392 results found.
... presents a meta-analysis of experiments testing the hypothesis that consciousness (in particular, mental intention) can cause tossed dice to land with specified targets face up. Seventy-three English language reports, published from 1935 to 1987, were retrieved. This literature described 148 studies reported by a total of 52 investigators, involving more than 2 million dice throws contributed by 2,569 subjects. The full data base indicates the presence of a physical bias that artifactually inflated hit rates when higher dice faces (e .g ., the '6 ' face) were used as targets. Analysis of a subset of 39 homogeneous studies employing experimental protocols that controlled for these biases suggests that the experimental effect size is independently replicable, significantly positive, and not explainable as an artifact of selective reporting or differences in methodological quality. The estimated effect size for the full data base lies more than 19 standard deviations from chance, while the effect size for the subset of balanced, homogeneous studies lies 2.6 standard deviations from chance. We conclude that this data base provides weak cumulative evidence for a genuine relationship between mental intention and the fall of dice." (Radin, Dean I., and Ferrari, Diane G.; "Effects of Consciousness on the Fall of Dice: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Scientific Exploration, 5:61, no. 1, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #78, NOV-DEC 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf078/sf078p16.htm
... first hard frost, I found an odd ice formation in the bowl. Although the weather the previous day had been clement and the water was fluid, we had that night a sharp frost down to about -4 C. The following morning I noticed what appeared to be something sticking up out of the frozen water in the dish. On closer examination, it proved to be a solid 'spike' of ice, ending in an arrowhead. The ice was solid and came out of the side of the frozen water at an angle of about 45 . It was about 9 inches long and solid throughout." (Turner, Judy; "Spooky Spike," New Scientist, p. 54, November 2, 1991.) Two weeks later, the same journal published two radically different explanations of the ice spike. G. Lewis called the spike an "ice fountain" and stated that it is due to the well-known expansion of water as it freezes. R. Blumen-feld, on the other hand, attributed the growth of the spike to the fact that water molecules on the surface and in surrounding air are electrical dipoles. In his view, a small defect in the ice's surface attracts polarized water molecules in the air, creating an outwardly growing structure. (Lewis, Geoff, and Blumenfeld, Raphael; "Sprouting Spikes," New Scientist, p. 58, November 16, 1991.) Comment. Seldom does one find such engaging oddities discussed in American scientific publications. American scien tists are too stuffy it seems. From ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf079/sf079g11.htm
... Subjects The Nullarbor Lode For the last few hundred years people have been picking up sparsely strewn meteorites all over the planet. But Antarctic explorers, within the last few decades, found that thousands of meteorites have been concentrated in the ice of the southernmost continent. Even more recently, the desolate, desert-like Nullarbor (" no-trees") Plain, in Southern Australia, has been discovered to be another concentrated source of of meteorites. There may be millions there. The problem is that only 2.9 % of them are iron meteorites, whereas those picked up in recent years around the planet-atlarge are 4.8 % irons. The meteorites from the Antarctic lode, on the other hand, weigh in with only 2.2 % irons. Why the marked differences? Could it be age? The Antarctic meteorites seem to be up to a million years old; those of Nullarbor, perhaps 16,000-18,000 years. (Anonymous; "A Meteorite Bounty from Down Under," Sky and Telescope, November 1991.) Comment. Perhaps pertinent is the observation that fossil meteorites are essentially nonexistent in geological formations older than a million years. This is an anomaly of itself! From Science Frontiers #80, MAR-APR 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf080/sf080a05.htm
... detail is washed out, as is common in infrared photographs. If the PMO was at the same distance as Phobos itself, it would be about 2 kilometers wide and 20 long. Its surface brightness is the same as that of Phobos. The sides of the PMO are perfectly parallel; it is rounded at both ends; the end towards Phobos narrows slightly; the other end seems to have a slight protrusion. Since the PMO does not appear to have a metallic surface and displays no antennas or other indicators of artificiality, it is reasonable to ask whether it might be some natural phenomenon. One possibility is that the PMO image is only a "trailed moonlet;" that is, the smeared image of a small piece of debris also in orbit about Mars but moving at a slightly different velocity from that of the spacecraft and Phobos. Since the exposure time of the last photo was 8 seconds, a smeared image due to the PMO's relative motion is reasonable. (Anonymous; "Mystery Object Encountered by Russian Phobos Spacecraft," Meta Research Bulletin, 1:1 , March 15, 1992. This new newsletter, edited by astronomer T. Van Flandern, focusses on astronomical anomalies. Address: P.O . Box 15186, Chevy Chase, MD 20815.) From Science Frontiers #82, JUL-AUG 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf082/sf082a04.htm
... of human evolution was given much play in the media a few years back. According to the "African" view, modern humans arose exclusively in Africa and, about 100,000 years ago, expanded rapidly from there into Europe and Asia, displacing "lesser" hominids. Unfortunately, the DNA studies that stimulated this conjecture have been found to be flawed. And now new fossil testimony casts further doubt. In 1989 and 1990, near the Han River, in China's Hube Province, anthropologists found hominid skulls with the characteristic flat faces of modern humans. These skulls seem to be about 350,000 years old. Although they apparently retain some primitive features, paleoanthropologist D. Erler, of the University of California, asserted, "This shows that modern features were emerging in different parts of the world." In other words, all of the evolutionary action was not confined to Africa. Proponents of the "African Eve" theory retort that the dating of the Chinese skulls is questionable and that flat faces alone are not enough to support the idea that modern humans arose separately in widely separated locales? (Gibbons, Ann; "An About-Face for Modern Human Origins," Science, 256: 1521, 1992. Also: Bower, Bruce; "Erectus Unhinged," Science News, 141:408, 1992.) Comment. Could the African and Asian fossils imply that so-called "parallel" or "convergent" evolution has occurred in the human lineage, too, just as it has in so many other forms of life? Reference ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf083/sf083b08.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 83: Sep-Oct 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Official foo-fighter records revealed The famous foo fighters of World War II were bright balls of light, about a foot in diameter, of different colors, that appeared mostly over Germany to both German and Allied pilots. Although the foo fighters could maneuver around and through bomber formations with apparent ease, they were nuisances rather than physical threats. Most of the foo-fighter reports made by Americans came from the 415th Night Fighter Squadron. Recently a microfilm roll containing the Unit History and War Diary of the 415th was obtained from the U.S . Air Force. We quote below three incidents found on Frames 1613 and 1614. The year is 1944: "December 18. In Rastatt area sighted five or six red and green lights in a 'T ' shape which followed A/C thru turns and closed to 1000 feet. Lights followed for several miles and then went out. Our pilots have named these mysterious phenomena which they encounter over Germany at night 'Foo-Fighters.' "December 23. More Foo-Fighters were in the air last night...In the vicinity of Hagenau saw 2 lights coming toward the A/C from ground. After reaching the altitude of the A/C they leveled off and flew on tail of Beau (Beaufighter -- their aircraft, Ed.) for 2 minutes and then peeled up and turned away. 8th mission -- sighted 2 orange lights. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf083/sf083g10.htm
... , although he was married to a "religious fanatic." He had been saving for a vacation for years, but just before they were about to leave, he was arrested for drunk driving and heavily fined, losing his license and vacation savings. Distraught, he tried to hang himself. He testified: "From the roof of the utility shed in my backyard I jumped to the ground. Luckily for me I had forgot the broken lawn chair that lay near the shed. My feet hit the chair and broke my fall, or my neck would have been broken. I hung in the rope and strangled. I was outside my physical body. I saw my body hanging in the rope; it looked awful. I was terrified, could see and hear, but it was different -- hard to explain. Demons were all around me. I could hear them but could not see them. They chattered like blackbirds. It was as if they knew they had me, and had all eternity to drag me down into hell, to torment me. It would have been the worst kind of hell, trapped hopeless between two worlds, wandering lost and confused for all eternity. "I had to get back into my body. Oh my God, I needed help. I ran to the house, went in through the door without opening it, cried out to my wife but she could not hear me, so I went into her body. I could see and hear with her eyes and ears. Then I made contact, heard her say, ' ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf083/sf083p15.htm
... everyday object, she could correctly name it and describe its cross-hatched geometry. "But when shown a squirrel or a dog, she froze. She couldn't find the right name for either, nor could she describe their size or shape or furry coats. "Her deficit, involving only a tiny portion of her language skills, was amazingly narrow." (Bor, Jonathan; "The Woman Who Couldn't Describe Animals," Baltimore Sun, p. A1, September 7, 1992.) The implications of this strange case were described in Science News: "The peculiar inability of a 70-yearold woman to name animals has led scientists to propose that the brain harbors separate knowledge systems, one visual, the other verbal or language-based, for different categories of living and inanimate things, such as animals and household objects." (Bower, B.; "Clues to the Brain's Knowledge Systems," Science News, 142:148, 1992.) Comment. Experiments with animals suggest that the brain's memory is "distributed"; that is, like a hologram, both nowhere and everywhere. Also, it may not be pertinent, but R.O . Becker, in SF#81, hypothesized that the brain utilizes two modes of communication, one digital, the other analog. From Science Frontiers #84, NOV-DEC 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf084/sf084p15.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Zuni Enigma The Zuni sacred rosette (top) closely resembles Japan's national symbol, a stylized chrysanthemum (bottom) The Zunis of New Mexico are different from other Native Americans in many ways. In an impressive, very detailed paper in the NEARA Journal, N.Y . Davis summarizes her investigation of these anomalies as follows: ". .. evidence suggesting Asian admixture is found in Zuni biology, lexicon, religion, social organization, and oral traditions of migration. Possible cultural and language links of Zuni to California, the social disruption at the end of the Heian period of the 12th century in Japan, the size of Japanese ships at the time of proposed migration, the cluster of significant changes in the late 13th century in Zuni, all lend further credibility to a relatively late prehistoric contact." We cannot delve into all classes of evidence adduced by Davis. Let us focus on the Zuni biological anomalies: Skeletal remains. These show a significant change in Zuni physical characteristics from 1250-1400 AD, suggesting the arrival of a new element in the Zuni population. Dentition. Three tooth features of the Zunis lie midway between those of Asians and other Native Americans; namely, shoveling, Carabelli's cusp, and 5-cusp pattern on the lower second molar. Blood-group characteristics. Blood Type B is frequent in East Asian populations but nearly absent in most Native Americans. Zuni, on ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf087/sf087a02.htm
... plane through a stacked pyramid the maximum pressure actually occurs in a ring of objects (apples) some distance from the pyramid's vertical axis. How come? (Watson, A.; "The Perplexing Puzzle Posed by a Pile of Apples," New Scientist, p. 19, December 14, 1991.) A theoretical analysis of the problem by J. Grindlay doesn't help much. He analyzed a two-dimensional pile of disks, as shown, and calculated that maximum bruising forces should occur at the outermost disks instead of at the center, (Grindlay, J.; "Bruised Apples," American Journal of Physics, 61:469, 1993.) Comment. Thus, common-sense expectations, experimental measurements, and theoretical calculations lead to three different results. Much more work needs to be done here. From Science Frontiers #88, JUL-AUG 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf088/sf088g18.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 90: Nov-Dec 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Ktb Hole KTB = Kontinentales Tiefbohrprogramm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland If you could drop a pfennig down the KTB hole, it would take several minutes to hit bottom, for this research drill hole has now penetrated to 7.5 kilometers. It is the second deepest man-made hole, after the Soviet 12-km hole in the Kola Peninsula. Drilled solely for scientific purposes, the rocks and strata encountered by the KTB drill bits have forced the redrawing of German geological maps. The "real" subterranean world turned out to be quite different from that inferred from both surface indications and the seismic and electrical probing of the depths. Three specific surprises are worth mentioning: Temperatures in the drill hole rose far faster than predicted. The expected boundary (" suture") between two old tectonic plates thought to exist at 3 km according to surface geology had not yet appeared at 7.5 km. Most interestingly, crevicular structure (crevices and pores) existed at almost all depths, even though theory said they could not because of intense pressures. And these voids were filled with fluids. P. Keher, a KTB scientist, was amazed at what the drill found: "When I started 25 years ago, the idea was that the deeper you go into the crust, the drier it gets." (Kerr, Richard A.; "Looking -- Deeply -- into the Earth's Crust in Europe ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf090/sf090g08.htm
... lights and other scientific anomalies. Now, it is challenging archeological sacred cows using mitochondrial DNA. Quite a switch from pork futures! Of course, the WSJ is not a recognized scientific source, but its reporter did get his information directly from D.C . Wallace, a well-known professor of genetics and molecular medicine at Emory University and a champion of the African Eve theory. Surely an unusual illustration for the archeology section, but the DNA in these mitochondria may upset long-held theories of human migration. Anyway, Wallace has been studying mitochondria, those little energizers in human and animal cells. Strangely, mitochondria have their own DNA, which is separate and distinct from the nuclear DNA that directs other biological processes. Mitochondrial DNA has had its own history of evolution and is different for various human populations. Wallace has used this fact to trace the origins of American Indians by comparing their mitochondrial DNA with that from Asians, Africans, etc. His conclusions are controversial to say the least. The Amerinds, who comprise most of the Native Americans, arrived in a single migratory wave 20,000-40,000 years ago -- not merely 12,000 years ago! Native Siberians lack a peculiar mutation of mitochondrial DNA that appeared in the Amerinds 6,000-10,000 years ago, casting doubt on the Siberian land bridge theory. Instead, this particular mutation is found in Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. The Navajos, Apaches, and other so-called Na-Dene peoples entered North America a mere 5,000-10 ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf091/sf091a01.htm
... Is immortality only a mutation away?Here follows the lead sentence of the abstract of a recent letter to Nature : "We have found that mutations in the gene daf-2 can cause fertile, active adult Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites to live more than twice as long as wild type." (Kenyon, Cynthia, et al; "A C. elegans Mutant That Lives Twice as Long as Wild Type," Nature, 366:461, 1993.) Comment. C. elegans is a roundworm only about a millimeter long. Roughly a thousand cells make up its tiny body, and scientists have charted the birth and death of each cell from egg to adult. This roundworm's life is a mosaic of changing cells, as some die to make way for new cells with different agendas. Somehow this programmed sequence of cell death and birth can be slowed down by mutations and thus increase longevity. Wouldn't any mortal speculate that perhaps human longevity might, like that of C. elegans , be extended by modern gene manipulators? Sure, it's quite an extrapolation from roundworm to human, but our cells are programmed just like those of C. elegans . Change a gene here and there, and we might all live as long as Noah! From Science Frontiers #92, MAR-APR 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf092/sf092b06.htm
... intri-guing phenomena, sometimes resembling (ball) lightning and even tornado damage. There was some unusual and selective damage in the town and even in the village 20 km from the epicenter. Azimuth distribution of hurled frozen soil from the crater and damage had four lobes. But, on the other hand, a tree 10 m from the epicenter was undamaged. There was no damage on the ground level at a distance up to about 1 km from the crater (only ground swing and jerking), but several high suspended electric wires were torn off. At large distances, there was unusual damage at the ground level, and even water pipes at a distance up to 15 km from the epicenter were torn off. During the explosion, in closed and undamaged rooms, in most cases different things flew with soft landings, and even some people were transported by a unknown force. Hollow plastic toys and electric lamp bulbs exploded. Inner windows were smashed while outer ones were undamaged. At a distance of about 10 km from the main crater, two more pits in the ground appeared simultaneously with the main crater. Soil was hurled, and there were light phenomena." (Ol'khovatov, A. Yu.; personal communication, March 1994. Russian references cited by Ol'khovatov were: Izvestiya , p. 8, November 17, 1993; and Izv. AN USSR Earth Phys , 27:606, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #93, MAY-JUN 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf093/sf093g13.htm
... : Sep-Oct 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Music Of The Hemispheres The playing and composition of music has always been considered the near-exclusive province of the brain's right hemisphere. This turns out to be far from the truth. For example, non-musicians use both hemispheres in musical matters; the right side for recognizing melody and intonation, the left for such analytical matters as rhythm and notation. However, professional musicians, as their brain waves demonstrate, use their left hemispheres for just about everything of a musical nature. So much for the right-hemisphere theory! The comparison of magnetic resonance images of 27 right-handed musicians and 27 right-handed nonmusicians have shown that even their brain structures differ. The corpus callosum -- that inter-hemisphere information highway -- is 10-15% thicker in musicians who began their training while young than it is in nonmusicians. Our brain structure is apparently strongly molded by early training. The corpus callosum in musicians is essential in such things as finger coordination. Like a weight-lifter's biceps, it enlarges to accommodate the increased tasks assigned to it. (Anonymous; "Music of the Hemispheres," Discover, 15:15, March 1994.) Comment. It would be interesting to compare the brain structures of mathematicians and nonmathematicians where the dexterity factor is absent. From Science Frontiers #95, SEP-OCT 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf095/sf095b09.htm
... Science Frontiers, there is ever the "however": "Arnd Schreiber, Doris Erker and Klausdieter Bauer of the University of Heidelberg have looked at the proteins in the blood serum of megabats and primates and found enough in common to suggest a close taxonomic relationship between the two groups. (Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 51:359)" An explanation might be that the similarities between the microbats and megabats represent adaptations to similar environmental niches rather than a common ancestry. (Timson, John; "Did Bats Evolve Twice in History?" New Scientist, p. 16, June 4, 1994.) Comment. Does the black box labelled EVOLUTION contain a special subprogram for converting hands into membaneous wings whenever it seems profitable to do so? Or are we somehow missing a different sort of evolutionary process, perhaps something akin to the "directed evolution" suggested by some experiments with bacteria? (SF#64) The possible separate evolutions of micro- and megabats is covered in more detail in BMA41 and BME1 in Biological Anomalies: Mammals I and II, respectively. To order, visit here . From Science Frontiers #95, SEP-OCT 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf095/sf095b11.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 95: Sep-Oct 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Gamma-ray flashes in the upper atmosphere Something strange is definitely going on in the upper atmosphere, particularly above thunderstorms. We have already reported on the mysterious light flashes (SF90) and radio emissions (SF#94). Now, we record similar, possibly intimately related flashes of energy in a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. "Detectors aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory have observed an unexplained terrestrial phenomenon: brief, intense flashes of gamma rays. These flashes must originate in the atmosphere at altitudes above at least 30 kilometers in order to escape atmospheric absorption and reach the detectors." The energies of the gamma rays in the flashes are very high. They are typical of the braking radiation (Bremsstrahlung) from 1,000,000 electron-volt electrons. Since most of the gamma flashes originate over regions where thunderstorms are frequent, it is tempting to associate them with lightning. Ordinary lightning, however, is not energetic enough to generate the gamma flashes and, of course, it does not occur above 30 kilometers altitude anyway. G.J . Fishman et al, who reported on this new phenomenon in Science, speculate that some hitherto unrecognized, high altitude electrical discharges occur high above areas hosting thunderstorms. Possibly, upwardly directed lightning (" rocket lightning") is involved in all three of the newly found flashes in the radio, optical, and gamma portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. (Fishman ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf095/sf095g15.htm
... Bell, in command of the ship Gandara , mused over this question: "Apart from the ones which quite graphically show the lift-off from the water, the other thing that interested me was the wing colouring of brown and yellow, and turquoise. I have noticed during passages around the world how the colours do apparently change, varying from almost trans-lucent purple to a deep navy colour, and wonder how many other colourings of flying-fish wings have been reported. "I think that flying fish are just taken for granted but perhaps if we looked at them more closely, then we may see some really weird and wondeful colours, especially in island areas. What does baffle me, is why, when the wings are only extended during flight, they should be of differing colours. I could understand it if they were a coral-swimming fish where the colours are designed to help them blend into the coral colours and so evade capture, but why the need in flight over crystal clear waters like the Coral Sea?" (Bell, A.D .G .; ". .. and Whether Fish Have Wings," Marine Observer, 64:136, 1994. This journal may be ordered from: The Stationery Office Publications Centre, P.O . Box 276, London SW8 5DT, ENGLAND.) Comment. In other words, how do the bright colors, seen only in flight, increase the species' fitness and thus be explicable by the evolutionary paradigm? From Science Frontiers #96, NOV-DEC 1994 . 1994- ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf096/sf096b07.htm
... of the earth's gravitational field and sea-bottom terrain. Wherever the gravitational field is stronger, it creates a depression on the fluid surface. German geophysicists, in fact, have drawn a global map of the ocean's large-scale topography, as measured from the European Space Agency's ERS-1 satellite. The surface of the world ocean departs wildly from a smooth sphere. On their colored map: "Brilliant pink and red areas are continental-size mounds of water most notable northeast of Australia, where the sea topography is up to 85 meters (280 ft.) higher than the standard ocean level. Just to the west near India, deep blue indicates a 105-meter (346-ft.) deep depression in the sea surface. Major differences in the gravity fields and terrain underlying the two regions cause a variation of 190 meters (627 ft.) in sea surface topography between these two adjoining areas." (Covault, Craig; "ESA Radar Scans Global Ocean," Aviation Week , p. 42, October 24, 1994. Cr. J.S . Denn.) From Science Frontiers #97, JAN-FEB 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf097/sf097g10.htm
... 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 Madness And Creativity The observation that creativity and genius are often allied with psychiatric problems is an ancient one. More recently, male writers have been shown to have high rates of mood disorders and alcoholism. Persuing these kinds of correlations further, but with the female sex, A. Ludwig, of the University of Kentucky Medical Center, chose as his "creativity" sample 59 female writers attending a Women Writers Conference. These were compared with 59 non-writers matched in terms of social, demographic, and family factors. Psychiatric problems in both groups were elicited through interviews. As the table below shows, the psychopathological differences between writers and non-writers are large. Diagnosis Writers Non-writers Depression 56% 14% Mania 19 3 Panic attacks 22 5 Eating disorders 12 2 Drug abuse 17 5 Childhood sexual abuse 39 12 It seems that Dryden, back in the 17th century, was correct when he wrote: "Great Wits are sure to Madness near ally'd ." (Anonymous; "Madness and Creativity Revisited," Science, 266:1483, 1994) From Science Frontiers #98, MAR-APR 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf098/sf098p16.htm
... terrestrial telescopes are only picture/film defects, D. Louderback points out that the: ". .. canals are also showing up on CCD [Charge-Coupled Device] camera photos like the one taken by Donald Parker with a 12.5 -inch reflector and shown on the cover of the Strolling Astronomer earlier this year. It clearly showed a pentagonal pattern of canals surrounding Elysium. It is almost certain that these were not a 'picture defect'!" (Ref. 1) Searching for explanations, J. Gallagher has discovered that many of the prominent canals drawn by Lowell, Schiaparelli, et al, actually closely follow contour lines drawn on USGS maps of Mars from Viking data. It is quite possible, then, that the "canals" are really only elevational differences in Martian topography. (Ref. 2) Global Cooling. The Hubble Space Telescope recently photographed Mars when the planet was nearly totally shrouded by high cirrus clouds. Mars is now cloudier than it has been for years. The reason for this is that the planet's average temperature has fallen by almost 20 C. What little water vapor exists in the atmosphere freezes out into cirrus clouds. Why has Mars cooled so drastically? Because the huge dust storms of the Viking years have mysteriously abated. Now, we have to explain why dust storms no longer envelope the planet! (Ref. 3) References Ref. 1. Louderback, Daniel; Letter, Strolling Astronomer , 37:131, 1994. Ref. 2. Gordon, Rodger; Letter, Strolling Astronomer , 37 ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf100/sf100a03.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 104: Mar-Apr 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Men Like Gods With the theft of the title from one of H.G . Wells' novels, we attend to an article that appeared in the London Times last summer. The article was based upon a paper written for the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society by Prof. E. Harrison. If, said Harrison, some properties of the universe had been just a tad different, our universe would be barren of stars, light, and of course life itself. He mentions such properties as the strength of gravity, the charge on the electron, and the speed of light. Why, he and many others have mused, are these critical properties so precisely adjusted so as to permit the existence of life -- and us? Harrison lists three answers: oThis is the way God wanted it to be. Further inquiry is unnecessary. oIf the universe were constructed any other way, we wouldn't be here to ask such silly, anthropomorphic questions! Some find this "anthropic principle" to be no answer at all. oOur universe was actually created and its properties fine-tuned by nonsupernatural entities of superior intelligence living in another universe. [These beings apparently get a kick out of manufacturing other universes, or perhaps it's a religious imperative for them!] Before you crumple up this issue of SF and hurl it at very high energy into a wastebasket, consider these two paragraphs from the ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf104/sf104p13.htm
... No. 107: Sep-Oct 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Subversive Cancer Cells It has been generally believed that most cancers originate in a single founder cell, which then multiplies to create the tumor. But cancer is more insidious than expected. A precancerous founder cell may actually subvert nearby noncancerous cells and turn them into cancerous cells. In this sense, the first precancerous cell recruits and transforms healthy cells, enlisting them in its destructive operations, and thereby turning them against the body that produced them. No one yet knows how this subversion is effected or how it evolved. (Why is there cancer anyway?) The basis for this claim involves a few rare human mosaics, whose bodies are built of cells with two different genetic complements. Cancers in human mosaics have been found to contain both types of cells and, therefore, did not grow from a single cell alone. (Day, Michael; "Cancer's Many Points of Departure," New Scientist, p. 16, June 1, 1996) Comments. Curiously, some "primitive" animals, such as sharks, seem to have evolved defenses against cancer that mammals lack. With reference to "mosaics," see item in SF#105 on "Mixed-Up People." Also relevant is BHH25 "' Insidious' Properties of Cancer Metastases" in Humans II . For information on this book, visit here . From Science Frontiers #107, SEP-OCT 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf107/sf107p08.htm
... Their objectivity was distorted by their loyalty to the aforestated paradigm. Not withholding any punches, N. Guidon and A.-M . Pessis entitled their opening broadside: "Falsehood or Untruth"! They wrote: "The article by Meltzer et al (1994) is based on partial data and false information (highlighted below). Its battery of questions takes us by surprise; none of the three colleagues came up with these questions during the 1993 meeting -- mounted precisely to generate direct dialogue on the peopling of the America. We disagree with their statement, 'the comments on Pedra Furada are not offered lightly' (p . 696). The commentaries are worthless because they are based on partial and incorrect knowledge. "We believe that the initial intention of the authors was different; they got carried away into an exercise in academic style, from a fragile scientific base of fragmentary data and with a skepticism born of a subjective conviction." (Ref. 2) In the world of science, these are serious charges. Guidon and Pessis go on to dismiss each complaint made by Meltzer et al in Ref. 1. As for the "geofact" hypothesis, Guidon and Pessis point to two of the illustrations used by Meltzer et al, remarking: "The artefact in their figures 9 & 10 has five successive parallel flakescars on the same edge. By the authors' hypothesis, it will have suffered the first when it fell; thereafter, four other pebbles fell on top of it, one beside the other, regularly, causing flake-scars with ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf108/sf108p01.htm
... Ice Caps... ETM10 Ice-Cored Mounds in the Arctic ETM11 Blister-Like Structures ETM12 Curious Columnar Structures ETM13 Andes Ice Islands ETM14 Natural Beach Pyramids ETP PATTERNED GROUND... ETP1 Patterned-Ground Anomalies ETP2 Rock Cities and Block Fields ETP3 Giant Expansion and Contraction Polygons ETR ANOMALOUS RIDGES, MEGARIPPLES, ESKERS ETR1 Ridges and Ripples in Glaciated Regions ETR2 Esker Anomalies ETR3 Megaripples ETR4 Moving, Gravity-Created Ripples in Rock ETR5 Unusual Natural Dams ETR6 Lake Walls and Ramparts ETR7 Buried Ridges within Continental Margins ETR8 Desert Ridges of Unknown Origin ETS CREVICULAR CRUSTAL STRUCTURE ETS1 Biological Evidence for Wide spread Crevicular Structure ETS2 Fluid-Filled Crevicular Structure at Great Depths ETS3 Seismic Evidence for Deep Crevicular Structure ETV VALLEYS, CHANNELS, FURROWS ETV1 Submarine Canyon Anomalies ETV2 Sea-Floor Channels ETV3 Wind Gaps ETV4 Height Differences of Opposite River Banks ETV5 The Channelled Scablands ETV6 Apparently Youthful Rivers ETV7 Grand-Canyon Anomalies ETV8 Flume-Like Furrows on Continental Slopes ETV9 Labyrinthine Topography ETV10 Uneroded, Elevated Plains of Great Age ETV11 Incised Meanders EZ THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD AND PALEOMAGNETISM EZC MINOR PERTURBATIONS OF THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD [GEZ] EZC1 Local Compass Anomalies EZC2 Magnetized Geological Features EZC3 Anomalies of Oceanic Magnetic Anomalies EZC4 Geographically-Specific Geomagnetic Anomalies EZC5 Earth-Current Anomalies EZF CONFIGURATION ANOMALIES AND SECULAR VARIATIONS OF THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD EZF1 Steady-State-Field Anomalies EZF2 Secular-Variation Anomalies EZF3 Problems of Geomagnetic-Field Generation EZP PALEOMAGNETISM EZP1 Problems in Measuring and Interpreting Paleomagnetism EZP2 Anomalous Excursions and Reversals EZP3 Anomalies Implied by Paleopoles EZP4 Inconsistencies in Paleomagnetic Measurements EZP5 Correlations of Polarity Reversals with Other Phenomena Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /cat-geol.htm
... notions concerning the origin of the geomagnetic field. The anomalist, however, inevitably asks questions and makes iconoclastic connections. Why couldn't this planet-size piece of rotating machinery actually be a generator rather than a motor? The kinetic energy of the faster-spinning inner core might actually create the geomagnetic field. What happens when the geomagnetic field reverses, as it has often done according to the magnetostratigraphic record? Does the earth's motor go into reverse? If the inner core can slip relative to the crust and mantle, why cannot the crust-plus-mantle slip, too -- perhaps catastrophically? Pole-shift proponents will like this idea! *Title idea from A. Rand's Atlas Shrugged . Of course, Rand's hero was talking about a different kind of motor. From Science Frontiers #108, NOV-DEC 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf108/sf108p09.htm
... in the universe favorable to the existence of life-as-we-know-it! The surprising number of coincidences that have been identified suggests that we exist and are aware of the universe around us only when certain coincidences prevail among physical constants. Is "now" a magic moment in the history of the universe during which we have "happened" as a natural coincidence of blindly drifting physical constants, or did some metaphysical force tune the universe specially for us? This long, rather mathematical article is redolent with metaphysics and mystery. (Carr, B.J ., and Rees, M.J .; "The Anthropic Principle and the Structure of the Physical World," Nature, 278:605, 1979.) Comment. One might speculate that at other times different coincidences prevail that would permit life-as-we-do-not-know-it or something equally unimaginable! From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf008/sf008p05.htm
... few 107 years. Planetesimals in these arms cra-ter the solar-system planets at these times and also provide the raw materials for new comets, asteroids, satellites, and even planets. Supporting their theory is the repeating history of geological revolutions with the accompanying extinctions and reflowerings of life. A remarkable feature of this paper is a table of shortlived solar-system phenomena (comets and rapidly evolving staellite-and-ring systems). The tenor is one of episodic catastrophism and a rapidly changing solar system; viz., Saturn's rings evolving in only 104 years. (Napier, W.M ., and Clube, S.V .M .; "A Theory of Terrestrial Catastrophism," Nature, 282:455, 1979.) Comment. This outlook differs radically from that still disbursed in our schools and colleges. From Science Frontiers #10, Spring 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf010/sf010p08.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 10: Spring 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bend Interferometers Not Spoons Because spoon-bending and similar purported mental feats involve so much legerdemain and trickery, scientists generally avoid psychic research. Taking a different tack, R.G . Jahn, at Princeton, has been experimenting with microscopic psychic effects, such as raising the temperature of a thermistor by a few thousandths of a degree or changing the separation of interferometer mirrors by a hundred-thousandth of a centimeter. Quite unexpectedly (at least to the conventional physicist) the mind seems able to cause such changes at will under controlled conditions. The changes are minuscule to be sure, but cause-and-effect is clear-cut according to Jahn. But don't say that psi power has now been scientifically proven. The effects vary from person to person and, for the same individual, from time to time. The fact that one cannot predict the occurrence of the effects has led Jahn to speculate that the phenomena are inherently statistical. (Anonymous; "Dean Justifies Psychic Research," Science News, 116:358, 1979.) Comment. In other words, the effects resemble radioactivity where the behavior of a single atom is unpredictable but en masse the atoms follow the law of radioactive decay. From Science Frontiers #10, Spring 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf010/sf010p14.htm
... an obscure technical title is a most curious discovery. I.C . Eperon and his coworkers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, England, have shown that "human mitochondria did not originate from recognizable relatives of present day organisms." The authors go even further, describing human mitochondria as a "radical departure." (Eperon, I.C ., et al; "Distinctive Sequence of Human Mitochondrial Ribosomal RNA Genes," Nature, 286:460, 1980.) Comment. The inferences above may be far-reaching. Mitochondria are vital components in the cells of the so-called higher organisms. Apparently possessing their own genetic material, they are suspected of being descendants of an cient bacteria that invaded and took up residence in cells. If human mitochondria are radically different, could changes in mitochondria be the source of the purported wide gap between humans and other animals? Did the mitochondria change (" evolve") in existing ancient mammals, converting them suddenly into humans? Or did a new "species" of mitochondria infect terrestrial cells, perhaps coming to earth on cosmic debris, as Fred Hoyle has suggested? From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf013/sf013p10.htm
... Winter 1981 Supplement Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Venus: highly radioactive or just cooling down?The surface temperature of Venus is about 480 C, higher than any other solar system planet. While Venus does trap solar radiation in its atmosphere greenhouse fashion, data from Pioneer Venus Orbiter show that the planet radiates 15% more energy than it receives from the sun. In other words, Venus's surface is hotter then it would be if only the greenhouse effect were operating. Where could this extra energy come from? If it arises from the decay of naturally occurring radioactivity, Venus would have to have 10,000 times as much radioactivity as the earth. If this is the case, Venus must have had an origin radically different from the earth's . (Anonymous; "The Mystery of Venus's Internal Heat," New Scientist, 88:437, 1980.) Comment. Another possibility is that Venus is still cooling down and is much younger than the earth! From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf014/sf014p03.htm
... squares. Nevertheless, the fact that alphamagic squares exist in large numbers is unexpected. Alphamagic squares come in pairs. The first member of the pair consists of a magic square in which the numbers are spelled out letterwise, as in this example: five twenty-two eighteen twenty-eight fifteen two twelve eight twenty-five The numbers add up to 45 in all rows, columns, and diagonals. The square is "magic" in words. The second member of the pair is formed by counting the number of letters in each word of the first square, thus: 4 9 8 11 7 3 6 5 10 This square is also magic, adding up to 21 in all directions! Just a fluke, you say? Not so. You can even construct alphamagic squares in different languages. In his column in Scientific American, I. Stewart provides examples in French, German, Welsh, and even Swahili! In German, there are no less than 221 alphamagic squares using numbers under 100. (Stewart, Ian; "Alphamagic Squares," Scientific American, 276:106, January 1997.) Comment. The "deep meaning" of alphamagic squares is about the same as that associated with the existence of your Social Security Number in the decimal expansion of pi! From Science Frontiers #110, MAR-APR 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf110/sf110p00.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 17: Fall 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Why conserve junk?A. Jeffries, working at Leicester University with globin genes from man and related primates, has been studying how these genes direct the blood cells to make the alpha and beta chains of hemoglobin. Jeffries' analyses seem to indicate that the genes now coding for these hemoglobin chains are almost identical to those existing in human ancestors some 500 million years ago. Two curious facts have cropped up, however. First, about 200 million years ago, these genes were modified very slightly and relocated to entirely different chromosomes. Second, 95% of the DNA associated with these genes is "junk" -- with no known use. Why did nature conserve junk for 500 million years? Are vital genes in the habit of jumping from one chromosome to another? (Yanchinski, Stephanie; "DNA: Ignorant, Selfish and Junk," New Scientist, 91:154, 1981.) From Science Frontiers #17, Fall 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf017/sf017p06.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Burgess Shale Puzzle In British Columbia, a middle Cambrian (550 million years BP) formation called the Burgess Shale has miraculously preserved a vast assemblage of soft-bodied sea creatures, especially arthropods. Does this rich and unusual deposit help elucidate arthropod evolution? No, it has complicated the problem. Few of the fossil arthropods can be easily related to groups now living. The Burgess Shale arthropod population is primitive in some ways but remarkably specialized in others. Some of the fossils have body segments like those in one recognized arthropod group but display limbs resembling those of an entirely different group. (Fortey, R.A .; "The Burgess Shale: A Unique Cambrian Fauna," Nature, 293: 189, 1981.) Comment. It appears that Nature was shuffling the gene deck, or that there was rampant hybridization, or that confusing programs for evolutionary change were drifting in from the cosmos a la Hoyle and Wickramasinghe! From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf018/sf018p08.htm
... observed that our planet's environment has actually changed little down the eons despite solar variations. Lovelock's hypo thesis is that all terrestrial life -- animals, plants, termites, etc -- work sym biotically to maintain planetary temperatures, atmospheric constituents, etc., conducive to life, just like the termite's internal residents on a much smaller scale. The Gaia concept was restated by R.A . de Bie in a letter to Nature about the possibility of life in outer space. He observes that terrestrial life, according to Gaia-thought, will naturally develop a species that can carry life off the planet to new and safer environs. Humankind, of course, is the first attempt we know of to create such an agent. Other planetary systems might have differently constituted agents. (de Bie, Roeland A.; "The Ultimate Question," Nature, 295:8 , 1982.) Comment. To extend the biological analogy, the appearance of humankind represents the "fruiting" or "spore" stage of composite earth life. Humankind or some equivalent life form would thus be an inevitable development of any life colony in the broad and seething universe of galaxies. From Science Frontiers #20, MAR-APR 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf020/sf020p06.htm
... , had set up equipment to observe the predicted total eclipse of the sun. A solar eclipse occurred all right, but the expedition was shocked to find itself outside the path of totality. They saw a thin arc of the sun instead of its complete obscuration by the moon. Modern analyses of this embarrassing incident for embryonic American science blame Williams for miscalculating the path of totality. Actually, recent computations compound the mystery. The expedition measured the time of the eclipse as 40 seconds later than it should have been for their (erroneously selected) site. Modern analysts insist further that the expedition should have seen an arc 10 arcsec wide subtending an angle of 89 ; instead, Williams and his colleagues measured an arc of less than 24 . Finally, the measured duration of the eclipse was far different from what it should have been. The members of the expedition were skilled and their instruments excellent. What happened? Was it human error? Are modern eclipse-calculating methods in error? Did something astronomical happen, such as a temporary, slight glitch in the earth's period of rotation? The mystery persists. (Rothschild, Robert F.; "Where Did the 1780 Eclipse Go?" Sky and Telescope, 63:558, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #22, JUL-AUG 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf022/sf022p05.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 112: Jul-Aug 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects From The Depths Of The Amazon Trawls lowered between 9 and 45 meters into the Amazon's muddy waters have brought up many bizarre fish never seen before. J. Lundberg and his team from the University of Arizona found two species of electric fish that subsist entirely on the tails of other electric fish. Some of the catfish are armorplated; others are transparent; another catfish is only 8 millimeters (1 /3 inch) long. Most interesting to taxonomists will be two separate species of electric fish that can be told apart only by the different patterns of electrical discharges they generate! What will trawls capture in the Rio Negro which is about 100 meters deep in one place? (Bille, Matthew A.; "Recent Discoveries: Fishing in South America," Exotic Zo ology , 4:1 , March/April 1997. Publication address: 3405 Windjammer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920.) From Science Frontiers #112, JUL-AUG 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf112/sf112p06.htm
... impacts serving as the liquefying and splashing agents. Indeed, specific craters have long been associated with the European and African strew fields. Those who believe that the tektites were splashed all the way from the moon by meteor impacts have not given up yet. One provocative fact stressed in this article is that the ages of the four groups of tektites are 35, 14, 1.3 , and 0.7 million years. Tektites are all quite young! (Smith, Peter J.; "The Origin of Tektites -- Settled at Last?" Nature, 300: 217, 1982.) Comment. Were there no tektite-forming meteor impacts prior to 35 millions of years ago? Is this observation related to the great rarity of meteorites in sedimentary rocks? Just what is different about the past 35 million years? Reference. Twelve tektite "problems" are cataloged at ESM3: in Neglected Geological Anomalies. For more on this book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #25, JAN-FEB 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf025/sf025p08.htm
... concentrated minerals." The channelled nature of this bone make it very brittle, making it unlikely that it is used as a ram in mating bouts. Zioupos and Currey propose that this uniquely structured bone is really an acoustical pipe for the beaked whales' sonar signals. (Barnett, Adrian; "Do Whales Talk through Brittle Beaks?" New Scientist, p. 20, May 10, 1997.) Comment. Acoustical pipes were also invented by close relatives of the beaked whales, the dolphins. With the dolphins, it is the lower jaw that has been converted into a "sound pipe" for receiving sonar echoes. Dugongs, too, possess squamosal bones filled with oil that are probably also connected with sound detection. Evolution has been highly innovative -- three times, in different ways -- in designing acoustical pipes in marine mammals! This is very impressive for a method that begins with a random process. More details in BMO7-X1 in Mammals II . This strap-toothed whale is one of the beaker whales. The teeth of this male prevent it from opening its mouth more than a couple of inches. Blaineville's beaked whale has two large, leaf-like teeth projecting upwards and forwards. These grotesque teeth are often covered with barnacles! From Science Frontiers #113, SEP-OCT 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf113/sf113p05.htm
... of quantitative methodology based on the study of evolutionary processes to the analysis of the development of human culture, there is an unquestioned assumption on both sides of that issue that quantitative theory, as expounded by practitioners such as Fisher, Haldane, Wright, Cavalli-Sforza and Maynard Smith, has been successful in illuminating and explaining the process of biological evolution and the genetic relationships between species. As far as I know, there is no evidence to support this assumption. Indeed, there is a vast number of observations unaccounted for in the extant quantitative evolutionary theories. Many of these observations (inducible mutation systems, rapid genomic changes involving mobile genetic elements, programmed changes in chromosome structure) challenge the most fundamental assumptions which these evolutionary theories make about the mechanisms of hereditary variation and the fixation of genetic differences." (Shapiro, James A.; "Evolution by Numbers," Nature, 303:196, 1983.) Comments. The "observations unaccounted for" are buried in such obscure journals as S.B . ges. Morph. Physio. (Munchen). It is pretty obvious that the Sourcebook Project is just scratching the surface. From Science Frontiers #28, JUL-AUG 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf028/sf028p08.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 113: Sep-Oct 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The View From Within A hypnotized individual can sometimes be coaxed to hallucinate his or her body image as seen by the unconscious mind. The hallucinated body image may be radically different from that conceived by the conscious mind. In cases of mental illness, the hallucinated unconscious body image may not even be a human figure but rather a bird, a fish, or an inanimate object or geometric figure. The nature of the unconscious body image seems to depend upon the nature of the emotional pathology and may even be useful in diagnosis and treatment. (Freytag, Fredericka; "The Hallucinated Unconscious Body Image," American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 7:209, 1965.) From Science Frontiers #113, SEP-OCT 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf113/sf113p13.htm
... appeared like a star of magnitude -2 . After one or two seconds this object appeared to undergo a tremendous explosion and became a large bright orange gaseous fireball, which appeared to be hurled earthwards directly down the observer's line of sight, growing constantly larger and larger. One witness described the fireball as resembling rolling orange smoke. The ball then ceased to increase in size, giving the impression that it had stopped. Its orange colour rapidly gave way to rainbow colours which gradually gave way to white and faded in brilliance until all that remained were several patches of luminous white light, although these were impressive in their own right." A similar phenomenon was noted the following night, although the ship was 7 farther south. September 18, 1982. South Atlantic Ocean. From a different ship in the same area as the one above. "The altitude of the first sighting was approximately 24 , level with the planet Jupiter and offset to its right. The six subsequent bursts were above the first, and slightly to the right, leaving a fantail of purple/white lenticular clouds which leaned to the right as shown in the sketch. Although they all kept their lenticular shape, the final burst did break up, giving the appearance of being in a gaseous state. Each burst commenced as a pinprick of bright, white light expanding rapidly to at least 2 times the diameter of the sun (No. 1)...." (Anonymous; "Unidentified Phenomena," Marine Observer, 53:132, 1983.) Comment. The above observations were ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf031/sf031p19.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 115: Jan-Feb 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Stroke Changes Accent "A Scottish woman went to bed with a headache and woke up speaking with a South African accent instead of her usual lilting Scottish brogue, a British doctor said yesterday. "Doctors say she had a minor stroke and suffers from foreign accent syndrome, a rare condition in which patients acquire a different accent after suffering a stroke." (Anonymous; "A Rare Stroke Changes Accent," Baltimore Sun, October 14, 1997.) Comment. Assuming this Reuters dispatch isn't pulling our legs, that's a pretty peculiar syndrome! The woman must have been previously exposed to the South African accent and incorporated it in her memory. From Science Frontiers #115, JAN-FEB 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf115/sf115p06.htm
... father significantly more sons than daughters. Male plant workers produced 109 boys for every 100 girls. This compared with 105 boys for every 100 girls for men in the same area who did not work at the plant. The bias was even greater for men who had received higher than normal doses of radiation in the 3 months prior to conception: 140 boys per 100 girls. Actually, both sets of figures are significant because of the large sample employed: 260,000 children. (Anonymous; "Does Atomic Plant Generate Sons?" Baltimore Sun, December 12, 1996.) Comment. The average sex ratio worldwide falls between 104-107 boys per 100 girls. There are, however, some fascinating geographical extremes: Montserrat 94.34 Aden 120.31 Why do these large differences prevail? Is Aden radioactive? For more on this subject, see our Catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans II. From Science Frontiers #115, JAN-FEB 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf115/sf115p08.htm
... the horizon. Throngs of people gathered to see it and according to their account the like was never seen before. It was a fairly uniform band of light of about the same width as the rainbow. Its definiteness was surprising, there was very little fading away at the edges; it was as if a paint brush had been drawn across the sky...For about an hour it arched the sky and during that time it was noticeably fixed relative to the earth, for some of the stars as they got higher in the east crossed it from the northern or convex side to the other." (Anonymous; "Great Auroral Displays," Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Journal, 10:469, 1916.) Comment. This sharp and precisely drawn arc is so different from the swaying draperies, pulsing arcs, and "merry dancers" that characterize the usual auroral displays. We have not seen any good explanation of this phenomenon. More examples may be found in GLA2 in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. A sky-spanning auroral arch with penants seen off the coast of Maine. A more typical aurora occurred within the arch. From Science Frontiers #115, JAN-FEB 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf115/sf115p13.htm
... the earth this month than at any time since 1924. .. .. . "His theory is founded on an apparent change in the planet's surface, regarded as his most important discovery. "The huge dark spot (Solis Lacus) or the Great Eye of Mars, seems to have assumed a shape not observed for fifty years, if ever before. Mr. Slipher indicated that this was strong evidence that plant life existed on the planet, and suggested that the change was due to fresh vegetation over an area roughly the size of the United States." (Anonymous; "Evidence of Plant Life on the Planet Mars Is Announced by an American Astronomer," New York Times, July 21, 1939. Cr. M. Piechota.) Comment. What a difference 59 years make! Could those tiny structures in ALH 84001 be fossilized pollen grains? From Science Frontiers #116, MAR-APR 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf116/sf116p04.htm
... years. The average luminosity of quasars must decrease in just the right way so that their mean apparent brightness is the same at all redshifts, which is exceedingly unlikely. The ages of globular clusters appear older than the universe. The local streaming motions of galaxies are too high for a finite universe that is supposed to be everywhere uniform. Invisible dark matter of an unknown but non-baryonic nature must be the dominant ingredient of the entire universe. The most distant galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field show insufficient evidence of evolution, with some of them apparently having higher redshifts (z = 6-7 ) than the faintest quasars. If the open universe we see today is extrapolated back near the beginning, the ratio of the actual density of matter in the universe to the critical density must differ from unity by just one part in 1059. Any larger deviation would result in a universe already collapsed on itself or already dissipated. (Van Flandern, Tom; "Top Ten Problems with the Big Bang," Meta Research Bul letin , 6:64, 1997. Bulletin address: P.O . box 15186, Chevy Chase, MD 20825-5186.) From Science Frontiers #116, MAR-APR 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf116/sf116p06.htm
... "his" body's cells are male (one X and one Y chromosome), part female (two X chromosomes). This hermaphrodite-like condition apparently developed because "he" was conceived via in vitro (IVF) fertilization. Probably both a male embryo and a female embryo were transferred to "his" mother's uterus, where they fused and formed a single fetus. (Anonymous; "Two into One," New Scientist, p. 21, January 24, 1998. Cited source: The New England Journal of Medicine, 338:166, 1997.) Comments. We have already cataloged two similar conditions: Human blood-chimeras, where one person has two types of blood due to the absorption of one fetus by its twin, each having different blood types. (BHC15 in Biological Anomalies: Humans II) Birds that are female on one side and male on the other (bilateral gynandromorphism). (BBA1 in our forthcoming Biological Anomalies: Birds) From Science Frontiers #116, MAR-APR 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf116/sf116p08.htm
... don't know much more about it than the Neanderthals. Though it seems powerful when you trip and fall, gravity is the weakest of the fundamental four. In a helium nucleus, the force of repulsion between two protons is 1040 times the gravitational attraction between them. Weak though it may be, gravity controls the trajectory of a baseball, the motion of the planets, and the shape of our Galaxy. Physicists describe gravitation with Newton's Law of Gravitation, which incorporates the Gravitational Constant G. Here's where the embarrassment arises. Many other constants of nature, such as the charge on the electron, are known to eight significant figures. We only know G to three. What's worse, modern attempts to refine the measurement of G come up with wildly different answers. Torsion-pendulum experiments in the U.S ., Germany, and New Zealand are far apart in their G-measurements. And physicists are perplexed -- to put it mildly. Of course, G is hard to measure. Seismic waves from ocean surf hundreds of miles away can affect the experiments. If a colleague a few offices away brings in some boxes of books for his library, the experiment is compromised. Better instrument science may eventually resolve the too-large discrepancies between the measured values of G, but some physicists worry that perhaps the problem runs deeper. "If experiments find that G is changing slowly over time, for example, physicists would have to rethink how space and time are stitched together in a single fabric. Einstein would groan in his ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf116/sf116p19.htm
... : 'I saw in a flash that 987...1 multiplied by 81 equals 80 000 000 001, and so I multiplied 123...9 by this, a simple matter, and divided the answer by 81.'" But what, asks Smith, led Aitken to 81? To this question, which is the heart of the mystery, he commendably admits he has no reply. And the same deep mystery confronts us even after all has been said about the sur, as distinct from the underlying, structure of the processing. At the unlettered end of the spectrum of mental calculators, the ". .. ignorant vagabond, Henri Mondeux, who at the age of 14 years, before the French Academy of Sciences, was able promptly to state two squares differing by 133." Of course, some mental feats of calculation can be done consciously employing various shortcuts and mathematical tricks. The really fantastic performances, however, are accomplished unconsciously. No one knows how, even the calculators themselves. (Cohen, John; "What Makes a Calculating Prodigy?" New Scientist, 100:819, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf032/sf032p20.htm
