... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 20: Mar-Apr 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Something hot beneath small saturn-satellite surfaces Crater-density studies of the small, icy Saturn satellites Rhea, Dione, Mimas, and Tethys reveal important non-uniformities in crater distribution and age. The anomalies are so large that astronomers have concluded that these objects must have undergone considerable evolution after they were formed by accretion (the currently accepted mode of formation). Unfortunately these four satellites are so small that they could not have accommodated any reasonable energy source capable of causing the observed crustal evolution. The authors suggest strong local concentrations of radioactive heat generators rather than uniformly distributed radiogenic substances, such as those that helped mould the earth's surface. (Plescia, J.B ., and Boyce, J.M .; "Crater Densities and Geological Histories of Rhea, Dione, Mimas and Tethys," Nature, 295:285, 1982.) Comment. Interestingly enough, local concentrations of radioactivity have been discovered on the moon. From Science Frontiers #20, MAR-APR 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The cretaceous-tertiary extinction bolide The recently discovered worldwide iridium-rich layer is taken by many scientists as evidence of the collision of an asteroid or comet with the earth about 65 million years ago. This cataclysmic event is also blamed (by some, at least) for the apparent sudden biological extinctions recorded on these pages of the fossil record. In this setting, the authors of this paper calculate the effects on the earth of a 10-kilometer-diameter object impacting at about 20/km/sec. Do the theoretical results jibe with the geological and paleontological data? Very definitely. Crater ejecta rich in extraterrestrial material would be blasted to an altitude of 10 km, where winds would insure global distribution. In terms of biological stress, the 10-km projectile would transfer 40-50% of its kinetic energy to the atmosphere, creating a heat pulse that could raise global temperatures 30 C (50 F) for several days. Many large animals might well succumb to such a temperature transient. In addition, the protective ozone layer might be blown away by shock waves and not reform for a decade. (O 'Keefe, John D., and Ahrens, Thomas J.; "Impact Mechanics of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Bolide," Nature, 298,123, 1982.) Reference. We catalog biological extinctions at ESB1 in Anomalies in Geology. To order this book, visit: here . Fig. 1. Particle velocity flow field from a silicate projectile ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 19: Jan-Feb 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Why so little lightning at sea?Using satellite data, Richard Orville and Bernard Vonnegut have compiled maps showing the global distribution of lightning at night. (At present, satellites can detect only nighttime flashes.) As might be expected, the flashes are strongly concentrated in the earth's tropical regions. The feature of the maps that is most difficult to understand is the very obvious dearth of lightning over the world's oceans. (Anonymous; "Patterns of Thunderbolts," New Scientist, 92:102, 1981.) Comment. Reinforcing these modern quantitative observations are the centuries-old speculations on why thunder is heard so rarely by mariners. From Science Frontiers #19, JAN-FEB 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Mystery Hill site, M.F . Doran and B.H . Kunnecke review the various types of anomalous stone structures found in northeastern North America. Three major classes are recognized: Covered passageways up to 25 feet in length and analogous to Cornish fogous. Beehive chambers, such as the 10-foot-high chamber at Upton, Massachusetts. Dolmen-like constructions, as exemplified by the 60-ton "balancing boulder at North Salem, New York. Termed a "glacial erratic" by most, the North Salem stone seems distinctly unlike most erratics and more like some European dolmens. Noting that radiocarbon dates from Mystery Hill go back to more than 1,000 B.C ., Doran and Kunnecke feels that these stone enigmas should receive professional attention in the context of world distributions of blood groups and other evidence of early, frequent transoceanic contacts. (Doran, Michael F., and Kunnecke, Bernd H.; "The Stone Enigmas of New England," Anthropological Journal of Canada, 15:17, No. 2: January 1978 Reference. Many more "stone engimas" are detailed in Ancient Man. This Handbook is described here . From Science Frontiers #2 , January 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... , an MIT planetary scientist. (Freedman, David H.; "Gravity's Revenge," Discover, 11:54, May 1990.) Comment. Well, OK, there is a tiny theoretical chance that such an event might occur in the future, but it certainly never happened in the past. To admit such a possibility would open that Pandora's Box of vigorously suppressed catastrophic scenarios. Reference. More information on solarsystem instability may be found in ABB1 in the catalog: The Sun and Solar System Debris. Ordering details here . The universe as-a -whole . The disovery of the Great Wall of galaxies (SF#67) and the regular clumping of galactic matter (SF#69) has greatly surprised astronomers, who have been emphasizing how uniformly distributed galactic matter should -- according to theory, at least. Now, D.C . Koo, at the University of California at Santa Cruz, says, "The regularity is just mind-boggling." M. Davis, an astrophysicist at Berkeley, admits that if the distribution of galaxies is truly so regular, ". .. it is safe to say we understand less than zero about the early universe." (Wilford, John Noble; "Unexpected Order in Universe Confuses Scientists," Pittsburgh Post Gazette, May 28, 1990. Cr. E.D . Fegert.) From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... his or her salt. Especially, though, something strange in going on with prime numbers. In an homage to the revered mathematician P. Erdos, who died September 20, 1996, D. Mackenzie mentioned a theory Erdos published in 1940 with M. Kac. This theory states that a plot of the number of prime factors of very large numbers forms a bell curve -- almost as if these numbers were "choosing" their prime factors at random. Alluding to a assertion Einstein is said to have made, Erdos commented: "God may not play dice with the universe, but something strange is going on with the prime numbers." (Mackenzie, Dana; "Homage to an Itinerant Master," Science, 275:759, 1997.) Cross reference. The distribution of prime numbers is more than strange, see the plot in SF#42/332. What do prime numbers have to do with the real world? Are math and natural science really separate, unlinked disciplines? Pythagoras, 2,500 years ago, decided that: "All is number." He may be right. A strange connection seems to exist between prime numbers and quantum physics. On one side of the chasm that supposedly separates math from physics, we have the prime numbers and the Riemann zeta function, which provides information on how prime numbers are distributed among the other integers. On the "physics" side of the chasm, we have the behavior of complex atomic systems. The chasm seems bridged when one compares the energy levels of an excited heavy nucleus with ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 107: Sep-Oct 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Irish In Iceland That the Norse colonized Iceland, Greenland, and even a bit of North America is not contested today. What is a hot issue on Iceland is whether today's inhabitants are predominantly Irish or Norse. The pro-Irish faction maintains that most Iceland settlers were Irish wives and slaves installed there by the Norse. The scientific basis for this claim is the distribution of blood types; specifically, types A and AB. In Iceland these two types are present in 19% of the populace. In Norway the figure is 30%, while Ireland weighs in with 18% -- matching modern Icelanders very closely. Modern Norse match other northern Europeans in this respect, not the Icelanders. Somewhat smugly, the pro-Irish faction notes that in Viking days the Irish had the highest literacy rate in northern Europe. And of all the Norse colonies, only the Icelanders recorded their history (the "sagas"). Ergo, the Irish exerted a strong influence in Iceland more than a millennium ago. Possibly, say the anthropologists, but small pox may have skewed the Iceland population figures. People with blood types A and AB are much more susceptible to small pox. The six devastating Icelandic small pox epidemics between 577 and 1061 would have hit Norse settlers harder than the Irish the Norse had brought along with them, thereby boosting the fraction of Irish in the modern Iceland populace. Whatever the scientific explanations ...

... an old (534-millionyears-ago) crustal slippage, whereas Hapgood was talking about a cataclysm within the last 10,000 years or so. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to see Hapgood's earlier work acknowledged. Four features of this "new" proposal make it more palatable than Hapgood's to today's geologists and geophysicists: Two of the "new" authors, J. Kirschvink and D.A . Evans, are at the prestigious California Institute of Technology, while Hapgood was a PhD-less history professor at Keene State College. Status is important when theorizing. Kirschvink et al propose a scientifically acceptable mechanism for the onset of rapid crustal slippage. They visualize a huge chunk of the seafloor suddenly foundering and thereby changing the planet's mass distribution. This imbalance caused the continents to shift rapidly in order to restore the smooth rotation of the earth around its spin axis. Within a period of 15 million years, they envisage, the continents had slipped about 90 . Part of what is now North America moved from the South Pole to near the Equator. Evidence for this huge shift is seen in measurements of the earth's magnetic field frozen in the rocks. In other words, Kirschvink et al used the methods of paleomagnetism. The "new" crustal slippage is really only accelerated continental drift (a dominant and well-established paradigm) and not the more radical notion of the entire outer layer of crust slipping over the earth's mantle like a greased onion skin. Nor is the proposed process anything like poleflipping, ...

... Day The Laws Of Physics Changed Well, maybe there weren't such things as "days" as we now know them back when the universe was very young. In fact, "time" then might have been different from "time" now. This sounds like so much physics-speak; but, seriously, during the birth pangs of the universe, there seems to have been what cosmologists call a "phase change," a mysterious moment when the laws of physics suddenly became more complex. You can reasonably ask: "How can supposedly immutable physical laws change?" The answer seems to be that anything can happen when something is being made from nothing! This apparent plasticity in the laws governing the cosmos is suggested by observations of how galaxies in the early universe were distributed. The standard theory for the origin of the universe predicts that clumps of galaxies of all sizes were created early on. This is not what a survey by S. Sarkar et al, at the University of Oxford, found. A split second after the Big Bang, galaxies were organized in structures about 300-million light years across. The standard model of particle physics cannot account for this preferred size. The theorists' recourse is a phase change, a point in time when the warp and woof of the universe changed; that is, change the rules until they fit. (Chown, Marcus; "In the Beginning," New Scientist, p.7 , April 25, 1998.) Comment. Hang onto your hats. If a phase change happened once, ...

... theory. Unfortunately for theory, these telescopes have also identified a handful of apparently very old galaxies cavorting amidst the youthful ones! "The problem, if conventional cosmological models are correct, is that galaxies that old and that far away simply should not be there. The observation tightens the thumbscrews on the Einstein-de Sitter cosmological model, and offers evidence that at least some galaxies formed at very early epochs, within a billion years after the Big Bang." (Kennicutt, Robert C., Jr.; "An Old Galaxy in a Young Universe," Nature, 381:555, 1996) Comment. A similar age discrepancy has been claimed for some galaxies that seem to harbor stars older than the universe itself! (SF#97) Reference. The subject of galaxy distribution is covered in Chapter AWO in the Catalog: Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. For a description of the book, visit here . From Science Frontiers #107, SEP-OCT 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ironclad proof of the moon's origin? Did earth and moon "coaccrete" at the same time? That is, did two clouds of debris simultaneously collect and coalesce into two rough spheres, which then began orbiting about a common center of gravity? Or, perhaps the earth and moon were once a single mass that ultimately fissioned due to the gravitational tugging of a passing massive object. If either of these scenarios were correct, earth and moon would have similar bulk compositions. This, however, does not seem to be the case. The abundance and distribution of iron on the moon's surface, as measured by the lunar probe Clementine , indicates that the moon is richer than the earth in refractory (high meltingpoint) compounds. The moon, therefore, almost certainly originated elsewhere, contrary to what most astronomers have longbelieved. Given the constraints of celestial mechanics, the most likely hypothesis postulates a colossal impact involving protoearth and the interloping protomoon. After considerable havoc, the two battered spheres settled down into their present configuration. Thus expire the two most popular theories of the moon's origin. (Lucey, Paul G., et al; "Abundance and Distribution of Iron on the Moon," Science, 268:1150, 1995) From Science Frontiers #101 Sep-Oct 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Shaw has mapped out several swaths where large craters of about the same age are located. His "K -T swath" includes the Chicxulub crater (Yucatan), the Manson crater (Iowa), the Avak crater (Alaska), and three more in Russia -- all of which were gouged out about the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K -T ) boundary. Shaw has plotted several other swaths of different ages. The application of chaos theory to solar system debris. Shaw hypothesizes that nonlinear gravitational effects channel asteroids and comets into the inner solar system in intermittent bursts. The bursts are then captured by the earth and other inner planets, with some of these objects grouped in like orbits. Gravitational feedback occurs from earth to orbiting debris. Shaw believes that the uneven distribution of mass inside the earth -- due probably to the impact that created the moon -- influences where asteroids and comets impact. In turn, these large objects keep smashing into the same regions and their cumulative effect contols the flow of material inside the earth. Then, this change in mass distribution feeds back to change orbits and impact swaths. The above is just a taste of what is revealed in Shaw's book of 600+ pages. It cannot fail to be controversial. (Monastersky, Richard; "Shots from Outer Space," Science News, 147:58, 1995.) From Science Frontiers #98, MAR-APR 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... minute before the explosion, noise appeared in broadcast radio receivers, this soon jammed all radio stations. At a distance of up to several hundred kilometers from the epicenter, some people said that they felt a "heat wave" and suffocation. Near the epicenter, a bright flash with a duration of several seconds and an explosion (thunder and ground shock) took place. (According to some reports. at first a 'glowing object' flew down to the ground.) Probably light phenomena were present at some other places. "The 1991 Sasovo explosion was accompanied by a number of 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 ...

... the 1960s. The object disappeared from sight during the few seconds it took me to call two persons to participate in the observation. It was not apparent how the object had disappeared from view since there were no sources of obscuration evident. Having become puzzled by this observation I continued watching that same region of sky from time to time. "About fifteen minutes later (22:45 local time) and more or less in the same region where the bright light had been observed I spotted a faint luminous object moving slowly toward the zenith. During the first few seconds of observation it had the appearance of a luminous thread, oriented perpendicular to its direction of motion. However, as it approached the zenith, I could see that it was in fact a group of at least 30 lights distributed in a broad, symmetrical V-configuration, reminiscent of a boomerang. Three members of my family who were with me also observed the group of lights. "Each individual light of the group looked like a star of third or fourth magnitude; the color was a pale white similar to a neon light, with a slight tint of yellow. The brightness was rather steady, with no apparent flicker. The angular width of the group was about 4 degrees, and the central angle of the V was about 150 degrees. It was first visible about 20 degrees above the western horizon and disappeared at about that altitude in the east. The disappearance was gradual, probably as a result of atmospheric extinction. Since the group was in view for approximately two minutes, the mean angular velocity ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Immense Complex of Structures Found in Peru Great Pyramid Entrance Tunnel Not Astronomically Aligned More Pyramid Caveats Astronomy A Large Quasar Inhomogeneity in the Sky Double-star System Defies Relativity Peace and Sunspots The Missing Sunspot Peak A Different Way of Looking At the Solar System Origin of the Moon Debated Biology Ri = Dugong; Doggone! Can Spores Survive in Interstellar Space? Fungus Manufactures Phony Blueberry Flowers Music in the Ear Guiding Cell Migration Remarkable Distribution of Hydrothermal Vent Animals Trees May Not Converse After All! Geology Feathers Fly Over Fossil 'Fraud' Sand Dunes 3 Kilometers Down The Night of the Polar Dinosaur Geophysics The Sausalito Hum Mysterious Hums: the Sequel Psychology Left-handers Have Larger Interbrain Connections Geomagnetic Activity and Paranormal Experiences Taking Food From Thought Logic & Mathematics The Fabric of Prime Number Distribution Chemistry & Physics Speculations From Gold ...

... From New Scientist, Nature, Scientific American, etc Archaeology Astronomy Biology Geology Geophysics Mathematics Psychology Physics Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects)Overview Astronomy Biology Chemistry/Physics Geology Geophysics Logic/mathemitics Archeology Psychology Miscellaneous phenomena Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online Science Frontiers: The Book Sourcebook Project A ASTRONOMY Catalog of Anomalies (Astronomy Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. AA ASTEROIDS AAB CELESTIAL MECHANICS PROBLEMS WITH ASTEROIDS AAB1 Anomalous Asteroid Orbits AAB2 Asteroid Distribution Anomalies AAB3 The High "Internal Energy" of the Asteroid Population AAB4 Peculiar Distribution of Asteroid Spin Rates AAB5 Unexplained Residual Precession of Icarus AAB6 Evidence against an Explosive Origin for Asteroids AB SOLAR SYSTEM "LAWS" AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS ABB DYNAMICS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AS-A -WHOLE ABB1 Solar-System Instability ABB2 Circularity of Planetary Orbits ABB3 Anomalous Split of Angular Momentum between Sun and Planets ABB4 Ubiquity of Resonances in the Solar System ABS REMARKABLE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PLANETARY AND SATELLITE PARAMETERS ABS1 Solar System Laws of Distance ABS2 Similarity of Densities of Composite Terrestrial Planets ABS3 Multiple Primaries in the Solar System ABS4 Supposed Quantization of Planetary Orbital Periods ABS5 Solar System Mass Laws ABS6 The Quantized Nature of Orbital Systems AC COMETS ACB ORBITAL ANOMALIES OF COMETS ACB1 The Appearance of Comets in Cycles ACB2 Nonrandom Direction-of-Approach ...

... given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. EC Chemical and Physical Anomalies associated with inner Earth ECC CHEMICAL ANOMALIES ECC1 Anomalous Abundances of Some Noble Gases ECD DEEP-DRILLING DISCOVERIES ECD1 Drilling Truth Confounds Surface Science ECG STRUCTURAL ANOMALIES INDICATED BY GRAVITATIONAL ANOMALIES ECG1 Remarkable Gravity Anomalies ECG2 Gravity Trends That Challenge the Continent-Accretion Model ECG3 Gravity Data Indicating Large Mantle Inhomogeneities ECG4 Anomalous Gravity Signals Following Earthquakes ECH HEAT-FLOW ANOMALIES ECH1 Mid-Plate Volcanism ECH2 Hawaiian Hot-Spot Tracks ECH3 Dearth of Continental Hot Spots ECH4 Non-Random Distribution of Hot Spots ECH5 Thermal Plumes Correlated with Other Geophysical Activity EQ SEISMIC PROBING OF INNER EARTH EQA LOCALIZED STRUCTURES IN THE CORE AND MANTLE EQA1 Stratification of Basement Rocks EQA2 Deep Continental Roots EQA3 Deep Penetration of Subducted Slabs EQA4 Lateral Inhomogeneities in the Lower Mantle EQA5 Mysterious Structures at the Core-Mantle Boundary EQA6 Seismic Reflectors EQD SEISMIC DETECTION OF LARGE SCALE DISCONTINUITIES, ZONES, STRUCTURES EQD1 Velocity Discontinuities EQD2 Channels and Zones EQD3 Structural Anomalies of the Inner Core EQD4 Anomalies Associated with Mantle Convection Cells EQQ ANOMALOUS SEISMIC SIGNALS EQQ1 Deep-Focus Earthquakes ES STRATIGRAPHIC ANOMALIES ESA EMBEDDED ACCRETION STRUCTURES ESA1 Cylindrical Structures in Rock and Unconsolidated Sediments ESA2 Spherical Aggregates ESA3 Concretions ESA4 Small Fused Structures ESA5 Geodes ESA6 Orbicules ESB ANOMALOUS BIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA IN GEOLOGY ESB1 Biological Extinction Events ESB2 Biological Explosion Events ESB3 Recent Vegetation and Shallow Water Fossils ...

... of drifting continents. Easy as it is to conclude that Martian continents once sailed ponderously cross the planet's surface, the scientific jury is still out. First of all, the Martian magnetic stripes are substantially different from earth's in shape, pattern, strength, and, above all, size. The Martian stripes are about 200 kilometers wide and 2,000 long -- much larger than earth's . Their magnetic field strength is more than ten times that of the terrestrial stripes. Whatever magnetic phenomena occurred on Mars some 4 billion years ago must have been quite different from what happened on earth 200 million years ago. Yet, no other reasonable explanation has been found for the Martian magnetic stripes. (Acuna, M.H ., et al; "Global Distribution of Crustal Magnetization Discovered by the Mars Global Surveyor MAG/ER Experiment," Science, 284:790, 1999. Cowen, Ron; "Plate Tectonics...on Mars," Science News, 155:284, 1999. Recer, Paul; "Mars May Have Been Earth-Like," Northwest Florida Daily News, April 30, 1999. Cr. R. Reid.) Comment. Actually, the earth's geodynamo is not perfectly understood, especially its tendency to quickly reverse polarity. We may not know what is really happening inside the earth either. These terrestrial magnetic stripes off the north-western coast of North America are much narrower, much shorter, and considerably weaker than the 2,000 kilometer long magnetic stripes on Mars. From Science ...