From the editor's desk.

As I was gathering my thoughts for this issue, notice came over the wire that the United States Columbia Shuttle had broken apart before landing and we were faced with the sorrowful news that those brave men and women on board no longer lived. The only consolation concerning this tragedy is the fact that they were fulfilling their dream while advancing our space program.

Those men and women are examples of true frontier scientists who understand that science cannot advance without risks. They identify the importance of moving forward and fuel NASA with the energy and spirit to investigate the means for advancing space exploration. This is one aspect of science that also holds true with our physicists exploring quantum mechanics, biologists searching for genes, and physicians identifying early cancer detection and therapies that will eliminate the cancer while enhancing the immune system, as well as other chronic conditions.

In this issue we have articles that cover a wide spectrum of disciplines including health, physics, acupuncture and neuroscience. We dedicate this issue to the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives so science may advance the well-being of society.

Dr. Schwartzburg and his coauthors in their article, "Pathological Pregnancy, Placental Calcification, and Nannobacterial Infection: Is there any Relationship between these Events?," identify the important sign of pathological pregnancy is increasing placental calcification (PC). The article presents a new attempt to discover a cause of the PC as a relationship between calcification of the placental tissues and presence of nannobacteria.

Dr. Hans-Peter Durr's article, "Sheldrake's Ideas from the Perspective of Modern Physics," makes known that he and Rupert Sheldrake are both natural scientists but come from different disciplines, meaning that Sheldrake is a biologist while Durr is a physicist. He provides a perspective of Sheldrake's ideas from the viewpoint of modern physics.

Drs. Buccheri and Saniga's article, "Endo-Physical Paradigm and Mathematics of Subjective Time," present an interesting theory concerning "endo-physical viewpoint" to mean the description of a system derived by an observer inside the system and interacting with it, whilst by "exo-description" the description made by an observer who looks at the system from outside and does not interact with it.

Professor Vladimir Kompanichenko's article, "Distinctive Properties of Biological Systems: The All-Round Comparison With Other Natural Systems," shows that a strict difference between animate and inanimate systems can be defined only through a systematic comparison of all of them. Based on the all-round comparison, four unique properties of living systems have been distinguished in this paper.

The article, "Dissipative Structure of Electromagnetic Field in Living Systems," by Chang-Lin Zhang identifies dissipative structure and how closely related it is to acupuncture and many energy medicines whose mechanisms could not be completely comprehended within the knowledge of the basis of conventional Western school medicine at the present time.

The above articles, along with Professor Elitzur's summary of our Quo Vadis Quantum Mechanics conference, will only enhance your appetite to learn more and recognize the vital role that the Center for Frontier Sciences plays in bringing forth new ideas that lead to future breakthroughs in science.