82 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 14: Winter 1981 Supplement Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Innate Knowledge In the early 1800s, the mathematician Gauss dispatched observers to the tops of three mountains to determine whether the sum of the angles in a real triangle was truly 180 . Gauss was not certain that mathematics really matched reality perfectly. (His experiment was inconclusive.) Today, in most scientific edu-cation and practice, it is customary to assume that mathematics is not only a faithful mirror of the real world but that it can actually lead us to new insights into reality. Unfortunately, two facts mar this idealistic picture. Mathematics itself contains contradictions and does not have a solid foundation; that is, it is "impure." Some portions of reality seem to confound mathematics; for example, Einstein found Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis imperfect for formulating the Theory of Relativity. Despite this disappointment, Einstein maintained his belief that God does not play dice with the universe. Some more recent scientists suggest that God not only plays dice but throws them where they cannot be seen! Despite the acknowledged deficiencies, it is clearly more than a stroke of luck that mathematics describes so much of reality so accurately. And here is the spooky part of the whole business. In formulating their web of logic, mathematicians make many more or less "artistic" decisions that are colored by reality and their expectations of reality. To illustrate, "symmetry" is a human passion that reality may disdain. In other words, because mathematicians ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 82: Jul-Aug 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Does nature compute?Back in the 1960s, kids used to watch the TV series Lost in Space . Starring on this show was a robot which, when asked a stupid or answerless question replied, "It does not compute!" More seriously, we now ask, "Does Nature compute?" Science believes very deeply that mathematics reflects the real world, that we live in an ordered universe where everything can be reduced to mathematical expressions. The progress of science, particularly physics, seems to bear out this symbiotic relationship between mathematics and the physical world. However, P. Davies points out that that there are uncomputable numbers and operations. In fact, there are infinitudes of them. All the world's computers could chug away forever and not come up with answers in these cases. So far , Nature has been kind, or we have been lucky, because we have been able to nicely mirror Nature with "doable" math. Davies wonders if it has been entirely a matter of luck: "Einstein said that God is subtle but not malicious, and we must hope that the laws of physics will turn out to be computable after all. If so, that fact alone would provoke all sorts of interesting scientific and philosophical questions. Just why is the world structured in such a way that we can describe its basic principles using 'do-able' mathematics? How was this mathematical ability evolved in ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 53: Sep-Oct 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A "MAGICAL GENIUS"" If ever there were an exemplar of inborn mathematical ability it would be Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor, uneducated Indian, born 100 years ago, who was one of the greatest and most unusual mathematical geniuses who ever lived. Although he died young -- at age 32 -- Ramanujan left behind a collection of results that are only now beginning to be appreciated. "Ramanujan's story is one of the great romantic tales of mathematics, made all the more haunting because of the mystery surrounding the man. No one, no matter how much they try, has ever been able to understand the workings of Ramanujan's mind, how he came to think of his results, or the source of this incredible outpouring of mathematics." Ramanujan has been termed a "magical genius." In contrast, "ordinary geniuses" are merely an order of magnitude of two smarter than you and me. In Ramanujan's case, no one knows where his voluminous results came from. They appeared as if by magic, in a manner transcending ordinary human mental activity. Ramanujan did complete high school, but his entire mathematical education seems to have come from the reading of just two books. Nevertheless, he was invited to Cambridge on the basis of a letter he wrote to G.H . Hardy in 1913. The letter contained about 60 theorems and formulas stated without proof. After some ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 86: Mar-Apr 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Math's mystery In extolling J. Barrow's new book, Pi in the Sky , T. Siegfried first reiterates a point made in past issues of SF, namely, that mathematics is a logical system and that we have no right to expect it is correspond structurely with a physical system. In other words, math and nature are fundamentally different entities. Nevertheless, as Barrow stated in a recent interview: "If we were just inventing mathematics from our everyday experience, we would find that it would work really rather well in those areas from which that intuition was gained. But we find almost the opposite...It works most powerfully and persuasively in areas that are farthest removed from the everyday experience that has led to it." Mathematics, for example, leads to verities in quantum mechanics far outside the realm of daily experience. Why is this so? The puzzle deepens when one discovers that there are different kinds of math based upon different forms of logic (as in Euclidian and non-Euclidian geometries). Some brands of mathematics mirror reality better than others. Why? In trying to dispose of these "whys," both matematicians and scientists fall back on the anthropic principle with all its unsatisfying tautological overtones: ". .. the universe is the way it is because that's the way it has to be for anybody to be around to study it. And perhaps math works ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects What does it all mean?W.G . Pollard, a distinguished physicist, has written a very philosophical, almost mystical article on the nature of the cosmos. Let us begin with his abstract: "There are several hints in physics of a domain of external reality transcendent to three-dimensional space and time. This paper calls attention to several of these intimations of a real world beyond the natural order. Examples are the complex state functions in configuration space of quantum mechanics, the singularity at the birth of the universe, the anthropic principle, the role of chance in evolution, and the unaccountable fruit fulness of mathematics for physics. None of these examples touch on the existence or activity of God, but they do suggest that external reality may be much richer than the natural world which it is the task of physics to describe." Pollard then elaborates: Example 1. Quantum mechanics, a mathematical formulation of reality, has been extraordinarily successful in describing and predicting many things in the microscopic world. Pollard notes that quantum mechanics contains no hint of God per se and possesses no numinous quality, but its great complexity and multidimensionality provide evidence for "the reality of the transcendent order in which the natural universe is embedded." Example 2. The singularity at the beginning of the universe. Science is at a loss to explain creation and what happened before. (Pollard assumes that creation occurred like most scientists.) ...
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... Science Frontiers The Book Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Science Frontiers The Book Contents Science Frontiers is an indexed compilation of the first 86 issues of our Science Frontiers newsletter . Chapter 1. Archeology: Ancient Engineering Works * Small Artifacts * Epigraphy and Art * Bones and Footprints * Diffusion and Culture. Chapter 2. Astronomy: Planets and Moons * Solar System Debris * Stars * Galaxies and Quasars * Cosmology. Chapter 3. Biology: Humans .* Other Mammals * Birds * Reptiles and Amphibians * Fish * Arthropods * Invertebrates * Plants and Fungi * Microorganisms * Genetics * Origin of Life * Evolution. Chapter 4. Geology: Topography * Geological Anomalies * Stratigraphy * Inner Earth. Chapter 5. Geophysics: Luminous Phenomena* Weather Phenomena * Hydrological Phenomena * Earthquakes * Anomalous Sounds * Atmospheric Optics. Chapter 6. Psychology: Dissociation Phenomena * Hallucinations * Mind - Body Phenomena * Hidden Knowledge * Reincarnation * Information Processing * Psychokinesis. Chapter 7. Chemistry, Physics, Math, Esoterica: Chemistry * Physics * Mathematics. Comments from reviews: "This fun-to-read book may lead some to new scientific solutions through questioning the phenomena presented", Science Books and Films Publishing details: 356 pages, paperback, $18.95, 417 illus., subject index, 1994. 1500+ references, LC 93-92800 ISBN 0-915554-28-3 , 8.5 x 11. Order From:The Sourcebook Project P.O . Box ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 107: Sep-Oct 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Did Mozart Use The Golden Section?Does the brilliance of Mozart's compositions derive entirely from his musical genius, or did he rely in part upon a mathematical construct: the famous Golden Section or Golden Ratio? The Golden Section is a mathematical formula for dividing into two parts: a geometrical line, a musical composition, or anything else possessing the property of length. The ratio of the two divided parts is the Golden Section, which equals 0.618.* For some artists, musicians, architects, the Golden Section is the most esthetic way of dividing the length of anything. For humans, the history of the Golden Section goes back at least as far as Euclid in 300 BC. For nature, it began eons ago: The shapes of pine cones, starfish geometry, and other dimensions of living things incorporate the Golden Section. The questions we address here are: (1 ) Did Mozart consciously make use of this ratio, 0.618, in his music? (2 ) Why is the Golden Section esthetically pleasing? It is not well known that Mozart was fascinated by mathematics as well as music. He even jotted down equations in the margins of some of his compositions. Chances are excellent that he knew of the Golden Section and its reputation for conferring elegance on structures -- even musical compositions. J.F . Putz, a mathematician, has measured some of Mozart's works ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 9: Winter 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Transcendental trivia?Both e (2 .7182...) and pi (3 .1416...) are transcendental numbers of great significance in mathematics and the scientific description of nature. Instead of being neat and orderly (as we devoutly hope nature will be), the decimal expansions of these two numbers are patternless, some say ugly. Faint hope arises at the 710,150th digit of pi where a satisfying string of seven consecutive 3s appears (. .. .353733333338...). More reassuring is the observation that (pi)4+ (pi)5 almost exactly equals e6 . We are sure that great truths lie hidden in these two numbers (despite their unattractive decimals) when we find that a 5x5 magic square (first row: 17, 24, 1, 8, 15) can be transformed by the alchemy of pi into an unmagic but very strange square. To do this, replace the 17 by the 17th digit of pi (this is 2); 24 by the 24th digit (this is 4); and so on. The rows and columns of the new square add up to the same numbers: columns; 17, 19, 25, 24, 23; rows; 24, 23, 25, 29, 17. (Yes, the order given is correct.) Gardner maintains that this astounding transformation is merely a coincidence, like all of the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 40: Jul-Aug 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Fruitfulness of math not an intimation of a transcendent mind!W.G . Pollard's article "Rumors of Transcendence in Physics," (SF#37) produced an interesting response in the American Journal of Physics by Jan Portnow. Portnow worries about Pollard's assertion that the "remarkable" tendency of mathematics to mirror physical reality betokens the existence of something beyond our ken: i.e ., transcendence. He puts it this way: "All we can ever know about the world is what our mind lets us know -- our perception and awareness of external reality are limited by our mind. We can never know more than the mind can assimilate and process, nor can we discuss any aspect of the world for which there is no language. The fact that our mathematical laws of nature explain the world is no miracle -- it can't be otherwise. The laws of nature describe the world we know and that world is a reflection of our thinking and our language -- of our mind." He goes on to maintain that the fruitfulness of math for physics hints more at the limitations of the human mind than the existence of a transcendent mind! (Portnow, Jay; "Letter to the Editor," American Journal of Physics, 53:299, 1985.) Comment. Apparently we'll be forever boxed in by the limitations of mathematics -- to say nothing ...
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... -Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Calculating prodigies, gnats, and smart weapons In a thought-provoking letter to New Scientist, J. Margolis commences with the observation that calculating prodigies (idiot savants), who are often also mentally retarded, can easily and almost instantaneously recognize 20-digit prime numbers! Gifted mathematicians with so-called photographic memories cannot perform such mental feats using known methods for identifying primes. What do the calculating prodigies know that the rest of us do not? Better algorithms; that is, calculating methods? Margolis expands on this: "All this suggests some relatively simple, subconscious algorithms which have not, as yet, been explicitly formulated. Research in this direction might well result in new mathematical insights. "It need not be surprising that mathematical insight is more fundamental than language. Even a primitive animal brain is 'wired" to perform exceedingly complex computations essential for survival in an unpredictable environment. The latest 'smart' weapons are rudimentary compared with a humble gnat. Mathematics could be a by-product of these functions. Language is a comparatively recent evolutionary innovation and it is quite possible that conscious manipulation of abstract symbols has not caught up with an innate ability to perceive quantitative relationships." (Margolis, Joel; "What Gnats Know," New Scientist, p. 58, January 30, 1993.) From Science Frontiers #87, MAY-JUN 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects) Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Overview Astronomy Biology Chemistry/Physics Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Entries in the Sourcebook Project's Catalog of Anomalies are divided into the following nine "fields". (Click on the links to display the full list of subjects) ASTRONOMY (A ) BIOLOGY (B ) CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS (C ) GEOLOGY (E ) GEOPHYSICS (G ) LOGIC AND MATHEMATICS (L ) ARCHEOLOGY (M ) PSYCHOLOGY (P ) MISCELLANEOUS PHENOMENA (X ) Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. Only the file descriptors are given in these cases. Three fields (C , L, X) are represented by extensive files but are not yet thoroughly organized and posted. Alphanumerical labels in brackets are cross references indicating possible overlapping files. The Catalog is always in a state of flux, with fresh material being added constantly. New Catalog volumes are published at the rate of about one per year. ...
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... pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Music And Theories Of Everything Warning: We never promised that Science Frontiers would be easy or even compatible with your world view! Furthermore, archeology is more than shards and arrowheads. Today's physicists enjoy speculating about Theories of Everything, but they really don't nean everything ! They just mean physics and cosmology. Some 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians constructed a remarkable Theory of Everything based upon music, a base-60 number system, and symmetry concepts. These Sumerians didn't have supercomputers but they were able to incorporate into their theory much more than physics and cosmology. Below, E.G . McClain provides some insight into ancient Sumerian thinking: "In ancient Mesopotania,music, mathematics, art, science, religion, and poetic fantasy were fused. Around 3000 B.C ., the Sumerians simultaneously developed cuneiform writing, in which they recorded their pantheon, and a base-60 number system. Their gods were assigned numbers that encoded the primary ratios of music, with the gods' functions corresponding to their numbers in acoustical theory. Thus the Sumerians created an extensive tonal/arithmetical model for the cosmos. In this far-reaching allegory, the physical world is known by analogy, and the gods give divinity not only to natural forces but also to a 'supernatural,' intuitive understanding of mathematical patterns and psychological forces." To understand the role of musical theory in modeling the cosmos, one must realize that it involves: "the definition of intervals ...
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... Science Frontiers The Unusual & Unexplained Strange Science * Bizarre Biophysics * Anomalous astronomy From the pages of the World's Scientific Journals Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics About Science Frontiers Science Frontiers is the bimonthly newsletter providing digests of reports that describe scientific anomalies; that is, those observations and facts that challenge prevailing scientific paradigms. Over 2000 Science Frontiers digests have been published since 1976. These 2,000+ digests represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The Sourcebook Project, which publishes Science Frontiers, also publishes the Catalog of Anomalies, which delves far more deeply into anomalistics and now extends to sixteen volumes, and covers dozens of disciplines . Over 14,000 volumes of science journals, including all issues of Nature and Science have been examined for reports on anomalies. In this context, the newsletter Science Frontiers is the appetizer and the Catalog of Anomalies is the main course. Subscriptions Subscriptions to the Science Frontiers newsletter are no longer available. Compilations of back issues can be found in Science Frontiers: The Book , and original and more detailed reports in the The Sourcebook Project series of books. The publisher Please note that the publisher has now closed, and can not be contacted. Designed and hosted by Knowledge Computing Other links Science Frontiers On Line Browse or search over 2100 free reports, and discover the unusual in archaeology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, geophysics, mathematics, psychology and physics. Search site for: Science Frontiers: The Book and Science Frontiers II An indexed compilation of the first 86 issues of our Science Frontiers newsletter, and ...
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... Science Frontiers Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects) Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Overview Astronomy Biology Chemistry/Physics Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project P PSYCHOLOGY Catalog of Anomalies (Psychology Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. PB DISSOCIATIVE BEHAVIOR PBA AUTOMATIC COMMUNICATION Automatic Writing Automatic Drawing Glossalalia or "Speaking in Tongues" Planchette and Ouija-Board Phenomena Channeling Table-Tilting Xenoglossy [PHR] PBD COMMUNICATED HYSTERIA AND DELUSIONS Mass Hysteria and Psychogenic Illnesses Folie a Deux: Communication of Abnormal Mental States Self-Induced Delusions "Jumping" and Other Triggered Explosive Activities Abnormal Mass Delusions The Latah Phenomenon PBH HYPNOTIC BEHAVIOR (GENERAL FEATURES) General Features of So-Called "Hypnotic Behavior" Supposed Hypnosis by Telepathy Fascination by Inert Objects (" Spontaneous Hypnosis") Posthypnotic Behavior Effects of Magnetism on Hypnotically Induced Images Self-Hypnosis Drum Phenomena [BHB7, BHH8] Collective Hypnosis PBJ DEJA VU Deja Vu PBM MULTIPLE PERSONALITY Multiple-Personality Phenomena Hypnotic Probing of Secondary Personalities Possible Duality of Consciousness under Anesthesia PBP POSSESSION Going Berserk ...
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... Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects All roads lead to 123 "Start with any number that is a string of digits -- , say, 9 288 759 -- and count the number of even digits, the number of odd digits, and the total number of digits it contains. These are 3 (three evens), 4 (four odds), and 7 (seven is the total number of digits), respectively. Use these digits to form the next string or number, 347. If you repeat the process with 347, you get 1, 2, 3. If you repeat with 123, you get 123 again. The number 123, with respect to this process and universe of numbers, is a mathematical black hole." We have a black hole because we cannot escape, just as spaceships are doomed when captured by a physical black hole! You end up with 123 regardless of the number you start with. Other sorts of mathematical black holes exist, such as the Collatz Conjecture, but we must not fall into them because our printer awaits. (Ecker, Michael; "Caution: Black Holes at Work," New Scientist, p. 38, December 19/26, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The algorithmic beauty of seashells Most will admit that many seashells are pretty, but how did all those colors and geometrical markings arise? Perhaps a more profound question is: Why do sea-shells need to be pretty in the first place? After all, most (but not all) of the shell owners do not have eyes with which to appreciate their handiwork! However, mathematicians and computer modellers do have eyes. They have also had a lot of fun and some success in devising algorithms (mathematical methods) for the generation of seashell markings. In fact, our title above is also the title of a new book by H. Meinhardt, which suggests how a suite of simple biochemical processes can create those shells coveted by collectors. Meinhardt has devised equations that describe chemical factors that turn pigment-generating cells on and off. In its simplest form, a mathematically modelled seashell is a two-dimensional sheet that grows along only one edge. Cells on this edge may or may not secrete pigment depending upon chemical "influences." B. Hayes describes how this sort of model operates: The triangular pattern on Cymbiola innexa suggests the presence of a "global control element" that turns the pigment-secreting cells on and off in the correct order -- something like a computer-controlled loom! "Given this generating mechanism, some shell patterns are easy to understand. A series of vertical stripes -- that ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Secret Of It All Is In The Pi In the above, Pollard discoursed on the meaning of it all and how mathematics seemed to mirror reality so marvelously. Now, one fixture of mathematics is the transcendental number. The adjective "transcendental" is most appropriate here given the title of Pollard's article. Of the transcendental numbers, pi is a great favorite. Mathematicians like pi so much that they have computed it out to well beyond 10 million decimals. Are there any inklings to the meaning of it all in these 10 million-plus decimals? Well, at decimal 710,100 there are seven 3s in a row. At decimal 1,526,800, we find the digits 2718281, the first seven digits of e, the base of natural logarithms. Then at decimal 52,638 there is 14142135, the first eight digits of the square root of 2. But all these discoveries are hardly profound, for they could occur by chance -- nothing really "transcendental" so far. A more astounding discovery is that: 22(pi)4 = 2143 A few multiplications, and the 10 million-plus decimals of pi have vanished. (Can this remarkable relationship mirror some as yet undiscovered facet of physical reality?) While it is difficult to squeeze the meaning of the universe out of pi's 10 million-plus decimals, one has to admit that pi is everywhere. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 56: Mar-Apr 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Reincarnation of ramanujan?In India, Shakuntala Devi is considered to be the reincarnation of Srinivasa Ramanujan, about whom we heard in the above item. We will not comment on the reincarnation bit, but it does seem that S. Devi's remarkable capabilities are somewhat different from those of Ramanujan. The latter intuitively saw mathematical relationships as expressed in equations and identities; Devi is a mental calculator of no mean talent. In 1977, Ms. Devi beat a UNIVAC 1108 computer to the 23rd root of a 201-digit number. The machine, which required two hours to program for the task, took more than a minto solve the problem. She took 50 seconds. "And, in 1981, she made the Guinness Book of World Records as the 'Human Computer' by correctly multiplying two 13-digit numbers -- 7,686,369,774,870 times 2,465,099,745,779 -- in 28 seconds. The awesome answer? 18,947,668,177, 995,426,462,773,730." S. Devi is also a calendar calculator, being able to name the day of the week for any date in the past or future, taking into account leap years and calendar changes. She never attended school or had any formal mathematical training! (Young, Luther; "Numbers Whiz Takes Delight in Beating Computers;" Baltimore Sun ...
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... Frontiers ONLINE No. 92: Mar-Apr 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chaos At The Amusement Park Readers of Science Frontiers are well aware that some denizens of our solar system exhibit chaotic motion, as do some pendulums and even dripping faucets. Chaosists seem to be able to find chaos everywhere they look. If you have ever ridden on that amusement park staple called the Tilt-A -Whirl, you will recall that the ride is fun because you never know exactly what the car you are riding in will do as the platforms move along the hilly circular track. Each car is free to rotate about its center and will also tilt in all possible directions as the cars go up and down the hills. Can one mathematically predict whether the car will spin clockwise, counterclockwise, or not at all? What a neat problem for a physicist! And two physicists, R.L . Kautz and B.M . Huggard, have developed a mathematical model of the Tilt-A -Whirl. By integrating the equation of motion, they find that the Tilt-A -Whirl is, indeed, a chaotic system. You really cannot tell what the car is going to do -- even if you take your laptop along with you! (Kautz, R.L ., and Huggard, Bret M.; "Chaos at the Amusement Park: Dynamics of the Tilt-A -Whirl," American Journal of Physics, 62:59, 1994.) From Science Frontiers #92, ...
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... at n = 40. An interesting consequence of Euler's formula can be made apparent when all numbers from 41 to 440 are written in a square spiral, like so: All of the numbers on the diagonal indicated are Euler formula primes, even when the spiral is expanded to 20 x 20. However, when the 20 x 20 spiral is examined closely, many of the other primes -- those not generated by Euler's formula -- also tend to line up on diagonals. This is a most intriguing characteristic, one which goes far beyond the 20 x 20 array mentioned above. The computer-generated display shown below lays out a huge square spiral, with each prime a bright dot. The picture has a pronounced diagonal texture. Why this is so is a mathematical mystery. (Crypton, Dr.; "Prime Numbers and National Security, " Science Digest, 93: 86, October 1985. ) (Does the diagonal fabric of primes have any practical significance ? At the moment no one knows. Again and again, abstruse mathematical structures have turned out to mirror phenomena in the world we call "real". WRC) From Science Frontiers #42, NOV-DEC 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 132: NOV-DEC 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Puzzling Partitions The Indian mathematician S. Ramanujan's has been called a "magical genius" because his remarkable insights seemed to come out of the blue -- like magic. We have not neglected Ramanujan in this newsletter ( SF#53 and here ), and now we spotlight him again. First, a quick primer on a fascinating mathematical byway called "partitions." A partition is a way in which a whole number can be expressed as the sum of positive integers. For example, 5 can be partitioned in seven ways: 5 4+ 1 3+ 2 3+ 1+ 1 2+ 2+ 1 2+ 1+ 1+ 1 1+ 1+ 1+ 1+ 1 The number 4 has only five partitions. Check it out. Historically, ordinary mortals saw no patterns in the number of partitions possessed by the parade of numbers until Ramanujan came along. He had in front of him a list of the number of partitions for each of the first 200 integers. They ranged from one (for 1) to 3,972,999,029,388 (for 200). [That of a computer is itself worthy of mention!] Here is the order that Ramanujan perceived: Starting with 5, the number of partitions for every seventh integer is a multiple of 7, and starting with 6, the number of partitions for every 11th integer is a multiple of 11 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Code Of The Quipu In a recent issue of Science, Gary Urton reviews a new book with the above title. The authors are Marcia and Robert Ascher, who have studied roughly 200 Inca quipus, demonstrating in the process that the Incas did indeed have a "written" language as well as a surprisingly sophisticated system of mathematical notation. A quipu appears to the uninitiated as a meaningless jumble of strings. To an Inca quipu reader, though, the positioning and colors of the secondary and tertiary strings appended to the primary cord all have meaning. The knots along each string also convey messages. Quipus incorporated, in a sense, three-dimensional notation, as opposed to the two-dimensional text on this page. Inca mathematical developments are inherent in quipu notation, which clearly reveals base-of10 positional notation and the use of the zero. Instead of a tangle of colored strings, the quipus actually display sophisticated concepts of number, geometrical configuration, and logic. (Urton, Gary; "Inca Encodements," Science, 216:869, 1982.) Reference. For more on quipus and the Inca civilization, see our Handbook: Ancient Man. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #22, JUL-AUG 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 93: May-Jun 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Btt And Surreality If you think that Beloff's "rent" in the fabric of the cosmos is a bizarre concept, it's because you haven't heard about BTT. Named after S. Banach and A. Tarski, the Banach-Tarski Theorems (BTT) were conceived 70 years ago, and they have challenged common sense ever since. Of course, no one expects that all branches of mathematics will mirror physical reality; but BTT is definitely ultra-weird, so much so that we had to invent that adjective! Take, for example, this specific BTT result presented by B. Augenstein: "In particular, a solid sphere with unit radius can be cut into five pieces in such a way that two of the pieces can be reassembled into one solid sphere with unit radius, while the other three pieces are reassembled into a second solid sphere with unit radius. These are the minimum numbers of pieces required to do the trick, but it can be repeated indefinitely." Impossible, you say? Can one sphere fragment and be reconstituted as two solid spheres of the same size? Regardless of what the math says, it cannot happen in the real world! Well, BTT actually does mirror just such a phenomenon found in particle physics: "The magical way in which a proton entering a metal target can produce a swarm of new copies of protons emerging from that target, each identical ...
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... from a reservoir of remarkable mental capabilities. In savants and calculating prodigies, this barrier is ruptured and these talents flow readily to the fore -- but usually at the cost of some "normal" talents. Two Australian scientists, A. Snyder and J. Mitchel, have studied the "savant syndrome" and have presented their findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society (B266:587, 1999). The gist of their paper was reported by R. Highfield in the Chicago Sun-Times . "These savants are often autistic, a developmental disorder that leaves them with little ability to empathize with others. However, some possess astonishing skills. "He [Snyder] believes the ability to tap raw information -- the mind's secret arithmetic -- is possessed by mathematical savants. They can multiply, divide, factor and identify prime numbers of six and more digits in seconds, or identify the number of objects they can see at a single glance -- 111 matches scattered on the floor, in one case." Snyder's intriguing conclusion is that ". .. we believe that everyone has the underlying facility to perform lightningfast integer arithmetic." (Highfield, Roger; "Study Adds Up to Formula for Math Genius," Chicago Sun Times , March 23, 1999. Cr. J. Cieciel) A more technical review of the SnyderMitchel work has appeared in Nature. There, N. Birbaumer focussed on that mysterious barrier that supposedly prevents most of us from utilizing our innate genius. Unfortunately, his explanations are a bit murky and ...
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... Science Frontiers Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects) Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Overview Astronomy Biology Chemistry/Physics Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project B BIOLOGY Catalog of Anomalies (Biology Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. BA ARTHROPODS Titles not yet posted BB BIRDS BBA EXTERNAL APPEARANCE AND MORPHOLOGY BBA1 Avian Asymmetries BBA2 Female Hawks Larger Than Males BBA3 Skewed Sex Ratios of Offspring BBA4 Vividly Colored and Highly Patterned Avian Plumages and Ornaments BBA5 Plumage Polymorphism BBA6 Females with Male Plumage BBA7 Molting before Hatching BBA8 Unusual Diversification and Conservation in Plumage BBA9 Complexity and Sophistication of Feathers BBA10 Complexity and Sophistication of Feather Color-and-Pattern-Generation Mechanisms BBA11 Unusual Plumage-Color Changes BBA12 Feather Curiosities BBA13 Neoteny in Feathers BBA14 Tooth Substitutes in Modern Birds BBA15 Birds Lacking Egg Teeth BBA16 Extreme Sexual Dimorphism in Bills BBA17 Bill Polymorphisms BBA18 Avian Bills: Unusual Adaptations BBA19 Wing Claws BBA20 Wing Spurs BBA21 The Alula or Bastard Wing BBA22 Some Curiosities of Avian Feet BBA23 Inherited Callosities BBA24 Unusual Pouches on Birds BBA25 Luminous Birds BBA26 Odoriferous ...
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... Science Frontiers Sourcebook Project Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Guides available Biology Catalogs Biology Handbook Archeology Handbook Geophysics Catalogs Geological Catalogs Astronomy Catalogs Astronomy Handbook Science Frontiers Sourcebooks Ordering details Omni Edge Science Winner December 1996 Publishing History 2007: Dark Days, Ice falls, Firestorms and Related Weather Anomalies (Geophysics) 2006: Archeological Anomalies: Graphic Artifacts I 2003: Archeological Anomalies: Small Artifacts 2003: Scientific Anomalies and other Provocative Phenomena 2001: Remarkable Luminous Phenomena in Nature 2001: Ancient Structures (Archeology) 1999: Ancient Infrastructure (Archeology) 1998: Biological Anomalies: Birds 1996: Biological Anomalies: Mammals II: 1995: Biological Anomalies: Mammals I 1994: Science Frontiers, The Book 1994: Biological Anomalies: Humans III 1993: Biological Anomalies: Humans II 1992: Biological Anomalies: Humans I 1991: Inner Earth: A Search for Anomalies (Geological) 1990: Neglected Geological Anomalies 1989: Anomalies in Geology: Physical, Chemical, Biological 1988: Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds, Submarine Canyons (Geological) 1987: Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos 1986: The Sun and Solar System Debris 1985: The Moon and the Planets 1984: Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows (Geophysics) 1983: Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds (Geophysics) 1983: Tornados, Dark days, Anomalous Precipitation (Geophysics) 1982: Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights (Geophysics) 1982: Unfathomed Mind 1981: Incredible life (Biology) 1980: Unknown Earth (Geological) 1979: Mysterious Universe ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 120: Nov-Dec 1998 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The pigeon-snaring mounds of tonga Pyramid stones not "cementitious" Where did they come from? Astronomy Bye-bye mercury, and maybe mars The force is with them Biology Why some like it hot Dog doctors Acoustical "vision" underwater Gaia as a super-superorganism Geology Spod logs Miles of floating forest Geophysics Bouncing ball lightning A BRIGHT FLYING OBJECT AND ANOTHER ENIGMATIC CRATER Psychology Are ufo abductions akin to ndes? Precognitive dreams Physics More quantum weirdness Mathematics The first digit phenomenon ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 127: Jan-Feb 2000 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The great hopewell road Paradigm quake: the solutreans were here first! A FAR-WANDERING TRIBE? Astronomy Nuclear bombs will not save the earth! Aristarchus blushes for clementine Shadow dance of the gnats What's cooking on europa? Biology Ants like microwaves Stoned dogs Some funny things happened on the way around the world Throat-singing Traitors within Geology Do continents really drift? Natural stone spheres Geophysics The strange case of angled lines in the atmosphere Black auroras Psychology Our filtered brains Mathematics Some magic squares are more magical than others ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 132: Nov-Dec 2000 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Columbus Exonerated: Viking Blamed The Viking Mooring-Stone Saga Sails On Earthmovers of the Amazon Hold that Mega-Megalith Astronomy It Depends on How you Look at It! Theories that are Hard to Believe Explain Things We Cannot See Biology Do Not Try this Experiment at Home! Fish Tales From the Mouth of Fishes Unidentified Cellular Object Geology Sandslides: Desert Catastrophes Geophysics Luminous Toroid Dangled Sparkling "Candies" Curious Phenomena in Venezuala Mathematics Puzzling Partitions ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 96: Nov-Dec 1994 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology That little "roman" head from precolumbian mexico The "kites" or "keyhole" structures of the middle east Astronomy On the sun, south is almost everywhere The moon: still partly molten? Lunar crater chains Biology Too identical! Why do flying fish have such colorful wings? "ADAPTIVE" MUTATION Electric snakes Geology Satellite spies strange stripes Two really deep oceans Geophysics The 536 ad dust-veil event Underwater thumps Remarkable straw fall Unusual lunar halo Psychology Psi phenomena and geomagnetism Physics Cold fission? Mathematics Lazzarini eats humble pi (posthumously) Unclassified A CURIOUS STRING OF COINCIDENCES Close encounters with unknown missiles ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 103: Jan-Feb 1996 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology A REMARKABLE MAYAN SUSPENSION BRIDGE Did irish monks build this new england chamber circa 700 ad? Two probable frauds Astronomy Einstein's nemesis: di herculis A BRIEF HISTORY OF QUANTIZED TIME Biology Passenger pigeons not extinct! I HISS THEREFORE I AM Geology Target: south america Fossil mantle plume under south america But what about the hawaiian volcanic chain? Geophysics A SUBTERRANEAN TROMBONE Anomalous radar echoes and visual phenomenon "BLUE JETS" EMITTED UPWARD FROM TOPS OF THUNDERCLOUDS Stythe = choke damp Psychology Seeing is feeling Mathematics How to find a piece of pi ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 86: Mar-Apr 1993 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The acoustics of rock art Where did agriculture really begin? Astronomy Meteoric "dust bunnies" Cosmic snowballs and magnetic asteroids Biology Must we die? the medfly's answer How a fly hears what a cricket hears Once more science fiction predicts the future! Rethinking aids Geology Geysers as detectors of distant earthquakes Precariously balanced rocks as earthquake detectors Geophysics An electrical virtuoso The milky sea a.k .a . "white water" A CURIOUS SIGHTING Cloud plumes natural but still a bit anomalous Logic and Mathematics Math's mystery All roads lead to 123 Psychology Hypnosis and skin temperature Hypnosis and basketball Physics Solar radiation and mental illness ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 93: May-Jun 1994 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The spirit pond inscription stone Molecular clock places humans in new world 22,000-29,000 bp Astronomy Anomalous horizon glows seen on the moon From dust unto dust Biology Marine snow A REALLY ERRANT PIGEON A REALLY ERRANT SEAL Cold-blooded birds? Why snakes have forked tongues Lactating male bats Geology The nebraska sand hills: wind or water deposits? The giant crystal at the heart of the earth Geophysics Strange explosions at sasovo, in russia Just plane weird Psychology The healing of rents in the natural order Mathematics Btt and surreality ...
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... All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Immense Complex of Structures Found in Peru Great Pyramid Entrance Tunnel Not Astronomically Aligned More Pyramid Caveats Astronomy A Large Quasar Inhomogeneity in the Sky Double-star System Defies Relativity Peace and Sunspots The Missing Sunspot Peak A Different Way of Looking At the Solar System Origin of the Moon Debated Biology Ri = Dugong; Doggone! Can Spores Survive in Interstellar Space? Fungus Manufactures Phony Blueberry Flowers Music in the Ear Guiding Cell Migration Remarkable Distribution of Hydrothermal Vent Animals Trees May Not Converse After All! Geology Feathers Fly Over Fossil 'Fraud' Sand Dunes 3 Kilometers Down The Night of the Polar Dinosaur Geophysics The Sausalito Hum Mysterious Hums: the Sequel Psychology Left-handers Have Larger Interbrain Connections Geomagnetic Activity and Paranormal Experiences Taking Food From Thought Logic & Mathematics The Fabric of Prime Number Distribution Chemistry & Physics Speculations From Gold ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 148: Jul-Aug 2003 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Who or What Exterminates the Pleistocene Megafauna? Illinois's Ancient Maginot Line A Cold Barrier to Internal Parasites Astronomy Are there no other Earths out there? Where's the Fuzz? Biology Snakes Aloft Woman's Barr Bodies The Eyes have it A Major Problem for Darwinism Geology Why are old Mountains High? Subterranean Ecosystems Geophysics Milky-sea Phenomenon Is the Min Min Light a Fata Morgana (mirage)? Pre-Quake Anomalies Psychology Correlations of Brain Activity Physics A Revolution in Electrostatics Mathematics Ordering a Piece of Pi Prime Squares ...
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... 152: Mar - Apr 2004 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Amazon's Jungles were Tamed Long Ago, but by Whom? World's most Mysterious Manuscript may be a Hoax (Voynich manuscript) Vast Network of Ancient Road Astronomy Centauro Events Curious Structures on the Surface of Mars The Dodecahedron and the 'True Earth' Biology Nanofabrication and Light Control in a Squid Beyond Water Condensation Animal Miscellany, some of which are rather Amusing Toriodal Bubbles Telling tales (FRTs) Magnetically orientated Tunnels Cells are naturally cancerous? Geology Witchers Hole and the Bermuda Triangle Intimate Encouters of Sand Dunes Geophysics Multiple Ball-Lightning event? A Burning Bush Sprouts a Lighning Leader Falsetto Thunder and Tabular Hail Psychology The Sleepwalking Bandsman Sleep and Scientific Insight Mathematics Quadamagicology (the science of magic squares) ...
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... . 155: Sep - Oct 2004 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Plant diffusion in the pre-Columbian world Did Chinese Ships Anchor off California 1000 years before Columbus found San Salvador? An Olmec-Chinese Connection Astronomy Our Twin Planet? Evidence that Mars is a former Moon! Biology The Itjaritjari Tick-Tock: Telomeres count off the generations of a species' time on Earth Stealth fish Geology The Dwarfing of island megafauna and the remarkable survival of some A double-whammy for the Yucatan, but that's only part of the story Geophysics A sign? Star-of-David ice crystals fall upon West Sussex Hessdalen: Valley of enigmatic lights When coming events really cast their shadows before them! Physics Entangled moments Mathematics Patterns of very loosely knit prime numbers ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 102: Nov-Dec 1995 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology ANCIENT ACOUSTICAL ENGINEERING THE CANDELABRA OF THE ANDES Astronomy HUGE FIREBALL EXPLOSION IN 1994 2,000,000,000 BC: THE EPOCH OF QUASARS Biology TWO POLITICALLY INCORRECT BIOCHEMICAL ANOMALIES FROM DUST UNTO ABYSSAL MUD PERFECT PITCH AND SUNDRY SYNDROMES KING CRAB CONGREGATIONS THE BIRDS Geology WARM LAKE FOUND UNDER ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET REMNANTS OF TUNGUSKA "WEIRD ICICLES" IN A REFRIGERATOR Geophysics A TUNGUSKA-LIKE BLAST IN BRAZIL IN 1930 STYTHE? ICE "METEORITES" FALL LONG-LIVED BUBBLE IN THE ATMOSPHERE Psychology UNCONVENTIONAL WATER DETECTION FUNGAL PHANTASMS Mathematics 1, 089, 533, 431, 247, 059, 310, 875, 780, 378, 922, 957, 447, 308, 967, 213, 141, 717, 486, 151 Physics SOUR GRAPES! ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 128: Mar-Apr 2000 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Archeometeorology Viruses as Ancient Artifacts 100-Mile-Long Wall in Africa Astronomy A Few Cracks in the Foundations of Mainstream Astronomy The Ganymede Magnetic Paradox Biology " Uprooting the Tree of Life " Heart-Stoppers Geology Frozen in Time A Lurch of Death Burps of Death Geophysics Target: Southern Spain A Different Sort of Crop Circle Numberless Black Discs Psychology Fake Needles but Real Knives The Consciousness Gene Mathematics How to Win by Loosing (twice) ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 138: Nov-Dec 2001 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology When the Arctic was Warm A Down Side to Moundbuilding Astronomy The 8 Greatest Mysteries of Cosmology "Redshift is a Shaky Measuring Rod" Biology Remarkable Animal Talents and Capabilities Life as a Complex of "Dominant States" Britain More Hazardous than Ever Geology When the Antarctic was Warm Geophysics Drifting, Glowing Fog Hums Ho! Psychology Born to Enumerate Unconsciousness and its "Zombie Agents" Physics It's Time for A Bit of Generalization The Dynamics of Oleaginated Carbohydrate Parallelopipeds Mathematics Bent Magic ...
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... Mathematics Psychology Physics Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Photocopied Classic Books These important old books from the anomaly literature used to be available, photocopied and bound in heavy, printed covers. Format: 8.5 " x 11. They are no longer available. Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley View Cart Buy online via PayPal with MC/Visa/Amex E.G . Squier and E.H . Davis. 376 pp., 1848, $29.95p One of the most remarkable archeological books ever published in America! Its appearance in 1848 created a great sensation. For, as America moved west, the remnants of the great civilization of the Moundbuilders raised much speculation. Even today we marvel at their immense, flat-topped temple mounds, the huge earthen enclosures, and the meticulously wrought artifacts of copper, mica, and clay. Squier and Davis objectively described the features of this New World civilization in words and drawings. It is the drawings, though, that really capture the reader. They are superb, almost overwhelming. Rude Stone Monuments in all Countries: Their Age and Uses View Cart Buy online via PayPal with MC/Visa/Amex J. Fergusson, 1872, 578 pp., $26.95p Fergusson's famous compilation of worldwide megalithic monuments is a fit complement to our photocopied edition of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, from 1848. Fergusson has filled his book with 233 line drawings of artifacts from the megalithic period. The emphasis is on the massive monuments, but you ...
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... Science Frontiers Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects) Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Overview Astronomy Biology Chemistry/Physics Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project E GEOLOGY Catalog of Anomalies (Geology Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. EC Chemical and Physical Anomalies associated with inner Earth ECC CHEMICAL ANOMALIES ECC1 Anomalous Abundances of Some Noble Gases ECD DEEP-DRILLING DISCOVERIES ECD1 Drilling Truth Confounds Surface Science ECG STRUCTURAL ANOMALIES INDICATED BY GRAVITATIONAL ANOMALIES ECG1 Remarkable Gravity Anomalies ECG2 Gravity Trends That Challenge the Continent-Accretion Model ECG3 Gravity Data Indicating Large Mantle Inhomogeneities ECG4 Anomalous Gravity Signals Following Earthquakes ECH HEAT-FLOW ANOMALIES ECH1 Mid-Plate Volcanism ECH2 Hawaiian Hot-Spot Tracks ECH3 Dearth of Continental Hot Spots ECH4 Non-Random Distribution of Hot Spots ECH5 Thermal Plumes Correlated with Other Geophysical Activity EQ SEISMIC PROBING OF INNER EARTH EQA LOCALIZED STRUCTURES IN THE CORE AND MANTLE EQA1 Stratification of Basement Rocks EQA2 Deep Continental Roots EQA3 Deep Penetration of Subducted Slabs EQA4 Lateral Inhomogeneities in the Lower Mantle EQA5 Mysterious Structures at the Core-Mantle Boundary ...
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... Science Frontiers Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects) Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Overview Astronomy Biology Chemistry/Physics Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project M ARCHEOLOGY Catalog of Anomalies (Archeology Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. MA ANTHROPOLOGY MAA PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Polynesian Features Not Asian Blond Eskimos White Africans White Indians in Panama (San Blas, Darien Tribes) Welsh Indians Mandan Origin Red-Haired Nevada Indians Redmen in Africa and Madagascar Amerinds in China White Indians in New Mexico and Northwest Bearded Indians in Brazil Semitic New Guineans Ainu Origin Yellow race in Africa Living Neanderthals [BHE, Human-Neanderthal Hybrids] Chinese Characteristics of the Maya Asamanukpai: the Gold Coast Dwarfs The Maya Sacral Spot [BHA] New World Dwarfs Samurai Origin Whites in Polynesia Melungeon Origin Maoiri Origin Pre-Maori New Zealanders Polynesians in South America Long-Ears on Easter Island, the Maldives, and Elsewhere Whites in the Maldives Beothucks: Norse in Newfoundland? White Inca Aristocracy Toltecs: Carthaginian Origin? Basque Origin Sea Peoples Origin Berbers with ...
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... Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Demurrer From The Epigraphic Society The following letter was received in response to an item in SF#32. Since it contains much information, we decided to reprint it with the writer's permission. "I am writing to mildly protest the substance and style of your article 'Two Remarkable Inscribed Stones.' Of course substance and style are interrelated, but I'll try to separate them as best I can. First, let me address style. The condescending 'fragile hypothesis treatment' (' .. . which in his view...' 'Fell, however, considers them...' '. .. Comparisons... suggest...') is totally inappropriate when one considers the mathematical probabilities of thousands of petroglyphs possessing markings coincidently identical to those of ancient languages of the Old World. And one has to marvel at the cutting power and linguistic talent of certain plows. "In the substance area vis-a -vis the alleged absence of artifacts: While it wouldn't be fair to expect the author to have been familiar with Professor Fell's three books on the subject, and the previous volumes of the ESOP, with their many references to artifacts (loomweights, amphorettas, Roman lamps, countless Roman and other coins, and various other Old World items) it would not seem unreasonable to expect the author to have been familiar with the articles about Roman artifacts in the same volume he extracted portions from. Concerning the glib question about '. .. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 35: Sep-Oct 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Sinister Development In Ancient Greece The unprecedented genius of Ancient Greece remains unexplained. Why the sudden surge of "civilized" activities: drama, poetry, philosophy, mathematics, and even science? It was all because the Ancient Greeks developed an alphabet that included vowels in addition to the consonants. The Greek language became a full phonetic representation of language. The left side of our brain, it seems, is much more capable than the right in matters phonetic. In contrast, other forms of writing in the ancient world, such as hieroglyphics and vowelless alphabets, are better handled by the right side of the brain. (As an aside, it is interesting that, in the modern world, Japanese and Chinese are better processed by the right side of the brain, while the phonetic representations of language, such as English, are handled better sinistrally.) Back in Ancient Greece, the new alphabet shifted language activities to the left side of the brain. According to J.R . Skoyles, this "unlocked" left-brain competences that had previously been analogous right-brain competences. The newly liberated competences involved rational, analytical, and logical faculties. Thus from the addition of a few vowels sprang Ancient Greece and, in time, modern civilization. (Another aside: Each side of the brain seems to have the potential for performing all necessary functions, but the left side is better at some than the right ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 128: MAR-APR 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects How to Win by Loosing (twice)It's all exceedingly counterintuitive. If you switch randomly between two games of chance, each of which is guaranteed to empty your pockets if played separately, you can actually win. This phenomenon can be proved mathematically, but we will not inflict this upon our readers, even if we understood it. Two games played with coins illustrate the effect. One game employs a weighted coin such that the probability of winning is much less than 50%. If played alone, your capital decreases steadily in a rather smooth curve, with a small win now and then but many small losses. The second game requires two weighted coins and is also a losing proposition by itself. Here, though, the graph of your assets vs. the number of games played is a sawtooth. There are sharp increases and downturns, but with an average downward trend. Switching between the two games in a random manner has the effect of locking in a win before the next loss comes along. It's a ratchet effect. Your overall capital will rise, at least it does according to the equations, though your intuition cannot help but doubt it. No wonder this Is called Parrondo's paradox! (Harmer, Gregory P., and Abbott, Derek; "Losing Strategies Can Win by Farrondo's Paradox," Nature, 402:864, 1999. Anonymous; "Losing ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 98: Mar-Apr 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Nobel gossip!Have you heard that: Alfred Nobel originally planned to use his fortune for the construction of crematoria all over Europe, but opposition from the Catholic Church forced him to find another way to use his money; thus, the coveted prizes? And that Nobel never established a prize for mathematics because his wife had had an affair with a mathematician? (Griffith, John; "Smoke Scheme," New Scientist, p. 48, January 14, 1995) From Science Frontiers #98, MAR-APR 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 102: Nov-Dec 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Perfect pitch and sundry syndromes Writing in response to a report in Science by G. Schlaug concerning the brain asymmetry observed in musicians with perfect or absolute pitch* (SF#99), O. Sacks expands the domain of the phenomenon to include other human talents. Sacks says that perfect pitch, though common in musicians, occurs only in about 1 of every 10,000 people. Among the autistic, however, the incidence rises to perhaps 1 in 20. He next moves on to "savants;" that is, individuals with exceptional mathematic, mechanical, musical, and artistic talents, but with serious deficiencies in other human attributes. Calculating prodigies and other "idiot savants" immediately come to mind here. Sachs claims that perfect pitch is is even more common among the savants. In fact, all muscial savants seem to have it. Perfect pitch is also common among those with Williams syndrome, which he defines as: "a -- syndrome which predisposes to hyperacusis and exceptional development of auditory, musical, and verbal skills, combined with striking visual and conceptual deficits." (Sacks, Oliver; "Musical Ability," Science, 268:621, 1995.) * A person with perfect pitch can identify a tone without needing a second tone for comparison. SF#99 = Science Frontiers #99. From Science Frontiers #102 Nov-Dec 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Some Editorial Pedantry If you glance back quickly at the last three items on "astronomy," you will see that all three discoveries were made with computers using numerical simulation - not through direct observation. Since such simulations are built upon a foundation of accepted physical laws, to say nothing of various mathematical approximations and computer software, the discoveries made are only as good as the laws and methodology. As. A. Korzybski used to say: "The map is not the territory." Forgetting this has led experts to predict that heavier-than-air craft could never fly and that the earth could not be more than a few million years old. From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Spheres Can Dance To Convoluted Music A lot has been written about the "music of the spheres." But we don't hear much about this celestial music anymore; rather, "dances of the spheres" are in vogue. If only gravity and Newton's Laws ruled celestial motion, there would be no general solution to the hoary "three-body problem. But in the three special configurations illustrated, three bodies of equal mass can be shown to be stable. The third, the figure-of-eight, was not discovered until 1993 by C. Moore. Although mathematicians can prove it is stable, R. Montgomery admits: There is no understanding of why the orbit is stable, from either a physical or mathematical point of view. Certainly no figure-eight orbits have ever been observed in the cosmos so far, but who knows?. The situation becomes really bizarre when more than three equal masses are considered. A few of the many stable, but manifestly weird, configurations are also illustrated here. These are among the simplest. To illustrate, C. Simo has found a stable choreography for 799 bodies cavorting happily and stably together in space. And he was using only his laptop! (Appell, David; "Celestial Swingers," New Scientist, p. 36, August 4, 2001.) From Science Frontiers #139, Jan-Feb 2002 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster ...
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