The Channeling Zone

Neither a debunker nor an advocate, Michael Brown examines why so many intelligent Americans have turned to channeling as a source of spiritual guidance and how this links with older and more esoteric native religions.

"Nature performs not hing vainly, and makes nothing unnecessary" Aristotle Interest in the passage of charged particles through crystals first appeared at the beginning of this century following experiments on x-ray diffraction in crystallattices, which provided the proof of an ordered distribution of atoms in a crystal. Stark [1] put forward the hypothesis that certain directions in a crystal should be relatively transparent to charged particles. These first ideas on the channeling of charged particles in crystals were forgotten but became topical again in the early 1960s when the channeling effect was rediscovered by computer simulation [2] and in experiments [3] that revealed anomalously long ion ranges in crystals. The orientational ef fects during the passage of charged particles through crystals have been found for a whole range of processes characterized by small impact parameters for collisions between particles and atoms: nuclear reactions, large-angle scatter ing, energy losses. Lindhard explained the channeling of charged particles in crystals [4]. The results of the numerous investigations into the channeling of low-energy (amounting to several MeV) charged particles in crystals have been summarized in several monographs and reviews [5~8l.

In large chain bookstores the "religion" section is gone and in its place is an expanding number of topics including angels, Sufism, journey, recovery, meditation, magic, inspiration, Judaica, astrology, gurus, Bible, prophesy, evangelicalism, Mary, Buddhism, Catholicism, and esoterica. As Wade Clark Roof notes, such changes over the last two decades reflect a shift away from religion as traditionally understood to more diverse and creative approaches. But what does this splintering of the religious perspective say about Americans? Have we become more interested in spiritual concerns or have we become lost among trends? Do we value personal spirituality over traditional religion and no longer see ourselves united in a larger community of faith? Roof first credited this religious diversity to the baby boomers in his bestselling A Generation of Seekers (1993). He returns to interview many of these people, now in mid-life, to reveal a generation with a unique set of spiritual values--a generation that has altered our historic interpretations of religious beliefs, practices, and symbols, and perhaps even our understanding of the sacred itself. The quest culture created by the baby boomers has generated a "marketplace" of new spiritual beliefs and practices and of revisited traditions. As Roof shows, some Americans are exploring faiths and spiritual disciplines for the first time; others are rediscovering their lost traditions; others are drawn to small groups and alternative communities; and still others create their own mix of values and metaphysical beliefs. Spiritual Marketplace charts the emergence of five subcultures: dogmatists, born-again Christians, mainstream believers, metaphysical believers and seekers, and secularists. Drawing on surveys and in-depth interviews for over a decade, Roof reports on the religious and spiritual styles, family patterns, and moral vision and values for each of these subcultures. The result is an innovative, engaging approach to understanding how religious life is being reshaped as we move into the next century.

Scour and Erosion includes four keynote lectures from world leading researchers cutting across the themes of scour and erosion, together with 132 peer-reviewed papers from 34 countries, covering the principal themes of: - internal erosion - sediment transport - grain scale to continuum scale - advanced numerical modelling of scour and erosion - terrestrial scour and erosion- river and estuarine erosion including scour around structures, and - management of scour/erosion and sediment, including hazard management and sedimentation in dams and reservoirs. Scour and Erosion is ideal for researchers and industry working at the forefront of scour and erosion, and has applications in both the freshwater and marine environments.

Advances in Geophysics

Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Fast Particles in Solids examines the kinetics and non-equilibrium statistical thermodynamics of fast charged particles moving in crystals in different modes. It follows a line of research very different from traditional ways of constructing a theory of radiation effects, which gives a purely mechanistic interpretation of particle motion. In contrast, this book takes into account the thermodynamic forces due to separation of the thermodynamic parameters of the subsystem of particles ("hot" atoms) on the parameters of the thermostat (electrons and lattice), in addition to covering the various mechanisms of collisions. Topics Include: Construction of a local kinetic equation of Boltzmann type for fast particles interacting with the conduction electrons and lattice vibrations, on the basis of the principles of Bogolyubov’s kinetic theory Calculation of the equilibrium energy and angular distributions of fast particles at a depth of the order of coherence length, and the evolution of particle distribution with increasing depth of penetration of the beam Calculation of transverse quasi-temperature of channeled particles with the heating of the beam in the process of diffusion of particles in the space of transverse energies, as well as cooling the beam through a dissipative process Research in the framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics of the relaxation kinetics of random particles, including the thermodynamics of positronium atoms moving in insulators under laser irradiation Analysis of the kinetics of hot carriers in semiconductors and thermalization of hot carriers, as well as the calculation of the statistical distribution of ejected atoms formed during the displacement cascade The book sets a new direction of the theory of radiation effects in solids—non-equilibrium statistical thermodynamics of fast particles—and aims to focus and aid the reader in the study of new areas of investigation in this area.

By the twentieth century, science had become so important that religious traditions had to respond to it. Emerging religions, still led by a living founder to guide them, responded with a clarity and focus that illuminates other larger, more established religions’ understandings of science. The Hare Krishnas, the Unification Church, and Heaven’s Gate each found distinct ways to incorporate major findings of modern American science, understanding it as central to their wider theological and social agendas. In tracing the development of these new religious movements’ viewpoints on science during each movement’s founding period, we can discern how their views on science were crafted over time. These NRMs shed light on how religious groups—new, old, alternative, or mainstream—could respond to the tremendous growth of power and prestige of science in late twentieth-century America. In this engrossing book, Zeller carefully shows that religious groups had several methods of creatively responding to science, and that the often-assumed conflict-based model of “science vs. religion” must be replaced by a more nuanced understanding of how religions operate in our modern scientific world.

In 1971 Doubleday published a book called Journeys Out of the Body, a Virginia businessman's memoir of his weird and wonderful adventures on other planes of reality. That book, which has sold more than a million copies, and that man, Robert Monroe, helped cement the concept of astral travel into the American psyche and made the "out-of-body experience" a household word. Monroe not only helped others understand this state of being, but through his research on binaural beats and his development of the technology known as Hemi-Sync, he made the OBE accessible through programs at The Monroe Institute, which is attended by thousands of people each year. However, Monroe made consciousness research more than an esoteric thrill ride. He put his technology to practical use by creating frequencies that have helped people with everything from meditation and learning, to insomnia, quitting smoking, and pain control.