Do subatomic particles have free will?

If humans have the least bit of free will, then subatomic particles do too, claim two scientists. Read more here.

Dean Radin, PhD, on psi phenomenon

Dean Radin is a scientist investigating the reality of psi phenomenon, and has some interesting things to say. It turns out that there is quite a lot of evidence for it, and it is starting to be less taboo, as a subject of study or even discussion.

If you want more detail, check out this longer lecture Radin gave at Google. It's quite good.

A New Marriage of Brain and Computer

This is a lecture given by Stuart Hameroff at the GoogleTechTalk series, regarding his theory on the quantum basis of consciousness. I have been increasingly swayed by the quantum-consciousness argument over the last couple decades.

The problem with strident scientism

In The Dawkins delusion: science good, the rest bad astrologer Neil Spencer makes some telling points on how arch-skeptics can be just as dogmatic as non-scientists. I've enjoyed Dawkins' earlier books such as The Blind Watchmaker and The Extended Phenotype, but I find his new crusade against mysticism irritating.

He rails against radical fundamentalism as the harbinger of a new dark age, without realizing he's just as radical and just as fundamentalist.

Oxford philosopher discovers the Matrix

Try not to bump anyone on the way in... The party's already underway, glad you could join us, Professor Bostrom. Grab a drink.

Our Lives, Controlled from Some Guy's Couch

A turn-of-the-century near death experience

The Physician Who Watched Himself Die is an article containing a fascinating excerpt from a 1903 book on psychical phenomenon entitled Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death. It's remarkably consistent with what we know of the Near Death Experience: the velcro-like ripping sound a person hears as their awareness separates itself from the body, the discovery of a boundary one may not cross without losing the ability to return to the body, the notion of accomplishing a mission during one's life, etc. Amazing stuff.

If you are at all interested in Near Death Experience research, I highly recommend you visit the NDERF and www.near-death.com. There are many articles as well as reports written by experiencers themselves. You'll find that while some of the material is couched in religious terms, a lot of it is not, and is compellingly consistent in its overall description.