14 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 120: Nov-Dec 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Pigeon-snaring Mounds Of Tonga In North America, the industrious Mound-builders excavated untold millions of basketfuls of soil which they piled up in impressive mounds. Flat-topped Monk's Mound at Cahokia, Illinois, rivals the Great Pyramid in volume. A casual observer of this huge earthen structure could only conclude that such immense labor was undertaken for some social imperative, such as worship or sacrifice. Perhaps this was the case in North America, but deep in the South Pacific, just east of Fiji, on the islands of Tonga, native peoples scraped large mounds of earth for what seems to be a frivolous purpose: pigeon-snaring ! But bear in mind that carnivory on these romantic Pacific islands was difficult because large game animals were nonexistent. Captured enemies helped solve the protein problem, but pigeons were much more common, and some species were good-sized and delicious. So much so that eventually only island royalty was allowed to catch and eat them. Pigeon poachers were whipped or executed (and maybe eaten?) In fact, pigeon snaring became a royal sport. To this end, starting at least a thousand years ago, the king's loyal subjects grubbed up the thin island soil and piled it up into high mounds. Tonga's pigeon-snaring mounds did not compete with Monk's Mound sizewise, being at most 115 feet in diameter and perhaps 15 feet high. But ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 307 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf120/sf120p14.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 121: Jan-Feb 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects October 5, 1998: Dark Day for Homing Pigeons Just what happened on October 5 may never be known. On that day thousands of homing pigeons were released by their proud owners in widely separated locations expecting they would quickly race home to their lofts. Few made it. In three separate races in New York and Pennsylvania, a total of 4,000 birds were released on October 5. Only 400 returned home. 3,000 pigeons released in California on the same day are still missing. All over the planet, homing pigeons are not homing as well as they used to. Performance has been falling steadily over the past two decades. The favorite theory blames geomagnetic storms, but no such correlation has been shown. Microwaves are fingered next. Cell phones and satellite communications fill the atmosphere ever more densely with microwaves that may throw off the navigation equipment of homing pigeons, but this hasn't been demonstrated yet either. (Ensley, Gerald; "Case of the 3,600 Disappearing Homing Pigeons Has Experts Baffled," Chicago Tribune, October 18, 1998. Cr. J. Cieciel. Also: Schoettler, Carl; "Pondering the Great Homing Pigeon Panic," Baltimore Sun, October 18, 1998.) From Science Frontiers #121, JAN-FEB 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 103: Jan-Feb 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Passenger pigeons not extinct!The English science magazine New Scientist has received numerous letters from persons confirming this assertion. For example, J. Howlett wrote: "In my experience, the sight of pigeons hitching a lift on the underground is nothing unusual. I too have often travelled from Paddington, westwards in my case -- not in frequently in the company of a pigeon, sometimes even two. "It raises fascinating questions. Do they just fly across the line and get the next train back? How many round trips a day do they make? Do they decide in advance how far to travel? Do they study the timetables?" (Howlett, Jack, et al; "Passenger Pigeons," New Scientist, p. 66, September 30, 1995) Comment. Birds frequently alight on ships at sea and even ride on the backs of animals, but these subway pigeons seem to be more than opportunistic! From Science Frontiers #103, JAN-FEB 1996 . 1996-2000 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 A REALLY ERRANT PIGEON Two years ago, a racing pigeon, owned by Londoner W. Pope, disappeared during a 556-mile race from southern France to Western England. Just recently, this bird fluttered into a pigeon loft in Beijing! (Anonymous; "British Pigeon, Missing 2 Years, Lands in Beijing," Baltimore Sun, March 25, 1994.) From Science Frontiers #93, MAY-JUN 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 102 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf093/sf093b06.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 9: Winter 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Have magnets, will travel Homing pigeons seem to possess at least two direction sensors. Years of experiments with released birds have proved that they use sun compasses on sunny days but have magnetic backups for cloudy days. But how do they sense the earth's magnetic field? Paired-coil tests suggested that the pigeon compass resided in the neck or back of the head. Narrowing the search with sensitive magnetometers and two dozen dissected pigeons, the authors discovered tiny bits of tissue containing magnetite crystals. The same tissues contained yellow crystals likely made by the iron-storage protein ferritin, which was probably used in the biological synthesis of the magnetite. (Walcott, Charles, et al; "Pigeons Have Magnets," Science, 205:1027, 1979) Comment. Many species of mud bacteria also synthesize magnetite for purposes of orientation, indicating that nature or some directive force used the same strategy in two widely separated species. From Science Frontiers #9 , Winter 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... fundamental tone. Rather than a fixed organ pipe, it was a natural trombone! Unfortunately, the "earth music" was always in the infrasound range, 8 Hertz and less, and could not be heard by the researchers directly -- only their instruments could "listen." (Schneider, David; "Country Music," Scientific American, 273:28, November 1995.) Comments. There is no physical reason why such a subterranean trombone cannot play in the audible range. Such a mechanism might explain some of the mysterious hums heard in various localities, such as the Taos hum. (SF#88) Many unusual natural sounds are cataloged in Chapter GS in our catalog: Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds. Ordering information here . Some animals can hear infrasound. Pigeons, for example, have special organs on their legs (of all places!) that respond to infrasound. Could pigeons and other birds use "musical mountains" for homing and other navigation feats? From Science Frontiers #103, JAN-FEB 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 142: Jul-Aug 2002 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The impossible stones How bad was that nuclear catastrophe of 12,500 BP? Black-balling very earlier Americans Astronomy Our Big Bang lost in the cosmic cacophany The spookiness of it all Biology Passenger pigeons in New York Life is sweet Are human tears irreducibly complex? Geology Weird vibes from the Antarctic A shrinking dipole and migrating flux patches Wrong-way flood? Geophysics Bailey's prairie light The Kokomo hum Psychology The pressures of music Physics Inside some 'fundamental' particles What really lies beneath it all? ...
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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. 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. 121: Jan-Feb 1999 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Problems of aboriginal art in australia A CONTINENT LOST IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN Astronomy Oklo: an unappreciated cosmic phenomenon Is life a transitor phenomenon? Biology Acupuncture 5,200 ears ago? Imprison willy! Is intelligence a deadly pathogen? How homeopath might work October 5, 1998: dark day for homing pigeons Starlings fall out of the sky Geology An arkansas tsunami deposit? Fused ancient garbage dumps Geophysics Tunguska afterglow Lake champlain's two seiches B-24 SIGHTS "CIRCLES OF LIGHT" Psychology Are pets psychic? ...
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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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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 125: Sep-Oct 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Snail-Trail Tale Homing pigeons home for sure. Many mammals, possibly even humans, also possess a homing instinct. But snails? Taxonomically lowly molluscs? But read this letter to the London Times. "For ten days I have tried to banish a large snail which threatens soon-toemerge seedlings. Each day the snail gets lobbed into long grass of a nearby paddock and each night it quits the paddock, crosses a concrete driveway and returns to lurk under its favourite rock. There is no question of mistaken identity because its shell was marked with white paint after the first return trip." (Roberts, M.I .L .; "Snail Tale," London Times, May 21, 1999. Cr. A.C .A . Silk.) References. Human homing capabilities (BHT18 in Humans I); other mammals (BMT2 in Mammals I); birds (BBT5 in Birds). Snail heading home! From Science Frontiers #125, SEP-OCT 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... even gently oscillating globules of water, floating aimlessly in midair. Even stranger are the effects of microgravity on humans and other life forms. Astronauts, for example, when they first arrive in orbit, sometimes perceive their world to be upside-down regardless of their orientation. Their nervous systems were apparently thrown for a loop when the force of gravity was cancelled out. These illusions disappear later in the mission. Speaking of loops, consider the medaka. This fish is the only vertebrate to have mated and laid eggs that developed into offspring in microgravity. Said offspring are doomed to lives of somersaulting swimming. (Wassersug, Richard J.; "Life without Gravity," Nature, 401:758, 1999.) Comment. Could there be a connection to the nervous affliction of tumbler pigeons? See BBB8 in Biological Anomalies: Birds. From Science Frontiers #127, JAN-FEB 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss ...
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... Siblicide BBB36 Information Processing in Migratory Behavior BBB37 Uncommon Groupings of Birds BBB38 Flock Synchrony BBB39 Flight Formations BBB40 Avian "Courts" and "Funerals" BBB41 Avian Graveyards BBB42 Huddling and Stacking BBB43 Bird Battles BBB44 Miscellaneous Curiosities of Avian Behavior BBC CHEMICAL PHENOMENA BBC1 Palatable Eggs More Vulnerable to Predation BBC2 Conspicuous Plumage Advertises Unpalatability BBC3 Why Did Stinking Birds Evolve? BBC4 Poisonous Birds and Poison Dart Frogs: Convergent Evolution? BBC5 Are Ratites More Primitive Than Flying Birds? BBC6 Did Australian Songbirds Evolve Earlier than European Songbirds? BBC7 Are Birds More Closely Related to Mammals Than to Reptiles? BBC8 The Inability of Some Birds to Synthesize Ascorbic Acid BBD DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN SPACE AND TIME BBD1 Discontinuous Populations of Birds BBD2 Uncolonized Areas: Unfilled Niches BBD3 Land Birds Observed Far at Sea BBD4 Late Survival of Moas and Passenger Pigeons BBD5 Distribution Curiosities BBE THE FOSSIL RECORD OF BIRDS BBE1 The Fossil Record of Birds and Associated Paradigms BBE2 Evidence against the Dinosaur Origin of Birds BBE3 Protoavis: A Pre-Archaeopteryx Bird? BBE4 Unresolved Nature of Archaeopteryx BBE5 The Apparent Absence of Transitional Forms of Feathers BBE6 Fossils of Ostrich Ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere BBE7 Controversial Feathers of the London Archaeopteryx Fossil BBE8 Giant Fossil Eggs BBF BODILY FUNCTIONS BBF1 The Avian Respiratory System: Unique, Complex, Sophisticated BBF2 Avian Bodily Functions: Some Oddities BBG GENETICS BBG1 Species mtDNA More Diverse Than Morphology BBG2 Discordance in the Date of Divergence of Modern Birds BBG3 Discordances between Phylogenies Established from Morphology and DNA Analysis BBG4 Dearth of Introns in Birds BBI INTERNAL STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS BBI1 Avian Magnetoreceptors: Hard to Find BBI2 Curious Internal Structures BBO ORGANS BBO1 Complexity and Sophistication of ...
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