Science Frontiers
The Unusual & Unexplained

Strange Science * Bizarre Biophysics * Anomalous astronomy
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About Science Frontiers

Science Frontiers is the bimonthly newsletter providing digests of reports that describe scientific anomalies; that is, those observations and facts that challenge prevailing scientific paradigms. Over 2000 Science Frontiers digests have been published since 1976.

These 2,000+ digests represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The Sourcebook Project, which publishes Science Frontiers, also publishes the Catalog of Anomalies, which delves far more deeply into anomalistics and now extends to sixteen volumes, and covers dozens of disciplines.

Over 14,000 volumes of science journals, including all issues of Nature and Science have been examined for reports on anomalies. In this context, the newsletter Science Frontiers is the appetizer and the Catalog of Anomalies is the main course.


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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 No unknown monsters in those fiji underwater caves: nevertheless, the mystery deepens A videotape of those unusual skeletons in the Fiji underwater caves mentioned above has been studied by scientists at the Queensland Museum. The are not the remains of unknown monsters -- they are only dolphin bones! But one mystery has been replaced by several. It seems that there were three different species of dolphins, and they were found at the closed ends of underwater passages that were just a bit larger than the living animals themselves. Why did three different species go into the caves at all? Why did they go all the way to the ends of the closed passages, given their excellent echo-location systems? Pertinent here is the discovery of skeletons and recent carcasses of green turtles in similar situations in underwater caves in Indonesia. Turtles lack the dolphins' echo-location equipment, but they are still excellent navigators. (Molnar, R.E .; personal communication, July 2, 1991. Molnar is a scientist at the Queensland Museum.) Comment. Another question comes to mind: Could the demise of the dolphins in the Fiji caves be related to the occasional strandings of whales and other cetacea on beaches all over the world? Is there a common failure in perception and/or navigation? From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Monster Skeletons Found In Underwater Fiji Cave The scene is a remote underwater cave 51.5 kilometers from one of Fiji's resort islands. K. Deacon, a professional diver from Sydney is the source of the following report. "' We have found what appears to be two adults, one adolescent and one juvenile,' he said. 'They bear no resemblance to any marine creature I know.' "The adult skulls were about 1 m long with a total body length of 8 m to 10 m. They looked prehistoric and perhaps were land animals or amphibious species. "The cave, now a part of a reef about 50 m under water, may once have been above sea level. .. .. . "Mr Deacon believed the creatures were either prehistoric or contempory animals unknown to science -- or, if they were some known kind of animal, then how they had found their way into the cave was a mystery." (Spencer Geoff; "Monsters Found in the Fiji Deep," New Zealand Herald , May 31, 1990, Cr. R. Collyns via L. Farish.) From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 123: May-Jun 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Caves As Musical Instruments In past issues of SF, we have reported how some ancient rock art was intentionally painted on rock faces so that echos, as from a handclap, would not only be unusually loud but have some relation to the painting, as in the clatter of hooves. (SF#86) In a similar vein, some manmade chambers, such as New Grange (3 ,500 B.C .) were configured to enhance the subjective effects of ritual chanting. (SF#102) A fascinating article in Pour la Science , has described how ancient paintings in some of Europe's famous decorated caves were placed where sound resonated. To illustrate, examine the accompanying illustration of the north wall of the Jeannel Gallery of Portel Cave, in Arlege. The long, looping dotted line indicates the amplitude of resonating sound at a frequency of 95 Hertz, as the long gallery behaves like a giant wind instrument. The peak occurs smack in the center of the decorated area. At the peak, in the dotted circle, there is a rocky projection in the shape of a (hard-to-see) feline head. On the opposite wall (not shown), the same peak coincides with an ocher circle that dominates a meter-long decorated panel. (Dauvois, Michael, et al; "Son et Musique au Paleolithique," Pour la Science , p. 52, no. 253 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 107: Sep-Oct 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Rock-Based Life Virtually all biology textbooks insist that all terrestrial life ultimately depends upon sunlight for its survival. The ecosystems clustered around the deep-sea vents and the bacteria found in deep aquifers demonstrate that the sun is not essential to life -- chemical energy does just fine. In fact, the domain of chemosynthetic life has now been extended to a Romanian cave that has apparently been almost completely sealed off from surface influences for 5.5 million years. Air does leak in through tiny cracks, and water partially fills the cave. What is most remarkable in this sunless, sealed ecosystem is its biodiversity: 48 animal species, including 33 brand-new species. The roster includes isopods, a millipede, a centipede, a water scorpion, and a leech. Of course, bacteria and fungi thrive there, too. In contrast to unsealed caves, where insects, bats, and other sources of food filter in from the surface, life in the Romanian cave seems to derive entirely from hydrogen sulfide present in the cave's rocks. This compound is consumed by microorganisms, which are then grazed by cave occupants higher up the food chain. A NASA scientist has called Movile cave a "Mars analog site." And indeed it might be, for Mars has plenty of rocks and subsurface water. (Skinrud, E.; "Romanian Cave Contains Novel Ecosystem," Science News, 149: 405, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 64: Jul-Aug 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Who left these artifacts in burrows cave?Burrows Cave artifacts. Right are pictured two artifacts extracted from a controversial site in Illinois called Burrows Cave. A large quantity of epigraphic material has been found there, and it certainly doesn't seem to be fare digestible by mainstream archeologists. The artifacts are somewhat reminiscent of the Davenport, Iowa, and Wilmington, Ohio, tablets, both of which are also of doubtful authenticity. (Anonymous; Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Epigraphic Society, Occasional News letter , no. 2, May 1, 1989.) References. The Davenport and Wilming-ton tablets mentioned above are described in our handbook Ancient Man. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #64, JUL-AUG 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 57: May-Jun 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Living stalactites! subterranean life! (in three parts)Translation of the Introduction of an article from Science et Vie : "One has always held that the calcareous concretions in caves are the work of water and the chemical constituents of the rock. Surprise! The true workers in the kingdom of darkness are living organisms." It's all true. All the references we have state unequivocally that stalactites and stalagmites are created by dripping water that is charged with minerals, calcium carbonate in particular. That stalactites contain crystals of calcite is not denied in the Science et Vie article. Indeed, an electron micro scope photograph shows them clearly; but it also shows that a web of mineralized bacteria is also an intergral part of the stalactite's structure. Laboratory simulations have shown that microorganisms take an active role in the process of mineralization. (Dupont, George; "Et Si les Stalactites Etaient Vivantes?" Science et Vie , p. 86, August 1987. Cr. C. Mauge.) Besides being a surprising adjustment of our ideas about stalactite growth, the recognition that microorganisms may play an active role in the subterranean world stimulates two new questions: (1 ) Can we believe any longer that stalactite size is a measure of age, as is often claimed? (2 ) Is the immense network of known caves (some as long as 500 kilometers) the consequence only of chemical actions? It turns ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 54: Nov-Dec 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 300,000-YEAR-OLD SITE IN BRAZIL "Central, Brazil -- Archaeologists excavating a cave in Brazil's remote northeastern backlands say that they have found evidence that man has lived in the New World for at least 300,000 years. "If confirmed, it would be the first proof of pre-Neanderthal man in the Americas and a severe blow to current theories that the first humans came here from Asia during the last Ice Age, only about 35,000 years ago. "The scientists also report that they have discovered what may be the world's oldest astronomical observatory. .. .. . "The signs of man were found in a cave called Toca da Esperanca (Grotto of Hope), deep in the black limestone cliffs of the Serra Negra mountains, 1,100 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro. "The site caught the interest of the scientific community after archaeologist Maria Beltrao reported finding a stone implement and the cut bones of an extinct species of horse in the dig last year. "The bones were so old that they could not be dated by carbon-14, which can measure about 40,000 years. The Weak Radiation Laboratory in France tested them by a more sensitive uraniumthorium method, and came back with a staggering date of 300,000 years. .. .. . "A cave called Grotto of the Cosmos at nearby Xique-Xique contained ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Long Before The Vikings And Polynesians Scene: Orogrande Cave, New Mexico. R. MacNeish, a respected archeologist from the Andover Foundation for Archeological Research, has charted a 30,00040,000-year-old paleonotological record of ancient camels, horses, tapirs, and other fauna found while excavating this cave. Intermixed with the animal bones are layers of charcoal (easily carbondated) and hints of human occupation. But don't we all know that humans did not arrive in the New World until 12,000 years ago? Nevertheless, there they are: (1 ) rude human tools; and (2 ) a possible human palm print. Mainstream archeologists are stonewalling again; there must be some mistake! (Appenzeller, Tim; " A High Five from the First New World Settlers?" Science, 255:920, 1992.) Scene: Inside Amerind cells. DNA analyses of the mitochondria present in the cells of North American Indian populations indicate that the Eskimo-Aleut and Nadene populations arrived about 7,500 years ago. The more geographically widespread Amerind population, however, seems to be descended from two separate influxes; the first about 30,000 years ago, the second about 10,000 years ago. D. Wallace, from Emory University, surmises that the sharply defined rise of the Clovis culture, conventionally dated from 12,000 years ago, may have resulted from the second Amerind ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 135: MAY-JUN 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Does The Earth Breathe?In a superficial sense, the answer is certainly YES. By way of illustration, when a low-pressure area moves in, higher-pressure air residing in deep wells and caves comes rushing out (" exhaling")! Attach a whistle to a likely well and you have a "weather well" that warns of the impending change. The exhalations of large caves (" blowing caves") can be copious and strong; so much so that some aeronautical pioneers tested their airplane models at cave mouths. In a deeper sense, there are new measurements suggesting that the earth's solid crust also contracts by minute amounts in an annual cycle. For example, 50 GPS (Global Positioning System) stations in northeastern Japan detect east-west contractions of the crust of about 50 millimeters/year. The compressions are 15% faster in the fall and 15% slower in the spring. The same rhythmic squeezing has been discerned in a 150-meter tunnel dug into granite bedrock in the same region. To these instrument measurements can be added the strong tendency of some major volcanos to erupt in the fall when the biggest squeeze is on. The analogy of toothpaste being squeezed out of a tube is inescapable here! The cause of these annual "breathing" cycles is uncertain. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Earth's Breathing Lessons," Science, 291:584, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 134: MAR-APR 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Incroyable?" Incredible?" Yes, if what paleoastronoer C. Jegues-Wolkiewiez claims is borne out by further study. The venue here is the Lascaux Cave in France where, some 17,000 years ago, Cro-Magnon artists drew incredibly expressive portraits of animals in the glare of torches. Its is in this cave's dark recesses that Jegues-Wolkiewiez sees two 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, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 82: Jul-Aug 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Perhaps they even reached oklahoma!The drawing reproduced below was made by C. Keeler when he visited the famous inscription-filled Anubis Cave. Some of the figures have Egyptian overtones, as remarked by D. and A. Buchanan: "This 'cave' (really a cave-like rock shelter located in Northwestern Oklahoma close to the Colorado line), as well as others like it in the vicinity, was first recorded by Gloria Farley after her visit to the site in June 1978. She especially remarked upon the Anubis figure you see here as well as the figure with the rayed head surmounting the "cube-in-perspective" or '3 -D Cube' (as some have called it). Besides the Egyptian motifs, she also noted the ogam-like strokes and a number of other apparent Celtic connections." Translation of the ogam by B. Fell indicated that the site was used for Celtic rites. (Buchanan, Donal, and Buchanan, Ann; "The Anubis Cave in Old World Iconography," ESRS Bulletin, 18:27, October 1991.) ESRS = Early Sites Research Society. Comment. Anubis was the Egyptian jackal god. It is the stylized figure in the top center of the drawing. Such interpretations are ignored by the archeological establishment, and almost all research on such sites is carried out by amateurs. From Science Frontiers #82, JUL-AUG 1992 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 50: Mar-Apr 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chain of crevicular habitats?Towards the end of an article on the eerie blue holes of the Bahamas appears this intriguing paragraph: "William Hart, of the Smithsonian Institution, and Tom Iliffe, of the Bermuda Biological Station, believe that blue holes are one link in a chain of crevicular habitats -- caves, fissures, rocks of the sea floor -- that stretches from one side of the ocean to the other, from the Americas, across the sea floor and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, to Africa and the Mediterranean. Related Amphipods are not only found in Bahamian caves but in marine caves in Bermuda, the Pacific, and the Yucatan Peninsula." (Palmer, Robert; "In the Lair of the Lusca," Natural History, 96:42, January 1987.) Comment. With this, the vision arises of an earth-girdling, biologically and geologically connected stratum of life that we know next to nothing about. How porous is the earth's crust, and how far down in these pores and interstices does life survive? From Science Frontiers #50, MAR-APR 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Old hannah's explosions December 10, 1899. Staffordshire, Eng land, near Old Hannah's Cave. Two men heard explosions like rifle shots. "Realizing that no one was shooting, they looked up the cliff and witnessed an explosion which emitted a flash from a hole or fissure in the upper part of the cliff. This had a bluish column 'not of steam or fire or smoke, but apparently of aqueous vapour,' which travelled with immense force across the valley (approximately 12 m wide). Within minutes another discharge from higher up the cliff and then 'several ones with crackling sounds producing semi-transparent wavy streaks in the air, not smokey in appearance.' Next came a very loud explosion which 'we had the good fortune to see plainly.' Wardle describes this as 'like a gun but with crackling, a series of continuous reports, cleaving the air in a zigzag or riverlike course in a narrow band about 15 cm to 20 cm broad, of bluish colour." Several other reliable descriptions exist of detonations and flame-like discharges around old Hannah's Cave. The supposition is that natural gases liberated by decaying organic material and, perhaps, geochemical reactions are ignited by static electricity. A recent landslip seems to have extinguished this curious phenomenon. (Pounder, Colin; "Speculations on Natural Explosions at Old Hannah's Cave, Staffordshire, England," National ...
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... Emblematic Mounds Boulder Mosaics Serpent Mounds, Wide Distribution Blythe Ground Figures British Hill Figures Nazca Lines Gravel Effigies Santa Valley Geoglyphs Georgia Eagle Mound Australian Ground Figures Panamint Valley Ground Figures [MSH6 Stone Meanders] Candelabra of the Andes South American Ceques U.S . Giant Circles [MSE8 Geographical Zodiacs] MGK CALENDARS AND ZODIACS Calendar Mosaics Lozenge Calendars Lunar and Solar Notation on Bones and Stones Karanouo Zodiac Mayan and Western Zodiacs Are Alike [MSE Geographical Zodiacs] MGM MAPS Turin Papyrus Vineland Map Stick Maps of Oceania Piri Re'is Map Carthaginian Maps Tibetan Maps of New World Ancient Atlantic Maps, Disappearing Islands Zeno maps Chinese Maps of America, Fusang Claim MGP ROCK ART, PETROGLYPHS, PICTOGRAPHS Tattoos Australian Bradshaw Paintings Paisa Petroglyphs Maze Stone Viking-Boat Tablet in America Chinese Motifs in America [MGS] Lascaux Cave Paintings Australian Rock Art, Strange Figures (Wandjina Drawings) Penguins in Mediterranean Mammoths and Elephants in America Michigan Tablets Rabbit-in-Moon Motif: Its Diffusion Rock Art and Echoes Anubis Cave Art Egypt in America Elephant Slabs Stone Age Art Sophistication Ostrich Domestication as Shown in Art Serpent Motif: Diffusion Pedra Furada Rock Art Holly Oak Pendant Fraud Tennessee Cave Art Red Bands in Caves Egypt in Australia Egypt in South Africa Mammoths in Egypt Ohio Copper Tablets China in South America Egyptian Electricity Palenque Astronaut China in India Jinmium [MGS Symbols] Horses in South America Microscopic Engraving MGQ QUIPUS AND STRING FIGURES Quipus String Figures MGS SYMBOLS, MOTIFS Cup-and-Ring Carvings Painted Pebbles (Mas d'Azil) Grafitti Comalcalco Pyramid-Brick Markings Jinmium Petroglyphs [also MGP] Painted Lima Beans Minoan Labyrinth ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 121: Jan-Feb 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Problems Of Aboriginal Art In Australia In SF#117, we reproduced some Australian rock art featuring sylph-like, flowing human figures quite unlike today's aborigines. In our more recent library searches, we have come across an old article that provides additional examples of the socalled Bradshaw paintings -- more of those graceful human forms with long, billowing tresses. Very out-ofplace in today's Outback. The same article adds an even more puzzling human representation to the burgeoning file of mysterious Australian art. It is a carving found in a cave of northwestern Australia. Here is the text accompanying the sketch. "Another cave introduced a fresh problem. Fronting it, high up on the vertical face of a cliff, and unreachable without mechanical aid, had been carved out of the solid stone a human head in profile, which I show. It was 2 feet long and 16 inches across, and 1 -inch thick; and I leave my hearers to say whether it is not a striking and distinguished face. It is absolutely different from the heads of modern Aborigines. The worn edges of the cameo, where it joined the rock-surface, seemed to mark a long interval since it was carved; the difficulty of carving it where it stood must have been immense -- unless, indeed, the rock face had been near the ground at the time, and the ground had worn away since - ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 111: May-Jun 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ancient Entertainments Neanderthal musicmakers, The Neanderthals have long been portrayed as insensitive and brutish. But when the remains of flowers were found at Shanidar, a Neanderthal grave site in Iraq, archeologists mellowed a bit in their assessments. Now, there is evidence that those supposed lowbrows were also musicians. In 1996, in a Slovenian cave, researchers discovered a flute crafted from the thigh bone of a cave bear. Stone tools of Neanderthal manufacture were found nearby. The flute is dated between 43,000 and 82,000 years old and is the oldest-known, deliberately manufactured musical instrument ever found. (Folger, Tim, and Menon, Shanti; "Strong Bones, and Thus Dim-Witted? Or Much Like Us?" Discover, 18:32, January 1997.) Really stale chewing gum! The journal Nature recently printed the photograph of a tooth-marked wad of chewing gum said to be 6,500 years old. This particular wad came from a Swedish bog, but similar wads have been found all over Northern Europe. Not having access to South American chicle, ancient confectioners made the gum from birch bark. Birch bark was also the source of the tar primitive humans used for gluing and waterproofing. E. Aveling, University of Bradford, has concocted a fresh batch of birchbark gum for a taste test. (No one volunteered to try the "old" stuff!) She reported that ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 83: Sep-Oct 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Winning By A Hair Archeologists have been very skeptical about the purported human artifacts and handprint found in the Orogrande Cave, New Mexico. The chief archeologist working at the site, R. MacNeish, has now found several hairs embedded in the cement-hard layers of the cave's floor. One of these hairs, less than an inch long, has definitely been labeled as human by Canadian forensic experts. Carbon-14 dating of a nearby piece of charcoal from the same layer has yielded a date of 19,180 BP -- considerably more ancient than the passionately defended 12,000-BP date for first arrivals in the New World. MacNeish is confident that his claims will now be accepted, joking, "It looks like I'm going to win this one by a hair." Other archeologists, however, are not laughing. Handprints and hairs are insufficient; they want human bones. (Chandler, David L.; "Strand of Hair May Be Proof of Much Earlier Americans," Boston Globe, June 28, 1992. (Cr. R. Coltman) From Science Frontiers #83, SEP-OCT 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... /Visa/Amex E.G . Squier. 1849, 193 pp., $19.95p With the help of 72 figures and 14 large plates, Squier details the abundant aboriginal works found in New York and elsewhere. Included are chapters on mounds and other earthworks as well as implements and ornaments. The long appendix leaves New York and delves into the fortifications of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, the aboriginal use of copper, and some ancient works found in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee View Cart Buy online via PayPal with MC/Visa/Amex J. Jones. 1880, 176 pp., $19.95p A comprehensive study-in-depth of the legacy of the Tennessee aborigines, with 85 excellent illustrations and index. Topics include: burial caves (as seen by their discoverers), pyramidal and conical mounds, fortifications, earthworks, the famous Stone Fort, and a wide variety of artifacts. Jones also studied the so-called pigmy graves and tiny stone coffins. Legendary Islands of the Atlantic View Cart Buy online via PayPal with MC/Visa/Amex W. H. Babcock. 196 pp., 1922, $15.95p The title of this book immediately conjures up thoughts of Atlantis; but many other Atlantic islands were once thought to exist, were placed on maps, and then disappeared. The island of Brazil (or Hy Brazil) is one of these phantom islands. Babcock has written an engrossing, scholarly treatise, with many old maps, and hints of pre-Columbian contacts with the New World ...
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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 Eyes of deep-sea fish have spare parts The sunlight that filters down into the depths of the sea is exceedingly weak. It is so dark down there that one would expect deep-sea fish to be blind like many cave-dwelling animals. They are not blind; rather many have eyes of fantastic size and novel construction. An unusual feature of some deep-sea eyes is a layered retina. In the conger eel, five layers of photoreceptors are plastered on top of one another. Yet, experiments with conger eel eyes reveal that only one layer of photoreceptors is active at any one time. R. Shapley and J. Gordon, who carried out these experiments at the Plymouth Lab., surmise that the extra retinal layers are being held in reserve, much like the rows of spare teeth found in sharks' mouths. If so, deep-sea fish are the only animals that have evolved spare stores of visual pigments. (Anonymous; "The Mystery of the Non-Functioning Receptors," New Scientist, 88:366, 1980.) Comment. Why haven't cave-dwelling fish taken the same evolutionary route? From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Waller has visited rock art sites in Europe, North America, and Australia. Standing well back from the painted walls, he claps or creates percussion sounds, and records the echos bouncing back. A casual observer might be tempted to call 911. It turns out, though, that rock art seems to be placed intentionally where echos are not only unusually loud but are also related to the pictured subject matter. Where hooved animals are depicted, one easily evokes echos of a running herd. If a person is drawn, the echos of voices seem to emanate from the picture itself! "At open air sites with paintings, Waller found that echos reverberate on average at a level 8 decibels above the level of the background. At sites without art the average was 3 decibels. In deep caves such as Lascaux and Font-de-Gaume in France, echos in painted chambers produce sound levels of between 23 and 31 decibels. Deep cave walls painted with cats produce sounds from about 1 to 7 decibels. In contrast, surfaces without paint are 'totally flat'." What did the ancient artists have against cats? (Dayton, Leigh; "Rock Art Evokes Beastly Echos of the Past," New Scientist, p. 14, November 28, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Stythe = choke damp This, according to an unabridged dictionary. Looking up "choke damp", it is found to be "a suffocating gas, chiefly carbon dioxide, found in wells, coal mines, and other pits, also called "blackdamp." Evidently, in the quotation in SF#102 describing the death of one Donald Tollett due to a stythe, the word "stythe" was used for the meteorological event itself rather than -- correctly -- for the gases sucked out of the coal mine by a sudden drop in atmospheric pressure. (Stepp, Richard; personal communication, November 26, 1995) Comment. Changes in atmospheric pressure are also the causes of "blowing caves" and "weather wells". See GHG2 in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds. To order, visit here . Incidentally, blowing caves were used in the very early days of aernonautics for testing aircraft models due to the lack of wind tunnels. From Science Frontiers #103, JAN-FEB 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... certainly suggest the work of an intelligent creature, as does the site's great distance from the surface. Torches would have been a necessity that far in. That 47,600-year figure, though, presents a problem. The first Cro-Magnons didn't filter into western Europe until about 35,000 BP. According to the accepted anthropological schedule, only those subhuman Neandertals inhabited that part of France in 47,600 BP. So, we must conclude that the Neandertals knew well the sophisticated use of fire. They also had enough curiosity to venture deep into the earth, where for some unknown purpose they piled together an enigmatic structure. All this also seems to require more information transfer than possible with a few "ughs"! (Balter, Michael; "Cave Structure Boosts Neandertal Image," Science, 271:449, 1996) There is always the possibility that those mysterious Cro-Magnons, who seem to have appeared out of nowhere, got to western Europe ahead of schedule. They are probably the artists who made those 31,000-year-old cave paintings at Grotte Chauvet in southern France. Even though of slighter build and smaller brains, the Cro-Magnons are thought to have quickly replaced the Neandertals. Complicating the picture is abundant fossil evidence of so-called "archaic" Homo sapiens in Europe commencing some 500,000 years ago. Did these archaic versions of modern humans evolve into Neandertals before the Cro-Magnons (modern humans) arrived on the scene? Some paleoanthropologists now believe so. Just the other day ...
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... "F "! Everyone knows that the first inhabitants of the New World filtered across the Bering Land Bridge and eventually worked their way all the way down to the tip of South America. Perhaps so, perhaps no. Conceivably some venturesome Australian seafarers could have island-hopped across the South Pacific or taken a polar route (as the Vikings did in the north) when the world was warmer. Radical as this notion seems, three classes of evidence hint that Australians may have set foot on South American shores more than 10,000 years ago. Human fossils. As revealed in SF#118, an 11,500-year-old human skull found in Brazil possesses features of South Sea Islanders rather than Asians. Stone artifacts. Scrapers and other simple stone artifacts from Los Toldos Cave in Patagonia, dated as 12,000 years old, are suspiciously similar to late-Pleistocene tools in Australia. (Ref. 1) Cave paintings. At Los Toldos and especially another Patagonian site called Estancia La Maria, there is distinctive artwork virtually identical to some from Australia. Specifically, this artwork consists of "hand negatives" (silhouettes of the artists' hands) and spiral and circular drawings composed of little spots. (Ref. 1) Additionally, a remarkable and entirely distinct form of Australian art -- the famous Bradshaw paintings -- are strangely echoed in the artwork of the Paracus Culture of Peru. (Ref. 2) Two curiously adorned flowing figures from a Bradshaw gallery, Australia It is relevant in the above context that one of the Bradshaw paintings depicts ...
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... -Dec1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ogam, ogam, everywhere Ogam is a curious sort of writing characterized by a long reference line decorated with shorter perpendicular or slanted lines. The lengths and arrangements of the shorter lines and their crossings and non-crossings of the reference line constitute alphabetical symbols. The ancient Irish are credited with inventing Ogam; and Ogam inscriptions are common in that part of the world. During the last two decades, B. Fell and members of the Epigraphic Society have discovered many possible Ogam inscriptions in the continental United States. In fact, the latest issue of the NEARA Journal (NEARA = New England Antiquities Research Association) contains two articles dealing with supposed Ogam writing and other crude drawings in the Anubis Caves of western Oklahoma. The presence of true Ogam writing in Oklahoma would be traumatic for mainstream American archeology, for it would imply that far-wandering Celts had passed through long before Columbus made landfall. Later in the same issue of the NEARA J., G. Carter describes a tablet in the possession of a South African Zulu, which pictures a giraffe and a zebra along with inscriptions in Egyotian, Arabic, and Ogam! Carter writes: "I put below of picture of a giraffe with Ogam alongside. The Ogam letters are RZRF. Add vowels and this becomes: Rai Za Ra Fa; old Arabic for 'behold the giraffe.' Alongside a zebra figure one finds Ogam letters ZBDB, which in Arabic reads 'painted ass.' These animal figures are usually considered ...
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... Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Brobdingnagian Geode Any rock-and-mineral shop will happily sell you piece of a geode that has been sliced like a cantaloupe and nicely polished to reveal its beautiful crystal line interior. You may have to pay hundreds of dollars for half of a melon-sized geode. If so, what is a geode 26 feet long worth -- one that can shelter several people within its cavity? Such a geode was just a rumor among rock collectors until recently, when J. Garcia-Guinea, a geologist from Madrid's National Museum of Natural Sciences, followed up the leads. Sure enough, some 4 kilometers from Almeria, in north-eastern Spain, he found a veritable crystal cave. Inside, the giant geode is lined with near-perfect, transparent crystals of gypsum, some of which are 11 feet long. (Anonymous; "Giant Crystal Cave Discovered," BBC Homepage, June 12, 2000. Cr. D. Phelps. Holden, Constance; "Brobdingnagian Crystals," Science, 288:2127, 2000.) Comment. The Spanish geode merits headlines for its size, but geodes also offer grist to the anomalist. In particular, we refer to geodes found near Niota. Illinois, that are filled with solid tar or liquid bitumen. When the latter are broken open, the petroleum squirts out violently. There are no oil deposits within 25 miles, so the presence of oil-filled, pressurized geodes is a puzzle. See ESA5 ...
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... falls (hydrometeors) Comments from reviews: ". .. can be recommended to every one who realizes that not everything in science has been properly explained", Weather 202 pages, hardcover, $16.95, 40 Illustrations, 5 indexes, 1983. 745 references, LC 82-63156, ISBN 915554-10-0 , 7x10 format. Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. Quakes and monster, solitary waves and natural detonations; these are the consequences of solids, liquids, and gases in motion. In our modern technological cocoon, we are hardly aware of this rich spectrum of natural phenomena. [Picture caption: Sand craters created by earthquakes] Typical subjects covered: Periodic wells and blowing caves * Sun-dominated tides * Immense, solitary waves * Animal activity prior to earthquakes * Earthquake geographic anomalies * Earthquake electricity * The sound of the aurora * Musical sounds in nature * Mysterious detonations * Anomalous echos * Slicks and calms on water surfaces * Periodicities of earthquakes * The vibrations of waterfalls * Unusual barometric disturbances Comments from reviews: ". .. surprisingly interesting reading", Nature 220 pages, photocopied edition, $16.95p, 32 illustrations, 5 indexes, 1983. 790 references, LC 83-50781, ISBN 915554-11-9 , 7x10 format Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. Most of us have seen rings around the moon, but what does it mean when ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 77: Sep-Oct 1991 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology PLIOCENE SCULPTURES OR FREAKS OF NATURE? A PAPER TRAIL FROM ASIA TO THE AMERICAS Astronomy Mercury: the impossible planet Eclipse shadow-band anomalies Biology Supernova theory exploded NO UNKNOWN MONSTERS IN THOSE FIJI UNDERWATER CAVES: NEVERTHELESS, THE MYSTERY DEEPENS DO BIRDS USE GENETIC MAPS DURING MIGRATION? Cooler heads, bigger brains? The aye-aye, a percussive forager identical Geology VALLEYS OF DEATH AND ELEPHANT GRAVEYARDS Anthracite man? METHANE HYDRATE: PAST FRIEND OR FUTURE FOE? The gruyerizaton of switzerland faulting Geophysics CROP CIRCLES: DAISY PATTERNS AND A RED BALL OF LIGHT Hovering ball of fire SOME OLD GEYSERS ARE NOT SO FAITHFUL WATER'S MEMORY OR BENVENISTE STRIKES BACK Physics Drip, drop, drup, dr** ...
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... Marine Organisms and Their Fossils ESB8 Animals Entombed in Rocks ESB9 Living Organisms at Great Depths ESB10 Fossils of Warm-Climate, Light Dependent Organisms Found in the Polar Regions ESB11 Time-Wise Anomalous Fossils ESB12 Skipping in the Fossil Record ESB13 "Special" Nature of Fossils ESC ANOMALOUS CHEMICAL PHENOMENA IN GEOLOGY ESC1 Chemical Anomalies in the Stratigraphic Record ESC2 Chemical Anomalies in Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks ESC3 Surface Films on Rocks ESC4 Spontaneous, Rapid, Exothermic Reactions in Nature ESC5 Death Gulches ESC6 Violent Lake Turnovers ESC7 Petrifactions and Lignifications ESC8 Geological Effects of Natural Combustion ESC9 Rocks and Sediments of Controverted Origins ESC10 Unusual Growth Structures ESC11 Possible Extraterrestrial Origin of Ocean Water ESC12 Chemical Anomalies of Lakes and Ground Water ESC13 Petroleum Anomalies ESC14 Coal Anomalies ESC15 Outgassing of Radon-222 ESC16 Methane Anomalies ESD DEPOSITS OF REMARKABLE SIZE ESD1 Bone Caves, Bone Caches,... ESD2 Bone Beds, Fish Beds,... ESD3 Sedimentary Deposits of Exceptional Volume ESD4 Historical Evidence for Large Scale Flooding ESD5 Recent Large Reductions of Polar Ice Cover ESD6 Giant Basalt Flows and Traps ESD7 Giant Accumulations of Oil ESD8 Giant Erratics and Megabreccias ESD9 Deposits of Great Areal Extent ESI INCLUSIONS ESI1 Inclusions in Crystals ESI2 Microdebris ESI3 Erratic Boulders, Stones, and Mineral Patches ESI4 Anomalous Amber Inclusions ESI5 Microfossil-Like Inclusions ESI6 Oil in Fossil Cavities ESI7 Carbon Dust on Fossil Plants ESI8 Great Rarity of Fossil Meteorites and Tektites ESI9 Stretched Pebbles ESM ANOMALOUS SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS ESM1 Unusual Superficial Aggregations of Rocks ESM2 Strewn Fields of Natural Glasses ESM3 Tektite and Microtektite Paradoxes and Anomalies ESM4 Boulder Trains and Belts ESM5 Rock Glaciers, Block Fields,... ESM6 Elevated ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 123: May-Jun 1999 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Caves as musical instruments Sophisticated chemistry in ancient egypt Heads down! Out-henging stonehenge Astronomy Eclipse shadow bands Moonstone in orbit? The storm-swept cosmos Biology Nanobes Strange appetites Flash fish Throwing sand in the gears of molecular clocks Geology Copper pseudomorphs Geophysics Mysterious mountain deaths Puzzling shadows Psychology Phantoms of the brain Focused group energy (fge) Megamemories Unclassified They went a byte too far! ...
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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 Libyan Signs From Southeastern Kentucky Curious images and writings turn up with surprising frequency in North America. The sculpture illustrated was among several found in a cave on the Virginia-Kentucky border. Made life-sized from hard sandstone, it bears curious symbols on its back. Quite obviously, it is the head of an Indian chief, but the symbols might be Libyan, according to Barry Fell. He translates them as: "luminous, radiant, sun-like." Interestingly enough, the ancient leaders of the Natchez Tribe were called "Suns" and wore feathered headdresses like those of the Plains Indians. Further, the Natchez Suns apparently maintained that their ancestors came to North America from North Africa -- thus the Libyan symbols! (Calhoun, Vernon J.; "Libyan Evidence in Southeast Kentucky," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications, 7:127, 1978.) Comment. Much controversy swirls about such symbols and their proposed translations. From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... a chess master can usually recall the positions of all the pieces on a chessboard after a quick glance. But if the chessmen are arranged randomly and meaninglessly, his memory is reduced to near-normal. The gist is that long prac-tice and the application of mnemonic devices can vastly improve anyone's memory and, in consequence, memory prodigies are not really so anomalous. (Ericsson, K. Anders, and Chase, William G.; "Exceptional Memory," American Scientist, 70:607, 1982.) Comment. The real anomaly here may be the fact that the human memory and related memory faculties seem orders of magnitude better than needed for survival. How did such capabilities evolve? Of what use is a prodigious memory to an Ice Age man facing a cave bear? Are we dealing with prescient evolution, like the moth described above, holding capabilities in reserve until they are really needed. From Science Frontiers #26, MAR-APR 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 55: Jan-Feb 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Early Boomerang "Scientists who found a curved piece of mammoth tusk in a cave in southern Poland have dubbed it the world's oldest known boomerang, dating to about 23,000 years ago. "The claim is based on the artifact's shape: its curvature and flattening at both ends, report P. Valde-Nowak and his colleagues of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow. It spans about 27 inches and is up to 2.3 inches wide and 0.6 inches thick. One side preserves the external, rounded surface of the tusk, while the other has been polished almost flat." (Bower, B.; "Prehistoric Tusk: Early Boomerang?" Science News, 132:215, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #55, JAN-FEB 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The grand lake stream enigma Artifacts of the auriferous gravels Astronomy The first food: tholin Halley reappears! OF IRON WHISKERS AND PARTICLES THAT INCREASE MASS WITH AGE! Biology CAN ORGANISMS DIRECT THEIR EVOLUTION? MONSTER SKELETONS FOUND IN UNDERWATER FIJI CAVE Platypus paradoxes Geology Looking for the smoking gun THE DINOSAURS OF WINTER AND THE POLAR FORESTS Geophysics Unusual electrical (? ) phenomena Crop circle roundup Psychology SLI: A SOMEWHAT AMUSING PSI PHENOMENON ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The orogrande, nm, site The discovery in a New Mexico cave of numerous stone artifacts, hearths, butchered animal bones and a clay fragment dating back at least 35,000 years could provide proof that the Americas were inhabited long before the generally accepted date of 12,000 years ago, believes Richard MacNeish, research director of the Andover, Mass., Foundation for Archaeological Research. An article in the Baltimore Sun stated: "The most solid proof of human presence earlier than 12,000 years ago may be a piece of a clay pot that appears to have a human fingerprint. "The shard was found in a layer of sediment that has been dated as being 35,000 years old. If confirmed as human, it could be the key to the findings, some archaeologists say." (Chandler, David L.; "Dig Finds Signs of Humans in N.M . 35,000 Years Ago," Baltimore Sun, p. 3A, May 6, 1991.) Comment. It is certain that these discoveries will be disputed -- and rightfully so. Even if they stand, it takes a generation to erase a false paradigm from the roster of science. From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 143: Sep-Oct 2002 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Ancient stone road leads to mountain laced with jade The Planet of the Apes: It's archaeology Ice-age faces on cave floors Astronomy From amusing little volcanoes to giant red devils Strange and Stranger astronomy Biology Dark Life A plague on theories Too close to be so far People who are not entirely themselves Geology Three inner-Earth heresies Geophysics Train, whistle, slowdown, bloop A bad assumption may obscure dark matter Psychology Contagious, collective laughter Physics Wordless memeories Chemistry Mechanical chemistry ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 156: Nov - Dec 2004 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Hot-desert frozen desserts Were Europe's magnificent cave paintings actually rendered by those brutish Neanderthals? Astronomy Flying blankets threaten satellite Francis filament is too long Biology "We are all mutants" Limboids Organizers on the chicken-coop floor Unexplained Exodus Psychic birds Geology Why is the Earth so wet? The Vitim bolide event Geophysics Infrared Foo Fighters? Spray devils off Cyprus Psychology Total-Zombies and cinematographic vision Physics Errant beach sand 20-degrees: the magic angle in stone-skipping ...
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... the problem of estimating the probability that intelligent life would evolve on other planets from a biologist's perspective. Whereas some physical scientists have set this probability at about 1.0 , Ornstein inclines toward 10-9 , believing that intelligent life is probably unique to the earth. But concludes Ornstein, the 15 separate developments of eyes among disparate terrestrial organisms may infer some unrecognized directing factor in evolution that would force him to revise his estimate upwards drastically. On the other hand, those 15 eyes might indicate a common, but still undiscovered, eye-possessing ancestor far back along evolution's track. The fossil record might be mute on this matter because eyes are soft tissues that are rarely preserved or perhaps because many eyes were jettisoned because the organisms didn't need them, as cave dwellers are wont to do with surprising rapidity. Some of the letters responding to Tipler questioned whether an intelligent civilization would be stupid enough to build self-reproducing von Neumann machines for galactic exploration. Wouldn't it be far more fun to go in person rather than by proxy? And, some pointed out, von Neumann machines would be ravenous consumers of energy and materials and might turn on man as an unnecessary competitor. Machines are not immutable. Space radiation and other environmental factors might alter computer programs and memories to drastically affect the behavior and objectives of such machines. Actually, as one letter writer observed, the earth has already been invaded by a self-reproducing, energy-hungry machine with exploratory tendencies -- man! (Anonymous; "Extraterrestrial Intelligence: The Debate ...
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... roaring and whistling sounds emanating from their wells, and of mysterious holes in the winter snow on Mount Bachelor. Central Oregon is geologically young and plastered with lava flows and cinder cones. It is like a sponge, with many cubic miles of holes, air channels, and open fissures. The air in this rocky sponge is usually on the move in response to changes in atmospheric pressure. The earth absorbs air during barometric highs and expels it during lows. In some spots the expelled air is captured to cool homes during the summer. In the High Cascades, though, the underground winds pose hazards to skiers by creating blowholes in the snow. These blowholes are actually mildly anomalous because they blow out a gentle 40 F breeze regardless of the barometric pressure. Some of Oregon's blowing caves also "breath" without re gard to barometric pressure. Also, the water wells north of Fort Rock Basin often blow for days during periods of high barometric pressure -- times when they should be taking air in. (Chitwood, Larry; "Central Oregon's Underground World Filled with Wind That Roars, Whistles," The Oregonian, Octo ber 3l, 1985. Cr. R. Byrd) Comment. See category GHG2, in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds, for material on blowing wells, etc. This catalog volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... the history of Australia -- to prove that, 3,000 years ago, joint Egyptian and Phoenician mineral-seeking expeditions established mining colonies here." Thus runs the lead paragraph of an article in a popular Australian publication. This purported pyramid boasts 18 recognizable terraces. The bottom 14 terraces are built from rather small stones; but the top four consist of slabs weighing up to 2 tons. Trees as old as 600 years poke up through the stones, attesting to a pre-European origin. Another much larger pyramid inhabits dense scrubland near Sydney. The claim that these admittedly crude structures are Egyptian is based upon the discovery of artifacts in the area with Egyptian and Phoenician characteristics; i.e ., a stone idol resembling a squatting ape, an onxy scarab beetle, and cave paintings with Egyptian symbols. Aborigine legends also tell of "culture heros" arriving at Gympie in large ships shaped like birds. (Gilroy, Rex; "Pyramids of Australia," Australasian Post, August 30, 1984. Cr. A. Jones.) Comments. Professional archeologists are very wary of anything R. Gilroy claims. Further, our Australian readers warn that Australian newspapers are not always as skeptical as they should be about radical claims. Underside of a stone scarab dug up in an Australian cane field (From Ancient Man) From Science Frontiers #41, SEP-OCT 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... = 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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... have their tales of wild men, abominable snowmen, sasquatch, etc. Most anthropologists give little credence to these stories. Shackley, however, has assembled considerable evidence for the reality of the so-called Almas (plural form: Almasti), primitive men who closely resemble Neanderthal Man, or at least what we think Neanderthal Man looked like. Abundant, internally consistent data come from an east-west band running from the Caucacus, across the Pamir Mountains, through the Altai Mountains, to Inner Mongolia. Even today, sightings of these creatures are rather common; and several scientists have seen them. One incident occurred in 1917, when the Reds were pursuing White Army forces through the Pamirs. The troops of Major General Mikail Stephanovitch Topilsky shot an Almas as he was emerging from a cave. "The eyes were dark and the teeth were large and even and shaped like human teeth. The forehead was slanting and the eyebrows were very powerful. The protruding jawbones made the face resemble the Mongol type of face. The nose was very flat .. .the lower jaws were very massive" In some instances the Almasti have even associated with modern man; and cases of successful interbreeding have been reported. After reviewing the mountains of evidence, Shackley feels that the Almasti are very likely surviving Neanderthals, because the physical characteristics of the Almasti and reconstructed Neanderthals are basically identical. This long review article also discusses the many Chuchunaa sightings from northern Russia -- perhaps another relict population of Neanderthals. (Shackley, Myra; "The Case for Neanderthal Survival: Fact, Fiction or ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 64: Jul-Aug 1989 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Bimini archeological anomalies Who left these artifacts in burrows cave? Astronomy Halley: a young, combusting, alien interloper Bright flash on the moon is 1985 Biology Poets at sea: or why do whales rhyme? Sheep circles! Directed mutation Geology The earth as a cold fusion reactor Libyan desert glass Geophysics The zeitoun apparitions Ball lightning in yorkshire Psychology Dream esp and geomagnetic activity Physics Cold fusion update General The 1977 "wow" signal ...
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... found on several continents. Some archeologists say simply that ancient humans just picked their teeth a lot in order to remove trapped food particles. But the grooves do not seem to be correlated with dental-decay problems. This fact has led to the so- called "cultural" theory, which holds that the picking of teeth was just another bad human habit, probably a sort of stereotype behavior having nothing to do with food caught between the teeth. (Formicola, Vincenzo; "Interproximal Grooving of Teeth: Additional Evidence and Interpretation," Current Anthropology , 29:663, 1988. Also: Anonymous; "Ancient Tooth Grooves: Take Your Pick," Science News , 134:237, 1988.) Comment. Could tooth-picking have been a religious rite? Are there cave drawings showing humans picking their teeth? Well, you can see from the Science News title that this publication also had fun with this item. Yet, the geographical and temporal reach of this phenomenon indicate that ancient humans were doing something rather strange for reasons we can only guess at. From Science Frontiers #61, JAN-FEB 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... archeological party line points to the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There, the authorities say that, about 10,000 years ago, humans suddenly learned how to sow and harvest such crops as wheat and barley. There, civilization really began. Or was it there? Wadi Kubbaniya, Egypt. At this site, G. Hillman, of the Institute of Archeology, London, has found grinding stones and tubers. This site is dated at 17,000-18,000 years old. New Guinea highlands. J. Golson, formerly of the Australian National University, has found ditches and crude fields in this area. The implication is that humans were tending plants here between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago. Buka Island, Solomons. While excavating Kilu cave, M. Spriggs and S. Wickler unearthed small flake tools with surfaces displaying starch grains and other plant residues. Evidently, these tools were used for processing taro. Further, the starch grains resembled those of cultivated rather than wild taro. Date: about 28,000 years ago. (Dayton, Leigh; "Pacific Islanders Were World's First Farmers," New Scientist, p. 14, December 12, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... knows what it is so far. The unexpected intensity of the vent glows also asks some provocative questions of the biologists: Is the glow strong enough to sup port photosynthesis? Quite likely, seems to be the answer. Are life forms in the vicinity of the vents employing photosynthesis? We don't know yet, but some bacteria do photosynthesize. Might not life and perhaps photo synthesis, too, have originated at the vents rather than on the planet's surface? This is an attractive possi bility, because very early in the earth's history the surface was con tinually blasted by meteorites, comets, etc. -- a very inhospitable place. The above questions are so fascinating that we might easily neglect another vent anomaly; one involving those blind shrimp. Like many cave creatures, these shrimp dispensed with eyes long ago. This being so, how do they find the vents, those rich oases of energy and food on the otherwise bleak sea floor? Rather than re-evolve their eyes, they "somehow" grew light-sensitive patches on their backs. Apparently, these patches guide the shrimp to the vents. (Monastersky, Richard; "The Light at the Bottom of the Ocean," Science News, 150:156, 1966) Comments. Anomalists instinctively recognize that the "somehow" in the above paragraph glosses over formidable problems. We suppose that a few eyeless shrimp originally blundered into a deepsea vent, and those that were lucky enough to be favored by the long sequence of random mutations that led to the light-sensitive patches ...
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... species of toothed whales and seals. (Only 14 species were examined; there may be more.) These particular whales and seals lack the blue-sensitive cones, even though they are descended from mammals with bichromatic vision (hippos and otters, respectively). This deficiency is doubly perplexing: Sensitivity to blue light is highly desirable in the ocean environment because it is blue light that penetrates seawater well. The loss occurred in two mammalian lineages not particularly closely related on the evolution charts. In other words, they were probably not random, unlucky mutations; rather, something more profound. Neo-Darwinists are quick to explain that these afflicted species may have originally frequented shallow waters where sensitivity blue light was not so important. This capability dwindled away like the power of sight in some blind cave creatures. It never returned. (Chin, Gilbert, ed.; " Color-Blindness in Whales," Science, 292:399, 2001. Hecht, Jeff; "Blind to the Big Blue," New Scientist, p. 14, April 28, 2001.) Sperm whales are usually classed with the toothed whales and presumably are blue-colorblind, but there is no sunlight of any kind in the kilometer-deep waters where they hunt giant squid. Echolocation is better than sight there. (From: Biological Anomalies: Mammals I) Comment. The articles just referenced do not state that the loss of blue-vision extended to the baleen whales (humpbacks, etc.), nor was there any differentiation between the two major classes of seals. For ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 13  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf137/sf137p07.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 67: Jan-Feb 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Fantastic Claim By Explorer "An American explorer said yesterday that he has found three ancient stone tablets in Peru's highland jungle that may prove that the area was the site of King Solomon's legendary gold lines." After being startled by the introductory paragraph, it is anticlimatic to discover that the explorer in question is G. Savoy. He states that he has found three tablets, each weighing several tons, measuring about 5 x 10 feet. The site is a cave near Gran Vilaya, in the Peruvian Andes. Engraved on these hefty tablets are inscriptions that appear to be Phoenician or Semetic hierogly phics. (Anonymous; "Mysterious Tablets Found in the Andes," San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 1989. Cr. J. Covey.) Comment. Combining this item with the preceding one, there is an implication that advanced Peruvian civilizations may have benefited from contact with early voyagers from the Old World! Or did the traffic begin in the reverse direction? From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 99: May-Jun 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Traces Of The Southern Flotilla Decades ago, G. Carter reminisces, he found in the Johns Hopkins library a book entitled: Deutsches Verein fur Wissenschaft zu Santiago Chile. In it was an article by a German who had taken refuge from a storm in a Chilean cave. There, he had found a mysterious inscription which he duly copied with German meticulousness. Carter later sent the inscription to B. Fell who translated it as follows: "This is the southern boundary of the long dry mountainous land that the admiral claims for the Pharaoh, his gracious queen and noble son -- , signed Maury, the navigator, in charge of the southern flotilla." (Carter, George F.; "An Eclectic View," NEARA Journal, 28:83, Winter/Spring 1994. NEARA = New England Antiquities Research Association.) Comment. In the preceding two items, we see Precolumbian America being influenced from both east and west. We say "west" because many clues are strewn across the Pacific indicating an ancient Egyptian-sponsored expedition, manned by Libyans, probing the New World long before the Comalcalco bricks (described in this issue) were fired. From Science Frontiers #99, MAY-JUN 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 13  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf099/sf099a02.htm
... Gradient Effect of Geological Features upon Geomagnetic Activity Effects of Earthquakes upon the Potential Gradient Effect of Volcanism upon Geomagnetic Activity GG GRAVITATIONAL PHENOMENA GGF VARIATIONS IN GRAVITY Nontidal Variations of the Gravitational Field Periodic Changes in Gravity GGH MAGNETIC HILLS Spook Hill and Kin GH PHENOMENA OF THE HYDROSPHERE GHC UNUSUAL PHENOMENA OF WATER SURFACES GHC1 Foam Strips on Inland Waters GHC2 Streaks, Slicks, Calm Patches GHC3 Stratified Typhoon Waves GHC4 Sudden Whitening of Dead Sea GHC5 Dead Water and Slippery Seas GHC6 Bulging River Surfaces GHC7 Swiftly Traveling Surface Disturbances GHC8 Honeycomb Appearance of Flowing Water Remarkable Convection Patterns in Ponds Long Lines of Microorganisms on the Ocean Surface Massive Foam Accumulations Storm Footprints on the Ocean as Seen from Orbit Remarkable Falling and Rising Lake Levels Parting of the Red Sea Reversal of Niagra Falls and Related Phenomena GHG GEYSERS, PERIODIC WELLS, BLOWING CAVES GHG1 Geysers at Sea GHG2 Geysers and Blowing Wells Correlated with Weather Phenomena GHG3 Geysers and Intermittent Wells Correlated with Tidal Forces GHG4 Cold-Water Geysers and Periodic Springs and Wells [GHQ6] Hydrothermal Earthquake Precursors Hydrothermal Explosions Effect of Earthquakes upon Geyser Activity GHS THE BEWILDERING VARIETY OF TIDES GHS1 Sun-Dominated Tides GHS2 Sea and Lake Seiches... GHS3 Spectacular Tidal Bores GHS4 Diurnal, Triple, and Quadruple Tides GHS5 Long-Period Tides of Unexpected Strengths GHS6 Tides That Precede the Moon Extraordinary Tsunamis Tsunami Cycles GHT OCEAN TURBULENCE AND CIRCULATION PHENOMENA GHT1 Extraordinary Deep Circulation Events GHT2 Sonar-Detected Subsurface Oceanic Structures GHT3 Nonvolcanic Underwater Eruptions GHT4 Anomalous El Ninos GHT5 The Guinea Tide GHT6 Energy Transfer to Hurricanes GHT7 Oceanic Rings and Eddies GHT8 Large-Scale Oceanic Chemical Anomalies Deep-Sea Storms Curious Drifts Gas ...
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... Copulation Technique in Iguanas Snake Balls Frog Battles Turtles Stomping for Worms Lizards Rain Down from Trees Unusual Lizard Courtship Lizards Mimicking Insects Fabled Snakes (Hoop and Milk Snakes) Iguana Sociality Toad Handedness Death Feints Frog Cocoons Chicken-Eating Frogs Snake Maternal Impressions Decapitated Snakes Dangerous Flying Reptiles [BRA] "Vagabond" Female Green Turtles Tuataras Copulate Like Birds Horned Toads Squirt Blood Cannibalism in the Womb in Salamanders Snake Odor-Warfare Evolution of Instincts BRC BIOCHEMICAL PHENOMENA Snakes Produce Antivenins Effective against Many Different Venoms Newt and Toad Eggs Are Toxic Identical Chemical Defenses in Some Birds and Frogs Snake Venoms Vary with Geography Human and Crocodile Hemoglobins Very Similar Electrodynamic Fields in Reptiles Poison Frogs Get Their Poison from Their Prey Electrical Fields around Frog Eggs Remarkable Biochemical Reactions during Tadpole Metamorphosis BRD DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE AND TIME Amphibian Decline Worldwide Blind Cave Dwellers Mass Migrations and Concentrations Out-of-Place Snakes Out-of-Place Alligators and Crocodiles Loggerhead Missing-Year Phenomenon Dearth of Frogs and Lizards in Southeast Asia Sea-Snake Concentrations Strange Geographical Distribution of Iguanas Entombed Animals [ESB8] Sea Snakes Only in Pacific Anomalous Distribution of Amphibians First-Year Garter Snakes Never Found in Winter Dens Surprising Diversity at High Latitudes BRE THE FOSSIL RECORD OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES Dinosaur Extinction Origin of Vertebrates Tetrapod Origin Polar Dinosaurs Earliest Reptile Fossils Large-Scale Extinctions Polyphyletic Origin of Reptiles Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs Mammal-Like Reptiles Snakes with Legs Hairy and Feathered Dinosaurs Origin of Turtles Dinosaur Feeding Habits Correlated with Origin of Flowering Plants Mysterious Reptile Footprints Caecelian Origin Fish-Reptile Transition Fossils Crocodile Origin (Chemistry Contradicts Fossils) Ichthyosaur-Fish Convergence Dinosaurs with Bird ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 5  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /cat-biol.htm

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