511 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 131: SEP-OCT 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Listening for the Unhearable They rolled around with a soundless sound like softly bruised silk; They poured into the bowl of the sky with the gentle flow of milk. So wrote R.W . Service, the poet of the Arctic realms, about the eerie voices of the auroras. The low-frequency sound of the aurora is barely detectable by human ears. It is "felt" more than heard, as Service expressed so eloquently. Some skeptics have maintained that these ethereal sounds do not really exist, but modern instruments confirm that pressure waves are definitely produced in the atmosphere as the auroras weave and dance in the sky. Most auroral sound is in the infrasound range, which begins at the lower limit of human hearing -- about 20 Hertz. Just enough sound energy seeps over the 20-Hz limit to be heard by sensitive human ears during periods of intense activity. Another natural infrasound, weak but continuous, is the "voice of the sea." These sound waves, called "microbaroms," have periods in the 5-7 second range (0 .20-0 .14 Hz), well below the range of human ears. Such low-frequency sounds travel great distances with little attenuation. It is thought, therefore, that the "voice of the sea" is an extended source -- perhaps the collective acoustical signature of all the storms from all the world's oceans. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bowerbird art for art's sake The bowerbirds of New Guinea and Australia build and decorate marvelously intricate and esthetic works of art. One must classify these impressive structures as works of art, even by human standards. For example, the bowers have geometrical organization and may be oriented to a specific compass direction, depending upon the species. Colorful berries, stones, and, when available, human artifacts are systematically arranged around the bower. Some bowerbirds even take a piece of bark in their bills and paint their bowers with colored berry juices. Each species has a certain style, but the bowers vary from individual to individual and with the age of the bird. Manifestly, these birds use tools for artistic purposes. Or do they? Is it all instinct? Some animal behaviorists believe the bower's purpose is to attract mates, but the males often chase females away, although mating does eventually occur within the bowers. A second explanation is that the bowers symbolize territorial rights. In this context, bowerbirds fre-quently raid and destroy neighboring bowers, stealing choice decorations -- all very human-like behavior. (Diamond, Jared M.; "Evolution of Bowerbirds' Bowers: Animal Origins of the Esthetic Sense," Nature, 297:99, 1982.) Comment. Is human art any more profound than that of the bowerbirds? Human artists doubtless feel they are doing something more than attracting mates or ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 116: Mar-Apr 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Eyeless Vision Tomatoes see red. And other colors, too! We touched on this subject over a decade ago. (SF#54) Then we described how the use of red plastic mulch greatly improves the yields of tomato plants. More recent research reveals that fruit quality and resistance to pests are also improved. How can this be? Plant leaves, it turns out, contain color sensors -- light-sensitive pigments similar to those it the human retina. Obviously, the plants do not "see," but the pigments provide environmental information. Here's the mechanism: plant leaves reflect infrared light well, so when a tomato plant's pigments detect a lot of infrared, the plant "thinks" that it may be crowded out by competing vegetation. The tomato plant responds aggressively by growing more rapidly. The red plastic mulch between the rows also reflects a lot of infrared light, and it thereby tricks the tomato plant into accelerating its growth. (Raloff, Janet; "When Tomatoes See Red," Science News, 152:376, 1997.) Fire-detecting beetles. The beetle Melanophila acuminata seeks out forests that have just been ravaged by fires so that it can lay its eggs in the nutritious, freshly burnt wood. These insects are capable of detecting fires up to 32 kilometers (20 miles) distant. They do not see the fire with their eyes but instead detect the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Long Before The Vikings And Polynesians Scene: Orogrande Cave, New Mexico. R. MacNeish, a respected archeologist from the Andover Foundation for Archeological Research, has charted a 30,00040,000-year-old paleonotological record of ancient camels, horses, tapirs, and other fauna found while excavating this cave. Intermixed with the animal bones are layers of charcoal (easily carbondated) and hints of human occupation. But don't we all know that humans did not arrive in the New World until 12,000 years ago? Nevertheless, there they are: (1 ) rude human tools; and (2 ) a possible human palm print. Mainstream archeologists are stonewalling again; there must be some mistake! (Appenzeller, Tim; " A High Five from the First New World Settlers?" Science, 255:920, 1992.) Scene: Inside Amerind cells. DNA analyses of the mitochondria present in the cells of North American Indian populations indicate that the Eskimo-Aleut and Nadene populations arrived about 7,500 years ago. The more geographically widespread Amerind population, however, seems to be descended from two separate influxes; the first about 30,000 years ago, the second about 10,000 years ago. D. Wallace, from Emory University, surmises that the sharply defined rise of the Clovis culture, conventionally dated from 12,000 years ago, may have resulted from the second Amerind ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Shc or h/t homicide?The possible case of SHC (Spontaneous Human Combustion) just reported above may have a rational but bizarre explanation. S.L . Wernokoff commented as follows in the Journal of Meteorology: "The very first thing that comes to mind is whether overloaded hightension [H /T ] or low-tension wires were anywhere nearby. Since this incident occurred at a roadside, nearby power lines may well have been present. If such lines are overloaded or badly insulated, fatal arcing can occur from the ground at a considerable distance from the power lines. This has happened often in our country [the U.S .] , in rural areas where public utilities have quietly exceeded the capacity of their lines. The resulting discharges can easily electrocute livestock over mile from the 'leaky' H/T lines. I would wager that the Hungarian utility agencies are guilty of the same practice. Personally, I suspect that this unfortunate young man may have been electrocuted through his own urine! The 'blue light' witnessed by the victim's wife may have been St. Elmo's Fire -- an ungrounded luminous corona visible around the victim in the humid, pre-thunderstorm conditions. The hole in his heel and tennis shoe indicate where the current finally grounded itself." Wernikoff goes on to tell of a case in Canada where a man washing up at an outdoor table, 100 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 82: Jul-Aug 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects EVEN TODAY NATURAL SELECTION IS MOLDING HUMAN POPULATIONS Nauru is a remote Pacific atoll with a population of 5,000 Micronesians. Formerly, the Nauruans led energetic lives -- fishing, subsistence farming -- and they were slim and healthy. Then came colonization and phosphate mining; with these came wealth, imported caloriepacked food, sedentary lives, obesity, and, unhappily for this tropical paradise, diabetes. The incidence of diabetes mellitus shot up to 60%, an astounding statistic by world standards. On one of the wealthiest of the Pacific islands, the inhabitants have the shortest life spans! The same scenario is being played out in other parts of the world where life styles have changed drastically; for example, some Polynesians, American Indians, and Australian aborigines are similarly afflicted. Furthermore, an epi-demic of diabetes mellitus is anticipated as the "benefits" of civilization are brought to India and China. Two questions must be answered: (1 ) Why is the incidence of diabetes mellitus only 8% among American junkfood-eating couch potatoes? Probable answer: natural selection has already modified the American genotype by eliminating those who are supersensitive to diabetes mellitus under conditions of rich diets and sedentary lives. (2 ) Why are modern populations still living under Spartan conditions so sensitive to diabetes in the first place? Possible answer: the so-called "thrifty genotype" hypothesis. In this view, the genotype that is ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Artifacts Of The Auriferous Gravels Now dismissed entirely and even ridiculed by establishment archeologists is the evidence of ancient human activity found in California's auriferous gravels. R.E . Gentet sets the geological stage in the following paragraph. "The 1849 gold rush to the state of California was the beginning of some of the most unusual reported finds of early man in North America. The gold-bearing gravels of California are recognized as being Tertiary in age, ranging from oldest to youngest Tertiary, depending upon the exact geological setting. At the time these gravels were deposited, volcanic eruptions also laid down lava beds, often tens or scores of feet thick. This occurred a number of times, and together with much erosion since then, have now resulted in table mountains, that is, lava-capped hills where the harder lava has better withstood erosion stresses while surrounding softer material has been swept away. It is under the hard lava beds, in the gold-bearing (auriferous) gravels, where the reported human bones and artifacts were found, not just once or twice, but hundreds of times by miners during the span of time from the 1850s through the 1890s while engaging in mining operations. Findings were spread over a wide geographical area." During the late 1800s, several books and many papers recorded the discoveries. Some of the finds were made by respected scientists of the day. Human skulls were found embedded over ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Explaining the "artifact gaps"Earthquake researchers speak of "seismic gaps," where earthquakes "should occur but don't . Well, "artifact gaps" exist, too, namely in North America and northern Australia. Both Australia and the Americas seem to have been peopled late; and both regions seem to have been invaded from the north - according to conventional thinking. Serious anomalies arise because some controversial dates of human occupation from South America and southern Australia are considerably older than those from North America and northern Australia* - at least if we dismiss those North American dates considered as "unreliable" by the archeological establishment. In the Americas, reliable dates older than 12,000 years are found in South America (Monte Verde, Chile); in Australia, all dates exceeding 24,000 years are found along the southern coast.* The "artifact gaps" are therefore clearly established! R.G . Bednarik, in a recent paper in Antiquity, offers a related observation: "It is generally agreed that both regions have been settled from the north, yet no trace has been found of the first settlers in either North America or northern Australia. In northern Australia one finds groundedge axes at up to 23,000 b.p ., which have no counterparts in the probable catchment area of the first colonizers, Indonesia; while in North America the earlist human settlers used elaborate projectile points, which ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 139: Jan-Feb 2002 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects When The Edges Of The Continents Were Naked Sea-level curves off the British Columbia coast versus time. (Left) Dashed curve in calendar years. (Right) Curves based on radiocarbon measurements. The aquatic-ape hypothesis may or may not hold water, but modern sonar undersea imaging and sampling reveal wide swathes of land that are now drowned that could once have been ideal habitat for water-adapted humans. One of these surveys was conducted offshore of Queen Charlotte Island, Canada. The surveyors discovered extensive post-glacial landscapes suitable for human use now covered by 150 meters (500 feet) of ocean, but which were exposed 10,000-12,000 years ago. In situ tree stumps and shellfish-rich paleobeaches are present on these drowned landscapes. A stone tool encrusted with barnacles and bryozoa were recovered from a drowned delta flood plain now 53 m below mean sea level. This is the first tangible evidence that the subaerial broad banks of the western North American Continental Shelf may have been occupied by humans in earliest Holocene and possibly late glacial time. (Fedje, Daryl W., and Josenhans, Heiner; "Drowned Forests and Archaeology of the Continental Shelf of British Columbia, Canada," Geology, 28:99, 2000.) Comment. A map in the referenced report reveals that 12,000 years ago broad stretches of land several hundred kilometers wide bordered Canada, Alaska, and Russia ...
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... Science Frontiers Catalog of Anomalies (Subjects) Strange reports * Bizarre biology * Anomalous archaeology 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 M ARCHEOLOGY Catalog of Anomalies (Archeology 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. MA ANTHROPOLOGY MAA PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Polynesian Features Not Asian Blond Eskimos White Africans White Indians in Panama (San Blas, Darien Tribes) Welsh Indians Mandan Origin Red-Haired Nevada Indians Redmen in Africa and Madagascar Amerinds in China White Indians in New Mexico and Northwest Bearded Indians in Brazil Semitic New Guineans Ainu Origin Yellow race in Africa Living Neanderthals [BHE, Human-Neanderthal Hybrids] Chinese Characteristics of the Maya Asamanukpai: the Gold Coast Dwarfs The Maya Sacral Spot [BHA] New World Dwarfs Samurai Origin Whites in Polynesia Melungeon Origin Maoiri Origin Pre-Maori New Zealanders Polynesians in South America Long-Ears on Easter Island, the Maldives, and Elsewhere Whites in the Maldives Beothucks: Norse in Newfoundland? White Inca Aristocracy Toltecs: Carthaginian Origin? Basque Origin Sea Peoples Origin Berbers with ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 131: SEP-OCT 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Planetary Conjunctions that Changed the World On May 17, 2000, five solar-system planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) plus the moon slowly wheeled into a tight 19 arc. It was a notable heavenly conjunction. All manner of natural catastrophes were predicted but failed to materialize. It has been this way down recorded history. Universal deluges were anticipated during similar conjunctions 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, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 124: Jul-Aug 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Measuring Spirituality!" The connection between matter and spirit has been debated for millennia. The central mystery is that certain material objects (human beings) contrive to be conscious and to possess a spiritual dimension. This implies that matter itself has some rudimentary spiritual character." From this opening paragraph, D. Jones advances his thesis by assuming that the spiritual world occupies the same space as the material world. The two "worlds," though are usually only very weakly coupled. However, during the 12-billionyear history of the universe they have had ample time to come into thermodynamic equilibrium. In other words the average temperatures of the material and spiritual worlds are equal; i.e ., 3 K, the same as the microwave background. It is, of course, this low average temperature of the spiritual world that accounts for the chill felt when a spiritual entity (ghost) enters a room and is coupled to the material world. Continuing on this tack, Jones now plans to measure whether holy relics and other material objects with high spiritual value cool faster than non-spiritual objects. He also hopes to work with biological materials, specifically the human brain, which is the seat of consciousness and spiritual thought. Human brains, particularly those of holy men, should be tightly coupled to the cold spiritual world. These human brains should cool much faster than, say, a sirloin steak. Speculating even further ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 15: Spring 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Invention Of Agriculture May Have Been A Step Backward Anthropological texts have always ballyhooed the development of agriculture as one of man's greatest achievements. Not so, says Mark Cohen, of SUNY Plattsburgh. The switch from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture, it seems, occurred rather suddenly and was attended by a sharp drop in life expectancy. Ancient human bones reveal much more disease, fewer older people, and more violent deaths for centuries following the adoption of agriculture. Why did humanity give up the surprising degrees of security, freedom, and leisure intrinsic in hunting and gathering? Cohen claims that population pressure was the cause. Unable to stem the human population explosion, ancient humans were forced to adopt a life of toil, disease, and stress. (Lewin, Roger; "Disease Clue to Dawn of Agriculture," Science, 211:41, 1981.) Comment. Is there an echo of the Garden of Eden story here? From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The orogrande, nm, site The discovery in a New Mexico cave of numerous stone artifacts, hearths, butchered animal bones and a clay fragment dating back at least 35,000 years could provide proof that the Americas were inhabited long before the generally accepted date of 12,000 years ago, believes Richard MacNeish, research director of the Andover, Mass., Foundation for Archaeological Research. An article in the Baltimore Sun stated: "The most solid proof of human presence earlier than 12,000 years ago may be a piece of a clay pot that appears to have a human fingerprint. "The shard was found in a layer of sediment that has been dated as being 35,000 years old. If confirmed as human, it could be the key to the findings, some archaeologists say." (Chandler, David L.; "Dig Finds Signs of Humans in N.M . 35,000 Years Ago," Baltimore Sun, p. 3A, May 6, 1991.) Comment. It is certain that these discoveries will be disputed -- and rightfully so. Even if they stand, it takes a generation to erase a false paradigm from the roster of science. From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A RUSSIAN PALUXY "This spring, an expedition from the Institute of Geology of the Turkmen SSR Academy of Sciences found over 1,500 tracks left by dinosaurs in the mountains in the southeast of the Republic. Impressions resembling in shape a human footprint were discovered next to the tracks of the prehistoric animals." Professor Kurban Amanniyazov, leader of the expedition, elaborated: "We've discovered imprints resembling human footprints, but to date have failed to determine, with any scientific veracity, whom they belong to, after all. Of course, if we could prove that they do belong to a humanoid, it would create a revolution in the science of man. Humanity would 'grow older' thirty-fold and its history would be at least 150 million years long." (Anonymous; "Tracking Dinosaurs," Moscow News, no. 24, p. 10, 1983. Cr. V. Rubtsov.) Comment. Strata along the Paluxy River, Texas, contain a similar mixture of dinosaur and human-like tracks. From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 16: Summer 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hooray, another "dangerous" book!The May 22, 1981, issue of Science devotes three entire pages to a discussion of the issues raised in the book Genes, Minds, and Culture, written by Edward Wilson and Charles Lumsden. The subject of this book is "gene-culture coevolution," which infers that human culture is controlled not so much by "free will" as by rapidly changing human genes. The authors propose that as few as 1000 years are sufficient for important genetic shifts. Such shifts might, for example, impel humans to break out of the Middle Ages and bring on the Industrial Revolution. The most controversial facets of the theory are: (1 ) The tight genetic control over human culture with little room for free will; and (2 ) The rapid blossoming of many cultures as genes shift about. As one scientist remarked, this book is "dangerous." Others describe it as marvelous. The Science article deals not so much with the book as with the reactions to it -- and the reactions have been powerful, both pro and con. (Lewin, Roger; "Cultural Diversity Tied to Genetic Differences," Science, 212:908, 1981.) Comment. The impression one gets from the synopsis of the book is that humankind is diversifying rapidly into new cultural configurations not through human volition but because of those imperious "selfish genes" we all carry. From Science ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 55: Jan-Feb 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Archeological Stonewalling And Shadow Science In past issues of SF, we have presented considerable evidence for the existence of humans in America well before 12,000 years ago -- the "acceptable" limit. For example, in SF#54, we mentioned the 300,000-BP site in Brazil. There are many more. Of course, controversy hangs over all these sites and the dates assigned to them. The controversies about the specifics are good; but now the archeological establishment seems to be trying to enforce the 12,000-year dogma through authoritarian pronouncements in key publications. By way of illustration, we have P.S . Martin's article in Natural History, entitled "Clovisia the Beautiful!", bearing the subtitle: "If humans lived in the New World more than 12,000 years ago, There'd be no secret about it." Now, some archeologists are even trying to roll forward the 12,000-year date. See, for example, R. Lewin's review in Science (referenced below), which is subtitled: "In recent years anthropological opinion has been shifting in favor of a relatively recent date (not much more than 11,500 years ago) for the first human colonization of the Americas." In all of these articles, anomalous data are simply labelled "erroneous." (Martin, Paul S.; "Clovisia the ...
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... testimonies was this from a 17-year-old NDE percipient: "I was informed that mankind was breaking the laws of the universe and as a result of this would suffer. This suffering was not due to the vengeance of an indignant God but rather like the pain one might suffer as a result of...defying the law of gravity. It was to be an inevitable educational cleansing of the earth... "At the end of this general period of transition, mankind was to be "born anew" with a new sense of his [or her] place in the universe." Surveying his collection of like testimony, Ring generalized: "Surprising commonalities in these visions predicted a rising tide of natural, economic, and political crises culminating around 1988. Unless human beings turned toward God, took better care of the planet and each other, an apocalyptic cleansing would occur, possibly including a nuclear war, followed by the long promised New Age." 1988 has passed and we are still here. Is there objective evidence that humans mended their ways and averted the promised "cleansing? A.S . Alschuler, the author of this provocative paper thinks so, and he produces four graphs to prove his point. Each addresses a concern transmitted via people who experienced NDEs: (1 ) production of chlorofluorocarbons; (2 ) nuclear arsenal levels; (3 ) weapons exports; and (4 ) the number of peacekeeping missions. (We reproduce only two of Alschuler's graphs.) All four graphs show global "sea changes" commencing ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 27: May-Jun 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A COMPASS IN OUR SINUSES?You may not feel any north-directed nasal twinges, but the thin hard bones lining the human sinuses contain deposits of magnetic ferric iron. This discovery adds man to a long list of organisms from bacteria to birds known to possess localized accumulations of magnetic material. Experiments with these animals, including humans, seem to indicate a widespread ability to detect ambient magnetic fields. Some animals appear to use this sense for navigation. Whether humans do or do not is still a moot question. (Baker, Robin R., et al; "Magnetic Bones in Human Sinuses," Nature, 301: 78, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #27, MAY-JUN 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 108: Nov-Dec 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Deflating a paradigm: brazil's pedra furada The paradigm. The New World was peopled from Asia by migration across the Bering Land Bridge about 12,000 years ago, or perhaps a wee earlier. The Pedra Furada site has been dated at 50,000 BP by N. Guidon and her team of archeologists. This challenge to the dominant paradigm is powerful and unambiguous. Picking up the gauntlet, several more-conservative archeologists visited the Brazilian site and penned a blistering critique in Antiquity. (Ref. 1) Their major contention was that the 500+ supposedly human-made stone "artifacts" collected by Guidon's team are actually "geofacts"; that is, they were chipped and flaked naturally as rocks fell one upon the other from nearby cliffs. We discussed this problem in some detail in SF#105. Several other reservations about the Pedra Furada work are also offered in Ref. 1. The reaction of Guidon et al to the Antiquity paper was thunderous to say the least. It revealed the depth of the chasm separating archeologists on the date of human occupation of the New World as well as internecine politics in archeology. (Ref. 2) Guidon et al flung two serious charges at the authors of the first Antiquity paper: (1 ) They had their facts all wrong; and (2 ) Their objectivity was distorted by their loyalty to the aforestated paradigm. Not withholding any punches, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Animals Attack Human Technological Infrastructure We are accustomed to termites feasting on our homes' timbers and mice gnawing in the walls, but in recent years many species have developed a taste for more sophisticated fare: Pine martens are chewing through the electical wiring of Swiss cars. Mammal repellents popular there. British dormice seem to enjoy the electrical fittings of Rolls Royces. The keas (mountain parrots) of New Zealand have an innate urge to strip out the rubber gaskets around car windows. Land crabs on Tahiti bite through the electrical cables of film crews. Rarely are they electrocuted. New Zealanders have to put metal collars on telephone poles to prevent bushy tailed possums from getting at the cables. Squirrels, rabbits, langurs, and others species are also on the attack in all countries. (Ager, Derek; "Unwary Animals and Vicious Volts," New Scientist, p. 47, January 9, 1993.) Comment. We mustn't forget that sperm whale that got tangled up in an undersea cable over a mile down! From Science Frontiers #87, MAY-JUN 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects That's the way the universe bounces What follows is a chain of ideas (perhaps "speculations" is a better word) that was recently unleashed by L. Smolin in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity (9 :173). At stake here is the very nature of Nature herself. We begin with the notion of anthropic cosmology, in which the physical constants of the universe are identified as having just the "right" values to allow the existence of stars, planets, carbon compounds, and the other ingredients of human life. (Just why this state of affairs prevails is a question rarely addressed!) Adherents of anthropic cosmology hold that our "human-friendly" universe is just one of many universes populating a larger metauniverse. These "other" universes are thought to have different values of the fundamental physical constants (viz., the mass of the proton) and, in consequence, wildly different forms of life. In nonhuman universes, there could even be entities for which our word "life" is inadequate. The second idea is that of an oscillating universe. In this concept, universes expand just so far and then collapse back into the "singularities" (i .e ., black holes) from which they arose. Then, Phoenix-like, they bounce back and reexpand into new universes -- ones with slightly different physical constants. These rebounding universes are in a sense ...
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... 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 Did Mozart Use The Golden Section?Does the brilliance of Mozart's compositions derive entirely from his musical genius, or did he rely in part upon a mathematical construct: the famous Golden Section or Golden Ratio? The Golden Section is a mathematical formula for dividing into two parts: a geometrical line, a musical composition, or anything else possessing the property of length. The ratio of the two divided parts is the Golden Section, which equals 0.618.* For some artists, musicians, architects, the Golden Section is the most esthetic way of dividing the length of anything. For humans, the history of the Golden Section goes back at least as far as Euclid in 300 BC. For nature, it began eons ago: The shapes of pine cones, starfish geometry, and other dimensions of living things incorporate the Golden Section. The questions we address here are: (1 ) Did Mozart consciously make use of this ratio, 0.618, in his music? (2 ) Why is the Golden Section esthetically pleasing? It is not well known that Mozart was fascinated by mathematics as well as music. He even jotted down equations in the margins of some of his compositions. Chances are excellent that he knew of the Golden Section and its reputation for conferring elegance on structures -- even musical compositions. J.F . Putz, a mathematician, has measured some of Mozart's works ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 77: Sep-Oct 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cooler heads, bigger brains?When anthropologist D. Falk discovered that an automobile's engine was limited in power by its radiator's capacity to cool it, he applied this thinking to the human brain. The human brain, like the automobile engine, must be kept cool if it is to function well. It follows that if the brain of an animal is not functioning well, the body that brain controls will not perform well either. Overheated brains, then, are sure roads to extinction in the highly competitive natural world. A couple million years ago, two groups of human precursors were competing for dominance in Africa. The group that won and subsequently evolved into Homo sapiens had, according to Falk, a better brain-cooling system. The evolutionary development that probably led to this advantage was a more extensive network of emissary veins, which permitted better dissipation of heat. This, in turn, allowed the evolution of larger brains and dominance by Homo sapiens. Other anthropologists, how ever doubt that such a minor change in the circulatory system could account for the emergence of modern man. (Shipman, Pat; "Hotheads," Discover, 12:18, April 1991.) Comment. What an intriguing concept! Perhaps human male baldness also confers more cooling efficiency and is setting the stage for a new expansion of the human brain -- at least the male brain, sorry girls! More seriously ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 134: MAR-APR 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Sleep-work And Dream-work To dream an animal must sleep, and sleep is a dangerous state in the natural world. The animal is motionless, its senses are diminished; it is very vulnerable. Neither is there any provable biochemical value to sleep. (See BHF31 in Humans II) Yet, a large fraction of an animal's life is spent in this apparently useless and hazardous condition. Why, then, did sleep ever evolve? But with sleep, come dreams, and maybe an answer is to be seen in them. Cats establish long-term memories during sleep. First, it is relevant that an animal's brain (a cat's brain here) seems to be active even when an animal is sleeping deeply but not dreaming. It seems that during an extremely quiet phase of sleep, when researchers thought that nothing much was happening in the [cat's ] brain, groups of cells involved in the formation of new memories signal one another. The signals, discovered only a few years ago, allow cells in many parts of the brain to form lasting links. Then, when a few cells are stimulated during waking hours, the links are activated and an entire memory is recalled. Deep, dreamless sleep has long been thought to be of little value to an animal. Apparently this is not the case. Deep sleep seems to be valuable in memory activation. Score ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 83: Sep-Oct 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is the paranormal only a set of subjective experiences?Anomalists usually interpret paranormal phenomena as indications that our knowledge of the human mind and how it interacts with other minds and the socalled material world is sadly deficient. But some psychiatrists see paranormal phenomena as merely symptoms of mental disturbance and nothing esoteric at all. Such a view is supported by studies employing interviews with members of society at large. In a revealing but demystifying study of 502 residents of Winnipeg, C.A . Ross and S. Joshi found: (1 ) That so-called paranormal experiences are very common indeed, with 65.7 % of the interviewees reporting having had them. The most common were deja vu (54.6 %) , precognitive dreams (17.8 %) , and mental telepathy (15.6 %) . Many reported experiencing more than one of the 13 different types of paranormal phenomena included in the survey. But do survey statistics prove that such paranormal phenomena are truly objective? The real nature of paranormal experiences, according to Ross and Joshi, lies in the close ties these paranormal phenomena have with dissociative phenomena (i .e ., automatic writing), hypnotic phenomena, and childhood traumas. They theorize: "A model is proposed in which paranormal experiences are conceptualized as an aspect of normal dissociation. Like dissociation in general, paranormal experiences can be triggered by trauma, especially childhood physical or sexual abuse. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 121: Jan-Feb 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Problems Of Aboriginal Art In Australia In SF#117, we reproduced some Australian rock art featuring sylph-like, flowing human figures quite unlike today's aborigines. In our more recent library searches, we have come across an old article that provides additional 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 - ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 93: May-Jun 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Molecular clock places humans in new world 22,000-29,000 bp This is welcome news for anomalists who have been searching for a way to demolish the 12,000-BP (years Before Present) barrier erected across the Bering Land Bridge by the archeological establishment. But don't uncork the champagne yet, because molecular clocks are not like Big Ben. Here's what has happened: A. Torroni and some colleagues at Emory University have analyzed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of members of seven linguistically related tribes in Central America called the "Chibcha speakers." Assuming that the homogeneous group separated from the other Amerind tribes 8,000-10,000 years ago, the Emory group found that their mtDNA had mutated at the rate of 2.3 -2 .9 % per million years. (Note: this works out to 0.0022-0 .0029% per thousand years -- a very small amount to measure accurately!) Next Torroni et al measured the mtDNA of 18 other tribes throughout the Americas and, using the mutation rate just mentioned, computed how long ago these peoples had diverged from a common ancestor. The result: 22,000-29,000 years ago. The Emory study was published in the February 1, 1994, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . All this is very well, but suppose that the tribes had ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 94: Jul-Aug 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Our genes aren't us!Almost without exception, biology textbooks, scientific papers, popular articles, and TV documentaries convey the impression that an organism's genes completely specify the living animal or plant. In most people's minds, the strands of DNA are analogous to computer codes that control the manufacture and disposition of proteins. Perhaps our current fascination with computers has fostered this narrow view of heredity. Do our genes really contain all the information necessary for constructing human bodies? In the April 1994 issue of Discover, J. Cohen and I. Stewart endeavor to set us straight. The arguments against the "genes-are-everything" paradigm are long and complex, but Cohen and Stewart also provide some simple, possibly simplistic observations supporting a much broader view of genetics. Mammalian DNA contains fewer bases than amphibian DNA, even though mammals are considered more complex and "advanced." The implication is that "DNA-as-a -message" must be a flawed metaphor. Wings have been invented at least four times by divergent classes (pterosaurs, insects, birds, bats); and it is very unlikely that there is a common DNA sequence that specifies how to manufacture a wing. The connections between the nerve cells comprising the human brain represent much more information than can possibly be encoded in human DNA. A caterpillar has the same DNA as the butterfly it eventually becomes. Ergo, something ...
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... anomalous; that is, did the Pacific peoples possess devices or talents unrecognized today by mainstream science? For the most part, the answer seems to be NO. While the navigational abilities of the Polynesian seafarers seemed supernatural to early European explorers, it has been convincingly demonstrated -- through modern voyages -- that the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and time-passage are and were sufficient for most interisland voyages. The early Pacific navigators were adept at observing the waves, stars, birds, clouds, winds, and several other natural phenomena that carry subtle directional cues. There are, however, modern instances in which Pacific navigators bereft of the usual sensory cues seem to employ an anomalous "sense." B. Finney, in his study of the possibility of human magnetoreception, tells how one native Hawaiian navigator, though wellschooled in traditional Polynesian navigational techniques, conquered the dread doldrums on a 3,000mile voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in a way we might call "psychic.". In the doldrums, the sky is often overcast and the seas leaden, expunging the usual cues. This particular navigator, Nainoa Thompson, entered the doldrums on a black night, with 100% cloud cover. The wind was switching around and the waves cueless. Nainoa's own words were: "It was like I just got so exhausted that I just backed up against the rail, and it was almost as if, and I don't know if this is completely true, but there was something that allowed me to understand where the direction was ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 94: Jul-Aug 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Beware the ides of june -- and the rest of the month, too!Three astronomical events, all within the short span of written human history, lead J. Hartung to warn us that June is a dangerous month for earthlings. June 18, 1178. On the moon. ". .. just after sunset, it was reported by at least five men that the 'upper horn of a new moon split and from the division point fire, hot coals, and sparks spewed out.'" These observations have been interpreted as eyewitness accounts of the impact on the moon that gouged out the crater named Giordano Bruno, 20 kilometers in diameter. June 30, 1908. Siberia. "On the morning of June 30, 1908, a tremendous explosion deep in the Siberian taiga near the Tunguska river caused trees over an area of 40 km in diameter to be flattened in a radial pattern and produced a pressure wave in the atmosphere which circled the Earth." June 17-27, 1975. On the moon. ". .. an unusual meteoroid 'storm' was detected by the array of seismometers placed on the moon during the Apollo missions. The peak impact rate on the moon of 0.5 -to-50-kg objects was about 10 times the normal background during this interval. Such a high rate was not recorded at any other time during the 8-year operation of the ...
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... history of the Golden Ratio, it is surprising to learn that a test of 51 established artists and sculptors has cast doubt upon the whole business. The subjects were asked to take a pencil and divide line segments into two parts such that they formed the most pleasing proportion. The ratio of choice was a disappointing 1:2 rather than 0.618! (Macrosson, W.D .K ., and Stewart, P.E .; "The Inclination of Artists to Partition Line Sections in the Golden Ratio," Perceptual and Motor Skills , 84:707, 1997.) Why Barbie Is Beautiful. A study of a long series of hominid fossils reveals a progressive loss of some physical attributes and the acquisition of other characteristics. One wonders why evolution has been remodeling the human form in what often seem to be nonadaptive ways. A curious, superficially frivolous test may offer some insights, some of which may be profound. Drawings and photographs showing humans with various physical traits were prepared and shown to 495 subjects, who were asked to select the most attractive characteristics. In disfavor were: short shins, short legs, bowed legs, large and pointed canines, gums showing above the teeth, short thumbs, long palms, curved fingers, jutting jaws, short necks. These are all primitive features still seen in apes and monkeys. Favored were: tallness, long legs, slim waists, long necks, curved red lips, large eyes, square shoulders, straight teeth, straight fingers, smooth and hairless skin, nonsloping foreheads, flat abdomens. These are ...
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... 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 Male Dolphin Kills Man Male dolphins definitely prefer human females. In fact, a recent incident at a Sao Paulo, Brazil, beach reveals an antagonism toward human males. A wild, resident male dolphin, noted for his friendliness toward women swimmers, attacked two human males, who were evidently considered to be romantic competitors. One of the men died from internal hemorrhaging after being butted by the dolphin. The other man received a broken rib. (Anonymous; "Dolphin Prefers Women, Kills Male Playmate," Washington Times, December 11, 1994. Cr. S. Parker. COUDI item. COUDI = Collectors of Unusual DataInternational.) Comment. Obviously, dolphins are not always as friendly as Flipper. In fact, a recent TV documentary related how a female snorkeler was seized (gently) by a male false killer whale (a type of dolphin) and dragged down 100 feet before being released unhurt though nearly drowned. For additional discussions of the humananimal interface, see Biological Anomalies: Humans III. To order, see: here . From Science Frontiers #101 Sep-Oct 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Nomads Within Us It was originally believed that human chromosomes were fixed at conception and all subsequent organic development proceeded from the instructions encoded on them. Biologists have recently discovered that genes grasshopper about, constantly modifying genetic instructions -- at least that's the current thinking. Additional modification of genetic instructions seems to be accomplished by entities called "nomads" or "mobile dispersed genetic elements." One type of nomad is a simple ring of DNA called a plasmid. Plasmids seem to be identical to a kind of virus called a retrovirus, which can penetrate into cells and tamper with gene expression; that is, the way genetic instructions are interpreted. Plasmids have been discovered in maize, fruit flies, bacteria, and, now, humans -- and healthy people at that. No one is quite sure what these plasmids do. Even though they look like retroviruses, they may not be associated with illness, but rather help organisms adapt to changing environments. But no one really knows. (Anonymous; "Human Wandering Genes Can Live on Their Own," New Scientist, 94:18, 1982.) Comment. So, the human body is not only beset by new genetic instructions and the static introduced by invading viruses and other disease agents, but it has an indigenous population of nomads continually fiddling with our cells' genetic instructions. Our bodies seem more like Grand Central Station with trains loaded with new biological ...
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... Comet Smith-Tuttle. At a conference in Sydney last October, astronomer D. Steele announced that comet SmithTuttle is heading towards a possible impact with earth on August 14, 2116. This 3.1 -mile-diameter chunk of ice would have the destructive power of 20 million megatons (1 .6 million Hiroshima bombs). (Anonymous; "Astronomer Predicts Comet Collision," Baltimore Sun, October 26, 1992.) Some recent meteorite impacts. Turning from the dire consequences discussed above, just what sort of astronomical debris actually does hit the earth on a day-to-day basis? Fist-sized meteorites strike our planet about every two hours. These are the ones we read about in the newspapers; and they have left a surprisingly large legacy of damage to human structures. C. Spratt and S. Stephens, in a survey published in Mercury in 1992, listed 61 verified meteorite strikes since 1790 in which buildings and other human works were damaged. (Of course most fell harmlessly in the sea and unpopulated areas.) Spratt and Stephens also provide a table of 26 nearmisses of humans plus one confirmed human impact. At least one horse and a dog have been killed by meteorites. These lists make engrossing reading, but we cannot take the space to reproduce them here. (Spratt, Christopher, and Stephens, Sally; "Against All Odds," Mercury , 21: 50, March/April 1992.) From Science Frontiers #85, JAN-FEB 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... -Jun 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects First yeti photos?A.B . Wooldridge claims that he observed and photographed a yeti in the Himalayas in March 1986. Travelling alone toward Hemkund, at about 11,200 feet, in an area with steep wooded slopes, he encountered strange 10-inch tracks, which he duly photographed. Pushing on, he was crossing an exposed snow slope at 13,000 feet, when his run was halted by a wet snow avalanche. Moving closer to the avalanche to assess the snow's stability, he again saw the strange tracks heading across the slope to a small bush. "Behind the bush stood an erect entity over 6 feet tall. The figure, of general human proportions and stance, remained immobile, seemingly looking down the slope. 'The head was large and squarish, and the whole body appeared to be covered with dark hair.'" Wooldridge quickly snapped several photographs. He then advanced to with-in 500 feet of the entity and took more pictures. After 45 minutes of observa tion, Wooldridge decided to continue his journey. When asked why he did not approach the figure to force it to move or react, he stated that he got as close as he felt it was safe, being concerned about snow stability, the creature itself, and his solitary situation. (Anonymous; "First Yeti Photos Spark Renewed Interest," ISC Newsletter, 5:1 , Winter 1986.) Comment. The photos and sketch drawn under ...
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... writer of the two articles digested below is an M.D . and a graduate of the Harvard Medical School. This is not a hoax! Melanoma sniffing. In 1989, the Lancet , a respected British medical journal, published an article relating how a female dog, half border collie, half doberman, sniffed out a spot of melanoma on a woman. In fact, the dog ignored all of the other moles on the woman and even tried to bite off the melanoma. Melanoma is the most dreaded form of skin cancer, so this bizarre report stimulated A. Cognetta, an American dermotologist, to try an experiment. First, another dog, named George, was trained to find tubes containing melanoma samples, which he did correctly 99% of the time. Next, a human with active melanoma 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 ...
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... 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 The Diffusion Of Science In Prehistoric Times In contrast to many archeologists who tend to play down the intelligence of prehistoric humans, B.A . Frolov insists that these "primitive hunters" constucted surprisingly sophisticated models of the natural world, especially the motions of celestial bodies. Many of these models seem to have been non-utilitarian; that is, built only to satisfy intellectual curiosity. Furthermore, some scientific notions were widespread geographically, indicating perhaps long lines of communication. To illustrate, Frolov cites the similar astronomical sophistication revealed by the Lake Onega petroglyphs in Russia and those at Stonehenge. He also points out that the aborigines of North America, Australia, and Siberia all called the Pleiades the "Seven Sisters." Coincidence is very unlikely here, he says. This and other notions must have existed before Australia and North America were peopled. The absence of writing as we know it would not have deterred ancient humans from developing and communicating mathematical and scientific skills and accumulating knowledge, possibly in the form of myth. (Frolov, B.A .; "On Astronomy in the Stone Age," Current Anthropology, 22: 585, 1981.) Comment. A passing thought: may not writing as well as today's omnipresent computers be crutches that permit our memories and mental skills to deteriorate? In our Handbook The Unfathomed Mind, we present many cases of remarkable memory and information-processing ability. Such skills ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 126: Nov-Dec 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Knismesis And Gargalesis This item is not as serious as its pretentious title. Everyone has experienced both of these ominous-sounding physiological conditions. One can inflict knismesis upon one's self, but gargalesis requires someone else or perhaps a human-like robot (android) to perform the act. All right, so knismesis and gargalesis are really only the two recognized kinds of tickling; but the latter form stimulates several interesting physiological conundrums. First, let's separate the two conditions. Knismesis is very light stimulation of the skin, say by a feather. It rarely produces laughter and can be induced autonomously, by someone else, by a crawling insect, or even by mild electricity. Gargalesis cannot be selfinduced. It consists of heavier pressures applied to specific parts of the body, especially the ribs and arm pits. But the finger probing usually has to be done by someone else. Gargalesis is often very unpleasant but is nevertheless likely to be accompanied by smiles and laughter. In fact, gargalesis can be so disturbing that medieval torturers supposedly tickled some of their victims to death! (A variant of Chinese water torture?) Ticklish areas on the human body. Tickling becomes anomalous only with gargalesis. The questions are: Why does this kind of tickling elicit laughter when it is so unpleasant? Why cannot one tickle one's self this way? At least most people can't . Why does gargalesis exist ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects John heymer still doesn't believe the stock shc explanations!IN SF#46, John Heymer described the death scene of Henry Thomas -- a suspected case of SHC (Spontaneous Human Combustion). He now gives details for a remarkably similar case, that of an Annie Webb, of Newport, Gwent, U.K . "The two deaths had amazing similarities, not the least of which was the fact that both people had reduced the intake of air into their rooms by draught-proofing them. Thomas had sealed both doors to his room with a standard draught excluder, while Webb had inserted strips of newspaper into every possible gap around both the door and window of her room. "The torsos of both persons were completely destroyed. Not a single organ survived except a leather-like shrunken left lung in the case of Webb. All the bones were reduced to ash from the neck to the midthigh. "In both cases the blackened skulls and untouched lower portions of legs remained. Webb's right arm was also intact. She had been incinerated on the floor with her arm outflung from her torso, hence its survival. "As in the case of Thomas, furniture in Webb's room, which had commenced to burn, stopped burning due to the lack of oxygen. Yet again a complete human torso was reduced to ash in an atmosphere too devoid of oxygen to support the continued combustion ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 11: Summer 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bering Strait Theory Again In Trouble If humans first populated North America via the Bering land bridge 10-20,000 years ago, how did human bones and artifacts get buried under a 50,000-year-old alluvial fan in California? Dogma demands that such finds be discredited. Thus, "Pleistocene Man at San Diego," the Calaveras Skull, and dozens of other archeological anomalies have been dismissed as the hoaxes and misidentifications of nonprofessionals. The latest hint of truly ancient man in America came after heavy rains in 1976 cut through 21 meters of deposits at Yuha Pinto Wash, just north of the Mexican border in California. The artifacts, still firmly in place, and associated bones are undeniably human. The overlying sediments are dated at more than 50,000 years old. (Childers, W. Morlin, and Minshall, Herbert L.; "Evidence of Early Man Exposed at Yuha Pinto Wash," American Antiquity, 45:297, 1980.) Reference. More evidence against the Bering land bridge hypothesis may be found in Ancient Man. This Handbook is described here . From Science Frontiers #11, Summer 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 62: Mar-Apr 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A HAIR-RAISING PHENOMENON The Creation Research Society Quarterly often touches on subjects avoided by the establishment scientific journals. In the latest issue, a medical doctor reviews the hoary ontogeny-recapitulates-phylogeny hypothesis. As classically stated by evolutionists, the human embryo passes through stages in which it looks like creatures that preceded it in evolution. The doctor, G.R . Culp, remarks that although evolutionists maintain that reputable scientists no longer employ this argument as evidence for evolution, the "recapitulation" claim is still being made in some classrooms and even during some of the recent creationist-evolutionist debates. In some humans such as the "hairy child" sketched above, the lanugo or natal hair persists beyond the womb. Drawing from Incredible Life. Culp then shows why the recapitulation claim failed in five stages in the development of the human embryo. A rich lode of anomalies exists here: cells migrate purposefully, mysterious struc-tures grow and then disappear; it is a kaleidoscope of changing structures and processes. Take, for example, the "hair stage": "The embryo is covered with very fine hair at about the seventh month of development of the embryo. The evolutionist claims that this is evidence that men came from hairy mammals like the apes. However, these hairs are unlike the hair found on apes, as they are very small in diam eter and always soft and unpigmented. This hair disappears from the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 110: Mar-Apr 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is oliver a "humanzee"?Oliver: male, 30ish, very hairy, height 1.2 meters, weight 50 kilos, erect posture, unusual ears, offensive odor. Oscar always walks on two feet, uses a human toilet (which he flushes), can mix drinks, and enjoys a cup of coffee and a nightcap. Chimps ignore him; humans wonder what he is. Superficially, Oscar is definitely chimp-like; but shave his head and he becomes eerily human. Although Oscar was widely exhibited in the 1970s, his fame diminished in the 1980s. But now, scientists want to count his chromosomes and find out what he really is. One suggestion is a cross between a chimpanzee and a bonobo (a "pygmy chimpanzee"). Or how about a chimp-human hybrid? There have been dark rumors of hushhush experiments in China, Italy, and the U.S . We'll let you know what the geneticists conclude -- unless there is more "hush-hush." (Holden, Constance; "' Mutant' Chimp Gets a Gene Check," Science, 274:727, 1996. Also: Anonymous; "Oo-be-doo, I Want to Be Like You," Fortean Times, no. 95, p. 15, February 1997.) From Science Frontiers #110, MAR-APR 1997 . 1997-2000 William R ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 91: Jan-Feb 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dna Undermines Key Paradigms Lately, the Wall Street Journal has expanded its coverage from stocks and bonds to the Marfa lights and other scientific anomalies. Now, it is challenging archeological sacred cows using mitochondrial DNA. Quite a switch from pork futures! Of course, the WSJ is not a recognized scientific source, but its reporter did get his information directly from D.C . Wallace, a well-known professor of genetics and molecular medicine at Emory University and a champion of the African Eve theory. Surely an unusual illustration for the archeology section, but the DNA in these mitochondria may upset long-held theories of human migration. Anyway, Wallace has been studying mitochondria, those little energizers in human and animal cells. Strangely, mitochondria have their own DNA, which is separate and distinct from the nuclear DNA that directs other biological processes. Mitochondrial DNA has had its own history of evolution and is different for various human populations. Wallace has used this fact to trace the origins of American Indians by comparing their mitochondrial DNA with that from Asians, Africans, etc. His conclusions are controversial to say the least. The Amerinds, who comprise most of the Native Americans, arrived in a single migratory wave 20,000-40,000 years ago -- not merely 12,000 years ago! Native Siberians lack a peculiar mutation of mitochondrial DNA that appeared in the Amerinds 6,000-10,000 years ago ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 90: Nov-Dec 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Smouldering Corpse Not Shc That smouldering corpse found in a Syracuse cemetery (SF#89) turns out to have been a case of murder rather than SHC (Spontaneous Human Combustion). D. Nelson has confessed to stabbing the victim and ultimately dumping the body in the cemetery and setting it ablaze with gasoline. (O 'Hara, Jim; "Cop Reads Defendant's Confession," Syracuse Herald-Journal, September 29, 1993. Cr. R. Barrow) From Science Frontiers #90, NOV-DEC 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 68: Mar-Apr 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Two-faced indians trick tigers A significant hazard for fishermen and forest workers in western Bengal is a tiger attack. As these Indians go about their fishing, wood chopping, and honey gathering, tigers are wont to sneak up from behind, spring, and carry off a good-sized meal. But in recent experiments, some 900 volunteers have been wearing human masks on the backs of their heads. This strategem has cut ti-ger attacks drastically. The idea is that tigers, trailing a potential supper, see that human face and figure that the person is alert and watchful. In fact, tigers have been known to track maskwearers for hours without attacking. Pretty clever! How long before the tigers catch on? (Anonymous; "Protective Mimicry in Humans," BioScience, 39:750, 1989.) From Science Frontiers #68, MAR-APR 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 68: Mar-Apr 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Now it's greece!The general consensus is that modern humans first emerged in Africa. This assertion was challenged in SF#66, where an origin in southeast Asia was championed. Now, it's Greece! "The immediate ancestors to the human family - the hominids - might have been living in Greece, rather than Afica, some 10 million years ago in the late Miocene, according to the French palaeontologist Luis de Bonis. "In September 1989, de Bonis and George Koufos of the University of Thessaloniki discovered the fossilized face of an ape-like creature, Ourano pithecus, at a site in the Valley of Rain, 40 kilometres northwest of Thessaloniki. Although the fossil has not yet reached the scientific press, de Bonis has publically described it as a possible precursor of the earliest known hominid species, Australopithecus afarensis , from Africa 3.5 million years ago." (Lewin, Roger; "Humans May Have Come from Greece, Not Africa," New Scientist, p. 35, January 27, 1990.) From Science Frontiers #68, MAR-APR 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects How And When The Americas Were Peopled We quote from R. Gruhn's abstract in the journal Man. "A study of aboriginal language distributions supports Knut Fladmark's hypothesis that the initial source of entry of peoples into the New World was along the Pacific Coast rather than through the interior ice-free corridor. The greatest diversification of aboriginal languages, as indicated by the number of language isolates and major subdivisions of language phyla, is observed on the Pacific Northwest Coast, in California, on the northern Gulf of Mexico Coast, in Middle America, and in South America. Following a conventional principle of historical linguistics, it is assumed that the development of language diversification is proportional to time depth of human occupation of an area. A review of the archeological evidence from the areas of greatest language diversification indicates a time depth of at least 35,000 years for human occupation of most of the Americas." (Gruhn, Ruth; "Linguistic Evidence in Support of the Coastal Route of Earliest Entry into the New World," Man, 23:77, 1988. Cr. E. Ferget.) Comment. Did that last sentence say "35,000 years"? Surely this cannot be an American archeological publication. It isn't ? Man is produced by the Royal Anthropological Institute in London. In the States, 12,000 years remains the maximum age of entry of humans into the New World. While the above article focuses on the analysis of languages, many ...
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... the Bering Land Bridge about 12,000 years ago -- about 2,000 years before the termination of the Ice Ages. Despite tight discipline among most professional archeologists (jobs and grants go only to approved individuals), a few cracks are beginning to appear. As reported in SF#47, a Brazilian site has now been reliably dated at 32,000 years. If these early Brazilians came over the Bering Land Bridge, they must have left even earlier traces in North America. In fact, there are two hotly debated North American sites that seem to be very much older than the one in Brazil; namely, the Calico site in California; and a spot along the Old Crow River in the Yukon. Thousands of stone artifacts, apparently showing signs of being shaped by humans, have been recovered at Calico over the past two decades. The Calico artifacts are usually contemptuously dismissed as naturally fractured chert flakes. But at the other end of the belief spectrum (Don't laugh, much of science is just as much of a belief system as religion!) are those who see a long human history at Calico. B. Bower writes: "Two periods of human occupation have been dated at Calico. From about 15,000 to 20,000 years ago the area was inhabited by what [R .D .] Simpson suggests was a huntinggathering people with more sophisticated tools, including stones flaked on both sides. In deeper layers estimated to be at least 200,000 years old are the simpler flakes of people, she says, who probably ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 122: Mar-Apr 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Few Potential Ehes R.A . White, Founder/Director of the Exceptional Human Experience Network (EHEN), has spread out a fascinating smorgasbord of some 200 potential EHEs. We have room for only a quick snack: Accelerating thinking Aesthetic experience Conversion Ecstasy Enlightenment Gaia consciousness Guru/holy-person encounter Hyperacuity Inspiration Intuition Lucid dreaming Lucky hunches Meaningful coincidences Peace beyond understanding Peak performance Serendipity Soulmate experience Synchronicity World-Wide Web experience (White, Rhea A.; "List of Potential Exceptional Human Experiences," Exceptional Human Experience , 15:41, no. 1, June 1997.) Comment. Hard-core reductionists may complain that the listed experiences are "fuzzy." But are they fuzzier than those "ghost universes" or the newly predicted "sterile" neutrinos? From Science Frontiers #122, MAR-APR 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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