Nautis Project

Sheldrake’s most popular work has been about the sense of being stared at, pets that know when their owners are coming home, and homing pigeons. However, there are 4 other very interesting experiments that don’t get as much attention. Here is a brief overview of those:

1. Variability of Fundamental Constants
2. Organization of Termites
3. Reality of Phantom Limbs
4. Effects of Experimenters’ Expectations

The University of Florida’s Canine Cognition and Behavior Lab has received a research grant to investigate the human-animal bond and its implications for human consciousness research. Dr. Clive Wynne is the lead researcher on the project, “I am thrilled to be involved with what I hope will be the definitive study into how dogs know when their owners are coming home. This is important work that will deepen our understanding of the dog - human bond.” The grant was awarded by Alex Tsakiris, of Skeptiko as part an ongoing effort to support research into controversial science.

An interview with Dr. Wynne on Skeptio

A man accused of stabbing a lecturer on thought transference last month at a downtown Santa Fe hotel will remain in jail unless he can come up with $250,000.

On Friday, state District Judge Michael Vigil set the cash-only bond for Kazuki Hirano of Yokohama, Japan, who has been held for a month at the Santa Fe County jail on a charge of attempted aggravated battery with a knife or, in the alternative, attempted murder. If convicted of the first charge, he faces up to three years in prison. If convicted of the second, he faces up to nine years. No further hearings have been set in the case.

Read more…

We may be looking at a McCain/Clinton ticket this November. How funny would that be? Today, the New York Times is reporting that McCain and Clinton have teamed up for the latest boneheaded political scam so far (there is still great potential before November though). From the Times, “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season.”

Wow, .20 a gallon. In other words, you could drive round-trip from Miami, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska (10,000 miles) and the tax break would save you about $100. A more realistic estimate is around 1,000 miles this summer. That will equal a whopping savings of around $9.50. I wonder how much money it would cost all of us, as taxpayers, for those morons to pass, repeal, instate, and reinstate the gasoline tax? The campaign managers of both Clinton and McCain have done their homework and are brilliantly playing to America’s continuing and increasing stupidity.

Read the article…

If you are a Skype user and would like join a live conference call to discuss Rupert Sheldrake’s theories and experiments feel free to join in. If you have any related experiences (a dog that knows when you are coming home, being stared at from behind, etc.) you would like to share or new ideas for experiments … please join the call.

The call is Sunday May 18, 4:00 PM EST (GMT-05). I tried to choose a time that would allow just about any time zone to jump on the call. Anyway, the call will be recorded and anything interesting I will forward along to Dr. Sheldrake. Skype is free and so are Skypecasts.

Join the call at Skypecast!

This year The Edge asked leading thinkers, “What have you changed your mind about? Why?” This is a great question. You should check out some of the answers. Here is Rupert Sheldrake’s answer to the question:

I used to think of skepticism as a primary intellectual virtue, whose goal was truth. I have changed my mind. I now see it as a weapon. Creationists opened my eyes. They use the techniques of critical thinking to expose weaknesses in the evidence for natural selection, gaps in the fossil record and problems with evolutionary theory. Is this because they are seeking truth? No. They believe they already know the truth. Skepticism is a weapon to defend their beliefs by attacking their opponents.

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