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Oceanfront businesses look to rebound following all ages weekend curfew
9 dollars and 30 cents. That was the deal offered at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Saturday as many businesses looked to rebound from last weekend’s curfew.
'You've worked every day for this one moment'
This time last season, Freddie Woodman was sidelined with injury for Preston North End as they narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship. Fast forward a year and he was thrown into a crucial Merseyside derby after Giorgi Mamardashvili was injured in the second half of Liverpool's win at Everton.
Mike Myers went full 'Shrek' to honor Eddie Murphy at AFI Life Achievement Award Ceremony
AFI honored Eddie Murphy with its Life Achievement Award in a ceremony that included tears, laughter, and a cameo from a certain green ogre voiced by Mike Myers.
Eddie Murphy receives life achievement award by AFI, drawing standing ovation at star-filled tribute
Eddie Murphy has received the American Film Institute's life achievement award at a star-studded ceremony.
Eddie Murphy receives life achievement award by AFI, drawing standing ovation at star-filled tribute
Eddie Murphy has received the American Film Institute's life achievement award at a star-studded ceremony | WWJ Newsradio 950
Eddie Murphy receives life achievement award by AFI, drawing standing ovation at star-filled tribute
Eddie Murphy has received the American Film Institute's life achievement award at a star-studded ceremony | KNSS Radio
Newcastle: Eddie Howe's biggest Newcastle challenge yet? Can he survive?
Newcastle are languishing in 14th place in the Premier League following defeat by Bournemouth. Will manager Eddie Howe turn it around?
'My fire is there' - Howe comes out fighting
This was the day when Eddie Howe channelled his inner Mikel Arteta. "My fire is there," the Newcastle United head coach said as he echoed words from his Arsenal counterpart. Having appeared a little flat at his news conference a week previously – even before a subsequent defeat against Crystal Palace - a defiant Howe came out fighting on Friday.
Jose Mourinho Has Entered the Newcastle Conversation
Newcastle United are approaching decision time on Eddie Howe’s future as the manager of the side. An awful end to the season and a team that cannot escape their never-ending struggles, currently sitting in the very lower half of the Premier League table, simply screams for action. Howe remains in charge and, seemingly, for some […]
Ocean eddies are amplifying climate extremes in coastal seas, study finds
New research reveals a powerful yet overlooked driver of climate change: Intensifying ocean eddies.
Gossip: Howe still involved in transfer plans despite uncertain future
Newcastle's hierarchy are continuing to include boss Eddie Howe in discussions on transfer plans for the summer despite uncertainty over his future at St James' Park for the first time. The I) Arsenal and Chelsea are leading the chase to sign Newcastle's Lewis Hall, 21, but the Magpies will not let the left-back leave easily. (Caught Offside)
Howe accepts accountability after Newcastle collapse at Crystal Palace
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe accepted full responsibility after his side squandered another lead in a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.Consequently, the Magpies have plummeted t...
Eddie Howe reaffirms ‘100 per cent’ commitment to Newcastle job
The head coach said he thinks he is "totally aligned" with the club's sporting director and CEO but cannot look beyond the next seven games.
John Peters, Eddie Speir, Ed Pope build up coffers to run for open CD 16 seat
Will any have what it takes to beat Sydney Gruters?
The Southern Group rides Southwest Florida wave with Fort Myers expansion
'There’s no better team to lead that effort than Nick and Eddie.'
Business in Brief: New Van Ness businesses; Intelsat auction canceled; Whale Tea rebrands; I’m Eddie Cano bankruptcy update | Forest Hills Connection | News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Some Forest Hills Connection reporting involves poking our heads through open doors. Doing so recently yielded the news that the last remaining vacant retail space at Park Van Ness (4455 Connecticut Avenue) has been leased to an IV hydration spa. A contractor getting the space ready told us Hydralive Therapy is moving in. Similarly, we […]
Freddie Freeman Reveals Message From Atlanta Braves Legend Chipper Jones
Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman spent 12 seasons with the Braves.
Mortgage rates rise for fifth straight week as Iran war continues to roil markets
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week to 6.46%, according to the latest Freddie Mac data released Thursday. That is up from last week's reading of 6.38%.
Scientists Stunned: Colossal Eggs Discovered 3,500 Meters Beneath an Active Volcano
Beneath an active seafloor volcano off Vancouver Island, researchers have documented a congregation of giant eggs at roughly 3,500 meters, a discovery that reframes how life can flourish under extreme conditions. The eggs belong to the Pacific white skate, an elusive deep‑sea species adapted to cold, crushing pressure and perpetual darkness. What seemed an unlikely nursery is actually a geothermally warmed refuge, where subtle heat helps embryos survive a marathon incubation. The finding links volcanic energy to a quiet engine of biodiversity, turning a hostile landscape into an incubator. A living volcano, a hidden nursery The seamount long assumed dormant now exhales mineral‑rich, shimmering plumes, proof of hydrothermal life at depth. Expedition cameras swept across black basalt and pale bacterial mats, revealing vents that pulse with warmth. That warmth, though modest by human standards, alters the physics of development for cold‑adapted embryos. In a realm where metabolism creeps, even a few degrees can mean faster growth and higher survival. The volcano is not only active; it is ecologically formative, drafting a blueprint for a thriving oasis. Giant eggs and a skate built for the abyss The Pacific white skate, Bathyraja spinosissima, is built for the abyss: broad wings, armored spines, and a life history that trades speed for endurance. Females lay outsized, rectangular “mermaid’s purses,” often 46–50 centimeters long, packed with rich yolk to fuel years of growth. In the frigid deep, embryos can require around four years to hatch, a timeline that magnifies every energetic advantage. The scale is striking—large eggs, large adults, and a textbook case of deep‑sea gigantism. The volcano’s gentle heat may literally shave months or years from the wait. Why heat matters at the bottom of the sea Hydrothermal circulation delivers low‑level warmth without the turbulence that would scatter fragile egg‑cases. Slightly elevated temperatures accelerate enzyme kinetics, nudging development along while keeping embryos within a safe range. Mineral‑laden fluids likely shape local microbiomes, which, in turn, can influence biofilms on egg surfaces. The environment acts like a slow, steady incubator, countering the deep sea’s tyrannies of cold and scarcity. For a species with long maturation and few offspring, every incremental boost compounds across generations. An ecosystem sculpted by fire and water Seafloor volcanoes create steep environmental gradients, stitching together hot vents, cool eddies, and mineral gardens into mosaic habitats. Microbes harvest chemical energy, seeding food webs that support crustaceans, fishes, and skates. Cameras documented egg‑cases nestled among rocky ledges, near communities nourished by vent‑driven chemistry. These islands of productivity behave like deep‑sea oases, sustaining life far beyond the vent orifice’s flickering light. The nursery’s success underscores how geological forces engineer biological opportunity. “Finding a cradle of life tucked beneath a breathing volcano reminds us that the planet’s harshest places can be profoundly generous.” What the discovery could change The nursery reframes conservation priorities in regions where volcanism quietly underwrites reproduction. Protecting hydrothermal corridors could safeguard entire lifecycles, not just charismatic adults spotted during occasional surveys. It also sharpens questions about how climate‑driven shifts in ocean circulation might influence vent activity, temperature fields, and embryo survival. With methodical mapping, time‑series cameras, and environmental DNA, scientists can track whether nurseries remain stable or drift with geologic rhythms. Key implications include: Enhanced understanding of deep‑sea reproduction at hydrothermal sites. New conservation targets centered on geothermal nurseries. Comparative studies with other volcanic regions, from the Galápagos to rift zones. Biotechnological insights from organisms adapted to long, cold development. Better models of how seafloor heat shapes regional biodiversity. Methods behind the revelation Remotely operated vehicles threaded through chimney fields, gathering video, temperatures, and mineral signatures. High‑definition imagery captured the distinctive, horned egg cases, their edges dusted with fine volcanic silt. Geochemical profiles mapped how heat and chemicals disperse, outlining the “thermal lanes” where eggs most cluster. Combined, these datasets reveal a nursery organized by geothermal topography, with egg‑cases concentrated in pockets of gentle, sustained warmth. A fragile boon in a changing ocean Deep‑sea environments feel remote, yet they intersect with global pressures: mining proposals, cable routes, and shifting oxygen levels. The nursery’s resilience hinges on stable heat flow, intact substrates, and minimal disturbance from noise or sediment. Safeguarding such places is not just about protecting novelty; it preserves a slow, ancient strategy that lets large, long‑lived animals endure in the coldest reaches of the Pacific. Where geology and biology meet, the planet’s deep time still writes living stories. This volcano‑warmed nursery adds a vital chapter to that story, revealing how subtle thermal gifts can tip the scales toward life in the abyss. With each dive, researchers trace the contours of an unseen world, where fire feeds water, and water—against all odds—feeds the future.
Freddie Freeman might hit 5th against some left-handed pitchers
Whether it’s the Teoscar Tax or the Smith Levy, Freeman hasn’t batted lower than 4th since 2016
Zions Bancorporation to Acquire Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Business Line from Basis Investment Group
/PRNewswire/ -- Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ: ZION) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the agency lending...
Eddie Hall Teases Summer MMA Return, Dillon Danis Fight
Former World's Strongest Man Eddie Hall is eyeing a return to the cage later this year, and wants to face Dillon Danis.
Pacers' Eddie White named to Hall-of-Fame in hometown
Pacers public relations director and post-game radio host Eddie White was named to the Luzerne County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Mortgage rates jump to highest level in nearly 4 months
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week to 6.22%, according to the latest Freddie Mac data released Thursday. That is up from last week's reading of 6.11%.
Alibaba Consolidates AI Operations Under New Business Group
The new business unit, called Alibaba Token Hub, will be led by Eddie Wu, Alibaba’s chief executive.
Eddie Bauer expected to close nearly 200 stores after failed auction
Liquidation sales are underway at Eddie Bauer's US and Canadian stores. The store-closing sales are projected to wrap up before April 30.
Alibaba CEO takes helm of new AI-focused business group
Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu will head its newly formed Alibaba Token Hub business group, which will focus on building artificial intelligence work platforms for enterprises, the firm said in a statement on Monday.
Alibaba CEO takes helm of new AI-focused business group
Alibaba Group Chief Executive Eddie Wu will head the newly formed Alibaba Token Hub (ATH) Business Group, the firm said in a statement on Monday. The new group will comprise existing Alibaba units Tongyi Laboratory, MaaS Business Line, Qwen Business Unit, Wukong Business Unit, and AI Innovation Business Unit. Alibaba said its mission would be to "create, deliver, and apply tokens," and it would focus on building AI-native work platforms for enterprises.
'No issues' with Hearn after Aspinall deal
Dana White says he has "no issues" with Eddie Hearn after UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall signed for the boxing promotor's new talent agency.
UFC champion Aspinall signs for Hearn's new talent agency
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall signs for boxing promoter Eddie Hearn's new agency.
UFC champ Aspinall inks business deal with boxing promoter Hearn
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has signed a "commercial and advisory" deal with Eddie Hearn's newly established Matchroom Talent Agency.
Mortgage rates fall below 6% for first time since 2022
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to 5.98%, according to the latest Freddie Mac data released Thursday. That is down from last week's reading of 6.01%.
Hearn ‘Devastated’ After Losing Benn To Zuffa Boxing
Earlier today (Fri., Feb. 20, 2026) Dana White dropped a bomb on the boxing world by announcing that Zuffa Boxing had signed Conor Benn to a lucrative deal reportedly worth eight figures (full details here). While the news came to shocker to many, Eddie Hearn took the news the hardest, though he knew a few […]
Mortgage rates fall to lowest level since 2022
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to 6.01%, according to the latest Freddie Mac data released Thursday. That is down from last week's reading of 6.09%.
Comings & Goings
Here’s a look at recent changes in the business landscape in the Sioux Falls area.
‘Deadloch’ Season 2: Trailer, release date, cast, and more
The critically acclaimed Australian crime comedy returns as detectives Dulcie Collins and Eddie Redcliffe head to a new town.
Mortgage rates edge lower, hover near 6%
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped this week to 6.09%, according to the latest Freddie Mac data released Thursday. That is down from last week's reading of 6.11%.
Eddie Bauer Files for Bankruptcy
The sportswear company’s operator cited a shift in consumer preferences, rising inflation and elevated tariffs. It is the third bankruptcy since Eddie Bauer’s founding in the 1920s.
Operator of Eddie Bauer stores in the US and Canada files for bankruptcy
Eddie Bauer LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday and hopes to sell about 200 of its namesake outdoor sportswear stores in the United States and Canada, blaming declining sales and supply chain challenges.
The extraordinary GPU, from entertainment to supercomputer
Continuous integration and improvement over decades.
Eddie Bauer's retail operator has officially filed for bankruptcy
Eddie Bauer retail and outlet stores in the United States and Canada will remain open for now as the company begins shutting down certain stores.
Eddie Bauer expected to close all stores in North America as corporate parent eyes bankruptcy
Eddie Bauer stores could close nationwide as parent company Catalyst Brands prepares bankruptcy filing, potentially shuttering all 180 locations.
Report: Former Steelers RB coach Eddie Faulkner to join Ravens
The longtime running backs coach will be joining the Steelers’ biggest rival.
Eddie Bauer stores at risk of closure as operator nears bankruptcy
The Eddie Bauer brand, best known for its durable outdoor apparel, is 106 years old. It was founded in Seattle in 1920 by outdoorsman Eddie Bauer.
Liverpool 4-1 Newcastle — Match Report: Mid-Table Nightmare
Newcastle United’s return to Premier League action ended in frustration as Liverpool stormed back to earn a 4–1 comeback win at Anfield. The Magpies have now dropped 16 points from winning positions in the league, keeping just two clean sheets in their last 17 games. Eddie Howe’s boys made a promising start but left Merseyside […]
Liverpool vs. Newcastle — Eddie Howe: Match Preview
Golden nuggets from Howe before Newcastle host the hopeful Blues!
PSG vs. Newcastle meet in high-stakes UCL showdown
The French giants will host the team coached by Eddie Howe for one of the key matches of Matchday 8
Eddie Izzard’s breakneck solo 'Hamlet' opts for cracking good storytelling over subtlety
Wry, gender-fluid British comedian Eddie Izzard's solo 'Hamlet,' adapted by Mark Izzard and directed by Selina Cadell, arrives at the Montalbán Theatre for the touring production's Los Angeles run.
‘9-1-1’: Ryan Guzman Says Something Is ‘In the Works’ for Eddie’s Love Life
Guzman is keeping plot details close to the vest, but Buddie shippers’ hearts must be racing!
Kyle Tucker joins the Dodgers: Predicting the lineup with Ohtani, Betts and Freeman
Tucker joins an impressive roster that already includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman
Mortgage rates fall to lowest level since 2022
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to 6.06%, according to the latest Freddie Mac data released on Thursday. That is down from last week's reading of 6.16%.
GIGABYTE is thinking about an AORUS handheld, but won’t copy rivals
AORUS gaming handheld not planned yet as GIGABYTE looks for a way to stand apart PCWorld interviewed Eddie Lin, GIGABYTE CEO, during CES 2026. Eddie Lin
How Trump's tariffs ricochet through a Southern California business park
America's trade wars forced Robert Luna to hike prices on the rustic wooden Mexican furniture he sells from a crowded warehouse here, while down the street, Eddie Cole scrambled to design new products to make up for lost sales on his Chinese-made motorcycle accessories.
Newcastle United vs Leeds United – Predicted lineup and team news
Newcastle United host Leeds United tonight while they aim to secure a third consecutive Premier League victory.Eddie Howe’s side has moved up to ninth following a fruitful run against Burnley and Cr...
Hansbrough, Pope Elected To NC Sports Hall Of Fame - University of North Carolina Athletics
A pair of former Tar Heel standouts – men's basketball forward Tyler Hansbrough and men's soccer defender Eddie Pope – are two of 11 newly elected members of...
Eddie Murphy denies storming out of Oscars after loss, reveals truth
Eddie Murphy has revealed the real reason he left the 2007 Oscars early, denying he stormed out because he was upset about losing.
Burnley 1-3 Newcastle: What Howe and Joelinton said
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, speaking to BBC's Match of the Day: "We needed to win because we knew we were under pressure. I thought the lads responded really well, it was a really fast start. We scored some really good goals and then, us being us at this present time, we made it difficult for ourselves.
Kierra M has the latest in entertainment headlines
It's been revealed that Eddie Murphy and David Spade may have had a silent feud for the last 25 years.
David Spade says he spent 25 years trying to get Eddie Murphy to stop hating him
David Spade says he spent 25 years trying to get Eddie Murphy to stop hating him after his infamous 'SNL' joke making fun of the comedian's movie career: 'He was a hero.'
Where to watch Manchester United vs. Newcastle live stream
Can Manchester United overcome the absences in their squad at home against Eddie Howe's side?
Newcastle seek 'clarification' over Anthony Gordon penalty incident against Chelsea
Manager Eddie Howe says Newcastle "want to know the thought process behind the decision" not to award them a penalty against Chelsea on Saturday.
Newcastle denied 'stonewall' penalty against Chelsea, says Eddie Howe
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe says his side were denied a "stonewall" penalty in their 2-2 draw with Chelsea - so, does he have a point?
Newcastle: Howe says side's consistency is a 'horrible feeling'
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe says it is a "horrible feeling" to not know what he is going to get from his side.
Roundup: Mortgage rates / Health care legislation / Jazz Fest lineup
Ticking up: Mortgage rates increased slightly, adding to cost pressures for buyers. The average for 30-year, fixed loans rose to 6.22%, up from 6.19% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. A year ago, the average was 6.6%. Read more from Bloomberg. A subscription may be required. Stalling: The U.S. Senate failed to […]
Dodgers notes: Freddie Freeman, Miguel Rojas, Tim Harkness
Freddie Freeman was born in California but both of his parents were from Ontario, Canada, and the first baseman has played twice for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. So it was only natural that Freeman teamed up with famous Canadian star Ryan Reynolds for charitable purposes, filming an ad raising money for the SickKids […]
Local Brooklyn Artist Eddie Quan Photo Exhibition Debuts at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health - NYC Health + Hospitals
Brooklyn, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health is hosting a photo exhibition of local Brooklyn artist, photographer, and printmaker Eddie
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.