Life & times of Tallulah Bankhead; the volcano of tinsel town

Book reviewed: Tallulah, Darling: A Biography of Tallulah Bankhead by Denis Brian

Tallulah Bankhead was a ravishing beauty and an incredible stage and screen actress. She brutalized her body, broke her bones, deprived her sleep, smoked marijuana, sniffed cocaine, took upper and downers, boozed bourbon, gave the coat off her back to the needy, cherished her friends, infuriated her rivals, pained puritans, and was a joy to fellow nonconformists and social revolutionaries. If she had cared for her trade deeply she would have been the greatest actress of her times. She played in many memorable roles in movies and Broadway. Many roles for which she was screen-tested did not materialize which made her awfully sad. She indulged in almost everything that is frowned upon by the righteous and condemned by the cautious. One of her greatest fears was that she would disgrace her father, a man most dear to her soul. She once described her father as a fusion of “Santa Claus, Galahad and Demosthenes.” He was a source of love, pride and encouragement in spite many nightmares she gave him by her uninhibited antics.

Tallulah Bankhead soaked up pain and pleasures much of her life; “codeine-bourbon” was her last coherent words before she died in the winter of 1968. She took off her clothes in public so often that many of her friends learnt to ignore it. Part of her secret of her fame was that she and the press were made for each other; almost everything she did was reported on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the life and times of Tallulah Bankhead that describes her personal and professional life in great detail in this book. Most of the books and blogs that write about her are to do with her taboo-breaking bacchanal behavior; but it is refreshing to read this book which also discusses her professional career in detail; both success and the failures.

Meredith Burgess recalls, when he was at a party at St Regis hotel, she appeared wild at the party, stark naked. Even though she had great figure no body paid any attention because they were so much used to those antics. When Vincent Price was a junior at Yale, he had serious crush on her. In one incident in 1938, he recalls; one evening he was in his dressing room for the set of “Tobacco Road,” she entered his room and walked to the restroom and sat on the deck, took a leak as if that there was nothing unusual about it. Her stripping naked was to shock and attract attention, her friends say. Treating her toilet seat as another spot to carry on a conversation was startling to many but amusing and endearing to those who knew her well. Tennessee Williams found this behavior refreshing. He found her honesty and shamelessness intriguing and a little puzzling. When she met Joan Crawford and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. she told her; “Darling, you are divine and I have had an affair with your husband and you will be next.” She once invited a taxi driver to spend the weekend with her and on Monday morning when he was leaving she told him that he as good as “King of England.” To one young man at a party, who could not wait to have tryst with her, told him to go home and wait for 30 min, and if she is not in by then he can start by himself. Alfred Hitchcock was a great admirer of Tallulah and liked her tremendous sense of humor. On one set a lady complained about Tallulah without panties. Hitchcock directed the unit manager to Darryl Zanuck and eventually her companion Paula Strasberg informed her about it. Not many liked to mess with Tallulah about issues that she regarded as her own business. Once President Truman called her on the phone when she was in the middle of watching a soap opera; she promptly asked him to call later. She smoked non-stop, she drank when she was not talking and she took cocaine and lovers constantly. Her drug and alcohol abuse made her dangerously ill many times.

She played in many memorable roles on screen and Broadway. Her performance on “Little Foxes,” which opened on Jan 30, 1939 was simply outstanding. She enthralled her fans, every stage/movie critic and her co-performers. Otto Preminger described her as tremendous; Lillian Hellman said that was the best part she ever had; and Norman Mailer and Joan Crawford both said that she was sensational and astonishing. Some roles for which she was screen-tested did not materialize which made her awfully sad. Tallulah did her first movie, the “Tarnished Lady” with George Cukor directing, and that was a hit. She became a life long friend of him and he called her very warm and a loving woman. Tallulah was Cukor’s favorite for Scarlett O’Hara’s role for “Gone with the wind;” about 90 actresses were tried for the role and eventually given to Vivien Leigh because Tallulah was considered “too old” for the role. She was heart-broken when she got the news. Tallulah turned down the offer to play in Tennessee Williams “A streetcar named Desiree,” and Ted Hooks, her secretary revealed that she did not like to utter the N word in the movie. She was cared by mammies when she was young, and she didn’t forget how loving they were to her. She cared about what was right and just in her own frame of consciousness. She was the first white woman to appear on the cover of Ebony magazine and was also on the original board of directors of NAACP. She strongly supported civil rights, and her maid Rose Riley was the first black maid allowed into the White House as a guest.

There are some rare pictures of Tallulah in this book, and one of my favorites is when she was sitting at the JFK’s presidential campaign along with Otto Preminger, Eva Marie Saint and Henry Fonda. She entertained the crowd for five hours when Kennedy was late for the meeting.

An illustrated history of West Hollywood

Book Reviewed: West Hollywood (CA) (Images of America) (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) [Paperback] by

Ryan Gierach

Anyone interested in West Hollywood would love to cherish this book and the numerous pictures that come with it. The author describes the birth and growth of this little city wonderfully. The book reads great and the pictures do a wonderful job of grasping many features of this town and how it evolved over the last 120 years.

In 1894, a man named Moses Sherman bought the land and designated it as the headquarters of the Los Angeles Pacific Railway Co., and year’s later motion picture studios of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks rolled into town; other studios like Chaplin Studios, Lasky studio and Union studios followed. Filming of the movies started in 1916 in West Hollywood. The present Sunset strip became the stomping ground for the elites of entertainment industry with its nightclubs, hotels, and apartments. It was the most glamorous nightlife destination. The author observes that its trendy nature made it a hub for the people of alternative life styles because the Los Angeles County’s law enforcement largely ignored this part until much later. In the 60s it became a major gathering place for the social revolutionaries and counter culture groups; hippies, musicians, and actors roamed in this town. Screen vamp Alla Nazimova an open lesbian and radical bohemian built the garden of Allah in 1921 for fun and frolicking; wild parties lasting days, orgies, pranks, fights, suicides and deaths. The Sunset strip turned into a play ground of stars: Luxury apartments such as Sunset Towers and Chateau Marmont were also built in late 1920s. The Gene Autry’s Hotel Continental (later became Hyatt House) was the sight of the storied hotel room destructions ever recorded in the tabloids. The parties lasted days. Nightclubs like Ciro’s, Mocambo and Trocadero sported top names during strips heyday. Schwab’s Pharmacy also became a center for publicity hangout. Aspiring stars and singers dined at the lunch counter waiting to be discovered. In 1930s, the film actors frequented shops along the strip such as Elizabeth Arden, and Montgomery’s Sunset Plaza became a glamorous shopping center. Many original buildings of the plaza still exist in the Sunset strip.

There are too many pictures to cherish; my favorites are photos from 1930’s Sunset strip area that included; the pictures of Chateau Marmont, Ciro’s (currently the Comedy Store), Café Trocadero, and The Sunset Towers. Other pictures worth mentioning are; the 1907 picture of Lauren Canyon rail line that ran on Sunset Blvd; 1920s shooting of film in W. Hollywood; the Pickford – Fairbanks studios of 1919, and the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market.

Atomic Obsession

Book reviewed: Atomic Obsession - Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda by John E. Mueller (Hardcover - November 5, 2009)

The proliferation of nuclear weapons is getting more dangerous than ever since Islamic nations such as Pakistan have acquired nuclear weapons, and Iran is on the verge of making one. The author also provides evidences for the moral and material support for Al Qaeda by Pakistani army and Pakistani physicists to help the Islamic terrorists to acquire these weapons. In spite of these disturbing reports, the author suggests that the fear over the use of such weapons is exaggerated, and our worries are unjustified. He observes that nuclear weapons have never been used since WWII despite the fact that a number of countries have them in their arsenal; hence we need not worry so much! The author's rush to this judgment is incorrect, because until now no Islamic nation possessed a nuclear weapon, but now one country has that, and another has acquired this technology. That means the whole dynamics changes. Since much of academics in universities and colleges are on the left; such a liberal bias is not unexpected.

The book is described in three parts. In the first part, the author argues that inventing nuclear weapons was a terrible waste of human talent, money, effort and a national tragedy, since a possible WWIII could be averted without them. The author argues that nations would have feared disastrous effects of even a conventional war let alone a nuclear war. The author has a short memory; ending of cold war between the two super powers, Libya's voluntary surrendering of nuclear program after Iraq war and the drone attacks on Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists in Pakistani territory have worked because US has nuclear weapons. The use of atomic bomb against Japan prevented further escalations of WWII.

The second part describes nuclear proliferation among nations and asserts that this tragedy was based on the wrong ideology that weapons and the arms race cause war, and not people; and militarily these weapons are useless since they are difficult to obtain, and never been used except for once. This sounds like an argument of a defeatist and an apologist, since he continues his argument by saying that chemical, biological and nuclear weapons (called weapons of mass destruction (WMD)) are a hysterical fear-mongering, because the damage of WMD in an actual war is not so far and wide as claimed. The author must tell this to a chemist or a biologist or even a physician; they will tell him the disastrous effect of radiation on the environment and on all living species. It is catastrophic even to think of such consequences.

The last part is the most interesting part since it discusses how terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and other rogue Islamic nations are trying to acquire these weapons, and how successful they are in producing them. The author provides a wide ranging reports that involves interactions between Pakistani nuclear physicists and Al Qaeda with the blessings of Pakistani military. It is the fear of United States retaliating against Pakistan that has prevented them to assist Al Qaeda and possibly Taliban. The author's analysis is jokingly simplistic and makes a mockery of seriousness of the issue. He claims that Al Qaeda can never be able to produce or acquire nuclear weapons; I hope the author's dream come true.

What makes this universe so structured and habitable?

Book reviewed: Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe by Martin J. Rees (Paperback - May 2001)

Space, time and matter are principal components of the universe in which matter and energy are interconvertible given by the famous Einstein's energy-mass equation. The structure and functions of the universe are guided by the laws of physics and four principal forces. These forces operate on matter and energy in spacetime to provide structure. The cosmic structures include; the clusters of galaxies, galaxies, clusters of stars, stars, planetary systems and various sub-planetary objects and stellar debris that fill the interstellar and interplanetary space. The atomic and subatomic particles are controlled mainly by the electromagnetic force, the weak force, and the strong force; the gravitational force is very weak and insignificant at the atomic level but plays a dominant role in the structure and functions of large cosmic bodies in the heavens. The classical laws of physics that includes the Newtonian physics and Einstein's theory of relativity are satisfactory in explaining the behavior of macroscopic structures of matter and energy, but the laws of quantum physics are necessary to explain the behavior of microscopic structures. The physical laws are described by equations and mathematical formulas, and these formulas quantitatively describe an observed behavior of matter and energy, and it also predicts unobserved behavior of physical objects.

There are several universal constants that appear in physics equations and in this book the author discusses the fundamentals of cosmology in easy to understand language with a focus on six physical constants that help shape our universe. These constants are as follows: the ratio of electromagnetic force to the gravitational force between two electrons is of the order of 10e(39). This is puzzling since pure numbers not associated with any measuring units must be close to unity when describing physical properties. Herman Weyl first observed this phenomenon and suggested that there may be a universal selection principle in operation. A small deviation from this would have produced a universe with no living beings. The structural constant which has a value of 1/137, determines how various atoms are formed from hydrogen, and what made our universe rich in carbon and oxygen that led to the evolution of living forms. A small deviation in this value would not have produced life forms, because enough life supporting carbon and oxygen wouldn't have been formed by the stars. The third constant is the cosmological constant that is very close to unity; if this constant was a little higher then the universe would have collapsed in big crunch, conversely if this constant was a little lower then the universe would have expanded at a tremendous pace without giving the matter the opportunity to undergo mass accretion to produce galaxies, stars and planetary systems. The fourth constant is the lambda - a cosmic antigravity force that controls the expansion of the universe and it has no discernable effect on scales less than a billion light years. This force is responsible for the expansion of our universe. The fifth constant, Q expresses how tightly clusters of galaxies bound together because this constant measures the ratio of the energy needed to break them apart to their rest energy. This value is small about 1/100,000. The sixth constant is the number of spatial dimensions of our universe which is three. In extra dimensions the life forms would have been too complex because the chemistry would have been different. The author sees that these fundamental constants made this universe unique because stars, planetary systems and life could be formed under these conditions.

There are many theories that explain why these constants are so finely tuned; some physicists argue that this is due to anthropic principle, which requires fine tuning of constants for the evolution of life. Others postulate that we are one universe in a multiverse where there are billions of universes, and all possible values for constants exists and ours is unique in that it has the desired values for the evolution of life.

Physical reality is a hologram

Book Reviewed: The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot, Published by Harper Collins Publishers.

This is an interesting book by an author who passionately believes that existence and physical reality perceived through consciousness is generated by a holographic phenomenon. In other words the holographic universe creates reality. This book is described in three parts; the first part describes the central concepts of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl Pribram. The second and third part of the book does an exhaustive review of the work of many psychologists, psychiatrists, neurosurgeons, and neurobiologists who have expressed strong support for Bohm-Pribram holographic concept to explain phenomena such as; near death experience, out of body experience, telepathy, ESP, etc.

The summary of this book is as follows: The holographic concept is a form of quantum mysticism extrapolated from two theories. One due to David Bohm who proposed that the universe and physical reality is a holographic structure; and the second due to Karl Pribram who proposed that consciousness perceives reality through the holographic structure. The holographic paradigm is rooted in the concept that all organisms and forms of matter are holograms embedded within one universal hologram. A hologram is two-dimensional photographic pattern of interference between coherent light reflected from the object of interest, and light that comes directly from the same source or reflected by a mirror. When this two-dimensional image is illuminated from behind by coherent light, a three-dimensional image of the object appears in space, but without illumination the image appears as blur. The characteristic of a perfect hologram is that all its content is contained in any finite part of itself: If a hologram of a rose is cut in half and then illuminated by a laser, each half will still be found to contain the entire image of the rose. Indeed, even if the halves are divided again, each snippet of film will always be found to contain a smaller but intact version of the original image. The reductive or deterministic approach doesn’t work, which means that components or parts doesn’t make the whole. Bohm used this analogy to explain quantum entanglement where the separated quantum particles “communicate” with each other regardless of the distance separating them, which is a direct contradiction of special theory of relativity. Bohm suggested that particles remain in contact with one another because at deeper level these particles are not individual entities, but extensions of the same fundamental reality; the separation is a mere illusion. This phenomenon is illustrated by “Bohm’s aquarium.” Imagine an aquarium containing a fish, which you can not see directly, but this can be seen indirectly from two television cameras, one directed at the aquarium's front and the other directed to its side. As you stare at the two television monitors, you might assume that the fish on each of the screens are separate fishes, because the cameras are set at right angles, and the two images are different. But as you continue to watch you will notice that when one turns, the other also turn; when one faces the front, the other always faces toward the side at right angle. From this you will conclude that the two fishes are instantaneously communicating with one another, but we know that it is not so. Bohm suggested that this is precisely what is going on between the particles in quantum entanglement.

In a holographic universe time and space are no longer viewed as fundamentals, because concepts such as location and time breaks down in a universe in which nothing is truly separate (as in quantum entanglement described above). At its deeper level reality is a sort of super-hologram in which the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. Support for Bohm’s quantum physical ideas came from unexpected sources when neurophysiologist Karl Pribram invoked holographic model to explain memories, which are dispersed throughout the brain. Pribram suggested memories are encoded not in neurons, or small groupings of neurons, but in patterns of nerve impulses that crisscross the entire brain in the same way that patterns of laser light interference crisscross the entire area of a piece of film containing a holographic image. In other words brain itself is a hologram. Pribram's theory also explains how the human brain can store so many memories in so little space. A human brain memorizes of the order of 10 billion bits of information during the average human lifetime. How does brain translates the avalanche of frequencies it receives via the senses (light frequencies, sound frequencies, electro-chemical potentials, and so on) into the concrete world of our perceptions? Pribram argues that encoding and decoding frequencies is best performed by a hologram. Just as a hologram functions as a sort of lens, a translating device able to convert an apparently meaningless blur of frequencies into a coherent image, Pribram believes the brain also comprises a lens and uses holographic principles to mathematically convert the frequencies it receives through the senses into the inner world of our perceptions. It is only in the holographic domain of consciousness that such frequencies are sorted out and divided up into conventional perceptions. This essentially means that consciousness creates the appearance of the brain, the human body and everything we regard as reality. 

When holographic models of David Bohm and Karl Pribram are put together the world becomes a secondary reality. Primarily the world is a holographic blur of frequencies, and if the brain is also a hologram which selects some of the frequencies out of this blur and mathematically transforms them into sensory perceptions, then the objective reality cease to exist. This is in agreement with Vedanta philosophy (Hindu philosophy) where Maya, an illusory power creates the illusion which we believe is physical reality, but the universe is one whole entity called Brahman. We are essentially “receivers" floating through a kaleidoscopic sea of frequencies of a super-hologram.

Quantum physics and relativistic physics are incompatible in explaining reality. For example in relativity, movement is continuous, causally determinate and well defined; in quantum physics it is discontinuous, not causally determinate and not well-defined. Separate events are connectible by signals in relativity, but in quantum physics they are connectible in a defined quantum state. Both theories assume that reality is reducible (subdivided) into fundamental particles and laws describing the behavior of particles are applicable to a static (unchanging) entity; whether these entities are part of separate events in spacetime, separate quantum states, or static entities of some other nature. Both theories also assume that reality are related to human knowledge and generally presume that mathematical prediction of statistical aggregates gives the correct picture of reality. The Cartesian coordinate system or its extension to a curvilinear system is universal in its application to the description of the world. There is also a distinction between reality and thought; correspondingly there is distinction between the observer and observed. It is also assumed that one theory that describes both quantum world and the cosmic world, the theory of everything may some day be discovered. Bohm’s paradigm is antithetical to reductionism, he differed from the views of other physicists (described above) that world is made of a set of separate indivisible elementary particles which are the fundamental parts of the entire universe. Bohm’s order includes an undivided whole and the implicate order inherent within the whole, and not contained in parts of the whole, such as particles or quantum states. The parts are considered in terms of the whole, and in such terms, they constitute relatively autonomous and independent sub-totalities but nothing is entirely separate or autonomous. In the quantum entanglement experiment Bohm calls the greatly separated particles as the manifestation of explicate order and the entanglement as the implicate order. The term unfolding is used to characterize processes in which the explicate order becomes relevant. In the “Bohm’s aquarium” experiment the signal, screen, and television electronics in this analogy represent the implicate order whilst the image produced represents the explicate order. In another experiment an ink droplet introduced into a viscous substance such as glycerin and the cylinder inside the container is rotated, the ink spreads and eventually becomes invisible. By rotating the cylinder in the opposite direction, the droplet is reformed. Bohm uses this phenomenon as an example for an order to manifest (explicit order) or stay hidden (implicit order). In another analogy a pattern produced by making small cuts in a folded piece of paper and then unfolding it will produce another pattern with widely separated elements, but they are actually produced by the same original cut in the folded piece of paper. Here the cuts in the folded paper represent the implicate order and the unfolded pattern represents the explicate order. The tangibility of our everyday lives is really a kind of illusion like a holographic Image. Underlying it is a deeper order of existence, a vast and more primary level of reality that gives birth to all the objects and appearances of our physical world in much the same way that a piece of holographic film gives birth to a hologram. Bohm calls this deeper level of reality the implicate order (which means "enfolded"), and he refers to our own level of existence as the explicate order, or unfolded order. Bohm sees manifestation of all forms in the universe as the result of countless enfolding and unfolding between these two orders. For example, an electron is not one thing but a totality or ensemble enfolded throughout the whole of space. When an instrument detects the presence of an electron it is simply because one aspect of the electron's ensemble has un­folded, similar to the way an ink drop unfolds out of the glycerin at that particular location. When an electron appears to be moving it is due to a continuous series of such unfolding and enfolding. This could be generalized to include all forms of matter. When a particle is destroyed, it is not lost, it merely enfolded back into the deeper order from which it sprang. A piece of holographic film and the image it generates are also examples of implicate, and explicate orders. The film is an implicate order because the image encoded in its interference patterns is a hidden totality enfolded throughout the whole. The hologram projected from the film is an explicate order because it represents the unfolded and perceptible version of the image. The way a quantum can manifest as either a particle or a wave depends on the way an observer interacts with the ensemble determines which aspect unfolds and which remains hidden. Both aspects are always enfolded in a quantum's ensemble. the role an ob­server plays in determining the form a quantum takes is similar to the way a jeweler manipulates a gem determines which of its facets become visible. This is called holomovement (instead of hologram) to describe the dynamic nature of numerous enfolding and unfolding that create our uni­verse. Hologram refers to a static image and does not convey the dynamic and ever active nature of our uni­verse. The existence of deeper and holographically organized orders results in the breakdown of location, because every part of a piece of holographic film contains all the information possessed by the whole. Hence information is distributed nonlocally. Bohm suggest that everything in the universe; space, time and matter are a part of continuum. At a deep level, even implicate and explicate orders blend together. Bohm also suggests that consciousness is a more subtle form of matter, and the basis for any relationship between the two lies deep in the implicate order. Consciousness is present in various de­grees of enfoldment and unfoldments in all matter. Hence dividing the universe up into living and nonliving things also has no meaning. Animate and inanimate matter is inseparably interwoven along with life throughout the totality of the universe. This is a revolutionary and very far-reaching conclusion by a traditional physicist since Einstein proposed that space and time are inseparable and part of a continuum.

Another consequence of Bohm’s holographic principle reveals that every region of space has many fields of different energies, and empty space con­tains more energy than the total energy of all the matter in the universe. Matter does not exist independently from space: It is a part of space. Bohm explains this as follows: A crystal cooled to absolute zero will allow a stream of electrons' to pass through it with­out scattering them. If the temperature is raised, various flaws in the crystal will lose their transparency, and begin to scatter electrons. From an electron's point of view such flaws would appear as pieces of "matter" floating in a sea of nothingness, but this is not really the case. The nothingness and the pieces of matter do not exist independently.

Understanding consciousness through holotropic breathwork

Book Reviewed: The Holotropic Mind: The Three Levels of Human Consciousness and How They Shape Our Lives by Stanislav Grof.

If you are interested in the holographic model of the universe and consciousness, then you would like to read this book. The model is largely based on the work of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl Pribram. The author, well known for his work in transpersonal psychology and many states of consciousness, describes many of his clinical cases in his investigation of various levels of consciousness to explain the physical reality. A brief summary is as follows: The author uses connected breathing, music, and artwork to alter consciousness and explore deep dimensions of the psyche called holotropic breathwork. He uses the non-ordinary states of consciousness and gain access to the unconscious and other super-conscious psyche with his psychoanalytical methods. The author argues that although the mental functions are linked to biological processes in the brain but consciousness does not originate in or produced by brain. The author gives an analogy; when a television repairman states that the TV set needs a spare part to fix it, we don’t make the conclusion that TV set it self is responsible for the program we see on TV. Yet this is the kind of conclusion we make in neurobiological experiments that consciousness is seated in the brain apparatus. Experiences available to us through non-ordinary states of consciousness, particularly those of transpersonal nature offer evidence that consciousness is not confined to brain.

Exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness has provided convincing evidence for perinatal experiences in our psyches, and the author describes this occurs in four distinct experiential patterns called Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPM). Each of it is closely related to the four stages of birth just prior to labor and delivery; the amniotic universe, the cosmic engulfment and no exit, death and rebirth struggle and death and rebirth phase. Each of these stages has biological, psychological, archetypal, and spiritual aspects. Carl Jung calls this area of perinatal matrices an interface between our individual psyches called collective unconscious experience. The functions of these different matrices combine memories of various biological births with sequences of human history or mythology. These elements belong to transpersonal domain, which challenge the belief that human consciousness is limited by the range of our senses and environment. This paradigm states that consciousness exists outside, independently, in essence not bound by matter. It is infinite stretching beyond the limits of space and time. The consciousness may also permeate all of nature existing in most elemental and most complex forms. The experiences in transpersonal consciousness can include the entire spectrum of existence. It includes; near death experience, communicating with dead, contacting with aliens, encounter with primordial emptiness, etc.      

The archetypes of collective unconsciousness termed psychoid are trans-individual in nature, and not created by an individual’s history or experience. Carl Jung proposed acausal connecting principle in which he tried to connect the inner world of visions and dreams with the outer world of objective reality. This principle broke the boundaries between; consciousness and matter; the objective-subjective; real-unreal; existent-nonexistent; and tangible-intangible states of reality.

Psychoid experiences are understood under three types: Synchronicities phenomenon, where an acausal link between inner experiences synchronous with external experiences exists. Secondly, events in the external world are linked to inner experiences, examples include, poltergeist phenomena, UFO encounters, etc. Thirdly, the psychoid experiences where mental activity manipulates conscious reality, example include; psychokinetic phenomenon, supernatural feats of yogis (called siddhies), etc.

The Jungian principle of acausal connecting principle stated that casualty is a statistical phenomenon, and in many instances the causal principle does not apply. For example, Swami Rama has shown incredible powers such as changing body temperature, blood flow and heart rate in matter of seconds without a rational medical explanation supporting the acausal principle, the control of mind over body.

The author concludes that human consciousness is an expression and reflections of cosmic intelligence that permeates the entire universe and all existence. We are fields of consciousness without limits transcending time, space, matter, and linear casualty.

Hypervelocity Stars in Milky Way Galaxy: Renegades and Orphans

Hypervelocity stars are a small number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy moving with high velocity, greater than 200 kilometers per second. Normal stars do not exceed this speed; and by latest estimate there are about 400 billion stars in our galaxy.  While all of them are revolving around the galactic center, the hypervelocity stars are running away from the galaxy. The first hypervelocity star was discovered by Warren Brown of the Harvard-Smithsonian Institute known as SDSS J090745.0+24507 is moving at about 1.5 million miles per hour (670 kilometers per second), which is twice the galactic escape velocity. Another star called HE 0437-5439 originated from the neighboring dwarf galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is receding from Milky Way galactic center at a velocity of 723 km/s. It is known to have originated as one of a pair of stars; when the pair was too close to the massive black hole in the LMC galactic center, it was ejected at the expense of its twin, and entered the Milky Way, and now well on it’s out of our galaxy.

Hypervelocity stars may also be born after an interaction between a single star and a binary black hole (BBH). Sagittarius A* is associated with the super massive black hole at Milky Way galactic center is proposed to be such a BBH. Neutron stars born after the collapse of a massive star could be pushed to similar speeds by the supernova explosions, but hypervelocity stars are not old. The existence of hypervelocity stars was first proposed by Jack Hills, an astronomer who considered hypervelocity ejections as a natural consequence of galaxies hosting super massive black holes (SMBH). The interaction between a SMBH and a stellar binary can result in the dynamical capture of one of the binary components at the expense of the high velocity ejection of its companion star. It is believed that there are about 1000 hypervelocity stars exist in our Galaxy, but only nine have been known. Each of the hypervelocity stars seems to have been ejected at a different time, ranging from 30 million to 160 million years ago. Since these stars defy the norms of galactic stars and are on their way to escape into the intergalactic medium, they have to pass the galactic halo that consists of dark matter. The furthest hypervelocity star lies 360,000 light years away in the outer reaches of the halo where dark matter outweighs normal matter by a factor of six. The Astronomers are hopeful that studying these unique stars could shed some light into the nature of black holes and components of the galactic halo.

Indus valley civilization: Recent archeological studies

There is a considerable interest among academicians and students of Hinduism to trace the origins of Aryans, their connection to Indus valley civilization, and the birth of the early scriptures of Hinduism, the Rgveda. Since the first Harappa excavations in 1842 it was long hypothesized by Vedic scholars Max Muller, and later by archeologist Mortimer Wheeler that Aryans from Europe invaded Indus valley around 2000 BC. Currently this theory is largely discredited since archeological evidence does not support large scale death and destruction expected by an invasion and ensuing war. Recent studies show that Indus collapse drove people east to the watershed of Ganges River according to archeologist Gregory Possehl of the University of Pennsylvania. The number of archeological sites near Harappa increased from 218 to 853 after 1900 B.C.E according archeologist Jonathan Kenoyer of University of Wisconsin. The archeological excavations to the north and east of Indus valley suggest human migration to the Indus region. The collapse of Indus valley civilization suggested to be due to drought related effects; drying of rivers, affecting the agriculture and economy, and not war per se. Detailed skeletal examinations revealed that vast majority of Indus Valley sites contained "proto-Mediterranean" types (Journal of Indo-European Studies (1973) Volume 1. Proto-Mediterranean people are gracile, small toothed, and Caucasoid, while Negroids are robust and large toothed, or mega-dont (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Great Britain and Ireland 14:183-186,) which discredits arguments in few quarters that Indus people could be of Ethiopian origin.

There is a cultural connection of Indus seals showing a deity with three faces in yogic style posture to Hindu god Shiva and yoga practices of Indus valley civilization. Since Rigveda and Indus valley approximately coincides in terms of time, although this is debated, but geography described in Rgvedic hymns correspond to Indus valley. Rigveda refers to seven rivers of Northwest India and none of the hymns mentioned any river or mountain that is outside of Indian subcontinent. If Aryans were invaders how do they forget about their past if they were really from another continent? Indus means Sindhu (the river). There are at least one hundred mentions of Sindhu River in Rigveda. Examples include; Rgveda 1.11.6 and Rgveda 10.66.11. Rgvedic Sarasvati, according to Rigveda 10.75.5, lies between Yamuna and Sutlej; Rigveda 3.23.4 states that the Drishadvati and Apaya were its tributaries, and Rigveda 7.95.2 clearly mentions that the Sarasvati flowed all the way from the mountains to the sea. In aid of Abhyavartin Cayamana, Indra destroyed the seed of Varasikha: At Hariyupiyah he smote the vanguard of the Vrcivans, and the rear fled frightened (Rigveda 5.27). Does Hariyupiyah refer to Harappa of the Indus Valley? This name is never again mentioned in the Rigveda like so many other names such as Varasikha and Vrcvans. Rigveda 10.101.8 the devotee’s prayer is: ‘[O gods] make strong forts as of metal, safe from assailants, and Rigveda 4.30.20 refers to ‘a hundred fortresses of stone’. Sometimes these had a hundred arms as in Rigveda 7.15.14. With this note it is tempting to relate this to the Indus temple of Mohenjo Daro. Archeologist Giovanni Veradi of Naples University, Italy believes that this could be Indus temple or a fort. Archeologist R.S. Bisht of Archeological Survey of India who excavated ancient sites at Dholavira relates many Rgvedic hymns to the discovery at Indus valley, suggesting that Indus people were Aryans. Recently Indus valley writing system has been deciphered but not universally accepted. The master key is the discovering of the symbolic and linguistic connection of the Indus signs with the Rigveda. More than 200 inscriptions have been decoded in relation to Rgvedic hymns.

In spite of these positive notes, it is less encouraging to note that even recent excavations did not result in the discovery of early Vedic temples. The unique set of specific symbols, standard weights and bricks, and rectilinear urban planning vanished with the collapse of Indus valley civilization, and the new symbols unrelated to Indus symbols were used at later settlements along Ganges, thus questioning if Indus valley had anything to do with Rigveda or the Aryans. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that some researchers are not publishing their discoveries and a good academic discussion is lacking because many excavations are done in an Islamic country west of India. Many archeological sites are located here and any association of these findings to Rigveda and Hinduism is highly frowned upon by the Islamic country. One Western archeologist’s observes that relating religion with the findings from the excavation is “needlessly inflammatory to our Pakistani colleagues.” It is very unfortunate that this kind of fear exists among some archeologists that could hamper free and fair academic discussions.

1. Boring No more, a trade-savvy Indus emerges. Andrew Lawler, Science, Volume 320 (June 6 issue), pages 1276-1281 (2008)
2. Indus Collapse: The end or the beginning of an Asian culture. Andrew Lawler, Science, Volume 320 (June 6 issue), pages 1281-1283 (2008)
3. Trying to make way for the old. Andrew Lawler, Science, Volume 320 (June 6 issue), pages 1284-1285 (2008)

Vedanta, Quantum Physics and Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger is one of the greatest physicists of 20th century was also an enigmatic figure. He was a brilliant scientist, philosopher, poet and a humanist who lead a complex personal life. He was deeply philosophical in his thoughts than any other scientist of his time, but he apparently did not make far-reaching philosophical conclusions from his work in quantum physics. He was held back because he knew there was a lack of clarity. His search for the truth never reached conclusion as his one time lover Hansi Bauer noted. Erwin’s interest in Vedanta (one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy) and Upanishads started at a young age when he was accustomed to cold and hungry times in war-torn Vienna, but his belief in Vedanta remained the same until his death in 1961: He was a life long believer. Schrödinger was deeply influenced by the thoughts of Schopenhauer, and thus developed strong interest in Buddhist philosophy and Vedanta. He studied the works of Schopenhauer, Henry Warren, Max Welleser, Richard Garbe, Paul Deussen, Max Muller, and Rhys Davids to understand Hindu and Buddhist philosophies.

According to Vedanta; there exists only one universal being called the Brahman, which comprises all of reality in an undivided unity. This being absolutely homogeneous in nature: It is pure thought, which is not an attribute but the substance devoid of any qualities. The Brahman is associated with a power or a principle of illusion called Maya. As a magician creates illusion during his act, Brahman through Maya creates the appearances of the material world. Maya is the cause of the material world, and an indivisible Brahman is present in all forms of existence. The soul in reality is an infinite Brahman enmeshed in the unreal world of Maya. The unenlightened soul is incapable of looking beyond this illusion, but an enlightened soul knows the difference between its true self and the external illusory world thus paving the way for identifying itself with Brahman. This unity and continuity concept of All in One expounded in Vedanta is consistent with quantum physics where the universe is superimposed with inseparable waves of probability amplitudes. The Heisenberg uncertainty phenomenon and quantum Zeno effect is an allegory to the illusions of Maya or a prelude to the indivisible, All in One, Supreme Brahman.

In his lectures on relationship of spirit and science, Schrödinger believed that spirit is subjective and can not be subjected to objective examination. He quoted Sañkarâcârya’s commentary, Subject and Object; I and not-I are opposed to each other like light and darkness. Hindu philosophers believed that ego consists of thought in its relation to God, Schrödinger wished to identify ego consisted of thought and the spirit. In a letter to Einstein, he once wrote that he doesn’t believe much in God the father, and Jesus Christ His son, and he lashed out Christian churches accusing them of gross superstition in their belief of individual souls. He continued to believe in the concept one universal being, the Brahman, which comprises all of reality in an undivided unity. Quantum physics has tremendous philosophical implications, which revolutionized modern thought in science and philosophy because it did not agree with the philosophy of materialism expounded by Newton. Interpretation of quantum world suggested that strict determinism and predictability is not an accurate description of reality, and consciousness is an integral part of the laws of quantum physics. Quantum physical experiments conducted by Alain Aspect (to address Einstein’s EPR experimental results) showed that measurements on correlated pairs follow the quantum mechanical predictions. This result has been found even when the particles are separated by a distance such that even an influence propagated at the speed of light does not affect the result. Thus clearly denying the local realism concept of proposed by Einstein. This simply justifies the principle concept of Vedanta; that is, the reality behind the appearances of physics as an unbreakable whole. If the physical world is real, it is holistic and not merely the sum of separate parts. The wholeness created by the wave particle duality and the indivisible nature of quantum world is in agreement with Vedanta philosophy of unity or Oneness of the Brahman.

Nov 1925 to Dec 1926 is a critical period in the development wave mechanics. Erwin’s thought process was so upbeat that his creative power peaked during this period and remains without parallel in the history of science! It was at this time intense Vedantic thoughts were taking place in the mind of young Erwin. In 1933 Schrödinger and Paul Dirac were awarded Nobel Prize for physics.  Erwin taught at the many universities, such as universities of, Vienna, Zurich, Berlin, Oxford, Graz and Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. At one time he considered a faculty position at Tata Institute (Indian Institute of Science) in Bangalore, India at the invitation of Nobel laureate C.V. Raman. During Nazi uprising, scientists like Max Born, Schrödinger and Rudolph E. Peierls (later became a member of Manhattan Project in United States) were interested to work in India. Max Born visited India as a guest of Raman and acted as the emissary for Nazi displaced German scientists. Raman requested the academic council that these displaced physicists be admitted to the Institute. British Physicist Francis William Aston, who won the 1922 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the Mass Spectroscopy, objected to Raman’s suggestion. He is known to have stated that "these scientists were rejected by their own country and that is an indication of their worthlessness." If Schrödinger was given the opportunity, perhaps he would have learnt Sanskrit and studied Vedanta more intensively and translated many Vedantic and Upanishdic works. Students of Vedanta across the globe may have missed his valuable contributions. 

It is ironic that the personal stress associated with Erwin’s daring extra martial affairs unperturbed by the pressures of the society; sadness created by financial problems, deaths of his parents, and the terrible guilt that ensured due to his inability to do more to care his parents may have helped rather than hindered his creativity. In a letter of 1930, he recalls how his father’s death on the Christmas Eve of 1919 left little cheer in his soul for the festive season throughout his life. This demonstrates the emotional and human side of Erwin; the deaths of his parents shook his consciousness and left him with tremendous pain and loss. In 1945 a letter addressed to Herman Weyl, he stated that the dangerous enemy is the State, and expressed fear of destruction of the world by nuclear weapons. Erwin had contempt for Nazis but never openly criticized the regime. Schrödinger left Berlin 1933 to protest Nazi regime. Erwin’s life was filled with drama and sadness caused by several failed romances; two illegitimate children, infidelity, two wives, nervous breakdown of his wife Annemarie, and some of his lovers, and his own illness due to various health problems, and constant displacement due to war and the Nazi regime. Yet his contributions to mankind are immortal, and you would feel like crying at the triumphs and tragedies of this great human being.

The Legends of Hollywood - The golden girls; Jean, Carole, Mae, Jayne, and Marilyn

Reminiscing Life: The uncertainties of life is best illustrated from the lives of some of the most beautiful women of Hollywood. Jean Harlow died at the age of 26, Carole Lombard at 34, Jayne Mansfield at 34, and Marilyn Monroe at 36, leaving millions of fans sad and grief-stricken. It is heart-breaking to know that Jean Harlow collapsed on the sets of movie Saratoga, rushed to the hospital, and later died with uremic poisoning. In 1937, Harlow fell ill with influenza, and later diagnosed for kidney disease. This may have resulted from scarlet fever while she was in her early teens. In the days before kidney dialysis and transplants, kidney disease was painful and fatal. Harlow is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California in the Great Mausoleum. She was buried in the same negligee she wore on the sets of Saratoga.

Carole Lombard was a great comedic actress despite her glamorous looks; she was a natural in a comedy. After her unsuccessful marriage to William Powell, she eventually married Clark Gable. She was romantically linked to him before their marriage when he was still married to Texas socialite Ria Langham. Gable and Lombard remained a loving couple, and loved each other immensely until her untimely death. The fact that Gable was a conservative republican and Lombard a liberal democrat did not matter in their personal lives. It was rumored that Lombard was desperate to have her own baby but that never materialized. She was well known for her good sense of humor; she is known to have joked about her husband Clark Gable, "If his pee-pee was one inch shorter, they'd be calling him the Queen of Hollywood." Carole Lombard died tragically in a plane crash near Las Vegas in Jan 1942. She was returning to California after a trip to Indiana from war bond rally. She was in the company of her mother at the time of death, and just before boarding the plane, she told her fans that "Before I say goodbye to you all, come on and join me in a big cheer, V for Victory!" Lombard is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, next to Clark Gable.

Mae West is the longest surviving legend, but also one of the most controversial stars of her day. She is one of the early feminists who openly challenged male dominated culture of Hollywood. She employed female writers and presented women in proper perspectives in several of her movies. In her old age she had a very youthful appearance. She was known for her interests in young athletic men; some of them were companions, bodyguards and chauffeurs. She also is known to make daring statements; some of the quotes include: "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" Why don't you come on up and see me sometime, when I got nothing on but the radio?" "Good girls go to heaven, but bad girls get to go everywhere" and "My left leg is Christmas and my right leg is New Year's. Why don't you visit me between the holidays?" Both Mae West and Jayne Mansfield were known for having many men in their lives, but there was a twist; Mae was single much of her life, and Jayne was married much of her adult life. The conservative environment in Hollywood was much more hostile to Jayne than Mae; martial infidelity was not well tolerated. But not everything squared off well. Jayne was a problem, but Mae was a hell-raiser, she was promoting movies that depicted cross dressing and gay themes, which annoyed Hollywood studios: She was a one-woman sexual revolution.  Mae West was cared in her final days by her long time live in companion, and body-builder Charles Krauser. Mae was a people person just like Carole Lombard; she read her fan mail and corresponded with many loyal fans. She listed her phone number in the Los Angeles telephone directory. She died in Hollywood at the age of 87, and she is entombed with her family in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.   

Jayne Mansfield had a great deal of misfortunes in her career. She had a great future in Hollywood, but demoted to low-budget movies. Her numerous affairs with several men, infidelity and poor business decisions eventually forced her into nightclub acts across the nation. Jayne faced a sad but tragic car accident in June 1967 at Biloxi, MS. It was long rumored that her body was decapitated during the auto accident, but the death certificate does not support this story. Jayne Mansfield studied drama and physics at Southern Methodist University, developed keen interest in Catholicism and Judaism, but her last services were held in Methodist traditions. She is interred at Fairview Cemetery, southeast of Pen Argyl, PA., but her fans erected a cenotaph at Hollywood Forever cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Marilyn Monroe was first discovered by Army photographer David Conover who was working for Yank magazine and later by talent scout Ben Lyon. She first signed up with MGM and then made movies with Columbia and RKO studios. Like Jayne Mansfield, she also posed for Playboy. In her interview with Life magazine, she complained about being labeled as a dumb blonde. She was passionate about politics and discussed atomic bombs with President Kennedy three months before the Cuban Missile Crisis. During a photo shoot for Vogue magazine, she discussed her future film projects with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home in August 1962 at the age of 36. Her death is one of most discussed tragedies of Hollywood as she was romantically linked to President John Kennedy and his brother Robert. It was rumored that CIA was involved in her death, and they tried to blame it on mafia. But some gangsters wryly responded by saying "we don't kill people by putting sleeping drugs up their butt. We have a sleeping pill called a bullet. It's made out of lead and is administered into the patients head." Monroe had an overdose of sleeping pills, and the coroner changed his report three times. According to FBI documents Monroe was considered to be a security risk, because of her association with known communists. Peter Lawford said, on the day of her death she sounded groggy and depressed when he spoke just before her death, but phone records of her long distance calls for that evening were lost. Monroe had a history of taking overdoses of sedatives and being resuscitated. She is interred at the Westwood Memorial Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

The Legends of Hollywood – The Golden Girls: Betty Hutton, Betty Grable, Doris Day and Lana Turner

Reminiscing Life on EZ Chair: The uncertainties of life is best illustrated from the lives of some of the most beautiful women of Hollywood. The state of happiness is elusive for lot more people than many common folks like to believe. Sadness and suffering is a part of life; Betty Hutton faced a great deal of hardship after being addicted to alcohol and controlled substances, and a failed suicide attempt. Doris Day had to agonize over four bad marriages and the death of her only son to skin cancer. Betty Grable was exploited by the studios for her beauty and million dollar legs. For both Doris Day and Betty Grable, their husbands had embezzled all their earnings leaving them in deep debt. Lana Turner had many failed relationship with men just like Jayne Mansfield, Mae West, and Marilyn Monroe. The most excruciating was physical abuse from her mobster – boyfriend Johnny Stompanato and her 14 year old daughter charged for murder and tried as an adult.

Betty Hutton: Betty had a tumultuous life, starting off with a difficult childhood, but worked hard to establish herself on Broadway, and later in movies. In 1967, her life turned to despair as her mother passed away and she declared bankruptcy due to limited opportunities and hostile press and studios. Once, Time magazine wrote: "Betty Hutton, who is not remarkably pretty, by movie standards, nor a remarkably good singer or dancer...” This was not only unfair to Betty but cruel for this beauty with a bundle of talents. Getting her life back in order was very hard; four failed marriages, three estranged daughters, addiction to alcohol and controlled substances, and a failed suicide attempt after losing her singing voice. Betty turned her life restarting from bottom as a cook and house keeper at a rectory in Newport, Rhode Island, and then enrolling as an undergraduate student at Salve Regina University at Newport, R.I. She earned bachelors and masters degrees, and in 1984 she was awarded an honorary Ph.D. With her newfound zest for life, she began teaching, acting and singing classes at the university. In 1985 she received an award of achievement from the Musical Theater Society of Emerson College in Boston. James Hersh, Professor of philosophy at Salve Regina University recalled after hearing her death that "She did well because of her passion for learning. By the time I got to know her she was recovering from all her problems and she was an ideal student. You don't need to be sophisticated to be a good student in philosophy…She was so honest and brought everything she had into the classroom, the good and the bad." Betty eventually moved to Palm Springs, California and became a recluse. On March 11, 2007 she passed away due to colon cancer; she is buried at Desert Memorial Park in Palm Springs, California, and none of her daughters attended the funeral making this sad ending even sadder.

Betty Grable: Although Betty Grable had a better life than Betty Hutton; she had her own tale of sadness. She suffered from demophobia (fear of crowds), and somnambulism (sleep-walking.) Her marriage to big band leader Harry James was not exactly match made in heaven. Their 22 year marriage was plagued by alcoholism and infidelity, and her movie career was marked by feuds with studios, who worked her to exhaustion. At one point, in the middle of a fight with Darryl F. Zanuck, she tore up her contract with him and stormed out of his office. In 1960s when she found that her husband had spent all her savings, she had to work for her living. She Did Playtex Shortie commercials, and later Geritol commercials. Betty had a strong family and cared for her mother. She died of lung cancer at a young age 56 on July 5, 1973 in Santa Monica, California. Betty was a heavy smoker; often smoked three packs of cigarettes a day. Betty had many outstanding debts from hospital and IRS; her home in Nevada was sold at an auction to pay off part of her debt. She is interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California next to her mother Lillian Grable.

Doris Day: Doris had four difficult marriages, especially the third one to Marty Melcher, who had physically abused Terry, the only son of Doris Day. Melcher and his business partner Jerry Rosenthal had squandered all her savings leaving her in debt. Doris came to know about this after Melchers’ death, and she sued Rosenthal successfully. However these events caused a great deal of stress and led her to a nervous breakdown. It is sad that she had to return to work for living because of this. Al Jorden her first husband committed suicide after the divorce, and her son Terry died at the age of 62 due to skin cancer. Doris suffers from acrophobia (fear of heights) and aviatophobia or aviophobia (fear of flying). Doris is retired and lives in the Pacific resort town of Carmel, California.

Lana Turner: Lana had eight marriages and numerous lovers. Some of her marriages were stormy and abusive. Her fourth husband Lex Barker sexually abused her only daughter Cheryl Crane. Her relationship with Johnny Stompanato of the under world was very rocky and many times violent. In April 1958, he was stabbed to death by her daughter who was 14 at that time. It was later ruled that it was a justifiable homicide in self defense. Lana was a heavy smoker like Betty Grable and she died of throat cancer at the age of 74 in June 29, 1995. Much of her estate was left to her long term maid, Carmen Lopez Cruz. Lana Turner was cremated and ashes given to the family.

The strangeness of quantum world: The quantum Zeno effect

The Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that separation of the observer from the phenomenon to be observed is not possible because the act of seeing (observing) and comprehending are inherent part of physical phenomenon. This is a direct result of the fact that the position of a particle (x) and its momentum (p) can not be determined precisely. The standard deviation of x distribution multiplied by the standard deviation of p can never be smaller than half of Plank’s constant. The quantum state is a fundamental physical quantity and the act of observation and its entanglement with its environment causes uncertainty. In other words, the observer of a quantum system can influence what he observes.

The quantum Zeno effect describes a situation in which an unstable particle, if observed continuously, will never decay. This occurs because every measurement causes the wave function to "collapse" to a pure Eigen state of the measurement basis. In the context of this effect, an "observation" can simply be the absorption of a particle, with no observer in any conventional sense. This excessive (obsessive) observation unnerves the subject to do anything but stay put, sounds like a psychological phenomenon than a quantum physical phenomenon. Recently a group of researchers from Weizmann Institute of Science in their studies of heat flow between a large thermal 'bath' and a smaller system have shown that the entropy and temperature of both the system and the bath either decrease or increase depending only on the rate of observation contrary to the laws of thermodynamics.

1. Noam Erez1, Goren Gordon1, Mathias Nest2 & Gershon Kurizki1., Thermodynamic control by frequent quantum measurements. Nature 452, 724-727 (2008) (April 10th issue)

Strangeness of quantum world: Setting the speed limits for “spooky” communication

In a recent publication, physicists in Switzerland have shown that the “spooky action” (non-local correlations) observed in Bell experiments travels at least 10,000 times faster (>1.86 billion miles per second) than the speed of light (1). This throws off the physical reality envisioned by Einstein’s theory of relativity. The speed in the publication is defined in a specific frame of reference, which is not the same as the surface of earth. Measurements were performed at all possible orientations against this frame and based on a conservative assumption that earth speed in this frame is less than 1,000 times that of the speed of light. The distance over which entanglement has been shown to exist has increased over years since the early confirmation of Bell’s inequality theorem.

One of the biggest philosophical debates Einstein had with his peers was about the physical reality as perceived from the laws of quantum physics. In his letter of 1947 to Max Born Einstein ridiculed the idea of quantum entanglement as a “spooky action at a distance.” Einstein was irked by the suggestion that when a pair of particles is separated spatially, the physical property measured on one particle “instantly” determines the physical property of its twin pair no matter how far they are separated. This means that information between the two particles could travel faster than speed of light, which contradicted Special Theory of Relativity. Einstein did not like to accept physical realty of quantum mechanics, because it was different from the reality perceived from the laws of classical physics. He was not alone, Erwin Schrödinger, founder of wave mechanics was also uncomfortable with this idea. In fact he was first to use the term quantum entanglement to describe two quantum systems intimately correlated that could not be explained by classical laws of physics (2). Quantum entanglement is at the core oh his famous cat paradox. The famous EPR thought experiment published in 1935 by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen under the title “Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete?” aimed to establish that quantum mechanics is not a complete theory because there are hidden variables (3). Einstein accepted that it is a correct theory since its predictions were confirmed by experiments, but maintained that theory has hidden variables that need to be understood and identified. Unfortunately Einstein did not live long enough to see that his position on quantum entanglement was not right. In 1964 John Bell derived an inequality theorem that showed that a testable difference between the predictions of quantum mechanics and local hidden variable theories (4). His theory postulated that EPR paradox had no hidden variables, and they would contradict predictions of quantum mechanics. Tests of Bell’s inequality are tests of Einstein’s EPR paradox, and Alain Aspect and his coworkers experimentally demonstrated that Bell’s inequality is violated, which means that the predictions of quantum mechanics is correct and there are no hidden variables as predicted by EPR experiment.

Experiments on quantum entanglement and EPR paradox involves a pair of particles, but entanglement involving more than two particles results in complex permutations and the nature of quantum reality becomes obscure than ever. Quantum entangled states have numerous applications in quantum information processing, which includes quantum teleportation, quantum computation, and quantum cryptography.

1. Salart, D., Baas, A., Gisin, N., and Zbinden, H. Testing the speed of “spooky action at a distance.” Nature, Volume 454 (August 14 issue), pages 861-864 (2008).
2. Schrödinger, E. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 31, 555 - 565 (1935)
3. Einstein, A., Podolsky, A., and Rosen, N. Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical Review 41, 777 (1935)
4. Bell, J.S. On the Einstein, Podolsky Rosen Paradox. Physics 1, 195 (1964)
5. Aspect A. et al., Experimental tests of Bell’s inequalities using time-varying analyzers. Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 1804 (1982)

Allure of Beauty: Unforgettable faces of 1950s movie stars

The author brings the portraits of the some of the best pre-sixties era when “star-system” reined supreme and generated movie idols that reflected the fantasies of moviegoers (1). Fifties also dominated the radiant pictures of Marilyn Monroe delighting in her presence, her lips parted, and her skirt bellowing high from the happy exhaust of a world at her feet. The skills of photographers and the portrait they created is an illustration of her success in picture and pose marketing. She is also a fine example human beauty at its best that was celebrated as a work of art across the globe. My personal favorites are; Marilyn Monroe (1956) for Twentieth Century Fox and 1957 picture for WB. Many photos of this book were originally spread across covers and pages of magazines and newspapers.

The style, fashion, and the technical side of the photography captured the mood and persona that generated the magical appeal for an average moviegoer. The job of the photographers was to treat their subjects as gods of love & allure, and reincarnation of perfection. Every care was taken to highlight the glazed lips parting seductively; poses that help expose the breasts, waved hair spilling over a bed of fur that came out of an exotic animal. They were iconic and movie bosses expected that they are to be adored and pictures collected like work of arts and follow their work in films. These were central to the idea of glamour pictures both from the point of the studio and also the leading ladies of Hollywood.

In the book published on the portraits of 1930s Hollywood stars, the author shows the portraits of mainly female stars of Hollywood, but in this book he has published more pictures of male actors as well.

My personal favorite portraits are the following:

Deborah Kerr (very majestic pose) (1952); Ginger Rogers (gorgeous photo) (1953) for WB; Virginia Mayo (1953) for WB; Lana Turner (1955) for Twentieth Century Fox; Zsa Zsa Gabor (beautiful photo)(1954) for Paramount; Shirley MacLaine (very petite picture) (1955) for Paramount; Grace Kelly (gorgeous photo)(1954) for Paramount; Kim Novak (1956) for Columbia; and Joanne Woodward (1957) for Twentieth Century Fox. The pictures of Tony Curtis, Robert Wagner, Charlton Heston, and Rock Hudson are also great portraits taken for the promotion of various movies by the studios.  

1.      Film-star portraits of the fifties: 163 glamour photos, John Kobal, Dover Publications, NY 1980

Swami Vivekananda and the beginnings of Vedanta Society

Swami Vivekananda was the chief architect of establishing the Vedic culture and Vedanta Society in the West. His lectures at the world’s parliament of religions in Chicago in 1893 were revolutionary and the turning point in the Western inertest in Hindu philosophy. This is a very short book that narrates the odyssey of Swami Vivekananda after his arrival at the Chicago conference and his soul searching renderings of his wisdom.  

He addressed the gatherings as “sisters and brothers of America” and his lectures touched the deepest chord of their heart by stressing the kinship and human understanding at the spiritual level. He championed the idea of understanding, respect and coexistence of all faiths in peace and harmony. He asked everyone to accept all religions are true and believe in universal toleration. His delivery of Hindu wisdom through the Vedanta philosophy touched every soul at the conference. His principal message was that an individual is only a mortal body but made of a divine soul, a spirit, pure, immortal and the master of matter and mind. The goal of a human is to find his inner soul and become one with it by manifesting the inner divinity thorough thought and action.  

He pointed out that from the spiritual flights of the  Vedanta philosophy which are echoed by the current understanding of laws of physics to the ideas of deity worship with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhism and the atheism of Jainism all have a place in Hinduism. There is no polytheism in India; the worshippers apply their attributes of God to the images. It is worshipped in different names, different deities and different images but there is only one God. Hindus use an external symbol when they pray and worship so that they can focus on it mentally.

During famine in India, thousands died but Christian missionaries started erecting churches giving them false hopes that Christianism helps them find salvation. How does that please God?  Anyone who hopes that the unity will come by the triumph of one religion over the others; to him I say, “Do I wish that the Christian would become a Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would be come a Christian? God forbid.” He continued; the question is not one’s conversion, but one must assimilate the spirit of the others and preserve his individuality. If anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, then I pity him from the bottom of my heart.

The day after his lecture newspapers said of him as the greatest figure and the best speaker of the parliament. Harvard University professor J.H. Wright once told Swami Vivekananda (referring to Vivekananda’s lack of registration for the conference) that “to ask you, Swami, for credentials is like asking the sun to state the right to shine.” Professor Wright once wrote to chairman of the selection committee “here is a man who is more learned than all our professors put together.”

1. Chicago Addresses, Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama; Twenty-Second Impression edition (1992)  

Allure of Beauty: Unforgettable faces of 1930s/40s movie stars

The lost divas of 1930s and 1940s Hollywood are beautifully illustrated in John Kobal's book (1). Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard and other legendry figures. They were the most stunning beauties, and their personalities were even bigger. They lived in the lap of luxury that only money and prestige could buy. They were elegant and pompous, and in this book, the author has given the glamour portraits that show the style and beauty of these unforgettable women of Hollywood. These portraits could have donned the cover page of modern magazine like Vanity Fair, Elle, Vogue, GQ, etc., if these stars were active in Hollywood now.

Famous pairs like Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are also seen in this book. Other portraits include; Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Hedy Lamarr, Marion Davies, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Norma Shearer, Kathryn Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, Tallulah Bankhead, Buster Keaton, Robert Montgomery, Marlon Brando and many more.

The author discuses the style, fashion, and the technical side of the photography that essentially captured the mood and persona that generated the magical appeal for an average moviegoer. The job of the photographers those days were to treat their subjects as gods of love & allure, and reincarnation of perfection. Every care was taken to highlight the glazed lips parting seductively; poses that help expose the breasts, waved hair spilling over a bed of fur that came out of an exotic animal. They were iconic and movie bosses expected that they are to be adored and pictures collected like work of arts and follow their work in films. These were central to the idea of glamour pictures both from the point of the studio and also the leading ladies of Hollywood. Norma Shearer hired photographers like George Hurrell to portray her as sensual and sexy woman to earn more appealing roles in an industry that was fast becoming highly competitive place.

There are numerous poses to look and enjoy. My personal favorites are the pictures of Greta Garbo (1928 & 1931), Mary Pickford (1931), Jean Harlow (1932), Joan Crawford (1932), Marlene Dietrich (1934), Carole Lombard (1935), Mae West showing her beautiful legs (1932), Tallulah Bankhead in a pensive mood (1932), Ann Harding (1933), Miriam Hopkins (1932) and Greer Garson (1938). If you are a fan of 1930s movies.

1. Hollywood Glamor Portraits: 145 Photos of Stars, 1926-1949. John Kobal, Dover Publications; First Edition edition (July 1, 1976)

Physics of Time: Is Time an illusion or a reality

The universe is made of matter and energy in a spacetime fabric. The matter can be converted into energy and vice versa, and the behavior of matter in this spacetime is governed by the laws of physics and the four fundamental forces; electromagnetic force, gravitational force, the weak and strong forces. The current understanding is that the classical physics (which includes relativistic physics) and the quantum physics respectively governs the behavior of the large (elements, molecules and the cosmic world) and the little (subatomic world). The space and time have received a great deal of attention in relativistic and quantum physics, and the basic questions pertain to whether spacetime is real or illusion. Author Lee Smolin suggests that time is real and space is illusion in his recent book (1).

The author describes his theory that time is not an illusion and describes his long held belief that the laws of physics evolved over billions of years (just like biological evolution which occurred over a much smaller time frame). He argues that this argument avoids the pitfalls of physics to explain universal physical constants and the use of anthropic principle. In the Newtonian paradigm, the law and the state/configuration exist in the universe, but unification of them requires a meta-configuration that has information about both. Here the reality is connected to the present moment. The choice of the initial configuration specifies initial law and the initial conditions, but the cosmological natural selection determines the law and the configuration, says physicist Lee Smolin. In the Newtonian physics; the time, the space, the laws and their solutions (possible histories of the system) are mathematical objects. But the mathematics does not correspond to actual processes but to records of them (once completed.) Hence they are timeless. The universe is evolving and expanding as a function of time but the Newtonian mechanics represents a small part of timeless universe.

The organization of matter from elements to molecules to stars and galaxies indicate that there is self-driven and self organization from myriads of subsystems and scales of ever increasing complexity. Stars act as the engines of this dynamics by the of fine tuning of universal constants, available fundamental particles & forces, the basic laws of physics and the anti-thermodynamic nature of gravity. The catch here is that these are only possible if the initial conditions during the birth of the universe are strongly time-asymmetric, i.e. time has to be real, says the author Smolin.

The future depends on whether we live in Leibnizian universe or the Boltzmannian universe. In the former the time is real in that no moment of time is like any other, but in the latter, there are moments in time that recur. In this dynamics, most moments are in equilibrium and they are roughly the same. In this universe if you wait long enough the universe will come as close as you like to repeating any configuration. If time is eternal, each moment repeats an infinite number of times. In Leibnizian universe, the opposite is true, no two moments are the same and this is possible if time real and the universe generate unique patterns and structures so that each moment is always different from others. Evolving complexity means that there never was a static complex system. It is dynamic and progressively becoming complex with time. This does not abrogate the second law of thermodynamics. The formation of complexity is compatible with an increase in entropy as long as the growing complexity is occurring in different places. The increasing organization on planet earth is driven by flow of energy from sun. Photosynthesis produces molecules with chemical bonds that represent orderliness and a decrease in entropy, but solar system is not an isolated system. The remaining energy not used in chemical processes is released into space as infrared photons that heats of a dust particle which will increase the entropy. If this increase is higher than the reduction of entropy in the biosphere, then the long term agreement with the second law is inevitable. 

We can develop a good understanding that time and space are different. In fact in quantum physics, space emerges from a deeper order. From spacetime geometry emerging from a causal-dynamical triangulation model that show everything is potentially connected to everything else, then there must be a global time. The relativity of simultaneity of special relativity is a consequence of locality, and the distant events are not simultaneously connected because the speed of light imposes an upper limitation. In relativistic physics, we can determine two events are simultaneous when they occur at the same locality but in quantum physics a particle is potentially one step away from all other particles, everything is at the same locality. Then we can synchronize clock and have a universal time. When space emerges from such a model then so is the locality and constraints of special relativity. From this it appears that space may be an illusion and time may be real.

The principle of sufficient reason is essential because it sets a goal of discovering a rational reason for every choice the nature makes. The apparent free and uncaused behavior of quantum systems presents a strong challenge to this principle. There is a deterministic cosmological theory that gives rise to quantum physics whenever we isolate a subsystem and ignore the rest. It observes that quantum uncertainties originate because the quantum subsystem ignore the rest. These uncertainties are resolved by information about the universe which is hidden to the experimenter working on isolated quantum system. This hidden variable theory makes way for the application of quantum physics to the whole universe.

The idea of everything is local challenges the concepts of special relativity and hence special relativity is unified with quantum physics in quantum field theory. This is successful in predicting many experimental results but it is also hampered with infinite quantities that need to be normalized before any predictions are possible. The pundits of quantum physics argue that this is not about the physical world but about the information we have about it. It also denies an objective reality, therefore the hidden-variables theory was presented by Louis de Broglie according to which a real wave and a real particle exist for each particle such as electron. The theory states that wave influences where the particle goes but particle has no influence over the wave. This violates the principle of reciprocal action. Von Neumann suggested that hidden variables are impossible but David Bohm proved that it is possible and this theory is compatible with special relativity and also the quantum physics. In terms of statistical predications and also gave detailed picture of what goes inside individual experiment.

Physicist Lee Smolin proposes that the new cosmological theory should describe what we know about the universe, make testable predictions, explain why these laws, explain initial conditions, posit no symmetries or conservation laws. Nothing outside the universe should be required to explain anything inside the universe. It should satisfy the sufficient reason and reciprocal action and laws evolve with time with no fixed structures. Cosmological scenarios with evolving laws meets these conditions and it succeed in making predictions that does not rely on anthropic principles which states that the laws and the initial conditions are conducive for the life to be formed.  

1.      Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe by Lee Smolin Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 23, 2013)