48 results found.
... 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 Venus: highly radioactive or just cooling down?The surface temperature of Venus is about 480 C, higher than any other solar system planet. While Venus does trap solar radiation in its atmosphere greenhouse fashion, data from Pioneer Venus Orbiter show that the planet radiates 15% more energy than it receives from the sun. In other words, Venus's surface is hotter then it would be if only the greenhouse effect were operating. Where could this extra energy come from? If it arises from the decay of naturally occurring radioactivity, Venus would have to have 10,000 times as much radioactivity as the earth. If this is the case, Venus must have had an origin radically different from the earth's . (Anonymous; "The Mystery of Venus's Internal Heat," New Scientist, 88:437, 1980.) Comment. Another possibility is that Venus is still cooling down and is much younger than the earth! From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 9: Winter 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Venus and earth: engaged or divorced?Proponents of astronomical catastrophism have made much of the supposed resonance between the earth and Venus, in which Venus rotates exactly four times between the times of its closest approach to earth (inferior conjunction). Astronomers have maintained that the gravitational forces are too slight to force a resonance lock. This has led to speculation that the two planets were once much closer. The most recent measurements of the rotational period of Venus show it to be 243.01 days rather than the 243.16 days for exact resonance. I.I . Shapiro (of MIT) and his colleagues, who made the measurements, wonder whether Venus may be just approaching or just escaping a resonance lock. Whichever the case, the near-resonance is not likely to be a coincidence. (Anonymous; "Venus and Earth: Engaged or Divorced?" Astronomy, 7:58, October 1979.) Comment. If Venus is just escaping resonance lock, how long ago was the lock exact? A few thousand years? And how close were the two planets? Reference. The solar system is full of curious resonances. See ABB4 in our Catalog: The Sun and Solar System Debris. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #9 , Winter 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Salt structures on venus?The following quotation is the abstract of a paper appearing in the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. "The discovery of a surprisingly high deuterium/hydrogen ratio on Venus immediately led to the speculation that Venus may have once had a volume of surface water comparable to that of the terrestrial oceans. We propose that the evaporation of this putative ocean may have yielded residual salt deposits that formed various terrain features depicted in Venera 15 and 16 radar images. "By analogy with models for the total evaporation of terrestrial oceans, evaporite deposits on Venus should be ar least ten to hundreds of meters thick. From photogeologic evidence and insitu chemical analyses, it appears that the salt plains were later buried by lava flows. On Earth, salt diapirism leads to the formation of salt domes, anticlines, and elongated salt intrusions -- features which have dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 km. Due to the rapid erosion of salt by water, surface evaporite landforms are only common in dry regions such as the Zagros Mountains of Iran, where salt plugs and glaciers exist. Venus is far drier than Iran; extruded salt should be preserved, although the high surface temperature (470 C) would probably stimulate rapid salt flow. Venus possesses a variety of circular landforms, ten to hundreds of kilometers wide, which could be either megasalt domes or salt intrusions colonizing impact craters. Additionally, arcuate bands seen in the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 29: Sep-Oct 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Sedimentary rocks on venus?The Soviet spacecraft Veneras-13 and 14 took photos of the hot surface of Venus from their landing spots beneath the planet's thick cloud cover. The rocky debris surrounding the spacecraft shows, to nearly everyone's surprise, strong evidence of sedimentary, layered structure. The rock formations display ripple marks, thin layering, differential erosion, and even hints of cross-bedding. The vision of ancient seas on Venus leaps to the mind, but according to the Russian scientists, it is far more likely that the sediments were created by winds, episodic volcanism, or repeated meteor strikes. (Florensky, C.P ., et al; "Venera 13 and Venera 14: Sedimentary Rocks on Venus?" Science, 221:57, 1983.) Reference, Venus harbors many anomalies. See our Catalog: The Moon and the Planets. This book is described here . Two pictures of the surface of Venus taken by the Russian space probe Venera 14. From Science Frontiers #29, SEP-OCT 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Venus Too Pristine In the November 16 issue of Science, R.A . Kerr remarks: "The planetary geologists who are studying the radar images streaming back from Magellan [the space probe] find that they have an enigma on their hands. When they read the geological clock that tells them how old the Venusian surface is, they find a planet on the brink of adolescence. But when they look at the surface itself, they see a newborn babe." (Kerr, Richard A.; "Venus Is Looking Too Pristine," Science, 250:913, 1990.) Comment. Of the 75 craters mapped so far by Magellan , only one shows any signs of aging; i.e ., tectonic movements, lava-filling, etc. The surface of Venus should be hundreds of millions of years old, yet it looks freshly minted. The anticipated spectrum of degradation has not yet been seen. One theory is that recent lava flooding erased the old craters, and we now see only recent impact scars. But why would a planet's volcanism turn off so completely and so abruptly? Our earth, Venus' sister planet in many ways, still perks away, leaving craters of various ages. Why is Venus so different? One idea not advanced by Kerr in Science is that Venus might be a recently acquired member of the solar system! From Science Frontiers #73, JAN- ...
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... 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 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 ...
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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 metal-frosted mountains of venus! Venus is a very hot planet with a mean surface temperature of 740 K. It is so hot there that some metal compounds of chlorine, fluorine, and sulfur are vaporized in some locales. Such metallic "mists" could well coat out as "frost" on the cooler, higher elevations. Actually, two outstanding Venusian anomalies can be explained by such metallic "frosts." Radar signals from earth are strongly reflected from the planet's mountains and high plateaus. These regions may owe their unusually high reflectance to metallic "frosts" consisting of such radarbright minerals as pyrite, which is probably present in vapor form at lower, hotter elevations. During the 1978 Pioneer Venus mission, four instrumented probes plunged into the Venusian atmosphere. All instruments with external sensors on all four probes failed mysteriously 12.5 kilometers above the planet's surface. Thinking is that the probes pierced a cloud deck of metallic vapor that condensed on the cold sensor surfaces. (Anonymous; "Metal 'Frost' on Venus?" Sky and Telescope, 90:13, August 1995.) From Science Frontiers #101 Sep-Oct 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 6: February 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Venus Has Uncertain Pedigree The five instrumented Pioneer probes that plunged into the thick Venusian atmosphere in late 1978 discovered unexpectedly large quantities of the isotope argon-36. The significance of argon-36 is that it is supposed to be primordial argon; that is, an argon isotope formed when the solar system was born. Since argon-36 is radioactive, most of the original supply of this isotope should have disintegrated and disappeared over the 4-billion-year history of the solar system. Indeed, the atmospheres of earth and Mars have much, much smaller quantities of argon-36 than Venus. Venus, therefore, may have had an origin different from that of earth and Mars -- either a much more recent birth (such that the argon-36 has not all disintegrated), or an altogether different kind of origin in which more argon-36 was created than was the case for earth and Mars. (Anonymous; "Venus Probes Solar System Birth," New Scientist, 80:916, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #6 , February 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Long Arms Of Venus And Jupiter Many times in the two or three "scientific" centuries now behind us, investigators have discovered, almost against their wills, that the moon and planets affect the earth. The moon's influence is understandable, but the planets are too far away for their gravitational fields to influence one terrestrial dust mote. Well, here is one more study showing that the planets (Venus and Jupiter, in this case) do affect the peak electron density in the earth's ionosphere. The effect is most noticeable when these planets are close to earth and dwindles as they swing around to the other side of the sun. The authors are at a loss to explain this effect in terms of gravitation, suggesting that perhaps Venus or Jupiter may instead affect solar activity, which in turn modifies the terrestrial ionosphere. (Harnischmacher, E., and Rawer, K.; "Lunar and Planetary Influences upon the Peak Electron Density of the Ionosphere," Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Electricity, 43:643, 1981.) Comment. Actually, no one has shown how the planets can possibly influence the sun with known action-at-a -distance forces. Electrical forces are taboo. There are no other "recognized" forces. From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ball lightning or mirage of venus?In SF#56, S. Campbell explained a potential UFO sighting in terms of a mirage of a jet landing at Edinburgh. Now he interprets a Russian ball lightning report as a mirage of Venus on the horizon. See what you think: "Dr. Aleksandr Mitrofanov of the Institute of Physical Problems (sic) of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S .S .R . and two friends were camping on the left bank of the River Oka near Ryazan (at a point where the river makes a sharp bend to the east) on the 23rd July 1974. It had been a clear day, very hot in the afternoon. Together with Muscovites from another encampment they sat up talking and drinking tea (sic) until late in the evening (in fact until early the next morning). At 2:10 a.m . they all saw a light which at first they thought was a torch. It appeared to be 70 metres away in the undergrowth along the bank. As they all stood up the 'ball lightning' (which iswhat Mitrofanov thought it was) seemed to 'float up' from behind the bushes and move straight towards them, increasing in size. But it did not reach them; it slowly 'swam' horizontally before disappearing after 4 minutes. When it seemed to be at its nearest a ring detached itself, like the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cometary Appearance Of Venus The famed astronomer Johann Maedler first recorded strange brushes of light emanating from the bright limb of Venus. Two luminous fans opening sunward gave the planet the appearance of a multitailed comet. Maedler made this curious observation on April 7, 1833; and it has come to be known as the Maedler Phenomenon. If it were not for Maedler's fame as an honest, meticulous observer, the event would have been fogotten long ago. A similar observation was made by Gadbury in 1686. The only explanation for the phenomenon offered so far involves some sort of obscure type of halo or sun-pillar effect. (Baum, Richard; "The Maedler Phenomenon," Strolling Astronomer, 27:118, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #5 , November 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 3: April 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Marsh gas or the planet venus?October 16, 1976. Aboard the m.t . Farnelia, Barents Sea fishing grounds. Observers, Skipper H. Powdrell and Mr. G. Christmas, Radio Officer. "At 2307 GMT while I was visiting the wheelhouse, the Skipper pointed out to me an object flying across the sky. It had already been in view for some five minutes or more and was first observed on a bearing of 140 T heading due North. I first sighted it on a bearing of 050 T. "Observation was constantly kept by myself and the Skipper with the aid of binoculars from the time I first sighted the object. It could be described as being a brilliant light travelling at a very high altitude, leaving a bright Vshaped trail of rays which could be likened to the sun's rays as they would appear from behind a cloud. However, they were very much smaller due to the height and were also horizontal. The object followed a course from south to north to be astern of us at 2308. It then commenced to come back along its course while losing altitude. I would point out here that there was no visual evidence of the object actually turning back but rather as though it had been put into reverse. "The appearance and shape of the object was now changed, becoming totally circular in shape, still losing height and coming closer. The outer edge of the circle ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Natural Laser Beacons "It has long been realized that the Earth's upper atmosphere cannot be in thermodynamic equilibrium, and during the last decade astronomers have made telescopic observations of nonequilibrium processes taking place in the upper atmospheres of our Earth-like neighbors, Mars and Venus. A preliminary analysis by Michael Mumma, of Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and his colleagues. indicated that processes analogous to optical pumping in laboratory lasers were taking place and led to the coining of the term 'natural lasers.' Now, Deming and colleagues from the Goddard team have taken new observations of emission from Mars and Venus at wavelengths near 10 micrometers. and modelled them to show that stimulated emission -- the effect which makes lasers so powerful -- accounts for up to seven per cent of the total emission. This is not a large amplification factor by laboratory standards, particularly for a CO2 laser. But, the authors speculate that the sheer size of the natural lasers could make them useful tools in the future for communicating with distant civilizations beyond our own planetary system." The atmospheres of Mars and Venus are almost pure CO2 . The CO2 molecules are excited by the absorption of energetic solar photons; then, thermally emitted photons at about 10 micrometers from lower reaches of the atmosphere collide with the excited molecules, stimulating them to emit another 10-micrometer photon, thus doubling the number of photons. This is typical laser action. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 20: Mar-Apr 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Couple Venusian Curiosities (1 ) Lightning on Venus, as detected by electromagnetic sensors on Pioneer Venus, seems to be concentrated over two major surface features. (2 ) Venus has 10,000 to 100,000 times less water than the earth, which is so much like it in size and other parameters. (Beatty, J. Kelly; "Venus: The Mystery Continues," Sky and Telescope, 63:134, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #20, MAR-APR 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Objects ATB4 Evidence for Universal Rotation ATF COSMIC ANOMALIES DETECTED THROUGH RADIATION ATF1 Isotropy of Cosmic Background Radiation ATF2 Deviations of the Cosmic Back ground Radiation from the Blackbody Curve ATF3 The Existence of Cosmic Rays ATF4 The Isotropic Cosmic X-Ray Background ATF5 Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays ATF6 The High Flux of Low-Energy Antiprotons ATF7 Antineutrino Pulses ATF8 Apparent Absence of Appreciable Antimatter in the Observable Universe ATF9 Exceptional Increases in Cosmic Ray Intensity ATF10 Asymmetry of Infrared Background Radiation ATF11 Nondoppler Redshifts ATF12 Spectroscopic Evidence of Life in Space ATO OBJECTS IN INTERGALACTIC SPACE ATO1 Intergalactic Clouds AU URANUS AUB ORBITAL AND ORIENTATION PHENOMENA AUB1 Anomalous Inclination of Uranus's Axis AUF URANIAN INTRINSIC RADIATION AUF1 Secular Changes in Radio Emissions AUL RING AND SATELLITE PHENOMENA AUL1 The Mysterious Rings of Uranus AUO TELESCOPIC ANOMALIES AUO1 Periodic Brightening of Uranus AV VENUS AVB VENUSIAN ORBITAL AND SPIN ANOMALIES AVB1 The Length of the Venusian Day AVB2 The Residual Advance of Venus's Perihelion AVB3 Supposed Changes in Venus's Orbit in Historical Times AVE GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA AVE1 Sharp-Edged Angular Rocks AVE2 Layered Sedimentary Rocks AVE3 Lack of Water on Venus AVE4 Large Ring Structures AVF INTRINSIC RADIATION SOURCES AVF1 Sharp Shadows of Rocks on Venusian Surface AVF2 Bright Infrared Structures AVF3 Intrinsic Heat Radiation from Venus AVL POSSIBLE TEMPORARY SATELLITES OF VENUS AVL1 Bright Objects Resembling Venusian Satellites AVO ANOMALOUS TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS AVO1 Venusian Cusp Phenomena AVO2 Ring of Light around Venus AVO3 The Ashen-Light Phenomenon AVO4 The Phase Anomaly of Venus AVO5 Venus Seen Darker than the Sky AVO6 The Venusian Spoke System AVO7 Bright Spots AVO8 The Maedler Phenomenon: Brushes of Light AVO9 Flickering Light on Dark Limb AVO10 Terminator Irregularities AVW ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 35: Sep-Oct 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Different Way Of Looking At The Universe Here is an excellent survey of American archeoastronomy from Canadian medicine wheels to Mesoamerican aligned structures. To the anomalist, the most interesting part of Aveni's review paper is found in his comments about the world view of the Precolumbian Americans, 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.; " ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 80: Mar-Apr 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects What fluid cut the styx?" One of the most bizarre features yet identified on Venus is a remarkably long and narrow channel that [the spacecraft] Magellan scientists have nicknamed the River Styx. Although it is only half a mile wide, Styx is 4,800 miles long. What could have carved such a channel in unclear. Water, of course, is out of the question. Flowing lava is a possibility, but it would have to have been extremely hot, thin, and fluid." Another suggested fluid is sulphur, but there is still room for speculating about exotic fluids, given Venus's high surface temperatures. Another point of interest: the River Styx does not run steadily downhill. It takes an up-anddown course. Either the Venusian topography has shifted since the Styx was cut, or the channel is not a river at all but rather some bizarre geological feature. (Chaikin, Andrew; " Magellan Pierces the Venusian Veil," Discover, 13:22, January 1992.) From Science Frontiers #80, MAR-APR 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 1990. 1030 references, LC 90-60568, ISBN 915554-24-0 , 7x10 format. Unknown Earth: A Handbook of Geological Enigmas Out of print Hardcover, 833 pages, January 1980, ISBN: 0-915554-06-2 Astronomy Catalogs For a full list of astronomy subjects, see here . The Moon and the Planets; A Catalog of Astronomical Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. From our own moon's cratered surface to the red, rock-strewn plains of Mars, the Solar System is a fertile field for scientific research. Despite centuries of observation, each new spacecraft and telescope provides us with new crops of anomalies [Picture caption: One drawing of the Venusian radial spoke system] Typical subjects covered: The ashen light of Venus * The Martian 'pyramids' * Kinks in Saturn's rings * Continuing debate about the Voyager life-detection experiments * Neptune's mysterious ring * Evidence of water on Mars * The grooves on Phobos * The two faces of Mars * Lunar clouds, mists, "weather" * Ring of light around the new moon * Dark transits of Jovian satellites * Io's energetic volcanos * Jupiter as a "failed star" * Venus-earth resonance Comments from reviews: "The author is to be commended for his brilliantly conceived and researched volume", Science Books. 383 pages, hardcover, $18.95, 80 illustrations, 4 indexes 1985. 988 references, LC 85-61380, ISBN 915554-19-4 , 7x10 format. The Sun and ...
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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 Planetary Conjunctions that Changed the World On May 17, 2000, five solar-system planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) plus the moon slowly wheeled into a tight 19 arc. It was a notable heavenly conjunction. All manner of natural catastrophes were predicted but failed to materialize. It has been this way down recorded history. Universal deluges were anticipated during similar conjunctions on September 14, 1186, and February 19, 1524, but the weather refused to cooperate with the planets. Humanity survived nicely. This does not mean that historical upheavals are never correlated with planetary conjunctions. If a society believes strongly enough in the power of the stars and planets to shape human destiny, events may be correlated with the heavens. Such was the case in ancient China. In China, the "Mandate of Heaven" concept has been used since ancient times as both a framework for history and a guide to future actions. The basic idea is that Heaven awards ruling power to a sage-king because of his virtue. His descendants remain as Earthly deputies until they become corrupted, whereupon outraged Heaven gives signs in the sky that the Mandate has passed on to a different sage-king to continue the cycle. Three transfers of the Heavenly Man-date marked the beginnings of the Hsu, Shang, and Chou Dynasties. In fact, the tightest grouping of the five visible planets in the period from 3, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 14: Winter 1981 Supplement Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The China Syndrome in Archeology Ancient Camp Found 40 Feet Below Colorado Surface Astronomy Venus: Highly Radioactive Or Just Cooling Down? Radial Spokes in Saturn's Rings There's More Than Gold in the Kolar Mines Biology Beetles Make Scents Eyes of Deep-sea Fish Have Spare Parts Worms with Inside-out Stomachs Geophysics More Phosphorescent Boomerangs Do Lightning Channels Accelerate Matter? The Most Identical of Identical Twins Does the Moon Really Faze People? Psychology Innate Knowledge ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 46: Jul-Aug 1986 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Tree-toting Extraordinaire Early Chinese Contacts with Australia? Astronomy Cosmic Currents Salt Structures on Venus? Halley's Comet Infected by Bacteria? Solar Neutrino Update Biology Spontaneous Human Combustion The Music of the Genes Are Fruit Bats Primates? Tigers in Western Australia? Geology Archaeopteryx and Forgery: Another Viewpoint More Paluxy Impressions Blackened, Broken Stones of the Middle East Which Came First? Geophysics The Moon and Avalanches Curious Luminous Display Over the Pacific Ocean Psychology When to Believe and When Not To Geomagnetic Stimulation of Poltergeist Activity ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Senegambian Megalithic Monument Complex A Celtic Frontier Site in Colorado? Astronomy A Bump in the Cosmic Background Phoebe Not Locked to Saturn Biology Descent of Man -- or Ascent of Ape? Life's Origin Within the Earth? Or Did it Drift in From Without? Geology The Burgess Shale Puzzle Iridium-rich Layers and Catastrophism Geophysics The Long Arms of Venus and Jupiter Giant Thunderstorm Clusters Offshore Booms Are Still with Us Psychology Dreams More Real Than Reality Warts on Demand? ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 79: Jan-Feb 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Memories of 1913 March 31, 1991, about 7:10 PM, Quebec. G. Morisette and his wife were driving along the road to Sept-Iles, when his wife asked him to stop the car to watch a strange luminous phenomenon. Thinking that it was only Venus or an aircraft, Morisette pulled off the road and got out. To his surprise, it was a formation of five or six meteors cruising leisurely toward the north on parallel paths. This fascinating spectacle lasted about 15-20 seconds -- long as meteor events go. The fireballs disappeared simultaneously. No sounds were heard during or after their passage. (Morisette, Gartan; "Escadrille de Meteores," Astronomie-Quebec , July-August 1991. Cr. F. St. Laurent) Comment. The slow progress and disciplined motion of the Quebec meteors remind one of the famous meteor procession of February 9, 1913, which was also a predominantly Canadian event. However, the 1913 procession headed southeast over the northeastern states and out into the Atlantic. See AYO7 in Sun and Solar System Debris. This catalog volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #79, JAN-FEB 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Maize in ancient india Lanzarote: un noveau bimini? Astronomy Is the earth seeding the rest of the solar system? One of the most astonishing discoveries of modern science! A COSMIC CAUSE FOR THE OZONE HOLE? Chaotic dynamics in the solar system Biology Do right-handers live longer? John heymer still doesn't believe the stock shc explanations! Bacteria Preternaturally rapid development of photosynthesis? Geology Gentry's tiny mystery-- unsupported by geology Earlier pages in earth's history revealed Geophysics From forteanism to science Mystery at novaya zemlya Ball lightning or mirage of venus? Psychology Mystery of the idiot savant General Has the speed of light decayed? Anomalistics at the aaas meeting ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology FROM THE SUNSWEPT LAGOON Astronomy THE METAL-FROSTED MOUNTAINS OF VENUS! ALH 84001: A MESSAGE FROM MARS OR PERHAPS SOME OTHER PLANET IRONCLAD PROOF OF THE MOON'S ORIGIN? Biology THE ALGORITHMIC BEAUTY OF SEASHELLS MORE HEAR EARS DRAGON FISH SEE RED MALE DOLPHIN KILLS MAN Geology POLAR-BEAR BONES CONFOUND ICE-AGE PROPONENTS A TRIPLE ANOMALY IN A DIAMOND THE GIANT LANDSLIDES OF HAWAII "ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE" CHANGES IN THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD CHINA'S BERMUDA TRIANGLE Geophysics DEATH WAVES AND SEEBARS STRANGE PHENOMENON DETECTED BY RADARS AND SATELLITES AN ASTONISHING MEDLEY OF BIO LUMINESCENT DISPLAYS Unclassified THE GREAT EXODUS ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 29: Sep-Oct 1993 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology South American-polynesian Contacts At Easter Island The Ancient Horsemen Astronomy Another Quasar Enigma Sedimentary Rocks on Venus? Biology Porpoise Stun Gun Genes Aren't Everything Life Beyond 100 c Geology Nitrate Deposits Defy Rational Explanation Episode of Steep Geomagnetic Inclination Geophysics Astronomy and Earthquakes Satan's Storm Psychology Solving Problems in Your Sleep Unclassified Temptations of Numerology ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 108: Nov-Dec 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Blue Flash Green flashes occasionally appear when the sun (or moon or Venus or Jupiter) sink below the horizon. Blue flashes are much rarer but still well-recognized phenomena. An example of the latter was observed in 1995 on the Indian Ocean. August 11, 1995, Bay of Bengal. Aboard the m.v . Repulse Bay enroute Jeddah to Port Klang. "Prior to sunset the vessel was proceeding due east across the Bay of Bengal and it was quite apparent that the sun was still very bright and had not taken on its usual darkorange or red appearance; even with half its diameter above the horizon, the sun was much too bright to view directly. As the last segment of the sun dipped below the horizon, a blue 'horn' formed at each end of it, as shown in sketch (a ), and these then closed up to form a bright-blue arc, as shown in sketch (b ). " (Leslie, A.J .; "Blue Flash," Marine Observer, 66:115, 1996) Comment. The blue flash is a shorter-wavelength version of the green flash. The basic phenomenon is explained in terms of dispersion of the sun's spectrum by the atmosphere near the horizon. Even so, many enigmas remain about these low-sun phenomena. There have been observed: multiple flashes, flashes preceding sunset, complex flash ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 120: Nov-Dec 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Gaia as a super-superorganism The Gaia hypothesis states that the earth's environment is maintained suitable for life by life itself. Our climate, atmospheric oxygen level, ocean composition, and similar vital conditions are kept livable by life's waste products, such as the oxygen emissions of plants. That something like Gaia is required is seen in the extreme disequilibrium of the earth's atmosphere compared to the near-equilibrium of the atmospheres of apparently lifeless Venus and Mars. For example, our atmosphere's 21% oxygen, a highly reactive gas, is many orders of magnitude higher than one would expect on a lifeless planet. Furthermore, life-friendly conditions have been maintained for billions of years despite large changes in the sun's output and the traumas of asteroid impacts. T.M . Lenton, writing in Nature, asks a salient question: How has planetary self-regulation (Gaia) been established and maintained by evolution and natural selection which operate on the level of individuals? In other words, evolution tells us that organisms should evolve so as to leave the most progeny not so as to regulate the atmosphere. Lenton answers that there must be feedback loops from the planetary environment that steer the evolution of individuals in the "proper" direction. Lenton goes on to explore some of these many feedback mechanisms; one obscure loop involves the production of dimethyl sulfide by marine phytoplankton. Truly, it ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology How Ancient is Vermont? Early Man in Australia Even Earlier A 6,000-year-old Structure in Scotland Astronomy A Redshift Undermines the Dogma of An Expanding Universe Asteroids with Moons? Cometary Appearance of Venus Nine-tenths of the Universe is Unseen Petrol Channels on Mars? Biology Fish Creates Fish The Obscure Origin of Insects and Their Wings Sunspots and Flu Geology Halos and Unknown Natural Radioactivity Geophysics 70th Anniversary of the Tunguska Event Bioluminescent Patch Detected by Radar The So-called Green Fireballs of 1948-1949 Psychology Fire-walking: Anyone Can Do It ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 137, Sep-Oct 2001 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Alaska's "Mummy People", Where they Ainus? Granite-Working in Ancient Egypt Astronomy The Ashen Light of Venus Martian "Flares" Solar Model Confirmed, But Standard Model Crippled Biology Bird's Eggs as Information Carriers Unexpected Signals Within Life Forms Mysterious Losses and Acquisitions of Color Vision Geology Fuzz in the Climate Record The Missing Helium Geophysics The Long Reach of the Hawaiian Islands The Ship-Swallowers An Expanding Semicircle of Light in the Night Sky Psychology Phantom Bodies Sex and TGA Unclassified Something Rotten at the Core of Science Luck or Fate? ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 9: Winter 1979 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology A Stone Face From Ungava The Ancient Dispersal of Useful Plants Astronomy Cartwheels in Space Large, Unseen Mass is Pulling Earth Toward It Venus and Earth: Engaged Or Divorced? A Chilly Martian Night Biology The Hazards of Sewer Exploration Have Magnets, Will Travel Geology Moon-like Craters in the North Sea Floor An Ancient Planet Beneath A Youthful Veneer Tarnished Halos? Geophysics Purple Blobs in Texas Category X Bermuda Triangle in Orbit Transcendental Trivia? ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 145: Jan-Feb 2003 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Viking-introduced biological diversity in North America Who first mapped the West Coast of South America Astronomy Venus: telescopic shape-shifter Do some comets just go "poof" Cosmological voyeurism Biology Eyes: Adaptable, multimasked, and untasked Sperm transporters Knee light not effective? Geology Tunguska Confusion Mining for cosmic coal Geophysics Giant Australian marine incursions Amomalous Geysers Psychology Mind over blood Physics Element 0 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 6: February 1979 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Pecked Cross Symbol in Ancient America Inscribed Stone From Tennessee Necropolis Astronomy Venus Has Uncertain Pedigree Unearthly Life on Mars Supermasses That Come and Go Has the Universe's Missing Mass Been Found? Geology Earth, the Magic Top Geophysics Positive Ion Emission Before Earthquakes May Affect Animals Strange High-level Haze in the Arctic Humps of Particles in the Gulf Stream Psychology Some Highly Focussed Minds Stacked Deck in Esp Experiment ...
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... Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A RECENTLY DISCOVERED "BOOK" OF PETROGLYPHS Unfortunately, we cannot reproduce this huge assemblage of marvelously intricate petroglyphs here; but be assured that they are not haphazard doodlings of unaccomplished primitives. We quote from the author's abstract: "A recently discovered sheltered rock scar with red pictographs, in Jalisco, west Mexico, is a major addition to the rather meager data on pictographs in Mesoamerica. It appears to contain a complex set of data pertaining to the cosmology of the relatively unknown Indians who inhabited the Jalisco coast during the last Pre-Hispanic period. Analysis of the scar has incorporated both the artistic symbolism of the nearby Huichol Indians, and concepts developed through archaeoastronomy. This analysis suggests that the ceiling pictographs record the use of sky transits of the sun, Venus, or the constellation Orion as wet season/dry season calendric markers. Wall pictographs show the sun on the mountainous horizon, below which is the earth filled with symbols of plants and animals, among these stand shamans calling down the life-giving rain from the god(s ) of the sky. I also explore the possibility that one of the ceiling pictographs is a record of the appearance of the Crab supernova in the sky in A.D . 1054." (Mountjoy, Joseph B.; "An Interpretation of the Pictographs at La Pena Pintada, Jalisco, Mexico," American Antiquity, 47:110, 1982.) Reference. Petroglyphs and other forms of ancient writing are covered in our Handbook: Ancient Man. Ordering data at: here . From Science ...
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... and anti-matter that might explain the dominance of matter in the universe. But it creates a new mystery---why this asymmetry should exist. Distant supernovae have a rise time of 10-15 percent faster than nearby type supernovae. This throws doubt on their use as standard candles, and on the interpretation that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Interestingly, the amount of the discrepancy is close to the size of the special relativity time dilation factor, gamma. If the cause of the red shift were something other than velocity, then no time dilation factor would be applicable, and this discrepancy would disappear. Evidence for water on Mercury implies a rapid-acting, exogenic water source, consistent with the exploded planet hypothesis expectations. Reasonable escape rates imply that deuterium on Venus is from a relatively recent water source. (Van Flandern, Tom; "Highlights of the Latest EME," Meta Research Bulletin, 8:64, no. 4, 199. Address: P.O . Box 15186, Chevy Chase, MD 20815) Comment. (1 ) Although humans are obviously partial to symmetry, there is no reason why nature must please us by making matter and antimatter symmetrical. 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. ...
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... ensue. (See SF#44.) Some observers commented that surely these scientists have thrown away their careers by suggesting something so ridiculous. But the data are there -- in the form of dark spots on satellite images of the earth's dayglow -- and late results continue to support this far-out interpretation, ridiculous or not. "The mass of these objects is estimated at about 108 gm each, and the total flux is about 107 small comets per year. If this flux is representative of the average flux over geologic time, then the water influx is sufficient to fill the Earth's oceans. The fluxes of these objects are also large for all the planets outside the orbit of Earth. Considerations of thermal stability imply that the fluxes of comets that impact Venus are considerably less. The outer giant planets may be significantly heated relative to solar insolation by the small-comet impacts. For example, the total energy input due both to solar insolation and comet impacts may be similar for Uranus and Neptune. Thus it is possible that the temperatures of these two planets are similar, even though Neptune is farther from the Sun." (Frank, L.A ., et al; "On the Presence of Small Comets in the Solar System," Eos, 68:343, 1987.) Comment. What has all this to do with "cosmic Gaia"? By "cosmic Gaia" we mean the cosmic version of the conventional Gaia concept; i.e ., earth-as-an-organism. The answer is ...
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... -density Martian moons appear to be unconsolidated material of higher density; they appear to be from low-gravity aggregation of that part of the Martian debris that went into orbit as a short-lived ring. A Roche-limit encounter is invoked as a reasonable hypothesis to explain these features. Earth, Mars' nearest planetary neighbor, may have provided that encounter. The Roche limit is 2.9 Earth radii. The Roche limit is that distance within which Mars would begin to be torn apart by the gravitational pull of nearby Earth. (Day, Richard A.; "A Roche-Limit Encounter Explains Martian Features," Society for Scientific Exploration paper, 2000.) Comment. Anomalists with long memories will see immediately that Day's theory is displaced Velikovskyism. Velikovsky had Venus straying close to Earth in recent times to account for historical and geological evidence of terrestrial catastrophism. Another related theory claims that the earth's moon was created when Mars dealt earth a glancing blow -- a reversal of Day's scenario. Obviously, both cannot be correct. 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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... 0235 UTC the phenomenon shown in the sketch was first seen about 15 above the horizon, bearing 265 . It was initially thought to be a downward pointing spotlight from an aircraft: it was bright (nearly white), conical in shape and about 1 high. During further observation the shape slowly enlarged, becoming more bell-shaped with a darker elliptical patch at the bottom. As it increased in size, the shape faded away and moved slowly towards the horizon in a slightly southerly direction before disappearing just above the horizon at 0254, bearing 260 . "The maximum height reached by the shape was about 5 and throughout the observation stars could be seen through it while at one point it was nearly obscured by cloud of which there was 1 okta. The only other bright object nearby was Venus, being slightly higher and to the south, bearing 248 , elevation about 20 . Visibility was excellent as about 10 minutes after the observation a ship was spotted bearing 280 at a distance of 16 n.mile. The observers felt that the shape was too regular to be a cloud and had no real idea of its origins." (Peacock, K.E .; "Unidentified Light," Marine Observer, 64:17, 1994.) From Science Frontiers #92, MAR-APR 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... be equal to the period of rotation of Saturn's interior. The hexagonal feature does not shift in longitude like the other clouds in the visible atmosphere. The pattern's origin is a matter of much speculation. Most astronomers seem to favor some sort of standing-wave pattern in the atmosphere; but the hexagon might be a novel sort of aurora. More extreme speculation has Saturn's radio emissions emanating from the hexagon (something we can see and which has the right rotation period) rather than from the planet's interior (something we cannot see). (Anonymous; "A Hex on Saturn," Sky and Telescope, 77:246, 1989.) Comment. Note the similarities between the hexagon and the radial spoke structure sometimes seen in the atmosphere of Venus, as described in AVO6 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets. Ordering details for this book are here . From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology America b.c . and even earlier Astronomy NEW KINDS OF MATTER TURNS UP IN COSMIC RAYS Saturn's latest burp Venus too pristine Biology KILLER TREES THAT TALK AMONG THEMSELVES SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION AND BALL LIGHTNING? Things that ain't so Science and bubblegum cards Geology Asteroid impact or volcanos? Geophysics Piney pitstop of the paranormal Crop circle corner Booms along the beach An amusing assemblage of anomalies Malodorous mystery Physics Win $2000: challenge einstein General FIVE REASONS WHY UFOs ARE NOT EXTRATERRESTRIAL MACHINES ...
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... theory which implied that the flight of a butterfly in Brazil could, in principle, affect weather in Canada. In effect, a slight change in initial conditions could, in the fullness of time, have very large effects. Now, it is generally admitted that the solar system is chaotic after all. Each planet is subject to the tiny, butterfly-like gravitational tugs of the other planets, especially Jupiter. Given enough time, these gravitational nuances can result in the ejection of a planet from the solar system -- and may already have done so in the past! Mercury and Mars are the most vulnerable on a billion-year time scale. In the case of Mercury, its orbit will become more and more elliptical according to computer simulations. Eventually a close gravitational encounter with Venus is possible. This could send Mercury careening off into deep space. The probability of this happening is only 1 in a 1000 over 5 billion years, but it is not zero. Mars might likewise be ejected by a passing nudge from earth. However, this encounter could go the other way. Depending upon the celestial dynamics of the encounter, Mars might gravitationally fling earth out into the Galaxy, and our planet would truly become "Spaceship Earth." (Frank, Adam; "Crack in the Clockwork," Astronomy, 26:54, May 1998.) Comment. The computer simulations used in the foregoing study have to assume that we know all the forces acting in the solar system. This may not be the case according to the next item. From Science Frontiers ...
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... too, support the notion that a large meteoric impact could propel bits of the Martian surface into space where, statistically speaking, a tiny fraction would be captured by the earth's gravitational field. Some of these would fall to earth; others would remain in orbit. Now, the reverse scenario has been investigated numerically. S.A . Phinney and colleagues at the University of Arizona have calculated what would happen to small chunks of the earth's crust if a large meteor impact excavated a 60milewide crater. "Phinney's group used a computer to calculate where 1,000 particles would go if ejected from Earth in random directions, moving about 2.5 kilometers per second faster than the minimum speed necessary to escape. Of the 1,000 hypothetical particles, 291 hit Venus and 165 returned to Earth; 20 went to Mercury, 17 to Mars, 14 to Jupiter and 1 to Saturn. Another 492 left the solar system completely, primarily due to gravitational close encounters with either Jupiter or Mercury that 'slingshot' them on their way." (Eberhart, Jonathan; "Have Earth Rocks Gone to Mars?" Science News, 135:191, 1989.) Comment. One implication from the preceding analysis is that terrestrial bacteria and spores could well have infected every planet in the solar system and perhaps even planets in nearby star systems! Conceivably, if other star systems had histories like ours, biological traffic might be quite heavy in interstellar space. In fact, extraterrestrial life forms may be arriving here continually; and we may be such ourselves! ...
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... from extraterrestrial sources after the earth's formation has been discounted. The major reason behind this neglect was the expectation that the erosive effects of large-scale impacts of water-carrying comets and asteroids would preclude any net accumulation of volatiles, and could even reduce any existing inventories of surface water. C.F . Chyba has recently reexamined this question of cometary water influx vs. impact-caused water losses using the latest estimates of comet/asteroid fluxes during the period between 4.5 and 3.5 billion years ago, when bombardment of the inner solar system was thought to be especially severe. Rather than the expected net loss, Chyba computes that the earth would really have gained more than 0.2 - 0.7 ocean masses in that billion-year period. Venus would have fared equally well, but Mars, more sensitive to impact erosion, would have accreted "only" a layer of water 10-100 meters deep over the whole planet! (This Martian water is now mostly below the surface supposedly.) (Chyba, Christopher F.; "Impact Delivery and Erosion of Planetary Oceans in the Early Inner Solar System," Nature, 343:129, 1990.) Comment. Not mentioned in this paper is what might have happened after 3.5 billion years ago. The comet/asteroid flux did not drop suddenly to zero. In fact, there may still be some net influx of cometary extraterrestrial water, as suggested by L.A . Frank. Incidently, the work of Frank et al is not mentioned at all ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 3: April 1978 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Stone Circles in Saudi Arabia Scientifically Acceptable Fossil Footprints Astronomy Strange Hillocks and Ridges on Mars Radio Signals From the Stars Biology Predaceous Insect Larvae Don "sheep's Clothing" Yeti Or Wild Man in Siberia? Geology Immense Circular Terrestrial Structures of Great Age Geophysics Modern Episode of Offshore Booms Cosmic Rays May Trigger Lightning Flashes Category X Marsh Gas Or the Planet Venus? Extraterrestrial Influences on Chemical and Biological Systems ...
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... gas and dust from comets at great distances from the sun. The blurring of the distinctions between asteroids and comets is aggravated by the recognition that some other asteroids produce streams of particles that create meteor showers; that is, some asteroids are not merely associated with meteor streams, they actually create them, just as comets expel ice and rocky debris. Some bold astronomers now ask whether asteroids are all burntout comets. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Another Asteroid Has Turned Comet," Science, 241:1161, 1988.) Comment. Taking the matter a step further, could not the four inner, terrestrial planets also be the cores of huge burnt-out comets? See AVO8 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets for observations of comet-like phenomena associated with Venus! This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... orbital histories of these satellites." Theis abstract continues, naming as other candidates for chaotic histories: some of the asteroids, Miranda (a satellite of Uranus), and the planet Pluto. (Wisdom, J.; "Chaotic Dynamics in the Solar System," Eos, 69:300, 1988. Also see: Kerr, Richard A.; "Pluto's Orbital Motion Looks Chaotic," Science, 240: 986, 1988.) Comment. We have been assured often, particularly in the days of Velikovsky, that the solar system has been stable for billions of years! Yet, Wisdom states very clearly above that synchrony cannot be evolved without passing through a chaotic zone. The solar system abounds in resonances, not the least of which is the earth-Venus resonance. For more on this, see ABB1 in our catalog: The Sun and Solar System Debris. This volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #58, JUL-AUG 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 113: Sep-Oct 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A VANISHED PLANET?Almost every week, it seems, a new Texas-sized object is discovered in the outer solar system. In the inner solar system, however, some astronomers are finding "holes" where planets seem to have been ejected by unknown forces. D. Christodoulou, Louisiana State University, found one such "hole" serendipitously. He was studying how the sun and the planets might have condensed from the (hypothesized) cloud of primordial gas and dust. Factoring in gravity, rotation, and magnetic fields, he found the cloud condensing in concentric rings at just the right locations for protoMercury, proto-Venus, and proto-earth. The fourth ring, however, did not correspond to any existing planet, and the position of proto-Mars was off the mark. But the asteroids and outer planets fell rather neatly into place. The implication of these calculations is that some turmoil in the early inner solar system cast out one planet and dislocated Mars. (Hecht, Jeff; "Did Extra Planet Vanish into Outer Space?" New Scientist, p. 18, June 14, 1997.) Comment. These are sour notes in the "music of the spheres," but don't be overly concerned; these are just calculations based upon many assumptions. Calculated positions of rings of condensed dust and gas compared to actual planet locations. From Science Frontiers #113, SEP-OCT ...
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... formation of the solar system. No wonder the icy-comet hypothesis is strongly challenged! Three of the more interesting points made by this group of papers are as follows: Our moon could not escape the icy-comet bombardment. Roughly 1,000 craters 50 meters in diameter and splashes of debris 150 meters in diameter must occur each. There is no evidence that the moon is thus afflicted. Comets also carry the noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon. These gases should accumulate in the atmosphere as the comets disintegrate. The amounts of these gases actually measured are 10,000 times less than those the postulated bombardment would produce. The icy comets should break up near the earth and produce clouds of ice crystals. Sunlight reflected from such 30-ton clouds would be brighter than Venus and easily visible before they disperse. Such objects are rarely seen, implying that small icy comets do not exist in the numbers claimed. Preceding this series of five papers is one by Frank and Sigwarth in which they describe their detection of atomic oxygen trails near earth. These they attribute to small icy comets. (Various; "Looking for Small Comets -- None Found," Geophysical Research Letters, 24:2429 ++, 1997.) From Science Frontiers #118, JUL-AUG 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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