Scrape wikipedia-science: 495 new, 5 updated, 520 total (kb-cron)

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatherapy-0.md

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+---
+title: "Aromatherapy"
+chunk: 1/1
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatherapy"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:07.297793+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Aromatherapy is a practice based on the use of aromatic materials, including essential oils and other aroma compounds, with claims for improving psychological well-being. It is used as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative medicine, and typically is used via inhalation and not by ingestion. 
+Fragrances used in aromatherapy are not approved as prescription drugs in the United States. Although there is insufficient medical evidence that aromatherapy can prevent, treat or cure any disease, aromatherapy is used by some people with diseases, such as cancer, to provide general well-being and relief from pain, nausea or stress.
+People may use blends of essential oils as a topical application, massage, inhalation, or water immersion.
+Essential oils comprise hundreds to thousands of aromatic constituents, like terpinoids and phenylpropanoids, and to sufficiently research the pharmacological effects of essential oil constituents, each isolated constituent in the selected essential oil would have to be studied.
+
+
+== History ==
+Oils and the belief that they had healing properties, along with other beliefs of the time, are described by Dioscorides in his De Materia Medica, written in the 1st century A.D. Distilled cedarwood oil was used by the ancient Egyptians, and the process of distilling essential oils like rose essence was refined by the 11th century Persian scholar Ibn Sina. Hildegard of Bingen used distilled lavender oil for medicinal treatments in the 12th century, and by the 15th century, oils were commonly distilled from various plant sources.
+In the era of modern medicine, the name "aromatherapy" first appeared in print in 1937 in a French book on the subject: Aromathérapie: Les Huiles Essentielles, Hormones Végétales by René-Maurice Gattefossé, a chemist. An English version was published in 1993.
+Jean Valnet, a French surgeon, pioneered the supposed medicinal uses of essential oils, which he used as antiseptics in the treatment of wounded soldiers during World War II.
+
+
+== Choice and purchase ==
+Aromatherapy products, and essential oils in particular, may be regulated differently depending on their intended use. Products that are marketed with a therapeutic use in the US are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); products with a cosmetic use must meet safety requirements, regardless of their source. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates any aromatherapy advertising claims.
+There are no standards for determining the quality of essential oils in the United States; while the term "therapeutic grade" is in use, it does not have a regulatory meaning.
+Analysis using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry has been used to identify bioactive compounds in essential oils. These techniques are able to measure the levels of components to a few parts per billion. This does not make it possible to determine whether each component is natural or whether a poor oil has been "improved" by the addition of synthetic aromachemicals, but the latter is often signalled by the minor impurities present.
+
+
+== Effectiveness ==
+There is no clinical evidence that aromatherapy can prevent or cure any disease, although it may be useful for managing symptoms.
+Evidence for the efficacy of aromatherapy in treating medical conditions is poor, with a particular lack of studies employing rigorous methodology. In 2015, the Australian Government's Department of Health published the results of a review of alternative therapies that sought to determine if any were suitable for being covered by health insurance; no clear evidence for the effectiveness of aromatherapy was found.
+Several systematic reviews have studied the clinical effectiveness of aromatherapy in respect to pain management in labor, the treatment of post-operative nausea and vomiting, managing challenging behaviors in people suffering from dementia, and symptom relief in cancer to mixed results.
+According to the US National Cancer Institute, no studies of aromatherapy in cancer treatment have been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Results are mixed for other studies. Some showed improved sleep, anxiety, mood, nausea, and pain, while others showed no change in symptoms.
+
+
+== Safety concerns ==
+
+Aromatherapy carries several risks of adverse effects; combined with the lack of evidence of its therapeutic benefit, the practice is of questionable worth.
+
+
+=== Skin irritation and sensitisation ===
+Many studies have explored the concerns that essential oils are highly concentrated and can irritate the skin when used in undiluted form, often referred to as neat application. Therefore, they are normally diluted with a carrier oil for topical application such as jojoba oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil or coconut oil. Phototoxic reactions may occur with many cold-pressed citrus peel oils such as lemon or lime. 
+Many essential oils have chemical components that are sensitisers (meaning that they will, after several uses, cause reactions on the skin and more so in the rest of the body). All cosmetic products and ingredients must meet the same safety requirements, regardless of their source. Chemical composition of essential oils could be affected by herbicides if the original plants are cultivated versus wild-harvested. Some oils can be toxic to some domestic animals, with cats being particularly prone. Most oils can be toxic to humans as well.
+
+
+=== Endocrine-disrupting effects ===
+A report on three different cases documented gynecomastia in prepubertal boys who were exposed to topical lavender and tea tree oils. The Aromatherapy Trade Council of the UK issued a rebuttal. 
+Another article published by a different research group also documented three cases of gynecomastia in prepubertal boys who were exposed to topical lavender oil. Persistent exposure to lavender products may be associated with premature breast development in girls and "that chemicals in lavender oil and tea tree oil are potential endocrine disruptors with varying effects on receptors for two hormones – estrogen and androgen".
+
+
+=== Poisoning ===
+Essential oils can be toxic when ingested or absorbed internally. Doses as low as 2 ml have been reported to cause clinically significant symptoms and severe poisoning can occur after ingestion of as little as 4 ml. A few reported cases of toxic reactions like liver damage and seizures have occurred after ingestion of sage, hyssop, thuja and cedar oils. Accidental ingestion may happen when oils are not kept out of reach of children. As with any bioactive substance, an essential oil that may be safe for the general public could still pose hazards for pregnant and lactating people.
+Oils both ingested and applied to the skin can potentially have negative interactions with conventional medicine. For example, the topical use of methyl salicylate-heavy oils like wintergreen may cause bleeding in users taking the anticoagulant warfarin.
+
+
+=== Bacterial contamination ===
+In late 2021, an aromatherapy spray was recalled after it was found to be contaminated with Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacterial agent that causes melioidosis, which led to four cases of the disease and two deaths.
+
+
+== See also ==
+Aromachologist
+List of unproven and disproven cancer treatments
+
+
+== References ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_Electrical_Oscillation_Signature_Profiling-0.md

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+---
+title: "Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling"
+chunk: 1/1
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_Electrical_Oscillation_Signature_Profiling"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:08.513166+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOSP or BEOS) is an EEG technique by which a suspect's participation in a crime is detected by eliciting electrophysiological impulses.
+It is a non-invasive neuro-psychological method of interrogation which is also referred to as 'brain fingerprinting'. BEOS has been used in over 700 police investigations in India, but has also faced criticism for a lack of thorough research and scientific consensus. 
+
+
+== History ==
+The methodology was developed by Champadi Raman Mukundan (C. R. Mukundan), a Neuroscientist, former Professor & Head of Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Bangalore, India), while he worked as a Research Consultant to TIFAC-DFS Project on 'Normative Data for Brain Electrical Activation Profiling'.
+His works are based on research that was also formerly pursued by other scientists at American universities, including J. Peter Rosenfeld, Lawrence Farwell and Emanuel Donchin.
+BEOS was used in 2008 in India to find a woman guilty of murder. Later, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that BEOS was inadmissible as evidence.
+
+
+== Principle ==
+BEOS operates on the principle that the human brain reacts differently to information that it has experienced previously, compared to new information.
+It is considered secondary, when the information is obtained from a secondary source viz. books, conversations, hearsay etc. in which there is no primary experiential component and the brain deals mainly with conceptual aspects.
+Primary encoding is deep-seated and has specific source memory in terms of time and space of occurrence of experience, as an individual has shared or participated in the experience, act, or event at certain time and place in their life.
+BEOSP is based on this principle, thereby intending to demonstrate that the suspect who have primary encoded information of those who have participated in the suspected events will show responses indicating firsthand (personally acquired) knowledge of the event.
+However, neuroscientist Rafael Yuste from Columbia argues that there are not clear distinctions between memories and imagination. 
+
+
+== Procedure ==
+Pretest interview with the suspect in BEOSP
+The suspect is acquainted with BEOSP test procedure
+Informed consent is obtained
+Ideally, no questions are to be asked while conducting the test; rather, the subject is simply provided with the probable events/scenarios in the aftermath of which, the results are analyzed to verify if the brain produces any experiential knowledge, which is essentially the recognition of events disclosed.
+
+
+== Similar technologies ==
+University of Pennsylvania conducted a research along with the Brigham & Women's Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts), Children's Hospital Boston & the University Hospital of Freiburg, Germany which determined that Gamma Oscillations in the brain could help distinguish false memories from the real ones. Their analysis concluded that in the retrieval of truthful memories, as compared to false, human brain creates an extremely distinct pattern of gamma oscillations, indicating a recognition of context based information associated with a prior experience.
+
+
+== Criticism ==
+India’s Novel Use of Brain Scans in Courts Is Debated as featured on The New York Times
+India’s Judges Overrule Scientists on ‘Guilty Brain’ Tech as discussed over Wired (magazine)
+
+
+== See also ==
+Polygraph
+Criminal profiling
+
+
+== External links ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory-0.md

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+---
+title: "California drought manipulation conspiracy theory"
+chunk: 1/1
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:09.725368+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+The California drought manipulation conspiracy theory is a conspiracy theory that proposes that the 2011–2017 drought was a deliberate, man-made phenomenon, created by weather modification. It is largely promoted by a number of self-proclaimed "independent researchers" and "scientists", and by alternative news outlets. The theory has been dismissed by the scientific community and mainstream media as fringe science or pseudoscience.
+
+
+== Key claims and components ==
+The 2011–2017 drought inspired alarm among many, leading to the emergence of conspiracy theories purporting to explain the cause of a complex problem using oversimplified and non-evidence-based explanations.
+Many of the proponents claim that chemtrails are used to affect storm clouds, in such a manner as to suppress the development of precipitation. This would occur because of the presence of too many cloud condensation nuclei, or "cloud seeds", in a single area. Others say that technologies similar to HAARP (a federal ionospheric research program, which was decommissioned in 2015), are being used to create a large and stubborn high-pressure area over the West Coast of the United States. They claim that this, also, discourages storms and rainfall.
+Dane Wigington and his group GeoEngineering Watch were the most visible proponents of this theory. Wigington said that government agencies and other entities have economic and geopolitical motivations to manipulate the weather on the West Coast and elsewhere.
+Proponents have claimed credibility for the theory, in part, as a result of a Los Angeles County cloud seeding program, begun in early 2016. This reinforced their view that government continues to engage in weather modification and/or climate engineering.
+
+
+== See also ==
+
+
+== References ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths-0.md

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+---
+title: "Detoxification foot baths"
+chunk: 1/1
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:10.896788+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Detoxification foot baths, also known as foot detox, ionic cleansing, ionic foot bath and aqua/water detox are pseudoscientific alternative medical devices marketed as being able to remove toxins from the human body. They work by providing an electric current to an electrode array immersed in a salt water solution. When switched on, the electrodes rapidly rust in a chemical process called electrolysis which quickly turns the water brown. This reaction happens regardless of whether or not a person's feet are immersed in the water, and no toxins from the human body have ever been detected in the water after use.
+
+
+== Description ==
+Detoxification foot baths first became popular with consumers in the early 2000s and quickly became popular in spas due to the theatre of the visible brown water and sludge produced by the devices. One manufacturer of the device, known as Aqua Detox, states that the concept is based on research from the 1920s to 1930s by Royal Rife, an inventor who claimed his Rife Devices could "devitalize disease organisms" by vibrating them at certain frequencies. 
+Detoxification foot baths consist of two major components, a simple container in which to place the feet and an electrode array. Usually a fragrant, warm salted water is used as the electrolyte and the customer's feet, along with the array, are immersed in this water. Inside the array are two metal electrodes, between which a current flows, causing the electrodes to rust rapidly due to electrolysis. This reaction quickly turns the salt water solution brown, and flakes of rust may also be visible in the water. Electrode arrays used in this application degrade quickly, and usually need to be replaced after roughly 16 hours of use.
+
+
+== Claims ==
+Proponents of detoxification foot baths claim they are capable of helping the human body in numerous ways. Effects like "re-balancing the cellular energy" of the body, helping with headaches and sleeplessness, to kidney, liver, and immune system function are regularly stated. More serious claims such as helping with heavy metal toxicity and autism spectrum disorder have been made by various proponents.
+Some spas and manufacturers provide charts to show their customers the different areas of their bodies from which toxins originate. In these charts, the  color of the water in the foot bath, after treatment, purportedly defines the source of toxins in the body.
+
+There is no scientific basis to the claims of these charts.
+
+
+== Criticism ==
+Inside Edition visited several spas in New York City in 2011 to investigate detox foot treatments. At each spa they visited, they were told that the treatments would improve their overall health, and that the change in the color of the water was due to the release of toxins from their bodies. Inside Edition then purchased a detox foot bath and had it examined by electrical engineer Steve Fowler, at his lab. After examining the device, he concluded that "Everything you see here is just rust, this is nothing more than two pieces of metal rusting, it has nothing to do with toxins. It is just a simple chemistry experiment."
+In his 2008 book Bad Science, Ben Goldacre discussed his experiences investigating the science behind detox foot baths. After reading an article in The Daily Telegraph about them, he suspected the brown water could be rust. He then set up his experiment using a bucket of water, a car battery, and two large nails. His experiment quickly changed the color of the water in the bucket to a dark brown with a sludge on top.
+With this information in mind, he sent a friend to a local spa to get a treatment and to collect water samples before and after. The samples were sent to the Medical Toxicology Unit at St Mary's Hospital in London to be analyzed. The water sampled before the detox foot bath was activated, contained only 0.54mg per liter of iron, and after the treatment was complete, it contained 23.6mg per liter. For reference, Goldacre's water sample from his original experiment contained 97mg per liter.
+Goldacre approached several manufacturers of the devices regarding their claims about removing toxins from the body. None of them could explain which toxins were being removed from the body or if any were at all. With that information, he decided to have his water samples tested for creatinine and urea, two of the smallest breakdown molecules that the human body creates. Neither of these molecules was found in the samples, just the iron oxide rust.
+Joe Schwarcz also explained that putting the iron and aluminum electrodes in water will produce iron oxide, showing as various shades of brownish residue. The magnesium and calcium naturally present in human sweat increase the electrolytic reaction. After trying the apparatus and getting the brown residue even when the bath is running without the presence of human feet, Timothy Caulfield concluded that "this is a really good example of what's ultimately nothing but a marketing scam."
+
+
+== See also ==
+
+
+== References ==
+
+
+== External links ==
+Inside Edition - Could detox foot baths actually remove toxins from your body? on YouTube

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_from_Space-0.md

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+---
+title: "Diseases from Space"
+chunk: 1/1
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_from_Space"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:12.123406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Diseases from Space is a book published in 1979 that was authored by astronomers Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe, where they propose that many of the most common diseases which afflict humanity, such as influenza, the common cold and whooping cough, have their origins in extraterrestrial sources. The two authors argue the case for outer space being the main source for these pathogens or at least their causative agents.
+The claim connecting terrestrial disease and extraterrestrial pathogens was rejected by the scientific community.
+
+
+== Overview ==
+Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe spent over 20 years investigating the nature and composition of interstellar dust. Though many hypotheses regarding this dust had been postulated by various astronomers since the middle of the 19th century, all were found to be wanting as and when new data on the gas and dust clouds became available.  Chandra Wickramasinghe proposed the existence of polymeric composition based on the molecule formaldehyde (H2CO).
+In 1974 Wickramasinghe first proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic (containing carbon and nitrogen), and followed this up with other research confirming the hypothesis. Wickramasinghe also proposed and confirmed the existence of polymeric compounds based on formaldehyde. Fred Hoyle and Wickramasinghe later proposed the identification of bicyclic aromatic compounds from an analysis of the ultraviolet extinction absorption at 2175A, thus demonstrating the existence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules in space.
+Hoyle and Wickramasinghe went further and speculated that the overall spectroscopic data of cosmic dust and gas clouds also matched those for desiccated bacteria. This led them to conclude that diseases such as influenza and the common cold are incident from space and fall upon the Earth in what they term "pathogenic patches." Hoyle and Wickramasinghe viewed the process of evolution in a manner at variance with the standard Darwinian model. They speculated that genetic material in the form of incoming pathogens from the cosmos provided the mechanism for driving the evolutionary engine. Hoyle died in 2001, and Wickramasinghe still advocates for these views and beliefs.
+
+
+== Scientific consensus ==
+The claim connecting terrestrial disease and extraterrestrial pathogens was rejected and dismissed by the scientific community. On 24 May 2003 The Lancet journal published a letter from Wickramasinghe, jointly signed by Milton Wainwright and Jayant Narlikar, in which they speculate that the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could be extraterrestrial in origin instead of originating from chickens. The Lancet subsequently published three responses to this letter, showing that the hypothesis was not evidence-based, and casting doubts on the quality of the experiments referenced by Wickramasinghe in his letter.
+
+
+== Publication history ==
+First published in 1979 by J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
+Published in 1980 by Harper & Row.
+Published in 1981 by Sphere Books Ltd.
+
+
+== See also ==
+Directed panspermia
+Fringe science
+The Andromeda Strain, a 1969 novel about a disease from space
+
+
+== References ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness-0.md

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+---
+title: "Electromagnetic theories of consciousness"
+chunk: 1/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:13.245915+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Electromagnetic theories of consciousness propose that consciousness can be understood as an electromagnetic phenomenon.
+
+== Overview ==
+Theorists differ in how they relate consciousness to electromagnetism. Electromagnetic field theories (or "EM field theories") of consciousness propose that consciousness results when a brain produces an electromagnetic field with specific characteristics. Susan Pockett and Johnjoe McFadden have proposed EM field theories; William Uttal has criticized McFadden's and other field theories.
+In general, quantum mind theories do not treat consciousness as an electromagnetic phenomenon, with a few exceptions. 
+AR Liboff has proposed that "incorporating EM field-mediated communication into models of brain function has the potential to reframe discussions surrounding consciousness".
+Also related are E. Roy John's work and Andrew and Alexander Fingelkurts theory "Operational Architectonics framework of brain-mind functioning".
+
+== Cemi theory ==
+The starting point for McFadden and Pockett's theory is the fact that every time a neuron fires to generate an action potential, and a postsynaptic potential in the next neuron down the line, it also generates a disturbance in the surrounding electromagnetic field. McFadden has proposed that the brain's electromagnetic field creates a representation of the information in the neurons. Studies undertaken towards the end of the 20th century are argued to have shown that conscious experience correlates not with the number of neurons firing, but with the synchrony of that firing. McFadden views the brain's electromagnetic field as arising from the induced EM field of neurons. The synchronous firing of neurons is, in this theory, argued to amplify the influence of the brain's EM field fluctuations to a much greater extent than would be possible with the unsynchronized firing of neurons.
+McFadden thinks that the EM field could influence the brain in a number of ways. Redistribution of ions could modulate neuronal activity, given that voltage-gated ion channels are a key element in the progress of axon spikes. Neuronal firing is argued to be sensitive to the variation of as little as one millivolt across the cell membrane, or the involvement of a single extra ion channel. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is similarly argued to have demonstrated that weak EM fields can influence brain activity.
+McFadden proposes that the digital information from neurons is integrated to form a conscious electromagnetic information (cemi) field in the brain. Consciousness is suggested to be the component of this field that is transmitted back to neurons, and communicates its state externally. Thoughts are viewed as electromagnetic representations of neuronal information, and the experience of free will in our choice of actions is argued to be our subjective experience of the cemi field acting on our neurons.
+McFadden's view of free will is deterministic. Neurons generate patterns in the EM field, which in turn modulate the firing of particular neurons. There is only conscious agency in the sense that the field or its download to neurons is conscious, but the processes of the brain themselves are driven by deterministic electromagnetic interactions. The feel of subjective experience or qualia corresponds to a particular configuration of the cemi field. This field representation is in this theory argued to integrate parts into a whole that has meaning, so a face is not seen as a random collection of features, but as somebody's face. The integration of information in the field is also suggested to resolve the binding/combination problem.
+In 2013, McFadden published two updates to the theory. In the first, 'The CEMI Field Theory: Closing the Loop' McFadden cites recent experiments in the laboratories of Christof Koch  and David McCormick  which demonstrate that external EM fields, that simulate the brain's endogenous EM fields, influence neuronal firing patterns within brain slices. The findings are consistent with a prediction of the cemi field theory that the brain's endogenous EM field - consciousness - influences brain function. In the second, 'The CEMI Field Theory Gestalt Information and the Meaning of Meaning', McFadden claims that the cemi field theory provides a solution to the binding problem of how complex information is unified within ideas to provide meaning: the brain's EM field unifies the information encoded in millions of disparate neurons.
+Susan Pockett has advanced a theory, which has a similar physical basis to McFadden's, with consciousness seen as identical to certain spatiotemporal patterns of the EM field. However, whereas McFadden argues that his deterministic interpretation of the EM field is not out-of-line with mainstream thinking, Pockett suggests that the EM field comprises a universal consciousness that experiences the sensations, perceptions, thoughts and emotions of every conscious being in the universe. However, while McFadden thinks that the field is causal for actions, albeit deterministically, Pockett does not see the field as causal for our actions.
+
+== Quantum brain dynamics ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness-1.md

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+---
+title: "Electromagnetic theories of consciousness"
+chunk: 2/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:13.245915+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+The concepts underlying this theory derive from the physicists, Hiroomi Umezawa and Herbert Fröhlich in the 1960s. More recently, their ideas have been elaborated by Mari Jibu and Kunio Yasue. Water comprises 70% of the brain, and quantum brain dynamics (QBD) proposes that the electric dipoles of the water molecules constitute a quantum field, referred to as the cortical field, with corticons as the quanta of the field. This cortical field is postulated to interact with quantum coherent waves generated by the biomolecules in neurons, which are suggested to propagate along the neuronal network. The idea of quantum coherent waves in the neuronal network derives from Fröhlich. He viewed these waves as a means by which order could be maintained in living systems, and argued that the neuronal network could support long-range correlation of dipoles. This theory suggests that the cortical field not only interacts with the neuronal network, but also to a good extent controls it.
+The proponents of QBD differ somewhat as to the way in which consciousness arises in this system. Jibu and Yasue suggest that the interaction between the energy quanta (corticons) of the quantum field and the biomolecular waves of the neuronal network produces consciousness. However, another theorist, Giuseppe Vitiello, proposes that the quantum states produce two poles, a subjective representation of the external world and also the internal self.
+
+== GlymphoVasomotor Field (GVF) theory ==
+Proposed in 2025 by Shalin S. Bhatt and colleagues and published in Medical Hypotheses, the GVF theory suggests that phasic locus-coeruleus norepinephrine modulates arteriolar vasomotion, which in turn drives ionic cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) flow whose moving charges generate weak, structured electromagnetic fields that can bias and entrain large-scale neural rhythms associated with conscious states. Unlike neuron-only EM accounts (e.g., cemi theory), GVF emphasizes a vascular/glymphatic source of the relevant field generation, framing the field’s role as modulatory rather than constitutive. Bhatt has likened the idea to an orchestra; neurons as “instruments” and pulsatile, ion-charged CSF flow as a “conductor” that helps coordinate rhythms via delicate EM fields. The proposal remains speculative; related work indicates that norepinephrine-mediated slow vasomotion can facilitate glymphatic clearance during sleep, providing physiological context for part of the mechanism without addressing consciousness.
+
+== Advantages ==
+Locating consciousness in the brain's EM field, rather than the neurons, has the advantage of neatly accounting for how information located in millions of neurons scattered through the brain can be unified into a single conscious experience (called the binding problem): the information is unified in the EM field. In this way, EM field consciousness can be considered to be "joined-up information". This theory accounts for several otherwise puzzling facts, such as the finding that attention and awareness tend to be correlated with the synchronous firing of multiple neurons rather than the firing of individual neurons. When neurons fire together, their EM fields generate stronger EM field disturbances; so synchronous neuron firing will tend to have a larger impact on the brain's EM field (and thereby consciousness) than the firing of individual neurons. However their generation by synchronous firing is not the only important characteristic of conscious electromagnetic fields—in Pockett's original theory, spatial pattern is the defining feature of a conscious (as opposed to a non-conscious) field.
+
+== Objections ==
+In a circa-2002 publication of The Journal of Consciousness Studies, the electromagnetic theory of consciousness faced an uphill battle for acceptance among cognitive scientists.
+"No serious researcher I know believes in an electromagnetic theory of consciousness", Bernard Baars wrote in an e-mail. Baars is a neurobiologist and co-editor of Consciousness and Cognition, another scientific journal in the field. "It's not really worth talking about scientifically", he was quoted as saying.
+McFadden acknowledges that his theory, which he calls the "cemi field theory", is far from proven but he argues that it is certainly a legitimate line of scientific inquiry. His article underwent peer review before publication.
+The field theories of consciousness do not appear to have been as widely discussed as other quantum consciousness theories, such as those of Penrose, Stapp or Bohm. However, David Chalmers argues against quantum consciousness. He instead discusses how quantum mechanics may relate to dualistic consciousness. Chalmers is skeptical that any new physics can resolve the hard problem of consciousness. He argues that quantum theories of consciousness suffer from the same weakness as more conventional theories. Just as he argues that there is no particular reason why particular macroscopic physical features in the brain should give rise to consciousness, he also thinks that there is no particular reason why a particular quantum feature, such as the EM field in the brain, should give rise to consciousness either. Despite the existence of transcranial magnetic stimulation with medical purposes, Y. H. Sohn, A. Kaelin-Lang and M. Hallett have denied it, and later Jeffrey Gray states in his book Consciousness: Creeping up on the Hard Problem, that tests looking for the influence of electromagnetic fields on brain function have been universally negative in their result. However, a number of studies have found clear neural effects from EM stimulation.

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness-2.md

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+---
+title: "Electromagnetic theories of consciousness"
+chunk: 3/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:13.245915+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Dobson, et al. (2000): 1.8 millitesla = 18,000 mG
+Thomas, et al. (2007): 400 microtesla = 4000 milligauss
+Huesser, et al. (1997): 0.1 millitesla = 1000 mG
+Bell, et al. (2007) 0.78 Gauss = 780 mG
+Marino, et al. (2004): 1 Gauss = 1000 mG
+Carrubba, et al. (2008): 1 Gauss = 1000 mG
+Jacobson (1994): 5 picotesla = 0.00005 mG
+Sandyk (1999): Picotesla range
+In April 2022, the results of two related experiments at the University of Alberta and Princeton University were announced at The Science of Consciousness conference, providing further evidence to support quantum processes operating within microtubules. In a study Stuart Hameroff was part of, Jack Tuszyński of the University of Alberta demonstrated that anesthetics hasten the duration of a process called delayed luminescence, in which microtubules and tubulins re-emit trapped light. Tuszyński suspects that the phenomenon has a quantum origin, with superradiance being investigated as one possibility. In the second experiment, Gregory D. Scholes and Aarat Kalra of Princeton University used lasers to excite molecules within tubulins, causing a prolonged excitation to diffuse through microtubules further than expected, which did not occur when repeated under anesthesia. However, diffusion results have to be interpreted carefully, since even classical diffusion can be very complex due to the wide range of length scales in the fluid filled extracellular space. Nevertheless, University of Oxford quantum physicist Vlatko Vedral told that this connection with consciousness is a really long shot. In addition, the tests were performed on microtubules in tubo in a UV-Vis apparatus, with chemicals added that altered the electrical properties of the microtubules, without critical microtubule-associated proteins like ferritin that quench microtubule fluorescence, and with a number of other major substantive issues that render the tests inapplicable to neurons.
+Also in 2022, a group of Italian physicists conducted several experiments that failed to provide evidence in support of a gravity-related quantum collapse model of consciousness, weakening the possibility of a quantum explanation for consciousness.
+
+== Influence on brain function ==
+The different EM field theories disagree as to the role of the proposed conscious EM field on brain function. In McFadden's cemi field theory, as well as in Drs Fingelkurts' Brain-Mind Operational Architectonics theory, the brain's global EM field modifies the electric charges across neural membranes, and thereby influences the probability that particular neurons will fire, providing a feed-back loop that drives free will. However, in the theories of Susan Pockett and E. Roy John, there is no necessary causal link between the conscious EM field and our consciously willed actions.
+Subtle effects ("mag-lag") on the cognitive processes of MRI machine operators who sometimes have to go into the scanner room to check the patients and deal with issues that occur during the scan could suggest a link between magnetic fields and consciousness. Memory loss and delays in information processing have been reported, in some cases several hours after exposure.
+One hypothesis is that magnetic fields in the 0.5–9-tesla range can affect the ion permeability of neural membranes, in fact this could account for a lot of the issues seen as this would affect many different brain functions. It is also noted that the bioelectric and biomagnetic properties of ferritin are influenced by both magnetic and electric fields.  Endogenous ferritin provides magnetic resonance imaging contrast in the substantia nigra and red nucleus, the zona incerta and the subthalamic nucleus, and other nuclei, and could provide a signaling mechanism that is modulated by magnetic fields. Endogenous ferritin also releases iron when stimulated with RF energy, which results in calcium signaling in neurons.
+
+== Implications for artificial intelligence ==
+If true, the theory has major implications for efforts to design consciousness into artificial intelligence machines; current microprocessor technology is designed to transmit information linearly along electrical channels, and more general electromagnetic effects are seen as a nuisance and damped out; if this theory is right, however, this is directly counterproductive to creating an artificially conscious computer, which on some versions of the theory would instead have electromagnetic fields that synchronized its outputs—or in the original version of the theory would have spatially patterned electromagnetic fields.
+
+== See also ==
+Orchestrated objective reduction
+Quantum mind
+Quantum neural network
+
+== References ==
+
+== External links ==
+The electromagnetic field theory of consciousness, Scholarpedia
+Consciousness Based on Wireless?

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+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
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+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:14.421406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. It premiered on Fox on September 9, 2008, and concluded on January 18, 2013, after five seasons comprising 100 episodes. An FBI agent, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), a genius but dysfunctional scientist, Walter Bishop (John Noble), and his son with a troubled past, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), are all members of a newly formed Fringe Division in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the team uses fringe science to investigate a series of unexplained and often ghastly occurrences which are related to a parallel universe.
+The series has been described as a hybrid of fantasy, procedural dramas, and serials, influenced by films like Altered States and television shows such as Lost, The X-Files, and The Twilight Zone. The series began as a traditional mystery-of-the-week series and became more serialized in later seasons. Most episodes contain a standalone plot, with several others also exploring the series' overarching mythology.
+Critical reception was lukewarm at first but became more favorable after the first season, when the series began to explore its mythology, including parallel universes with alternate timelines. The show, along with cast and crew, was nominated for many major awards. Despite its move to the "Friday night death slot" and low ratings, the series developed a cult following. It also spawned two six-part comic book series, an alternate reality game, and three novels.
+
+== Premise ==
+Fringe follows the casework of the Fringe Division, a Joint Federal Task Force supported primarily by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which includes Agent Olivia Dunham, Dr. Walter Bishop, the archetypal mad scientist, and Peter Bishop, Walter's estranged son and jack-of-all-trades. They are supported by Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick), the force's director, and Agent Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole), originally Dunham's assistant, who assists Walter in laboratory research. The Fringe Division investigates cases relating to fringe science, ranging from transhumanist experiments gone wrong to the prospect of a destructive technological singularity to a possible collision of two parallel universes. The Fringe Division's work often intersects with advanced biotechnology developed by a company called Massive Dynamic, founded by Walter's former partner, Dr. William Bell (Leonard Nimoy), and run by their common friend, Nina Sharp (Blair Brown). The team is also watched silently by a group of bald, pale white men who are called "Observers".
+
+== Overview ==

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+
+=== Subsequent seasons ===
+Seasons of Fringe after the first season were seen as vast improvements on the first. Entertainment Weekly stated, "The best new show of the year took a few weeks to grow on me, but now it's a full-blown addiction." The Los Angeles Times called Walter Bishop one of the best characters of 2008, noting, "the role of the modern-day mad scientist could so easily have been a disaster, but the 'Fringe' writers and the masterful John Noble have conspired to create a character that seems, as trite as it sounds, more Shakespearean than sci-fi."
+Chicago Tribune stated that some episodes are "distressingly predictable and formulaic" but adds that there have also been some excellent episodes. The New York Times named Fringe one of the top 10 television shows in 2010, while Television Without Pity, previously dismissive of the show, listed it amongst their 2010 "Most Memorable TV Moments", stating "there were so many great Fringe moments this year" and "we were treated to some of the best sci-fi on television this past fall".
+The A.V. Club named Fringe the 15th best show of 2010, stated that the episode "Peter" gave "the series' overarching storyline a devastating emotional core", making the series a "rare blend of inventive ideas, wild ambition, and unexpected soulfulness". IGN named Fringe the 18th best science fiction show of all time in a 2011 listing, stating that since the middle of the first season, "it's been nothing but a series of satisfyingly jaw-dropping 'holy eff!' moments layered with wonderful, nuanced performances from Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble".
+In 2012, Entertainment Weekly listed the show at No. 17 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", saying, "Fringe was conceived as a mass-appeal genre procedural, with a background mythology that wouldn't detract from monster-of-the-week episodes. ... But the mythology overtook the monsters following the revelation of a parallel universe. By its third season, Fringe was overpopulated by multiple versions of every character. Unfortunately, that increasing narrative complexity has steadily pigeonholed it as a niche show."
+In 2015, Bustle declared "White Tulip" as "one of the greatest hours in television history". He wrote, "'White Tulip' is an hour of television that shouldn't work, that technically doesn't even exist ... but thank god it does, because it's one of the most powerful episodes ever created — and it showcases why Fringe is one of the most criminally underrated series of our time."
+On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an 82% approval rating based on 17 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Fringe surpasses expectations in season two with stronger character development while maintaining its creepy sci-fi angle." The third season holds a 100% approval rating based on 14 reviews, with the critics consensus stating, "With more mysteries to uncover and mind-bending plot devices, season three of Fringe further cements the show's status as one of the ... best science fiction shows on television." The fourth season holds a 100% approval rating based on 13 reviews, with the critics consensus stating, "A daring reset may baffle casual viewers, but those already enthralled by Fringe's knotty mythology will likely become even more invested."  The fifth and final season holds an 88% approval rating based on 17 reviews. The critics consensus reads, "Fringe overcomes a compressed episode count and humbled production values to deliver a moving and rousing conclusion to its fans."
+
+=== U.S. ratings and series renewal history ===

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+
+Fringe premiered in the 2008 United States television season at a regular timeslot of 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays. During Season 1, Fringe was part of a Fox initiative known as "Remote-Free TV". Episodes of Fringe were longer than standard dramas on current network television. The show ran with half the commercials, adding about six minutes to the show's runtime. When the show went to a commercial, a short bumper aired informing the viewer of roughly how much time commercials would consume before the program resumed. The pilot episode was leaked via BitTorrent, three months before the series premiere; similar to leaked fellow Fox series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The series was renewed for a second season on May 4, 2009, and moved to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday.
+It was renewed for a third season on March 6, 2010. As part of a reorganization of its 2010 midseason line up to capture more market for American Idol, the Fox network shifted Fringe to 9:00 p.m. on Fridays. This timeslot, commonly considered the "Friday night death slot" for several previous Fox shows due to cancellation shortly following the move to that slot, left critics considering the show's fate. While The X-Files originally premiered during this slot and would continue to be a highly successful series, critics were unsure if Fringe could duplicate this performance. In this slot, the show competed with Supernatural, a series that attracts similar types of viewers. Fox's Entertainment President Kevin Reilly, in response to these concerns, stated that 45% of Fringe's viewership is from time shifting recording through digital video receivers, and does not expect the viewership numbers to change significantly with the change to Friday. Reilly further postulated that "If it does anywhere near what it did on Thursdays, we can glue that show to the schedule because it can be a big win for us". Further promoted by the critical reaction to the rescheduling, the Fox network created a self-deprecating promotional advertisement acknowledging the reputation of the time slot, including quotes from other media outlets concerned about the move, but asserted that the move would "re-animate" the show. The network also created a music video, set to "Echoes" by the band Klaxons as a means of summarizing the third season to date prior to the first Friday broadcast. Joshua Jackson, who plays Peter Bishop on the show, cautioned that time-shifted viewership may not be enough to save the show: "It's not that not enough people are watching Fringe, it's that not enough people are watching Fringe during the hour that it's on the air, which is key for the network."
+Producers Pinkner and Wyman also were excited about the move to Fridays, considering the slot as "open territory that can be conquered" and that they "can actually deliver like The X-Files did". Series creator Abrams was less optimistic of the move to Friday nights, aware that the show's likelihood to be renewed for a fourth season would be highly dependent on the number of niche viewers that continue to watch the show. Abrams did affirm that moving to Friday nights allows them to take more creative freedoms to maintain viewership in the new timeslot, but feels that if the show was not renewed for another season, they would be "hard pressed" to resolve the story by the end of the third season.
+The show's first episode at the Friday 9:00 p.m. timeslot ("The Firefly") scored a 1.9 in the key 18–49 demographic which was an increase of 12% over its last Thursday-aired episode ("Marionette") which scored a 1.7, and maintained similar numbers in the second week for "Reciprocity". Though viewership slipped in further weeks, the show was renewed for a fourth season in March 2011. The move was unexpected based on these ratings, given the past performance of shows with similar viewership numbers in the Friday night slot, but several critics attribute it to the strong fanbase that the show has garnered, which contributes in part to consistently higher time-shifted viewership. Fox's Reilly stated that:

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+
+Fringe has truly hit a creative stride and has distinguished itself as one of television's most original programs. The series' ingenious producers, amazingly talented cast and crew, as well as some of the most passionate and loyal fans on the planet, made this fourth-season pickup possible. When we moved the show to Fridays, we asked the fans to follow and they did. We're thrilled to bring it back for another full season and keep it part of the Fox family.
+Reilly further added that the renewal was also prompted by the high risk of trying to replace Fringe with another show with unknown viewership metrics; he commented that they "have a far better shot of sticking with a show that has an audience that [they] think [they] can grow". Prior to the onset of the fourth season, Reilly reiterated that they do not expect any significant growth in Fringe's viewership within that season: "It's a pretty complex show. If Fringe can do exactly what Fringe did last year, we're going to be very happy. They're right in the pocket creatively once again." Wyman stated in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the Fox network had been "supportive throughout this process", and though the show's viewership "wasn't exactly what they would've hoped for", aspects such as a loyal fan base and supportive critics were enough to take the show forward for another season. Pinkner commented that "there were no creative conditions" on the show's renewal, nor any cuts in the show's budget, though was unsure if the show will be moved to a different time slot. Noble, at the 2011 Comic-Con Fringe panel, reiterated that the fans were responsible for the livelihood of the show, stated, "Seriously, without your efforts, your rabid support, we wouldn't be here right now. You are the best fans that ever existed". The fourth season premiered on September 23, 2011.
+Before the renewal of the fifth season, Abrams stated some skepticism for a renewal opportunity, but hoped that if it was cancelled, that it may be picked up by another network. On the other hand, Abrams considered that if Fox did pick up the show for a fifth season, "the next year would be the great ending for the show". Similarly, Fox's Reilly remained cautious about a renewal, noting that while the show is one of the top shows in the Friday night slot, "it's an expensive show. We lose a lot of money on the show." Reilly further reiterated the dedication of the fans of the show for helping it to its fourth season and continued success. When asked about whether the writers would have enough notice to write the fourth-season finale as a series finale if necessary, Reilly stated, "That's a Peter Roth issue" (chief executive of Warner Bros. Television). To which Roth responded, "We have no plans to give viewers closure this season because we expect the series to continue". In late January 2012, Fox and Warner Bros. Television were working on negotiating a lower licensing cost for the show to allow a fifth season to occur; this would not only help Fox reduce its losses on the show, but would also bring the total number of episodes above 100, giving Warner Bros. a better opportunity to syndicate reruns of the show. Before the announcement of the fifth season, Wyman and Pinkner stated that they would have created a series finale for the end of the fourth season should the show be cancelled; Wyman stated "We want to take care of the fans. We want them to see where it would have gone, but we also know the show has been a commitment and we want everyone to be satisfied with it."
+The show was officially renewed for a fifth and final season for the 2012–2013 television season, consisting of a shortened set of 13 episodes, on April 26, 2012, with its premiere on September 28, 2012. Reilly, in announcing the renewal, stated that "Fringe is a remarkably creative series that has set the bar as one of television's most imaginative dramas. Bringing it back for a final 13 allows us to provide the climactic conclusion that its passionate and loyal fans deserve". The writing team crafted an idea for a cohesive story-driven set of thirteen episodes as a means to complete the series, and to "honor the audience that had served us so well was to say a proper farewell", according to Roth. Noble called it "the season for the fans", with the story revisiting many of the elements from the show's past.
+
+=== Awards and nominations ===
+
+Fringe and its cast and crew have been nominated and won several awards including Emmys, Saturn Awards, Golden Reel Awards, Satellite Awards, and Writers Guild of America Awards.
+
+== Distribution ==
+
+=== International ===
+Fringe premiered in Canada on CTV simultaneous to its U.S. premiere and was the most watched program in Canada that week. The show would fluctuate between airing on CTV and A during its first two seasons. Beginning with the third season, Fringe was broadcast on City in Canada.
+A version of the show (edited for time) premiered on the Nine Network in Australia on September 17, 2008. In the season one episode "In Which We Meet Mr. Jones", the opening scene where doctors discover a parasite on Detective Loeb's heart was cut, going straight to the opening credits. Nine Network later dropped the show from its primetime schedule. This was temporary as the show returned during the December to January non-ratings period. The series later moved to Nine's digital multi-channel GO! where the last few seasons were played out.
+The series premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky1 on October 5, 2008.

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+
+=== Syndication ===
+With 13 episodes in its final season, Fringe has a total of 100 episodes, a critical number for syndication deals for Warner Bros., and considered part of the reason for the show's final renewal. The show premiered in syndication on the Science Network on November 20, 2012.
+
+=== Home video releases ===
+The first season of Fringe was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 8, 2009, in region 1. In addition to all the episodes that had been aired, extras include three commentary tracks, unaired scenes, gag reels and behind the scenes features. A "Fringe Pattern Analysis" feature is included on the Blu-ray version as an exclusive. The sets were released on September 28, 2009, in region 2 and on September 30, 2009, in region 4.
+The second season features four commentary tracks, a gag reel, deleted scenes, behind the scenes videos, and the episode "Unearthed", an episode, produced for the first season, which aired out of schedule during the second season. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 14, 2010, in region 1, on September 27, 2010, in region 2, and on November 10, 2010, in region 4.
+The third season features two commentary tracks, a gag reel, behind the scenes videos, and two features exclusive to the Blu-ray version. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 6, 2011, in region 1, on September 26, 2011, in region 2, and on October 26, 2011, in region 4.
+The fourth season includes several special features, including "The Culture of Fringe", a roundtable discussion with series writers and university professors regarding the science featured in the series; features on how the disappearance of Peter affects the timeline, and the role of the Observers; two features covering the Fringe comic series; and a gag reel. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 4, 2011, in region 1, on September 24, 2012, in region 2, and on October 31, 2012, in region 4.
+The fifth season includes featurettes titled "A Farewell to Fringe" and "Fringe Panel at Comic-Con 2012", as well audio commentaries and a gag reel. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 7, 2013, in region 1 and on May 13, 2013, in region 2. A complete series box set was also released on the same dates of the fifth season release in the respective regions.
+
+== Other media ==
+
+=== Games ===
+An alternate reality game, centered on the fictional Massive Dynamic corporation, was introduced during the pilot and featured "strange symbols paired with glowing dots" appearing throughout the episode and an "advertisement" for the company shown at the end with a web address for the game.
+
+=== Books and comics ===
+On August 27, 2008, a prequel comic book (leading right up to the moment in the pilot where Olivia 'first' meets Walter) written by Zack Whedon was released by DC Comics under its WildStorm imprint. This was to be the first issue of a monthly 6-issue limited series but the others were delayed until January 2009, when monthly publication resumed, with the sixth and final issue scheduled for release on June 17. The Vice President of WildStorm, Hank Kanalz, explained the publication hiatus: "The writers of the show want to make sure the comic book is integrated into the mythology of the Fringe world, so we have decided to refocus the direction of the comic book. Unfortunately, this means that we will have some delays, but will be back in January."
+On June 23, 2010, the first issue of Tales From the Fringe, the second six-part monthly series, was released, while the final issue was released on November 24, 2010.
+Additionally, in September 2011, DC released the first issue of Beyond the Fringe comic series. With the first story written by Joshua Jackson titled "Peter and the Machine". Jhonen Vasquez, Becky Cloonan, Cole Fowler, Jorge Jimenez, Kristen Cantrell, Ben Templesmith, Tom Mandrake, and Carrie Strachen are among the other creators on the series. The comic issues will alternate with an 'A' story and a 'B' story each. For example, "Peter and the Machine" will take place in issues one, three, and so on until the story is finished and a new 'A' story starts up.
+An encyclopedia guide, September's Notebook — The Bishop Paradox, written by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry who had previously written the Lost Encyclopedia for Lost, was released in March 2013. A three-part series of prequel novels written by Christa Faust was released throughout 2013 and 2014. Each novel deals with a member of the Fringe team's past. The first is titled The Zodiac Paradox and is about Walter and his discovery of Cortexiphan. The second in the series is titled The Burning Man and is based on Olivia and how she was first exposed to Cortexiphan. The third is titled Sins of the Father and is about Peter's life in 2008 just before the point of time when the series starts.
+
+=== Possible film ===
+At the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, actor John Noble speculated that a film could be made further down the line.
+
+== Notes ==
+
+== References ==
+
+== Further reading ==
+Stuart, Sarah Clarke (October 2011). Into the Looking Glass: Exploring the Worlds of Fringe. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-051-0.
+Grazier, Kevin R. (August 30, 2011). Fringe Science: Parallel Universes, White Tulips, and Mad Scientists. BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-935618-68-3.
+
+== External links ==
+
+Fringe on Facebook
+Fringe at IMDb
+Fringe at Rotten Tomatoes 
+Fringepedia (archived)

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+
+As predicted, time is reset from the invasion onwards in 2015; the Observers never invade, and Peter, Olivia, and Etta live their lives peacefully—though Peter receives one final letter from his father: a drawing of a white tulip.

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+
+== Mythology ==
+
+=== Parallel universe ===
+
+Much of the story arc for Fringe involves a parallel universe that mostly mirrors the prime universe, but with numerous historical idiosyncrasies. A significant example element used is the effect of the September 11 attacks; though this event also occurred in the alternate universe, the World Trade Center was untouched by the attacks, leaving the buildings as predominant landmarks in the alternate world's skyline of "Manhatan". The South Tower was used as the office of William Bell in several episodes.
+The producers were strongly interested in "world-building", and the alternate universe allowed them to create a very similar world with a large amount of detail to fill in the texture of the world. An alternate universe also allowed them to show "how small choices that you make define you as a person and can change your life in large ways down the line," according to co-director Jeff Pinkner. However, the producers also realized the concept of the alternate universe could confuse viewers. To avoid this, they introduced elements of the world in small pieces over the course of the first two seasons before the larger revelation in the second-season finale and the third season. J. H. Wyman stated that he would often pass the story ideas for the alternate universe by his father to see if it made sense, and would rework the script if his father found it confusing. Such world building also gave them a risky opportunity to create stories that focused solely on characters from the alternate universe with nearly no ties to the main characters; as stated by Wyman, they would be able to "make two shows about one show," a concept that the network executives embraced.
+
+=== Glyph code ===
+
+Prior to commercial breaks, a brief image of a glyph is shown. Abrams revealed in an interview that the glyphs had a hidden meaning. "It's something that we're doing for people who care to figure it out and follow it, but it's not something that a viewer has to consider when they watch the show." Abrams also revealed that the seemingly unrelated frogs which have the Greek letter Phi (Φ) imprinted on their backs appeared in promos for the show and have significance within the context of the series, saying "it's part of the code of the show." The glyph code was cracked by Julian Sanchez, then working as an editor at the technology site Ars Technica, who discovered it to be a simple substitution cipher used to spell out a single thematic word for each episode; for example, the pilot episode's eight glyphs spell out the word "observer". Additionally, the glyphs are representative of some of the means by which Walter solves a case (such as the moth/butterfly from "Johari Window", the seahorse strain of DNA from "The Bishop Revival"). In "Jacksonville", behind Walter as he speaks to Olivia about her treatment where the nootropic Cortexiphan was first studied as a trial, each of the glyphs is clearly visible on the daycare wall. An episode-by-episode key to the various glyphs was made available on Fringepedia.
+
+=== Opening sequence ===
+The show's standard opening sequence interplays images of the glyph symbols alongside words representing fringe science topics, such as "teleportation" and "dark matter." Within the third season, with episodes that took place primarily in the parallel universe, a new set of titles was used, following a similar format, though tinted red instead of blue and using alternate fringe science concepts like "hypnosis" and "neuroscience". The difference in color has led some fans to call the prime universe the Blue one in contrast to the parallel Red one. In the third-season episode "Entrada", the titles used a mix of both the blue- and red-tinted versions, given that the episode took place equally in each universe. In the two flashback episodes, "Peter" and "Subject 13," a variation on the sequence, with retro graphics akin to 1980s technology and phrases like "personal computing" and "genetic engineering" was used. For the dystopian future third-season episode "The Day We Died," a black-toned theme with more dire phrases like "hope" and "water" was used. The fourth-season premiere, "Neither Here Nor There", introduced an amber-toned title sequence, with additional new terms, that is used for nearly all fourth-season episodes. The fourth-season episode "Letters of Transit," which returned to the future dystopian universe, and the subsequent fifth-season episodes, feature a cold-toned title sequence with phrases such as "joy," "private thought," "free will," and "freedom," ideas which have been lost in this future. There is one frame in the opening sequence in which the words "Observers are here" flash very quickly, and the opening sequence must be paused to see them.
+
+== Cast and characters ==

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+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
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+
+=== Main ===
+Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham: a Northwestern University-educated Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent assigned to investigate the spread of unexplained phenomena. She later discovers Walter performed tests on her when she was a child using nootropic drug Cortexiphan, giving her unusual abilities. Torv also plays Olivia's counterpart in the parallel universe, dubbed by the characters of the prime universe as "Fauxlivia", as well as William Bell.
+Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop: a jack of all trades who is brought in as a civilian consultant by Olivia to work with his estranged father, Walter. Peter is actually "Walternate's" son from the alternate universe, abducted by Walter shortly after his own Peter's death at a young age.
+John Noble as Dr. Walter Bishop: a former government researcher in the field of fringe science who was seen as a mad scientist and institutionalized after a lab accident in which his assistant was killed. Noble also portrays the Walter's alternate, dubbed "Walternate" by the characters in the prime universe. Walternate rose to power as the U.S. Secretary of Defense and instigated the war against the prime universe after the abduction of his son Peter.
+Lance Reddick as Phillip Broyles (seasons 1–4; recurring season 5): a Homeland Security agent and Senior-Agent-in-Charge (SAC) who runs Fringe Division. Reddick also portrays Broyles' alternate (known as Colonel Broyles), who finds sympathy for Olivia and sacrifices himself during the third season to allow her to escape the parallel universe. In the fourth season's alternate timeline, Colonel Broyles remains alive.
+Kirk Acevedo as Charlie Francis (seasons 1–2; recurring season 3): An FBI senior agent, Olivia's colleague and close friend, and the second-in-command of Fringe Division before his demise. Though Charlie is killed early in the second season, Acevedo reprises the role of Charlie in the alternate universe.
+Blair Brown as Nina Sharp (seasons 1–4; recurring season 5): the Chief Operating Officer of Massive Dynamic, a leading firm in science and technology research and longtime friend of Walter and William. She also plays her doppelganger in the parallel universe within the alternate timeline of season 4 as an agent for David Robert Jones' plans.
+Jasika Nicole as Astrid Farnsworth: an FBI Junior Agent and assistant to Olivia and Walter. Astrid's counterpart in the alternate universe, who has behaviors similar to autism, is also played by Nicole.
+Mark Valley as John Scott (season 1): Olivia's former FBI partner and secret lover, whose death in "Pilot" leads Olivia to join the Fringe division.
+Seth Gabel as Lincoln Lee (season 4; guest star seasons 2 and 5; recurring season 3): an agent of the parallel universe Fringe Division. The prime universe version of Lincoln, also played by Gabel, was introduced in the episode "Stowaway" as a special agent stationed at the FBI building in Hartford, Connecticut, later joining Fringe division within season 4.
+
+=== Recurring ===
+Michael Cerveris as September/the Observer/Donald: one of several "Observers," a traveling chronicler and enforcer of extraordinary events. An Observer appears in one form or another, usually in an Alfred Hitchcock-like cameo, in each episode.
+Clark Middleton as Edward Markham: A man who operates a bookstore specializing in rare collectables. He appears in one episode every season.
+Ari Graynor as Rachel Dunham (seasons 1–2): Olivia's sister.
+Lily Pilblad as Ella Blake (seasons 1–3): Olivia's niece, the daughter of Rachel. Emily Meade portrays the future Ella.
+David Call as Nick Lane (seasons 1–2, 4): Olivia's partner during the experimental trials in her childhood. Liam Mackie also portrays Young Nick in season 3.
+Leonard Nimoy as Dr. William Bell (seasons 1–4): Walter's former lab partner, the founder of Massive Dynamic, apparently killed in the season 2 finale. Nimoy, who had retired from acting after season 2, agreed to provide the voice of Bell, allowing for the character's reappearance via an animated character in season 3. He reappears in season 4 after the timeline is altered.
+Michael Gaston as Sanford Harris (season 1): an old nemesis of Olivia's assigned to assess Fringe Division.
+Jared Harris as David Robert Jones (seasons 1, 4): leader of the ZFT cult, and killed in the season 1 finale. In the alternate timeline Peter is projected into, it appears he is alive, and that the shapeshifters have been working for him.
+Chance Kelly as Mitchell Loeb (season 1): an FBI agent and mole working for ZFT.
+Ryan McDonald as Brandon Fayette (seasons 2–4): a scientist at Massive Dynamic. In the parallel universe, Brandon works directly for Secretary of Defense Bishop, overseeing many of his less ethical projects.
+Kevin Corrigan as Sam Weiss (seasons 2–3): Olivia's Yoda-like amateur psychologist and manager of a Boston-area bowling alley; his family line maintains knowledge of the "First People," a race of intelligent beings believed to have created the doomsday device.
+Karen Holness as Diane Broyles (seasons 2–4): the wife of Colonel Broyles in the parallel universe and ex-wife of General Broyles in the prime universe.
+Sebastian Roché as Thomas Jerome Newton (seasons 2–3): the leader of the shapeshifters, human/machine hybrids and undercover agents from the alternate universe. The character commits suicide during the third season.
+Orla Brady as Elizabeth Bishop (seasons 2–4): Walter's wife and Peter's mother. Brady portrays both the prime and alternate versions.
+Philip Winchester as Frank Stanton (seasons 2–3): a virologist for the CDC and introduced as Fauxlivia's romantic interest in season 2. Their relationship ends off-screen in season 4.
+Michelle Krusiec as Nadine Park (season 4): a shape-shifting soldier from the alternate timeline, with different features from shapeshifters seen in the normal timeline.
+Georgina Haig as Henrietta "Etta" Bishop (seasons 4–5): Peter and Olivia's adult daughter in 2036. Though she is part of the Fringe team, loyal to the Observers, she secretly works with the human resistance to try to reclaim the earth for humans.
+Michael Kopsa as Captain Windmark (seasons 4–5): the lead Observer in 2036 and primary antagonist of the Resistance.
+
+== Development ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)-5.md

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+---
+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
+chunk: 6/14
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:14.421406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+=== Conception ===
+Co-created by J. J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Fringe was produced by Bad Robot in association with Warner Bros. Television, as part of a commitment that Abrams previously made with the studio. At the time, Abrams was working with Orci and Kurtzman on the Star Trek film, and met at one of the Comic-Cons during Star Trek's production to brainstorm ideas for the show. Abrams later brought Bryan Burk, a producer on several of his films, to help with developing the series. Abrams's inspiration for Fringe came from a range of sources, including the writings of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, the film Altered States, films by David Cronenberg, and the television series The Night Stalker, The X-Files and The Twilight Zone. Orci stated that Fringe is a "new kind of storytelling", combining procedural shows such as Law & Order, and an "extremely serialized and very culty" series like Lost. The procedural aspect was chosen because, at the time of its premiere, six of the ten top shows were procedural in nature; Orci stated that "you have to be a fool not to go study what it is that they're doing". Abrams had originally considered naming the series The Lab, as they had envisioned Walter's laboratory to be "the epicenter of the conversation", and where "anything is possible". Though the team saw this as a way of presenting "mystery of the week"-type episodes, they wanted to focus more on how these stories were told in unpredictable ways rather than the actual mystery, recognizing that most of their target audience has seen such mysteries before through previous shows and films. Instead, they wanted their storytelling to be original and unexpected, and, as claimed by Kurtzman, one of the most challenging aspects of developing the individual episodes. Serialization of the show was important to tell their overall story with larger plot elements, but Abrams recognized the difficulties that his earlier serialized shows, such as Lost and Alias, had in attracting and maintaining viewers that had not seen these shows from the start or who missed episodes sporadically. For Fringe, Abrams instead sought to create, as stated by David Itzkoff of the New York Times, "a show that suggested complexity but was comprehensible in any given episode". The writers aimed to balance a line between stand-alone episodes, a factor requested by Fox, and a heavily serialized show; they balanced these by moving the serialization aspect to the growth and development of their characters. This gave them the ability to write self-contained episodes that still contained elements related to the overall mythos. However, as production continued, the creative staff found the show itself took on a more serialized nature and opted towards this approach in later seasons while still balancing self-contained episodes. One method was by introducing overarching themes that individual episodes could be tied to, such as "The Pattern" in Season 1, providing information repeatedly about the larger plot over the course of several episodes or seasons. Abrams also created characters whose alliances to the larger narrative were clear, avoiding a similar problem that had occurred during the first and second seasons of Alias. A final step taken was to script out all of the major long-running plot elements, including the show's finale, prior to full-time production. Abrams contrasted this to the process used in Lost, where ideas like character flashbacks and the hatch from the second season were introduced haphazardly and made difficulties in defining when they should be presented to the viewers. Instead, with Fringe, they were able to create "clearly defined goalposts" (in Itzkoff's words) that could be altered as necessary with network and seasonal changes but always provided a clear target for the overarching plot. These approaches also allowed the team to introduce unique plot elements to be introduced in time that would have altered the show's fate if known at the start. Abrams stated that "There are certain details that are hugely important that I believe, if shared, will destroy any chance of actually getting on the air." Abrams noted that they are able to benefit from "how open Fox as a network has been to a show that is embracing the weirdness and the long-term stories that we want to tell". During the third season, executive producer Jeff Pinkner noted that "We have six to eight seasons worth of material. We see it as having certain chapters that would enrich the overall story, but aren't necessary to tell the overall story. God willing, the network allows us the time to tell our complete story."
+As part of the larger story, the writers have placed elements in earlier episodes that are referenced in episodes seasons later. For example, in the first-season episode "The Ghost Network", the Fringe team encounters an amber-like substance, which is later shown to be a critical means to combat the breakdown of the parallel universe and eventually for the same in the prime universe with the third-season episode "6B". Pinkner compared this aspect to "planting seeds", some which they know how they plan to use later in the show's story, while others they can find ways of incorporating into these later episodes. He further attributed these elements as part of the "world building" to flesh out the show beyond episodic content. The producers have stated that when the show's mythology is introduced, it is not simply there to tie episodes together, but "to provide answers that generate consequences". Certain elements of the show's mythology were established from the start. The parallel universe was always part of the original concept, though aspects of when and how to introduce it were tackled as the show proceeded. The idea of Peter being from the parallel universe came early into the show's production, but this came to lead the team to jokingly refer to Peter as their "hatch", one of the early mysteries in Lost, as with the hatch in Lost, they initially had no idea how to introduce this within the show. FOX's Reilly was also initially concerned about the parallel universe aspect, but as the show progressed into the first season and found its groove, the concept was readily accepted. The most poignant introduction of the parallel universe was in the conclusion of the first-season finale, "There's More Than One of Everything", where they showed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were still standing in the parallel universe, a concept introduced by writer Andrew Kreisberg as an iconic image to leave viewers with; Jackson stated, "I don't know that we've ever had a better visual or a better cliff-hanger."
+Other mythos elements were devised as the series progressed. The writers had originally envisioned only spending small portions of episodes within the parallel universe, but as they wrote these episodes within Season 3, they brought out the idea of setting entire episodes within the parallel universe. This necessitated the development of the alternate versions of the main characters, which Pinkner considered "a great playground just for imagination". The actors themselves found this concept exciting, as it allowed them to play different characters but with the same background and considered it a creative challenge.

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)-6.md

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+---
+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
+chunk: 7/14
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:14.421406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Similarly, having Peter erased from the timeline as part of the finale for Season 3 was an idea that grew over the course of that season. The writers were aware this would be a risky move but felt the idea was very appropriate for Fringe, and opted to write towards this after considering all the consequences. Pinkner noted that this gave them an opportunity to "reset the character relationships" and determine the key aspects that would remain without Peter, as well as "making the audience uncomfortable at times". The cast was not initially sold with the idea, but came around as the fourth season progressed.

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)-7.md

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+---
+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
+chunk: 8/14
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:14.421406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+=== Production ===
+
+After developing the core concepts of the show, Abrams began to seek studios to develop the show; Abrams' past successes led to Warner Bros. Television and the Fox Television Network to quickly jump on board the project. Peter Roth, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Television, had been actively seeking to bring any Abrams' project to his studio, and heard Abrams' pitch for Fringe at a dinner meeting in August 2007. Similarly, Kevin Reilly, the entertainment chairman at Fox, knew that it was critical for him to bring the next Abrams' project to his network, and worked with Roth to assure this would happen.
+Jeff Pinkner was selected to act as the head showrunner and executive producer. Abrams noted that he trusts Pinkner after working together with him on Alias and Lost. Pinkner became interested in the show during a visit to the set of Star Trek, during which Abrams was discussing the concept of Fringe with Orci and Kurtzman, knowing that they would not be involved in the direct production of the work. Abrams pitched the idea to Pinkner, who was intrigued by the importance of characters in a science fiction drama. In season two, J.H. Wyman was brought on as executive producer and showrunner with Pinkner. Wyman had been a science fiction enthusiast but had worried that he had not written anything in that genre but after learning about the concept of the show, felt his role as an executive producer was "a match made in heaven".
+Michael Giacchino, Abrams' frequent collaborator, composed the music for the pilot of Fringe, before handing over duties to his assistants Chad Seiter and Chris Tilton; Tilton took over scoring duties from Season 2 onward. While Giacchino retains an on-screen credit, Abrams himself wrote the series theme music.
+The two-hour pilot episode, filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, cost a total of $10 million to create. A basement of an old church was used for Walter's lab set in the pilot, and this set was replicated at other film sites in New York and Vancouver when the show moved. The lab set was designed by Carol Spier, the production designer for several of Cronenberg's films. John Noble called his character's lab "the heart and soul of Fringe", so consequently, "That has to remain constant." A cow used in the pilot episode had to be recast when production of Season 1 was moved to New York, due to livestock restrictions preventing her from being brought from Canada to the United States. Other locations used in the first season included other universities to stage for the Harvard University campus, where Walter's lab is located. These included Pratt Institute and Yale University, including its Old Campus (particularly Phelps Hall and Durfee Hall), Branford College, and the exterior of Yale Law School, University of Toronto's University College, Brooklyn College.
+
+On February 21, 2009, it was reported that in the event that Fringe would be renewed for a second season, the show would move production to Vancouver from New York City as a cost-cutting measure. Executive producer Jeff Pinkner explained:
+
+We want to stay in New York, New York has been incredibly good to us. It feels like we're being kicked out of the city. I know we're not, but they're making it impossible for us to afford doing the show ... Our New York crew is spectacular, they've worked their [butts] off to make the show look great. But it looks like New York is not renewing a tax credit that makes it possible to make our budget in New York. So it looks like, out of necessity, we'll have to leave New York, which is not anything we are welcoming.
+As plans were being made to move the production to Canada, the New York state legislature passed continuation of the film and tax credits, as planned. Upon productions moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for season 2, the University of British Columbia now stands in for Harvard. The area around New Westminster often serves as filming locations for Fringe stories that take place in the parallel universe.
+Prior to the start of production for the fifth season, Pinkner announced that he was leaving the production of the show to pursue other projects; Wyman would remain as the sole showrunner for the show.

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)-8.md

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+---
+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
+chunk: 9/14
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:14.421406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+=== Casting ===
+The show's main characters, Olivia, Peter, and Walter, were at the core of the concept for Fringe. The creators recognized early that "the idea that telling a father-son story and a relationship story was a really compelling one and a very accessible one", according to Kurtzman. They were able to provide the characters with backstories that, like with other long-term plot elements, could be alluded to over several episodes and seasons.
+The characters would also contrast with the typical procedural genre show; rather than having clearly defined roles episode to episode, they instead "have an emotional memory and an emotional investment", as stated by Orci. This also allowed for, as necessary, characters to be removed or introduced to the show and have a larger impact on the other characters.
+The first actors cast were Kirk Acevedo and Mark Valley, who portrayed FBI agents Charlie Francis and John Scott, respectively. John Noble and Lance Reddick, who play Dr. Walter Bishop and Homeland Security agent Phillip Broyles, joined the cast later on. Casting of Anna Torv, Blair Brown, and Jasika Nicole, who play Olivia Dunham, Massive Dynamic employee Nina Sharp, and Astrid Farnsworth, a federal agent and assistant to Olivia Dunham, respectively, followed; while Joshua Jackson, who plays Peter Bishop, was the last main character to be cast. Jackson auditioned for James T. Kirk in Abrams' Star Trek and believed this is what impressed the producer to cast him in his television project, though Abrams later clarified that it was recalling his previous experience with working with Jackson on his television series Felicity. For the principal and recurring actors, they were all intrigued by the script for the pilot, comparing it to a two-hour-long movie, as well as Abrams' reputation.
+On April 8, 2009, it was announced that Leonard Nimoy would appear as Walter Bishop's former lab partner, Dr. William Bell, in the first season's finale, which explores the existence of an ominous parallel universe. This choice led one reviewer to question if Fringe's plot might be a homage to the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror", which explored the concept of an alternate reality referred to as a "mirror universe", and an evil version of Spock distinguished by a goatee. Nimoy returned as Dr. Bell for an extended arc, and according to Orci, Bell is "the beginning of the answers to even bigger questions." Nimoy reprised his role in the second-season finale, where his character and Walter met for a "showdown". Nimoy's character is apparently dead after the season finale, having used himself to help Walter, Peter and the Alternate Olivia back to the prime universe. As he had retired from acting, it was thought unlikely that his character would return. In February 2011 however, he announced his definite plan to return to Fringe and reprise his role as William Bell. He returned to voice the character in the animated segments of the third-season episode "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide", and appeared as a computer-generated character in the fourth-season episode "Letters of Transit". In the two-part finale of the fourth season, Nimoy returned to play the ultimate antagonist of the alternate timeline story arc.
+
+== Reception ==
+Early reception through the first season was generally lukewarm, with many noting its "lackluster" start and the "dullness" of the characters. However, changes in the approach and storytelling of the show in the second and subsequent seasons led to more positive critical reception and made it a media favorite. As a whole, the series was well received by the critics and has developed a cult following.

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)-9.md

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+---
+title: "Fringe (TV series)"
+chunk: 10/14
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:14.421406+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+=== First season ===
+The pilot episode was watched by 9.13 million viewers, garnering 3.2/9 Nielsen ratings among adults 18–49, with ratings improving over the course of the episode. Ratings improved greatly for the second episode, "The Same Old Story" which 13.27 million people watched, making it the fifth most watched show of the week. As of October 2008, the show had achieved the first place in the 18–49 demographic among new shows. Barry Garron at The Hollywood Reporter found it promising and "reminiscent of battle-of-the-sexes charm." Robert Bianco, of USA Today, said, "What Abrams brings to Fringe is a director's eye for plot and pace, a fan's love of sci-fi excitement, and a story-teller's gift for investing absurd events with real emotions and relatable characters." Travis Fickett of IGN gave it 7.6 out of 10, calling it "a lackluster pilot that promises to be a pretty good series". While Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle remarked that it was "boundlessly ambitious", Chicago Sun-Times's Misha Davenport called it an "update of The X-Files with the addition of terrorism and the office of Homeland Security". In a 2016 retrospective of the series, A.V. Club writer Joshua Alston noted that the similarities to The X-Files, including the "monster of the week" approach and tepid romance between two of the series' lead characters, as well as the relatively recent release of The X-Files: I Want to Believe, had turned audiences off the show since "it was retreading what The X-Files had already done."
+In its 2008 Year in Review, Television Without Pity declared Fringe one of the year's biggest TV disappointments, commenting that the show is "entertaining" and "the cast is largely strong" but the character development is insufficient, and describing main character Olivia Dunham as "wooden and distant." Meanwhile, in other articles recounting the best and worst of 2008, The New York Times stated that Fringe "is the best of a rash of new series that toy with the paranormal". The author goes on to praise the cast saying that "Much credit belongs to Anna Torv who stars as an F.B.I. agent investigating bizarre murders that all appear to be linked to a powerful and mysterious multinational corporation", and "Ms. Torv is backed up ably by John Noble as a crazy but brilliant fringe scientist and his level-headed but skeptical son, played by Joshua Jackson".
+The first season holds an 85% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Action-packed, suspenseful, and filled with intriguing twists, Fringe is a smart sci-fi series that's compelling enough to overcome its occasionally uneven plotting."

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_sauna-0.md

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+---
+title: "Infrared sauna"
+chunk: 1/1
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_sauna"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:16.797855+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+An infrared sauna uses infrared heaters to emit infrared light experienced as radiant heat that is absorbed by the surface of the skin. Infrared saunas are popular in alternative therapies, where they are claimed to help with a number of medical issues including autism, cancer, and COVID-19, but these claims are not supported by credible scientific evidence. Traditional saunas differ from infrared saunas in that they heat the body primarily by conduction and convection from the heated air and by radiation of the heated surfaces in the sauna room whereas infrared saunas primarily use radiation. 
+Infrared saunas are also used in Infrared Therapy and Waon Therapy; while there is a small amount of preliminary evidence that these therapies correlate with a number of benefits, including reduced blood pressure and increased left ventricular function, there are several problems with linking this evidence to alleged health benefits.
+
+
+== History ==
+
+John Harvey Kellogg invented the use of radiant heat saunas with his incandescent electric light bath in 1891. He claimed that it stimulated healing in the body and in 1893 displayed his invention at the Chicago World's Fair. In 1896 the Radiant Heat Bath was patented by Kellogg and described in the patent as not depending on the heat in the air to heat the body but able to more quickly produce a sweat than traditional Turkish or Russian baths at a lower ambient temperature. The idea became popular, particularly in Germany where "Light Institutes" were set up. King Edward VII of England and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany both had radiant heat baths set up in their various palaces. The modern concept of the infrared sauna was revived in the 1970s in Japan as Waon (Japanese: "soothing warmth") Therapy and neonatal beds for newborns use infrared elements to keep the baby warm without being stifled.
+
+
+== Description ==
+
+Infrared saunas can be designed to look like traditional saunas but cheaper models can be in the form of a tent with an infrared element inside. Infrared saunas differ from other types of sauna such as traditional Finnish saunas mainly in the method of heat delivery. Far infrared light, which is emitted in an infrared sauna at a wavelength of around 10 μm, is felt directly by the body in the form of radiated heat without the need to heat the air around the body first. This results in a lower ambient air temperature allowing for longer sustained stays in the sauna. Infrared light also penetrates the body deeply resulting in a fast and vigorous sweat being produced. The average ambient temperature in an infrared sauna is usually 40–60 °C (104–140 °F) compared to 70–90 °C (158–194 °F) in traditional saunas.
+
+
+== Effects ==
+A 2009 literature review of research on far-infrared saunas (FIRS) concluded that there was limited moderate evidence supporting their efficacy in normalizing blood pressure and treating congestive heart failure. The review found fair evidence from a single study supporting FIRS therapy for chronic pain. They found fair evidence against claims that FIRS reduces cholesterol levels. They found weak evidence, from a single study, supporting FIRS therapy as treatment for obesity. All of the studies in the review were limited: they were small sample sizes, short duration, unvalidated symptom scales, and were conducted by the same core research group.
+
+In February 2021 Steven Novella of Science-Based Medicine commented on the quality of studies in an article entitled "Infrared Saunas for 'Detoxification'" he stated that: Most of the mainstream attention is on the cardiovascular effects. Using a sauna does correlate with reduced blood pressure (in some, BP may also increase), increased heart rate, increased dermal perfusion with a reduction in organ perfusion, and increased left ventricular function and arterial flexibility. There are several problems with linking this evidence to alleged health benefits. First – these effects are all short term, during the sauna and for 30 minutes following. We don't know if there is any sustained change in cardiovascular function. Second, we don't know that these changes are improvements. This relates to the third issue, it is possible that at least most of these changes may simply be due to dehydration. Reduced blood volume from water loss (similar to a diuretic effect) will reduce the blood pressure and increase the heart rate, relaxing blood vessels to increase perfusion. So perhaps all we are seeing is a transient effect of the dehydration that accompanies using a sauna.
+A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis of nine clinical trials found that five weekly conventional sauna sessions for 2 to 4 weeks was associated with a significant reduction in brain natriuretic peptide (BNP; a marker of heart failure progression) and cardiothoracic ratio (an indicator of heart enlargement), and improved left-ventricular ejection fraction, but no significant effect on left-ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left atrial diameter, systolic blood pressure, or diastolic blood pressure. The review also rated the quality of evidence for these findings as moderate to insufficient, citing a risk of bias and imprecision as the reason for the low evidence rating. The evidence presented by the review supported a therapeutic effect of sauna bathing for heart failure patients but recommended that further studies were needed to be able to draw definitive conclusions.
+A 2019 scientific survey found that most people use both infrared and traditional saunas for relaxation and that its use, 5 to 15 times per month, was associated with higher mental well-being.
+
+
+== Use in alternative therapies ==
+There are a number of claims made about the health effects of infrared saunas that are entirely based in pseudoscience and have no evidence to support them.
+
+
+=== Claims of detoxification ===
+
+Proponents of infrared saunas may, without evidence, advertise benefits of detoxification, or that infrared saunas detoxify to a greater extent than traditional saunas. Proponents of infrared saunas will often claim that because infrared light penetrates the body so deeply, it must detoxify better than other means of sweat induction. Infrared saunas do induce body warmth and sweat much more vigorously and at lower ambient temperatures than traditional saunas or exercise; this does not mean that they detoxify more efficiently, or at all. Sweating removes an insignificant amount of toxins from the body and can be counterproductive to the function of the body's actual detoxification system, the liver and kidneys. Producing more sweat reduces the amount of urine produced by the body, which may actually reduce toxin excretion.
+
+
+=== Applications ===
+Fire departments in Texas and Indiana have purchased infrared saunas under the premise that they will prevent cancer and that the firefighters will be able to sweat out inhaled pollutants. Alternative therapists such as naturopaths have advised the use of infrared saunas for the treatment of cancer and autism. Wellness clinics have recommended it to remove radiation and heavy metals from the body, as well as a preventative treatment for COVID-19. Gwyneth Paltrow has also been criticised by experts for recommending infrared saunas as a post COVID-19 treatment.
+
+
+== See also ==
+
+
+== References ==
+
+
+== External links ==
+
+Light therapeutics; a practical manual of phototherapy for the student and the practitioner, with special reference to the incandescent electric-light bath by Kellogg, John Harvey,1852-1943

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambo_(drug)-0.md

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+title: "Kambo (drug)"
+chunk: 1/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambo_(drug)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:17.943236+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+Kambo, also known as sapo (from Portuguese: sapo, lit. 'toad') or vacina-do-sapo, is substance derived from the natural secretions of an amphibian belonging to the Phyllomedusa family. Commonly the dried skin secretions of the giant leaf frog, known as the kambô in Portuguese, a species of frog, are used for ritualistic purposes with a strong religious and spiritual components. Less commonly it is used as a transdermal medicine, however, evidence for its effectiveness is limited.
+Kambo is usually used in a group setting, called a kambo circle or kambo ceremony. The effects on humans usually include tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. A meta-review of 50 studies in which 11 cases of acute intoxication were examined found that extreme cases have included psychosis (occasionally severe), SIADH, kidney damage (including acute renal failure), pancreas damage, liver damage including toxic hepatitis, dermatomyositis, esophageal rupture, and seizures, in some cases leading to death, although such incidents are limited in number and some evidence suggests precipitation by medical contraindications.
+Kambo, which originated as a folk medicine practice among some indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin, is also administered as a complementary medicine and alternative medicine treatment in the West, often as a pseudoscientific cleanse or detox. The ceremony involves burning an arm or leg and applying the kambo secretion directly to the burn. Promoters claim that kambo helps with several illnesses or injuries. There is no scientific evidence that it is an effective treatment and causal evidence is limited.
+It seems to be particularly dangerous to take kambo with large quantities of water. Doing that is associated with SIADH and severe electrolyte imbalances: changes in plasma and urine osmolarity, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia and hypophosphatemia. Naloxone is under study as a possible antidote; hospital treatment also includes medicines to protect organs from damage and restore electrolyte function.
+
+== Terminology ==
+
+Kampo pae, a name used by the Noke Kuin (formerly Katukina)
+Dow kiet, a word used by the Matses
+Sapo, kampô, kampu, vacina de sapo, or vacina da floresta, in Brazilian Portuguese
+"Kambô" is a common name of Phyllomedusa bicolor, an Amazonian tree frog, also known as the blue-and-yellow frog, bicolored tree-frog, giant monkey frog, giant leaf frog, or waxy-monkey tree frog. "Sapo" means "toad" in Spanish and Portuguese. The frog is an anuran amphibian that inhabits the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America.
+
+== History ==
+
+Natives who practice kambo are Panoan-speaking indigenous groups in the southeast Amazon rainforest, such as the Matsés, Marubo, Amahuaca, Kashinawa, Katukina, Yawanawá, and Kaxinawá. There are ethnographic studies on the use of kambo in traditional Noke Kuin medicine in the region of the state of Acre, in the Brazilian Amazon.
+Since the mid-20th century, kambo has also been practiced in urban regions of Brazil. In 2004, Brazil banned the sale and marketing of kambo. Import is illegal in Chile. Outside of South America, it first became known as an alternative therapy in the late 2010s.
+In 2021, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia banned the use of kambo in Australia and classified it as a schedule-10 poison. It is listed in the category for "substances of such danger to health as to warrant prohibition of sale, supply and use".
+
+== Indigenous use ==
+
+To collect the secretions from the frog's body, first, the frog has to be caught. A practitioner will tie the frog to four sticks placed in the ground with its limbs stretched. This causes the frog to become stressed enough to activate its defense mechanism and secrete a substance containing peptides from its skin. After these secretions are obtained, the frog is released back into the wild. The secretions are then left to dry. Small burns are created on the skin, and a small dose of the frog secretions is applied to the open wounds. In native practice, the secretions are removed from the wounds after 15 to 20 minutes, ending the acute symptoms.
+Traditional practitioners claim that it aids fertility, cleanses the body and soul, increases strength, and brings good luck to hunts, though there is no scientific evidence for these claims. It is used by natives to who attempt to expel "panema" (bad spirit) and to induce abortions. The secretions are also commonly used in people who suffer from laziness, a condition perceived as unfavorable by the Noke Kuin as the person stops participating socially.
+Joaquim Luz, a Yamanawa leader, criticized internet sales and kambo's use without the preparation or permission of indigenous peoples, saying that such users are at risk, even of death.  Other native groups have also expressed concerns.
+
+== Non-indigenous use ==
+Outside South America, a kambo ceremony can involve just two people: the practitioner and the participant, or many participants at once, which is known as a kambo circle. Participants are encouraged to bring plenty of water, a towel, and a bucket. There are usually yoga mats on the floor and the ceremony room, which is often the practitioner's living room, is heavily incensed.
+During the ceremony, the participant's skin is deliberately burnt multiple times, usually on the upper arm or leg, by the practitioner using a smoldering stick or vine. The practitioner uses saliva or water to reconstitute the secretions and place it on top of the burnt skin. Participants may be encouraged to shout "Viva" whenever one of them vomits into their bucket. Short-term effects include violent nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, edema (swelling) of the face, headaches, and tachycardia. The secretions seem to be vasoactive (affecting the circulation), explaining why they are absorbed rapidly.
+Intoxication may occur immediately or within hours.

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+---
+title: "Kambo (drug)"
+chunk: 2/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambo_(drug)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:17.943236+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+=== Medical claims ===
+Non-indigenous users and practitioners of kambo claim that the alternative medicine helps with a wide variety of issues and conditions. These claims include treating addiction, depression, and chronic pain, reducing fevers, increasing fertility, boosting energy and physical strength, and improving mental clarity. It is also claimed that kambo removes negative energy. There is currently no scientific evidence to support positive health effect claims.. 
+There is no solid medical evidence on how the frog toxins work, whether they are useful for treating anything, and whether they can be used safely: no clinical trials have tested them on humans, as of November 2019. Reports of adverse effects are numerous, including for use with experienced guidance. 
+Kym Jenkins of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, in a Sydney Morning Herald article, said "people with mental illness are a more vulnerable group anyway for a variety of reasons. If you're feeling very anxious or very depressed, you're automatically more vulnerable, and you could be more susceptible to people advertising or marketing a quick fix. I do have concerns that people can be preyed upon when they are more vulnerable."
+The Australian Medical Association (AMA) supports the TGA's ban on the sale, supply, and use of kambo, saying it considers kambo to be a "significant health risk".
+
+=== Marketing ===
+In non-indigenous use, the frog secretion is described and marketed as a "detox" treatment, cleanse, purge, and as a "vaccine" that is "good for everything". Kambo has been marketed both as a "scientific" remedy, emphasizing the biochemistry, and as a "spiritual" remedy, emphasizing its Indigenous origins. Purging (deliberate vomiting) has been a popular treatment since the 1800s. "Detox" has been described by Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine, as a term for conventional medical treatments for addiction, which has been "hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks, and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment."
+In Brazil, given the growth in the consumption of kambo in urban centers, there has been criticism by indigenous people, academics and communicators regarding the cultural appropriation of indigenous knowledge, the process of extracting the secretion of the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog, the form of transmission of wisdom, and the price charged by the ritual and the mystification of the origin of the frog.
+There is also concern about pharmacological patents on the peptides identified in kambo (see biopiracy), the commercialization of the kambo outside its place of origin, and the unknown impact on frog populations, since many more are now removed from their natural habitats.
+In light of the chemical complexity of the frog toxins, and their complex and potentially fatal effects, the authors of a 2022 review on the diagnosis and treatment of kambo cases said they urged "strict surveillance of the websites that encourage the use of this substance and [we] urge greater control of e-commerce or illicit trafficking of animals and secretions, including through the dark web".
+
+== Environmental impact ==
+The effect of the increased use of kambo rituals, and trafficking of the frogs and their secretions, may have an effect on the population of Phyllomedusa bicolor in its natural habitats: the forests of Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, the Guianas, Colombia, and Venezuela. Phyllomedusa bicolor is not considered an endangered species by the IUCN. Besides Phyllomedusa (species?), other threatened endemic frog species of South America's neotropical regions have been poached and smuggled on the black market.
+
+=== Parasitology ===
+Smuggling amphibians such as Phyllomedusa bicolor can spread parasites. Zoos keep frogs for conservation purposes, and there are many parasites present in these animals that naturally occur only in the native habitats. It is recommended for imported amphibians to go through a quarantine process to verify they are not spreading parasites that could damage other ecosystems. Parasite infection rates in frogs is 51%, while in salamanders it is 13%. Individuals who want to have them as pets are obligated and encouraged to get them examined to detect gastrointestinal parasites that could potentially be harmful. Neocosmocercella fisherae is the first nematode species found parasitising Phyllomedusa bicolor from the Brazilian Amazon region.
+
+== Notable deaths ==
+A 40-year-old businessman was charged in Brazil in 2008 with the illegal exercise of medicine and felony murder after administering kambo toxins to a business colleague who died; the deceased's son, who said his father had pressured him into participating, suffered more minor effects. In Chile, in 2009, Daniel Lara Aguilar, who suffered from chronic lumbar disc disease, died immediately after taking kambo administered by a local shaman in a mass healing ceremony; the autopsy was inconclusive due to pre-existing conditions. Medical literature reported a 2018 case in Italy of a man with obesity and ventricular hypertrophy, who, according to autopsy reports, died of cardiac arrhythmia while under the effects of kambo use. In March 2019, kambo practitioner Natasha Lechner suffered a cardiac arrest and died while receiving kambo. In April 2019, a homicide investigation was opened into the death by "severe cerebral edema" of a young person who had taken kambo toxins in Chile; the import of the frog and its secretions is illegal in Chile. In October 2021, Australian man Jarred Antonovich died at a festival in New South Wales from a perforated esophagus suspected to be caused by excessive vomiting after being administered kambo and N,N-dimethyltriptamine. After a car accident in 1997 from which he had to learn to walk and talk again, he was left with lasting impediments, the inquest heard, which may have contributed to the esophageal rupture.
+
+== Pharmacology ==

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+---
+title: "Kambo (drug)"
+chunk: 3/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambo_(drug)"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:17.943236+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+The frog secretes a range of small chemical compounds of a type called peptides, which have several different effects. Peptides found in the frog secretions include the opioid peptides dermorphin and deltorphin, the vasodilator sauvagine, and dermaseptin, which exhibits antimicrobial properties in vitro. Various other substances such as phyllomedusin, phyllokinin, caerulein, and adrenoregulin are also present. There is active medical research into the peptides found in the skin secretions of Phyllomedusa bicolor, focusing on discovering their biological effects. There have been some preclinical trials in mice and rats, but no phase-1 tests or clinical trials of safety in humans, as of November 2019.
+Most of the kambo-related bioactive peptides so far characterized have displayed potential applications in medicine, such as phyllocaeruleins with hypotensive properties, tachykinins and phyllokinins as vasodilators, dermorphins and deltorphins with opiate-like properties, and adenoregulins with antibiotic properties.
+In a clinical trial of a randomized, placebo-controlled study in postoperative pain, dermorphin administered via the intrathecal route was "impressively superior" over the placebo and the reference compound morphine." Due to the numerous biological activities of these substances and the similarities with the amino acid sequences related to mammalian neuropeptides and hormones, many have aroused the interest from a medical and pharmacological perspective, such as in the production of new drugs.
+
+== See also ==
+
+== Notes ==
+
+== References ==

data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum-0.md

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+---
+title: "The Hum"
+chunk: 1/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:15.697087+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+The Hum is a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise audible to many, but not all, people in an area. Hums have been reported in many countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They are sometimes named according to the locality where the problem has been particularly publicized, such as the "Taos Hum" in New Mexico and the "Windsor Hum" in Ontario.
+The Hum does not appear to be a single phenomenon. Different causes have been attributed, including local mechanical sources, often from industrial plants, as well as manifestations of tinnitus or other biological auditory effects.
+
+== Description ==
+A 1973 report cites a university study of fifty cases of people complaining about a "low throbbing background noise" that others were unable to hear. The sound, always peaking between 30 and 40 Hz (hertz), was found to only be heard during cool weather with a light breeze, and often early in the morning. These noises were often confined to a 10-kilometre (6 mi) wide area. For some who are capable of hearing it, The Hum can be a disturbing phenomenon, which has been linked to at least three suicides in the United Kingdom.
+
+=== The Ultimate Hum ===
+A study into the Taos Hum in the early 1990s in Taos, New Mexico indicated that at least two percent could hear it, each hearer at a different frequency between 32 and 80 Hz, modulated from 0.5 to 2 Hz. Similar results have been found in an earlier British study. It seems possible for hearers to move away from it, with one hearer of the Taos Hum reporting its range was 30 miles (48 km). There are approximately equal percentages of male and female hearers. Age does appear to be a factor, with middle-aged people more likely to hear it.
+
+=== Auckland Hum ===
+In 2006, Tom Moir, then of Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, made several recordings that appeared to be the Auckland Hum. His previous research using simulated sounds had indicated that the hum was around 56 hertz.
+
+=== Windsor Hum ===
+In late 2011, residents of Windsor, Ontario, began reporting a low droning vibration, sometimes loud enough to be irritating (one evening in 2012 saw 22,000 reports to officials). It was estimated that the sound was emanating from Zug Island, a heavily industrialized section of River Rouge on the north bank of the Detroit River (which separates Windsor and Detroit). Canadian officials requested US assistance in determining the source, but local authorities were stymied by official refusals to allow access to the island. A steel mill operated by U.S. Steel was the possible cause, but officials stated that no new equipment had been installed or activated around the time that the noise became noticeable. When the blast furnaces were deactivated in April 2020, the noise went away as well.
+
+=== Other ===
+In 2021, hums were reported in Frankfurt and Darmstadt, in Germany. A year later, multiple sources for the hum were identified in Darmstadt: two faulty air conditioner units, a faulty heat pump, and three structural noise protection measures on energy generation plants.
+In 2022, hums were reported in St. Louis County, Missouri and surrounding areas.
+In 2023, a hum was reported in Omagh in Northern Ireland.
+In November 2025, citizens of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada reported a low mechanical humming which one resident described as "repetitive and random". Yukon Energy, who were using diesel generators due to lower than usual hydropower during that season, issued a statement saying that it was "unlikely" that the sound of their generators could reach distant neighborhoods.
+
+== Possible explanations ==
+
+=== High-pressure gas pipelines ===
+Industrial-facilities mechanical engineer Steve Kohlhase spent $30,000 on legal fees and equipment related to his independent investigation of the low-frequency hum. Garret Harkawiks' 2019 documentary film Doom Vibrations focused on Kohlhase's ten year journey to figure out what was causing the noise, and his theory behind it. In all reported cases Kohlhase studied, he said that the locations were along high-pressure gas pipelines, or at least in close proximity to them.
+
+=== Background sounds ===
+In 2009, the head of audiology at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, David Baguley, said he believed people's problems with the hum were based on the physical world about one-third of the time, and stemmed from people focusing too keenly on innocuous background sounds the other two-thirds of the time. Baguley said for example the noise can be attributed to environmental causes, such as industrial machinery at a nearby factory or an industrial fan. But he also found that the majority of cases remain unexplained. Baguley said, "I think most people view the hum as a fringe belief because it's so subjective — people say they hear something that most people can't hear. But when you look at the vast number of people who say they hear it, it's obvious that there's something going on." Baguley also theorizes that peoples' hearing has become overly sensitive.

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+---
+title: "The Hum"
+chunk: 2/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:15.697087+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+=== Mechanical devices ===
+Although some form of mechanical source is an obvious candidate, given the common description of the hum as sounding like a diesel engine, the majority of reported hums have not been traced to a specific mechanical source.
+In the case of Kokomo, Indiana, a city with heavy industry, the origin of the hum was thought to have been traced to two sources. The first was a 36 Hz tone from a cooling tower at the local DaimlerChrysler casting plant and the second was a 10 Hz tone from an air compressor intake at the Haynes International plant. After those devices were corrected, however, reports of the hum persisted.
+Three hums have been linked to mechanical sources. The West Seattle Hum was traced to a vacuum pump used by CalPortland to offload cargo from ships. After CalPortland replaced the silencers on the machine, reports of the hum ceased. Likewise, the Wellington Hum is thought to have been due to the diesel generator on a visiting ship. A 35 Hz hum in Windsor, Ontario, is thought to have originated from a steelworks on the industrial zone of Zug Island near Detroit, with reports of the noise ceasing after the U.S. Steel plant there ceased operations in April 2020.
+One hum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was suspected of originating at a Santee Cooper substation almost two miles away from the home of a couple who first reported it. The substation is home to the state's largest transformer. One local couple sued the power company for the disruption the hum was causing them. The hum was louder inside their house than out, in part, they believed, because their house vibrated in resonance to the 60 Hz hum. In the lawsuit they claimed that the volume of the hum was measured at up to 64.1 dB in the couple's home.
+Some researchers speculate that the very low frequency radio waves or extremely low frequency radio waves of the military TACAMO system, used by aircraft to communicate with submarines, might be the source for the hum. David Deming observes that the difficulty of locating a source of the hum could be attributed to its broadcast from moving aircraft in this fashion, although he notes that there have never been any reports of the Hum around the U.S. Navy's stationary broadcast stations at Cutler, Maine, and Jim Creek, Washington.
+Deming considers it significant that the Hum "avoids publicity", often subsiding in response to an increase in local press coverage, and speculates that this may be a sign that the source is anthropogenic in nature.
+
+=== Tinnitus ===
+A suggested diagnosis of tinnitus, a self-reported disturbance of the auditory system, is used by some physicians in response to complaints about the Hum. Tinnitus is generated internally by the auditory and nervous systems, with no external stimulus.
+While the Hum is hypothesized by some to be a form of low frequency tinnitus such as the venous hum, some report it not to be internal, being worse inside their homes than outside; however, others insist that it is equally bad indoors and outdoors. Some people notice the Hum only at home, while others hear it everywhere they go. Some sufferers report that it is made worse by soundproofing (e.g., double glazing), which serves only to decrease other environmental noise, thus making the Hum more apparent.
+Long-term use of ibuprofen is associated with increased risk of developing hearing damage. It was suspected to have relationship to the hum.
+
+=== Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions ===
+Human ears generate their own noises, called spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE). Various studies have shown that 38 to 60 percent of adults with normal hearing have them, although the majority are unaware of these sounds. The people who do hear these sounds typically hear a faint hissing (cicada-like sound), buzzing or ringing, especially if they are otherwise in complete silence. Hence, researchers who looked at the Taos Hum considered otoacoustic emissions as a possibility.
+
+=== Jet stream ===
+Philip Dickinson suggested at an Institute of Biology conference in 1973 that the 30- to 40-Hz hum could be a result of the jet stream shearing against slower-moving air and possibly being amplified by power line posts, some of which were shown to vibrate, or by rooms which had a corresponding resonant frequency. Geoff Leventhall of the Chelsea College Acoustics Group dismissed this suggestion as "absolute nonsense".
+
+=== Animals ===
+
+One of the many possible causes of the West Seattle Hum considered was that it was related to the midshipman fish, also known as the toadfish. A hum previously reported in Sausalito, California, was traced to the mating call of male midshipman fish. However, in that case the hum was resonating through houseboat hulls and affecting the people living on those boats. In the West Seattle case, the University of Washington researcher determined that it would be impossible for any resonating hum, transmitted via tanker or boat hulls, to be transmitted very far inland, certainly not far enough to account for the reports.
+The Scottish Association for Marine Science hypothesised that the nocturnal humming sound heard in Hythe, Hampshire, could be produced by a similar "sonic" fish. The council believed this to be unlikely, since such fish are not commonly found in inshore waters of the UK. As of February 2014, although the source had still not been located, the Hythe hum had been recorded.
+
+== Treatment ==
+At an acoustics laboratory at the University of Salford, David Baguley's research focused on using psychology and relaxation techniques to minimise distress due to the hum, which can lead to a quieting or even removal of the noise.
+Geoff Leventhall, a noise and vibration expert, has suggested cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be effective in helping those affected: "It's a question of whether you tense up to the noise or are relaxed about it. The CBT was shown to work, by helping people to take a different attitude to it."

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+---
+title: "The Hum"
+chunk: 3/3
+source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum"
+category: "reference"
+tags: "science, encyclopedia"
+date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:09:15.697087+00:00"
+instance: "kb-cron"
+---
+
+== In popular culture ==
+The Taos Hum has been featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries, and in LiveScience's "Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena", where it took tenth place. BBC Radio 4 featured an investigation of the Hum phenomena in their Punt PI fact-based comedy programme. In October 2022, the Norwegian state broadcaster NRK covered the Hum in its Oppdatert podcast.
+In a 1998 episode of The X-Files titled "Drive", Agent Mulder speculates that extremely low frequency (ELF) radio waves "may be behind the so-called Taos Hum".
+In a 2018 episode (Season 13 episode 21) of the police procedural series Criminal Minds, the main antagonist of the episode was made to commit violent acts as a result of mania caused by the Taos Hum. The story editors described the episode as having "an X-Files feel".
+Jordan Tannahill's 2021 novel The Listeners tells the story of a group of people tormented by a continuous humming noise that seemingly only they can hear. It was the inspiration for an opera of the same name that debuted in 2022. The book was adapted into a BBC series of the same name by the BBC in 2024.
+In a 2022 episode of the animated series American Dad! titled "Echoes", Avery Bullock (voiced by Patrick Stewart) muses about a mysterious background hum that several characters report hearing through the episode.
+The Windsor Hum is the subject of the song "The Hum" by Canadian musician Dan Griffin, and the short documentary film Zug Island by Nicolas Lachapelle.
+The Windsor Hum is also the subject of a song by Detroit band Protomartyr and appears on their 2017 album Relatives in Descent.
+The Hum is thematized in metalcore band Converge's 2026 album Hum of Hurt, imagined as a physical manifestation of human suffering. Vocalist and lyricist Jacob Bannon suggests, "What if the Hum is the culmination of all the pain in the world creating an audible hum across the universe? Something noticeable to others operating on a similar frequency."
+
+== See also ==
+Exploding head syndrome
+Infrasound
+Mains hum, a low-frequency hum that is part of the normal functioning of electrical equipment
+List of unexplained sounds
+Skyquake
+Havana syndrome
+Auroral noise
+The Listeners (TV Series)
+
+== References ==
+
+== Further reading ==
+Deming, D. (2004). The Hum:  An Anomalous Sound Heard Throughout the World
+Fox, Barry (9 December 1989). "Low-frequency 'hum' may permeate the environment". New Scientist. p. 27.
+Leventhall, H. G. (2004). "Low frequency noise and annoyance". Noise & Health. 6 (23): 59–72. PMID 15273024. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
+Moorhouse, Andy; Waddington, David; Adams, Mags (February 2005). "Procedure for the assessment of low frequency noise complaints" (PDF). Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2011. [1].
+Mullins, Joe; Kelly, James P. (Autumn 1995). "The Mystery of the Taos hum" (PDF). Echos. Acoustical Society of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2014.
+Vasudevan, R. N.; Gordon, C. G. (1997). "Experimental study of annoyance due to low frequency environmental noise". Applied Acoustics. 10 (1): 57–69. doi:10.1016/0003-682X(77)90007-X.
+
+== External links ==
+The World Hum Map and Database