Psychic Surgeries: More Harm Than Good?

      The question at hand is "Do psychic surgeries do more harm than good?" Psychic surgeries appear to be on the rise, with more and more people turning to "Holistic Healing". The problem with this is, do these surgeries really help? The United States took notice of this procedure in 1959 after the publication of "Into the Strange Unknown", by Ron Ormond and Ormond McGill. The authors called this procedure "fourth dimensional surgery", and wrote " [We] still don't know what to think; but we have motion pictures to show it wasn't the work of any normal magician, and could very well be just what the Filipinos said it was-a miracle of God performed by a fourth dimensional surgeon."
    The purpose of these surgeries vary from very benign illnesses to claims of curing cancer. The surgeons use nothing but their bare hands to remove whatever the ailment is, and when the surgery is complete the incision requires no stitches, not even a bandage. This all sounds to good to be true to me, and many other people feel the same way. In 1975 the Federal Trade Commission declared that "psychic surgery is nothing but a total hoax."
                             

   Some consequences of people foregoing actual medical treatment and going to a psychic surgeon are that they may actually believe that this procedure will work, and by the time they see an actual medical doctor it could be to late. While the procedure may not be directly hazardous to the patient, the delay the patient may wait to see an actual doctor could be extremely harmful and even fatal.
    In my point of view, since there is no data to show that psychic surgeries can help in the slightest bit, if  you have an illness go to a medical doctor. Many people have been able to prove that these procedures are nothing but slight-of-hand, and with a little practice anyone could be a psychic surgeon. Many magicians, including James Randi, and Criss Angel have shown exactly how this procedure is done, and some of the tricks to pull one of these procedures off.
http://youtu.be/sxMGxz6-oTs this link will take you to the James Randi video, that shows how these procedures are done.

Levitation

Information:
Levitation is the art of ascending into the air and floating in apparent defiance of gravity. According to eyewitnesses, Daniel Home levitated several times in the 1800's. As Milbourne Christopher debunked Home's magic trick by stating that he simply took off his shoes in a dark room and acted as they were rising when he was lifting them in the air. Levitation can also be found in different religions. These people associate levitation with being possessed or being so blessed that they are given this gift. This "gift" has been around for a very long time and is still said to be used. For example, Criss Angel has not only levitated himself but a whole room of people in L.A. He also has came out with his book, which has a do it yourself levitation trick in it. Also used in movies, levitation makes people believe that something important is happening. This art can sometimes be hard to debunk but no matter how many succeed in debunking, people around the world will still believe it is possible, and in fact try to do it themselves.



Purpose:
The purpose of doing this trick is to show that the magician can over come gravity, which is quite impossible and when done seems amazing. For the religious people saying that they levitate, it is because they believe that they are very blessed and it is a way of showing people how blessed they really are. You are more likely to see this act in horror films where the person is possessed and lifts off the ground, this is to show how powerful one force can be.

Question at issue:
The questions that need to be answered is why do many people believe they can perform this trick. And how are there so many meanings to just this one simple act. Does it really have to do with being blessed or just overcoming gravitational force? Many people believe this could be true. Knowing these questions make people more curious about what is happening.

Point of View:
From my point of view, this is not possible. We know to much about how gravity works and how there is really no way to actually make yourself float. If it were possible, everyone would do it and no longer need other means of travel. I am an open minded person but this seems extreme. Yes, it does fascinate me to watch people like Criss Angel perform this trick, but no I wouldn't try it myself. To me, people believe in this to make them feel better, whether its for religion or just a magic trick.

The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome

Have you ever eaten Chinese food, through take-out or at a buffet, and felt "sick" afterwards?  After eating Chinese food, have you suffered symptoms of: 

• Headache
• Flushing
• Sweating
• Facial pressure or tightness
• Numbness, tingling or burning in face, neck and other areas
• Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations)
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Weakness

When discussing this with others, have they told you that it is due to the MSG (monosodium glutamate) in the food? If you have answered yes to any of these symptoms, you have suffered from Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Is Chinese Restaurant Syndrome real and is MSG the cause of all these symptoms?

Before, I further discuss Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, what is MSG and why is it so predominant is Chinese food?

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of a glutamic acid and is generally used as a flavor enhancer, mostly used in Chinese food, canned and processed foods. The FDA has declared that MSG is generally recognized as safe. However, because of the controversy surrounding MSG, the FDA still requires that food labels indicate the presence of MSG in the product.

Despite the category the FDA has placed MSG under, why do so many people still negatively correlate MSG with feeling sick?
It all started in 1968 (New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Ho Man Kwok) , when the first report of reactions to Chinese food (symptoms would occur 15-20 min. after consumption) reports began to surface and as a result of those reports, the majority of people assumed that MSG was the culprit. From that point on MSG has gained a bad rep from the general public and the term "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" has come about. It was assumed that MSG was unsafe but that was debunked by the FDA. Another assumption made by the general public is that MSG is artificially made in a lab, when in fact it occurs naturally in foods such as certain cheeses, tomatoes and mushrooms. The most common assumption is that MSG causes headaches for those who consume more amounts.


There has been no scientific evidence that has proven the existence in the link between MSG and these symptoms. Several tests have been completed in which humans would consume many grams of MSG in their diet and negative consequences have not occurred. Scientists have agreed that other factors many contribute to those symptoms, rather than the MSG being the sole cause of these symptoms, and that some are more sensitive to MSG than others. The FDA has even gave the "ok" for a normal amount of consumption of MSG that would not result in these symptoms.


I feel that Chinese Restaurant Syndrome is the result of a Placebo Effect on the general public. So many people go out to eat Chinese food either through take out or buffet and just overwhelm themselves with food. With the 1968 report, the public can justify these symptoms as part of a real sickness that occurs when consuming Chinese food. Once people are told that these symptoms will occur after consumption, they feel like it really is happening to them. In other words, people who are afraid of MSG are prone to the symptoms that they were told about or heard from others. As famous food critic Jeffrey Steingarten said, "If MSG is bad for you, why doesn't everyone in China have a headache?" This question, in turn, disproves the myth of MSG as the leading cause of Chinese Food Syndrome. Since MSG is used so widely in Asia, why don't they suffer from those symptoms listed above?


http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/jul/10/foodanddrink.features3
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16999713
http://www.livestrong.com/article/464601-what-are-the-myths-of-monosodium-glutamate/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001126.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/monosodium-glutamate/AN01251

MagnaSoles

MagnaSoles

The MagnaSoles shoe inserts stimulate and soothe the stressed and sore- footed wearer's feet using five forms of pseudoscience. Magnets, reflexology, and healing powers have made MagnaSoles a very popular item for those individual's who have been feeling a great deal of pain.

What are MagnaSoles? What are the Implications behind the Magnasoles inserts?

According to the creator, Dr. Arthur Bluni, "What makes MagnaSoles different from other involves is the way it harnesses the power of magnetism to properly align the biomagnetic field around your foot. Its patened Magna- Grid design, which features more than 200 isometrically aligned Contour Points, actually soothes while it heals, restoring the foot's natural bio flow." Bluni says are not just a shoe insert however it is claimed to be a "total foot- rejuvenation system."



Theories Behind The Creation MagnaSoles
The Contour Points also take a semi- plausible medical technique known as reflexology. Reflexology establishes a correspondence between every point on the human foot and another part of the body. This correspondence enables the soles of an individual's soles to heal your entire body as a person walks. Not only does the power of Magnetism and Reflexology play key roles into the appearance and usefulness of MagnaSoles; but also according to the website, "Only MagnaSoles utilize the healing power of crystals to re- stimulare dead foot cells with vibrational biofeedback...a process similar to that by which medicine makes people better."


Pseudoscience Claims
Dr. Wayne Frankel of California State University is a biotrician who discovered Terranometry.
Frankel states that the principles of Terranometry resonates from a very precise frequency, which is imparts to the surfaces it touches. Frankel states,"If the frequency of one's foot is out of alignment with the Earth, the entire body will suffer. Special resonator nodules implanted at key spots in MagnaSoles convert the wearer's own energy to match the Earth's natural vibrational rate of 32.805 kilofrankels. The resultant harmonic energy field rearranges the foot's naturally occurring atoms, converting the pain-nuclei into pleasing comfortrons."


Information regarding MagnaSoles
MagnaSoles began at a starting price of $19.95. Individuals who are buying the shows are claiming that these new shoes are an alternative form of the expensive, effective forms of traditional medicine.
Some customers who had claimed that they had an awful twisted ankle and after purchasing the inserts after wearing the insert soles for 7 weeks-  they noticed a significant decrease in pain and can now walk comfortably. "Just try to prove that MagnaSoles didn't heal me!"


Point of View
After reading the reviews by the customers I have found that the information sounds very in depth and detailed, however customer reviews seem a bit bias. The woman who claimed that she had a terrible twisted ankle, said that after 7 weeks she felt better. However, after 7 weeks any twisted ankle should be fully recovered. Is it the soles, or is it just time that healed the twisted ankle? Depending on the indivual's belief the MagnaSole may be a beneficial purchase, nonetheless it is all a form of pseudoscience due to its lack of generated research and actual evidence that it does in fact heal those stressed and sore footed people.

What goes around comes around, Karma

QUESTIONS: The idea of Karma has been around for centuries among the Eastern population, Why is this belief so popular?  Also if such is true does Karma help identify good people from bad people? Many people believe in Karma because it seems to be an explanation as to why the fortunate or misfortunate event has happened to themselves or someone else. At the same time Karma helps encourage people to do good deeds in the hope that bad luck won’t bite them in the butt, and gives “educators” their “students” a reason as why be good in life.  Karma does not identify good people from bad people but only what they deserve even in cases that seem injustice.

INFORMATION: In Hinduism and Buddhism it is the action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman. Basically means that the action that has currently took place is as a result of a good or bad action done in the past. Hence if something good happens to you, it’s because of a good deed done in the past. If something bad happens, because you have done something bad in the past. The past can be referred to as this lifetime or a previous life time.

IMPLICATION: If this concept is 100% accurate, then we wouldn’t need our criminal justice systems because every bad deed done will receive equal punishment due to the laws of karma. The US government should have never given land reservation to the Native Americans because their native ancestors deserved all the bad things that happened to them. Matter of fact, all African and Indian slaves “deserved” to die as well according to the laws of karma. All people with a terminating illnesses deserve all the pain and suffering as well! (All extreme implications I know!)

MY POINT OF VIEW: Yes, there are explanations for why things happen to people but I would not blame them on karma. I believe that anything can happen to anyone. People can do good things with bad intentions for example some candidate going volunteering one day just so they have a “good name”. I see bad things happen to truly good people for example the person hit by a drunk driver.  I also believe that this idea in some case may be reinforced by people selectively connecting similar events together.  Also one major reason I’d say this idea is a little hard to believe for me is because I see my so called  “past life”, nor do I know anyone that can see into other peoples past lives. 

http://www.skepdic.com/karma.html

sonya shah

Synchronicity

Carl Jung coined the term "synchronicity" to describe coincidences of two or more events that he felt could not be due to chance alone. In his 1952 book Synchronicity: an Acausal Connecting Principle, he elaborated on his theory that this kind of "meainngful coincidence of inner and outer experience" was not governed by the principle of causality, but was a case of internal psychic states influencing external events. The concept has been used to explain otherwise unaccountable phenomena like telepathy, astrology and the interpretation of the Tarot. In the case of synchronicity, seemingly unrelated things are found to have a connection becasue, in Jung's view, they share the common ground of the unus mandus, or "one world", the mythical dimension behind all life. Events are thought to carry meaningful symbols across the threshold between the unconscious and the conscious. Jung famously recounted one of his own experiences of synchronicity, in which a patient was telling him about her dream of having been given a golden scarab. Jung, who had his back to the window, in the same moment heard a tapping against the glass and, to his surprise, he saw a scarabaeid beetle, a relative of the scarab, banging on the window. The scarab is an Egyptian symbol of the solar cycle and of rebirth or transformation, and the patient's exclusively rational perspective on her situation was transformed by the episode. Another of Jung's examples concerned the pendulum clock that was said to have stopped at the moment of Frederick the Great of Prussia died in 1786. The stopping of clocks at the moment of their owners' death is thought to be a common phenomenon, and may symbolize the ending of time and the cessation of the heartbeat. Similarly there are many accounts of mirrors or pictures falling to the floor and breaking when there is a death. The concepts of synchronicity presume that all life is fundamentally connected. This is not yet commonly accepted by mainstream science and yet developments in quantum physics and field and process-oriented psychological research are pointing in this direction.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

Paraskavedekatriaphobia is a term used to describe the surprisingly common fear of Friday the 13^th that affects between seventeen and twenty-one million people in the United States. It is unclear exactly how this day became so infamous, but there are many historical connections to the fear of the number thirteen and unlucky Fridays. Combine these two ideas and it equals one ominous day. One of the oldest myths about the number thirteen comes from the Vikings. It is said that twelve gods were invited to a banquet, excluding Loki, the god of mischief. Loki crashed the dinner party, and in the process, convinced Hod, the god of winter, to kill Balder, the favorite of the gods. Because of this tale, some people refuse to host dinner parties for thirteen people. In fact, in France it is possible to hire a fourteenth guest to attend your party. The number thirteen is also associated with the attendants of the Last Supper, which included Jesus’s betrayer. Ancient Romans believed that witches gathered in groups of twelve and that when the devil arrived at their meetings he brought the number of attendees to thirteen. For whatever reasons people may have, the number thirteen has stricken a wrong note in the lives of modern people. Buildings often do not add a thirteenth floor. Italians mark the house between twelve and fourteen as twelve and a half. Many airports skip the thirteenth gate. How do we explain this fear of a simple number? Numerologists say that the number thirteen is an unstable number. The number twelve is present in the zodiac, the months of the year, the apostles, etc.  Twelve is a “complete” number and so anything that may disrupt it is found to cause uneasiness. So why is it Friday the 13^th and not Wednesday the 13^th that causes so much commotion?  It has been said that Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden of Eden on a Friday. Roman executions were held on Fridays, meaning that the crucifixion of Jesus occurred on a Friday. The word Friday originated from the goddess Freya, who was considered to be a witch by Christians. It is not quite clear when Friday the 13^th, specifically, became a fear all in its own. It is clear that it affects a large number of people in the world today, but is this fear really warranted?

While a fear of Friday the 13^th doesn’t seem so harmful, it can actually have some negative effects on not only an individual, but also on society.  A 1993 study done in Britain indicated that there were a significant number more car accidents on Friday the 13^th then on another random day of the month. Superstitious individuals would look at this study as proof to their claims. A skeptic, on the other hand assumes that people are so nervous on this day that they are not necessarily psychologically sound enough to drive at optimum levels. Nurses may not be lying when they say that the ER is crazy on Friday the 13^th, but it still remains unproven as to what the exact reasoning for this is. The phobia impacts some people so much that they choose to forego plans and remain at home all day. Businesses report a total loss of eight hundred to nine hundred million dollars every Friday the 13^th in the US. So many people are losing out because of this phobia, and it’s all because people assume that a number and a day have the power to influence their lives. How come this power doesn’t exist every other Friday or any other day that thirteenth falls on? Is it only the combined power of the two that can afflict us? The believers assume that the myths they have heard are all factual. They then add these to the list of current, unfortunate historical occurrences. If so many awful events happened over such a long period of time because of Friday or the number thirteen or both then it can’t be coincidence, right? Wrong, people are known to search for patterns even when there is none, and so these coincidences are often fabricated into phenomenon. In my opinion, it is quite ridiculous for a person to have their life compromised by a day and number that have no proven significance in any unfortunate events. It would be very difficult to test if such a thing is even possible, leaving one to rely on numerology and faith. With a life as busy as mine, Friday the 13^th is not a deciding factor when it comes to my schedule.

Lavender Oil: The Miracle Treatment?

                Many questions surround the mysterious world of essential oils. Scientifically speaking, is aromatherapy effective? Aromatherapy is popular with many people in the United States and around the world. Specifically, what is the efficacy of lavender oil, an especially popular essential oil? Is it healthier to use lavender oil rather than traditional medicines?

            Second, what is the purpose of aromatherapy and essential oils? Generally, they are used as a form of alternative or complementary therapy for everyday ailments, chronic or acute. Many people frustrated with conventional treatments, like over-the-counter and prescription medications from a doctor, may consider the use of essential oils. Some people may simply use essential oils for issues that other medicines cannot treat, such as chronic stress and exhaustion. Others may be wary of conventional fragrances and beauty products, selecting essential oils instead.

            Third, which point of view backs up the use of lavender oil? In a health food store, one may see an extensive selection of essential oil blends with various purposes. Bottles may be labeled with names such as “Stress Relief,” “Joy,” and “Sharp Mind,” implying that use of these essential oils, via inhalation, use as a fragrance spray, or diluted in a lotion, will improve ailments such as stress, sadness, and dementia. Lavender oil is usually present in essential oil blends, and is also sold by itself. Many people believe in the effects of essential oils, such as lavender, and share testimonials of how it treated a certain ailment. A database from the National Institutes of Health lists a fair amount of lavender oil’s uses, such as treatment of migraines, joint pain, dementia, nervousness, and more (MedlinePlus, 2011).

            Fourth, what kind of information do we have to prove the efficacy of lavender oil? Unfortunately, very little data supports the claims of lavender oil’s many benefits. This is mainly due to a lack of repeated, consistent studies on lavender oil, so many claims are found to be inconclusive. According to one study, lavender oil may be effective for treating baldness, but the study conducted did not test lavender oil alone; just lavender oil in a blend of other essential oils. Other studies suggest lavender oil may help with issues like mild insomnia, and even improve general well-being, but more studies are needed to reach a true conclusion about the effectiveness of lavender oil (MedlinePlus, 2011).

            Fifth, what are the implications and consequences of using lavender oil?  Ultimately, the greatest risk of using lavender oil properly seems to be a lack of positive outcomes for treatment. Lavender oil may cause skin irritation, especially if used undiluted. It is best not to use lavender oil during pregnancy and breast-feeding, or around the time of a surgery, because of its possible action as a depressant.  Also, it is important not to use certain essential oils on children, as lavender oil has been found to contribute to gynecomastia in young boys due to a possible endocrine-disrupting mechanism. Also, excessive sleepiness may occur as an interaction if lavender is taken with drugs such as barbiturates, CNS depressants, and chloral hydrate (MedlinePlus, 2011).


References

MedlinePlus. (2011). Lavender. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/838.html .

Images from Google Images.

The 'Wow!' Signal

Introduction

At 11:16 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the evening of August 15, 1977, astronomers working on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project at the 'Big Ear' radio telescope at the Perkins Observatory of Ohio State University detected a very unusual signal from space. The intensity of the signal relative to the expected background noise of deep space was so extreme that the reaction of Dr. Jerry R. Ehman, the first person to examine the printout of the recorded data, was to draw a circle around the relevant portion on the sheet and add a single word note indicating his reaction: "Wow!" For this reason, the signal has become known as the 'Wow!' Signal. Despite numerous attempts to find the source again over the ensuing three plus decades, the signal has never been duplicated. Nor has it ever been explained.

The original 'Wow!' Signal printout including Dr. Ehman's handwritten reaction. (1)

Although a few letters and numbers on a sheet of printout hardly seem worthy of such a dramatic response, an explanation of this data ("6EQUJ5") and some background may suffice to explain Ehman's amazement. The radio telescope would continually scan the skies and record the intensity of signals received at various frequencies. The countless sources of radio wave emissions in the observable universe produce a complex pattern, but one which tends in general towards a relatively uninteresting background pattern of "noise." The printout above shows a very small segment of the data that the telescope received on that evening, with the blank spaces between the alphanumeric characters indicating an intensity between 0 and 1 in terms of signal-to-noise ratio. The 1's indicate an intensity between 1 and 2, and so on for the numeric characters, beyond which the alphabet indicates intensities beyond 10-to-1. So the pertinent portion, "6EQUJ5" means that the signal to noise ratio peaked at more than 30-to-1, as indicated by the letter "U." What is significant about this intensity is not simply that it suggested a powerful source of electromagnetic emissions from the position in the night sky at which the telescope was then pointed, but that the frequency was almost precisely 1420 MHz, what is known as the "hydrogen line." Because hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, it had previously been hypothesized that an extraterrestrial civilization "broadcasting" its presence into space would choose the frequency at which hydrogen resonates (the hydrogen line) because this would allow for the best propagation of a signal:

Eighteen years earlier, two Cornell physicists, Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi, had tried to imagine how an intelligent alien civilization might try to signal Earth. We should look, they said, for a radio transmission. Radio waves are cheap to produce, don't require much energy and travel vast distances across space. Cocconi and Morrison guessed that the aliens would choose a frequency that would mean something to creatures who know math and chemistry. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. Zap a hydrogen atom and it will resonate at a particular rate: 1420 megahertz (MHz). So look, they said, for a signal coming in at 1420 MHz. And look for something loud, something that would catch our attention. And on Aug. 15, in it came, exactly as predicted. (2)

 Because the Perkins Observatory telescope utilized two feed horns to capture data, with no method of determining which had received a particular signal, the SETI team's effort to localize the source was made more difficult. However, it was possible to narrow the location down to two "small" portions of the heavens, in the constellation Sagittarius, viewable here:  'Wow!' Signal Location (3)


Analysis

The question is obvious: what is the source and significance of the 'Wow!' Signal? As numerous attempts have been made over the years to find the signal again and all have met with failure (4), this question remains intriguing, but fails a crucial test of scientific methodology in that there is no indication that it is replicable. Dr. Ehman himself has gone on the record as doubting that the signal had intelligent extraterrestrial origins: "Even if it were intelligent beings sending a signal, they'd do it far more than once. We should have seen it again when we looked for it 50 times. Something suggests it was an Earth-bound signal that simply got reflected off a piece of space debris." (5) However, he later changed his opinion on this hypothesis, and has all but ruled out the possibility of reflection off of space debris, as indicated in the 30th anniversary report on the signal:

[S]ince all of the possibilities of a terrestrial origin have been either ruled out or seem improbable, and since the possibility of an extraterrestrial origin has not been able to be ruled out, I must conclude that an ETI (ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) might have sent the signal that we received as the Wow! source. The fact that we saw the signal in only one beam could be due to an ETI sending a beacon signal in our direction and then sending it in another direction that we couldn't detect. Of course, being a scientist, I await the reception of additional signals like the Wow! source that are able to be received and analyzed by many observatories. Thus, I must state that the origin of the Wow! signal is still an open question for me. (6)

The pertinent information related to the point of view from which the anomalous data represented by the 'Wow!' Signal must be considered includes the fact that to date there is no credible evidence of life existing elsewhere in our universe beyond our own planet. Although some scientists have conjectured that the almost unimaginable vastness of the cosmos, with its billions of galaxies and trillions of stars, suggests statistically that it is exceedingly improbable that we are alone, as yet we have no evidence to the contrary. This extraordinary situation is known as the "Fermi Paradox". We should also remember the fact that the observations recorded at the Big Ear observatory were part of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. This may have led to the information being interpreted in a way that would not have been the case in other circumstances, such as more mainstream astronomical investigations. Our own individual interpretations may also vary according to the point of view from which we approach such phenomena as the 'Wow!' Signal. Certainly, many people are quite prepared to accept the existence of extraterrestrial life almost as a given, while others demand a much higher level of proof than is generally accepted as having been provided to date.

The information related to this case is, of course, the data recorded by the telescope on the night of August 15, 1977. This is without doubt the element of the 'Wow!' Signal event that has lent it its mystery. Rather than being just another routine UFO sighting case, the 'Wow!' Signal is a puzzle based on hard scientific evidence. Of course, many questions regarding the data remain unanswered, and the possibility of a commonplace, earth-bound explanation exists, but nevertheless, for nearly thirty-five years, no one has been able to conclusively determine the source of the signal. Thus, the original data printout, with Dr. Ehman's legendary handwritten reaction, is currently preserved by the Ohio Historical Society. (7)

Of course, the implications of the 'Wow!' Signal are astounding to consider. As already mentioned, there is a sizable segment of society that believes that alien encounters are quite common. This is certainly not the case in the scientific community, however. While many feel that the statistical possibility of Earth being the universe's sole occupied planet are vanishingly small, it is generally accepted that no evidence of extraterrestrial life has yet been found. Were the 'Wow!' Signal to be confirmed as such evidence, our understanding of our place and role in the universe would be forever altered. This theme has been depicted in countless films, works of fiction, and so forth, because it is one of the most remarkable possibilities that we Earthlings can imagine. Thousands of years of speculative philosophy and religion have placed humanity at the center of reality as we understand it. The 'Wow!' Signal, if confirmed as originating from another intelligent occupant of the universe, would change everything...

Maggie Starbard/NPR An illustration of detail from the "Wow!" document.

1. http://www.bigear.org/Wow30th/wow30th.htm
2. http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2010/05/28/126510251/aliens-found-in-ohio-the-wow-signal
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal#External_links
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal#Searches_for_recurrence_of_the_signal
5. http://www.bigear.org/wow.htm
6. http://www.bigear.org/Wow30th/wow30th.htm#eti
7. http://ohiohistory.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/wow/

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty...

I work at a liquor store with a boss who is very superstitious.  At the register, we have a coin jar for the animal shelter in town. It has a picture of a black cat, and my boss feels the need to tape a post-it note over it so it does not show.  Another time, a black cat ran across our parking lot and he ran into his office and hid away from the animal. There are many superstitions made.  Examples such as walking under ladders, breaking mirrors, and using an umbrella indoors are a few common superstitions.  I feel as though many people follow and assume the idea that if a black cat crosses your path, you will have bad luck.  Unfortunately, there are a good amount of rules for animal shelters that forbade adoption of self black cats around Halloween, because people have harmed them for mischief. 

                Some information regarding black cats are seen in our western culture.  We look at black cats as bad omens, and associated with “witches” and black luck.  When a “witch” has a close animal they are known as familiars.  Some regions  point of view consider a black cat to be good luck, such as in Japan.  In ours though, it symbolizes hardship and death.  It is said that the black cat could shape shift and spy for their “witches.”  And in history some people have been killed for owning a black cat.  Also many people have killed a number of black cats in the middle ages.  Some farmers would shoot a black cat to death is their crops were not producing well. 

                However, to some people, black cats brought on good luck.  King Charles I had a black cat and the day that his pet died he was scared that his good luck ran out.  In Ancient Egypt, black cats were a symbol of royalty.  Wives of fishermen kept black cats to have good faith in their husbands well being. 

                The question at issue is if black cats bring on misfortune or death?  This depends on your culture and personal view.  I personally feel that black cats are beautiful and wonderful cats just like any other.  There are many regions that look at a black cat as good luck and bad luck.  When there are unexplainable events, people tend to look for reasons.  These are how superstitions are made.  If something good happens, then they look for a reason and same as if it was a bad event or circumstance. 

http://www.petside.com/article/black-cat-myths

http://www.webcitation.org/6208I6S7P