Gwynne Dyer: Climate Wars
Gwynne Dyer discusses the content of his latest book “Climate Wars” over tortillas, guacamole, and stuffed poblano peppers at Frida restaurant in Toronto. He presents four conclusions on the geopolitical implications of a warming globe.
Conclusion 1 and 2
The Vanishing Face of Gaia - Dr. James Lovelock Video
Corporate Knights presents Dr. James Lovelock, originator of The Gaia Hypothesis (also known as Gaia Theory), discussing the need for human adaptation and survival in a coming era of massive environmental change due to global heating based on his latest book, “The Vanishing Face of Gaia”.
Biography:
(Excerpted from Wikipedia)
A lifelong inventor, Lovelock has created and developed many scientific instruments, some of which were designed for NASA in its program of planetary exploration. It was while working as a consultant for NASA that Lovelock developed the Gaia Hypothesis, for which he is most widely known.
In early 1961, Lovelock was engaged by NASA to develop sensitive instruments for the analysis of extraterrestrial atmospheres and planetary surfaces. The Viking program, that visited Mars in the late 1970s, was motivated in part to determine whether Mars supported life, and many of the sensors and experiments that were ultimately deployed aimed to resolve this issue. During work on a precursor of this program, Lovelock became interested in the composition of the Martian atmosphere, reasoning that many life forms on Mars would be obliged to make use of it (and, thus, alter it). However, the atmosphere was found to be in a stable condition close to its chemical equilibrium, with very little oxygen, methane, or hydrogen, but with an overwhelming abundance of carbon dioxide. To Lovelock, the stark contrast between the Martian atmosphere and chemically dynamic mixture of that of our Earth’s biosphere was strongly indicative of the absence of life on the planet.[ However, when they were finally launched to Mars, the Viking probes still searched (unsuccessfully) for extant life there.
Lovelock invented the electron capture detector, which ultimately assisted in discoveries about the persistence of CFCs and their role in stratospheric ozone depletion. After studying the operation of the Earth’s sulfur cycle, Lovelock and his colleagues developed the CLAW hypothesis as a possible example of biological control of the Earth’s climate.
After the development of his electron capture detector, in the late 1960s, Lovelock was the first to detect the widespread presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. He found a concentration of 60 parts per trillion of CFC-11 over Ireland and, in a partially self-funded research expedition in 1972, went on to measure the concentration of CFC-11 from the northern hemisphere to the Antarctic aboard the research vessel RRS Shackleton. He found the gas in each of the 50 air samples that he collected but, not realising that the breakdown of CFCs in the stratosphere would release chlorine that posed a threat to the ozone layer, concluded that the level of CFCs constituted “no conceivable hazard”. He has since stated that he meant “no conceivable toxic hazard”.
However, the experiment did provide the first useful data on the ubiquitous presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. The damage caused to the ozone layer by the photolysis of CFCs was later discovered by Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina. After hearing a lecture on the subject of Lovelock’s results, they embarked on research that resulted in the first published paper that suggested a link between stratospheric CFCs and ozone depletion in 1974, and later shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work.
Gaia hypothesis
First formulated by Lovelock during the 1960s as a result of work for NASA concerned with detecting life on Mars, the Gaia hypothesis proposes that living and non-living parts of the earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. Named after the Greek goddess Gaia at the suggestion of novelist William Golding, the hypothesis postulates that the biosphere has a regulatory effect on the Earth’s environment that acts to sustain life.
While the Gaia hypothesis was readily accepted by many in the environmentalist community, it has not been widely accepted within the scientific community. Among its more famous critics are the evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins, Ford Doolittle, and Stephen Jay Gould — notable, given the diversity of this trio’s views on other scientific matters. These (and other) critics have questioned how natural selection operating on individual organisms can lead to the evolution of planetary-scale homeostasis.
Lovelock has responded to these criticisms with models such as Daisyworld, that illustrate how individual-level effects can translate to planetary homeostasis, under the right circumstances.
Nuclear power
Lovelock has become concerned about the threat of global warming from the greenhouse effect. In 2004 he caused a media sensation when he broke with many fellow environmentalists by pronouncing that “only nuclear power can now halt global warming”. In his view, nuclear energy is the only realistic alternative to fossil fuels that has the capacity to both fulfill the large scale energy needs of humankind while also reducing greenhouse emissions. He is an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy.
In 2005, against the backdrop of renewed UK government interest in nuclear power, Lovelock again publicly announced his support for nuclear energy, stating, “I am a Green, and I entreat my friends in the movement to drop their wrongheaded objection to nuclear energy”. Although these interventions in the public debate on nuclear power are recent, his views on it are longstanding. In his 1988 book The Ages of Gaia he states:
“I have never regarded nuclear radiation or nuclear power as anything other than a normal and inevitable part of the environment. Our prokaryotic forebears evolved on a planet-sized lump of fallout from a star-sized nuclear explosion, a supernova that synthesised the elements that go to make our planet and ourselves.”
James Lovelock in conversation with science editor Tim Radford.
A Conversation with James Hansen
Dr. James Hansen, Director of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies, is considered by many to be the foremost climatologist in the world. From his New York City office, he spoke with Climate Crisis Coalition Coordinator Tom Stokes, on May 10, 2008, about the science of climate change, the urgency of enacting effective climate legislation and why he is speaking out about it.
Photo by World Development Movement. CC Attribution 2.0 Generic
Saul Griffith Taps Wind Energy with Kites
In this brief talk from TED that was filmed back in February, 2009, Saul Griffith unveils the invention his new company Makani Power has been working on: giant kite turbines that create surprising amounts of clean, renewable energy.
Saul Griffith was awarded a 2007 MacArthur “genius” grant.
Stewart Brand: Rethinking Green
Whole Earth Discipline
Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog held the underlying philosophy that an ideal of human progress that depended on decentralized, personal, and liberating technological development — so called, “soft technology.” However, during 2005 Brand criticized aspects of the international environmental ideology he helped develop. An article he wrote entitled “Environmental Heresies,” published in the May 2005 issue of the MIT Technology Review, describes what he considers necessary changes to environmentalism.
In the article he suggested, among other things, that environmentalists embrace nuclear power and genetically modified organisms as technologies with more promise than risk. Relating specifically to atomic energy, Brand argued for a centralized global distributor of nuclear fuel without demonstrating any concern[neutrality is disputed] for the possibility such an arrangement might become totalitarian. As nuclear power is unavailable as tool to ordinary people but, rather, is wielded by a military, corporate, and academic techno-elite.
Brand later developed the ideas from the 2005 article into the book Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, published last year. The book examines how urbanization, nuclear power, genetic engineering, geoengineering, and wildlife restoration can be used as powerful tools in the humanity’s ongoing fight against global warming. The the following video, he describes some of his basic ideas.
The Men Who State at Goats: First Earth Battalion
Anyone who saw the film “The Men Who State ar Goats” starring George Clooney now knows something about the US Army’s “First Earth Battalion” project.
The First Earth Battalion was the name proposed by Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Jim Channon – a U.S. soldier who had served in Vietnam — for his idea of how to think out of the box and reinvent the military for a new age.
This first video is from a BBC documentary where Jon Ronson brought increased public attention to the project.
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The movie based on the book The Men Who Stare at Goats —released in Autumn 2009—starred George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, retitled the First Earth Battalion as the New Earth Army.
According to the book The Men Who Stare at Goats (ISBN 0-330-37548-2) by journalist Jon Ronson, Channon spent time in the seventies with many of the people in California credited with starting the human potential movement, and subsequently wrote an operations manual for a First Earth Battalion. This manual was a 125-page mixture of drawings, graphs, maps, polemical essays and point-by-point redesigns of every aspect of military life. In LTC Channon’s First Earth Battalion, the new battlefield uniform would include pouches for ginseng regulators, divining tools, food stuffs to enhance night vision, and a loud speaker that would automatically emit “indigenous music and words of peace.” Warrior monks will carry the best equipment modern technology can produce into the battlefield: lightweight laser stun guns, hallucinogen mortars, acupuncture kits, dowsing rods for locating hidden tunnels and mines, etc. Rather than using bullets and munitions, Channon envisaged how this new force would attempt to first win the hearts and minds of the enemy by: using positive vibrations, carrying “symbolic animals” of peace—such as baby lambs—into hostile countries, greeting them with “sparkly eyes,” and then gently place the lambs on the ground and give the enemy “an automatic hug.” If these measures were not enough to pacify the enemy, members would employ the use of unconventional but non-lethal weapons to subdue them. Lethal force was to be a last resort. Intuition would be consulted first and foremost by battalion members. The movie based on the book—released in Autumn 2009—starred George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, retitled the First Earth Battalion as the New Earth Army.
The Real Perspective
When Channon saw what had emerged on the Internet concerning the First Earth Battalion, he posed a couple of videos to set the record straight.
More on the Background Philosophy from Wikipedia:
LTC Channon believes the Army can be the principal moral and ethical basis on which politics can harmonize in the name of the Earth. Since “Earthkind” has grown from pack to village, to tribe, to territory, and then to nation, LTC Channon envisions going from nation to planet next, and thereby declares the First Earth Battalion’s primary allegiance to the planet. Making the planet whole requires the ethical use of force based on the collective conscience. In his operations field manual titled Evolutionary Tactics, LTC Channon lists some of the important missions of the Earth Battalion as:
* Urban pioneers
* Counter hostage force
* Disaster rescue
* Eco pioneers
* Animal rescue
The First Earth Battalion will organize itself informally: uniforms without uniformity, structure without status, and unity powered by diversity, since its members will be multicultural, with each race contributing to “rainbow power.” As a guiding principle, members of the First Earth Battalion seek nondestructive methods of conflict resolution because their first loyalty is to the planet.
The Warrior Monk Ethos
Service members of the First Earth Battalion would practice meditation, yogic cat stretches and primal screams to attain battle-readiness, and use tui na or shiatsu as battlefield first aid. First Earth Battalion trainees would learn to fast for a week drinking only juice and then eat only nuts and grains for a month. They would be able to: fall in love with everyone, realize the different paths of spirit, perceive the auras of living organisms, attain the power to pass through objects such as walls (phasing), bend metal by using the power of the mind (i.e. psychokinesis), walk on fire, operate based on spirit communications (e.g. mediumship), become a peacemaker, actually change a violent pattern in the world (e.g. the Maharishi Effect), organize a tree plant with kids, calculate faster than a computer, control their heart rate—including making it stop—with no ill effects, intuit information from the past (retrocognition) or future (precognition), have out-of-body experiences, live off nature for twenty days, be 90%+ a vegetarian, and be able to intuit other people’s thoughts and feelings via telepathy. LTC Channon coined the term “warrior monk” for these new service members of the First Earth Battalion, which is anyone who has the presence, service and dedication of a monk and the absolute skill and precision of a warrior. In “The Warrior Monk’s Vision,” Channon imagines an Army made up of awakened warriors. Channon’s ideal warrior monk would be proficient at every level of force. The warrior monk will learn different self-defense systems of martial arts (such as taiji, aikido, etc.), which are based on the notion of using the force of their attackers against themselves. To alleviate negative stressors and promote healing in self and others, the warrior monk will employ various affirmation, relaxation and visualization techniques, as well as a number of methods like yoga [8] qigong and reiki [9] to help strengthen and improve the mind/body connection with spirit.
The Credo
According to the book Mind Wars by Ronald McRae, each member of the First Earth Battalion is sworn to uphold the credo of “high commandos and guerrilla gurus:”
* I have the capacity and therefore the duty to contribute to the development of myself, my associates, and our planet, simultaneously, now!
* I will organize a self-supporting high commando group that will create and perform evolutionary breakthrough actions on behalf of people and planet. One people, one planet.
* I will then pass on this concept to others who are capable of generating further self-organizing commando teams.
* I will await the time when my group can connect naturally with others at higher and higher levels of awareness and performance—the Natural Guard.
See the original 1st Earth Battalion Manual
David Anderson - Time Technology Research
Time Technology & Research
Art Bell Interviews David Anderson on Coast to Coast AM Jan. 31, 2010
On Jan. 31, 2010 physicist Dr. David Anderson joined Art Bell for the entire 4-hour program Coast to Coast AM discussing the state of time technology from his research, as well as drawing from the work being done in other labs from around the world.
From the radio show’s description:
Joining Art Bell for the entire 4-hour program, physicist Dr. David Anderson discussed the state of time technology from his research, as well as other labs around the world. He recapped his work from 2002, when he last appeared with Art on the show. At that juncture, his team had created small time warp fields that he said could accelerate time by 300% within the field, as well as reversing time. He described the initiation of a time warp field as quite spectacular to witness, “between the combinations of different chemical reagents and high energy lasers we use to excite or initiate a time warp field…a lot of light, a lot of energy.”
Since 2002, the effects have increased by “two orders of magnitudes,” both in time acceleration and retardation rates, and living organisms have been successfully tested in the warp fields, he detailed. By regenerating “closed timelike curves” (bending spacetime so time loops back on itself) we’re finding it “just as easy to move backwards in time as well as forward,” Anderson explained.
Currently countries such as Japan, China, and especially India have been experimenting with time technologies, Anderson reported. Through a device called the Temporal Tremor Detector (TTD), his team is able to track such experiments by observing disruptions in the spacetime fabric, he said.
As time technology becomes further developed, moral and ethical issues are arising, he pointed out. Benefits of the technology include accurate historical studies of the past, but on the negative side, we could experience “Time Wars,” with deliberate destruction of parts of the timeline. Anderson advocated for more transparency and disclosure of the technology, so the public can have input on how it’s used.
Website(s):
Description:
- Dr. Anderson recapped his work from 2002, when he last appeared with Art on the show. At that juncture, his team had created small time warp fields that he said could accelerate time by 300% within the field, as well as reversing time. He described the initiation of a time warp field as quite spectacular to witness, “between the combinations of different chemical reagents and high energy lasers we use to excite or initiate a time warp field…a lot of light, a lot of energy.”
- He said that since 2002, the effects have increased by “two orders of magnitudes,” both in time acceleration and retardation rates, saying that living organisms have been successfully tested in the warp fields. By regenerating “closed timelike curves” (bending spacetime so time loops back on itself) we’re finding it “just as easy to move backwards in time as well as forward,” Anderson explained.
- Currently countries such as Japan, China, and especially India have been experimenting with time technologies, Anderson reported. Through a device called the Temporal Tremor Detector (TTD), his team is able to track such experiments by observing disruptions in the spacetime fabric, he said.
- As time technology becomes further developed, moral and ethical issues are arising, he pointed out. Benefits of the technology include accurate historical studies of the past, but on the negative side, we could experience “Time Wars,” with deliberate destruction of parts of the timeline. Anderson advocated for more transparency and disclosure of the technology, so the public can have input on how it’s used.
Rethinking Cold Fusion
Steven B. Krivit (Photo Credit: Daniel Bosler, courtesy of New Energy Times.)
Recently Steven B. Krivit, editor of the New Enegry Times, was scheduled to give a paper at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting. However, this was later cancelled “due to an extremely full and very tight scedule.” Subsequently Steven put his presentation onto YouTube and also published the paper via the Internet.
By way of introduction to these, he published the following on the New Energy Times web site:
On the Reality of LENR and the Mythology of Cold Fusion
by Steven B. Krivit
March 20, 2010
I wanted to believe in cold fusion.
I thought, Our brilliant scientists can figure out so many wonderful things. Why not an abundant source of clean nuclear energy?
I now concede that, to the best of my awareness, it’s not fusion. But hang on - the experiments still prove the discovery of a potentially abundant source of clean nuclear energy, not from fusion but probably from electroweak interactions.
Is the distinction important? Absolutely. Nothing has interfered with the progress and respectability of the field more than the impression that its proponents are either true believers or fools.
I don’t mind admitting that I was wrong when I told people that “cold fusion” was real. I didn’t know any better when I wrote my first book. (more…)
The Limits of a Paper Trail
By Nick Pope
The declassification and release of the MoD’s UFO files has provoked much interest and debate. Some people believe that the ‘good stuff’ will never be released - there are numerous exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act, covering areas such as “defence” and “national security”. Others believe the release shows MoD did little more than log the sightings. Some believe that the whole exercise is disinformation, while others have speculated that it’s part of a campaign to prepare people for some big announcement about UFOs - often dubbed “Disclosure”.
One popular myth is that the section where I worked was a ’shop window’ and that the serious UFO research went on elsewhere. Some people have accused me of covering this up. Others have suggested that I was unaware of this. Both allegations are false and stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of the way in which government works, particularly in a Department such as MoD, where much of the business is highly classified.
The whole ‘MoD didn’t investigate UFOs’ line came from a tiny group of ufologists dishonestly trying to downplay my role by pretending that it was clerical and not investigative. Ironically, MoD itself nailed the lie. Despite a historical reluctance to acknowledge that UFO sightings were investigated, one confirmation was given by the Under Secretary of State for Defence Don Touhig, in response to a Parliamentary Question asked by Norman Baker MP. The exchange was recorded in the 18 April 2006 edition of Hansard (the official record of parliamentary proceedings) and reads as follows:
“To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what capacity Mr Nick Pope was employed by his Department between 1991 and 1994″.
“From 1991 to 1994 Mr Pope worked as a civil servant within Secretariat (Air Staff). He undertook a wide range of secretariat tasks relating to central policy, political and parliamentary aspects of non-operational RAF activity. Part of his duties related to the investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena reported to the Department to see if they had any defence significance”. (more…)
If The Cosmic Phone Rings … Don’t Answer
By Nick Pope
28th January 2010 - This week a historic two day conference was held at the Royal Society in London, discussing the search for alien life and the implications for the world if we find it.
I used to run the MoD’s UFO project and I follow the latest scientific developments in relation to the question of whether or not we’re alone in the Universe. I attended on both days, heard a series of fascinating presentations and had the chance to have some private discussions with many of the key figures.
The full title of the event was “The detection of extraterrestrial life and the consequences for science and society”. Normally you might expect such an event to be organised by the British UFO Research Association. But this was the Royal Society, an organisation founded in 1660, whose members have included legendary figures such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
The event included representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency and the UN Office for Outer Space affairs. Physicists, chemists, biologists, astronomers, anthropologists and even theologians came together to discuss a subject which, a few years ago, would have been regarded at best as fringe science. Speakers included Colin Pillinger, designer of the ill-fated Beagle 2 spacecraft, and Frank Drake, the first person to send a message into space in a deliberate attempt to signal our presence to extraterrestrials. Attendees included Jill Tarter, the astronomer on whom the character of Ellie Arroway is based in the movie Contact. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society, chaired a number of the sessions.
Plenty of time was devoted to updating attendees on the latest scientific progress. A few years ago we had no evidence of any planets other than those in our solar system. Now we’ve discovered over 400 planets around other stars. Radio telescopes scan the skies, listening for signals from extraterrestrial civilisation and do so with power unimaginable just a few years ago. We are looking and listening further into the Universe than ever before, striving for the answer to the ultimate question: is Earth unique in supporting life and if so, why? Or as many scientists now believe, is the Universe teeming with life?
Frank Drake believes there may be 10,000 civilisations in our galaxy alone, but points out that given the staggering number of stars in the galaxy, this would mean only 1 star in 10 million would support such a world. Cosmologist and best-selling author Paul Davies refers to the lack of a signal as “the eerie silence”. Frank Drake says that given that our search has only really scratched the surface, the silence isn’t eerie, but predictable. (more…)
Arctic Images Derived From Classified Data Should Be Made Public
Hundreds of images derived from classified data that could be used to better understand rapid loss and transformation of Arctic sea ice should be immediately released and disseminated to the scientific research community, says a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the report emphasized that these Arctic images show detailed melting and freezing processes and also provide information at scales, locations, and time periods that are important for studying effects of climate change on sea ice and habitat — data that are not available elsewhere.
“To prepare for a possibly ice-free Arctic and its subsequent effects on the environment, economy, and national security, it is critical to have accurate projections of changes over the next several decades,” said committee chair Stephanie Pfirman, professor and chair of the department of environmental science at Barnard College, New York City. “Forecasts of regional sea-ice conditions can help officials plan for and adapt to the impact of climate change and minimize environmental risks.” (more…)
GEET( Global Environmental Energy Technology) Fuel Processor
Field Note
As the old adage advises, where there is smoke, there is fire. And I have to admit that this is one “yardstick” I have started to use to determine what new “revolutionary technologies” to examine a little more closely. From what I have seen over the years, coupled with events surrounding now famous lives such as Tesla and Wilhelm Reich, one would expect strange attacks and turmoil surrounding an inventor who actually had come up with something that would seriously challenge established vested interests.
For those unfamiliar with what happened to Wilhelm Reich, following a series of articles about his orgone theory in The New Republic and Harper’s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. obtained an injunction against the interstate sale of his orgone accumulators. Charged with contempt for violating this order, Reich conducted his own defense, which involved sending the judge all his books to read and arguing that a court was no place to decide matters of science. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and in August 1956, several tons of his publications were burned by the FDA, certainly one of the worst examples of censorship in U.S. history. Reich died in jail of heart failure just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that in the wake of actual fraud, there isn’t turmoil and legal proceedings. So part of the formula is legal proceedings that seem to be somehow askew, at least in a layman’s sense of justice.
But when strange things start to happen, that sets off alarm bells – albeit as journalistic gut feeling that something’s not right here. That tells me that perhaps there really is something to the invention. Or at least it’s worth more thorough investigation.
Mylow Magnetic Motor Hoax Revealed
Through good detective work by Touko Pouko, the Mylow Magnetic Motor that was receiving widespread attention has been proved a hoax. Jose E. Concepcion, aka Mylow himself has admitted this , coupled with a strange claim of having being coerced into faking his later demonstrations.
Here is Touko Pouko’s first video showing how Mylow faked his “magnetic motors.” (He suggests you use HQ and full screen if possible because some of the details are difficult to notice.)
Some of the still images available here:
http://touko.cjb.net/mylow/
You can spot the lines in some of the existing YouTube backups of Mylow’s videos if you watch them in HQ/full-screen.
Mylow fumbles with hidden drive belt on glass table video.
Video: James Burke’s Knowledge Web
/Field Note
“Learners may study either history or physics, or perhaps only Renaissance history and astrophysics. People tend to become experts in highly specialized fields, learning more and more about less and less.”
James Burke
In following down one line of investigation for the first documentary I’m researching, I was reminded of an interview I did with James Burke for one of the first issues of Visions magazine.
In case you don’t know, James Burke is probably best known as the author and host of the television series Connections on PBS and The Learning Channel.
As it explains on his Knowledge Web web site (k-web.org), “James’ work explores the idiosyncratic relationships between technology, science, and social change throughout modern history. Through a variety of media—radio, television, print, and now the World Wide Web—James has brought the world a unique perspective on how all of history is interrelated and interdependent. (more…)
The Real British X-Files
By Nick Pope
There's some amazing stuff in amongst the mass of more routine material, says Nick Pope. UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, UFOs tracked on radar, craft seen performing speeds and maneuvers significantly in excess of those of our most advanced military aircraft, intriguing photos and videos...
Nick Pope used to work for the British Ministry of Defense and for 3 years headed up their UFO project. His remit was to investigate UFO sightings reported to the British government, looking for evidence of any potential threat, or anything judged to be of any “defence significance.”
Abstract
Late in 2007 the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) gave an undertaking to release its entire archive of UFO files. On May 14 2008 the National Archives released the first batch of files, leading to worldwide media coverage, including articles in the New York Times and coverage on CNN News. On October 20 2008 the National Archives released the second batch of files, again generating global media coverage, including a feature on ABC News’s Nightline. I used to work at the MoD on these files and although I left government service in 2006, I assisted the National Archives in the release process by reviewing the files, selecting cases of potential interest to the media and acting as someone to whom they would refer journalists wanting to discuss the files. I will set out the background to this release and explain how the French government’s 2007 decision to release its UFO files was a major factor in the UK decision, as was the fact that the MoD receives more FOI requests on UFOs than any other topic. I will then give detailed information about the files, explaining how much material there is, what it comprises and what the timeline is for full disclosure. I will also discuss the level of classification involved and the various FOI exemptions that mean certain information will not be released. Finally, I will pick out some cases from the newly released files and discuss the wider implications of this release. (more…)
Fifth X-Conference Continues Calls for UFO Disclosure and UN Investigation
/Field Note
The Paradigm Research Group’s fifth X-Conference in Gaithersburg, MD wrapped up this week (April 17-19), followed with a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. (No relation to the X-Journals, by the way.)
This event is an integral part of The Paradigm Research Group’s advocacy work aiming to change government policy toward extraterrestrial-related phenomena, according to a press statement. “Since 1947 the United States has imposed a ‘truth embargo’ on formal acknowledgment of an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race,” the group said in the statement. “This engagement has been confirmed by a mountain of evidence compiled by hundreds of researchers over six decades.” (more…)
Insiders Expose Reasons for Secrecy /Disclosure Project Background
/Field Note
Originally released by the Disclosure Project November 13, 2007, this offers a perspective on UFOs, government secrecy and new energy technologies that steers clear of the typical, over-simplified “conspiracy theory” rhetoric. It is followed with a video presentation which further illuminates why a reportedly highly classified program related to UFOs continues to this day while disinformation and ridicule is used year after year to keep elected leaders and the general public uncertain, misinformed or confused.
Former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer on UFO Technology, Wilbert Smith and Alternative Energy
/Field Note
Exposing the truth regards to UFO / Unidentified Flying Objects and secret technology research and development.
Reportedly recorded at the April 2008 X-Conference at the National Press Club, Washington D.C. [However, although Hellyer did speak at this conference, I am not sure this video is actually from this event. - Editor]
In the video, Hellyer refers to Wilbert Smith. Here’s one very good summary regarding Smith found on a web page dedicated to him. (more…)
Scenarios of Suppression
/Field Note
“Coincidences are a true paradox… on the one hand they seem to be the source of our greatest irrationalities–seeing causal connections when science tells us they aren’t there. On the other hand, some of our greatest feats of scientific discovery depend on coincidences.” - Josh Tenenbaum, quoted in The Power of Coincidence.
When seeking to determine the extent of suppression of scientific research and technological development, there is a considerable range in the scenarios presented.
At one end of the spectrum, we have what might easily be classified as “conspiracy theories.” Here we have the claims that workable technologies and discoveries have already been made and that these have somehow been withheld or buried, often as the result of threats and even the suspicious deaths of researchers.
Here’s a trailer I found on YouTube this gives an example of this type of extreme scenario: (more…)
Orbiting Solar Space Power A Step Closer
/Field Note
John Mankins speaks at press conference about space solar power.
A couple of days ago, on the Next100, a blog published by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, California’s biggest energy utility (PG&E), it was announced that the company is seeking approval from state regulators for a power purchase agreement with Solaren Corp., a Southern California start-up that has contracted to deliver 200 megawatts of clean, renewable power over a 15 year period, starting in 2016.
What’s notable is that Solaren says it plans to generate the power using solar panels in earth orbit, then convert it to radio frequency energy for transmission to a receiving station in Fresno County. From there, the energy will be converted to electricity and fed into PG&E’s power grid. (more…)
Raphial Morgado & Breakthrough Power Event
/Field Note
Raphial Morgado sets up his Mighty Yet Tiny engine. Jeane Manning and Joel Garbon co-authored "Breakthrough Power: How Quantum-Leap New Energy Inventions Can Transform Our World." (Courtesy PESWiki)
An interesting event was held recently (April 2) sponsored by Golden Key International Honour Society at San Jose State University and the New Energy Movement. Entitled the Breakthrough Power Event, this featured presentations by Joel Garbon, Sterling D. Allan and Jean Manning.
Sterling videoed the presentation and has put it up on YouTube. The whole event is now available through his PESWiki web site.
Much of what is presented will probably be familiar to those following the Free Energy movement. However, what is of special interest is the Q and A session with Raphial Morgado that Sterling arranged. Seeing Raphial Morgado demonstrate and explain his Massive Yet Tiny (MYT) engine was eye opening and fascinating. (more…)
Magnetic Motor Experiment
/Field Note
by Blake Harris
Over the last few weeks, Alan Sterling over at the PESWiki has been reporting on a new magnet motor experiment/demonstration. The inventor, who calls himself Mylow, originally loaded up a number of videos to YouTube detailing the construction of his motor which apparently was an effort to duplicate a magnetic motor originally built by Howard Johnson back in the 1970s. In 1979, Johnson managed to secure a US patent for a “Permanent Magnet Motor.”
Here’s a video of the working Mylow motor:
Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Skepticism
/Field Note
by Rochus Boerner
The following article was inspired by an article by Dr. Robert L.Park, a spokesman for the American Physical Society, titled Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science.
The progress of science depends on a finely tuned balance between open-mindedness and skepticism. Be too open minded, and you’ll accept wrong claims. Be too skeptical, and you’ll reject genuine new discoveries. Proper skepticism must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Unfortunately, much of what comes out of the “skeptical” community these days is not proper skepticism, but all-out, fundamentalist disbelief. Such skepticism can be called pseudo-skepticism, pathological skepticism or bogus skepticism.
Here are seven major warning signs of bogus skepticism.
1. The Skeptic has reached her skeptical opinion not after careful research and examination of the claim, but simply based on media reports and other forms of second-hand knowledge.
Example: Pathological cold fusion skeptic Robert L. Park revealed in his March 1st 2002 What’s New column that Science was going to publish an article on Sonofusion, and that even though he had not seen the paper, talked to the researchers or conducted any personal research in the area, he already knew that the Sonofusion discovery would turn out to be “a repeat of the cold fusion fiasco”. Park used every bit of influence he had in a behind-the-scenes attempt to kill the paper. Luckily, the Science editor didn’t cave and decided to publish. (more…)
Schrödinger on Cultural Context
The philosophical issues raised by Schrödinger's cat are still debated today and remains his most enduring legacy in popular science, while Schrödinger's equation is his most enduring legacy at a more technical level.
/Field Note
“Physical science, which aims not only at devising fascinating new experiments, but at obtaining a rational understanding of the results of observations, incurs at present, so I believe, the grave danger of getting severed from its historical background. The innovations of thought in the last 50 years, great and momentous and unavoidable as they were, are usually overrated compared with those of the preceding century; and the disproportionate foreshortening by time-perspective, of previous achievements on which all our enlightenment in modem times depends, reaches a disconcerting degree according as earlier and earlier centuries are considered. Along with this disregard for historical linkage there is a tendency to forget that all science is bound up with human culture in general, and that scientific findings, even those which at the moment appear the most advanced and esoteric and difficult to grasp, are meaningless outside their cultural context.” - Erwin Schrödinger, Are There Quantum Jumps? (1950)
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