Unusual Intelligence

Intelligence is defined as:

The Ability To Learn Or Understand (Intellect)

The Ability To Cope With A New Situation (Adaptability)

Understanding, Discernment, Judgment

Some people are born smarter than others! Some have more experience! Some work much harder! However, did you know that faith and science can be combined to increase intelligence?

US Drought and Preparing For The Food Shortage

It's unusually hot and dry in the United States. Take a look above at this week's chart from US Drought Monitor and you'll see what's happening. Pay special attention to the shear magnitude of the area affected by drought. Here's an excerpt from an article released yesterday called "Half of US counties now considered disaster areas" written by Jim Suhr of Associated Press;

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nearly 220 counties in a dozen drought-stricken states were added Wednesday to the U.S. government's list of natural disaster areas as the nation's agriculture chief unveiled new help for frustrated, cash-strapped farmers and ranchers grappling with extreme dryness and heat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's addition of the 218 counties means that more than half of all U.S. counties — 1,584 in 32 states — have been designated primary disaster areas this growing season, the vast majority of them mired in a drought that's considered the worst in decades.

Counties in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming were included in Wednesday's announcement. The USDA uses the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor to help decide which counties to deem disaster areas, which makes farmers and ranchers eligible for federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans.

Now that you have a clear understanding of the current situation please observe the outlook for the next few months in the following chart.

Especially in the Midwest US, this is a tough year for the agricultural industry. The writing is on the wall! So why is this really important to any of us? The effect of the current drought in North America is bound to impact the availability and price of food.

Here's a short excerpt of what Rod Nickel of Reuters said yesterday in the article "Maple Leaf Foods sees multi-year food inflation from drought"

(Reuters) - Drought in key crop-growing regions of the United States is "highly likely" to usher in several years of food-price inflation, as companies pass on to consumers the cost of sky-rocketing grain prices, the chief executive of Canada's Maple Leaf Foods said on Wednesday.

Hot, dry conditions in the U.S. Midwest have scorched this summer's corn and soybean crops, and also driven up prices of wheat and other grains. Those higher prices have in turn pushed up the costs of producing a variety of foods, including Maple Leaf's pork, poultry and baked goods.

"It affects the entire food chain for sure," said Michael McCain, CEO and the biggest shareholder of Maple Leaf, in an interview with Reuters.

If this drought ends soon and the rain starts falling consistently we won't have anything to worry about. However, if it worsens at some point in the future the impact on the economy will be huge. Additionally, there is a school of thought which says that there is a direct connection between food shortage and social unrest. The New England Complex Systems Institute produced the following chart which quantifies this relationship in their book, Economics of Food Prices and Crises.

Here is what they also said;

Social unrest may reflect a variety of factors such as poverty, unemployment, and social injustice. Despite the many possible contributing factors, the timing of violent protests in North Africa and the Middle East in 2011 as well as earlier riots in 2008 coincides with large peaks in global food prices.

We identify a specific food price threshold above which protests become likely. These observations suggest that protests may reflect not only long-standing political failings of governments, but also the sudden desperate straits of vulnerable populations. If food prices remain high, there is likely to be persistent and increasing global social disruption.

Underlying the food price peaks we also find an ongoing trend of increasing prices. We extrapolate these trends and identify a crossing point to the domain of high impacts, even without price peaks, in 2012{2013. This implies that avoiding global food crises and associated social unrest requires rapid and concerted action.

According to The Bible, a global food shortage is coming in the future. Then, what will immediately follow is social unrest. I know we're not there yet but in our lifetime we just might see the following scripture fulfilled;

Revelation 6:5-8(NLT) - When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.” When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.

The man who knows the future owns the future. We know this is going to happen. Are we prepared?

Scientists Have Found Evidence of God (Particles)

It's been a long time coming but it's finally here. Well, at least something like it. Yesterday, July 4th, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world's leading laboratory for particle physics made a highly anticipated announcement. In the press release "CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson" they announced preliminary results of analysis from the ATLAS and CMS experiments. Without explicitly guaranteeing the existence of Higgs Boson (also known as The God Particle) they have discovered a new particle which is just like it. This is a major development that is being embraced with great fanfare all over the world. It also has some important implications concerning the connection between Faith and Science.

From Faith Science;

On November 11, 2009, the headline on CNN.com said, “Huge $10 billion collider resumes hunt for God particle.” That article, written by CNN reporter Elizabeth Landau, pushed atomic and molecular physics to the forefront of popular culture for at least one day. The story highlights read as follows: “The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will circulate a beam around the tunnel within two weeks. CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) scientists say an electrical failure caused a major shut-down of the collider in September 2008. The full scientific program for the LHC will probably last more than 20 years. The LHC will look for the Higgs boson, quarks, gluons and other small particles.”

Antoine Lavoisier is commonly referred to as the father of modern chemistry. In 1789, he formulated the law of conservation of mass, which in simple terms states that matter is neither created nor destroyed. This is an approximate physical law that loses its credibility in terms of mass conservation when physical matter changes to a form without measurable mass.

Albert Einstein, the most famous theoretical physicist in history, disproved the conclusions drawn by Lavoisier and took the concept a step further. His discovery of special relativity and the related equation of mass-energy equivalence, E=mc2, showed a relationship between mass and energy. This allows for mass to practically disappear during a chemical reaction and be changed into mass-less energy.

Withal, this still proved that if energy is considered a type of matter, the simple interpretation of Lavoisier’s conclusions still applies. Hence, even though mass in its traditional sense is not always conserved, matter, whether or not it has physically measurable mass, always is. Therefore, while things that exist can change form, science has proven that everything in existence has always been in existence and will always be in existence.

One part of the Standard Model mentioned in the earlier chapter “Matter versus Antimatter” which cannot be fully understood by scientists is how fundamental particles have mass. The most popular proposal is the Higgs Mechanism, which suggests the role of a particle called the Higgs Boson. In an article called “Ask the Experts,” published by Scientific American on October 21, 1999, the following questions were posed: “What exactly is the Higgs Boson? Have physicists proved that it really exists?”

Chris Quigg, a researcher in the theoretical physics department at FERMILAB, said, “Over the next fifteen years, we should begin to find a real understanding of the origin of mass. The interest lies not just in the arcana of accelerator experiments but suffuses everything in the world around us: mass is what determines the range of forces and sets the scale of all the structures we see in nature.”

Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva along the Franco-Swiss border with the Large Hadron Collider and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FERMILAB) near Chicago, Illinois, with the Tevatron Collider have been actively involved in some important research. In an effort to identify the source of mass, they are currently seeking ways to definitively isolate the Higgs Boson, or God Particle. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the Higgs Boson is “a hypothetical elementary particle that has zero spin and large mass that is required by some gauge theories to account for the masses of other elementary particles.”

Therefore, they are attempting to prove what has been accepted theoretically for a long time. Apparently, elementary particles essentially have no measurable mass without the Higgs Boson. Thus, the absence or presence of measurable mass does not define the existence of a particle. Based on this theory, all particles actually exist apart from mass that can be quantified. If you can understand this simple fact, it will revolutionize the way you think about everything in life. We have always known that visibility does not define existence because many essential elements in life are invisible, like the air we breathe.

Yet, it was understood that even invisible elements have some level of infinitesimal mass. Now scientific researchers are out to prove that particles in existence can be both invisible and massless. When God created the earth, could it be that he combined the Higgs Boson with invisible, mass-less particles that were already in existence? Why not? If that’s what gives a particle its mass, isn’t every particle in existence essentially mass-less apart from the Higgs Boson? So when we consider items with mass to be more real than items without mass, we make as much scientific sense as a person who concludes that something doesn’t exist because it can’t be seen.

Atheism: The Next Best Thing After Christianity?

Atheist - "one who believes that there is no deity." (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

"There are no atheists!" 

That's the most logical conclusion that can be drawn. Logically, it's similar to the statement, "There is no God!" I am yet to discover an objective procedure based on The Scientific Method which quantitatively measures belief. So what evidence do we have to prove that anyone actually believes there is no deity? If an alleged atheist can use that logic to question the existence of God, I can use it to question the existence of atheists. Hence, I conclude that atheists don't exist.

On the other hand, I do agree that there are many who claim to be atheists. Are they really atheists? I don't know. Maybe they are. Maybe they are not. I cannot prove what they believe. I'll have to take their word for it or judge by their actions. I choose not to do so. That would require the same faith I apparently need to believe in God. When I am presented with conclusive quantitative evidence that proves the existence of atheists I will change my position. At that point, their existence will become the most logical conclusion. Right now it is not.  

Romans 1:18-21(NLT) - But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 

Psalms 53:1(KJV) - The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

The Bible actually draws the same conclusion. There are those who say in their hearts that there is no God but they have no excuse. They know the truth. Whether they want to believe it or not is a completely different issue. Do they understand God? Maybe not. Do they believe in God the way The Bible describes Him? Maybe not. However, do they believe that there is absolutely no God? Maybe not. There is something inside of each human being which points toward something deeper than what exists in the natural realm.

Welcome to today's blog at Faith Science Online. Let's look at an excerpt from a fascinating NPR article written by Barbara Bradley Hagerty published on April 30th, 2012 called, "From Minister To Atheist: A Story Of Losing Faith";

MacBain, 44, was raised a conservative Southern Baptist. Her dad was a pastor and she felt the call of God when she was 6. She had questions, of course, about conflicts in the Bible, for example, or the role of women. She says she sometimes felt she was serving a taskmaster of a God, whose standards she never quite met. For years, MacBain set her concerns aside. But when she became a United Methodist pastor nine years ago, she started asking sharper questions. She thought they'd make her faith stronger. "In reality," she says, "as I worked through them, I found that religion had so many holes in it, that I just progressed through stages where I couldn't believe it." The questions haunted her: Is Jesus the only way to God? Would a loving God torment people for eternity? Is there any evidence of God at all? And one day, she crossed a line. "I just kind of realized — I mean just a eureka moment, not an epiphany, a eureka moment — I'm an atheist," she says. "I don't believe. And in the moment that I uttered that word, I stumbled and choked on that word — atheist."

After doing a little research I realized that there are similar stories out there right now. There's a Christian pastor who came out in an interview as an atheist on MSNBC on March 25th. There's another pastor who turned to Atheism featured in an article in The Washington Post on April 30th. They had some serious questions about Christianity and didn't find the answers so they decided Atheism was their best option.

I have a few thoughts. Are there holes in our understanding of Christianity? Of course there are. That's what makes the Christian experience so exciting. It's why we aggressively study the scriptures. It's why we read books. It's why we listen to sermons. It's the entire purpose behind Apologetics. Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of information. We will continue in our search for truth until our time on this present earth is complete.

If you have questions and ask nobody, you get no answers. If you have questions and ask the wrong people, you get the wrong answers. If you ask questions but refuse to accept any possible answers, you have rhetorical questions. Those require no answers so none should be given. There's nothing wrong with having questions. What matters is how you handle them. Many people have lost their faith because they did not know how to properly handle their lingering questions.

Here's a quote from "Pastor’s loss of faith started with loss of hell" written by Kimberly Winston of Religion News Service for The Washington Post, published April 30th, 2012;

BETHESDA, Md. — In the span of just a few months, Jerry DeWitt went from a respected pastor with a vibrant congregation to an atheist without a job. DeWitt, 42, is the first “graduate” of The Clergy Project, a program supported by several atheist organizations that assists pastors who have lost their faith to “come out” as atheists to family, friends, congregations and communities. DeWitt, who lives in Southern Louisiana, went public last October when he posted a picture of himself with the prominent and polarizing atheist Richard Dawkins, snapped at a meeting of atheists and other “freethinkers” in Houston.....  

DeWitt’s transition from true believer to total skeptic took 25 years. It began, he said, with the idea of hell. How could it be, as he had been taught and preached, that a loving God would *** most people to eternal fire? “This thing called hell, it began to rock my world,” he said. From there he read about universalism — the idea, scorned by most fundamentalist Christians, that salvation is universal, and all people will be restored in their relationship with God without any action on their own part. After universalism, he discovered the idea, supported by some neuroscientists, that God is actually our inner dialogue. “I went from God loves everybody to God saves everybody to God is in everybody,” he said. “When you come from where I come from ... it’s not too long before you are” at the American Atheists convention.

There are answers to these questions and more. Just ask the right people and be open to the truth. For example, The Bible reconciles the existence of hell and the truth of God's Love. It says in Matthew 25:41; "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" 

Therefore, hell was not created for people but for the devil and the angels who revolted against God alongside him.

God's Love is shown in that He created man to be immortal and placed him in a beautiful garden to enjoy for eternity. He gave them simple instructions and laid out the consequences if they were disobeyed. However, Adam and Eve chose to follow the devil. They chose death instead of life. It was not forced upon them. God still gives people the freedom of choice so that they can choose to love Him. This makes their love authentic.

The Bible also says in John 3:16-17; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Then it says in 2 Peter 3:9; "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."


Even though He didn't have to, He sacrificed Jesus to get everyone out of hell. He doesn't want anyone to go to hell. Yet, people still choose hell and that breaks God's heart. That's how The Bible describes God. What's sad is that this lack of understanding is used to draw people away from God's Love. Then, out of ignorance, people create alternate theories and choose to believe them.

Today, let's answer the question, "Is Atheism the next best thing after Christianity?" Since these Christian pastors could not find the answers to their questions is their next most logical step Atheism? I am beginning to notice what could be described as an innovative way to sell the idea of Atheism.

Instead of believing that God doesn't exist at all many new "atheists" simply question how God can exist in the way The Bible presents Him. That's a completely different position. However, it's an open door. Hence, they choose to believe alternative interpretations of God's existence which cause them to become completely confused. Out of this confusion, they turn to Atheism.

Look at DeWitt's regression; “I went from God loves everybody to God saves everybody to God is in everybody,” he said. “When you come from where I come from ... it’s not too long before you are” at the American Atheists convention.

Romans 1:21(NLT) - And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 

1 Timothy 4:1(KJV) - Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

Logic does not lead anyone to Atheism. Confusion does!

Scientists: Expect Disaster of Biblical Proportions

Matthew 24:7-8(NLT) - Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

On Thursday March 29th 2012, Associated Free Press published an article called Scientists warn of 'emergency on global scale'. Here's an excerpt;

"Leading scientists on Thursday called on the upcoming Rio Summit to grapple with environmental ills that they said pointed to "a humanitarian emergency on a global scale." 

In a "State of the Planet" declaration issued after a four-day conference, the scientists said Earth was now facing unprecedented challenges, from water stress, pollution and species loss to spiralling demands for food......

The conference gathered nearly 3,000 environment scientists, economists, business executives and policymakers in the runup to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio.

In a recorded message, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he welcomed the declaration, saying "its timing... could not be better." "Climate change, the financial crisis and food, water and energy security threaten human wellbeing and civilisation as we know it," he said."

Here they go again. Those pesky Christians keep pushing the conspiracy theory of The End Times. Here's another 3,000 of them gathering for a Bible Prophecy Conference. Here's another quote from a Doomsday prophet talking about the world's about to collapse. 

Wait, those aren't Christians, that's no Bible Prophecy Conference and he's no Doomsday prophet. We're talking about 3,000 environmental scientists, economists, business executives and policy makers gathering as a prelude to the UN Conference for Sustainable Development. Also, that quote is from the Secretary General of the United Nations. Any questions? There's more...

On Monday April 9th I came across this fascinating article, "It's already been a very record-breaking hot year" by Seth Borenstein of Associated Press. I don't know where you live but in Atlanta, GA for at least the last two years I have personally experienced the craziest weather. Here's an excerpt from the article;

It's been so warm in the United States this year, especially in March, that national records weren't just broken, they were deep-fried. Temperatures in the lower 48 states were 8.6 degrees above normal for March and 6 degrees higher than average for the first three months of the year, according to calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That far exceeds the old records.

The magnitude of how unusual the year has been in the U.S. has alarmed some meteorologists who have warned about global warming. One climate scientist said it's the weather equivalent of a baseball player on steroids, with old records obliterated.

"Everybody has this uneasy feeling. This is weird. This is not good," said Jerry Meehl, a climate scientist who specializes in extreme weather at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.....

NOAA climate scientist Gabriel Vecchi compared the increase in weather extremes to baseball players on steroids: You can't say an individual homer is because of steroids, but they are hit more often and the long-held records for home runs fall. They seem to be falling far more often because of global warming, said NASA top climate scientist James Hansen.

In a paper he submitted to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and posted on a physics research archive, Hansen shows that heat extremes aren't just increasing but happening far more often than scientists thought. What used to be a 1-in-400 hot temperature record is now a 1 in 10 occurrence, essentially 40 times more likely, said Hansen.

There's one group of scientists saying the earth is acting strange and we have need for concern while there's another group claiming it's all a big false alarm. To each his own. Facts are facts. The evidence is clear. We can't change the facts. We can't dispute the data. We just have to determine which interpretation of the data we choose to accept.

After experiencing possibly the coldest winter on modern record last year and then the warmest winter this year I'm convinced. Something is not right. If you live on planet earth you have probably noticed that already. If you have not, here's a "heads up". While some try to assuage fears of impending disaster many remain convinced that things are going in one direction and it's not good. In fact, some are so convinced that they've taken it to the next level.

1 Thessalonians 5:3(KJV) - For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

On June 8th, Joe Lambe of Associated Free Press wrote "Doomsday shelters line Kansas missile silo." In it he revealed that while some think impending disaster is a big joke, others are taking it quite seriously. Here's an excerpt;

Tucked deep beneath the Kansas prairie, luxury condos are being built into the shaft of an abandoned missile silo to service anxious -- and wealthy -- people preparing for doomsday. So far, four buyers have plopped down a total of about $7 million for havens to flee to when disaster happens or the end is nigh. And developer Larry Hall has options to retro-fit three more Cold War-era silos when this one fills up. "They worry about events ranging from solar flares, to economic collapse, to pandemics to terrorism to food shortages," Hall told AFP on a tour of the site...

Built to withstand an atomic blast, even the most paranoid can find comfort inside concrete walls that are nine feet thick and stretch 174 feet (53 meters) underground....

He is also installing an indoor farm to grow enough fish and vegetables to feed 70 people for as long as they need to stay inside and also stockpiling enough dry goods to feed them for five years. The top floor and an outside building above it will be for elaborate security. Other floors will be for a pool, a movie theater and a library, and when in lockdown mode there will be floors for a medical center and a school. Complex life support systems provide energy supplies from sources of conventional power, as well as windmill power and generators.

Giant underground water tanks will hold water pre-filtered through carbon and sand. And, of course, an elaborate security system and staff will keep marauding hordes out. The condo elevator will only operate if a person's fingerprint matches its system, Hall said. Cameras will monitor a barbed-wire topped fence and give plenty of warning of possible intruders. Responses can range from a warning to lethal force. "If they try to climb the fence we can stun them," he said. "If they want to break into the system, we can put an end to that."

Okay, maybe this seems a bit extreme. What do they really expect to happen? A disaster of Biblical proportions? Those things don't happen. Especially in America. Some people think this type of stuff is pure comedy. However, it's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

Matthew 24:37-39(NLT) - “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

As Noah built a boat in preparation for the big flood people thought he was crazy. It had never rained before. They laughed and laughed until the day they got wet. Then, like the words in that old negro spiritual they had to; "wade in the water." Eventually, their mouths were full of water and they couldn't laugh anymore. Maybe this is all a big joke. Maybe it's not! So... who's laughing?

Computer Chips In School Uniforms... What's Next?

Here's an excerpt from an interesting story published on March 22nd and written by Stahn Lehman of Associated Press called; "Locator chips keep track of students in Brazil".

SAO PAULO (AP) — Grade-school students in a northeastern Brazilian city are using uniforms embedded with locator chips that help alert parents if they're cutting classes, the city's education secretary said Thursday.

Twenty thousand students in 25 of Vitoria da Conquista's 213 public schools started using T-shirts with chips earlier this week, secretary Coriolano Moraes said by telephone.
By 2013, all of the city's 43,000 public school students, aged 4 to 14, will be using the chip-embedded T-shirts, he added.

Radio frequency chips in "intelligent uniforms" let a computer know when children enter school and it sends a text message to their cell phones. Parents are also alerted if kids don't show up 20 minutes after classes begin with the following message: "Your child has still not arrived at school."

"We noticed that many parents would bring their children to school but would not see if they actually entered the building because they always left in a hurry to get to work on time," Moraes said in a telephone interview. "They would always be surprised when told of the number times their children skipped class.

After a student skips classes three times parents will be asked to explain the absences. If they fail to do so, the school may notify authorities, Moares said. The city government invested $670,000 to design, test and make the microchipped T-shirts, he said.

The chips, similar to those used to track pets in many countries, are placed underneath each school's coat-of-arms or on one of the sleeves below a phrase that says: "Education does not transform the world. Education changes people and people transform the world."

I wonder what's going to happen when the students who really want to skip school decide to carry a change of clothing? :-) After spending $670,000 to bring this bright idea to fruition, what's the next step in the evolution of this technology? I have an idea. Since it works so well for pets why not put the chips in the actual students? That way, they can't possibly skip school.

Also, they can't get lost or be kidnapped without notice. Like we discovered last week, if Nokia has their way maybe it can also be linked to their cellphones and act as a Bluetooth device. Why stop there? You can put their medical information just in case they have a medical emergency. You can also put their banking information in case their wallets are lost or stolen. Then why not put their personal identification while you're at it? If it works well for pets it should work well for students and if it works well for students why not try it on everyone?

Revelation 13:15-17(NLT) - He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this. Maybe I'm not. Computer Chips In School Uniforms. Bluetooth devices embedded under your skin.. What's Next?

Brain-Computer Interfaces in US Military and Nokia's Vibrating Tattoo

Current state-of-the-art neuroscience, including new forms of brain scanning, brain–computer interfaces (BCIs), and neuromodulation, is being tapped for warfighter enhancement, deception detection, and other cutting-edge military applications to serve national security interests. 

- Tennison MN, Moreno JD (2012) Neuroscience, Ethics, and National Security: The State of the Art. PLoS Biol 10(3): e1001289. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001289

The super-power status of The United States is currently being held in place by its large economy and unmatched military strength. However, the economic gap with the rest of the world continues to shrink and the list of enemies continues to grow. Therefore, they've chosen to out-think instead of outspend or outnumber the competition.

Luke 14:31-32(NKJV) - Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

Here's an excerpt from an article I read earlier this week called "Military-Funded Brain Science Sparks Controversy" by Charles Choi of Live Science.

Brain research and associated advances such as brain-machine interfaces that are funded by the U.S. military and intelligence communities raise profound ethical concerns, caution researchers who cite the potentially lethal applications of such work and other consequences.

Rapid advances in neuroscience made over the last decade have many dual-use applications of both military and civilian interest. Researchers who receive military funding — with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $350 million on neuroscience in 2011 — may not fully realize how dangerous their work might be, say scientists in an essay published online today (March 20) in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

For instance, a brain-computer interface was used by a monkey to remotely control a walking robot in 2007. However, such interfaces could help people operate weapons, robotic exoskeletons, killer drones and other machines while sheltered from the reality of combat and its deadly consequences, said bioethicist Jonathan Moreno at the University of Pennsylvania, author of "Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense" (Dana Press, 2006).

"The question about brain-machine interfaces is whether we are continuing to lower the bar for conflict," Moreno told InnovationNewsDaily. "Certainly there are people in the armed forces and in policy who find the distancing of war fighters from combat disconcerting."

Other research can enhance or suppress brain activity of soldiers on the battlefield with so-called neuromodulation technologies. For instance, so-called transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial pulsed ultrasound could, in principle, apply magnetic fields or ultrasound pulses on the brain to reduce fatigue and mental trauma as well as improve mood, attention, learning and memory.

If you want to know what's really going on, read the research essay published three days ago called "Neuroscience, Ethics, and National Security: The State of the Art" by Tennison MN and Moreno JD. It will blow your mind.

Here's a sample;

DARPA's Augmented Cognition (AugCog) program sought to find ways to use neurological information gathered from warfighters to modify their equipment accordingly. For example, the “cognitive cockpit” concept involved recording a pilot's brain activity to customize the cockpit to that individual's needs in real time, from selecting the least burdened sensory organ for communicating information to prioritizing informational needs and eliminating distractions [7]. Although the Augmented Cognition moniker (and funding mechanism) seem to have been dropped, its spirit lives on in other DARPA projects. For example, the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System is developing portable binoculars that convert subconscious, neurological responses to danger into consciously available information [8]. Such a system could reduce the information-processing burden on warfighters, helping them to identify and respond to areas of interest in the visual field more quickly.

- Tennison MN, Moreno JD (2012) Neuroscience, Ethics, and National Security: The State of the Art. PLoS Biol 10(3): e1001289. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001289

Now let's take this to another level with Part 2 of today's blog. Take a look at the following scripture and think about it a little.

Revelation 13:15-17(NLT) - He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

Doesn't it sound quite futuristic? First, it talks about Synthetic Life then it talks about a special mark which we are yet to fully understand. Apparently, not only will it be symbolic but it will be used to communicate personal information. In fact, it may possibly involve some type of mind control since each person who takes the mark will lose autonomy over his/her soul (mind, will, emotions). Maybe it's just me but what I recently discovered proves that the technology is already available.

Yesterday, CNN Money published an article by Chris Boyette called "Nokia eyes tattoos that talk to your phone." Here's some of what he had to say;

Nobody likes a loud ringtone, and if you don't have your phone close by, you might not feel it vibrate. Finnish-based Nokia has a potential solution, with just one catch: You need to get a tattoo.

In a recent filing to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Nokia (NOK) described a concept for using magnetic ink embedded in the skin to interact with a specific electromagnetic field put off by mobile phones. The interaction would generate a perceivable stimulus when the ink registers "an alert of an incoming message, a phone call, an alarm." In other words, your tattoo will vibrate with your phone.

Check this out from Vlad Bobleanta who provided more details at Unwired View;

In the first described embodiment of the patent, you’d wear a sort of material that’s attachable to the skin. On your forearm, for example. This material can do two things: detect a magnetic field, and emit a vibration.

The material could be paired with a phone, for example, like Bluetooth accessories are paired to electronics. The phone, however, would have to be capable of emitting varying magnetic fields.

So then, for example, when someone calls that phone, it will send out a specific magnetic field. The material will detect that, and will start vibrating in a certain pattern. That pattern could be different according to who’s calling, or it could be different according to what exactly is happening on the phone (a phone call, text message, and so on).

For this to work, the phone would have to send out a different magnetic field for each action, because the material would associate a different type of vibration with each kind of magnetic field it detects. The vibrations would happen by magnetically manipulating the material.

But wait, there’s more. What about using an actual tattoo instead of that material attached to your skin? Yes, Nokia has thought about that too.

The tattoo would be applied using ferromagnetic inks. The ink material would first be exposed to high temperatures to demagnetize it. Then the tattoo would be applied. You’ll apparently be able to choose the actual image you want as the tattoo. The procedure is identical to that of getting a ‘normal’ tattoo – only the ink is special.

After the tattoo has been applied, you’ll need to magnetize it. That means bringing the tattooed area in the close proximity of an external magnet, and going “several times over this magnet to magnetize the image material again”. The tattoo will then have enhanced sensitivity towards external alternating magnet fields, and will basically function the same way the aforementioned material attached to your skin did. Only in a more permanent fashion, so to speak.

- "Nokia is looking into haptic tattoos to help you feel who’s calling" by Vlad Bobleanta on 15 Mar 12

Now if you think we're making this up go to the US Patent Office website for yourself and look it up here. If you can't find it enter the search terms; "nokia AND haptic and feedback and ferromagnetic." This is some interesting stuff. I just have one word to to say about all of it; "WOW!"

Revelation 22:20(KJV) - He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

News Flash: Atheism Is Not A Science!

Psalm 8:1-9(MSG) - God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name. Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs That drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble. I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way? Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden's dawn light. You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge, Made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild, Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps. God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world. (emphasis mine)

Why does God even bother with us? Especially those of us who shake our fists in the air at Him in opposition. Do we really believe we can match His power? Thankfully, God is merciful and because of His love He winks at our ignorance. He loves human beings and values our lives. He loves Christians. He loves Muslims. He loves Hindus. He loves agnostics. He loves atheists. It's because of His love that He continues to reach out to us but even God's unlimited love does not override rebellious hearts.

Last Saturday, this was quite evident during what turned out to be an intense debate on "Science vs Religion" with an atheist on Chris Cross Radio out of NJ. After I was introduced by the host at approximately 99 minutes into the 120 minute program I was asked to explain the premise of my book, Faith Science. So I gave a little teaser connecting Genesis 1:1 and The Big Bang Theory. 

This triggered an immediate response from one of the atheists on the panel. He claimed to have once been a Christian who read The Bible three times. He tried to portray himself as being someone of superior intelligence and for almost 99 minutes he was successfully dominating the discussion before I entered. Then I called his bluff. Not only was he unable to question the science behind my statements he also exposed his limited understanding of the scriptures. Instead of giving you the "play by play" you can listen to it for yourself from approximately the 99th minute of the recorded broadcast here. 

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines an atheist as "one who believes that there is no deity." Simply put, atheism is a belief system that is based on the principle that God doesn't exist. That is what atheism is. Here is what it is not. Atheism is not the highest level of human intelligence. It also is not built on scientific research or intellectual accomplishment. It is not a direct result of mental ascent. It is a belief system and therefore a choice. Atheists choose to believe that there is no God and whatever reasons they provide for that choice is up to them. Atheism is not the final conclusion of The Scientific Method. Atheism is not a science!

Psalm 14:1(KJV) - The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Here's an excerpt from Faith Science which questions the assertion that atheism is built on science and that atheists are somehow intellectually superior to anyone who believes in God.

From Faith Science;

Five Prominent Christian Scientists in History

1. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1627): Pioneer of the Scientific Method

The Scripture saith, The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God; it is not said, The fool hath thought in his heart; so as he rather saith it, by rote to himself, as that he would have, than that he can thoroughly believe it, or be persuaded of it. For none deny, there is a God, but those, for whom it maketh that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing more, that atheism is rather in the lip, than in the heart of man, than by this; that atheists will ever be talking of that their opinion, as if they fainted in it, within themselves, and would be glad to be strengthened, by the consent of others.

—Francis Bacon, Of Atheism (Essays of Francis Bacon)

The scientific method defines science as we know it. So I can’t think of anyone who qualifies more to accept the title of an accomplished scientist than the man who proposed its definition in the first place. Bacon clearly despised atheism and did not hold anything back in his essay Of Atheism. I specifically chose this quote because he demonstrated his use of the Bible in approaching the concept of atheism.

He quoted from Psalm 14:1 and expounded on the scripture just like a preacher. In essence, he said that atheists can’t really believe what they say about God. People who claim there is no God know the truth in their hearts. They have no excuse, like Paul said in Romans 1:18–23. They just talk off their heads and feel better about their position if they could get some support from others.

2. Johannes Kepler (1571–1630): Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

I wanted to become a theologian; for a long time I was restless. Now, however, behold how through my effort God is being celebrated in astronomy. 

—Johannes Kepler, 1595 Letter to Michael Maestlin, mathematics professor and Kepler’s mentor

HyperPhysics hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Georgia State University simply defines Kepler’s Laws as:

• The Law of Orbits: All planets move in elliptical orbits, with the sun at one focus.

• The Law of Areas: A line that connects a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.

• The Law of Periods: The square of the period of any planet is proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis of its orbit.

Note: Kepler’s laws were derived for orbits around the sun, but they apply to satellite orbits as well.

While the general consensus was that orbits were circular, Kepler proposed that they were elliptical. His laws approximated the motion of planets around the sun and became building blocks of modern astronomy. Even as a respected astronomer, he was quoted as saying, “Nothing in the world was created by God without a plan.” Kepler’s testimony in his letter to Maestlin is similar to mine. I also wanted to become a theologian but pursued physics and structural engineering. Now, God is being celebrated through my life.

3. Robert Boyle (1627–1691): Boyle’s Law

When with bold telescopes I survey the old and newly discovered stars and planets that adorn the upper region of the world; and when with excellent microscopes I discern in otherwise invisible objects … nature’s curious workmanship; and when, in a word … I study the book of nature … I find myself oftentimes reduced to exclaim with the Psalmist, How manifold are thy Works O Lord? In Wisdom hast thou made them all! And when I have been losing myself in admiration of what I understand not, but enough to admire, and not to comprehend; I am often obliged to interrupt or break off my enquiries, by applying to the works of God’s creation the expression … O the depth of the Riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his way untraceable. 

—Robert Boyle, Seraphick Love: Some Motives and Incentives to the Love of God

Frank Wattenberg from the Department of Mathematics at Montana State University said the following of Boyle’s Law:

Boyle’s Law involves a relationship between three properties of a gas in a container: the volume of the container (denoted V), the pressure of the gas (denoted P), the temperature of the gas (denoted T).

Boyle’s Law states: PV = kT where k is a constant, or Pressure * Volume = Constant * Temperature

The value of the constant k depends on the units used for the other quantities, but once the units are fixed, k is also fixed. When any one of the quantities V, P, or T is changed, one or two of the others must change so that the equation above still holds.

Robert Boyle developed his scientific and religious philosophies simultaneously. He is described as one of the founders of modern chemistry. In college, I learned Boyle’s law as the inversely proportional relationship between absolute pressure and the volume of gas. It’s used to understand the behavior of gases in balloons, syringes, and even human lungs. It’s so commonly used that we hardly acknowledge it. With his extensive understanding of science came a great respect for God.

4. Michael Faraday (1791–1867): Faraday’s Law, Electromagnetic Fields

The Christian who is taught of God … finds his guide in the Word of God … and looks for no assurance beyond what the Word can give him. The Christian religion is a revelation, and that revelation is the Word of God. No revival and no temporal teaching comes between it and him. He who is taught of the Holy Spirit needs no crowd and no revival to teach him; if he stands alone he is fully taught. 

—Selected Exhortations Delivered to Various Churches of Christ by the Late Michael Faraday, Wm. Buchanan, John M. Baxter, and Alex Moir, James Rorie, editor, (Dundee: John Leng and Co., Ltc., 1910)

HyperPhysics hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Georgia State University simply defines Faraday’s Law as: Any change in the magnetic environment of a coil of wire will cause a voltage (emf ) to be “induced” in the coil. No matter how the change is produced, the voltage will be generated. The change could be produced by changing the magnetic field strength, moving a magnet toward or away from the coil, moving the coil into or out of the magnetic field, rotating the coil relative to the magnet, etc.

Faraday’s law is a fundamental relationship which comes from Maxwell’s equations. It serves as a succinct summary of the ways a voltage (or emf ) may be generated by a changing magnetic environment. The induced emf in a coil is equal to the negative of the rate of change of magnetic flux times the number of turns in the coil. It involves the interaction of charge with magnetic field.

Michael Faraday turned the scientific world upside down. His development of electromagnetic rotary devices made electricity usable in technology. He’s been called the best experimentalist in the history of science, and it’s said that on Albert Einstein’s study wall was his photo. The farad used to measure capacitance and the Faraday constant used to measure charge were named after him. He’s even credited for developing the Bunsen burner. How did a man with such an amazing scientific track record embrace Christian beliefs? The same way any other person can. When properly understood in context, they do not have to contradict each other.

5. Lord Kelvin (1824–1907): absolute zero, First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics

Science positively affirms Creative Power. It is not in dead matter that we live and move and have our being, but in the creating and directing power which science compels us to accept as an article of belief. We cannot escape from that conclusion, when we study the physics and dynamics of living and dead matter all around. Modern biologists are coming, I believe, once more to a firm acceptance of something beyond mere gravitational, chemical, and physical forces; and that unknown thing is a vital principle. We have an unknown object put before us in science. In thinking of that object we are all agnostics. We only know God in His works, but we are absolutely forced by science to believe with perfect confidence in a Directive Power—in an influence other than physical, or dynamical, or electrical forces.

—Lord Kelvin (William Thomson); Vote of thanks from Lord Kelvin following a course of lectures on “Christian Apologetics” given at University College, London in May, 1903 by Rev. Professor Henslow.

The next time you consider units of temperature, remember that Celsius and Fahrenheit are just two of them. Named after Lord Kelvin, absolute zero or 0 Kelvin is defined as -273.15°C and -459.67°F. Close to that temperature, quantum effects like superconductivity and super fluidity are exhibited by matter. This is basically what is known as the absolute minimum temperature. Lord Kelvin, the same elite scientist who proposed this measure, was a staunch defender of the Christian faith.

These five scientists—Bacon, Kepler, Boyle, Faraday, and Kelvin— are just a small representation of the vast number of Christians in science throughout history. It’s undeniable that the practice of science cannot negate the practice of Christian faith and vice versa.

The Power of Music: Intersecting Science, Art & Spirituality

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. 
Ludwig van Beethoven

What's the connection between music and our understanding of science? Observe how Theoretical Physicist Brian Greene, an expert in String Theory uses this connection to explain Albert Einstein's "Theory of Everything."

Albert Einstein dreamed of finding what he called a Unified Theory. By that he meant a single idea, a single principle, maybe even a single equation that might describe everything in the universe. He worked long and hard many decades to try to find the theory and he never did. Since his passing many physicists have taken up where he left off, and many of us believe that an approach called String Theory may be the Unified Theory that he was looking for. And the basic idea of the unified description of all matter is pretty straightforward. If you take any piece of material, say a piece of wood, cut it in half, cut it in half again, keep on cutting it to ever smaller pieces, the basic question is what’s the smallest piece that you get to?

What is the finest uncuttable constituent? Now we all know if you cut fine enough you get molecules, if you cut them up, you get atoms, if you cut them up even further you get other particles, electrons going around the nucleus with neutrons and protons, even though the neutrons and protons are smaller entities called quarks. The conventional idea stopped there. String Theory comes along and says “There may be one more layer of structure: inside an electron, inside a quark, inside any particle you have heard of, according to these ideas, is a little tiny filament. Looks like a tiny little string, that’s why it’s called String Theory, and the little strings can vibrate in different patterns.”

So the idea is that, according to this theory an electron can be a string vibrating in one pattern. You can call it a middle C if you want, by the musical analogy, a quark could be a string vibrating at a different pattern like an A. So the difference between one particle and another is simply the note that its string is playing. And this is the unified description that this theory puts forward: everything can be reduced to the notes these fundamental strings are playing. Now that’s metaphorical. There’s math behind this, that allows us to see all of the key elements of physics can find a home in this description, but in a nutshell that’s what this theory says.

Source: Physics of Sound - Harmonics and The Unified Theory

What we play is life. 
Louis Armstrong

What is music? The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines music as "the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity." It then defines sound as "mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves in a material medium (as air) and is the objective cause of hearing." In essence, music is the science or art that defines the ordered transfer of energy from the source to its recipient. Therefore, on the most fundamental level, there is power in music.

Education in music is most sovereign because more than anything else rhythm and harmony find their way to the innermost soul and take strongest hold upon it. 

Plato

The Bible says in Genesis 2:7; "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." It then says in 1 Corinthians 15:45; "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul." In the Greek language, the word used by The Apostle Paul for human soul is the breath of life. In other words, God breathed into man and then man was able to breathe on his own. The soul is the center of thought, decision and emotion. It's the essence of our humanity.

Here's a very interesting story from The Bible which demonstrates the power of music to impact the human soul.

1 Samuel 16:14-22(NLT) - Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. 15 Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.” 17 “All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.” 18 One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the LORD is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” 20 Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine. 21 So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.” 23 And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.

Saul was troubled by an evil spirit and his deliverance came through a novel medium, music! Why was music the only suggestion given to him? Obviously, they understood the power of music to heal his ailment. Since hindsight is 20-20, we can all now marvel at their brilliance. Believe it or not, this was an early form of what is now called "Music Therapy."

Here's what Music Therapy expert, Concetta Tomaino, D.A., MT-BC, LCAT, has to say;

One of the reasons, and one of the exciting reasons, why music therapy has so much promise for people with neurological conditions is that music accesses the networks in the brain in a complementary faction (fashion) or differently than the function that a person has lost. And what I mean by that is we can stimulate the timing mechanisms, we can stimulate word finding ability, we can stimulate recognition memory, even short-term memory function through using music in a specific way that makes available to these patients function in the brain that’s still there but maybe they can’t get at independently because of the inhibition that has taken place due to their brain injury.

So music is an enriched sensory stimulus that allows for, I believe, the disinhibition of some of the inhibited function that has been lost in these individuals. And by stimulating these complementary or parallel networks, we see this type of ability come back.

Source: Music Therapy for Neurological Conditions

Music can be used to explain the scientific foundation of life! Music transfers energy! Music is a universal language! Music can bring deliverance from evil! Music can heal! Armed with this wisdom, tonight we begin in Atlanta, GA what may grow into a very important series of discussions on the music industry. Since music is so powerful, the current state of music in our culture is a major priority. If you can't join us in person, you can join us online.

If I can write the songs of the nations, I don't care who writes the laws. 

Plato