Monthly Archives: March 2011

I recently read a demoralizing answer to a question in the following thread on Quora:

• What Does It Feel Like to Be Unattractive and Desired by None?

The top answer comes from a man who is barely five feet tall and experienced many setbacks in life. A growing body of research indicates that taller men have better lives on average. They have:

• better career prospects

• more frequent opportunities for romance

• increased intelligence

• happier mood

• longer lifespan

Harvard economics professor Grew Mankiw, who himself is over six feet tall, wrote a semi-serious paper arguing in favor of a height tax. If economists truly believe in taxation that redistributes wealth to people who have poorer circumstances in life, that means they should examine the possibility of tax increases on tall men – or at least tax breaks for shorter men. The height tax is a politically untenable topic and is probably unnecessary in the long run, but evidence tends to suggest tall people have better lives.

Most people who provided counsel to the Quora respondent focused on short-term solutions (moving to a place with a population that has a lower than average human height) or long-term solutions (waiting for a technological singularity and then uploading the brain into a better body). Controversial limb-lengthening surgery also exists for the purposes of increasing height. The downsides are its expensive cost, the long recovery process, and the unimpressive results.

Stem cells are a promising medium-term solution. Stem cells could restore the body’s bones and muscles to a youthful state and allow for their expansion in a growth phase. They could also turn back the clock on the pituitary gland and cause it to produce excess growth hormone. This would be a delicate process to deliver the benefits of height without causing the health complications associated with gigantism and acromegaly.

Developed countries have lots of regulations on stem cell treatments and for good reason. They want to prevent people from wasting their money on scams or getting cancer from untested therapies. The good news is that some developing countries (especially in Southeast Asia) have fewer moral, ethical, and regulatory barriers to researching stem cell treatments. A country like China that has an excess of males who want to increase their mating prospects is prime territory for the development of height-increasing stem cell therapies.

Update: Growing Taller with Stem Cells in the Future

Updated 11/27/2011

Disclosure: I currently work for Motorola Mobility and participate in the employee stock purchase plan. These opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Motorola Mobility. This post doesn’t use any non-public information.

Wired Magazine recently published a fascinating article by Steven Levy (adapted from his new book “In the Plex”) about the elevation of Google co-founder Larry Page to the role of CEO. That led me to think about the ways in which an acquisition of Motorola Mobility could be beneficial for both companies.

• According to Levy’s article, Page is open to expanding the company. He originally wanted Google to have a million engineers.

• 96 percent of Google’s revenue comes from its advertising products. While it’s important for Google to focus on their core competency, the company would benefit from diversifying their revenue sources to protect against potentially unknown risks.

• Motorola Mobility has many of the most knowledgeable Android engineers and designers in the world. Acquisitions of innovative startups like 280 North have also added to the talent base.

• Google needs to assure the continued use of Android in mobile devices.

• Motorola Mobility’s market cap hovers around $8 billion and the company has billions of dollars in revenue. Google paid $1.6 billion for YouTube (a company with little revenue at the time and many legal liabilities).

• According to Neeraj Arora of Google M&A, the company plans to increase the number of acquisitions it makes this year.

• Motorola Mobility has a huge portfolio of revenue-generating products, services, and patents.

• Shareholders would benefit from an acquisition, which would give them a large premium over the current share price. Powerful shareholders like Carl Icahn certainly want to unlock value.

Outsmart Your Genes is a great book by Dr. Brandon Colby, a pioneer in genetic medicine. Proactive and predictive medicine can make huge strides in enhancing human health and longevity.

Here are some notes and ideas from the book:

• Your genetic makeup determines thousands of factors related to health, appearance, and personality. Genetics are also responsible for how the body processes medications.

• An example of genetic influence on behavior: Genes are about 60 percent responsible for why a child becomes a bully (with antisocial behavior, impulsive tendencies, and thrill seeking) and about 75 percent responsible for why a child becomes a victim of bullying (with traits such as being more introverted, more emotional, or having a tendency to cry easily).

• One study showed that 75 percent of physicians changed some aspect of their patient’s care after obtaining genetic information.

• Genetic testing can be used to predict adverse reactions to medication (like warfarin) and to predict which type of therapy is best for treating someone with alcohol addiction.

• Genetic testing can discern information about three major categories of disease risk:

1. risk for future disease

2. asymptomatic diseases that currently affect a person

3. diseases you carry that do not affect you

Examples of extraordinary traits imparted by specific genes:

1. Exceptional longevity (CETP, APOE, FOXO3A)

2. Great physical strength (MSTN)

3. Enhanced memory (WWC1)

4. Elite athletic performance (ACTN3, ACE, EPAS1)

5. Increased IQ with breastfeeding (FADS2)

6. Intelligence and cognitive ability (CHRM2)

7. Resistance to HIV infection (CCR5)

8. Protection against obesity (many genes)

9. Protection against male-pattern baldness (AR, 20p11)

10. Altruism, musical ability, and dancing skill (AVPR1A, SLC6A4)

11. Chronotype (CLOCK, GNB3, PER1, PER2, PER3)

• Panels can be used to screen for a wide variety of diseases.

• Constructing a disease matrix for various conditions can give people more information.

• The five most important categories of questions to ask genetic testing companies (the book also offers acceptable and unacceptable answers to each question):

1. Is the laboratory you use for all alb work currently CLIA certified or ISO-15189 accredited?

2. Do you conduct genetic testing and analysis for rare diseases, for common diseases, or for both? How many diseases in each of those categories do you test for, and do you offer panels?

3. How many genetic variants do you analyze (not just test for, but analyze) when you calculate disease risk?

4. Will the results be presented to me along with genetically tailored prevention and treatment information, and will I be able to understand the genetic report even if I don’t have any knowledge of genetics?

5. Will the results be delivered to me via email or on a website, or will I receive printed reports for both me and my physician? Do you provide a way for me to consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional who can help me understand my results.

• It is possible to tailor a genetically tailored fitness and nutrition plan.

• Three genes (PFKL, HNMT, and RARB) have variants that increase the likelihood of losing weight on a low-fat diet and five genes (LIPF, CETP, AGTR2, GYS2, and GAL) have variants that increase the likelihood of weight loss with a low carb diet.

• Variants in a number of genes predispose a person to be either an endurance or a power athlete. A comprehensive analysis of your genetic makeup that takes into account all these genes and their possible variants can be used to create a fitness program tailored specifically for you.

• People who exercise regularly have significantly longer telomeres, meaning that they are up to 10 years younger on a genetic level.

• The Pythia approach from the company Existence Genetics can analyze the genetic makeup of two potential parents to determine which diseases and traits their future offspring are likely to have.

• It’s important to test infants for Long QT syndrome, which can lead to SIDS.

• Early detection of autism (such as finding variants in the PTEN and EN2 genes) and intervention at a young age can lead to a decrease in autistic symptoms.

• The HLA-DRB1 gene variant provides a link between vitamin D levels and multiple sclerosis. Testing vitamin D levels and taking supplements if necessary could substantially decrease the risk of MS.

• People with an APOE gene variant who experience head injuries are at an even greater risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

• Women who are genetically predisposed to breast cancer (such as those with variants in their BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, or ATM genes) will be at even higher risk after radiation exposure.

• About 60 percent of whether a person will become addicted to cigarettes is determined by genes.

• It is primarily the genes affecting the cardiovascular system that determine longevity.

• Resveratrol causes the SIRT1 gene (which is involved in anti-aging) to become more than 1000% more active than it would be normally.

• Genetic testing can detect the risk of heart arrhythmias, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and ARVD.

• Testing can also determine a predisposition to arterial damage, high blood pressure, or thrombosis.

• Particular genetic variants determine the effectiveness of many medications used to treat cardiovascular disease.

• Having the E2/E2 or E2/E3 gene variants can lead to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, whereas having the E4/E4 variant leads to a greater than 1000% increase in risk.

• Some strategies for delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease:

1. preserving mitochondrial health

2. cognitive training

3. preventing head injuries

4. maintaining a healthy weight

5. avoiding smoking

6. participating in physical exercise

7. drinking coffee

8. meditating

9. reducing inflammation with NSAIDs.

• Genetically tailored prevention can be used for skin cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.

• By integrating genetic screening into the development and testing of medications, pharmaceutical companies can more accurately identify the subset of people for whom a medication will be most appropriate.

Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders is a book written by entrepreneurship professor Scott Shane. He cites scientific research to demonstrate the impact of genetic factors on a person’s career. Each individual’s DNA has a huge impact on his or her life. Environmental influences also have an impact, but genetics can’t be ignored. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in work life or human life in general.

Some points and quotes from the book:

Introduction

• Genes account for a large portion of the difference between people in terms of intelligence and personality.

• Our genes affect whether we view the world positively or negatively, whether we have high or low activity levels, whether we are better at math or writing, whether we are rich or poor, whether we are satisfied with or hate our jobs, whether we want to start our own businesses or work for someone else, whether we are charismatic leaders (getting others to follow our direction by dint of our personality) or transactional leaders (motivating others to do what we ask by offering them rewards).

• Genes influence much of the difference between people in the quality of first impressions and the odds that an individual will vote.

• Genes don’t totally determine a person’s attitudes and actions, but they have a major influence.

• Over one-third of the difference between people on virtually every employment-related dimension investigated, including work interests, work values, job satisfaction, job choice, leadership turnover, job performance, and income, is genetic.

• Success in business involves getting people with the right genes in the right roles.

Why That Job?

• One study shows that 52 percent of the difference between people in how important work is to them is explained by genetics.

• An average of 40 percent of the variance across people in interests is genetic.

• About 36 percent of the difference between people in vocational interests is accounted for by genetic factors.

• Genetic differences account for about one-third of the variation between people in terms of altruism.

• As much as 73 percent of the variance between adolescents in their level of social responsibility is accounted for by their genes.

• 40 percent of the variance in empathy is genetic.

• The rate at which identical twins raised apart express a common preference is higher than that for fraternal twins who grow up together.

• About 25 percent of the variation in interest in managing people is attributable to genes.

• Genetic factors account for approximately 59 percent of the variation in people’s interest in the day-to-day functioning of business and commercial organizations.

• Genetics accounts for 80 percent of the difference between men in the base rate of testosterone production. High-testosterone men are also more likely than low-testosterone men to be active, assertive, and have blue collar jobs. High-testosterone women are found in occupations that involve communicating with others at a much lower rate than low-testosterone women. Having levels of testosterone increases spatial performance and masculine work preferences.

• Genes account for a large part of personality factors in the five-factor model of personality (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism).

• Genes also affect variation in harm avoidance, self-efficacy, novelty seeking, calmness, and temperament.

• As much as 75 percent of the differences in IQ scores are explained by our genes.

• Genetic factors account for between 30 and 57 percent of the difference between people in their level of education.

Happy at Work?

• Genetics account for almost a third of the difference between people in job satisfaction.

• More than half of the difference in levels of social conservatism is genetic.

• Genetic factors account for between 37 and 68 percent of the difference in preferences for the following dimensions of organizational culture: achievement, comfort, status, safety, autonomy, and altruism.

• Over half of the difference in people’s descriptions of their job histories as “stable” or “changing” comes from their genes.

• As much as 55 percent of the difference in locus of control, 49 percent of the variance in self-esteem, and 68 percent of the difference in emotional stability comes from genetic factors.

Instinctive Choices

• Genes account for close to half of the variance between people in the tendency to rely on intuition to make choices.

• As much as 55 percent of the difference between people in their willingness to take risks is genetic.

• 48 percent of the difference between people in how compliant they are is innate.

• 42 percent of the variance in the willingness to give up financial gains to punish unfair behavior is genetic.

• High-testosterone men take more risks and act less rationally than low-testosterone men.

• Genes affect all aspects of cognitive ability, including verbal comprehension, verbal fluency, mathematical skills, reasoning, spatial visualization, perceptual speed, mental processing speed, reaction time, attention, and memory.

DNA at the Office

• About half of the difference between people on tests of management capability is account for by genetic factors.

• 45 percent of the difference between people in the inclination for planning is explained by genes.

• Genes account for over a third of the variation between people in their need for social approval.

• Genetics accounts for 31 percent of the difference between people in the trait of Machiavellianism – the desire to get and retain power.

• Genetics is responsible for more than 40 percent of the variance between people in sociability. More than half of the difference between people in the trait of social avoidance is explained by genes.

• Genetic factors account for 45 percent of the difference between people in terms of their acceptance of change.

Born Leaders?

• Genetics accounts for about 49 percent of the difference between people in terms of leadership potential.

• Approximately 30 percent of the difference in the attainment of leadership roles is explained by genes.

• Extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and lack of agreeableness all increase the odds that a person will become a leader, and both extraversion and openness to experience raise the probability that an individual will be an effective leader.

• Genes account for more than one-third of the variation between people on measures of self-confidence.

• DNA accounts for more than half of the difference between people on measures of social potency and persuasiveness.

• Nearly 50 percent of narcissism has a genetic basis.

• A study that combined the results of 151 different investigations of leadership and intelligence found that smarter people are more likely to become bosses.

Creative Genius?

• As much as 55 percent of the difference on standard tests of creativity is accounted for by genes.

• People who have high levels of psychoticism (which is partially genetic) tend to be very innovative.

Born Entrepreneurs?

• In women, genetic factors account for 48 percent of the difference in the tendency to be self-employed.

• Approximately 53 percent of the correlation between coming up with an idea for a new business and starting a company are influenced by the same genetic factors.

• As much as 84 percent of the difference between people in normal activity level is explained by our genes.

• 62 percent of the correlation between extraversion and the tendency to start a business comes from the same genetic factors.

• Entrepreneurs are more emotionally stable and less neurotic than other workers.

• Founders of businesses are more tough minded and less agreeable than management workers.

• Entrepreneurs are more conscientious than management workers.

• 85 percent of the correlation between openness to experience and the odds of being an entrepreneur comes from the same genetic sources.

• Entrepreneurs have genetic factors that lead them to have an internal locus of control, higher self-efficacy, higher self-confidence, more novelty-seeking, a greater need for autonomy, and a greater propensity for taking risks.

• Much of the difference in whether or not people marry is genetic.

Good Workers, Bad Workers

• About 45 percent of the variation between adults in their annual incomes is the result of genetic factors.

• 60 percent of the difference between people in their occupational status is genetic.

• 37 percent of the difference between people in being reprimanded at work has a genetic basis.

• DNA accounts for as much as 81 percent of the difference between people in measures of psychopathology.

• Weight, height, and physical attractiveness all predict income.

• Mental ability assessed in high school predicted occupational attainment 11 years later.

• How many friends you have, how closely connected you are, and how important you are to your social group are all affected by genetics.

• Having high levels of neuroticism leads to a lower income.

• High levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience improve work performance.

• Your luck in getting the versions of genes that predispose you to a positive worldview will increase your performance on the job, and your income, in a variety of ways.

Your Genes Matter! So What?

• Genetic testing may be more effective than the current forms of selecting employees, which don’t have much predictive power.

• Companies in countries that allow genetic testing for hiring decisions may gain a competitive advantage.

• Leadership training programs may be ineffective if leadership has a large genetic component.

• Targeted interventions for work-related behaviors could be improved with knowledge of employees’ genomes.

• Companies could segment their markets based on their customers’ genetic compositions.

• If a person knows his or her predominant genetic tendencies, he or she could choose a more suitable career.

With NASA in transition from manned missions to its new goals, opportunities have opened up for aerospace entrepreneurs. The ecosystem of space businesses is an exciting area with plenty of growth. Parabolic Arc is an incredibly extensive and helpful blog about the business of space commercialization and space tourism.

4Frontiers Corporation: a space startup focusing on the settlement of Mars

Ad Astra Rocket Company: a rocket propulsion company led by a former astronaut

Aerojet: an aerospace and defense company with propulsion technology

Aerospace Corporation: creates launch and navigation systems

Airborne Systems: develops space and recovery systems

Alcantara Cyclone Space: space launch provider

Alliant Techsystems: a large aerospace company

Altius Space Machines: enabling reusable orbital transportation

Andrews Space: develops spaceflight services and modules

Antrix Corporation: the commercial wing of the Indian Space Research Organization

Applied Aerospace Structures: creates aerospace structural assemblies

Ariane Space: commercial launch services provider

Armadillo Aerospace: develops reusable rocket powered vehicles

Arsenal Design Bureau: designs space technology

ARTEMIS Innovation: performs work on space solar power

Astrium: launches spacecraft and satellites

Astrobiotic Technology: develops space robotics

Astrogenetix: develops medicines in space

Astronautic Technology: a commercial space company in Malaysia

Astronauts4Hire: spaceflight crew solutions

Astrotech Corporation: designs and manufactures space hardware

Astrox: involved in designing rockets

ATK: creates aerospace systems and space structures

Aurora Flight Systems: involved in creating military spacecraft

Ball Aerospace & Technologies: designs and creates spacecraft

Bigelow Aerospace: develops space habitats

Blue Origin: a research and development company working on launch systems

Boeing: creating crew capsule spacecraft

BrahMos Aerospace: creates launch systems

Celestis: arranges memorial spaceflights

Clyde Space: provides products for small satellites

Commercial Space Transportation Conference: a conference from the FAA focused on space commericalization

Commercial Spaceflight Federation: an industry association for space businesses

Constellation Services International: develops technology for low Earth orbit applications

Cosmica Spacelines: a private spaceflight company

DARMA Technology: builds rocket engines

Deployable Space Systems: specializes in solar arrays, structural platforms, articulated structures, etc. that can be deployed in space

DIRECT: a space launcher business

DreamSpace: developing a suborbital tourism vehicle

Dynetics: creates technology for launches and propulsion

EADS: develops defense and space systems

Earth2Orbit: a commercial spaceflight company

EarthTech International: developing new propulsion techniques

EMBRAER: aerospace manufacturer

Escape Dynamics: working on development of an external propulsion space launch system

eSpace: a center for space entrepreneurship

EutelSat: leading provider of satellite communications

Excalibur Almaz: a private spaceflight company

Firestar Technologies: propulsion company

Frontier Astronautics: providing services to the space industry

Futron: provides decision management services to space industry companies

Galactic Suite: an aerospace company developing a space habitat

Garvey Spacecraft: aerospace R&D company

Gazprom Space Systems: creates and operates satellite systems

General Dynamics Space Systems: a division of GD that supports space missions

Generation Orbit Launch Services: nanosatellite payload delivery services

Global Space & Satellite Forum: an event focused on commercial space applications

GMV: creates space solutions

Grollo Aerospace: develops space technology

ILC Dover: creates space suits

ILS International Launch Services: provides mission management and launch services

Innovative Space Propulsion Systems: developing a revolutionary new propulsion system

Intelsat: provides satellite services

International Space Development Conference: a conference that includes sessions on space commercialization and entrepreneurship

Interorbital Systems: develops and manufactures orbital launch vehicles and satellites

ISDR Consulting: a management consulting firm focused on commercial space applications

JP Aerospace: organization working to provide space access

Khrunichev: producer of spacecraft and launch systems

LiftPort Group: working on creating a space elevator

Lockheed Martin Space Systems: a division of LM that produces spacecraft and space technology

Loral Space: a space communications company

Made in Space: offers 3D printing in space

Mars Space Ltd: plasma engineering and propulsion business

Masten Space Systems: designs, builds, tests, and operates reusable launch vehicles

Medusa Space: microgravity research company

MITRE: conducts space research

Mojave Air and Space Port: spaceport that launches spacecraft

Moon Express: lunar transportation company

MoonDust: microgravity manufacturing business

MSNW: develops plasma propulsion systems

NanoRacks: conducts microgravity experiments

NASTAR Center: an aerospace training facility with simulation equipment

Near Earth LLC: provides financial services to space businesses

Near Space Corporation: supplies near space platforms and services

NewSpace Global: provides information on the commercial space sector

Odyssey Moon: developing a transportation system to deliver payload services to the Moon

Odyssey Space Research: provides expertise for space missions

OHB System: a German space technology company

OrbComm: manages a constellation of satellites

Orbital Outfitters: creates space suits

Orbital Sciences: develops and launches space vehicles and satellites

Orbital Technologies: develops propulsion systems and space resources

Paragon Space Development: creates life support and environmental control systems

Pioneer Astronautics: develops technologies for space travel and exploration

Planetary Resources: asteroid mining company

PlanetSpace: a company focused on technology for space travel

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne: develops propulsion and space technology

Premier Space Systems: provides suborbital space launch services

Project Enterprise: a consortium developing a spaceplane

Quicklaunch: working on delivering propellant to low Earth orbit

Reaction Engines: develops technologies for reusable spaceplanes

Reshetnev Company: manufactures spacecraft

RKK Energiya: manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components

Rocket City Space Pioneers: partnership of organizations focused on robotic space exploration

Rocket Lab: develops technology and components for space companies

Rocketplane Global: develops technology for commercial spaceflight

Rocketship Tours: a space tourism company

Satellite Conference: an event for satellite and space professionals

Satellite Propulsion Research: creates engines based on microwave technology for spacecraft propulsion

Scaled Composites: develops and creates space vehicles

Schafer Corporation: provides aerospace research services

Scorpius Space Launch Company: produces space launch vehicles and services

Sea Launch: a spacecraft launch service

Shackleton Energy: developing techniques for mining in outer space

Sierra Nevada Corporation: provides electronics and engineering services for space applications

Space Adventures: sends private citizens to space

Space Angels Network: invests in space startups

Space Expedition Curacao: space tourism company

Space Investment Summit: an event for space investors and entrepreneurs

Space Island Group: designing commercial space transportation and destinations

Space Propulsion Group: develops propulsion and power generation technologies

SpaceDev: a space systems company

Spaceflight Services: provider of payload flight services

Spaceflight Systems Corporation: offers space engineering solutions

Spacelinq: space tourism venture in Europe

Spaceport America: commercial spaceport in New Mexico

Spaceport Sweden: the primary European spaceport for space tourism

SpaceQuest: manufactures spacecraft and components

SpaceVest: offers consulting services for the space industry

SpaceWorks: a company focused on space system engineering

SpaceX: develops launch vehicles

Spincraft: manufactures components and assemblies for space vehicles

Star Technology and Research: performs spacecraft research

Starchaser Industries: focused on commercial space access

Stratolaunch Systems: develops space transportation technology

Surrey Satellite Technology: creates navigation and observation satellites

Swedish Space Corporation: designs, tests, and operates space systems

Talis Enterprise: a space research and space tourism company

Teledyne Brown: engineers space systems

TGV Rockets: designs space vehicles and components

Thales: creates satellites and space station modules

The Spaceship Company: develops commercial spaceships and carrier aircraft

Transformational Space Corporation: develops space capsules

Transorbital: a company with the first commercial venture to the moon

United Launch Alliance: provides access to space

United Space Alliance: a spaceflight operations company

Universal Space Network: provides space operations and ground network services

UP Aerospace: coordinates spaceflight for student payloads

US Space LLC: takes a commercial approach to military satellites

Ventions: conducts aerospace research

Virgin Galactic: provider of suborbital spaceflights

ViviSat: improves satellite performance

Whittinghill Aerospace: rocket launch company

Xcor Aerospace: creates suborbital spacecraft and rocket engines

Xtraordinary Adventures: space tourism provider

Y.K. Bae Corporation: developing technologies for space exploration and space energy

Yuzhnoye: creates spacecraft and rocket engines

Updated 6/23/2012

I embrace the idea that living scientifically – basing decisions on evidence and scientific research – is a superior way to live. Science involving determinism and randomness probably explains or will explain everything about the world. Before totally entering the process of living according to scientific evidence, I wanted to discuss a few areas of study that aren’t conclusively validated yet are still interesting. These ideas are basically subjects that are on the fringes of science but are worth keeping in mind for potential future reference – just in case it turns out that the universe is stranger than we think. The people in the following list tend to have academic posts or technical expertise. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right, but it’s worth paying attention to their work to note potential opportunities for proving or disproving their ideas.

From a materialist perspective, the researchers on this list are working on unscientific topics. Some people in this list seek to combine science with spirituality. Right now this type of science takes place on the frontiers. Maybe these researchers will create a new form of science, or maybe their endeavors will fail. Maybe the materialists will be wrong and the nonmaterialists will be proven right. Or maybe spiritual scientists will fail to prove their ideas. That’s how science works, and it’s exciting to follow along with the progress of mainstream scientists as well as scientists working on the edges. As Thomas Kuhn described in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (notes here), anomalous results play an important role in scientific progress. These people are brave for risking their careers and trying new things. They may turn out to be wrong, of course, but that’s the way science works.

Personally, I’m skeptical of these spiritual areas of research and think that mainstream topics like regenerative medicine are more promising. Even though I believe in God, I think the resources expended on combining science and spirituality would be better spent on medical research that has real world benefits. I also think these researchers didn’t necessarily choose their religious or spiritual beliefs, as described in my post The Biology of Religion. I’ll still keep an open mind in the rare event these scientists and organizations have actually discovered verifiable anomalies. Some of the people mentioned in this post may have conventional careers in scientific research and perform research in parapsychology and fringe science as a hobby or side project.

A related post is my coverage of near death experiences.

Researchers:

Adrian Parker: studies paranormal experiences and altered states

Aileen A. O’Donoghue: physics professor with an interest in theology

Alan Gauld: taught psychology and was president of the Society for Psychical Research

Alexis Champion: artificial intelligence researcher and parapsychologist

Alister McGrath: biophysicist and theologian

Amit Goswami: a physicist who combines quantum physics and spirituality

Anabela Cardoso: electronic voice researcher

André Eggen: geneticist and creationist

Andrei Linde: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Andrew Briggs: nanomaterials professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Andrew McIntosh: engineering professor and creationist

Andrew Nichols: parapsychologist and investigator of poltergeist cases

Andrew Snelling: geologist and creationist

Andrew Steane: physics professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Angela Meyer: horticultural scientist and creationist

Angela Thompson Smith: psychologist and remote viewer

Ann Gauger: developmental biologist and advocate of intelligent design

Anthony Rizzi: physicist with an interest in theology

Anthony Tongen: math professor and board member of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Archie Roy: astronomer and parapsychological researcher

Ard Louis: physicist and board member of BioLogos Foundation

Ariel Roth: parasitologist and creationist

Arkadiusz Jadczyk: theoretical physicist who researches psi

Art Chadwick: geologist and creationist

Arthur Hastings: professor who studies parapsychology

Arthur Jaffe: math professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Arthur Jones: biologist and creationist

Arthur Robinson: scientist skeptical of evolution

Ashfaq Shuaib: medical professor and member of the Center for Islam and Science

Athena Drewes: coauthor of a book about children and parapsychology

B. Alan Wallace: connects Buddhism to neuroscience and physics

Barrie Colvin: researches poltergeist activity

Barry Taff: psychophysiologist and parapsychologist

Barry Tapp: geologist and creationist

Basarab Nicolescu: theoretical physicist with an interest in theology

Ben Carson: neurosurgeon who has written about faith

Ben Goertzel: an artificial intelligence researcher who also writes about psi

Benjamin McFarland: biochemistry professor who blogs about Christianity

Bernard Carr: professor of mathematics and astronomy who was president of the Society for Psychical Research

Bernard d’Espagnat: physicist and winner of the Templeton Prize

Bernard Haisch: astrophysicist and author of books on how God is expressed through the universe

Bernardo Kastrup: computer engineer who explores spirituality

Beverly Rubik: former professor at San Francisco State University who studies energy healing

Bill Joines: electrical engineer who serves on the board of the Rhine Research Center

Bill Newsome: neuroscientist who studies science and faith

Bob Compton: physiologist and creationist

Bob Hosken: biochemist and creationist

Bob White: geophysics professor and member of Christians in Science

Brenda Dunne: psychologist who was laboratory manager of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory

Brian Heap: founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion

Brian Josephson: Nobel laureate and director of the Mind Matter Unification Project

Brian Stone: mechanical engineering professor and creationist

Brian Swimme: mathematical cosmologist who studies spiritual topics

Brooks Agnew: a physicist who has theories about “The Secret” and law of attraction

Bruce Lipton: developmental biologist who discusses spiritual topics

Bruno Guideroni: astrophysicist who researches Islam

Bryan Dawson: math professor and creationist

Byoung-Moo Im: veterinary scientist and creationist

Carl Johan Calleman: toxicologist who researches spirituality

Carl Feit: cancer researcher and Talmudic scholar

Carl Fliermans: biology professor and creationist

Carl Wieland: medical doctor and creationist

Carlos Alvarado: psychologist and parapsychology researcher

Carlos Puente: hydrology professor and intelligent design advocate

Caroline Crocker: immunopharmacologist who supports intelligent design

Caroline Watt: founding member of the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh

Carolle Jean-Murat: physician and intuitive healer

Casey Blood: a mathematical physicist who explores spirituality

Caslav Brukner: physics professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Cay Randall-May: entomologist and intuitive consultant

Cees Dekker: biophysicist and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Celia Deane-Drummond: plant physiologist and professor of theology

Charles Harper: planetary scientist and former Senior Vice President of the Templeton Foundation

Charles McCombs: organic chemist and creationist

Charles Tart: parapsychologist who studies the nature of consciousness

Charles Thaxton: chemist and intelligent design author

Charles Townes: Nobel prize winning physicist who seeks to unify science and religion

Choong-Kuk Chang: geneticist and creationist

Chris French: coordinator of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at University of London

Chris Osborne: biology professor and creationist

Christine Simmonds-Moore: psychologist and parapsychology professor

Christopher Isham: theoretical physicist and practicing Christian

Chung-Il Cho: biology professor and creationist

Ciaran O’Keeffe: professional parapsychologist

Claude Swanson: a physicist with ideas about subtle energies and paranormal topics

Clifford Pickover: physicist who has written about religious topics

Colin Humphreys: materials scientist who studies the Bible

Colin Mitchell: geography researcher and creationist

Colin Ross: physician who studies human energy fields

Colm Kelleher: research scientist who was an executive at the National Institute for Discovery Science

Cornelius Hunter: biophysicist and intelligent design researcher

Courtney Brown: political science professor who has studied remote viewing

D.B. Gower: biophysicist and creationist

Dale Graff: a physicist and former director of a government remote viewing program

Dale Matthews: a physician who studies the healing power of prayer

Damien Broderick: futurist and author of books studying the paranormal

Dan Sewell Ward: physicist with an extensive interest in spiritual ideas

Danah Zohar: physicist focused on the idea of spiritual intelligence

Daniel Benor: a physician who studies self healing

Daniel Criswell: biologist and member of the Institute for Creation Research

Danny Faulkner: astronomy professor and creationist

Darrel Falk: biology professor who is President of the BioLogos Forum

Daryl Bem: a social psychology professor who studies retroactive cognition

David Bailey: mathematician who writes about science and religion

David Berlinksi: math and biology researcher and intelligent design advocate

David Boylan: engineering professor and creationist

David Catchpoole: plant physiologist and creationist

David Chiu: computer scientist and intelligent design advocate

David DeWitt: neuroscientist and creationist

David Feinstein: clinical psychologist and energy medicine researcher

David Lahti: biology professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

David Lindberg: biologist and member of the International Society for Science and Religion

David Luke: president of the Parapsychological Association

David Menton: anatomy professor and creationist

David Morehouse: former Army special operations officer who trains people in remote viewing

David Rogstad: physicist and Christian writer

David Rosevear: chemist and creationist

David Sloan Wilson: biology professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

David Stone: mechanical engineer and intelligent design advocate

Dean Kenyon: biophysicist and intelligent design author

Dean Radin: parapsychology researcher

Deborah Delanoy: parapsychologist and lecturer at the University of Northampton

Deborah Haarsma: physicist who serves on the BioLogos board

Deepak Chopra: an endocrinologist who seeks to merge medicine, physics, and spirituality

Denis Alexander: molecular immunology researcher who directs the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

Denis Lamoreaux: biologist and evolutionary creationist

Dennis Flentge: chemistry professor and intelligent design advocate

Dennis Venema: biologist and evolutionary creationist

Deno Kazanis: biophysicist and remote viewer

Derek Schuurman: computer science professor and officer of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Diane Hennacy Powell: a physician who wrote a book on ESP

Dick Bierman: studies the relationship between consciousness, physics, and paranormal experiences

Don Batten: horticultural scientist and creationist

Don Lind: astronaut and physicist who served in the lay hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Don Page: theoretical physicist and evangelical Christian

Donald Chittick: physical chemist and creationist

Donald DeYoung: physicist and creationist

Donald Hoffman: cognitive science professor with an interest in remote viewing

Donald Knuth: computer science professor and Lutheran

Dong-ha Shin: physics professor and creationist

Dong-won Park: geologist and creationist

Doug Matzke: electrical engineer and quantum computation expert who studies the law of attraction

Douglas Axe: chemical engineer and director of Biologic Institute

Douglas Richards: psychology professor who researches parapsychology

Douglas Stokes: parapsychology researcher

Duane Gish: biochemist and creationist

Dwain Ford: chemistry professor and creationist

E. Theo Agard: physicist and creationist

E. C. George Sudarshan: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Ed Holroyd: atmospheric scientist and creationist

Edgar Mitchell: former astronaut who studies psychic events

Edith Fiore: psychologist who writes about spirit possession

Edward Boudreaux: chemistry professor and creationist

Edward Close: a physicist who studies transcendental physics

Edward Kelly: coauthor of Irreducible Mind, a book proposing a dualistic theory of consciousness

Edward Nelson: math professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Edward Peltzer: ocean chemist and intelligent design supporter

Edwin May: head of the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory at the Laboratories for Fundamental Research

Elaine Kennedy: geologist and creationist

Elizabeth Rauscher: physicist who proposed a theory of psi

Elliot Benjamin: a mathematician who studies psi and philosophy

Emil Silvestru: geologist and creationist

Emily Kelly: coauthor of Irreducible Mind, a book proposing a dualistic theory of consciousness

Enho-Lee: biologist and creationist

Eric Davis: physicist and author of the teleportation study for the Air Force Research Laboratory, which discusses psychokinesis

Eric Middleton: scientist and chaplain

Eric Priest: theoretical solar physicist who encourages dialogue between science and religion

Etzel Cardeña: parapsychologist and professor at Lund University

Eugene Chaffin: physics professor and creationist

Evan Jamieson: hydrometallurgist and creationist

F. David Peat: physicist who studies the nature of human consciousness

Farzad Goli: physician who studies energy medicine

Fazale Rana: biochemist and executive vice president of Reasons to Believe

Felix Konotey-Ahulu: sickle cell anemia researcher and creationist

Finny Kuruvilla: MD-PhD and Christian writer

Folker Meissner: physician who practices bioenergetic medicine

Francis Collins: NIH director who seeks to unify science and spirituality

Francis Su: math professor and board member of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Francisco Ayala: biology professor and winner of the Templeton Prize

Frank Pasciuti: clinical psychologist who studies psi phenomena

Frank Tipler: mathematical physics professor and author of “The Physics of Christianity”

Fred Alan Wolf: physicist who appeared in fringe science documentaries

Fred Meyer: physician and Buddhist writer

Freeman Dyson: physicist who believes in ESP

Fritjof Capra: physicist who wrote spiritual books

Gaetan Chevalier: physicist who studies energy medicine

Garret Moddel: electrical engineering professor who studies the science of psi phenomena

Gary Locklair: computer science professor and creationist

Gary Parker: biology researcher and intelligent design advocate

Gene Rohrbaugh: computer science professor and officer of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Geoff Barnard: immunologist and creationist

Geoff Downes: plant physiologist and creationist

George Coyne: astronomer and priest

George Ellis: mathematician and cosmologist who studies faith

George Hawke: meteorologist and creationist

George Howe: botanist who is skeptical of evolution

George Javor: biochemistry professor and creationist

George Marshall: ophthalmic scientist and creationist

Georgia Purdom: molecular geneticist and creationist

Gerald Aardsma: nuclear physicist and creationist

Gerald Schroeder: a physicist who seeks to unify science and religion

Gerardus Bouw: astronomer and creationist

Ghillean Prance: botanist and trustee of A Rocha

Ginette Nachman: a physician who researches nonlocal healing

Giuseppe Sermonti: geneticist and creationist

Glen Rein: biochemist who researches integral science

Grame Watmuff: geologist and creationist

Granville Sewell: math professor and intelligent design advocate

Gregory Reeves: chemical engineering professor who studies faith

Guillermo Gonzalez: astrophysicist who supports intelligent design

Halton Arp: astronomer and creationist

Harald Walach: psychologist who researches parapsychology

Harold Coffin: sedimentologist and creationist

Harold Puthoff: physicist who was involved in research on remote viewing

Harriet Kim: biochemist and creationist

Harvey Irwin: parapsychologist and author of books about parapsychology

Harvey McMahon: molecular biologist on the advisory board of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

Hee-Chun Ro: nuclear engineering professor and creationist

Heinz Lycklama: physicist and creationist

Helmut Schmidt: a pioneer in studying retropsychokinesis

Henner Fahrenbach: cryptozoologist who conducts sasquatch research

Henry Bauer: chemistry professor and fringe science researcher

Henry Monteith: engineering physicist who studies soulmates

Henry Reed: psychology professor and writer about developing psychic powers

Henry Schaefer: computational chemist and intelligent design supporter

Henry Zuill: biology professor and creationist

Howard Van Till: physics professor who writes about Christianity

Hoyt Edge: professor who studies parapsychology

Hoyt Stearns: engineer and remote viewing researcher

Hugh Ross: astronomer and founder of Reasons to Believe

Hwa-Su Park: metallurgy researcher and creationist

Hyun-Kil Shin: food chemist and creationist

Ian Baker: lecturer in psychology who studies parapsychology

Ian Barbour: physicist who studies the relationship between science and religion

Ian Hume: senior lecturer at Coventry University with an interest in ESP

Ian Macreadie: molecular biologist and creationist

Ian Walmsley: professor of experimental physics and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Imran Mirza: medical professor and member of the Center for Islam and Science

Jaap van Etten: biologist and spiritual researcher

Jack Houck: aeronautical engineer who studies psychokinesis

Jack Sarfatti: physicist who studies unusual physics topics

Jack Templeton: physician and president of the Templeton Foundation

Jake Hebert: physicist and member of the Institute for Creation Research

James Allan: geneticist and creationist

James Beichler: paraphysicist

James Bradley: math professor and officer of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

James Huggins: biology professor with an interest in theology

James Oschman: energy medicine researcher

James Spottiswoode: researches anomalous cognition

James Tour: synthetic organic chemist and evolution skeptic

James Trifone: science educator who studies psi and psychokinesis

Jane Katra: public health researcher and spiritual healer

Jason Lisle: astrophysicist and creationist

Javier Leach: mathematician and Jesuit priest

Jay Wile: nuclear chemist and creationist author

Jean Burns: physicist with parapsychological interests

Jed Macosco: biophysicist who conducts spiritual research

Jeff Hardin: zoology professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Jeff Levin: epidemiologist and religious scholar

Jeff Zweerink: astrophysicist and scholar at Reasons to Believe

Jeffrey Meldrum: anthropology professor who researches the sasquatch

Jeffrey Mishlove: psychologist and president of the Intuition Network

Jeffrey Schloss: biology professor and BioLogos board member

Jeffrey Schwartz: psychiatry professor and intelligent design advocate

Jeffrey Tomkins: geneticist and creationist

Jeffrey Williams: astronaut and creationist

Jennifer Wiseman: astronomer and president of the American Scientific Affiliation

Jeremy Case: math professor and board member of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Jeremy Walter: mechanical engineer and creationist

Jessica Utts: statistics professor and board member of the International Remote Viewing Association

Jim Carpenter: clinical psychologist who also conducts research in parapsychology

Jim Mason: nuclear physicist and creationist

Jimmy Davis: chemistry professor who also studies faith

Joachim Scheven: paleontologist and creationist

Joan Roughgarden: writes about biology and Christianity

Jocelyn Bell Burnell: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Joe Slate: psychologist who studies reincarnation and auras

Joel Primack: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Johan Kruger: nematologist and creationist

John Ashton: research scientist and Christian author

John Barrow: cosmologist and winner of the Templeton Prize

John Baumgardner: geophysicist and creationist

John Bindernagel: a wildlife biologist who researches the sasquatch

John Bloom: physicist and Christian writer

John Bryant: molecular biology professor and member of Christians in Science

John Byl: astronomer and Christian blogger

John Cimbala: mechanical engineering professor and creationist

John Hagelin: theoretical physicist and transcendental meditation supporter

John Hartnett: physicist and creationist

John Houghton: atmospheric physicist who combines Christianity and environmentalism

John Johnson: mathematician and president of Creation Association of Puget Sound

John Klotz: biology professor and creationist

John Kramer: biochemist and creationist

John Lennox: mathematician who explores science and theology

John Ling: materials engineer and education secretary of Christians in Science

John Marcus: biochemist and creationist

John McEwan: chemist and creationist

John Meyer: zoologist and creationist

John Morris: geological engineer and president of the Institute for Creation Research

John Palmer: psychologist and former director of the Rhine Research Center

John Polkinghorne: a physicist and priest

John Rankin: mathematical physicist and creationist

John Sanford: plant genetics professor and intelligent design advocate

John Suppe: geologist who writes about Christianity

John White: chemistry professor and founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion

John Whitmore: geology professor and creationist

Johng-Bae Kim: biochemist and creationist

Jonathan Henry: chemistry professor and creationist

Jonathan Sarfati: chemist and creationist

Jonathan Senning: math professor and board member of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Jonathan Wells: biologist and advocate for intelligent design

Jose Armilla: social psychologist and feng shui practitioner

Joseph Mastropaolo: kinesiology professor and creationist

Joung-il Kim: mechanical engineer and creationist

Judith Orloff: a psychiatrist with an interest in ESP and intuition

Judith Palagallo: math professor and board member of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Jung-Han Kim: organic chemist and creationist

Jung-Ku Ro: life scientist and creationist

Jung-Wook Lee: environmental scientist and creationist

Justin Barrett: psychologist and professor at Fuller Theological Seminary

Karen Jensen: biology professor and creationist

Karen Weissman: has a doctorate in engineering from Princeton and studies spirituality

Karl Giberson: seeks to unify science and spiritual belief

Kathryn Applegate: cell biologist and program director of the BioLogos Foundation

Keith Fox: biochemistry professor and chairman of Christians in Science

Keith Harary: coauthor of a book on remote viewing

Keith Wanser: physics professor and creationist

Kelly Hollowell: molecular pharmacologist and creationist

Ken-sik Jang: mechanical engineering professor and creationist

Kenneth Cumming: biology professor and creationist

Kenneth Miller: believes that evolution is compatible with the belief in God

Ker Thomson: geophysicist and creationist

Kevin Anderson: biology professor and creationist

Kim Jongerius: math professor and president of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Klaus Heinemann: a physicist who explores spirituality

Koneru Ramakrishna Rao: established the department of parapsychology at Andhra University

Kurt Wise: geologist and young earth creationist

Kyoung-rae Kim: chemistry professor and creationist

Lance Storm: parapsychologist and research fellow at the University of Adelaide

Lane Lester: biology professor and creationist

Larry Dossey: a doctor who writes about spiritual topics

Larry Helmick: chemistry professor and creationist

Larry Vardiman: atmospheric scientist and creationist

Lawrence LeShan: a psychologist who studied parapsychology

Lee Spencer: biology professor with theological interests

Lee Spetner: physicist who studies theology

Leonard Brand: biology professor and creationist

Leonard Laskow: physician who practices holoenergetic healing

Linda Walkup: molecular geneticist and creationist

Linn Carothers: statistics professor and creationist

Loren Haarsma: physicist who writes about faith

Lorenzo Albacete: physicist and priest

Lothar Schafer: professor of physical chemistry who has an interest in metaphysics

Loyd Auerbach: director of the Office of Paranormal Investigation

Luc Jaeger: chemistry professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Lydia Jaeger: physicist who studies religion

Malcolm Cutchins: aerospace engineering professor and creationist

Man-suk Song: computer science professor and creationist

Marco Bersanelli: physicist who supports religious faith

Marco Biagini: physicist who believes consciousness is nonphysical

Marcus Ross: paleontologist and creationist

Maria Zack: math professor and officer of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Marian Scully: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Marilyn Schlitz: CEO of the Institute for Noetic Sciences

Mario Beauregard: a neuroscientist with nonmaterialist ideas about the brain

Mark Harwood: engineer and creationist

Mark McClain: chemistry professor and creationist

Martin Bott: geologist and vice president of Christians in Science

Martin Nowak: mathematical biology professor who supports both evolution and religion

Marty Rosenblatt: physicist who studies remote viewing

Matthieu Ricard: molecular geneticist and Buddhist monk

Mehdi Golshani: writes about the interactions between science and religion

Michael Behe: biochemist and intelligent design advocate

Michael Brown: molecular biologist and creationist

Michael Denton: biologist and intelligent design advocate

Michael Egnor: neurosurgeon who supports intelligent design

Michael Grosso: researches parapsychology

Michael Persinger: professor who conducts research on telepathy

Michael Todhunter: geneticist and creationist

Mohamed Salim Sabir: surgeon and member of the Center for Islam and Science

Mona Lisa Schultz: physician and medical intuitive

Monty White: chemistry researcher and intelligent design advocate

Munawar Adees: biologist who writes about religious topics

Muzaffar Iqbal: chemist and Islamic scholar

Myoung-Joon Chai: chemistry professor and creationist

Nadr Mohamed Jomha: medical professor and member of the Center for Islam and Science

Nancy Bryson: chemist and creationist

Nancy Darrall: botanist and creationist

Nancy Zingrone: psychologist who researches psychic phenomena

Nathaniel Jeanson: cell biologist and creationist

Neal Rzepkowski: physician interested in spirituality

Nidhal Guessoum: astrophysicist and writer on Islamic topics

Nina Sotina: explores the phenomenon of telekinesis

Norbert Smith: zoologist and creationist

Norman Nevin: medical genetics professor and creationist

Olga Kharitidi: psychiatrist who studies spiritual topics

Olga Louchakova: neuroscientist who practices spirituality

Omar Farooq: surgeon and member of the Center for Islam and Science

Osman Bakar: mathematician who popularizes connections between Islam and science

Owen Gingerich: professor of astronomy at Harvard who combines science and faith

Pat Fosarelli: physician and theologian

Patrick Briney: microbiologist and creationist

Patrick Young: chemist and creationist

Paul Baba: scientist who writes about Christianity

Paul Chien: biology professor and intelligent design supporter

Paul Davies: cosmologist and winner of the Templeton Prize

Paul DeBell: a psychiatrist who conducts past life regressions

Paul Kariya: geographer and trustee of A Rocha

Paul LeBlond: former director of the International Society of Cryptozoology

Paul Stevens: parapsychology researcher

Percival Davis: zoologist and intelligent design author

Peter Clarke: cell biologist and evangelical Christian

Peter Russell: explores links between science and God

Pierre Gunnar Jerlström: molecular biologist and creationist

Pierre Julien: civil engineering professor and creationist

Pranab Das: physicist and executive editor of the International Society for Science and Religion

Ralph Abraham: mathematician who researches the soul

Ramanath Cowsik: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Rana Dajani: biologist who writes about Islam and science

Randy Isaac: physicist who serves on the BioLogos board

Randy Scott: biochemist and chair of the BioLogos board

Raúl López: atmospheric scientist and creationist

Ray Rempt: physicist and creationist

Raymond Bohlin: molecular biologist and Christian speaker

Raymond Chiao: physics professor and member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Raymond Damadian: medical professor and creationist

Rex Stanford: psychology professor and parapsychology researcher

Richard Blasband: psychiatrist who studies orgone energy

Richard Broughton: psychology lecturer and parapsychology author

Richard Grossinger: anthropologist who researches psi

Richard Shoup: computer scientist and parapsychology researcher

Richard Sternberg: scientist who is open to intelligent design

Rick Berger: parapsychology researcher who served on the board of directors of the Parapsychological Association

Rick Strassman: discussed theories of contacting beings in other dimensions via psychedelics

R.J. Berry: geneticist who researches science and Christian faith

Robert Asher: paleontologist with religious beliefs

Robert Bakker: paleontologist and minister

Robert Boyd: physics professor

Robert Brabenec: math professor and officer of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Robert Carter: marine biologist and creationist

Robert Eckel: medical professor and creationist

Robert Franks: biology professor and creationist

Robert Gentry: nuclear physicist and creationist

Robert Gilbert: researches spiritual topics

Robert Herrmann: mathematician who studies religious topics

Robert Jahn: professor emeritus at Princeton who studies consciousness anomalies

Robert Marks: engineering professor and proponent of intelligent design

Robert Piccioni: physicist who combines science and religion

Robert Pollack: biology professor with an interest in religion

Robert Russell: physicist and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Robert Schoch: geologist and parapsychology researcher

Robert Ulanowicz: theoretical ecology professor who writes about science and religion

Robert Van de Castle: studies telepathic dreaming

Robin Taylor: psychology lecturer and parapsychology researcher

Rodney Holder: astrophysicist and priest

Roger Christianson: biology professor and evangelical Christian

Roger Nelson: Director of the Global Consciousness Project

Roger Schlafly: mathematician and evolution skeptic

Roger Walsh: physician who researches integral studies

Ron Samec: physics professor and creationist

Ronald Bryan: physics professor with an interest in remote healing

Ronald Marks: chemistry professor and creationist

Rosalind Picard: professor at MIT who practices faith

Roy Spencer: proponent of intelligent design

Royal Truman: organic chemist and creationist

Rupert Sheldrake: biochemist who researches telepathy

Russell Carlson: biochemist and intelligent design advocate

Russell Cowburn: nanotechnology researcher director who also practices religion

Russell Humphreys: physicist and creationist

Russell Stannard: physicist who practices Christian faith

Russell Targ: physicist and remote viewing researcher

Rustum Roy: materials scientist who studies science and religion

S. Barry Cooper: math professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

Saami Shaibani: physics professor and Biblical Christian

Sally Rhine Feather: psi researcher

Satyan Devadoss: math professor and Christian writer

Scott Minnich: microbiology professor and intelligent design supporter

Sean Ho: math professor who writes about Christianity

Sean Pitman: pathologist and Christian blogger

Serena Roney Dougal: obtained a Ph.D. in parapsychology

Seung-hoon Yang: physics professor and creationist

Shaikh Abdul Mabud: physicist who researches connections between Islam and science

Siegfried Scherer: microbiology professor who writes about science and religion

Simeon Hein: director of the Institute for Resonance

Simon Kolstoe: structural biology researcher and member of Christians in Science

Simon Conway Morris: paleontologist who seeks to unify evolution and Christian faith

Sondra Barrett: biochemist and spiritual researcher

Stanislav Grof: psychiatrist who studies anomalous states of consciousness

Stanley Krippner: psychology professor who studies parapsychology

Stanley Mumma: architectural engineering professor and creationist

Stefan Einhorn: professor of molecular oncology and author of a book about God

Stefan Schmidt: has researched topics in parapsychology

Stephan Schwartz: senior fellow at the Samueli Institute who has conducted experiments in parapsychology

Stephen Barr: physicist who studies science and religion

Stephen Braude: professor and parapsychologist

Stephen Grocott: chemistry professor and creationist

Stephen La Berge: conducted remote viewing experiments with the military

Stephen Taylor: electrical engineering lecturer and creationist

Stephen Unwin: physicist and writer on faith and probability

Steven Austin: geology professor and creationist

Steven Gollmer: physics professor and creationist

Steven Hayes: nuclear engineer and Christian

Stuart Burgess: engineering professor and creationist

Stuart Wilson: parapsychologist and lecturer in psychology

Sung-Ki Min: mechanical engineer and creationist

Syman Stevens: physicist and executive director of the BioLogos Foundation

Tas Walker: mechanical engineer and creationist

Thierry Magnin: physics professor and priest

Thomas Yi: mechanical engineer and creationist

Tiago Branco: chemical engineer and member of A Rocha

Timothy Standish: biologist and intelligent design supporter

Todd Wood: biologist and creationist

Tom Campbell: physicist who researches out of body experiences

Tom Tadfor Little: astronomer and Tarot writer

Travis Taylor: optical physicist and the author of a book about the law of attraction

Trinh Xuan Thuan: astrophysicist who studies Buddhism

Troy Riggs: math professor and vice president of Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Troy Van Voorhis: MIT chemistry professor and evangelical Christian

Tsevi Mazeh: astrophysics professor who studies science and religion

Ulrich Mohrhoff: physicist who combines physics with Indian spiritual teachings

Usama Hasan: physicist who writes about faith

Vijai Shankar: molecular biologist and spiritual teacher

Vinoth Ramachandra: nuclear engineer and advocate of Christianity

Walt Brown: mechanical engineer and creationist

Walter Bradley: engineering professor and creationist

Walter Thirring: physicist who promotes the compatibility of science and religion

Walter Veith: nutritional physiology professor with an interest in Biblical prophecy

Walter von Lucadou: physicist and parapsychology researcher

Warren Brown: neuropsychologist and founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion

Wayne Carr: psychologist and remote viewing researcher

Wayne Frair: biologist and creationist

Werner Gitt: information scientist and creationist

William Bengston: sociology professor who studies energy healing

William Braud: studies consciousness and transpersonal psychology

William Hurlbut: neurology professor and advisor to the Templeton Foundation

William Kautz: scientist who studies intuition and channeling

William Phillips: Nobel prize winning physicist with an interest in the connection between science and religion

William Roll: parapsychologist and professor at the University of West Georgia

William Stoeger: astrophysicist and theologian

William Tiller: professor emertius of materials science at Stanford who studies subtle energies

Wolfgang Kuhn: biology professor and creationist

York Dobyns: researcher at Princeton who studies retropsychokinesis

Young-Gil Kim: materials science professor and creationist

Young-Sang Choi: physics professor and creationist

Zaki Kirmani: chemist who researches connections between Islam and science

Zoltan Vassy: physicist and parapsychology researcher

Organizations:

Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies: researches knowledge of paranormal phenomena

Alister Hardy Society: promotes the study of spiritual experiences

American Scientific Affiliation: organization of religious scientists

American Society for Psychical Research: explores psi phenomena

Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit: part of the psychology department at the University of London

Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences: network of Christian mathematicians

Atlantic University: a distance learning institute with professors who research parapsychology

Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research: a nonprofit parapsychology association

Bial Foundation: funds research in parapsychology

BioLogos Forum: an organization started by National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins to study the intersection of science and faith

Boundary Institute: a nonprofit science research organization whose activities include attempting to send a message back in time

California Institute of Integral Studies: an institute that studies consciousness and transformation

Center for Islam and Science: discusses interactions between science and Islam

Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology: organization that researches anomalies

Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences: promotes the interaction between theology and the natural sciences

Centre for Fundamental and Anomalies Research: studies controversial and anomalous issues in science

Christian Neuroscience Society: organization for religious scientists

Christians in Science: organization for scientists who are religious

Conference on Science and Consciousness: a conference that discusses the frontiers of consciousness

CPAK Conference: a conference on precession and ancient knowledge

Foundation for Mind/Being Research: studies metaphysics and consciousness

Global Congress of Spiritual Scientists: event for scientists who practice spirituality

HESA Institute: an organization that studies bioenergy fields

Institute for Creation Science: organization that promotes creationism

Institute of Noetic Sciences: studies consciousness and the nature of reality

Institute of Transpersonal Psychology: a school for those interested in studying psychology and spirituality

Integral Institute: an organization that includes scholars who research a variety of topics

International Academy of Consciousness: studies out of body experiences

International Consciousness Research Laboratories: exploring the spiritual heritage of scientific inquiry

International Remote Viewing Association: studies and promotes responsible remote viewing

International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design: an organization that promotes intelligent design

International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine: studies the therapeutic potential of various forms of energy

Islamic Crescents’ Observation Project: studies Islamic astronomy

Koestler Parapsychology Unit: a research group at Edinburgh University that studies parapsychology

Laboratories for Fundamental Research: involved in studying remote viewing

Maharishi University of Management: a school for consciousness based education

Metanexus Institute: promotes the engagement of science and religion

Mind & Life Institute: exploring the relationship between science and Buddhism

Monroe Institute: explores consciousness and out of body experiences

Monterey Institute for the Study of Alternative Healing Arts: studies epigenetics and the biofield and has an extensive list of scientific advisors

Pacific Neuropsychiatric Institute: researches anomalistic cognition

Parapsychological Association: an organization of scientists who study psi

Parapsychology Foundation: an organization that supports the scientific investigation of psi

Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity: a group skeptical of evolution

Project Stargate: a series of experiments on remote viewing conducted by the CIA and SRI

Psyleron: a research organization that explores the connection between the mind and the physical world

Quantrek: researches frontier science

Reasons to Believe: a group of scientists that seeks to unify science and Christian faith

Rhine Research Center: studies consciousness and parapsychology

Science and Nonduality: a conference that seeks to combine science and spirituality

Society for Psychical Research: an organization that explores psi and paranormal phenomena

Society for Scientific Exploration: explores phenomena beyond the boundaries of mainstream science

Templeton Foundation: makes grants to projects that explore science and spirituality

The Consciousness Chronicles: a documentary series focused on consciousness

The Ghost Club: the world’s oldest parapsychological association

William A. Tiller Foundation: studies the effects of human intention on physical reality

Journals:

Australian Journal of Parapsychology

European Journal of Parapsychology

International Journal of Parapsychology

Journal of Consciousness Studies

Journal of Near-Death Studies

Journal of Parapsychology

Journal of Religion and Psychical Research

Journal of Scientific Exploration

Journal of Subtle Energy

Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research

Journal of the Society for Psychical Research

Parapsychologia

Parapsychological Journal of South Africa

Parapsychology Review

Paranormal Review

Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association

Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research

Psi Journal

Psychoenergetics

Research in Parapsychology

Subtle Energies

Updated 7/8/2012

The Wall Street Journal Guide to Investing in the Apocalypse is a new book written by James Altucher with Douglas Sease. Altucher is an entrepreneur, hedge fund manager, and venture capitalist who has experienced the heights of success and the depths of failure. He’s one of my favorite writers in both blog and book form. I bought this book for two reasons:

1. I have a major interest in existential risks and the continued existence of humanity. I discuss this topic further in my post Why Hasn’t the World Ended?

2. I wanted to support Altucher after his brief Twitter skirmish with journalist Naomi Klein over the ethics of the book’s subject matter.

Klein is probably correct about some things, but her books are seriously depressing. They follow a pattern taken by many pundits on both the political left and political right. The vast majority of those types of books spend most of their pages discussing everything wrong with the world. Then they reserve a few pages at the end of the book for briefly discussing halfhearted and unworkable suggestions for fixing things. I prefer authors who don’t shy away from brutal truths, but who also devote serious brainpower to thinking about how to make things better.

First, a few minor quibbles about Altucher’s book. His book is fairly brief and he seems to have confidence that markets will still exist during a true disaster. That confidence may be misplaced. Those minor points aside, I’m still glad he focuses on potential solutions during disasters. I’m more interested in broad trends rather than specific stocks, so that’s what I focus on in this post. The book still has many useful stock recommendations.

Here’s some advice based on material in the book:

Introduction:

• Buy stocks when everyone else is terrified. If the worst expectations don’t occur, asset prices will shoot up when people crowd back into the markets.

• Short selling is too risky when trying to make money off of panics related to specific events or fears. Even seemingly knowledgeable people can be wiped out when trying to profit from a decline.

Fundamentals of Apocalyptic Investing:

• Good companies eventually win and the companies that are innovative and can anticipate world-changing events will do especially well.

• Use diversification to temper the volatility of stocks. The more money you have in safe places, the less likely you’ll be tempted to sell during volatile times.

• If you require access to substantial amounts of cash within a few years for major expenditures, don’t keep the money in risky asset classes like stocks.

• Make sure companies are run by good managers.

• Avoid short selling. The best possible return on a short position is 100%, which only happens when a stock goes to zero (a rare event). The downside of short selling, however, is potentially infinite.

• The three fundamental principles of apocalyptic investing:

1. Fade the Fear – Think clearly and rationally while everyone else is terrified and acting irrationally.

2. Invest Through the Back Door – Instead of only buying small risky stocks, buy stocks of major companies that have diverse product lines featuring products that will do well during a crisis and beyond.

3. Invest Through the Front Door – This strategy involves buying stocks of small companies working on solutions to longer-term and slowly-developing crises.

Pandemics:

• Buy an ETF of a market index of the area that is being most affected by a disaster. Hold the investment for a few years.

• Own a basket of shares of pharmaceutical companies that will benefit with or without a pandemic scenario.

• Buy a selection of stocks of small biotechnology companies that are working on vaccines. When Google Trends indicates that the pandemic is becoming less worrying, sell shares of the companies.

The Water Crisis:

• A report by Credit Suisse identifies four categories of water spending:

1. Activities and technologies that increase supply (recycling water and desalination)

2. Water infrastructure (water management, dams, and pipelines)

3. Processes that help reduce demand

4. Water management

Peak Oil:

• Buy shares of oil companies after oil disasters.

• Buy shares of companies that deliver solidly rising dividends.

• Invest in alternative energy.

• Invest in companies that can extract hard-to-find oil.

Global Warming:

• Good alternative energy investment choices include wind power and nuclear power companies.

• Buy stocks of companies that reduce emissions and control pollution.

• Invest in companies that make smart grid products to manage power demand and increase energy efficiency.

• Companies that make batteries for electric cars are even better investments than the companies that manufacture electric cars.

Terrorism:

• In the event of a terrorist attack, buy or average into a broad-based index using these guidelines:

1. Never use leverage when buying these dips.

2. Put one-third of your eventual position size on the line at a time to ease into the trade.

• Invest in broadly diversified conglomerates with good fundamentals.

• Invest in homeland security companies that build scanners, bomb detectors, surveillance cameras, vaccines for bioterrorism agents, and computer security products.

Asteroid Impact:

• Buy the stocks that are most brutally hit due to the fear of an asteroid impact.

• In general, buy a stock when it falls 20% in a month.

• Buy stock in companies that will continue to grow and raise dividends no matter what.

• Buy shares of aerospace companies that make technology to intercept and deflect asteroids.

Financial Collapse:

• Buy companies that have dipped but will recover when governments implement financial stimulus plans.

• Invest in financial exchange organizations that bring greater transparency to previously secretive transactions.

• Borrow against any hard assets you own. This works in both inflationary and deflationary environments.

• Invest in companies that benefit from depressions (pawnshops, software companies that process foreclosures, debt collectors)

Conclusion:

• We don’t have to accept the role of victims in the face of catastrophe. Fight back, recover, and prosper.

Neuroanatomy for Students of Behavioral Disorders is an excellent book by Dr. Ronald Green and Dr. Robyn Ostrander. It’s a great choice for anyone with an interest in how anatomy of the brain affects thinking and mood. The book has plenty of informative photos and illustrations. There is also a very useful appendix that provides a quick reference to neuroanatomy.

Here are some brief notes about areas of the brain and their relation to psychiatric conditions:

Introduction:

• Psychotherapy has effects on neural systems, as shown by neuroimaging techniques.

Information Flow:

• The cholinergic system helps regulate attention and is involved in the transition between asleep and awake states.

• The pathway from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens is critical to the brain’s reward system and its role in addictive disorders. This pathway may be responsible for hallucinations and delusions in schizophrenia and psychoses.

Behavioral State-Control Neurotransmitters:

• These neurotransmitters differ from glutamate (which is rapid-acting and excitatory) and GABA (which is rapid-acting and inhibitory).

• Dopamine D1 receptors modulates neuronal function contributing to cognitive processing in the prefrontal cortex.

• The mesocortical tract is believed to enhance working memory. Schizophrenia involves working memory deficits.

• SSRI-induced increased activation of 5HT1 receptors in basolateral amygdala may explain the effectiveness of SSRIs in ameliorating some of the anxiety disorders.

• The serotonergic system has been implicated in regulation of memory, aggression, anxiety, depression, sleep regulation, neuroendocrine control, sex behavior, pain perception, thermoregulation, feeding behavior, and motor systems.

• Increasing activity in the noradrenergic system can treat symptoms of ADHD.

• The noradrenergic system is involved in regulating mood, arousal, attention, vigilance, anxiety levels, aspects of the sleep-wake cycle, and appetitive behaviors.

• Acetylcholine is involved in nearly every aspect of behavioral and physiological regulation, including sensory processing, learning, memory, mood, attention, sleep, arousal, biorhythms, aggressive behavior, ingestive behavior, thermoregulation, and sexual behavior.

• Histamine’s role has not really been established in behavioral disorders, though the neurotransmitter is involved in sleep disorders.

• Antihistaminic agents are sedating.

The Thalamus:

• Thalamic nuclei abnormalities have been demonstrated in several behavioral disorders, including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and mood disorders.

• The thalamus has substantial interactions with the brain regions that make up the limbic system, which is involved in emotional and behavioral disorders.

• The medial geniculate to basolateral nucleus pathway is involved in the acquisition of conditioned fear.

• The pulvinar nucleus may be involved in visually-cued fear conditioning in PTSD.

• The medialdorsal nucleus has been implicated in schizophrenia, Korsakoff dementia, and OCD.

• The ventral anterior nucleus is implicated in OCD.

• The cerebellum could be involved in schizophrenia.

• The intralaminar nuclei are involved in arousal and sleep mechanisms.

• The thalamus plays a significant role in goal-related and learning behaviors.

Anxiety Disorder Prototypes:

• Traumatic events are processed by at least three anatomically separate systems. These systems include the hippocampus-parahippocampus, amygdala, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

• Other systems involved in PTSD include the orbitofrontal cortex, the insular cortex, and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.

• Information about fearful stimuli can reach the amygdala directly from the sensory thalamus or through the sensory cortex.

• The medial prefrontal cortex ameliorates fear responses.

• Veterans with PTSD show greater amygdala activation than those without PTSD.

• Panic disorder involves the central nucleus of the amygdala and the locus coeruleus.

• Brainstem sites, insular, anterior cingulate cortex, and other sites may contribute to the pathophysiology of panic disorder.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:

• Patients with OCD are thought to have disturbances in:

1. the prefrontal cortex – orbitofrontal PFC, medial PFC, and DLPFC

2. the basal ganglia – dorsal striatum (caudate, putamen) and ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens)

3. the thalamus – the ventral anterior, ventral lateral, and medialdorsal nuclei

• The orbitofrontal cortex is thought to be involved in the capacity to change behavior in response to a change in reward contingencies.

• The anterior cingulate may be related to changes in reward expectancy.

• Stimulating certain nodes of the corticostriatal circuits show promise in relieving symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Schizophrenia:

• Heightened activity of dopaminergic neurons that project from the ventral midbrain to the nucleus accumbens is considered partially responsible for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

• Negative symptoms like working memory deficits and abulic behavior are thought to involve frontotemporal, cortical, striatal, and thalamic circuitry. Nodes that are involved include portions of the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus, thalamus, temporal lobe, and cerebellum.

• In brains of schizophrenics, interneuron numbers are reduced and there is less volume of dendrites and axons in certain regions. Neuroimaging studies have shown decreased volume of gray matter in the frontal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, and medial temporal lobe structures.

• People with schizophrenia have reduced activation of the DLPFC.

• Decreased levels of N-acetylaspartate and decreased mRNA expression of the enzyme that synthesizes GABA in the PFC have bee found in persons with schizophrenia.

• 75% of MRI studies reported different temporal lobe volumes in schizophrenic patients compared to controls.

• Studies have shown lower volume and neuronal number in the MDN in persons with schizophrenia.

• Glutamate excitotoxicity and damage to GABAergic interneurons is involved in the development of schizophrenia.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:

• Dopaminergic dysfunction is a core deficit in ADHD.

• Norepinephrine has also been implicated in ADHD. Norepinephrine may influence spatial working memory and attention in the PFC.

• Behaviors resulting from injuries to the prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and basal ganglia are similar to attentional and behavioral manifestations of ADHD.

• An MRI study of children with ADHD found smaller brain volumes in every area studied (unrelated to the use of stimulant medications).

• Cerebellar dysfunction is also involved in ADHD.

Addiction Disorders:

• Dysregulation of the following regions and their interconnections is thought to underlie the behavioral manifestations of addiction – ventral tegmental area, nucleus acumbens, anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices, hippocampal formation, amygdala, and insula.

• Dopaminergic effects on medium spiny neurons lead to disinhibition of reward-seeking behavior.

• Disruption of the PFC has been shown to lead to the loss of self-directed or willed behavior and to lead to automatic sensory-driven and compulsive behaviors.

• The basolateral complex of the amygdala has some involvement in creating the stimulus-reward associations that may contribute to drug seeking and relapse in drug addiction.

• Drugs of abuse are harmful to neurons in the hippocampus.

Mood Disorders:

• Stimulation of the white matter adjacent to subgenual anterior cingulate gyrus cortex gray matter has beneficial effects on patients with treatment-refractory major depression.

• The brain regions that are of most interest in major depressive disorder include SgACC, dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC, obitofrontal cortex, insula, medial regions of the thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.

• In depressed patients, increased connectivity exists between the SgACC and the amygdala.

• Cognitive behavioral treatment is associated with significant metabolic changes that include increased activity in the hippocampus & dorsal cingulate and decreased activity in the dorsal, ventral, & medial frontal cortex.

• Hippocampal neurogenesis is associated with antidepressant treatment.

Nonsense on Stilts by Dr. Massimo Pigliucci is a book about how to think. The brain doesn’t come with a complete instruction manual at birth, so I’ve been trying to figure out some ways of improving my thinking. This book is a great resource to start with. Pigliucci is a professor at the City University of New York and author of the blog Rationally Speaking.

Some tips and strategies from the book include:

• Explanatory capability and predictive power are two of the most important measures of science.

• Understanding causality is a significant part of performing science.

• The concept of replicability can also be useful.

• Good science doesn’t necessarily require experiments. It can be done using observational evidence.

• The common thread in all of science is the ability to produce and test hypotheses based on systematically collected empirical data (via experiments or observations).

• When enough similarities between events exist, this information can be used to make causal inferences.

• Human beings are not exempt from the laws of causality.

• The burden of proof rests with the person who makes an extraordinary claim.

• Have different hypotheses compete against each other for the best explanation of the available data.

• One of the criteria for a good explanation is that it requires the least number of unwarranted assumptions.

• Statistical significance is only valid if an experiment is actually designed correctly.

• Be skeptical of research produced by partisan think tanks and advocacy groups.

• Search for evidence that disconfirms your hypothesis instead of only searching for confirmatory evidence.

• Use Bayesian analysis to evaluate hypotheses.

College students are reporting incredibly high levels of stress. People are trying to figure out the precipitating causes in articles like these:

• Why are College Students Reporting Record High Levels of Stress?

• American Anxiety

According to psychology professor Robert Leahy in the second article, today’s average college student experiences as much anxiety as psychiatric patients did in the 1950’s!

Much of this is probably a result of the following reasons:

• continuing weakness of the global economy

• loss of social connection

• the fact that many high schools are incapable of preparing students for college

There is another likely culprit. Sugar plays havoc with blood glucose and neurotransmitters, leading to mood swings and reduced resilience. Sugar is also addictive like other drugs:

• Sugar Addiction? It Might be Genetic

• Sugar Found to Be More Addictive than Cocaine (albeit the study was conducted in rats)

Teenagers and young adults get a huge amount of their calories from sugar, especially when you consider that many people eat carbohydrates as a large percentage of their foods. Carbohydrates convert to sugar in the bloodstream and white carbs lead to a major insulin response, which is a bad thing.

Some possible solutions are:

• Eating less sugar & flour

• Eating more protein

• Replacing candy with dark chocolate

• Replacing regular soft drinks with diet soft drinks

• Sweetening foods with stevia, cinnamon, or vanilla extract

• Taking supplements to stabilize blood sugar and mood: chromium, magnesium, B vitamins, and fish oil

These suggestions won’t totally eliminate the stresses faced by college students, but they will definitely help.