Science Frontiers
The Unusual & Unexplained

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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. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Solar eclipse affects a pendulum -- again!The period of a Foucault pendulum located at Jassy University, Romania, was carefully monitored during the solar eclipse of February 15, 1961. The pendulum's length was 25.008 meters; its spherical bob weighed 5.5 kilograms. The eclipse commenced at 8h 49m 3s and terminated at 11h 16m 50s. Observations are recorded in the table below left: Time Period (sec) 8:49 10.028 0.004 9:13 10.028 0.004 9:43 10.024 0.004 10:00 10.019 0.004 10:12 10.020 0.004 10:24 10.024 0.004 10:58 10.028 0.004 Effects of a solar eclipse upon a paraconical pendulum. (After M.F .C . Allais). If the above effect of the eclipse on the pendulum period is not strange enough, consider what happened at 10:08, in the chart, above right. "At that moment a surprising fact occurred, the pendulum produced a perturbation by describing an ellipse whose major axis deviated in relation to the initial plane by approximately 15 . The eccentricity of the ellipse was 0.18. At the end of the eclipse the pendulum continued to maintain the elliptical oscillation, but the major axis approached increasingly to its initial plane." (Jeverdan, G ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 98: Mar-Apr 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Yagi Watches A Solar Eclipse During the partial solar eclipse of July 11, 1991, D. Emerson had his Yagi antenna pointed in the direction of the phenomenon. His receiver was tuned to 145.8 MHz. The sun is always emitting radio noise, and one would expect that the moon passing in front of the sun would gradually cut off most, but not all, of the radio noise picked up by the antenna and, after the eclipse's midpoint, the noise would increase back to normal levels. Instead of the expected: Radio noise power measured during a partial solar eclipse. The arrows indicate the stages of the eclipse "There was no radio evidence of any effect of the solar eclipse until 1822 UTC, 58 minutes after the start of the eclipse. At that point, all detectable solar emission disappeared within the space of about nine minutes. The emission did not start to reappear until 72 minutes later, at 1943 UTC, and was fully restored by 1951 UTC, 13 minutes before the end of the eclipse, which occurred at 2004 UTC. "The fact that radio emission disappeared and reappeared fairly abruptly part way through the eclipse indicates that most of the radio emission was occurring from one discrete point on the sun's surface rather than from the entire solar disc." (Emerson, Darrel; "Radio Observations of Two Solar Eclipses," QST , p. 21, February 1995 ...
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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 Where did the 1780 eclipse go?October 27, 1780. The Maine Coast. An expedition from Harvard and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, led by Samuel Williams, had set up equipment to observe the predicted total eclipse of the sun. A solar eclipse occurred all right, but the expedition was shocked to find itself outside the path of totality. They saw a thin arc of the sun instead of its complete obscuration by the moon. Modern analyses of this embarrassing incident for embryonic American science blame Williams for miscalculating the path of totality. Actually, recent computations compound the mystery. The expedition measured the time of the eclipse as 40 seconds later than it should have been for their (erroneously selected) site. Modern analysts insist further that the expedition should have seen an arc 10 arcsec wide subtending an angle of 89 ; instead, Williams and his colleagues measured an arc of less than 24 . Finally, the measured duration of the eclipse was far different from what it should have been. The members of the expedition were skilled and their instruments excellent. What happened? Was it human error? Are modern eclipse-calculating methods in error? Did something astronomical happen, such as a temporary, slight glitch in the earth's period of rotation? The mystery persists. (Rothschild, Robert F.; "Where Did the 1780 Eclipse Go?" Sky and Telescope, 63:558, 1982. ...
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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 Eclipse Shadow Bands E. Strach had the good fortune to have camcordered those elusive eclipse shadow bands that flit across the ground just before and after total solar eclipses. The time was February 26, 1998; the place, Knip Beach, Curaco. Strach had first laid out a 53-centimeter-diameter white screen on the ground. He pointed his camcorder at the screen and pressed the ON switch 4 minutes before second contact. Playing back his recording, he was not a little surprised to find he had an excellent record of the curious parade of the hard-to photograph dark bands. "They were clearly seen for 32 seconds before the second contact and a little fainter for 27 seconds after totality. They moved rapidly across the screen from E to W before totality and from NNE to SSW after 3rd contact. Slow motion studies of the video show occasional merging of the bands and at times they seem to move in opposite directions -- probably a stroboscopic effect." The widths of the bands varied from 2.36 to 6.63 centimeters. (Strach, Eric; "Shadow Bands Recorded at February 26 Eclipse," British Astro nomical Association, Journal, vol. 108, 1998. Comment. Theorists have long been challenged by these ghostly, fleeting shadows. Their widths change; their directions and speeds vary; they come in different colors; sometimes more than one set of bands appear; giant bands ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 71: Sep-Oct 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Lunar Eclipses And Radio Propagation One can understand why long range radio propagation might be affected during a solar eclipse, because the ionizing radiation of the sun is temporarily intercepted by the moon. There is no such obvious explanation for radio propagation problems during lunar eclipses. Nevertheless, we have the following observation by L.M . Nash: "During 1978/79, I was stationed on Diego Garcia (U .S . Naval base in the Indian Ocean). I was an amateur radio operator then, and one night there was a total (or near total) eclipse of the moon. I was in contact with a station in Utah, on the 15 meter (21.0 to 21.45 MHz) band. When the eclipse started, the Utah station faded out, and all I heard was a sizzling, crackling noise across the entire 15-meter band. This started and ceased within the duration of the eclipse. I then reestablished contact with the Utah station, who was still on the same frequency talking to a friend of his. When I asked him what happened, he stated that my signal had just disappeard." (Nash, Lemuel M.; personal communication, May 12, 1990.) From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 126: Nov-Dec 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects It's All In The Seeing The August and September issues of Sky & Telescope contain articles that attempt to discredit long histories of observations of Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLPs) and the many, many anomalous coronas seen during total solar eclipses. Both classes of phenomena are written off as either observer misperceptions or idiosyncracies of the earth's atmosphere. Of course, such treatment of strange phenomena is not new, nor is it undesirable, for we do want to confront reality whatever it might be. However, the two "wipes" in Sky & Telescope do seem a bit arrogant, especially when famous scientists do not hesitate to employ ghostly ephemera to support theories favored by the establishment. Strange eclipses. Down the years, many fantastic solar coronas have been sketched during the few minutes of totality. Long coronal petals and errant streamers, often asymmetrically arrayed, are common in the Nineteenth Century astronony journals. Scientists have no problems with these. It is the highly geometrical coronas that are hard-to-account-for. The reported colored coronas, too, seem unlikely. Red, blue, and green hues are definitely frowned upon. Coronas should be brilliant white, perhaps yellowish. S.J . O'Meara, a contributing editor of S&T , thinks many of the older and wilder drawings of coronas can be pinned on observer enthusiasm and active imagination. Modern photographs of coronas provide a much more conservative ...
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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 Eclipse shadow-band anomalies Shadow bands moving across the face of a house during the total eclipse of December 22, 1870. J.L . Codona, in a long article in Sky and Telescope, described eclipse shadow bands in these words: "There mysterious gray ripples are sometimes seen flitting over the ground within a minute or two of to tality. The bands are initially faint and jumbled; but as totality approaches, they become more organized, their spacing decreases to a few centimeters, and their visibility improves. After totality ends the bands can reappear and become progressively fainter and more disorganized until they disappear. "Shadow bands seem to move perpendicularly to their length, but this is only an illusion. It stems from a lack of features that allow the eye to track motion along the length of the bands." Codona explains the shadow bands as basically a twinkling effect involving the thin solar crescent just before and after totality. The twinkling is created by turbulence only tens or hundreds of feet above the ground. The eclipse shadow bands, like so many other "well-explained" phenomena, display idiosyncracies that do not dovetail well with theory. Codona mentions two of these: (1 ) Bands of different colors, travelling at different speeds, are sometimes seen superimposed on each other; and (2 ) Bands of giant size have been observed. (Codona, Johana L.; "The Enigma of Shadow ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 7: June 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Post-eclipse brightening of io confirmed For about 15 minutes after Jupiter's satellite Io emerges from the planet's shadow after an eclipse, it unaccountably brightens far beyond its normal level. Observing Io with a spectrophotometer in 1978, F.C . Witteborn et al measured a brightness increase in the 4.7 -5 .4 micron range that was three to five times the brightness at other phase angles. Long a controversial phenomenon, this confirmation of Io's post-eclipse brightening has led to a search for possible explanations. Witteborn et al suggest that the transient flare-up is a complex thermoluminescent effect excited by interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere, followed by solar heating as Io emerges from the shadow. (Witteborn, F.C . et al; "Io: An Intense Brightening near 5 Micrometers," Science, 203:643, 1979.) Comment. Io also modulates Jupiter's microwave emissions. From Science Frontiers #7 , June 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... MERCURY'S ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC FIELD AHZ1 Mercury's Unexpected Magnetic Field AHZ2 Mercury's Offset Magnetic Field AJ JUPITER AJB JOVIAN ORBITAL ANOMALIES AJB1 Cyclic Disturbances of Jupiter's Orbit AJF INTRINSIC RADIATION FROM JUPITER AJF1 Jupiter's Intrinsic Radiation AJF2 Variations in Jupiter's Decametric Radiation AJL JUPITER'S REMARKABLE GALILEAN SATELLITES AND RING AJL1 Pre-Voyager Sightings of Jupiter's Ring AJL2 Io's Bizarre Physical Makeup AJL3 Io's Anomalously Energetic Volcanos AJL4 Ganymede's Grooved Terrain AJL5 Europa's Lineaments AJL6 Temporary Disappearance of Ganymede AJW JOVIAN ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA AJW1 Periodicities of Jovian Atmospheric Features AJX TRANSIT AND OCCULTATION PHENOMENA AJX1 Distorted Shapes of Galilean Satellites in Transit AJX2 Hot Satellite Shadows AJX3 Dark Transits of Galilean Satellites AJX4 Double Shadows of Io AJX5 Limb Phenomena during Occultations and Transits AJX6 Post-Eclipse Brightening of Io AJX7 Discrepancies in Predictions of of Eclipses and Transits AJX JUPITER'S MAGNETIC FIELD AJX1 Offset Magnetic Field AL THE MOON ALB THE MOON'S ORBITAL ANOMALIES ALB1 Earth-Moon Instability ALB2 Discrepancies in the Moon's Ephemeris ALB3 Nongravitational Forces and Earth-Moon Acceleration Discrepancies ALB4 Earth-Moon Acceleration Incompatible with Moon's Origin in Earth Orbit ALE LUNAR GEOLOGY PROBLEMS ALE1 Asymmetrical Distribution of Maria and Large Basins ALE2 Sinuous Rilles and Formations Resembling Terrestrial Water-Formed Features ALE3 The Lunar Rays ALE4 Lunar Features Seemingly Shaped by Ice ALE5 Swirl Markings ALE6 Anomalous Red Formations ALE7 Layered Structures ALE8 Lunar Glasses ALE9 Nonrandom Distribution of Lunar Craters ALE10 Unexplained Minor Surface Features ALE11 Large-Scale Asymmetries in in Composition ALE12 Dark-Haloed Lunar Craters ALE13 Local Concentrations of Radioactivity ALE14 Scarcity of Dust ...
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... Frontiers ONLINE No. 139: Jan-Feb 2002 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Unstable Earth?We all know that the earth's spin axis precesses, giving us the 26,000-year precession of the equinoxes. There is also that Chandler wobble of 14 month's length. These phenomena are accepted by science. Australian geologist, P.M . James terms them "politically correct" to separate them from motions of the earthas-a -whole that are not digestible by most scientists. James, an obvious iconoclast, is just the right person to suggest that in historical times the earth has not been as rotationally stable as is generally assumed in scientific circles. James asserts that records of ancient total solar eclipses imply large departures from stability. He mentions five such maverick eclipses. Time Place Observer 05-05-585 BC Athens Herodotus 08-05-431 BC Athens Thucydides 11-11-129 BC Hellespont -- - 04-15-136 BC Babylon -- - 03-20-71 AD Chaeronia Plutarch The dates of these five eclipses are not at issue; back-calculations confirm them. However, these eclipses should not have been observable where reported. For example, the path-of-totality for the 136-BC eclipse should have been 4000 kilometers west of Babylon! Today's astronomers have no choice but to discard these data as erroneous. Yet, it is hard to be wrong about where one observes a total solar eclipse, and here we have ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 136: JUL-AUG 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Eclipsing Of Innate Talents The age effect. An idea going the rounds holds that everyone is really a genius but that his or her innate talents have been eclipsed or suppressed. Age is one factor that is blamed. As a child develops, so goes the theory, its brain is bit by bit swamped by the high-level conceptual thinking required for survival in the modern adult world. The child's innate mathematical genius, musical capabilities, and other "low-level" talents are placed on the brain's back burner by the demands of adulthood. It is a common observation that the young assimilate foreign languages more readily than adults. A less-well-known talent, eidetic imagery (the ability to recall images with photographic precision), is found in some children, but it also usually fades with age. Now, we learn that 8-month-old babies are apparently blessed with perfect pitch, a capability they, too, generally lose as they age. (Hall, Carl T.; "Learning by Infants Isn't Just Baby Talk," The Brain, February 28, 2001. Cr. J. Cieciel.) Removal of mental blocks. Sometimes the barriers that eclipse our innate talents are removed by mental disease. The surprising enhancing effect of dementia on some "low-level" talents was mentioned in SF#133. The same mental barriers also seem to ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 126: Nov-Dec 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects It's All In The Believing Returning to the subject of solar eclipses, it seems that in the past eclipse phenomena have been employed to promote an appealing theory even when the observations were of poor quality. Scientists have been known to "spin" data like politicians! A classic case of scientific "spin" occurred in connection with the total solar eclipse of 1919. British astronomer A. Eddington had mounted expeditions to Sobral, Brazil, and the island of Principe off the west coast of Africa. He had telescopes set up at these two locations to measure the bending of starlight by the sun, as predicted by Einstein's Theory of Relativity. In 1919, Relativity was not yet the cornerstone in the Temple of Science that it is today. Eddington "believed" in Relativity and wished to make it more acceptable. Eclipse photos showing the shifting of star images by the gravitational influence of the eclipsed sun might do the job. On the day of the eclipse, Principe was bedevilled by clouds, and only 2 photographic plates were deemed marginally acceptable. At Sobral, 18 poor plates and 8 better plates were obtained. The problem was that the 18 poor plates yielded a deflection of starlight much smaller than predicted by Relativity, while the 8 better plates produced a much higher value. By adding the 2 plates from Principe to the mix, Eddington managed to come up with a number close to that required by the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 127: Jan-Feb 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Shadow Dance Of The Gnats An curious phenomenon was reported recently to the New Scientist. "I travelled to Hungary to observe the recent total solar eclipse. About five minutes before totality, my wife and I noticed many curved shadows about 3 centimetres long dancing on a white paper lying on the ground, formed by a swarm of gnats. The shadows were exactly the same shape as the remaining bright portion of the Sun, by then only a thin arc of light. Why?" This phenomenon is not anomalous but it is entertaining. It is the reverse of the pin-hole-camera effect often seen during total eclipses. People standing in the shadow of a tree will see many bright arcs on the ground -- images of the sun being eclipsed. The interstices between the tree's leaves act as pinholes. The phenomenon happens in reverse when pin-holes are replaced by "pins"; that is, small opaque obstructions, such as gnats. (Scott, Andrew, and Diebold, Mike; "Shadow Dance," New Scientist, p. 93, October 30, 1999.) From Science Frontiers #127, JAN-FEB 2000 . 1997 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 Dark Secret Behind Jupiter When Jupiter's satellite Io ducks into Jupiter's shadow, something mysterious happens. Some of the time, but not always, Io emerges from the shadow about 10% brighter than when it entered. In 10-20 minutes, its brightness decays to normal levels. One suspicion is that SO2 in Io's atmosphere condenses on the planet's surface when it is in the cold shadow, thus coating some dark areas with a bright sulfurous 'frost.' However, a recent measure of Io's post-eclipse brightness detected no brightness change whatsoever. Apparently we have a real but rather unreliable phenomenon. (Morrison, Nancy D., and Morrison, David; "Io; Post-Eclipse Brightening Still Mysterious," Mercury, 11:27, 1982.) Reference. Io's post-eclipse brightening is cataloged at AJX6 in The Moon and the Planets. To order this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #22, JUL-AUG 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... GER RADIO AND RADAR ANOMALIES GER1 Long-Delayed Radio Echos GER2 The Moon's Effect on Radio Propagation GER3 Thunderstorm Modification of Radio Propagation GER4 Stable Patterns of Electromagnetic Radiation GER5 Unidentified Radio Signals... GER6 The Humming Earth GER7 Polar Radio Blackouts GER8 Around-th e-World Transmission of High-Frequency Signals GER9 Periodic Fading of Satellite Radio Transmissions GER10 Sudden Disappearance of High Frequency Radio Transmissions GER11 Correlation of Radio Propagation Quality with Planetary Positions GER12 Earthquake-Induced Ionospheric Disturbances GER13 Easier Radio Transmission in One Direction than Its Reverse GER14 Radar Dot Angels GER15 Radar Ring and Line Angels GER16 Radar Ghosts Mexico's Zone of Silence Infrared Angels Extremely-Low-Frequency (ELF) Phenomena Effect of Low-Pressure Areas upon Shortwave Propagation Unidentified Atmospheric Radio Bursts Detected by Satellites GES SHADOW PHENOMENA GES1 Eclipse Shadow Bands GES2 Moving Shadow Bands in the Atmosphere GES3 Colored Shadows GES4 Shadow Bands Seen through the Telescope GES5 Unusual Shadows Observed during Eclipses GES6 Non-Eclipse Shadow Bands GES7 Persistent or "Living" Shadows GES8 Curious Mountain Shadows Curious Shadows of Condensation Trails GEZ ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC-FIELD DISTURBANCES GEZ1 Unexplained Magnetic Disturbances GEZ2 Effect of the Moon on the Geomagnetic Field GEZ3 Effects of Solar Eclipses on Geomagnetism GEZ4 Effects of the Planets on the Geomagnetic Field GEZ5 Meteor Activity Correlated with Geomagnetic Activity GEZ6 Terrestrial Electrical Effects Correlated with Meteors GEZ7 Geomagnetic Disturbances Correlated with Stellar Activity GEZ8 Gravity Waves Correlated with Geomagnetic Storms Effects of Comets upon Geomagnetic Activity Effects of Lunar Eclipses upon Geomagnetic Activity Effect of Solar Flares upon the Potential Gradient Effect of Geological Features upon Geomagnetic Activity Effects of Earthquakes upon the Potential Gradient Effect of ...
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... into Jupiter's atmosphere. Since this cataclysm is predicted to occur on Jupiter's far side, the pyrotechnics will be largely hidden from our telescopes. Yet, if any of Jupiter's four large Galilean satellites are swinging behind Jupiter during the comet's impact, but still visible to us by virtue of their distances from Jupiter, we might see one or more of these moons suddenly brighten due to light reflected from the incineration below. This very well might happen, and something similar has happened before. On July 26, 1983, just 6 minutes after it emerged from behind Jupiter, the Galilean satellite, Io, suddenly brightened by 50% -- a "flash" that lasted 118 seconds. Now, Io is notoriously fickle brightness-wise. Its post-eclipse brightening has long puzzled astronomers, but this short, intense flash was even more anomalous than usual. H.B . Hammel and R.M . Nelson suggest that this 1983 flash might have been the reflection of some catastrophic event occurring on the hidden half of Jupiter -- possibly the impact of some large object -- or, even more intriguing, Jovian lightning. (Hammel, H.B ., and Nelson, R.M .; "Bright Flash on Jupiter in 1983," Nature, 366:117, 1993.) Comment. Could this Jovian "lightning" actually have been an electrical spark? This thought dovetails nicely with the pair of "ghostly" infrared spots that race across Jupiter's surface in synchronism with Io's orbital motion. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 103: Jan-Feb 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Einstein's nemesis: di herculis DI Herculis is an 8th-magnitude eclipsing binary about 2,000 light years from earth. These two young blue stars are very close -- only one fifth the distance from earth to our sun. They orbit about a common center of gravity every 10.55 days. So far, no problem! The puzzle is that, as the two stars swing around one another, the axis of their orbit rotates or precesses too slowly. General relativity predicts a precession of 4.27 /century, but for DI Herculis the rate is only 1.05 /century. This does not sound like a figure large enough to get excited about, but it deeply troubles astronomers. D. Popper, an astronomer at UCLA, says: "The observations are pretty clear. I don't think there's any question there's a discrepancy and, frankly, it is an important one and it's unresolved." Accentuating the challenge to general relativity is the discovery that a second eclipsing binary, AC Camelopardalis, also violates general relativity in the same way. It seems that wherever gravitational fields are extremely strong and space-time, therefore, highly distorted, general relativity fails. Ironically, it was a very similar sort of astronomical observation that helped make general relativity a pillar of the scientific edifice early in the 20th. century. The orbit of Mercury precesses a ...
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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 The humongous organism contest!When we read of that 10,000-kilogram fungus discovered in Michigan, it sounded like a good item for Science Frontiers. But then it was described as the "largest and oldest living organism," and we knew that if we waited a couple months this Guinness-like record would be eclipsed. (Superlatives are risky in this business!) A killer fungus in Washington State. In the foothills of Mount Adams, a specimen of the fungus Armillaria ostoyae covers 1,500 acres and seems to be 400-1 ,000 years old, as comapred to the 38-acre, 1,500-year-old Michigan fungus. Although younger than its Michigan counterpart, the Washington fungus is lethal and can wipe out whole populations of trees. (Anonymous; "The Great Fungus," Nature, May 21, 1992.) Comment. It has also been reported that a huge, spreading, pathological growth exists in Washington, DC ! Some even more humongous plants. "A grass clone, Holcus mollis , has been found with a diameter of 900 metres and an age of over 1000 years. A clone of box-huckleberry has been found with a diameter of 2000 metres and an age of 13 000 years. The big granddaddy is, however, an aspen ( Populus fremaloides ) covering 81 hectares and over 10 000 years old." (Bullock, James; ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 98: Mar-Apr 1995 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Ancient egyptians in the new world? Carbon-14 dating: under a cloud? Translating the grand traverse stone Astronomy The earth has recently been swallowed by a cloud of inter-stellar gas Arp banished, but not redshift anomalies A YAGI WATCHES A SOLAR ECLIPSE Biology Emf fertilizer? Vampire fish -- [x -rated item] Some shaky observations Blindsight also occurs in monkeys Geology A UNIFIED THEORY OF GEOPHYSICS Six immense armadas of icebergs invaded the north atlantic Geophysics An unknown atmospheric light phenomenon Crop-circle litmus test? Earthquake ripples in the ionosphere Psychology Madness and creativity How to test for lucid dreaming Physics Can we explore hyperspace? Unclassified Nobel gossip! ...
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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. 7: June 1979 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Where Did Chief Joseph Get A Cuniform Tablet? Rameses Ii Hooked on Tobacco Ancient Rock Cairns in the California Desert Astronomy Post-eclipse Brightening of Io Confirmed Seeing Double and Even Triple on Jupiter White Area in Bottom of Martian Crater Biology The Deadly Sun What Drummer Do Periodical Cicadas Hear? The Moon and Life Geology Unwanted Noise on the Terrestrial Tape Recorder Geophysics Solar Activity Triggers Microearthquakes More Milky Seas Seen The Sun Controls the Earth's Global Electrical Circuit Psychology Bpm equals dowsing Is There A Science of Anomalies? ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Neanderthal Man May Still Survive in Asia Code of the Quipu The Chaco Canyon Road System Astronomy Dark Secret Behind Jupiter Where Did the 1780 Eclipse Go? Herbert Ives and the Ether Biology Bowerbird Art for Art's Sake The Nomads Within Us Geology Old Hannah's Explosions Large Changes of the Earth's Magnetic Fields in Historical Times Geophysics Ball Lightning with Internal Structure Haily Rollers How Can the Sun Influence Chemical Reaction Rates? Psychology Conditioned Responses That Short-circuit the Conscious Brain ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 1986: "TIRED LIGHT" REVIVED AGAIN Back in 1929, F. Zwicky proposed that the redshifts astronomers observed in the spectra of celestial objects might not be due to universal expansion but rather to "tired light." In other words, the wavelengths of the photons entering our telescopes are redshifted because they have lost energy through interactions with matter en route to earth. The "tired light" theory was eclipsed by the esthetically appealing concepts of the Big Bang and Expanding Universe. But not everyone has forgotten Zwicky's tired light. P. LaViolette has: ". .. compared the tired light cosmology to the standard model of an expanding universe on four different observational tests and has found that on each one the tired-light hypothesis was superior. The differences between the rival cosmologies are most apparent at large redshifts, however, and it is in this region that observations are most difficult to make." (Anonymous; "New Study Questions Expanding Universe," Astronomy, 14:64, August 1986.) Gratuitous comment. In all three of the foregoing items, observations are challenging fundamental astronomical hypotheses: the Big Bang, the Expanding Universe, redshifts as cosmological yardstocks, etc. With more and more such data accumulating all the time, the strains in the key girders of astronomical thought are beginning to show. Of course, most astronomers will vehemently deny this assertion. Those who care to read the biological ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 15  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf047/sf047p05.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 71: Sep-Oct 1990 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Florida's circular canals GREAT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS IN AMAZONIA? RIDICULOUS! The sweet track Another anomaly bites the dust Astronomy Modern technology gets Two hot spots on mercury Astronomers cope with both Biology NATURE COMMUNICATES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS Those amazing insects The bombardier beetle pulse-jet Duesberg revisited Geology Pennsylvanian time-scale problems OF TIME AND THE CORAL - AND OTHER THINGS, TOO Paleomagnetic pitfalls What's another dipole or two? Wyoming: a periodic spring WYOMING: IS OLD FAITHFUL A STRANGE ATTRACTOR? Geophysics Ball lightning studies LUNAR ECLIPSES AND RADIO PROPAGATION General Novel forms of matter ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 15  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf071/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 136: Jul-Aug 2001 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Path of the Pyramids Were the First Americans Australians? Bacon Bits Astronomy Mirror Matter May Matter 2000 CR105 and Planet X Biology Grunting Transcends Biological and Geographical Boundaries Genome-Map User Beware Are We Merely Fancy Crystals? Geology An Ice Ring in a Canadian Pond The Stealth Catastrophe Geophysics Fiery Exhalations in Wales More Carolina Beach Booms Lake Michigan's Annual Silt Plume Psychology The Eclipsing of Innate Talents Songs in Your Head Astrobiology The Forests of Mars ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 15  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf136/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology A GOLDEN CALENDAR FOR USE AT STONEHENGE? DID THE PHARAOHS CHEAT WITH CONCRETE? Astronomy An unexplained event Gaia on mars? SOLAR ECLIPSE AFFECTS A PENDULUM -- AGAIN! Biology Eel oddities Echidna eccentricities Searching for monster sharks WHEN IDENTICAL TWINS ARE NOT IDENTICAL Geology 'TERMITE BANDS' IN SOUTH AFRICA THE MECHANICAL PARADOX IN THRUST FAULTING Geophysics NEWTONIAN GRAVITY MAY HAVE BROKEN DOWN IN GREENLAND 50-POUND 'ICE BOMB' FALLS IN WEST VIRGINIA EARTHQUAKE LIGHTS OBSERVED IN CANADA Psychology Predictive psi Maths & Logic Pi surprise Physics Repent! the phase change is coming! Cold fusion update ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 15  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf074/index.htm
... 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** ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 15  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf077/index.htm
... satellite of an ice mass 5-kilometers in diameter moving at 60 km/sec. This collision interpretation is encouraged by the 1994 impacts of cometary fragments on Jupiter proper. In the case of Io, however, there is another possibility: electrical arcing. Io's volcanoes are prodigious spewers of metallic sodium, and T. Gold has speculated that colossal arcs may occur in this conducting environment as Io cuts through Jupiter's magnetic field. (See Science Frontiers #10. (O 'Brien, Roger; "Has Jupiter Flashed Before?" British Astronomical Association, Journal, 104:6 , 1994.) Comment. Io is also noted for its erratic brightening after it emerges from Jupiter's shadow. For more on Io's so-called "post-eclipse brightening," see p. 67 in the book Science Frontiers and the catalog volume The Moon and the Planets, both described here . From Science Frontiers #100, JUL-AUG 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 14  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf100/sf100a02.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Asteroids with moons?Several recent observations made of asteroids as they occult stars suggest that some asteroids are circled by moonlets. The observational technique used resembles that employed in the discovery of the now-famous rings of Uranus. Briefly, the star being observed blinks out not once in a clean-cut fashion but in a complex scenario that may indicate the presence of a second body. To illustrate, during the 1975 occultation of a star by the asteroid Eros "all sorts of people saw things," meaning secondary events or extra dimmings. Another kind of supporting evidence comes from the light curve of 44 Nysa, which closely resembles that of an eclipsing binary star. (Anonymous; "Asteroids with Moons?" Science News, 114:36, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #5 , November 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 14  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf005/sf005p05.htm
... , particularly the Maya. That the Maya were acute astronomers is beyond question. They had even developed a correction scheme to keep Venus' 584-day canonical cycle on track with its true synodic period of 583.92 days. Their predictions of the position of Venus were accurate to 2 hours in 481 years! Not bad for a civilization that did not seem to have any conception that the planets revolved around the sun. The Maya, in fact, did not seem to care what made heavenly bodies move; they only wished to predict their appearance accurately. Instead of developing celestial mechanics based on gravitation and laws of motion, as we have done, they were content with numerical algorithms; that is, ways of computing a desired result. Their astonishingly accurate predictions of Venus, solar eclipses, and other astronomical phenomena evolved from cycles of numbers advancing each day like interlocking gear teeth. These algorithms gave them no insight into cause and effect, but they got the right answers. They needed no physical laws, just patterns of numbers. It was a different way of comprehending and dealing with the universe. (Aveni, Anthony F.; "Native American Astronomy," Physics Today, 37:24, June 1984.) Reference. For much more on archeoastronomy, consult our Handbook Ancient Man. Details here . An early drawing of the Big Horn medicine wheel in Colorado. It is actually not quite this regular. From Science Frontiers #35, SEP-OCT 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 14  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /sf035/sf035p04.htm
... 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 such rings are not circular or are off-center? Neither are rainbows and mirages devoid of mysteries. And the Brocken Specter still startles Alpine climbers! Typical subjects covered: Rainbows with offset white arcs * Sandbows * Offset and skewed halos * The Brocken Specter * The Alpine Glow * Unexplained features of the green flash at sunset *Fata Morgana * Telescopic mirages * Long-delayed radio echos * Eclipse shadow bands * Geomagnetic effects of meteors * Intersecting rainbows * The Krakatoa sunsets * Kaleidoscopic suns [Picture caption: Shadow of Adam's Peak with glory and radial rays] Comments from reviews: ". .. all in all it's a fascinating book", Sky And Telescope. ". .. any student of the physical sciences will find it fascinating", Science Books. 244 pages, hardcover, $16.95, 111 illustrations, 5 indexes 1984. 569 references, LC 84-50491, ISBN 915554-12-7 , 7x10 format. Remarkable Luminous Phenomena in Nature: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. This volume is a major expansion of the first catalog in this series, Lightning, Auroras, ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 12  -  10 Oct 2021  -  URL: /sourcebk.htm
... America MSB2 Miscellanous ancient structures: MesoAmerica MSB3 Miscellanous ancient structures: South America MSB4 Puzzles of Inca Stone Masony MSB5 Tiahuanaco: The Baalbek of the New World MSB6 Possible Neanderthal Structures MSB7 Puzzles of the Maltese Temples MSB8 Baalbek: The Tiahuanaco of the Old World MSB9 Miscellanous ancient structures: Asia MSB10 Miscellanous ancient structures: Oceania MSB11 Miscellanous ancient structures: Africa MSC WATER-CONTROL STRUCTURES MSC1 Remarkable Ancient Aqueducts and Water-Delivery Systems MSC2 La Cumbre: Peru's Intervalley Canal MSC3 Subterranean Tunnel-Well Systems MSC4 Water-Condensing Structures MSC5 Three Notable Ancient Irrigation Systems MSC6 Curious Old Dams MSC7 Unusual Water-Containment Structures MSC8 Notable Ancient Ship Canals MSC9 Artificial Harbors MSD MENHIRS, DOLMENS, ROCKING STONES MSD1 Some Minor Enigmas Concerning Menhirs MSD2 Menhirs in Unexpected Places MSD3 Er Grah as a Foresight in an Eclipse Predictor MSD4 Dolmen-Like Structures Located Outside of Western Europe MSD5 Rocking Stones MSE EXCAVATED STRUCTURES MSE1 Lines of Pits MSE2 Puzzling Pits: A Survey MSE3 Unusual Ancient Shafts and Tunnels: A Survey MSE4 The Oak Island Shaft and Tunnels MSE5 Remarkable Ancient Mines and Quarries: A Survey MSE6 Production-Consumption Discrepancy in Prehistoric Lake Superior Copper Mining MSE7 Sculpted Hills and Mountains MSE8 Terrestrial Zodiacs and Star Maps MSF FORTS MSF1 Earthen Hilltop Forts: A survey MSF2 Notable Ancient Stone Forts: A survey MSF3 The Vitrified Stone Forts of Scotland MSH STONE ROWS, CIRCLES, AND OTHER SIMPLE STONE CONFIGURATIONS MSH1 Short Stone Rows MSH2 Long Stone Rows MSH3 Double Stone Rows and Avenues MSH4 Multiple Lines of STones in Western Europe MSH5 Stone Arrays and Mazes MSH6 Stone Meanders MSH7 Stone Circles: General Characteristics MSH8 Recumbent Stone Circles ...
Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 11  -  15 May 2017  -  URL: /cat-arch.htm

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