Why science is revisiting ‘21 Grams of Life’ theory to back up ‘mystery of flight of human soul’ after death
After centuries questioning the religious mantra that every human body has a soul, scientists are gradually acquiescing to the mystery of metaphysics that supports religious belief that there is something in the human that departs the body moments after death. The phenomenon is known as “The 21 Grams of Life”...
Analysts identify complex mixtures of botanical resins, other materials used to embalm Egyptian mummies
Labelled pots found in a 2,500-year-old embalming workshop have revealed the plant and animal extracts used to prepare ancient Egyptian mummies – including ingredients originating hundreds and even thousands of kilometres away. Chemical analysis of the pots’ contents has identified complex mixtures of botanical resins and other substances, some of...
Social media: Tools for spreading fantastical theories have never been more powerful than they are today
That frictionless glide on social media from one post to the next, video after video, tweet upon tweet, plays tricks on the mind. Spend enough time in that realm and even the most absurd theories and narratives start to acquire the patina of logic, the ring of reason. How else...
The Internet is like an ancient city, its latest incarnation resting atop ruins of so many civilisations
We all do it. Make little snap judgments about everyday strangers as we go about our lives. Without giving it a second’s thought, we sketch minibiographies of the people we pass on the sidewalk, the guy seated across from us on the train, or the woman in line in front...
How UK science fails Black scholars: Number of minority ethnicities dwindles at every stage of academia
In 2018, Robert Mokaya – from Kenya – discovered that he was the only Black chemistry professor in the United Kingdom. For a decade, he’d assumed there were others who he hadn’t met until investigations by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry revealed his lonely status. “Somebody said to me,...
Curtains fall and light goes out of Congolese ‘Queen of Mutuashi’ Tshala Muana’s eyes at 64
The famous Congolese singer and dancer Tshala Muana has died at the age of 64, according to her producer and companion, Claude Mashala. “In the early hours of this morning the good Lord has made the decision to call back Tshala Muana,” he posted on Facebook. Tshala Muana is considered...
There’re no laws of nature, what we’ve are consistent maths theories that seem to match parts of nature
I was recently reading an old article by string theorist Robbert Dijkgraaf in Quanta Magazine entitled There are no laws of physics. You might think it a bit odd for a physicist to argue that there are no laws of physics but I agree with him. In fact, not only...
Rumba in the bedroom: Franco may be the Congo music colossus, but his 18 children are no match for Tabu Ley’s 89-plus
Some of the most prolific Congolese musicians who excelled at recording songs that became big hits all over Africa and beyond over the years are, are also reported to have excelled at siring children. Rumba in the bedroom! While many of their offspring did not walk in their footsteps to...
US Centre for Food Safety challenges GMO in court to shield consumers and the earth from harmful agriculture
Centre for Food Safety (CFS) and a coalition of food labelling non-profits and retailers filed an appeal earlier this month with the 9thCircuit Court of Appeals, challenging a previous ruling that allows the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue using the misleading terminology “bioengineered” and avoid labelling the majority...
New minimum wage law throws America’s gig industry into chaos, dance clubs scramble to curb sin taxes
For six years, Teddy earned what she considers good money as a self-employed dancer working in California’s strip clubs. Yes, there were slow nights when wages slumped, says Teddy, who asks to use a pseudonym because not everyone in her life knows she is a sex worker. But the slow...
