The etheric body is a name given to a supposed vital body propounded in esoteric philosophies as the first or lowest layer in the human energy field or aura. It is said to be in immediate contact with the physical body, to sustain it and connect it with higher bodies.

The term etheric in this context seems to derive from the Theosophical writings of Madame Blavatsky, but its use was formalised by C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant due to the elimination of Hindu terminology from the system of seven planes and bodies.

The term gained some general popularity after the 1914-18 war, Dr. Walter John Kilner having adopted it for a layer of the human atmosphere which, as he claimed in a popular book, could be rendered visible to the naked eye by means of certain exercises.

The classical element Aether of Platonic and Aristotlean physics continued in VIctorian scientific proposals of a Luminiferous ether as well as the cognate chemical substance ether. According to Theosophists and Alice Bailey the etheric body inhabits an etheric plane which corresponds to the four higher subplanes of the physical plane. The intended reference is therefore to some extremely rarefied matter, analogous in usage to the word spirit. In selecting it as the term for a clearly defined concept in an Indian derived metaphysical system, the Theosophists aligned it with ideas such as the prana maya kosha (sheath made of prana, subtle breath or life force) of Vedantic thought.

In popular use it is often confounded with the related concept of the astral body as for example in the term astral projection. The early Theosophists had called it the astral double. Others prefer to speak of the lower and higher astral.

Linga sarira is a Sanskrit term for the invisible double of the human body, the etheric body or etheric double, or astral body in some Theosophical concepts. It is one of the seven principles of the human being, according to Theosophical philosophy.

Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, often referred to the etheric body in association with the etheric formative forces and the evolution of man and the cosmos. According to him, it can be perceived by a person gifted with clairvoyance as being of peach blossom color.

Steiner considered the etheric reality or life principle as quite distinct from the physical material reality, being intermediate between the physical world and the astral or soul world. The etheric body can be characterised as the life force also present in the plant kingdom. It maintains the physical body’s form until death. At that time, it separates from the physical body and the physical reverts to natural disintegration.

According to Max Heindel’s Rosicrucian writings, the etheric body, composed of four ethers, is called the Vital Body since the ether is the way of ingress for vital force from the Sun and the field of agencies in nature which promote such vital activities as assimilation, growth, and propagation. It is an exact counterpart of our physical body, molecule for molecule, and organ for organ, but it is of the opposite polarity. It is slightly larger, extending about one and a half inches beyond the periphery of the physical body.

Samael Aun Weor teaches that the vital body is the five dimensional part of the physical body and the foundation of organic life. He states that in the second Initiation of Fire, which is reached through working with sexual magic with a spouse, the Kundalini rises in the vital body. Then the initiate learns how to separate the two superior ethers from the others in order for them to serve as a vehicle to travel out of the physical body.

Some clairvoyants and occultists have produced drawings and paintings that record their perceptions of the etheric body, such as Leadbeater’s Man Visible and Invisible for one example. The images produced by Kirlian photography bear obvious resemblances to these graphics, showing a spiky looking energy field extending a few inches around the human body, as well as other biological specimens, like leaves, and objects like coins. The fact that Kirlian photography can capture the acupuncture points of the body links the technology with concepts of prana, qi, bioplasma, and related ideas and theories. For some believers in the etheric body, Kirlian photography provides important supporting evidence, though skeptics are generally not swayed.

Modern theosophists sometimes claim that the ideas are related to a contemporary area of fringe science, modern Aether theories. However, there are alternative explanations that some Theosophists may regard as plausible, which includes the conception of the dynamic aether, possessing a fluid crystal structure, subdivided in different levels of density, with density proportional to the density of any physical substance occupying the area of space concerned, increasing around large bodies such as stars and planets, acting as a refracting medium, affecting the speed of propagation of light and conveying electromagnetic forces.

This confirms all the experimental data and astronomical observations currently cited in support of the special and general theories of relativity, including the phenomena known as vacuum energy and other unsolved problems in physics that baffles the current standard theories. Also taken into account are the internal inconsistencies and unwarranted assumptions of standard relativity theory have been pointed out by dozens of scientists. It must be reiterated, though, that these ideas should in no way be construed as being indicative of generally accepted scientific opinion on the subject.

In athletics, the four minute mile is the running of a mile, or 5280 feet, in less than four minutes. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister. The four minute barrier has since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all professional middle distance runners. In the last 50 years the mile record has been lowered by almost 17 seconds.

When Bannister crossed the finish line of Oxford’s Iffley Road track on May 6, 1954, he could hardly see straight. Completing the mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, he had not only trimmed two seconds off the world record, but also run the world’s first sub four minute mile.

“People thought it was like bouncing off a brick wall,” explains close rival John Landy, who had come within three seconds of the four minute mark six times.

“It was a sense of relief,” said Bannister, recalling the momentous event more than 50 years later. “There was a mystique, a belief that it couldn’t be done, but I think it was more of a psychological barrier than a physical barrier.”

Landy, who broke Bannister’s record with a 3 minute 58 second finish only six weeks later, argues otherwise. “It has nothing to do with psychology,” he says. “It was just a matter of having the right runners at the right level of training and the right set of circumstances.”

John Walker, a distance runner from New Zealand, managed to run 129 sub four minute miles during his career, during which he was the first person to run over 100 sub four minute miles, and American Steve Scott has run the most sub four minute miles, with 136. Currently, the mile record is held by the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, who set a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome in 1999.

Another illustration of the progression of performance in the men’s mile is that in 1994, forty years after Bannister’s breaking of the barrier, the Irish runner Eamonn Coghlan became the first man over age 40 to run a sub four minute mile.

No woman has yet run a four minute mile. The current women’s record holder is retired Russian Svetlana Masterkova, with a time of 4 minutes 12.56 seconds.

In 1997, Daniel Komen of Kenya ran two miles in less than eight minutes, doubling up on Bannister’s accomplishment.

Volcanic rocks form from volcanic lava near the surface of the earth. They differ from igneous rocks which form from magma below the surface of the earth. The lavas of different volcanoes, when cooled and hardened, differ much in their appearance and composition. If a rhyolite lava stream cools quickly, it can quickly freeze into a black glassy substance called obsidian. When filled with bubbles of gas, the same lava may form the spongy mineral pumice. Allowed to cool slowly, it forms a light-colored, uniformly solid rock called rhyolite.

The lavas, having cooled rapidly in contact with the air or water, are mostly finely crystalline or have at least fine grained ground mass representing that part of the viscous semicrystalline lava flow which was still liquid at the moment of eruption. At this time they were exposed only to atmospheric pressure, and the steam and other gases, which they contained in great quantity were free to escape.

Many important modifications arise from this, the most striking being the frequent presence of numerous steam cavities often drawn out to elongated shapes subsequently filled up with minerals by infiltration. As crystallization was going on while the mass was still creeping forward under the surface of the Earth, the latest formed minerals in the ground mass are commonly arranged in subparallel winding lines following the direction of movement and the larger early minerals which had previously crystallized may show the same arrangement. 

Most lavas have fallen considerably below their original temperatures before they are emitted. In their behavior they present a close analogy to hot solutions of salts in water, which, when they approach the saturation temperature, first deposit a crop of large, well formed crystals and subsequently precipitate clouds of smaller less perfect crystalline particles. 

In igneous rocks the first generation of crystals generally forms before the lava has emerged to the surface, that is to say, during the ascent from the subterranean depths to the crater of the volcano. It has frequently been verified by observation that freshly emitted lavas contain large crystals borne along in a molten, liquid mass. The large, well-formed, early crystals are said to be porphyritic, which means that there is a large difference between the size of the tiny matrix crystals and other much larger crystals. The smaller crystals of the surrounding matrix or ground mass belong to the post effusion stage. 

More rarely lavas are completely fused at the moment of ejection. They may then cool to form a finely crystalline rock, or if more rapidly chilled may in large part be non crystalline or glassy, such as obsidian, tachylyte, pitchstone. A common feature of glassy rocks is the presence of rounded bodies consisting of fine divergent fibres radiating from a center. They consist of imperfect crystals of feldspar, mixed with quartz or tridymite. Similar bodies are often produced artificially in glasses which are allowed to cool slowly. Rarely these spherulites are hollow or consist of concentric shells with spaces between. Perlitic structure, also common in glasses, consists of the presence of concentric rounded cracks owing to contraction on cooling.

The porphyritic minerals are not only larger than those of the ground mass, but as the matrix was still liquid when they formed they were free to take perfect crystalline shapes, without interference by the pressure of adjacent crystals. They seem to have grown rapidly, as they are often filled with enclosures of glassy or finely crystalline material like that of the ground mass. 

Microscopic examination of the larger crystals of the phenocrysts, which are the larger fragments in the rock, often reveals that they have had a complex history. Very frequently they show layers of different composition, indicated by variations in color or other optical properties. Augite may be green in the center surrounded by various shades of brown, or they may be pale green centrally and darker green at the periphery. In the feldspars the center is usually richer in calcium than the surrounding layers, and successive zones may often be noted, each containing less calcium than those which lie within it. 

Phenocrysts of quartz, instead of sharp, perfect crystalline faces, may show rounded corroded surfaces, with the points blunted and irregular tongue like projections of the matrix into the substance of the crystal. It is clear that after the mineral had crystallized it was partly again dissolved or corroded at some period before the matrix solidified. 

A knowledge worker is someone who is employed due to his or her knowledge of a subject matter, rather than their ability to perform manual labor. It includes those in the information technology fields, such as computer programmers, systems analysts, technical writers and so forth. The term can also refer to people outside of information technology but who are hired for their knowledge of some subject, such as lawyers, teachers, and scientists.

The term was coined by Peter Drucker in 1959, as one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace. To emphasise the collaborative nature of knowledge work, and distinguish knowledge workers from other jobs that require skill and experience, the theory of human interaction management replaces the term knowledge worker with the term interaction worker.

Due to the constant industrial growth in North America and globally, there is increasing need for an academically capable workforce. In direct response to this, Knowledge Workers are now estimated to outnumber all other workers in North America by at least a four to one margin.

Alvin Toffler observed that typical knowledge workers such as research and development scientists, engineers, and technology managers in the age of knowledge economy and society must have some system at their disposal to create, process and enhance their own technological knowledge. In some cases they also manage the technical knowledge of their coworkers.

The third wave of human socioeconomic development is described by Charles Savage in Fifth Generation Management. The first wave was the Agricultural Age with wealth defined as ownership of land. In the second wave, the Industrial Age, wealth was based on ownership of Capital such as factories. In the Knowledge Age, wealth is based upon the ownership of knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to create or improve goods and services. Product improvements include cost, durability, suitability, timeliness of delivery, and security.

A Technology Literate Knowledge Worker is educated when it comes to the correct applications of technology. The individual understands what type of technology best suits the company by knowing the technology available and weighing the benefits of each option before making the final decision. The worker is also aware that there must be adequate technological infrastructure in order for the product to work effectively. The worker’s most important ability is the knowledge of when to apply technology. If the Technology Literate Knowledge Worker applies technology at the correct time it can make, or save the organization a significant amount, while using technology when it isn’t needed can be costly.

An example of a Technology Literate Worker is a database administrator who is responsible for ensuring that the databases are functioning properly, while attempting to maximize the databases value to the organization. The database administrator must incorporate a database management system that is compatible with the company’s existing systems and goals. Their primary objective is to maintain a system that is effective and efficient, while keeping it easy to operate. They are also given the task of remaining current with the new technologies available, so that any opportunity to improve the company’s technology can be capitalized on immediately.

Fruit Flies are of the species Drosophila, typically pale yellow to reddish brown and black with red eyes. Many species have distinct black patterns on the wings. Most are small, about 2–4 millimetres long. Fruit flies can be a problem year round, but are especially common during late summer and fall because they are attracted to ripened or fermenting fruits and vegetables.

Tomatoes, melons, squash, grapes and other perishable items brought in from the garden are often the cause of an infestation developing indoors. Fruit flies are also attracted to rotting bananas, potatoes, onions and other unrefrigerated produce purchased at the grocery store. Fruit flies are primarily nuisance pests.

They are common in homes, restaurants, supermarkets and wherever else food is allowed to rot and ferment. Fruit flies lay their eggs near the surface of fermenting foods or other moist, organic materials. Upon emerging, the tiny larvae continue to feed near the surface of the fermenting mass. This surface feeding characteristic of the larvae is significant in that damaged or over ripened portions of fruits and vegetables can be cut away without having to discard the remainder for fear of retaining any developing larvae. 

The reproductive potential of fruit flies is enormous. Given the opportunity, they will lay about 500 eggs. The entire lifecycle from egg to adult can be completed in about a week. Males are known to have the longest sperm cells of any organism on Earth. The cells are mostly tail and are about .25 millimetres long, although this is still about 100 times as long as a human sperm.

Fruit flies are especially attracted to ripened fruits and vegetables in the kitchen. But they also will breed in drains, garbage disposals, empty bottles and cans, trash containers, mops and cleaning rags. All that is needed for development is a moist film of fermenting material. Infestations can originate from over ripened fruits or vegetables that were previously infested and brought into the home. The adults can also fly in from outside through inadequately screened windows and doors.

The best way to avoid problems with fruit flies is to eliminate sources of attraction. Produce which has ripened should be eaten, discarded or refrigerated. Cracked or damaged portions of fruits and vegetables should be cut away and discarded in the event that eggs or larvae are present in the wounded area. A single rotting potato or onion forgotten at the back of a closet can breed thousands of fruit flies.

Once a structure is infested with fruit flies all potential breeding areas should be located and eliminated. Unless the breeding sites are removed or cleaned, the problem will continue no matter how often insecticides are applied to control the adults. Finding the sources of attraction and breeding can be very challenging and often will require much thought and persistence. Potential breeding sites which are inaccessible such as garbage disposals and drains can be inspected by taping a clear plastic food storage bag over the opening overnight. If flies are breeding in these areas, the adults will emerge and be caught in the bag.

One way to get rid of fruit flies is to construct a bowl trap by placing a piece of old skinless fruit and some wine or some balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and a rubber band, and poke many small holes in the plastic with a fork. The fruit flies go in and can’t get out, but if the holes are too big they will be able to escape. Release the flies outdoors and dispose of the bait.

Another approach is to construct a trap by placing a paper funnel rolled from a sheet of notebook paper into a jar which is then baited with a few ounces of cider vinegar. Place the jar traps wherever fruit flies are seen. This simple but effective trap will soon catch any remaining adult flies which can then be killed or released outdoors.

A change in hair color typically occurs naturally as people age, usually turning their hair to gray and then white. More than 40 percent of Americans have some gray hair by age 40. The age at which graying begins seems to be almost entirely based on genetics. Sometimes people are born with gray hair because they inherit the trait genetically.

Hairs grow out of deep pockets in the skin called follicles. Deep down in the follicle, living cells produce proteins similar to those in fingernails. As these cells multiply, they start sticking together and die, creating a shaft of hard lifeless cells that is gradually pushed up and out of the follicle by the living cells at the bottom. This dead shaft is a hair.

Keratin, the protein that composes the hair, is itself colorless, so the fundamental color of hair is white. However, also deep in the follicle are cells containing the pigment melanin. Kertainocytes, the hair producing cells, actually assume a piece of the melanin containing cells and swallow it up, according to University of Arkansas for Medical Science dermatology chief Tom Horn. As the hair cells die and harden, the melanin they’ve picked up concentrates, creating the hair color.

Hair will continue growing outward until it reaches an apparently genetically predetermined length or falls out. The typical strand of head hair falls out after two to four years, and a new one starts forming. Hair starts graying when the melanocytes, the melanin-producing cells, start dying. The cell death appears to be genetically determined though the evolutionary function is unknown.

As the melanocytes age, they may actually become hyperactive, making hair considerably darker before it goes gray. Then the melanocytes typically go on the fritz, producing melanin only irregularly. Some parts of the hair will have melanin, others will have only air spaces or clear dead cells. This blend produces a gray coloration. Eventually, the melanocytes may all die, leaving the hair pure white.

The graying occurs in the follicle and becomes visible only as the hair grows outward. The hair itself is dead matter, and its color can be changed only by external means such as bleaching, sunlight or dyes. There’s strong evidence that severe stress can cause premature graying, though stories of people going gray overnight are also known.

The amount of melanin in the hair varies between ethnic groups and individuals. So does the timetable for graying. In white people, graying after age 20 is considered normal. In black people, after age 30 is normal. Not all people go completely gray. Those who do usually take 10 to 20 years to do so.

Premature graying is called canities and is perfectly normal. However, it can also be a symptom of a variety of medical disorders. These include thyroid conditions, anemia, B12 deficiency and a rare immune disorder. Children with graying hair should always be examined by a doctor.

Gray hair may temporarily darken after inflammatory processes, after electron beam induced hair loss, and after some chemotherapy regimens. There are no special diets, nutritional supplements, vitamins or proteins that have been proven to slow, stop, or in any way affect the graying process, although many have been marketed over the years.

Much is still unknown about the graying process. Unfortunately, most of the experts work for the gray curing industry and blend research with sales pitches. While synthetic hormones or gene therapy might one day cure graying, the process is today irreversible. The only options are to enjoy it or dye.

Photic sneeze reflex is a dominant genetic trait which causes sneezing when one is suddenly exposed to bright light. It is also referred to as photic sneeze response, sun sneezing, photogenic sneezing, the photosternutatory reflex, and Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome (ACHOO). The first mention of the phenomenon is in later work attributed to Aristotle.

Experiments to determine exactly how the photic sneeze operates are difficult to perform. Theories go back at least to Francis Bacon’s 1635 musings on moisture leaking from the brain, but the modern consensus is that the mechanism is neurological.

The eyeball, tear glands, sinuses and facial skin all are sensorally linked by the ophthalmic nerve. It runs up the sinuses and into the ophthalmic ganglion, a wad of nerve cells in the back of the eye very near the optic nerve.

When the optic nerve is stimulated by bright light, we feel discomfort or even pain. In photic sneezers, some of this stimulation somehow jumps to the ophthalmic ganglion and down the ophthalmic nerve, which experiences the stimulation as phantom irritation of the nose. It responds as it always does to nasal irritation by setting off the sneeze reflex.

Another theory suggests that tears leaking into the nose through the nasolacrimal duct are a cause of the photic sneeze reflex. The speed of the reflex seems to favor the first theory, as it happens much too quickly for tears to be generated and drain into the nose. In addition this sneeze reflex can be brought on by a sudden inhaling of cold air or a strong flavor such as a strong mint gum. This implies an overstimulation of any nerve close to the trigeminal nerve causing the sneeze reflex.

About 20 percent of the population are photic sneezers of varying sensitivity. They will sneeze when they see any bright light, typically when moving from a dark area into a brightly lit one. Leaving a movie theater on a summer day is a classic set up. Some photic sneezers say sneezing while driving out of a tunnel or from shadow into sunlight, is a hazard.

The number of sneezes varies from person to person, but for any given person remains about the same. The sneezing can be repeated ad infinitum by repeated exposure to bright light. Some photic sneezers have learned they can help along a regular, dust induced sneeze by looking at an electric lamp.

In tests, some photic sneezers could consciously restrain the sneezing, especially when they knew bright light was coming. No particular wavelength of light was more inductive, and sunglasses eliminated the effect. An Ohio State University Medical Center doctor has noted that after he removed a patient’s eye, she could touch a spot in the socket and induce sneezing at will.

Photic sneezing has been documented in three successive generations of a single family and may be genetically determined. It appears to occur more frequently in Caucasians. The same phenomenon may affect horses, which are sometimes afflicted with headshaking, a syndrome of snorting, sneezing, bucking and shaking that can render them unrideable.

In a study of 138 patients treated for different types of allergic rhinitis (runny nose) 15 of these also had solar sneeze reflex. Antihistamine, decongestant and other therapy improved the condition, and seven of the 15 also reported improvement in their solar sneezes.

Some have suggested that solar sneezes may be a particular problem for baseball outfielders, airplane pilots, bus drivers and high wire acrobats, for whom a solar sneeze may be more than just a light matter.