1995, Esalen InstituteThe idea of an attractor for the entire cosmic evolutionary process. The role of the attractor in chaos dynamics. Motivation and attraction. The value of spoken language. Mathematical modelling. The relationship between mathematical models with chaotic behaviour and the chaos in life. Idolatry and models becoming reality. The feminine aspect of creativity.Related BookChaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousnesshttps://sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/chaos-creativity-and-cosmic-consciousness

1995, Esalen InstituteThe chaos revolution, chaotic attractors and indeterminism in nature. The emergence of form from the field of chaos. The formative process in cooling. Is the mathematical realm of the world soul in co-evolution with ordinary reality? The potential of mathematics to aid us in our own evolution by extending our language for dealing with complex systems. Visual intuitions and the Butterfly Effect.Related BookChaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousnesshttps://sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/chaos-creativity-and-cosmic-consciousness

The second of a series of six talks on potential scientific breakthroughs:https://www.sheldrake.org/online-coursesRupert proposed a new hypothesis of cellular rejuvenation in an article in Nature in 1974, and in 2023 published a review article entitled ‘Cellular Senescence, Rejuvenation and Potential Immortality’ in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, summarising results of recent research, which support his hypothesis. In this talk he gives an overview of this hypothesis, which applies to cells of all kinds, including bacteria and yeasts as well as plants and animals, and he shows how it sheds new light on the nature of stem cells. In mammals, embryonic stem cells have a special property that enables them to divide indefinitely without senescing and Rupert suggests that cancerous transformations involve the hijacking of this embryonic stem cell system. He suggests ways in which this hypothesis could be tested, and shows how it could lead to new approaches in cancer therapy – by blocking the rejuvenative system that cancers have acquired. If this system were inhibited, then cancer cells might senesce like most other somatic cells and become less virulent. References____Sheldrake, R. (1974). The ageing, growth and death of cells. Nature, 250, 381-385.https://www.sheldrake.org/ageing____Sheldrake, R. (2022) Cellular Senescence Rejuvenation and Potential Immortality. Proceeding of the Royal Society B, 289, 20212434https://www.sheldrake.org/immortality____Nine open questions suggested by the cellular rejuvenation hypothesis, and ways of answering them empirically (Supplementary to the above paper in Proc. Royal Soc. B)https://rs.figshare.com/ndownloader/files/34255402

Despite decades of research, no one knows how birds navigate to destinations hundreds of miles away. Rupert suggests that there is a field-mediated sense of direction through which they are attracted towards their goals. This is the first of a series of six talks on potential breakthroughs in the sciences released as an online course here:https://www.sheldrake.org/online-coursesRelated book:Seven Experiments That Could Change the Worldhttps://www.sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/seven-experiments-that-could-change-the-worldReferences____Satellite Tracking of Wandering AlbatrossesJouventin,P. and Weimerskirsch, H. 1990. Nature 343, 745-748.____Perdeck, Albert C.Two Types of Orientation in Migrating Starlings, Sturnus yulgaris L., and Chaffinches, Fringilla coelebs L., as Revealed by Displacement Experiments. Ardea, 55(1–2) : 1-2.____Netherlands Ornithologists' Unionhttps://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v1i2.p1____Magnetic Fields 1750-1980 Bloxham, J. and Gubbins, D. 1985. The secular variation of tye earth’s magnetic field. Nature 317, 778-781.____World War 1 Pigeon Loft Photospublic domain____Mobile Loft Experiment at Coldham hall, Suffolk, 1989With Robbie Robson of Bury St. Edmunds Racing Pigeon ClubPhoto by: Jill Purce____Dutch Navel Pigeon ExperimentHNLMS TydemanJune, 1995Filmed by: Louis van Gasteren, Gregor Meerman and Jacqueline van Vugt 

1998, UC Santa CruzThe fractal idea of history, and millenia as the plateaus of history. These bifurcation periods as opportunities to influence the creation of the future. What kind of future or change are we trying to create? The need for the enhancement and spread of clarity. Psychic pets and their role in breaking the spell of rationalism. Psychedelics, the World Wide Web and psychic pets as forms of boundary dissolution. The need for change in the educational system. The problem of the rejection of mathematics. Related BookChaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousnesshttps://sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/chaos-creativity-and-cosmic-consciousness