... BBX4 Curious Associations of Birds with Other Animals and Plants BC BIOCHEMISTRY Titles not yet posted BF FISH Titles not yet posted BG GENETICS Titles not yet posted BH HUMANS BHA EXTERNAL APPEARANCE AND MORPHOLOGY BHA1 Human Asymmetry BHA2 The Appearance of Beauty in the Human Lineage BHA3 General Physique Correlated with the Month of Birth BHA4 Human Body Badly Designed for Swimming BHA5 The Apparent Physical Degeneration of Humans BHA6 Human Physical Degeneration and Genius BHA7 Variability of External Appearance BHA8 Discordances in the Appearances of Identical Twins BHA9 Mirror-Image Twins BHA10 The Apparent Primitive Character of ... and Brood Reduction BBB34 Infanticide BBB35 Siblicide BBB36 Information Processing in Migratory Behavior BBB37 Uncommon Groupings of Birds BBB38 Flock Synchrony BBB39 Flight Formations BBB40 Avian "Courts" and "Funerals" BBB41 Avian Graveyards BBB42 Huddling and Stacking BBB43 Bird Battles BBB44 Miscellaneous Curiosities of Avian Behavior BBC CHEMICAL PHENOMENA BBC1 Palatable Eggs More Vulnerable to Predation BBC2 Conspicuous Plumage Advertises Unpalatability BBC3 Why Did Stinking Birds Evolve? BBC4 Poisonous Birds and Poison Dart Frogs: Convergent Evolution? BBC5 Are Ratites More Primitive Than Flying Birds? BBC6 Did Australian Songbirds Evolve Earlier than European Songbirds ... Sound BHT13 Hearing under Anesthesia BHT14 Variability and Sophistication of Human Tone Perception BHT15 Anomalous Communication in Children BHT16 Discontinuity in the Evolution of Communication BHT17 The Ability to Sense and/or Detect Magnetic Fields BHT18 Human-Navigation Senses BHT19 Exposure to Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Field Lengthens Reaction Time BHT20 Human Drowning Proneness BHT21 Human Diving Reflex Unique among Primates BHT22 The Paradoxes of Consciousness [PIK] BHT23 Anomalous Skin Adhesive Power BHT24 Chicken-Sexing Faculty BHT25 The Ability to Perceive Established Information Perception of Human Auras! Human Detection of Earthquake Precursors Communication via ...

... Go? Herbert Ives and the Ether Biology Bowerbird Art for Art's Sake The Nomads Within Us Geology Old Hannah's Explosions Large Changes of the Earth's Magnetic Fields in Historical Times Geophysics Ball Lightning with Internal Structure Haily Rollers How Can the Sun Influence Chemical Reaction Rates? Psychology Conditioned Responses That Short-circuit the Conscious Brain ...

... Comet-Related Showers ACO5 Contraction of Cometary Comas as the Sun is Approached ACO6 Unexplained Abundance of Short-Period Comets ACO7 Persistence of Long-Period Comets Despite Attrition from Molecular Clouds ACO8 Seriality of Cometary Apparitions ACO9 Multiple Tails and Antitails ACO10 Ejection of Spherical Halos ACO11 Correlation of Terrestrial Auroras and the Phenomena of Distant Comets ACO12 Blinking Comets ACO13 The Anomalous Disappearance of Comets ACO14 Anomalous Brightening of Short-Period Comets ACO15 Comet Reflectivities Are Similar to Those of Asteroids ACO16 Some Cometary Light Curves Resemble Those of Asteroids ACO17 New Comets Exhibit Different ... Activity AYB3 Meteor Rates Correlated with Lunar Phase AYB4 Meteorites: Geographical Anomalies AYB5 Meteor and Meteorite Temporal Anomalies AYB6 The Unexpected Abundance of Very Large Meteors AYB7 Clouds and Swarms of Meteors AYB8 Micrometeoroid Loss-Gain Imbalance AYE ANOMALIES IN METEORITE COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE AYE1 Isotopic and Inorganic Chemical Anomalies AYE2 Organic Compounds in Meteorites AYE3 Unusual Meteorite-Exposure Ages AYE4 Anomalous Formation Ages of Meteorites AYE5 "Sedimentary" Meteorites AYE6 Annihilation-Radiation Events Ascribed to Antimatter Meteorites AYE7 Meteorite Magnetic Anomalies AYE8 The Unexplained Origin(s ) of Chondrules AYE9 The Brownlee Particles ... yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. AA ASTEROIDS AAB CELESTIAL MECHANICS PROBLEMS WITH ASTEROIDS AAB1 Anomalous Asteroid Orbits AAB2 Asteroid Distribution Anomalies AAB3 The High "Internal Energy" of the Asteroid Population AAB4 Peculiar Distribution of Asteroid Spin Rates AAB5 Unexplained Residual Precession of Icarus AAB6 Evidence against an Explosive Origin for Asteroids AB SOLAR SYSTEM "LAWS" AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS ABB DYNAMICS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AS-A -WHOLE ABB1 Solar-System Instability ABB2 Circularity of Planetary Orbits ABB3 Anomalous Split of Angular Momentum ...

... were synthesized at just a few degrees above absolute zero. His article dwells primarily on the physics of the tunnelling phenomenon, which is well verified in the laboratory, but he does not shrink from the biological implications. (Goldanskii, Vitalii I.; "Quantum Chemical Reactions in the Deep Cold," Scientific American, 254:46, February 1986.) Comment. In the first few paragraphs you can almost hear the theme music from the movie 2001. Evolutionists sometimes get carried away in inventing protobirds. This specimin was ... over them via thermal effects. "Specifically, entire atoms can tunnel through barriers represented by the repulsive forces of other atoms and form complex molecules even though the atoms do not have the energy required by classical chemistry to overcome the repulsion." Of course, the reaction rates are slow, but the size of the cosmic pond is vastly greater than any terrestrial puddle. The above quotation is from V.I . Goldanskii who, even before Hoyle, suggested a cold prehistory of life, during which complex organic molecules were synthesized ... just a few degrees above absolute zero. His article dwells primarily on the physics of the tunnelling phenomenon, which is well verified in the laboratory, but he does not shrink from the biological implications. (Goldanskii, Vitalii I.; "Quantum Chemical Reactions in the Deep Cold," Scientific American, 254:46, February 1986.) Comment. In the first few paragraphs you can almost hear the theme music from the movie 2001. Evolutionists sometimes get carried away in inventing protobirds. This specimin was developing feathers on ...

... RADIO AND RADAR ANOMALIES GER1 Long-Delayed Radio Echos GER2 The Moon's Effect on Radio Propagation GER3 Thunderstorm Modification of Radio Propagation GER4 Stable Patterns of Electromagnetic Radiation GER5 Unidentified Radio Signals... GER6 The Humming Earth GER7 Polar Radio Blackouts GER8 Around-th e-World Transmission of High-Frequency Signals GER9 Periodic Fading of Satellite Radio Transmissions GER10 Sudden Disappearance of High Frequency Radio Transmissions GER11 Correlation of Radio Propagation Quality with Planetary Positions GER12 Earthquake-Induced Ionospheric Disturbances GER13 Easier Radio Transmission in One Direction than Its Reverse GER14 Radar Dot Angels GER15 Radar Ring and Line Angels GER16 Radar Ghosts Mexico's Zone of Silence Infrared Angels Extremely-Low-Frequency (ELF) Phenomena Effect of Low-Pressure Areas upon Shortwave Propagation Unidentified Atmospheric Radio Bursts Detected by Satellites GES SHADOW PHENOMENA GES1 Eclipse ... GHS3 Spectacular Tidal Bores GHS4 Diurnal, Triple, and Quadruple Tides GHS5 Long-Period Tides of Unexpected Strengths GHS6 Tides That Precede the Moon Extraordinary Tsunamis Tsunami Cycles GHT OCEAN TURBULENCE AND CIRCULATION PHENOMENA GHT1 Extraordinary Deep Circulation Events GHT2 Sonar-Detected Subsurface Oceanic Structures GHT3 Nonvolcanic Underwater Eruptions GHT4 Anomalous El Ninos GHT5 The Guinea Tide GHT6 Energy Transfer to Hurricanes GHT7 Oceanic Rings and Eddies GHT8 Large-Scale Oceanic Chemical Anomalies Deep-Sea Storms Curious Drifts Gas-Hydrate Blowouts Great Whirlpools and Vortices The Gibraltar Dam Oceanic Megaplumes Gulf-Stream Reversal Oceanic Dead Zones Organized Structures in Bubble Clouds North Atlantic Oscillations El Ninos Correlated with Seismicity GHW REMARKABLE WAVE PHENOMENA GHW1 Unexplained Solitary Waves GHW2 Periodic Bands of Waves GHW3 Sudden, Unexpected Onset of High Surf GHW4 Downstream Progressive Waves in Rivers Increasing Heights of North Atlantic Waves GI ...

... London civil servants showed a strong relation between mortality rate and employment grade -- the higher the grade level, the lower the mortality rate. The mortality rate for unskilled laborers was three times that of high-level administrators. Part of the disparity is doubtless due to differences in weight-to-height ratio, cigarette consumption, and amount of leisure-time exercise, which are also strongly correlated with mortality rate. But such personal habits tell only part of the story. Coronary heart disease, which accounted for 43% of all the deaths, was much more prevalent among the lower employment grades, even among monsmokers. Childhood nutrition and other "early life factors" also play roles. Nevertheless, a factor-of-three is a whopping difference in mortality rate. (Anonymous ... 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 Death And Social Class A 10-year study of 17,530 London civil servants showed a strong relation between mortality rate and employment grade -- the higher the grade level, the lower the mortality rate. The mortality rate for unskilled laborers was three times that of high-level administrators. Part of the disparity is doubtless due to differences in weight-to-height ratio, cigarette consumption, and amount of leisure-time exercise, which are also strongly correlated with mortality rate. But such personal habits tell only part of the story. Coronary heart disease, which accounted for 43% of all the deaths, was much more ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 92: Mar-Apr 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects High Temperature Suppresses Radioactive Decay Environmental conditions are not supposed to affect nuclear reactions in general or radioactive decay rates specifically. This is one reason why cold fusion got the cold shoulder from most physicists. Now for the "however" that is the hallmark of Science Frontiers : "Thirty years ago, Otto Reifenschweiler was searching for a compound which could protect Geiger-Mueller tubes from damage when they are first ionised. He found the compound, which became a money-spinner for Philips, in a mixture of titanium and radioactive tritium. He also discovered that as the mixture was heated, its radioactivity declined sharply. No process known to physics ... account for such a baffling phenomenon: radioactivity should be unaffected by heat. Nevertheless, as the temperature increased from 115 C to 160 C, the emission of beta particles fell by 28%." Reifenschweiler and his colleague, H. Casimir, put this discovery on the backburner and concentrated on the Geiger-Mueller tubes. The recent furor over cold fusion impelled them to resurrect the work and publish it in the January 3 issue of Physics Letters A . Is there a new phenomenon here? Is it relevant to cold fusion? It may be pertinent that some common fusion reactions also employ tritium. (Bown, William; "Ancient Experiment Turns Heat Up on Cold Fusion," New Scientist, p. 16, January 8, 1994.) Comment. How many other potential anomalies ...

... fusion" results. After an initial surge of publicity followed by disbelief and ridicule, cold fusion research was effectively banned from mainstream science publications. (SF#114, SF#112, and earlier). While cold fusion may not be politically correct these days, a cadre of off-mainstream researchers is pursuing the idea under such names as Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) and Chemically Assisted Nuclear Reactions (CANR) Could LENR and CANR (nee CF) be both scientifically correct and politically incorrect? A survey of cold fusion research over the past decade by E.F . Mallove appears in a recent issue of Infinite Energy . If you read only mainstream journals, you may be surprised to learn that several thousand technical papers have been written on the subject. Mallove has ... Pons announced their "cold fusion" results. After an initial surge of publicity followed by disbelief and ridicule, cold fusion research was effectively banned from mainstream science publications. (SF#114, SF#112, and earlier). While cold fusion may not be politically correct these days, a cadre of off-mainstream researchers is pursuing the idea under such names as Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) and Chemically Assisted Nuclear Reactions (CANR) Could LENR and CANR (nee CF) be both scientifically correct and politically incorrect? A survey of cold fusion research over the past decade by E.F . Mallove appears in a recent issue of Infinite Energy . If you read only mainstream journals, you may be surprised to learn that several thousand technical papers have been written on ...

... However, in the early spring skunk cabbages are and so are some philodendrons during their flowering periods. In fact, some philo-dendrons burn fat to generate their heat, just like animals. Metabolism based on fats allows some philodendrons to reach temperatures of 124 F. In terms of their rates of metabolism, they rival those of the humming birds. Further-more, philodendrons can regulate their chemical fires, whereas skunk cabbages, which burn only starch, consume all their stored energy like a rocket in one snow-melting crescendo. Why do plants generate heat? Apparently to attract pollinating insects. The hot skunk cabbage poking through the snow is the only food in sight for early spring insects, while the philodendrons may attract pollinating insects who like to bask or mate in warm places. ... Sourcebook Subjects Hot Plants You've heard of hot potatoes, but they aren't naturally hot. However, in the early spring skunk cabbages are and so are some philodendrons during their flowering periods. In fact, some philo-dendrons burn fat to generate their heat, just like animals. Metabolism based on fats allows some philodendrons to reach temperatures of 124 F. In terms of their rates of metabolism, they rival those of the humming birds. Further-more, philodendrons can regulate their chemical fires, whereas skunk cabbages, which burn only starch, consume all their stored energy like a rocket in one snow-melting crescendo. Why do plants generate heat? Apparently to attract pollinating insects. The hot skunk cabbage poking through the snow is the only food in sight for early ...

... underground to cut out stray radiation. (R2) However, the US is doing something despite the ridicule from the popular and scientific media. B.F . Bush and J.J . Lagowski of the University of Texas in Austin and M.H . Miles and G.S . Ostrom of the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, Calif., say the helium levels they measured correlate roughly with the amount of heat generated in the fusion reaction. .. .. . Those who believe in cold fusion are quite excited. "It's a world-turning experiment, a lollapalooza," says John O'M . Bockris, a physical chemist who has researched cold fusion at Texas A&M University in College Station. (R1) According to Dr. ... of M.I .T ., another provocative set of experiments are those at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico where Dr. Howard Menlove has repeatedly detected bursts of neutrons, subatomic particles that are a fusion byproduct. (R2) In an interview, [Dr. R.I . Mills] said he had conducted 1,000 experiments with a simple apparatus over the past 18 months and had applied for patents on the process, which differs markedly from the Utah one. He also asserted that he had set a new record for generating heat, saying his apparatus puts out up to 40 times more energy than put in. (R4) (R3) Physicists F.J . Mayer and J.R . Reitz theorize that cold fusion as well as several other ...

... "Cold Fusion Still in a State of Confusion," Science, 245:256, 1989.) Baltimore Sun. The chemist quoted is Utah's B.S . Pons. "In the experiment, a 'boiler' the size of a thermos emitted 15 to 20 times the amount of energy that was being put into it - a reaction that 'cannot be explained by normal chemical reactions we're aware of,' according to Dr. Pons. .. .. . He said he was convinced his device could be developed to have practical household applications - providing a home with hot water year-round, for example." (Uzelac, Ellen; "' Cold Fusion' Boils Water, Chemist Says," Baltimore Sun, July 12, 1989. ... heat production. (Pool, Robert; "Cold Fusion Still in a State of Confusion," Science, 245:256, 1989.) Baltimore Sun. The chemist quoted is Utah's B.S . Pons. "In the experiment, a 'boiler' the size of a thermos emitted 15 to 20 times the amount of energy that was being put into it - a reaction that 'cannot be explained by normal chemical reactions we're aware of,' according to Dr. Pons. .. .. . He said he was convinced his device could be developed to have practical household applications - providing a home with hot water year-round, for example." (Uzelac, Ellen; "' Cold Fusion' Boils Water, Chemist Says," ...

... These cosmetic powders, dating from 2,000 B.C ., have been exceptionally well preserved in their original vials made of alabaster, ceramic, and wood. A team of French chemists led by P. Walter was not surprised when their analyses of these powders found crushed galena and cerussite (two ores of lead). However, they nearly dropped their test tubes when they also found chemical compounds that are extremely rare in nature; specifically, laurionite (PbOHCl) and phosgenite (Pb2 Cl2 CO3 ). In fact, these compounds are so rare naturally that the Egyptian powders must be artificial. P. Walter et al wrote: "Taken together, these results indicate that laurionite and phosgenite must have been synthesized in Ancient Egypt using wet chemistry. The Egyptians manufactured artificial leadbased compounds ... and added them to the cosmetic product. The underlying chemical reactions are simple, but the whole process, including many repetitive operations, must have been quite difficult to achieve." It had been recognized earlier that the Egyptian chemists had used fire-based technology 500 years earlier (2 ,500 B.C .) to manufacture blue pigment. Wet chemistry represented another forward technological step. (Walter, P., et al; "Making Make-Up in Ancient Egypt," Nature, 397:483, 1999.) Comment. Uncowed by the successes of the ancient Egyptian chemists, those in the employ of Nissan have synthesized artificial bird droppings for use in testing automobile paints. The real stuff, you see, in inconsistent from batch to batch! (Anonymous; " ...

... all know about the placebo effect. A sick patient improves because he believes he is getting a helpful medicine, even though it is an inert substance. The reverse works, too, at least in experiments with mice. It seems that mice can be conditioned into believing that an ordinarily delectable substance (saccharin and water) gives them stomach pain, by simultaneously injecting them with a pain-producing chemical. Unexpectedly, this chemical also suppressed the immune system of the mice. The mice, of course, knew nothing about the effect on their immune system. Nevertheless, whenever they received saccharin after being conditioned, their immune system was suppressed even though the pain-producing chemical was not administered. While one can imagine the mice consciously associating saccharin and stomach pain, and their brains somehow sending ... effect (and its reverse) worked because of the subjects' logical association of cause and effect, but evidently there is something else going on here! (Wingerson, Lois; "Training the Mind To Heal," Discover, 3:80, May 1982.) Comment. This all opens a rather large Pandora's Box, because it implies that seemingly innocent signals can trigger unrealized reactions. It's something like a post-hypnotic suggestion. Some cause -- not recognized as a cause -- results in an effect -- not consciously related to the real cause. We could all be puppets, not even recognizing the strings that control us! From Science Frontiers #22, JUL-AUG 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... reprogram itself and construct a wholly new and unplanned plant structure to house and feed the developing insect. Some of these structures (galls) are very elaborate and are precisely tailored to each different wasp species. From such examples, it is apparent that the genome of an organism somehow perceives stresses and reacts to them -- often in completely unanticipated ways. The stresses may be mechanical, thermal, chemical; in fact, almost anything. McClintock's conclusion is: ". .. that stress, and the genome's reaction to it may underlie many formations of new species." (McClintock, Barbara; "The Significance of Responses of the Genome to Challenge," Science, 226:792, 1984.) Comment. The implications here are broad and deep. Evolution ... be driven by external stresses. The new species thus produced may differ substantially from the original organism, eliminating the need to look for "missing links" in the fossil record. What "hope-ful monsters" are latent in our human genome, awaiting only the right stresses to manifest themselves? And is the genomes's malleability reversible; that is, can extinct species be recovered when the engendering stresses are removed? From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... palladium) than is generated by a fuel rod in a nuclear reactor. " Takahashi has made several modifications in his cold-fusion cell. Rather than palladium rods, he employs small sheets. In addition, surmising that cold-fusion phenomena might prosper better under transient conditions, he varies cell current. Takahashi, however, measures only a few of the neutrons expected from the usual nuclear fusion reactions. Undaunted, he remarks, "This is a different ballgame, and it could be a different reaction." Indeed, some exotic fusion reactions do generate neutrons. (Freedman, David H.; "A Japanese Claim Generates New Heat," Science, 256:438, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #82, JUL-AUG 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. ... Subjects Japanese Claim Generates New Heat While most scientists, especially the hotfusionists, have been ridiculing cold fusion as "pathological science," more adverturesome researchers have been forging ahead. The most interesting current results, gleaned from many, are those of A. Takahashi, who is a professor of nuclear engineering at Osaka University. "He says his cold-fusion cell produced excess heat at an average rate of 100 watts for months at a time. That's up to 40 times more power than he was putting into the cell, and more power per unit volume (of palladium) than is generated by a fuel rod in a nuclear reactor. " Takahashi has made several modifications in his cold-fusion cell. Rather than palladium rods, he employs small sheets. In addition, ...

... this article to be rich in examples of chaotic behavior. Data were taken for a wide range of drip rates for two different faucet nozzles and plotted as discrete time maps. Different routes to chaos, bifurcation and intermittency, are demonstrated for the different nozzles. Examples of period-1 , - 2, -3 , and -4 attractors, as well as strange attractors, are presented and correlated to the formation of drops leaving the faucet." (Dreyer, K., and Hickey, F.R .; "The Route to Chaos in a Dripping Water Faucet," American Journal of Physics, 59:619, 1991.) Comment. O.K ., so faucets dribble a bit. From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991- ... 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 Drip, drop, drup, dr**A dripping faucet is usually conceived as a well-ordered dependable phenomenon. You simple turn the faucet a bit counterclockwise and the drip rate increases. It's so simple. Surprise! Dripping faucets are chaotic systems, as described in the following Abstract: "The dripping water faucet is a simple system which is shown in this article to be rich in examples of chaotic behavior. Data were taken for a wide range of drip rates for two different faucet nozzles and plotted as discrete time maps. Different routes to chaos, bifurcation and intermittency, are demonstrated for the different nozzles. Examples ...

... 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 When The Earth Shifted Gears No one really knows just how the terrestrial magnetic field is generated or why it has reversed its direction so frequently in past geological time. Per-haps there is a clue in the following correlation: "The Mesozoic-Cenozoic histories of reversals in the earth's magnetic field and of periods of widespread anoxia in the ocean basins show a remarkable correlation; periods of black-shale deposition (' anoxic events') occur during lengthy periods without magnetic reversals (' quiet periods'). My assembly of published work indicates a remote connection between quiet periods and anoxic events and suggests its form: Magnetic quiet ... waters wane. Oxygen minimum zones intensify and widen; anoxic conditions throughout entire basins are indicated by black shales deposited in the deep sea. These relations thus suggest that the earth's interior processes and its climates are related and their status recorded by both magnetic polarity and anoxic event chronologies of the earth." (Force, Eric R.; "A Relation among Geomagnetic Reversals, Seafloor Spreading Rate, Paleoclimate, and Black Shales," Eos, 65:18, 1984.) Comment. But what stopped and restarted the magnetic reversals and other concurrent processes? Strangely enough, the quiet, anoxic periods do not seem to coincide with biological extinctions! From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... a promising odor. J. Diamond, who wrote about this "living flytrap" in the February issue of Natural History, wondered about the evolutionary rationale here: "My first thought was, nonsense! If so, frogmouths would have achieved every species' evolutionary dream -- getting food without work or cost. Then I reflected that there was indeed a cost, that of synthesizing the sticky chemical bait. On the other hand, a raven-sized bird would have to attract a lot of flying insects before its strategy of setting itself up as a living flytrap could rate as successful." In the same article, Diamond introduced the reader to two other remarkable birds also found in Papua New Guinea. Both of these birds are meaty, lumbering, and easy to kill. Ideal ... , one would suppose. However, almost as they gasp their last breath, they begin to stink. Predators learn to avoid them. Natives who sometimes hunt them joke that one has to have a pot of boiling water under the tree where the bird sits so that it can fall in and begin cooking immediately! (Diamond, Jared; "Stinking Birds and Burning Books," Natural History, 103:4 , February 1994.) From Science Frontiers #92, MAR-APR 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... 150 species in 5 distinct lizard families possess mite pockets, which are often located in different places in different lizard species. Apparently, the mite pockets evolved separately several times. But why? (Benton, Michael J.; "The Mite Pockets of Lizards," Nature, 325:391, 1987.) Comment. Why haven't the lizards evolved thicker skin or some sort of chemical defense instead of reducing their fitness with mite pockets? Or, are other factors operating? From Science Frontiers #51, MAY-JUN 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... , the earth's innards might be periodic, possibly in terms of plume eruption, mineral phase changes, core convection, etc. Externally, comets and asteroids are cyclic. Rampino and Caldeira point out that the solar system crosses the heavily populated plane of the Galaxy every 30 million years. (Rampino, Michael R., and Caldeira, Ken; "Major Episodes of Geologic Change: Correlations, Time Structure and Possible Causes," Earth and Planetary Sci ence Letters , 114:215, 1993.) Reference. We catalog crater periodicity in ETC4 in Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds. This catalog described here . From Science Frontiers #87, MAY-JUN 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... (Bag of lipids = a membrane.) (Nisbet, E.G .; "RNA and Hot-Water Springs," Nature, 322:206, 1986.) It just so happens that D.W . Deamer, University of California, Davis, has now found that the 4.5 -billion-year-old Murchison meteorite from Australia contains lipid-like organic chemicals that can self-assemble into membrane-like films. His paper was presented before the International Society for the Study of Origins of Life. (Raloff, J.; "Clues to Life's Cellular Origins," Science News, 130:71, 1986.) Comment. Strange that the earth should be "tailor-made" for biochemical operations and that outer space teems ... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Earth's womb Three recent items indicate that scientists are now recognizing how the earth's crust is tailor-made for biochemical reactions of great variety and complexity. First, E.G . Nisbet explains how subsurface hydrothermal systems are ideal places to make biochemical products, particularly in the light of the discovery that RNA molecules can extrude introns and then behave like enzymes. "The most likely site for the inorgan ic construction or an RNA chain, which would have occurred in the Archaean, is in a hydrothermal system. Only in such a setting would the necessary basic components (CH4 , NH3 , and phosphates) be freely available ...

... , April 1, 2000.) Comments. Science-fiction writers have not neglected the "drifters" as potential sources of intelligent life. F. Hoyle's The Black Cloud is a good example of the genre. Who can say what "plasma entities" might have emerged over the eons on these multitudinous drifters? To illustrate, if you were given only the known properties of the chemical elements and a primitive earth, would you predict that matter would spontaneously mold itself into human beings? Even on earth, on very small scales, we see "plasma entities" like ball lightning and "spooklights" behaving mighty strangely! Who knows what is transpiring on the drifters. From Science Frontiers #130, JUL-AUG 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest ... of astronomers think they have detected 25 of these free-floating planets, and say there could be hundreds of millions of them wandering the Milky Way. These free-floaters or "drifters" were created when small clouds of gas and dust coalesced under gravity's urging. If such collapsing clouds were less than 80 times Jupiter's mass, they would not be able to sustain nuclear reactions and become long-lived stars. Many would be-come "brown dwarfs." Still smaller aggregations -- less than 14 Jupiters -- would never shine at all. These would remain warm for a while as they dissipated the gravitational energy that created them. Such small objects would be temporarily detectable by infrared telescopes. Hundreds of such infrared "point sources" turn up in sky ...

... Once again, humans are not on the menu but are included anyway. (Concar, David; "Doctor Snail," New Scientist, p. 26, October 19, 1996.) Comment. Both cone shells and the funnel web spider seem to possess venom factories capable of concocting wide ranges of toxins, even though some are of no practical use. Whence this amazing versatility in sophisticated chemical synthesis; how did these extraordinary glandular factories evolve? From Science Frontiers #115, JAN-FEB 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 88: Jul-Aug 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Effect Of Noncontact Therapeutic Touch On Healing Rate "The effect of Noncontact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT) on the rate of surgical healing was examined in a doubleblind study. Full-thickness dermal wounds were incised on the lateral deltoid region, using a skin punch biopsy instrument, on healthy subjects randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. Subjects were blinded both to group assignment and to the true nature of the active treatment modality in order to control placebo and expectation effects. Incisions were dressed with gaspermeable dressings, and wound surface areas were measured on Days, 0, 8, and 16 using a direct tracing method and digitization system. Active and control treatments were comprised of daily sessions of five minutes of exposure to a hidden Therapeutic Touch practitioner or to sham exposure. "Results showed that treated subjects experienced a significant acceleration in the rate of wound healing as compared to non-treated subjects at day 8." (Wirth, Daniel P.; "The Effect of Noncontact Therapeutic Touch on the Healing Rate of Full Thickness Dermal Wounds," Subtle Energies , 1:1 , 1990. Quoted abstract text above taken from Exceptional Human Experience , 10:248, 1993.) From Science Frontiers #88, JUL-AUG 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 85: Jan-Feb 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Our Chemical Brain Is our brain merely a network of neurons pulsing with electrical signals -- like the circuits of a computer? Such is the accepted picture of the brain. Unquestionably the brain does rely in part upon the transmission of electrical signals for some of its operations, but it now appears that there is a complementary mode of communication that relies upon chemistry rather than electricity. While the fastest way to transmit signals in the brain seems to be along the neurons and across their points of contact, the synapses, other signals may travel -- a bit more slowly -- by what is termed "volume transmission." Volume transmission is like broadcasting radio waves in three dimensions, except that in the brain the radio waves are replaced by the diffusion of chemical signals. L.F . Agnati et al explain: ". .. our experiments have shown that neurons also release chemical signals into the extracellular space that are not necessarily detected by neighboring cells but by cells far away, in the same way hormones released by a gland into the bloodstream can have effects on cells far away. These processes occur on much longer time scales than does synaptic transmission, and they probably play a distinct role, perhaps regulating the brain's responses to synaptic signals. .. .. . "We might speculate that volume transmission is involved in the neuroendocrine system and the central autonomic system. Changes in the activity of the brain ...