The only thing we can be absolutely sure of is our own consciousness. But what is consciousness? Is it a property that is unique to humans or do we share it with other life forms? Or is the philosophical doctrine of panpsychism correct―are stars and the entire Universe conscious in some sense? Early chapters in this book examine the prehistory, mythology, and history of this topic. Arguments are presented from the viewpoints of shamans, philosophers, poets, quantum physicists, and novelists. A simple “toy” model of panpsychism is then presented, in which a universal field of proto-consciousness interacts with molecular bonds via the vacuum fluctuation pressure of the Casimir effect. It is shown how this model is in congruence with an anomaly in stellar motions called “Parenago’s discontinuity.” Cool, redder, less massive stars such as the Sun apparently circle the center of the galaxy faster than their hotter, bluer, more massive sisters. This discontinuity occurs at the point in the stellar distribution where molecules begin to appear in stellar spectra. Observations of main sequence stars out to ~260 light years and giant stars out to &gt;1000 light years using the ESA Hipparcos space observatory support the reality and nonlocality of Parenago’s discontinuity. Local, more conventional explanations for this phenomena are not supported by observations of other galaxies and spiral arms of the Milky Way. If position and kinematics data for ~1 billion stars currently being obtained by the new ESA Gaia space observatory demonstrate that Parenago’s discontinuity is a galaxy-wide phenomenon, the hypothesis that anomalistic star motion is due to stellar volition, as described by philosopher/author Olaf Stapledon in his classic novel Star Maker, will be strengthened, as previously discussed by the author in the peer-reviewed journal JBIS. Other observational support for panpsychism is considered as are future observational data that could support or falsify the hypothesis. It is not impossible that panpsychism is emerging from the realm of philosophy as a new subdivision of observational astronomy. Ramifications of this are that simple models of universal proto-consciousness may be subject to inductive tests using current and future space observatories.

Starlight, Starbright: Are Stars Conscious?

Religion & Spirituality

Matloff, Greg

Bangs, C

New Age & Spirituality

Curtis Press

By setting the goal for going to the Moon by the end of 1969, President Kennedy transformed the Soviet/U.S. arms race, with its escalating confrontations, into a “space race.” Perhaps the greatest obstacle to going to the Moon was the development of the spacesuit. This is the story of human efforts, specifically the innovation, struggle and sacrifice carried out by otherwise ordinary men and women that culminated in the spacesuit that made the first human surface explorations of the Moon possible. The success of Apollo resulted in replacing the looming spectre of a possible world-devastating war with peace and cooperation in space between these two great rival nations. However, few people know of all the contributions that were required to allow the first humans to set foot on, and explore, the Moon. Most are not aware of the magnitude and abundance of challenges to such an endeavour, let alone the solutions needed.

The Journey to Moonwalking: The People that Enabled Footprints on the Moon

Thomas, Ken.

History

Twenty-four guys went to the Moon in the late sixties/early seventies. Of them, 12 walked on its surface. Three of them made the journey twice. The author met 20 of the 24 who made the journey, and 11 of the 12 who walked on its surface, and has an archive of transcribed tapes from talks and presentations and book signings given by them. These 24 humans have been the only ones to see at first-hand what our planet looks like, slowly spinning without any visible means of suspension in the vastness of space. Who were they, and how did they describe their experience? This book provides a record of the human tales and complexity behind the technological triumph of Apollo, how going to the Moon affected them, and the lives they led on returning to Earth. This, in some way, represents the Legacy; passing on what we learned from the first time we went to the Moon. In summer 2019 it will be the Golden Anniversary of the Golden Age of spaceflight.

Afterglow: Reflecting with the Apollo Astronauts on their Missions and Lives

Science & Math

Webber, Derek

Astronomy & Space Science

In terms of the scale of the galaxy, both in space and time, we humans are new comers. Though we are newly on the scene, we are already thinking about how to create large structures in space.Recently, analysis of data from one of the stars in the Kepler data set has led to speculation regarding huge artificial structures (called Stapledon/Dyson Spheres) constructed by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. The NASA Kepler space observatory has been observing light curves of about 100,000 stars in the constellations of Cygnus and Lyre.This star, popularly dubbed "Tabby's Star" after the first name of the astronomer leading one of the data reduction teams, shows intriguing periodic dips in its luminosity.Stellar Engineering starts by considering terrestrial organisms, and early humans, who have constructed, on their scale, "megastructures," and continues with a history of the development of the stellar engineering concept. Kepler data on the subject star is reviewed as is observational data on other possible Stapledon/Dyson Sphere candidates.Possible applications of such enormous constructs are discussed, as well as the intriguing speculation that we might live in a Stapledon/Dyson swarm of alien space habitats within our Solar System's Kuiper Belt. The chapter frontispiece art illuminates the ideas presented.

Stellar Engineering

The original Nonscience dates from 1971, and caused a sensation. It was translated, featured on television, and enthusiastically reviewed. To cele¬brate its fiftieth birthday it is being republished, with updates for each chapter to show how its predictions came true--and the COVID-19 pandemic makes it particularly timely.This extraordinary book reveals a world dominated by Experts. For these all-powerful people, public image and media exposure are all that matters. Scientists, devoted to discovering the truth, have been superseded by Experts who use confusing language to dominate us and lay claim to colossal grants in their quest for power. Integrity and objectivity are gone; opportunism and duplicity reign.Experts study weird things, like a bird called Bugeranus, a fungus Spongiforma squarepantsii, a beetle called Agra cadabra, and Pieza rhea, a fly. They are all real! There are articles like 'Fifty Ways to Love Your Lever' and 'Fantastic Yeasts and where to find Them', and papers with multiple authors (in 2015 Nature published one with 5,154 authors). Encyclopaedias copy facts from each other, and are dotted with mistakes, so you will find biographies of Dag Henrik Esrum-Hellerup and Lillian Virginia Mountweazel--in¬vented to fill the pages. Neither was real.Experts prey on the public who are ignorant of what's going on and they ensure that we are surrounded by fake news. The Amazon is not the 'lungs of the world' (it contributes no oxygen whatever to our atmosphere) and our hysteria about plastic is similarly misplaced.British people say they don't want American chicken, and wouldn't eat chlorine-washed food. Yet they do, every day. People follow those bake-off programmes, though the fatty food they promote kills people. Ford believes these shows should have a health warning and is surprised we don't have the 'Great Tobacco Smoking Challenge' or the 'Blindfold Railway-Crossing Elimination Game'. This book should be read by everybody wishing to understand the modern world. Huge enterprises (like the Human Genome Project and the Large Hadron Collider) have conned us out of billions of pounds, while smaller teams had better results at a fraction of the cost. It is time to call a halt to this global confidence trick--and Nonscience Returns is the book that will guide us.

Nonscience Returns: WITH THE PSEUDOTRANSMOGRIFICATIONALIFIC EGOCENTRIFIED REORIENTATIONAL PROCLIVITIES INHERENTLY INTRACORPORATED IN EXPERTISTICAL ... PROFESSIONALISM, OR HOW TO RULE THE WORLD

Humor & Entertainment

Ford, Brian J.

Humor

This is a book about the business of space. It is indeed the first such book to explore the creation of the whole new field of commercial space exploration, previously considered to be an oxymoron. The book anchors the story on historical developments which transformed the original governmental and military space program into the successful satellite communications and broadcasting business. It then builds the case for moving forward to the next stages leading to full commercial space exploration, with space tourism and therefore commercial space transportation being the key to this paradigm shift. Originally the commercialization of space was limited to various kinds of satellites, but now the march of history is bringing a manned (or rather “crewed”) spaceflight regime into its remit. The author has been involved in all these phases of development as a business insider, and is currently one of the international judges of The Google Lunar XPRIZE which is using prizes to kickstart lunar commercial business.

No Bucks, No Buck Rogers: Creating the Business of Commercial Space

Business & Money

Are you a journalist or tech writer who wants to understand the space tourism business?Maybe you are eager to become a space tourist yourself?Are you an industry-insider planning for a space tourism provider, travel agency, or a spaceport business?Are you an academic, teaching or researching the fundamentals of the industry?Are you an investor seeking, through due diligence, to assess the risks and opportunities of space tourism?Or maybe you are a space attorney working in government or a policy center?If so, then, you will want to know:* WHY is space tourism important?* WHAT is the size of the market?* WHEN will there be space tourism flights to the Moon?* WHICH companies are offering space tourism experiences?* WHO is providing finance?* WHERE are the spaceports?* HOW is the industry being regulated?All these questions, and many more, are answered in this book as the author comprehensively lays out the foundations of the space tourism business in this sourcebook. In doing so, he uses embedded original documents with contemporary updates, summary datasheets of key information, and a series of textbook challenges to invite the reader to continue developing the new industry of space tourism.

Space Tourism Business: The Foundations

This book is the result of an international research team pursuing the intuitive notion that the atomic nucleus should have structural properties. Starting with a few logical assumptions, they discovered that many properties of the atom and the nucleus can be explained rationally without resorting to quantum mechanics or the limiting dogmas about the nucleus that dominate current physics. Using feedback from known experimental data, they identified several organizational principles that nature appears to use for constructing the elements, sometimes in unexpected ways.There are two assumptions underlying the Structured Atom Model (SAM). First, by replacing the neutron with a proton-electron pair, an electrostatic attractive force is reintroduced into the nucleus. The electrons acting as "glue" between the protons. Second, that "spherical dense packing" gives the nucleus its fractal shape--one of several organizational drivers in the buildup of the nucleus; other drivers being recurring substructures called "endings" and "nuclets." A SAM nucleus is constructed using these substructures in various combinations. The result is a new periodic table that hints at several missing elements most of which are suspected to be unstable, but probably not all.What emerges is nothing less than a new paradigm for thinking about the nucleus and physics. In SAM, several known nuclear phenomena follow directly from the structural configuration of the nucleus, including nuclear instability, radioactivity/radioactive decay, the asymmetrical breakup of fission products, and the various nuclear decay schemes. In addition, the team discovered an unrecognized store of energy that may very well be responsible for Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR).

The Nature of the Atom: An Introduction to the Structured Atom Model

Kaal, J. E.

Sorensen, J. A.

Otte, A.

Physics

About the Author\nMike Sutton is a notable alumnus, has a first degree in law and a PhD in criminology from the University of Central Lancashire. He was for 14 years a senior criminologist at the British Home Office. In 2001 he was appointed to the senior academic position of Reader in Criminology at Nottingham Trent University, where soon after he founded the “Centre for Reduction of Bias, Prejudice and Hate Crime.” Sutton is Chief Editor of the Internet Journal of Criminology. He co-won the British Journal of Criminology Prize for his research on hackers with David Mann.\nPatrick Matthew, in 1831, originated the complete theory of evolution by natural selection in his book On Naval Timber and Arboriculture, and did so before Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace claimed to independently replicate it in 1858.\nUnjustly, and against the Arago convention on priority (a ruling that gives origination of any science theory to the first to publish), Matthew has been illicitly denied his priority on the grounds he never influenced anyone with his breakthrough. Today, Big Data research has uncovered Darwin’s science fraud by plagiarism, revealing evidence which proves beyond all reasonable doubt that he and Alfred Wallace both independently plagiarised the theory of evolution by natural selection from Patrick Matthew.\nBooks have been newly unearthed in the publication record to show that at least 30 people cited Matthew’s work in published literature before 1858 and that several were known influencers of Darwin’s and Wallace’s work in the field. Additionally, several people in Darwin’s and Wallace’s social circles were first to be second into print using original terms coined by Matthew in his bombshell breakthrough book.\nThis book reveals all the newly unearthed data and essentially explains it, alongside the deplorable treatment of Patrick Matthew, in scholarly historical context.\nDr Mike Sutton further reveals, using social science participatory observation methods and experimental results, how members of the so-called Darwin Industry, enabled and facilitated by the deliberate publication of falsehoods and other grossly misleading editing on Wikipedia, have disgracefully worked to re-bury these newly unearthed facts by means of knee-jerk blind-sight ignorant rejection, blatant and deliberate fact-denial censorship, persistent and serious workplace harassment, obscene social media abuse, poison pen emails, lies, mischievous misrepresentation, and repeat research plagiarism.

Science Fraud: Darwin's Plagiarism of Patrick Matthew's Theory

Sutton, Dr Mike

History & Philosophy

As the follies and absurdities of the powerful are destroying the world through war, pandemic, and climate change, what better time to release The Daily Squib: Anthology from 2007 to 2022? Over the last 15 years, the Squib has held a crazy distorted fairground mirror to global events. Sometimes its spoofs have even been mistaken for real news&#8213;what higher accolade is there for a satirist? Its mock report on the Ku Klux Klan declaring its support for Barack Obama in the 2008 US elections and its fake interview with Henry Kissinger (2011) fooled serious outlets across the world. More than that, the Squib has somehow become an unholy satirical oracle by predicting an EU army 5 years before anyone else was talking about it and, in 2018, the COVID-19 pandemic, even pinpointing somewhere in Asia as the source. Though like lots of other good things this has been overlooked by the mainstream media, the Squib has played an innovative role in shaping internet-based comedy since 2007 and has fought hard for free speech in a climate of increasing puritanism on both the political left and right. Read these articles with the same gusto and passion with which they were created, as they form an alternative historical record of a turbulent time of conflict, disease, terrorism, official stupidity, and mass-delusion. Alternatively, the less pretentious reader can flick through it while taking a dump and either chuckle to themselves as they plop away ... or if they don't find it funny can use its luxuriously produced pages as bog paper.

The Daily Squib: Anthology from 2007 to 2022

Esenbel, Aur

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