In what I’m sure is an April Fool’s prank, New Scientist is reporting Italian scientists are speculating psychic emanations from children going through puberty is responsible for poltergeist activity.
Brovetto and Maxia hypothesise that the changes in the brain that occur at puberty involve fluctuations in electron activity that, in rare cases, can create disturbances up to a few metres around the outside of the brain.
These disturbances would be similar in character to the quantum mechanical fluctuations that physicists believe occur in the vacuum, in which “virtual” particle and antiparticle pairs pop up for a fleeting moment, before they annihilate each other and disappear again.
Brovetto and Maxia believe that the extra fluctuations triggered by the pubescent brain would substantially enhance the presence of the virtual particles surrounding the person. This could slowly increase the pressure of air around them, moving objects and even sending them hurtling across the room.
I love it! Straight out of comic book science. If this were real, these guys would take the top spot on my crackpot list.
on Apr 2nd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I see dead people……
Troy