... Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Crop circles: a middle ground On one hand, mainstream scientists, when they deign to notice them at all, pronounce that all crop circles are the work of hoaxers, as in the article by J.W . Deardorff referenced below. On the other hand, several books and a flood of reports in fringe publications claim that the crop circles, particularly the complex ones, are evidence that extraterrestrial intelligences are attempting to communicate with us. There is also a middle ground upon which stands G.T . Meaden, a physicist, and a few other scientists. Meaden has summarized this third position in the following paragraph: ". .. we believe that the formation of real crop circles is a rare phenomenon resulting from the motion of a spinning mass of air which Professor Tokio Kikuchi has modelled by computer simulation and calls a nanoburst. This disturbance could involve the breakdown of an up-spinning vortex of the eddy or whirlwind type. On this theoretical model such a process leads to plain circles and ringed circles -- types which are known from pre-hoax times in Britain and other countries, and are the only species which credible eye-witnesses have seen forming. All other so-called crop circles reported in the media news in recent years are likely to be the result of intelligent hoaxing, while the so-called paranormal events to which Deardorff alludes are nothing but the consequence of poor observation and/or exaggeration by susceptible mystics and vulnerable pseudoscientists. In the absence of hoaxing the ...

... 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 ...

... the atmosphere. Astronomers are secure and comfortable with this explanation of the mid-November spectacle. Perhaps they shouldn't be. In November 1998, an intriguing anomaly cropped up -- way up, 120 miles up! Leonids were seen to burn up at this altitude where there is not enough atmosphere to create the friction required to vaporize the space debris. Perhaps the cometary fragments from comet Temple-Tuttle are unusually volatile. Perhaps there is something else going on at the outer fringes of the atmosphere. Who knows? (Witze, Alexandra; "Scientists Gain Insights into Meteors," Northwest Florida Daily News, May 27, 1999. Cr. B. Reid) Comments. Sometimes, comets flare up so far from the sun that solar heating is negligible. This poorly understood phenomenon may be related to the highaltitude flare-ups of the Leonids. Some people claim they can sometimes hear meteors hiss as they streak through the sky at altitudes so high that there is not enough air to convey sound! Such "electrophonic sounds" may have an electromagnetic origin; that is, some people perceive electromagnetic bursts as sounds. From Science Frontiers #125, SEP-OCT 1999 . 1999-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... the same way hormones released by a gland into the bloodstream can have effects on cells far away. These processes occur on much longer time scales than does synaptic transmission, and they probably play a distinct role, perhaps regulating the brain's responses to synaptic signals. .. .. . "We might speculate that volume transmission is involved in the neuroendocrine system and the central autonomic system. Changes in the activity of the brain during sleep and wakefulness, relative levels of alertness, mood and sensitivity to pain may be highly dependent on volume transmission. Thus, although information regarding to location of pain is carried by the circuitry of the nervous system, the intensity and duration of the pain may be somewhat modulated by the ambient homoral signals. In this respect, acupuncture may also be a phenomenon that is dependent on volume transmission." (Agnati, Luigi F., et al; "Volume Transmission in the Brain," American Scientist, 80:362, 1992.) Questions. (1 ) Is there a connection between volume transmission and the analog transmission of brain signals hypothesized by R.O . Becker (SF#81)? (2 ) Can a computer really be programmed to think like a human if it is all wires without something analogous to volume transmission; i.e . is artificial intelligence really possible? (3 ) How and why did at least two forms of information transmission evolve? (4 ) Might there still be other modes of information transmission and processing in the brain -- perhaps something associated with genius, psi, or intuition ...

... and microprobe analysis led to the following conclusions: "Although direct evidence of an extraterrestrial origin for this debris layer (such as the presence of cosmogenic 10 Be and 26Al) has not yet been obtained, the available data strongly suggest that this sediment originated as meteoritic spallation debris. This debris is distinct from other Antarctic 'cosmic dust' collections by virtue of its uniform, recognizable, ordinary chondrite composition and the consistent relation shown between grain size and texture. The BIT-58 layer probably originated from a single transient event, the passage and/or impact of a single large meteorite over the East Antarctic icesheet." (Harvey, R.P . et al; "A Meteoritic Event Layer in Antarctic Ice," Meteoritics, 30:517, 1995) Comment. The Petrozavodsk Phenomenon under ASTRONOMY might well have left a layer like this. The 1908 Tunguska Event (Siberian Meteor) undoubtedly did. (SF#102) From Science Frontiers #104, MAR-APR 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... again. Sure enough, Aristarchus had really turned redder after the TLP reported by the amateur astronomers. Such lunar color changes are readily explained as due to eruptions of pockets of gases trapped below the moon's surface. These blow-outs can spread colored dust over areas extensive enough to be visible through the small telescopes used by amateur astronomers. (Seife, Charles; "Moon Mystery Emerges from the X-Files," New Scientist, p. 22, October 23, 1999.) Comment. In this context of overly rigid dogma, we repeat a truism voiced by physicist R. Feynman: "Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty -- some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely sure." The shaded area marks a color phenomenon seen in the crater Gassendi April 30, 1966. (From The Moon and the Planets). From Science Frontiers #127, JAN-FEB 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss ...

... standing waves in the vocal tract. The source of raw sound is the vocal folds. It is the vocal tract that shapes the raw sound into musical tones. Biofeedback is also involved as the throatsingers tweak the rate and manner in which the vocal folds open and close. (Levin, Theodore C., and Edgerton, Michael E.; "The Throat Singers of Tuva," Scientific American, 281:80, September 1999.) Comments. The human throat is obviously a complex musical instrument, but what survival value does this remarkable instrument have? Did evolution overshoot its mark? Incidentally, many birds can produce simultaneously two tones that are not harmonically related. However, these birds have a special doublebarreled organ called the syrinx. So, the avian "two-voice" phenomenon is not as unexpected as it is in humans. But, waxing skeptical, as usual, we ask why some birds would need a twovoice capability when ducks, herons, and many other birds survive very well with rather crude vocalizations. From Science Frontiers #127, JAN-FEB 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 71: Sep-Oct 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects PALEOMAGNETIC PITFALLS "Magnetism in rocks has provided a traditional tool for studies of the Earth's geomagnetic field. These studies have tended to rely on the assumption that the direction of magnetization was 'frozen in' during formation of the rock. But many sedimentary rocks formed during the Palaeozoic acquired their remanent magnetization through alteration processes that occurred after deposition of the sediment. The causes and geological significance of this phenomenon have been much debated." The foregoing paragraph is enough to send shivers throughout the geological world. Does this undermine paleomagnetism and generalizations flowing from it, such as plate tectonics? The "alteration processes" mentioned in the above quotation include: (1 ) The chemical conversion of pyrite into magnetite in ancient rocks after they were deposited; and (2 ) The reorientation of remanent magnetization following exposure to moderately high temperatures. That these processes can be important is evident in a second quotation: "During the past eight years, however, evidence has accumulated that the remanent magnetization of many carbonate sediments was not acquired at the time of deposition, thereby invalidating some previous interpretations of the palaeomagnetic data. Instead, magnetization seems to have been acquired over a limited time span during the late Palaeozoic, from about 310 to 250 million years ago." (Reynolds, Richard L.; "A Polished View of Remagnetization," Nature, 345: 570, 1990.) Reference. Many other problems afflict paleomagnetism. See: ...

... in the direction towards which he was looking, the west, I also was astounded -- numberless black discs in groups and scattered were passing rapidly through the air. He said his attention was directed to them by his little girl, who called to him in the Mill, saying, "Look, father, here are a lot of balloons coming!" They continued for more than twenty minutes, the time I stayed. In passing in front of the sun they appeared like large cannon shot. Several groups passed over my head, disappearing suddenly, and leaving puffs of greyish brown vapour very much like smoke. The Editor of the journal added that several others had observed the black discs and concurred with Beveridge's description. (Beveridge, James E.; "An Extraordinary Phenomenon," Symons's Monthly Meteorological Magazine, 2:130, 1867.) From Science Frontiers #128, MAR-APR 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 69: May-Jun 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Fracto-fusion?The hot topic in cold fusion research is now fracto-fusion; that is, the inducing of deuterium fusion by means of the electric fields established along microcracks developing in substances charged with deuterium or tritium. Back in 1986, Soviet researchers reported the observation of neutron emission when they violently crushed lithium deuteride in the presence of ice made from heavy water. More recently, they saw the same phenomenon when milling several deuterium-containing metals. Conceivably, deuterium nuclei accelerated by the electric fields along the cracks could be fusing, producing neutrons. (Amato, I.; "If Not Cold Fusion, Try Fracto Fusion," Science News, 137:87, 1990.) Pouring cold water on the Soviet results, two American scientists described negative results in the February 15 issue of Nature. They fired small (0 .131-gram) steel ball bearings at an ice tar-get made with 99.9 % deuterium. Despite the violent shattering of the deuterated ice, no significant numbers of neutrons were measured. (Sobotka, L.G ., and Winter, P.; "Fracture without Fusion," Nature, 343:601, 1990.) Comment. Whatever the fate of fractofusion, several labs around the world are still pursuing cold fusion. The sci entific mainstream, though, considers cold fusion a dead issue, even though anomalous neutrons and heat emission have been found ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 129: MAY-JUN 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Why we "Roll in the Aisles"Some of the research pursued by the Leiden Medical Center, Netherlands, was truly a laughing matter. G.J . Lammers and colleagues investigated the effects of laughing upon the H-reflex that affects the soleus muscles in our calves. A decrease in the H-reflex is usually accompanied by a marked weakness in these muscles. They first showed slides -- some funny, some not -- to volunteers at 2-second intervals. Sure enough, when the subjects laughed, their H-reflexes nearly disappeared. Trying to quantify the phenomenon: The researchers then repeated the experiment with several new volunteers, but in this case they tried to make the subjects laugh by telling them jokes. When individuals laughed at the jokes, their H-reflexes de-creased in amplitude by 89 percent---significantly more than when the jokes merely made them smile. (Anonymous; "Falling Down Laughing," BioScience, 49:940 Comment. Presumably the subjects were firmly seated during all the hilarity. If they had been standing when their calf muscles gave way, the lawsuits received by the Medical Center would not have been so funny! Who said science was no fun? From Science Frontiers #129, MAY-JUNE 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of ...

... is definitely ultra-weird, so much so that we had to invent that adjective! Take, for example, this specific BTT result presented by B. Augenstein: "In particular, a solid sphere with unit radius can be cut into five pieces in such a way that two of the pieces can be reassembled into one solid sphere with unit radius, while the other three pieces are reassembled into a second solid sphere with unit radius. These are the minimum numbers of pieces required to do the trick, but it can be repeated indefinitely." Impossible, you say? Can one sphere fragment and be reconstituted as two solid spheres of the same size? Regardless of what the math says, it cannot happen in the real world! Well, BTT actually does mirror just such a phenomenon found in particle physics: "The magical way in which a proton entering a metal target can produce a swarm of new copies of protons emerging from that target, each identical to the original, is precisely described by the BTT process of cutting spheres into pieces and reassembling them to make pairs of spheres." (Gribbin, John; "The Prescient Power of Mathematics," New Scientist, p. 14, January 22, 1994. Cr. P. Gunkel.) Comment. Would it be frivilous to ask that if protons can multiply thus (seemingly magically), why can't fish fall from the sky? Many anomalous phenomena might be explained by BTT and other surreal math, but scientists seem to apply such thinking only to particle physics and cosmology. From Science ...

... single psychiatric unit, from 1977 to 1987, were examined for 1829 psychiatric inpatients to assess whether this measure was correlated with 10 parameters of geophysical activity. Four statistically significant values were 0.197 with level of solar radioflux at 2800 MHz in the corresponding month, -0 .274 with sudden magnetic disturbances of the ionosphere, -0 .216 with the index of geomagnetic activity, and -0 .262 with the number of hours of positive ionization of the ionosphere in the corresponding month. Percentages of variance accounted for were very small." Quite understandably, these investigators concluded: "How to interpret properly associations of solar activity with human behaviors is yet impossible. The relative indifference of behavioral scientists to this question may reflect lack of an adequate theoretical framework relating to the question and the phenomenon." (Raps, Avi, et al; "Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXIX. Solar Activity and Admission of Psychiatric Inpatients," Perceptual and Motor Skills , 74:449, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... corners. Drillers and purpose are unknown. Our purpose here is to flag a recent article in Ancient American that tells of the discovery of still more of the Viking mooring stones in Minnesota, especially in Pope County. The most interesting feature of this article is the map of Pope County giving the locations and approximate elevations of more than a score of the stones. All lie between 1,100 and 1,400 feet. While small lakes exist at these elevations, the stones are all more than 500 feet above Lake Superior. If the Vikings did somehow penetrate into the Great Lakes (perhaps via Hudson Bay or the St. Lawrence), how did they ever raise their vessels 500+ feet to levels of the supposed mooring stones? There must be a better explanation for this ubiquitous phenomenon.(Pederson, Leland; "Viking Mooring Stones in West Central Minnesota," Ancient American, no. 33, p. 25, 2000.) Comment. Stacked against the Viking-mooring-stone theory are the stones' presence far inland and at high elevations. Yet, the unusual cross sections of the holes, their precision, and standard dimensions militate against the blasting-hole theory proposed by skeptics. From Science Frontiers #132, NOV-DEC 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ...

... 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 from which you awoke, and remind yourself: "Next time I'm dreaming, I want to remember I'm dreaming." Lucid dreaming, it seems, is not an isolated phenomenon. There are strong similarities between lucid dreaming and out-of-the-body experiences and even the experiences of UFO abductees. S. Blackmore remarks: "In all these experiences, it seems as though the perceptual world has been replaced by another world, built from the imagination, a hallucinatory replica." Some people enjoy their lucid dreams; but others fear them and report that objects in this false world are surrounded by a "strong diabolical light." (Blackmore, Susan; "Dreams That Do What They're Told," New Scientist, p. 48, January 6, 1990.) From Science Frontiers #68, MAR-APR 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... are from the same geographical regions, it is not obvious why this astounding mimicry should occur. Here, one cannot invoke the explanation that one species gains an evolutionary advantage by mimicking an unpalatable species, as with mimics of the Monarch Butterfly. That is, there seems to be no evolutionary advantage to looking alike. (Miller, Julie Ann; BioScience, inside front cover, March 1994. Miller's editorial remarks are based upon a later article by H.F . Nijhout, who also supplied the photographs. Nijhout's article explains how butterfly wing patterns may have evolved.) Comment. Cases of remarkable mimicry also occur among geographically separated species. For example, the North American Meadowlarks are dead ringers for the African Yellow-throated Longclaw. "Convergent evolution" names the phenomenon but doesn't tell how or why long chains of random mutations can come up with the same designs where there seems to be no "guidance" by the forces of natural selection. Perhaps genomes contain "subprograms" for those patterns and structures often used in biology. Of course, Sheldrake's idea of "morphic resonance" also applies here! From Science Frontiers #95, SEP-OCT 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 62: Mar-Apr 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Researches In Reincarnation I. Stevenson, at the University of Virginia, has long studied claims of reincarnation. The method employed (and there are precious few alternatives) focuses on children who claim to have lived before and can provide verifiable details about their past lives. If the details check out, one can at least claim that reincarnation is a possible interpretation of the data. Usually, however, before a researcher can get to the scene of the phenomenon, the parents of the deceased have been found and the way has been left open for much exaggeration. In his present contribution, Stevenson reports three cases in Sri Lanka where the recollections of the supposedly reincarnated children have been written down in detail and the family of the deceased has not been located. Here is one of his cases: "The Case of Iranga . The child was born in a village of Sri Lanka near but not on the west coast, in 1981. When she was about 3 years old she spoke about a previous life at a place called Elpitiya. Among other details, Iranga mentioned that her father sold bananas, there had been two wells at her house, one well had been destroyed by rain, her mother came from a place called Matugama, she was a middle sister of her family, and the house where the family lived had red walls and a kitchen with a thatched roof. Her statements led to the identification of a family in ...

... actually been observed. The invisible atmospheric vor tex does its work in 30 seconds or less and generates a high-pitched humming sound. The complex nature of these vortices is attested to by the rare ringed circles and multiple patterns. Both single- and double-ringed circles are known. The wind direction always alternates from central circle to first ring to second ring. The most common multiple patterns consist of large central circles flanked by two or four, smaller satellite circles, all nicely spaced. In the quintuplets, all five circles are usually flattened clockwise, but one case has presented theorists with four counterclockwise circles accompanied by a single improbable clockwise circle! (Meaden, G.T .; "The Mystery of Spiral-Circle Ground Patterns in Crops Made by a Natural Atmospheric-Vortex Phenomenon," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 13:203, 1988.) Quintuplet pattern in barley crop, west Wiltshire, 1987 From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... playa slider. It first left a trail a few hundred meters long when it was frozen in an ice sheet spigot down, with the spigot furrow quite obvious. The ice sheet then melted, and the tank was blown over spigot-up. Another ice sheet formed, and the tank was off across the playa again. This time the keel of the tank excavated a furrow as wide as the tank's length, 91 centimeters, several centimeters deep, and 122 meters long. Reeves contends that this is the world's largest playaslider furrow! (Reeves, C.C ., Jr.; "Unusual Playa Sliders at Double Lakes, Texas," Geology Today, 12:207, 1996.) Comment. Now that science has finally stooped to study this mundane phenomenon and has come up with some answers, we are inclined to remove it from the rolls of Fortean phenomena! From Science Frontiers #114, NOV-DEC 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... by correctly multiplying two 13-digit numbers -- 7,686,369,774,870 times 2,465,099,745,779 -- in 28 seconds. The awesome answer? 18,947,668,177, 995,426,462,773,730." S. Devi is also a calendar calculator, being able to name the day of the week for any date in the past or future, taking into account leap years and calendar changes. She never attended school or had any formal mathematical training! (Young, Luther; "Numbers Whiz Takes Delight in Beating Computers;" Baltimore Sun, January 21, 1988, p. A1.) Comment. Such prodigies have appeared regularly down recorded history. What is the meaning of the phenomenon? Why does evolution produce talents that far exceed the "need" of the species? Is there a "need" that we are not aware of? It could be that prodigies are precursors of new evolutionary developments, which will leave poor homo sapi ens in the intellectual dust. Surely, science fiction has a story about a secret society of transcendent geniuses living under some mountain or even on some planet! Maybe that's how "the face on Mars" got there! From Science Frontiers #56, MAR-APR 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Partain saw a lightning strike near an oil refinery storage tank. Immediately after the strike they saw a bluish sphere with red and yellow highlights, not more than 9 feet in diameter, some 100 yards away, near the tank. The sphere lasted in that form some five seconds before fragmenting in a loud detonation. During the act of detonation the sphere became an irregular spheroid before fragmentation. Mr. Partain reported that he could feel the heat from the detonation. Both individuals, seated in a truck, were quite astounded by the apparition. The weather was quite stormy and violent in its gales, rain and lightning." (Partain, Keith; personal communication, November 24, 1987.) Comment. K. Partain checked the Catalog Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights and classified the phenomenon as GLB1 or Ordinary Ball Lightning. The above book is described here . The ball lightning figured left was seen near an Albany, NY, factory in 1975. The event closely resembles that reported by the Partains. From Science Frontiers #55, JAN-FEB 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... and could even have been mistaken for land on the radar. The effect could not be removed or diminished by changing range scales, motion modes, gain, tuning or perhaps most significantly, altering the pulse lengths. An identical effect was observed on the vessel's independent ARPA radar. The Master commented that although false echoes were invariably encountered in this region, he had not seen one such as this, which actually 'encapsulated' the vessel within the PPI of the radar. By 1935 the false echoes had dissipated into isolated batches splayed randomly across the screen." (Leslie, A.J .; "Radar Echoes," Marine Observer, 56:117, 1986.) Comment. In the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, similar false echoes are often associated with bioluminescent phenomenon. For details, see category GLW in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #52, JUL-AUG 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... Antonio, have been studying "biogenic varnishes" for years. These plastic-like coatings are produced by bacteria and fungi. Sure enough, microscopic examination of a few linen fibers from the Shroud of Turin show that they, too, are coated with such varnishes. These biogenic varnishes may introduce carbon that has been recently fixed from the atmosphere and thus make the sample's age appear younger than it really is. (Travis, John; "Microbes Muddle Shroud of Turin's Age," Science News, 147:346, 1995.) Comment. More than the Shroud is at stake here. Bacteria contaminate just about everything, including wood and bone from archeological sites. Bacteria may, therefore, "rejuvenate" samples sent in for radiocarbon dating. The importance of this phenomenon is still unclear. Cross reference. Radiocarbon-dated samples may also appear erroneously "aged" by the uptake of primordial carbon (C13) present in the earth's crust. See SF#99. From Science Frontiers #100, JUL-AUG 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... though, is sited elsewhere; the parietal lobe, to be specific. Dehaene's experiments with babies demonstrate that, even before they can speak or do exact arithmetic, they can do "approximate arithmetic"; that is, they can distinguish between these two sequences of tones: beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep-beep. This number sense is apparently hardwired in a specific part of the human brain and the brains of a few other animals that have been tested (monkeys and rats). (Baiter, Michael; "What Makes the Mind Dance and Count?" Science, 292:1635, 2001.) Comment. Superficially, distinguishing between strings of beeps would appear to be a trivial phenomenon. Not so! The general number sense defined by Dehaene would seem to have significant survival value, say, as in assessing threats or hunting opportunities. We can, therefore, conceive a neo-Darwinian evolutionary scenario here. But when it comes to the number sense at Einstein's level, we fail to detect any survival value in the ability to develop the abstruse equations of relativity until, say, the advent of tenured positions in universities. From Science Frontiers #138, NOV-DEC 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people ...

... No. 119: Sep-Oct 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Einstein In Free Fall We now describe two abstruse phenomena, one of which is well-recognized, the other which is suggested by quantum mechanics, but is yet unobserved. Both involve only tiny physical effects. Even so, we should remember that a linchpin of Special Relativity is the tiny advance of Mercury's perihelion. It was Mercury's miniscule orbital anomaly that helped overthrow Newtonian celestial mechanics. Now, quantum mechanics may, in turn, undermine Relativity. The gist of this introduction is that we have here tiny, hard-to-visualize phenomena that are so scientifically important that it is worthwhile trying to understand them. In the first abstruse phenomenon, quantum mechanical effects demonstrate that the laws of classical electromagnetism are flawed. According to the classical view, an electron cruising by an ideal solenoid (a tube with an internal magnetic field but none outside) should be unaffected; that is, the electron should not "feel" the confined magnetic field. But, in the quantum mechanical view, the "presence" of the electron is smeared out so that it penetrates the solenoid, and the electron is affected by the confined field. This has been demonstrated. A Los Alamos scientist, D. Ahluwalia, ventures that an analogous situation prevails with gravity. He notes that General Relativity predicts that a particle (or person) in free fall cannot distinguish this condition (weightlessness) from the situation in a hollow shell of matter, ...