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Volume 25, Number 21 – 11/1/22

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Volume 25, Number 21 – 11/1/2022

FUTURE FACTS – FROM THINK LINKS

  • The average American viewer watches TikTok for 80 minutes a day.
  • At least in a petri dish, researchers can take skin cells from a 101-year-old person and rewind them so they act as if they’d never aged at all. 
  • Just under 19 million electric vehicles are expected to be on the US roads by 2030, with a projected need for an extra 9.6 million charging stations. 
  • Between January and September this year people in more than 90 countries and territories took to the streets over the price or availability of fuel.
Mark Gober
Turning Government Upside Down:
A Vision for a New World
 
Saturday, November 19th, 1:00-5:00
in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
or via LIVESTREAM!
Click Here for Tickets and More Info

How should our world be structured? Author Mark Gober will tackle this big question by laying out a societal framework that blends metaphysics and politics. He will examine the nature of reality through an exploration of consciousness, quantum physics, philosophy, “paranormal” phenomena, and beyond. Within this context, politics takes on a whole new meaning. Many aspects of our existing governing structures, which are commonly taken for granted, make less sense from a more metaphysically evolved standpoint. Mark will highlight such often-overlooked political and economic assumptions to chart the path to a new organizational structure for our future. Ultimately, we may be in the midst of a metaphysical battle between Good and Evil—including potential “aliens” and “multidimensional” lifeforms—so these topics are essential for our survival.  

Join us Saturday, November 19th, in person or via livestream. Get tickets below.

Mark Gober

Saturday, November 19th,  1:00-5:00
Coolfont Resort
$65
Berkeley Springs, WV

Get Tickets at
TransitionTalks.org
Mark Gober is the author of An End to Upside Down Thinking (2018), which was awarded the IPPY award for best science book of 2019. He is also the author of An End to Upside Down Living (2020), An End to Upside Down Liberty (2021), and An End to Upside Down Contact (2022); and he is the host of the podcast Where Is My Mind? (2019). 
Additionally, he serves on the board of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the School of Wholeness and Enlightenment. Previously, Gober was a partner at Sherpa Technology Group in Silicon Valley and worked as an investment banking analyst with UBS in New York. He has been named one of IAM’s Strategy 300: The World’s Leading Intellectual Property Strategists. Gober graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he wrote an award-winning thesis on Daniel Kahneman’s Nobel Prize–winning “Prospect Theory” and was elected a captain of Princeton’s Division I tennis team.
Click Here for Tickets and More Info
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THINK LINKS

Vaccine Narrative Collapses as Harvard Study Shows Jab More Dangerous than COVID – (Florida Standard – September 14, 2022)

As government officials and mainstream media urges the vaccinated to inject a second so-called “bivalent” booster said to be targeting the Omicron variant, it turns out that this substance hasn’t been tested on humans. And the only animal trial that has been performed included eight mice. “It hasn’t been proven in a clinical trial, because we don’t have time to do a clinical trial because we need to get the vaccine out now because we have such a situation throughout the world and certainly in the United States, we’re having 400 deaths per day and up to 5,000 hospitalizations a day,” NIAID Dr Anthony Fauci explained in an interview. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has also stated that the boosters must be expedited in order to work properly. A delay would potentially render the shots “outdated” as new variants would form, Walensky argues. A new study conducted by scientists from Harvard and Johns Hopkins, currently in pre-print, reveals that the COVID-19 vaccines were up to 98 times worse than the virus itself. The study is critical of the booster requirement for American university students, stating in the abstract: “Using CDC and sponsor-reported adverse event data, we find that booster mandates may cause a net expected harm: per COVID-19 hospitalization prevented in previously uninfected young adults, we anticipate 18 to 98 serious adverse events, including 1.7 to 3.0 booster-associated myocarditis cases in males, and 1,373 to 3,234 cases of grade =3 reactogenicity which interferes with daily activities.”

“Playing God”: How the Metaverse Will Challenge Our Very Notion of Free Will – (BigThink – October 25, 2022)

The United Nations Human Rights Council recently adopted a draft resolution entitled “Neurotechnology and Human Rights”. It’s aimed at protecting humanity from devices that can “record, interfere with, or modify brain activity.” To describe the risks, the resolution uses euphemistic phrases like cognitive engineering, mental privacy, and cognitive liberty, but what we’re really talking about is mind control. However, neurotechnology is not our greatest threat on this front. That’s because it involves sophisticated hardware ranging from “brain implants” to wearable devices that can detect and transmit signals through the skull. But individuals who submit themselves to implants or brain stimulation will likely do so with informed consent. On the other hand, there is an emerging category of products and technologies that could threaten our cognitive liberties across large populations, requiring nothing more than consumer-grade hardware and software from trusted corporations. These seemingly innocent systems, which will be marketed for a wide range of positive applications from entertainment to education, targeting both kids and adults, could be dangerously misused and abused without our knowledge or consent. A primary example is the Metaverse. To explain why, it helps to understand an engineering concept that addresses the potential dangers of interactive systems. The concept is feedback control, and it comes from a technical discipline called control theory. In the metaverse, you are the system being controlled. (Editor’s note: We recommend this article. We also recommend browsing through the BigThink.com website for other off-beat and interesting articles.)

How TikTok Ate the Internet – (Washington Post – October 14, 2022)

If you have not used TikTok, you are rapidly becoming the global exception. In five years, the app, once written off as a silly dance-video fad, has become one of the most prominent, discussed, distrusted, technically sophisticated and geopolitically complicated juggernauts on the internet — a phenomenon that has secured an unrivaled grasp on culture and everyday life and intensified the conflict between the world’s biggest superpowers. Its dominance, as estimated by the internet firms Cloudflare, Data.ai and Sensor Tower, is hard to overstate. TikTok’s website was visited last year more often than Google. No app has grown faster past a billion users, and more than 100 million of them are in the United States, roughly a third of the country. The average American viewer watches TikTok for 80 minutes a day — more than the time spent on Facebook and Instagram, combined. Two-thirds of American teens use the app, and 1 in 6 say they watch it “almost constantly,” a Pew Research Center survey in August found; usage of Facebook among the same group has been cut in half since 2015. Silicon Valley taught the world a style of online connectivity built on hand-chosen interests and friendships. TikTok doesn’t care about those. Instead, it unravels for viewers an endless line of videos selected by its algorithm, then learns a viewer’s tastes with every second they watch, pause or scroll. You don’t tell TikTok what you want to see. It tells you. And the internet can’t get enough. “We’re not talking about a dance app,” said Abbie Richards, a researcher who studies disinformation on TikTok, where she has half a million followers. But TikTok’s ownership, by the Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, has also made it one of the biggest pariahs in Washington. Former president Donald Trump tried to dismantle it. Top branches of the U.S. government and military have banned it from government-issued phones. And members of Congress insist it could be a Trojan horse for a secret Chinese propaganda and surveillance machine. “We’re talking about a platform that’s shaping how a whole generation is learning to perceive the world.” (Editor’s note: We recommend this article.  It’s information will surprise you – even if you already watch TikTok “almost constantly”.)

Technology That Lets Us “Speak” to Our Dead Relatives Has Arrived. Are We Ready? – (Technology Review – October 18, 2022)

Digital clones of the people we love could forever change how we grieve. The California-based company HereAfter AI has created an app powered by more than four hours of conversations a person had with an interviewer about their lives and memories. The company’s goal is to let the living “communicate” with the dead. Technology like this, which lets you “talk” to people who’ve died, has been a mainstay of science fiction for decades. It’s an idea that’s been peddled by charlatans and spiritualists for centuries. But now it’s becoming a reality—and an increasingly accessible one, thanks to advances in AI and voice technology. The author’s real, flesh-and-blood parents are still alive and well, and their virtual versions were just made to help him understand the technology. But their avatars offer a glimpse at a world where it’s possible to converse with loved ones—or simulacra of them—long after they’re gone. From what I, author of this article, could glean over a dozen conversations with my virtually deceased parents, this really will make it easier to keep close the people we love. It’s not hard to see the appeal. People might turn to digital replicas for comfort, or to mark special milestones like anniversaries. At the same time, the technology and the world it’s enabling are, unsurprisingly, imperfect, and the ethics of creating a virtual version of someone are complex, especially if that person hasn’t been able to provide consent. For some, this tech may even be alarming, or downright creepy. I spoke to one man who’d created a virtual version of his mother, which he booted up and talked to at her own funeral. Some people argue that conversing with digital versions of lost loved ones could prolong your grief or loosen your grip on reality. And when I talked to friends about this article, some of them physically recoiled. There’s a common, deeply held belief that we mess with death at our peril. But I’m only human, and those worries end up being washed away by the even scarier prospect of losing the people I love—dead and gone without a trace. If technology might help me hang onto them, is it so wrong to try?

How Fast Is Gravity, Exactly? – (Big Think – October 24, 2022)

Let’s start with a thought experiment. Suppose at this very instant, somehow the Sun was made to disappear — not just go dark, but vanish entirely. We know that light travels at a fixed speed: 300,000 kilometers per second, or 186,000 miles per second.  From the known distance between the Earth and the Sun (93 million miles), we can calculate how long it would take before we here on Earth would know the Sun had disappeared. It would take about eight minutes and 20 seconds before the noon sky would go dark. But what about gravity? If the sun disappeared, it would not only stop emitting light, but also stop exerting the gravity that holds the planets in orbit. When would we find out? New research, based on new ways of measuring gravity, has answered that question – exactly.

Mouse Study Reveals How to Help Speed Up the Liver’s Self-Regeneration Process – (Science Alert – October 16, 2022)

The liver is known for its ability to regenerate. It can completely regrow itself even after two-thirds of its mass has been surgically removed. But damage from medications, alcohol abuse, or obesity can eventually cause the liver to fail. Currently, the only effective treatment for end-stage liver disease is transplantation. But what if, instead of liver transplantation, there were a drug that could help the liver regenerate itself? Satdarshan Monga, founding director of the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center and his team found that activating a particular protein with a new medication can help accelerate regeneration and repair after severe liver injury or partial surgical removal in mice. Over the past two decades, research labs have identified one group of 19 proteins called Wnts that play an important role in controlling liver function and regeneration. We found that only two of 19 Wnt genes, Wnt2 and Wnt9b, were functionally present in the liver. This article further explains the research including research on a new drug could help recover liver zonation and regeneration. This drug, an antibody called FL6.13, shares similar functions with Wnt proteins, including activating liver regeneration. Lastly, the team wanted to test how well this drug worked to repair the liver after Tylenol overdose which can cause severe liver damage. Without immediate medical attention, it can lead to liver failure and death. Tylenol poisoning is one of the most common causes of severe liver injury requiring liver transplantation in the US. Their findings indicate that, in mouse studies, with the drug, liver cell repair and tissue regeneration are occurring.

How Scientists Want to Make You Young Again – (Technology Review – October 25, 2022)

A little over 15 years ago, scientists at Kyoto University in Japan made a remarkable discovery. When they added just four proteins to a skin cell and waited about two weeks, some of the cells underwent an unexpected and astounding transformation: they became young again. They turned into stem cells almost identical to the kind found in a days-old embryo, just beginning life’s journey. At least in a petri dish, researchers using the procedure can take withered skin cells from a 101-year-old and rewind them so they act as if they’d never aged at all. Now, after more than a decade of studying and tweaking so-called cellular reprogramming, a number of biotech companies and research labs say they have tantalizing hints the process could be the gateway to an unprecedented new technology for age reversal. By applying limited, controlled doses of the reprogramming proteins to lab animals, the scientists say, they are seeing evidence that the procedure makes the animals—or at least some of their organs—more youthful. One of the key promoters of this idea is Richard Klausner, the organizer and chief scientist of Altos Labs, a new research company seeded with more than $3 billion from ultra-wealthy figures in Silicon Valley and oil money from the Persian Gulf. Klausner and his financiers had swept up dozens of top scientists—offering salaries of $1 million and more—and set them to work on a technology the company now calls “rejuvenation programming.” It seems to work at least in part by resetting what’s called the epigenome—chemical marks on DNA that control which genes are turned on, or off, in a cell. In aging, some of these markers get flipped to the wrong positions. Reprogramming is a technology that can flip them back. But it can also change cells in dangerous ways, even causing cancer. The objective of Altos is to tame this phenomenon, understand it, and eventually apply it as a treatment to reverse a wide range of diseases. This may be possible, Klausner says, because youthful cells have more resilience and can bounce back from biological stress in ways old ones don’t. And Klausner has data to suggest it might already be working. During a talk, he showed slides claiming that fat mice had recovered from diabetes after treatment, and that others were able to survive normally lethal doses of painkillers—all thanks to a healthy dose of the medical rejuvenation. Klausner is the former head of the National Cancer Institute and onetime leader for global health at the Gates Foundation. He is a heavy hitter who has also been behind some of today’s most high-profile biotech ventures, like the cancer blood-test company Grail. Yet even for him, rejuvenation is wildly ambitious. That is because if you can make cells act younger, healthier, and more resilient, you might have a general-purpose means of forestalling many diseases all at once. “This is the opposite of precision medicine,” Klausner said.

White House Is Pushing Ahead Research to Cool Earth by Reflecting Back Sunlight – (CNBC – October 13, 2022)

The White House is coordinating a five-year research plan to study ways of modifying the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth to temper the effects of global warming, a process called solar geoengineering or sunlight reflection. The research plan will assess climate interventions, including spraying aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight back into space, and should include goals for research, what’s necessary to analyze the atmosphere, and what impact these kinds of climate interventions may have on Earth.  Some of the techniques, such as spraying sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, are known to have harmful effects on the environment and human health. But scientists and climate leaders who are concerned that humanity will overshoot its emissions targets say research is important to figure out how best to balance these risks against a possibly catastrophic rise in the Earth’s temperature. Getting ready to research a topic is a very preliminary step, but it’s notable the White House is formally engaging with what has largely been seen as the stuff of dystopian fantasy. A landmark report released in March 2021 from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine addressed three kinds of solar geoengineering: stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening, and cirrus cloud thinning. Stratospheric aerosol injection would involve flying aircraft into the stratosphere, or between 10 miles and 30 miles skyward, and spraying a fine mist that would hang in the air, reflecting some of the sun’s radiation back into space. Marine cloud brightening involves increasing the reflectivity of clouds that are relatively close to the surface of the ocean with techniques like spraying sea salt crystals into the air. Marine cloud brightening generally gets less attention than stratospheric aerosol injection because it affects a half dozen to a few dozen miles and would potentially only last hours to days. Cirrus cloud thinning involves thinning mid-level clouds, between 3.7 and 8.1 miles high, to allow heat to escape from the Earth’s surface. It is not technically part of the “solar geoengineering” umbrella category because it does not involve reflecting sunlight, but instead involves increasing the release of thermal radiation. Doing research is important because many onlookers expect that some country, facing an unprecedented climate disaster, will act unilaterally to will try some version of sunlight modification anyway — even if it hasn’t been carefully studied. “In my opinion, it’s more than 90% likely that within the next 20 years, some major nation wants to do this,” said Edward A. Parson, a professor of environmental law at UCLA’s law school.

Tour Amazon’s Dream Home, Where Every Appliance Is Also a Spy – (Washington Post – October 12, 2022)

You may not realize all the ways in which Amazon is watching you. No other big tech company reaches deeper into domestic life. Two-thirds of Americans who shop on Amazon own at least one of its smart gadgets, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Amazon now makes (or has acquired) more than two dozen types of domestic devices and services, from the garage to the bathroom. All devices generate data. And Amazon collects more data than almost any other company. Amazon says all that personal information helps power an “ambient intelligence” to make your home smart. It’s the Jetsons’ dream. But it’s also a surveillance nightmare. Many of Amazon’s products contribute to its detailed profile of you, helping it know you better than you know yourself. Amazon says it doesn’t “sell” our data, but there aren’t many U.S. laws to restrict how it uses the information. Data that seems useless today could look different tomorrow after it gets reanalyzed, stolen or handed to a government. Scroll through this article to see what Amazon’s products and services could reveal about you. For example, Amazon knows exactly how fast you read and how far you actually got through your last novel on your Kindle or Fire Tablet.  (Editor’s note: We recommend this article for its thoroughness.)

“The Gates of Hell Opened”: Media Panic Ensues As Musk Takes Over Twitter and Fires Chief Censors – (Jonathan Turley – October 28, 2022)

One of Elon Must’s first steps upon taking over Twiter was to fire CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and head of legal policy, trust, and safety Vijaya Gadde, the primary figures responsible for creating one of the largest censorship systems in history. Their removal constitutes as singular advances in the cause of free speech around the world. As expected, this morning media figures are in full panic at the thought that one social media platform may restore free speech protections after years of biased and aggressive censorship. The controversial Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz lamented “It’s like the gates of hell opened on this site tonight.”  That’s right, the prospect of others having access to Twitter to express their own views is a hellish prospect for many in the media. Agrawal and Gadde personified the censorship culture at Twitter, figures who were unabashedly opposed to traditional views of free speech and viewpoint diversity. Led by President Joe Biden, Democratic leaders and media figures have demanded corporate censorship and even state censorship to curtail opposing views on issues ranging from climate change to election integrity to public health to gender identity. The Washington Post’s Max Boot, for example, declared, “For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.” Many of those same figures are now apoplectic at the thought that others may be able to express dissenting views on subjects ranging from climate change to election regulations to gender identity. The freak out from the Musk-phobic was triggered by the prospect of a single social media company offering greater free speech protections. Just one.  However, they know that the effort to control political and social speech will be lost if people have an alternative.  These companies are only able to sell censorship because they have largely been able to bar free speech competitors. Now there may be an alternative. We will see if Musk can remain faithful to his pledge to restore free speech protections to the site.

A New Four-year Project Will Test the Viability of Large-scale Wave Energy in Europe – (CNBC – October 19, 2022)

A 19.6 million euro (around $19.3 million) initiative centered around commercializing large-scale wave energy projects is being launched by WEDUSEA, a collaboration of 14 partners from academia and industry, with funding coming from Innovate UK and the European Union’s Horizon Europe program. WEDUSEA is being coordinated by OceanEnergy, an Irish firm that’s developed the OE35, a piece of kit that’s been dubbed “the world’s largest capacity floating wave energy device.” Capacity refers to the amount of electricity a generator is able to produce when operating at full volume. According to a statement released by the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC), WEDUSEA’s initial phase will concentrate on the design of a 1 megawatt version of the OE35. “This will be followed by a two-year grid connected demonstration at the European Marine Energy Centre’s Billia Croo wave energy test site in Orkney, Scotland,” the statement added. a third phase of the project would look at commercialization, among other things. An overarching goal of the project is to “create a technology deployment pathway for a 20 MW pilot farm,” according to EMEC.

These ‘Flying’ Ferries Could Get You to Work in Half the Time – (CNN – June 28, 2022)

Waves from fast-moving boats damage the seabed, engine noise disturbs wildlife, and leisure boating accounted for over 25% of Sweden’s CO2 emissions from shipping in 2020. But one Swedish startup says its battery-powered boats can cut emissions while slashing journey times. Candela has designed fully electric, zero-carbon hydrofoils. The company says it sold more than 100 of its C-8 model, a 28-foot leisure boat, within six months of launching in August 2021. Its passenger ferries — unveiled on June 22 — are expected to hit the water next year. Hydrofoils have wing-like structures attached to the underside of the hull. As the vessels gather speed, these “wings” lift them out of the water, reducing friction and wake, which enables them to go faster and increases battery efficiency, said Gustav Hasselskog, founder and CEO of Candela. Made with a composite carbon fiber, the hull is ultralight — essential for making the boat “fly” across the water, he adds. Other companies are also working on high-end battery-powered leisure boats. Arc Boats, created by former rocket engineers from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is releasing its 24-foot aluminum boat this summer, while another Stockholm-based startup, X Shore has raised over $74.8 million to ramp up production of its electric boat, which has a range of up to 100 nautical miles. But Hasselskog says that because the hydrofoils don’t make waves, it creates a smoother ride at higher speeds. “You have this sense of flying.”

As Electric Vehicles Become More Popular, Home Renters Face a Charging Dilemma – (NPR – October 25, 2022)

For millions of renters, access to EV charging remains a significant barrier. Fast chargers, also known as DC Fast, can fill up a car in 45 minutes or less. But slower Level 2 chargers, which take several hours, still outnumber DC fast chargers nearly four to one. Charging on a standard residential outlet, or Level 1 charger, isn’t practical unless you drive little or can leave the car plugged in overnight. Now, cities across the U.S. are trying to come up with innovative public charging solutions as drivers string power cords across sidewalks, erect private charging stations on city right-of-ways and queue at public facilities. Nationwide, there are about 120,000 public charging ports featuring Level 2 charging or above, and nearly 1.5 million electric vehicles registered in the U.S. — a ratio of just over one charger per 12 cars nationally, according to the latest U.S. Department of Energy data. A briefing prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy last year forecasts a total of just under 19 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, with a projected need for an extra 9.6 million charging stations. In Los Angeles, for example, nearly one-quarter of all new vehicles registered in July were plug-in. In Los Angeles, the city has installed over 500 pole-mounted EV chargers — 450 on street lights and 50 on power poles — and wants to add 200 more per year.  Similar initiatives to install pole-mounted chargers are in place or being considered from New York City to Charlotte, N.C. to Kansas City, Missouri. The utility Seattle City Light is also in the early stages of a pilot project to install chargers in neighborhoods with limited private parking. London, for example, has 4,000 public chargers on street lights. That’s much cheaper — just a third the cost of wiring a charging station into the sidewalk, said Vishant Kothari, manager of the electric mobility team at the World Resources Institute. But London and Los Angeles have an advantage over many U.S. cities: Their street lights operate on 240 volts, better for EV charging. Most American city street lights use 120 volts, which takes hours to charge a vehicle. So cities must use a mix of solutions, from zoning changes to policies that encourage workplace fast-charging.

At Some Dairy Farms Robots Milk the Cows – (Concord Monitor – October 24, 2022)

Lely Astronaut milking machines combine hydraulics, lasers, electronics and suction.  Running around $420,000, the setup determines which cow has entered the milking stall via the RFD chip hanging around her neck, cleans the teats twice with little brushes that look like they came from a Matchbox car wash, attaches nozzles and drains 8 or 9 gallons of milk that gets pumped to various places depending on factors such  as whether the cow is on antibiotics.  (Milk from cows on antibiotics cannot be sold for human consumption.) This happens as often as four times a day for each cow and, importantly for the farmer’s workload, happens on the cow’s schedule. They can get milked whenever they feel like it rather than on the rigid twice-a-day schedule that is the usual dairy routine. “Whenever” includes the middle of the night. Lely is a Dutch farm-implement company specializing in dairies. It has been selling versions of its robot milker, which it calls Astronaut, since 2005. The company says more than 20,000 have been installed worldwide. Automation is showing up on many farms because of the labor situation. Self-driving tractors were on the market long before self-driving cars, while automated systems for planting, harvesting and even weeding crops (using lasers!) are all over the place. The ability for automated systems to do something as delicate and complicated as cleaning a cow’s udder and attaching suction cups to the correct teats, when every cow is slightly different in size and shape, shows how far it has gone. Each cow must be manually placed in the system for the first usage to help the system’s sensors determine the geometry of that animal. After that it adjusts automatically, detecting which cow has entered the stall to feed via RFID chips in collars they wear. Cows don’t like novelty so it takes some time for them to get used to the system and the first few months of operation after installation can be tough. The upside is decreased labor costs and the fact that cows produce more milk if they’re being milked three or four times a day rather than only twice.

Mass Drone Attacks in Ukraine Foreshadow the Future of Warfare – Al Jazeera – October 20, 2022)

The aircraft are called kamikaze drones because they attack once and don’t come back. Ukrainian officials say the ones primarily being used in their airspace are the Iranian-made Shahed-136. About 2,400 were apparently purchased by Russia in August, and their first reported use in Ukraine was a month ago. They are far from top-end technology. The smallest costs just $20,000 while a traditional drone typically is at least 10 times that figure. They also carry 80 to 90 pounds of explosives, significantly smaller than most drones. But their value is in their numbers. They appear in large swarms and fly low enough to evade radar-defense systems. “They’re relatively small, and they’re single use,” said Katherine Lawlor, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of War. “They fly into something and then explode.” She added. “These drones are effectively missiles — they loiter in place looking for their target.” Even if they are shot down, they explode in the air and can spray potentially deadly debris. Those that hit their target detonate on impact. This strategy also potentially signals a wider trend worldwide. “These drones allow Russia to target Ukrainians far away from the front line, away from the primary battle space,” says Ulrike Franke, a senior policy fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations who leads its Technology and European Power Initiative. Like many trends of modern warfare, these techniques appear to have been tested during the decade-long war in Syria, where both Russia and Iran have reportedly used suicide drones. “There’s been a lot of debates between experts about whether drones will be used in more advanced fights, like a potential US-China conflict,” said Zachary Kallenborn, a policy fellow at the Schar School of Policy and Government who researches unconventional weapons and technology. “The technology is certainly going in a direction where these are the future of war,” he said.

New App Lets Civilians Help Shoot Down Drones and Missiles in Ukraine – (Jerusalem Post – October 17, 2022)

Ukraine has created an application for mobile devices that will help air defense units supplement radar information about an air target to better the chances of taking it down, according to Ukraine’s Strategic Communications Department. “The Android version of the “ePPO” application is already available to download. Now every citizen of Ukraine can join the anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense of our skies,” the Strategic Communications Department of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said. To use the app, all that is needed is to install the “ePPO” application on your smartphone, pass a quick authorization process, click “Test” to make sure that everything works, and be ready to notify anti-aircraft fighters about perceived threats. How the app works: If you see an air target, for example, a cruise missile or a suicide drone, you need to open “ePPO” on your smartphone, select the type of air target, point your smartphone in the direction of the target and press the big red button. Air defense specialists will see a mark on the map, it will complement the radar information and the threat will be shot down. The ePPO app is currently available for the Android platform, iOS version is in the works. The Ministry offered advice on how to recognize UAVs and how protect yourself from these weapons. (Editor’s note: This brings the idea of WWII’s “citizens supporting the war effort”, for example with citizen coastline surveillance, into the 21st century.)

Pentagon Successfully Flight Tests Hypersonic Weapon Components – (Reuters – October 26, 2022)

The U.S. Navy and Army blasted off a rocket from a seaside launch pad in Virginia to test nearly a dozen hypersonic weapon experiments on October 26, 2022 to help develop the new class of weapon, the Pentagon said, calling the test successful. Sandia National Laboratories ran the test from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, which evaluated hypersonic weapon communications and navigation equipment as well as advanced materials that can withstand the heat in a “realistic hypersonic environment,” according to a Navy statement. Hypersonic glide vehicles are launched from a rocket in the upper atmosphere before gliding to a target at speeds of more than five times the speed of sound, or about 3,853 miles per hour. Glide bodies are different from their air-breathing hypersonic weapon cousins, which use scramjet engine technology and the vehicle’s high speed to forcibly compress incoming air before combustion to enable sustained flight at hypersonic speeds. The United States and its global rivals have quickened their pace to build hypersonic weapons – the next generation of arms that rob adversaries of reaction time and traditional defeat mechanisms. To speed the development the Pentagon launched these experiments and prototypes using a sounding rocket, a smaller and therefore more affordable test vehicle, to fill a critical gap between ground testing and full-system flight testing.

Hundreds of Retired US Military Officers Cash In with Jobs for Saudi Arabia, UAE – (Mid East Eye – October 18, 2022)

Hundreds of retired US military officers, including former generals and admirals, have used their military backgrounds to ink lucrative deals working for foreign countries, mostly among the Gulf monarchies like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to two long-term investigations by The Washington Post. The highest-ranking officer in the report was retired General Jim Mattis, who served as former President Donald Trump’s secretary of defense. One of the generals is retired Marine General James L Jones, who served as former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser and started working with Riyadh in 2017. For the project, Jones enlisted the help of “about a dozen ??former senior Pentagon officials” including William Cohen, who served as secretary of defense in the Bill Clinton administration. The newspaper spent two years suing the federal government under the Freedom of Information Act for the records and obtained 4,000 documents under FOIA. The documents also revealed that 15 former generals and admirals have worked directly with Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Foreign governments often spend copious amounts of money in Washington on lobbyists, consultants and think tanks. However, The Washinton Post’s reporting reveals that the hiring of former military officers by Gulf monarchies has sharply risen in the past decade. While many of the forms are heavily redacted, the documents show that salary and benefits packages reach six and, sometimes, seven figures. Under US federal law, retired military personnel are barred from receiving anything of value from foreign governments that could compromise their sworn allegiance to the United States. But in 1977, Congress allowed the Pentagon and State Department to issue waivers to the law. The Washington Post noted that there is no criminal penalty for violating the law and the enforcement of it is “almost nonexistent”. The revelations add to concerns about the extent to which foreign countries, including many with authoritarian governments, have expanded their influence over US institutions. Retired US General John Allen stepped down as the president of the Brookings Institution think tank earlier this year, following the news that federal authorities believe he illegally lobbied for Qatar. Billionaire and Trump ally Tom Barrack is currently on trial for charges of illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the UAE. See also: Retired U.S. Admirals Advise Australia on Deal for Nuclear Submarines, which reports that two retired U.S. admirals and three former U.S. Navy civilian leaders are playing critical but secretive roles as paid advisers to the government of Australia during its negotiations to acquire top-secret nuclear submarine technology from the United States and Britain.

Advocating World War Three Is Just Mainstream Punditry Now – (Caitlin Johnstone – October 28, 2022)

Mainstream punditry in the latter half of 2022 is rife with op-eds arguing that the US needs to vastly increase military spending because a world war is about to erupt, and they always frame it as though this would be something that happens to the US, as though its own actions would have nothing to do with it. As though it would not be the direct result of the US-centralized empire continually accelerating towards that horrific event while refusing every possible diplomatic off-ramp due to its inability to relinquish its goal of total unipolar planetary domination. The latest example of this trend is an article titled “Could America Win a New World War? — What It Would Take to Defeat Both China and Russia” published by Foreign Affairs, a magazine that is owned and operated by the influential think tank, Council on Foreign Relations. In “The skeptics are wrong: The U.S. can confront both China and Russia,” The Washington Post‘s Josh Rogin wags his finger at Democrats who think aggressions against Russia should be prioritized and Republicans who think that military and financial attention should be devoted to China, arguing porque no los dos (why not both)? In “Could The U.S. Military Fight Russia And China At The Same Time?“, 19FortyFive‘s Robert Farley answers in the affirmative, writing that “the immense fighting power of the US armed forces would not be inordinately strained by the need to wage war in both theaters” and concluding that “the United States can fight both Russia and China at once… for a while, and with the help of some friends.” In “Can the US Take on China, Iran and Russia All at Once?Bloomberg‘s Hal Brands answers that it would be very difficult and recommends escalating in Ukraine and Taiwan and selling Israel more advanced weaponry to get a step ahead of Russia, China and Iran respectively. In “International Relations Theory Suggests Great-Power War Is Coming,” the Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig writes for Foreign Policy that a global democracies-versus-autocracies showdown is coming “with the United States and its status quo-oriented democratic allies in NATO, Japan, South Korea, and Australia on one side and the revisionist autocracies of China, Russia, and Iran on the other,” and that aspiring foreign policy experts should adjust their expectations accordingly. When they’re not arguing that World War Three is coming and we must all prepare to fight it and win, they’re arguing that a global conflict is already upon us and we must begin acting like it, as in last month’s New Yorker piece “What if We’re Already Fighting the Third World War with Russia?” 

Fuel Protests Gripping More Than 90 Countries – (BBC – October 18, 2022)

Fuel costs affect many aspects of daily life – personal travel, transportation of goods, energy for electricity and heating. Around the world demonstrators have called for change. They’ve demanded that petrol be made more affordable or available at all. They’ve sat in peaceful protests and they’ve attacked governments. Some have paid an even higher price. For example, in August, violent clashes in the capital of Sierra Leone killed 25 people, including five police officers. Since March, the price of fuel in the country has nearly doubled, from 12,000 Leones ($0.86) per liter to a record high of 22,000 Leones ($1.58) in July. In July, the central bank introduced new banknotes – stripping three zeros off the Leone – in a move to restore confidence in its inflation-hit currency. By analyzing data on demonstrations worldwide, collected by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled), the BBC has established that between January and September this year people in more than 90 countries and territories took to the streets over the price or availability of fuel. Article includes map and timeline of protests globally. BBC research has found that in the last nine months, more than 80 people have lost their lives due to protests over the cost of fuel. That includes individuals from Argentina, Ecuador, Guinea, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Panama, Peru, and South Africa as well as Sierra Leone. The war in Ukraine is just one of many factors driving up the global price of fuel. Crude oil was cheaper at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, because many businesses temporarily closed and the demand for energy collapsed. But as life returned to the “new normal” and energy demands increased, suppliers have struggled to keep up with demand which has pushed up prices. The US dollar is at an all-time high against other major currencies; the pound, the euro, China’s yuan and the Japanese yen. The oil used to make petrol is paid for primarily in US dollars. So a weak local currency against the dollar makes fuel even more expensive.

Anti-Xi Protest Spreads in China and Worldwide as Chinese Leader Begins Third Term – (CNN – October 22, 2022)

In Chinese, handwritten in red paint on a banner hanging over a busy overpass in Beijing, in a rare, bold protest against China’s top leader Xi Jinping, appeared the following: “Life not zero-Covid policy, freedom not martial-law type lockdown, dignity not lies, reform not cultural revolution, votes not dictatorship, citizens not slaves”.  The person who hung the banner has come to be known as the “Bridge Man,” in a nod to the unidentified “Tank Man” who faced down a column of tanks on Beijing’s Avenue of Eternal Peace the day after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. Another banner on the Sitong Bridge denounced Xi as a “dictator” and “national traitor” and called for his removal – just days before a key Communist Party meeting at which he secured a precedent-breaking third term. Both banners were swiftly removed by police and all mentions of the protest wiped from the Chinese internet. But the short-lived display of political defiance – which is almost unimaginable in Xi’s authoritarian surveillance state – has resonated far beyond the Chinese capital, sparking acts of solidarity from Chinese nationals inside China and across the globe. In China, the slogans were scrawled on walls and doors in public bathrooms – one of the last places spared the watchful eyes of the country’s ubiquitous surveillance cameras. Few of the slogan writers believe their political actions will lead to real changes on the ground. Having tightened its grip on all aspects of life, launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent, wiped out much of civil society and built a high-tech surveillance state, the party’s hold on power appears firmer than ever. But the extensive censorship around the Sitong Bridge protest also betrays its paranoia. One person interviewed for this article said, “(The Beijing protester) had sacrificed his life or the freedom of the rest of his life to do what he did.” No one interviewed thought that the “Bridge Man” would escape being identified.

The Rising Tide of Global Sadness – (New York Times – October 28, 2022)

Between 1965 and 2015, the appearance of the word “love” in top-100 hits roughly halved. Meanwhile, the number of times such songs contained negative emotion words, like “hate” rose sharply. Analyzing 23 million headlines published between 2000 and 2019 by 47 news outlets popular in the United States found that headlines, too, grew significantly more negative, with a greater proportion of headlines denoting anger, fear, disgust and sadness. Headlines in left-leaning media got a lot more negative, and headlines in right-leaning publications got even more negative than that. The negativity in the culture reflects the negativity in real life. Between 1990 and 2018 the share of Americans who put themselves in the lowest happiness category increased by more than 50%. And that was before the pandemic. But the really bad news is abroad. Each year Gallup surveys roughly 150,000 people in over 140 countries about their emotional lives. Experiences of negative emotions — related to stress, sadness, anger, worry and physical pain — hit a record high last year. Gallup asks people in this survey to rate their lives on a scale from zero to 10, with zero meaning you’re living your worst possible life and 10 meaning you’re living your best. Sixteen years ago, only 1.6% of people worldwide rated their life as a zero. As of last year, the share of people reporting the worst possible lives has more than quadrupled. Part of the problem is declining community. The polls imply that almost two billion people are so unhappy where they live, they would not recommend their community to a friend. This is especially true in China and India. Part of the problem is hunger. In 2014, 22.6% of the world faced moderate or severe food insecurity. By 2020, 30.4% of the world did. Part of the problem is an increase in physical misery. In 2006, 30% of people who rated their lives the worst said they experienced daily pain. Last year, 45% of those people said they live with daily pain. If misery levels keep rising, what can we expect in the future? Well, rising levels of populism, for one. And second, greater civil unrest across the board. According to the Global Peace Index, civic discontent — riots, strikes, anti-government demonstrations — increased by 244% from 2011 to 2019.

DART Asteroid Impact Aftermath: Hubble Spots Unexpected Twin Tails in “Stunning Surprise” – (SciTech Daily – October 22, 2022)

NASA carried out the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a first-of-its-kind experiment, on September 26, 2022. The pioneering experiment was designed to intentionally crash a spacecraft into a small asteroid in the world’s first-ever in-space test for planetary defense. According to NASA, the mission was successful in altering the orbit of Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos. However, there is still much to learn about the system. Follow-up observations show that the ejected material, or “ejecta,” has expanded and faded in brightness as time went on after impact, largely as expected. Although the twin tail is an unexpected development, similar behavior is often seen in comets and active asteroids. The latest Hubble observations provide the best-quality image of the double-tail to date. Photos in article.

Supernova Explosions Reveal Precise Details of Dark Energy and Dark Matter – (SciTech Daily – October 23, 2022)

A powerful new analysis has been performed by astrophysicists that places the most precise limits ever on the composition and evolution of the universe. With this analysis, dubbed Pantheon+, cosmologists find themselves at a crossroads. Pantheon+ is based on the largest dataset of its kind, comprising more than 1,500 stellar explosions called Type Ia supernovae. These bright blasts occur when white dwarf stars — remnants of stars like our Sun — accumulate too much mass and undergo a runaway thermonuclear reaction. Because Type Ia supernovae outshine entire galaxies, the stellar detonations can be glimpsed at distances exceeding 10 billion light years, or back through about three-quarters of the universe’s total age. Pantheon+ convincingly finds that the cosmos is made up of about two-thirds dark energy and one-third matter — predominantly in the form of dark matter — and is expanding at an accelerating pace over the last several billion years. However, Pantheon+ also cements a major disagreement over the pace of that expansion that has yet to be solved. By putting prevailing modern cosmological theories, known as the Standard Model of Cosmology, on even firmer evidentiary and statistical footing, Pantheon+ further closes the door on alternative frameworks accounting for dark energy and dark matter. Both are bedrocks of the Standard Model of Cosmology but have yet to be directly detected. They rank among the model’s biggest mysteries. Following through on the results of Pantheon+, researchers can now pursue more precise observational tests and hone explanations for the cosmos.

What to Do with Your Old Phones, Gadgets and Other e-Waste – (CNN – October 14, 2022)

The collective impact of recycling e-waste can be staggering. For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, the EPA says 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEE) Forum, a Brussels-based nonprofit, said its focus this year is on taking action with the small bits of e-waste many people may unintentionally hang on to, including not just your old cell phone, but your headphones, remote controls and computer mouse. The US Environmental Protection Agency says large swaths of e-waste are shipped to developing countries that lack the capacity to reject these imports or infrastructure to safely recycle them. The World Health Organization also warned that children, with their smaller hands, are often used to process mountains of e-waste in developing nations in search of valuable elements such as copper, silver, palladium and more. The WHO said more than 18 million children are exposed to a range of negative health impacts as they engage in this informal e-waste processing industry. This article outlines a few steps you can take with the phones, laptops and chargers you have stashed at home to alleviate the e-waste burden. For example, if you live in an area that offers e-waste disposal services (either via specific pickup dates or at a drop-off location), that’s among the easiest ways to clear out old gadgets. Additionally, a growing list of major retailers — including Staples and Best Buy — also have programs that let customers bring in e-waste for recycling.

Scientists Discover Material That Can Be Made Like a Plastic But Conducts Like a Metal – (PhysOrg – October 26, 2022)

Scientists with the University of Chicago have discovered a way to create a material that can be made like a plastic, but conducts electricity more like a metal. The research shows how to make a kind of material in which the molecular fragments are jumbled and disordered, but can still conduct electricity extremely well. This goes against all of the rules we know about for conductivity—to a scientist, it’s kind of like seeing a car driving on water and still going 70 mph. But the finding could also be extraordinarily useful; if you want to invent something revolutionary, the process often first starts with discovering a completely new material. Jiaze Xie, the first author on the paper, began experimenting with some materials discovered years ago, but largely ignored. He strung nickel atoms like pearls into a string of of molecular beads made of carbon and sulfur, and began testing. To the scientists’ astonishment, the material easily and strongly conducted electricity. What’s more, it was very stable. “We heated it, chilled it, exposed it to air and humidity, and even dripped acid and base on it, and nothing happened,” said Xie. That is enormously helpful for a device that has to function in the real world. But to the scientists, the most striking thing was that the molecular structure of the material was disordered. “From a fundamental picture, that should not be able to be a metal,” said John Anderson, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago and the senior author on the study. “There isn’t a solid theory to explain this.”

Scientists Find a Surprisingly Small But Mighty Natural Force to Build Self-repairing Walls – (Inverse – October 9, 2022)

Like human cells, bacteria contain DNA that provides the instructions to build proteins. Bacterial DNA can be modified to instruct the cell to build new proteins, including ones that don’t exist in nature. Researchers can even control exactly where these proteins will be located within the cell. A primary challenge for engineered living materials has been figuring out how to induce them to produce a matrix, or substances surrounding the cell, that allows researchers to control the physical properties of the final material, such as its viscosity, elasticity, and stiffness. To address this, Sara Molinari and her team created a system to encode this matrix in the bacteria’s DNA. By surrounding each cell with this sticky, elastic material, bacterial cells will cluster together to form a living slime. Furthermore, we can modify the elastic proteins to change the properties of the final material. For example, we could turn bacteria into hard construction materials that have the ability to self-repair in the event of damage. Alternatively, we could turn bacteria into soft materials that could be used as fillers in products. The technology to make living materials is unsophisticated and cheap. It only takes a shaking incubator, proteins, and sugars to grow a multifunctional, high-performing material from bacteria. The incubator is just a metal or plastic box that keeps the temperature at about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius), which is much lower than a conventional home oven, and shakes the cells at speeds slower than a blender. Transforming bacteria into living materials is also a quick process. The team was able to grow bacterial living materials in about 24 hours. This is pretty fast compared to the manufacturing process of other materials, including living materials like wood, which can take years to produce. Article includes embedded TED talk, “Why Biofabrication Is the Next Industrial Revolution.”

In 11 Words, Jeff Bezos Just Gave Some of the Best Advice You’ll Get This Year – (Inc. – October 23, 2022)

Those words are: “You can’t predict the future, but you can weigh the probabilities.” Bezos’ financial advice was offered when he counseled his Twitter followers that it’s time to prepare for possible economic turmoil. The probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches. He re-tweeted a CNBC clip of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (embedded in article) saying that businesses should lessen their exposure to risk these days. What makes this such good advice is that neither Bezos nor Solomon claims to know what will happen to the U.S. or world economy. The truth is, nobody knows. Zillow’s chief economist Skylar Olsen noted this month that forecasting is all about pattern recognition, and that today’s economic patterns are unrecognizable. Still, she said, forecasts seem to be trending toward the negative.

EV Supply Chains Have a Human Rights Problem. Can Tech Fix It? – (Washington Post – October 20, 2022)

The difficulty electric carmakers face building supply chains free of human rights and environmental violations came into focus earlier this year, when U.S. investigators completed their probe of a massive mining tragedy in Brazil where 270 people were killed in a collapse of a dam holding iron ore mining waste — most of them buried alive in a deluge of toxic sludge. The SEC’s federal lawsuit was a wake-up call for an auto industry straining to source massive amounts of new metals in a manner consistent with the green branding of electric vehicles. Now, with new federal rules that tie lucrative tax breaks to supply chain accountability, the world’s major auto manufacturers are racing to get a better grip on the origin of their materials and who is being harmed by the way they are extracted and processed. Some of the EV tax incentives in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act apply only to cars made from materials sourced in the U.S. or a handful of other nations. The financial risk of not tracking the origin of components just got much bigger. As companies scramble to build out and get control of their supply chains, they are finding out how much they don’t know about them. They are learning that contractors who pledged to provide sustainable cobalt, for example, may be sneaking in sacks of the metal extracted with child labor, as detailed in lawsuits and a recent U.S. Department of Labor report. Some maybe concerned the nickel supplies they assumed meet the highest environmental and social standards are corrupted with product smuggled from Russian producers in violation of sanctions. Consumers, regulators and investors are increasingly demanding the car companies back their sustainability pledges with supply chain transparency. Central to the effort is the vision for battery passports that will reveal to consumers exactly where the materials in their EV battery were sourced. Creating a battery passport adds about $10 to the cost of a vehicle, according to auto industry officials. They argue it is a small price to pay for the assurance that cars qualify for thousands of dollars in tax breaks. Car manufacturers are also working with a rapidly expanding cottage industry of tracking firms that follow materials from the mine to the auto assembly line. The technology engages handheld scanning devices, QR codes and satellites to keep tabs on materials as they make their way around the globe. Article describes one specific company’s tracking tools in detail.

Just Two Weeks – (Caitlin Johnstone – October 26, 2022)

In this moving poem, Johnstone acknowledges many of the real reasons why people are not more politically engaged even though their freedoms, the democracy of their country, and the health of the planet may be singularly at risk. Here are the opening lines: I stand here before you/ in my mother’s hand-me-downs,/ in this world where mothers must work like they don’t have children/ and parent like they don’t have jobs,/ keeping households running and bills paid/ while their hearts run around outside their bodies/ on tiny little legs that don’t yet know where the wolves are.

Dramatic Storm Waves Crashing Into a Lighthouse Win Weather Photography Contest – (My Modern Met – October 12, 2022)

Dramatic waves crashing into a lighthouse earned photographer Christopher Ison the title of Weather Photographer of the Year in the Royal Meteorological Society’s annual contest. Held in association with AccuWeather, the photo contest is a celebration of weather in all forms. And so, fittingly, the winning photos take us on a journey through icy storms and stunning rainbows. Ison’s win came after the judges sifted through entries from photographers in 119 countries and selected a shortlist of 22 images. But his photo stood above the rest for showing the power of nature and highlighting the dramatic movement and force of the sea together with the resistance offered by a man-made building. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jamie Russell was rewarded for capturing a relatively calm moment in nature. His beautiful photo of a double rainbow on the Isle of Wight won the Public Favorite award. He beat out the other 22 shortlisted images after nearly 5,500 votes were cast by the public. Article includes photos taken by second and third place entries and winners in more specific categories.
The best way to predict the future is to change it.
– George M. Church, American geneticist widely regarded as the “Founding Father of Genomics”
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Joni Patry

Joni Patry is one of the most recognized teachers and Vedic astrologers in the world. She was a faculty member for ACVA, CVA and Instructor for online certification programs, published many books, journals and appeared on national and international television shows. As the keynote speaker for international conferences, she has a Japanese website, and teaches in Austria, Turkey and India. She has been awarded the 2015 Jyotish Star of the year and Dr B. V. Raman’s Janma Shatamanothsava Award Jyotisha Choodamani. She publishes an online astrological magazine, Astrologic Magazine http://astrologicmagazine.com/ and has an online University for certification, the University of Vedic Astrology. http://universityofvedicastrology.com

William Henry

William Henry is a Nashville-based author, investigative mythologist, art historian, and TV presenter. He is an internationally recognized authority on human spiritual potential, transformation and ascension. He has a unique ability to incorporate historical, religious, spiritual, scientific, archaeological and other forms of such knowledge into factually-based theories and conclusions that provide the layperson with a more in-depth understanding of the profound shift we are actually experiencing in our lifetime.

The spiritual voice and Consulting Producer of the global hit History Channel program, Ancient Aliens, and host of the Gaia TV series The Awakened Soul: The Lost Science of Ascension, and Arcanum, along with his wife, Clare, William Henry is your guide into the transformative sacred science of human ascension. By bringing to life the ancient stories of ascension through art and gnostic texts, he teaches the secrets of soul transfiguration or metamorphosis and connects people to one another across cultures, time and space. With over 30 years of research distilled into 18 books and numerous video presentations, William’s work will guide you to next level of human consciousness and our expanding reality.

William’s present work has taken him into the area of transhumanism, which he first began writing about in his 2002 bestseller, Cloak of the Illuminati. His latest book, The Singularity Is Near: The Next Human, the Perfect Rainbow Light Body and the Technology of Human Transcendence is a primer and a warning for the looming potential transformation of humanity as we speed closer to meshing computer technology with human flesh. William discusses transhumanism as the fulfillment of an ancient impulse to transcend our human bodies. His work has propelled him into the role of human rights activist and advisor on the biopolitics of human enhancement as he informs audiences of the unparalleled perils and potentials of Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism.

Pierre Dubois

Pierre Richard Dubois is Registered Architect and holds two advanced degrees from Columbia University. He has been on a life quest to satisfy his inner and intuitive knowing about consciousness-expanding technologies and wisdom. He is an author, life coach, healer, ascension teacher, and a minister. Pierre has travelled the world and studied many religions and belief systems and found that we are all seeking the same thing: merger back with the uncreated Source of all. An insightful listener and counselor, Pierre deeply aspires to share with others his wisdom and has helped countless people on their journey of healing, expansion, and ascension over the past 20 years.

Frank DeMarco

FRANK DeMARCO has been reporting on his conversations with non-physical beings for more than two decades, in magazine articles, talks, and in a dozen non-fiction books and two novels.

FRANK DeMARCO is the author of 14 books rooted in more than 25 years of psychic exploration, including It’s All One World, Awakening from the 3D World, Rita’s World (two volumes), The Cosmic Internet, The Sphere and the Hologram, and Imagine Yourself Well. Since 2005, he has been actively engaged in an on-going series of conversations with various non-physical beings, including historical individuals, “past lives,” aspects of personal guidance, and a generalized group he calls “the guys upstairs.”

He is also the author of three novels, Messenger, That Phenomenal Background (originally published as Babe in the Woods) and Dark Fire.

William Buhlman

William Buhlman is a recognized expert on the subject of out-of-body experiences. The author’s forty years of extensive personal out-of-body explorations give him a unique and thought provoking insight into this subject. His first book, Adventures beyond the Body chronicles his personal journey of self-discovery through out-of-body travel, and provides the reader with the preparation and techniques that can be used for their own adventure. He has conducted an international out-of-body experience survey that includes over 16,000 participants from forty-two countries. The provocative results of this survey are presented in his book, The Secret of the Soul. This cutting edge book explores the unique opportunities for personal growth and profound spiritual awakenings that are reported during out-of-body experiences.

Over the past two decades William has developed an effective system to experience safe, self initiated out-of-body adventures. He conducts an in-depth six-day workshop titled, Out-of-Body Exploration Intensive at the renowned Monroe Institute in Virginia. As a certified hypnotherapist, William incorporates various methods, including hypnosis, visualization and meditation techniques in his workshops to explore the profound nature of out-of-body experiences and the benefits of accelerated personal development. Through lectures, workshops and his books the author teaches the preparation and techniques of astral projection and spiritual exploration.

The author brings a refreshing look to how we can use out-of-body experiences to explore our spiritual identity and enhance our intellectual and physical lives. William is best known for his ability to teach people how to have profound spiritual adventures through the use of out-of-body experiences. In addition, he has developed an extensive series of audio programs that are designed to expand awareness and assist in the exploration of consciousness. William has appeared on numerous television and radio shows worldwide. William’s books are currently available in twelve languages. The author lives in Delaware, USA. For more information visit his web site, www.astralinfo.org.

Joe McMoneagle

Joe was the longest operational psychic spy in the US government’s very highly classified Stargate program where they used psychics and intuitives to look into installations and people around the world that were of interest to government intelligence agencies. They called the process remote viewing.

As it turned out, the remote viewers discovered that they were – not limited by either time or space and produced drawings and assessments that could not have been obtained in any other way. The Soviets had an active remote viewing program at the same time and it is rumored that Russia, China and the U.S. still have initiatives of this kind that are operational.

Joe’s stories are fascinating, like the time he mentally got inside a Chinese nuclear weapon and saw how the triggering mechanism worked . . . and then went out and bought the parts at Radio Shack to show the scientists in the intelligence agency exactly how it was done. The remote viewers could find submarines at the bottom of the ocean and crashed aircraft in the middle of African jungles.

Dr. Joe Dispenza

Dr Joe Dispenza is an international lecturer, researcher, corporate consultant, author, and educator who has been invited to speak in more than 33 countries on six continents. As a lecturer and educator, he is driven by the conviction that each of us has the potential for greatness and unlimited abilities. In his easy-to-understand, encouraging, and compassionate style, he has educated thousands of people, detailing how they can rewire their brains and recondition their bodies to make lasting changes.

Dr. Joe is also a faculty member at Quantum University in Honolulu, Hawaii; the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York; and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He’s also an invited chair of the research committee at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia.

As a researcher, Dr. Joe’s passion can be found at the intersection of the latest findings from the fields of neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum physics to explore the science behind spontaneous remissions. He uses that knowledge to help people heal themselves of illnesses, chronic conditions, and even terminal diseases so they can enjoy a more fulfilled and happy life, as well as evolve their consciousness. At his advanced workshops around the world, he has partnered with other scientists to perform extensive research on the effects of meditation, including epigenetic testing, brain mapping with electroencephalograms (EEGs), and individual energy field testing with a gas discharge visualization (GDV) machine. His research also includes measuring both heart coherence with HeartMath monitors and the energy present in the workshop environment before, during, and after events with a GDV Sputnik sensor.

As a NY Times best-selling author, Dr. Joe has written Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon(Hay House, 2017), which draws on research conducted at his advanced workshops since 2012 to explore how common people are doing the uncommon to transform themselves and their lives; You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter (Hay House, 2014), which explores our ability to heal without drugs or surgery, but rather by thought alone; Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One (Hay House, 2012) and Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind (2007), both of which detail the neuroscience of change and epigenetics. His film appearances include Transcendence: Live Life Beyond the Ordinary (2018); HEAL (2017); E-Motion (2014); Sacred Journey of the Heart (2012); People v. the State of Illusion (2011); What IF – The Movie (2010); Unleashing Creativity (2009); and What the #$*! Do We Know? & Down the Rabbit Hole, extended DVD version (2005).

Dr. Todd Ovokaitys

After two years at Northwestern, he was accepted into an accelerated combined graduate/undergraduate program at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, which conferred both B.A. and M.D. degrees. Advanced training was at Georgetown University Hospital, with a Residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine followed by a Fellowship in Pulmonary and Intensive Care Medicine.

During his Pulmonary Fellowship, the specialty that concerns the lungs, Dr. Todd began his research with cells of the immune system. Many procedures were done on AIDS patients to diagnose their lung problems. Observing this dire disease firsthand and the toxic results of early medical treatments, Dr. Todd developed a passion for finding better solutions. Towards the end of his Fellowship, he became aware of the benefits of Holistic Medicine for improving the function of the immune system while building rather than impairing the function of other systems.

Inspired to learn more, he moved to Southern California to study with practitioners of Complementary Medicine. In the context of these studies, he had an experience so radical that the course of his life and work were forever transformed.

During a meditation class in the summer of 1989, Dr. Todd paired with another student for an exercise. The process was profound and they took turns, one in the process while the other scribed to record any breakthroughs of awareness. Much as in the Jodie Foster movie “Contact,” the usual anchor points dissolved with the feeling of instant transport to a different dimension of being. There was a doorway or portal to traverse, with a message of the responsibility taken on through the choice to go further.

Instantly upon walking through this doorway, a living form was seen that filled a room – and had the shape of a DNA strand enlarged millions of times. This form communicated that science only partly understood how DNA worked. The linear understanding of DNA as an enormous data string was correct but incomplete. In addition, DNA was a structure of coils within coils in an environment of moving charges that permitted DNA to send electromagnetic signals much as a radio transmitter. Further, DNA could receive and be conditioned by electromagnetic signals. Most significantly, if it were possible to determine and transmit the correct resonant signals, that it was possible to switch the activity of a sick cell to that of a healthy cell, an old cell to that of a young cell.

This experience brought with it a certainty that solutions were possible. After intensive review of the previous work showing the effects of electromagnetic energy patterns on cellular health and function, Dr. Todd located a colleague with the technical expertise to build the desired invention.

Mary Rodwell

Mary Rodwell is a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, researcher, metaphysician, and founder and principal of ACERN (Australian Close Encounter Resource Network). She is internationally known for her work with ET experiencers and star children. She offers regressions and support for contactees and has organized a buddy system to help those who have had close encounters. Mary has spoken at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia, Hawaii and New Zealand. She is a regular guest on international radio and online shows and writes article for international publications like the UFO Truth Magazine. Mary is co-founder of FREE, a non-profit organization aimed at researching close encounters.

She is the author of, Awakening – How extra-terrestrial contact can transform your life. Mary is working on her second book, The New Human, due for release this year.

Freddy Silva

Freddy Silva is a best-selling author, and leading researcher of ancient civilizations, restricted history, sacred sites and their interaction with consciousness. He has published six books in six languages, and produced eleven documentaries. Described by one CEO as “perhaps the best metaphysical speaker in the world right now,” for two decades he has been an international keynote speaker, with notable appearances at the International Science and Consciousness Conference, the International Society For The Study Of Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine, and the Association for Research and Enlightenment, in addition to appearances on Gaia TV, History Channel, BBC, and radio shows such as Coast To Coast. He also leads private sell-out tours to ancient temples worldwide. www.invisibletemple.com

Dr. Larry Dossey

Dr. Larry Dossey is a physician of internal medicine and former Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital. He received his M. D. degree from Southwestern Medical School (Dallas), and trained in internal medicine at Parkland and the VA hospitals in Dallas. Dossey has lectured at medical schools and hospitals throughout the United States and abroad. In 1988 he delivered the annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, India, the only physician ever invited to do so. He is the author of twelve books dealing with consciousness, spirituality, and healing, including the New York Times bestseller HEALING WORDS: THE POWER OF PRAYER AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, and most recently One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters. His books have been translated into languages around the world. Dr. Dossey is the former co-chairman of the Panel on Mind/Body Interventions, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health. He is the executive editor of the peer-reviewed journal EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing. Dr. Dossey lectures around the world. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife Barbara, a nurse-consultant and the author of several award-winning books.

Sharry Edwards

Sharry Edwards has been accused of being too scientific by some, too esoteric by others. In actuality, she is a bridge between both fields of inquiry. Sharry is the acknowledged pioneer in the emerging field of Vocal Profiling using BioAcoustic Biology. For many years she has provided the leading-edge research to show the voice as a holographic representation of the body that can be used to change the face of medicine.

Sharry asks that we imagine a future in which we can be individually identified and maintained through the use of frequency based biomarkers that keep us healthy and emotionally balanced. Her work at the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology has shown that we can each have dominion over those frequencies by individual mind management or a simple remote control that is completely programmable. Using the unique techniques of Vocal Profiling and evaluation, emotional as well as physiological issues can be revealed and addressed.

Her work with the human voice reveals that people who share similar traumas, stresses, diseases, toxicities…share similar, if not identical, vocal anomalies. She brings together ancient knowledge with modern ideas of harmonics and frequency relationship theories to show that math can be used as a form of predictive, diagnostic and curative foundation for wellness. Through entrainment of the frequency grids of the brain, the body can be programmed to support its own optimal form and function.

Dr. Carrie Hempel & Brian Sanderoff

Integrative Physician Dr. Carrie Hempel and Holistic Pharmacist Brian Sanderoffare both experts in the medicinal use of cannabis in Maryland.

Dr. Hempel is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. As an Osteopathic Physician, she has embraced a holistic approach to patient care, providing loving attention to the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. For the past 11 years she has received specialist training, Board Certification and expertise in several fields including Internal Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine, along with many Integrative modalities. She is a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, the Association of Cannabis Specialists, and is registered with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.

Over the course of her career she has seen the consistent struggle of patients dealing with chronic, progressive, debilitating illness, and witnessed the challenges and limitations of the current pharmaceutical options for pain and symptom managment. Her passion for this population has grown, along with her desire to advocate for patients to have access to non-opioid, holistic options to enhance quality of life and optimize function.

Trained as a pharmacist, Brian Sanderoff has integrated 25 years of experience with his traditional medical training and herbalism, nutrition and numerous other holistic modalities to help clients devise practical, common-sense, safe solutions to most any health issue.

His clients appreciate how he embraces a complementary approach to health and how his holistic “compass” brings them new solutions to their unique health concerns – especially chronic diseases.

Mary Rodwell

Mary Rodwell is a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, researcher, metaphysician, and founder and principal of ACERN (Australian Close Encounter Resource Network). She is internationally known for her work with ET experiencers and star children. She offers regressions and support for contactees and has organised a buddy system to help those who have had close encounters. Mary has spoken at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia, Hawaii and New Zealand. She is a regular guest on international radio and online shows and writes article for international publications like the UFO Truth Magazine. Mary is co-founder of FREE, a non-profit organisation aimed at researching close encounters.

Steve McDonald

Steve McDonald is an extraordinary Australian thinker and researcher who arguably knows as much about the structure of the global planetary transition that we are experiencing as anyone on the planet. He draws coherent pictures from the deep insights of Clair W. Graves and paints clear, explanatory images of not only how humanity has evolved to this point, but what is inevitably on our horizon . . . and how this epic transition will continue to play out.

He is currently writing a book about the global paradigm shift that’s taking us beyond the scientific-industrial era. Steve served with the Australian Army for 15 years, including war service as an infantry company commander in Somalia, 1993. He is also a qualified military helicopter pilot and on leaving the army he flew a rescue helicopter in the tropical Mackay-Whitsunday region of Queensland. Building upon his extensive experience in unpredictable environments, after retiring from flying Steve specialized as a change management consultant. He consequently studied the developmental psychology research of Dr Clare W Graves and became one of the first Australians qualified to teach Dr Graves’ theory under the banner of Spiral Dynamics Integral. A long-term struggle with posttraumatic stress has driven Steve’s deep interest in human nature and consciousness. He is a founder of Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine, an Australian non-profit association. He is also a founder of AADII, a non-profit company created to support worldwide transformational change.

Robert Coxon

Although Robert Coxon had been studying and composing music for many years, it was after taking the Silva Mind Control course that he realized how powerful sound could be in relaxing the body and opening the consciousness. He then decided to write his first album.

Cristal Silence quickly became a major hit throughout Canada, staying on top of the charts for many years. This was the beginning of his continuing phenomenal success as composer and solo artist. For the last 29 years he has performed only his original compositions in concert. Robert has been nominated four times for the prestigious “Felix” award (French Canada equivalent to the Grammy), and became Canada’s best-selling New Age artist. His international breakthrough came after composing The Silent Path in 1995. This album was an instant hit in Canada, the USA and France. After hearing The Silent Path, Lee Carroll, internationally renowned author of 15 bestselling Kryon and Indigo books, contacted Robert and asked him to join his team on tour. Through the years this has given Robert the opportunity to experience different cultures and inspires him to write music honoring these many countries he performs in.

Robert offers us nine albums, the latest three being The Infinite, essence of life, Goddess -The Power of Woman and Passion Compassion Alegeria.

Joe Dispenza

needs bio…

Gary Sycalik

Gary Sycalik has been described as an entrepreneur, businessman, project developer/manager, consultant/advisor, organizational troubleshooter, strategic planner, facilitator, futurist, business and social architect, complex problematic game designer (policy, strategic, tactic levels) and writer. Gary brings a robust horizontal and vertical functional capability to any project from the conceptual to operational stage.

Kingsley L. Dennis Phd.

Kingsley L. Dennis, PhD, is a sociologist, researcher, and writer. He previously worked in the Sociology Department at Lancaster University, UK. Kingsley is the author of numerous articles on social futures; technology and new media communications; global affairs; and conscious evolution. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books including Healing the Wounded Mind, The Sacred Revival, The Phoenix Generation, New Consciousness for a New World, Struggle for Your Mind, After the Car, and the celebrated Dawn of the Akashic Age (with Ervin Laszlo). He has traveled extensively and lived in various countries. He currently lives in Andalusia, Spain.

 

His homepage is www.kingsleydennis.com

Dr. John McMichael

John McMichael, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Beach Tree Labs, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of new therapeutic agents targeting unmet medical needs. These disorders range from herpes infections to chronic fatigue syndrome to urinary incontinence. His PhD is in virology and immunology from Oregon State University. He headed up the labs at one of the largest private veterinary research practices in the country, was a college professor for more than a decade, and now works out of a small lab on his form in New York state and a larger, more sophisticated lab in Providence, Rhode Island. He holds over 200 patents, has published in books and peer-reviewed journals, and is currently working with his team to begin formal FDA trials for product candidates for chronic traumatic brain injury and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.

Good health is dependent on the appropriate transfer of information within and between cells. The informational and molecular disharmonies associated with disease can be reversed using appropriate therapeutic signals that stimulate the return to the normal state without adverse effects. One such signal molecule, SLO, has demonstrated clinical utility in a broad spectrum of indications that would at first glance appear to be unrelated. The underlying common thread that links these disorders is representative of the targets to which resonant molecular signals are directed.

Chris Robinson

Chris Robinson’s amazing ability to dream about the future in terms that can be reliably translated into people, times, places, and activities has been the subject of books, major university scientific studies, films, articles, TV shows, and just about all forms of media. He has taught many people how to dream about the future and, through his advanced intuitive capabilities, helped thousands to understand how to deal with seemingly impossible personal situations. He is also a healer, having on numerous occasions led people with supposedly terminal conditions to eliminate those issues and return to a healthy life. There is no one else in the world that has Chris’s fascinating background (undercover police work, etc.), coupled with these amazing personal gifts.

Thomas Drake

Thomas Drake is a former senior executive at the National Security Agency where he blew the whistle on massive multi-billion dollar fraud, waste and abuse; the widespread violations of the rights of citizens through secret mass surveillance programs after 9/11; and critical 9/11 intelligence failures. He is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Truth Telling Prize, a joint recipient with Jesselyn Radack of the 2011 Sam Adams Associates Integrity in Intelligence Award and the 2012 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. He is now dedicated to the defense of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Robert David Steele

Robert David Steele, former spy, former Marine Corps officer, a proponent of Open Source Everything, Presidential candidate in 2012 and perhaps again in 2024, recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 will integrate his life’s experience with his lessons from the works of others to explore love versus fear as a foundation for politics; liberty under natural law versus predatory fascism as we now have in the USA; and the possibilities for cosmic awakening very soon, in a full-on defeat of the Deep State and its Archon masters.

Lee Carrol a.k.a. Kryon

Lee Carroll, Ph.D. has channeled Kryon for 25 years worldwide and is the author of the Kryon Series of 16 books in 24 languages. Well known in metaphysics, Kryon books have made the top seller’s list within months of their release. Having presented seven times at the United Nations in New York, as well as in 33 different countries overseas, Lee attracts audiences in the thousands.

Good health is dependent on the appropriate transfer of information within and between cells. The informational and molecular disharmonies associated with disease can be reversed using appropriate therapeutic signals that stimulate the return to the normal state without adverse effects. One such signal molecule, SLO, has demonstrated clinical utility in a broad spectrum of indications that would at first glance appear to be unrelated. The underlying common thread that links these disorders is representative of the targets to which resonant molecular signals are directed.

Dennis McKenna

Dennis McKenna’s research has focused on the interdisciplinary study of Amazonian ethnopharmacology and plant hallucinogens. His doctoral research (University of British Columbia, 1984) focused on the ethnopharmacology of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, two tryptamine-based hallucinogens used by indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. Dr. McKenna is author or co-author of 4 books and over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Paul H. Smith

Paul H. Smith is the longest-serving controlled remote viewing (CRV) teacher active today, having begun his career as an instructor in 1984. He served for seven years in the government’s Star Gate remote viewing program at Ft. Meade, MD (from September 1983 to August 1990). Starting 1984, he became one of only five Star Gate personnel to be personally trained as remote viewers by the legendary founders of remote viewing, Ingo Swann and Dr. Harold E. Puthoff at SRI-International.

Raymon Grace

Raymon Grace, one of the world’s most extraordinary dowsers, travels the world teaching and demonstrating how dowsing can be used by most anyone to change themselves and the world around them. His down-home, direct approach is sought out by many thousands of searchers who are looking for bettering their lives and dealing with the extraordinary change that the world is experiencing.

Charles Eisenstein

Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His on-line writings have generated a vast following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts.

Jim McCarty

In 1980, Jim McCarty joined L/L Research where Don Elkins and Carla L. Rueckert were researching the field of the paranormal in general, and contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in particular. Soon later the Ra Contact began, producing 106 sessions with the social memory complex of Ra. Five books of The Law of One series were published documenting this contact.

Joey Korn

Joey Korn is one of the most accomplished dowsers in the world. Known internationally for an extraordinary ability to change and manipulate energy at all levels, he brings a deep, practical understanding of how to balance these energies . . . and change the way that they influence humans and their lives.

Michael Waters

Michael Waters is an advanced technology consultant, researcher, inventor, and sustainable recovery strategist. His automated disaster recovery and library preservation systems are used worldwide. Michael has researched cutting edge science and technologies that redefine current understandings in mainstream physics. He is currently on the board of a number of organizations involved in advanced energy, mining, agriculture, and finance.

Alain Nu

Las Vegas headliner, Alain Nu – “The Man Who Knows”, brings us his mind-bending mental and metaphysical abilities. His highly entertaining and most provocative show intermingles feats of mind-reading and spoon bending with other baffling demonstrations that defy explanation.

Joni Patry

Joni Patry is one of the most recognized teachers and Vedic astrologers in the world. She was a faculty member for ACVA, CVA and Instructor for online certification programs, published many books, journals and appeared on national and international television shows. As the keynote speaker for international conferences, she has a Japanese website, and teaches in Austria, Turkey and India. She has been awarded the 2015 Jyotish Star of the year and Dr B. V. Raman’s Janma Shatamanothsava Award Jyotisha Choodamani. She publishes an online astrological magazine, Astrologic Magazine http://astrologicmagazine.com/ and has an online University for certification, the University of Vedic Astrology. http://universityofvedicastrology.com

Regina Meredith

As Regina’s career progressed, so did her decades long exploration into the world of esoteric and hidden sciences – the reality beyond the 5 sense world. Guidance from these realms suggested it was time to bring her skill set to the world of video/televised media, so in late 2004, along with her husband Scott, she co-created ‘Conscious Media Network’, the first online network to feature full length original video interviews with authors and experts in the realms of the meta-physical, healing arts and alternative theories, opening up a world that many had experienced but never had access to on this scale.

Gaia: In 2012, Conscious Media Network merged with Gaiam TV in 2012, with Regina serving as anchor in their new media division on Open Minds and Healing Matrix. The demand for Regina’s unique perspective on a variety of subjects has drawn attention from conference organizers, moving her into the public as a presenter at conferences. In addition, Regina offers retreats and workshops for those who wish to ‘Dive Deep’ into a new understanding of the nature of reality and life itself. In this venue she shares her exclusive approach to meditation and regression work for a greater understanding of life’s challenges and identifying the innate joys.

Dr. Harold Puthoff

Although nominated for a Nobel Prize in physics for his breakthrough theoretical work on zero-point energy, Dr. Harold Puthoff, is most recognized for having been a co-founder of the secret US government “remote viewing” program that successfully used psychics to spy on the Soviet Union and China.

Now a principal and science advisor in a leading-edge effort by former senior military and intelligence managers to disclose the many decades of interest that the US has had in UFOs, he comes to Berkeley Springs on the 8th of February to give a TransitionTalk about his work in making sense out of the UFO phenomena.

Dr. Puthoff’s presentation will include a summary of his current activities with To The Stars Academy, which is on the forefront of bringing into the open formerly highly classified efforts by the government to track, record and understand the meaning of hundreds of encounters that the military has had with UFOs over the past years.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to learn from and question one of the foremost thinkers and leaders of the rapidly accelerating global effort to both make the public aware of what was previously unacknowledged about UFO and alien interaction with humans and also to address the deep questions about what is happening and what it might mean for the future of humanity.

Gregg Braden

Gregg Braden is a five-time New York Times best-selling author, and is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science, spirituality and human potential! His discoveries have led to 12 award-winning books now published in over 40 languages. The UK’s Watkins Journal lists Gregg among the top 100 of “the world’s most spiritually influential living people” for the 5th consecutive year, and he is a 2017 nominee for the prestigious Templeton Award.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Rosemary Ellen Guiley is a leading expert on the paranormal and supernatural. With more than 50 books – including 10 encyclopedias – and hundreds of articles in print on a wide range of paranormal, spiritual and mystical topics, she possesses exceptional knowledge of the field. Her present work focuses on inter-dimensional entity contact experiences and communication.

John L. Petersen

John L. Petersen is considered by many to be one of the most informed futurists in the world. He is best-known for writing and thinking about high impact surprises (wild cards) and the process of surprise anticipation. His current professional involvements include the development of sophisticated tools for anticipatory analysis and surprise anticipation, long-range strategic planning and helping leadership design new approaches for dealing with the future.

 

He has led national non-profit organizations, worked in sales, manufacturing, real estate development, and marketing and advertising, mostly for companies he founded. A graduate electrical engineer, he has also promoted rock concerts; produced conventions; and worked as a disc jockey, among other things.

Mr. Petersens government and political experience include stints at the National War College, the Institute for National Security Studies, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council staff at the White House. He was a naval flight officer in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve and is a decorated veteran of both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. He has served in senior positions for a number of presidential political campaigns and was an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. He was twice the runner-up to be Secretary of the Navy.

In 1989, Petersen founded The Arlington Institute (TAI), a non-profit, future-oriented research institute. TAI operates on the premise that effective thinking about the future is impossible without casting a very wide net. The “think tank” serves as a global agent for change by developing new concepts, processes and tools for anticipating the future and translating that knowledge into better present-day decisions. Using advanced information technology, a core group of bright thinkers and an international network of exceptionally curious people along with simulations, modeling, scenario building, polling and analysis, Arlington helps equip leaders and organizations from many disciplines with tools and actionable perspectives for dealing with uncertain times.

An award-winning writer, Petersens first book, The Road to 2015: Profiles of the Future was awarded Outstanding Academic Book of 1995 by CHOICE Academic Review, and remained on The World Future Societys best-seller list for more than a year. His Out of the Blue: How to Anticipate Wild Cards and Big Future Surprises book was also a WFS best-seller. His latest book is a Vision of 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change. His coauthored article, (The Year 2000: Social Chaos or Social Transformation?) was one of the most highly acclaimed writings on Y2K. His 1988 book-length report (The Diffusion of Power: An Era of Realignment) was used at the highest levels of American government as a basis for strategic planning. He has also written papers on the future of national security and the military, the future of energy and the future of the media.

Petersen is a past board member of the World Future Society, writes on the future of aviation for Professional Pilot magazine and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. He is a former network member of the Global Business Network and a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. A provocative public speaker, he addresses a wide array of audiences around the world on a variety of future subjects. When he is not writing or speaking, Petersen invests in and develops resources for large, international projects and advanced technology start-up companies. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Speaking Inquiries: Email johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org

Penny Kelly

Penny Kelly is an author, teacher, speaker, publisher, personal and spiritual consultant, and Naturopathic physician. She travels, lectures, and teaches a variety of classes and workshops, and maintains a large consulting practice. She has been involved in scientific research and investigations into consciousness at Pinelandia Laboratory near Ann Arbor, MI.