279 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 53: Sep-Oct 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Human Direction Finding " Summary . The fact that humans have an innate sense of direction is well established. Proof of this skill has usually been demonstrated in experiments in which subjects have been called upon to estimate the direction of the point of origin of a journey. This note extends such work by describing an experiment which showed that blindfolded humans, deprived of environmental cues, also have an ability to estimate accurately the direction of their place of residence within a town, even when driven around that town in such a way as to render them unable to identify where they are. The experiment throws into question the explanation usually offered for the existence of an innate sense of direction, namely, its value to the species, in an evolutionary sense, in facilitating a return to the starting point of exploratory journeys." A fascinating facet of this experiment does not appear in the above Summary . All of the subjects in the study first assembled at the University of New England (in Armidale, NSW, Australia) and were there blindfolded and driven in a circuitous route 19.4 kilometers long to a spot 5.2 kilometers from the University. The sun had set and audible cues were suppressed. Very frew of the 35 subjects could guess the direction of the University, the spot from which the journey began. Thus, this experiment does not really support that which is said to be "well established" in the Summary . ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 64: Jul-Aug 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Directed Mutation Dear reader, things have a way of working out serially. For several months, we have had in our possession a paper from Nature, by J. Cairns, of Harvard, plus some passionate correspondence stimulated by the paper. Now that the circle-forming sheep have provided a good introduction, we will jump into the fray, too. Basically Cairns (in Nature) and B. H. Hall (in Genetics ) say that organisms can respond to environmental stresses by reorganizing their genes in a purposeful way. Such "directed mutation" shifts the course of evolution in a nonrandom way. Such a conclusion was like waving a red flag in front of the evolutionists. R. May, at the University of Oxford, complained, "The work is so flawed, I am reluctant to comment." On the other side, a University of Maryland geneticust, S. Benson, comments, "Many people have had such observations, but they have problems getting them published." Our template in this discussion is an article by A.S . Moffat in American Scientist. She says, "The stakes in this dispute are high, indeed. If directed mutations are real, the explanations of evolutionary biology that depend on random events must be thrown out. This would have broad implications. For example, directed mutation would shatter the belief that organisms are related to some ancestor if they share traits. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 72: Nov-Dec 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hypermutation rather than directed mutation?The year 1988 saw a flurry of excitement over the purported discovery of "directed mutation" in the laboratory; that is, mutations of organisms that seemed goal-directed rather than random and independent of environmental pressures. The concept of directed mutation is counter to prevailing biological dogma, and, naturally, this research bore severe scrutiny. Objections and arguments against directed mutation arose, but the original research was never shown to be faulty. New experiments along this line, by B. Hall at the University of Rochester, have supported the original Harvard work and refuted some of the objections that had been leveled. Working with a special strain of Escherichia coli , Hall starved the bacteria of a certain amino acid, (tryptophan) that they usually got from the environment and could not synthesize. In the days that followed, many of the bacteria mutated so that they could synthesize their own tryptophan. Hall concluded: "Mutations that occur more when they're useful than when they're not: That I can document any day, every day, in the laboratory." Rather than assign any "conscious" goal-seeking attributes to the bacteria, Hall prefers to think that the environmental stress induced a state of "hypermutation." In this state all sorts of mu-tations occurred in abundance. Only those that synthesized tryptophan survived the starvation program; even potentially favorable mutations died quickly. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Can organisms direct their evolution?" In 1988. Harvard molecular biologist John Cairns committed an act of scientific heresy. He proposed in a Nature article that bacteria living in an unfavorable environment are able to choose which mutations to produce to adapt to the stressful situation. Cairns made his directed-mutation hypothesis in response to an unusual finding -- data that strongly hinted bacterial mutations might occur more often when beneficial." The above quotation is the lead paragraph in a long BioScience article that details the consternation Cairns' results have created in the biological community. The problem that biology-as-a -discipline has is that it has deified a paradigm: neo-Darwinism. Now, neo-Darwinism is supported by many experiments showing that some mutations are indeed random. Consequently, as M. Gillis re-marks in her BioScience article, the biological community 'got locked into its belief that an organism cannot control its own mutation.' Furthermore, Cairns' claims recall the long battle with Lamarckism, a subject that biology has closed-the-book-on. In a nutshell, Lamarckism has been interred since the 1950s, and 'Nobody wants to give the appearance of straying from the neoDarwinism fold.' Gillis goes on to review some recent experiments supporting those of Cairns. But, impressive though these may be, there have been neo-Darwinian explanations for some of the results. Even so, more and ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 67: Jan-Feb 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Direct observations of hyperion's chaotic motion Hyperion is a 150-kilometer-diameter satellite of Saturn. Hyperion's irregular shape and the gravitational pull of Titan, a larger satellite of Saturn, make it a prime candidate for chaotic motion. After accumulating 53 Hyperion-days of observation, J. Klavetter has confirmed this theoretical suspicion. Hyperion's brightness varies wildly from day to day, as it spins unpredictably. The laws of motion and the largest computers are helpless here; although computer simulation can identify situations where chaos might develop. More alarmingly, some "subtle" chaos also appears in computer simulations of Pluto's motion and "perhaps other planets." (Kerr, Richard A.; "First Direct View of Solar System Chaos," Science, 246: 998, 1989.) Comment. Contemplate what might happen -- or might have happened already -- if any of the other planets moved chaotically. From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 72: Nov-Dec 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Upwardly directed lightning from cloud tops "An image of an unusual luminous electrical discharge over a thunderstorm 250 kilometers from the observing site has been obtained with a low-light-level television camera. The discharge began at the cloud tops at 14 kilometers and extended into the clear air 20 kilometers higher. The image, which had a duration of less than 30 milliseconds, resembled two jets or fountains and was probably caused by two localized electric charge concentrations at the cloud tops." (Franz, R.C ., et al; "Television Image of a Large Upward Electrical Discharge above a Thunderstorm System," Science, 249:48, 1990.) Comment. Note that the above discharges were diffuse and quite unlike most cloud-to-ground lightning discharges. They were, in fact, much like the mountain-top glows seen along the Andes. Also, one should ask where those "localized electric charge concen trations" came from and why they did not disperse. Reference, Upwardly directed "rocket lightning" is cataloged in GLL1 in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. Fuller description here . From Science Frontiers #72, NOV-DEC 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... sail reliably from one speck of land to another, thousands of miles distant? The archeology of Oceania confirms that the Polynesians made such voyages centuries before they learned about compasses and navigation satellites. But were these voyages anomalous; that is, did the Pacific peoples possess devices or talents unrecognized today by mainstream science? For the most part, the answer seems to be NO. While the navigational abilities of the Polynesian seafarers seemed supernatural to early European explorers, it has been convincingly demonstrated -- through modern voyages -- that the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and time-passage are and were sufficient for most interisland voyages. The early Pacific navigators were adept at observing the waves, stars, birds, clouds, winds, and several other natural phenomena that carry subtle directional cues. There are, however, modern instances in which Pacific navigators bereft of the usual sensory cues seem to employ an anomalous "sense." B. Finney, in his study of the possibility of human magnetoreception, tells how one native Hawaiian navigator, though wellschooled in traditional Polynesian navigational techniques, conquered the dread doldrums on a 3,000mile voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in a way we might call "psychic.". In the doldrums, the sky is often overcast and the seas leaden, expunging the usual cues. This particular navigator, Nainoa Thompson, entered the doldrums on a black night, with 100% cloud cover. The wind was switching around and the waves cueless. Nainoa's own words were: "It was like I just got so exhausted that ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 63: May-Jun 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Magnetic Sense In Mice Orientation responses of mice displaced in a normal geomagnetic field (A & B) and a reversed field (C & D). Mean directions are indicated in the center (a -d ). "Abstract . We displaced white-footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus ) 40 m away from their home areas and released them in a circular arena. Mice concentrated their exploratory and escape activity in the portion of the arena corresponding to home direction. In another group of mice, we reversed the horizontal com-ponent of the geomagnetic field surrounding them during displacement. These individuals concentrated their activity in areas of the circular arena opposite home direction. Mice were not likely using visual, chemical, or kinesthetic cues to establish home direction. Tissues of P. leucopus exhibit strong isothermal remanant magnetization and may contain biogenic ferromagnetic material. Our results suggest that white footed mice have a magnetic sense and use the geomagnetic field as a compass cue." (August, Peter V., et al; "Magnetic Orientation in a Small Mammal, Peromyscus Leucopus ," Journal of Mammalogy, 70:1 , 1989.) Reference. See BMT1 in Biological Anomalies: Mammals I for more on magnetic orientation and navigation. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 112: Jul-Aug 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A TWISTED COSMOS?An astronomer really risks his or her reputation if he or she suggests that the universe has a preferred direction. A core belief in cosmology maintains that no point or direction in the cosmos is in any way "special." So, B. Nodland and J.P . Ralston stirred up a hornets' nest this past spring when they published a paper that began with this paragraph: "Polarized electromagnetic radiation propagating across the Universe has its plane of polarization rotated by the Faraday effect. We report findings of an additional rotation, remaining after Faraday rotation is extracted, which may represent evidence for cosmological anisotropy on a vast scale." (Ref. 1) Most inflammatory was their claim that the plane of polarization of the radio waves rotated more along a particular direction [axis?]; specifically, along a line connecting the constellations Aquila and Sextans. (Ref. 2) Only a few days after the NodlandRalston paper was published, it was blasted in Science. The major complaint was that their data were old and incomplete, since they derived mainly from observations made prior to 1980. (Ref. 3) Indeed, a similar study using more recent measurements but fewer radiation sources seems to refute the NodlandRalston claim of a preferred direction in the cosmos. (Ref. 4) Nodland and Ralston disagree with the charges and the implications of the other study. It will be a while before this ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 83: Sep-Oct 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Wrong-way waterspout September 28, 1991. Aboard the m.v . Staffordshire in the western Mediterranean. On this date, between 0555 and 0810 UTC, observers on the bridge counted 15 waterspouts, one of which was anomalous: "At 0722 the two spouts furthest forward and the one on the beam dissipated leaving one which was of quite a large diameter, about 20 m as seen at a range of about 300 m. The direction of rotation of the water in the spout was clearly seen. Although the observers were aware that the direction of rotation should be anticlockwise in this case, they decided (with great surprise) that the direction of this particular one was clockwise. The only other spout that passed closer, within 15 m, was very weak, but the direction of rotation at the surface was clearly anticlockwise." (Edwards, R.A .F .; "Waterspouts," Marine Observer, 62:113, 1992.) All Northern Hemisphere waterspouts should rotate anticlockwise. From Science Frontiers #83, SEP-OCT 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... recount one such instance here. On one hand is the neurological research of M.A . Persinger, at the Laurentian University, inquiring into the claimed effects of minute electromagnetic signals, such as those observed in the geomagnetic field, upon human consciousness and perception. On the other hand, we have R.G . Jahn's work in the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program, which looks into the anomalous information transfer between humans and the environment, as claimed to be seen in psychokinesis and remote viewing experiments. The research goals and methodologies differ, and the resulting reports couched in different terminologies, but the similarities are what is really important. Both scientists are exploring unconventional information pathways connecting the human brain (consciousness) and the environment. The pathways are open in both directions. First, we quote the summary from a recent Persinger paper. The jargon may be technical, but one can readily visualize the human brain immersed in a sea of signals -- nominally electromagnetic but possibly of other sorts. "Contemporary neuroscience suggests the existence of fundamental algorithms by which all sensory transduction is translated into an intrinsic, brain-specific code. Direct stimulation of these codes within the human temporal or limbic cortices by applied electromagnetic patterns may require energy levels which are within the range of both geomagnetic activity and contemporary communication networks. A process which is coupled to the narrow band of brain temperature could allow all normal human brains to be affected by a subharmonic whose frequency range at about 10 Hz would only vary by 0.1 Hz." (Ref. 1) Second ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 130: JUL-AUG 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Has Human Evolution Been Directed by Bacteria?With considerable fanfare, a multinational team of scientists has announced that the mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) "squeezed" from a 29,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton found in the northern Caucasus differs by 3.48% from the mtDNA of a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton from (fittingly) Germany's Neander Valley. Furthermore, both mtDNA samples differ from that of modern humans by a substantial 7%. These two innocent-appearing, widely publicized numbers have far-reaching implications: Modern humans and Neanderthals are only very distantly related, and they certainly never interbred, as suggested in many recent, popular articles; and Since neither Neanderthal mtDNA sample is closer to that of modern Europeans than it is any other modern human population, the so-called "multiregional" theory of human evolution and dispersion is unlikely to be correct. Thus, the out-of-Africa theory is favored;. These data and their implications stimulate several observations and comments; only one of which is mentioned in the references given below. F.H . Smith, an anthropologist from Northern Illinois University and a supporter of the multiregional theory, opines that 30,000-40,000 years ago the mtDNA of the early humans, who were mixing it up with the Neanderthals, was certainly very different from what it is today. Since mtDNA mutates rapidly, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 84: Nov-Dec 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Hunt For The Magnetoreceptor When magnetite particles were found in organisms from bacteria to bats, it was assumed that here was the long sought magnetoreceptor which animals used for magnetic navigation. But so far, biologists do not have the slightest notion how such magnetite particles can be turned into a "magnetic sense," which sends the brain information on the direction of the geomagnetic field or, perhaps, draws a magnetic map of sorts. A completely different sort of magnetreceptor is now under investigation, one that humans may also unknowingly possess. It utilizes special photoreceptors that employ an electron-spin resonance process which is modulated by the geomagnetic field. Some of our very sensitive magnetometers use similar phenomena. The biological version of such a receptor would be connected to the brain, as the eye is, and send signals as to the direction of the earth's magnetic field. Sounds interesting, but is there any basis for thinking such a sophisticated gadget could have evolved? It seems that some experiments with newts by J.B . Phillips and S.C . Borland support the idea. The newts were first trained to orient themselves in a certain direction with respect to the geomagnetic field. "When tested under one of four artificial field alignments (magnetic north at geographic north, east, south or west), the newts kept their training directions constant relative to the magnetic rather than the geographic system of reference, but they selected ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 50: Mar-Apr 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Lunar Magnetic Mollusc From the abstract of a paper in Science: "Behavioral experiments indicated that the marine opisthobranch mollusk Tritonia diomedea can derive directional cues from the magnetic field of the earth. The magnetic direction toward which nudibrachs spontaneously oriented in the geomagnetic field showed recurring patterns of variation correlated with lunar phase, suggesting that the behavioral response to magnetism is modulated by circa-lunar rhythm." The magnetic and lunar-phase detectors of this mollusc are not known. In fact, the authors remark in their introductory paragraph that, even in organisms possessing ferromagnetic materials in their systems, there exists no "direct neurophysiological evidence implicating ferromagntic particles in the the detection of magnetic fields." (Lohmann, Kenneth J., and Willows, A.O . Dennis; "LunarModulated Geomagnetic Orientation by a Marine Mollusk," Science, 235:331, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #50, MAR-APR 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 111: May-Jun 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects White Streak From A Tv Set 1975. Walsall, West Midlands, U.K . N. Boynton and his mother were watching TV, when: "In the run up to an approaching daytime thunderstorm when the air was 'heavy', and while watching television, a streak of whitish light approximately four inches (100 mm) thick came from the direction of the television straight into the body of the room at about head height between where my mother and I were sitting. "It lasted for a fraction of a second. There was an accompanying crackling sound, with the television flickering and buzzing for a second or two. There was no evidence of damage to the television or anything else in the room. We were unaware of whether there was a lightning strike outside at the time." The streak passed between Boynton and his mother, seated about 4 feet apart, and seemed directed toward the door of the room. (Boynton, Neil; "White Streak from the Direction of a TV Set Prior to a Thunderstorm," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 21:348, 1996. Journal address: 54 Frome Road, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, ENGLAND BA15 1LD) From Science Frontiers #111, MAY-JUN 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... the Marine Observer article. April 17, 1995. Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. Aboard the m.v . British Reliance, enroute Fujairah to Kharg Island. Observers: the Master and Second Officer. "At 1525 UTC whilst in the westbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme and shortly after settling on a course of 270 , a small amount of blue phosphorescence was noticed in the sea waves ahead (the swell being very low). Suddenly, the wind appeared to blow quite strongly, swirling around the vessel and then for as far as the eye could see and all around the vessel, phosphorescent cartwheels of bright-blue light began forming. The bands of light were roughly 30 cm thick while the maximum diameter of the wheels was 15-18 m. "Their direction of movement seemed random and they were spinning at high speed, some chasing each other, others spinning in opposite directions next to each other, see sketch. "Whole groups dumbbelled around each other, all spinning in apparently random directions. The display lasted for about 18 minutes before petering out." A comment by P.J . Herring of the Southampton Oceanography Centre followed. "A quite extraordinary account of phosphorescent wheels occurring in one of the places where they are most often seen. In the 200, or so, cases of this phenomenon reported in the last 100 years, never have so many wheels been described so close together, nor has there been any association with wind change. I am very intrigued but at a complete loss to explain how the wheels were produced. ...
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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 Anatomy Of A Magnetic Field Reversal "A highly detailed record of both the direction and intensity of the Earth's magnetic field as it reverses has been obtained from a Miocene volcanic sequence. The transitional field is low in intensity and is typically non-axisymmetric. Geomagnetic impulses corresponding to astonishingly high rates of change of the field sometimes occur, suggesting that liquid velocity within the Earth's core increases during geomagnetic reversals." The time period required for the field to reverse was about 4500 years, as measured at Steens Mountain, Oregon. There were three periods of very rapid change (impulses), which hint at radical changes in the core. The average magnetic field at the earth's surface decreased to 20% of normal during the reversal. (Prevot, Michel, et al; "How the Geomagnetic Field Vector Reverses Polarity," Nature, 316:230, 1985.) Comment. The illustration reveals that the reversal was far from a clean 180 flip; there was much meandering. Just what was happening in the core during the reversal is a mystery. When the magnetic field dropped to low levels, flux of cosmic rays and other radiation at the earth's surface probably increased drastically. Terrestrial life might have been adversely affected. The Steene Mountains directional record. The numbers refer to the samples used from the volcanic sequence, in order of increasing age. Dotted lines represent field directions in the ...
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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 Expanding Phosphorescent Rings May 9, 1983. Gulf of Oman. Aboard the m.v . Mahsuri. "At 1650 GMT, a pale green glow was seen to emanate from the horizon ahead. This gave the appearance of strong moonlight upon the surface of the water. The moon, however, was not in evidence. At 1700 GMT, rapid flashes of light were observed sweeping across the sea directly ahead of the vessel, giving the initial impression of a sudden increase of wind speed causing excessive spray. By 1715 GMT, the vessel was totally surrounded by completely random movements of light as far as the eye could see. The onset of this phenomenon was so rapid, not to say eerie, that the Master was called to the bridge to witness the event. For the next 15 minutes the sea was at a height of activity, displaying several systems of the most unusual bioluminescence. The most significant of these were what appeared to be Phosphorescent Wheels, which, although they did not seem to rotate, originated from a central hub and spread out rings in rapid succession, forming concentric circles. This was pointed out by many of those who observed them as being similar to the instance of a stone being dropped into a quiet pond and causing waves to spread out. In this case each wave crest was a band of fantastic light. Each wheel would last for a couple of minutes, continually flashing out bands of ...
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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 Chilean Astronomer Reports Unidentified Atmospheric Phenomena F. Noel is an astronomer at the National Astronomical Observatory located on the outskirts of Santiago. He is a veteran of hundreds of nights worth of stellar observations over almost 30 years. In the latest number of the Journal of Sci entific Exploration, he reported some of his more perplexing sightings in the Chilean skies, two of which are related below: "At approximately 22:30 local time on January 17, 1980, I was in front of my home in the eastern suburbs of Santiago de Chile. The sky was cloudless, although there was some smog, especially in the west in the direction of downtown. Sunset had occurred at 20:55 local time. "At that time I observed a point-shaped luminous object at an elevation of about 20 degrees; it was moving at a rather slow angular velocity from southwest to west approximately. No noise was heard and it looked like an artificial satellite, except for the direction of its motion. Its brightness, color and angular velocity reminded me of the old Echo artificial satellite from the 1960s. The object disappeared from sight during the few seconds it took me to call two persons to participate in the observation. It was not apparent how the object had disappeared from view since there were no sources of obscuration evident. Having become puzzled by this observation I continued watching that same region of sky from time to time. "About ...
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... " Minneapolis Star-Tribune, January 26, 1990. Cr. R. PanLener via L. Farish.) Comment. Color changes are not uncommon in meteor sightings. However, the slowness of this meteor was remarkable. January 27, 1990. U.S . Midatlantic States. "Thousands of people in the Eastern United States reported seeing a strange bluish-green light in the sky Saturday night, which some experts said could have been an unusually large meteorite. .. .. . "In North Carolina, Jim Iodice, who was flying a Cessna 172 over Pilot Muntain Saturday night said that he saw a 'glowing, yellowishblue light' between 7 and 7:30 p.m . that appeared to be near the plane. The object was descending in a northeast direction toward Martinsville, Va., but it leveled off at about 3,000 feet, flew at the same altitude for several hundred yards, then changed to a southward direction, Iodice said." (Anonymous; "In the Dark," WinstonSalem Journal, January 29, 1990. Cr. G. Fawcett via L. Farish.) Comment. In this case, the changes in direction are anomalous. February 18, 1990. Northeastern U.S . "Reports of a fireball that blazed through the skies over the Northeast on Sunday, changing colors and even executing a fiery loop before vanishing, have been filtering into local agencies, a Museum of Science official said yesterday. "Observers from Nova Scotia to New Jersey reported the spectacular fireball, which they said was visible ...
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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. 44: Mar-Apr 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Neptune's partial rings Neptune's rings cannot be seen directly. Instead, earth-based astronomers watch for occultations or dimmings of stars as they pass behind the rings. This seems straightforward enough in theory, but the occultations have been perplexing in practice. First, one member of a closely spaced double star will be occulted normally by the rings but its companion won't . Second, some terrestrial observatories will record an occultation but another a few thousand miles away will not. Such experiences have led to the hypothesis that the rings are discontinuous; that is, they are arcs rather than complete rings. Why should Neptune's rings be different from those of the other major planets? On speculation maintains that the arcs are the consequence of one or more recently satellites. Another hypothesis, by J.J . Lissauer, has the arcs gravitationally shaped and maintained by two moons, one of the shepherd type (as with Saturn's rings), the other at a Lagrangian point in the arc's orbit. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Neptune's Ring Arcs Confirmed," Science, 230:1150, 1985. Also: Lissauer, Jack J.; "Shepherding Model for Neptune's Arc Ring," Nature, 318:544, 1985.) Comment. The theories employing "shepherd" moons to gravitationally mold and maintain planetary rings have been weakened by the apparent ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Lumps, clumps, and jumps "Astronomers have already discovered lumps, motion and structure never suspected in a universe once considered smooth and expanding uniformly in all directions. Two researchers now say the universe is even lumpier, has faster relative motion and shows larger structures than previously believed." N. Bahcall and R. Soneira have been studying the structures and motions of superclusters of galaxies. Each supercluster consists of clusters of clusters of galaxies and contains upwards of hundreds of billions of stars. (Obvious-ly, these are not inconsequential entities!) By analyzing the redshifts of galaxies, Bahcall and Soneira have found that the universe is much more dynamic and inhomogeneous than expected. (1 ) The clusters of galaxies are larger and more extensive. Superclusters can be 500 million light years across -- about 1% of the known universe (2 ) Relative motions within the clusters are as high as 2,000 kilometers per second more than one can account for using gravitational attraction alone. (Kleist; T.; "Lumps, Clumps and Jumps in the Universe," Science News, 130:7 , 1986.) Comment. Before swallowing whole such grand sketches of the cosmos, one should always examine the assumptions. Here, redshifts are assumed to be measures of velocity, which if an expanding universe is assumed, can be converted into distances. Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way. and nearby superclusters ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Meteorites Also Transport Organic Payloads Excerpts from the Abstract of a paper printed in Nature: "Much effort has been directed to analyses of organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites because of their implications for orgainc chemical evolution and the origin of life. We have determined the isotopic composition of hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon in amino acid and monocarboxylic extracts from the Murchison meteorite. .. .. . "These results confirm the extraterrestrial origin of both classes of compounds, and provide the first evidence suggesting a direct relationship between the massive organo-synthesis occurring in interstellar clouds and the presence of pre-biotic compounds in primitive planetary bodies." (Epstein, S., et al; "Unusual Stable Isotope Ratios in Amino Acid and Carboxylic Acid Extracts from the Murchison Meteorite," Nature, 326:477, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #52, JUL-AUG 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Concentrated Source Of Lightning In Cloud July 21, 1985. Strait of Malacca. m.v . Staffordshire . "Between 2000 GMT and 2200 GMT whilst the vessel was transiting the Strait of Malacca in a southeasterly direction, the following phenomenon was observed. "For several hours lightning had been seen ahead of the vessel. As we approached, it appeared to take on several forms, the most interesting of which is shown in the sketch. It had the appearance of a central point of light with ragged streaks radiating from the centre in a mainly horizontal direction. At no time did this lightning reach the sea surface. This type was observed about ten times during the period of observation..." (Thomas, C.O .; "Lightning," Marine Observer, 56:116, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #52, JUL-AUG 1987 . 1987-2000 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 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. 99: May-Jun 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ballistic Panspermia Scientists are already convinced that cratering events on the moon and Mars have propelled rocky debris in the direction of the earth, and that some of these fragments have landed here in the guise of meteorites. A logical question is: Can life forms and/or chemical precursors of life be transported thus across the far reaches of the solar system? Can one planet infect another ballistically? An analysis by M.K . Wallis and N.C . Wickramasinghe is rather warm towards this idea: "The mass of escaping ejecta from the presumed 10-km comet that caused the 180-km Chicxulub crater, with a radius of roughly 10 km and 1 m deep, amounted to ~300 Mm3 , of which one third may have been rock and 10% higher-speed ejecta that could have transited directly to Mars. It may have taken 10 Ma to impact Mars but...the probability is not exceedingly low but 0.1 -1 %. "The survival and replication of microorganisms once they are released at destination would depend on the local conditions that prevail. Although viability on the present-day Martian surface is problematical, Earth-to-Mars transfers of life were feasible during an earlier 'wet' phase of the planet, prior to 3.5 Ga ago. The Martian atmosphere was also denser at that epoch, with several bars of CO2 , thus serving to decelerate meteorites, as ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Purposeful evolution?One seemingly unassailable dogma of evolutionary biology insists that natural selection involves, first, the continuous, random, environment-independent generation of genetic mutations; and, second, the subsequent fixation of those mutations that are favored by prevailing conditions. In other works, the genetic mutations cannot be influenced by external events and conditions. But in recent experiments with bacteria (E . coli), J. Cairns et al, at the Harvard School of Public Health, find they actually do produce mutations in direct response to changes in their environment. The adjective "purposeful" has even been applied to the action of these bacteria! Can anything be more heretical? "One of the experiments involves taking colonies of E. coli that are incapable of metabolizing lactose and exposing them to the sugar. If the lactose-utilizing mutants simply arise spontaneously in the population and are then favored by prevailing conditions, then this would lead to one pattern of new colony growth. A distinctly different pattern is produced if, under the new conditions, the rate of production of lactose-utilizing mutants is enhanced. The observation is something of a mixture of patterns, indicating that directed mutation appears to be occurring. 'This experiment suggests that populations of bacteria...have some way of producing (or selectively retaining) only the most appropriate mutations,' note Cairns and his colleagues." (Lewin, Roger; "A Heresy ...
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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. 35: Sep-Oct 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Getting The Pouch Right When we think of kangaroos hopping about Australia (which isn't very often), we know that all baby kangaroos are safely "buckled in" their mothers' pouches -- nature's own vehicle restraint system. How fortunate it is that kangaroo pouches open at the top; otherwise, little kangaroos would be falling out all over the place. While some marsupials have pouches opening "up" or "forward" in quite a few others evolution got the directions for pouch manufacture reversed. The koala, the wombat, the thylacine, and the marsupial mole all have backward-opening pouches. Obviously, a forward-opening pouch on the mole would act like a dirt scoop, to the great inconvenience of any occupants. On the other quadrupeds, the backwardopening pouch may protect the young from branches and vegetation. (Marshall, Jeremy H.; "Directional Pouches," Nature, 309:300, 1984.) Comment. This is an example of the socalled Problem of Perfection, where life seems marvelously attuned to its environment; that is, "fittest." Somewhere among the millions of species alive today, there must be one out-and-out failure. Of course, if full-scale nuclear war breaks out, we will know that evolution did make at least one mistake! Evolution gone wrong! Nature's cartoon of a kangaroo with a wrong-way ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The great exodus Those who believe that the universe is populated by many technically advanced civilizations have long wondered why we earthlings have not been officially invited to join the Intergalactic Federation. Where are those extraterrestrial emissaries anyway? Unfortunately, the extraterrestrial traffic seems to be going at warp speed in the wrong direction. Instead of interstellar spaceships converging on earth full of helpful aliens, everyone (or everything) seems to be fleeing our environs. The proof positive is in all those quasars with high redshifts. In reality, they are not energetic astronomical objects but rather spaceships emitting great power fluxes in our direction from their engines. Earthbound astronomers are really viewing the aft ends of rapidly receding spacecraft. No one ever sees any blueshifted quasars that would tell us that visitors are coming to see us! We are thus truly alone in space, perhaps "deserted" is a better word. What did we do wrong? (Duncan, Dave; "What Do They Know?" New Scientist, p. 52. May 13, 1995.) From Science Frontiers #101 Sep-Oct 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 82: Jul-Aug 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects AN UNUSUALLY COMPLEX MARINE LIGHT DISPLAY May 6, 1991. Straits of Hormuz. Aboard the m.v . Zidona , enroute from Muscat to Ruwais. "At 1805 UTC a blue-white pattern of fast-moving light was seen around the ship. Initially, it was thought to be a reflection in the bridge windows of the Didimar lighthouse, but on going to the bridge wing, the observers saw an amazing display of flashing lights taking place over 8090 per cent of the surface of the water. The whole ship was surrounded by a mass of blue and white light forming complex patterns that were visible in all directions as far as the eye could see. Looking almost like an 'electric mist', it moved with such speed and ease, as if it were alive. "At the peak of the activity, there appeared to be two central points of spiralling, each about 150 m off either side of the ship about midships. From these points there seemed to be emerging highly confused patterns of spiralling spokes moving in an anticlockwise direction on the port side and clockwise on the starboard side of the ship. It was difficult to estimate accurately how many spokes were present in each circle, but it was thought that there were three or four at any one time, moving very fast and curving to produce what could only be described as a 'whirlpool' effect. "At the same time, there were ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bacteria One dictionary's definition: "Widely distributed group of microscopic, one-celled vegetable organisms..." As a matter of fact, the nearly universal image of a bacterium is that of a simple, single-cell organism. But: "That view is now being challenged. Investigators are finding that in many ways an individual bacterium is more analogous to a component cell of a multicellular organism than it is to a free-living, autonomous organism. Bacteria form complex communities, hunt prey in groups and secrete chemical trails for the directed movement of thousands of individuals." J.A . Shapiro, author of the preceding quote, attributes the simplistic picture of bacteria to medical bacteriology, in which disease-causing bacteria are classically identified by isolating single cells, growing cultures from them, and then showing that they cause the disease in question. In the microscopic real world, bacteria virtually always live in colonies, which possess collective properties quite different and much more impressive than those of the single-cell-in-a -dish! That old human urge for reductionism has led us astray again. Shapiro seeks to remove the blinders of reductionism in a wonderful article in the June, 1988, issue of Scientific Amer can . We have room here to mention only the Myxobacteria, many of which never exist as single cells in nature. Even those that do are "social" in the sense that ...
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... Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects More evidence for galactic "shells" or "something else"Measurements of periodic red-shift bunching appeared in the literature at least as far back as 1977 in the work of W.G . Tifft. The implications of this phenomenon are apparently too terrible to contemplate, for astrophysicists have not taken up the challenge. They may be forced to take the phenomenon more seriously, because two new reports of redshift bunching have surfaced. First, B. Guthrie and W, Napier, at Edinburgh's Royal Observatory, have checked Tifft's "bunching" claim using accurately known red shifts of some nearby galaxies. They found a periodicity of 37.5 kilometers/second -- no matter in which direction the galaxies lay. (Gribbin, John; "' Bunched' Red Shifts Question Cosmology," New Scientist, p. 10, December 21/28, 1991.) The work of Guthrie and Napier is elaborated upon in the next item. Sec ond, B. Koo and R. Krone, at the University of Chicago, using optical red-shift measurements, discovered that, in one direction at least , "the clusters of galaxies, each containing hundreds of millions of stars, seemed to be concentrated in evenly spaced layers." (Browne, Malcolm W.; "In Chile, GalaxyWatching Robot Seeks Measure of Universe," New York Times, December 17, 1991. Cr. P. Gunkel.) Comment. Explanations for the unexpected bunching vary and ...
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... Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A NEARBY RING OF COMETS?Some 589 long-period comets are known. They ply orbits around the sun that may take millions of years to complete. Astronomers are generally agreed that these bodies originate in a very distant (100,000 A.U .* ) halo of cometary material surrounding the entire solar system. J. Oort proposed this cloud, and it is named after him. Of course, we anomalists become wary when scientists "generally agree" on a hypothetical entity that no one can see. The Oort Cloud of comets, like the unseeable black holes, are given substance only by the effects they have on other solar-system denizens and seeable cosmic objects. But there may be another cloud of comets that we can view directly. It is called the Kuiper Cloud (after G. Kui per). It is concentrated in the plane of the ecliptic just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Like the Oort Cloud, the Kuiper Cloud has not been seen yet, but we just might be able to with today's equipment! Its existence is hypothesized from the parameters of a different group of comets -- the so-called "short-period" comets, as exemplified by 76-year Halley's Comet. About 120 short-period comets have been discerned so far; and our computers now tell us that they cannot have originated in the Oort Cloud. Something closer and concentrated on the ecliptic is required. Thus the Kuiper Cloud or Belt was born. It is thought to be composed of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 14: Winter 1981 Supplement Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects More Phosphorescent Boomerangs July 10, 1979. The Arabian Sea. Aboard the m.v . Strathelgin. "At 1200 GMT large patches of milkygrey bioluminescence were observed; the patches appeared to form circular patterns resembling cartwheels, some of the configurations, however, did not have the central hub, see sketch. The patches pulsated at regular intervals (3 or 4 times per second). They moved in an anticlockwise direction until about 3 points abaft the beam where the direction of movement was reversed. On the beam they appeared to be at eye level, at all other times they were just above the surface of the water. The average size of the 'wheels' was 35 metres." (Penman, B.; "Bioluminescence," Marine Observer, 50:114, 1980.) Comment. A similar case of spinning boomerangs was reported in Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights, where the display was stimulated by switching the ship's radar on and off. Here, one must also ask how a bioluminescent phenomenon can exist at "eye level" many feet above the sea surface. To order the above-mentioned book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 91: Jan-Feb 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dna Undermines Key Paradigms Lately, the Wall Street Journal has expanded its coverage from stocks and bonds to the Marfa lights and other scientific anomalies. Now, it is challenging archeological sacred cows using mitochondrial DNA. Quite a switch from pork futures! Of course, the WSJ is not a recognized scientific source, but its reporter did get his information directly from D.C . Wallace, a well-known professor of genetics and molecular medicine at Emory University and a champion of the African Eve theory. Surely an unusual illustration for the archeology section, but the DNA in these mitochondria may upset long-held theories of human migration. Anyway, Wallace has been studying mitochondria, those little energizers in human and animal cells. Strangely, mitochondria have their own DNA, which is separate and distinct from the nuclear DNA that directs other biological processes. Mitochondrial DNA has had its own history of evolution and is different for various human populations. Wallace has used this fact to trace the origins of American Indians by comparing their mitochondrial DNA with that from Asians, Africans, etc. His conclusions are controversial to say the least. The Amerinds, who comprise most of the Native Americans, arrived in a single migratory wave 20,000-40,000 years ago -- not merely 12,000 years ago! Native Siberians lack a peculiar mutation of mitochondrial DNA that appeared in the Amerinds 6,000-10,000 years ago ...
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... 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Curious Luminous Display Over The Pacific Ocean Our general policy admits only those phenomena described in the scientific literature, but here we must make an exception. This account, submitted by a retired Air Force colonel, is unlike anything we have found before -- either meteorological or auroral. "During the last week of August 1970, I was on a trip from Viet Nam to Clark AFB, Philippines. We were cruising at 9000 feet. We had departed Camron Bay between 2 and 3 AM. Upon reaching cruise altitude, I noticed a rather unusual display in the sky. Our magnetic heading from V.N . to Clark was approximately 155 . The display appeared on the horizon in an easterly direction. It consisted of a series of dashes perhaps the color of the moon with a south-to-north directional flow. There was no visible beginning of this display,such as you would see in a comet .. .. . "The awesome feature of this display was its magnitude. I thought if whatever was creating the display collided with our Earth, then we would no longer exist. I also feel that I was seeing only a small portion of the whole. As hindsight I can only regret that I did not report this sighting through Air Traffic Control channels. The crew discussed and speculated on what we had seen, then promptly forgot about it." The account continues, relating how on the next night, when the aircraft departed the Philippines for Guam and ...
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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 Kobe quake jostles the geo- magnetic field Some luminous phenomena accompanying the January 17, 1995, Kobe earthquake were mentioned in SF#99. Geomagnetic perturbations were also recorded: "At Kyoto University's observatory in Mineyama, the terrestrial magnetism suddenly changed in a southeasterly direction by up to 0.6 nanotesla, for 30 seconds, as the quake began at 5:46 a.m . on Jan. 17. .. .. . "A similar geomagnetic variation was also observed at the university's observatory in Shigaraki, but the variation was in the opposite, north-westerly, direction." (Anonymous; "Changes in Geomagnetic Field Noted during Quake," Daily Yomiuri , March 30, 1995. Cr. N. Masuya) Comment. Such clear-cut, earthquake-associated geomagnetic perturbations are rare. For a short history of the controversy, see GQM1 in the catalog volume: Earthquakes, Tides, etc. (Details here .) Evidently, strong earth currents are created when rocks fracture and slip, but the precise mechanism remains obscure. From Science Frontiers #100, JUL-AUG 1995 . 1995-2000 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 Blooms in the desert?Particle physicists have recently observed anomalous events in data from the proton-antiproton collider at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). These unexpected events occur when a proton hits an antiproton head-on at very high energies. Highly collimated jets of charged particles shoot out in one direction, while an unrecognized "something" takes off in the opposite direction. The reactions take place at energies just beyond the masses of the newly discovered W and Z particles. Till now, this energy region has been dubbed a "desert" because, according to the so-called Grand Unification Theory of particle interactions, nothing is supposed to happen there. But there is something there after all; and whatever it is, it does not seem to be remotely like any known or predicted particle. (Waldrop, M. Mitchell; "Blooms in the Desert?" Science, 224:589, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #35, SEP-OCT 1984 . 1984-2000 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 Cosmic Rays Not Random Conventional wisdom maintains that the cosmic rays intercepted by the earth are randomly distributed in space and time because of the smoothing action of the galactic magnetic field. But a cosmic-ray telescope buried beneath 600 meters of rock has recently detected bursts of cosmic rays emanating from specific directions. The two major sources are in the direction of the galactic north pole and the constellation Cygnus. Since the galactic magnetic field seems sufficient to randomize all charged particles during their long flights through space, pristine cosmic rays may not be charged particles at all. (Hecht, Jeff, and Torrey, Lee; "Scientists Find Sources of Cosmic Rays," New Scientist, 99:764, 1983.) Reference. The many anomalies of cosmic radiation are cataloged it: Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. Details on this book at: here . From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 117: May-June 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Light Makes Bright As revealed in SF#116, the backs of our knees are strangely sensitive to light. Illumination of these regions somehow encourages our pineal glands to release melatonin. D. Jones has suggested a more direct way in which light can reach the pineal gland -- through our ears! The pineal gland, which is believed to be the relic of the third eye that our distant reptilian ancestors possessed, is now buried deeply in our brains. But, it is possible that light could reach it through the ears by diffusing through the soft, translucent tissues that lead into our skulls. A commercial opportunity arises here. Jones notes first that melatonin is a mood enhancer and stimulant. We all have read how depressed far-northern peoples become during their long winter nights; and we know first-hand how exuberant we are on bright spring days. Why not, asks Jones, manufacture "earlights" mounted on headbands? These would direct red light (which diffuses better through tissue) into the ears and thence to the pineal gland. People could thereby be made cheerful and enthusiastic whatever the season, weather, or time of day. We could dispense with all those mood-enhancing pills. (Jones, David; "The Seeing Ear," Nature, 391:541, 1998.) From Science Frontiers #117, MAY-JUN 1998 . 1998-2000 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 A Gathering Of Quasars The universe is supposed to be approximately uniform in all directions -- the evenly distributed smoke from the Big Bang. Halton Arp, an energetic opponent of the standard cosmological view, points out that quasars are socializing in disgracefully large numbers in one region of the sky. In the direction of the so-called Local Cluster of galaxies, between redshifts 1.2 -2 .5 , there are roughly four times as many quasars per unit volume as in the other parts of the sky. This unexpected clumping of quasars affects a region 1,3000 million light years in diameter and 4.875 million light years deep, a rather substantial chunk of the cosmos. Arp's discovery places astronomy in a no-win situation. Either the distribution of quasars is too clumpy for current theory or the redshift/distance law is wrong. Neither situation makes astronomers very happy. (Anonymous; "Quasars and Quasi Quasars," New Scientist, p. 20, May 17, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Another Indian Ocean Light Wheel March 27, 1976. Position 10 N., 101 E. "At 1917 GMT, C.J .A . Cladingbowl, the Second Officer of the s.s . Benattow saw pulsating parallel bands of light rushing toward the ship from 045 T. After two to three minutes, the bands assumed a spoke formation with the center of rotation unseen but in the direction of 315 T. The spokes were about 22 m in width, with 22 m between each spoke. Rotating clockwise, the spokes swept past the vessel at ever increasing speeds, reaching two spokes per second maximum. By 1925, the display had reverted to the parallel band form. Then, the bands changed into a counterclockwise rotating wheel. The performance ended when the display again reverted to parallel bands and faded out altogether. The light from the spokes was white to light green and its intensity increased with the speed of rotation." (Cowie, R.E .; "Bioluminescence," Marine Observer, 47:17, 1977.) Reference. Lightwheels and other weird forms of bioluminescence are cataloged in Chapter GLW of Lightning, Auroras. For details, see: here . A = Locus of Center of spoke formation at beginning B = Ship's course C = Locus of center of spoke formation at end D = Advancing bands of light E = Direction of movement of spoke formation From Science Frontiers #2 , ...
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... Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia. Were bark paper and the tools required to make it invented independently on both sides of the Pacific, or were they transported across the Pacific by early navigators? If the latter, the flow was probably from Asia to America because the paper-making tools first appeared in Southeast Asia 4-5000 years ago and in Mesoamerica only 2500 years ago. Even so, trans-Pacific voyages 2500 years ago are definitely not part of acceptable archeology. Anthropologist P. Tolstoy, swimming against the mainstream, has surveyed the manufacturing technology of both bark paper and ordinary paper on a worldwide basis. He identified some 300 variable features in the process, 140 uses of the final products, and 100 specific details of bark beaters. Tolstoy concluded: "All this points to the direct transfer of technology from Southeast Asia to Mesoamerica, apparently by a sea voyage that took place about 2500 years ago." Tolstoy rejects the tapa (bark cloth) of Polynesia as a credible link between Southeast Asian and Mesoamerican barkpaper making. The technology transfer was not island-to-island but direct! Invoking Kon Tiki and the prevailing currents and winds, he postulates a 2500-year-old voyage swinging north of Hawaii along an islandless route to Mesoamerica. (Tolstoy, Paul; "Paper Route," Natural History, 100:6 , June 1991.) From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... total solar eclipses. The time was February 26, 1998; the place, Knip Beach, Curaco. Strach had first laid out a 53-centimeter-diameter white screen on the ground. He pointed his camcorder at the screen and pressed the ON switch 4 minutes before second contact. Playing back his recording, he was not a little surprised to find he had an excellent record of the curious parade of the hard-to photograph dark bands. "They were clearly seen for 32 seconds before the second contact and a little fainter for 27 seconds after totality. They moved rapidly across the screen from E to W before totality and from NNE to SSW after 3rd contact. Slow motion studies of the video show occasional merging of the bands and at times they seem to move in opposite directions -- probably a stroboscopic effect." The widths of the bands varied from 2.36 to 6.63 centimeters. (Strach, Eric; "Shadow Bands Recorded at February 26 Eclipse," British Astro nomical Association, Journal, vol. 108, 1998. Comment. Theorists have long been challenged by these ghostly, fleeting shadows. Their widths change; their directions and speeds vary; they come in different colors; sometimes more than one set of bands appear; giant bands have been seen. All of these characteristics are difficult to account for in a single theory. Shadow bands sketch during the February 26, 1998, total solar eclipse. (Top) before totality (Bottom) After totality From Science Frontiers #123, MAY-JUN 1999 . 1999-2000 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 68: Mar-Apr 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dreams that do what they're told A few people can dream and, in their dreams, know that they are dreaming, and then take charge of their dreams, directing them to unfold according to their wishes. This all sounds occultish, to say nothing about far-fetched. It is called "lucid dreaming." F. van Eeden, a Dutch psychiatrist, defined lucid dreaming in this way: ". .. the reintegration of the psychic functions is so complete that the sleeper reaches a state of perfect awareness and is able to direct his/ her attention, and to attempt different acts of free volition. Yet the sleep, as I am able confidently to state, is undisturbed, deep and refreshing." Lucid dreams are real dreams. They occur during REM (Rapid Eye Movements) sleep, usually in the early morn ing, and they last 2-5 minutes. High levels of physical and emotional activity during the preceding day can encourage lucid dreaming. When lucid dreaming occurs, there are pauses in breathing, brief changes in heart rate, and changes in the skin's electric potential. There is even a recipe for triggering lucid dreaming. If you awake from a normal dream in the early morning, wake up fully but don't forget the dream. Read a bit or walk about, then lie down to sleep again. Imagine yourself asleep and dreaming, rehearsing the dream ...
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... sources of visible light, radio waves, and X-rays. The problem with Arp-220's flanking quasars is that they have much greater redshifts than the galaxy that seems to be situated in between them and likely at the same distance. Is this just a chance association, and the quasars are really much farther away than the galaxy -- as suggested by their high redshifts? Most astronomers believe this must be the case, but Burbidge and, of course, Arp, doubt it. They point to 10 other galaxies nearby that are also straddled by quasar pairs with higher redshifts. All of these were discovered within the last four years. Are they all merely chance associations? Arp contends that these quasar pairs are actually great masses of matter that have been ejected in opposite directions by the galaxies they flank. In this, the quasar pairs remind one of the pairs of energetic jets of matter emitted in opposite directions by many active galaxies. Astronomers readily accept these pairs of jets but emphatically reject a physical connection between the quasar pairs and the galaxies that seem to have expelled them. To do otherwise would endanger much of modern cosmology. (Schilling, Govert; "Radical Theory Takes a Test," Science, 291:579, 2001.) Comment. If 10 high-shift quasar pairs do not impress other astronomers, would 100 be sufficient, or 1,000? From Science Frontiers #138, NOV-DEC 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 48: Nov-Dec 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Phosphorescent Bars And Wheels May 29, 1955. The Java Sea. "At 0210 LMT I witnessed the start of a bioluminescent display. My first impression was that the ship was being 'attacked' on all sides from different directions by pulsing light-bands. A dull 'strobe-light' effect flashed through a mist, giving the bands a dirty white to gray colouration which was not a 'smooth' colour, but rather grainy in appearance. The bands were about 2 m wide and about 2 m apart and moving at speed. At first it was difficult to discern whether or not the bands were in the water or just above the surface, as no form of reflection or distortion was visible off the hull. In the end, I decided that the effect must be waterbourne if only because nothing was visible in the vessel's wake. "The most intense activity was observed on the starboard side of the ship where the phenomenon appeared to stretch as far as the horizon. At this stage, it did not appear localized, just a mass of high-speed interacting bands of light. The effect is shown in the first sketch. As is usual on an 'all aft' ship, you become 'deaf' to the constant background noises, but I gradually became aware that the pulses of light seemed to match those of the main engine's throb, that is, about two per ...
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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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