Moreover, Chinese researchers have created Retro, the first healthy Macaca mulatt rhesus monkey, marking yet another noteworthy advancement in cloning technology. This accomplishment, which was revealed on Tuesday, represents a significant advancement in medical research and may open the door to novel therapies for a range of illnesses.

Using a method known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), scientists have successfully cloned over 20 different animal species since the ground-breaking cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1996. Nevertheless, cloning primates has proven to be exceptionally challenging, with prior attempts yielding poor success rates and aberrant offspring.

For instance, out of 35 implanted foetuses, only one survived the first tries, and it died the next day. External experts noted that even the current “successful” experiment required 133 starting embryos to produce one survival. Even while they are still incredibly low figures, they represent a major improvement over earlier attempts.

This issue stems from the fact that cloned embryos’ placentas were frequently much more unstable than those of embryos fertilised in vitro, including those grown in a test tube.

The group overcome these difficulties by creating a novel method that includes using cells from a normal embryo in place of the cloned cells intended to create the placenta. With this vital adjustment, the success rate increased dramatically and the healthy two-year-old Retro was born.

With the use of this novel technology, scientists expect to produce identical rhesus monkeys for use in medical studies. These monkeys are perfect models for researching a variety of diseases, including as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, because they share numerous genetic similarities with people.

The capacity to breed genetically identical monkeys would also make it possible for scientists to conduct more controlled studies on the effects of medications and therapies.

Even if there may be advantages, the accomplishment of primate cloning presents serious ethical questions. Some specialists caution that before a healthy clone is born, the low success rate of the existing technology may result in the generation of numerous deformed and suffering animals. Furthermore, some people continue to have serious concerns about the prospect of human cloning, despite the fact that both the study’s researchers and the scientific community as a whole have expressly denounced it.

An important development in the world of cloning technology is the successful cloning of Retro. This development has enormous potential for the advancement of medical research, even though there are still ethical and technological issues to be resolved.

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Ananth Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (ATL) in Hyderabad also welcomed Chandrayan-3’s successful launch from Sriharikota on Friday afternoon. ISRO is the Indian Space Research Organisation.
According to founder-chairman and managing director Dr. Subba Rao Pavuluri, the company, which has long been an ISRO partner in launch vehicles and satellites, helped to realise many avionics packages for the launch vehicle (LVM3), including on-board computers, navigation systems, control electronics, telemetry, and power systems.

The company also completed numerous interface packages, power switching modules, relay and balancing units, and other components for the most recent launch. ATL, according to him, developed a number of other significant satellite technologies for the Chandrayaan-3 programme, including telemetry, telecommand, power management systems, and DC-DC converters for the mission.

He remarked, “They were all excellent, and these systems had performed very well,” and praised the ISRO for continuing to place its faith in his business for the last three decades. The company has produced a range of mechanical and electronic sub-systems for ground systems and spacecraft payloads.

Additionally, according to Dr. Rao, the company manufactures crucial aerospace sub-systems for the strategic in the fields of electronics and mechanical subsystems, such as avionics packages, sensors, communication systems, sophisticated flight systems, and so forth. The company also provides geospatial data and services for a variety of multi-sectoral developmental projects.

ATL has assisted the ISRO in manufacturing at its facility in Thiruvananthapuram for the assembly, testing, and supply of highly complex electronic packages, computer systems, and numerous sub systems for launch vehicles, as well as the integrating of launch vehicles, among other activities. The Bengaluru facility is used to produce satellites. The CMD takes pleasure in having helped ISRO manufacture 74 launch vehicles and 94 spacecraft with zero defects over these years.

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The project will eventually replace the expansive coal pits of the Lusatia region with a 200 million euro ($218 million) facility to store wind and solar energy, according to LEAG, a mining and power business controlled by the Czech Republic.

FORST: Plans to construct the nation’s largest battery park at the site of Boxberg, a communist-era coal-fired power station on the Polish border, could give Eastern Germany’s historic mining region a new lease of life.

The initiatives represent the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s push to move faster than the previously set goal of 2038 towards a carbon-neutral economy by 2030.

But in an area that is still dubious about the transition’s social and ecological effects as well as the technological obstacles to be overcome, efforts to hasten the changeover are met with a mixed response.

The atmosphere in Lusatia is reflective of a larger uneasiness with Germany’s green policies, which is driving support for the anti-establishment AfD party to all-time highs, especially in the east where it is on track to win three state elections next year.

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The plans serve as a symbol of the administration of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s push to hasten the phase-out of coal power and transition to a carbon-neutral economy by 2030 rather than the originally planned deadline of 2038.

However, the transition and initiatives to hasten it receive a mixed reception in a region that continues to be apprehensive about its social and ecological impact and the technological obstacles to be overcome.

The atmosphere in Lusatia reflects a larger uneasiness with Germany’s green policies, which is driving support for the anti-establishment AfD party to all-time highs, especially in the east where it is on track to win three state elections next year.

The leader of the IG BCE union in Lusatia, Ute Liebsch, worries that the rapid demise of coal may result in more young people leaving, similar to the unrest that preceded Germany’s reunification in 1990.

“This would hurt twice as much as it did back then. People should remain here, Liebsch added.

In an effort to draw young professionals to the region, which spans the states of Brandenburg and Saxony and has normally lower salaries than the national average, a campaign with the tagline “Awesome Lusatia” has been started.

“We must make significant improvements to Lusatia’s image… Knut Abraham, a conservative politician from the area, cited unfavourable preconceptions of unemployment and drug usage as examples of strong prejudices held by the rest of Germany.

“The probability that the AfD will win this constituency is 93%… Any uncertainty among people helps the AfD,” Abraham asserted, adding that he believed the AfD’s anti-immigration, anti-European agenda might harm the region’s ability to draw the investors, students, and professionals it so sorely needs.

WORK AND EDUCATION

Another issue is what will happen to the tens of thousands of mining jobs that will eventually go. By 2030, many of LEAG’s 8,000 coal employees are anticipated to retire or pursue new careers in renewable energy.

However, according to Liebsch, the retraining is not occurring quickly enough.

According to a poll conducted by broadcaster rbb in May, only 18% of residents think politicians are doing enough to mitigate the effects of the phase-out of coal, and 70% are concerned that electricity prices may rise.

Therefore, local officials are resisting the speed of transition even though green activists have organised monthly protests in Lusatia seeking an exit from coal and proponents urge a 2030 phaseout citing rising global temperatures.

According to Christine Herntier, mayor of the town of Spremberg, “the coal phase-out can be achieved in 2030 is fundamentally unrealistic.”

In order to press for more demands in the event of a quick exit from coal, Herntier and numerous other mayors from Lusatia have joined forces.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

According to LEAG, the battery project serves as a model for a green transition.

“The Gigawatt Factory is designed to replace coal- ired power generation in the future, and with the project we want to show that this transformation from coal to renewables is technically possible,” said Rainer Schiller, head of large-scale energy storage for LEAG, to Reuters.

Technical obstacles still exist, and Schiller described the beginning of the batter project as “more or less an experiment” in order to keep energy demands steady while moving from coal to renewable energy.

Water supply is a challenge in the phase-out of coal production since the change is expected to limit the amount of groundwater pumped in the region, which would affect the supply of a developing green hydrogen sector and groundwater that runs through the Spree river to Berlin.

Engineers at Lusatia’s Schwarze Industrial Park are developing a prototype for a green hydrogen plant that will require a steady water supply and have an annual output of 1,000 tonnes.

“The question is how quickly do you shut down the pumps so that the Spree is still sufficiently supplied,” Ben Schueppel, leader of the Reflau hydrogen project, told Reuters.

According to a federal environment agency analysis released in June, the coal withdrawal might, in the worst event, diminish Berlin’s water supply by 75%.

According to Ingolf Arnold, chairman of management organisation Lusatia Water Cluster, “the Spree could become a trickle in some areas during prolonged droughts, with serious consequences for the ecology, the Spreewald, and Berlin’s drinking water supply.”

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A “successful failure” business strategy that benefits Elon Musk’s company is illustrated most vividly by the dramatic explosion of SpaceX’s new Starship rocket minutes after it took off on a first flight test, experts said on Thursday.

Experts claimed the spectacular loss of the rocket ship will assist drive development of the vehicle rather than seeing the burning destruction of Musk’s enormous, next-generation Starship system as a negative.

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The media’s coverage of the eagerly awaited launch was dominated by pictures of the Starship spinning out of control while attached to its Super Heavy rocket booster before the entire vehicle exploded.

SpaceX admitted that several of the Super Heavy’s 33 very effective Raport engines had problems during ascent and that the booster rocket and Starship had not been able to separate properly before the unfortunate voyage was aborted.

SpaceX admitted that several of the Super Heavy’s 33 very effective Raport engines had problems during ascent and that the booster rocket and Starship had not been able to separate properly before the unfortunate voyage was aborted.

Musk, the founder, CEO, and chief engineer of the California-based rocket business SpaceX, and other company officials applauded the test flight for accomplishing the main goal of getting the vehicle off the ground while also giving a lot of information that would improve Starship’s development.

THE ONLY WAY TO BE PERFECT IS BY PRACTICE

At least two planetary science and aerospace engineering specialists who talked with Reuters concurred that the test flight was successful.

“This is a classic SpaceX successful failure,” said Garrett Reisman, a professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California and senior adviser to SpaceX. Reisman is a former NASA astronaut.

The Starship test flight was cited by Reisman as an example of a SpaceX strategy that distinguishes Musk’s business from more established aerospace firms and even NASA by “this embracing of failure when the consequences of failure are low.”

The rocket was launched from the Gulf Coast Starbase facility in south Texas without any astronauts on board, and it was nearly fully flown over water to prevent potential injuries or property damage on the ground from falling debris.

“Even though that rocket costs a lot of money, what really costs a lot of money are people’s salaries,” Reisman said in an interview with Reuters hours after Thursday’s launch.

Reisman claimed that by taking more risks during the development phase as opposed to having “a large team working for years and years and years trying to get it perfect before you even try it,” SpaceX ends up saving more money over the long term and identifying and fixing engineering issues more quickly.

Reisman stated that the timing for transporting individuals (aboard Starship) is currently expedited in comparison to how it was a few hours ago.

On the first flight of such a big, complicated launch system, planetary scientist Tanya Harrison, a fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Outer Space Institute, noted that clearing the launch tower and ascending past a crucial point known as maximum aerodynamic pressure were enormous feats.

She stated in an interview, “It’s a part of the testing process.” “There are a lot of accidents that occur when you’re attempting to construct a new rocket. Many folks were quite delighted that it even launched at all.

The hazards of a single flying test, according to her, pale in compared to the significant advantages at stake.

She said, “This is the biggest rocket that humanity has tried to build,” pointing out that it is intended to transport “orders of magnitude” more cargo and passengers to and from deep space than any current ship.

Harrison explained that Starship will carry back many tons of rock in addition to carrying dozens of astronauts and entire lab facilities to and from the moon and Mars, while NASA is working on a mission to retrieve samples of Martian soil and minerals measured in kilograms that the Mars Perseverance rover is collecting.

Starship, according to Musk, is essential to SpaceX’s interplanetary exploration objectives as well as its more immediate launch business. Commercial satellites, science telescopes, and eventually paying space travelers are anticipated to use the totally reusable rocket system to get to space.

Harrison remarked that “it wouldn’t surprise me if we had humans on Mars with Starship in the next decade.” He cited SpaceX’s quick rate of development since its foundation in 2002, which has led to dozens of commercial missions each year with its workhorse rocket for low-Earth orbit, the Falcon 9.

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The journey from Europe to the cold moons of Jupiter has already left the planet.

From the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, the Juice satellite was launched into space on an Ariane-5 rocket.

The European Space Agency project is experiencing second-chance good fortune after the launch attempt on Thursday had to be aborted due to weather.

The largest planet in the Solar System is being visited by the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) in order to explore its three largest moons, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa.

There are believed to be enormous liquid water reservoirs on these ice-crusted planets.

The possibility of life on the moons piques scientists’ curiosity.

This may come off as whimsical. Jupiter is located in the dark, outer regions of the Solar System, far from the Sun, and only receives one-quarter of the light that strikes Earth.

However, because of the gravitational pressure that the gas giant planet places on its moons, it is possible that they could contain enough heat and energy to support rudimentary ecosystems, such to those that exist around volcanic vents on the ocean floors of Earth.

According to mission scientist Prof. Emma Bunce of Leicester University in the UK, “In the case of Europa, it’s thought that there’s a deep ocean, maybe 100km deep, underneath its ice crust.”

“That ocean’s depth is ten times greater than the deepest ocean on Earth, and we believe it is in contact with a stony floor. The researcher told BBC News that this presents a scenario where there is mixing and fascinating chemistry.

Juice can’t be sent directly to its target by Ariane, at least not in a timely manner.

Instead, the spacecraft will be sent on a path around the inner Solar System by the rocket. The expedition will then be gravitationally thrown out to its final location after a series of fly-bys of Venus and Earth.

It travels 6.6 billion kilometres in 8.5 years. It is anticipated to arrive at the Jovian system in July 2031.

Using a newly developed telescope, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei discovered the ice-covered moons Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa in 1610. They seemed to him as little dots that were rotating around Jupiter. He could also make out the fourth body, Io, which is a much smaller planet with volcanoes.

The 4,800–5,300 km diameter of the icy triple ranges. The natural satellite of Earth is approximately 3,500 kilometres across, for context.

Juice will conduct remote moon studies. It won’t land; it will simply soar over their surfaces. The satellite’s ultimate goal is Ganymede, the biggest moon in the Solar System. In 2034, it will complete its journey by entering Earth’s orbit.

Radar will be used to look into the moons; lidar, a laser measurement tool; magnetometers; and other sensors will gather data on the swirling particles that surround the moons. Lidar will be used to produce 3D maps of the moons’ surfaces. Of course, cameras will return a tonne of images.

Juice won’t be searching for specific “biomarkers” or trying to locate alien fish in the ocean’s depths.

Its goal is to learn more about potential habitability so that upcoming missions can tackle the life question in more detail.

Already, researchers are considering how they might send landers to one of Jupiter’s icy moons in order to drill through its surface to the ocean below.

Researchers in Antarctica utilise heat to drill hundreds of metres into the ice sheet in order to position submersibles where the surrounding ocean is frozen over.

It’s a difficult job, and it would be far more difficult on a moon orbiting Jupiter where the ice cover might be tens of kilometres thick.

Juice won’t be working alone.

The Clipper satellite is being sent by the US space agency NASA.

Even though it will depart Earth after Juice, it should land shortly before its European counterpart the following year. It benefits from a launch rocket that is more potent.

While investigating Europa, Clipper will largely carry out the same tasks.

The teams are eager to work together and have a lot in common, according to Prof. Carole Mundell, director of science at the European Space Agency.

“There will undoubtedly be an abundance of data. But first, we must ensure that our missions reach Jupiter and function securely.

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According to statistics given exclusively to BBC News, thousands of tonnes of oil have routinely leaked into UK waterways from oil and gas operations, endangering marine creatures like porpoises and orcas.

The data reveals that the leaks occurred over a five-year period and that some of them occurred in animal protection zones.

Although businesses are permitted to spill a small amount of oil during routine production, 40% of monitored spills violated licences.

All releases are taken very seriously, according to a representative of the sector.

According to Mark Wilson of Offshore Energies UK, which represents offshore oil producers in UK waters, “our industry is focused on driving continuous improvement.”

“Our latest data, covering 2022, published in our environment report shows that oil mass in produced water fell by 10%,” he continued.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests to the offshore oil and gas regulator, the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, energy advocacy group Uplift received the data.

According to Uplift’s analysis, 22,000 metric tonnes, or 164,000 barrels, of oil were released into UK seas between 2017 and 2022. In contrast, 200 barrels of oil escaped during the Poole Harbour incident in March.

The oil and gas industry spills significantly more oil than the government considers safe, according to Uplift, a group that advocates switching from fossil fuels to green energy.

“We are now publicly disclosing for the first time the full scope of this accumulated contamination. When spills leak continuously, this is what happens. You have tar balls and droplets that are endangering animals by sinking to the ocean floor, according to Tessa Khan, director of Uplift.

Companies are given permissions that allow discharges and are permitted to leak some oil as a byproduct of ordinary production.

According to Uplift’s investigation, 58% of emissions were permitted by these official permits. The permits were broken by the remaining 42%.

According to Offshore Energies UK, the UK yearly generates between 40 and 45 million tonnes of oil and up to 40 billion cubic metres of gas.

Offshore pollution events were closely watched, a government official said, adding, “We are clear that companies should not be violating their permission restrictions. If they do, the necessary action, including the imposition of fines, will be taken.

In addition, Uplift collaborated with SkyTruth, another NGO that examines satellite images of UK waterways. Images from 2020 to 2022 also demonstrate a significant amount of oil spills.

One cumulative slick covered a 91 sq km region and some of the detected slicks were 10 km long.

When compared to major catastrophes like Deepwater Horizon, when more than 125 million gallons of oil leaked, the amount of oil discharged is insignificant. Oceana’s director, Hugo Tagholm, disagreed, stating that “oil spills every other day from these routine releases are a huge problem for marine life.”

Many of the species in marine protected areas, such as harbour porpoises, deep sea sponges, and slow-growing cold water corals, have feeding and breeding habits that are threatened, he said.

Dana, Repsol Sinopec, CNR, Shell, and Apache were the top five businesses listed by Uplift as having the most oil spills between 2017 and 2022.

Dana and Shell responded by directing BBC News to a statement from Offshore Energies UK. Requests for response from Repsol Sinopec, CNR, and Apache went unanswered.

Whether the leaks are authorised or not, vital ecosystems are harmed, according to Oceana and Uplift, which are crucial for maintaining the health of the oceans and combating climate change.

According to an Oceana-commissioned evaluation of the scientific data on the effects of oil and gas pollution on UK seas, the waterways are currently ‘too noisy, filthy, built-up and disturbed for our rich marine species to survive.

The seas off the coast of the UK are among the richest and most diverse in the world, and they are home to several species, including harbour porpoises.

According to marine ecologist and report author Dr Fiona Gell, “oil and gas activities are a major contributor to the cumulative impacts on harbour porpoise and can potentially lead to their starvation as their food sources are affected and they use energy to avoid disturbances.”

In the UN High Seas Treaty and at an international conference on biodiversity in Montreal in 2022, the UK made significant international pledges to protect the UK and the world’s oceans.

According to Mr. Tagholm of Oceana, these discoveries jeopardise such promises and imperil the UK’s position as a global leader.

Additionally, Oceana stated that the results demonstrated that the government should forbid the development of additional oil and gas fields.

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Clean Science & Technology is rated neutral by Motilal Oswal Financial Services, with a target price of Rs 1345. Clean Science & Technology is currently trading at Rs 1365.6.

Clean Science & Technology, founded in 2003, is a Small Cap company (with a market cap of Rs 14473.27 Crore) in the Chemicals sector.

For the fiscal year ending 31-Mar-2022, Clean Science & Technology’s key products/revenue segments include speciality chemicals, export incentives, electricity, and scrap.

Financials For the quarter ended 31-12-2022, the company reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 249.91 Crore, a decrease of -.16% from the previous quarter Total Income of Rs 250.31 Crore and an increase of 32.74% from the same quarter last year Total Income of Rs 188.27 Crore. In the most recent quarter, the company reported a net profit after tax of Rs 83.79 crore.

Mr.Pradeep Ramwilas Rathi, Mr.Ashok Ramnarayan Boob, Mr.Siddhartha Ashok Sikchi, Mr.Krishnakumar Ramnaray Boob, Mr.Sanjay Kothari, Mr.Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav, Mr.Keval Navinchandra Doshi, Ms.Madhu Dubhashi. BSR & Co. LLP serves as the company’s auditors. The company had 11 crore shares outstanding as of December 31, 2022.

Justification for Investment
Continuing its R&D pursuit, the company has entered the HALS series (estimated global market size of USD1 billion), becoming the first company in India to develop the HALS series, as well as other new products in its R&D pipeline. The company is also expected to generate FCF of INR4.8b over FY23-25, with a capex of INR4.8b planned. It will remain net cash positive by funding this capex with internal accruals.

FII/Promoter Holdings
As of December 31, 2022, promoters owned 78.5 percent of the company, while FIIs owned 3.99 percent and DIIs owned 4.65 percent.

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TikTok is having a big Pi Day celebration. On March 14, the video app launched its new STEM feed, which features videos by top science, technology, engineering, and maths creators.

TikTok described the STEM feed in a blog post as a “dedicated space to explore a wide range of inspiring, entertaining, and enriching videos.” The initiative will cater to an increasing demand for academic content on the ByteDance-owned app. TikTok reported that its STEM-related hashtags have received 110 billion views to date.

Space-obsessed engineer @KatVoltage and experiment demonstrator @ChemTeacherPhil are among the creators featured on the STEM feed. “With TikTok, I’ve been able to connect with both the English and Spanish communities, establishing a multi-language platform where I can share more about what it means to be an electrical engineer as well as my journey to space,” KatVoltage explained. “My hope is that by doing so, I will be able to provide representation and inspiration for the next generation of women in STEM and encourage them to never give up no matter what obstacles life throws at them.”

A feed of scientific content would be useless without scientific rigour, and TikTok has multiple partnerships in place to ensure that its STEM feed is accurate. Videos added to the feed will be vetted for relevance thanks to an agreement with Common Sense Networks. TikTok will then turn to Poynter to fact-check the selected videos. The organisation will do its part to keep false information out of the science-focused feed.

Poynter’s work as a fact-checker for online videos has taken her to TikTok and beyond. It collaborated with Google to create a fund for the International Fact-Checking Network. Poynter is now transforming the STEM feed into a “safe experience” in the short-form world.

TikTok’s Pi Day focus is STEM videos, but the company is working to create additional category-specific feeds. In “select markets,” the app has rolled out collections of Gaming, Food, Fashion, and Sports content. The STEM feed, which will be available “later this month,” will allow US viewers to sample one of those themed verticals.

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For the past 12 years, I’ve been writing blog posts for Psychology Today. I’ve frequently written about “psi” phenomena like telepathy or precognition, as well as other strange phenomena like reincarnation and after-death communications. I’ve presented evidence for such phenomena, explaining why I think they’re real rather than the result of delusion, fraud, or wishful thinking.

The comments and emails I’ve received from readers have encouraged me over the years. Many of them claim to have had their own psi experiences or to have always believed in the phenomenon but had no idea there was evidence for it. Readers frequently express relief at discovering that they can believe in the phenomenon without being labelled as “crazy.”

Physicalism as a System of Belief
Some people believe that believing in psi phenomena is “crazy” because the dominant worldview in our culture—at least in academia and science—is “physicalism.” Physicalism is founded on several tenets or beliefs. For instance, matter is the most fundamental thing in the universe, consciousness is a neurological phenomenon, mental problems are brain problems that can be treated like physical conditions, humans are genetic machines, and so on. Many people believe that the beliefs listed above are established facts, but this is not the case for me. I contend that these are simply assumptions based on a lack of hard evidence.

1.Physicalism’s belief system may explain why many scientists and academics reject evidence of psi. Metaphysical paradigms or belief systems are extremely difficult to dislodge once established. They have a strong psychological impact. They provide us with a sense of direction and assist us in making sense of our lives. They provide us with a sense of assurance and security. They provide a comprehensive, integrated view of the world that eliminates existential ambiguity and doubt.

They also give us a sense of control over the world. Feeling that we understand the world means that we overstand it. To feel that you completely understand nature and the world provides a satisfying sense of superiority and dominion. Not knowing means living in uncertainty and confusion, being subordinate to the mysterious forces of nature.

When a person’s belief system is threatened, it creates cognitive dissonance. The possibility that the principles of your worldview are false–and that you have much less power and control over the world than you thought–feels dangerous and disorientating.

By punishing and isolating anyone who deviates from their views, fundamentalist religious organizations sow the seeds of fear. Some physicalists act in a comparable manner. Free thinkers who disagree with scientism’s principles are labeled as pseudo-scientists. They might have trouble obtaining study funding, publishing their findings in journals, presenting them at conferences, or landing a position as an academic at a university. The Internet may remove videos made by free thinkers, edit their Wikipedia pages, or mock them. (Rupert Sheldrake experienced this in 2013, when his TED presentation was removed at the request of a well-known eminent Americans who doubt.)

Additionally, fundamentalist organizations reject any proof that conflicts with their beliefs. Similar to this, some skeptics decline to look at the psi evidence. In 2018 Etzel Cardeña published a paper in American Psychologist in which he carefully and systemically reviewed the evidence for psi phenomena and concluded that there was a very good case for their existence: The evidence for psi is “comparable to that for established phenomena in psychology and other disciplines.”

The journal issued a refutation the following year written by Arthur Reber and James Alcock. The Cardea’s evidence was not discussed in the piece. Claims made by parapsychologists cannot be true, the authors noted. Data that suggests they can, therefore, must be flawed and the product of poor methodology or poor data analysis.

Furthermore, fundamentalists frequently engage in irrational cognitive gymnastics to deny evidence that contradicts their beliefs. For instance, creationists will claim that fossils exist because “God put them there to test our faith” in an attempt to justify their position. (or by Satan to tempt us into unbelief). Similar to this, skeptics may go to great lengths to prove that positive findings have not been made if they engage with the psi evidence or perform study.

An excellent illustration of this occurred in 2005, when Notre Dame University researchers ran a series of eight Ganzfeld experiments and discovered a highly significant overall “hit rate” of 32%. As skeptics, the researchers acknowledged that they were “uncomfortable” with this finding because it “precariously close to demonstrating that humans do have psychic powers.”

In response, they created a new experiment in which they matched together participants from the prior eight tests who had “hits.” These couples yielded the highly significant negative outcome of a 13% hit rate for some unexplained reason. (significantly lower than the 25 per cent chance rate). The researchers argued that the eight previous tests were invalidated as a result of this disappointing finding. They came to the conclusion that there was no proof of telepathy.

Skeptics probably don’t intentionally act in any of these ways. It could be an unintentional reaction to cognitive dissonance. Any evidence that appears to conflict with a strongly held opinion might cause cognitive dissonance, which can lead to an urge to “bury” the evidence.

These tactics, however, might highlight how similar fundamentalist religious believers’ behavior is to that of physicalists. The irony in this, however, is that most physicalists might not be aware that they have embraced a belief system. Realizing that we frequently view the world through the lens of our beliefs is difficult.

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