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For nearly five decades, IONS has been devoted to studying various forms of knowing. What we mean by knowing is how people receive information from the interconnected field of consciousness — beyond traditional concepts of space and time. Some of these ways of knowing include, but are not limited to, intuition, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, precognition, etc. We each have an individual and unique way of accessing or expressing this information and energy, like a thumbprint. At IONS, we refer to this as your “Noetic Signature.” Researching this phenomenon is one of IONS main research focuses right now.

We feel fortunate here at IONS to be able to continue our programming, offering free online gatherings for the IONS community. The Noetic Global Gatherings series continues this month with an exploration of the Science of Mediumship featuring IONS scientist, Dr. Arnaud Delorme. Our hypothesis is that everything is interconnected, and by embodying an awareness of this interconnection, we can tap into information and energy not limited by space and time, such as mediumship and the abilities to connect and communicate with another level or realm of awareness. We are excited to share the latest research with you at our next Noetic Global Gathering.

One of the most common experiences that people encounter during the practice of meditation is the tendency for the mind to wander. It can be especially noticeable when we meditate with an object of meditative focus (i.e. the breath or a mantra) and our mind drifts to the ongoing thoughts and ideas that surface. Mind wandering goes by many names including daydreaming or spontaneous thought, and generally occurs when the demands on our attention are quite low, such as during the practice of meditation, reading, or driving. IONS scientist Dr. Arnaud Delorme and Dr. Tracy Brandmeyer explored the nature of the wandering mind during meditation in their recent publication, When the Meditating Mind Wanders, and what happens when the wandering mind goes rogue.

IONS is excited to announce the publication of a paper on mediumship by two of our scientists, Arnaud Delorme, PhD, and Dean Radin, PhD in Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. The paper, titled “Intuitive Assessment of Mortality Based on Facial Characteristics: Behavioral, Electrocortical, and Machine Learning Analyses” investigates whether some individuals can intuitively gauge whether a person is alive or not, based solely upon a quick glance of the person in a photograph. While studies have shown that various characteristics of the human face can indicate a wealth of information about health status, most of that research focuses on understanding connections between health status and history with certain facial characteristics.

BIAL is a Portuguese pharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and provide therapeutic solutions within the area of health. The Fundação BIAL is the non-profit foundation arm of company and is a major funder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and parapsychology in general. Every two years Fundação BIAL has a conference in Porto, Portugal bringing their grantees together for presentations, discussions, and networking in a stimulating environment. They also have the noble goal of having scientists present on non-controversial topics—stimulating and collegial conversations between mainstream and parapsychological scientists. Many scientists have never heard of the more controversial topics typical for IONS scientists, and thus, expansion of everyone’s worldview ensues.

Earlier this month, Cassandra Vieten, Helané Wahbeh, Jonathan Schooler, and myself made presentations at the Symposium on Human Consciousness at the Vivenanda Ashram on paradise island near Nassau in the Bahamas. More than 200 participants from the ashram attended our sessions. Ashram participants are college graduates from all around the world interested in yoga and eastern philosophy. They are not necessarily devotees, although a core group of about 15 staff members are devotees themselves. It was therefore an enthusiastic and receptive audience to present our ideas and research.

I think, therefore I am. Right?! Maybe not. Modern science has typically localized consciousness in the brain, but recent studies have shown evidence of consciousness showing up in the heart, the gut, and parts of individual cells. What will be revealed next? Could the mystics be right in their experience that consciousness extends beyond the body? Across time and space? What if the brain resides in consciousness, rather than the other way around?

Welcome to our second edition of Breaking News, giving you the latest updates on what’s happening in Research at IONS.