93 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 150: Nov - Dec 2003 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Australians First in the New World? Origin of Clovis Culture Disputed A "Magic Number" Encoded in Three of the World's Major Pyramids Astronomy Mapping and Analyzing Dark Matter Biology Frog Poison Factory Puffin Tongue Trick? Human-chimp DNA Dissimilarities Four-Dimensional Biology A Squid's Eyes that Look Up and Down Tuberculosis and the Extinction of the Megaforna Dark Matter in our Genome Unknown Source of Animal Diversity Communication among Bacteria Geology When the Earth Gets Cracking Subduction Doesn't Check Out Chicxulub Didn't Do It! Geophysics Squishy Ball Lightning Far-Floating Fowl Psychology Natural-Born Readers Physics Mixed Anomalies ...
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... it was the pits -- old pits that had been filled in and that seemed to be arranged in an intricate pattern that mirrored the star constellations making up the classical Greek zodiac. But this revelation didn't come until later. After all, pits are common in archeology. Often they contain just rubbish, sometimes human remains. "But the pits at Muggenburg are different. There are 57 of them, each about a meter wide and deep, extending over about half a hectare [about 1 acres] They were certainly not used for storage because the level of the groundwater is too high. Nor were they used as dumps; archaeological evidence shows that they were filled in shortly after they were dug, and some have very little in them." It was only when Therkorn mapped the pits did she see that they were not distributed at random. Connecting them as children do with dot-puzzles, she quickly recognized the constellations Taurus (bull), Canis Major (dog), Pegasus (winged horse), and Hercules. The pits were geoglyphs of a new sort, streching for more than 100 meters, sort of Nazca lines in Holland. About 500 meters from the 57-pit array, still another Taurus pattern of pits was uncovered. The mysterious pits didn't contain much, but there were often a few animal bones. The Taurus pits yielded cattle bones; the Pegasus pits, horse bones; etc.; with the bones matching the zodiac animal in each sign. Therkorn surmised that the animal remains represented ritual sacrifices that were probably time ...
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... recently been studied on the central coast [of Peru] between the FortalezaPativilca and Rimac valleys. Additional lines have been reported for Viru Valley, on the north coast, and for the Zana Valley, over 1,000 km to the north of Nazca. Interestingly, most coastal ground drawings that can be dated tentatively, either by associated ceramic remains and sites or by their similarity to diagnostic pottery motifs, fall in the earlier part of the Early Intermediate period (ca. 350 B.C . to A.D . 650) - i.e ., to a time following the establishment of irrigation agriculture as the primary subsistence focus, but prior to the rise of state societies. .. .. . "As is well known, several studies have been conducted that involved mapping and computer analysis of the Nazca lines to examine the hypothesis that they were related to astronomical phenomena. This theory is now discounted, at least as it applies to the great majority of the lines which do not appear to have been oriented toward the sky. More recent studies dealing with the lines have provided convincing arguments. primarily through comparison with lines currently in use on the Bolivian altiplano, that they were constructed as part of elaborate ritual ceremonies related to agricultural fertility." (Wilson, David J.; "Desert Ground Drawings in the Lower Santa Valley, North Coast of Peru," American Antiquity," 53:794, 1988.) Comment. Not surprisingly, the author of the above article, D.J . Wilson, has neglected the popular theory that the ...
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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 The Ktb Hole KTB = Kontinentales Tiefbohrprogramm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland If you could drop a pfennig down the KTB hole, it would take several minutes to hit bottom, for this research drill hole has now penetrated to 7.5 kilometers. It is the second deepest man-made hole, after the Soviet 12-km hole in the Kola Peninsula. Drilled solely for scientific purposes, the rocks and strata encountered by the KTB drill bits have forced the redrawing of German geological maps. The "real" subterranean world turned out to be quite different from that inferred from both surface indications and the seismic and electrical probing of the depths. Three specific surprises are worth mentioning: Temperatures in the drill hole rose far faster than predicted. The expected boundary (" suture") between two old tectonic plates thought to exist at 3 km according to surface geology had not yet appeared at 7.5 km. Most interestingly, crevicular structure (crevices and pores) existed at almost all depths, even though theory said they could not because of intense pressures. And these voids were filled with fluids. P. Keher, a KTB scientist, was amazed at what the drill found: "When I started 25 years ago, the idea was that the deeper you go into the crust, the drier it gets." (Kerr, Richard A.; "Looking -- Deeply -- into the Earth's Crust in Europe ...
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... people living along the Carolina coast have marveled at a series of strange, oval-shaped depressions in the ground called 'Carolina Bays.' "From the air these shallow, marshy bogs created a landscape that resembles the pockmarked surface of the moon. They crisscross each other in a chaotic tapestry, but at ground level are hardly noticeable because of thick forests and semitropical swamplands. "Highways and modern housing developments have all but obliterated thousands of the bays, leaving them visible only to trained eyes. "Still, it is estimated that no fewer than 300,000 such bays, ranging from a few feet across to almost two miles in diameter, dot the East Coast landscape from southern New Jersey to northeastern Florida. One source places the number at more than half a million." Map showing areas of abundant Carolina Bays and frequent meterorite finds. However, meteorites are rare in the areas of the bays. Floyd continues with a brief history of the Carolina Bay region and then reviews some of the theories of origin that have been proposed. Two now-discarded mechanisms of formation invoked: (1 ) immense schools of spawning fish; and (2 ) icebergs stranded as the Ice Ages waned. In presenting today's favorite theory, Floyd quotes from H. Savage's book The Mysterious Carolina Bays : "' These half-million shallow craters represent the visible scars of but a small fraction of the meteors that fell to earth...when a comet smashed into the atmosphere and exploded over the American Southeast,' Savage wrote. 'Countless thousands of ...
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... the Sphinx is also about 10,000 years old (SF#79), described the "structure" as a series of huge steps about 1 meter high. Schoch is impressed by the regularity of the steps, but does not discount a natural origin. A photo taken by divers does reveal a remarkably regular, stepped surface, but nature can be very methodical on occasion. Adding to the artificiality of the "structure" is the claim that a "road" encloses it. (Barot, Trushar; "Divers Find World's Oldest Building," London Times, April 26, 1998. Cr. A.C .A . Silk & D. Phelps) Comments. If this submerged "structure" is really man-made, it would make Hapgood's Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings more plausible. Other nicely regular "structures," very likely natural, are: the Giant's Causeway, the Bimini Road, the Kaimanawa Wall, the Face on Mars, etc. Called a "monument" by some zealous explorers, this Okinawan undersea structure does exhibit many suspicious regularities. Nevertheless, nature is often a geometer, and this could be a natural geological formation. (Adapted from the London Times). From Science Frontiers #118, JUL-AUG 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... on earth only about 5 million years ago. Most scientists say the limestone is only recently formed beach rock a few hundred years old, and that radiometric dating proves this. But doubters have pointed to 3-millionyear-old coral reefs apparently stratigraphically above the limestone. In a recent issue of Ex Nihilo, a few more cans of gasoline have been thrown on the fire: (1 ) The radiometric date usually served up actually came from another island in the area. (2 ) Beach rock is not now forming at the site, rather the skeletons' limestone is being eroded. (3 ) The skeletons' limestone is harder than marble and not loosely consolidated beach rock. (4 ) True Miocene limestone does exist in the area. (5 ) Geologists have carefully described and mapped the rest of Guadeloupe but have omitted the skeletons' site -- presumably because of the anomalies involved. (Tyler, David J., et al; Ex Nihilo, 7:41, no. 3, 1985.) Comment. Keep tuned to this station and in the interim read Jacques Barzun's Science: The Glorious Entertainment. Fossilized human skeleton from Guadeloupe. The Paris specimen. From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 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 Grand Canyon Shamed Again Exploration and mapping of submarine canyons cut into the continental shelves of Alaska and Siberia emphasize once again the colossal scale of these crustal gashes: "Erosion of some of the largest known submarine canyons has removed more than 20,000 km3 of former subduction margin between the Aleutian Islands and Cape Navarin, U.S .S .R . The canyons are incised as deeply as 2,400 m into Tertiary sedimentary and igneous rocks that make up the margin and attendant deep sedimentary basins along the outer Bering shelf. Cutting of the seven major canyons probably occurred during low stands of sea level when the Bering shelf was exposed to a depth of about -135 m, which allowed the ancestral Anadyr, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers to carry large volumes of sediment to the outer shelf. Although their positions appear to be structurally influenced, the canyons apparently were cut by combinations of massive slumping and sliding of sediment deposited near the shelf edge and of scouring action of the resulting turbidity currents that carried debris to the abyssal sea floor, where deep-sea fans have formed." (Carlson, Paul R., and Karl, Herman A.; "Ancient and Modern Processes in Gigantic Submarine Canyons, Bering Sea," Eos, 64:1052, 1983.) Comment. The authors believe that submarine slumping and turbidity currents were sufficient to have eroded these huge canyons. Other geologists doubt this. The other ...
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... following three items: A long, very thorough and scientific review of geological and biological changes caused by meteor strikes throughout the earth's history. (McLaren, Digby J.; "Bolides and Biostratigraphy," Geological Society of America, Bulletin, 94:313, 1983.) A shorter, popular version of the above. (McLaren, Digby; "Impacts That Changed the Course of Evolution," New Scientist, 100:588, 1983.) Evidence is growing that the collision of planetary material with the Earth can profoundly affect local geology, and that impacts of very large meteorites may have influenced the evolution of the Earth and the life that exists upon it. This quotation is from the lead-in to the article references below, which also has a nice world map of major impact sites over 1 km in diameter. (Grieve, Richard; "Impact Craters Shape Planet Surfaces," New Scientist, 100:516, 1983.) Reference. Terrestrial cratering phenomena are cataloged in Chapter ETC in Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds. For details about this book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 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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... They dote on airport runway lights, household electrical meters, and in particular electrical relays, where they congregate en masse. Now, a decade later, we discover that they are also not adverse to exploring microwave ovens -- even when they are turned on! We cannot explain the attraction of electrical relays, but we do know how ants survive in humming microwave ovens. It is because the microwaves inside the oven form standing waves. Energy is high in some areas -- ants would fry there -- and weak elsewhere. Ants seem to be able to find these lowenergy refuges and survive very nicely -- perhaps on the food you were planning to consume! (Anonymous; "Them!" New Scientist, p. 109, July 31, 1999. Comment. You can map you microwave's standing waves by filling a flat tray with marshmallows. A pattern of toasted and untoasted marshmallows will appear post-zapping. From Science Frontiers #127, JAN-FEB 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss ...
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... . On the other side of Phobos, grooves are consistently less than 100 meters wide. Despite these hints of impact origin, the grooves are not quite what one would expect from simple fracture by collision. Some show beaded or pitted structures. Other grooves are composed of irregularly bounded segments. Finally, some of the straight-walled sections seem to have slightly raised rims. Evidently, some internal forces, perhaps stimulated by the formation of Stickney, also played a part. (Thomas, P., et al; "Origin of the Grooves on Phobos," Nature, 273:282, 1978.) Reference. The grooves of Phobos and its other anomalies are catalogued at ALL2 and ALL3 in The Moon and the Planets. To order this book, go to: here . Map of the strange grooves on the Martian moon Phobos From Science Frontiers #4 , July 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Oh, The Complexity of it All!The headlines say that the human genome has been charted and further imply that we now can read life's total blueprint. Closer study of the announcement reveals that there still remain unreadable snippets of the genome here and there. In fact, the total number of human genes is still in doubt: maybe 30,000, some say 120,000. This wide range of uncertainty does not inspire belief in the accurate readability of this biological blueprint at the present time. Usually left unsaid is the fact that the present blueprint covers only 2-3 % of the territory. That's right, 97-98% of the human genome isn't mapped at all. This uncharted territory is assumed to be "junk" or "nonsense" DNA that plays no role in heredity. Want to bet that this assumption is correct? And don't forget that genes jump around. The genome is really a moving target. Genes also work in concert. It is not one gene coding for one protein, which then has a singular role in creating an operational human being. For example, some 5,692 genes are active in breast-cancer cells. Genes may also have multiple roles. Our present blueprint of the human genome does not display all the mobility and complex interrelationships of the genes. We do know that genes are the blue-prints for the manufacture of proteins. Of these, there may be over 1, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 135: MAY-JUN 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Most Mysterious Manuscript Forget the Kensington Stone and Easter Island's "talking boards," the so-called Voynich Manuscript is claimed to be the most mysterious writing on the planet. This 234-page, handwritten, parchment-book is in a class by itself. One's attention is first caught by page after page of truly strange depictions of plants, astronomical maps, and even crude human figures. Then, there's the boldly written script that annotates the drawings -- copiously on occasion. Superficially the Voynich Manuscript looks like a medieval herbarium combined with an astronomer's musings. The words look as if you could read them easily, but you cannot. No one has been able to, except for the interpretation of a few plant labels. The words represent no known language, yet statistical tests confirm that a real language was used. "Real" but uncrackable after much labor by leading cryptographers. The plants look like species you might find in your backyard and nearby fields. Botanists, though, assure us that most do not exist in nature. The copious plant labels in that unreadable language are of no help. Astronomical drawings and zodiacs fill some pages. Hope rises when we see a zodiac beginning with Pisces but fades when Scorpius turns out to be a lizard. Cancer is represented by two lobsters; Gemini by a man and woman. Superficially, the manuscript seems so readable and ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Venus Too Pristine In the November 16 issue of Science, R.A . Kerr remarks: "The planetary geologists who are studying the radar images streaming back from Magellan [the space probe] find that they have an enigma on their hands. When they read the geological clock that tells them how old the Venusian surface is, they find a planet on the brink of adolescence. But when they look at the surface itself, they see a newborn babe." (Kerr, Richard A.; "Venus Is Looking Too Pristine," Science, 250:913, 1990.) Comment. Of the 75 craters mapped so far by Magellan , only one shows any signs of aging; i.e ., tectonic movements, lava-filling, etc. The surface of Venus should be hundreds of millions of years old, yet it looks freshly minted. The anticipated spectrum of degradation has not yet been seen. One theory is that recent lava flooding erased the old craters, and we now see only recent impact scars. But why would a planet's volcanism turn off so completely and so abruptly? Our earth, Venus' sister planet in many ways, still perks away, leaving craters of various ages. Why is Venus so different? One idea not advanced by Kerr in Science is that Venus might be a recently acquired member of the solar system! From Science Frontiers #73, JAN- ...
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... D.H ., et al; "Experimental Evidence for a Violation of Newton's Inverse-Square Law of Gravitation," Eos, 69:1046, 1988.) "In the late summer of 1987, an ex periment was performed to determine the value of the Newtonian gravitational constant, G, by measuring the variation of the earth's gravity, g, with depth in the Greenland icesheet. The site for the experiment - the radar station at Dye-3 , Greenland - was selected because of the existing 2000- m-deep ice borehole there. Previous analysis of ice-cores from the borehole indicate that the ice density can be accurately modeled. Gravity measurements were made to a depth of 1673 meters in the ice, the sub-ice topography was mapped with high-precision radar echo sounding over a 10-km-diameter region, and a series of 24 locations in a 32-km-diameter network around the hole were surveyed with gravity, leveling, and GPS positioning. "When corrected for the sub-ice topography, a gravity anomaly that accumulated to nearly 4 mGal in 1.4 km was observed. We find measured anomalies can be taken as evidence for non-Newtonian gravity, but can also be accounted for in terms of Newtonian physics if a suitable distribution of high densiity masses exist beneath the borehole." (Zumberge, Mark Al, et al; "Results from the 1987 Greenland G Experiment," Eos, 69:1046, 1988.) The paper on the Greenland experiment led to a short ...
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... The site itself is located in the Sternenfels district about 25 km west of Pfortzheim/Baden-Wurttemberg. "The structure consists of: An almost central dome-hill laid in brick, surrounded by natural, hewn stones. The dome-hill (height: 15-18 m; length: 100 m; width: 60-80 m) was stacked blockwise with Keuper sandstones and clay slate. The structure's volume is estimated at about 60,000 cubic meters, which corresponds to about 100,000 tons of rock. The encompassing artificial rock walls are thought to have served as a quarry for the manufacture of the dome stratification. These rock walls were hewn artificially with tools after the quarrying of the dome stones...a place of worship? According to the map, this dome structure forms a connecting axis with other Celtic sites in this area." Summarizing additional data from the translation: (1 ) This is the largest pyramid in Europe; (2 ) The surrounding rock walls show tool marks, several petroglyphs, and Celtic symbols; and (3 ) It is suspected that this site might have been used for ritual purposes. ( Magazin fur Grenzwissenschaften , no. 5, 1993. Cr. W.-J . Langbein) From Science Frontiers #91, JAN-FEB 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... accounting for such large inhomogeneities. To illustrate an important observable -- the 2.7 K cosmic background radiation -- which is usually described as the afterglow of the Big Bang, ar gues for a very smooth, uniform distribution of galaxies. Great Walls are definitely anomalous. M.J . Geller, codiscoverer of the Great Wall with J.P . Huchra, remarked: "My view is that there is something fundamentally wrong in our approach to understanding such large-scale structure -- some key piece of the puzzle that we're missing." (Waldrop, M. Mitchell; "Astronomers Go Up against the Great Wall," Science, 246:885, 1989.) Also: Geller, Margaret J., and Huchra, John P.; "Mapping the Universe," Science, 246:897, 1989. And: McKenzie, A.; "Cosmic Cartographers Find 'Great Wall,'" Science News, 136:340, 1989.) The discovery of the Great Wall of galaxies and the regular clumping of galactic matter has greatly surprised astronomers, who have been emphasizing how uniformly distributed galactic matter should -- according to theory, at least. Now, D.C . Koo, at the University of California at Santa Cruz, says, "The regularity is just mind-boggling." M. Davis, an astrophysicist at Berkeley, admits that if the distribution of galaxies is truly so regular, ". .. it is safe to say we understand less than zero about the early universe." ( ...
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... Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Magnetic Precursors Of Large Storms On January 22, 1986, a magnetometer at the Fredricksburg Magnetic Observatory, in Virginia, recorded a sudden jump (of 45 gammas) in the earth's horizontal magnetic field component. Alerted to this, G. Wollin, at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, immediately predicted that a major snowstorm or flooding rains would hit northeastern states within six days. Wollin contacted the weather people in the region, but they discounted the prediction because satellite pictures and conventional weather indicators implied nothing of the sort. A three-day storm began on January 25, depositing 3 feet of snow in northern New England and 4 inches of rain along the coast from Washington to Boston. Wollin has had similar successes, without even looking at a weather map! Obviously, Wollin's forecasting techniques are not yet part of the Weather Bureau's arsenal. This is not too surprising because even Wollin does not understand why major storms should be preceded by several days by nervous magnetometers. He talks in a tentative way about solar storms, which do affect terrestrial magnetism, dumping energy into the oceans and thence into the atmosphere. But this is mainly speculation. Historically, we do know that long-term changes in the earth's magnetic field are linked to global temperature levels (see graphs); but here, too, cause and effect are not obvious. (Gribbin, John; "Magnetic Pointers to Stormy Weather," New Scientist, p. 70, December 25, 1986.) Long-term changes in global ...
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... states" that exhibit unexpected properties. In this context Nobelist R. Laughlin remarks: The discoveries that matter are the grand surprises that occur when matter organizes itself. Of course, the question has always been whether something "special" or "vital" has to be done to an ensemble of molecules to confer life upon it. In his Darwin's Black Box, M. Behe insists that life is irreducibly complex and requires intelligent design. (Designer unidentified!) This is seen as a cop-out by most scientists who are searching for "natural" (designerless) explanations for those "emergent" properties of matter -- such as life. To this end, H. Frauenfelder and P. Wolynes, both at the University of California at San Diego, have been mapping the "energy landscape" of proteins as these long chains of amino acids fold into the incredibly complex shapes required by their functions in life forms. They find energy peaks and valleys are crossed as the chains writhe and fold-- often with blinding speed -- from one energy state to another, the nascent proteins "funnel" toward the minimum energy states that characterize the proteins that are capable of taking on biological tasks. This funnelling is an emergent property of matter that leads to the final "dominant state": a protein or some other biochemical. (Irion, Robert; "Say the Magic Words," New Scientist, p. 32, June 7, 2001.) Comment. Proteins are the workhorses of terrestrial life forms. By gross extrapolation of the protein energy ...
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... -- in a shadowy way ! Commenting upon the theory that those Martian canals that keep showing up on plates made through terrestrial telescopes are only picture/film defects, D. Louderback points out that the: ". .. canals are also showing up on CCD [Charge-Coupled Device] camera photos like the one taken by Donald Parker with a 12.5 -inch reflector and shown on the cover of the Strolling Astronomer earlier this year. It clearly showed a pentagonal pattern of canals surrounding Elysium. It is almost certain that these were not a 'picture defect'!" (Ref. 1) Searching for explanations, J. Gallagher has discovered that many of the prominent canals drawn by Lowell, Schiaparelli, et al, actually closely follow contour lines drawn on USGS maps of Mars from Viking data. It is quite possible, then, that the "canals" are really only elevational differences in Martian topography. (Ref. 2) Global Cooling. The Hubble Space Telescope recently photographed Mars when the planet was nearly totally shrouded by high cirrus clouds. Mars is now cloudier than it has been for years. The reason for this is that the planet's average temperature has fallen by almost 20 C. What little water vapor exists in the atmosphere freezes out into cirrus clouds. Why has Mars cooled so drastically? Because the huge dust storms of the Viking years have mysteriously abated. Now, we have to explain why dust storms no longer envelope the planet! (Ref. 3) References Ref. 1. Louderback, Daniel; Letter, ...
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... and then I directed the canoe with all this total confidence at a time when I had already convinced myself prior to the voyage that I would have no confidence in knowing where to go. And I turned the canoe to this particular direction, got things lined up, felt very, very comfortable in this cold, wet, rough environment and then there was a break in the clouds and the moon was there." (Finney, Ben; "A Role for Magnetoreception in Human Navigation," Current Anthropology, 36:500, 1995.) Ancient Pacific navigators making the voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti (in the Society Islands) dreaded crossing the doldrums near the Equator. Hawaii (not shown) is north of Tahiti at about 20 N. SPCZ=South Pacific Convergence Zone. Map from Irwin G.,; The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonisation of the Pacific. (Available from the Sourcebook Project). Reference. Human directional and "magnetic" senses are covered in: Biological Anomalies: Humans I. See description of this book here . From Science Frontiers #101 Sep-Oct 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... least five stories, with some 650 rooms. Constructed of tightly fitting sandstone blocks, each Great House required tens of millions of cut sandstone slabs. For floors, the Anasazi carried logs from forests 80 kilometers away. The Chaco Canyon Great Houses required about 215,000 trees -- quite a problem in transportation. Strangely enough, the Great Houses seem to have been used only occasionally. In fact, Chaco Canyon was too poor agriculturally to support a large, permanent community. If this is so, what was the purpose of the Great Houses with their many kivas (large circular pits)? Obviously, they were for "ceremonial purposes" -- the standard explanation for enigmatic buildings and artifacts. The Anasazi also built a marvelous system of roads leading to Chaco Canyon. The accompanying map reveals hundreds of miles of roads converging from all directions on Chaco Canyon. For long distances, these roads measure a uniform 9 meters wide. They are flanked by linear mounds of earth and are impressively straight. The Great North Road, for example, runs true north for almost 50 kilometers. What was the purpose of these roads?. One theory is that they helped channel people to Chaco Canyon for the supposed ceremonies. But why does one need a 9-meter-wide road for a sparse population? And why did the Anasazi suddenly leave all this behind? (Lekson, Stephen H., et al; "The Chaco Canyon Community," Scientific American, 259:100, July 1988.) Some of the Anasazi roads and projected roads leading to Chaco Canyon ...
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... . This remarkable body of water was reported in the journal Kyokuchi , published by the Japan Polar Research Association. The lake is 250 kilometers long, 40 wide, and 400 meters deep. Obviously, it requires some sort of explanation as to why is not frozen. Two theories have been proposed: (1 ) Heat from the earth's interior has kept it from freezing; (2 ) The lake has not yet had time enough to freeze after a temperate period that ended about 5,000 years ago. (Anonymous; "Lake Discovered beneath Antarctic Ice," The Japan Times , May 23, 1995. Cr. N. Masuya) Comment. Can there be a connection between this discovery and the ice-free Antarctica suggested by C.H . Hapgood in his Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings ? From Science Frontiers #102 Nov-Dec 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects When Isotropy Confounds Angular distribution of 153 gamma-ray bursts detected by the GRO satellite in 1991 Take a look at the distribution of 153 gamma-ray bursts registered by the Gamma-Ray Observatory (a satellite). There is no pattern, gamma-ray bursters seem to be evenly distributed in all directions. This is not what the astronomers expected, and the implications of this isotropy are staggering. Gamma-ray bursts emanate from highly localized unseen sources. They may last for a few milliseconds or stretch out for several minutes. The energy in the bursts ranges over 26 orders of magnitude. The rise-times of the bursts are so short that the sources can only be a few hundred kilometers across. Before the accompanying map appeared, most scientists thought that the bursters were nearby, probably in the disk of the galaxy, and were due to asteroids being digested by neutron stars or possibly neutron-star quakes. If such were so, the bursters would be concentrated in the plane of the galaxy (the Milky Way), which clearly they are not. Another theory places the bursters in a distant spherical halo about our galaxy. But, in this case, the bursters would have to be much more energetic than astronomers care to contemplate. In fact, if they exist in a galactic halo, we should also be able to detect the bursters in our neighboring galaxies -- but we do not! A more exciting suggestion is that gamma-ray bursters are really very close! This would be consistent ...
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... an article from Sky & Telescope entitled "The TLP Myth." The strong implication was that TLPs (Transient Lunar Phenomena) are observer illusions. Anomalists instinctively bristle at such dogmatic assertions. Especially with TLPs, because hundreds of light flashes and color changes have been seen on the moon by reliable astronomers ever since Galileo made his first telescope. A satisfying rebuke to the TLP naysayers was recently delivered by JPL's B. Buratti at the October 1999 meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Padua, Italy. Her specific TLP occurred on April 23, 1994. At that time, about one hundred amateur astronomers noticed a 40-minute darkening near the edge of the bright lunar crater Aristarchus. Happily, when this hundred-fold "illusion" took place, the lunar satellite Clementine was mapping the area around Aristarchus. Defying the dogmatists, Buratti scrutinized the Clementine data again. Sure enough, Aristarchus had really turned redder after the TLP reported by the amateur astronomers. Such lunar color changes are readily explained as due to eruptions of pockets of gases trapped below the moon's surface. These blow-outs can spread colored dust over areas extensive enough to be visible through the small telescopes used by amateur astronomers. (Seife, Charles; "Moon Mystery Emerges from the X-Files," New Scientist, p. 22, October 23, 1999.) Comment. In this context of overly rigid dogma, we repeat a truism voiced by physicist R. Feynman: "Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty -- some most unsure, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 3: April 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Immense Circular Terrestrial Structures Of Great Age J.M . Saul has analyzed many topographic and geological maps and discovered faint circular terrestrial patterns that have mostly not been described before. These circles measure between 7 and 700 kilometers in diameter and are nearly perfect geometrical figures. The rims of the circles are generally raised and characterized by fracturing and brecciation. These structures can be traced in many geological environments and rocks of all ages. They control to an extraordinary extent regional geology and ore mineralization. To date, some 1,170 circles have been discovered, of which more than half can be visually traced for 360 . Larger circles may exist; one with a diameter of about 2,200 kilometers seems to encircle the southern end of Africa. In the United States, the centers of the circles fall in a northwesterly trend in Arizona; northeasterly in the Appalachians. These circular structures may have been created about 4 billion years ago by intense meteorite bombardment similar to and perhaps identical with the bombardment that marked the surfaces of the moon and other inner planets. (Saul, John M.; "Circular Structures of Large Scale and Great Age on the Earth's Surface," Nature, 271:345, 1978.) Reference. Huge craters and other large circular structures are cataloged at ETC1 and ETC2 in Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds. To order this volume, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #3 , April 1978 . 1978 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 84: Nov-Dec 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Hunt For The Magnetoreceptor When magnetite particles were found in organisms from bacteria to bats, it was assumed that here was the long sought magnetoreceptor which animals used for magnetic navigation. But so far, biologists do not have the slightest notion how such magnetite particles can be turned into a "magnetic sense," which sends the brain information on the direction of the geomagnetic field or, perhaps, draws a magnetic map of sorts. A completely different sort of magnetreceptor is now under investigation, one that humans may also unknowingly possess. It utilizes special photoreceptors that employ an electron-spin resonance process which is modulated by the geomagnetic field. Some of our very sensitive magnetometers use similar phenomena. The biological version of such a receptor would be connected to the brain, as the eye is, and send signals as to the direction of the earth's magnetic field. Sounds interesting, but is there any basis for thinking such a sophisticated gadget could have evolved? It seems that some experiments with newts by J.B . Phillips and S.C . Borland support the idea. The newts were first trained to orient themselves in a certain direction with respect to the geomagnetic field. "When tested under one of four artificial field alignments (magnetic north at geographic north, east, south or west), the newts kept their training directions constant relative to the magnetic rather than the geographic system of reference, but they selected ...
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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 Amazons In The Sky No, we are not talking about the jet streams. Rather, we refer to the curious "filamentary structures" seen on water-vapor maps of the troposphere. (The troposphere is roughly the lower 10-20 kilometers of the atmosphere.) These filaments are many times longer than they are wide, and deserve to be called "rivers." These aerial streams of water vapor develop in regular patterns and persist as they are translated through the troposphere. It is the huge quantity of water vapor carried by these aerial rivers that make them worthy of note here. Especially remarkable is the river that frequently flows south from Brazil to east of the Andes and thence southeast into the Atlantic. "A typical flow in this South American tropospheric river is very close to that in the Amazon (about 165 x 106 kg sec-1 ). There are typically five rivers leading into the middle latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere and four or five leading into the Northern Hemisphere. The rivers persist for 10 days or more while being translated generally eastwards at speeds of 6 m sec-1 ." (Newell, Reginald E., et al; "Tropospheric Rivers?-A Pilot Study," Geo physical Research Letters , 19:2401, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #87, MAY-JUN 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Viking mooring stones have been found all the way from Canada south to Missouri. Most, however, are clustered in Minnesota. For those unfamiliar with this unusual artifact, it is the curious triangular holes that are diagnostic of the Viking mooring stones. These holes are essentially identical everywhere: an inch across, 4-5 inches deep, triangular in cross section, with neatly rounded corners. The saga is reviewed in our catalog Ancient Infrastructure . Cross section of one of the strange triangular holes found in boulders. Note the rounded corners. Drillers and purpose are unknown. Our purpose here is to flag a recent article in Ancient American that tells of the discovery of still more of the Viking mooring stones in Minnesota, especially in Pope County. The most interesting feature of this article is the map of Pope County giving the locations and approximate elevations of more than a score of the stones. All lie between 1,100 and 1,400 feet. While small lakes exist at these elevations, the stones are all more than 500 feet above Lake Superior. If the Vikings did somehow penetrate into the Great Lakes (perhaps via Hudson Bay or the St. Lawrence), how did they ever raise their vessels 500+ feet to levels of the supposed mooring stones? There must be a better explanation for this ubiquitous phenomenon.(Pederson, Leland; "Viking Mooring Stones in West Central Minnesota," Ancient American, no. 33, p. 25, 2000.) Comment. Stacked against the Viking-mooring-stone theory are the stones' presence far inland and ...
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... phenomena that could overturn our view of the Cro-Magnon culture. First, he claims that some of the animal paintings are really based upon star configurations. In effect, humans 17,000 years ago were constructing a zodiac of sorts. This was about 10,000 years be-for the ancient Babylonians laid out their first zodiacs. For example, Jegues-Wolkiewiez asserts that the painting of a bull in Lascaux is drawn and positioned such that it mirrors a group of stars in the constellation Scorpio. He identifies several other like "congruences." Cro-Magnons, it seems, were astute observers of the heavens and attempted to make some sense out of the star configurations they saw. Cro-Magnon artist painting a zodiac figure on cave ceiling. His assistant holds a star map to guide him. The second claim of Jegues-Wolkiewiez notes that on the summer solstice the last rays of the setting sun penetrate the cave and illuminate a bison painted in red. He believes this is no accident, and that, 17,000 years ago, humans already appreciated the changing length of the days and the seasonal movements of the sun. This is precocious astronomy by any measure. (Lima, Pedro; "L 'Incroyable D couverte d'une Pal o-Astronome," Science et Vie, p. 77, December 2000. Cr. C. Maug .) Comments. C. Jegues-Wolkiewiez is identified as an "independent" paleoastronomer," which seems to mean that he is not part of the French scientific establishment. It should he ...
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... - is that the surface lithographic plate has been sliding over a fixed mantle plume. The heat brought to the surface via this plume has created the volcanic chain as the surface plate has drifted over it during the past 73-or-so million years. Obviously, this model is starkly contradicted by the fossil plume under South America (described above) that seems to have been firmly attached to the South American plate for 120 million years. No differential motion there! Now, from a different line of evidence, P.D . Ihinger is challenging the well-entrenched "Hawaiian-volcanic-chain" theory. For example, the Hawaiian volcanoes do not line up exactly. There are dozens of short, overlapping segments rather than a continuous trace across the Pacific basin. On the map, you will also see a sharp dog-leg in the trace. Further, the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, only 40 kilometers apart, disgorge lavas that are distinctly different. Something is not right! Ihinger postulates a strong mantle current flowing ponderously under the Hawaiian chain, dissecting the rising plume of hot rock into small "plumelets". These discrete blobs of hot rock are dispersed by the current of semi-solid rock and disrupt the expected simple pattern. (Ihinger, Phillip D.; "Mantle Flow beneath the Pacific Plate: Evidence from Seamount Segments in the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain," American Journal of Science, 295:1035, 1995. Also: Monastersky, R.; "Volcanoes Reveal Earth's Hidden Currents," Science News, 148 ...
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... old, are missing over the southern Everglades; 3. A network of fractures pervades rock layers older than Eocene; 4. High iridium concentrations, probably of extraterrestrial origin, exist at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary on nearby Barbados; and 5. The oval reef structure that seems to have grown around the impact area as sealevels rose. Some geologists do not concur with the asteroid theory, but they are all reviewing Florida's geological history in a new light. (Weisburd, S.; "Asteroid Origin of the Everglades?" Science News, 128:294, 1985.) Reference. Very large craters and astroblemes are cataloged in ETC in out catalog: Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds, which is described here . Time, of December 9, 1985, has a nice map of the asteroid's "footprint", but copyright laws prevent us from using it; so we've made our own. The black circle is the collapsed basin surrounding the impact point. The elliptical coral reef is tangent to the southern rim of the collapse basin and runs northwest through the tomatoes, loops around Lake Okeechobee between the peas and lima beans. From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Aveni deflates their mystery a bit. You do not have to be in an airplane to appreciate the lines; most can be viewed from ground level, even better from nearby foothills. Although there are some 1,300 kilometers of lines and about 300 geometric figures, their construction did not really involve much labor or special engineering skills. Even so, the Nazca lines are remarkable, and we really do not know for certain why they were etched on the Peruvian pampa. In his early research on the Nazca lines, Aveni noted their strong similarity to the ceque system of 41 imaginary lines radiating outwards from the Inca's Temple of the Sun, at Cuzco -- the "navel" of the Inca universe. ". .. the ceque system was a highly ordered hierarchical cosmographical map, a mnemonic scheme that incorporated virtually all important matters connected with the Inca world view." Could the Nazca lines have been a forerunner of the ceque system? Aveni also noticed that the Nazca lines and geometrical figures were closely related to watercourses. Also, many of the lines definitely functioned as footpaths. It was also apparent that the animal figures, which were laid down much earlier than the line systems, were not related conceptually to the line scheme. Aveni concluded: ". .. whatever the final answer may be to the mystery of the Nazca lines, this much is certain: the pampa is not a confused and meaningless maze of lines, and it was no more intended to be viewed from the air than an Iowa wheat field. The lines and line centers give ...
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... Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Found: the lost pyramids of rock lake The purported pyramids found on the muddy floor of Wisconsin's Rock Lake are so fascinating that we must pass on the following report, even though it comes from outside the group of publications we usually rely on. In fact, we have never seen anything on these pyramids in the scientific press, although in SF#30 we did present an earlier report on them from the Wisconsin State Journal. So, caveat emptor! The first sketch of the Rock Lake Pyramid from a 1970 issue of Skin Diver , as presented in Ancient Man. The author of this article, F. Joseph, states that beneath the surface of Rock Lake lie at least ten structures. Two of these have been mapped and photographed by skin divers and sonar. Structure #1 , which has been dubbed the Limnatis Pyramid, has a base width of 60 feet, a length of about 100 feet, and a height of 18 feet, although only about 10 feet protrude from the silt and mud. It is a truncated pyramid, built largely out of round, black stones. On the truncated top, the stones are squarish. The remains of a plaster coating can be discerned. The Rock Lake structures are made more believable by the presence, 3 miles away, of the Indian site of Aztalan. There, there are two truncated, earthen pyramids, partially surrounded by a tall stockade, which was originally plastered. Aztalan seems to have been occupied as late as the Fourteenth Century. (Joseph ...
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... thick layer of glassy debris. Approximately 25% of this stra tum consists of 1-6 -millimeter particles of tektite-like glass. Most of the glass particles are spherical, but a few have the splash-forms and dumbbell shapes of bona fide tektites. The thickness of the Haitian deposit and the large sizes of the particles suggest that the smoking gun must be nearby. Ironically, the Haiti stratum was originally classified as of volcanic origin; and we must add that we are presenting here only the conclusions of the asteroid school. But where oh where is this crater? The Manson crater in Iowa (now buried) is of the right age but too small. The best candidate so far is buried in northern Yucatan. The Chicxulub crater is discernible on gravity- and magneticanomaly maps and is probably of the right age. Only drilling will confirm the guilt of the suspect. Even if Chicxulub is the culprit, much debate prevails over exactly how the dinosaurs were done in. Was it a "cosmic winter" due to dust intercepting sunlight? Or perhaps a "cosmic summer" resulting from a super-greenhouse effect caused by: (1 ) impact-released methane trapped in sediments, and (2 ) the CO2 from zapped carbonate rocks. (Smit, Jan; "Where Did It Happen?" Nature, 349:461, 1991, and Sigurdsson, Haraldur, et al; "Glass from the Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary in Haiti," Nature, 349:482, 1991.) Reference. Section ETC in catalog Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds ...
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... plenty of quakes. Mechanically, this model is very appealing, but there are puzzling exceptions. There are sections along plate boundaries obviously in collision where no earthquakes at all occur to relieve stresses. Quakes are felt on either side of these segments, but all is serene inside. These segments are termed "seismic gaps." They may stretch for hundreds of kilometers. Theory insists that all seismic gaps must eventually be filled in. After all, the rocks can take only so much stress. Theory may be wrong because at least ten seismic gaps seem to be permanent. Something unexplained is transpiring beneath the surface that allows oceanic plates to slide quietly down under the continents and deep into the mantle. One such permanent seismic gap is especially embarrassing to geophysicists. It stands out prominently on earthquake maps of the very active Peruvian coast. When the immense quake of 1974 shook this coastline, this gap was unperturbed. Neither did the many aftershocks violate this charmed region. Not believing in subterranean magic, some geophysicists confidently (and very loudly) predicted this reluctant gap would soon yield. After 23 years it is still there! (Penvenne, Laura Jean; "When It's Better to Build on the Fault," New Scien tist , p. 14, January 11, 1997.) From Science Frontiers #112, JUL-AUG 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... , they chart their courses by noting the sun's changing azimuth. This feat requires not only the measurement of solar azimuth but also reference to an internal clock. Humans cannot do this without artificial instruments. Furthermore, even on cloudy days, migrating monarchs fly in the proper direction (generally south-southwest). Apparently, they also have evolved a backup navigation system, perhaps a geomagnetic compass. (Perez, Sandra M., et al' "A Sun Compass in Monarch Butterflies," Nature, 387:29, 1997.) Comment. Somewhere in the tiny bodies of the monarchs are packed sun-azimuth sensors, internal clocks, magnetic-field sensors, and a nervous system that converts the incoming data into signals to the wings. Their genomes must also include map information to pass on to their progeny. From Science Frontiers #116, MAR-APR 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Marine life beneath the ice sheets is surprisingly abundant and varied despite the near-freezing temperatures.) A somewhat politically incorrect observation appears in this article. However, the news that the Antarctic Peninsula's ice shelves may have come and gone at least once since the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago, suggests that people may not be fully to blame for the disappearance now underway. Supporting foregoing evidence are studies of Antarctic lake sediments and ancient abandoned penguin rookeries. Everything points to a warmer, more humid Antarctica between 2,500 and 4,000 years ago. (Perkins, S.; "Antarctic Sediments Muddy Climate Debate," Science News, 160: 150, 2001.) Comment. The warmer Antarctic just portrayed might explain those old maps, such as that of Piri Re'is, that seem to depict a relatively ice-free Antartica. The more daring of us might postulate sea commerce between South America, southern Africa, and Australasia during those halcyon days! From Science Frontiers #138, NOV-DEC 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
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... , 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 more than DNA must be involved. [This observation does seem simplistic, because DNA could, in principle, code for metamorphosis.] Like DNA, this "something more" passing from parent to offspring conveys information on the biochemical level. This aspect of heredity has been by-passed as geneticists have focussed on the genes. Cohen and Stewart summarize their views as follows: "What we have been saying is that DNA space is not a map of creature space. There is no unique correspondence between the two spaces, no way to assign to each sequence in DNA space a unique animal that it "codes for." Biological development is a complicated transaction between the DNA "program" and its host organism, neither alone can construct a creature and neither alone holds all the secrets, not even implicitly." (Cohen, Jack, and Stewart, Ian; "Our Genes Aren't Us," Discover, 15:78, April 1994.) Comment. If "genes aren't us" the billion-dollar human genome project cannot fulfill its promises. From Science Frontiers #94, JUL-AUG 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... , have been able to confirm that there are indeed craters in the polar regions of Mercury. These craters match up well with the radar reflectivity anomalies recorded earlier. So, it now seems likely that ice does exist on Mercury. And, since our moon also boasts permanently shadowed crater areas, ice probably survives there, too. This is good news for future lunar colonists. But where could the ice on Mercury and the moon have come from? One source might have been the gases seeping out from the bodies' interiors. Also, cometary impacts could have added water vapor to the atmospheres. This would then have been deposited as frost in cold crater bottoms, just like the frost seen on winter window panes. (Harmon, J.K ., et al; "Radar Mapping of Mercury's Polar Anomalies," Nature, 369:213, 1994.) Comment. But are comets really the water bearers the astonomers say they are? See the item under ASTRONOMY. From Science Frontiers #95, SEP-OCT 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Drip, drop, drup, dr**A dripping faucet is usually conceived as a well-ordered dependable phenomenon. You simple turn the faucet a bit counterclockwise and the drip rate increases. It's so simple. Surprise! Dripping faucets are chaotic systems, as described in the following Abstract: "The dripping water faucet is a simple system which is shown in this article to be rich in examples of chaotic behavior. Data were taken for a wide range of drip rates for two different faucet nozzles and plotted as discrete time maps. Different routes to chaos, bifurcation and intermittency, are demonstrated for the different nozzles. Examples of period-1 , - 2, -3 , and -4 attractors, as well as strange attractors, are presented and correlated to the formation of drops leaving the faucet." (Dreyer, K., and Hickey, F.R .; "The Route to Chaos in a Dripping Water Faucet," American Journal of Physics, 59:619, 1991.) Comment. O.K ., so faucets dribble a bit. From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... .R . Shaw makes a try in his new book: Craters, Cosmos, and Chronicles: A New Theory of the Earth . Shaw's ideas have recently been reviewed in Science News and our item is based on that article. Shaw contends that cosmic projectiles -- asteroids and comets -- have controlled almost all features of the earth's evolution. For example: Impacts have determined the positions of the continents. They have controlled the geomagnetic field. They have created volcanoes and massive basalt flows. They have caused mass extinctions. Of course, for two centuries, other catastrophists have proposed similar dire consequences of giant impacts. But Shaw does introduce three ideas that are worth recording here. Large impact craters occur in swaths. Although this has been suggested before, Shaw has mapped out several swaths where large craters of about the same age are located. His "K -T swath" includes the Chicxulub crater (Yucatan), the Manson crater (Iowa), the Avak crater (Alaska), and three more in Russia -- all of which were gouged out about the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K -T ) boundary. Shaw has plotted several other swaths of different ages. The application of chaos theory to solar system debris. Shaw hypothesizes that nonlinear gravitational effects channel asteroids and comets into the inner solar system in intermittent bursts. The bursts are then captured by the earth and other inner planets, with some of these objects grouped in like orbits. Gravitational feedback occurs from earth to orbiting debris. Shaw believes that the uneven distribution of ...
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