92 results found.
... 84 illus., 3 indexes, 1995. 546 references, LC 91-68541. ISBN 0-915554-30-5 , 7x10. Biological Anomalies: Mammals II: A Catalog of Biological Anomalies Sorry, Out of print Our fifth biology catalog completes out study of mammilian anomalies. This volume parallels Humans II and III with major sections on the fossil record and cryptozoology. In addition, there are shorter sections on genetics, organs, bodily functions, and interactions between mammals and other life forms. Typical subjects covered: Biochemical curiosities * Recent survivals of the mammoth, ground sloth, thylacine * Out-of-place mammals * Dearth of transistional fossils * Male lactation * Sleeplessness in mammals * Inheritance of rotational effects * Magnetite in mammals * Microbat data processing * The onza, nandi bear, Steller's sea ape, and others. Comments from reviews: Essential for all libraries, schools and serious Forteans. Fortean Times View Cart Buy online via PayPal with MC/Visa/Amex 324pp, hardcover, $21.95, 89 illus., 3 indexes, 1996. 527 references, LC 91-68541. ISBN 0-915554-31-3 . 7" x 10". Biological Anomalies: Birds: A Catalog of Enigmas and Curiosities Sorry, Out of print Birds are everywhere: some can fly high over the Himalayas, others can dive as deep as 500 meters in the oceans, some migrate unerringly from one end of the earth to the other. With more than 9,000 species recongnized, birds present us with hundreds of scientific puzzle ...
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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 Life As A Complex Of "Dominant States"To say that life is an "emergent property" of matter seems to have no more explanatory power than any of the other "origin" scenarios. It is less than satisfying. Be that as it may, scientists are now seeing some strange things happening on the "mesoscopic" scale; i.e ., from a few nanometers to a few millimeters (10-9 to 10-3 meters). This size range lies between the realms of quantum mechanics and macroscopic physics. Maybe these curious phenomena do have a bearing on how life started and whether it is really different from nonlife. Example 1. G. Whitesides, at Harvard, has dumped large quantities of millimeter-size iron balls into a plastic dish and then spun a bar magnet under the ensemble with startling results. The balls swarm around inside the plastic dish as the magnet rotates. At first the swarm is disordered. But after a minute, it breaks up into a set of concentric rotating rings. Within each ring, the balls follow one another along precise tracks, as if hugging the rim of an invisible roulette wheel. Soon the balls in each track are perfectly equidistant. Finally, one ball in each ring comes to a dead stop. The other balls in each track line up behind the leader in a tiny arc, even though the magnet is still whirling away below. Example ...
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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 When The Arctic Was Warm According to the anthropologists' schedule of hominid diffusion across the planet, the Ice Ages blocked most east-west travel at high latitudes until about 12,000 years ago. This date now seems far off the mark. A team of Russian and Norwegian archeologists has located a hominid camp at Mamontovaya Kurya in Russia on the Arctic Circle. Bones of horses, reindeer, and wolves were strewn about this Paleolithic camp. Most important of all, though, was a 4-foot mammoth bone bearing grooves made by sharp stone tools -- a sure sign of human occupation. The mammoth bone has been dated as 36,000 years old. This is the earliest sign of hominid presence in the high Arctic. These grooves on the Mamontovaya Kurya mammoth bones were made with sharp stone tools, but for what purpose? Was primitive notation in use 40,000 years ago? You will notice that we use the word "hominid" rather than human, because the campers may have been Neanderthals. No hominid bones were found to resolve this matter. The implication of all of this is that, although the Arctic may have been very cold 36,000 years ago, it was largely ice-free. (Pavlov, Pavel, et al; "Human Presence in the European Arctic Nearly 40,000 Years ago," Nature, 413:64,2001. Wilford, John Noble; " ...
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... planet, but particularly in Australia, there exist great expanses of land surface that fossils and radiometric dating tell us are tens of millions of years old. This doesn't seem very serious until we learn that, given today's erosion rates, these landforms should be deeply eroded or, more likely, completely erased by the forces of nature. This paradox has long been used by Creationists to challenge geological dating methods. Mainstream geologists do recognize the paradox but have had scant success in resolving it. For example, geologist C.H . Crickmay wrote: Again, one finds all over the world, even high above and far distant from existing waterways, smooth-surfaced and level ground -- including everything from small terraces to broad, flat plains -- much of it still bearing intact a carpet of stream alluvium. Such lands were carved and carpeted, evidently, by running water, even though they are now in places where no stream could possibly run... What is remarkable about them is the perfection with which they have out-lasted the attack of "denudation" for all the time that has passed since they lay at stream level. (The Work of the River, New York, 1974) This paradox of uneroded ancient landforms remains as obdurate as the landforms themselves. (Oard, Michael J.; "Antiquity of Landforms: Objective Evidence That Dating Methods Are Wrong," CEN Technical Journal, 14:35, 2000. This Australian Creationist journal asks many such penetrating questions that we should not reflexively ignore.) From Science Frontiers # ...
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... hundreds of casts of outsized footprints. Some are so detailed that the skin's ridge patterns are clearly apparent. These ridge patterns (" dermatoglyphs") do not seem to match those of human feet or any of the other great apes. (SF#129) This is all very good, and some scientists are impressed by the sheer magnitude of the evidence. As G.W . Gill, a professor at the University of Wyoming, comments: "Either the most sophisticated hoax in the history of anthropology has gone undiscovered for centuries, or the big ape exists ." [Of course, the same can be said for UFOs and Nessie.] On the other hand, if Bigfoot is so ubiquitous, as claimed, why do not the many hunters of lions and bears, who scour the Rocky Mountain wilderness aided by dogs, ever submit credible Big-foot reports? If Bigfoot is really out there, these woods-wise hunters should have seen him or her. We still need that Bigfoot specimen, dead or alive. M. Shermer, editor of Skeptic, speaks for most of mainstream science: If you believe in Bigfoot, you most likely believe in the Loch Ness monster, the lost continent of Atlantis, whatever. (Stein, Theo; "Not All Scientists Doubt Bigfoot Now ," Denver Post, January 14, 2001. Cr. . G. McCudden and D. Phelps) From Science Frontiers #134, MAR-APR 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Deep-sixing 666s On May 1, 1991, the British Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency announced that it would no longer issue automobile license plates bearing the number 666. Cars bearing such plates, it seems, have been involved in too many accidents! (Grossman, Wendy M.; "No More 666s," Skeptical Inquirer, 16:128, 1992.) Comment. Recall that 666 is the "Number of the Beast" in the Bible. From Science Frontiers #81, MAY-JUN 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 104: Mar-Apr 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Reinventing The Neandertals The public image of the Neandertal is that of a brutish, hardly human creature clad in a ragged skin and unable to speak save for a few grunts. Forget that picture. Several hundred meters deep inside a cavern near Bruniquel, in southern France, spelunkers stumbled across a complex quadrilateral structure, 4 x 5 meters in extent, built up from chunks of stalactites and stalagmites. Within its "walls" they found a piece of burnt bear bone that was later carbondated as at least 47,600 years old. A burnt bone and a geometrical structure certainly suggest the work of an intelligent creature, as does the site's great distance from the surface. Torches would have been a necessity that far in. That 47,600-year figure, though, presents a problem. The first Cro-Magnons didn't filter into western Europe until about 35,000 BP. According to the accepted anthropological schedule, only those subhuman Neandertals inhabited that part of France in 47,600 BP. So, we must conclude that the Neandertals knew well the sophisticated use of fire. They also had enough curiosity to venture deep into the earth, where for some unknown purpose they piled together an enigmatic structure. All this also seems to require more information transfer than possible with a few "ughs"! (Balter, Michael; "Cave Structure Boosts Neandertal Image," Science, 271:449, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 82: Jul-Aug 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Does nature compute?Back in the 1960s, kids used to watch the TV series Lost in Space . Starring on this show was a robot which, when asked a stupid or answerless question replied, "It does not compute!" More seriously, we now ask, "Does Nature compute?" Science believes very deeply that mathematics reflects the real world, that we live in an ordered universe where everything can be reduced to mathematical expressions. The progress of science, particularly physics, seems to bear out this symbiotic relationship between mathematics and the physical world. However, P. Davies points out that that there are uncomputable numbers and operations. In fact, there are infinitudes of them. All the world's computers could chug away forever and not come up with answers in these cases. So far , Nature has been kind, or we have been lucky, because we have been able to nicely mirror Nature with "doable" math. Davies wonders if it has been entirely a matter of luck: "Einstein said that God is subtle but not malicious, and we must hope that the laws of physics will turn out to be computable after all. If so, that fact alone would provoke all sorts of interesting scientific and philosophical questions. Just why is the world structured in such a way that we can describe its basic principles using 'do-able' mathematics? How was this mathematical ability evolved in ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Plants Of The Apes Many biologists are convinced that apes, bears, cats, and dogs eat plants -- many of them obviously distasteful -- in order to medicate themselves for diseases and parasites. What also seems likely, according to K. Strier, of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is that some monkeys regulate their fertility by the judicious consumption of certain plants. Going even farther, K. Glander, Duke University, suggests that howler monkeys control the sex of their offspring through their diets. Glander divides howler monkey females into three groups. In the first are the high-ranking females that predominantly produce male offspring. This 'male-offspring' strategy favors these females because the males they produce tend to become dominant adults that will pass on more of the females' genes than would female offspring, who are limited in the number of infants they can engender in comparison to the males. Similar optimization strategies, according to Glander, induce middleranking females to produce mainly female progeny, and low-ranking females to birth almost all males. These howler monkeys seem to control the sex of their offspring pharmologically by selecting certain plants to eat. These plants, in turn, control the electrical conditions in the females' reproductive tracts to either attract or repel sperm carrying the male Y-chromosomes, which are thought to carry different electrical charges than the X-carrying sperm! (Lewin, Roger; "What ...
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... now-buried Chicxulub crater and wiping out the dinosaurs. Since the impact site was covered with ocean at the time, a powerful tsunamis should have surged out from this area. Indeed, debris attributable to a tsunami has been found on the U.S . Gulf Coast and on some Caribbean islands. J. Smit et al now report finding a layer of debris up to 3 meters thick in northeastern Mexico. This layer was apparently deposited in water about 400 meters deep as the giant wave wreaked havoc along Mexico's shore and its backwash piled up debris offshore. This interpretation is supported by the presence of tektites, microtektites, glass spherules, abundant plant material, an iridium anomaly, and near the top ripple beds. (Smit, Jan, et al; "Tektite-Bearing, Deep-Water Clastic Unit at the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in Northeastern Mexico," Geology , 20:99, 1992. Reference. Puzzling deposits that may have been created by marine incursions are covered in ETM12 in our catalog: Neglected Geological Anomalies. For details, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #85, JAN-FEB 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 90: Nov-Dec 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Band Of Turbulence That the ocean deeps also have their "weather" is evident in the following report. While reading it, be aware that it is only the surface manifestation of larger phenomenon which, like the bulk of an iceberg, is concealed from the observer. July 29, 1992. Equatorial Atlantic. Aboard the m.v . Enterprise enroute from Saldanha Bay to Las Palmas. "At 1930 UTC a bold linear echo was suddenly noted on the radar screen, as if from a singular, large swell wave running along a line bearing approximately 290 -110 and moving towards the ship in a south-southwesterly direction, see sketch. Although it was night-time, it was light enough to determine visually at a distance of about 1 n.mile, that it was not a large swell wave. At 1947 the vessel was passing through the echo which extended out to 4 n.mile on either side of it and, on observing the water around the ship with the aid of an Aldis lamp, it was noted that there was a great deal of turbulence present. The Enterprise , fully laden with iron ore, suddenly veered 6 to port of her heading of 325 , indicating the strength of the turbulence. The sea prior to this point was only slightly rippled by a light SW'ly wind, force 1-2 . The band of turbulence was approximately 20 m wide and the sea beyond ...
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... to "shorten" geological time to fit Biblical schedules.) But was the whale really entombed on its tail? Creationist geologists studied the Lompoc deposit and put a different slant on the story but not on its ending. "Contrary to some reports that have circulated, the 80-90 ft (24-27 m) long fossilised baleen whale found in April 1976 in an inclined position in a diatomite unit in the Miguelito Mine at Lompoc, California, was not buried while 'standing on its tail'. An onsite investigation has revealed that the diatomite unit which entombed the whale is also inclined at the same angle, the whale having been buried in the diatomite unit while both were in the horizontal position, and subsequent earth movements having tilted both. Nevertheless, this whale fossil still bears testimony to its catastrophic burial, and thus the catastrophic deposition of the enclosing diatomite. "The current uniformitarian (slow and gradual) model for diatomite deposition, as seen in the Guaymas Basin of the Gulf of California, is not capable of explaining the purity of the Lompoc diatomite...the deposition rate is too slow to avoid corrosion and scavenging of the bones. both of which are absent from the Lompoc whale bones." (Snelling, Andrew A.; "The Whale Fossil in Diatomite, Lompoc, California," CEN Technical Journal, 9:244, 1995. This is an Australian creationist journal.) Comment. The Lompoc whale fossil does suggest very rapid deposition, but it does not prove that 4.5 billion years of geological history can be compressed ...
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... seems to sport electrical sensors that detect the minute electrical fields surrounding worms, leeches, insect larvae, and other favorite mole tidbits. This conclusion derives from experiments in which starnosed moles preferentially attacked the parts of worms that are most strongly electrical. Actually, scientists have been puzzled as to how this mole found its prey, for this mammal is semiaquatic and somehow locates its dinner in muddy water even though it has poor eyesight. Although some fish possess electrical sensors, they are uncommon in mammals. Half way around the planet, another strange creature, also classified with the mammals, frequents muddy waters looking for the same sort of prey favored by the star-nosed mole. The Australian platypus also has weak vision and employs search techniques similar to those of the mole. Instead of sensor-bearing tentacles on its prow, the platypus has a duck-like bill loaded with electrical sensors. (Gould, Edwin, et al; "Function of the Star in the Star-Nosed Mole, Condylura Crista ," Journal of Mammalogy, 74:108, 1993.) Comment. Curious, isn't it. that such distantly related animals evolve similar organs and hunting strategies when confronted with like environments? This is called "parallel evolution;" but naming the process does not tell us how nature accomplishes it. Chance mutations and natural selection? Theoretically possible, but not always convincing. Nature must still be withholding some secret from us! Reference. Electrosensitivity in mammals is rare, but we have cataloged several instances in BMO8 in our catalog: Bio logical Anomalies: Mammals ...
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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 Unidentified Light Strange optical phenomenon seen off the coast of Trinidad in 1991. January 13, 1991. Caribbean Sea. Aboard the m.v . Trinidad and Tobago . "At 0210 UTC whilst the ship was proceeding eastwards along the north coast of Trinidad, a relatively bright patch was noticed in the almost cloudless sky and was thought to be a cluster of stars. Its bearing was approximately 300 at an elevation of about 50 , and closer inspection through binoculars revealed a rather strange phenomenon, as shown in the sketch. "The bright patch was a perfect circle of a bright, light-blue colour and was transparent as stars could be seen through it. There was also a trail from the circle which looked like the track a disc would describe if it moved through an arc. This trail was also of light-blue colouration but was not nearly so bright as the circle. The entire phenomenon dissipated after about five minutes." (Knight, M.; "Unidentified Light," Marine Observer, 62:22, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #80, MAR-APR 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Feb 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Archeological Riddle W. 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 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 78: Nov-Dec 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Radar Interference And Luminescence March 8/9 , 1989. Arabian Sea. m.v . British Esk "During the night a particularly strong and distinct patch of radar interference was noted by all observing officers. The sketch shows the phenomenon as seen on the 12-n .mile range of the 3-cm radar. The racon type mark varied in length from 1-3 n.miles at a nearest range of 5-10 n.miles. The effect was minimal on the 10-cm radar. "The bearing of the mark remained fairly constant at about 20 abaft the port beam or about 230 . Of particular note was that around 1600 GMT to 1700 GMT (about 2 hours after sunset), when the mark on the radar was very distinct, the satellite communication system suffered a loss in signal strength sufficient to prevent transmission or reception, the bearing of the satellite being almost due south of the vessel. It was thought at the time that the signal mast had become aligned between the aerial and the satellite, but alteration of the ship's head to port or starboard did not cure the low signal strength. .. .. . "Of note, although this may have been a coincidence only, was that the vessel was passing through patches of bioluminescence at the time, mostly only bright enough to show up in the breaking waves of the ship's wake, but during the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Artifacts Of The Auriferous Gravels Now dismissed entirely and even ridiculed by establishment archeologists is the evidence of ancient human activity found in California's auriferous gravels. R.E . Gentet sets the geological stage in the following paragraph. "The 1849 gold rush to the state of California was the beginning of some of the most unusual reported finds of early man in North America. The gold-bearing gravels of California are recognized as being Tertiary in age, ranging from oldest to youngest Tertiary, depending upon the exact geological setting. At the time these gravels were deposited, volcanic eruptions also laid down lava beds, often tens or scores of feet thick. This occurred a number of times, and together with much erosion since then, have now resulted in table mountains, that is, lava-capped hills where the harder lava has better withstood erosion stresses while surrounding softer material has been swept away. It is under the hard lava beds, in the gold-bearing (auriferous) gravels, where the reported human bones and artifacts were found, not just once or twice, but hundreds of times by miners during the span of time from the 1850s through the 1890s while engaging in mining operations. Findings were spread over a wide geographical area." During the late 1800s, several books and many papers recorded the discoveries. Some of the finds were made by respected scientists of the day. Human skulls were found embedded over ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 69: May-Jun 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Spontaneous order, evolution, and life In our thinking, one of the most remarkable articles ever to appear in Science bears the above title. Most re markable of all is the use of the word "spontaneous" without philosophical comment. The stimuli for the research described are such observations as: (1 ) life exists; (2 ) life evolves; (3 ) the fossil record displays stasis, extinctions, and great gaps between phyla and lesser classifications; and (4 ) disordered molecules move smoothly and surely into the order manifest in the living cell. The question asked in the article is whether science has missed something in its description of the origin and development of life. Just what makes molecules coalesce into cells and humans? The answer given is: spontaneous self-organization ! In other words, there is no guiding external force. Molecules do this spontaneously. There are even computer models being developed, based on a branch of mathematics called "dynamical systems," that describe how this all happens - spontaneously, of course. (Waldrop, M. Mitchell; "Spontaneous Order, Evolution, and Life," Science, 247:1543, 1990.) Comment. When water molecules spontaneously cluster together to form a snowflake, with all its symmetry and order, science explains the process in terms of the properties of water molecules. The same must be true when molecules merge to form life forms. But ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Grand Lake Stream Enigma A little over a year ago, we reported on W. Elliott's discovery of a small, stone-covered cist in eastern Washington County, Maine. This cist contained several stone artifacts bearing remarkable symbols, writing, and portrayals of a man and a slain animal. Naturally, mainstream archeologists look askance when amateur archeologists come across such anomalous materials. Happily in this instance, a professional archeologist, J.B . Petersen, Director of the University of Maine's Archaeological Laboratory, took an interest in the site near Grand Lake Stream. After careful study of the site and its artifacts, he has prepared a preliminary report. Petersen's report is accompanied by many photos and sketches made during his excavations. On p. 000 we reproduce a photo of the amulet with its strange epigraphy. Now, we add a sketch of the "elongated hafted ground biface, with human figure." Over 13 inches long, this artifact depicts a trousered, bearded man of European countenance, who is missing one arm and a foot. Petersen asserts that the artifacts have no affinities with American Indian artifacts: rather they have a European flavor. What can one make out of all this? Petersen is only able to state: "Although the site is undoubtedly human-made, its function, antiquity and cultural attribution cannot be precisely specified on the basis of the unique characteristics of both the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Monster Skeletons Found In Underwater Fiji Cave The scene is a remote underwater cave 51.5 kilometers from one of Fiji's resort islands. K. Deacon, a professional diver from Sydney is the source of the following report. "' We have found what appears to be two adults, one adolescent and one juvenile,' he said. 'They bear no resemblance to any marine creature I know.' "The adult skulls were about 1 m long with a total body length of 8 m to 10 m. They looked prehistoric and perhaps were land animals or amphibious species. "The cave, now a part of a reef about 50 m under water, may once have been above sea level. .. .. . "Mr Deacon believed the creatures were either prehistoric or contempory animals unknown to science -- or, if they were some known kind of animal, then how they had found their way into the cave was a mystery." (Spencer Geoff; "Monsters Found in the Fiji Deep," New Zealand Herald , May 31, 1990, Cr. R. Collyns via L. Farish.) From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 72: Nov-Dec 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Nature, hypothesis, and the big bang As noted above, J. Maddox, Editor of the preeminent journal Nature, seems intent on muffling the Big Bang. Now we see a newly added section in Nature bearing the heading Hypothesis . Hypothesis "is intended as an occasional vehicle for scientific papers that fail to win the full-throated approval of the referees to whom they have been sent, but which are nevertheless judged to be of sufficient importance to command the attention of readers..." Certainly, this is a commendable development. But not surprisingly, the first paper is an at-tack on the Big Bang. Most of the authors of this first article are familiar to readers of Science Frontiers: H. Arp (Not all redshifts are measures of receding velocity.); G. Burbidge (Quasars are not as far away as they seem.); and F. Hoyle (The multidisciplinary iconoclast who helped de velop the Steady State theory of the universe.) None of these scientists has recanted, even in face of not-so-subtle pressures to conform. The first paper in Hypothesis. Arp et al summarize in two sentences: "We discuss evidence to show that the generally accepted view of the Big Bang model for the origin of the Universe is unsatisfactory. We suggest an alternative model that satisfies the constraints better." Most of the paper sets out observational evidence for the authors' ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The mexican sellos: possible evidence for early european contacts Mexican sello with stylized heron incorporating Libyan characters, such as those listed at the right. Thousands of Mexican sellos (seals), both of the cylinder and flat types, have been collected in the world's archeological museums. Many bear striking designs, like that of the heron shown below. For too many years, archeologists have considered these designs to be only designs. But with more discerning examination, bolstered by knowledge of ancient Old World alphabets, it now appears that these seals incorporate many letters from Libyan, Iberian, Punic, and other alphabets. Since many of the Mexican sellos date back to 1200 BC, the implication is that Old World-New World contacts occurred long before the Christian era. But, asks G.F . Carter in his long article on the sellos, if the ancient peoples of Mexico and Central America did absorb Old World symbols, "Why was the alphabet not developed instead of the clumsy hieroglyphics?" (Carter, George F.; "Mexican Sellos : Writing in America, or the Growth of an Idea?" Epigraphic Society, Occasional Papers , 19:159, 1990.) Comment. Hieroglyphics do appear clumsy to us, but perhaps it is because we do not fully appreciate them. There may be nuances of shape and rendition that convey more than the bare translation of the glyph, just as a sonnet ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 77: Sep-Oct 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Pliocene sculptures or freaks of nature?We have at hand Number 20 of Archaeologische Berichten , 1990, 108 pp. This thick booklet bears the subtitle Picture Book of the Stone Age . And a picture book it is, with hundreds of drawings interspersed with 26 pasted-in color photos. The text is English. What do these photos and drawings show? Basically, they portray stones and pepples picked out of gravel pits and similar accumulations of rocky debris that look like human heads, ape heads, primitive tools, etc. Some of the pebbles do indeed resemble humanmade artifacts. (See accompanying sketch.) Most, though, require some imagination. The import of these artifacts, if that is what they really are, comes home when one learns that they come from deposits that are millions of years old! If any of these pebbles are really human-made, anthropology will be stood on its head. Since the present report is the 20th in a series, one can assume that the contributors to Archaeologische Berich ten have amassed incredibly large collections of ancient stones and pebbles that "look like" artifacts. Comment. Similar purported artifacts have been found at the controversial Calico Hills site, California, in Pleistocene deposits that may be 100,000 years old. And don't forget that "Face on Mars"! From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... that is, the inducing of deuterium fusion by means of the electric fields established along microcracks developing in substances charged with deuterium or tritium. Back in 1986, Soviet researchers reported the observation of neutron emission when they violently crushed lithium deuteride in the presence of ice made from heavy water. More recently, they saw the same phenomenon when milling several deuterium-containing metals. Conceivably, deuterium nuclei accelerated by the electric fields along the cracks could be fusing, producing neutrons. (Amato, I.; "If Not Cold Fusion, Try Fracto Fusion," Science News, 137:87, 1990.) Pouring cold water on the Soviet results, two American scientists described negative results in the February 15 issue of Nature. They fired small (0 .131-gram) steel ball bearings at an ice tar-get made with 99.9 % deuterium. Despite the violent shattering of the deuterated ice, no significant numbers of neutrons were measured. (Sobotka, L.G ., and Winter, P.; "Fracture without Fusion," Nature, 343:601, 1990.) Comment. Whatever the fate of fractofusion, several labs around the world are still pursuing cold fusion. The sci entific mainstream, though, considers cold fusion a dead issue, even though anomalous neutrons and heat emission have been found in several experiments. We are happy to report, however, that cold fusion has definitely generated its first book: Cold Fusion : The Making of a Scientific Controversy, F.D . Peat. From Science Frontiers #69, MAY- ...
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... down hundreds in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, and the eastern seaboard. All of them seem to be located on present-day lakes and rivers and now-dry waterways. This marine affinity has led to the theory that they are "mooring stones," especially Viking mooring stones! In truth their real purpose is unknown. How old are the holes? Weathering of those in granite suggest ages of at least several hundred years - well before the westward push of American settlers. The peculiar shape of the holes seems to rule out production by modern drills (usually round) for purposes of blasting or installation of surveyors' markers. Another puzzle, probably related to the purpose of the holes, is the presence of large, smooth grooves on some of the boulders bearing the triangular holes. The technique of "cam wedging" may lead us to the purpose of the holes. If one inserts a triangular shaft into such a hole and rotates it part of a turn, the shaft becomes firmly wedged in place. A rotation in the opposite direction quickly frees the shaft. It does seem that the mooring-stone hypothesis is consistent with cam-wedging. (Olson, John J.; "' Mooring Stones': An Enigma Deserving More Attention," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications, 18:253, 1989.) Comment. Before climbing on the Viking bandwagon, it is reasonable to ask whether the Vikings drilled the same holes in Europe. From Science Frontiers #69, MAY-JUN 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... . This methane is apparently not related to any oil or gas wells in the region. Rather, surmise has it that bacteria deep in the crust are converting buried organic material into methane and other chemical products. But geologists are confounded by the fact that some water wells are rich in methane while others nearby are devoid of the gas. (Anonymous; "Methane and Ground Water," Geotimes , 34:19, April 1989.) Comment. As to be expected the possibility of abiogenic methane is ignored. A really-deep ocean. No, this is not in Tarzan's Pellucidar, but rather an incredible mass of water stored hundreds of kilometers deep in the earth's mantle. Several times the earth's visible surface water may be locked up in water-bearing minerals! Brucite [Mg(OH),2 ], for example, is 30.86% water. Perhaps such water was released long ago by changes in temperature and pressure to form the present oceans. (Ahrens, Thomas J.; "Water Storage in the Mantle," Nature, 342:122, 1989.) Reference. Anomalies surrounding the origin of abiogenic methane are cataloged in ESC16 in the catalog: Anomalies in Geology. To order this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 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 Gentry's tiny mystery-- unsupported by geology An article bearing the above title, by J. Richard Wakefield, appeared in the Winter 1987-1988 issue of Creation/Evolution . The title implies that Gentry's "Tiny Mystery" is soon to be demolished. It turns out in the end that a sweeping interpretation of this "Tiny Mystery" is called into question, but the mystery itself, like the smile on the Cheshire cat, remains. The "Tiny Mystery" is the existence of radiohalos from polonium-210, -214, and -218 in some biotites (micas), sans any detectable precursory uranium or halos thereof. Since the half-lives of the polonium isotopes are 138.4 days, 0.000164 second, and 3.04 minutes, respectively, it is certainly perplexing how the polonium halos got where they are! According to geological thinking, the igneous rocks containing the biotites must have been molten for a good deal longer than 138 days, thus destroying halos of short-lived isotopes. R.V . Gentry, a creationist, thinks that the polonium isotopes are primordial -- created by God some 6,000 years ago, in situ and without precursors. The rocks displaying the halos would, therefore, be among the oldest rocks on earth. What Wakefield does is exxamine the geology of some of the sites from which Gentry obtained his biotite samples. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Complexities Of The Inner Earth So many new and startling facts about the inner earth are emerging from current magnetic, seismic, and gravitic researth that a little list is in order. Bear in mind when going down the list that most of these features would have been considered absurd only a decade or two ago. The earth's solid inner core, which "floats" inside the liquid core, is not spherical. Rather, it is anisotropic with its axis of symmetry aligned with the earth's axis of rotation. (Ref. 1 below) "The CMB (core-mantle boundary) is the most dramatic discontinuity in the earth's internal structure in terms of the physical and chemical properties as well as the time scale of the processes that take place on either side of it. Its shape, if different from that predicted by the hydrostatic equilibrium theory, may contain information important to our understanding of geodynamic processes in the mantle or the geomagnetic field generated in the outer core." (Ref. 1, and also item #7 below) The earth's magnetic field possesses four lobes which remain fixed relative to the earth's surface, as demonstrated by 300 years of data. These lobes do not drift westward like the general field. (Ref. 2) "Core-spot pairs" of magnetic intensity seem to move westward and poleward. In the southern hemisphere, they originate under ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 61: Jan-Feb 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Expanding ball of light (ebl) phenomenon X8. June 22, 1976. North Atlantic. "At 2113 GMT a pale orange glow was seen to be coming from behind a bank of towering cumulus to the west. At 2115 a ghostly white disc (see sketches) was observed at an approximate altitude of 10-degrees and bearing 290-degrees. The glow from behind the cloud persisted." The glowing region developed as indicated in the figure. Stars could be seen throught the disc at all times. By 2140 the disc had disappeared. In the latest number of the Journal of Scientific Exploration, R.F . Haines presents a summary table of 15 cases of a luminous phenomenon he has dubbed the Expanding Ball of Light or EBL. EBLs are very large, sometimes occupying much of the sky. They seem to occur everywhere, though rarely. Haines elaborates: "According to several pilot witnesses, the center of the EBL is at relatively high altitude while it is forming. Its color is evenly whitish or yellowish and becomes increasingly transparent to background stars as it expands. As it enlarges it appears to maintain a sharply defined edge. At some point it fades completely from sight. The rate of boundary interface expansion is impossible to determine without knowing its distance from the observer. It is also of interest to note that most EBL events have taken place after dark. If EBL phenomena are associated with an advanced ...
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... World languages can be classified into three groups: The Eskimo-Aleut or Eurasiatic group, which is related to Indo-European, Japanese, Ainu, Korean, and some other languages. The Na-Dene family, related to a different set of Old World languages, such as Sino-Tibetan, Basque, (North) Caucasian, and others. The Amerind family. "The origins of the Amerind family are the most baffling, but there are a number of apparent cognates with language families of Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Oceania. For example, the root 'tik,' meaning 'finger, one, to point,' is found in Africa, Europe, and Asia, as well as in the Americas. The Amerind words for 'dog' bear a striking resemblance to the Proto-Indo-European word..." Can the language analysts answer the question in our title above? Based upon the above grouping, they say: "No more than three." (Ruhlin, Merritt; "Voices from the Past," Natural History, 96:6 , March 1987.) Comment. While the people carrying the roots of the Eskino-Aleut and Na-Dene language groups may well have come across the Bering Land Bridge, those bringing the Amerind languages could have come from just about anywhere. From Science Frontiers #51, MAY-JUN 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... for comprehensive exploration of the entire continental basement of the United States. "Although the composition and precise age of the Precambrian rocks are yet to be determined, their seismic reflection character suggests a sedimentary assemblage, at least in part. These layers occur within the Proterozoic Granite-Rhyolite province, where drilling typically recovers undeformed granite or rhyolite with ages of 1.3 to 1.5 b.y . Such prominent and orderly layering is surprising, given the widespread occurrence of granitic rocks. If the layered rocks are indeed igneous, the volume of silicic volcanic material is spectacular." (COCORP Research Group; "COCORP Finds Thick Proterozoic (? ) Strata under Midcontinent," Eos, 69:209, 1989.) Some dimensions for these newly discovered pages were given in a report bearing the almost embarrassingly alliterative title indicated in the reference at the end of this item: "In southern Illinois and Indiana, the layered rocks extend at least 180 kilometers in an east-west direction and average about 6 km in thickness." (Monastersky, Richard; "Boring Plains Belie Bounty Beneath," Science News, 133:363, 1988.) From Science Frontiers #58, JUL-AUG 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 How Genius Gets Nipped In The Bud At once amusing and tragic, the article bearing the above title treats the reader to the musings of a university researcher who has a brilliant new idea -- or so it seems to him. At first he is ready to rush to the literature and check out the idea's originality and feasibility. But wait, this groundwork will take considerable time, and the idea may turn out to be old hat. Is it all worth the risk? Will the university support research on this new untried idea? This would be unlikely since funds are thin, the idea is not part of the overall research plan, and worse yet, an enemy sits on the research fund committee. Getting external funds is impossible unless one can show that your university has enough confidence in the idea to support it financially. A way out is to publish the idea at a conference in hopes of raising interest and money. Hold it, the referees will ask why a few obvious points have not been checked out in the lab. "Suddenly you realize that there is a far more serious problem. The current scientific system is based on the assumption that there is no such thing as a radically new idea. Each new paper is required to climb on the back of a plethora of earlier published papers, and does little more than add another layer of gloss to the cited references. Genuinely new ideas no ...
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... ALE5 in our catalog: The Moon and the Planets. These whitish blotches are not only visually incongruous, being obviously different from the debris spla shes around craters, but they also exhibit curious magnetic properties. J.F . Bell and B.R . Hawke, of the University of Hawaii, have acquired near-infrared spectra of the swirl designated Reiner Gamma. They report that the composition of the swirl material does not match the crater ejecta; and, also, that a previously undetected reddish halo surrounds the swirl. Best guess at present: The swirls are the scars of comets -- probably less than 100 million years old. (Anonymous; "Cometary Scars on the Moon," Sky and Telescope, 75:11, 1988.) Comment. Does nearby earth also bear cometary scars? Some think that the 1908 Tunguska Event was a cometary impact. (See ETC2 in our catalog: Caro lina Bays, Mima Mounds .) Also see the the item below under GEOLOGY about comets and the earth's oceans. Reference. Both catalog volumes mentioned above are described here . From Science Frontiers #56, MAR-APR 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 56: Mar-Apr 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Do black holes exist?Can we believe our eyes? Dare anyone suggest that black holes do not lurk out in the cosmos sucking in stars and unwary spaceships? It's all true; an arti cle bearing the above title appeared in the January 1988 number of Sky and Telescope. Doubts do surface once in a while, despite all the TV documentaries, all the textbooks, and all the newspaper jottings, where black holes are described in the hushed tones used only with profound truths of nature. To set the stage, we quote a paragraph from said article: "There is, however, a serious problem with black holes, one that leaves some scientists skeptical about their existence. The overarching mystery lies hidden at a hole's center. Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts that we will find there an object more massive than a million Earths and yet smaller than an atom -- so small, in fact, that its density approches infinity. The idea of any physical quantity becoming infinite flies in the face of everything we know about how nature behaves. So there is good reason to be skeptical that such a nasty thing could happen anywhere at all." Among the observations that hint at the reality of black holes are the X-ray binaries. In a typical X-ray binary, prodigious, flickering fluxes of X-rays reveal the presence of an ultradense star and an orbiting companion ...
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... Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Archeological Stonewalling And Shadow Science In past issues of SF, we have presented considerable evidence for the existence of humans in America well before 12,000 years ago -- the "acceptable" limit. For example, in SF#54, we mentioned the 300,000-BP site in Brazil. There are many more. Of course, controversy hangs over all these sites and the dates assigned to them. The controversies about the specifics are good; but now the archeological establishment seems to be trying to enforce the 12,000-year dogma through authoritarian pronouncements in key publications. By way of illustration, we have P.S . Martin's article in Natural History, entitled "Clovisia the Beautiful!", bearing the subtitle: "If humans lived in the New World more than 12,000 years ago, There'd be no secret about it." Now, some archeologists are even trying to roll forward the 12,000-year date. See, for example, R. Lewin's review in Science (referenced below), which is subtitled: "In recent years anthropological opinion has been shifting in favor of a relatively recent date (not much more than 11,500 years ago) for the first human colonization of the Americas." In all of these articles, anomalous data are simply labelled "erroneous." (Martin, Paul S.; "Clovisia the Beautiful!" Natural History, 96:10, October 1987. Also: Lewin, Roger ...
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... , rather than a single impact per extinction. This short abstract from a Nature article says it all: "If at least some mass extinctions are caused by impacts, why do they extend over intervals of one to three million years and have a partly stepwise character? The solution may be provided by multiple cometary impacts. Astronomical, geological and palaeontological evidence is consistent with a causal connection between comet showers, clusters of impact events and stepwise mass exi tinctions, but it is too early to tell how pervasive this relationship may be." (Hut, Piet, et al; "Comet Showers as a Cause of Mass Extinctions," Nature, 329:118, 1987.) Comment. In other words, the nature of astronomical catastrophism is still up in the air! But, bear in mind that a mere decade ago such a paper would have to look far for a jounal that would publish it. From Science Frontiers #54, NOV-DEC 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 54: Nov-Dec 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Instances Of Observed Speciation Creationists have long maintained that no one has ever observed the creation of a new species in nature. C.A . Callag han has sought to counter this attack on evolution with a paper bearing the above title. Her concluding paragraph is: "I have cited several instances of ob served speciation that can be used as illustrative examples in the classroom. They should also silence at least one common creationist argument against evolution." The paper begins with the well-worn peppered-moth story; but Callaghan quickly dismisses this, as the creationists do, as merely an example of variation within a species. We now quote the lead sentences from her discussions of the next two candidates: "An incipient neospecies of Drosophila may have developed in Theodosius Dobzhansky's laboratory sometime between 1958 and 1963 in a strain of D. paulistorum...." "A probable instance of a naturally emerging plant species was discovered on both sides of Highway 205 at a single locality 25.5 miles south of Burns, Harney County, Oregon...." We have inserted underlining beneath the two words that greatly weaken the paper. In short, the biologists are not really sure that speciation occurred in these two cases. The reasons for doubt are also presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of allopolyploidy in plants, in which the chromosomes of a sterile hybrid are doubled, giving rise to a fertile ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Parasites Control Snail Behavior A species of estuarine snail bearing the larvae of the trematode parasite Gynae cotyla adunca behaves radically different than it does when not infected. It lets itself become stranded high on beaches and sandbars, where it becomes easy prey to crustaceans living in this region. These crustaceans serve as the parasite's next host. Somehow, the parasite is able to modify the snail's behavior in a way that enhances its own chances for success. The question, as always in such cases, is how? And if it is a chemically induced change in behavior, how did it evolve? (Curtis, Lawrence A.; "Vertical Distribution of an Estuarine Snail Altered by a Parasite," Science, 235:1509, 1987.) Comment. Is present human behavior, thought by some to be irrational or suicidal, controlled by some unrecognized parasite that will ultimately benefit? Someone must have written a science fiction story on this theme. From Science Frontiers #52, JUL-AUG 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Polar Bear Coats Are Thermal Diodes "A polar bear's hairs are completely transparent. The bear appears white because visible light reflects from the rough inner surface of each hollow hair. However, the hairs are designed to trap ultraviolet light. Like light within an optical fiber, the radiation is conducted along the hairs to the skin. This summertime energy supplement provides up to a quarter of the bear's needs. Thus, even while actively pursuing prey, the bear can still concentrate on building up its blubber layers in preparation for winter." In other words, the bear's fur lets heat in but not out -- in effect a thermal diode. (Anonymous; "Solar Bear Technology," Science News, 129:153, 1986.) Comment. How come polar bears are favored with this "marvelous adaptation" while the arctic foxes and other mammals shiver? From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 41: Sep-Oct 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Green Sky Flashes March 25, 1984. Indian Ocean. "Two successive 'green flashes' were observed. The first, at 2100 Ship's Time or 1530 GMT, was a bright green and bore 240 at an altitude of 75 ; it moved vertically downwards to an altitude of approximately 20 over a period lasting about 3 seconds. The second flash was observed at 2250 Ship's Time. It was green/white and was first observed at an altitude of 40 , bearing approximately 340 .It moved diagonally across the sky before disappearing behind low cloud at an altitude of 30 , bearing 310 . This time the duration was 1-2 seconds. In both cases the ship's radars were turned on but nothing was observed other than rain showers between 4 and 12 n. mile from the ship, mainly forward of the beam. Both flashes were of about the same brightness as that of lightning, the first being brighter than the second. In both cases it was difficult to judge the distance. The phenomenon was thought to have possibly been some form of lightning as its appearance was unlike that of any flare and in both cases the distance from the ship did not appear great enough to be compatible with a meteor or other object entering the earth's atmosphere." (Aston, A.; "' Green Flashes'"; Marine Observer, 55:30, 1985.) Comment. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 41: Sep-Oct 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Inka Road System An important new archeological book bears the above title (and an alternate spelling of "Inca"). As one reviewer puts it: "The Imperial Inka road system must rank alongside the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids as one of the greatest achievements of any ancient civilization. Yet despite this, relatively little is known about the nature, extent and functioning of this vast communications network." Some impressive statistics: The Inka Road System runs for more than 23,000 kilometers through Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina. Generally, the roads were 11-25 meters wide. They were greatly superior to anything built in Europe at that time. One reviewer notes that many of the so-called Inka highways had a non-Inkan origin -- and then leaves us hanging. What pre-Inkan civilization built such roads? (Saunders, Nick; "Monumental Roads," New Scientist, p. 31, June 8, 1985. Also: Lyon, Patricia J.; "Imperial Connection?" Science, 228:1420, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #41, SEP-OCT 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bone Bed Discovered In Florida A new bond bed has been discovered south of Tampa. Paleontologists say it it is one of the richest fossil deposits ever found in the United States. It has yielded the bones of more than 70 species of animals, birds, and aquatic creatures. About 80% of the bones belong to plains animals, such as camels, horses, mammoths, etc. Bears, wolves, large cats, and a bird with an estimated 30-foot wingspan are also represented. Mixed in with all the land animals are sharks' teeth, turtle shells, and the bones of fresh and salt water fish. The bones are all smashed and jumbled together, as if by some catastrophe. The big question is how bones from such different ecological nitches -- plains, forests, ocean -- came together in the same place. (Armstrong, Carol; "Florida Fossils Puzzle the Experts," Creation Research Society Quarterly, 21:198, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #39, MAY-JUN 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 48: Nov-Dec 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The kensington stone: a mystery not solved It is safe to say that the great majority of professional archeologists consider the Kensington Stone, with its runic inscription, to be a hoax. E. Wahlgren's 1958 book bears the title: The Kensington Stone: A Mystery Solved. This title reflects the professional attitude, although not the disdain, even contempt, with which academics now view this controversial artifact. Two major challenges to the authenticity of the Kensington Stone are: (1 ) Its use of Arabic number placement: that is, decimal placement, and (2 ) Its use of the symbol for 10. Professional archeologists and epigraphers maintain that genuine runic inscriptions did not use these Arabic innovations. In the present article, R. Nielsen, University of Denmark, demonstrates with actual, well-established runic inscriptions that the above criticisms are without foundation. Such notation and convention were employed. In fact, the use of Arabic innovations actually supports the authenticity of the Kensington Stone. (Nielsen, Richard; "The Arabic Numbering System on the Kensington Rune Stone," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications, 15:47, 1986.) Reference. For more on the controversy surrounding the Kensington Stone, see our handbook Ancient Man. Details at: here . From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... recent scientific meeting in Washington, they stated: "It is more likely than not that our experiment detected life on Mars." Their research in the decade following the Mars landings has only strengthened their belief. Further, they have demonstrated that one of the other life-detection experiments producing negative results was not sensitive enough to detect low population levels of microorganisms. Realizing that the no-life-on-Mars dogma is well-entrenched, they looked for other kinds of evidence for life. "In support of their claims, the two researchers presented two photographs of a Martian rock taken years apart by a camera on one of the landers. The photographs show greenish patches which had changed over time. Spectral analysis of the photographs compared favorably with the spectra given out by lichen-bearing rocks on Earth, as seen through a replica of the lander's camera." (Anonymous; "Is There Life on Mars After All?" New Scientist, p. 19, July 31, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Platypus Bill An Electrical Probe The bill of the duck-billed platypus has always looked kind of dumb -- as if Nature flushed with her success with polar bears (below) got careless when designing the platypus! How ignorant we were of Nature's genius. The platypus didn't borrow its snout from ducks but rather from the electric fishes. "That evolutionary enigma, the duckbilled platypus, has more than its egglaying to distinguish it from other mammals. It now appears that in common with some species of fish and amphibians, it can detect weak electric fields (of a few hundred microvolts or less). Not only that, but it uses its electric sense to locate its prey, picking up the tiny electrical signals passing between nerves and muscles in the tail of a shrimp." (Anonymous; "The Battery-Operated Duck-Billed Platypus," New Scientist, p. 25, February 13, 1986.) Reference. Mammal electrosensitivity is cataloged under BMO8 in Biological Anomalies: Mammals II. This catalog is described here . From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... tracks as evidence that humans and dinosaurs once coexisted. But he adds that several mysteries still exist, two of which are: (1 ) Why is erosion improving the quality of the tracks instead of the reverse? (2 ) Why aren't those tracks exposed earlier also acquiring the stain marks? Moore also points out that the reddish stains could have easily been added artificially!! (Morris, John D.; "The Paluxy River Mystery," ICR Impact Series no. 151, January 1986. ICR = Institute for Creation Research.) Comment. Fraud is certainly implied by the suggestion of artificiality. Would the enemies of creationism go out at night with a brush to destroy a key datum supporting creationism? Of course we don't know. But the whole business bears a fascinating resemblance to the case of Paul Kammerer, who in the 1920s reported lab data supporting the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Evolutionists were aghast and attacked Kammerer vigorously. Then one scientist discovered that some of Kammerer's specimens had been deliberatel tampered with. Kammerer eventually committed suicide. However, A. Koestler, in his book The Case of the Midwife Toad, reviewed the affair and suggested that Kammerer may have been framed by someone who surreptitiously injected India ink into the feet of some of Kammerer's specimens. A curious parallelism, is it not? Moral: Theories are more important than facts!? Original Paluxy footprint (left) and their present appearance (right). The coloration goes right across the mud pushups. From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN ...
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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 Unidentified Object April 9, 1983. North Atlantic Ocean. From the n.v . Dorsetshire. "At 2304 GMT, Mr. Haney pointed out a bright white object in the sky. It was bearing approximately 360 (T ) at an elevation of about 40 . It was moving rapidly southwards across the sky, leaving a bright trail behind it, like an afterglow. Also trailing astern of the object was a light trail of sparks (possibly large solid particles). The object disappeared behind clouds, bearing about 170 (T ) at an elevation of approximately 35 , and lighting the edges of the clouds. The time taken for the passage was around 20 seconds. It was obviously a very large object, judging from its apparent size as seen from sea level. The impression given was that of an object within the atmosphere, easily showing around a one-penny piece held at arm's length." (Edwards, R.A .F .; "Unidentified Flying Object," Marine Observer, 54:82, 1984) Comment. This seems to be a description of a large fireball, but the direction of flight (north-south) is unusual and the time of passage (20 seconds) extremely long for a meteor. Large, very sluggish fireball trailing sparks over the North Atlantic. From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects An ordovician hammer?This article begins with a startling photograph of an obvious hammer partly embedded in rock. Here are some particulars: (1 ) "The hammer was discovered on the Llano uplift, southwest of the Paluxy River, Texas, U.S .A . The Llano uplift is a granite intrusion covered with Ordovician sandstone. (2 ) "The hammer was discovered within a concretion of shell-bearing sandstone. (Initial reports incorrectly labelled is as limestone.) (3 ) "The hammer handle is probably spruce wood. (4 ) "The interior of the handle is partly coalified. (5 ) "The handle contains pockets of fluid. (6 ) "The wood in the handle was hard and fibrously intact when discovered. (7 ) "When the stone surface was first removed, the iron (alloy?) was shiny and began to corrode only several months later. (8 ) "The concretion contained fossil shells which can just be seen at the top left of the picture [not reproduced]. (9 ) "When the concretion was first broken open, there was a significant space around the hammer." (Anonymous; "Ordovician Hammer Report," Ex Nihilo, 6:16, no, 3, 1984.) Comments. If the hammer was really deposited with the sandstone, it would be about 400 million years old, according to present geological dating! ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Evidence For A Giant Pleistocene Sea Wave On the Hawaiian island of Lanai, limestone-bearing gravel blankets the coastal slopes. Called the Hulopoe Gravel, it now reaches a height of 326 meters above sea level. Taking into account the 1000,000-year age of the gravel and the slow subsidence of the Hawaiian Islands, the deposit probably reached 380 meters when it was first formed. The big question is how it got deposited at such great heights. Highsea stands are rejected by the authors in favor of a single episode of catastrophic waves about 100,000 years ago. Earthquake-generated tidal waves are considered unlikely because of the great heights involved. (The highest tsunami ever recorded in historical times reach ed only 17 meters above sea level.) A great meteor impact or submarine volcanic explosion are good possibilities, but the authors favor a giant submarine landslide on the Hawaiian Ridge, noting that in 1958 a similar event off Alaska produced a wave that reached 524 meters above sea level. (Moore, James G., and Moore, George W.; "Deposit from a Giant Wave on the Island of Lanai, Hawaii, Science, 226:1312, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Powerful Earth Current Enters North America From The Pacific An immense current of terrestrial electricity originating somewhere in the Pacific enters the North American continent along the Strait of Georgia (between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland) and shoots past Tacoma toward Oregon. The discoverers of the current, John R. Booker and Gerard Hensel, at the University of Washington, traced the flow of electricity through a narrow wedge of porous, water-bearing rock that parallels a fault line. Another branch of this terrestrial circuit enters along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. No estimates are given of the magnitude of the current; and there are no speculations as to the origin of the electromagnetic force driving the current. (Anonymous; "Nature's Hidden Power Line," Science Digest, 90:18, October 1982.) Reference. This and other earth currents are mentioned in EZC5 in our Catalog: Inner Earth. For ordering information, visit: here . Comment. In some areas, large artifi cial earth currents are created by high-power transmission lines. From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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