Cultures all around the world believe in spirits that survive death to live in another realm. In fact, ghosts are among the most widely believed of paranormal phenomenon: Millions of people are interested in
ghosts, and a 2013 Harris Poll found that 43 percent of Americans believe in ghosts. It wasn't until recently that ghost hunting became a widespread interest around the world. Much of this is due to the hit SYFY Cable TV series "Ghost
Hunters", now in its second decade of not finding good evidence for ghosts. The show spawned dozens of spinoffs and imitators, and it's not hard to see why the show is so popular: the premise is that anyone can look for ghosts. The
two original stars were ordinary guys who decided to look for evidence of spirits.
The biggest science experiment in the world would have found them by now, according to Brian Cox. People have wondered for perhaps as long as life itself whether people's spirits can live on in the world once
their body dies. But the TV professor says that they definitely don't, since CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) would have stumbled across one. The LHC is the biggest particle accelerator ever built. It is includes a huge ring of
superconducting magnets and accelerators that fling particles around, sending them into each other at such speed that they can be used to understand some of the most fundamental properties of the universe. In doing so, scientists can
find out how elementary particles interact and behave, and understand how they work to compose the world that we see around us.
Ghosts are a particular manifestation of a belief in life after death. Though the specifics vary among groups, a ghost is generally understood to be the disembodied spirit or soul of a once-living person.
Sometimes the spirit belongs to a deceased animal. A ghost is said to linger on earth when the person died in a traumatic way, or when his burial ritual was disturbed before it was complete, or sometimes just because the spirit feels
like it. Pesky or disruptive ghosts are called poltergeists. Some groups believe that ghosts are actually demons, or evil angels. Not all belief systems around the world allow for spirits or souls that linger on earth after death, but
some do. In fact, ghosts are not limited to the realm of the religious because they cross social, cultural, and religious lines, are very popular in movies, novels, and other pop culture manifestations. Ghosts are gaining in popularity
as the 21st century wears on. Luckily for those who prefer not to guess, the truth about death reveals the facts about ghosts as well. This knowledge takes away the guessing and plainly reveals what to safely believe in and what not to
believe in.
