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| | Invited Essay |
| Michael D. SWORDS | Using the Study of Anomalies to Enhance Critical Thinking in the Classroom | 123-136 |
| | Abstract: n upper-class college seminar-style course for general science
credit is described. The primary function of the offering is to elicit higher
cognitive thought from the students (analysis, synthesis, evaluation). The
student experience from this course indicates not only that they had much
to learn as regard to the state of evidence for many of the anomalies (from
Psi to UFOs to Cryptozoology to Reincarnation), but that researchers and
the "science establishment" are all demonstrating flaws and failures in their
approaches to these subjects. |
|
| Marsha HANCOCK ADAMS | Some Observations of Electromagnetic Signals Prior to California Earthquakes | 137-152 |
| | Abstract: Electromagnetic (EM) signals in the frequency range below
1,000 Hz have been monitored since 198 1 for the purpose of earthquake
forecasting. Signal strength increased more than 7 standard deviations
above the mean prior to 3 major California Earthquakes; Coalinga (1983),
Whittier Narrows ( 1987), and Lorna Prieta ( 1989). The signal increases
occurred 10 days to one month prior to the earthquakes. They were continuously elevated until after each earthquake occurred.
An effort to forecast time and location of smaller earthquakes in the
magnitude 2-4 range is underway. Expert system software has been developed to interpret the EM signals in near real time. The expert system makes
forecasts on a daily basis for selected areas in California. A preliminary
statistical analysis of recent forecasts appears promising, yielding probabilities of p 1 * or better.
On August 7, 1990 another series of strong signals began. They have
continued for an unprecedented length of time and are still present at the
time of submission of this paper on October 16, 1990. |
|
| William H. JEFFERYS | Bayesian Analysis of Random Event Generator Data | 153-169 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 8 Number 2 /1994 - Erratum: Bayesian Analysis of Random Event Generator Data [Jefferys, William H.]
| |
| | Abstract: Data from experiments that use random event generators are
usually analyzed by classical (frequentist) statistical tests, which summarize
the statistical significance of the test statistic as a p-value. However, classical
statistical tests are frequently inappropriate to these data, and the resulting
p-values can grossly overestimate the significance of the result. Bayesian
analysis shows that a small p-value may not provide credible evidence that
an anomalous phenomenon exists. An easily applied alternative methodology is described and applied to an example from the literature. |
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| | |
| Antonia MILLS | Moslem Cases of the Reincarnation Type in Northern India: A Test of the Hypothesis of Imposed Identification Part I: Analysis of 26 Cases | 171-188 |
| | Abstract: The author describes the features of 26 Moslem (or half-Moslem) cases of the reincarnation type in India. In eight of these cases a Moslem child is said to have recalled the life of a Moslem. In seven cases a
Moslem child is said to have recalled a life as a Hindu, and in 11 cases a
Hindu child is said to have recalled the life of a Moslem (these are referred to
as half-Moslem cases). Most Moslems in India do not officially endorse the
concept of human earthly reincarnation. In some instances the absence of
the doctrine in Islam made Moslems hostile to investigation of the cases.
However, the cases are generally very similar to the more common Hindu
cases, except that in solved Moslem and half-Moslem cases a higher proportion of previous personalities died violently, and the subjects in the halfMoslem cases showed behavior and (in two instances) birthmarks appropriate for the other religious community. Both Hindu and Moslem parents
found it troubling to have a child recall a past life in a different religion.
Such cases are unlikely to be the result of subtle clues given the child to
adopt an envied identity. |
| Antonia MILLS | Moslem Cases of the Reincarnation Type in Northern India: A Test of the Hypothesis of Imposed Identification Part II: Reports of Three Cases | 189-202 |
| | Abstract: The author describes three cases of the reincarnation type in
India in which either the subject or the previous personality (or both) were
Moslem. In one case both the child and the person she was said to be were
Moslem. In the second case, a Hindu child claimed to be a Moslem. The
third case not only remains unsolved (that is, no one was ever found who
corresponded to the child's statements), but probably represents a spurious
case. In this case or non-case, a Moslem child gave some indication of
recalling being a Hindu Brahmin. Moslems do not endorse the concept of
reincarnation and, therefore, approach cases skeptically. The cases are presented in some detail so the readers can assess for themselves to what extent
the cases represent evidence that something paranormal by Western standards (such as reincarnation) may be taking place. |
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| Michel PARROT | Electromagnetic Disturbances Associated With Earthquakes: An Analysis of Ground-Based and Satellite Data | 203-211 |
| | Abstract: Several observations were made of Very Low Frequency (VLF)
emissions apparently associated with earthquakes, which were recorded independently at ground-based stations and on satellites. The observations at
the Kerguelen station (49"26'S, 70°25'E) were made using magnetic antennae, on April 24 and 25, 1980, during a period when three earthquakes with
magnitude Ms > 4.7 took place near the station. Several increases of electromagnetic waves at the time of earthquakes were recorded on the polar-orbiting satellite AUREOL-3. The observations on the geostationary GEOS-2
satellite were made using magnetic and electric antennae during the period
1977- 198 1. Data were analysed for those cases when both intense (M, > 5)
earthquakes occurred in the region close to the satellite longitude and the
satellite was operating in the VLF mode. A statistical analysis, based on the
enhancement of wave intensity at the time of earthquakes and using GEOS2 data, seems to indicate that there is a (possibly indirect) association between seismic activity and some of the VLF emissions observed at the
satellite. Ionospheric measurements made from the ground also showed an
increase of the critical frequencyfoE, of the sporadic layer Es when earthquakes occurred nearby. Some aspects of the relation between the VLF
emissions and the seismic activity are discussed. |
|
| C. M. PLEASS, N. Dean DEY | Conditions That Appear to Favor Extrasensory Interactions Between Homo Sapiens and Microbes | 213-231 |
| | Abstract: We report laser Doppler studies of the possibility of extrasensory
interactions between Homo sapiens and isolated unicellular microbes, and
unattended computer-controlled studies of the response of cultures of microbes to the distant sacrifice of clones.
From the first series of experiments we find evidence that the focussed
attention and intention of a person in nominal physical isolation from a
culture of Dunaliella tertiolecta can influence their activity. Averaging of all
data from a total of 25 1 trials strongly suggested the rejection of the null
hypothesis. However, a subset of 1 18 formal trials conducted with more
restrictive protocols were only marginally significant.
A second series of experiments used the sacrifice of clones as a distant
stimulus. The data appear to show that the marine alga Tetraselrnis suecica
reacts dramatically to the sacrifice of cells in a physically isolated aliquot of
the same culture if the experimenters are aware of the moment of sacrifice,
and excited by the novelty of the experiment. In sharp contrast, only marginally significant results were obtained when the same experiment was run
entirely automatically, with the time of the sacrifice defined by random
number selection, and the experiment activated by computer command in
an empty laboratory.
A third series appears to illustrate a difference between the effect of the
attention of experimenters and participants in a formal series, and the more
highly developed states of excitement and interest which normally characterize pilot trials.
In conclusion, we draw attention to the support which our observations
provide for an "experimenter effect." Our present working hypothesis is
that the result of any experiment is a form of environmental feedback, a
complex manifestation of the conscious and subconscious expectations of
the experimenter and the participants. |
|
| Helmut SCHMIDT | Correlation Between Mental Processes and External Random Events | 233-241 |
| | Abstract: The report reviews the author's early work on the precognition
of quantum processes, including changes introduced as safeguards against
errors |
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| Ian STEVENSON | Phobias in Children Who Claim to Remember Previous Lives | 243-254 |
| | Abstract: In a series of 387 children who claimed to remember a previous
life phobias occurred in 14 1 (36%). The phobias nearly always corresponded
to the mode of death in the life of the deceased person the child claimed to
remember. They usually manifested between the ages of 2 and 5, and sometimes the child showed the phobia in early infancy before it had begun to
speak about a previous life. The phobias did not derive from imitating
another member of the family or from any postnatal traumatic experience.
They seem to require some paranormal explanation of which, however,
reincarnation is only one. |
|
| William A. TILLER | A Gas Discharge Device for Investigating Focussed Human Attention | 255-271 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 5 Number 2 /1991 - Comments on A Gas Discharge Device for Investigating Focussed Human Attention
| |
| | Abstract: A gas discharge cell with dielectric-coated electrodes and -- 1
mm gap was operated at voltages -- several percent below breakdown for
the purpose of measuring an effect of focussed human attention on electron
microavalanche size in the gas. An enhanced counting rate of supercritical
size microavalanches was observed under a well-defined protocol when focussed human attention was active. It was found that humans can either
enhance the microavalanche number and size or leave the system unchanged depending upon their mental focus. Here, the device design as well
as the effects of various gases, dielectrics, shielding, etc., are discussed. |
|
| James W. WARWICK | Radio Emissions From an Earthquake | 273-279 |
| | Abstract: -Earlier we associated radio emission preceeding the great Chilean earthquake of 1960 with the quake by virtue of the emission region's
size (if its source were the subsequently observed rupture zone) and the
required direction of arrival at the observation station in Boulder, Colorado. Through analysis of the power relations between the emission in total
power and signal levels in the interferometer, which failed to observe the
emission in phase power, it is possible to deduce the least source size, under
the plausible assumption that the emissions propagated nearly horizontally.
This size is 3.1 degrees; the next larger possible solution for sources at this
azimuthal range is 6.2 degrees. For signals arriving from the azimuth of the
center of the rupture zone as seen from Boulder, the least source size is 3.47
degrees; a solution of 6.94 degrees is also possible. The total span of the
rupture zone in azimuth was 3.5 plus or minus 0.2 degrees. The agreement
with the least source size for the azimuth of the rupture zone is excellent and
is further evidence for the reality of the association |
|
| | Letters to the Editor |
| | Comments on Remote Viewing and Computer Communications-An Experiment | 281 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 2 Number 1 /1988 - Remote Viewing and Computer Communications-An Experiment [Vallée, Jacques]
| |
| | Comments on Vallee's Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects | 282-284 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 4 Number 1 /1990 - Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects [Vallée, Jacques F.]
| |
Collection: Libriufo
