I'd like to be very clear here: this is not pareidolia, our ability to see patterns in random objects. The verses are clearly there, and not just random. As one pilgrim said, "It's proof that Allah exists, that he is all-mighty..."
However -- and perhaps this is just me here -- it seems far more likely that instead of an actual miracle, someone is maybe, y'know, writing the verses on the baby. The mother says the baby is cranky when the words appear, which (if she's being truthful) you might expect if someone is scraping or otherwise irritating the baby's skin to make the words appear. I'll note that the words fade with time, too, just as expected if this is a fraud.
In the coming weeks, we’re going to try giving Swift a serious overhaul. We’d like to see our frontpage brimming with original reportage, controversial commentary, intelligent critiques of critical thought (or its conspicuous absence) in popular media, profiles of skeptics and woo-woos, book reviews, and thought-provoking essays.
The media is abuzz about an apparent discovery by two doctors, Jack Gallant and Sinji Nishimoto, who have invented a "psychic computer." The computer can read a person's thoughts, and display them on a screen as a video. Sounds far-fetched? Well, it is, and it's too early to tell what exactly these two have invented.
As the Times UK reports, the study has not been peer reviewed, so we can't be sure what they're doing, but it appears that using an fMRI, a machine that can read brain activity, and a computer with a custom algorithm, they can reproduce people's thoughts on a screen.
If I understand it correctly, it works like this: when you think of a color or a shape, certain areas in the brain activate. The fMRI can read these activations, and through the algorithm, reproduce the conditions necessary for that to happen. A green square would produce a distinct pattern, the fMRI would pick it up, report it to the computer, who then decodes the pattern back into a green square. This all happens real time, so the image appears as a video.
The video shown here is from 2007, but it's been making the rounds again. It shows a skateboarder attempting what I assume is a moderately difficult move, and failing a few times before finally suceeding. Uri Geller is on scene, and it's hard to tell if he's helping the lad or merely getting in the way.
From this clip, we've learned that Geller believes he has a magic Sharpie, the ability to lubricate wheels, and the power to remove negative influences from concrete. Apparently, these powers aren't working all that well, because it takes him several tries.
Watch the skater in the clip... especially his eyes. What are they saying? It looks to me like they're saying "Who is this clown, and how can I get rid of him?" He seems relieved when Geller finally walks away with another "success" under his belt.
A long-time friend of the JREF who, for the purposes of this article shall remain nameless, recently went to Paris to visit the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery, eternal resting place of luminaries such as Jim Morisson, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde. During this visit, our friend visited the grave of Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy.
The grave, though elaborate and well-kept, was missing a certain something. It seemed... lonely somehow, and our friend thought she could fix that right up. I can't help but imagine Wilde chortling in his coffin. Could it be that they landed in search of water, and nothing else?
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