549 results found.
... , the clarifica-tion of the nature of space and time in this theoretical development removes the obstacles that have hitherto prevented science from conceding the existence of anything outside the boundaries of the physical realm. "In conventional science, space and time constitute a framework, or setting, within which the entire universe is contained. On the basis of this viewpoint, everything that exists, in a real sense, exists in space and in time. Scientists believe that the whole of this real universe is now within their field of observation, and they see no indication of anything non-physical. It follows that anyone who accepts the findings of conventional science at their face value cannot accept the claims of religion, or any other non-material system of thought. This is the origin of the long-standing antagonism between science and religion, a conflict which most scientists find it necessary to evade by keeping their religious beliefs separate from their scientific beliefs. "In the Reciprocal System, on the other hand, space and time are contents of the universe, rather than a container in which the universe exists. On this basis, the 'universe' of space and time, the physical universe, to which conventional science is restricted, is only one portion of existence as a whole, the real 'universe' (a word which means the total of all that exists). This leaves the door wide open for the existence of entities and phenomena outside (that is, independent of) the physical universe, as contended by the various religions and many systems of philosophy." ...
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... . Swamp forest reaches to the very edge of the water. From this difficult-to-reach body of water, almost right on the equator, come reports of a large unidentified animal -- Mokele-Mbembe. In 1983, Marcelin Agnagna, a biologist, led an expedition to Lake Tele in hopes of observing MokeleMbembe. The expedition was successful, but we don't know too much more than we did before. Agnagna and others ob-served the animal from a distance of about 240 meters. Unfortunately no photos were taken. Mokele-Mbembe appeared as shown in the accompanying sketch. What is it? (Agnagna, Marcelin; "Results of the First Congolese Mokele-Mbembe Expedition," Cryptozoology, 2:103, 1983.) Comment. Vague rumors have long floated abound that dinosaurs survive in deepest Africa! Maybe they are true. Sketch of a large animal seen in Lake Tele that may be the famous Mokele-Mbembe. From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... continuous sonar monitoring for seven weeks to a depth of 33 meters in an area where many previous sonar contacts had been reported showed no evidence of anything larger than a 1-meter fish. The circumstances under which previous expeditions had obtained sonar and photographic evidence in support of the existence of the Loch Ness monster could not withstand scrutiny. The evidence itself revealed discrepancies. This is especially true of the Academy's flipper photographs, the published versions of which differ from the original computer-enhanced photographs. Careless deployment of equipment and over-zealous interpretation of the data account for much of the so-called scientific evidence. While it is not possible to prove definitely that the monster does not exist, the evidence so far advanced strongly suggests that the Loch Ness monster is nothing more than a long-lived and extremely entertaining legend." The "Academy" mentioned above is the Academy of Applied Science. This article reproduced both the original JPL computer-enhanced photo of the famed flipper and the photo that was widely published. The "retouching" seems extensive. (Razdan, Rikki, and Kielar, Alan; "Sonar and Photographic Searches for the Loch Ness Monster: A Reassessment," Skeptical Inquirer, 9:147, 1984.) Reference. Some sea serpents may be mammals. These are cataloged in Chapter BMU in our Biological Anomalies: Mam mals II. A description of this book may be found here . From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... birds than reptiles, for example, as expressed in the illustration. A key connecting character here is mutual warmbloodedness. The shifting of a few lines in a cladogram may seem trivial to the nonbiologist, but saying that man is more closely related to a chicken than a lizard is pretty controversial stuff to the conservative evolutionist. DNA analysis supports the contention that humans are more closely related to birds than reptiles. Paleontological evidence, however, supports the opposite view. The fight rages on. (Benton, Mike; "Is a Dog More Like a Lizard or a Chicken?" New Scientist, p. 18, August 16, 1984.) Comment. It all seems to boil down to morphology in the end. Which is a more faithful record of the development of life through the long eons, the phenotype (what the organism looks like) or the genotype (what the DNA looks like)? This may be a dangerous simplification. Why? Because life just may be shaped by more than DNA. Standard evolution cladogram (left). Cladogram based only on characters (right). The numbers are millions of years before present. From Science Frontiers #36, NOV-DEC 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Horsing Around With Evolution In the Borrego Badlands of California, Barbara Quinan has stumbled upon the fossilized skull of a modern horse, E. equus. The skull was found in situ, partly mineralized, a process usually requiring hundreds of thousands of years. Mammoth bones punctuate the strata immediately above and below those containing the horse fossil. The paleontological anomaly is that modern horses were supposed to have evolved in Asia and not brought to the New World until the Spanish explorers landed. The only way to evade rewriting horse history is to: (1 ) Cast doubt on the dating of the strata, or (2 ) Insist that the fossil is not really a horse at all but a similar animal, such as the long-headed zebra. (Smith, Gordon; "E . Equus: Immigrant or Emigrant?" Science 84, 5:76, April 1984.) From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mysterious "thing" in orbit around saturn When the two Voyager spacecraft flew past Saturn, both detected strong bursts of radio emissions recurring every 10 hours, 10 minutes. New termed SEDs (Saturn Electrostatic Discharges), the period of these bursts would be matched by the period of an object rotating around Saturn at a distance of about 100,000 kilometers. Is there anything visible at this distance? Sure enough, Voyager optical instrumentation detected a thinning, possibly an actual gap, about 150 meters wide, in the B-ring at this radius. The big puzzle is why a thinness or gap is maintained over a long period of time and how it is associated with the SEDs. (Evans, D.R ., et al; "The Source of Saturn Electrostatic Discharges," Nature, 299:236, 1982.) Comment. Could Saturn and its rings, which may be electrically charged, be some sort of electromagnetic machine, with arcing occurring at the gap? Reference. SEDs are cataloged at ARF1 in our book: The Moon and the Planets. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... "dispicable." (My! How conventional people hate unconventional people!) In this new book, Hoyle goes far beyond his previous thesis, which in essence declared that from statistical considerations life could not have arisen and evolved on earth. Rather, life had to come from outer space, probably in the form of bacteria and viruses. Evolution was and is dependent upon new information arriving from outer space on tiny bits of life. Hoyle now greatly extends his theory: "But where did a knowledge of amino acid chains of enzymes come from? To use a geological analogy, the knowledge came from the cosmological equivalent of a previous era, from a previously existing creature if you like, a creature that was not carbon-based, one that was permitted by an environment that existed long ago. So information is handed on in a Universe where the lower symmetries of physics -- and characteristics of particles and atoms -- are slowly changing, forcing the manner of storage of the information to change also in such a way as to match the physics. It is this process that is responsible for our present existence, and it is the one which our descendants would be fated to continue." To continue his search for the ultimate, Hoyle recognizes that, contrary to what transpires in the inorganic world, life as-a -whole is actually gaining order and information. He sees life leading the universe forward to a remarkable future: "That biological systems are able in some way to utilise the opposite time-sense in which radiation propagates from future to past. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 34: Jul-Aug 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The mind's control of bodily processes T.X . Barber has reviewed the role of the mind in the control of many physiological processes in a chapter appearing in a new book. The chapter is 58 pages long, with 176 references, making it a major contribution to the subject. To give the reader the flavor of this paper, two paragraphs are now reproduced: "The data presented in this chapter should, once and for all, topple the dualistic dichotomy between mind and body which has strongly dominated Western thought since Descartes. The meanings or ideas imbedded in words which are spoken by one person and deeply accepted by another can be communicated to the cells of the body (and to chemicals within the cells); the cells then can change their activities in order to conform to the meanings or ideas which have been transmitted to them. The believed-in (suggested) idea of being stimulated by a poison ivy-type plant, transmitted to a person who is normally hypersensitive to this type of plant, can affect specific cells (probably in the immunological and vascular systems) so that they produce the same type of dermatitis which results when the person actually is stimulated by a poison ivy-type plant. Similarly, individuals who are viewed as allergic to pollen or house dust may not manifest the allergic reaction when they believe (falsely) that they have not been exposed to the allergic substance. .. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 25: Jan-Feb 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Anomalons Are Lazy Or Fat No, an "anomalon" is not an animal unknown to science. "Anomalon" is the name that has been given to unusual fragments that are created in high-energy collisions of atomic nuclei. The fragments are peculiar because they appear not to travel as far as expected in the special "nuclear" emulsion used to study the interactions of high-energy nuclei from heavy-ion accelerators or in cosmic rays. This suggests that the anomalons are either much larger than conventional nuclei, and are more likely to interact in the emulsion and therefore do not travel so far, or are some unusually long-lived form of matter, lasting for around 1011 seconds or more." One thought is that anomalons may be constructed of two triplets of quarks. These sextets are called "demon deuterons." Another hypothesis has small nuclei bound loosely together -- they don't say by what. The whole thing is up in the air, or should we say in the emulsion? (Sutton, Christine; "Anomalon Data Continue to Baffle Physicists," New Scientist, 96:160, 1982.) Comment. One thing is sure, nuclear physicists have a lot of fun naming their newly found particles. From Science Frontiers #25, JAN-FEB 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... No. 26: Mar-Apr 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Earthquake And Subterranean Fire 1738. Month and day are unknown. Pecs, 46 06' N, 18 15' E.I = 7.5 - 8 . A very mysterious event was observed. Near Pecs, a black cliff named Szennyes (= dirty or filthy) belched forth fire during three days, accompanied by an earthquake that was strongly felt in the town of Pecs. After this shock fires were also seen on many occasions from the cliff. Naturally it was not a volcanic manifestation. The nature of this particular event is perfectly obscure. (Note by the author, P.H . "An earthquake light is improbable because of the long time during which the phenomenon was see." (Hedervari, Peter; "Unusual Phenomena Associated with Earthquakes within the Carpathian Basins," Compilation from personal files, 1983.) Comment. Compare this phenomenon with the detonations and flashes from Old Hannah's Cave, Staffordshire, England, as reported in SF#22. From Science Frontiers #26, MAR-APR 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... forbidden spectral lines that vary in intensity about every 30 minutes. It is not the "forbidden" character of the spectral likes that disturb the astronomers. (" Forbidden" simply means "improbable" in spectroscopy!) Rather, it is the half-hour variations that pose the dilemma. This is because most astronomers are convinced that the said forbidden lines are emitted by regions of the quasar that are 100-10,000 light years across. A disturbance or physical change leading to a variation in intensity, even travelling at the speed of light, could not begin to move across this huge region in half an hour. Yet, the changes in intensity seem to be there, inferring a physical change that travels perhaps a million times faster than physics permits. Variations in intensity decades long would be acceptable, but half an hour is out-of-the-question! The author of this referenced comment in Nature believes that the observational procedures employed must be at fault. (Gaskell, C. Martin; "Spectra That Defy Explanation," Nature, 304:212, 1983.) Comment. This possible anomaly is closely related to the so-called superluminal velocities also observed in quasars, in which physical effects seem to travel faster than light. Apparently something is very wrong in our model of a quasar, or our distance scale, or even our basic physics. From Science Frontiers #29, SEP-OCT 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... a creator with a mysterious plan or purpose of his own. And certainly by any standard for judging a creative artist, to carry life from bacteria to man in three billion years is a startlingly immense creative achievement. Even the creation of a planet like the Earth is also a remarkable creative achievement. All such con-siderations are clearly beyond the competence of science to either affirm or deny." Example 4. The role of chance in evolution is assumed by Pollard, as it is by most scientists. The atoms and mole-cules had to have just the right properties as well as enough time and room to fall together into humankind. "Could it be that whoever or whatever started this universe, some 18 billion years ago in the big bang, designed it to last that long, and therefore to be as big as it is, in order to have an opportunity to create man?" Example 5. The fruitfulness of mathematics. "Since the seventeenth century, we have had at least four major and numerous minor examples of mathematical systems which were produced initially as pure products of the human mind simply for our delight in their inner beauty, but which later turned out to mirror the workings of the natural world accurately and precisely in every detail in ways completely unforeseen and unexpected by their originators." In other words, God is a geometer. (Pollard, William G.; "Rumors of Transcendence in Physics," American Journal of Physics, 52:877, 1984.) Comment. Pollard's article is laced with reductionism; that is ...
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... while typical Eocene vertebrate fossils appear some 2 to 4 million years early." (Hickey, Leo J., et al; "Arctic Terrestrial Biota: Paleomagnetic Evidence of Age Disparity with Mid-Northern Latitudes During the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary," Science, 221:1153, 1983.) Comment. The anomaly here is in the vision of the high Arctic lands basking in the warm sun busily evolving new life forms well in advance of their appearance in lands closer to the Equator. What happened to the earth's axial tilt. These fecund polar territories should have been engulfed in darkness almost half of the year -- hardly an environment for precocious plant evolution. Further, trees found buried in the Arc-tic muck could never have grown where found due to the long polar darkness. From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... feet in the Front ranges. ". .. it may be calculated to represent at least 10,000 cubic miles of broken crinoid plates." Two implications are: Even if the earth's biosphere were completely converted into oil, coal, and limestone each year, the earth would have to be far older than the 6000 years desired by the creationists, unless most of the carbon deposits had non-biological origins, which seems unlikely. The immense inventory of carbon tied up in biologically produced deposits was originally abiogenic. Where did it come from? Abiogenic methane and carbon dioxide released from the crust seem the most likely sources. This means that the crust must have once had, and may still have, prodigious supplies of methane. T. Gold and S. Soter have long argued that the earth's crust still retains and sometimes releases methane. (Morton, Glenn R.; "The Carbon Problem," Creation Research Society Quarterly, 20:212, 1984.) Comment. Methane gas releases may account for several anomalies, such as earthquake lights and unidentified detonations. From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... That the universe began with the Big Bang is now so ingrained in our thinking that we almost never search for plausible alternatives. Perhaps the Big Bang is just a facade that diverts us from theories that better explain the observed characteristics of the universe. A trio of American and British astron omers (B .J . Carr, J.R . Bond, W.D . Arnett) are exploring the possibility that the cosmos began with a generation of very massive stars rather than the debris of the Big Bang. These huge stars would have had masses 100 or so times that of the sun. By virtue of the much higher pressures and temperatures at their cores, they would have burnt up their fuel inventories much faster than sun-sized stars. Thus they would have burnt themselves out long ago, probably surviving as black holes. Such an ancient generation of massive stars can explain four puzzling features of the universe: (1 ) The amount and character of the background microwave radiation. (2 ) The identity of the "missing mass" needed to hold the universe together (i .e ., the relict black holes). (3 ) The primordial abundance of helium. (4 ) The near-absence of heavy elements in the universe. Although the success of this hypothesis is far from total, it might help wean us away from the Big Bang. (Maddox, John; "Alternatives to the Big Bang," Nature, 308:491, 1984.) Comment. Note that, like the Big Bang itself, the generation of massive stars ...
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... large solid particles). The object disappeared behind clouds, bearing about 170 (T ) at an elevation of approximately 35 , and lighting the edges of the clouds. The time taken for the passage was around 20 seconds. It was obviously a very large object, judging from its apparent size as seen from sea level. The impression given was that of an object within the atmosphere, easily showing around a one-penny piece held at arm's length." (Edwards, R.A .F .; "Unidentified Flying Object," Marine Observer, 54:82, 1984) Comment. This seems to be a description of a large fireball, but the direction of flight (north-south) is unusual and the time of passage (20 seconds) extremely long for a meteor. Large, very sluggish fireball trailing sparks over the North Atlantic. From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... be semi-transparent, in so much as I could see through to the inside of the opposite side, which appeared quite smooth -- all the spikes pointing outwards from the surface. It appeared to me to be insubstantial and made no sound. It drifted between the two of us towards the television screen at about 30 inches (75 cm) from the floor, covering the six feet (2 m) in about four seconds. When about eight inches from the screen it disappeared (imploded?) with a fairly loud crack/pop sound leaving behind a smell as of an electrical discharge." (Rowe, Michael W.; "Another Unusual Ball Lightning Incident," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 9:135, 1984.) Reference. A long chapter on ball lightning (GLB) can be found in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #36, NOV-DEC 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... particles manufactured by bacteria are cubes, hexagonal prisms, or noncrystalline teardrops. The magnetite found in marine sediments appears to be organically formed -- at least the shapes of the particles are characteristic of bacterial manufacture. Apparently these industrious bacteria have been busy producing magnetite ever since "lowly" life forms appeared in the Precambrian. These facts pose at least four questions: How much of the earth's iron ore has been concentrated biologically and is there a connection with the Gaia Hypothesis? Is it possible that magnetic field reversals, now believed to be of purely geophysical origin, might be biological artifacts (that is, due to population and/ or species changes of magnetic bacteria)? If magnetic field reversals are of geophysical origin, how do the magnetic bacteria find their food sources during the long periods of near-zero field? Lab experiments prove that magnetic bacteria require free oxygen to secrete magnetite, but the Precambrian atmosphere and oceans were supposedly devoid of oxygen until 2.3 billion years ago. How did the magnetic bacteria prosper before then? (Simon, C.; "Tiniest Fossils May Record Magnetic Field," Science News, 124:308, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Two Remarkable Inscribed Stones The first stone is located in western Colorado on a remote canyon ledge, overlooking a broad valley with a stream. "The dolmen is four feet across the top and has three placed stones holding it above the ledge in a level position approximately six feet from the cliff face. The Ogam on top of the capstone is intermixed with cupule-like depressions ranging in size from 7 "- 9 " long, 3"-3 " wide and 1 "- 1 " deep in the center. The cupule-like depressions are very striking because of their uniformity, smoothness, and peculiar shape. The Ogam on the side of the capstone is abundant and occasionally connecting with lines on the top. The surface of the dolmen was obviously smoothed and prepared for the inscriptions. The actual age is unknown but the desert varnish on the Ogam, the depressions, and the smoothed surface is substantial." The Colorado inscribed dolmen in situ. The top is also inscribed. Barry Fell has translated the markings, which in his view are in Arabic Ogam, as: Top: God is strong. Strong to help his right hand. Front: The Koran is the unique achievement of the prophet pious and tender. (Morehouse, Judy; "A Colorado Dolmen Inscribed with Ogam," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications, 11:209, no. 269, 1983.) Comment. A photograph accompanying the ...
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... and paralyzed. The best thing she could do, said her doctor, was to go home and make arrangements for the future of her young son and daughter." Instead Anna learned how to "image." She conceived the tumor to be a dragon on her back and her white blood cells as knights attacking the dragon with swords. A year later, the tumor had shrunk. Later, it disappeared complete-ly. Can "imaging" work? Obviously, this is a very controversial question. Admittedly, little real scientific research has been done on imaging per se -- it is a bit too radical a concept. But a few scientists are beginning to chart the chemistry and information flow in the mind-body relationship. For example, the death of a spouse has long been associated with the increased mortality of the surviving spouse. Clinical studies of bereaved spouses reveal fewer circulating lymphocytes, which help the body fight disease, and significantly higher levels of cortisol, a substance that suppresses the immune system's response to disease. Although it is very early in the game, there are verifiable correlations between state-of-mind and body chemistry. Further, other researchers have found that there are sympathetic nerve terminals in such organs as the spleen and lymph nodes, both of which play important parts in defending the body. Imaging just might send the right signals through these terminals, while depression might tend to shut the defense system down. (Hammer, Signe; "The Mind as Healer," Science Digest, 92:47, 1984.) Comment ...
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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 Killer Fungi Cast Sticky Nets Your garden soil likely contains nematodes (popularly called eelworms) that will gnaw away at your crops. Nematodes are about a millimeter long and very active, thrashing through the soil like fish through water. Their numbers are kept in check by a surprisingly sophisticated fungus which thrives on them. If nematodes are around (not otherwise), the fungus sets out two kinds of traps. The first is the sticky net made of threads sent out by the fungus. Any nematode that brushes against these sticky strands is held while the fungus rams special feeding pegs into it. The second kind of trap is even more marvelous. It is an array of rings, each consisting of three unique cells that are sensitive to touch. Attracted by alluring chemicals secreted by the fungus, the nematodes probe around the rings. In a tenth of a second after they are touched, the fungus rings contract around the interloping nematodes. Again the nematode is doomed as the terrible feeding pegs penetrate its body. Another chemical is then released by the fungus to keep other fungi away from its kill. (Simons, Paul; "The World of the Killer Fungi," New Scientist, 20, March 1, 1984.) Comment. Does anyone really believe that even the "simplest" form of life is really simple? From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... the equations.... "Some of the branch lines discussed here serve the optimists, while others seem pessimistic to an unprecedented degree. We have laid out only the outline of a full analysis of the problem. Further work should consider every experimental test that could be applied to this fundamental question of humanity's uniqueness. "This survey demonstrates that the Universe has many more ways to be nasty than previously discussed. Indeed, the only hypotheses proposed which appear to be wholly consistent with observation and with non-exclusivity -- 'Deadly Probes' and 'Ecological Holocaust' -- are depressing to consider. "Still, while the author does not accept that elder species will necessarily be wiser than contemporary humanity, such noble races might have appeared. If such a culture lived long, and retained much of its vigor of youth, it might have instilled a tradition of respect for the hidden potential of life in subsequent space-faring species. "It might turn out that the Great Silence is like that of a child's nursery, wherein adults speak softly, lest they disturb the infant's extravagant and colourful time of dreaming." (Brin, Glen David; "The 'Great Silence,' The Controversy Concerning Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life," Royal Astronomical Society, Quarterly Journal, 24:283, 1983.) Comment. It would be unrealistic not to expect an editorial comment after this article, perhaps to the point that any really intelligent entities would consider rocketry and physical space travel as crude and demeaning. Fred Hoyle may have been closer to ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The big divot!Sometime between mid-September and October 18, North-central Washington. ". .. a chunk of earth weighing tons was plucked out of a wheat field, as though someone use a 'giant cookie cutter' and put down, right side up, 73 feet away. 'All we know for sure is that this puzzle piece of earth is 73 feet away from the hole it came out of,' said Greg W. Behrens, a geologist with the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam. The displaced slab, mostly soil held together by roots, is about 10 feet long and 7 feet wide. Its thickness varies from 2 feet at one end to about 18 inches at the other. The shape and thickness of the piece exactly match the hole that was left behind, just like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, though it was rotated about 20 degrees." There are no marks left by machinery in the area; and the sides of the hole reveal dangling roots, indicating that the slab was torn out rather than cut out. A final item of possible interest: on October 9, there was a small quake, magnitude 3, with the epicenter 20 miles southwest of the hole. (Anonymous; "A Rare Phenomenon Moves Earth," Philadelphia Inquirer, November 25, 1984. Also: many other papers, mostly in the west.) Comment. The ...
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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 Bad Spin Split Astronomers have long realized that the angular momentum of the sun is only 1/180th that of the solar system as a whole. The overwhelming majority of the angular momentum is tied up in planetary motion. To make matters even more puzzling, the angular-momentum vectors of the sun and the planetary system are 7 apart. The implication is that the sun and planets could not have been formed by the rapid condensation of a molecular cloud -- the present theory. Rapid condensation requires that the sun get a much bigger share of the angular momentum. These anomalies have led T. Gold to propose a slow-condensation model, in which several hundred million years are required rather than the tens of thousands of years in the current scenario. Another unexpected feature of Gold's model makes the sun a degenerate object, perhaps a neutron star. As the author of this article states: "Gold has stood the conventional view of the origin of the solar system on its head." (Maddox, John; "Origin of Solar System Redefined," Nature, 308:223, 1984.) Reference. The above "spin-split" enigma is discussed more thoroughly in ABB3 in our Catalog: The Sun and Solar System Debris. See description of this book at here . From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... leys to be figments of the imagination of amateurs. This being so, they must be incensed by the claims made two weeks later in New Scientist. There, stimulated by the earlier report on leys, a retired engineer presented his measurements of the magnetic fields around the Rollright Stones. He maintained that he was able to magnetically detect several converging leys and, in addition, a spiral pattern inside the stone circle. A psychic accompanying him independently perceived the leys and spiral. (Devereux, Paul, and Forrest, Robert; "Straight Lines on an Ancient Landscape," New Scientist, 96:822, 1982. Also: Brooker, Charles; "Magnetism and the Standing Stones," New Scientist, 97:105, 1983.) Comment. Psychics, especially dowsers, have long maintained that megalithic sites are the foci of mysterious forces, notably spirals. This is pretty wild stuff for a respected science journal to print. The editors would be well-advised to send someone with a magnetometer down to the Rollright Stones to straighten out this matter. Magnetically located leys and spiral at the Rollright Stones, England. From Science Frontiers #26, MAR-APR 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 26: Mar-Apr 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Slithering Patch Of Light September 8, 1981. Te Ngaere, New Zealand. Inside a house during a thunderstorm. "The next lightning seemed directly overhead and very bright and was accompanied by a simultaneous very loud clap of thunder. I looked up as the whole house shook and then looked down and saw a flow of light come in under the door. It settled in a blob near the edge of the area where the tools were laid out. It was not in any true shape but about 3 or 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, moving along the floor, less than half an inch thick, seemingly fluid in shape and texture. It reminded me of quicksilver, being a bluish-silver colour and it had rounded sides like a blob of mercury. It was brighter at the edges than in the middle, but it did not seem, especially in the light of the room, to glow, nor did it give out sparks. From the central body arms flowed out like runs of oil among the tools. The trails weaved through the tools -- not actually over them but round them -- moving back into the main body of the blob and then going out doing the same kind of movement over again. There was no sound or smell. The arms finally all went back into the blob which disappeared again suddenly out under the door. There was no bang and when I ventured to touch ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 10: Spring 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Long-delayed radio echoes J. Hals first observed long-delayed radio echoes in 1927. During the following half-century, scientists have been studying this perplexing problem, but it has been the amateurs who have accumulated the bulk of the data. Over 100 reports exist where echoes of radio transmissions were received seconds later at the original transmitting station. Since light travels 186,000 miles per second, any simple radio-wave reflector would have to be well beyond the moon's orbit. A wide variety of natural phenomena (interplanetary matter) and even artificial devices (alien space probes) have been postulated to explain the long delays. Muldrew's article is first of all an excellent summary of the long and fascinating history of this effect. His bibliography is extensive and apparently nearly complete. Muldrew next examines the various ionospheric mechanisms that might cause long delays. The ionosphere is a complex structure with ducts in which radio signals can get trapped. Delays of a second or so might be due to such trapping but the longer delays require some other explanation. Muldrew favors a rather complex interaction between signals from separate transmitters that (theoretically at least) can create a long-lived electrostatic wave that travels in the ionosphere -- a sort of natural memory device. The coded signals could then be read out much later when the proper natural conditions developed. Delays of up to 40 seconds might be possible with this "ionospheric memory ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Long Arms Of Venus And Jupiter Many times in the two or three "scientific" centuries now behind us, investigators have discovered, almost against their wills, that the moon and planets affect the earth. The moon's influence is understandable, but the planets are too far away for their gravitational fields to influence one terrestrial dust mote. Well, here is one more study showing that the planets (Venus and Jupiter, in this case) do affect the peak electron density in the earth's ionosphere. The effect is most noticeable when these planets are close to earth and dwindles as they swing around to the other side of the sun. The authors are at a loss to explain this effect in terms of gravitation, suggesting that perhaps Venus or Jupiter may instead affect solar activity, which in turn modifies the terrestrial ionosphere. (Harnischmacher, E., and Rawer, K.; "Lunar and Planetary Influences upon the Peak Electron Density of the Ionosphere," Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Electricity, 43:643, 1981.) Comment. Actually, no one has shown how the planets can possibly influence the sun with known action-at-a -distance forces. Electrical forces are taboo. There are no other "recognized" forces. From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 13: Winter 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Violent Undersea Weather Long lines of frothing, turbulent water and transitory packets of large waves occasionally sweep across an otherwise placid sea. Usually dismissed as "rips," satellite photos reveal that these disturbances may be 125 miles long. Often several can be seen criss-crossing an ocean simultaneously from different directions. Some have a 12.5 -hour period. linking them to lunar tidal action. The surface manifestations, like the tip of the iceberg, only hint at what transpires beneath the surface. The long corridors of disturbance, moving at about 5 mph, mark where "internal waves" intersect the surface. Down be-low, submarines and other objects may suddenly rise or fall as much as 600 feet. Internal waves may in fact have caused several submarine disasters. How are internal waves created? Tid-al waters may spill over an undersea sill or ledge, creating a travelling disturbance. Some oceanographers liken the internal waves to the lee waves formed parallel to large mountain ranges. Manifestly, there is much to learn about undersea weather. (Anonymous; "Underwater Waves Held a Possible Clue to Disappearances of U.S . Submarines," Baltimore Sun, October 5, 1980.) Reference. We collect observations of periodic bands of waves under GHW2 in our Catalog: Earthquakes, Tides. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 17: Fall 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Saturn Is Still Cooking Away Observations from the earth and the Pioneeer spacecraft have long puzzled astronomers because they indicate that Saturn is radiating much more internal heat than it should. This anomaly leads to the outrageous possibility that Saturn is actually very young and has not cooled off as much as we would expect from theory. The infrared detector on the recent Voyager-1 flyby seems to show that the atmosphere of Saturn possesses only about half as much helium as theory would have. The surmise is that the missing helium is still residing in the planet. This might account for some of the abnormal heat generation. (Anonymous; "Puzzling over Saturn's Internal Heat," Eos, 62:538, 1981.) Comment. Thus, the excess-heat anomaly may be replaced by the missing-helium anomaly. Curiously, some ancient myths refer to Saturn as the "sun of night." Could Saturn have been much brighter not too long ago? From Science Frontiers #17, Fall 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 14: Winter 1981 Supplement Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The China Syndrome In Archeology Bit by bit, evidence accumulates showing that Chinese and Japanese ships visited the American Pacific coast long before Europeans. Indian traditions tell of many "houses" seen on Pacific waters. Chinese history, too, tells a charming account of voyages to the land of Fusang. Even old Spanish documents describe oriental ships off the Mexican coast in 1576. Japanese explorers and traders evidently left steel blades in Alaska and their distinctive pottery in Ecuador. Recent underwater explorations off the California coast have yielded stone artifacts that seem to be anchors and line weights (messenger stones?). One line weight found at 2,000 fathoms is covered with enough manganese to suggest great antiquity. The style and type of stone point to Chinese origins for all these artifacts. Apparently, vessels from the Orient were riding the Japanese Current to North American shores long before the Vikings and Columbus reached the continent. (Pierson, Larry J., and Moriarty, James R,; "Stone Anchors: Asiatic Shipwrecks off the California Coast," Anthropological Journal of Canada, 18:17, 1980.) Reference. Such putative Asian contacts are covered in our Handbook: Ancient Man. A description of this book is located here . From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Phoebe Not Locked To Saturn When Voyager 2 passed through the Saturn system a few months ago, it snapped pictures of Phoebe, Saturn's outermost moon. Phoebe is nicely rounded, 200 kilometers in diameter, and swings around Saturn in a retrograde orbit 550 days long -- nothing anomalous so far. Phoebe, however, turns out to be the only solar-system satellite whose axial period of rotation is not about equal to its period of rotation about its parent planet. All other moons, including our own, are gravitationally "locked" so that they always point the same hemisphere at the parent planet. (Anonymous; "Voyager's Fleeting Glimpse of Phoebe," New Scientist, 91:779, 1981.) Comment. One inference here is that Phoebe is a relatively recent addition -- and a good-sized one -- to the Saturn system, and just hasn't been there long enough to become "locked." From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Problems At The Rim Of The Solar System Neptune is an undisciplined member of the solar system. No one has been able to predict its future course accurately. Already this maverick planet is drifting off the orbit predicted just 10 years ago using the best data and solar-system models. All of the outer planets, in fact, confound predictions to some degree. In addition, some long-period comets have anomalous orbits. Astronomers have been aware that something was wrong for decades and anticipated finding a trans-Neptunian planet large enough to perturb the outer solar system. The discovery of Pluto did not help matters; it is much too small. The most popular explanation of the orbital anomalies relies on a large, still-undetected planet, possibly 3-5 times the mass of the earth, swinging sround the sun at some 80-100 Astronomical Units. But many have searched and no one has found anything. Planet-X , as it is often called, is just another bit of "missing mass." Thomas C. Van Flandern and Robert Harrington propose that all the obvious orbital damage in the outer solar system is the result of a single encounter between Neptune and another body, call it Planet X if you wish, that was passing through the outer reaches of the solar system. (Frazier, Kendrick; "A Planet beyond Pluto," Mosaic, 12:27, September/October 1981. ...
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... 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 A TALE OF TWO ECOSYSTEMS -- OR MAYBE MANY MORE Comment. It was quite fortuitous that the following two pieces, found on the same day, fit together so nicely. (Nature is fortuitous!) A group of scientists studying termites have isolated over 100 species of protozoa and bacteria living cooperatively inside the termites gut. Some of the bacteria even live inside the protozoa and other bacteria forming ecosystems of several symbiotic levels within each termite. Each termite itself is part of a complex social "superorganism," the termite colony. That termites had bugs in-side them has long been known; but the new-found complexity and interdependency of life systems within life systems is remarkable. The researchers believe that the life forms inside the termite work together to create the uniform internal environment needed by all inhabitants, just as the termites themselves cooperate to maintain a favorable environment inside their hill. (Anonymous; "And Littler Bugs Inside 'Em," Scientific American, 246:78, February 1982.) The termites, though, are only part of a much larger ecosystem, the earth itself. J.E . Lovelock, in his Gaia, A New Look at Life On Earth, has observed that our planet's environment has actually changed little down the eons despite solar variations. Lovelock's hypo thesis is that all terrestrial life -- animals, plants, termites, etc -- work sym biotically ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 23: Sep-Oct 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chessie Captured On Videotape May 31, 1982. Kent Island, Maryland. Robert Frew was enjoying a holiday meal with family and friends at his home on Love Point, overlooking Chesapeake Bay, when a large object was seen moving against the tide about 100 feet offshore. Inspection through binoculars revealed a sinuous, humped creature, over 20 feet long, swimming lazily along. As others watched, Frew popped a videotape into his camera and shot a remarkable three minute documentary, which was aired later on TV. Witnesses estimated the creature's length at about 30 feet; width, about 10 inches. Two other recent sightings of "Chessie" occurred in September 1980 at the other end of Kent Island, and in July 1978 near Heathsville, Virginia. (Robinson, Russ; "Chessie May Have Made Video Debut," Baltimore Sun, July 11, 1982.) "Chessie" according to Frew From Science Frontiers #23, SEP-OCT 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 21: May-Jun 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Hueyatlaco Dilemma Beds containing human artifacts at Valsequillo, Mexico, have been dated at approximately 250,000 years before the present by fission-track dating of volcanic material and uranium dating of a camel pelvis. The dilemma posed by such dates is clearly stated in the following quotation from the conclusions of the subject article. "The evidence outlined here consistently indicates that the Hueyatlaco site is about 250,000 yr old. We who have worked on geological aspects of the Valsequillo area are painfully aware that so great an age poses an archeological dilemma. If the geological dating is correct, sophisticated stone tools were used at Valsequillo long before analogous tools are though to have been developed in Europe and Asia. Thus, our colleague, Cynthia Irwin-Williams, has criticized the dating methods we have used, and she wishes us to emphasize that an age of 250,000 yr is essentially impossible." (Steen-McIntyre, Virginia, et al; "Geologic Evidence for Age of Deposits at Hueyatlaco Archeological Site, Valsequillo, Mexico," Quaternary Research, 16:1 , 1981.) Comment. The above impasse is reminiscent of Lord Kelvin's insistence that the earth is only about 100,000 years old based upon his calculations of the sun's energy-producing capabilities. Geologists thought otherwise, requiring roughly a billion years for nature to sculpt the earth they saw. Kelvin didn't reckon on nuclear ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 23: Sep-Oct 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Remarkable Engineering Design In Nature Two unusual examples of inspired design in nature have been described recently: (1 ) The swordfish possesses special tissues rich in mitochrondria and cytochrome-c that generate heat for the animal's eye and brain. Not only do these heating elements keep the swordfish eye and brain significantly warmer than the surrounding water but they also keep these organs warm and thus more effective during deep dives into the cold ocean depths. (Carey, Francis G.; "A Brain Heater in the Swordfish," Science, 216:1327, 1982.) (2 ) Plants, it seems, developed light pipes long before humans. Certain plant tissues (etiolated or dark-grown) act as multiple bundles of optical fibers and coherently transfer light over distances of at least 2 cm. Optical tests show that these natural light pipes are much more effective transmitters of light than media that simply scatter light. This unsuspected sophistication of Nature's design may require significant revisions in photobiology, which did not allow for such ingenuity. (Smith , Harry; "Light-Piping by Plant Tissues," Nature, 298:423, 1982.) Comment. Since some plants are known to emit light, we would not be surprised, the way things are going, to learn of natural plant lasers! From Science Frontiers #23, SEP-OCT 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Species Stability Is A Real Problem The reader should refer to the following item for the basic paleontological facts discussed by Williamson. The biological implications of the mollusc lineages drawn up by Willianson are rather profound. In the present item, Williamson complains that scientists and critics have focussed primarily upon his claim that his mollusc lineages support the punctuated evolution model (which they do) but avoid his main point: namely, that the lineages are static over very long periods of time. They do not change slowly, bit by morphological bit, into new species as an evolutionist would expect. Instead, they remain un-changed until they become extinct. This striking aspect of the fossil record is not predicted by neo-Darwinism -- and there is the rub! (Williamson, Peter G.; "Morphological Stasis and Developmental Constraint: Real Problems for Neo-Darwinism," Nature, 294:214, 1981.) Comment. In neo-Darwinism, evolution unfolds by small accumulated changes, the causes of which may be chemicals in the environment, nuclear radiation, and other "stresses." Neo-Darwinism goes hand-in-hand with geological Uniformitarianism, both of which are favored philosophically by scientists because slow change is more amenable to scientific explanation. The large sidewise steps of punctuated evolution are difficult to explain in terms of known "forces." In this context, the radical concepts of directed panspermia and the impact ...
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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. 19: Jan-Feb 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A PREHISTORIC TVA?The Hohokam Indians lived along the Salt River Valley, in Arizona, about 300 BC to 1450 AD. They constructed a network of irrigation canals that is certainly one of the wonders of the Ancient New World. Early investigators recorded more than 500 kilometers of major canals and 1,600 kilometers of smaller ones. (Less than 10 kilometers of these remain intact today.) One of the main canals was 3 meters deep, 11 meters wide at ground level, and 14 kilometers long. Old and recent aerial photos show traces of an incredibly complex irrigation network. W.B . Masse, the author of this article, is very impressed by the earth-moving task but even more so by the degree of social coordination and control that must have been exerted all along the Salt River Valley in building and regulating the use of this remarkable canal system. (Masse, W. Bruce; "Prehistoric Irrigation Systems in the Salt River Valley, Arizona," Science, 214:408, 1981.) Reference. Many other ancient canal projects are described in our Handbook: Ancient Man. Ordering information here . Composite map of canals near Tempe constructed from aerial photographs. From Science Frontiers #19, JAN-FEB 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cometary Appearance Of Venus The famed astronomer Johann Maedler first recorded strange brushes of light emanating from the bright limb of Venus. Two luminous fans opening sunward gave the planet the appearance of a multitailed comet. Maedler made this curious observation on April 7, 1833; and it has come to be known as the Maedler Phenomenon. If it were not for Maedler's fame as an honest, meticulous observer, the event would have been fogotten long ago. A similar observation was made by Gadbury in 1686. The only explanation for the phenomenon offered so far involves some sort of obscure type of halo or sun-pillar effect. (Baum, Richard; "The Maedler Phenomenon," Strolling Astronomer, 27:118, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #5 , November 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 7: June 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Where did chief joseph get a cuniform tablet?Among the effects of Chief Joseph, the famed leader of the Nez Perce Indians, was a clay tablet bearing a cuneiform inscription. The tablet transmits no startling message, being merely a receipt for one lamb changing hands. But where did a Northwest Indian chief get a 3,000year-old tablet? The tablet first came to light around 1878, long before cuneiform tablets became common on the artifacts market. Still, it could have been a gift from some missionary or tourist -- or even planted as a hoax. (Park, Edwards; "Where Did Chief Joseph Get a Cuneiform Tablet?" Smithsonian Magazine, 9:36, February 1979.) Reference. For other enigmatic New World tablets and inscriptions, read our Handbook: Ancient Man, which is described at: here . From Science Frontiers #7 , June 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 8: Fall 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Brontides Become Respectable The mystery of natural detonations (Barisal Guns, mistpouffers, etc.) was probed by several scientific groups following the recent episodes of off-shore booms. This paper by Gold and Soter, from Cornell, would have warmed the heart of Charles Fort, for he made much of natural detonation: or "brontides," as they are termed in the early literature. Gold and Soter review the long history of brontides, noting that brontide activity is often associated with earthquakes, but not always. Natural booming noises, they contend, may be due to eruptions of natural gas. This would square with the rare observations of earthquake lights. Interestingly enough, the recent off-shore detonations were occasionally accompanied by luminous phenomena. (Gold, Thomas, and Soter, Steven; (Brontides: Natural Explosive Noises," Science, 204:371, 1979.) Reference. Brontides and other "water guns" are collected in GSD1 in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds. Details on the Catalog volume here . From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 9: Winter 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Moon-like craters in the north sea floor During the exploitation of the North Sea oil fields, geophysicists made detailed surveys of sea-floor topography with seismic instruments called boomers. They were startled to discover thousands of elliptical craters or pockmarks in the sediments. The craters are 30-330 feet across, 6-25 feet deep, and located in water about 500 feet deep. The long axes of the craters point roughly in the same direction; and the craters tend to be arranged in lines. The authors suggest that escaping subsurface gases and fluids may have formed the unusual structures. The possibility was underscored on July 30, 1978, when a very large eruption of sediment was detected by sonar. (McQuillin, Robert, and Fannin, Nigel; "Explaining the North Sea's Lunar Floor," New Scientist, 83:90, 1979.) Comment. The North Sea is a prime habitat of mistpouffers (sea-associated booming sounds). There might be a correlation here between natural-gas eruptions and these strange booming sounds. Also, the crude similarity of these sea-floor craters to the Carolina Bays should not be passed over. Reference. All types of unusual craters are cataloged in Section ETC in: Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds. For ordering information, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #9 , Winter 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 10: Spring 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chinese hunt red-haired bigfoot Spurred by reports of large (6 -feettall) animals with wavy red hair walking on two legs, Chinese scientists have been combing the thick forests of Shennongjia, in Hubei Province. Many footprints 12-16 inches long as well as samples of hair and feces have been found. So far, though, no photos or specimens. (Anonymous; "It's Tall, It Has Wavy Red Hair and Chinese Keep Hunting for It," New York Times, p. 5, January 5, 1980.) Reference. Bigfoot, Yeti, and other unrecognized hominids are covered in Section BHU in: Biological_Anomalies: Humans III. For more information on this Catalog, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #10, Spring 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 12: Fall 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ephemeral Lines On Mars At first, the close-up Mariner and Viking photos of the Martian surface seemed to dispose of the famous "canals." Few permanent linear features were discovered -- certainly nothing like the complex grid of straight lines sketched and photographed by Percival Lowell. Lowell may be vindicated yet, for at least one sharp, dark line has been photographed by a Viking Orbiter during three Martian springs just north of the great volcano Arsia Mons. Called a "weather wave," this line appears only in the spring when Lowell's canals darkened. This year, a second long line, slightly curved, joined up with the first line at a triangular junction looking suspiciously like one of Lowell's "oases." (Anonymous; "Rare Martian Weather Wave -- with a Kink," Science News, 118: 7, 1980.) Comment. Could it be that the notorious Martian canals are atmospheric features that come and go? For more on the history of the Martian canals and recent observations, see AMO1 in our Catalog: The Moon and the Planets. This volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #12, Fall 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 12: Fall 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The field is falling, the field is falling NASA's Magnetic Field Satellite has confirmed a trend that goes as far back as Gauss in 1830; namely, that the terrestrial magnetic field is decreasing in strength. At the rate measured by the satellite, the Earth's field will hit zero in about 1200 years. Of course, NASA's scientists warn that the observed decrease may only be a temporary fluctuation. The geological record seems to register a long history of magnetic field reversals, with great biological changes coinciding with the field flips. (Nonymous; "Magsat Down: Magnetic Field Declining," Science News, 117:407, 1980.) Comment. Some field reversals have been within the time of man; 12,000 years ago and less. What happens to life forms dependent upon the earth's field for navigation during a reversal? Can they evolve new navigation methods in only a few thousand years? From Science Frontiers #12, Fall 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 The Novaya Zemlya Effect Rarely, as the long polar night draws to a close, the sun will suddenly burst above the horizon weeks ahead of schedule. This is the Novaya Zemiya Effect, and it is basically a polar mirage. Even when the sun is still 5 below the horizon, its light can become trapped between thermoclines and be transmitted over the usual horizon. The atmospheric ducts act much like flat light pipes. In the Novalya Zemlya Effect the sun's image is grossly distorted, quite different from the high quality mirages sometimes seen over hundreds of miles in the polar latitudes. (Anonymous; "New Light on Novaya Zemlya Polar Mirage," Physics Today, 34: 21, January 1981.) Reference. Related atmospheric phenomena are collected in Section GEM in our Catalog: Rare Halos. More information on this book here . Triple Novaya Zemlya Effect. Three distorted images of a sun still well below the horizon. From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Distant galaxies look like those close-by Apropos the preceding item that the Expanding Universe Theory may be flawed, astronomers have discovered that supposedly distant galaxies look pretty much like those in our immediate neighborhood. Specifically, galaxies 10 billion light years away differ little spectrally speaking from those only a billion light years away. The point is that the distant galaxies should appear 9 billion years younger because their light took that long getting here. They look the same, and that fact could imply: (1 ) Galaxies mature rapidly and do not change much after a billion years; (2 ) Our cosmic time scale is all wrong; (3 ) There was no Big Bang and galaxies may have widely varying ages; or (4 ) None of the above. (Anonymous; "Most Distant Galaxies: Surprisingly Mature," Science News, 119:148, 1981.) Reference. Distant galaxies are anomalously blue. See AWF1 in our Catalog: Satrs, Galaxies, Cosmos. For ordering information, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 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 A MARTIAN ICE AGE?Long, sinuous depressions called "outflow channels" are concentrated in the equatorial regions of Mars. They clearly resemble terrestrial stream beds and have been attributed to water action. The ancient Spokane Flood that carved our Washington State's channeled scablands is seen as an apt terrestrial analogy. The Martian channels, however, are much larger than the water-eroded terrestrial analogs. The authors of the subject paper suggest that ice rather than water created the Martian channels, pointing out that terrestrial ice-stream and glacier landforms are much closer to the Martian features in terms of scale. (Lucchitta, Baerbel K., et al; "Did Ice Streams Carve Martian Outflow Channels?" Nature, 290:759, 1981.) Comment. This suggests the possibility that earth and Mars may have had synchronous Ice Ages due to solar variations or, perhaps, the envelopment of the entire solar system by a huge cloud of absorbing matter. From Science Frontiers #16, Summer 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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