Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena Countdown - live science

[Kingz Profile]

10
The Body/Mind Connection
Medical science is only beginning to understand the ways in which the mind influences the body. *The placebo effect, for example, demonstrates that people can at times cause a relief in medical symptoms or suffering by believing the cures to be effective - whether they actually are or not. Using processes only poorly understood, the body's ability to heal itself is far more amazing than anything modern medicine could create.

* http://www.livescience.com/health/060630_placebo.html

9
Psychic powers and ESP
Psychic powers and *extra-sensory perception (ESP) rank among the top ten unexplained phenomena if for no other reason than that belief in them is so widespread. Many people believe that intuition (see #3) is a form of psychic power, a way of accessing arcane or special knowledge about the world or the future. Researchers have tested people who claim to have psychic powers, though the results under controlled scientific conditions have so far been negative or ambiguous. Some have argued that psychic powers cannot be tested, or for some reason diminish in the presence of skeptics or scientists. If this is true, science will never be able to prove or disprove the existence of psychic powers.

* http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/ ... randi.html

8
Near-Death Experiences and Life After Death
People who were once *near death have sometimes reported various mystical experiences (such as going into a tunnel and emerging in a light, being reunited with loved ones, a sense of peace, etc.) that may suggest an existence beyond the grave. While such experiences are profound, no one has returned with proof or verifiable information from "beyond the grave." Skeptics suggest that the experiences are explainable as natural and predictable hallucinations of a traumatized brain, yet there is no way to know with certainty what causes near-death experiences, or if they truly are visions of "the other side."

* http://www.livescience.com/health/06041 ... death.html

7
UFOs
There is no doubt that UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) exist - many people see things in the skies that they cannot identify, ranging from aircraft to meteors. Whether or not any of those objects and lights are alien spacecraft is another matter entirely; given the fantastic distances and effort involved in just getting to Earth from across the universe, such a scenario seems unlikely. Still, while careful investigation has revealed known causes for most sighting reports, some UFO incidents will always remain unexplained.


6
Deja vu
Deja vu is a French phrase meaning 'already seen,' referring to the distinct, puzzling, and mysterious feeling of having experienced a specific set of circumstances before. A woman might walk into a building, for example, in a foreign country she'd never visited, and sense that the setting is eerily and intimately familiar. Some attribute* deja vu to psychic experiences or unbidden glimpses of previous lives. As with intuition (see #3), research into ,human psychology can offer more naturalistic explanations, but ultimately the cause and nature of the phenomenon itself remains a mystery.

* http://www.livescience.com/health/061128_deja_vu.html

5
Ghosts
From the Shakespeare play "MacBeth" to the NBC show "Medium," spirits of the dead have long made an appearance in our culture and folklore. Many people have reported seeing apparitions of both shadowy strangers and departed loved ones. Though definitive proof for the existence of ghosts remains elusive, *sincere eyewitnesses continue to report seeing, photographing, and even communicating with ghosts. Ghost investigators hope to one day prove that the dead can contact the living, providing a final answer to the mystery.

* http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/ ... _poll.html

4
Mysterious Disappearances
People disappear for various reasons. Most are runaways, some succumb to accident, a few are abducted or killed, but most are eventually found. Not so with the truly mysterious disappearances. From the crew of the Marie Celeste to Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Earhart, and Natalee Holloway, some people seem to have vanished without a trace. When missing persons are found, it is always through police work, confession, or accident never by 'psychic detectives'). But when the evidence is lacking and leads are lost, even police and forensic science can't always solve the crime.

3
Intuition
Whether we call it gut feelings, a *'sixth sense,' or something else, we have all experienced intuition at one time or another. Of course, gut feelings are often wrong (how many times during aircraft turbulence have you been sure your plane was going down?), but they do seem to be right much of the time. Psychologists note that people subconsciously pick up information about the world around us, leading us to seemingly sense or know information without knowing exactly how or why we know it. But cases of intuition are difficult to prove or study, and psychology may only be part of the answer.

* http://www.livescience.com/animals/0602 ... sense.html

2
Bigfoot
For decades, large, hairy, manlike beasts called *Bigfoot have occasionally been reported by eyewitnesses across America. Despite the thousands of Bigfoot that must exist for a breeding population, not a single body has been found. Not one has been killed by a hunter, struck dead by a speeding car, or even died of natural causes. In the absence of hard evidence like teeth or bones, support comes down to eyewitness sightings and ambiguous photos and films. Since it is logically impossible to prove a universal negative, science will never be able to prove that creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster do not exist, and it is possible that these mysterious beasts lurk far from prying eyes.
* http://www.livescience.com/technology/0 ... gfoot.html

1
The Taos Hum
Some residents and visitors in the small city of Taos, New Mexico, have for years been annoyed and puzzled by a mysterious and faint low-frequency hum in the desert air. Oddly, only about 2 percent of Taos residents report hearing the sound. Some believe it is caused by unusual acoustics; others suspect mass hysteria or some secret, sinister purpose. Whether described as a whir, hum, or buzz and whether psychological, natural, or supernatural no one has yet been able to locate the sound's origin.


http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/ ... ena-1.html

I must say, personally I find this a very weird construction of hierarchy when it comes to "strangeness" factors...... And I have no clue why they did make this top 10 the way they did, but I thought it was perhaps nice sharing.. And at least some interesting food for thought nonetheless

And has someone ever heard of The Taos Hum??? I would like to know some more about that, or perhaps listen to similair experiences described in this article... ?

[Thepriceisright Profile]

And has someone ever heard of The Taos Hum??? I would like to know some more about that, or perhaps listen to similair experiences described in this article... ?

Never heard of the Taos hum, but there was a similar thing in Bristol (UK)....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/ ... 055907.stm

[Scoundrel1975 Profile]

http://www.qsl.net/w5www/taoshum.html

lnteresting

[Kingz Profile]

And has someone ever heard of The Taos Hum??? I would like to know some more about that, or perhaps listen to similair experiences described in this article... ?

Never heard of the Taos hum, but there was a similar thing in Bristol (UK)....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/ ... 055907.stm

That is indeed very similair

I post it here, since people often wont take the time too click the links given... hehe

The Bristol Hum: your viewpoints
Do you suffer from the elusive Bristol Hum?

The Bristol hum has blighted sufferers in the city for decades - but what is behind the elusive buzzing noise? Hearing gone wrong or could sinister forces be to blame?
The hum is a phenomenon that has been reported in towns and cities across the world from Canada to New Zealand.

In Britain, the most famous example was the Bristol hum that made headlines in the late 1970s. One newspaper asked readers in the city: "Have you heard the Hum?" - now we want to know if you can still hear it. The problem has persisted for years with residents complaining of sleep loss and headaches with experts claiming traffic and factories were to blame. But, according to the Low Frequency Noise Sufferers' Association the problem is on the increase with 2,000 people so far contacting its helpline.

It says it receives several new cases every week.

What could be behind the noise? Everything from gas pipes, power lines, mobile phone masts, wind farms, nuclear waste and even low-frequency submarine communications have been blamed.

Dr David Baguley, who's Head of Audiology at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge says over-sensitive hearing may be to blame.

"It becomes a vicious cycle," he explains. "The more people focus on the noise, the more anxious and fearful they get, the more the body responds by amplifying the sound, and that causes even more upset and distress."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/ ... 055907.stm

AND THIS....

Have you heard 'the Hum'?
For decades, hundreds of people worldwide have been plagued by an elusive buzzing noise known as "the Hum". Some have blamed gas pipes or power lines, others think their ears are faulty. A few even think sinister forces could be at work.

"It's a kind of torture, sometimes you just want to scream," exclaims retired head teacher Katie Jacques.

Sitting in the living room of her home in the suburbs of Leeds, the 69-year-old grandmother describes the dull drone she says is making her life a misery.
Most visitors hear nothing, but to Katie the noise is painful, vivid and constant.

"It has a rhythm to it - it goes up and down. It sounds almost like a diesel car idling in the distance and you want to go and ask somebody to switch the engine off - and you can't."

Katie says she no longer has any quiet moments and getting a good night's sleep has become impossible.

"It's worst at night. It's hard to get off to sleep because I hear this throbbing sound in the background and you know what it's like when you can't get to sleep and you're tossing and turning and you get more and more agitated about it."

Katie first became aware of the maddening rumble two years ago. She turned everything electrical off at the mains, but that made no difference. Neither did her efforts to block out the sound with ear plugs, or smother it with music.

Neighbours are unaffected and tests by environmental health officials have drawn a blank. Checks on Katie's ears ruled out tinnitus, a ringing noise that generally follows the sufferer wherever they go. Katie, like most victims of the hum, only hears the noise at a specific location - in her case, at home. Elsewhere, her hearing is fine.

Moving out is an option she's considered, but she's reluctant to leave the house she's lived in for nearly 50 years.

"My children grew up here, they still live nearby, so do my grandchildren. I have lots of friends here. I don't want to move, but I have thought I may have to if I can't find out what's causing it."

Bad vibrations
The hum is a phenomenon that has been reported in towns and cities across the world from Vancouver in Canada to Auckland in New Zealand.

In Britain, the most famous example was the so-called "Bristol hum" that made headlines in the late 1970s. One newspaper asked readers in the city: "Have you heard the Hum?" Almost 800 people said they had.

The problem persisted for years. Residents complained of sleep loss, headaches, sickness and nosebleeds. Experts eventually found traffic and factories were to blame.
There have been other cases in Cheshire, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, London, Shropshire, Suffolk and Wiltshire.

A low-pitched drone known as the "Largs hum" has troubled the coastal town of Largs in Strathclyde for more than two decades.

At least one suicide in the UK has been linked with the hum.

And the problem is on the increase, according to the Low Frequency Noise Sufferers' Association. Two thousand people have so far contacted its helpline, and it says it receives two or three new cases every week. They are generally over 50 and are mostly female.

'Cover-up'
So what is the cause? Various features of modern life have been blamed - gas pipes, power lines, mobile phone masts, wind farms, nuclear waste, even low-frequency submarine communications.

The internet is abuzz with rumour and speculation. There are dark mutterings about secret military activity, alien contact and government cover-ups. The hum even featured in an episode of the sci-fi drama "The X-Files".

Such conspiracy theories are understandable, but unhelpful, according to Dr David Baguley, who's head of audiology at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

He estimates that in about a third of cases there is some environmental source that can be tracked down and dealt with.

"It may be a fridge or an industrial fan or a piece of heavy machinery at a nearby factory that is causing the disturbance and can be switched off," he says.

Most of the time, however, there is no external noise that can be recorded or identified.

"People do come up with some strongly constructed, sometimes strange theories," says Dr Baguley.

His own theory - based on years of research - is that many sufferers' hearing has become over-sensitive.

Surrounded in his office by plastic models of human ears, he explains how we each have an internal volume control that helps us amplify quiet sounds in times of threat, danger or intense concentration.

"If you're sitting by a table waiting for exam results and the phone rings you jump out of your skin. Waiting for a teenager to come home from a party - the key in the door sounds really loud. Your internal gain is sensitised."

This is a mechanism we all rely on at moments of pressure or stress when we want our senses on full alert.

According to Dr Baguley, the problem comes when an individual fixes on a possibly innocuous background sound, and this act of concentration then triggers the body's "internal gain", boosting the volume.

The initial "signal" may vary from person to person, but the outcome is the same.

"It becomes a vicious cycle," he explains. "The more people focus on the noise, the more anxious and fearful they get, the more the body responds by amplifying the sound, and that causes even more upset and distress."

Sound of silence
In an attempt to break this cycle, Dr Baguley is currently working on a pilot project with the acoustics laboratory at the University of Salford.

The trial - funded by the Department for Environment and the Department of Health - uses psychology and relaxation techniques to help sufferers become less agitated and distressed by the hum. The experiment is not finished, but Dr Baguley says the initial results look promising, allowing the noise to quieten and in some cases fall silent.

"It's really exciting," he says. "For years I've been seeing people with this problem in my clinic and it's been hard to find answers. But now there is hope and there is potentially help."

Back in Leeds, Katie Jacques is pleased the hum is being taken seriously, but remains adamant that her suffering is caused by a real, external noise nuisance. She suspects it may be something to do with the nearby airport, although the authorities there say no engines are left running overnight.

"People assume you must be hearing things, but I'm not crackers," she laughs.

"I don't know how I can get this over to people, but this is not in my head. It's just as though there's something in your house and you want to switch if off and you can't. It's there all the time."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8056284.stm

I heard of it before, but never in such an extend... seems like there is a lot of simmilarity behind these Hums, and there are several possible explenations for it.... and some more probably!

http://www.qsl.net/w5www/taoshum.html

lnteresting

Thanks for the links guys.....

[Kingz Profile]

http://www.qsl.net/w5www/taoshum.html

lnteresting

http://www.eskimo.com/~bilb/freenrg/hum1.wav

http://www.eskimo.com/~bilb/freenrg/taos.wav

Sounds like my computer at night humming.... these things are deffinetly influencing our brainwave state

[Scoundrel1975 Profile]

http://www.qsl.net/w5www/taoshum.html

lnteresting

http://www.eskimo.com/~bilb/freenrg/hum1.wav

http://www.eskimo.com/~bilb/freenrg/taos.wav

Sounds like my computer at night humming.... these things are deffinetly influencing our brainwave state

Dumbing us down perhaps

[Anuki Profile]

Deja vu
Deja vu is a French phrase meaning 'already seen,' referring to the distinct, puzzling, and mysterious feeling of having experienced a specific set of circumstances before. A woman might walk into a building, for example, in a foreign country she'd never visited, and sense that the setting is eerily and intimately familiar. Some attribute* deja vu to psychic experiences or unbidden glimpses of previous lives. As with intuition (see #3), research into ,human psychology can offer more naturalistic explanations, but ultimately the cause and nature of the phenomenon itself remains a mystery.

dont know if this is tru but,
i read, somewhere, that in the case of a deja vu, one of the brainhalf (left/right)
is working faster than the other, so its allready in the left, or right??, brain
and when its coprehand (sorry for the bad english) bij the other half, its like you
experianced it before.
BTW, i had a deja vu for minutes once, everything that was to come/happen i knew in advance...
I think our brain plays tricks on us, well i know for sure....