264 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 27: May-Jun 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A COMPASS IN OUR SINUSES?You may not feel any north-directed nasal twinges, but the thin hard bones lining the human sinuses contain deposits of magnetic ferric iron. This discovery adds man to a long list of organisms from bacteria to birds known to possess localized accumulations of magnetic material. Experiments with these animals, including humans, seem to indicate a widespread ability to detect ambient magnetic fields. Some animals appear to use this sense for navigation. Whether humans do or do not is still a moot question. (Baker, Robin R., et al; "Magnetic Bones in Human Sinuses," Nature, 301: 78, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #27, MAY-JUN 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 135: MAY-JUN 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Where Is The Maestro?As we learn more and more about the gene complements of our planet's multitudinous life forms, the more it seems that the vaunted genome may not incorporate all of the information necessary to construct a living organism. Despite assurances to the contrary, we must ask if we really know the whole story. These doubts manifest themselves as we see that creatures that are very much alike genetically may be radically different morphologically. In this vein, C. Ventner asserts that all higher vertebrates have roughly the same genes. The animals that result from these re-markedly similar genomes depend upon when specific genes are turned on and off. Ventner says, "We have the same number of genes as cats and dogs, but differently regulated." The genes themselves are supposed to be simply protein factories. Somehow, they are turned on and off (" expressing" themselves) in just the right sequences to help build the target animal. In a far-stretched analogy, the genes are the instruments in an orchestra and the proteins they produce are the notes in a symphony. But where are the symphony's score and its conductor? Very similar orchestras, it seems, can play radically different symphonies given different scores as interpreted by a maestro. Each living thing is likewise a symphony of proteins, each played by the genome at just the right time. But just where are the score -- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology East Bay Wall Photographs The Hambleton Hill Neolithic Fortress Astronomy Mysterious Spate of Sky Flashes Exorcising the Hidden Mass Hold Everything: it May Be A Nonproblem The Message of Aluminum-26 Saturn's Rings May Be Young Biology Upside-down Animals How Animals Might Get Inverted Shrimp Trains Are A'coming Geology Status of Archaeopteryx Up in the Air! The Coming Revolution in Planetology Deeper Mysteries Bone Bed Discovered in Florida Geophysics Recipe for Dust Devils The Tsunami Tune Lde Problem Still Unsolved Falls of All Sorts of Things Psychology Pk parties: real or surreal? It's Easier to Hypnotize Right-handers Chemistry & Physics Anomalous Anomalons Forbidden Matter ...
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... 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 Acoustical "vision" underwater When we (and all eyed animals) see an object, we are detecting light reflected from that object. When underwater, though, our vision is limited because light does not travel far. Sound, however, does; and sound is reflected from objects just as light is. This is of course the basis of underwater sonar, in which a sound source replaces the sun or a diver's floodlight. But even without an active sound source, the ocean is full of sound. Waves, rain, and the sounds made by marine animals create a background of noise that "illuminates" objects, not directly, but from the environment in general. Using only this enveloping background sound, it is possible to create acoustical images of objects. "Vision" of this sort is equivalent to "facial vision" in blind humans, who can hear objects using the environmental sound reflected from them. J. Potter and his colleagues at the National University of Singapore have constructed an array of underwater microphones that detects "slices" of the acoustical environment around it. When processed by a computer, images of objects emerge by virtue of the background noise reflected from them. This group has also estimated the ability of dolphins to detect and process background noise. They suggest that dolphins should be able to "see" objects at least 25 feet away without even using their active sonar; that is, ...
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... is precisely what contributes to the mystery. There are so many recognizable forms there, that one is tempted to say they must be man-made, or else nature is having a great joke on us. "Daniel Ruzo, a 90-year-old archa eologist who lives near Mexico City, aided us. The figures we saw and filmed in 1989 were both strange and fascinating. We were first greeted by a 60-foot rock called by Ruzo The Monument to Humanity because several different races are recognizable on it. They overlap each other in a unique way, but one can clearly discern a Caucasian youth, a Semitic man, a skull-like face that could be Negroid, and several others. "There are many other faces on the plateau, as well as animals. Some of the animals depicted never existed on the continent, such as the rhino, lion, camel, and a turtle-like creature." (Cote, Bill; "Marcahuasi--A Mystery in Stone," Louisiana Mounds Society News letter , no. 42, p. 1, October 1, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #78, NOV-DEC 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 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 Eyes of deep-sea fish have spare parts The sunlight that filters down into the depths of the sea is exceedingly weak. It is so dark down there that one would expect deep-sea fish to be blind like many cave-dwelling animals. They are not blind; rather many have eyes of fantastic size and novel construction. An unusual feature of some deep-sea eyes is a layered retina. In the conger eel, five layers of photoreceptors are plastered on top of one another. Yet, experiments with conger eel eyes reveal that only one layer of photoreceptors is active at any one time. R. Shapley and J. Gordon, who carried out these experiments at the Plymouth Lab., surmise that the extra retinal layers are being held in reserve, much like the rows of spare teeth found in sharks' mouths. If so, deep-sea fish are the only animals that have evolved spare stores of visual pigments. (Anonymous; "The Mystery of the Non-Functioning Receptors," New Scientist, 88:366, 1980.) Comment. Why haven't cave-dwelling fish taken the same evolutionary route? From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... who became sick from something else. That is, he believes HIV is the result of the disease, not the cause. Duesberg thinks the cause of AIDS has more to do with the life style of most of the AIDS patients, but he admits that he doesn't know exactly what." Duesberg points out that three things must be true before a microorganism can be blamed for causing a disease. These are called Koch's Postulates, after R. Koch, who formulated them a century ago: Every patient who has the disease must also harbor the suspected microorganism. Some AIDS sufferers do not have the AIDS virus, although it is debated whether as many as half don't or very few don't . The microorganism must cause the disease when injected into research animals -- primates for example. The AIDS virus does not; although some other diseases, such as small pox, do not affect other animals either. The suspect microorganism must be isolated from the patient and grown in a culture. Duesberg claims that HIV definitely fails the first two Koch tests. (Shurkin, Joel N.; "The AIDS Debate: Another View," Los Angeles Times, January 18, 1988. Cr. J.M . Ward) Three months after the above article was published. the journal Science jumped into the fray. Additional points of interest: Duesberg considers the HIV to be such a "pussycat" that he would gladly be injected with the virus. Duesberg has published his reservations in Cancer Research , but no formal response from the scientific community ...
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... Be happy, be healthy: the case for psychoimmunology Hints are accumulating from many clinical studies that one's mental state has much to do with the effectiveness of one's immunological system. Happy, unstressed people get fewer colds. Introverts get worse colds than extroverts. Men who have just lost their wives have lowered white-cell responses. Although many physicians and medical researchers think it too early to claim that mental stress significantly suppresses the human immunological system and thus leads to more illness, one can see the pendulum start to swing away from the timehonored belief that mind and body are entirely separate entities. The foregoing studies and others like them are discussed in a recent survey of psychoimmunology by B. Dixon. Toward the close of the article, Dixon asks why humans (and other animals, too) have evolved an immunological system sensitive to stress. Evolutionists can always find some sort of justification in Darwinian terms, and Dixon's is rather ingenious. Suppose a primitive human was attacked by a saber-toothed tiger (what else?). If the human survived, his immunological system would immediately go into high gear to clean up the wounds and repel invading germs. The trouble is that a revved-up immunological system (especially the white blood cells) can go too far and chomp up healthy tissue, too. However, evolution has constructed animals such that stress (saber-toothed tigers are stressful!) suppresses the immunological system to restrict the consumption of healthy tissues. While this short-term damper on immunological activity may have been useful to primitive humans ...
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... has amassed a collection of about 1,000 nonhuman primate prints. He has discovered that print characteristics differ markedly from one species to another. When Chilcutt learned that J. Meldren, a professor of anatomy at Idaho State University, had accumulated 100 or so casts of Bigfoot prints, he had to check out their dermal whorls and arches. Some of Meldren's casts turned out to be obvious fakes upon which human fingerprints had been impressed. But a few specimens surprised him. The print ridges on the bottoms of five castings -- which were taken at different times and locations -- flowed lengthwise along the foot, unlike human prints which flow from side to side. "The skeptic in me had to believe that (all of the prints were from) the same species of animal," Chilcutt said. "I believe that this is an animal in the Pacific Northwest that we have never documented." (Rice, Harvey; "Is Something Afoot with Bigfoot? Print Expert Thinks So," Houston Chronicle, February 20, 2000. Cr. D. Phelps.) From Science Frontiers #129, MAY-JUNE 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
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... edges of the continents. Actually, the small methane burps are minor problems compared to the catastrophic climate changes that could be forced if just a small portion of the gases frozen under the sea floor were released into the atmosphere. Gas-hydrates are unimpressive when brought to the surface -- just dirty, fizzy ice. However, taken together, they contain more carbon than all the world's oil fields, perhaps much more. Most estimates fall between 1,700 and 11,000 billion tons, but there is one scientist who pegs these cold-storage carbon deposits at 4,100,000 billion tons. In comparison, human releases of carbon to the atmosphere via the burning of wood, gas, coal, and even the collective flatulence of all the planet's animals are trivial. Geological evidence confirms that past climate swings were associated with large injections of carbon into the atmosphere and oceans. A major contributor to these "carbon burps" may be decomposing methane hydrate. Until recently, climatologists have questioned the sizes of gas-hydrate deposits, but cores extracted from the Blake Ridge off the Carolina coast confirm the immense amounts of gases precariously locked up in sea-floor sediments. The stratum of gas hydrates in the Blake Ridge alone covers 26,000 square kilometers -- enough gas is there to supply the U.S . for 107 years. In biological terms the Blake Ridge's carbon is equal to 7% of the carbon locked up in all terrestrial biota -- animals, trees, grasses, etc. And the Blake Ridge gas ...
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... Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bowerbird art for art's sake The bowerbirds of New Guinea and Australia build and decorate marvelously intricate and esthetic works of art. One must classify these impressive structures as works of art, even by human standards. For example, the bowers have geometrical organization and may be oriented to a specific compass direction, depending upon the species. Colorful berries, stones, and, when available, human artifacts are systematically arranged around the bower. Some bowerbirds even take a piece of bark in their bills and paint their bowers with colored berry juices. Each species has a certain style, but the bowers vary from individual to individual and with the age of the bird. Manifestly, these birds use tools for artistic purposes. Or do they? Is it all instinct? Some animal behaviorists believe the bower's purpose is to attract mates, but the males often chase females away, although mating does eventually occur within the bowers. A second explanation is that the bowers symbolize territorial rights. In this context, bowerbirds fre-quently raid and destroy neighboring bowers, stealing choice decorations -- all very human-like behavior. (Diamond, Jared M.; "Evolution of Bowerbirds' Bowers: Animal Origins of the Esthetic Sense," Nature, 297:99, 1982.) Comment. Is human art any more profound than that of the bowerbirds? Human artists doubtless feel they are doing something more than attracting mates or proclaiming territory. Unfortunately, we cannot ask the bowerbirds what they are thinking as they carefully select colors and develop designs. From Science ...
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... Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is your brain really necessary?John Lorber, a British neurologist, has studied many cases of hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and concluded that the loss of nearly all of the cerebral cortex (the brain's convoluted outer layer) does not necessarily lead to mental impairment. He cites the case of a student at Sheffield University, who has an IQ of 126 and won first-class honors in mathematics. Yet, this boy has virtually no brain; his cortex measures only a millimeter or so thick compared to the normal 4.5 centimeters. Although the deeper brain structures may carry on much of the body's work, the cortex is supposed to be a late evolutionary development that gave humans their vaunted mental powers and superiority over the other animals. If the cortex can be removed with little mental impairment, what is it for in the first place? (Lewin, Roger; "Is Your Brain Really Necessary?" Science, 210:1232, 1980.) Comment. Brain size, then, may mean nothing in comparing ancient and modern human skulls or human brain capacity with those of animals! Where is the seat of intelligence? In some cases of hydrocephalus, the cortex is only paper-thin, but little mental impairments is apparent. From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Some Shaky Observations Back in SF#65, we offered an item on how wood turtles stomp the ground to force earthworms out of their burrows. (When humans do this -- and they do -- it is called "grunting for worms!) Other animals also use vibrations for communication and, rather surprisingly, for cutting leaves. Malaysian tree frogs. Zoologists already knew that Puerto Rican white-lipped frogs use vibrations to communicate amongst themselves. The Malaysian tree frog can now be added to the list of substrate vibrators. The female will sit on a reed or small sapling and tap out a "come-hither" message with her toes. The message goes forth in minute seismic waves. The males detect these vibrations and proceed, sometimes in great numbers, to the source of the vibrations, and the species is thereby perpetuated. (Mestel, Rosie; "Courting Tree Frogs Make the Earth Move," New Scientist, p. 8, December 10, 1994.) Leaf-cutting ants. Leaf-cutting ants neatly excise penny-size pieces of leaves and tote them back to their fungus gardens. J. Tautz and colleagues, University of Wurtzburg, noted that the ants chirped as they sliced at the leaves with their jaws. With a little instrumentation, they discovered that during each chirp both ant and leaf vibrated at about 1,000 hertz. The vibration apparently rigidizes soft leaf tissues and ...
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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 Another Tale Of Ogopogo Another report of Lake Okanagan's monster, palindromically named Ogopogo, has surfaced. A Canadian woman, Mrs. B. Clark, actually bumped into Ogopogo while swimming in the British Columbia lake in July of 1974. "Mrs. Clark's report states: 'I did not see it (the animal) first. I felt it. I was swimming towards a raft/ diving platform located about a quarter of a mile offshore, when something big and heavy bumped my legs. At this point, I was about 3 feet from the raft, and I made a mad dash for it and got out of the water. It was then that I saw it.' The report goes on to describe the observation: 'When I first saw it, it was about 15-20 feet away. I could see a hump or coil which was 8 feet long and 4 feet above the water moving in a forward motion. It was traveling north, away from me. It did not seem to be in much of a rush, and it swam very slowly. The water was very clear, and 5 to 10 feet behind the hump, about 5 to 8 feet below the surface, I could see its tail. The tail was forked and horizontal like a whale's , and it was 4 to 6 feet wide. As the hump submerged, the tail came to ...
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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 Vampire fish -- [x -rated item]A tiny, transparent, still-nameless fish swimming in the Araguaia River in the Amazon Basin comes out at night to suck blood from its victims. It wriggles into the orifices of animals, anchors itself with two hook-shaped teeth, and gorges on blood. The gills of other fish are its usual targets, but the orifices of other animals, including humans, are fair game, too. This Amazonian fish is only about 1 centimeter (less than ½ inch) long, making it smaller than the infamous candirus that threaten bathers in other South American streams. Once a candiru slithered into a cut on a researcher and could be seen wriggling under the skin toward a vein. Candirus also anchor themselves inside their victims' orifices, requiring surgical removal. (Homewood, Brian; "Vampire Fish Show Their Teeth," New Scientist, p. 7, December 3, 1994.) For more on this fish, see BHX12 in our catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans III. To order: go to here . From Science Frontiers #98, MAR-APR 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 1: September 1977 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Motion Sickness Difficult To Explain In Terms Of Evolution Motion sickness has been called an evolutionary anomaly because it seems highly disadvantageous to those who suffer from it. Yet, motion sickness occurs in many species. Why should it have evolved at all? Recognizing this problem, Michel Treisman seeks to explain the anomaly by noting that neurotoxins accidently ingested by animals cause essentially the same symptoms as motion sickness. To survive, animals must eliminate ingested neurotoxins by vomiting or defecation, both of which also accompany motion sickness. It is simply coincidental that modern vehicles duplicate these symptoms through their motions. The body interprets the signals created by motion as due to dangerous ingested material and acts accordingly. (Treisman, Michel; "Motion Sickness: An Evolutionary Hypothesis," Science, 197:493, 1977.) From Science Frontiers #1 , September 1977 . 1977-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 134: MAR-APR 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Incroyable?" Incredible?" Yes, if what paleoastronoer C. Jegues-Wolkiewiez claims is borne out by further study. The venue here is the Lascaux Cave in France where, some 17,000 years ago, Cro-Magnon artists drew incredibly expressive portraits of animals in the glare of torches. Its is in this cave's dark recesses that Jegues-Wolkiewiez sees two phenomena that could overturn our view of the Cro-Magnon culture. First, he claims that some of the animal paintings are really based upon star configurations. In effect, humans 17,000 years ago were constructing a zodiac of sorts. This was about 10,000 years be-for the ancient Babylonians laid out their first zodiacs. For example, Jegues-Wolkiewiez asserts that the painting of a bull in Lascaux is drawn and positioned such that it mirrors a group of stars in the constellation Scorpio. He identifies several other like "congruences." Cro-Magnons, it seems, were astute observers of the heavens and attempted to make some sense out of the star configurations they saw. Cro-Magnon artist painting a zodiac figure on cave ceiling. His assistant holds a star map to guide him. The second claim of Jegues-Wolkiewiez notes that on the summer solstice the last rays of the setting sun penetrate the cave and illuminate a bison painted in red. He believes this is no accident, and that, 17, ...
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... 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 Miles Of Floating Forest February 13, 1905. San Francisco. "The Pacific Mail steamer City of Panama , which sailed from this port on Jan. 21 for ports on the Central American coast, had a strange experience, news of which has just been received here by mail from Acapulco. "Through miles of sea covered thickly with masses of vegetation, tree trunks, and the carcasses of dead animals the steamer sailed, the debris at times being so thick that her progress was impeded. Some of the trees were five and six feet in diameter, and the dead animals were of all descriptions. The debris was encountered on Jan. 28 in latitude 16.58 north and longitude 100.29 west. "The officers of the vessel were unable to explain the strange condition, and when they arrived at Acapulco no light was thrown on the subject. It is supposed that the floating mass was cast up by some gigantic volcanic eruption on the Central American coast." (Anonymous; New York Times, February 14, 1905. Cr. M. Piechota.) Comment. We have found no record of such a volcanic cataclysm for that time period. From Science Frontiers #120, NOV-DEC 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 99: May-Jun 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Biological precursors of the 1995 kobe earthquake The Japanese are meticulous observers of animals. Many keep birds, insects, fish, etc. as pets. When scientists at the Osaka City University asked for reports of unusual animal behavior around the time of the great January 17 quake, over 1,200 people in the Kobe-Osaka area came forth with anecdotes. Some typical pre-quake observations were: Doves flying into walls. Caged birds (Chinese hawk-cuckoos) flying against the sides of their cages. Fish rising to the surface in great numbers. At the port of Shioya, "millions" of gizzard shad turned the surface of the water into silver. Captive stag beetles and turtles emerging from hibernation. And strangest of all, silkworms and fish in ponds orienting themselves in the same directions. (Minami, Shigehiko; "Creatures Went a Bit Batty, Maybe Knew Quake Was Coming," Asahi Evening News, February 25, 1995. Cr. N. Masuya) Cross reference. Many luminous phenomena were also seen. For descriptions of so-called "earthquake lights" refer to GLD8 in our catalog Lightning, Auroras, etc. It is listed here . From Science Frontiers #99, MAY-JUN 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 99: May-Jun 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ancient Modern Life And Carbon Dating Pursuant to the possible effect of the earth's recent envelopment by a molecular cloud on the accuracy of carbon dating (SF#98), we now look at the potential distortion caused by the ingestion of primordial carbon (carbon-13) by plants and animals. Primordial carbon may come from limestone or natural gas welling up from the earth's interior. Modern life forms that metabolize primordial rather than atmospheric carbon dioxide, with its cosmic-ray produced carbon-14, will appear extremely old when carbon-dated. For example, M. Grachev et al carbon-dated flatworms and a sponge collected from a bacterial mat near a thermal vent 420-meters deep in Lake Baikal. The apparent ages of these living organisms ranged from 6860 to 10,200 years. (Grachev, M., et al; "Extant Fauna of Ancient Carbon," Nature, 374:123, 1995) Even animals eating these apparently ancient life forms may take up their carbon-13 and, in effect, be drained of carbon-14. They would appear to age rapidly. Such false aging has actually been induced in the laboratory with mice fed on brewer's yeast grown in natural gas. These mice, living in cages at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, were carbon-dated as being 13,000 years old, and were expected to attain a ripe old ...
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... Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Louse Line We all learned about the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer in high school, but the voyagers of old also recognized a "louse line." "They wrote about arriving at a longitudinal point in the tropics -- the so-called 'louse line' -- where fleas and lice abandoned even healthy humans. Although a specific line is a myth, cultural entomologist Charles Hogue of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles believes part of the story. 'Voyagers in the tropics often experience a rise in body temperature of as much as 4 degrees F.' That's enough, he says, to kill some species of fleas. Also, the traumatic experience of being caught in a trap causes the body temperature of animals to rise. Thus, trappers often witness fleas jumping off a trapped animal by the dozens. (Johnson, Donna; "How to Tell Time by a Cat's Eye," National wildlife , 29:12, October/November 1991.) From Science Frontiers #79, JAN-FEB 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 114: Nov-Dec 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Gene Wars In past issues, we have mentioned: Sperm wars. Where an animal's sperm are polymorphic; some of which attack alien sperm, some dash directly to the eggs, etc. (SF#78) Selfish DNA. Where animals are merely mechanisms by which DNA perpetuates itself and expands its domain. In other words, DNA calls the shots -- not us! (SF#11) Now we learn about "gene wars." As is well known, genes are thought to control much of what goes on in a living organism. But are they only carriers of hereditary information? Not according to a long, very technical paper by L.D . Hurst et al. It seems that, like selfish DNA, genes have their own agendas. The insidiousness of this is seen in the first sentence of the paper's abstract: "Self-promoting elements (also called ultraselfish genes, selfish genes, or selfish genetic elements) are vertically transmitted genetic entities that manipulate their "host" [as in "us'] so as to promote their own spread, usually at a cost to other genes within the genome." You may not sense it, but your genes are struggling with each other, and you and/or your progeny will carry out the dictates of the victors of the "gene wars." (Hurst, Laurence D., et al; " ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Listening With The Feet "Male white-lipped frogs exhibit conspicuous behavioral responses to calling conspecific males that are nearby but out of view. Since the calls often are accompanied by strong seismic signals (thumps), and since the male white-lipped frog exhibits the most acute sensitivity to seismic stimuli yet observed in any animal, these animals may use seismic signals as well as auditory signals for intraspecific communication." (Lewis, Edwin R., and Narins, Peter M.; "Do Frogs Communicate with Seismic Signals?" Science, 227:187, 1985.) Comment. Rabbits often thump the ground to communicate, but their thumps are thought to be sound generators rather than vibration generators. From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 85: Jan-Feb 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Biology's big bang Representatives of three body plans (phyla): jellyfish (coelenterata); aphid (arthropoda); eohippis (chordata); The title refers to the so-called "Cambrian explosion," that period that began some 570 million years ago, during which all known animal phyla that readily fossilize seem to have originated. The biological phyla are defined by characteristic body plans. Humans, for example, are among the Chordata . Some other phyla are the Arthropoda (insects, crustaceans), the Mollusca (clams, squids), the Nemotada (roundworms), etc. All of these phyla trace their ancestries back to that biologically innovative period termed the Cambrian explosion. Even at the taxonomic level just below the phylum, the class (i .e ., the vertebrates), most biological invention seems to stem from the Cambrian. J.S . Levinton, in a long article in the November 1992 Scientific American, explores the enigma of the Cambrian explosion. Did some unknown evolutionary stimuli prevail 570 million years ago that made the Cambrian different from all periods that followed? Or, has something damped evolutionary creativity since then? Levinton holds that biological innovation has continued unabated at the species level since the Cambrian explosion, but that new body plans; that is, new phyla; have not evolved for hundreds of millions of years. Therefore, something special and very mysterious -- some highly creative ...
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... influence the immune system. Maddox lists several specific candidates, and then observes: "The more radical psychoimmunologists talk as if there is no state of mind which is not faithfully reflected by a state of the immune system." So far, not too radical! But then Maddox comes to an article by J.E . Blalock, University of Texas (Journal of Immunology, 132:1067, 1984.) bearing the title, "The Immune System as a Sensory Organ." Blalock argues that the interaction between the central nervous system and immune system must be reciprocal. By this he means that the immune system's response to infection, through the secretions of disease-fighting lymphocytes, gets back to the central nervous system and produces physiological and even behavioral changes in the infected animal. Applicable studies of animals have been reported recently. For example, rats under stress are found to have less easily stimulated immune systems. (Science, 221:568, 1983.) Also, men who have recently lost their wives to breast cancer have immune systems less responsive to mitogens. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 250:374, 1984.) (Maddox, John; "Psychoimmunology Before Its Time," Nature, 309:400, 1984.) Comment. This is an appropriate time to suggest that "psychoevolution" may be physiologically possible. If the brain can fight disease and even control cell growth, why not a role for the mind in stimulating the development of new spe cies, perhaps in response to extreme environmental pressures, and perhaps not ...
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... Ancient Cosmologies and Astronomy Music, Arts, Literature Measurement Systems Paper-Making Diffusion Olmec Origin (Cultural Evidence) Origin of Culture Human Migration Phenomena Polynesian Origins Early Caucasians in New World Extinctions and Rapid Declines (Mohenjo-Daro, Maya, Minoans, Moundbuilders, etc.) Chinese in the New World Polynesians in New World and Australia Eruption of Thera and the Minoans Ancient Warfare Human Degeneracy [BHA] Cyberculture Red Paint People Ideologies In Ancient Times Egyptians in Oceania South Americans in Oceania Norse in New World Anasazi Culture and Decline Textile Diffusion Egyptian and Other Cultures Emerging Full-Blown Mohenjo-daro Origin Diffusion in General Basque Culture Easter Island Culture Pre-Maoris in New Zealand Arab Trading with New World Dogon Astronomy and Claim of Extraterrestrial Contacts Medicine Azilians: Who Were They? Origin of the Tiahuanacans Animal Domestication Early Amazon Civilizations Hebrew Diffusion MAL LANGUAGE Chinese in the New World Basque Language Origin American Indian Origins and Diffusion as Indicated by Languages Origin of Modern Languages Celts and Maoris: Language Similarities Polynesian Language in South America Irish and Armenian Language Similarities Norse Language and White Indians Celtic Name Places in North America Semitic Language in South America Aymara Indians (South America) Ancient Mother Tongue of the World Basque Language in the Amazon Indian Influence in Mexico Japanese and Zuni Languages Pelgasian Language Welsh Words in the New World MAM MYTH, LEGEND, HISTORY St. Brendan and Prince Madoc Fu Sang (China in New World) Polynesians in the New World Aztec Origins Early Knowledge of New World Peopling of New World Arabs in New World History of Japanese Shipwrecks in New World Hawaiian Menehune Tales Precolumbian Contacts on West Coast ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 84: Nov-Dec 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cat**cats Clever cat Tales about clever animals abound, but the following is too good to pass up. It seems that C.G . Martin, residing in Stoke-on-Trent, had to trap a feral cat. He wrote as follows: "Although I have made an adequate living as a mechanical design engineer, it took me a couple of minutes to work out how to position the various rods and links to set and bait the trap, which done, I observed from a concealed position. The cat duly arrived, studied the trap suspiciously from different angles, retired, sat and contemplated. Then, after less time than it had taken me to work it out, she entered the trap purposefully, placed her paws underneath the trip plate, took the food and backed out." (Martin, C.G .; "Clever Cat," New Scientist , p. 53, August 29, 1992.) An even cleverer cat Yes, it's true that cats can circumvent our specially designed traps, but we did not realize that they also knew their aerodynamics. "Why is it safer for a cat to fall from a 32-storey building than from a seven-storey building? .. .. . "Just ask scientific and medical reporter Karl Kruszelnicki, whose theory is based on a study of 150 cats that plummeted from windows at different heights. " ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 34: Jul-Aug 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Are parasites really the masters?All animals harbor parasites; and some parasites even have their own parasites. The usual effect of a parasite upon its host is debilitation, often to the point of death. But parasites have to reproduce, and some settle for the modification of their hosts in ways that improve their chances. Parasites can change the size, color, and even the behavior of their host. The object is usually to encourage a specific predator to eat the host so the parasite can continue its life cycle. A classic example is the lan-cet fluke which infests ants and then sheep. The problem is that sheep don't normally eat ants, giving the flukes a chance to switch vehicles. So, the innovative flukes somehow force the ants to crawl to the tops of plants and lock themselves there with their jaws. The next hungry sheep that comes along has his meal seasoned with ants. The bulk of the present article deals with thorny-headed worms, which are not as endearing as the lancet flukes. These parasites are merely bags of reproductive organs attached to a thorny probiscus, by which they attach themselves to the intestinal walls of vertebrates. Living in a sea of processed nutrients, the worms don't even have a digestive tract. Part of the life cycle of this parasite is spent in arthropods (insects, crustaceans). As with the lancet fluke, the thorny-headed worm ...
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... Nightglow Spacecraft Glows GLN NOCTURNAL LIGHTS GLN1 Low-Level Nocturnal Lights: (Spook Lights, etc.) GLN2 High-Level Nocturnal Lights (Non-Meteoric) GLW MARINE PHOSPHORESCENT DISPLAYS GLW1 Long, Parallel, Stationary Phosphorescent Bands GLW2 Moving, Parallel Bands of Phosphorescence GLW3 Aerial Phosphorescent Displays GLW4 Marine Phosphorescent Wheels GLW5 Expanding Phosphorescent Rings GLW6 Phosphorescent Patches Moving in Circles GLW7 Phosphorescent Spinning Crescents GLW8 Zigzag Phosphorescent Flashes GLW9 White Water or Milky Sea GLW10 Radar-Stimulated Phosphorescent Displays GLW11 Te Lapa: Underwater Lightning GLW12 Moving, V-Shaped Phosphorescent Displays GLW13 Colored Rays Emanating from Ships GLW14 Radar Detection of Phosphorescence GLW15 Deep-Sea-Vent Glows Bioluminescence Correlated with Seismic Activity Sparks on the Beach Light at Deep-Sea Vents BIOS GO ODOR PHENOMENA GOO OBNOXIOUS ODORS Unexplained Stenches GQ STRANGE PHENOMNA OF EARTHQUAKES GQB ANIMAL RESPONSE TO EARTHQUAKE PRECURSORS GQB1 Anomalous Animal Activity before Earthquakes GQB2 Human Sensations Experienced before and during Earthquakes GQG EARTHQUAKE GEOGRAPHICAL ANOMALIES GQG1 Seismic Activity Occurring on Great Circles GQG2 Earthquake-Prone Areas Uncorrelated with Geology Earthquakes within Plates Earthquakes That Stimulate Distant Sympathetic Quakes GQH UNUSUAL DYNAMIC PHENOMENA ASSOCIATED WITH EARTHQUAKES GQH1 Upward Propulsion of Objects GQH2 Violent Expulsion of Solids from the Earth GQH3 Supposed Appearance of Hairs after Earthquakes GQH4 Gaseous Emissions prior to and during Earthquakes GQH5 Traveling Strain Events GQH6 Effect of Earthquakes on Geyser Periods [GHG] Well-Level Changes before Earthquakes Slow, Silent Earthquakes GQM ELECTRICAL AND MAGNETIC PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES GQM1 Earthquake Magnetic Effects GQM2 Earth Currents Observed during Earthquakes GQM3 Radio Emissions Associated with Earthquakes GQM4 Electrostatic Effects Correlated with Earthquakes GQS EARTHQUAKE PERIODICITIES GQS1 Earthquakes Correlated with Solar Activity GQS2 Earthquakes Correlated with the Moon ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 57: May-Jun 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Eels Strike Back Credit cards and bank cards are commonly kept in holders made from eelskin. So what! Who likes eels anyway? Well, there may be more to eelskin than meets the eye. Thousands of bank cards, when taken out of their eelskin holders, have failed to work in bank machines. The electronic coding on the cards has somehow been erased or scrambled. Perhaps, says one theory, the eelskins have bits of magnetite in their skins for navigational purposes. (Some other animals have such magnetic particles in their bodies to help orient them.) But could these tiny particles be powerful enough to erase card information? Another theory is that magnetic clamps on purses and handbags are the culprits. (Anonymous; "Credit Cards Fall Prey to Primitive Fish," New Scientist, p. 30, March 3, 1988.) Banking-business bane. From Science Frontiers #57, MAY-JUN 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 28: Jul-Aug 1983 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Romans in Rio? Nazca Figures Duplicated Astronomy Beautiful Objects, Beautiful Theories The Better, Bigger Big Bang The Foamy Cosmos Chiron: the Black Sheep of the Solar System Biology Memory in Food-hoarding Birds Evolution by Numbers Geology The Alaskan Jigsaw Puzzle Hope for Atlantis? Bones of Contention Land Animals: Earlier and Earlier Geophysics Ball Lightning with Bizarre Structure Psychology Different Personalities: Different Brainwaves ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 29: Sep-Oct 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Porpoise Stun Gun Just about everyone knows that some whales and porpoises have oil/wax-filled sound lenses in their foreheads. These biological lenses focus clicks and other sounds sonar-fashion ahead of the swimming animal, which then listens for echoes from prey and other targets. But what if these bursts of sound could be made very powerful -- could they be employed to stun and disorient prey? Bits of evidence are accumulating to support the theory that some whales and porpoises actually have acoustic stun guns in their foreheads. First, there are visual observations of fish being hunted by whales and porpoises suddenly giving up flight, becoming passive, and almost asking to be snapped up by their pursuers. Second, the stomachs of whales often contain much faster and more mobile prey -- often without any teeth marks. Finally, bottlenose dolphins are known to have the capability of producing bursts of sound five orders of magnitude more intense than their usual navigating clicks. This is more than enough to kill small fish. (Norris, Kenneth S., and Mohl, Bertel; "Can Odontocetes Debilitate Prey with Sound?" American Naturalist, 122:85, 1983.) Comment. Here is another instance of the "problem of perfection." An existing organ of great complexity seems utterly useless of only fractionally developed. One would think that the complicated sound lenses, the muscular sound-generating tissues, and their containing structures would ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 30: Nov-Dec 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cancer: the price for higher life?For unknown reasons, plants and the simpler animals, such as sponges and jellyfish, do not get cancer. But all laterally symmetric organisms are prone to cancer. According to James Graham, the acquisition of cancer-initiating onco-genes by organisms (also an unexplained event) has forced these afflicted organ-isms to develop all sorts of defenses against external forces which might, with the help of the oncogenes, trigger cancer. Typical biological defenses include systems to insure accurate replication of cells, to destroy transformed cells, and to protect or immunize the organism against invading systems. Efficient im-mune systems in turn permitted life to invade mutagenic environments (such as sunlight) and to shed restrictive body coverings. In other words, cancer may have been a blessing in disguise -- the price of higher life| (Anonymous; "Cancer: The Price for Higher Life?" New Scientist, 99:766, 1983.) Comment. Note how easy it is for us to say "developed" this or that characteristic in response to some applied force. Exactly how such responses are made is a major mystery. And why do oncogenes exist? Are they a product of chance? They hardly confer short-term survival capability. Reference. The existence and insidious-ness of cancer pose many questions. These are broached in BHH23-35 in our catalog: Biological Anomalies ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 30: Nov-Dec 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hot Plants You've heard of hot potatoes, but they aren't naturally hot. However, in the early spring skunk cabbages are and so are some philodendrons during their flowering periods. In fact, some philo-dendrons burn fat to generate their heat, just like animals. Metabolism based on fats allows some philodendrons to reach temperatures of 124 F. In terms of their rates of metabolism, they rival those of the humming birds. Further-more, philodendrons can regulate their chemical fires, whereas skunk cabbages, which burn only starch, consume all their stored energy like a rocket in one snow-melting crescendo. Why do plants generate heat? Apparently to attract pollinating insects. The hot skunk cabbage poking through the snow is the only food in sight for early spring insects, while the philodendrons may attract pollinating insects who like to bask or mate in warm places. (Blakeslee, Sandra; New York Times, August 9, 1983, p. C4. Cr. P. Gunkel) Comment. Are plants really "lower" forms of life? From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hearing Via Acoustic Holograms Humans and the higher primates can locate the source of a sound without turning their ears or heads. Other animals are not so fortunate. Current theories of hearing, according to Hugo Zuccarelli, cannot explain this human capability, which we all take for granted. He has come up with a new theory that pictures our ears as truly remarkable organs. First, our ear itself is a sound emitter. It emits a reference sound that combines with incoming sound to form an interference pattern inside the ear. The nature of this pattern is sensitive to the direction of the incoming sound. Our ear's cochlea detects and analyzes this pattern as if it were an acoustic hologram. The brain then interprets this data and infers the direction of the sound. (Zuccarelli, Hugo; "Ears Hear by Making Sounds," New Scientist, 100:438, 1983.) Comment. We have been able to appreciate this slick biological trick only after we "discovered" holograms. We should wonder if we are missing anything else! Two letters quickly appeared casting doubt on not only Zuccarelli's Theory but his personal scientific capabilities. (Baxter, A.J ., and Kemp, David T.; "Zuccarelli's Theory," New Scientist, 100:606, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ri Seen In June 1983, a three-man team travelled to New Ireland, off the coast of New Guinea, to track down the ri, an unrecognized aquatic mammal with some mermaid overtones. The natives of New Ire-land kill and eat the ri, which they insist is different from the dugong. The team was fortunate to observe a ri from as close as 50 feet as it hunted fish in Elizabeth Bay. The animals was 5-7 feet long, skinny and fast. No dorsal fin was seen, and the tail flukes were mammilian (i .e ., horizontal). The creature surfaced about every 10 minutes. Such behavior is quite unlike that of known cetaceans and sirenians. (Anonymous; "New Guinea Expedition Observes Ri," ISC Newsletter, 2:1 , Summer 1983.) (ISC is the International Society of Cryptozoology.) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Two Remarkable Inscribed Stones Astronomy Thou Canst Not Stir A Flower, Without Troubling of A Star Natural Laser Beacons A Mysterious Object Biology Subtle is the Virus An Ocean Full of Viruses An Even Larger Ocean of Life Spores Still Viable After 7,000 Years Animals As Nutrient Carriers Geology Terranes Continue to Pile Up Grand Canyon Shamed Again When the Earth Shifted Gears The Oklo Phenomenon and Evolution Earth's Magnetic Field Jerks Osmium Isotopes Support Meteoric Impact Geophysics Incredible Phosphorescent Display on the China Sea Ball Lightning Splits and Recombines Inside Soviet Airliner Booms Startle Arkansas Psychology Mental Deflection of Cascading Spheres What Makes A Calculating Prodigy? False Pregnancies in Males Unclassified The 'Great Silence'; Or Why Aren't Aliens Landing on the White House Lawn? ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Spores still viable after 7,000 years Bacterial spores embedded in muds lining Minnesota's Elk Lake -- the muds were carbon-dated at 7518 years(!) -- grew vigorously when placed in a nutrient-rich solution. (Anonymous; "Spores Still Viable after 7,000 Years," Science News, 124:280, 1983.) Comment. Such long periods of suspended animation support the panspermia concept, which states that life can be transported through outer space on meteorites and other debris. From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The failure of two-dimensional life The fossil record tells us that just prior to the Cambrian explosion of life, the earth was populated by a diverse assemblage of soft-bodied, shallow-water marine invertebrates, some with dimensions as large as 1 meter. This whole group of animals did not survive into Cambrian times, thus ending what has been termed The Ediacaran Experiment. Some paleontologists have tried to find similarities between the Ediacaran and Cambrian life forms to preserve the continuity of life. This has proved difficult, and some scientists now feel that The Edicaran approach to "largeness" was to increase surface area externally. The Ediacarans were therefore shaped like pancakes, tapes, fans, etc. This enabled them to present large areas to the environment for respiration, feeding, and other biological functions. In contrast, many present life forms achieve "largeness" by increasing internal areas, as in the lungs, folded intestines, etc., along with the forced circulation of air, blood, and other sub stances. This latter approach survived, while the two-dimensional Ediacaran Experiment did not. The demise or extintcion of the Ediacarans led Gould, the author of this far-ranging article, to the influence of extinctions on life in general -- a hot topic these days. Gould stated that with natural selection operating, one would expect continual "improvement" in life forms, but that this had not happened. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects California Sea Serpent Flap During October and November 1983, several sightings of a dark, eel-like creature came from the California coast. (Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco, and Costa Mesa). Three humps (just like in the classic sea serpents on old maps) followed a small head, which rose above the surface to look around. Many individuals saw the serpent, some with binoculars. At Stinson Beach, the animals was followed by about 100 birds and two dozen sea lions. (Anonymous; "' Sea Serpents' Seen off California Coast," International Society of Cryptozoology Newsletter, 2:9 , Winter 1983.) Comment. Of the vertebrates, only mammals are built so that they can easily flex vertically. Reference. We catalog mammalian "sea serpents" under BMU in Biological Anomalies: Mammals II. For more information on this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A RUSSIAN PALUXY "This spring, an expedition from the Institute of Geology of the Turkmen SSR Academy of Sciences found over 1,500 tracks left by dinosaurs in the mountains in the southeast of the Republic. Impressions resembling in shape a human footprint were discovered next to the tracks of the prehistoric animals." Professor Kurban Amanniyazov, leader of the expedition, elaborated: "We've discovered imprints resembling human footprints, but to date have failed to determine, with any scientific veracity, whom they belong to, after all. Of course, if we could prove that they do belong to a humanoid, it would create a revolution in the science of man. Humanity would 'grow older' thirty-fold and its history would be at least 150 million years long." (Anonymous; "Tracking Dinosaurs," Moscow News, no. 24, p. 10, 1983. Cr. V. Rubtsov.) Comment. Strata along the Paluxy River, Texas, contain a similar mixture of dinosaur and human-like tracks. From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Crab Fall At Brighton June 5, 1983. Brighton, England. A large spider crab dropped out of a storm cloud in front of Julian Cowan. The crab measured 25 centimeters across and had a 7-8 centimeter shell. It was dead and lacked two legs and one claw. The fall was followed almost immediately by wind-driven hailstones. (Meaden, G.T .; "The Remarkable 'Fall' of a Crab at Brighton, 5 June 1983," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 9:56, 1984.) Reference. A broad spectrum of falling animals is described at GWF10-14 in our Catalog: Tornados, Dark Days. Information on this book is located here . From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 36: Nov-Dec 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is a dog more like a lizard or a chicken?Cladism has been around since at least 1950, when the German entomologist William Hennig began classifying organisms in a new way. "His method was simple: classifications of animals and plants should be based on an assessment of their characters, and only advanced, or derived, characters (synapomorphies) should be used. For example, the character 'possession of feathers' is a synapomorphy shared by all birds that is found in no other organisms; it is used in classification to define Class Aves. All birds have a backbone too, but that is a primitive character for birds because it is seen in all other vertebrates. Primitive characters are of no use in defining a monophyletic group." Early on, cladism ignited many fireworks in the biological community. Today, cladism has become quite respectable. The cladists, however, are now fighting among themselves. One camp draws their "cladograms" (see illustration) using evolutionary theory as a guide. The other side believes that the cladograms should be drawn up first, based only upon actual characters and ignoring the theory of evolution -- let the species fall where they may. When evolutonary theory is omitted in the deliberations, radically different cladograms result. Mammals then seem more closely related to birds than reptiles, for example, as expressed in the illustration. A key connecting character here is mutual warmbloodedness. The shifting of ...
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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 Glitch in the evolution of funnelweb spider venom?The Australian funnelweb spider has a venom that appears to be effective only against humans, monkeys, baby rats, and fruit flies. None of these animals is normally on the spider's menu; those prey that are seem unaffected by the venom. Did the evolution of the poison miss its intended targets or did the spider's usual prey evolve resistance? It is interesting that mature rats are immune to the venom, although neonatal rats are not. (Anonymous; "Did You Know?" Ex Ni hilo, 7:16, no. 3, 1985.) Facts taken from The Australian Doctor, January 20, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Circadian Rhythms And Chemotherapy The toxicities of many commonly used anticancer drugs depend upon when they are administered during the day. This phenomenon occurs in humans and other animals. The effect is not trivial but "profound." (Hrushesky, W.J .M .; "Circadian Timing of Chemotherapy," Science, 228:73, 1985.) Comment. This "profound" effect should, by extrapolation, also apply to drug potency, the workings of the immune system, and all biochemical reactions. The location of and reason for the circadian clock are matters of conjecture. From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 41: Sep-Oct 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Australian Pyramids The Inka Road System California Skeletons Not So Old After All Astronomy Galaxy Redshifts Come in Clumps Wimps in the Sun? Biology An Animal That Photosynthesizes The Deceitful She-males Scrapie Transmitted by Prions Latest Episode: Loch Ness Evolution's Motor Runs Fast and Quietly Genetic Garrulousness Death and Social Class Geology Anatomy of A Magnetic Field Reversal Did the Australites Fall Recently? Geophysics Green Sky Flashes Ball Lightning Strikes Twice! Chemistry & Physics All Things Appear to Those Who Accelerate A Possible Crack in the Wall of the Temple of Relativity Restless Gold Unclassified Blinded by the Night ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online 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. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ri = dugong; doggone!The ri has been reputed to be a mermaid-like mammal frequenting the shores of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. (SF#31) Some cryptozoologists have insisted that the ri is not a new species but probably just a commonplace dugong. The skeptics are right. A February 1985 expedition took underwater photos of the animal that some natives call the ri, and it was definitely a dugong. (Anonymous; "New Expedition Identified Ri As Dugong," ISC Newsletter, 4:1 , Spring 1985.) From Science Frontiers #42, NOV-DEC 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 43: Jan-Feb 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Piscatorial Data Processing Mammals such as bats and porpoises have their acoustical navigational gear, while many fish have opted for electrical methods of scanning their surroundings. The short-range "radars" of these fish are marvelously sophisticated, considering the low limb fish occupy on the Tree of Life. In fact, the following introductory paragraph from an article in Nature sounds almost as if it came from a textbook on electronic signal processing. "Behavioural experiments have demonstrated that certain species of fish can perform remarkable analyses of the temporal structure of electrical signals. These animals produce an electrical signal within a species-specific frequency range via an electric organ, and they detect these signals by electroreceptors located throughout the body surface. In the context of one electrosensory behaviour, the jamming avoidance response (JAR), the fish Eigenmannia determines whether a neighbour's electric organ discharge (EOD), which is jamming its own signal, is higher or lower in frequency than its own. The fish then decreases or increases its frequency, respectively. To determine the sign of the frequency difference, the fish must detect the modulations in the amplitude and in the differential timing, or temporal disparity, of signals received by different regions of its body surface. The fish is able to shift its discharge frequency in the appropriate direction in at least 90% of all trials for temporal disparities as small as 400 ns." (Rose, Gary, and Heiligenberg, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Heretical Evolutionary Theory "Over the past 15 years, away from the limelight of mainstream evolutionary argument, cell biologists have been debating a concept that is fundamental to our understanding of how cells evolved. It is the proposal that some of the structures that are found in the larger cells of animals, plants and fungi (eukaryotic cells) are the descendants of simpler bacteria-like organisms (prokaryotic cells) that had at some stage entered into an intracellular existence, or endosymbiosis. The idea is not a new one, but only in the light of modern experimental evidence has it become acceptable to many biologists. If the hypothesis is correct, then virtually all the major groups of familiar organisms originated 'suddenly' through endosymbiotic associations." Following this lead paragraph, with its paradigm-shaking final sentence, are three pages summarizing the biological evidence favoring evolution by endosymbiosis. (Kite, Geoffrey; "Evolution by Symbiosis; The Inside Story," New Scientist, p. 50, July 3, 1986.) Comment. We cannot possibly do justice to this exciting idea of evolution forced by the uniting of different organisms in the limited format of Science Frontiers. Instead, we encourage readers to purchase a new book by L. Margulis and D. Sagan (son of Carl Sagan and L. Margulis) entitled Micro Cosmos. In passing, we must also remark on the obvious relationship of endosymbiosis to F. Hoyle's ...
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