Is the Shroud of Turin an Optical Illusion?

Was the Resurrection an optical illusion on the Turin Shroud? Cambridge academic's explosive new theory about controversial relic

• Cambridge academic claims Resurrection was an optical illusion
• Image of Christ on shroud 'fooled apostles into thinking he had returned'

A sensational new theory about the Turin Shroud claims to destroy the core belief of Christianity - that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

Art historian Thomas de Wesselow is convinced the Shroud is real and did touch Christ's body.

But the Cambridge academic insists that the image on the cloth fooled the Apostles into believing Christ had come back to life, and the Resurrection was in fact an optical illusion.

If true, this radically reshapes the version of the events which led to the birth of Christianity as a world religion, now followed by more than two billion people.

11,541 red chairs for the dead: Bosnian war, 20 years later

Bosnians commemorated the 20th anniversary of the destructive war against their country by placing 11,541 empty red chairs in memory of the victims, in the capital city of Sarajevo.

During a grassroots initiative, organized by volunteers, eleven thousand, five hundred and forty one empty red chairs were lined up along the main avenue in the city center, to pay tribute to the victims of the long, destructive war against the Muslim population of the country in the 90’s, with one seat representing each victim.

"This city [the capital city of Sarajevo] needs to stop for a moment and pay tribute to its killed citizens." Said Haris Pasovic, organizer of the “Sarajevo Red Line”.

Easter Egg Hunt Gone Bad

Macon, GA -- An annual Easter egg hunt in central Georgia has been canceled after organizers say parents became violent while trying to collect eggs for themselves and their children in past years.

This will be the first time in years that the Easter Bunny won't be visiting children during the annual egg hunt at Central City Park in Macon, traditionally one of the largest Easter events in central Georgia.

Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen tells The Telegraph of Macon (http://bit.ly/HPI8OJ) that liability concerns led to the cancellation.

Allen is founder and CEO of Kids Yule Love, which coordinated the event.

Allen said he canceled this year's hunt because parents caused children to be hurt. He said that in past years, one woman was injured and several children were "trampled on."

via wsav.com

Teenage Girl Exorcist Squad

Brynne, Tess and Savannah from Phoenix are black belts in karate, expert horseback riders and avid musical theater fans. And they perform exorcisms.

"We're just normal girls who do something extraordinary for God," Brynne said. "After seeing an actual exorcism in person, led by us, you will walk away with no doubt, whatsoever."

Brynne, 17, is the leader of the pack, the one the others call the "enforcer." She is home-schooled and a regular on the beauty pageant circuit. Savannah, 20, is known as the "compassionate one," a college student who likes to shop. Finally, there's Tess, "the middle man" because the others say this 17-year-old can play both good and bad cop. She also performs in local musicals.

Is Wind Spreading a Blood Disease Across the Pacific?

Scientists don’t know much about the cause of Kawasaki disease—a disease of blood vessel inflammation most commonly found in Japan—but they do know one thing: Japanese outbreaks  are highly correlated with winds from central Asia. When those same winds blow thousands of miles across the Pacific to Hawaii and California, Kawasaki disease ends up there too.

The disease affects generally children under the age of five. Blood vessels through the body become inflamed, leading to rashes, a characteristic “strawberry tongue,” and death in some untreated cases. Japanese pediatrician Tomisaku Kawasaki described the first case in 1960, and incidence of the mysterious disease have been rising ever since.

In the latest issue of Nature, Jennifer Fraser profiles scientists who are looking to the wind for answers about Kawasaki disease. There are a couple examples of windspread fungal spores, just as Aspergillus sydowii that follows dust storms from Africa to the Caribbean, but conditions up high are so extreme that wind had not been seriously considered capable of spreading disease across the Pacific:

Mountain Top Guru Revelations Due To Hypoxia?

Why revelations have occurred on mountains? Linking mystical experiences and cognitive neuroscience.

“The fundamental revelations to the founders of the three monotheistic religions, among many other revelation experiences, had occurred on a mountain. These three revelation experiences share many phenomenological components like feeling and hearing a presence, seeing a figure, seeing lights, and feeling of fear. In addition, similar experiences have been reported by non-mystic contemporary mountaineers. The similarities between these revelations on mountains and their appearance in contemporary mountaineers suggest that exposure to altitude might affect functional and neural mechanisms, thus facilitating the experience of a revelation. Different functions relying on brain areas such as the temporo-parietal junction and the prefrontal cortex have been suggested to be altered in altitude. Moreover, acute and chronic hypoxia significantly affect the temporo-parietal junction and the prefrontal cortex and both areas have also been linked to altered own body perceptions and mystical experiences. Prolonged stay at high altitudes, especially in social deprivation, may also lead to prefrontal lobe dysfunctions such as low resistance to stress and loss of inhibition. Based on these phenomenological, functional, and neural findings we suggest that exposure to altitudes might contribute to the induction of revelation experiences and might further our understanding of the mountain metaphor in religion. Mystical and religious experiences are important not only to the mystic himself, but also to many followers, as it was indeed with respect to the leaders of the three monotheistic religions. Yet, concerning its subjective character, mystical experiences are almost never accessible to the scholars interested in examining them. The tools of cognitive neuroscience make it possible to approach religious and mystical experiences not only by the semantical analysis of texts, but also by approaching similar experiences in healthy subjects during prolonged stays at high altitude and/or in cognitive paradigms. Cognitive neurosciences, in turn, might profit from the research of mysticism in their endeavor to further our understanding of mechanisms of corporeal awareness and self consciousness.”

via Discover Magazine

Exorcism - Is It Real? - National Geographic Channel

Exorcism - Is It Real? - National Geographic Channel

Discover the real story behind the 1973 horror film 'The Exorcist'. Meet some of the people who claim to have exorcised evil spirits from people, objects, places and animals. The episode also reveals the likely explanations for the behavior of those suspected of being possessed.

A Tennessee Haunting - Real Ghost Story