Bob reports that a small area of the brain appears to be responsible for near-death and out-of-body experiences, according to research published in Nature.

A tiny part of the brain behind the right ear can cause out-of-body experiences and could explain the many stories of near-death patients who say they have looked down at their own bodies, a team of Swiss scientists announced yesterday.

While treating a woman with epilepsy, the researchers discovered that every time they applied a mild electrical current to part of the woman's brain she felt as if she were floating near the ceiling, looking down on her own body like a soul freed of its earthly bonds.

The results were published in today's issue of the journal Nature.

Sounds like Nature has gone goofy. This was just one patient who reported out-of-body feelings. Here in Santa Cruz, we have people who can be induced to report out-of-body experiences if you just waive a magnet over their heads. It doesn't prove anything.