71 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 123: May-Jun 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Copper Pseudomorphs There are two places in the world where large masses of native (almost pure) copper are common: the Lake Superior region, particularly Isle Royale, and Corocoro, Bolivia. The largest "nugget" of nearly pure copper comes from Lake Superior and weighs almost 46 tons! But the Corocoro mines are rich in another way; copper "pseudomorphs." In copper pseudomorphs, copper ions insidiously invade crystals of other minerals and assume their shapes. Copper pseudomorphs of aragonite, a form of CaCO3 , are common. Aragonite sometimes occurs as short, tabular, hexagonal prisms, as shown in the sketch. Under the water table, in a copper-rich area, copper ions in solution "attack" aragonite crystals. First, they oust and replace the outer layers of CaCO3 , gilding the aragonite crystal with a thin layer of pure copper. Then, they work inwardly and eventually usurp the whole crystal and take on its shape. Even stranger are those hexagonal crystals that are pure aragonite in the top half and pure copper in the bottom half. Mineralogists speculate that these formed along the edge of the water table. (Hyrsl, Jaroslav, and Petrov, Alfred; "Pseudomorphs from Bolivia," Rocks and Minerals , 73:110, November/December 1998.) From Science Frontiers #123, MAY-JUN 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Supernumerary Rainbows GEB16 Prismatic Pillars at the Foot of the Rainbow GEB17 The Dark Space between Primary and Secondary Rainbows GEB18 Grossly Distorted Rainbows GEB19 Rainbows Dividing Sky Colors GEB20 The Odor of the Rainbow Double White Rainbows Tertiary Rainbows Polarization of Rainbow Light Segments of Greyish Light in the Sky Unexplained Dark Lines in the Sky GEH UNUSUAL HALO DISPLAYS AND CORONAS GEH1 Offset Halos and Anomalous Arcs GEH2 Noncircular Halos GEH3 Extraordinary Mock-Sun and Mock-Moon Displays GEH4 Halos Dividing Sky Colors GEH5 Bishop's Ring... GEH6 Halos of Unusual Radii GEH7 Jumping and Moving Halos GEH8 Kaleidoscopic Suns GEH9 Skewed and Deformed Halo Displays GEH10 Bottlinger's Rings GEH11 Transient Lines Superimposed on Halo Displays GEH12 Optical Effects Where Halo Displays Touch the Horizon GEH13 Close, One-Sided Mock Suns GEH14 Halo Displays Formed by Terrestrial Ice Crystals Anomalous Lunar Coronas Circumzenithal Arc and Black Band GEI OBSERVER-CENTERED PHENOMENA GEI1 Puzzling Features of the Brocken Specter GEI2 Heligenschein GEI3 Rotating Spokes about the Shadow of One's Head Sylvanshine Snow Sparkles GEL LOW-SUN PHENOMENA GEL1 Puzzling Features of the Green Flash GEL2 Anomalous Diverging Rays at Sunset and Sunrise GEL3 Color Phenomena and the Earth's Shadow on the Sky GEL4 Abnormal Refraction Phenomena with Astronomical Objects... GEL5 Anomalous Aspects of the Krakatoa Sunsets GEL6 The Alpine Glow... GEL7 Spectral Dispersion near the Sea's Surface GEL8 Low-Sun Landscape Fluorescence GEL9 Low-Sun Spectral Bows GEL10 Low-Sun Shadow Bands GEL11 The Second Purple Light GEL12 Moving Patches of Light on the Horizon Jumping Stars Post-Twilight Infrared Brightening of the Sky Extraordinary Sunsets GEM THE MAGIC OF MIRAGES ...
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... in Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks ESC3 Surface Films on Rocks ESC4 Spontaneous, Rapid, Exothermic Reactions in Nature ESC5 Death Gulches ESC6 Violent Lake Turnovers ESC7 Petrifactions and Lignifications ESC8 Geological Effects of Natural Combustion ESC9 Rocks and Sediments of Controverted Origins ESC10 Unusual Growth Structures ESC11 Possible Extraterrestrial Origin of Ocean Water ESC12 Chemical Anomalies of Lakes and Ground Water ESC13 Petroleum Anomalies ESC14 Coal Anomalies ESC15 Outgassing of Radon-222 ESC16 Methane Anomalies ESD DEPOSITS OF REMARKABLE SIZE ESD1 Bone Caves, Bone Caches,... ESD2 Bone Beds, Fish Beds,... ESD3 Sedimentary Deposits of Exceptional Volume ESD4 Historical Evidence for Large Scale Flooding ESD5 Recent Large Reductions of Polar Ice Cover ESD6 Giant Basalt Flows and Traps ESD7 Giant Accumulations of Oil ESD8 Giant Erratics and Megabreccias ESD9 Deposits of Great Areal Extent ESI INCLUSIONS ESI1 Inclusions in Crystals ESI2 Microdebris ESI3 Erratic Boulders, Stones, and Mineral Patches ESI4 Anomalous Amber Inclusions ESI5 Microfossil-Like Inclusions ESI6 Oil in Fossil Cavities ESI7 Carbon Dust on Fossil Plants ESI8 Great Rarity of Fossil Meteorites and Tektites ESI9 Stretched Pebbles ESM ANOMALOUS SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS ESM1 Unusual Superficial Aggregations of Rocks ESM2 Strewn Fields of Natural Glasses ESM3 Tektite and Microtektite Paradoxes and Anomalies ESM4 Boulder Trains and Belts ESM5 Rock Glaciers, Block Fields,... ESM6 Elevated Erratics... ESM7 Anomalous Glacial Drift ESM8 Fluidized Debris Slides ESM9 Surging Glaciers ESM10 Driftless Enclaves within Glaciated Regions ESM11 Anomalous Rock Motion ESM12 Superficial Rocky Debris of Doubtful Provenance ESP ANOMALOUS PHYSICAL PHENOMENA IN GEOLOGY ESP1 Anomalous Radiohalos ESP2 Flexible Rocks ESP3 Unusually Colored Rocks ESP4 Noncrushing of Fossils in Sediment Compaction ESP5 Remarkable Polished Rocks ESP6 Ringing Rocks ESP7 Small-Scale ...
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... Angels) Psychic Lights (Welsh Revival) UFOs and Their Occupants [X ] Visions of Monsters Illusions of Desired Physical Phenomena (N -Rays) Psychic Doubles or Autoscopic Illusions Negative Hallucinations Collective Hallucinations Auditory Hallucinations Imaginary Companions (" Philip" Phenomenon) Nightmares Auras Hostage Hallucinations Geomagnetism and Hallucinations Hallucinations in Life-Threatening Situations Lilliputian Hallucinations Hypnotism and Color Blindness Illusions of Levitation [PSP] Seance Illusions [PSM, PBA] Indian Rope Trick and Related Magic Tricks Sex-Change Hallucination Ghosts Alien Abductions [X ] Psychic Surgery Missing Time Hallucination Duplication in Time Men-in-Black Black helicopters [X ] Pyramid Power PLD OUT-OF-THE-BODY EXPERIENCES Out-of-the-Body Experiences (OBEs) OBEs under Morbid Conditions PLS HALLUCINATIONS STIMULATED BY MECHANICAL DEVICES Visual Hallucinations Stimulated by Crystal Balls and Similar Devices Auditory Hallucinations Stimulated by Tape Recorders and Similar Devices Odd Perceptions Optical Illusions [PIB] PP PSYCHIC BIOLOGY PPA ALLERGY AND ASTHMA Allergies Asthma PPB BODILY PARAMETERS AFFECTED BY THE MIND Temperature Odor Heart Rate Physical Performance Reflexes Alpha-Rhythm Visual Perception Color Blindness Deafness Fatigue Sleep Physical Size (Breast Size) Luminosity Auras [PLG] PPC CANCER AND THE MIND Cancer Onset Cancer Remission PPD DEATH Willed Death Suicide Twin Effect Birthday Phenomenon PPE PREGNANCY False Pregnancy Couvade Labor Onset Birth Defects PPG GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS (PSYCHOLOGICAL "FORCES) Hypnotism Faith and Prayer Healing Charms, Snakestones, Elixirs Imaging and Visualization Touch Therapy (Laying-on-of-Hands Placebos Stress and Depression Will Power Media Suggestion Yoga Meditation Voodoo, Curses, Hexes Belief Systems (Christian Science) Prophecy Homeopathy Acupuncture Mental Exaltation ...
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... Africa Mammoths in Egypt Ohio Copper Tablets China in South America Egyptian Electricity Palenque Astronaut China in India Jinmium [MGS Symbols] Horses in South America Microscopic Engraving MGQ QUIPUS AND STRING FIGURES Quipus String Figures MGS SYMBOLS, MOTIFS Cup-and-Ring Carvings Painted Pebbles (Mas d'Azil) Grafitti Comalcalco Pyramid-Brick Markings Jinmium Petroglyphs [also MGP] Painted Lima Beans Minoan Labyrinth Motif Pecked crosses Incised Star Configurations Pockmarks Clay Tokens with Symbols Hindu Motifs in America Hindu Motifs in Indonesia Chinese Motifs in America [MGP] Mexican Sellos Kekip Sesonator Apparent Symbols on Ancient Strata [MGW] Fingerprint Markings Freemason Signs in Anomalous Places Lakin Tablets Spirals African Motifs Worldwide Japanese Symbols Worldwide Inscribed Tokens Pedra Pintada Symbols Old World Motifs in Northeastern North America (Eskimos, etc.) MGT STATUES, CARVINGS, SEALS Crystal Skulls Sphinx Easter Island Statues Carved Spheres [MSO] Chinese Carvings in America Egyptian Carvings in Australia Acambaro Figurines Mastadon and Elephant Carvings in Anomalous Places Nampa Image Olmec Heads Chinese Seals in Ireland Jade Objects in America Fossil Man of Onodaga (Hoax) Gorilla Carvings in Mesoamerica Ape Carvings in North America Unexpected Faces in America Burrows Cave Artifacts Maize Carvings in India Hooded Snake in America Serpent Sculpture Worldwide Australian Head Carving in cave Crespi Collection Engraved Pebbles Gateway-of-the-Sun Symbols Tiahuanaco Heads Tiny, Gold Airplanes Mexican Cylinder Seals Ica Stones Roman Head in Mexico Phoenician Carvings in Britain MGW WRITING Script in Australia Indus Writing (Mohenjo-Daro) Mystic Symbol Oklahoma Runestones Bat Creek Tablet Easter Island "Writing" Mechanicsburg Stones Kensington Stone Cuna/Kuna Writing Hearn Tablet Chinese in America Ogam in America ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 126: Nov-Dec 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Towering Shafts Of Light Ice crystals in the atmosphere can dazzle us with bright haloes, sundogs, and similar optical phenomena -- as long as the sun or moon are shining. Sometimes, though, human light sources will create remarkable displays using the same ice crystals. The first of the two examples below is notable for its extreme height; the second provides the accepted explanation. August 24, 1998. South China Sea. Aboard the m.v . Oriental Bay , Hong Kong to Singapore. "Four shafts of narrow vertical light were observed reflected in the sky. Upon consulting the chart it was revealed that they were 'reflections' of the four flares of the Kakap Natuna oil terminal, which at this point was 75 n mile away. "As indicated in the sketch, the shafts of light were visible above a lower layer of stratocumulus cloud, and, when measured by sextant, their upper tips were calculated to be nearly 13 km high. The shafts appeared to be reflected in a thin layer of cirrostratus and, as the vessel approached to 60 n mile from the terminal, the glow from the flares was also visible on the horizon." (Peterson, J.L .; "Optical Phenomenon," Marine Observer, 69:110, 1999.) Tall light pillars rise over the South China Sea February 4, 1999. Toyama Bay, Japan. The caption quoted below is located beneath ...
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... uniform spokes shot through with brighter purple and white bolts resembling lightning. Over the noise of the wind a sharp crackling and hissing sound could be heard coming from the phenomenon. "The seaman was called to have a look at the light, he attempted to touch it but the light receded as his finger approached within 3 cm of it. The effect died away at about 2340 as soon as rain started to fall." (Smedley, R.; "Corposants," Marine Observer, 69:55, 1999.) Comments. The corposant's six-fold symmetry is like that of snowflakes. Strange as it may sound, they may be a connection. First, recall what J. Maddox once wrote about snowflakes in Nature. "But the symmetry of the whole crystal, represented by the exquisite six-fold symmetry of the standard snowflake, must be the consequence of some cooperative phenomenon involving the growing crystal as a whole. What can that be? What can tell one growing face of a crystal (in three dimensions this time) what the shape of the opposite face is like?" (SF#38) The speculation is that electrical forces may control the long-range symmetry of snowflakes as well as the unusual six-fold symmetry of the corposant described above. It's a thought anyway. The word "corposant" is said to be derived from the Latin for "bodies of the saints." It seems that the corpses of some of the saints have been luminous! (See BHA22 in Humans I .) From Science ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 17: Fall 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects What was, is, and shall be Rupert Sheldrake, an English plant physiologist, has written a new book entitled A New Science of Life; The Hypothesis of Formative Causation. In it, he revives and expands the theory of morphogenic fields. Basically, this theory states that existing organized structures, such as crystals and organisms, establish fields that shape the future organization of matter into similar crystals and organisms in a probabalistic way. In other words, once a specific crystal (or life form) is synthesized, it sets up a morphogenic field that will make it easier to synthesize further the same, or nearly the same, crystal (or life form). To support his ideas, Sheldrake claims that it is common knowledge that a brand-new crystal form is difficult to synthesize at first but that further syntheses become easier and easier. The prevailing "scientific" explanation of this amazing fact is that fragments (seeds) of the initial synthesis are carried from lab to lab by humans and even the air! Morphogenic fields, however, explain such phenomena very nicely without postulating tiny crystal seeds in scientists' beards. Sheldrake then goes on to review McDougall's experiments in the 1920s in which trained rats from water mazes apparently passed their new knowledge on to their progeny. McDougall thought that he had proved the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Other biologists repeating his heretical experiments found that their first-generation rats solved the same water ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology A Disaster-driven Early Civilization Another Remarkable Specimen of Ancient Man Astronomy The Puzzle of the Moon's Origin When Mars Had Lakes Why Aren't the Martian Craters Worn Down? Flip-flop Radio Jets? Biology The Genome's Responses to Challenges "hopeful Monsters" in Iceland? Parasites May Reprogram Host's Cell Geology More Doubts About Asteroids The Earth is Expanding and We Don't Know Why The Grand Canyon Conundrum Evidence for A Giant Pleistocene Sea Wave Recent Pulsations of Life Geophysics "Crystal" Ball Lightning The Big Divot! Shower of Coke Chemistry & Physics Squarks and Photinos At Cern? What Does it All Mean? The Secret of it All is in the Pi ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 70: Jul-Aug 1990 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology A RELUCTANT, LONG-OVERDUE PARADIGM SHIFT Astronomy "TAIL WAGS DOG" IN SOLAR SYSTEM Two anomalous types of stars Tilted planetary magnetic fields Biology Killer bamboos Killer whale dialects Wandering albatrosses really wander Crystal engineering Bird brain Artificial molecule shows 'sign of life' Geology Why aren't beach pebbles round? Antarctic ice sheets slipping? Natural gas explosion? Geophysics Double image of lunar crescent Elliptical halos Belgian flying triangle Lightning "attacks" vehicles Spinning ball of light inscribes crop circles General Successful predictions mean little in science ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 93: May-Jun 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Giant Crystal At The Heart Of The Earth Geophysicists have been forced to consider this possibility because of two anomalies: Seismic waves from earthquakes pass through the earth's core faster when they travel parallel to the earth's axis than when they travel in the plane of the equator. The transit time difference is 2-4 seconds. Apparently, the earth's core is not perfectly spherical or its properties are different in different directions. The natural vibration or "ringing" frequencies of the earth are "split," that is, instead of a series of single "tones" we detect a series of closely paired frequencies. This is symptomatic of a core that is anisotropic; that is, its properties are different in different directions. J. Tromp, of Harvard, may have de-anomalized both sets of observations with a single theory: "For the shape of the core alone to explain the observations, he says, the shape of the inner core would have to be very unrealistic. Instead, he claims that the inner core behaves like a giant asymmetric crystal, aligned with the Earth's axis so that seismic waves travel faster in that direction. Tromp's analysis fits neatly with suggestions that the inner core is made of a high-pressure phase of iron in which the atoms are close-packed in hexagons, because such a 'sigma' phase is anisotropic." But, ...
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... 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 Diamonds are an anomalist's best friend The diamonds we mine today were, according to prevailing wisdom, formed about 3 billion years ago, at depths of 150-300 kilometers, where pressures of 725,000-1 ,000,000 psi are believed to exist. After lengthy cooling periods, the crystalized diamonds were transported to the surface by fluid, lower-melting-point rocks, such as kimberlite. Many South African diamonds are mined from kimberlite pipes. Diamonds are never pure carbon; they always contain some nitrogen and boron. Occasionally, they harbor tiny radioactive impurities; usually alpha-particle emitters in the uranium-238 decay chain. Alphas emitted by these impurities have well-defined energies and penetrate the diamond matrix only so far. If one examines a diamond with a high-power microscope (say, at 100 x), one can see concentric rings surrounding the impurities. These dark radiohalos or "pleochroic" halos have specific radii and can be used to identify the radioisotopes that produced them. So far, so good; but: "The fact that fully formed, optically visible internal radiohalos in diamonds are now presented casts a considerable shadow over current theories of diamond genesis." Actually, the radiohalos pose three challenges to diamond-genesis theory. Problem 1. The half-lives of the halo-creating radioisotopes are measured in thousands of years rather than the billions prescribed for crystallization. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 103: Jan-Feb 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Two Probable Frauds That turkey on the Bayeux Tapestry. Fortunately, we added a caveat when we mentioned this turkey (see sketch) in SF#81. If said turkey really appears on the Bayeux Tapestry, which dates back to the Eleventh Century, it would clearly indicate Precolumbian contact with the New World. However, careful study of a copy of the Tapestry has failed to find this typically New World bird anywhere. (Sørensen, Erik Ringdal; personal communication, November 2, 1995) That crystal skull in the British Museum. Considered a first-class anomaly, this compelling artifact is carved out of hard crystalline quartz. It is said to exert an eerie effect on its viewers. Some say it was carved by the Atlanteans, but the Aztecs are generally credited with this amazing job of manufacture. The big puzzle is: How could the Aztecs have done it without modern lapidary tools -- the skull is so smooth and perfect? Well, maybe the Aztecs didn't carve it! A. Rankin, of Kingston University, has examined the tiny trails made by fluid inclusions in the quartz matrix. He finds that they are characteristic of Brazilian quartz. In fact, there seem to be no suitable sources of massive quartz crystals anywhere in Mexico; and the Aztecs do not appear to have made any incursions into Brazil. Even worse, British Museum experts have now found small cuts made by steel tools on ...
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... St. Louis, C. Masthay writes: "In Science Frontiers 100, p. 2, Jul.-Aug. 1995, you have the article WEIRD ICICLES. Well I've just got to tell you about the icicle in my icecube tray. I went to Connecticut on vacation for 2 weeks the latter half of this June (1995). Sometime during that time the electricity was out for 3 ½ hours. When I opened my refrigerator for a drink, there was a weird stalagmitic icicle with a faint frostiness on the cystalline end. I left it alone for these 2 weeks to watch it recede with my frostfree refrigerator. When I saw your article, I regarded the explanation of a central channel as being inappropriate, for this one had to grow as a normal crystal in the unaccustomed rise in temperature. It too had a tipped angle of perhaps 10 to 15 . What is more is that this is the second time this has happened in a year. How many other refrigerators have done the same? Thus the birdbath crystal is not impossible." (Masthay, Carl; personal communication, July 17, 1995.) Questions. Why are all of these upwardgrowing icicles inclined slightly? Why are they all prismatic in contrast to those hanging from our eaves? From Science Frontiers #102 Nov-Dec 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... , as far as we know. Now, in some diamonds, these tubular arrays are found to be associated with radiohalos. Radiohalos are often seen in some common minerals, such as biotite, but, even there, questions of origin persist. (See SF#25 and SF#58.) No one questions that radiohalos, whether in biotite or diamonds, arise from the the decay of radioactive inclusions; that is, mineral specks carrying uranium, thorium, or some other radioactive element. But how did these radioactive specks get lodged inside the hollow tubes which themselves are encased within diamonds? The problem is that these specks have much lower melting points than the diamond matrix. Why wasn't the liquid radioactive material dispersed throughout the higher melting point diamond matrix long before the latter crystallized? The same question must be asked about the radiohalos themselves, because the application of heat quickly anneals and disperses them. Complicating the picture still further is the fact that some of the radiohalos arise from the decay of polonium-210, which has a half life of only 138 days. The hollow tubes, the lowmeltingpoint inclusions, and shorthalflife radiohalos combine complicate the explanation of diamond origin(s ) and geological history. (Armitage, Mark; "Internal Radiohalos in a Diamond," Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal, 9:93, 1995. This creationist journal is published in Australia. The article is based mainly on: Mendelssohn, M.J . et al; "Internal Radioactive Haloes in Diamonds," Diamond Research , 17:2 , 1979.) Comment. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 100: Jul-Aug 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Weird Icicles Prism-like vertical icicle growing from a birdbath in Sussex, December 21, 1992. The British journal Weather has published two more photos of upside-down icicles. We reproduce one that is typical of the genre. [Another growing at an angle from a birdbath is sketched on SF#79.] In the formation of such icicles, liquid water is somehow forced upward from a reservoir through a central channel. As it reaches the top, it freezes. If this is indeed the mechanism, why do these upside-down icicles usually form crystal-like prisms with flat sides? (Bjørbaek, Gustav; "Unusual Ice Formations," Weather, 50:188, 1995.) Delightfully, the plot becomes more twisted with a beautiful horizontal helical icicle that was photographed in New Zealand. This truly strange icicle looks like a horizontal bedspring 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. There are eight complete turns in the helix. It has grown several times from a hairline crack in a handrail support which fills with water during a rainstorm. (Dowden, Richard, et al; "Helical Icicle," Weather, 49:435, 1994.) From Science Frontiers #100, JUL-AUG 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 93: May-Jun 1994 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The spirit pond inscription stone Molecular clock places humans in new world 22,000-29,000 bp Astronomy Anomalous horizon glows seen on the moon From dust unto dust Biology Marine snow A REALLY ERRANT PIGEON A REALLY ERRANT SEAL Cold-blooded birds? Why snakes have forked tongues Lactating male bats Geology The nebraska sand hills: wind or water deposits? The giant crystal at the heart of the earth Geophysics Strange explosions at sasovo, in russia Just plane weird Psychology The healing of rents in the natural order Mathematics Btt and surreality ...
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... colouring of brown and yellow, and turquoise. I have noticed during passages around the world how the colours do apparently change, varying from almost trans-lucent purple to a deep navy colour, and wonder how many other colourings of flying-fish wings have been reported. "I think that flying fish are just taken for granted but perhaps if we looked at them more closely, then we may see some really weird and wondeful colours, especially in island areas. What does baffle me, is why, when the wings are only extended during flight, they should be of differing colours. I could understand it if they were a coral-swimming fish where the colours are designed to help them blend into the coral colours and so evade capture, but why the need in flight over crystal clear waters like the Coral Sea?" (Bell, A.D .G .; ". .. and Whether Fish Have Wings," Marine Observer, 64:136, 1994. This journal may be ordered from: The Stationery Office Publications Centre, P.O . Box 276, London SW8 5DT, ENGLAND.) Comment. In other words, how do the bright colors, seen only in flight, increase the species' fitness and thus be explicable by the evolutionary paradigm? From Science Frontiers #96, NOV-DEC 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 116: Mar-Apr 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Microscopic Life On Mars?The worm-like structures present in that (supposed) Martian meteorite ALH 84001 superficially resemble miniature bacteria. On this basis NASA loudly proclaimed that they might be the fossils of primitive Martian life forms. (SF#108, #110) Some scientists were suspicious of this claim. J.P . Bradley et al, in a recent letter to Nature, declared the putative fossils to be only the fractured surfaces of lifeless crystals. Responding, K. Thomas-Keprta insisted that her group was not so stupid that it would mistake crystals for fossils! Her group, too, had noticed the crystals. The claimed fossils are much larger and more numerous than the crystals. To settle the matter, Thomas-Keprta and associates plan to dissect the suspect structures. Stay tuned to this newsletter! (Bradley, J.P ., et al; "No Nanofossils in Martian Meteorite," Nature, 390:454, 1997. Also: Kerr, Richard A.; "Putative Martian Microbes Called Microscopy Artifacts," Science, 278:1706, 1997.) From Science Frontiers #116, MAR-APR 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 121: Jan-Feb 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects How Homeopathy Might Work Although some people swear to the efficacy of homeopathy's "remedies," skeptics have been fond of pointing out that these fluids are so dilute that no molecules of the active ingredients are likely to remain. Believers respond that the fluid remedies somehow retain the "essence" of the active ingredient. In effect, they maintain that water has a "memory." No wonder mainstream scientists scoff at homeopathy. But wait, perhaps water can have a memory! A Cal Tech chemist has put extremely dilute solutions under his electron microscope and found that some contain strange "ice" crystals, even though room temperature and pressure prevail. Called "IE crystals," they are produced through the action of ions. They are stable even at higher temperatures. Subsequently, an immunologist at the University of California at Los Angeles discovered that the IE crystals can stimulate parts of the immune system. Water containing these strange forms of ice show a hundred times more bioactivity than plain water. (Anonymous; "Homeopathy and IE Crystals," Spectrum , p. 18, November/ December 1998. Cr. E. Fegert) Comment. Of course, we want to see independent confirmations of the Cal Tech and UCLA work, but we hope they will be objective rather than the usual knee-jerk reactions to homeopathy. See SF#59 and SF#69 for past confrontations over homeopathy. From Science Frontiers # ...
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... Mesopotamians of the second century B.C . did have in abundance was alluvial silt. From this unpromising material they were able to make their pottery, writing tablets, and art objects. However, for grinding grain and engineering structures they needed something harder and stronger. Their innovative solution was: artificial basalt made from silt. They simply melted the silt and let it cool slowly. Sounds simple, but three remarkable intellectual and technical advances were required: The Mesopotamians first had to recognize that silt could be melted. This could not have been obvious in 1000 BC. Next, they had to develop hightemperature (1 ,200 C) smelters that were much larger than those they used for metallurgical purposes. Finally, they had to discover that slow cooling was needed for the growth of large crystals in the cooling melt. (Of course, they had no microscopes to see the crystals. So, it had to have been something learned from experience.) That the Mesopotamians were able to synthesize basalt can be seen at Mashkanshapir about 80 kilometers south of Baghdad. Slabs of this artificial rock -- flat and smooth on one side from the molds -- are abundant. In fact, some 100 cubic meters of the material have been found. (Stone, E.C ., et al; "From Shifting Silt to Solid Stone: The Manufacture of Synthetic Basalt in Ancient Mesopotamia," Science, 280:2091, 1998. Also: Bower, B.; "Ancient Mesopotamians Made Rock from Silt," Science News, 153:407, 1998.) ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 120: Nov-Dec 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Spod Logs The Black Hills of the Dakotas are composed of Precambrian shists that have been intruded by granite. The Harley Park granite is well known to us all because it has been carved into the monumental visages of four presidents at Mount Rushmore. Nature, too, has expressed herself on a giant scale nearby. "Around the granite, the shists are host to numerous spectacular pegmatites. These were mined and quarried in the early years of this century for both the large sheets of mica and also the spoduomene, which was a valuable source of lithium. The largest crystals were of the spoduomene, which were found up to 20 m [63 feet] long. Looking like great white tree trunks with two cleavages along their length, they were affectionately known as spod logs." (Waltham, Tony; "Spod Logs," Geology Today , 13:207, 1997.) Comment. Any crystal 63 feet long is worthy of mention in this newsletter! From Science Frontiers #120, NOV-DEC 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... of one species of Archea collected from a hot vent 3 kilometers deep in the Pacific has been sequenced. Biologists were taken aback. Methanococcus jannaschii , as it has been dubbed, possesses 1738 genes, of which 56% are entirely new to science. Many of these genes do not look anything like those found in the prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In a word, they seem "alien." (Morell, Virginia; "Life's Last Domain," Science, 273:1043, 1996.) How alien? Well, they are so tough that they could have arrived from Mars on a meteorite. Millions of years of residence in a meteorite edging its way toward a rendezvous with earth mean nothing to the Archea. They have even been cultured from the interior of a salt crystal 200 million years old. (Fanale, Fraser; "Martian Substances," Science, 275:321, 1997.) From Science Frontiers #112, JUL-AUG 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... . Billions of stars are nothing to them. The megaparsec (3 ,528,000 light years) is but a hop, skip, and jump. A pressing question for these cosmologists searching for the really big picture is whether there is any order in the distribution of galaxies, galactic clusters, and superclusters. The scale of organization of the universe is of critical importance because it is a measure of state of the cosmos when hydrogen atoms first condensed from the seething sea of ions following the Big Bang. The prevailing expectation has been that galactic clusters and superclusters should be distributed at random; that is, no order prevails at that scale. Recent redshift measurements, however, hint more and more forcefully that the huge superclusters of galaxies are almost as neatly arranged as the atoms in a crystal. A recent paper in Nature by J. Einasto et al puts a number on the spacing of the superclusters: "Here, using a new compilation of available data on galaxy clusters, we present evidence for a quasi-regular three-dimensional network of rich superclusters and voids, with the regions of high density separated by "120 Mpc [megaparsecs]. If this reflects the distribution of all matter (luminous and dark), then there must exist some hitherto unknown process that produces regular structure on large scales." (Einasto, J., et al; "A 120-Mpc Periodicity in the Three-Dimensional Distribution of Galaxy Superclusters," Nature, 385:139, 1997.) Comment. Hmmm! A "hitherto unknown process." It appears that ...
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... well-publicized dates of 116,000 and 176,000 years BP for artifacts found at the Jinmium site in Australia's Northern Territory are being subjected to extreme scrutiny. Thermoluminescence (TL) dating was used in estimating these dates, but TL-dating is in its infancy and full of pitfalls. Geochronologist R. Roberts has looked at the Jinmium data and ventures that the artifacts may be only 10,000 years old. However, he approves of TL dates of 50,000-60,000 years for two rock shelters elsewhere in the Northern Territory. (Gibbons, Ann; "Doubts over Spectacular Dates," Science, 278:219, 1997.) Triangular holes in boulders (SF#113). These puzzling holes may actually be left behind when tourmaline crystals are weathered out of the boulders. (Saul, J.M .; personal communication. November 1, 1997.) Standing stones in North Carolina? SF#114). Grandfather Mountain (5964 feet) is surpassed in height by over a dozen other peaks east of the Mississippi: Mount Washington (6288 feet); Clingmans Dome (6642 feet); etc. Oh well, at least some people are reading this newsletter carefully! (Rice, Charles M.; personal communication, November 1997.) About as anomalous as mounds can get. (SF#114). Watson Break or Watson Brake . We don't know. We have three references for each spelling! Sections through a multi-colored tourmaline crystral . From Science Frontiers #115, JAN ...
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... -Apr 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Those Ancient Greek Pyramids That's right. Greek pyramids! On Greek soil, at Hellenikon and Ligourio west of Athens in the Argolid region, are two limestone pyramids that are stylistically very much like those at Giza near Cairo. The big difference is size; the Greek pyramids are only the size of a large room compared to the Great Pyramid's height (with capstone) of almost 500 feet. When excavations were made around the Greek pyramids in the early 1900s, pottery fragments from the Fourth Century B.C . were found, and it was presumed that the pyramids were also constructed then; that is, about the time of Alexander the Great. Recent dating of crystals from internal surfaces of the limestone blocks using thermoluminescence puts the construction times back two millennia. The Hellenikon pyramid dates to 2730 B.C .; the Ligourio, to 2260 B.C . This means that the Greek pyramids were built in roughly the same time frame as the Egyptian pyramids. Why would the ancient Greeks want to build miniature pyramids? The classical scholar Pausanias wrote in the Second Century A.D . that the Hellenikon pyramid was a cenotaph for the dead fallen in a fratricidal battle 4,000 years ago. Nobody believed his story until now. (Hammond, Norman; "Did the Early Greeks Simply Copy the Pyramids of Egypt?" London Times, August 1, 1997. Cr. A.C .A . Silk. Also: Barnett, Adrian ...
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... the origins of the earth's oceans, terrestrial life, and the formation of the solar system. No wonder the icy-comet hypothesis is strongly challenged! Three of the more interesting points made by this group of papers are as follows: Our moon could not escape the icy-comet bombardment. Roughly 1,000 craters 50 meters in diameter and splashes of debris 150 meters in diameter must occur each. There is no evidence that the moon is thus afflicted. Comets also carry the noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon. These gases should accumulate in the atmosphere as the comets disintegrate. The amounts of these gases actually measured are 10,000 times less than those the postulated bombardment would produce. The icy comets should break up near the earth and produce clouds of ice crystals. Sunlight reflected from such 30-ton clouds would be brighter than Venus and easily visible before they disperse. Such objects are rarely seen, implying that small icy comets do not exist in the numbers claimed. Preceding this series of five papers is one by Frank and Sigwarth in which they describe their detection of atomic oxygen trails near earth. These they attribute to small icy comets. (Various; "Looking for Small Comets -- None Found," Geophysical Research Letters, 24:2429 ++, 1997.) From Science Frontiers #118, JUL-AUG 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 108: Nov-Dec 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Life Forms In Meteorites?Few could have escaped the recent gushy press coverage of NASA's announcement that an Antarctic meteorite, possibly of Martian origin, seems to have carried vestiges of life forms from that planet to ours. No need to recapitulate all that hype. What we do add is the observation that this same sort of excitement has swept through the scientific community at least twice before. Back in 1961, B. Nagy et al discovered tiny particles resembling fossil algae in carbonaceous chondrites. They called these particles "organized elements." Ultimately, these curious particles were explained as natural crystals and terrestrial contaminants. (Ref 1.) Much earlier, in 1881, Hahn, an eminent German geologist, asserted that he had examined thin sections cut from chondrites and found fossils of sponges, corals, and crinoids. In fact, the extraterrestrial coral that Hahn found even received the scientific name Hahnia meteoritica ! In the end, though, Hahn's meteoric life forms met the same fate as the "organized elements" of Nagy et al. (Ref. 2) Ref. 1. Urey, Harold C.; "Biological Materials in Meteorites: A Review," Science, 151:157, 1966. Ref. 2. Bingham, Francis; "The Discovery of Organic Remains in Meteoritic Stones," Popular Science Monthly , 20:83, 1881. Both references can be found in our Handbook Mysterious ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 136: Jul-Aug 2001 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Path of the Pyramids Were the First Americans Australians? Bacon Bits Astronomy Mirror Matter May Matter 2000 CR105 and Planet X Biology Grunting Transcends Biological and Geographical Boundaries Genome-Map User Beware Are We Merely Fancy Crystals? Geology An Ice Ring in a Canadian Pond The Stealth Catastrophe Geophysics Fiery Exhalations in Wales More Carolina Beach Booms Lake Michigan's Annual Silt Plume Psychology The Eclipsing of Innate Talents Songs in Your Head Astrobiology The Forests of Mars ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 154: Jul - Aug 2004 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Click-click, Click-click-click, Click, Click-click, Click (Click languages) 200 Mystery Towers Some notes on anomalous early Americans Astronomy Biological Hot Spots on Mars? Could we Really be at the Center of the Universe? The Black Drop Effect Biology Shallow Samples Reveal Deep Ignorance Are Nanobacteria Alive or just Strange Crystal? Geology The Carbonate Columns of Pobiti Kamani Fairy Circles vs Fairy Rings Geophysics Never! Never! Never! The Whymper Apparation Unclassified Sorry Rocks ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 155: Sep - Oct 2004 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Plant diffusion in the pre-Columbian world Did Chinese Ships Anchor off California 1000 years before Columbus found San Salvador? An Olmec-Chinese Connection Astronomy Our Twin Planet? Evidence that Mars is a former Moon! Biology The Itjaritjari Tick-Tock: Telomeres count off the generations of a species' time on Earth Stealth fish Geology The Dwarfing of island megafauna and the remarkable survival of some A double-whammy for the Yucatan, but that's only part of the story Geophysics A sign? Star-of-David ice crystals fall upon West Sussex Hessdalen: Valley of enigmatic lights When coming events really cast their shadows before them! Physics Entangled moments Mathematics Patterns of very loosely knit prime numbers ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 59: Sep-Oct 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS PHENOMENA AROUND THE HUMAN BODY In front of us is a 13-page paper dealing at length with phenomena normally considered impossible. The paper's abstract is not as informative as the introductory paragraph, which we now quote: "Mysterious and unexplained luminous phenomena have fascinated humankind since ancient times. The psychical research literature offers a variety of unexplained luminous phenomena such as reports of glows seen around mag-nets, crystals and minerals, lights reportedly seen with mediums, and luminous apparitions, among others." The paper then goes directly into a review of specific observations. We shall have to be satisfied here with just one of the many examples: "D .D . Home was reported to produce many striking luminous phenomena. In one seance Dunraven observed that one of Home's hands 'became quite luminous,' and that two persons 'saw tongues or jets of flame proceeding from Home's head.' On another occasion: 'He was elongated slightly.. and raised in the air, his head became quite luminous at the top, giving the appearance of having a halo round it. When he was raised in the air, he waved his arms about, and in each hand there came a little globe of fire (to my eyes blue)...' (Alvarado, Carlos S.; "Observations of Luminous Phenomena around the Human Body: A Review," Society ...
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... in creationist thinking. Of course, the true anomalist has a broader appetite, savoring any unexplained phenomena, regardless of which theories they support or undermine. But that is enough palaver, creationist D.E . Cox has resurrected the quartz-sand-grain anomaly: "Uniformitarian geologists, and many creationist geologists as well, interpret sandstones as sedimentary or aeolian accumulations of sand grains. Quartz arenites, for example, are supposed to be detrital accumulations of quartz grains derived from pre-existing formations. The source rocks may have either been igneous or sedimentary, but ultimately most quartz grains in sediments must have an igneous parent rock, probably granite, since this is the most abundant igneous rock on the continents. The quartz derived from granite is characterized by the presence of tiny mineral inclusions. Crystals of mica, rutile and tournaline are common. In sandstones formed from granite-derived quartz grains, mineral inclusions should be evident, but they are rarely present in sand-stones." The accepted explanation of this apparent anomaly is that the inclusions in fresh, granite-derived quartz grains so weakened the grain structure that the flawed grains are quickly broken up during weathering, transportation, and deposition. By the time any sandstone is formed, only flawless bits of sand remain. Case closed. No anomalist worth a grain of salt would let this delightful phenomenon escape without a bit more study. Do young sandstones with identifiable granitic sources show more inclusions than older sandstones? Do desert sands, beach sands, and other unconsolidated quartz grains show any flaws? Has anyone really examined fresh quartz ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 2: January 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Fast-moving dark bands cross halo December 15, 1976. Chelmsford, Essex, England. At 1505 GMT, two groups of closely spaced grey bands were seen crossing the upper arc of contact of a 22 halo from left to right. The first group lasted 10 seconds, with a 15-second quiescent period before the second group. The second group lasted about 5 seconds. About 30 straight parallel, regularly spaced bands appeared during the first observation. Moving steadily, they took 2 seconds each to cross the arc of contact. The most likely cause of the phenomenon was thought to be changes in the orientation of the ice crystals that created the upper arc of contact. However, the author could suggest no physical mechanism for producing such unusual motion in the ice crystals. (Burton, B.J .; "Fast-Moving Dark Bands Crossing the Arc of Contact," Journal of Meteorology, (U .K .) , 2:233 1977.) From Science Frontiers #2 , January 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 9: Winter 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Have magnets, will travel Homing pigeons seem to possess at least two direction sensors. Years of experiments with released birds have proved that they use sun compasses on sunny days but have magnetic backups for cloudy days. But how do they sense the earth's magnetic field? Paired-coil tests suggested that the pigeon compass resided in the neck or back of the head. Narrowing the search with sensitive magnetometers and two dozen dissected pigeons, the authors discovered tiny bits of tissue containing magnetite crystals. The same tissues contained yellow crystals likely made by the iron-storage protein ferritin, which was probably used in the biological synthesis of the magnetite. (Walcott, Charles, et al; "Pigeons Have Magnets," Science, 205:1027, 1979) Comment. Many species of mud bacteria also synthesize magnetite for purposes of orientation, indicating that nature or some directive force used the same strategy in two widely separated species. From Science Frontiers #9 , Winter 1979 . 1979-2000 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. 22: Jul-Aug 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ball Lightning With Internal Structure September 1981. Berkhamsted, England. "I was resting on my settee listening to music on the Third Programme when there was some interference of a crackling kind. Suddenly, a ball of bright light appeared in front of my radio. It was about the size of a large orange. It was dazzlingly white and gave the appearance of dozens of stick crystals 5.0 mm in length jigging about with a crackling sound. By the time I reached the switch it had disappeared, but a loud burst of thunder broke overhead." (Cook, M.L .; "Ball Lightning Incident in Berkhamsted, 13 September 1981." Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 7:18, 1982.) Reference. For other examples of ball lightning with internal structure, see category GLB13 in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. For more information about this book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #22, JUL-AUG 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects "CRYSTAL" BALL LIGHTNING June 1, 1984. Nottingham, England. Testimony of Mrs. Elsie Haigh. ". .. at approximately 5.45 p.m ., I was in my kitchen. The window and door were both closed. I was standing with my back to the window when I heard a 'boiling noise' and a noise which sounded like glass splintering -- a crash sound. I was very scared and turned around to face the window and saw a large glass-looking ball, approximately 10 inches in diameter (25 cm), slightly oblong (oblate), with a white filament in the middle. This was floating on a bowl of water which was in the sink. I ran to the bathroom, and seconds later I heard an explosion and splintering glass. When it was quiet -- I think a few seconds elapsed -- I returned to the kitchen. The ball had gone and there was no damage. I can only describe it as a miracle." (Meaden, G.T .; "' Crystal' Ball Lightning," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 9:218, 1984.) Comment. Other ball lightning observations on file include sounds like "breaking glass." See our Catalog Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights. For a description of this Catalog, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #37, JAN ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 25: Jan-Feb 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Three "proofs" of a young earth Responding to letters published in the June 1982 issue of Physics Today that insisted (some, very emotionally) that no evidence exists for a very young earth, Robert V. Gentry summarized three kinds of evidence that certainly seem to undermine current dating schemes. Halos produced by the alpha particles emitted by Po218 are found in granite rocks in many areas. Yet, the half-life of Po218 is only 3 minutes. Since the Po218 has no identifiable pre-cursors in the rock, ". .. how did the surrounding rocks crystalize rapidly enough so that there were crystals available ready to be imprinted with radiohalos by alpha-particles from Po218 ? This would imply almost instantaneous cooling and crystallization of these granitic minerals -- and we know of no mechanism that will remove heat so rapidly; the rocks are supposed to have cooled over millennia, if not tens of millennia." In coalified wood dated as older than 200 million years, the ratio between U238 and Pb206 should be low. It is actually very high. "Thus ages of the entire stratigraphic column may contain epochs less than 0.001% the duration of those now accepted and found in the literature." Diffusion calculations insist that Pb in zircon crystals found in deep granite cores at 313 C should diffuse out of the crystals at the rate of 1% in 300,000 years. No loss of Pb can ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 25: Jan-Feb 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Andes Ice Islands High in the Bolivian Andes are some shallow, saltwater lakes. From some of these white-shored lakes rise bizarre "islands" of fresh-water ice, neatly layered horizontally, and up to 20 feet higher than the saltwater surface. The ice crystals comprising these islands are vertical, proving that they grew in water and are not pieces of glaciers. Clearly, they did not form from the present saltwater lakes, but they might be relics of the Ice Ages, when the lakes were deeper and fresher. But whence the nicely layered structure? Some scientists have thought that volcanic springs might be the sources of fresh water, but some ice islands occur in lakes where there are no volcanic springs nearby. At the moment, every-one seems stumped by these strange creations of Nature. (Anonymous; "Who Made the Andes Islands of Ice?" New Scientist, 96:272, 1982.) Comment. Could the ice islands be related to the Arctic pingoes -- those debris-covered ice hills? From Science Frontiers #25, JAN-FEB 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The hypothesis of formative causation lives!Rupert Sheldrake's hypothesis has been roundly condemned by many scientists, presumably because it departs so radically from current thinking. Basically, the hypothesis maintains that the forms of things (from crystals to life forms) and the behavior of organisms is influenced by "morphic resonance emanating from past events." Convergent evolution, wherein human eyes closely resemble squid eyes, might well be explained by the hypothesis. Sheldrake has been testing his idea in various ways. One experiment involves the accompanying illustration containing a hidden image. Once the solution of this illustration is learned, it is hard to forget, but few people see the answer right off. The hypothesis of formative causation insists that once one or more persons learn the drawing's secret, the easier it will be for others to see the solution. Actual tests consisted of broadcasting the illustration and its solution (that is, the hidden image) on English television combined with before-and-after checks elsewhere in the world outside TV range. The results strongly supported the hypothesis, for it was far easier for people outside England to identify the hidden images after the broadcast. (Sheldrake, Rupert; "Formative Causation: The Hypothesis Supported," New Scientist, 100:279, 1983.) Comment. With all this prior publicity, the hidden image should pop immediately into the reader's mind. But if it doesn' ...
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... and dolphins along the U.S . east coast. He finds that these cetaceans tend to run aground at spots where the earth's magnetic field is diminished by the local magnetic fields of rocks. These coastal magnetic lows are at the ends of long, continuous channels of magnetic minima that run for great distances along the ocean floors. Kirschvink believes that the stranded whales and dolphins were using these magnetic troughs for navigation and failed to see the stop sign at the beaches and ran aground. The mag-netic troughs in this view are superhighways for animals equipped with a magnetic sense. If Kirschvink's theory is correct, the magnetic sensors of the whales and dolphins are extremely sensitive, because the deepest magnetic troughs are only about 4% weaker than the background magnetic field. Magnetite crystals have been found in birds, fish, and insects, where they are thought to contribute to a magnetic sense of some sort. So far, no magnetite has shown up in whales and dolphins. (Weisburd, S.; "Whales and Dolphins Use Magnetic 'Roads,' Science News, 126:389, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... the alternating partial shells of stars belong to the elliptical galaxy (they seem to, agewise), did the elliptical galaxy shoot the first wave out one end and then expel the second wave out the opposite end? Or did the alternating shells form in situ from the primordial gas and dust that made the galaxy? An-other possibility is that a small galaxy collided with the monster elliptical galaxy, and its constituent stars were scattered in regular waves. There is some physical and mathematical support for such a regular scattering of a burst of stars by a dense elliptical mass of target stars. (Edmunds, M.G .; "Galaxies in Collision," Nature, 311:10, 1984.) Comment. This star-scattering process reminds one of how electrons are scattered by crystals and other subatomic scattering situations. We may have here another place where quantum mechanics applies in macroscopic nature. Reference. Galactic "shells" are cataloged in AWO5 in our Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. To order, visit: here . Ellipsoidal shells of stars along the axis of an elliptical galaxy. From Science Frontiers #36, NOV-DEC 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Two Snowflake Anomalies Rarely is there anything in the scientific literature suggesting that anything about snowflakes could possibly be mysterious. Surprisingly, two articles on snowflake anomalies have appeared recently. To form at all above -40 F, snowflakes supposedly require a solid seed or nucleus around which ice can crystallize -- or so scientists have assumed for many years. It was long believed that airborne dust, perhaps augmented by extraterrestrial micrometeoroids, served as the necessary nuclei. But cloud studies prove that there are about a thousand times more ice crystals than dust nuclei. Now, some are convinced that bacteria blown off plants and flung into the air by ocean waves are the true nuclei of atmospheric ice crystals. Remember this the next time you tast a handful of snow! (Carey, John; "Crystallizing the Truth," National Wildlife, 23:43, December/ January 1985.) Comment. The possibility that the fall of snow and all other forms of precipitation is largely dependent upon bacter-ia brings to mind the Gaia Hypothesis; that is, all life forms work in unison to further the goals of life. The second item is from Nature and is naturally more technical. After reviewing the great difficulties scientists are having in mathematically describing the growth of even the simplest crystal, the author homes in on one of the fascinating puzzles of snowflake growth: "The aggregation of particles into a growing surface will be determined exclusively by local ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Speculations from gold The item "Restless Gold" in SF#41 has now been amplified by J.-O . Bovin et al. Using a high-resolution electron microscope, magnification 30,000,000, with a real-time video recorder, this group has obtained startling pictures of gold crystals and their environs. "At this magnification, individual columns of atoms in the gold crystals are clearly revealed; it appears that not only are atoms of the surfaces of small crystals in constant motion, hopping from site to site, but also that the crystals are surrounded by clouds of atoms in constant interchange with atoms on the crystal surface. The clouds of gold atoms extended up to 9A from the crystal surface, continually changing their shape and density." The remarkably dynamic nature of solid surfaces, as now revealed, has many implications. (Bovin, J. -O ., et al; "Imaging of Atomic Clouds Outside the Surfaces of Gold Crystals by Electron Microscopy," Nature, 317:47, 1985.) The problem of snowflake growth (SF#38) is probably solvable in terms of clouds of water molecules surrounding crystal nuclei with electrostatic fields guiding the symmetric deposition of molecules. Biological structures, too, are probably encompassed by clouds of atoms and molecules; viz., the crystal-like, polyhedral viruses. Does the highly ordered DNA structure also possess an aura of molecules constantly ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Forbidden Matter When a hot mixture of aluminum and manganese, iron or chromium is squirted onto a spinning water-cooled copper wheel, the molten metal freezes into a thin, metallic ribbon. If it is cooled too fast, a metallic glass results; cooled too slowly, it forms normal metal crystals. But when conditions are just right, icosahedral crystals cluster together in nodules a few microns in size. These icosahedral crystals are not normal in the sense that they have five-fold symmetry. In fact, to a crystallographer, these crystals are the equivalent to ESP in psychology. All the rules of crystallography insist that icosahedral crystals should not exist. One scientist reacted in this way: "All my training has been with the assumption that crystals are periodic. Now, almost everything has to be reexamined." Actually, the icosahedral crystals are "quasi-periodic"; that is, they are completely regular only over small distances. Nevertheless, there are hints that these materials that should not exist have remarkable structural and electronic properties. (Peterson, Ivars; "The Fivefold Way for Crystals," Science News, 127:188, 1985.) Two-dimensionsal quasiperiodic geometry (Penrose tiling) with five-fold symmetry formerly thought to be impossible in nature. The tricontahedron with 30 faces is the basis of three-dimensional quasiperiodic structures with five-fold symmetry. From Science Frontiers #39, MAY- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 43: Jan-Feb 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Exploring The Suberranean World Of Life Examining fluid inclusions in hydrothermal quartz crystals obtained from a drill hole in Yellowstone National Park, K.E . Bargar and his colleagues from the U.S . Geological Survey noted many rodlike and threadlike particles that closely resembled bacteria. Although these partiles move, as if alive, they are only in Brownian motion. But even in death, they tell us that life forms can prosper deep underground at very high pressures and temperatures. The crystals that ultimately grew around the fluid particles came from fractures in Pleistocene rhyolite hundreds of feet below the surface. The authors concluded: "Thermophilic microorganisms may hold the key to an understanding of several biological and geochemical processes, including the origin of life. The discovery of possible microorganisms in these fluid inclusions from the Yellowstone volcanic area enlarges the range of potential environments over which subsequent investigations should be conducted." (Barger, Keith E., et al; "Particles in Fluid Inclusions from Yellowstone National Park -- Bacteria?" Geology, 13:483, 1985.) Comment. It is appropriate to note that similar "organized elements" have been noticed in meteorites for over a century. From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 41: Sep-Oct 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Restless Gold Thanks to the development of high-resolution electron microscopes and video recorders, we can now watch the bizarre behavior of tiny solid particles, which, it turns out, are not so solid after all. Ultrafine particles of gold about 18 Angstrom units across, containing only about 500 atoms, are not statis aggregations. The shapes of the particles are always changing. The gold atoms move cooperatively to shift kaleidoscope-like into various crystal structures. They have, in fact, been dubbed 'quasi-solids.' A large gold particle may even ingest smaller gold particles. The phenomena have no explanations as yet. (Anonymous; "Japanese Gold in Atomic Motion," Nature, 315:628, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #41, SEP-OCT 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... . 48: Nov-Dec 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Water, water: how far down?The upper 10-15 kilometers of the earth's continental crust is different in several ways from the lower crust. The top layer is electrically resistive, seismically transparent, the source of almost all earthquakes, and responds to stress elastically. In contrast, the lower crust is electrically conductive, contains many reflectors of seismic energy, provides few quakes, and responds like a ductile material to stress. The diverse characteristics of both regions can be explained if the entire crust contains saline water. In the up-per crust the water is thought to be in separated cavities, while deep down it forms an interconnected film on crystal surfaces. (Gough, D. Ian; "Seismic Reflectors, Conductivity, Water and Stress in the Continental Crust," Nature, 323:143, 1986.) In an accompanying commentary, B.W .D . Yardley notes that the Soviet deep borehole on the Kola peninsula has found water down to at least 12 kilome ters. (Yardley, Bruce W.D .; "Is There Water in the Deep Continental Crust?" Nature, 323:111, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 57: May-Jun 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Morphic Resonance In Silicon Chips Silicon chips can be made to assume various electronic configurations. In this, they are morphic, like the cattle guards under Biology; and Sheldrake's hypothesis of morphic resonance should also apply. Two French researchers, F.J . Varela and J.C . Letelier, have applied a microcomputer in testing Sheldrake's theory. Briefly, they cleared the computer's memory and had it "grow a crystal" in the form of a unique, or at least very rare electronic state in the computer memory. Once this has been done, the time taken for the same pattern to be grown in subsequent attempts should become less and less. One of Sheldrake's major claims is that once a new crystal is synthesized it thereafter becomes easier and easier to resynthesize it -- due to the presence of morphogenic fields. But Varela and Letelier found that, even after 100 million crystallizations, no acceleration of the growing process was detectable. The authors conclude that either Sheldrake's hypothesis is falsified or that it does not apply to silicon chips. (Varela, Francisco, and Letelier, Juan C.; "Morphic Resonance in Silicon Chips," Skeptical Inquirer, 12:298, 1988.) Comment. At least one other interpretation is possible: the particular "crystal" grown in the computer had actually been synthesized many times before by other computers within the range of morphogenic ...
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