Mind over Matter: Inside Hypnobirthing

Detection of (dark) matter concentrations via weak gravitational lensing

The distortion of images of faint background galaxies by (weak) gravitational lensing can be used to measure the mass distribution of the deflector. Reconstruction methods for the mass profile of lensing clusters have been developed and successfully tested. Alternatively, the image distortions can be used to define a weighted mean of the mass inside a circular aperture, as was first suggested b...

A New Mind for a New Aesthetics

While the extent of the dependence between theories of aesthetics and models of the mind is a matter of lively debate, it is fair to claim that current approaches to consciousness suggest new perspectives about the nature of aesthetic experience. Recent findings of neuroscience have affected how we see aesthetics and art. Nevertheless, while it is often suggested that neuroscience will soon off...

Of Mind Over . . . Matter

A new test for the stable clustering hypothesis

The stable clustering hypothesis is a fundamental assumption about the nonlinear clustering of matter in cosmology. It states that the mean physical separation of particles is a constant on sufficiently small scales. While many authors have attempted to test the hypothesis with cosmological N-body simulations, no consensus has been reached on whether and where the hypothesis is valid, because o...

What ’ s Dark Mat ter and How Mind Inf luences Brain Through Proact ive Spin

Benjamin has written an article entitled “ Dark Chemistry or Psychic Spin Pixel?” which promotes a “ dark chemistry” model of mind and discuss the spin-mediated theory. This hypothetical chemistry is based on the hypothetical axion dark matter. Although Benjamin is commendable for boldly going where no one has gone before, he may find himself still in the “ bright” territory instead of the “ da...