity of the brain's neurons gives rise to conscious experience. In one well-known experiment, Koch and colleagues discovered that individual neurons can encode abstract concepts, such as a family member or celebrity. They even found so-called Jennifer Aniston neurons that were active only when a person saw an image of the actress. The conscious experience is of course much more complex than the activity of single neurons, but scientists can learn a lot from the ways in which these brain cells behave and are connected, Koch explained.

Panelist Nicholas Schiff, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, talked about his work with people recovering from a coma, at the border between consciousness and unconsciousness. "Consciousness is a very graded phenomena," Schiff said. When a person wakes up, for example, he or she is not fully conscious, but gains awareness gradually.

Schiff went on to describe the remarkable case of a man named Donald Herbert, a firefighter who suffered a traumatic brain injury when the roof of a burning house collapsed on him, depriving him of oxygen for several minutes. The accident left Herbert blind and in a minimally conscious state for nine years. One day, his doctor gave him drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease and other brain disorders, and Herbert woke up. He retained his memory and immediately started speaking to his friends and family.

The panelists contrasted Herbert's condition to that of Terri Schiavo, a woman who was in a "persistent vegetative state" from 1900 to 2005 and became the center of a legal battle over the decision to withdraw life support. Schiavo's case was completely different from Herbert's, Schiff said, because Schiavo's brain had been extensively monitored and no signs of brain activity were found in areas associated with consciousness.

Weighing in on the discussion, panelist Mélanie Boly, a neurologist at the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described her work with coma patients. Boly's research aims to chart the brain activity of coma patients on the path to death or recovery. Boly also talked about a realm of consciousness all people are familiar with — sleep. By magnetically stimulating parts of the brain while people are sleeping, Boly has shown that brain activity is much more localized and less complex during sleep than during waking.

The panelists all agreed that the brain gives rise to conscious phenomena. As Koch wittily put it, "No brain, never mind!" But in contrast to McGinn's view that the mind is inherently unknowable, the others believe the subject is increasingly accessible to scientific study. Whereas McGinn admitted he finds the conundrum of consciousness frustrating, the others find it uplifting.

"I think it's so inspiring to be in [this] great time where so many things are happening, so much knowledge is gained, and later on, we hope to be able to address such deep questions for human life," Boly said.

Source: LiveScience
http://www.livescience.com/37056-scientists-and-philosophers-debate-consciousness.html

Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, and up to 70% of the country is covered by the Kalahari Desert.

On Friday, May 17, 2013, in the Botswana town of Maun, teachers at the Mathiba Primary School ended classes after disturbances took place due to a cryptid sighting. Students in Standard 6 and 7 classes were sent home after reporting they had seen “a black hairy creature which resembled a human being.”

The noontime episode included 10 students sent to a local clinic for shock and released the same day.

Although teachers were said to have seen nothing, several students were screaming, fainted, and running amok. Classes were so disrupted that classes were stopped for the day, said the Voice of Botswana.

What could these be? Hirsute beings of small size are known by a variety of names throughout Africa, including in the Congo, they are called kakundakári; in central Africa as amajungi or niaka-ambuguza; in East Africa as agogwe, doko, mau, or mberikimo; in southern Africa as chimanimani or tokoleshe; and in West Africa as abonesi, ijiméré, or séhité. Attention has been given to these reports in different decades. For example, there were widespread reports of reddish-haired séhité in 1940s’ Ivory Coast (more properly known today at République de Côte d’Ivoire), where there were no known pygmies at all.

A note about Maun:

    Maun is the fifth largest town in Botswana. As of 2011, it had a population of 55,784. It is an eclectic mix of modern buildings and native huts. Maun is the “tourism capital” of Botswana and the administrative centre of Ngamiland district. It is also the headquarters of numerous safari and air-charter operations who run trips into the Okavango Delta.

    Although officially still a village, Maun has developed rapidly from a rural frontier town and has spread along the Thamalakane River. It now has shopping centres, hotels and lodges as well as car hire, although it retains a rural atmosphere and local tribesmen continue to bring their cattle to Maun to sell. The community is distributed along the wide banks of the Thamalakane River where red lechwe can still be seen grazing next to local donkeys, goats and cattle.

    The name Maun is derived from the San word “maung,” which translates “the place of short reeds.” The village started in 1915 as the capital for the Tawana people. The capital was transferred from Toteng after victory over Ndebele King Lobengula.

    In a broader sense Maun is a gateway for exploring much of northern Botswana; for example it is the natural hub for visitors from outside the region to explore the Tsodilo Hills and the Makgadikgadi Pans. The Thamalakane River discharges to the Boteti River, whose seasonal high flow reaches the Makgadikgadi.

I was informed by Christian Le Noel that this statue was from Tanzania and represents an Agogwe. However, Jean luc Drevillion tells me that this is incorrect. Drevillion says it is a statuette of Kara-Komba or the bush dwarf or Toulou, which is the local form of the proto-pygmy in the Central African Republic. (He writes in French: Cette statuette représente un Kara-Komba ou nain de brousse ou Toulou qui est la forme locale du proto pygmée dans la République centrafricaine).

My understanding, nevertheless, is that this is a form of the Proto-Pygmy of which Agogwe is one name and Kara-Komba another, depending on the location and informant. The local name from Botswana is unknown to me, at this time.

*For more on the little hairy people of Africa, please see The Field Guide of Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates (NY: Anomalist Books, 2006), and Cryptozoology A to Z (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1999).

Source: Crypto News
http://www.cryptozoonews.com/botswana2013/

It sounds like the stuff of a science fiction movie, or possibly the plot of a scifi thriller, where a strange, disembodied intelligence springs to life from within the vacuum of space, only to wreak havoc on our existence. The intention asserted here would indeed be the factor that would make such a strange concept the stuff of the silver screen… but the concept underlying a disembodied “brain” emanating from within deep space may not be so solely the stuff of fiction, after all.

I have long supposed that a physical being may not be the penultimate form for an exceedingly profound intelligence to manifest within, since as humans, we have had to rely on the cumulative endeavors of others in order to progress scientifically and, essentially, to evolve. The minute achievements (well, minute in the grand scheme of things) of those who come before us become the precedent for the new work that we will undertake; much the same, our achievements will be the springboard for future generations, where individuals will continue the cumulative work of the human species, working toward the scientific goal of bettering our world, but with little concept as to where the innate curiosity that fuels this endeavor may lead.

Hence, the concept of strange, sentient “brains” floating around out in space may indeed sound like a plot from a cheesy scifi movie from yesteryear… but there may be more to this than would meet the eye, or at least in the case of a disembodied universal intelligence drifting around out there, perhaps this would be a “minds’ eye.”

New Scientist carried a story recently that dealt with a bizarre–but fascinating–concept known as a Boltzmann brain. “Physicists have dreamed up some bizarre ideas over the years,”wrote journalist Adam Becker, “but a decade or so ago they outdid themselves with the concept of Boltzmann brains – fully formed, conscious entities that form spontaneously in outer space.” Forging ahead into further complicated intellectual territory, the piece goes on to note that:

    Most models of the future predict that the universe will expand exponentially forever. That will eventually spawn inconceivable numbers of Boltzmann brains, far outnumbering every human who has ever, or will ever, live.

    This means that, over the entire history of the universe, it is the Boltzmann brains’ experience of the universe and not ours that is typical. That’s a problem, because the starting point for our understanding of the universe and its behaviour is that humans are typical observers. If we are not, our theories begin to look iffy.

The article hopefully suggests that String Theory may solve the eminent problem of Boltzmann brains, since in addition to there being the potential that multiple universes exist, there may be finite quantities we can attribute to what we know to be our universe, which would diminish the eventual proclivity of Boltzmann brains, whose existence would be based on factors such as randomness, probability, and an infinite, ever expanding universe.

For the moment, I want to address the notion of the Bolzmann brain, since many would look at this as something that simply could not exist. Quite the contrary, the formation of intelligence in our universe, and for it to take shape (or the lack thereof) in a number of novel and peculiar ways, would have to be a likelihood in a universe whose chaotic potentials could coalesce into the formation of life on a planet like Earth. If, on the other hand, you prefer to settle with the notion that there is a universal intelligence (a God, in essence) to which life and creation can be attributed, one might similarly argue that this bears similarity to the disembodied consciousness that would form our hypothetical Boltzmann brain in itself. In either case, we have similar philosophical concepts that would seem to account for what is, in scientific terms, essentially the same thing.

I choose to look beyond whether or not String Theory could account for the prevalence or lack of such weird universal “creations,” and look instead at the fascinating elements that even such a potential might give us. What it shows, in essence, is that modern physics thought experiments can, in some regards, account for strange, alien concepts that extend far beyond the reaches of what could solely be called the physical world, and which bear equal similarity to themes expressed in the finest science fiction, such as Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Remember in the latter instance that the “aliens” toward the end of the film didn’t seem to be physical at all, at least based on humanity’s perceptual limitations.

We are indeed entering exciting territory with our science, and before long (if not already), the question as to whether we are alone in the universe may have far less to do with whether “life” exists elsewhere, but instead whether we would recognize it if we even came upon it. We may, if anything, have to altogether redefine what we call “life.”

Source: Mysterious Universe
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2013/05/the-universal-mind-probability-and-bizarre-brains-in-deep-space/

Since the 1970's literally hundreds (if not, thousands) of big cat sightings have been reported from within the Chase's mysterious plantation, often by seemingly rational and trustworthy witnesses. In truth, these accounts have received more publicity within the national and international press than any other phenomena reported in the area, so predictably this is a very hot topic that creates a whole load of controversy – something I’m a huge fan of.

In 1976 the Dangerous Animals Act came into force in England, which made it illegal to keep fierce and predatory creatures as pets without a licence. The problem was though, many people already had these animals, and thanks to parliament, they were now breaking the law. Without having much choice in the matter, pet owners far and wide began releasing their ferocious, wild beasts into secluded countryside locations. Unfortunately, many of these animals would have struggled to survive unaided in England, however, is it possible that some species were more suited to our climate than others? Have exotic cats been breeding secretly for the last 40 years? Some journalists and researchers would argue that the evidence suggests they have.

To illustrate the reality of this situation, in 1989 the body of an Asian Jungle Cat was found in the town of Ludlow, Shropshire (around 25 miles outside of Cannock Chase). Some people believe that this jungle cat and others like it could have mated with local domestic felines, creating a race of super-moggies who still roam the peaceful countryside to this very day, although the serious research community are notably divided on the issue. World famous zoologist and cryptozoologist Dr Karl Shuker, who has written many books on the subject of mystery cats in Britain told a popular television reporter that “from the condition of it (the carcase) and the age, it had been in the area for quite some time. Many people had reported seeing an animal like this, but they hadn't been believed until the body was found”. This suggests the cat had more than enough time to breed, but although sightings do continue in the area, no further hard evidence has been uncovered.

For the most part, when people in England use the word “panther”, they are referring to Melanistic Leopards, and in some cases Puma's or Jaguars. However, in other places around the world, the word is used to describe a whole plethora of different big cats. So in reality “panther” is not a very good descriptive term, and many witnesses probably use it incorrectly. However, local people have adopted the word, and so for the purpose of this section, I will continue to use it.

In 2009 the Express and Star newspaper reported that an expert, who had been advising the police about the existence of big cats in England’s woodland's, said that he believed Puma's have been breeding on Cannock Chase since the 1940's, and again dubbed the area a hotspot. The article went on to state that, only a few weeks previously a deer had been found dead, after having been dragged into a ditch, with two puncture holes to the neck – trademark signs of a big cat attack. Also, another man from the village of Norton Canes had stumbled upon, and subsequently taken photographs of, a huge paw-print within a week or two of the incident, which measured at an astonishing 5 by 6 inches.

I have spent a couple of days searching for the Panther on Cannock Chase myself, but found little more than dubious droppings, which may or may not come from the local deer population. I have however, unearthed some brand new sighting reports that will be included in my forthcoming book about the area.

The lack of hard evidence for the existence of this woodland beast is somewhat perplexing, but if it is just an urban myth, why do so many people send in sighting reports? They have nothing to gain from such claims as far as I can see, so for the most part, must we conclude they are genuine?

Source: Paranormal Cannock Chase
http://paranormalcannock.blogspot.co.uk/

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