Strange Consequences of Heart Transplants Baffles Scientists

 

By Stephanie Lam and Wang Yuanfu

CELLULAR MEMORY: Researchers hypothesize that organ recipients' personality change is due to memory being stored in cells.

Legend has it that about 2,500 years ago, during China’s Warring State Period, two men went to see a great doctor by the name of Bian Que. Bian cured their sickness very quickly but discovered that they had another problem that had been growing more serious over time. Bian said that they would both get well if they exchanged their hearts, and they agreed to let Bian perform the surgery.

Bian had the two men drink some anesthetics and they lost consciousness for three days, during which Bian opened their chests, exchanged their hearts, and applied medicine. When they regained consciousness, they had already recovered and were as well as before.

But something was wrong: When they returned home, they were both baffled because their wives couldn’t recognize them. It turned out that they had both gone to the other person’s home and thought that the other person’s wife was their wife.

It seems inconceivable that such a surgery could have been performed 2,500 years ago, but this story is unbelievably similar to the situation observed in some modern heart transplant cases.

The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported that, after a heart transplant, Sonny Graham of Georgia fell in love with his donor’s wife and married her. Twelve years after their marriage, he committed suicide the same way his donor did.

In another Daily Mail report, a man named William Sheridan received a heart from an artist who died in a car accident, and suddenly he was able to produce beautiful drawings of wildlife and landscapes.

Claire Sylvia, the recipient of a heart and a lung in 1988, wrote in her book A Change of Heart: A Memoir that after the transplant she started to like beer, fried chicken, and green pepper—all of which she didn’t like before but her donor, an 18-year-old boy, liked.

She had a dream in which she kissed a boy she thought to be named Tim L., and inhaled him into her during the kissing. She later found that Tim L. was the name of her donor. She wondered if it was because one of the doctors mentioned the name during her surgery, but was told that the doctors did not know the name of the donor.

In a paper published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies, Dr. Paul Pearsall of the University of Hawaii and Dr. Gary Schwartz and Dr. Linda Russek of the University of Arizona discussed 10 cases of heart or heart-lung transplants in which the recipients were reported to have “changes in food, music, art, sexual, recreational, and career preferences, as well as specific instances of perceptions of names and sensory experiences related to the donors.”

In one of the cases that they described, the donor was an African American, so the recipient thought the donor would like rap music and therefore didn’t think the transplant was the cause of his new preference for classical music. However, it was found that the donor was a violin player and loved classical music.

This case suggests that changes in organ recipients’ preferences occur without the recipients anticipating them. Thus these cases are unlike the placebo effect, in which patients’ health conditions change in the direction of their expectations.

In addition, the researchers pointed out that like the above recipients, there might be other recipients who dismiss the idea that they adopted their donors’ preferences because of their expectations of the donors, so the number of organ transplant recipients who experienced a personality change similar to that of their donors might be underrepresented.

Pearsall, Schwartz, and Russek concluded that it is unlikely these cases happened out of coincidence, and hypothesized that it is because of cellular memory, meaning that memories and preferences can be stored in cells.

However, it is currently unknown whether this form of memory exists.

Discovery of Ancient Sunken Mega Cities

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

They realized that the men had rebelled and decided to exterminate them. Thousands of pumas left the cave and devoured the man who begged the devil for help. But the devil remained unmoved by their pleas. Seeing this, Inti, the god of the sun cried. Her tears were so abundant that in forty days the valley was flooded.”—Inca legend of Lake Titicaca

Consider one anthropological hypothesis that concedes the possibility of a prehistoric humanity enjoying a high degree of technological development. Some evidence suggests that ancient people appear to have crafted a technology significantly more advanced than what we might imagine. Much of the support for this idea comes from the discovery of dozens of ancient cities submerged beneath the oceans across the entire planet.

Surprising cases like that of the Yonaguni structures off the coasts of Japan, or the submerged “Mega City” accidentally discovered off the northeast coast of Cuba, continue to offer researchers clues to what was once considered merely geographical mythology—tales such as those of Atlantis, Mu, or the land of Thule. Every few years a long-sunken discovery lends support for this prehistoric empire hypothesis.

 

Urban Architecture From an Impossible Time

A typical example of the archeological ruins described above was found in waters 120 feet deep in the Gulf of Cambay, located off the western coast of India. It is estimated that the vast city, discovered by chance during an investigation on pollution, could date back some 9,000 years.

Using a sonar tracker, investigators managed to identify defined geometric structures at a depth of about 120 feet. From the site, they recovered construction material, pottery, sections of walls, basins, sculptures, bones, and human teeth. The carbon tests indicate that these pieces were 9,500 years old.

Before this finding, anthropologists thought that the area had not seen civilization before 2,500 B.C. This ancient city, therefore, was even older than the Harappan civilization, once believed to be the oldest of the subcontinent.

Another surprising case came in 1967, when the Aluminaut—an exploration submarine capable of submerging deeper than any craft of its day—casually discovered a “road” off the coastal zone of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.  Found at a depth of nearly 3,000 feet, this road traced a straight line for more than 15 miles.  

Even more surprising, this road had been paved with sophisticated cement composed of aluminum, silicon, calcium, iron, and magnesium. Despite its age, the road was found to be free of debris due to an underwater current that kept it clear.

This forgotten road still proved a worthy thoroughfare as the special wheels of the Aluminaut allowed the sub to actually travel along the enigmatic highway. Later, scientists exploring the area found a series of monolithic constructions at one end of the road. What technology could construct a long paved road that would remain in good condition for 10,000 years?

A more recent discovery of this type took place in 2004 ,when the same tsunami that battered the coasts of Southeast Asia also moved tons of sand from the cost of Tamil Nadu, India. The storm cleared years of dust that led to the discovery of the mythical city of Mahabalipuram.

According to local legend, the city of Mahabalipuram suffered a great flood, submerging it in a single day 1,000 years ago, when the gods became jealous of its beauty. The local inhabitants recounted that six temples were covered by water, but that part of the seventh remained on the coast. The team of 25 divers from the Archaeological Survey of India explored the extensive area covered with man-made structures, ranging at depths of between 15 and 25 feet below the water.

The scale of the submerged ruins covered several square miles, at distances of up to a mile from the coast. Conservative estimates of the age of these constructions range from 1,500 to 1,200 years old, though some investigators say they originate from up to 6,000 years ago.

 

The Yonaguni Structures

Classified by some scientists as the archeological find of the century, the structures accidentally discovered off the Japanese coast of Yonaguni offer ancient architecture in the form of pillars, hexagons, stairs, avenues, arcades, and even a stepped pyramid.

While the most conservative hypothesis postulates that the Yonaguni structures are the product of the marked seismic activity in the area, the precise angles of the rocks and their arrangement in relation to one another suggest that this site might hold remnants of a submerged city.

Evidence in favor of this stance includes the chemical composition of the chalky rocks (which do not naturally exist in the region), two openings about 6.5 feet deep adjacent to the structures—which no archeologist dares to classify as a natural formation—and an oval-shaped rock that does not appear to belong to the set, but exhibits a clear northward facing point. The entire submerged city of Yonaguni is estimated by some to be at least 10,000 years old.

Marine archeology has only become an academic possibility in the last 50 years with the introduction of scuba gear. According to marine archeologist Dr. Nick Flemming, at least 500 submerged sites containing the remains of some form of man-made structure or artifacts have been found around the globe. Some calculations figure that nearly a fifth of these sites are more than 3,000 years old.

Certainly, some of these sites were washed away by floods, but others may have found their place at the bottom of the sea through tectonic shifts. As many of these places were originally built on solid, dry land, Earth may have been geographically quite different than what we know today. Likewise, these people would have come from an era more remote than what we understand as the dawn of civilization.

So, is our current civilization the greatest mankind has ever known, or merely one tiny peak among many in a cycle that stretches far into the distant past? The answer might be found at the bottom of our oceans.

Indigenous Tribes Recorded Visits from Ancient Astronauts

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

Every year the Amazonian Kayapo tribe celebrates the arrival of the mysterious Bep-Kororoti, or “he who comes from the cosmos,” said to have visited long ago. (EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images )

“The warrior from the cosmos seemed to take pleasure in seeing the fragility of these people. Intent on giving them a demonstration of his power, he raised his ‘thunder weapon’ and, pointing successively to a tree and then a rock, destroyed them both. All understood that Bep-Kororoti wished to demonstrate to them that he had not come to make war.”—Ancient Amazonian Legend

We’ve watched the world evolve from the simple to the complex, from stone tools to the technology of today. Yet dozens of stories from native cultures seem to complicate this narrative that we’ve come to believe as truth. Tales of enormous megaliths and ancient outer space visitors have come from every corner of the planet.

 

Bep-Kororoti: the Astronaut Who Visited the Amazon

Yet as these cults surged on the small islands of the Pacific, they were far from being the only examples of primitive tribes exhibiting deep adoration for foreign visitors. In fact, the cargo-cult phenomenon may well have originated with the Amazonian Kayapo tribe. As one tribal member dons a wicker outfit shaped like a modern space suit, the Kayapo annually celebrate the arrival of the mysterious Bep-Kororoti, or “he who comes from the cosmos.”

According to tribal leaders, the strange man came forth from the Pukato-Ti mountain range, at first arousing fear but rapidly developing a messianic status among the natives. According to ancient tribal legend, the people of the village gradually became swept up in an attraction toward the foreigner, due both to his beauty—the white resplendence of his skin—and his benevolence toward all. They recount that this mysterious visitor was more intelligent than any among them, and in time he taught them valuable skills.

The legend describes one day when Bep-Kororoti exploded in an attack of madness, screaming and forbidding members of the tribe to approach him. It was then that the tribe witnessed, at the foot of a mountain, how the stranger was said to escape toward the heavens in a tremendous explosion that shook everything around. The story recounts Bep-Kororoti disappearing into clouds of flame, smoke, and thunder. With the explosion, the earth moved to such a degree that even plants were uprooted. The jungle was destroyed, the animals disappeared, and the tribe experienced a great hunger.

Ethnologist Joao Americo Peret, who had interviewed the elders of the aboriginal community in 1952, affirmed that the story of Bep-Kororoti stretched far into the distant past. If the cargo cult came forth around an actual being, modern investigators wondered what kind of person would visit the jungle of Mato Grosso in such a remote period, with a space suit and a variety of magic capable, as the Kayapo say, of knocking down an animal with a mere touch.

Certainly, Bep-Kororoti did not fit the type of humanitarian-minded North American soldier that the Tanna of Vanuatu continued to adore. Perhaps even more bizarre, when the history of the Kayapos was first spread, the space-suit design that had become part of the memorial ceremony for Bep-Kororoti did not yet exist in any space agency in the world.

Furthermore, the detail of the astronaut’s departure “among clouds of smoke, light, and thunder” brings to mind the behavior of a modern jet engine. The mechanism of propulsion, according to legend, was commanded by what the aborigines took to be branches, and the ship, camouflaged in a tree. The legend recalls that the man from the cosmos went back to sit down in that special tree and moved the branches until it touched the ground. And another time, he produced an explosion and the tree disappeared into the air.

The Dogon: Tribe With Extraterrestrial Knowledge

Perhaps the most intriguing manifestation of this cargo-cult phenomenon is exhibited by the Dogon tribe, found in the West African nation of Mali. Although they do not afford the same fanfare to their foreign visitor as the examples above, the knowledge they received is nothing short of miraculous.

In 1947, after having lived with the Dogon for more than 17 years, French anthropologist Marcel Griaule was offered an amazing story. Tribal elders revealed to Griaule one of their most closely guarded secrets, unknown even to the majority of the community.

The leaders related how the Nommo, a half-fish half-human species, had founded a civilization on Earth. Despite their primitive culture, the Dogon elders received a profound understanding of the solar system from the mysterious Nommo. The elders recounted the existence of Jupiter’s four moons, the rings of Saturn, and the knowledge that the Milky Way had a spiral form. They were said to know even the sterility of the lunar environment and possessed an understanding that planets moved around the sun.

The most striking knowledge the Dogon retained from the Nommo ages ago was in regard to the orbits, sizes, and densities of the stars in the Sirius system. The Dogon accurately confirmed Sirius A, B, and C, and possessed knowledge of these stars that science has only recently been able to recognize.

Sirius C remained undiscovered until 1995, when astronomers noticed the influence it exerted on the movement of the whole system. Yet for hundreds of years, the primitive Dogon had not only known of its existence but also understood it in great detail.

How should we understand the story of the Dogon, as well as the myriad other cultures around the world that tell of contact with ancient astronauts?

Many may insist, as some scientists have, that the primitive Dogon must have had more recent contact with an astronomer who passed on these detailed explanations and simply added this knowledge into their age-old fairy tale. But does such an explanation serve in the interest of discovering the truth, or is it simply protecting our own culture’s fairy tale—that we live in the most technically advanced society the world has ever known?

Ancient Galactic Show in the Sky: Planets Fire Lightning Bolts

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

Were these recurring petroglyph patterns a familiar sight to ancient skies?

Given expression throughout history among countless civilizations around the world, the human image, rendered in a few simple lines, offers an unmistakable representation of a unique spectacle occurring in the ancient skies.

A Signal of the Gods

Suddenly, someone pointed toward the sky. The afternoon sky had become red, later white, and then an intense yellow. The great power of the firmament was both beautiful and terrifying, the most frightening that the group had ever seen. It was a beautiful and painful demonstration of human insignificance before the gods.

The grand sparkles stayed in the sky for a time, enough for the natives to engrave the scene on their granite canvases. The axis of energy charged across space, in its path letting loose gigantic streams of gas, some flying upward and other flying downward.

“…only a few thousand years ago the terrestrial sky was ablaze with electrical activity. The ramifications of this possibility will directly affect our understanding of cultural roots. What was the impact of the recorded events on the first civilizations? What was the relationship to the origins of world mythology, to the birth of the early religions, or to monumental construction in ancient times?” asks David Talbot and Wallace Thornhill in their book “Thunderbolts of the Gods.”

The true origin of the “squatter” or “stickman”—as the petroglyph is also known—is probably one of the enigmas most beloved by scientists who specialize in plasma physics. This graphic representation can be found and appreciated in the archaeological legacies of dozens of ancient cultures around the world—cultures with no apparent connection or contact—prompting many intrepid scientists to consider the “squatter” more as an event of magnificent proportions common to different cultures, rather than a vague and repetitive representation of human anatomy.

A New Theory for an Old Universe

Even so, the squatter does not represent the point of origin for this fantastic theory.  It is but a lucky piece of evidence found among the great current of vanguard thought known as “The Electric Universe.”

Proponents of the Electric Universe (such as is titled the work of Donald Scott, one of the pioneers of the idea) maintain that plasma, an energetic state of matter, is the substance and force that both fills and governs the totality of nearly all elements existing in the universe. Confronting such an idea may make possible radically new explications of familiar theories such as the Big Bang, dark matter, and Einstein’s general relativity, among others.

But when proponents of the Electric Universe theory hold that plasma—recognized as the fourth state of matter and a substance filling 99.9 percent of the known universe—is responsible for planetary attraction instead of gravity, the idea is often dismissed or even ridiculed by conservative scientists.

What’s certain is that the behavior of electricity between the warm gases and giant magnetic fields of the stars is an area that currently lacks the necessary study to either validate or refute this curious theory. To study such fields could indicate a new understanding of these phenomena, such as the energy of gamma rays, the acceleration of the expansion of the cosmos, and the tremendous discharges of energy which were said to have occurred once long ago, in the skies of remote times.

A Question of Electricity

The behavior of electricity in warm gases at cosmic magnitudes is still a discipline in its infancy. Yet this understanding applied to different electromagnetic fields may provide an idea of how a spatial discharge could take on a quasi-human form in ancient times.

The gigantic “electric” ray of plasma would resemble a human torso represented in the figure of the “squatter,” and the discs of energy traversing the axis of the body would be spread far, like waves going in opposite directions, giving the look of arms and legs. The profile view of a third element, a central “thread” that circles the body, would appear like two points condensing toward both sides of the figure, completing the most common representation of the picture.

In this way, the repulsion among the discs together with the axis of electricity would have given place to one of the most spectacular visions that ancient humanity could have had the joy of appreciating: a great being with open arms and arched legs.

According to graphic vestiges, the figure of the squatter could be appreciated from all points of the globe. Its form appears recorded in cultures of Arizona, Armenia, New Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, the Alps, the Middle East, and China among others.

Popular Negation, the Stigma of New Theories

But the squatter may not be the only unique celestial spectacle presented to the ancient world. Different patterns repeated in petroglyphs across the entire planet could be taken to note nebulas or abysmal explosions.

For years, scientists have only recognized the sun, the moon, and other direct representations found in the cultural ancestry as vivid observations of the celestial vault, chalking up images of gods, humans, and animals to imaginary aggregates of the artists. But many modern archeologists, like Anthony Peratt, have started to validate these “intrusions” in ancient mythology as substantial facts of existence.

In the same way that the idea of a flat Earth was replaced by the round globe reality we know today, as geocentrism was displaced for heliocentrism and as the theory of relativity ousted years of Newtonian ideology, the Electric Universe threatens to produce a total upheaval of all modern theories of the cosmos.

Frequently discredited, the pioneers of this new science may not be far from running into the same luck as Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, who were only granted their due after years of neglect and derision.

For more information:
http://members.cox.net/dascott3/index.htm
http://www.the-electric-universe.info/welcome.html
http://www.catastrophism.com/texts/electricity-in-space/
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-6-1/29185.html
http://www.thunderbolts.info/

Our Moon is a Hollow Artificial Satellite

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

We've come to rely on our only natural satellite, which ceaselessly orbits our planet every 28 days. Yet when we begin to analyze the physical qualities of our familiar neighbor, many details suggest that the moon might not be that natural at all. 

‘Is the Moon a hollowed-out spaceship sent to orbit our earth in the remote prehistoric past?’ —Don Wilson, “Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon”

The moon is the most dominant feature in our night sky, inspiring both wonder and myth since antiquity. While the past few decades have offered new understanding about many lunar mysteries, a great number of unanswered questions still surround our only natural satellite. We’ve come to rely on this white planetoid, which ceaselessly orbits our planet every 28 days, as an important part of our natural world. Yet when we begin to analyze the physical qualities of our familiar neighbor, many details suggest that the moon might not be that natural at all.

A manufactured moon?! Where did this absurd theory originate? First posited in the 1960s by Russian scientists Mijail Vasin and Alexander Sherbakov—and later endorsed by investigators and colleagues intrigued by this hypothesis—the idea contains eight postulate principles analyzing some of the most curious characteristics of our lunar companion. Below is a brief summary of these observations.

First Lunar Mystery: Large Satellite, Small Planet

Compared to other planets in our solar system, both the orbit path and size of our moon turns out to be a fairly considerable anomaly. Other planets, of course, have moons too. But with their weaker gravitational influence, the smaller planets —like Mercury and Venus—do not. Similarly sized Earth, on the other hand, carries a moon one-quarter its size. Compare this with the immense Jupiter or Saturn, which have several comparatively tiny satellites (Jupiter’s moons measure about 1/80th the size of the large planet), and our moon seems to be a rather rare cosmic occurrence.

Another interesting detail is the moon’s distance from Earth—close enough so that it appears equal in size to our sun. This curious coincidence is most apparent during total solar eclipses, where the moon completely covers our closest star.

Finally, with a nearly perfect circular orbit, the moon does not behave like other satellites that tend toward a more elliptical path.

Second Lunar Mystery: Unlikely Curvature

The gravitational center of the moon is nearly 6,000 feet closer to Earth than its geometric center. With such a significant discrepancy, scientists remain unable to explain how the moon manages to maintain its nearly perfect circular orbit without wobbling.

Third Lunar Mystery: Craters

Think of photos illustrating the surface of the moon and you’re sure to imagine a world marked with craters. The vast majority of spatial bodies hurling toward Earth’s surface are either completely dissolved or significantly diminished due to several miles of our protective atmosphere. Without such an atmosphere, the moon does not appear to fare as well. Yet when you consider that the depths of these craters are remarkably shallow in comparison to their circumference, it suggests that the moon possesses an extremely resistant material that prevents deeper penetration. Even craters over 180 miles in diameter do not go deeper than 4 miles. If the moon were merely a homogeneous hunk of rock, it is estimated that there should exist craters of at least four to five times as deep.

Vasin and Sherbakov proposed that the lunar crust was perhaps made of a titanium frame. In fact, it has been verified that the lunar crust possesses an extraordinary level of titanium. The layer of titanium estimated by the Soviet team is nearly 20 miles thick.

Fourth Lunar Mystery: Lunar Oceans

How did the so-called lunar oceans form? These gigantic extensions are believed to be hardened lava said to have come from the moon’s interior due to an impacting meteorite. While this theory can be easily explained with regard to a warm planet having a molten interior, many say that the moon is more likely to have always been a cold body.

Fifth Lunar Mystery: Gravitational Inconsistency

The gravitational attraction of the moon is not uniform. The crew onboard Apollo VIII noticed their craft taking abrupt dips when flying near the satellite’s ocean areas. At these sites, gravity seems to mysteriously exhibit a greater influence.

Sixth Lunar Mystery: Geographical Asymmetry

On the moon’s far side (the side that can’t be seen from Earth), we have found many craters, mountains, and geographical upheaval. Yet the side facing Earth is where we find the great majority of the satellite’s oceans. Why are 80 percent of the lunar oceans found only on one side of the moon?

Seventh Lunar Mystery: Low Density

Our moon’s density is found to be about 60 percent of Earth’s density. Various studies demonstrate what many consider its inevitable hollowness. In his 1982 book Moongate: Suppressed Findings of the U.S. Space Program, nuclear engineer and researcher William L. Brian II writes that evidence provided by Apollo seismic experiments suggest that “the moon is hollow and relatively rigid.”  Furthermore, several scientists have been so bold as to postulate that such hollowness is artificial. In fact, according to the position of the superficial layers that have managed to be identified, scientists have declared that the moon appears to be a planet that was formed “in reverse,” which some cite as another argument for the artificial construction hypothesis.

Eighth Lunar Mystery: Other Origin Theories

Over the past century, there have been three main theories imagining the moon’s origins. One proposed that the moon was actually a part of the Earth that had broken away. Another theory believed the moon had been formed at the same time as Earth, emerging from the same cloud of primordial nebula. These hypotheses, however, fail to address the incredible differences found in the nature of both bodies. The third theory proposes that during its wandering through space, the moon was attracted to Earth and captured in its orbit. The problems with this theory lie in the explanations above: the moon’s almost perfectly circular and cyclical orbit and its comparatively large size. In cases where a satellite is captured by a planet, a more eccentric orbit would be expected—or at least something elliptical. Another problem with all three theories is their inability to justify the high angular momentum between the moon and Earth.

A fourth explanation, detailed in this article, is perhaps the most incredible of all.  However, it could explain various anomalies that the moon presents since a satellite constructed by intelligent beings is not subject to the same considerations one would expect with bodies created in a random process billions of years ago. In fact, many scientists have accepted this theory as one no less valid than the others.

“When I first stumbled across the shocking Soviet theory revealing the true nature of the moon, I was staggered. At first, I found it unbelievable and naturally rejected it. Then, as scientific information from our Apollo expeditions brought back more and more facts that backed the Soviet theory, I found myself forced to accept it,” writes Don Wilson in the prologue to his book exploring the artificial satellite theory, Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon.

If the moon were indeed artificial, what was its purpose and who built it? Was it simply made to shine a light in the night sky, or were there other design considerations? Its field is found to affect our tides, women’s menstrual cycles, and some believe that a full moon can even affect our mental state. Having become an integral part of life on Earth, it’s hard to imagine our world without the moon. But perhaps mankind once knew such a moonless age.

Man Doesn't Sleep for 41 Years: Vietnamese Farmer Ngoc Thai

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

“The sleeping shrimp is taken with the current” is an old Puerto Rican saying. Yet, all organisms require a moment of repose. All except for Vietnamese farmer Ngoc Thai.

Sleep is an indispensable necessity for human beings. And while their rest may not always resemble the unconscious state we experience, sleep is not an optional condition for the vast majority of the animal kingdom either. Even the belief that fish don’t sleep is a half-truth since many of them catch their Z’s by leaving half their brain awake while the other portion succumbs to unconsciousness. The same goes for the ostrich, which uses a similar method to both gather rest and guard against predators.

Lack of sleep is a central topic of innumerable books of medicine, with troubles well recognized among those who suffer from it. Even so, there are some cases where only a few hours can be sufficient, such the Piraha tribe of the Amazon, for whom only a short siesta serves as the most restorative slumber.  It appears that no one can go too long without sleep. 

But whenever there is a rule, someone is bound to break it.

How long can a person go without sleep? Years ago, a man named Tony Wright was able to break the previous Guinness record of 264 hours (11 days) without sleep, set by 17-year-old Randy Gardner in 1964. Unfortunately for Wright, his 266-hour sacrifice (and any subsequent attempts to break the record) will not be acknowledged by Guinness for health reasons.  However, magician and endurance artist David Blaine has recently claimed that he aimed to best Wright’s would-be title. 

While these individuals hoped to make history with their sleepless stunts, many suggest that others suffering from severe insomnia may have broken these records many times over, but have had no inclination to brag about their accomplishment.  One such case is Ngoc Thai, a Vietnamese farmer born in 1942.

One day in 1973, this life-long farmer came down with a fever. Since then he has been unable to sleep a wink. In 2007, Thai declared that he was feeling “grumpy” due to his nearly 35 years of sleeplessness; an eternal wakefulness that might be classified as a medical miracle.

Sleepless Symptoms

What usually happens when the human body goes too long without sleep? Anybody who’s pulled an “all-nighter” might be familiar with symptoms such as irritability, reduced cognitive function, a dwindling inability to concentrate, heavy fatigue, and more. For those who go several days without sleep, symptoms become severe.

Respiratory sleep physician Dr. Vikas Wadhwa at Sleep Services Australia says that a rare disease that interferes with sleep can lead to deterioration of mental and motor functions and worse.

“Extended periods of wakefulness are associated with poor health outcomes, and animals subjected to sleep deprivation have resulted in death… There is a disorder called Fatal Familial Insomnia. As part of the progression of the disorder, the person is not able to sleep and death usually occurs within a few months to a few years,” he said through an email interview.

But can this vital necessity for sleep somehow be overcome? Not merely interested in breaking records, a key part of Tony Wright’s sleepless stretch was to further his own ongoing research in examining sleep. He suggests that different amounts of sleep are needed for both sides of the brain.  He consumed a special diet and made other careful preparations for a marathon of sleepless nights that would leave most of us heading for the sheets long before 11 days were up.  Blaine is making similar dietary preparations for his upcoming sleepless record breaker.

 

Medical Miracle?

Now in his sixties, Ngoc Thai assures that a lack of sleep does not affect him physically, boasting of being able to carry two 110 lbs sacks of rice over 2 miles to his house every day. Still, Thai isn’t merely abstaining from sleep to show off, break a record, or to advance a research project.  In fact, he has tried everything in order to get some shut-eye. Be it medications or even traditional folk remedies for insomnia, Thai remains wide awake; alcohol doesn’t even seem to succeed in tumbling Ngoc. According to physicians who’ve examined him, Thai seems in perfect health, save for slightly diminished liver function.

In 2006 Ngoc told Thanh Nien News, “I don’t know if insomnia has impacted on my health or not, but I’m still healthy and I can do the farm work normally like others.”

Over thirty years without going sleep and Thai is still going strong.  What could be behind this sleepless miracle? According to Dr. Wadhwa, one explanation could be in perception. He says that for some insomniacs, the ability to clearly observe the difference between sleep and wakefulness may be lacking.

“The subject may feel they are merely resting when in actuality they are sleeping. They may also be having “Micro naps”—very short naps lasting minutes,” he said.

While Ngoc has received some media attention, scientists have yet to study his case in any detail. Meanwhile, Thai uses his additional evening hours—time not afforded to the rest of us—to do extra farm work.  Guarding the farm against theft, digging large ponds to raise fish, and waking fellow commune members for work, Ngoc has endured nearly 12,000 sleepless nights.

Additional Reporting by Matthew Robertson.

The Dropa Incident: The Ancient Eastern Roswell

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

“The Dropa came down from the clouds with their airgliders. Ten times the men, women and children of the Kham hid in the caves until sunrise. Then they understood the signs and saw that the Dropa came in peace this time.” Dropa Disc translated by Dr. Tsum Um Nui

The only legacy the shipwrecked Dropa clan left to the people of Bayan Kara Ula was their swift and fierce extermination. According to local oral history, the inhabitants of the area were disgusted by the poorly proportioned bodies of the Dropa and led a persecution against these “visitors from the sky.” Facing this attack, the diminutive Dropa, with their bulbous heads and bulging eyes, were almost entirely wiped out by 10,000 B.C.

Move 12 centuries into the future and this incredible history of the Dropa remains alive. This unusual tale might never have passed the frontiers of the desert mountain region of Bayan Kara Ula—on the border of China and Tibet—if not for the expedition of University of Beijing Professor Chi Pu Tei in 1938.

Chi Pu Tei and his student were studying a system of interconnected caves in one of the most inhospitable areas of the world, nearly 400 miles from the closest inhabitants. It is said that the professor found within the caves something much more peculiar than he was prepared to study: a grave replete with skeletons of small beings—just under 4 feet tall—buried together with rock discs and very peculiar cave paintings. These frail bodies possessed unusually large heads and did not correspond to any species that Chi Pu Tei had seen before. When it was proposed that the remains could belong to a species of primates not formerly recognized, Chi Pu Tei replied, “Who ever heard of apes burying one another?” Seven hundred and sixteen identified discs were transported back to the University of Beijing, and a few were delivered to the Soviet Union.

The discs were nearly a foot in diameter, one-third of an inch wide, and each had a carved circular or rectangular centeropening. More importantly, the majority possessed a pair of tiny spiral grooves engraved with strange characters originating at the outside of the disc, from the edge to the center.

In 1958, an investigator named Dr. Tsum Um Nui embarked on a more detailed study of these mysterious stone discs. In 1962, after spending several dedicated months studying them with the aid of a magnifying glass, Dr. Tsum deciphered the messages coded in the stones. They told of unknown histories like the forced landing of Dropa ships and their eventual demise at the hands of the local people. Dr. Tsum presented these findings to his colleagues that same year.

Despite this miraculous discovery, Dr. Tsum’s controversial revelations prompted Beijing University officials to forbid any mention of this subject. When the papers were cleared for public submission a few years later, Dr. Tsum’s work was thoroughly mocked by his colleagues.

News of the discs wouldn’t arise again until 1974, when an Austrian engineer named Ernst Wegener took Polaroids of two of the discs on display in the Museum of Bampo in Xi’an City. He immediately recognized the characteristic spiral grooves and center openings that he had only heard about in rumors.

With such a fascinating history, what became of the Dropa discs? The only known concrete evidence that still exists is the pair of Wegener photographs.

Curiously, many of the people involved in this story cannot be verified. Beijing University archives have no record of an expedition to Bayan Kara Ula, nor the existence of an investigator named Tsum Um Nui. While a lack evidence might make some believe that the discs may never have existed, consider that much of China’s controversial archaeology suffers a similar suppression. The covering up of cases like the Chinese pyramids, or the 4,000-year-old Caucasian mummies found in the desert of Takla Makán, are a reminder that such cover-up strategies have been taken to unimaginable extremes.

When the supposed history narrated on these discs matches so neatly with the oral tradition transmitted for generations in the Bayan Kara Ula region, it begs the question of how such a complex story might originate among the natives of a spaceship falling from the sky 12,000 years ago if it didn’t actually occur. The Dropa’s small stature, odd shape, and eventual genocide are constants that appear in both the story from the Dropa grave discovered by Chi Pu Tei and in the ancient legend narrated by local inhabitants.

But without hard evidence, the story remains hard to swallow. Perhaps a great quantity of Dropa-related artifacts have been misrepresented, either casually or deliberately. We are only left to wonder whether the stone discs and the ancient local tale might be hiding a truth even more profound.

Mars: The Mysterious Red Enigma

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

I remember being transfixed by the first lander image to show the horizon of Mars. This was not an alien world, I thought. I knew places like this in Colorado and Arizona and Nevada. There were rocks and sand drifts and a distant eminence, as natural and unselfconscious as any landscape on Earth. Mars was a place.

—Carl Sagan, “Blues for the Red Planet” Cosmos series 

For decades scientists have debated whether human life on the planet could ever be a feasible option considering Martian geology, water reserves, and other obstacles to be overcome in a future colonization. Despite these concerns, many still insist Earth’s frozen friend could be a new frontier. But as the idea is explored, it provokes some curious questions. Are we really prepared to think about Mars?

When it comes to candidates for future colonization, Mars is a promising place. It’s comparatively close and accessible—a whole lot more welcoming than what we would probably find exploring dozens of planetary systems at far greater distances. As far as other contenders, it’s a better candidate than our moon, according to Robert Zubrin, former chairman of the National Space Society. Perhaps because humankind has long been able to actually see Mars in the night sky, some believe that fate has favored humanity with a possible second home.

Even so, the red planet still remains some distance from our Earth, such that modern technology has yet to place a single human being on its soil. The result is a kind of intimacy barrier in that this seemingly close acquaintance we have so ingratiated has never become a true friend. The data we have tells us that its surfaces are frozen and its atmosphere is currently too inclement for human life, but it may not have always been that way. Experiments on the Martian surface, and the thousands of photographs and resonance images sent from orbiting satellites, have shown us with almost total certainty that Mars had at one time possessed liquid water. There is evidence for a Martian past with rain, rivers, lakes, and even a modest ocean. Mars is also rich in carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen—essential resources for supporting life. These are the characteristics that most distinguish Mars as a definitive candidate for future colonization.

While the Martian atmosphere does show some promise, its –58 F below zero temperatures and ultraviolet radiation would make even a brief stay rather uncomfortable.  Some have suggested thawing the Martian icecaps and the banks of water hidden under its powdery surface to make the planet more inhabitable. But even so, water is not the only mystery hidden within the planet. There is still much to know about our red neighbor, though the answers often elude us.

Since the 1960s, Mars has seen dozens of orbiters, landers, and other earthly visitors, but most have ended in varying degrees of failure. Some jokingly blame the “Galactic Ghoul”—a fictitious space monster intent on stopping exploration of the red planet—for the costly setbacks. 

 

Ancient Civilization?

Another mystery to ponder is the distant Martian past, as some believe that civilizations have already existed there. Aside from what appears to be pyramids and other structures seen on a part of the planet known as Cydonia, many are intrigued by what appears to be a giant face planted on Martian soil. While the European Space Agency has insisted that the “face” as seen in a photo taken during the 1976 Viking mission is simply a photographic distortion, the former curator of Astronomy & Space Science at the Springfield Museum of Science in Massachusetts, Richard C. Hoagland, believes otherwise. 

“Long before men looked at Mars and dreamed of going there one day, someone may have looked at Earth and watched it rise, green and sparkling, before a Martian dawn.  We have seen the evidence—a collection of enigmatic artifacts lying in the reddened Martian sands—and it is staggering: the possible ruins of a City, crumbling for all too many years back into the windswept wastes of the fourth planet of the sun,” writes Hoagland in the introduction of his 2002 book, “The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever.”

Further Exploration

Whether Mars enjoyed a past civilization is up for debate, but most agree that to make future colonization a reality, extensive research and exploration is still required. In the last few years President Bush has proposed a manned mission to the red planet, but the cost for such a project would be astronomical.

Till the end of his life, the astronomer Carl Sagan was an outspoken advocate for a manned mission to Mars. He was not daunted by cost, arguing that public officials had lost comparable sums in the savings and loans scandal. Yet Sagan remained practical concerning loftier goals. “The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand,” writes Sagan in his 2004 book, “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.”

Maybe a colonized Mars will one day be a reality—a solution to the dilemma of the population explosion that nips at the heels of humanity. But for now, still too little is known about the inhospitable red planet to turn it into a trustworthy friend. Aside from actually getting there, fundamental problems of obtaining food and energy resources would also be significant hurdles to overcome. Even within our small blue home called Earth, we continue to struggle with these issues.

Intuition > Intelligence: Our Sixth Sense that Guides Our Decisions

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

Do we possess a sixth sense?

“Happy; angry; happy … definitely happy.” As a machine monitored his brain, 52-year-old “Patient X” did not seem to be guessing faces at random despite having suffered two cerebral hemorrhages that had seriously damaged his brain’s visual processing center.

Though blind, Patient X was presented with photographs of faces expressing fear, happiness, and other emotions, and correctly perceiving them at a percentage much higher than would be expected by pure chance. Could this be a means of “sight” that lies outside of ocular vision? Or is it simply a mode of receptivity yet to be recognized?

Dr. Alan Pegna from the University of New South Wales in Australia and his investigation team in Geneva, Switzerland, were amazed at the results seen in the study. During the scan, Patient X’s brain showed marked activity in the right amygdala. The reading was identical to that made by a subject with an undamaged brain engaged in the same activity.

For many neuroscientists, the recent experience with Patient X suggests an exciting possibility—adding one more sense to the five thus far known. For others, it is no more than science’s prelude to investigating the already well-known, and time-honored, capacity of intuition.

Although intuition has had little scientific recognition over the last century, the acknowledgment of this ability has gained momentum in the field of neurophysiology in recent years. This supposed capacity to know about things that have not yet happened, far-away events, or imminent changes in the immediate environment has been well known by basically all native peoples across the world for millennia—despite its long-held rejection by skeptical scientific circles.

Hypersensitivity or the Sixth Sense?

“The sea has brought up hundreds of human bodies, but there is not a single dead elephant. Nor is there to be found even one cat or hare … it is very strange that no animal deaths have been registered.” These observations made after the Asian tsunami in 2004 by a Sri Lankan government official raises some interesting questions.

Notably, do animals have the capacity to sense imminent danger? How did they escape the tsunami? Only minutes before the sea surged forth, tearing up more than two miles of solid earth, the animal life fled desperately toward the high areas of the island.

At the same time, the native tribes in the region, having 60,000 years of contact with the natural environment, emulated the animals’ behavior and also fled to higher ground. The result was that practically all of the native inhabitants survived the water’s harsh onslaught.

But how exactly did the indigenous peoples and animals perceive the imminent threat? Is it reasonable to suggest that intuition is responsible? And if so, how does this enigmatic biological mechanism work?

The answer, of course, is not as easy to articulate as the question. According to some investigators, the native people of the island have, over the years, developed important lessons from living so close to the natural world.

For example, they felt the resonance of the footsteps of the wild elephants as they rushed toward the interior of the island, and also took note of the strange behavior of the dolphins, iguanas, and the wild revolt of island birds. In this way, they effectively managed to perceive what modern radar systems, which were not functioning on the date of the tsunami, could not.

According to an article in the popular publication Science, investigators from Washington University, St. Louis, say that the indigenous peoples’ key to anticipation lies in an area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate. This section of cerebral geography becomes active in situations of environmental change imperceptible to the conscious mind but is nevertheless necessary for the survival of the individual.

Yet to understand how animals intuited the coming tsunami in the first place may be an even more difficult task. Some animal researchers suggest that clues such as changes in air pressure, subtle vibrations felt emanating from the ground, or the faint sounds of approaching waves—cues otherwise imperceptible to human senses—may help clue some organisms about a coming danger.

However, many scientists believe, in this case as well as with Patient X, that there must exist a different method through which life-forms may perceive their environment—different than via sounds, vibrations, smells, images, or taste. It is documented that birds and other animals abandon an area just before a volcanic eruption.

In the same way, Chinese biologists have made studies determining that several minutes before an earthquake, the cats, dogs, and other domestic species of an area become quite agitated and in some cases even howl, bark, or meow uncontrollably. The investigators describe that during these episodes, snakes abandon their holes, birds flutter in their cages, and rats run around frantically.

A Dormant Capacity

The initial experiment was simple, consisting of 40 volunteers and one pair of photographers per test. The director of the experiment, Ronald Rensink, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Psychology at the University of British Columbia, set out to describe how car accidents were caused in cases where the drivers responsible for the collisions did not see the cars they crashed into. The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.

Initially, the volunteers were shown a photo of a road, which refreshed periodically with an identical image. At a random moment during an image refresh, a change to the image was made—items were removed, altered, or added, for example—and these alterations, even when significant, were often found difficult to perceive.

The test required that the subjects press a buzzer at the moment they noticed a change in the sequence of images. A big surprise came during the experiment when a few of the volunteers asked Rensink if they had to press the buzzer only when they actually saw the change, or if they could press it at the moment they intuited that a change was going to come.

This changed the investigation drastically. Rensink noticed that not only did the majority of the volunteers realize at the exact moment that the change was made but in addition one-third of the subjects buzzed immediately before the changed picture was shown.

This study appears to demonstrate that intuition could well be an extrasensory way of detecting infinitesimal changes in the environment. It suggests that we may have a capacity to perceive stimuli impossible to detect with even advanced technological devices.

So can we take steps to improve our intuitive capabilities? What would such improvements require? And why do animals appear to have a better intuitive sense than we do?

Ancient people, intimately tied to the cycles of nature, took great pride in their intuitive visions. Some suggest that as a contemporary man increasingly relies more on technology for his understanding of the world, his intuition atrophies as a result. In our modern culture, intuitive notions are often discouraged in favor of something that can be more easily verified.

As science struggles to acknowledge this astonishing human ability, does our advancing technological environment also suppress our innate intuitive gifts?

The Mysterious Coral Castle: Built with Anti-Gravity Technology

By Epoch Times

The enigmatic Coral Castle is made of huge rock slabs totaling over 1100 tons, yet one man cut, quarried and set the stones himself. 

How were monuments such as Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids of Giza, Sacsayhuaman fortress and other ancient monuments built? Many scientists believe that in some cases workers numbering in the tens of thousands were needed simply to move the massive stones to the construction site.

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However, a small Latvian man insisted that these ancient structures were assembled with much more ease than we might imagine, using a building secret that has been lost to the ages. He even claimed to be able to put these techniques into practice at the mysterious Coral Castle.

At 25, Edward Leedskalnin was engaged to marry a woman 10 years his junior—Agnes Scuffs, who he affectionately nicknamed his “sweet sixteen.” Lamentably, the night before his wedding, Edward’s bride changed her mind, never to return to his side. Surprisingly, Leedskalnin went on to construct a truly magical castle in memory of his lost love.

Following his heartbreak and a bout of tuberculosis, Leedskalnin departed from his native Latvia, toward the United States. He set up in Florida City, and there he was able to realize one of the more impressive (and enigmatic) construction efforts ever undertaken by a single man: “Coral Castle” or as Leedskalnin called it, “Rock Gate Park.”

Erected entirely of stone—that Leedskalnin quarried, cut and set himself—the grand edifice is constructed of gigantic slabs, some of which weigh up to 30 tons. Through twenty-eight years of solitary work, and with only the aid of simple tools of Edward’s own design—a tackle and chain hoist made from old telephone poles—Coral Castle became a reality.

Yet, instead of sharing his mysterious building methods with the world, Leedskalnin made every effort to protect the secret behind his stone moving feats. Many have speculated on his process, but no one has been able to recreate the seemingly effortless movement of such large stones. 

According to one legend, children spied on Leedskalnin one night and witnessed large stone slabs floating in the air like “hydrogen balloons.”

In 1936, Leedskalnin wanted to move his entire structure to nearby Homestead and hired a truck to carry the stones—the only time he enlisted help in his endeavors. Always intent on protecting his secret, Leedskalnin insisted that the driver leave his truck at the site overnight, so that he could load the huge slabs himself.  The driver doubted his claim; but as promised, the next day Leedskalnin had the stones stacked on the large trailer, ready to transport.

 

Man of Mystery

The construction of Coral Castle is riddled with mystery. How could one person move over 1100 tons of large stone slabs needed to build this massive structure? While Leedskalnin never explicitly disclosed his building secrets, he did leave writings suggesting a series of experiments using magnets, hinting that his methods came through the study of the earth’s magnetic fields. Did Leedskalnin, as some have claimed, discover how to overcome gravity?

Leedskalnin was evasive when directly questioned about making Coral Castle, but he claimed to possess techniques once known by ancient builders—techniques like those used to construct the great Egyptian pyramids. He even teasingly referenced that the method was quite easy, once you knew the secret.

One of the more miraculous features of Coral Castle is the nine-ton stone block used as a gate at the entrance of the castle. Leedskalnin set this large stone with such precision that it could be easily opened with the gentlest push. In 1986, over thirty years after Leedskalnin’s passing, the gate had to be repaired and the job required a six-man crew with a twenty-ton crane to move the large stone slab. Yet despite the extra muscle, this group of men was still not able to set the gate with the same precision as before.

The interior of the Coral Castle itself is a display of exquisite artistry and engineering marvels. It is officially considered a historic monument and has been transformed into an open museum for all who are curious and wish to try their hand at unveiling the mystery of how the eccentric Latvian lived and worked. Sets of tables and chairs decorate the coral garden, while staircases and sundials are set with minute precision—a testament to Leedskalnin’s mysterious abilities.

It is said that Leedskalnin was never seen working on his Coral Castle, though neighbors reported a light in his workshop tower accompanying strange singing late into the night. What sort of technology did Leedskalnin use and why would he want to keep such a miraculous discovery a secret?  Did he, in fact, possess the same building secrets employed in the ancient world?  We are merely left to speculate, as Leedskalnin offers only the clues of the structure itself, taking the methods for building it to his grave.