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A Review of What is it Like to be Dead? Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, & the Occult, by Jens Schlieter. Oxford University Press, 2018, Pp. xxxii + 344. $34.95. ISBN 978-0-19-0888848 [...]

In a recent commentary on an essay competition regarding the best evidence for the survival of human consciousness, Keith Augustine prominently criticized the award-winning essay I submitted to this competition. As demonstrated in the present article, Augustine's critique is specious as evidenced by specifically two aspects of it: 1) On multiple occasions, Augustine misrepresented contents of my essay by attributing statements to me I never made and by presenting quotes out of context and contorting their original meaning. Due to Augustine's misrepresentations of my essay's content, it is unavoidable to conclude that his entire commentary is permeated by biased reasoning. 2) Although Augustine caviled at numerous formulations he drew from all over my essay, he did not mention that I singled his work out for profound criticism on numerous pages of my essay. He did not even attempt to counter my critique of his arguments on factual grounds. In conclusion, Augustine's commentary is a good example of a bad contribution to the survival debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological and psychological underpinnings of near-death experiences (NDEs) are not yet understood. In this article, we show that for "critical" NDEs reported after cardiac arrest, two different neurophysiological models have been proposed that, in the literature so far, have not been adequately distinguished from each other. In the real-time model, it is postulated that during critical NDEs, residual activities in the cerebrum were sufficient to generate NDEs in real time. In the reconstruction model, it is assumed that due to severe oxygen deficiency, critical NDEs could not have occurred at the time in question but were reconstructed later during the regeneration phase of the brain. To assess the plausibility of these two models, we analyzed the phenomenology of the view of one's own body from above (autoscopy) that frequently occurs in the beginning of NDEs. In addition to the available literature, we used original descriptions of autoscopies obtained in an online survey conducted in 2015. We found that the reconstruction model is not supported by empirical findings and that some findings even speak against it. We therefore conclude that future discussions of explanatory models of NDEs should focus primarily on the neurophysiological real-time model and a third alternative according to which autoscopies and NDEs occur in relative independence from the prevailing neurophysiological processes in the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical mediumship is characterized by the occurrence of phenomena that seem to defy currently prevailing standard theories of physics, such as inexplicable movements of objects (macro-psychokinesis) and the seemingly unexplained materialization of objects, sometimes in closed spaces (apports). Nevertheless, systematic investigations into apport phenomena have barely been performed. The present article introduces one of the few exceptions. The studies were conducted by Elemér Chengery Pap from 1928 to 1938 in Budapest. He summarized his research in a voluminous but little-known Hungarian treatise that ranks among the largest monographs of experimental parapsychology written by a single investigator. His book contains descriptions of some the most spectacular occurrences recorded in physical mediumship. One medium in particular, Lajos Pap, allegedly produced apports that ranged from solid objects, various liquids, snow, plants, ensembles of living insects, craw! sh, to living vertebrates up to the size of a sparrow hawk. After presenting an overview on the book's contents and some of the most remarkable phenomena described therein, I summarize the results of an experimental series performed with Lajos Pap by another Hungarian-born researcher, Nandor Fodor. Drawing from Fodor's and also others' observations, I demonstrate that Chengery Pap's research approach contained remarkable loopholes that devalue his effort to leave a supposedly objective report to posterity. The authenticity of Lajos Pap's phenomena thus remains questionable. Nevertheless, Chengery Pap's extensive treatise remains of historical signi! cance in parapsychology and provides an instructive example highlighting diffculties in studying physical mediums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article reviews the scholarly literature dealing with the perennial multipurpose crop Virginia mallow (Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby; Sida in the following). In regions dominated by intensive agricultural management practices, growing Sida holds the potential to combine ecosystem services such as decreasing soil erosion, reducing nitrate leaching as well as enhancing biodiversity, with economic profit for the farmer. After promising biomass yields of Sida were reported from studies performed in Poland about 15 years ago, the interest in this plant species has continuously increased, and different utilization pathways were examined, predominantly by researchers in Poland and Germany. At present, however, a comprehensive overview that summarizes the different lines of research performed regarding the use of Sida is lacking. This review aims at closing this gap. After providing background information on Sida, we summarize the main results obtained from investigations concerning biomass yields, fertilization effects, key findings concerning direct combustion, biogas production, steam gasification, phytoremediation, and alternative utilization pathways. Thereafter, we highlight important aspects of Virginia mallow cultivation practices, including first estimates regarding the costs involved. Finally, we point to existing research gaps. Summarizing the available literature on Sida, we aim at raising the interest of scientists and farmers in this plant species further and to show where future research might tie in with, as the successful cultivation of Sida might represent a worthwhile strategy to transform current agricultural practices in Central Europe into approaches that are more sustainable and resilient against future challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present issue of this Journal, Stephen Braude summarized the enigmatic case of Brazilian medium Carlos Mirabelli, who, like many other physical mediums, was hailed as an outstanding genuine medium by some and regarded as a complete fraud by others. In this article, I present an overview on two aspects of the Mirabelli mediumship. First, I introduce historical material that relates to the context of the somewhat famous visit of biologist and philosopher Hans Driesch at Mirabelli's in 1928, along with a few comments from my side; and I will then present two apparently littleknown accounts of sittings that Mirabelli held in 1930 and 1935 in New York. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the many phenomena reported from physical mediumship, apport phenomena—i.e. the inexplicable appearance of solid objects—rank among the most curious occurrences. In the present paper, we describe a selection of seeming apport phenomena that were observed around a German medium, Herbert Baumann (1911–1998). Baumann was a close friend of the first author, who thus had the opportunity to receive more than one hundred examples of what he considers to be genuine apports, both during séances and in everyday private life. A peculiarity of numerous seemingly apported precious and semi-precious gems was their being pervaded with a net of tiny cracks that would often render these stones so unstable that they fell apart after being apported. We present considerations regarding these cracks, describe attempts to replicate them, and conclude with a short section about explanatory approaches for apport phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, I published an article on the Felix Experimental Group, its medium Kai Mügge (KM), and my involvement in following the development of the phenomena reported around KM (Nahm 2014). In that article, I showed convincingly (in my opinion) that KM had cheated in the past, in particular with regard to producing a red "spirit" light with a magician's LED device, and with regard to producing (self-luminous) ectoplasm with the help of Halloween spider web while pretending to be in a trance. Recent developments and publications render it recommendable to summarize a few aspects of the aftermath of that previous publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The homing ability of animals has fascinated many laymen and scientists for some time. Despite considerable efforts by researchers to elucidate its underpinnings, however, it is still not known exactly how a bird, for example, can determine its longitudinal position on the globe and find its home from an unknown location to which it has been displaced. The same seems valid for terrestrial animals such as dogs. To bring this problem to renewed attention and to stimulate further research into this topic, this paper introduces two largely unknown sources dealing with the homing ability in dogs. Both contain remarkable instances of dogs that repeatedly returned to their homes or keepers from unknown locations. The first source concerns the work of Edwin H. Richardson with messenger dogs in World War I; the second source concerns the systematic homing experiments that Bernhard Muller performed between 1953 and 1962 with 75 dogs. Both authors maintained that the homing success of the dogs could not be explained in terms of the use of their usual senses alone. I go on to review currently available explanatory hypotheses for animal navigation with a focus on bird and mammal homing, and also touch upon orientation abilities in humans. This review shows that there is no consensus among leading experts with regard to the most suited model, and many admit that a conclusive explanation for homing is still lacking. Hence, an additional governing factor such as ESP might well come into play. Drawing on the training methods for dogs applied by Richardson, I suggest testing this hypothesis by training dogs to find their keepers at an unknown location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented discussing the topic of animal homing, animal's psychic abilities, and behavior of animals prior to natural catastrophes like the earthquake.