392 results found.
... article's authors, these promoters are seen to perform as logic circuits, just like those bits of silicon in your PC. These tiny, DNA-based biological logic circuits determine how genes are interpreted (each gene may be interpreted in several ways), and, in the end, how lifeforms develop from embryo to adult. (Yuh, Chiou-Hwa, et al; "Genomic CisRegulatory Logic: Experimental and Computational Analysis of a Sea Urchin Gene," Science, 279:1896, 1998. Also: Wray, Gregory A.; "Promoter Logic," Science, 279:1871, 1998.) Comment. Figuring out how your PC's hardware evolved is child's play compared to elucidating just how random mutation and natural selection evolved the thousands of different logic circuits switching on and off in your body as you read this. It's all due to entropy! The complexity of biological computers is seen in the logic circuits of a promoter for the gene Endo 16. (From: Science, 279:1871, 1998). Computer-carrying sea urchin. Sharp in more ways than one! From Science Frontiers #117, MAY-JUN 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... shellfish, which must be the result of breath-held diving. This human skill, again unique among primates, is obviously quite ancient. Furthermore, recent experiments suggest that in humans, in addition to seals and ducks, vascular constriction is not limited to the arterioles but extends to the larger arteries, too. This indicates some degree of specialized adaptation to a diving life. Most animals with a sodium deficiency display an active craving for salt which, when satisfied, disappears. In humans, salt intake has little or no relation to the body's needs. Some Inuit tribes avoid salt almost completely, while people in the Western world consume 1520 times the amount needed for health. In other works, a single African species (assuming humans have an African origin) possesses a wildly different scheme of salt management. Humans are also the only primates to regulate body temperature by sweat-cooling, a system profligate in the use of sodium. Proponents of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis believe that sweat-cooling could not have developed anywhere except near the sea where diets contain considerable salt, in fact much more salt than the body requires. This article also deals with certain skeletal features of early man that seem to indicate an aquatic stage. For example, the Lucy skeleton has a shoulder joint that indicates that Lucy spent a lot of time with her hands above her head, as she would have if aquatic or treeswinging! (Morgan, Elaine; "The Aquattic Hypothesis," New Scientist, p. 11, April 12, 1984.) Reference. Many phenomena presented in ...
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... 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 a few lines in a cladogram may seem trivial to the nonbiologist, but saying that man is more closely related to a chicken than a lizard is pretty controversial stuff to the conservative evolutionist. DNA analysis supports the contention that humans are more closely related to birds than reptiles. Paleontological evidence, however, supports the opposite view. The fight rages on. (Benton, Mike; "Is a Dog More Like a Lizard or a Chicken?" New Scientist, p. 18, August 16, 1984.) Comment. It all seems to boil down to morphology in the end. Which is ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 118: Jul-Aug 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Broadside Against Small Icy Comets In a late-1997 issue, Geophysical Research Letters published a group of five papers that detailed five different lines of evidence that are inconsistent with the claim by L.A . Frank and J.B . Sigwarth that the earth is bombarded daily by 30,000 house-size icy comets. If such bombardment has really been occurring, scientists would have to rethink the origins of the earth's oceans, terrestrial life, and the formation of the solar system. No wonder the icy-comet hypothesis is strongly challenged! Three of the more interesting points made by this group of papers are as follows: Our moon could not escape the icy-comet bombardment. Roughly 1,000 craters 50 meters in diameter and splashes of debris 150 meters in diameter must occur each. There is no evidence that the moon is thus afflicted. Comets also carry the noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon. These gases should accumulate in the atmosphere as the comets disintegrate. The amounts of these gases actually measured are 10,000 times less than those the postulated bombardment would produce. The icy comets should break up near the earth and produce clouds of ice crystals. Sunlight reflected from such 30-ton clouds would be brighter than Venus and easily visible before they disperse. Such objects are rarely seen, implying that small icy comets do not exist in the numbers claimed. Preceding this series of five ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 118: Jul-Aug 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Archeological Revisionism During the past bimonthly collecting period, we have amassed -- with very little effort -- over 40 reports on archeology that were interesting enough to attract our attention. Fully 30 of these are exciting enough to summarize for Science Frontiers, but we have room for merely four! What does this all mean? Easy! The entire picture of human exploration and colonization of our planet is probably radically different from what we have been led to believe. From Science Frontiers #118, JUL-AUG 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... origin. One might say that planetary scientists have just about thrown in the towel on the three major theories of lunar origin. Two recent articles attest to this discouraging situation. A Sky and Telescope article provides an excellent review of all three theories, indicating the reasons why each fails to convince a majority of scientists. The theories and the primary reasons for their rejection are: (1 ) Fission from earth . Lack of sufficient angular momentum in the earthmoon system and the fact that the moon does not orbit in the plane of the earth's equator. (2 ) Gravitational capture . The capture of such a large object in a nearly circular orbit is considered too improbable. (3 ) Earth-moon accretion as a double planet . The compositions of the earth and moon are too different. This article concludes that the resolution of the problem of lunar origin must await our return to the moon for more scientific exploration. (Rubin, Alan E.; "Whence Came the Moon?" Sky and Telescope, 68:389, 1984.) An article in Science also discusses the classical theories of lunar origin and quickly disposes of them for the above reasons. However, a fourth theory makes an appearance, which we might call the Big Splash Theory. The idea is that a Mars-sized object (1 /10 the earth's mass) made a grazing collision with the earth when the solar system was more heavily populated with debris. This collision vaporized the projectile's rocky mantle as well as a similar quantity from the earth. This material was ...
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... Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bone Bed Discovered In Florida A new bond bed has been discovered south of Tampa. Paleontologists say it it is one of the richest fossil deposits ever found in the United States. It has yielded the bones of more than 70 species of animals, birds, and aquatic creatures. About 80% of the bones belong to plains animals, such as camels, horses, mammoths, etc. Bears, wolves, large cats, and a bird with an estimated 30-foot wingspan are also represented. Mixed in with all the land animals are sharks' teeth, turtle shells, and the bones of fresh and salt water fish. The bones are all smashed and jumbled together, as if by some catastrophe. The big question is how bones from such different ecological nitches -- plains, forests, ocean -- came together in the same place. (Armstrong, Carol; "Florida Fossils Puzzle the Experts," Creation Research Society Quarterly, 21:198, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #39, MAY-JUN 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... was enlisted. Several bandages were placed on the subject's body including one over the melanoma site. Once again, George was almost 100% accurate in his diagnosis. Subsequently, George successfully identified malignancies on other patients. (Walker, Kenneth; "George the Dog Helps Take a Bite out of Skin Cancer," Chicago Sun-Times , September 6, 1998. Cr. J. Cieciel.) Seizure sniffing. An English woman subject to epileptic seizures never goes anywhere without her dog Rupert. Rupert has a nose for the odor that precedes epileptic seizures in humans. He barks about 40 minutes before the actual seizure, giving the woman a chance to get to a safe place. Of course, Rupert barks at other things, too, but his seizure bark is noticeably different. (Walker, Kenneth; "Mutt Gives Epileptic Advance Warning on Seizures," Chicago Sun-Times , September 13, 1998. Cr. J. Cieciel.) Comment. Actually, several medical conditions (gout) and diseases (cholera) have odors detectable by humans. From Science Frontiers #120, NOV-DEC 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... to dismiss the evidence out of hand." Actually, Tifft has speculated that galaxy redshifts might represent an intrinsic property of galaxies, which takes on quantized values, like the energy states of an atom! (Gribbin, John; "Galaxy Red Shifts Come in Clumps," New Scientist, p. 20, June 20, 1985.) Comment. We have touched before on the possible quantization of macroscopic nature. See: SF#36, "Galactic Shell Game," and SF#32, "Thou Canst Not Stir a Flower/Without Troubling of a Star." Reference. Redshift quantization is cataloged in AWF8 in our Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. For a description of this catalog, visit: here . Tifft compared red shifts of physically associated galaxies and found the differences to be integral multiples of 72 km/sec. From Science Frontiers #41, SEP-OCT 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 The Biological Diversity Crisis If life fills all available energy niches, life must be capable of transforming itself (or of being transformed) into a multitude of different energy transducers or energy utilizers. E.O . Wilson has outlined the diversity of terrestrial life in a recent issue of BioScience. The earth, it appears, is a veritable Gene sis Machine; and it is only one planet among a possible infinitude. So many terrestrial species have already been described that one could easily believe that biological collectors roaming the planet's wild places have just about completed their task. Some recent totals: 47,000 species of vertebrates, 440,000 plants, and 751,000 insects. But we may not even be close to grasping life's diversity on earth! We do well in counting the large mammals and birds, but most insects and microscopic forms of life have escaped description. To illustrate, in 1964, the British ecologist C.B . Williams, combining intensive local sampling and mathematical extrapolation, extimated the insect population as 3 million species. However, by 1985, this figure has been raised ten-fold to 30 million species. Why the huge jump? For the first time, entomologists had found a way to efficiently sample the canopies of tropical forests. This rich stratum between the sunlight and gloomy forest floor 100+ feet below had been largely neglected before. The slick tree trunks and the attacking ...
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... examples of the socalled Bradshaw paintings -- more of those graceful human forms with long, billowing tresses. Very out-ofplace in today's Outback. The same article adds an even more puzzling human representation to the burgeoning file of mysterious Australian art. It is a carving found in a cave of northwestern Australia. Here is the text accompanying the sketch. "Another cave introduced a fresh problem. Fronting it, high up on the vertical face of a cliff, and unreachable without mechanical aid, had been carved out of the solid stone a human head in profile, which I show. It was 2 feet long and 16 inches across, and 1 -inch thick; and I leave my hearers to say whether it is not a striking and distinguished face. It is absolutely different from the heads of modern Aborigines. The worn edges of the cameo, where it joined the rock-surface, seemed to mark a long interval since it was carved; the difficulty of carving it where it stood must have been immense -- unless, indeed, the rock face had been near the ground at the time, and the ground had worn away since -- which, again, would probably imply antiquity. "What a problem this Caucasian face presents! Is it that of some stranger from Europe long ago -- perhaps before the Portugese or Spanish visitors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? In all probability European ships traversed the Pacific before the days of Balboa; for Greek columns are found in an island of the South Seas; and the prevalence of small- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 45: May-Jun 1986 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Lost City of Nan Madol Bubonic Plague As An Indicator of Diffusion? The Rabbit in the Moon: More Evidence of Diffusion? Astronomy The Martian Great Lakes Antarctic Meteorites Are Different Disparity Between Asteroids and Meteorites Biology The Gulper Eel and its Knotty Problem Bats May Have Invented Flight Twice (At Least!) Scant Ant Chromosomes Champ in 1985 Platypus Bill An Electrical Probe Polar Bear Coats Are Thermal Diodes Geology When Antarctica Was Green Wrong-way Primate Migration Eastern Quakes May Be Lubricated by Heavy Rainfalls The Exploding Lake Backtracking Along the Paluxy: Or is There A Deeper Mystery? Geophysics Electromagnetic Radiation From Stressed Rocks Some English Meteorological Anomalies Ozone Hole Over Antarctica Psychology Be Happy, Be Healthy: the Case for Psychoimmunology ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 45: May-Jun 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bubonic plague as an indicator of diffusion?Every year a few people in the Arizona New Mexico region contract bubonic plague. Where did this persistent pocket of infection come from? One school of thought has the germ arriving with the rats on ships docking in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. But how could the plague have crossed the mountains and across several radically different ecosystems? One would anticipate finding records of the plague as it made its way into the Southwest. It is true that a less virulent disease, the sylvatic plague, transmitted by similar mechanisms, does exist in the Pacific Coast area; but the bubonic plague does seem highly localized in Arizona and New Mexico. Perhaps another explanation can be discovered in the history of the bubonic plague and the settlement of the Southwest. The plague seems to have commenced in Athens about 430 BC. More or less isolated epidemics followed, but from 1334 to 1351 the disease decimated most of the known world: Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Of course, the American Southwest was not part of the "known world" of 1334-1351. But, coincidentally (? ), this was just about the time that the Hohokam and Anasazi cultures began to decline rapidly in the Southwest. Link this observation to the purported Roman and Hebrew artifacts in the region (SF#43), and one sees the possibility that Old World travellers brought the bubonic plague to the ...
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... 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 "evolution from outer space." Hoyle believes that microorganisms and other biological information are transported in cosmic debris. Finally, the story of Lynn Margulis' uphill fight against scientific skepticism is related in: (Keller, Evelyn Fox; "One Woman and Her Theory," New Scientist, p. 46, July 3, 1986.) Serial symbiosis; bacterium to alga to alga; may have led to chloroplasts. From Science Frontiers #47, SEP-OCT ...
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... -to photograph dark bands. "They were clearly seen for 32 seconds before the second contact and a little fainter for 27 seconds after totality. They moved rapidly across the screen from E to W before totality and from NNE to SSW after 3rd contact. Slow motion studies of the video show occasional merging of the bands and at times they seem to move in opposite directions -- probably a stroboscopic effect." The widths of the bands varied from 2.36 to 6.63 centimeters. (Strach, Eric; "Shadow Bands Recorded at February 26 Eclipse," British Astro nomical Association, Journal, vol. 108, 1998. Comment. Theorists have long been challenged by these ghostly, fleeting shadows. Their widths change; their directions and speeds vary; they come in different colors; sometimes more than one set of bands appear; giant bands have been seen. All of these characteristics are difficult to account for in a single theory. Shadow bands sketch during the February 26, 1998, total solar eclipse. (Top) before totality (Bottom) After totality From Science Frontiers #123, MAY-JUN 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects An 11-minute binary 4U1820-30 is an X-ray binary star located in the heart of the globular cluster NGC 6624. Its claim to fame is a very short period of rotation -- only 685 seconds. In just a shade over 11 minutes, a neutron star orbits a white dwarf, according to present thinking. The orbit diameter is only 1/7 the radius of our sun, which implies the stars themselves are also small. 4U1820-30 is the shortest-period binary ever found -- so short that astronomers are looking for other explanations. Another curious fact mentioned in this item is that X-ray binaries are much more common in globular clusters than elsewhere in the universe. What is so different about globular clusters? (King, A.R ., and Watson, M.G .; "The Shortest Period Binary Star," Nature, 323:105, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... I suspect it was heightdependent. At this time the sun was high and shining from the south-southwest." J.O . Mattsson, Lund University, surmised that the black streaks in front of aircraft were shadows of the condensation trails behind the two planes. The shadows were cast forward ahead of the planes upon the hazy, though cloudless, atmosphere above the ocean. (Evans, Alun; "Condensation Trail Shadows," Weather, 53:371, 1998.) Comment. Since the sun was high in the sky, it is difficult to visualize how a the vapor-trail shadow could be cast directly ahead of the aircraft. Hummm! We suppose that the vapor trails acted like those sunset clouds that produce crepuscular rays. The geometry, though, is a bit different. Digitized sketch of contrail phenomenon. Apparently, the contrail's shadow was projected on the misty atmosphere ahead of the aircraft. From Science Frontiers #123, MAY-JUN 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... it seems, had colonized the Kurils in bygone days. The implications are far-reaching, for the Ainu were once a seafaring people with Caucasian physiological characteristics. It is only a couple hundred miles from the Kurils to the Aleutians and a foothold on North America. The speculation is that the Ainu could well have bypassed the vaunted Bering Land Bridge 10,000 years ago and continued pushing south along the North American coast. (Holden, Constance; "Possible Ainu Site Creates Buzz," Science, 284:583, 1999.) Comment. Continuing our tour south along American coast, we encounter the remains of Kennewick Man in Washington State with his Caucasian features. (SF#109) Could he have been a far-wandering Ainu? The Ainu of northern Japan are strikingly different from most Japanese. How far did this ancient seafaring race advance around the Pacific Rim? (Adapted from G. Thompson's American Discovery) From Science Frontiers #124, JUL-AUG 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... system (see diagram), is not too limited. If Hoyle and Wickramasinghe are correct, the diagram should have a box labelled "outer space," with an inwardly directed arrow carrying life-forms (Hoyle's space viruses and bacteria), meteorites, icy comets, etc. Likewise, the earth can contribute life-forms to the cosmos via impact and volcanic ejecta. Where does geocorrosion fit in? Life-as-a -whole could control terrestrial magnetic field reversals geochemically. This sounds more and more like science fiction, but life-as-a -whole must "want" to evolve to make itself more adaptable and capable of controlling and exploring the cosmos. (These are anthropomorphic desires we assign to life-as-awhole, which may have completely different objectives!) By occasionally reducing the earth's field to zero, bursts of space radiation would be admitted to stir the earth's pot of genes. We could also work in "selfish genes" and God, but it is time to go back to anomalies once more. From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 48: Nov-Dec 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Oil, oil: everywhere, every age Geologists have discovered a major deposit of oil in Precambrian rocks in Australia's Northern Territory. Precambrian oil does exist elsewhere -- around the Great Lakes, Russia, etc. -- but the Australian deposits differ in that they are economically attractive. The oilbearing strata are dated at between 1.4 and 1.7 billion years; and the oil itself is at least this old. Significantly, the oil contains extremely small amounts of steranes, which are thought to be derived from advanced organisms, but there were plenty of chemicals typical of primitive bacteria. The mere existence of commercially exploitable deposits of Precambrian oil implies that, far from being devoid of life, the ancient earth was host to immense accumulations of bacteria and other simple organisms. (Anonymous; "Ancient Oil in Australia: A New Bonanza?" New Scientist, p. 26, September 11, 1936.) Comment. As discussed above this Australian oil might have been produced abiogenically. The surface and near-surface Athabasca oil sands in western Canada constitute a well-known deposit of almost unbelievable size. Geologists have long speculated about where such an immense quantity of biological matter could have originated. (Few dare to suggest nonbiological origins!) Now, we learn that below the Cretaceous Athabasca oil sands lies a 70,000 square kilometer "carbonate triangle" estimated to contain about 2 x 1011 cubic meters ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 48: Nov-Dec 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Phosphorescent Bars And Wheels May 29, 1955. The Java Sea. "At 0210 LMT I witnessed the start of a bioluminescent display. My first impression was that the ship was being 'attacked' on all sides from different directions by pulsing light-bands. A dull 'strobe-light' effect flashed through a mist, giving the bands a dirty white to gray colouration which was not a 'smooth' colour, but rather grainy in appearance. The bands were about 2 m wide and about 2 m apart and moving at speed. At first it was difficult to discern whether or not the bands were in the water or just above the surface, as no form of reflection or distortion was visible off the hull. In the end, I decided that the effect must be waterbourne if only because nothing was visible in the vessel's wake. "The most intense activity was observed on the starboard side of the ship where the phenomenon appeared to stretch as far as the horizon. At this stage, it did not appear localized, just a mass of high-speed interacting bands of light. The effect is shown in the first sketch. As is usual on an 'all aft' ship, you become 'deaf' to the constant background noises, but I gradually became aware that the pulses of light seemed to match those of the main engine's throb, that is, about two per ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 125: Sep-Oct 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Our Untapped Talents Errol Kerr, an English lad of 3, has a photographic memory and can already count to 10 in five different languages. Even before he reached the age of 2, he could name every make of car he saw on the road. (Anonymous; "Boy Has Genius Figured Out at 3," London Times, March 1, 1999. Cr. A.C .A . Silk) Comment. Kerr is certainly precocious and in him we see the glimmerings of capabilities we may all have but cannot tap. Unlike so many "savants" and "calculating prodigies," Kerr is not deficient in "normal" human skills. He is just unusually smart. He has partially penetrated a sort of barrier that seems to prevent most of us from drawing from a reservoir of remarkable mental capabilities. In savants and calculating prodigies, this barrier is ruptured and these talents flow readily to the fore -- but usually at the cost of some "normal" talents. Two Australian scientists, A. Snyder and J. Mitchel, have studied the "savant syndrome" and have presented their findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society (B266:587, 1999). The gist of their paper was reported by R. Highfield in the Chicago Sun-Times . "These savants are often autistic, a developmental disorder that leaves them with little ability to empathize with others. However, some possess ...
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... present our food. Water and air, too, bring more combatants into the fray. Our resident bacteria continually fend off the invaders or accommodate them. Some are pathogenic and must be killed; others are useful in many ways, as in digestion. Who's really in charge in our bodies: the 90 trillion bacteria or the 10 trillion cells we call our own? Probably, neither! (Hamilton, Garry; "Insider Trading," New Scientist, p. 42, June 26, 1999.) Comment. We hear a lot about "selfish" genes and "selfish" DNA, and that we humans exist only to further the goals of DNA -- whatever they might be. But are not all these living bacteria and nonliving viruses also "selfish" at different levels of complexity? Humans may be at the top of the food chain, but are we really in charge? From Science Frontiers #125, SEP-OCT 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... hard to understand. After all, we can easily produce a knee-jerk reaction by tapping our own knee. Why can't we tickle our own ribs? Perhaps because our brain controls the action and also cancels out signals to pull away from the tickle and laugh. It could be the unpredictability of someone else's tickling that makes it so effective. Yet, when the tickler tickles our shoulder rather than our ribs, nothing happens. Strange! Why would evolution have given humans highly specific ticklish areas that respond only to other people and, to boot, makes us laugh? What survival value is there in this? In the end, Harris has to admit that tickling may not be adaptive at all, but rather an almost-neutral side effect genetically linked to some different characteristic that is adaptive. Mother Nature's joke on us? (Harris, Christine R.; "The Mystery of Ticklish Laughter," American Scientist, 87:344, 1999.) From Science Frontiers #126, NOV-DEC 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... #44) Critics claimed that these "holes" were no more than instrumental errors. L.A . Frank and J.B . Sigwarth have investigated this possibility and have rejected it. (Frank, J.A ., and Sigwarth, J.B .; "Atmospheric Holes: Instrumental and Geophysical Effects," Journal of Geo physical Research, 104:115, 1999. Cr. P. Huyghe) Navy radar search used incorrect cross sections. A more recent attack on the icy comets came from S. Knowles et al. (SF#125) They claim that their search of the sky with the Naval Space Command Radar would surely have detected the icy comets if they exist. Frank and Sigwarth respond that Knowles et al used radar cross sections that are significantly different from those typical of icy comets. It is likely that the Navy radar would not have been able to detect the comets. (Frank, L.A ., and Sigwarth, J.B .; "Comment on 'A Search for Small Comets with the Naval Space Command Radar' by S. Knowles et al," Journal of Geophysical Research, 104:22,605, no. A10. Cr. P. Huyghe.) Knowles et al replied that the cross sections were O.K . and their conclusion stands! Too much water and carbon. Strong, indirect evidence for the steady influx of icy comets comes from the geologists. They find that on and near the surface of the earth there is much more water and carbon than can be ascribed to ...
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... the next line. The whole operation is quite smooth and cyclical, as the diagram...shows. However, I was startled to observe that the left forefinger starts to read the next line before the right forefinger has finished the line above. This overlap, demonstrated by my crude data, suggests that Jones appears to be using some form of parallel processing: it seems as if his brain stores initial information from his left forefinger before using it." S. Miller, at Oxford, has also investigated Braille readers. She questions whether the left forefinger actually starts processing data before the right forefinger has finished the line above. She thinks the left forefinger may just be homing in on the space preceding the first letter. However, Miller agrees that the two fingers are moving in different places at the same time. (Hartley, James; "Braille and the Brain," New Scientist, p. 34, August 7, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... theory, the mitochondria in cells were created by bacterial invasion. The presence of chloroplasts in plants, too, may have come about in this way. A case also exists for the alliance of spirochetes with cells to form flagella and cilia. These three "mergers" provided cells with metabolism, photosynthesis, and mobility. Margulis and Sagan obviously do not believe that the "bacterial connection" ended there. They bring their article to a close with an almost poetic manifesto that we now quote in part. The context of the quotation is their assertion that plant and animal evolution would never have taken place unless one life form attacked another and the latter defended itself, all this followed by accomodation and the development of a symbiotic relationship. "Uneasy alliances are at the core of our very many different beings. Individuality, independence -- these are illusions. We live on a flowing pointillist landscape where each dot of paint is also alive. Earth itself is a living habitat, a merger of organisms that have come together, forming new emergent organisms, entirely new kinds of 'individuals' such as green hydras and luminous fish. Without a a life-support system none of us can survive. It is in this light that we are beginning to see the biosphere not only as a continual struggle favoring the most vicious organism but also as an endliess dance of diversifying life forms, where partners triumph." (Sagan, Dorion, and Margulis, Lynn; "Bacterial Bedfellows," Natural History, 96:26, March 1987.) Comment. One should observe that there ...
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... for problems experienced generally in interpreting the magnetic data used to produce geological maps. "The circuit was found using a sensor which detects fluctuating electric fields in the earth's crust. These are created in response to electrical events, such as thunderstorms and the movement of dissolved salts in artesian water." (" Scientists Discover Huge Underground Circuit," Monash Review, p. 10, December 1986, Cr. R.E . Molnar, The Monash Review is an Australian publication.) Comment. Could it be that a portion of the earth's "permanent" magnetic field is likewise generated by internal electrical currents? Are the ponderously moving internal convection cells and widely accepted dynamo effect really necessary? In other words, could our planet be a huge natural battery based upon geochemical differences? Reference. Earth-current anomalies are cataloged under EZC5 in Inner Earth. Book details here . From Science Frontiers #54, NOV-DEC 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... upon what he saw -- and was the first to see -- but a careful scrutiny of his scientific method reveals that his reasoning was far from irrational." (Duck, Michael; "The Bezold-Bruecke Phenomenon and Goethe's Rejection of Newton's Opticks," American Journal of Physics, 55:793, 1987.) Comment. Goethe just did not see what Newton saw, and their feud was rather bitter. To illustrate, Goethe considered the subjective aspects of his optical experiments, while Newton neglected them. For example, in the Bezold-Bruecke phenomenon, reds became yellower with increasing brightness -- or seem to with human observers. Goethe's theory of color took such effects into account. Once again, one person's reality can be different from another's . From Science Frontiers #55, JAN-FEB 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... years. R.G . Jahn, the leader of the Princeton group, terms the research "Engineering Anomalies Research." This title is apparently more palatable to mainstream science than "Mental Influence on Electronic Devices" or "Affecting Cascading Spheres with Thought Waves." Nevertheless, most of the experimental work is in these two areas. As parapsychological research goes, the Princeton work is of the highest scientific quality. In the first category, subjects (called operators in the report) were asked to influence the pulses produced by a Random Event Generator (REG). The REG was actually an electronic noise source coupled with circuits that created random positive and negative pulses. The operator mentally tried to increase or decrease the number of counts, or generate baseline data for experiment control. After 33 different operators and over 250,000 trials, there appeared a small but statistically significant indication that the operators were actually able to influence the equipment. Also interesting is the fact that each operator had a private "signature"; that is, individual cumulative deviation graphs (like the one shown) had typical shapes for each operator. Related experiments were carried out with a Random Mechanical Cascade (RMC). In this device 9,000 3/4 -inch polystyrene spheres cascaded down through an array of 330 nylon pegs into 19 bins. According to chance a Gaussian distribution of spheres should be found in the bins. The operators were asked to mentally try and skew the distribution to the right or left, or construct a baseline, as with the REG. Once again, there was ...
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... . J. Oort proposed this cloud, and it is named after him. Of course, we anomalists become wary when scientists "generally agree" on a hypothetical entity that no one can see. The Oort Cloud of comets, like the unseeable black holes, are given substance only by the effects they have on other solar-system denizens and seeable cosmic objects. But there may be another cloud of comets that we can view directly. It is called the Kuiper Cloud (after G. Kui per). It is concentrated in the plane of the ecliptic just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Like the Oort Cloud, the Kuiper Cloud has not been seen yet, but we just might be able to with today's equipment! Its existence is hypothesized from the parameters of a different group of comets -- the so-called "short-period" comets, as exemplified by 76-year Halley's Comet. About 120 short-period comets have been discerned so far; and our computers now tell us that they cannot have originated in the Oort Cloud. Something closer and concentrated on the ecliptic is required. Thus the Kuiper Cloud or Belt was born. It is thought to be composed of debris left over after the formation of the solar system. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Comet Source: Close to Neptune," Science, 239:1372, 1988.) Just before the referenced Science article appeared, a piece on comet origins was printed in the New Scientist. Curiously, the Kuiper Belt was not even mentioned. Instead, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 129: MAY-JUN 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Sound of Shapes The ability of some humans to determine the pitch of a musical note in the absence of a reference note (" perfect pitch") has been a favorite topic in Science Frontiers (SF #99 , #102 , and #111 ). It now seems that the human ear-brain combination can also discern the shapes and dimensions of thin, vibrating plates by the sound they make. In one type of experiment, conducted by A.J . Kunkler-Peck (Brandeis University) and M.T . Turvey (University of Connecticut), subjects gave surprisingly accurate estimates of the heights and widths of three different vibrating plates. The plates were concealed behind a screen, but the subjects could remotely control a striker. In further experiments, other subjects could distinguish between the sounds of circular, rectangular, and triangular plates. (Anonymous; "Listen to the Shapes," Science News, 157:171, 2000.) Comment. We all know from experience that small, thin plates produce higher pitched sounds that larger plates. How-ever, the ability to assign accurate dimensions without some training is surprising. The same can be said for the identification of shapes. Who, for ex-ample, has been exposed to vibrating, triangular-shaped plates in ordinary life? Could we be dealing here with another innate talent that, like perfect pitch, seems to have no adaptive value ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Anomalous Geographical Distribution Of Diabetes Mellitus The incidence of diabetes mellitus among children varies dramatically with geography. For children under 15, it is only 1.7 per 100,000 in Japan but rises to 29.5 in Finland. Within the States, it is 9.4 per 100,000 in San Diego and peaks at 20.8 in Rochester, Minnesota. Children of European descent in New Zea land contract it three times as often as Maori children. U.S . whites get the disease more frequently than blacks and Hispanics. "Causes of these 'extraordinary' distribution differences remain unknown .. .. Both genetic and environmental factors appear necessary for the disease." (Eron, C.; "Cold Facts on Diabetes," Science News, 134:117, 1988.) From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... subsequent fixation of those mutations that are favored by prevailing conditions. In other works, the genetic mutations cannot be influenced by external events and conditions. But in recent experiments with bacteria (E . coli), J. Cairns et al, at the Harvard School of Public Health, find they actually do produce mutations in direct response to changes in their environment. The adjective "purposeful" has even been applied to the action of these bacteria! Can anything be more heretical? "One of the experiments involves taking colonies of E. coli that are incapable of metabolizing lactose and exposing them to the sugar. If the lactose-utilizing mutants simply arise spontaneously in the population and are then favored by prevailing conditions, then this would lead to one pattern of new colony growth. A distinctly different pattern is produced if, under the new conditions, the rate of production of lactose-utilizing mutants is enhanced. The observation is something of a mixture of patterns, indicating that directed mutation appears to be occurring. 'This experiment suggests that populations of bacteria...have some way of producing (or selectively retaining) only the most appropriate mutations,' note Cairns and his colleagues." (Lewin, Roger; "A Heresy in Evolutionary Biology," Science, 241:1431, 1988.) Research with E. coli at other labs is producing similar heresy. Cairns does not doubt that some mutations arise spontaneously and randomly, but some bacteria have found a way to do a little better. (Hendricks, M.; "Experiments Challenge Genetic Theory," ...
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... unusual luminosities were initially reported from the region, 8 of them before the foreshock, being in effect earthquake precursors. Afterwards, residents were queried for details and additional observations. A total of 46 reports sufficiently detailed for analysis were obtained. These luminous phenomena were classified according to a scheme proposed by F. Montandon in 1948. Montandon's five categories are: Seismic lightning (no thunder); Luminous bands in atmosphere; Globular incandescent masses; Fire tongues, small mobile flames near the ground, like will-o '- the wisps; and Flames emerging from the ground. The globular incandescent masses were by far the most common type of earthquake light during this Canadian "flap." Of these, F. St-Laurent writes: There were twenty-two reports coming from different places. Often they were seen far from the epicenter or when the seismic activity was low or quiet. Some were stationary (in one case, the yellow and orange mass presented a horizontal elongated form), others were seen emerging from the ground, some were very fast-moving near the ground, one was seen attached to a luminous band -- all as described by Montandon. (St-Laurent, F.; "The Saguenay, Quebec, Earthquake Lights of November 1988-January 1989," Seismological Research Letters, 71:160, 2000. Cr. J. Derr) From Science Frontiers #130, JUL-AUG 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . ...
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... are very large, sometimes occupying much of the sky. They seem to occur everywhere, though rarely. Haines elaborates: "According to several pilot witnesses, the center of the EBL is at relatively high altitude while it is forming. Its color is evenly whitish or yellowish and becomes increasingly transparent to background stars as it expands. As it enlarges it appears to maintain a sharply defined edge. At some point it fades completely from sight. The rate of boundary interface expansion is impossible to determine without knowing its distance from the observer. It is also of interest to note that most EBL events have taken place after dark. If EBL phenomena are associated with an advanced weapons test, one wonders why it would be conducted (a ) after dark, and (b ) in so many different geographic areas." (Haines, Richard F.; "Expanding Ball of Light (EBL) Phenomenon," Journal of Scientific Exploration , 2:83, 1988.) Comment. In our Catalog volume Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights, we describe many phenomena of the EBL type under GLA15. For a description of this volume, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #61, JAN-FEB 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... but not a microsecond earlier. (Roosevelt, Anna Curtenius; "Who's on First?" Natural History, 109:76, July-August 2000.) Continuing the assault on pre-Clovis thought is L.G . Strauss, an anthropologist from the University of New Mexico. His target is the theory that the Solutrean people of southern France and the Iberian Peninsula reached eastern North America before the Clovis culture took hold on the continent. (SF#127) His ammunition comes in four calibers: The Solutrean culture in Europe ended circa 16,500-18,000 B.P ., some 5,000+ years before Clovis. Too early. Iberia and North America are separated by 5,000 kilometers of ocean. Too wide. Genuine Solutrean artifacts differ markedly from those at claimed pre-Clovis sites. Too disparate. There is no evidence that the Soluteans possessed adequate marine technology and experience. Too unreasonable. (Strauss, Lawrence Guy; "Solutrean Settlement of North America? A Review of Reality," American Antiquity, 65:219, 2000.) From Science Frontiers #131, SEP-OCT 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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... on September 14, 1186, and February 19, 1524, but the weather refused to cooperate with the planets. Humanity survived nicely. This does not mean that historical upheavals are never correlated with planetary conjunctions. If a society believes strongly enough in the power of the stars and planets to shape human destiny, events may be correlated with the heavens. Such was the case in ancient China. In China, the "Mandate of Heaven" concept has been used since ancient times as both a framework for history and a guide to future actions. The basic idea is that Heaven awards ruling power to a sage-king because of his virtue. His descendants remain as Earthly deputies until they become corrupted, whereupon outraged Heaven gives signs in the sky that the Mandate has passed on to a different sage-king to continue the cycle. Three transfers of the Heavenly Man-date marked the beginnings of the Hsu, Shang, and Chou Dynasties. In fact, the tightest grouping of the five visible planets in the period from 3,000 B.C . to 5,000 A.D . (8 ,020 years!), occurred, on February 26, 1953 B.C ., when they were aligned in a 4.33 arc. This was seen by the Chinese power brokers as a celestial command to begin a new social order. Thus was born the Hsu Dynasty. Similar, but looser, conjunctions ushered n the Shang Dynasty (December 20, L576 B.C .) and Chou Dynasty (May 28. L059 B.C . ...
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... radar echo sounding over a 10-km-diameter region, and a series of 24 locations in a 32-km-diameter network around the hole were surveyed with gravity, leveling, and GPS positioning. "When corrected for the sub-ice topography, a gravity anomaly that accumulated to nearly 4 mGal in 1.4 km was observed. We find measured anomalies can be taken as evidence for non-Newtonian gravity, but can also be accounted for in terms of Newtonian physics if a suitable distribution of high densiity masses exist beneath the borehole." (Zumberge, Mark Al, et al; "Results from the 1987 Greenland G Experiment," Eos, 69:1046, 1988.) The paper on the Greenland experiment led to a short article in Science in which differing opinions among the re-search team members about the experiment's significance were aired. Some opted for an unusual density distribu-tion of the rock beneath the experiment to explain the results; others thought that the required density distribution was too unlikely and contrived and consequently favored a modification of Newton's inverse-square law. (Poole, Robert; "' Fifth Force' Update: More Tests Needed," Science, 242:1499, 1988.) Comment. Should we permit this tiny residue of anomalous observations to cast doubt upon a law verified in count-less experiments and astronomical observations? Those who believe in the "residue fallacy" will say, "No! Discard the wild points!" From Science Frontiers #62, MAR-APR 1989 . 1989 ...
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... comparison with lines currently in use on the Bolivian altiplano, that they were constructed as part of elaborate ritual ceremonies related to agricultural fertility." (Wilson, David J.; "Desert Ground Drawings in the Lower Santa Valley, North Coast of Peru," American Antiquity," 53:794, 1988.) Comment. Not surprisingly, the author of the above article, D.J . Wilson, has neglected the popular theory that the Nazca lines were etched to attract and guide extraterrestrial visitors. Mainstream archeology always opts for ex planations involving rituals and societyunifying activities. But why make geoglyphs that cover hundreds of square miles and can hardly be appreciated at all from the ground? Getting back to the article itself, Wilson continues in some detail with the Santa Valley geoglyphs. These differ from the classical Nazca lines in that they display fewer abstract designs and more representations of llamas, condors, and other animals. They are, however, of impressive size and well-executed. Reference. Our handbook Ancient Man offers a photo and considerable more detail on the Nazca lines and other geoglyphs. For details, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... long ago in the Gobi. An important clue occurs during the summer, when heavy thunderstorms sometimes trigger avalanches of wet sand called "debris flows". These sandslides may be 900 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 4 feet deep. Although they have occasionally partly buried ranch buildings, they are too slow and small to endangerlivestock and wild animals. But what if they were much larger and faster? Back on the Gobi, geologists remarked that the rich fossil deposits were found in structureless sandstone; i.e ., there was none of the cross-bedding seen in sandstones elsewhere in the region. Furthermore, fossils were extremely rare in the cross-bedded sandstones, which were built up over long periods of time. It looked as if the structureless, fossiliferous sandstones were sandslides differing from those in Nebraska in their much greater magnitude. But why were the Gobi sandslides so much larger and, apparently, faster? The next clue came from the recent devastating mudflows in California and Central America caused by heavy rains. These debris flows were made deadly when the infiltrating rainwater was blocked by bedrock. The accumulating water turned the soil into a muddy slurries that raced down hills at high velocities, overtaking animals (including many people) trying to escape. There is no bedrock in the Gobi, but a little digging encountered impervious layers of caliche. The Gobi caliche consists of layers of sandgrains cemented together by calcium carbonate. Typically located 2-3 feet below the dune surfaces, the caliche layers were evidence that the Gobi had experienced benign periods in the past with low winds ...
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... American, 55:389, 1886.) The article in Infinite Energy discusses in some depth the reality of ball lightning, the similarities to modern UFO reports, the reliability of anecdotes, and, especially, the nature of the physiological effects, which resemble, in some aspects, radiation sickness resulting from exposure to intense X-rays or nuclear devices. It is also interesting that this anecdote, long-consigned to "fringe" publications, has now been resurrected in digital form by Scientific American, which is an establishment publication if there ever was one. Kaswell writes to this point as follows: My purpose was (in part) to show that mainstream scientists in main-stream publications like Scientific American evaluate the largely anecdotal evidence for the relatively non-controversial ball lightning by a different and more lenient standard than that they reserve for the highly controversial UFO reports. The Maracaibo case illustrates this beautifully, precisely because the report has aspects similar to both phenomena. (Kaswell, Gordon David; "Phenomenon in Venezuela: A Documented Case of Unexplained Radiation Exposure," Infinite Energy, 6:33, no. 32, 2000. Journal address: P.O . Box 2816, Concord, NH 03302-2816.) Comment. The conversion of science archives to digital form so that they can be accessed on the Web is shallow time-wise. The appearance of this 1886 item is an exception. Much old information is being excluded by this transformation of media. In effect, if not intent, it is like the destruction of the Mayan codices by the ...
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... that ends as a superorganism called a "slime mold." If you viewed an amoeba through the microscope in biology lab, you know that they are very tiny, very simple, and most certainly not very bright. But given enough food, some species of amoeba divide and keep dividing until they clump together in a "slug" that sends out streamers and sort of flows along the surface. We now have a mobile superorganism searching for food (mostly bacteria). Eventually, the moving colony of amoebas anchors itself. Some of the superorganism's cells specialize to create a stalk called a "fruiting body." The amoebas in the fruiting body change into spores and are wafted away on the wind. In this way, the simple, lowly amoebas are transformed into a radically different entity. One wonders how this superorganism, this slime mold, is controlled. Where are its sensors and its information processing center, if it possesses one? (Stewart, Ian; "Spiral Slime," Scientific American, 283:116, November 2000.) This question becomes more difficult to answer when we learn that slime molds can display rudimentary intelligence in the sense that they can solve mazes in their search for food. They are not as clever as rats, but they do optimize their travels through the maze. (Nakagaki, Toahiyuki, et al; "Maze-Solving by an Amoeboid Organism," Nature, 407:470, 2000.) Biofilms. Down near the bottom of life's ladder dwell the bacteria. Their genomes must be miniscule and gray ...
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... a blip on a strip chart recording of the electrical pulse. "It put out a tremendous cry of alarm," he said. "The adjacent trees put out smaller ones." .. .. . "People have known there was communication between trees for several years, but they've explained it by the chemicals trees produce," Wagner said. "But I think the real communication is much quicker and more dramatic than that," he said. "These trees know within a few seconds what is happening. This is an automatic response." "Wagner has measured the speed of W-waves at about 3 feet per second through the air. "They travel much too slowly for electrical waves," he said. "They seem to be an altogether different entity. That's what makes them so intriguing. They don't seem to be electromagnetic waves at all." (Anonymous; "Physicist Says Blip Proves Trees Talk," Seattle Sun Times , February 12, 1989. Cr. R.L . Simmons) Comment. In addition to the above discovery, Wagner, who holds a PhD in physics from the University of Tennessee, has detected electrical standing waves in trees. The voltage measured by electrodes implanted in trees goes up and down as one goes higher and higher up the trees. Wagner's work has been published in Northwest Science , but we have not yet seen it. Incidentally, electricity does seem to affect plant growth, as described in our handbook: Incredible Life . For a description of this ...
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... ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects More confusion at the k-t boundary Just a few years ago, many scientists, especially physicists and astronomers, considered the Book of Science to be closed in the matter of what happened at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K -T ) boundary, 65 million years ago, and why the dinosaurs met their end. It was declared, rather imperiously, that a large asteroid had impacted the earth, causing much physical and biological devastation. Many scientific papers are still being written on this singular period in the earth's history, and the situation is no longer so clear-cut. We select for brief review four papers, each with a different perspective. Occurrence of stishovite. Stishovite, a dense phase of silica, is widely accepted as an indicator of terrestrial impact events. It is not found at volcanic sites. Now, J.F . McHone et al report its existence at the K-T boundary, at Raton, New Mexico. (McHone, John F., et al; "Stishovite at the CretaceousTertiary Boundary, Raton, New Mexico," Science, 243:1182, 1989.) A plus for the pro-impact side. The impact of an asteroid can initiate basaltic flooding and trap formation. Evidence of a global fire. Soot appears at the K-T boundary at many sites, but where did it come from? Chemical analyses of these soots show an enhanced concentration of polycyclic aromatic ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 65: Sep-Oct 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Sweeping Anomalies Under The Rug A series of articles in the science magazine Mercury so slavishly followed the scientific party line on the meaning of the redshift that G. Burbidge was prompted to pen a rejoinder. Burbidge reviewed the considerable observational evidence supporting a non-cosmological interpretation of some redshifts. (Such data has been included in past issues of Science Frontiers and in our Catalog Stars Galaxies, Cosmos.) A typical observation is the apparent physical connection (streams of connecting matter) between quasars and galaxies with radically different redshifts. Burbidge remarks: "Evidence of this kind exists. If it is accepted it means: That at least some quasars do lie at so-called cosmological distances. That at least some parts of the redshifts of quasars are due to some effect other than the expansion of the universe. That quasars are physically related to bright, comparatively nearby galaxies." Burbidge is not concerned by the fact that some astronomers find the data unconvincing, rather he objects to the so-obvious attempts to brush such anomalous data under the rug. His concluding remarks are pertinent to all of science: "I cannot end this part of the discussion without making two points which are rarely made, but which are important: Evidence of the kind just mentioned which is favorable to the cosmological interpretations of the redshifts does not negate the other evidence. It simply means that the world is a complicated place. Only in articles of this ...
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... The latter insisted on their 700,000-year figure; the former said "maybe so" but the tektites are still found only in very young, superficial sediments. The point here is that time-of-solidification may not be the same as time-of-fall. At stake is the prevailing theory, now dogmatically proclaimed, that tektites are created when a large asteroid impacts the earth, ejecting molten droplets of rock which shower back to earth as solidified tektites. No one has ever found a suitably large crater ( 200 miles in diameter) assignable to the Australasian tektite strewn field. Nevertheless, the impact model prevails; and the young geological age of the tektites is dismissed as erroneous. A Soviet scientist, E.P . Izokh, has recently proposed a radically different scenario that would produce both the young and old dates. If a moon, or Jupiter, or some similar body, explosively ejected the glassy tektites, embedded in an icy cometary body some 700,000 years ago, the tektites could, after cruising through space for millenia, have fallen to earth recently and over a wide area. Thus, both geologists and geophysicists would be satisfied! (Sullivan, Walter; "New Answer Proposed for Tektites: A Comet," New York Times, November 28, 1989. Cr. R. Adams) Comment. Russian scientists have long suggested that comets may be ejected from solar-system bodies and have been laughed at by American scientists for their trouble! Reference. For more on tektite anomalies, refer to category ESM3 in our catalog ...
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... cent of all 80year-olds are 'southpaws,' whereas they comprise nearly 13 per cent of all people aged 20." Coren surveyed students at his University for four years and found that the probability of a left-hander having a car accident was 85% higher; accidents with tools were 54% higher; home accidents were 49% higher; etc. Coren blames these lopsided statistics upon the fact that the world is ordered for right-handers, not that left-handers are innately more clumsy. (Dayton, Leigh; "The Perils of Living in a Right-Handed World," New Scientist, p. 32, October 28, 1989.) But Coren's study, above, omits the "health" factor, which we now supply from a different source. "Halpern and Coren recently described an association between lefthandedness and a lower life expectancy. This finding is not unexpected because left-handedness has been linked to three leading causes of death in our society - alcoholism, smoking, and breast cancer - as well as to several neurological and immune disorders." (London, Wayne P.; "Left-Handedness and Life Expectancy," Perceptual and Motor Skills , 68:1040, 1989.) From Science Frontiers #68, MAR-APR 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... that when sodium and chlorine atoms arrange themselves to build salt crystals that they are simply obeying the well-known laws of physics. In other words, salt crystals are "natural." "Intelligent design" need not be invoked in explaining their existence. This is OK for salt crystals but can we say the same for biological forms such as proteins and, ultimately, human beings? Are these more complex biological forms also natural; that is, reducible to and explainable by the laws of physics? Human beings certainly seem irreducible; and some proteins are so large and complex that one is unsure that physics is up to the task of explaining these tangled structures consisting many hundreds of atoms. Some of these doubts have been relieved by recent advances in protein chemistry. It appears that the different types of protein folds, which number in the thousands, can be classified and sorted into distinct structural families -- just like the much simpler crystals of salt, quartz, galena, etc fall into orderly classes. The clear implication is that protein folds and, by extension via further research, the protein molecules themselves, are also natural and reducible just like the salt crystals. If proteins are natural, perhaps even more complex biological forms are also, and so on up the complexity ladder to viruses (which often look like crystals through the microscope), bacteria, and even (gasp!) mammals. This is, of course, reductionism in the extreme. But the successes with protein folding have led two New Zealand biochemists to speculate as follows: If it does turn out ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 136: JUL-AUG 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects More Carolina Beach Booms January 25, 2001. North Carolina coast. About 11 PM, residents of Wilmington, North Carolina, just north of Cape Fear, were startled by deep booms that shook houses. Anxious residents from Wilmington to Bladen County telephoned the National Earthquake Information Center, in Boulder, Colorado, to report the supposed seismic activity. But instruments recorded nothing of the sort in the afflicted area. The booms had a different source. (Anonymous; "Coastal Residents Jolted by Mysterious Booms," Lincoln Times-news, January 29, 2001. Cr. G. Fawcett via. L. Farish.) Comment. Such booms have plagued the North Carolina shore for many years -- perhaps centuries. (SF#73) Rather than earthquakes, the booms are more likely due to the spontaneous detonations of methane "burps" rising from destabilized methane hydrate, which exists in large quantities off the Carolina shores. (SF#100) The Carolina booms probably are, therefore, analogous to the "mistpouffers" heard along European shores and the famous Barisal Guns of India. From Science Frontiers #136, JUL-AUG 2001 . 2001 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 ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf136/sf136p11.htm
