A “Plutoid” (or dwarf planet, after the demoted Pluto) discovered in 2005 has been renamed from “Easterbunny” to “Makemake“, the chief god, creator of humanity and god of fertility in the mythology of the inhabitants of Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

The red methane-covered orb is only slightly smaller and dimmer than Pluto. Discovery of this and other trans-Neptunian objects led the International Astronomical Union to reclassify Pluto.

A while ago we had a submission from Thomas about a jump into a parallel universe that saved his life. Now we have a mail from someone named Tom with an eerily similar tale:

“Agent Zero- I read with great interest the account about the near-accident that you recently posted. I find it very strange, because I have had a very similar experience.

“I am a professor of English (specializing in post-modern literature) at a public university in northern California. One day I was driving north on I-5 when another car merged in from an on-ramp at a very high rate of speed. I had no time to react: his car sideswiped me.

“Only it didn’t. The next thing I knew, the very same car was ahead of me in my same lane. It was nothing I had done. I had no time to react once I had noticed that other car swerving into me. It was there next to me, and then it was in front of me. There was no sound, no flash, nothing extraordinary. It just was.

“The driver flipped me the bird as if I’d done something to him, and then sped off at an even faster rate.

“I came upon your site while googling around randomly looking for similar stories, and find Thomas from Chicago’s story remarkable. Not only is his account like mine, but it seems to be the absolute converse of mine. And his name is Tom, too! How queer.

“I am not a physicist, and so cannot comment authoritatively about the possibility of having slipped into another universe (the way Thomas did), although I’d believe it as much as any explanation. I only know what happened to me. I don’t suppose I’ll ever know what really happened that day.”

More light has been shed on the OBE (out of body experience) phenomenon by researchers at Antwerp University (Belgium). A 63-year-old tinnitus (ringing in the ears) patient had an electrode implanted in his brain to administer shocks intended to disrupt the tinnitus. This may sound a bit extreme, but it is a fairly routine procedure to deal with a disruptive and maddening condition.

Researchers were surprised to hear the patient describe feeling as though he were out of his body once the electrical impulses were delivered. 20-inches back and to the left, to be precise.

Dirk De Ridder, of the neurosurgical department at Antwerp University, explained his concept of the out-of-body experience to HealthDay News:

“Self-perception is nothing else but a creation of your brain,” explained study lead author and neurosurgeon Dr. Dirk De Ridder, of the neurosurgical department at Antwerp University. “We found a key spot in the brain in which different areas are normally activated whenever stimulus comes in, so you can relate that stimulus to yourself, which helps create a unified perception of ourselves.”

“The ‘total perception of self,’ ” he added, “is built out of different parts. And one of these parts is that your consciousness belongs within your body.”

“But when something goes wrong in that brain area so that the integration of all the incoming information–sight, sound, smell, the senses–is not happening as it should, then you can feel that you’re not in your body,” De Ridder said. “You can get an out-of-body experience. You’re perfectly conscious. But you just feel as if you’re not actually sitting in your body.” [courtesy Technology Review]

The electrode stimulation was sited at a point in the brain where the areas managing sensory integration (which determines bodily placement in time/space) and sense of self (the self-consciousness and ability to perceive the surrounding world) intersect. No research has been done yet on healthy individuals to see if the same phenomenon can be reproduced.

What exactly does this phenomenon feel like (at least to this patient)?

At no time did the patient report the sense that he was watching his actual body from another place — a phenomenon known as autoscopy. Rather, he said that throughout each out-of-body episode, he visually perceived the world as usual — from the vantage point of his actual body. At the same time, however, he continued to feel as if his body was located elsewhere. [courtesy Forbes]

So what does all this mean for those who had OBEs as part of illness, trauma, near-death experiences or other means? Rooting the function of self-perception in the brain rather than in the soul isn’t in itself all that radical, nor does it necessarily preclude a spiritual interpretation. Is locating the Self part of the brain any different than positing the God part of the brain? Even if both a sense of Self or God are both products of biology, are they any less amazing or miraculous?

A more interesting question is that of control. Imagine being able to control your own sense of Self. Or imagine being unable to. All of a sudden, you’re permanently located back and to the left, 20 inches, staring at that Self you so thoughtlessly inhabited. Nightmare scenario? You betcha. Just imagine the applications at Gitmo. Or imagine, somewhat less darkly, the applications for therapy. Would you act the way you do if you suddenly left camera mode in the 1st person shooter of your life (if autoscopy is someday possible)? Seeing that little avatar of Self wandering around might destroy any ability to function as a coherent being.

As we begin (ever so slowly and tenuously) to unlock the secrets of the human mind, we confront the fact that reality, consciousness and Self are fragile, delicate illusions, inextricably linked to one another. The human mind is perhaps the true final frontier.

The last few days have brought some strange responses in two high-profile cryptozoology cases. First, the Texas chupacabra we reported on back in early September has been deemed a near-match to a coyote based on DNA analysis by Texas State University. So, what the heck is a near-match? Is it a coyote or isn’t it? No answer from the Associated Press. Also no explanation for the fact that the creature was hairless, which requires additional analysis and tissue samples. As reader CAM pointed out, no explanation was given for why the creature had such short forelegs either.

More hairy reasoning from the wilds of Pennsylvania where a Bigfoot creature was recently caught on film. The Internet is abuzz with folks coming down on both sides of the fence: genuine ‘Squatch or “mangy, skinny bear“? “Mainstream” media dismisses the weird pics out of hand, but this doesn’t look like any bear I’ve ever seen. No, I’m not a bear expert, so look at the pics and let us know what YOU think.

So, here’s this week’s crypto count for those of you keeping score at home…Chupacabra: 0, Bigfoot: 0, Extreme Skin Disease: 2.

Um, OK.

Since the beginning of time, humans have looked for ways to exert control on their environment. Our mythology and religions (not to mention social/cultural norms) are all rooted in the idea that the world is chaos and God (or, more precisely, man) imposes order. Enter restrictions on sex, dress and other behaviors, including eating.

OK, so I can see some basis in looking twice at pork and shellfish. Hello, have you ever had food poisoning? It ain’t pretty. But let’s start talking about not mixing meat and dairy. That do anything for you? No meat on Friday maybe? Let’s ban eating meat altogether.

I’ll take it a step further. Maybe we should try fasting and have a good, old-fashioned high-colonic. Still not one with the Universe? I have the secrets to never eating again, and, at the same time, achieving cosmic harmony and advancing to another level of reality populated by space people.

You got me. I don’t have the secrets. But some people think they do. They’re called Breatharians and they like to say that they root themselves in Eastern ascetic traditions, but, honestly, that’s total B.S. While there have been claims to surviving without food throughout history in both Eastern and Western religions (check out the starting line-up of Catholic saints), there has never been a wholesale religion based on it and the claims have certainly never been verified by Western medicine (or any rigorous Eastern science, for that matter).

Bretharians (or practitioners of Inedia) claim to be able to go without food or water “indefinitely”, living only on air, sunlight and good vibes. Famous fruitcakes (without the fruit or cake) include Wiley Brooks and Jasmuheen. I’m not going to give either of these snake-oil salesmen a lot of coverage here because, frankly, credibility can only be stretched so far without snapping.

Jasmuheen, a.k.a. Ellen Greve, continues to peddle this nonsense even though she submitted to testing as part of 60 Minutes on Australian television and was found to be suffering from acute dehydration, stress and elevated blood pressure after just 48 hours on “pranic nourishment”.

Still curious? Let’s leave it at this:

The five magical 5th dimensional words.

1. Jot Niranjan
2. Omkar
3. Rarankar
4. Sohang
5. Sat Nam

Start meditating with these magic words for at least 30 minutes a day to begin with and increase your meditatiing [sic] time to 2 hours a day as soon as possible. Repeat them in the exact order that they are.

Do the meditation excersize [sic] before drinking lots of diet coke in the 20 oz and 1 liter sizes (with caffeine) in the plastic bottles only. Along with a double-quarter-pounder/with cheese [sic] meal at McDonald’s only. Always meditate 30 mins to an hour before eating. Try to eat at least one meal a day for a while [sic]. Go back to my web site periodically to see if you can start to feel the magic after reading a few paragraphs.

–Wiley Brooks, Breatharian, Spiritual Teacher, Inter-dimensional Traveler, and Founder of the Breatharian Institute Of America [sic]

OK, so the [sic] is starting to make me sick. But if you’re ever in Santa Cruz, California, USA with an extra cool $15M, give Brooks a call. He’ll likely take you to Mickey D’s or out for a Slurpee before laying on the “science” about living on air. That’s right, fifteen million dollars. Enlightenment isn’t free, m’kay?

Note: This is really no joke. There have been at least 3 recent deaths associated with this stupidity, including people from Scotland, Germany and Australia. We try to keep an open mind here, but there’s a less-than-fine line between curiosity and supporting charlatanism.