CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:33 pm**

Indian doctors are studying an 83-year-old holy man who claims to have spent the last seven decades without food and water.

Military doctors hope the experiments on Prahlad Jani can help soldiers develop their survival strategies.

The long-haired and bearded yogi is under 24-hour observation by a team of 30 specialists during three weeks of tests at a hospital in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

Two cameras have been set up in his room, while a mobile camera films him when he goes outside, guaranteeing round-the-clock observation.

His body will be scanned and his brain and heart activity measured with electrodes.

"The observation from this study may throw light on human survival without food and water," said Dr. G. Ilavazahagan, who is directing the research. "This may help in working out strategies for survival during natural calamities, extreme stressful conditions and extra-terrestrial explorations like future missions to the Moon and Mars by the human race."

Since the experiment began on April 22, Jani has had no food or water and has not been to the toilet.

"The exercise of taking this yogi under the medical scanner is to understand what energy supports his existence," Ilavazahagan added. "Jani says he meditates to get energy. Our soldiers will not be able to meditate, but we would still like to find out more about the man and his body."

Jani, who dresses in red and wears a nose ring, grew up in Charod village in the Mehsana district in Gujarat.

He claims to have been blessed by a goddess when he was 8-years-old, which has enabled him to survive without sustenance.

Source:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,591747,00.html

Someone brought it up on another site I go to, so I thought to bring it here as well. Has anyone else heard of this? I was rather taken aback when I first did, but obviously I'm not about to start believing the "goddess" shtick. Still weird though...

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:41 pm**

I'm not sure I buy this. :eyebrow:

However, I'll be interested in seeing how the study turns out.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:44 pm**

Well another article I found says he DOES generate urine, but it's just being reabsorbed into the bladder wall. Curiouser and curiouser.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:45 pm**

It's impossible. The most you can go without food is 40 days, last I heard. Water is five days.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:19 pm**

Well as my mom pointed out, the fact all these tests are taking place in India, you have to become a bit skeptical. I mean, I don't want to be a jerk or anything, but it's not like people haven't lied to support their beliefs before. Plus I'm not well schooled in exactly how well the hospitals and junk in India are...

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:28 pm**

Momo-P (post: 1391084) wrote:Well as my mom pointed out, the fact all these tests are taking place in India, you have to become a bit skeptical. I mean, I don't want to be a jerk or anything, but it's not like people haven't lied to support their beliefs before. Plus I'm not well schooled in exactly how well the hospitals and junk in India are...

You'd be surprised. They bring in scientists of all nations if they think they have something legit (incl. many Western scientists), have them in very controlled environments- and it's absolutely amazing what some of these people actually can do.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:36 pm**

Atria35 (post: 1391085) wrote:You'd be surprised. They bring in scientists of all nations if they think they have something legit (incl. many Western scientists), have them in very controlled environments- and it's absolutely amazing what some of these people actually can do.

Well so far the only video I've seen with them, they were all clearly from India. Also the video gave us a better glimpse at his body. Like most of the gurus over there, he's definitely not a regular weight...so whatever he's getting food from, it's clearly not giving him enough to fully fill him out.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:37 pm**

Momo-P (post: 1391084) wrote:Well as my mom pointed out, the fact all these tests are taking place in India, you have to become a bit skeptical. I mean, I don't want to be a jerk or anything, but it's not like people haven't lied to support their beliefs before.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:38 pm**

This doesn't sound natural. The guy claims he was "blessed by a goddess" Honestly, it sound's demonic to me.

Rocklobster is on the right track. With our own power this is impossible, but Jesus went 40 days with out food or water. With the Holy Spirit we can do amazing things that we would never be able to do on our own. However, there are other forces that will do what ever it takes to keep some one from ecepting God's Gift through Christ. This 40 yr fast sounds like one of those traps.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:41 pm**

Fish and Chips (post: 1391089) wrote:

Do I even want to ask what that was for?

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:33 pm**

Momo-P (post: 1391091) wrote:Do I even want to ask what that was for?

It, um, means that the pot shouldn't call the kettle black. And that your statement could lead to a theological discourse, and that's just a whole can of worms that should be opened.

Regardless, since they don't have scientists from other countries in on this (because if it were true they'd be All Over It), I bet that it's some sort of hoax.

On the other hand, they do have actual, documented (in controlled settings with the confirmation of many different scientists) that some holy men can go into such a deep meditiation that they stop breathing- and are still alive. It's kinda cool.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:38 pm**

still I don't think one could sustain that state for years on their own power.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:57 pm**

I'm skeptical, but stranger things have definitely happened.

This actually kind of reminds me of a film I saw recently, in which there was a holy man who no one ever saw eat or drink or even move at all.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:27 pm**

Scientifically impossible, this is a hoax.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:01 pm**

Don't be so sure. Some anorexics, for example, can go months without swallowing-- they're absorbing calories from chewing, but that's hardly anything.

Also, I wouldn't be so fast to discount India; it's not like the entire country is run by witch doctors and country bumpkins. Lots of Indians send their kids to study in the US and then to return to be doctors.

Ever heard of Henrietta Lacks? She's a woman born in 1920 who had cancerous cells removed from her during her life, and those cells can STILL be kept alive to grow (they don't die after a few cell divisions), which is why they've been called immortal cells. This is also "scientifically impossible," but it happened and these cells have been reproduced to be researched on for decades. But this world is full of things that we can't comprehend.

(And yes, I did learn this from Colbert Report.)

We'll see what the results are. It could be a hoax, but I'm not ready to make a conclusion either way.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:31 pm**

Colbert is an awesome guy and he's hilarious, and smart. But remember the Colbert Report is satire. Immortal cells are not scientifically impossible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayflick_limit

"During the process of DNA replication, small segments of DNA at each end of the DNA strand (telomeres) are unable to be copied and are lost after each time DNA is duplicated. The telomeres are a region of DNA which code for no proteins; they are simply a repeated code on the end region of DNA that is lost. Eventually, after many divisions, the telomeres become depleted and the cell commences apoptosis. This is a defense mechanism of a cell to prevent replicating error that would cause mutations in DNA. According to Alexey Olovnikov, once the telomeres are depleted due to the cell dividing many times, the cell will no longer divide and the Hayflick limit has been reached."

This is why cells cannot usually reproduce infinitely. However...

"Cancer cells possess an enzyme called telomerase which is able to restore telomere length. This gives cancer cells their infinite replicative potential and explains why cancer cells are not restricted to Hayflick's limit because their telomere length is never depleted."

The cells you mention taken from Henrietta Lacks were cervical cancer cells. Now it is true that even compared to other cancer cells, they still grow ridiculously fast. However, it is still not scientifically impossible.

But, there is a law of the universe which is the Law of Conservation of Energy. This states that energy can neither be created or destroyed. This man could not possibly have lived 70 years without food, because that would make him a perpetual energy machine, which violates the fundamental laws of nature. So, it is scientifically impossible for him to have lived 70 years without eating, therefore it is absolutely a hoax.

He may be able to survive on very little food, which would be impressive, and very possible! But he can't survive on no food.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:45 pm**

[quote="Nate (post: 1391123)"]Colbert is an awesome guy and he's hilarious, and smart. But remember the Colbert Report is satire. Immortal cells are not scientifically impossible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayflick_limit

"During the process of DNA replication, small segments of DNA at each end of the DNA strand (telomeres) are unable to be copied and are lost after each time DNA is duplicated. The telomeres are a region of DNA which code for no proteins]

Ladies and gentlemen, the secret to immortality: become cancer.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:50 pm**

Peanut (post: 1391130) wrote:Ladies and gentlemen, the secret to immortality: become cancer.

You know, I read a manga like that once

... No, actually, I'm serious about that. It was a story in a horror manga I read.

PostPosted: **Thu Apr 29, 2010 9:10 pm**

Spoiler alert!

The guy dies.
*OR*
It's a hoax.

PostPosted: **Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:07 am**

[quote="Atria35 (post: 1391132)"]You know, I read a manga like that once ]Someone on CAA reads Franken Fran.

I am amazed.

PostPosted: **Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:43 am**

Fish and Chips (post: 1391183) wrote:Someone on CAA reads Franken Fran.

I am amazed.

You're familiar with Franken Fran? Someone else on here knows about Franken Fran? You have effectively rendered me speechless.

And yeah, I read it. I enjoy with horror/the macabre

PostPosted: **Fri Apr 30, 2010 12:10 pm**

Or perhaps God, in his mercy has allowed a miracle, but mankind has failed to recognize the the true cause... Maybe? But yes, things do seem less than scientific.

PostPosted: **Fri Apr 30, 2010 12:29 pm**

He survives from the caloric intake he gets from sitting behind the local McDonalds and breathing the grease filled air they pump out.

PostPosted: **Fri Apr 30, 2010 12:44 pm**

Guys, this is old. Here's a news article reporting this same thing in 2003:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3236118.stm

To be fair, recently there was a new set of tests conducted in this regard, which is why there are news articles again. From what I've read, these tests have all the same problems as the previous ones (he was given water, the testing period was of total inactivity, and he lost weight over that time). The most recent article I can find is from two days ago, at which time the test was still ongoing and all results were kept confidential.

Everyone needs to remember that just because somebody does a study, their results shouldn't be immediately trusted. That is why there is peer review and independent confirmation and everything that makes the scientific method work. Unfortunately the media often reports initial results immediately and then doesn't say anything about when they are overturned or shown to be erroneous.

I wish I could find an article from a legitimate science journal that addresses this, but I can't find anything that doesn't require a subscription. But here is a denunciation from the Indian Rationalist Association:
http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/20031201_en.htm

Fish and Chips wrote:Someone on CAA reads Franken Fran.

I am amazed.

Atria35 wrote:You're familiar with Franken Fran? Someone else on here knows about Franken Fran? You have effectively rendered me speechless.

We are too easily taken aback.

PostPosted: **Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:47 pm**

Man I remember trying to read Franken Fran once and uh...yeah.

PostPosted: **Sat May 01, 2010 12:01 am**

Coming from an Indian yogi, it doesn't surprise me he'd claim this. I don't quite believe it, but those military doctors are right to study him. Even if he's telling a tall tale, he's probably trained his body to a degree inconceivable to us westerners.

PostPosted: **Sat May 01, 2010 12:46 am**

It's highly possible it's a hoax but if not, what? A person can train their body to require much less food and water than normal but nothing for 70 years? Please! If this is true, the power he has isn't from God. I'm certainly not one to look for demonic activity behind every bush but something is very suspect about this.

PostPosted: **Sat May 01, 2010 1:32 pm**

That's biologically impossible. If he could really do that, natural selection says he's at a huge advantage and that everyone else has his genes.

PostPosted: **Sat May 01, 2010 2:48 pm**

crusader88 wrote:Coming from an Indian yogi, it doesn't surprise me he'd claim this. I don't quite believe it, but those military doctors are right to study him. Even if he's telling a tall tale, he's probably trained his body to a degree inconceivable to us westerners.

I don't think they're right to study him. It's an obvious hoax, clearly a lie; and it makes no sense for military doctors to study him. I don't recall physicists booking planes in large numbers to Africa when the National Enquirer ran an article about a man who dug a gravity well in his backyard.

And yes, a person could train their body to a degree that they would need very little food or water. I can believe that. But it is literally impossible for a person to exist for 70 years without consuming some form of energy (let alone water).

PostPosted: **Sat May 01, 2010 3:26 pm**

That's weird. O_o

Maybe....he invented time travel 70 years ago and traveled to the present without eating or drinking anything the entire trip.

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Man claims to have gone 70 yrs w/food and water

Man claims to have gone 70 yrs w/food and water