246 research outputs found
The psychic life of Dr Tanous
No full textThat rare individual, Dr Alex Tanous, may no longer be with us, but his memory and work lives on, mostly due to the activity of the Alex Tanous Foundation and now also due to the enterprise of SPR member Callum E. Cooper. Amongst the plethora of people claiming to be psychic, Tanous is noteworthy for his involvement with Dr Karlis Osis and the American Society for Psychical Research, and his willingness to test his claims under laboratory conditions. Cooper has recently edited some previously unpublished material by Tanous and published it as Conversations with Ghosts with White Crow Books. It was Cooper who approached me to do this special feature and introduced me to Alice Tanous Kelley, Alex Tanous’s niece and Research Assistant at the Alex Tanous Foundation. She has been exceptionally helpful in providing illustrative material for this issue. In addition, Callum solicited some very personal contributions from well-known and much-respected figures in psychical research, in alphabetical order: Prof. Erlendur Haraldsson and Gerd Hövelmann. Attendees at last year’s SPR conference (jointly held with the Parapsychological Association) will remember Prof. Haraldsson’s excellent talk on the Icelandic medium Indridi Indridason and Hövelmann being presented with the greatly deserved Parapsychological Association’s Outstanding Career Award. Special features give the Paranormal Review a unique character and allow us to explore issues in a greater depth than one normally finds. But of course, I always aim to include articles on different topics. This issue we have a number of original historical and theoretical researches, as well as some new features. Wim Kramer and Maurice van Luijtelaar recently made some important archival discoveries and now present their thorough analysis of a most interesting case; and Robert Charman takes the implications of Predictive Anticipatory Activity head on. Readers will also notice two new features: one focusing on the people; the other on some of their weird things. To make this work, I need your help and to risk sounding like Number Two from The Prisoner: ‘We want information... information... information’. Please do send me an email when you do anything paranormal
Forbidden Histories : Callum E. Cooper interviews Andreas Sommer on the importance of historical awareness for psychology
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Diet quality and sarcopenia in older adults:: a systematic review
No full textThe increasing recognition of sarcopenia, the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function (muscle strength and physical performance), as a determinant of poor health in older age, has emphasized the importance of understanding more about its aetiology to inform strategies both for preventing and treating this condition. There is growing interest in the effects of modifiable factors such as diet; some nutrients have been studied but less is known about the influence of overall diet quality on sarcopenia. We conducted a systematic review of the literature examining the relationship between diet quality and the individual components of sarcopenia, i.e. muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance, and the overall risk of sarcopenia, among older adults. We identified 23 studies that met review inclusion criteria. The studies were diverse in terms of the design, setting, measures of diet quality, and outcome measurements. A small body of evidence suggested a relationship between healthier diets and better muscle mass outcomes. There was limited and inconsistent evidence for a link between ‘healthier’ diets and lower risk of declines in muscle strength. There was strong and consistent observational evidence for a link between ‘healthier’ diets and lower risk of declines in physical performance. There was a small body of cross-sectional evidence showing an association between healthier diets and lower risk of sarcopenia. This review provides observational evidence to support the benefits of diets of higher quality for physical performance among older adults. Findings for the other outcomes considered suggest some benefits, although the evidence is either limited in its extent (sarcopenia) or inconsistent/weak in its nature (muscle mass, muscle strength). Further studies are needed to assess the potential of whole-diet interventions for the prevention and management of sarcopenia
Counselling the discarnate and the methodological approach: Comment on Ferreira (2013)
No full textI was surprised to read the paper by Ferreira (2013) regarding communication with the dead in a distressed state (post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) via the author's use of entering an out-of-body state. This paper was produced at the same time I was editing some of the unpublished work of the late Dr. Alex Tanous regarding his research on ghosts and hauntings through the American Society for Psychical Research (Tanous with Cooper, 2013). Both publications and purported psi abilities are linked very closely
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of after-death communication in the bereavement process of professed sceptics
No full textAfter-death communication (ADC) has been shown to have a highprevalence in bereavement (Klugman, 2006; Sanger, 2009) and previousresearch suggests that ADC can have a significant influence on griefoutcomes (Daggett, 2005; Parker, 2005; Rees, 1971). The impact of ADC in the bereavement process includes providing comfort and reassuring the bereaved (Rees, 1971; Parker, 2005; Daggett, 2005), improving continued bonds with the deceased (Drewry, 2003; Beischel et al., 2015), promoting spiritual growth (Wright et al, 2014; Cooper, 2016a), and positive emotional drives (Cooper, 2016b). However, these effects have been mainly documented in believers in an afterlife, hence leading to a need for the representation of professed sceptics. Consequently, the present study explored how sceptics interpret ADC experiences that conflict with their belief systems, the meanings they attribute to them, and their effect on the bereavement process
4D SRXCT Data of Maize roots (Zea mays c.v. Lark / AGT1) ingressing different soils
No full textThese are 3D synchrotron X-ray computed tomography data, showing plant roots ingressing different soils. There are three compressed folders, with the contents representing individual image steps of the different samples. Each sample was imaged 8 times across time, at 6-minute intervals, producing a time-lapse sequence.
Data is available on request via http://library.soton.ac.uk/datarequest</span
Criticisms raised against the investigation of purportedly anomalous telephone occurrences
No full textRogo and Bayless (1979) published a two-year investigation into reports of perceived contact with the dead via the telephone, and telephone calls from living people verified to be elsewhere at the time the call took place. Criticisms of their research methods — more so than of the phenomena themselves — began to appear in various forms, including as book reviews in parapsychology journals, which in some instances gave the researchers a chance to reply. Such criticisms were briefly summarised in a recent updated study of telephone anomalies (Cooper, 2014, p. 211). However, it is argued that some of the methodological criticisms raised deserve further response in defence of the researchers. This paper presents a collective summary of these critiques (following extensive searches for such reviews) and rejoinders
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