When Chesley Sullenberger III saved the lives of all 155 people aboard his airliner with a breathtaking landing on the Hudson River last month, he won worldwide acclaim. Within hours, the pilot's achievement had been recognised by a dedicated website, and he found himself the focus of international media attention.
But the media weren't alone in picking up on what has been dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson". Scientists monitoring a network of electronic devices spanning the world have found that the devices also picked up some kind of signal just as Sullenberger's jet ran into trouble after take-off.
Normally the devices churn out a steady stream of random electronic noise. But just after 3pm New York time on Jan 15, their output started to move away from the usual meaningless jittering. Such a shift could have happened completely by chance, but analysis suggests it was statistically significant.
So what could be responsible? One possibility is some kind of freak electromagnetic event - but this seems unlikely to have affected a network of more than 60 devices shielded from such interference and located from Europe to Japan and Australia.
In any case, it can't explain the disturbing fact that this is far from the first time that the devices have picked up some kind of global disturbance. Over the last 10 years, many similar shifts have appeared at times of great drama, including the Twin Towers attack of September 11 and the Bali bombings of 2005.
Despite the low collective odds, most scientists would probably still dismiss all these anomalies as nothing but flukes. But according to the team operating the Global Consciousness Project (GCP) from Princeton, New Jersey, the network of random signal generators may be giving us the best evidence yet for psychokinesis (PK): the ability of the mind to influence matter.
The GCP is the most sophisticated attempt yet to prove the existence of PK. Until now, much of the evidence has been anecdotal, ranging from claims of furniture moving during séances to the famous "spoon-bending" demonstrations of Uri Geller. Some of the anecdotes have impressed even hard-nosed scientists. In 1970, a Russian woman named Nina Kulagina sparked a brief thaw in the Cold War when Soviet scientists invited their western counterparts to Russia to watch her demonstrate PK abilities, such as moving small objects simply by staring at them. Sceptics insisted Kulagina was using standard conjuring methods like ultra-fine threads or magnets, but the allegations were never substantiated.
The aim of the GCP is to avoid such sterile sniping by steadily accumulating hard evidence for PK that no one can challenge. Events likely to produce an anomalous signal are identified, and the output of the GCP network examined for signs of the event being picked up.
This long, slow approach towards confirmation has an impressive pedigree: many of today's most successful drugs were only recognised after years of studies involving thousands of people.
The GCP is not the first to try to do the same for PK. Laboratory studies began in the mid-1930s, and investigated whether people could compel dice to land on pre-specified faces more often than expected by chance. Over the next half century, around 150 studies were published, with most finding positive results. But as with drug studies, many of the studies were so small that their success could easily be dismissed as flukes. Sceptics also suggested other explanations, including the "file-drawer effect", where researchers only publish positive results, leaving the negative ones languishing in filing cabinets.
Even so, a 1989 review of the evidence pointed to a small but highly statistically significant effect consistent with PK - and one hard to dismiss as a file-drawer effect. The overall size of the effect was hardly spectacular, however, amounting to barely one per cent higher than the chance hit-rate. One obvious explanation is that the PK effect is simply too feeble to produce dramatic effects with dice. That has prompted interest in using more sensitive detectors - like devices that generate random signals by subatomic processes.
As with the dice experiment, reviews of the evidence suggest there is something going on - but again the effect is small, at barely one per cent above random chance. The idea behind the GCP is to boost the size of the effect by focusing on events which might trigger especially large PK signals.
Since 1998, when its first devices were set running, the GCP network has detected more than 270 cases of anomalous signals appearing at times of emotionally charged events. Taken individually, the results aren't especially impressive, but when combined the result is spectacular, with the odds against chance producing such striking results exceeding 10 million to 1.
Yet on closer inspection, the results raise a host of questions. Why did the terrible Indonesian earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 fail to trigger a signal on the GCP network, while a smaller event that hit the same area six months later produced a highly significant signal? Come to that, why did Capt Sullenberger's heroic act, in which not a single life was lost, generate a clear signal while the July 2000 Concorde crash in Paris, which killed more than 100, produced nothing?
One possibility is that only certain individuals involved in such events are responsible for producing the whole signal. The trouble is, no one has any idea how PK might work. Yet without some mechanism, it's impossible to know if an event that fails to register should count against the reality of PK - or if a signal that does appear is just a false positive.
The only conclusion to emerge from the Global Consciousness Project so far is that data without a theory is as meaningless as words without a narrative.
Robert Matthews is Visiting Reader in Science at Aston University, Birmingham, England.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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Director: Shady Ali
Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
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The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
