128 results found.
... A Pre-Archaeopteryx Bird? BBE4 Unresolved Nature of Archaeopteryx BBE5 The Apparent Absence of Transitional Forms of Feathers BBE6 Fossils of Ostrich Ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere BBE7 Controversial Feathers of the London Archaeopteryx Fossil BBE8 Giant Fossil Eggs BBF BODILY FUNCTIONS BBF1 The Avian Respiratory System: Unique, Complex, Sophisticated BBF2 Avian Bodily Functions: Some Oddities BBG GENETICS BBG1 Species mtDNA More Diverse Than Morphology BBG2 Discordance in the Date of Divergence of Modern Birds BBG3 Discordances between Phylogenies Established from Morphology and DNA Analysis BBG4 Dearth of Introns in Birds BBI INTERNAL STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS BBI1 Avian Magnetoreceptors: Hard to Find BBI2 Curious Internal Structures BBO ORGANS BBO1 Complexity and Sophistication of Some Owl Ear-Brain, Sound-Localization Systems BBO2 Regeneration of Brain Neurons BBO3 Curiosities of Avian Brains BBO4 The Pecten: A Unique Structure in the Avian Eye BBO5 Curiosities of Avian Eyes BBO6 High Complexity and Sophistication of the Avian Eye BBO7 Remarkable Tongue Adaptations BBO8 The Loss and Reduction of Reproductive Organs BBT UNUSUAL TALENTS AND FACULTIES BBT1 Infrasound and Atmospheric Pressure-Change Detection BBT2 Utility of Ultraviolet Vision in Birds BBT3 Echolocation: Parallel Evolution in Birds BBT4 Navigational Feats during Migration BBT5 Homing: Release Experiments BBT6 Curious Migration Phenomena: Navigation Errors? BBT7 Complexity and Sophistication of Avian Navigation BBT8 Inheritance of Migration Data BBT9 The Existence of Avian Migration BBT10 Sensitivity to Impending Weather and Earthquakes BBT11 Possible Unrecognized Senses BBT12 Remarkable Feats of Flight BBT13 The Origin of Avian Flight BBT14 Unanswered Questions Concerning Flightlessness BBT15 Some Curiosities of Avian Flight BBT16 Deep-Diving Capabilities BBT17 Vocal Mimicry in Birds BBT18 Birds That Vocally Mimic Only in Captivity BBT19 Vocal Mimicry of Hosts by Parasitic Species BBT20 ...
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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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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 4: July 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The four-eyed fish sees all Anableps, the four-eyed fish, frequents the rivers and estuaries from southern Mexico to northern South America. Ac-tually, this curious fish has only two eyes, but each is divided in half horizontally; that is, each eye had two separate optical systems, each with its own focal length. The top half is for seeing in the air; the bottom half is for underwater. Thus equipped, Anableps can see prey and predators above and below the surface at the same time and increase its opportunities to get meals as well as escape from its enemies. (Zahl, Paul A.; National Geographic Magazine, 153:390, 1978.) Comment. Nature is full of such "marvelous" adaptations, but it is hard to see how fish bifocals could develop gradually, given the intolerance of optical systems to minute changes in dimensions, position, and refractive index. From Science Frontiers #4 , July 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... glow and "blind" shrimp In 1988, when the research submersible Alvin was exploring those remarkable hydrothermal vents or "black smokers." Its CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) camera detected a ghostly glow emanating from the vents. Since this mineral-laden water gushing from these cracks in the deep-sea floor exits at 350 -400 C, the simplest explanation of the vent glow is that is is simply thermal radiation from the hot fluid. Indeed, color filters on the camera recorded a spectrum close to that of a 350 C plume. But the deep-sea shrimp camped around the vents have raised second thoughts. The shrimp, only a few inches long, live in the perpetual darkness of the miles-deep vents. They do not need and do not have ordinary eyes. Rather, they sport a mysterious organ on their backs that is connected to their brains by a nerve-fiber bundle much like an optic nerve. This organ is packed with the same light-sensitive pigments found in the eyes of surface creatures. Despite its unusual location on the shrimp, it is an "eye" of sorts. But of what use is it in the Stygian abysses? To find, perhaps, vent glows that betray the presence of chemosynthetic food sources. If this is so, the shrimps' optical organ, which is most sensitive in the blue-green portion of the spectrum, is badly mismatched to the infrared of the vent glow. It is a truism that nature is a perfectionist and would not tolerate such bad design. The eyes of animals ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Science And Bubblegum Cards " Summary . -- 139 professional baseball players who appeared on Topps bubble gum cards (copyright 1987) were subjects. The players, whose printed eye colors could be identified from their photographs, were sorted into three categories of 45 dark-eyed white players, 27 light-eyed players, and 67 black players. The statistics on the backs of the cards were dependent measures and included: Games, At Bat, Runs, Hits, Second Base, Third Base, Home Runs, Runs Batted In, Stolen Bases, SLG, Bunts, Strike Outs, and Batting Average." The researchers then performed analyses of variance with these data. The most important findings were that black players scored more triples, stole more bases, and boasted better batting averages. Eye color did seem to be an impor tant factor!!" (Beer, John, Beer, Joe; "Relationship of Eye Color to Professional Baseball Players' Batting Statistics Given on Bubblegum Cards,: Perceptual and Motor Skills , 69:632, 1989.) Facetious Comment. Why must we spend billions on the Supercollider and Space Station when the equipment for important scientific research can be had for pennies at the corner store? From Science Frontiers #73, JAN-FEB 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Neumann) machines. Since we can detect neither kind of colonist, we must be the first and only intelligent civilization. Essentially Tipler was criticizing the prevailing notion that, from a statistical point of view, there must be many other civilizations among the numberless stars and galaxies. Tipler's thoughts evoked a richly provocative group of letters, some of which were published in the March 1982 issue of Physics Today along with a closely related article by Ornstein. Ornstein tackled 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 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 21: May-Jun 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bull's eye pattern of magnetic anomalies In SF#20, concentric rings of gravity anomalies centered in Canada are described. A similar patter of magnetic rings has shown up in the Yucatan peninsula. The inner ring is 60 kilometers across; the second, 180 kilometers. The rocks causing the magnetic anomalies are about 1100 feet down. Since these rocks are probably Late Cretaceous in age, this potential impact feature may be the eagerly sought scar of the asteroid impact that some think wiped out the dinosaurs and left an iridium-rich layer all over the world. (Anonymous; "Possible Yucatan Impact Basin," Sky and Telescope, 63:249, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #21, MAY-JUN 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dragon fish see red Most fish that make a living in deep, dark ocean waters have eyes that are most sensitive to the blue part of the sun's rays (470-490 nanometers). These are the rays that penetrate to the greatest depths in the sea. This adaptation to blue light means that deepsea fish have evolved visual pigments different from those of surface fish and land animals. Visual pigments are complex chemical compounds, and one must suppose that many, many random mutations took place before deepsea fish were able to manufacture visual pigments different from their relatives living near the surface. (Or did deepsea fish come first?) But there is more to this story. Many dwellers in the black abysses generate their own light. They sport bioluminescent organs so they can be seen by others of their own species and, in addition, illuminate prey for easier capture. In another remarkable example of evolutionary convergence, these bioluminescent organs emit light spectrally matching the eye sensitivity of deepsea fish! So far, though, this story is not any more amazing that many others woven into evolution's fabric. But suppose that a deviant species of deepsea fish upset this cosy status quo by evolving visual pigment and bioluminescent organs operating in a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that other deepsea fish could not perceive. It would be as if this species had radar but the others did not! Well, three genera of dragon fish do ...
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... -keeping and navigation. The outward manisfestation of time-keeping is in the precise timing of the colony's nomadic phase of 15 days (during which larvae are growing) and the 20-day stationary phase (during which pupae develop). The queen's egg-laying also conforms with this schedule. Raids into the rain forest occur in both phases. Perhaps more remarkable is the systematic orientation of the raids in the stationary phase. These raids are separated by an average 123 , as diagrammed. This scattering allows time for new prey to enter the previously raided areas. But how does the colony determine direction in the dense rain forest? Probably from polarized sinlight, thinks Franks. But here we have a problem: each army ant, instead of having multi faceted compound eyes like most insects, has just a single facet in each eye. "The mystery is how the colony can navigate with each of its workers having such rudimentary eyesight. In my wildest dreams, I imagine that the whole swarm behaves like a huge compound eye, with each of the ants in the swarm front contributing two lenses to a 10- or 20-m wide 'eye' with hundreds of thousands of facets." (Franks, Nigel R.; "Army Ants: A Collective Intelligence," American Scientist, 77:139, 1989.) Comment. By analogy, the human body is a colony of individual cells, most of which are specialized in some way. Individual human cells can be grown alone, but they are as directionless as the 100 ants ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 68: Mar-Apr 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Double Image Of Cresent Moon November 24, 1989. Knoxville, Tennessee. "Conditions: Clear sky (no clouds, but a slight haze). Waning moon was approx. 60 above the horizon, air temperature 33 F. "I came out of the house about 6:25 AM to perform a task and, being an amateur astronomer, I looked up at the sky to see what was visible. I noticed the crescent of the waning moon appeared as a double crescent. My eyes kept trying to resolve it into a single image, but it wouldn't resolve. I then looked at several other light sources (radio tower, porch light, & street light) and determined that my vision was probably fine, as these objects appeared as single images. Looking back at the moon, it still appeared as a double image. I covered the right eye and I still saw a double image. I did the same with the left eye and got the same results. I then held out my right arm and extended my thumb to cover one crescent. I saw only one image that way. I moved my thumb and the image was again doubled. I concluded that I was viewing refracted images of the moon. "Conditions prevented continuous observation, but I was able to return approximately every five minutes. By 6:55 AM the sky was brightening and there was only a single lunar crescent. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 65: Sep-Oct 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Why the hammer head?You probably thought, as we did, that the function of the hammerhead shark's weirdly shaped head was to separate the eyes and thus improve binocular vision. This is not the case. The visual fields of the hammerhead's eyes do not overlap at all. Each eye presents the brain with a separate, completely different image to integrate. What, then, could be the purpose of the hammer head? No one really knows, but three suggestions are as follows: The head acts as a hydrofoil and gives the heavier-than-water, swimbladderless shark better swimming control. Grooves on the hammer head channel water toward the nostrils, providing "stereoscopic sniffing." The head is a platform for electromagnetic sensors that help locate prey. Stingrays are a favorite food of the hammerhead, and the shark may de-tect them electromagnetically, as surmised by the author of this article in the following encounters: "I have observed great hammerheads swimming close to the bottom, swinging their heads in wide arcs (a motion common, in a lesser degree, to all large sharks) as if using the increased electroreceptive area of their hammer like the sensor plate of a metal detector. Sometimes, these animals would doubleback to scoop up one of several stingrays hiding in the bottom silt. The minute electrical pulse that keeps the stingray's heart and spiracles operating betrays their presence to a hungry ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 46: Jul-Aug 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Are fruit bats primates?The profound differences between the fruit bat (megabats) and echo-locating, insect-eating bats (microbats) were mentioned above. The primate-like eye-brain system of the fruit bats suggests two possibilities: 1. Primitive bats first developed flight and then the fruit bats developed their primate-like eye-brain systems through "convergent evolution"; or 2. The fruit bats inherited their eye-brain system from closely re lated primates and then developed flight through "convergent evolu tion." R.D . Martin, a physical anthropologist and author of this article, has reviewed the morphological characteristics of the fruit bats and primates. On this basis, he doubts that the fruit bats are pri-mates. Furthermore, molecular studies are also negative. Therefore, possibility #1 above is the more likely one. (Martin, R.D .; "Are Fruit Bats Primates?" Nature, 320:482, 1986.) Comment. In either case, #1 or #2 , we must acknowledge convergent evolution and the likelihood that some subroutine in the genetic code repeats itself in divergent species. Speculative as always, we must ask if the genetic instructions for human or even superhuman intelligence do not reside dormant-for-now in other species. Reference. For more on megabat similarities to primates, go to BMC4 in the catalog volume: Biological Anomalies: ...
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... 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Attention, Pupils!The following questions appeared in the December 11, 1999, issue of the New Scientist: Why do some animals have a non-circular pupil? Cats and some snakes have a vertical shape yet horses and goats have a horizontal one. What is the reason behind the differences and, more importantly, how do the different shapes affect how animals actually see things? The answer for the vertical slit is that it improves an animal's focus in the direction perpendicular to the slit. Thus, cats and snakes hunting close to the ground can better detect their prey over a wide horizontal field. But how about the horses, goats and other grazing animals that must keep their eyes open for predators across a wide horizon? Pupils with horizontal slits would seem to defeat this purpose. Ah, but when they lower their heads to graze, their vertical pupils become horizontal. Simple! (Anonymous; "Eye to Eye," New Scientist, p. 85, December 11, 1999.) Comments. But puzzles remain, otherwise we wouldn't address this subject. (1 ) Some snakes have round pupils (as in the illustration) having apparently been subjected to different environmental forces; (2 ) Of all the 9,000+ species of birds, only the skimmers own pupils with vertical slits. You would expect ground-feeding birds like robins and larks to also have them; (3 ) Most interesting are the cuttlefish with pupils shaped like ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Optical Bursters For years astronomers have been puzzling over the significance of "bursters"; i.e ., short bursts of radiation from various spots in the heavens. With sophisticated terrestrial and satellite-borne instruments, they have detected gamma-ray, X-ray, and infrared bursters. The visible portion of the spectrum has been neglected because of the slow development of sensitive, high-time-resolution detectors capable of monitoring large areas of the sky. Of course, the human eye is an excellent instrument for searching for optical bursters, but professional naked-eye astronomers are few and far between nowadays. It has fallen to amateur astronomers to pioneer this field, as first mentioned in SF#39, where we introduced those optical flashes seen in Perseus. At last, the professional astronomers are taking more interest in this class of bright, unexplained flashes in the night sky. Those amateur astronomers, with their "primitive" instrumentation, have actually had a paper published in the highly technical Astrophysical Journal. Their abstract follows: "Between 1984 July and 1985 July, 24 bright flashes were detected visually near the Aries-Perseus border by eight different observers at a total of 12 sites across Canada. One flash was photographed, and another was seen by two observers at different locations. Their duration was usually less than 1 s. The estimated positions of 20 of the events and another seen in 1983 were close enough ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A NEW FACE ON MARS?The face on Mars does not seem to go away! Could it, after all, really be artificial? M. Carlotto, writing in Applied Optics, presents the results of his analysis of the photos of this engimatic "face." "The image enhancement results indicate that a second eye socket may be present on the right, shadowed side of the face; fine structure in the mouth suggests teeth are apparent." "Teeth?" This Martian face is becoming too human-like to be an accident of nature! Carlotto also tersely summarizes his impression of the face's features. ". .. results to date suggest that they may not be natural." (Hecht, Jeff; "Computer Does a Double-Take on the Face of Mars," New Scientist, p. 39, July 7, 1988. Also see: Applied Optics, 27:1926, 1988.) In a more light-hearted manner, P. Jones asserts that a second Martian face exists, and that somehow scientists have managed to keep it under wraps. A photo of the second face appears in the August 25, 1988, issue of New Scientist. Jones remarks on the second face as follows: "If faces are what you are looking for, it's reasonably convincing, perhaps more convincing than its better-known sibling. It has symmetry, two eyes ...
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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 More Phosphorescent Boomerangs July 10, 1979. The Arabian Sea. Aboard the m.v . Strathelgin. "At 1200 GMT large patches of milkygrey bioluminescence were observed; the patches appeared to form circular patterns resembling cartwheels, some of the configurations, however, did not have the central hub, see sketch. The patches pulsated at regular intervals (3 or 4 times per second). They moved in an anticlockwise direction until about 3 points abaft the beam where the direction of movement was reversed. On the beam they appeared to be at eye level, at all other times they were just above the surface of the water. The average size of the 'wheels' was 35 metres." (Penman, B.; "Bioluminescence," Marine Observer, 50:114, 1980.) Comment. A similar case of spinning boomerangs was reported in Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights, where the display was stimulated by switching the ship's radar on and off. Here, one must also ask how a bioluminescent phenomenon can exist at "eye level" many feet above the sea surface. To order the above-mentioned book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 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 When Scents Make No Sense A kestrel (sparrow hawk) with ultra-violet-sensitive eyes and an appetite for voles (below) A vole is hard to see in its grassy habitat, but it leaves behind an ultra-violet-dark urine trail for the kestrel (above). The universe of voles -- small, mouse-like rodents -- is one of odor. They communicate with one another and navigate through their world of grass and vegetation by laying down trails of scent-laden urine. The world of kestrels -- eaters of voles -- is one of sight. Now, voles are hard to see in the grass far below a hunting kestrel, but evolution has come to the aid of the kestrels by giving them the capability to see in the ultra-violet portion of the spectrum. Can it be only coincidence that the urine trails of the voles happen to absorb ultra-violet light strongly? Kestrels can see these trails as dark streaks in the grass below and zero in on their prey. Finnish scientists, led by E. Korpimaki at the University of Turku, have demonstrated the above ultraviolet connection by somehow acquiring enough vole urine to lay out artificial trails in voleless areas. Sure enough, hunting kestrels were attracted to the experimental site and searched and searched the artificial vole highways -- volelessly. (Aldous, Peter; "Vole's Urine Is Their Downfall," ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 137: SEP-OCT 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mysterious Losses And Acquisitions of Color Vision The eyes of most mammals incorporate two types of color-sensitive cones; one for seeing blue light, the other for green light. Such mammals have bichromatic vision and discern colors rather well. Humans and the other primates are blessed with trichromatic vision, for their eyes have cones that register red light. Does this indicate evolution superiority? Hardly, birds possess five types of color-sensitive cones that sense two additional parts of the spectrum. How and why these enhancements in color vision occurred are not well-understood. Nor do we know why they were restricted to mammals and birds; although it is easy to fabricate several survival-of-the-fittest scenarios. The "how" part of the mystery is particularly hard to grasp in neo-Darwinian terms because the complex pigments that confer spectral sensitivity upon the cones represent remarkable, complex chemical syntheses. Also mysterious is the apparent loss of color vision in 14 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 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 45: May-Jun 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bats may have invented flight twice (at least!)Bats are divided into megas and micros. The "megabats," represented by the fruit bats, possess an "advanced" connection between their eyes and midbrains. No other mammals except the primates possess this type of advanced visual organization. In contrast, the "microbats," the common echo-locating insect-eaters have a "primitive" eyebrain connection. This deep division in the bat family -- mega/micro, vegetarian/carnivorous, sight-dependent/echolocating -- suggests that mammal flight has developed at least twice. (Pettigrew, John D.; "Flying Primates? Megabats Have the Advanced Pathway from Eye to Midbrain," Science, 231: 1304, 1986.) Reference. The problems of bat evolution can be found at BME1 in our catalog Biological Anomalies: Mammals II. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 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 Flashy Fish The Amazonian angel fish, popular in aquariums, employs a Star Wars-like weapon in battling invaders of its territory. The flat sides and silvery scales of this species make highly efficient mirrors. These fish have learned how to maneuver their bodies so as to reflect bright flashes of sunlight directly into the eyes of their opponents. These intense bursts of light are often enough to burst blood vessels in the eyes of the target fish -- sometimes even stunning it. Pairs of Amazonian angel fish have been observed flitting about in "light-fights" as they attempt to zap each other and avoid optical counterattacks. (Anonymous; Creation/Ex Nihilo , 21:7 , March-May 1999. Attributed to Sydney Morning Herald , October 13, 1998.) Comments. The use of light as an offensive weapon is reminiscent of those dolphins that stun their prey with powerful pulses of sound. Creation/Ex Nihilo is an Australian Creationist publication. It is easy to see why creationists focus on these lightfighting fish. Their weapons required the coevolution of flat sides, silvery scales, and the complex instinctive behavior needed for orienting their bodies relative to both the sun and their opponents. From Science Frontiers #123, MAY-JUN 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The algorithmic beauty of seashells Most will admit that many seashells are pretty, but how did all those colors and geometrical markings arise? Perhaps a more profound question is: Why do sea-shells need to be pretty in the first place? After all, most (but not all) of the shell owners do not have eyes with which to appreciate their handiwork! However, mathematicians and computer modellers do have eyes. They have also had a lot of fun and some success in devising algorithms (mathematical methods) for the generation of seashell markings. In fact, our title above is also the title of a new book by H. Meinhardt, which suggests how a suite of simple biochemical processes can create those shells coveted by collectors. Meinhardt has devised equations that describe chemical factors that turn pigment-generating cells on and off. In its simplest form, a mathematically modelled seashell is a two-dimensional sheet that grows along only one edge. Cells on this edge may or may not secrete pigment depending upon chemical "influences." B. Hayes describes how this sort of model operates: The triangular pattern on Cymbiola innexa suggests the presence of a "global control element" that turns the pigment-secreting cells on and off in the correct order -- something like a computer-controlled loom! "Given this generating mechanism, some shell patterns are easy to understand. A series of vertical stripes -- that ...
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... -Oct 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The perseus flasher: mystery solved!So goes the title of an item in Sky and Telescope. Instead of ending with an exclamation point, a question mark would have been more appropriate. The Perseus Flasher, a recurring flash of light in Perseus described in SF#39 and #49, is a topic upon which astronomers also wish to "close the book." So, we must ask ourselves how accurate the above title is. Photographic records of the Perseus Flasher site show no flashes at all in 3,288 hours of monitoring. In fact, a Harvard plate, which was being exposed at the same time that a 0-magnitude flash was reported by naked-eye observers, revealed nothing! The passages of some artificial satellites through the Perseus site have been correlated with naked-eye-observed flashes, suggesting that the flashes are only sun glints. One meteor observer, N. McLeod, claims that there is a background level of flashes from other parts of the sky which can also be attributed to satellite glints. The Sky and Telescope item concludes: "So the mystery is solved!" (Anonymous; "The Perseus Flasher: Mystery Solved!" Sky and Telescope, 73:604, 1987.) Comment. So, science in its relentless, inerrant progress has positively solved still another mystery. (Triumphal background music here!) In case you haven't noticed, the three "exhibits" above do not hang together too ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 23: Sep-Oct 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Remarkable Engineering Design In Nature Two unusual examples of inspired design in nature have been described recently: (1 ) The swordfish possesses special tissues rich in mitochrondria and cytochrome-c that generate heat for the animal's eye and brain. Not only do these heating elements keep the swordfish eye and brain significantly warmer than the surrounding water but they also keep these organs warm and thus more effective during deep dives into the cold ocean depths. (Carey, Francis G.; "A Brain Heater in the Swordfish," Science, 216:1327, 1982.) (2 ) Plants, it seems, developed light pipes long before humans. Certain plant tissues (etiolated or dark-grown) act as multiple bundles of optical fibers and coherently transfer light over distances of at least 2 cm. Optical tests show that these natural light pipes are much more effective transmitters of light than media that simply scatter light. This unsuspected sophistication of Nature's design may require significant revisions in photobiology, which did not allow for such ingenuity. (Smith , Harry; "Light-Piping by Plant Tissues," Nature, 298:423, 1982.) Comment. Since some plants are known to emit light, we would not be surprised, the way things are going, to learn of natural plant lasers! From Science Frontiers #23, SEP-OCT 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The hypothesis of formative causation lives!Rupert Sheldrake's hypothesis has been roundly condemned by many scientists, presumably because it departs so radically from current thinking. Basically, the hypothesis maintains that the forms of things (from crystals to life forms) and the behavior of organisms is influenced by "morphic resonance emanating from past events." Convergent evolution, wherein human eyes closely resemble squid eyes, might well be explained by the hypothesis. Sheldrake has been testing his idea in various ways. One experiment involves the accompanying illustration containing a hidden image. Once the solution of this illustration is learned, it is hard to forget, but few people see the answer right off. The hypothesis of formative causation insists that once one or more persons learn the drawing's secret, the easier it will be for others to see the solution. Actual tests consisted of broadcasting the illustration and its solution (that is, the hidden image) on English television combined with before-and-after checks elsewhere in the world outside TV range. The results strongly supported the hypothesis, for it was far easier for people outside England to identify the hidden images after the broadcast. (Sheldrake, Rupert; "Formative Causation: The Hypothesis Supported," New Scientist, 100:279, 1983.) Comment. With all this prior publicity, the hidden image should pop immediately into the reader's mind. But if it doesn' ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 10: Spring 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Luminous Ripples Move Through The Night Sky A.W . Peterson, during his studies of nighttime airglow in the infrared, has reported three events also invisible to the naked eye. The most spectacular event occurred on the night of April 4-5 , 1978, when luminous ripples were observed at about 90 kilometers altitude moving at 91 meters/second, with a crest-to-crest wavelength of 16 kilome ters. The precise source of the visible light is still in doubt as is the identity of the stimulus causing the glowing ripples. Peterson has noted some correlation between the ripples, both visible and infrared, and the lunar high tide in the atmosphere. Gravity waves could thus be the stimulus creating the ripples. (Peterson, Alan W.; "Airglow Events Visible to the Naked Eye," Applied Optics, 18:3390, 1979.) Comment. Peterson's work may lead to explanations of the auroral "meteors" and the many reports of "banded sky" from astronomers. From Science Frontiers #10, Spring 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... eight victims, these conditions were sufficient to produce a progression of visual hallucinations from simple geometric images to complex memory images coupled with dissociation. The other 23 victims, subjected to similar conditions but without isolation and life-threatening stress, did not experience hallucinations. The hostage hallucinations are compared to those resulting from sensory deprivation, near fatal accidents, and other states of isolation and stress. A common mechanism of action based on entopic phenomena and CNS (central nervous system) excitation and arousal is suggested." In a typical case, an 18-year-old female college student was kidnapped and held for ransom. She was bound, blindfolded, and denied food, water, and toilet facilities. She was periodically threatened with death. She saw dull flashes of light in front of her eyes and small animals and insects on the periphery of her visual field. Becoming hypervigilant, she heard strange sounds and whispers. Hearing loud noises, she thought her captors were coming to kill her. It was then her whole life ran off like a slide show before her eyes. The noises were the police coming to rescue her. (Siegel, Ronald K.; "Hostage Hallucinations," Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 172:264, 1984.) Comment. Some of the hostages experienced the tunnel hallucination so common in near-death visions. These seemingly 'built-in' or hard-wired images may be related to UFO and sea-serpent phenomena. From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 137: SEP-OCT 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Ashen Light Of Venus Closing The Book Scientists are understandably delighted when they believe they have definitively and indisputably explained one of Nature's many mysteries. They can then finally "close the book" on the phenomenon. Sometimes, though, the book is slammed shut prematurely or unjustifiably. Also, as it often happens, closing one book opens another and the new one is even harder to close. Below, we present three examples where finality (closed books) seems to be proclaimed too quickly. On occasion, the night side of Venus (which goes through phases like the moon) seems to glow softly and subtly. For some 350 years, keen-eyed observers have seen this phenomenon through their telescopes. Nevertheless, the effect is so elusive that many astronomers doubt its physical reality. Additionally, it is easy to doubt the existence of the ashen light because good explanations are as elusive as the light itself. During the past decade, two scientific nails have also been driven into the ashen-light coffin: Spectrographic studies of the upper atmosphere of Venus do detect some nighttime air glow, but it is much too weak to account for the abundant telescopic observations from earth. The Cassini spacecraft did not detect any high-frequency radio noise typical of lightning when it passed close to Venus in 1998 and 1999. This put an end to the surmise that the ashen light was due to rapid, widespread lightning occurring deep inside the planet's ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 138: NOV-DEC 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Remarkable Animal Talents And Capabilities Looking backward with genital photoreceptors. Photoreceptors are sensitive to light but do not produce images. They are found in many groups of animals. Even humans possess photoreceptors besides their eyes; specifically, in the pineal gland and, perhaps, the knees. (SF#116, SF#117) The pineal gland (our "third eye") may have registered photons at some stage in our evolution, but it is now useless or adapted to other purposes. The arthropods, however, still find photoreceptors useful. Crayfish have them on their abdomens, where they initiate an escape response when illuminated. Additionally, the blind shrimp that collect around the glowing deep-sea vents have photoreceptors perched on their backs, presumably to guide them to their prey located around the luminous vents. Recently, the Japanese yellow swallowtail butterflies were discovered to sport photoreceptors on their genitalia. These I are used during mating to confirm the position of the female's ovipositor.(Arikawa, Kentaro; "Hindsight of Butterflies," BioScience, 51:219, 2001.) Barn-Owl auditory neurons multiple signals. Barn Owls can locate rustling mice in the dark with high precision. They discern their prey by sound rather than light. To achieve the high accuracy needed to home in on small rodents in the black of night, their ears are slightly offset so that they can draw a bead by using microsecond time ...
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... . Elliott, of Grand Lake Stream, Maine, reports the discovery of some truly remarkable stone artifacts in eastern Washington County, Maine. These artifacts were extracted from a small cist, or tomb, constructed of slabs of slate laid over a hollow space between a ledge and a row of stones. As the following description attests, these artifacts are anomalous to Maine (and perhaps anywhere in the States.) "Elliott has three stone artifacts that he says came to light when he tilted two or three of the slabs covering one end of the tomb, which lies east-to-west. The grave items consist of a smooth rectangular green stone resembling a whetstone but bearing four letters or symbols; a four-inch pendant that is a flat stone oval bearing on one side and eye and on the other side a face of the sun with four rays, a crescent above, and six or seven letters in an undetermined script below; and a 15- inch ceremonial slate spear point showing on one side a bearded, trousered man in a hat or helmet with one arm severed and one foot missing, and on the other side a bear-like animal with two spears sticking out of him. In front of the bear are marks resembling the Roman numerals for eight, with the V tipped to one side." Members of NEARA (New England Antiquities Research Association) have visited the site; and professional archeologists have been invited to inspect the finds. (Wiggins, John R.; "Archaeological Riddle," Ellsworth American , August 3, 1989. Cr ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dreams More Real Than Reality Those people who experience so-called lucid dreams say that they are not only vivid in all human senses but completely under the control of the dreamer. Specifically, individuals can be commanded to appear and the action controlled to please the dreamer. As Keith Hearne, a dream researcher, remarks with tongue-in-cheek, the entertainment possibilities are endless if lucid dreaming could be induced in everyone! Lucid dreams are so real that the dreamer will sometimes believe that he has awakened and answered questions from the researcher, when nothing like that has happened. Lucid dreaming occurs only during periods of REM (Rapid Eye Movements) sleep. The lucid dream-er, however, can signal the dream researcher that lucid dreaming has begun with agreed-upon eye movements and changes in the rate of breathing. (Hearne, Keith; "Control Your Own Dreams," New Scientist, 91:783, 1981.) Comment. The fact of lucid dreaming encourages many questions. How is it related to out-of-the-body experiences and hallucinations? Pertinent once more is that old philosophical teaser: How do we know that reality is not a dream from which we shall soon awaken? It turns out that lucid dreamers have to devise special tests to ascertain whether they are dreaming or awake! From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... and hard-to-explain form of ball lightning. When the BL appeared suddenly from behind the tree, it caught the attention of the witness who said that it looked like it "sat down on to the tree." It had the dimensions of "a small truck tyre, not as large as a tractor one," and it had a definite torus shape. What made the dark object an even stranger sight was a considerable number of "Xmas candies", all hanging down from its underside 15 to 20 centimetres long and "sparkling", which means changing brightness with an emission of sparks at the same time. A humming and sizzling sound was associated with the optical effect, but there was no static electricity. The strange light was not blinding, but irritated the eyes of the witness who looked at it only intermittently. Mrs. Reisinger continued her work in the shed, not moving closer to the object and getting more nervous over the 10 minutes that the phenomenon lasted. Her eyes started to water towards the end of the observation. Another phenomenon that she remembers was the irregular extinction of the "candies" which went out piece by piece. (Keul, Alexander G.; "More on a Torus Ball-Lightning Case," Journal of Meterology, U.K ., 25:49, 2000. The initial report was presented in the same journal, 24:178, 1999.) Comment. The buzzing sound remarked upon above leads us to the even weirder phenomenon recorded below. From Science Frontiers #132, NOV-DEC ...
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... View Cart Buy online via PayPal with MC/Visa/Amex 304 pages, hardcover, $19.95, 52 illus., 3 indexes, 1992. 548 references, LC 91-68541. ISBN 0-915554-26-7 , 7x10. Biological Anomalies: Humans II: A Catalog of Biological Anomalies Sorry, Out of print The second Catalog volume on human biological anomalies focuses upon the "internal" machinery of the body (1 ) Its major organs; (2 ) Its support structure (the skeleton); and (3 ) Its vital subsystems (the central nervous system and the immune system) Typical subjects covered: Enigma of the fetal graft * Phantom limbs * Blood chimeras * Anomalous human combustion * Bone shedders * Skin shedders * "Perfection" of the eye * Dearth of memory traces * Sudden increase of hominid brain size * Health and the weather * Periodicity of epidemics * Extreme longevity * AIDS anomalies * Cancer anomalies * Human limb regeneration * Nostril cycling * Voluntary suspended animation * Male menstruation [Picture caption: Is the complexity of the human eye anomalous?] 297 pages, hardcover, $19.95, 40 illus., 3 indexes, 1993. 494 references, LC 91-68541, ISBN 0-915554-27-5 , 7x10. Biological Anomalies: Humans III: A Catalog of Biological Anomalies Sorry, Out of print Completing our trilogy on human anomalies, this volume focuses on four areas (1 ) the human fossil record; (2 ) biochemistry and genetics; (3 ) possible unrecognized living hominids; and ...
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... and 24, when the Pleiades shine brightly just before dawn over the northeastern horizon. At this low angle, the presence of the subvisual cirrus has an obvious effect on the brightness of the stars in the cluster, as indicated in the figure. Some of the lesser stars seem to disappear altogether. The visibility effect itself is rather subtle. It is remarkable enough that it was noticed at all by ancient peoples, much more so was their making the obscure connection to future weather. (Orlove, Benjamin S., et al; "Forecasting Andean Rainfall and Crop Yield from the Influence of El Nino on Pleiades Visibility," Nature, 403:68, 2000.) Comment. To the ancients, the Pleiades were known as the "seven sisters," be-cause their eyes registered seven resplendent stars. But today a naked-eye observer counts just six. What happened to the "Lost Pleiad?" Apparently it faded away in historical times. Details in AOF28 in Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. From Science Frontiers #128, MAR-APR 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
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... light well, so when a tomato plant's pigments detect a lot of infrared, the plant "thinks" that it may be crowded out by competing vegetation. The tomato plant responds aggressively by growing more rapidly. The red plastic mulch between the rows also reflects a lot of infrared light, and it thereby tricks the tomato plant into accelerating its growth. (Raloff, Janet; "When Tomatoes See Red," Science News, 152:376, 1997.) Fire-detecting beetles. The beetle Melanophila acuminata seeks out forests that have just been ravaged by fires so that it can lay its eggs in the nutritious, freshly burnt wood. These insects are capable of detecting fires up to 32 kilometers (20 miles) distant. They do not see the fire with their eyes but instead detect the thermal (infrared) radiation with a special organ on their chests. (Schmitz, Helmut, et al; "Infrared Detection in a Beetle," Nature, 386:773, 1997.) Knees "see". Well, sort of, and then only the backs of the knees. Human circadian clocks can be shifted by shining visible light on the skin on the backs of the knees. It is theorized that the light penetrates the skin and causes chemical changes in the blood, implying that human blood contains "chronobiological photoreceptors." (Oren, Dan A., and Terman, Michael; "Tweaking the Human Circadian Clock with Light," Science, 279:333, 1998. Also: Campbell, Scott S., and Murphy, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Expanding Phosphorescent Rings May 9, 1983. Gulf of Oman. Aboard the m.v . Mahsuri. "At 1650 GMT, a pale green glow was seen to emanate from the horizon ahead. This gave the appearance of strong moonlight upon the surface of the water. The moon, however, was not in evidence. At 1700 GMT, rapid flashes of light were observed sweeping across the sea directly ahead of the vessel, giving the initial impression of a sudden increase of wind speed causing excessive spray. By 1715 GMT, the vessel was totally surrounded by completely random movements of light as far as the eye could see. The onset of this phenomenon was so rapid, not to say eerie, that the Master was called to the bridge to witness the event. For the next 15 minutes the sea was at a height of activity, displaying several systems of the most unusual bioluminescence. The most significant of these were what appeared to be Phosphorescent Wheels, which, although they did not seem to rotate, originated from a central hub and spread out rings in rapid succession, forming concentric circles. This was pointed out by many of those who observed them as being similar to the instance of a stone being dropped into a quiet pond and causing waves to spread out. In this case each wave crest was a band of fantastic light. Each wheel would last for a couple of minutes, continually flashing out bands of ...
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... be their undoing. References Ref. 1. Anonymous; "Deflating the Biological Big Bang," Science News, 150: 335, 1996. Ref. 2. Perlman, David; "Origin of Animals -- 1.2 Billion Years Ago," San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 1996. Cr. J. Covey. Ref. 3. Wray, Gregory A., et al; "Molecular Evidence for Deep Precambrian Divergences among Metazoan Phyla," Science, 274:568, 1996. Homology vs. DNA. Until the molecular biologists recently arrived on the scene, evolutionary family trees were based upon similarities in appearance; that is, homology. Animals that look alike must be closely related. But molecular biologists have discovered that some animals that seem identical to the eye differ significantly in their DNA complements. Thus, the Pacific skinks may undermine homology. Inhabiting many, far-separated Pacific islands, these small lizards all look pretty much alike externally. For many years, biologists assumed that they all belonged to the same species. Recently, scalpels in hand, they found that the skink innards differed enough to define two species: Emioa cyanura and Emioa impar . Next, the molecular biologists got into the act. They discovered that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the Guam and Kosrae skinks differed by an amazing 6%, even though both skinks were E. cyanura . Even worse, the Vanuatu skink ( E. impar ) differed from all other E. impar skinks around the Pacific by an astounding 13%. Yet, to the eye ...
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... 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 on their backs outcompeted their unlucky companions ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Kaleidoscopic Brain "It first hit me early in the morning of December 27, 1970. Suspended in the dreamy state just before waking and with my eyes still closed, I experienced an extraordinarily vivid visual image. Extending before me was an infinite array of diamond-shaped amber regions; each was filled with a regular pattern of black spade-like forms, all pointing straight up, or, in alternate diamonds, to the left. A latticework of delicately beveled edges, gleaming like polished gold, framed with diamonds. The whole array shimmered before me in perfect amber and gold splendor for what must have been several seconds." This kind of geometrical visual experience occurs rarely to some people during "twilight" states just before falling asleep or waking. Direct pressure on the optic nerve produces similar geo meters' delights; so can drugs, fever, sleeplessness, and other altered states of consciousness. Migraine headaches, too, are often presaged by floating, semicircular fields of closely spaced parallel lines or bars arranged in zigzag patterns. This geometrical visual phenomenon may, like a berserk TV screen, be diagnostic and betray regularities in the brain's circuitry. The kaleidoscopic patterns seem to occur when imput signals from the eyes are weak or suspended, leaving the brain to generate its own "favorite" patterns. (Shepard, Roger N.; "The Kaleidoscopic Brain," Psychology Today, 17:62, June ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 125: Sep-Oct 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Tyrannies Of The Tiny Because we cannot see them with the naked eye, we tend to forget that the earth's atmosphere, its oceans, and the solid crust to unknown-but-great depths are colonized in profusion by minute biological entities -- mainly bacteria and viruses. Only when we get the flu or infected finger do these entities impinge upon our consciousness. Below we will learn that there are many more of them than you think. Do viruses control the oceans? You may avoid the beaches after you learn that one teaspoon of seawater typically contains 10-100 million viruses and onetenth that many bacteria. Obviously, most are harmless to humans. However, the viruses do infect the bacteria and phytoplankton, destroying them, and thereby releasing their nutrients. By doing this, they keep the oceans' biological engines running. Further, the viruses act as genetic engineers as they transfer DNA from one individual to another. The oceans may be viewed as vast test tubes in which biodiversity is maintained by teeming, invasive viruses. (Suttle, Curtis A.; "Do Viruses Control the Oceans?" Natural History, 108:48, February 1999.) We are only 10% human! The average human body contains 100 trillion cells, but only 1 in 10 of these cells is your own. The remaining 90% are bacteria. These alien organisms coat your skin and pave your inner passageways from mouth ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 95: Sep-Oct 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Blondes In Ancient China Authorities on ancient Chinese civilization have usually considered it to have been completely isolated from European influences for millennia -- a homegrown culture characterized by unique cultural and technological innovations. This classical picture of ancient China will have to be modified after the recent unearthing of mummified Caucasians up to 4,000 years old in China's northwestern province of Xinjiang. These dried corpses have the long noses, deep-set eyes, and long skulls typical of Caucasians. Some even have blonde hair! Some 113 such corpses have already been excavated at Qizilchoqa, one of four sites discovered so far. It is clear that we are dealing with permanent settlements and not merely a few lost Europeans. "Besides the riddle of their identity, there is also the question of what these fair-haired people were doing in a remote desert oasis. Probably never wealthy enough to own chariots, they nevertheless had wagons and well-tailored clothes. Were they mere goat and sheep farmers? Or did they profit from or even control prehistoric trade along the route that later became the Silk Road? If so, they probably helped spread the first wheels and certain metal-working skills into China." V. Mair, a professor of Chinese at the University of Pennsylvania, has been spearheading the research on these mummies for the U.S . He asserts that, contrary to the general belief, there was a substantial two- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 95: Sep-Oct 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects This was the big one, but where did it come from?October 15, 1991. American Southwest. Photomultipliers in the Fly's Eye telescopes 100 kilometers southwest of Salt Lake City recorded the havoc wrought in the upper atmosphere by the most energetic cosmic-ray particle ever measured. When this tiny subatomic particle slammed into air molecules, the ensuing debris caused the surrounding atmosphere to fluoresce. The amount of light produced indicated that this cosmic ray had an energy of 3 x 1020 electron volts -- that's equivalent to the energy of a bowling ball dropped from waist level. Now that's a lot of energy for a subatomic particle! Because cosmic rays normally lose energy as they collide with photons in their cosmic wanderings, astrophysicists believe that "the big one" had to have a recent, nearby origin in order to still be so energetic. But no one has any idea where it could have come from or how it might have acquired so much energy. Somewhere out there in nearby space there may be a natural particle accelerator orders of magnitude more powerful than our biggest earthbound atom smashers. (Anonymous; "The Deepening Mystery of Cosmic-Ray Origins," Sky and Telescope, 87:12, May 1994.) Comment. Actually, the source of "the big one" need not have been nearby and recent. All anomalists will recognize that this is an assumption based upon the particle ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 106: Jul-Aug 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Looking Up Into A Tornado Funnel January 21, 1992. Near Cripple Creek, Colorado. Shortly after 2 PM, while fishing at Skagway Reservoir, D. Mc Gown spotted an ominous cloud formation developing in the west. A horizontal, black cloud rolled toward him. Suddenly, it lifted to reveal a huge, twisting funnel advancing directly at him. He threw himself to the ground, but got a good look up into the interior of the funnel. "The outside of the tornado was spinning so fast my eye couldn't follow it, but the inside was rotating almost lazily. I could see a thousand feet up inside it. Tiny fingers of lightning lined the hollow tube." Passing over him, the funnel bounced across the lake, ripped up some trees, and was gone. (McGown, Dennis; "Letters," Time, 147: 8, June 10, 1996) Comment. The "tiny fingers of lightning" are of great interest to anomalists, because most meteorologists deny that electricity plays any part in tornado activity. Of course, there is often plenty of ordinary lightning in the accompanying storms. An observation very similar to McGown's occurred in Kansas, in 1928. (GLD10-X2 in Lightning, Auroras. For information on this book, visit here .) Today, American meteorological journals are mostly filled with articles on the computermodelling of weather systems, satellite-imaging ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 106: Jul-Aug 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Multiple Phosphorescent Wheels This is the sketch mentioned in the Marine Observer article. April 17, 1995. Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. Aboard the m.v . British Reliance, enroute Fujairah to Kharg Island. Observers: the Master and Second Officer. "At 1525 UTC whilst in the westbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme and shortly after settling on a course of 270 , a small amount of blue phosphorescence was noticed in the sea waves ahead (the swell being very low). Suddenly, the wind appeared to blow quite strongly, swirling around the vessel and then for as far as the eye could see and all around the vessel, phosphorescent cartwheels of bright-blue light began forming. The bands of light were roughly 30 cm thick while the maximum diameter of the wheels was 15-18 m. "Their direction of movement seemed random and they were spinning at high speed, some chasing each other, others spinning in opposite directions next to each other, see sketch. "Whole groups dumbbelled around each other, all spinning in apparently random directions. The display lasted for about 18 minutes before petering out." A comment by P.J . Herring of the Southampton Oceanography Centre followed. "A quite extraordinary account of phosphorescent wheels occurring in one of the places where they are most often seen. In the 200, or so, cases of this phenomenon reported in the last 100 years, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 4: July 1978 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Stone Alignments in Subsaharan Africa Good-bye to the Bimini Wall and Road? Astronomy What Caused the Grooves on Phobos? A New Cosmic Heresy Biology The Four-eyed Fish Sees All A Sinuous Line of Sea Snakes Geology Echo Sounder Outlines Strange Patches Over Underwater Peaks Is the Earth A Giant Methane Reservoir? Geophysics Bioluminescence and Spurious Radar Echoes Curious Patches of Light on the Horizon Meteoric Night-glow Psychology Out-of-the-body Traveller Exerts No Influence Category X South of the Bermuda Triangle ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Fish Creates Fish A Philippine anglerfish, looking for all the world like a rock or shell, waves before its maw a piece of bait resembling small fish found in this region. The bait, which is part of the anglerfish's body, has fins, a tail, and black spots for eyes. The waving about of the bait attracts predatory fish close enough for the anglerfish to snap them up. The authors surmise that the anglerfish evolved this realistic bait (and rod and reel) in order to save energy in acquiring food. (Pietsch, Theodore W., and Grobecker, David B.; "The Complete Angler: Aggressive Mimicry in an Antennariid Anglerfish," Science, 201:369, 1978.) Comment. One wonders how many unfishlike baits were evolved before just the right shape and coloration were achieved. From Science Frontiers #5 , November 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 More Sparks On The Beach Sharp eyes often pick out unusual phenomena in very usual places. From California, A. Hastings writes: "I also had an experience with 'Sparks on the Beach' as in SF#104/4 . This was on the Pacific Ocean Beach at San Gregorio, south of San Francisco, several years ago. I was walking on fairly wet sand, just above the tide line. As I stepped, the sand around my feet lit up with small bright dots of phosphorescence. I would not have said that the color was blue, but it could have been like blue-white, like the star Rigel. I found that if I stepped hard or stamped my foot, the lights flashed brighter and the lit area went out farther from my foot. I could see the movement expanding out. After a stamp or two, they did not light up as much. I assumed that this was caused by some organism that lit up when it felt pressure, and 'wore out' after it had done this a few times -- a refractory period probably occurred." (Hastings, Arthur; personal communication, March 21, 1996) Comment. This is probably a pressureinduced biological phenomenon, but we have no idea what kind of organism produces the lights. Footsteps do produce a rapidly expanding pressure wave on damp sand, which whitens the sand as it moves outward. But we ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 114: Nov-Dec 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Redefining Science The rules of today's science are rigorously objective, with no place for subjective or consciousness-related factors. These are eliminated by requiring that all experimental results be reproducible by all normal people. Otherwise, every UFO sighting by any individual and each claim of telepathy would be legitimate scientific evidence. Such stringent requirements have made it difficult for parapsychologists to get their experimental results, no matter how carefully acquired, to be taken seriously by mainstream science. How, then, can parapsychology be "legitimized" in the eyes of all scientists? Easy! By redefining science. This is what R.G . Jahn and B.J . Dunne have proposed in a long, philosophical article in the Journal of Scientific Exploration. They define a "neo-subjective" science, which retains the "logical rigor, empirical/theoretical dialogue, and cultural purpose" of present-day "rigorously objective" science, but would: Allow a proactive role for consciousness Be more explicit and profound in the use of interdisciplinary metaphors Permit more generous interpretations of measurability, replicability, and resonance (4 ) Reduce onotological aspirations Permit an "overarching teleological causality. R.J . Jahn heads the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory, which over the years has conducted some 50 million experimental trials, mostly in the search for psychokinetic effects on the behavior of a wide variety of mechanical, electrical, and other types of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 116: Mar-Apr 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Plant Life On Mars?" Strong evidence that plant life exists on Mars was advanced today by Earl C. Slipher, American astronomer, after observation of the planet, which is closer to the earth this month than at any time since 1924. .. .. . "His theory is founded on an apparent change in the planet's surface, regarded as his most important discovery. "The huge dark spot (Solis Lacus) or the Great Eye of Mars, seems to have assumed a shape not observed for fifty years, if ever before. Mr. Slipher indicated that this was strong evidence that plant life existed on the planet, and suggested that the change was due to fresh vegetation over an area roughly the size of the United States." (Anonymous; "Evidence of Plant Life on the Planet Mars Is Announced by an American Astronomer," New York Times, July 21, 1939. Cr. M. Piechota.) Comment. What a difference 59 years make! Could those tiny structures in ALH 84001 be fossilized pollen grains? From Science Frontiers #116, MAR-APR 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 11: Summer 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects United By An Invisible Cord The largest study of separately raised identical twins has discovered incredible similarities among twins who never set eyes on each other before. There are difference, too, but not as many as expected by psychologists who hold that we are shaped primarily by our environments. Only a few of the astounding (and strange) similarities can be recounted here. Two 39-year-old twins, meeting for the first time, were both wearing seven rings each, two bracelets on one wrist, a watch and one bracelet on the other wrist. Two men both had dogs named Toy, had married and divorced women named Linda, remarried women named Betty, and named their sons James Allan and James Alan. Two other males had similar medical histories: hemorrhoids, same pulse rates and blood pressures, same sleep patterns. Both had put on 10 pounds at the same times in their lives. (Holden, Constance; "Identical Twins Reared Apart," Science, 207:323, 1980.) From Science Frontiers #11, Summer 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 131: SEP-OCT 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Beware of Rapidly Ascending Armadillos After watching armadillos awkwardly snuffling for tidbits, one might conclude that these "little armored ones" are not too bright and certainly no threat to humans. But armadillos possess a remarkable defense mechanism you should be aware of. Not all of them curl up into tight, nigh-impenetrable balls when threatened as the field guides promise us. Instead, some suddenly jump straight up -- as much as 8 feet high! Woe be to anyone hovering over armadillos favoring this type of defense. Broken noses, loosened teeth, and black eyes have been inflicted by these armored projectiles. Another unexpected habit of the armadillo is its crossing of small streams by walking along the bottom underwater. It can swim if necessary and gains buoyancy by filling its intestines with air. (From Biological Anomalies: Mammals I ) (White, Robb; "Armadillos, and Dangerous," Natural History, 109:86, July-August 2000.) From Science Frontiers #131, SEP-OCT 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
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