Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena

[Hum]

1.  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.

2.  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.

3.  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."

4.  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.

5.  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.

6.  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.

7.  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.

8.  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.

9.  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.

10.  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.

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[+Warwagon MVC]

You could have had fun with #10 and just called it "Hum"and got creative.

[Hum]

I'm glad I was recognized as 'unexplained'. :shifty:

[Growled Member]

I'm glad I was recognized as 'unexplained'. :shifty:

You sure are that. :D

[compl3x]

 

 

or for some reason diminish in the presence of skeptics or scientists. 

 

 

How ######ing convenient. 

[Growled Member]

^ In the Bible, even Jesus couldn't do mighty works at times because of unbelief. Apparently faith has a lot to do with it.

[compl3x]

Oh,well, if it's in the Bible . . . . . . . .  :huh:

 

 

Funny how the son/incarnate of the supreme creator of the universe can have his powers sapped by simple scepticism. Does that make sceptics even more powerful than god?

 

 

It also worth noting that in this list some of these aren't "unexplained" they're unproven. Big difference in my mind. Unexplained implies we absolutely know they occur we just haven't been able to understand why. Unproven means there is no evidence these things actually occur. Ghosts aren't an unexplained phenomenon, there is no evidence ghosts actually exist. Compare that with, say, why Saturn has rings: we know Saturn has rings, we just aren't 100% sure why it has rings.

 

I would have thought a science blog would have been more careful when posting articles like this.

[chezy666]

Wasn't black mesa located at new mexico in HL ?

[IsItPluggedIn]

I remember reading somewhere that Deju Vu was cause by your brain committing the scene to long term memory instead of short term memory.

[Hum]

^ Often, Deju Vu is caused by events being 'pre-viewed' during the sleep state.

 

People pick and choose which Probabilities to actualize. ;)

[Growled Member]

I must be fixing to move because I keep dreaming of moving to another city. Have dreamed about it several times of late. I haven't determined the city yet, though. But in one dream I said to myself "I've dreamed of this place before."

[Hum]

^ Must be about that tornado that will hit. ;)

[Growled Member]

^ Must be about that tornado that will hit. ;)

Gosh, I sure hope not.

[compl3x]

^ Often, Deju Vu is caused by events being 'pre-viewed' during the sleep state.

 

People pick and choose which Probabilities to actualize. ;)

 

 

Wrong. Deja Vu is obviously a glitch in the matrix. When you feel like you've done something or been somewhere before it's because you have. We all live inside a complicated simulated reality which is in constant loop. At the end of the loop, when we die, it resets but some of the data is left over. When we come to that piece of left over data it is parsed twice and causes a glitch, or as we know it, deja Vu.

 

Deja Vu was introduced into the simulation as a natural phenomenon to conceal the truth.

 

I can't believe you don't know about this, Hum.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Oh,well, if it's in the Bible . . . . . . . .  :huh:

 

 

Funny how the son/incarnate of the supreme creator of the universe can have his powers sapped by simple scepticism. Does that make sceptics even more powerful than god?

 

 

It also worth noting that in this list some of these aren't "unexplained" they're unproven. Big difference in my mind. Unexplained implies we absolutely know they occur we just haven't been able to understand why. Unproven means there is no evidence these things actually occur. Ghosts aren't an unexplained phenomenon, there is no evidence ghosts actually exist. Compare that with, say, why Saturn has rings: we know Saturn has rings, we just aren't 100% sure why it has rings.

 

I would have thought a science blog would have been more careful when posting articles like this.

"I am God, I created the universe! But I can't turn water into wine if you guys don't believe me, come on, turn around and let me do it!"

But yeah, a lot of these things aren't "unexplained", they're not real, big difference.

[compl3x]

"I am God, I created the universe! But I can't turn water into wine if you guys don't believe me, come on, turn around and let me do it!"

 

 

 

Jesus: The miracle I'm most famous for is turning water into wine.

Stan: Can you do it again?

Jesus: Very well. I shall perform the miracle. Behold, here you can see ordinary water, clear, clean. Okay now turn around.

(Stan surprised)

Turn around.

(Stan turns around and Jesus replaces the jug of water on the table with a jug of wine)

It is now wine!

Stan: That's it? That's how you did that trick?

Jesus: Uh, well, yeah.

Stan: That trick sucks Jesus.

Jesus: Oh, I guess it worked a little better on people 2,000 years ago.

[Tom]

11. Unicorns.

12. Fairies.

[HawkMan]

A lot of bogus in this list, starting with number one. Placebo is very well known, and placebo generally doesn't "heal" anything, it relives pain. a concept that's very well understood since the brain controls the whole pain level of the body.  There's a few other effects it can cause that in certain illnesses may be seen as "healing" where glands in the body excretes the same medicine they would otherwise be given.

 

The only unknown is how to trigger the pain relief and such consciously. Though it may not be as un-cracked as people like to think as well. look at people with extreme pain thresholds and highly trained military specialists who can tolerate extreme pain by ignoring it. 

 

number 2 has of course never been proven to actually exist in any way

 

number 3 is also fairly well understood and has to d with disconnects in the brain.

 

Deja vu is much the same thing. a brian hickup, a slight loss of connection between the brain halves. 

[illage3]

#11 Dragons

Dragons have actually been proven to exist.  The comodo dragon is actually a dragon.

[Hum]

^ Everything exists, somewhere in the Universe. ;)

[ashpowell]

A lot of bogus in this list, starting with number one. Placebo is very well known, and placebo generally doesn't "heal" anything, it relives pain. a concept that's very well understood since the brain controls the whole pain level of the body.  There's a few other effects it can cause that in certain illnesses may be seen as "healing" where glands in the body excretes the same medicine they would otherwise be given.

 

The placebo effect can also make people perform better too I've read quite a few times

[Hum]

^ placebo effect = Power of Belief :happy: