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... , as in the above item, is fun; but we need something to deflate balloons before they drift too high into the wild blue. The Skeptical Inquirer is the perfect "something." In the latest issue, ESP or psi takes it on the chin. J.E . Alcock reviews the last 8 years of parapsychological research. His conclusion: "The past eight years have been no kinder to those seeking compelling evidence about the reality of paranormal phenomena than were the previous eighty: The long-sought reliably demonstrable psychic phenomenon is just as elusive as it always has been." Alcock believes that parapsychology is on the ropes and must grasp at straws. One of these straws is the enthusiastic espousal of those quantum mechanical effects which seem to transcend time, space, and even human comprehension. Alcock contends that the admitted enigmas of quantum mechanics are being unfairly twisted by the parapsychologists. [Parapsychologists and their critics will argue interminably about the applicability of quantum mechanics to psi, ceasing only when someone with powerful, undeniable psi powers comes along -- the equivalent of a UFO landing on the White House lawn.] Meanwhile, Alcock identifies an important characteristic of psi, which is truly anomalous, for it is completely foreign to science as we understand it today. This is the generalizability of psi. ". .. psi effects turn up whether one uses cockroaches or college students, whether the effects are to be generated in the present or the future or the past, whether the subjects know that there is a random number generator to be affected, whether a sender ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hearing Via Acoustic Holograms Humans and the higher primates can locate the source of a sound without turning their ears or heads. Other animals are not so fortunate. Current theories of hearing, according to Hugo Zuccarelli, cannot explain this human capability, which we all take for granted. He has come up with a new theory that pictures our ears as truly remarkable organs. First, our ear itself is a sound emitter. It emits a reference sound that combines with incoming sound to form an interference pattern inside the ear. The nature of this pattern is sensitive to the direction of the incoming sound. Our ear's cochlea detects and analyzes this pattern as if it were an acoustic hologram. The brain then interprets this data and infers the direction of the sound. (Zuccarelli, Hugo; "Ears Hear by Making Sounds," New Scientist, 100:438, 1983.) Comment. We have been able to appreciate this slick biological trick only after we "discovered" holograms. We should wonder if we are missing anything else! Two letters quickly appeared casting doubt on not only Zuccarelli's Theory but his personal scientific capabilities. (Baxter, A.J ., and Kemp, David T.; "Zuccarelli's Theory," New Scientist, 100:606, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 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 periods coincide with fast seafloor spreading. During these periods, buoyant spreading ridges displace seawater into broad shelves, thus decreasing earth's albedo and causing global warming. Temperature gradients, and thus density gradients, from pole to equator decrease in surface waters, and the deep ocean currents of oxygenated polar 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 ...
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... some 18 billion years ago in the big bang, designed it to last that long, and therefore to be as big as it is, in order to have an opportunity to create man?" Example 5. The fruitfulness of mathematics. "Since the seventeenth century, we have had at least four major and numerous minor examples of mathematical systems which were produced initially as pure products of the human mind simply for our delight in their inner beauty, but which later turned out to mirror the workings of the natural world accurately and precisely in every detail in ways completely unforeseen and unexpected by their originators." In other words, God is a geometer. (Pollard, William G.; "Rumors of Transcendence in Physics," American Journal of Physics, 52:877, 1984 ... , almost mystical article on the nature of the cosmos. Let us begin with his abstract: "There are several hints in physics of a domain of external reality transcendent to three-dimensional space and time. This paper calls attention to several of these intimations of a real world beyond the natural order. Examples are the complex state functions in configuration space of quantum mechanics, the singularity at the birth of the universe, the anthropic principle, the role of chance in evolution, and the unaccountable fruit fulness of mathematics for physics. None of these examples touch on the existence or activity of God, but they do suggest that external reality may be much richer than the natural world which it is the task of physics to describe." Pollard then elaborates: Example 1. Quantum mechanics, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Are nocturnal lights earthquake lights?" Nocturnal lights reported from 1972 to 1977 by fire lookouts on the Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington, correlate with earthquake origin time, distance, magnitude, and depth within a 200 km radius of the observations. Photographs and eyewitness accounts show that the luminous phenomena (LP) near ground level appear to be spherical, are colored white to orange, and show little or no internal detail. Locations of the observations preclude explaining them as terrestrial vehicles or other human activity." This abstract continues and notes that some of the luminous displays seem to be enhanced by geomagnetic activity. (Persinger, M.A ... , and Derr, J.S .; "Relations among Nocturnal Lights, Geomagnetic Activity and Earthquakes in Southern Washington," Eos, 64:762, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... mind-body relationship. For example, the death of a spouse has long been associated with the increased mortality of the surviving spouse. Clinical studies of bereaved spouses reveal fewer circulating lymphocytes, which help the body fight disease, and significantly higher levels of cortisol, a substance that suppresses the immune system's response to disease. Although it is very early in the game, there are verifiable correlations between state-of-mind and body chemistry. Further, other researchers have found that there are sympathetic nerve terminals in such organs as the spleen and lymph nodes, both of which play important parts in defending the body. Imaging just might send the right signals through these terminals, while depression might tend to shut the defense system down. (Hammer, Signe; "The Mind as ... ," Science Digest, 92:47, 1984.) Comment. Imaging is only the latest psychological device humans have tried in fighting disease and promoting health. History is full of such ploys. From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... like a blob of mercury. It was brighter at the edges than in the middle, but it did not seem, especially in the light of the room, to glow, nor did it give out sparks. From the central body arms flowed out like runs of oil among the tools. The trails weaved through the tools -- not actually over them but round them -- moving back into the main body of the blob and then going out doing the same kind of movement over again. There was no sound or smell. The arms finally all went back into the blob which disappeared again suddenly out under the door. There was no bang and when I ventured to touch the tools there was no charge on them." A subsequent magnetic survey of the area showed a weak correlation between the patch's motion and regions of intense magnetic field. Such a correlation would be expected if the patch contained free magnetic dipoles or current loops. (Burbidge, P.W ., and Robertson, D.J .; "A Lightning-Associated Phenomenon and Related Geomagnetic Measurements," Nature, 300:623, 1982.) Reference. Phenomena like this are cataloged in Section GLB in Lightning, Auroras. For ordering information, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #26, MAR-APR 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 28: Jul-Aug 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Evolution By Numbers The following paragraph is taken from a letter to Nature by a "practising geneticist." "In the discussion in your columns about the application of quantitative methodology based on the study of evolutionary processes to the analysis of the development of human culture, there is an unquestioned assumption on both sides of that issue that quantitative theory, as expounded by practitioners such as Fisher, Haldane, Wright, Cavalli-Sforza and Maynard Smith, has been successful in illuminating and explaining the process of biological evolution and the genetic relationships between species. As far as I know, there is no evidence to support this assumption. Indeed, there is a vast number of observations unaccounted for in the extant quantitative evolutionary theories. Many of these observations (inducible mutation systems, rapid genomic changes involving mobile genetic elements, programmed changes in chromosome structure) challenge the most fundamental assumptions which these evolutionary theories make about the mechanisms of hereditary variation and the fixation of genetic differences." (Shapiro, James A.; "Evolution by Numbers," Nature, 303:196, 1983.) Comments. The "observations unaccounted for" are buried in such obscure journals as S.B . ges. Morph. Physio. (Munchen). It is pretty obvious that the Sourcebook Project is just scratching the surface. From Science Frontiers #28, JUL-AUG 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... nearly as well as memory experts. The key seems to be the use of mnemonic devices and other methods of imposing some sort of order or meaning on the information involved. To illustrate, a chess master can usually recall the positions of all the pieces on a chessboard after a quick glance. But if the chessmen are arranged randomly and meaninglessly, his memory is reduced to near-normal. The gist is that long prac-tice and the application of mnemonic devices can vastly improve anyone's memory and, in consequence, memory prodigies are not really so anomalous. (Ericsson, K. Anders, and Chase, William G.; "Exceptional Memory," American Scientist, 70:607, 1982.) Comment. The real anomaly here may be the fact that the human memory and related memory faculties seem orders of magnitude better than needed for survival. How did such capabilities evolve? Of what use is a prodigious memory to an Ice Age man facing a cave bear? Are we dealing with prescient evolution, like the moth described above, holding capabilities in reserve until they are really needed. From Science Frontiers #26, MAR-APR 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 30: Nov-Dec 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Soil Temperatures Forecast Rainfall Patterns Dig a hole about 40 inches deep, take the soil temperature at that depth, and you can predict future wet and dry periods months ahead of time. To illustrate, warm spring soils are usually followed by rainy summers; cold soils precede dry summers most of the time. At first, American scientists doubted this Chinese discovery, but their re-search soon proved that the correlation is even stronger in the United States. The best explanation so far is that soil temperatures affect atmospheric convection and modify weather patterns locally. (Anonymous; "Digging for a Forecast," Science Digest, 91:30, September 1983.) From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 30: Nov-Dec 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Arctic Womb "Magnetostratigraphic correlation of Eureka Sound Formation in the Canadian High Arctic reveals profound difference between the time of appearance of fossil land plants and vertebrates in the Arctic and in mid-northern latitudes. Latest Cretaceous plant fossils in the Arctic predate mid-latitude occurrences by as much as 18 million years, while typical Eocene vertebrate fossils appear some 2 to 4 million years early." (Hickey, Leo J., et al; "Arctic Terrestrial Biota: Paleomagnetic Evidence of Age Disparity with Mid-Northern Latitudes During the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary," Science, 221:1153, 1983.) Comment. The anomaly here is in the vision of the high Arctic lands basking in the warm sun busily evolving new life forms well in advance of their appearance in lands closer to the Equator. What happened to the earth's axial tilt. These fecund polar territories should have been engulfed in darkness almost half of the year -- hardly an environment for precocious plant evolution. Further, trees found buried in the Arc-tic muck could never have grown where found due to the long polar darkness. From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 36: Nov-Dec 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Evolution Of Man And Malaria Malarial parasites are customarily classified according to the species infected and then further subdivided by morphology and biological characteristics. The two assumptions implicit in this classification procedure, which is supposed to mirror actual historical evolution, are: Malarial parasites evolved in parallel with their hosts; and Morphology is a measure of evolutionary relatedness. With modern biochemical techniques it is possible to test these assumptions by comparing the DNA structures of the different malarial parasites. P. falcipa rum, the parasite transmitting the most deadly human malaria, turns out to be more closely related to rodent and avian malaria than the other primate malarias. Therefore, assumption #1 above is in correct in this view. Assumption #2 is also wrong because some species of malaria parasites which are very similar morphologically are quite different DNAwise. (McCutchan, Thomas F., et al; "Evolutionary Relatedness of Plasmodium Species as Determined by the Structure of DNA," Science, 225:808, 1984.) Comment. The article does not draw attention to still another assumption; namely, that similarities are measures of evolutionary relatedness. If this as sumption isn't correct, evolutionary family trees based on bodily structure, which means most of the family trees in the textbooks, may not truly reflect what really happened in the development of life. Further, if malarial parasites did evolve along with their hosts, hu man evolution seems farther removed from the evolution ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The hypothesis of formative causation lives!Rupert Sheldrake's hypothesis has been roundly condemned by many scientists, presumably because it departs so radically from current thinking. Basically, the hypothesis maintains that the forms of things (from crystals to life forms) and the behavior of organisms is influenced by "morphic resonance emanating from past events." Convergent evolution, wherein human eyes closely resemble squid eyes, might well be explained by the hypothesis. Sheldrake has been testing his idea in various ways. One experiment involves the accompanying illustration containing a hidden image. Once the solution of this illustration is learned, it is hard to forget, but few people see the answer right off. The hypothesis of formative causation insists that once one or more persons learn the drawing's secret, the easier it will be for others to see the solution. Actual tests consisted of broadcasting the illustration and its solution (that is, the hidden image) on English television combined with before-and-after checks elsewhere in the world outside TV range. The results strongly supported the hypothesis, for it was far easier for people outside England to identify the hidden images after the broadcast. (Sheldrake, Rupert; "Formative Causation: The Hypothesis Supported," New Scientist, 100:279, 1983.) Comment. With all this prior publicity, the hidden image should pop immediately into the reader's mind. But if it doesn' ...
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... own, that of the chloroplasts; and that of the mitochondria. It is supposed that the chloroplasts and mitochondria were once free-living cells that linked up with the embryonic plant cell to form a symbiotic partnership, with the host "plant" cell being the dominant member. Up until now, the three genetic systems were thought to be discrete, each going down its own pathway. But chloroplasts genes have now been found inside plant mitochondria, overturning conventional wisdom. To sum it all up, DNA seems promiscuous -- no respecter of privacy and breaking down all isolating genetic barriers. This discovery at once raises a dozen questions. For example, are mitochondria genes in chloroplast cells? How far does this promiscuity go? Can the same thing happen in higher organisms; say, with humans and symbiotic microorganisms or even not-so-symbiotic disease organisms? Is there no stopping this DNA? (Ellis, John; "Promiscuous DNA -- Chloroplast Genes inside Plant Mitochondria," Nature, 299:678, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #25, JAN-FEB 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... are able to establish a good time resolution with the continental record, I expect to be able to discern synchronous pulses of evolution that involve many groups of fauna and flora. Many different lineages in the biota will respond by synchronous waves of speciation and extinction to global temperature extremes and attendant environmental changes. This is my starting hypothesis." Vrba was speaking mainly about the last 25 million years, a mere flash in geological time. For this brief period, the Deep Sea Drilling Program has provided geologists with a detailed and continuous record of climate changes as they were recorded in deep-sea sediments. By contrast, the faunal history of the continents is rather fragmentary, making it rather difficult to match up pulsations of climate with pulsations of life. Even so, scientists have found rather strong correlations between climatary change and biological speciation and extinction at 15, 5, and 2.4 million years ago. (Lewin, Roger; "The Paleoclimatic Magic Numbers Game," Science, 226:154, 1984.) Comment. Note that this is just the period our ancestors seemed to be evolving rapidly. Also interesting is the general agreement between Vrba's statement about the driving forces behind evolution and McClintock's conclusion quoted earlier under BIOLOGY. From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 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 can 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 ...
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... altitude of the first sighting was approximately 24 , level with the planet Jupiter and offset to its right. The six subsequent bursts were above the first, and slightly to the right, leaving a fantail of purple/white lenticular clouds which leaned to the right as shown in the sketch. Although they all kept their lenticular shape, the final burst did break up, giving the appearance of being in a gaseous state. Each burst commenced as a pinprick of bright, white light expanding rapidly to at least 2 times the diameter of the sun (No. 1)...." (Anonymous; "Unidentified Phenomena," Marine Observer, 53:132, 1983.) Comment. The above observations were made aboard ships 300-400 miles off Brazil. The only event correlated with the phenomena was a meteorological rocket said to have been launched on September 18. Rocket launches do pro-vide spectacular luminous phenomena offshore from Cape Kennedy, but the above phenomena do not seem consistent with small meteorological rockets. Sequence of visual phenomena seen at sea off Brazil. From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 34: Jul-Aug 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Behind magnetic flip-flops The earth's magnetic field frequently reverses its polarity. Such flips can of-ten be correlated with climate changes, global ice volumes, sea-floor spreading rates, and deposition of black shales, tektite falls, biological extinctions, etc. The frustrating thing is the lack of clear-cut cause and effect; that is, how these phenomena are linked physically to the geomagnetic field. Part of the problem is that we can only guess at how the geomagnetic field is generated. Let us assume that the earth's magnetic field is created by dynamo action in the planet's fluid core. P. Olson finds analytically that the core dynamo may reverse sign due to fluctuations in core turbulence caused by two competing energy sources: heat loss at the mantle-core boundary and progressive growth of the inner core. In concept, the heat lost at the core-mantle boundary might be linked to climate changes and sea-floor spreading. Taking a different tack, D. Gubbins has investigated the possibility that field reversals are triggered by ice ages and meteorite impacts (tektite falls). The physical mechanism here would be the increase in pressure upon the core, which affects the rate of freezing in the outer core, and thus the power available to the core dynamo. Gubbins found that these externally caused pressure changes were too small to explain the polarity changes. However, the parameters involved ...
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... with the North American Sasquatch or Bigfoot, if we are to believe all the reports coming out of China these days. From western Yunnan and northwestern Hubei provinces come hundreds of recent sightings. Since 1976, four Chinese scientific expeditions have concentrated their attentions in the mountainous, thickly forested Shennongjia region of Hubei Province. So far, though, there are no specimens or even good photos. The major evidence for the existence of the Wild Man consists of anecdotal reports, many casts of footprints (18 inches long), hair (reddish), and samples of feces. The same situation prevails in North America as far as Sasquatch evidence is concerned. Summarizing recent sightings, the Wild Man is a bipedal creature, seven-feet-plus in height, usually covered with reddish hair, possessing human features, with no tail, having the ability to laugh and cry, capable of weaving bamboo sleeping couches, and with no fear of fire. The Wild Man eats fruit and small animals, but has also been known to steal small pigs and corn from farmers. An anecdote from the 1940s: a band of hunters killed a Wild Man with a machine gun and cooked it in a pot. The taste was so foul that no one would eat it! (Wren, Christopher S.; "On the Trail of the 'Wild Man' of China," New York Times, June 5, 1984, p. C1. Cr. P. Gunkel) From Science Frontiers #35, SEP-OCT 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... cladists, however, are now fighting among themselves. One camp draws their "cladograms" (see illustration) using evolutionary theory as a guide. The other side believes that the cladograms should be drawn up first, based only upon actual characters and ignoring the theory of evolution -- let the species fall where they may. When evolutonary theory is omitted in the deliberations, radically different cladograms result. Mammals then seem more closely related to birds than reptiles, for example, as expressed in the illustration. A key connecting character here is mutual warmbloodedness. The shifting of a few lines in a cladogram may seem trivial to the nonbiologist, but saying that man is more closely related to a chicken than a lizard is pretty controversial stuff to the conservative evolutionist. DNA analysis supports the contention that humans are more closely related to birds than reptiles. Paleontological evidence, however, supports the opposite view. The fight rages on. (Benton, Mike; "Is a Dog More Like a Lizard or a Chicken?" New Scientist, p. 18, August 16, 1984.) Comment. It all seems to boil down to morphology in the end. Which is a more faithful record of the development of life through the long eons, the phenotype (what the organism looks like) or the genotype (what the DNA looks like)? This may be a dangerous simplification. Why? Because life just may be shaped by more than DNA. Standard evolution cladogram (left). Cladogram based only on characters (right). The numbers are millions of years before present ...
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... systems in turn permitted life to invade mutagenic environments (such as sunlight) and to shed restrictive body coverings. In other words, cancer may have been a blessing in disguise -- the price of higher life| (Anonymous; "Cancer: The Price for Higher Life?" New Scientist, 99:766, 1983.) Comment. Note how easy it is for us to say "developed" this or that characteristic in response to some applied force. Exactly how such responses are made is a major mystery. And why do oncogenes exist? Are they a product of chance? They hardly confer short-term survival capability. Reference. The existence and insidious-ness of cancer pose many questions. These are broached in BHH23-35 in our catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans II. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... as four) from the air. In 1937, a diver reported seeing a 29-foot-high pyramid in the murky waters. Recent divers have found boul-der alignments; but the visibility is so poor that organized structures cannot be identified. Truncated earthen pyramids exist at nearby precolumbian Aztalan; and strange rock piles exist elsewhere in Wisconsin. Consequently, one cannot brush off the idea that some edifices were built at Rock Lake when the water was much lower. (Smith, Susan Lampert; "Lake Mills' Lost Pyramids," Wisconsin State Journal, June 26, 1983. Cr. R. Heiden via L. Farish.) Comment. The 1937 dives are described in our Handbook Ancient Man. Perhaps it is relevant that sonar-imaging equip-ment has detailed obviously human-built rock structures on the floor of Loch Ness. Reference. Ancient Man is described here . Rock Lake pyramids drawn from 1937 diving observations. From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... cycle of this parasite is spent in arthropods (insects, crustaceans). As with the lancet fluke, the thorny-headed worm's big challenge is getting the arthropod eaten by a vertebrate. In most instances, it alters the behavior of the arthropod in a way that makes it more conspicuous to the predators. For example, infested pill bugs do not hide from birds, as they normally do, and are snapped up. Infested crustaceans move towards the light where ducks consume them. No one knows how a parasite floating in the body cavity of its host can control the host's behavior. (Moore, Janice; "Parasites That Change the Behavior of Their Host," Scientific American, 250:108, May 1984.) Comment. One cannot but wonder if human behavior is somehow controlled by parasites. Obviously we deny such dominance. Yet, some have speculated that our urge for space travel is only DNA's way of expanding its dominion. A thorny-headed worm that cycles between ducks and crustaceans. (Adapted from Scientific American). From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... -year-old sediments in Massachusetts. The egg is positively assigned to the moth family Noctuidae and extends the fossil record of this family back into the Cretaceous. So what? Well, it turns out that Noctuidae family moths have special organs for detecting the ultrasonic cries of insect-hunting bats. The fossil record of the bats, however, only goes back to the early Eocene, perhaps 20 million years after the Noctuidae moths. Since no other insect predators like bats existed, it would seem that the moths developed these special organs in anticipation of the bats! (Gall, Lawrence F., and Tiffney, Bruce H.; "A Fossil Noctuid Moth Egg from the Late Cretaceous of Eastern North America," Science, 219:507, 1983.) Comment. Do humans have talents that seem unimportant now but which may be useful some day? Calculating prodigies, eidetic imagers, etc. From Science Frontiers #26, MAR-APR 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... has what is certain to be a controversial answer. He was led to his conclusion by a series of experiments with psychoactive drugs, performed in collaboration with Professor Max Fink, SUNY, Stony Brook. Left-handers, the study demonstrated, are much more sensitive to drugs that act upon the central nervous system. Irwin believes that this finding is consistent with the known association of left-handedness with epilepsy and learning disorders. "But perhaps the most exciting aspect of Irwin's hypothesis is that it makes evolutionary sense. 'A greater resistance of right-handers to centrally active substances, when Man was a forager and before he learned to identify non-toxic edibles, would have favoured righthanded survival. This might account for the skew in the present handedness distribution that is unique to humans.'" And why should left-handers be more sensitive to psychoactive substances? Irwin thinks they must absorb or metabolize them differently, or perhaps there is a difference in the blood-brain barrier that affects the transport of substances into the brain. (Grist, Liz; "Why Most People Are Right-Handed," New Scientist, 22, August 16, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #36, NOV-DEC 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... are not discussed at all in the article referenced below. A post- Columbian date was suggested on the basis that implements and a dog's skeleton were also found with the Guadeloupe skeleton. The whole business has split the ranks of British scientific creationists. (Howgate, Michael, and Lewis, Alan; "The Case of Miocene Man," New Scientist, p. 44, March 29, 1984.) Comment. the "facts" presented in the New Scientist and Ex Nihilo are so discordant that we await further developments with great interest and some amusement. Beach rock forms quite rapidly; and the skeleton could be very recent, despite the claims made in Ex Nihilo. Reference. The subject of the Guadeloupe skeleton is developed more completely in our Catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans III. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 35: Sep-Oct 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Caenorhabditis Elegans The creature with this formidable name is only about a millimeter long and develops from egg to adult in about 3.5 days, at which time it possesses about 1,000 somatic cells. C. elegans is a roundworm, but a famous one. Its growth has been followed on a cell-bycell basis from egg to adult. The history of each cell is known from birth to death. The fact that C.elegans is nicely transparent helps the cell-watcher. Here are some of the interesting things to be seen as cells proliferate, live, and die. First, C. elegans is bilaterally symmetrical, but the pattern of cell generation on the right differs from that on the left. Nevertheless, the creature ends up symmetrical, making one wonder where the directions for symmetry come from. Some cells are transients, dying when their jobs are done. A few doomed cells are generated only because they produce sister cells that are needed in the final animal. Such a programmed loss of cells may be a method of modifying an organism during evolution. John Sulston, one of the researchers, says, "Within the lineage you can see the fossil of its past." (Marx, Jean L.; "Caenorhabditis Elegans: Getting to Know You," Science, 225:40, 1984.) Comment. Sulston's statement reminds one of "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," ...
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... The prevalent conception of the brain compares it to a hardwired computer in which all the wires and components are all permanently soldered together. An equivalent situation would prevail in the brain if all sensory pathways and cells had fixed duties and memories to handle. If the portion of the brain dedicated to speech were damaged, as in a stroke, it could never repair itself. This dogma is now being challenged. A pertinent line of brain research is now underway at the Coleman Laboratory of the University of California in San Francisco, where Michael Merzenich and his associates are studying the brains of monkeys. "Merzenich's findings challenge a prevailing notion that most sensory pathways in the nervous system are 'fixed' or 'hardwired' by the maturation of anatomic connections, either just before or soon after birth. They also address the puzzling question of what forces may be at work when stroke victims partly recover. Do 'redundant copies' of skills exist outside the damaged regions, or is physical damage within the brain repaired over time? Or can old skills be newly established in different, undamaged brain regions." Apparently the brain should really be compared with a reprogrammable computer. Perhaps the brain even stores duplicates of critical "programs"; i.e ., skills. Merzenich's findings go even farther. He finds that the parts of the brain associated with certain skills or data processing move and change shape spontaneously. The brain, it seems, continually reorganizes itself. Fading fast is the idea that each data point is recorded in a specific cell or neuron interconnection. ( ...
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... reaction more likely and in which large, stable spiral and ring-shaped structures appear spontaneously. At the macroscopic level, shock waves from supernovas can (at least in computer models) stimulate the formation of spiral arms in galaxies. The article concludes with a quote from astronomer David Layzer: "The universe is unfolding in time but not unraveling; on the contrary, it is becoming constantly more complex and richer in formation." (Tucker, Wallace, and Tucker, Karen; "Against All Odds: Matter and Evolution in the Universe," Astronomy, September 1984.) Comment. Now Layzer's statement seems a clear denial of the Second Law. It says, rather, that there is something intrinsic in the universe that creates order (spiral galaxies, amino acids, humans). We don't explain this tendency (assuming it really exists) just by identifying Belousov-Zhabotinsky reactions and saying, "That's the way things are." We can go one step further and say that the fundamental particles of physics have just the right properties so that they fall together into atoms, molecules, galaxies, and life forms. Can science go any further? From Science Frontiers #36, NOV-DEC 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... that individual metastases differ from one another. This diversity can be generated rapidly even when the tumors originate from a single transformed cell." (Fidler, Isaiah J., and Hart, Ian R.; "Biological Diversity in Metastatic Neoplasma: Origins and Implications," Science, 217:998, 1982.) Comment. The ability of single cancer cells to multiply into different kinds of cells, as well as propagate throughout an organism, seems to betoken an insidious biological entity, whose origin and purpose (? ) we have hardly begun to comprehend. How could cancer have evolved if it leaves no progeny? How could natural selection leave us so susceptible to cancer? Reference. The many enigmas of cancer are covered in categories BHH23-35 in our Catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans II. For information on this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 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 BIOLOGICAL REGENERATION: TWO ANOMALIES Anomaly 1. Contrary to the popular belief that mammals do not regenerate lost digits like the "lower" vertebrates, not only do mice regrow the tips of their foretoes, but young humans can regrow cosmetically perfect fingertips. However, the amputation cannot be too far back, and herein lies the second anomaly. Anomaly 2. Foretoe regeneration in mice is astoundingly sensitive to the site of amputation. Move the site only 0.2 0.3 millimeters farther back and no regrowth will occur. No one understands why such a tiny change in distance completely changes the body's response. (Borgens, Richard B.; "Mice Regrow the Tips of Their Foretoes," Science, 217:747, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... The Society was founded by a group of scientists interested in unrecognized species of animals. "An aquatic creature roughly resembling the traditional 'mermaid,' and sometimes identified with it, is reportedly known through a variety of encounters with natives of Central New Ireland. The ri, as they are called, are frequently sighted by fishermen, occasionally netted or found dead on beaches, and sometimes eaten. Males, females and juveniles are reported, subsisting on fish in the shallow seas around the Bismarck and Solomon archipelagos. It is unlikely that the animals are dugongs or porpoises, both of which are known to, and readily identified by, the natives." New Ireland is northeast of Papua-New Guinea. The article proper goes on to describe the ri as an air-breathing mammal with human-like head, arms, genitalia, and upper trunk. The lower trunk is legless and terminates in a pair of lateral fins. (Wagner, Roy; "The Ri -- Unidentified Aquatic Animals of New Ireland," Cryptozoology, 1:33, 1982.) Reference. Unrecognized mammals are cataloged in Chapter BMU in Biological Anomalies: Mammals II. Ordering information can be found here . From Science Frontiers #27, MAY-JUN 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... be a significant and involved relationship between age, the body's immune function, and a psychological factor called "fatigue." One clear-cut finding was that young patients facing radiation therapy and also reporting high levels of psychological fatigue were the only patients in the surveyed group showing diminished activity by the body's natural killer cells. These killer cells com-prise an important part of the defense against cancer. This biological consequence of apathy is confirmed by an-other study showing that cancer patients with "psychological distress" had better chances of recovery than those who had no "fight." (Herbert, W.; "Giving It Up -- At the Cellular Level," Science News, 124:148, 1983.) Comment. Assuming such mind-body correlations are real, how is mental attitude (supposedly some pattern of nerve signals in the brain) converted into greater or lesser populations of natural killer cells? From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... optic nerve produces similar geo meters' delights; so can drugs, fever, sleeplessness, and other altered states of consciousness. Migraine headaches, too, are often presaged by floating, semicircular fields of closely spaced parallel lines or bars arranged in zigzag patterns. This geometrical visual phenomenon may, like a berserk TV screen, be diagnostic and betray regularities in the brain's circuitry. The kaleidoscopic patterns seem to occur when imput signals from the eyes are weak or suspended, leaving the brain to generate its own "favorite" patterns. (Shepard, Roger N.; "The Kaleidoscopic Brain," Psychology Today, 17:62, June 1983.) Comment. But why the elaborate geometry? Could this apparently "built-in" pattern-generating capacity manifest itself in waking humans as an urge to describe the universe in terms of regular mathematical laws and geometric models? Visual sensations induced during controlled intoxication with cocaine. (Illustration from Unfathomed Mind) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Thou canst not stir a flower, without troubling of a star This poetic title from Francis Thompson tries to express the unity of nature from the smallest to the largest realms. One characteristic of the realms even smaller than that of the flower is the quantization typical of the subatomic world -- that is, microscopic nature. At the human locus in the dimensional scheme of things, quantization is difficult to detect outside the physics laboratory. Daniel M. Greenberger, perhaps with the above title in mind, asked whether quantization might not also exist in astronomy and cosmology -- that is, macroscopic nature. He has applied the principles of quantum mechanics to nature in-the-large where gravitational forces are dominant. (Gravitational forces are negligible in the subatomic world.) His math cannot be reproduced here. Suffice it to say that Greenberger has applied his findings to the absorption lines of quasars and the elliptical rings surrounding normal galaxies. Now, quasars and galaxies are far from atomic nuclei, being vast assemblages of diverse matter. Somewhat surprisingly, his equations are successful in predicting some features of these two macroscopic entities. (Greenberger, Daniel M.; "Quantization in the Large," Foundations of Physics, 13:903, 1983.) Comment. At the very least it is mindstretching to find that complex systems with millions of stars may exhibit quantum effects. With some relief, we note that like microscopic quantization effects ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Subtle Is The Virus "Without causing noticeable structural damage, a virus administered to laboratory mice has been found to dis rupt hormone production in a particular type of pituitary cell. This novel observation -- that viruses are able to injure their hosts in ways not previously suspected -- may trigger a far-reaching search for viruses as causes of many unexplained human diseases." Some of the other types of diseases mentioned as possible consequences of virus infection are those involving the faulty manufacture of insulin, neurotransmitters, hormones, and immune system regulators. (Miller, J.A .; "Subtle is the Virus: Cells Stay Intact," Science News, 125: 70, 1984.) Comment. This item dwells on the negative aspects of vial infections. Indeed, we automatically assume every infection by any virus or bacterium to be bad for the organism. This may not be so. Now that we have discovered that viruses can cause bodily changes without damaging the cells of the infected organism, we should ask whether favorable physical changes might not be caused by viruses, but not recognized as such. Going a few steps further: Is intelligence a disease? Could evolution be accelerated or directed through the mediation of viruses? See below for more on this. From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Mountain itself was inter-posed between the arc light and obser-vers. When the arc light was switched on, the observers saw an orange-red orb hovering several degrees above the crest of Brown Mountain. Conclusion: the majority of the so-called Brown Mountain lights, particularly those seen above the crest, are refractions of artificial lights. The real Brown Mountain lights, the mysterious ones, are those that flit through the trees well below the crest. These lights are extremely rare. Typically, they commence as a brilliant blue-white or yellow light, which tapers off to dull red before disappearing, all in 2-10 seconds. Horizontal motion is often only a degree or so, although some older reports have the lights wandering greater distances at speeds faster than a human could manage in the difficult terrain. In an experiment to determine whether the "true" Brown Mountain lights might be seismic in origin, ORION detonated small charges on Brown Mountain in July 1981. No artificially stimulated lights were recorded. (Frizzell, Michael A.; "Investigating the Brown Mountain Lights," INFO Journal, 9:22, January/February 1984. INFO = International Fortean Organization.) Reference. The Brown Mountain lights are classified under GLN1 with other "nocturnal lights." This category appears in our Catalog: Lightning, Auroras. To order, see: here . From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... . If the kinetic energy of cosmic expansion is to be balanced by gravitational potential energy (an apparent philosophical imperative), we have so far identified only 15% of the required mass. (2 ) On a smaller scale, galaxies in large galactic clusters are moving too fast. They should have flown apart long ago, but some unseen 'stuff' holds them together. Is it cosmic string? (Waldrop, M. Mitchell; "New Light on Dark Matter? Science, 224:971, 1984.) Comment. Since cosmic string weighs about 2 x 1015 tons per inch, the whole business is beginning to sound a bit silly. Actually, all action-at-a -distance forces, which we readily accept as real, are only artificial constructs of the human mind. Gluons, colored 'particles,' top quarks, cosmic string; where will it all end? From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 34: Jul-Aug 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Sunspots And Disease Six of the major influenza epidemics, at least as far back as 1917, were synchronized with the sunspot cycle. Fur-thermore, all but one of these epidemics involved an antigenic shift, wherein the flu virus developed a new coat of protein, which made it resistant to the immunities the population had built up over the years. There is no known mechanism by which solar activity can abet virus evolution, except penetrating radiation, which is inherently destructive. Lowered human immunity may also be a consequence of solar activity, according to Solco W. Tromp, director of the Biometeorological Research Center in the Netherlands. Over 30 years of research, using blood data from 730,000 male donors, led Tromp to the conclusion that the blood sedimentation rate varies with the sunspot cycle. Since this rate parallels the amount of albumin and gamma globulin, resistance to infection may also follow the lead of the sun. (Freitas, Robert A., Jr.; "Sunspots and Disease," Omni, 6:40, May 1984.) From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 13: Winter 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Human Compass In recent years, scientists have found magnetic material (magnetite) in birds, snails, porpoises, bacteria, and other animals. The utility of these biologically manufactured compasses is obvious. Humans, too, seem to have a magnetic sense, although no one has yet dissected the human head to search for magnetite crystals. Rather, the proof of a magnetic sense comes from direction-finding experiments by Robin R. Baker, in England. In a series of tests involving many subjects, blindfolded humans have been taken far afield and then asked, while still blindfolded, to point "home" and north. The results were surprising. Sense of direction was not lost despite long journeys. Furthermore, tests after removal of the blindfolds showed a marked deterioration of the directionfinding ability. The attachment of magnets and simulated magnets to the subjects proved that the magnets upset di-rection-finding capabilities. The controls with brass "magnets" retained their magnetic sense. (Baker, Robin R.; "A Sense of Magnetism," New Scientist, 87:844, 1980.) Reference. To read more about the human navigation sense, see BHT18 in our Catalog: Biological Anomalies: Humans I. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 13: Winter 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects New Definition For Humans Needed One scientist has defined humans as "tool makers" as distinguished from "tool users." This distinction is necessary because several animals employ tools for simple tasks, such as fishing termites out of holes. However, Kitahara-Frisch points out in this paper that experiments by Wright with a young orangutan proved that at least one animal can actually make tools; that is, use one tool to make another. More specifically, Wright taught the orangutan to strike sharp flint flakes from a core and then use them to cut a cord and gain access to its favorite food. (Kitahara-Frisch, J.; "Apes and the Making of Stone Tools," Current Anthropology, 21:359, 1980.) Comment. Apparently, with orangutans, at least, no manipulative or cognitive barriers exist to prevent them from entering their own Stone Age. Reference. The ability of non-human mammals to manufacture and use tools is cataloged at BMT11 in Biological Anomalies: Mammals I. To order, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 13: Winter 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Alien Presence Hidden behind an obscure technical title is a most curious discovery. I.C . Eperon and his coworkers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, England, have shown that "human mitochondria did not originate from recognizable relatives of present day organisms." The authors go even further, describing human mitochondria as a "radical departure." (Eperon, I.C ., et al; "Distinctive Sequence of Human Mitochondrial Ribosomal RNA Genes," Nature, 286:460, 1980.) Comment. The inferences above may be far-reaching. Mitochondria are vital components in the cells of the so-called higher organisms. Apparently possessing their own genetic material, they are suspected of being descendants of an cient bacteria that invaded and took up residence in cells. If human mitochondria are radically different, could changes in mitochondria be the source of the purported wide gap between humans and other animals? Did the mitochondria change (" evolve") in existing ancient mammals, converting them suddenly into humans? Or did a new "species" of mitochondria infect terrestrial cells, perhaps coming to earth on cosmic debris, as Fred Hoyle has suggested? From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bowerbird art for art's sake The bowerbirds of New Guinea and Australia build and decorate marvelously intricate and esthetic works of art. One must classify these impressive structures as works of art, even by human standards. For example, the bowers have geometrical organization and may be oriented to a specific compass direction, depending upon the species. Colorful berries, stones, and, when available, human artifacts are systematically arranged around the bower. Some bowerbirds even take a piece of bark in their bills and paint their bowers with colored berry juices. Each species has a certain style, but the bowers vary from individual to individual and with the age of the bird. Manifestly, these birds use tools for artistic purposes. Or do they? Is it all instinct? Some animal behaviorists believe the bower's purpose is to attract mates, but the males often chase females away, although mating does eventually occur within the bowers. A second explanation is that the bowers symbolize territorial rights. In this context, bowerbirds fre-quently raid and destroy neighboring bowers, stealing choice decorations -- all very human-like behavior. (Diamond, Jared M.; "Evolution of Bowerbirds' Bowers: Animal Origins of the Esthetic Sense," Nature, 297:99, 1982.) Comment. Is human art any more profound than that of the bowerbirds? Human artists doubtless feel they are doing something more than attracting mates or ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 15: Spring 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Invention Of Agriculture May Have Been A Step Backward Anthropological texts have always ballyhooed the development of agriculture as one of man's greatest achievements. Not so, says Mark Cohen, of SUNY Plattsburgh. The switch from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture, it seems, occurred rather suddenly and was attended by a sharp drop in life expectancy. Ancient human bones reveal much more disease, fewer older people, and more violent deaths for centuries following the adoption of agriculture. Why did humanity give up the surprising degrees of security, freedom, and leisure intrinsic in hunting and gathering? Cohen claims that population pressure was the cause. Unable to stem the human population explosion, ancient humans were forced to adopt a life of toil, disease, and stress. (Lewin, Roger; "Disease Clue to Dawn of Agriculture," Science, 211:41, 1981.) Comment. Is there an echo of the Garden of Eden story here? From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 16: Summer 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hooray, another "dangerous" book!The May 22, 1981, issue of Science devotes three entire pages to a discussion of the issues raised in the book Genes, Minds, and Culture, written by Edward Wilson and Charles Lumsden. The subject of this book is "gene-culture coevolution," which infers that human culture is controlled not so much by "free will" as by rapidly changing human genes. The authors propose that as few as 1000 years are sufficient for important genetic shifts. Such shifts might, for example, impel humans to break out of the Middle Ages and bring on the Industrial Revolution. The most controversial facets of the theory are: (1 ) The tight genetic control over human culture with little room for free will; and (2 ) The rapid blossoming of many cultures as genes shift about. As one scientist remarked, this book is "dangerous." Others describe it as marvelous. The Science article deals not so much with the book as with the reactions to it -- and the reactions have been powerful, both pro and con. (Lewin, Roger; "Cultural Diversity Tied to Genetic Differences," Science, 212:908, 1981.) Comment. The impression one gets from the synopsis of the book is that humankind is diversifying rapidly into new cultural configurations not through human volition but because of those imperious "selfish genes" we all carry. From Science ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Nomads Within Us It was originally believed that human chromosomes were fixed at conception and all subsequent organic development proceeded from the instructions encoded on them. Biologists have recently discovered that genes grasshopper about, constantly modifying genetic instructions -- at least that's the current thinking. Additional modification of genetic instructions seems to be accomplished by entities called "nomads" or "mobile dispersed genetic elements." One type of nomad is a simple ring of DNA called a plasmid. Plasmids seem to be identical to a kind of virus called a retrovirus, which can penetrate into cells and tamper with gene expression; that is, the way genetic instructions are interpreted. Plasmids have been discovered in maize, fruit flies, bacteria, and, now, humans -- and healthy people at that. No one is quite sure what these plasmids do. Even though they look like retroviruses, they may not be associated with illness, but rather help organisms adapt to changing environments. But no one really knows. (Anonymous; "Human Wandering Genes Can Live on Their Own," New Scientist, 94:18, 1982.) Comment. So, the human body is not only beset by new genetic instructions and the static introduced by invading viruses and other disease agents, but it has an indigenous population of nomads continually fiddling with our cells' genetic instructions. Our bodies seem more like Grand Central Station with trains loaded with new biological ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 19: Jan-Feb 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Diffusion Of Science In Prehistoric Times In contrast to many archeologists who tend to play down the intelligence of prehistoric humans, B.A . Frolov insists that these "primitive hunters" constucted surprisingly sophisticated models of the natural world, especially the motions of celestial bodies. Many of these models seem to have been non-utilitarian; that is, built only to satisfy intellectual curiosity. Furthermore, some scientific notions were widespread geographically, indicating perhaps long lines of communication. To illustrate, Frolov cites the similar astronomical sophistication revealed by the Lake Onega petroglyphs in Russia and those at Stonehenge. He also points out that the aborigines of North America, Australia, and Siberia all called the Pleiades the "Seven Sisters." Coincidence is very unlikely here, he says. This and other notions must have existed before Australia and North America were peopled. The absence of writing as we know it would not have deterred ancient humans from developing and communicating mathematical and scientific skills and accumulating knowledge, possibly in the form of myth. (Frolov, B.A .; "On Astronomy in the Stone Age," Current Anthropology, 22: 585, 1981.) Comment. A passing thought: may not writing as well as today's omnipresent computers be crutches that permit our memories and mental skills to deteriorate? In our Handbook The Unfathomed Mind, we present many cases of remarkable memory and information-processing ability. Such skills ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 11: Summer 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bering Strait Theory Again In Trouble If humans first populated North America via the Bering land bridge 10-20,000 years ago, how did human bones and artifacts get buried under a 50,000-year-old alluvial fan in California? Dogma demands that such finds be discredited. Thus, "Pleistocene Man at San Diego," the Calaveras Skull, and dozens of other archeological anomalies have been dismissed as the hoaxes and misidentifications of nonprofessionals. The latest hint of truly ancient man in America came after heavy rains in 1976 cut through 21 meters of deposits at Yuha Pinto Wash, just north of the Mexican border in California. The artifacts, still firmly in place, and associated bones are undeniably human. The overlying sediments are dated at more than 50,000 years old. (Childers, W. Morlin, and Minshall, Herbert L.; "Evidence of Early Man Exposed at Yuha Pinto Wash," American Antiquity, 45:297, 1980.) Reference. More evidence against the Bering land bridge hypothesis may be found in Ancient Man. This Handbook is described here . From Science Frontiers #11, Summer 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... to answer if the rhythms have no value to the organism's success. (Palmer, John D., and Goodenough, Judith E.; "Mysterious Monthly Rhythms," Natural History, 87:64, December 1978.) Comment. It would, or course, be outright heresy to suggest that heavenly bodies may be the sources of unrecognized but biologically significant forces. Reference. Correlations of lunar phase and disturbed human behavior are cataloged at BHB4 in: Biological Anomalies: Humans I. Further information on this book is located at: here . From Science Frontiers #7 , June 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is your brain really necessary?John Lorber, a British neurologist, has studied many cases of hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and concluded that the loss of nearly all of the cerebral cortex (the brain's convoluted outer layer) does not necessarily lead to mental impairment. He cites the case of a student at Sheffield University, who has an IQ of 126 and won first-class honors in mathematics. Yet, this boy has virtually no brain; his cortex measures only a millimeter or so thick compared to the normal 4.5 centimeters. Although the deeper brain structures may carry on much of the body's work, the cortex is supposed to be a late evolutionary development that gave humans their vaunted mental powers and superiority over the other animals. If the cortex can be removed with little mental impairment, what is it for in the first place? (Lewin, Roger; "Is Your Brain Really Necessary?" Science, 210:1232, 1980.) Comment. Brain size, then, may mean nothing in comparing ancient and modern human skulls or human brain capacity with those of animals! Where is the seat of intelligence? In some cases of hydrocephalus, the cortex is only paper-thin, but little mental impairments is apparent. From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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