... 0-915554-62-3 . 7 x 10" format Geological Catalogs For a full list of geology subjects, see here . Inner Earth: A Search for Anomalies; A Catalog of Geological Anomalies Sorry, Out of print The focus of this, the eleventh volume in the Catalog of Anomalies, is the earth's interior, which is revealed to us mainly through seismic signals, magnetic variations, and the flow of heat from great depths. Hundreds of kilometers below the surface lurk huge pieces of foundered continental crust and bizarre structures of unknown origin. Typical subjects covered: Anomalous gravity signals * Mid-plate volcanism * Mysterious seismic reflectors * Seismic velocity discontinuities * Deep-focus earthquakes * Incompleteness of the stratgraphic record * Cyclothems and rhythmites * Exotic terranes * Compass anomalies * Earth ... 7 x 10" format Dark Days, Ice falls, Firestorms and Related Weather Anomalies Sorry: Out of Print. No longer available. "Weather" is a composite experience of sight, sound, temperature, and other sensations of the elements. The phenomena of this Catalog volume are not primarily luminous or acoustic or confined to the sensory channels that form the bases for the other volumes in the field of geophysics. Here, we deal with rain, fog, wind, clouds, precipitation, and sunshine-- but only when they are anomalous or at least curious enough to attract our attention. Several themes that thread their ways through the geophysical volumes of the Catalog recur in this book: The importance of electricity in geophysical phenomena The possible influences of the sun, moon, planets, ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 128: MAR-APR 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Ganymede Magnetic Paradox In December 1995, the Galileo space-craft was injected into orbit around Jupiter, thereby becoming the first known artificial satellite of this giant planet. In the five years that have transpired, Galileo has radioed back voluminous data about Jupiter itself and its four large Calilean satellites. These natural satellites have turned out to be a disparate bunch. Three have iron cores, but Callisto breaks the mold with an unusual core of mixed ice and rock. Europa probably possesses an ocean, and Callisto might also. Only one of Jupiter's large satellites, Ganymede, boasts a magnetic field. In fact, Ganymede is apparently ... only satellite in the solar system to display an intrinsic, dipole magnetic field like the earth's . Although Ganymere's magnetic field is like that produced by a permanent bar magnet, its core is much too hot for permanent magnetism. Again like the earth, Ganymede's field is theorized to be generated by the convection of electrically conducting liquid in its core -- a dynamo of sorts. All well and good, but Ganymede is so small that it should have cooled off billions of years ago thereby freezing its metallic core. So then, whence its magnetic field? One way out of this box it to suppose that about a billion years ago Ganymede was circling Jupiter in an orbit that took it much closer to this ponderous planet. Then, Jupiter's powerful gravitational ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 105: May-Jun 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Real perpetual motion?Physicist R.A . Webb and coworkers magnetically induce electrical currents in tiny gold rings at the University of Maryland. The ring temperatures are low but not in the superconducting range. Magnetic induction of electricity is of course perfectly allowable in physics. What is not theoretically permitted is for tiny currents to persist long after the magnetic field has been turned off. The currents are small, only 10-6 of an ampere; but, they are there, and they shouldn't be. (Lipkin, Richard, and Travis, John; "Electric Currents That Merely Flow," Science News, 149:126 ... 1996) Comment. If you conceive of electrical currents as mists of palpable electrons circulating around inside those gold rings, the situation does resemble perpetual motion. The referenced item is brief and not forthcoming on such mat ters. Do the currents eventually die out? Will any metal work? Does the phenomenon appear at room temperature? From Science Frontiers #105, MAY-JUN 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... "smudge" the team of scientists had hoped for. This was completely unexpected. All astronomers could do was come up with three rather unconvincing theories: (1 ) Solar X-rays were absorbed and reemited by the comet (Xray fluorescence); (2 ) Cometary material emitted X-rays when bathed in the solar wind; and (3 ) Charged particles were somehow accelerated by a magnetic field compressed by the comet's bow wave in the solar wind. Nobody is particularly happy with any of these theories. (Hecht, Jeff; "Comet Bids Farewell with Blaze of X-rays," New Scientist, p. 18, April 20, 1996. Glanz, James; "Comet Hyakutake Blazes in X-rays," Science, 272:194, 1996 ... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 106: Jul-Aug 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A SAGA OF SOOT: PART I The tale began on March 27, when Comet Hyakutake passed within 15 million kilometers of earth. At this point in its trajectory, it came into the field of view of the X-ray astronomy satellite ROSAT. ROSAT was designed to look at stars whose extremely high temperatures can generate X-rays. It seemed ridiculous to point ROSAT's instruments at a comet composed mainly of ice and dust. How could a comet emit X-rays? When a German-American team of scientists proposed taking a peek at Hyakutake with ROSAT, scientific eyebrowns were raised. What a waste of observing time ...

... 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. ... 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 different ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 80: Mar-Apr 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Steens Mountain Conundrum The layered lava flows of Steens Mountain, in southeastern Oregon, have preserved video-like records of the earth's magnetic field as it switched from one polarity to another about 15.5 million years ago. The scientific "instruments" here are the cooling lava flows. As they solidify from the outside in, a process taking about 2 weeks for a 2meter-thick flow, the lava is magnetized in the direction of the field prevailing at the moment of solidification. We would thus have a 2-week continuous record of the behavior of the earth's field. Ordinarily, we would not expect ... see very much change in 2 weeks; even a reversing field is thought to take thousands of years to complete its flip-flop. However, at Steens Mountain, when the field reversed 15.5 million years ago, the lava flows suggest that the field's axis was rotating 3-8 per day -- incredibly fast according to current thinking, in fact a thousand times faster than expected. The conundrum (one might call it a scientific impasse) arises because the flowing electrically conducting fluids that supposedly constitute the earth's dynamo would have to flow at speeds of several kilometers/hour. No one has ever contemplated molten rock moving at such speeds in the core! (Appenzeller, Tim; "A Conundrum at Steens Mountain," Science, 255:31, ...

... from the environment. The system we are all aware of and which scientists study in depth is the nerve impulse system, which transmits digital signals; i.e ., 0s and 1s. This system connects to all our everyday senses and controls our motor functions. The second system Becker designates as "primitive." It transmits information in analog (continuously varying) form via electrical currents and magnetic fields, rather than as impulses along neurons. This second system is not recognized by mainstream science. Becker advances the notions that: (1 ) Psi-type phenomena are actually handled by the "primitive" analog system; (2 ) The flood of information normally arriving from our sensory organs via the "modern" digital system masks the psi-type signals; and (3 ) ... assertions are consistent with the elusive nature of psi phenomena in both everyday experience and the parapsychological laboratories. Becker's ideas also jibe with experimental evidence that the psi faculty is suppressed by electromagnetic storms, which (presumably) act only upon the "primitive" analog system. Becker readily admits that the physical basis for the generation, transmission, and reception of psi signals is unknown. (Becker. Robert O.; "Electromagnetism and Psi Phenomena," American Society for Psychical Research, Journal, 86:1 , 1992.) Comment: We use above the adjective "psi-type" in describing signals traveling along the primitive analog system be cause we may also be receiving other kinds of signals not yet recognized even by the parapsychologists, and which are also masked by everyday sensory ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 66: Nov-Dec 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Neptune Spins Too Fast And Its Magnetic Field Is Awry Some pre-Voyager theories about Neptune have been severely tried by the data trickling back to earth across the great gulf separating us from what is now the most distant planet. Before Voyager, Neptune's spin period was believed to be about 17 hours. This was just the spin rate needed by theorists to explain why Neptune radiates much more heat than Uranus. It seems that spin rate is related to the mixing of a planet's molten innards, which in turn affects the rate at which heat reaches the surface where it is radiated away. With Neptune's period now ... at 16 hours by Voyager's measurements, the mixing-cooling theory is in trouble. The magnetic-field situation is in even worse shape. When planetary scientists found that Uranus' magnetic field was tilted 60 from the axis of rotation, they worried a bit but didn't think that this one exception would overthrow the favored dynamo theory of field generation. After all, the magnetic fields of Jupiter, Saturn, and earth are reasonably well-behaved. But Neptune's field is now found to be misaligned by 50 ! The confidence of the planetologists has now been shaken. What, if anything, is different about Neptune and Uranus? It may just be that we don't really know how the magnetic field of any planet is generated. (Kerr, Richard ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 78: Nov-Dec 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Meteoroid impacts: the other side of the story Astronomers have long puzzled over the origin of localized magnetic anomalies on the moon. These magnetic concentrations (called "magcons") are located precisely on the opposite side of the moon from the larger lunar basins. How could an impact on the moon magnetize the antipodal region? The impact of a large silicate meteoroid at speeds of 10 kilometers/second would not only blast out a big crater but it would also create a huge cloud of hot, partially ionized gas. This hot gas or plasma will conduct electricity and interact with lunar magnetic fields. As the plasma cloud spreads away from the ... site, it acts like a bulldozer, compressing the lunar magnetic fields ahead of it, as it envelopes the whole moon and rushes towards the antipodal point. It drives the compressed mag netic field into the surface, permanently magnetizing the rocks at the antipodal point. Voila! Magcons. (Hood, L.L ., and Huang, Z.; "Formation of Magnetic Anomalies Antipodal to Lunar Impact Basins: Two-Dimensional Model Calculations," Journal of Geophysical Research, 96:9837, 1991.) Comment. The earth also sports scars from the impacts of large meteoroids. Are there magnetic anomalies opposite these craters? Even more interesting to check out would be the holes blasted in the earth's biosphere by the converging masses of hot gases at the an tipodal points. ...

... All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects WHAT'S ANOTHER DIPOLE OR TWO?" Planetary exploration by deep space probes in recent years has shown that the dipole moment of some mag netized planets has a surprisingly large inclination angle with respect to the rotation axis. It is argued that the inclined dipole thus obtained may not be physically realistic. Applying the method we have developed for the source surface magnetic field of the sun (a spherical surface of 2.5 solar radii), it is suggested that the main dipole of the earth and the magnetized planets is actually axial (the magnetic moment is parallel or antiparallel to the rotation axis), and that two or three smaller dipoles near the core surface are responsible for the apparent inclination of the main dipole." (Akasofu, S ... I ., and Saito, T.; "Is the Earth"s Dipole Actually Inclined with Respect to Its Rotation Axis?" Eos, 71: 490, 1990.) Comment. In SF#70, we see that the magnetic field of Uranus is inclined a whopping 60 to its axis of rotation. Can a few, small additional dipoles distort the main field so much? And just what are these small dipoles anyway -- physically and electrically? From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 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 ... : (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: EZP ...

... Of course, all this as sumes that the uranium-thorium dates are accurate.] Use of the newly corrected radiocarbon scale has pushed the peak of the Ice Ages back from 18,000 BP to 21,000 BP. But there is more. The same article in Science, without saying how he came up with the number, has Bard fixing the strength of the earth's magnetic field at only half its present level 20,000 years ago. This is most interest-ing because over the last 400 years of direct measurements, the geomagnetic field has been steadily decreasing! When and why was there a peak in the intensity of the geomagnetic field? Back to Fairbanks, who also used his coral data to estimate changes in global sea level versus time. About 12 ... 000 BP, he states, sea level was rising ten times faster than today due to melt water from the polar ice caps. This amounts to 2.5 to 4 meters per century. ". .. perhaps fast enough to prompt legends of a Great Flood"! (Kerr, Richard A.; "From One Coral Many Findings Blossom," Science, 248: 1314, 1990.) Comment. It is exceedingly rare to find a scientist musing that there really might have been a Flood. From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... have centimeter-sized expressions of plasmoid activity in the unexpected locale of the subway tunnel! Building upon these observations, it is not unreasonable to ask whether plasmoids (including plasma vortices) may not exist on larger scales, say, astronomical and geological. We are drawn to those strange swirl markings on the moon. These loop-like patterns are 1050 kilometers in size and are associated with strong magnetic anomalies. (See ALE5 in The Moon and the Planets.) And right here on earth we have the devastation of the Tunguska Event sans a gaping crater. And how about the shallow Carolina Bays, some of which are associated with magnetic anomalies? Could such phenomena be the handiwork of plasmoids rather than meteorites or comets? Plasmoids could also be involved in such phenomena as ball lightning, ... pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Subterranean "circles"As if we didn't have enough problems with crop circles on the earth's surface, it now seems that whatever agency (or "entity") that is responsible for them also plies its craft underground! "Sets of concentric rings, similar to those found last summer in British wheat fields, have been discovered in a Japanese subway tunnel. .. .. . "Many sets of concentric rings were found drawn in dust that accumulated on the ground and walls inside the tube. The metro versions of the mystery circles are much smaller -- up to 8 centimeters in diameter -- than the British ones, the largest of which measures scores of meters." Y. ...

... Australia, runs southward into South Australia, and then loops northward, exiting in the Gulf of Carpentaria near Birdsville, Queensland. The current's path has a width varying between 50 and 200 kilometers. It seems to be flowing in alkaline fluids contained in the broken edges where ancient tectonic plates collided to create the continent. The current is weak and is induced by the earth's changing magnetic field. (Anonymous; "Underground Current Electrifies Australia," New Scientist, p. 10, March 10, 1991.) Comment. Modern Australia is spotted in the center of a huge tectonic plate. From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... 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 Meteor-impact winters, magnetic field reversals and tektites "Nuclear winter" is a term now in vogue. And, believe it or not, the rains of tektites discussed below may have been the forerunners of climatic catastrophes similar to the postulated nuclear winters. We shall call them "meteor-impact winters. First, a tad of background: Great meteor impacts and tektite events seem to have occurred nearly simultaneously with deep-cutting biological extinctions and reversals of the earth's magnetic field. Ever since this apparent synchrony was recognized a few decades ago, theorists have been vying in generating scientific scenarios, especially some mechanism that would reverse ... earth's magnetic field. New entrants in the lists are R. Muller and D. Morris, two Berkeley physicists. Here is how they see it: "A sufficiently large asteroid or cometary nucleus hitting the Earth lofts enough dust to set off something like a 'nuclear winter.' The cold persists long after the dust settles because of the increased reflectivity of the snow-covered continents. In the course of a few centuries, enough equatorial ocean water is transported to the polar ice caps to drop the sea level about 10 meters and thus reduce the moment of inertia of the solid outer reaches of the Earth (crust and mantle) by a part in a million. 'That doesn't sound like much, Morris told us. 'But when we realized that this ...

... 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 Magnetic Fields And The Imagination "12 male and 12 female volunteers were evaluated for their suggestibility before and after an approximately 15-min. exposure to either sham, 1-Hz or 4-Hz magnetic fields that were applied across their mid-superior temporal lobes. During the field application, subjects were instructed to view a green light that was pulsating at the same frequency as the field and to imagine encountering an alien situation. Results were commensurate with the hypothesis that weak brain-frequency fields may influence certain aspects of imaginings and alter suggestibility." (De Sano, Christine F., and Persinger, M.A .; ... Geophysical Variables and Behavior: XXXIX. Alterations in Imaginings and Suggestibility during Brief Magnetic Field Exposures," Perceptual and Motor Skills , 64:968, 1987.) Comment. The import of this paper is written between the lines of the Summary . One of the authors (M .A .P .) has long been investigating the possibility that UFOs, earthquake lights, and nocturnal lights are basically hallucinatory and are stimulated by natural variations in the magnetic field. From Science Frontiers #53, SEP-OCT 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... 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 ... 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 ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 55: Jan-Feb 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Migrating Birds Collide With Magnetic Bump Do birds utilize the earth's magnetic field for navigation? Many have so surmised; and there exists anecdotal evidence for it. A Swedish ecologist, T. Almberstam, decided to attempt scientific observations. At Norberg, in central Sweden, a huge deposit of magnetite creates a powerful magnetic anomaly. The deposit is 12 kilometers long by several wide. At low altitudes, the total magnetic intensity of the earth's field is 60% higher than normal. What happens when migrating birds fly into this magnetic bump? "Although Almerstam found that many migrating birds showed no signs of avoiding the Norberg anomaly ... and often managed to keep on the right course as they passed through it, there were definite indications that the birds' orientation might be affected under special circumstances. Some migrants flying at low altitudes, where the magnetic intensity was greatest and the inclination and declination distorted greatly, became disoriented briefly. They nervously landed and then circled around before taking off again. Other birds changed their altitude abruptly, dropping 100 metres in two minutes and breaking up their flock formations." Certainly something is happening, but no one knows what. (Anonmous; "Magnetic Anomaly Upsets Migrating Birds," New Scientist, p. 32, November 5, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #55, JAN-FEB 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... 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 Collision/eruption/extinction/ magnetic reversal An increasingly popular scenario is: (1 ) Every 34 million years the solar system bobs up and down through the thickly populated disk of our galaxy; (2 ) The resulting encounters lead to showers of comets and/or asteroids on earth; (3 ) The mechanic trauma leads to basalt flooding; (4 ) Great biological extinctions occur in consequence; and (5 ) The terrestrial magnetic field reverses in step. Now, if scientists could show that all of these phenomena occur at the same frequency and are roughly in phase, it would constitute one of science's most important syntheses ... The stratigraphic record and the estimated ages of meteor craters certainly hint at such synchrony. Recently, two more papers have appeared which support the above scenario. First, M.R . Rampino and R.B . Stothers show that during the past 250 million years, eleven episodes of basalt flooding have occurred with an average cycle time of 32 million years. Second, J. Negi maintains that the earth's magnetic record boasts a similar string of disturbances, with an average period of 33 million years. (Anonymous; "Regular Reversals in Earth's Magnetic Field A Fluke?" New Scientist, p. 32, August 25, 1988.) From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... to the development of life?Even before its well known effect on romance, our moon was the key to the development of life on earth, according to J. Pearson. He ventures that our ponderous moon (much larger than the moons of Mars) was the key to the melting of the earth's core via tidal friction. With a fluid core, the earth developed a strong magnetic field (much stronger than those of the other inner planets) through dynamo action. This field protected nascent life from space radiation -- and here we are! (Hecht, Jeff; "Lunar Link with Life on Planets," New Scientist, p. 40, January 21, 1988.) Comment. Current scientific opinion declares that the moon was captured by the earth -- ... rather rare astronomical event. The capture of a very large moon would be even rarer. From this shaky chain of thoughts, we conclude that life in the universe must be exceedingly scarce. However, such long chains of inferences are usually found to be far off the mark. From Science Frontiers #56, MAR-APR 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... I was involved in 'dowsing' the exact location of buried metal pipes using two L-shaped metal rods, which were balanced on the fingers (not clutched at all). Surface and subsurface pipes gave clear deflection of the rods. I was led to conclude that the rods operated as a crude magnetometer." B.W . Skelcher originally did not believe that any variation in the magnetic field or any other natural force would cause a hand-held stick to move. But: "One day, on the undeveloped plot of land adjacent to my abode, I spied a 'nutter' pacing to and fro with hazel in hand. When the fellow assured me that he was seriously checking the site for hidden water mains, power cables, and so on, I expressed ... grave doubts. At this he handed me the twigs and after a brief instruction goaded me to try. After a few paces I was astonished to feel the two bent twigs move in my hands. I am not skeptical any more, I know it works." (Younger, Paul L., and Skelcher, B.W .; "Dowsing-Sense," New Scientist, p. 62, April 9, 1987.) Comment. Such testimonial evidence, abundant though it is, will not be accepted by the scientific community. In stead they point to their controlled experiments, which are strongly negative. Why do so many individuals experience psi phenomena casually, but when controls are applied, the effects are most elusive? Most people, at one time or another, ...

... at 7 and 30 million years." Astronomers have hitherto been content to attribute these clumped ages to collisions among the meteorites' parent bodies - the asteroids - which ply periodic orbits. However, S. Perlmutter and R.A . Muller, at Berkeley, point to the apparent 26- to 30-million-year periodicities of three terrestrial phenomena: Biological extinctions in the fossil record, Magnetic field reversals, and Terrestrial-crater ages. Could there be a connection between the clumped meteorite ages and these terrestrial phenomena? Perlmutter and Muller propose that all of these phenomena are the consequence of periodic storms of comets that invade the inner solar system from the direction of the Oort Cloud of comets that purportedly hovers at the fringe of the solar system. These comets not only devastate the earth ... also collide with the asteroids, knocking off those bits and pieces we call meteorites. (Anonymous; "Do Meteorite Ages Tell of Comet Storms?" Astronomy, 17:12, January 1989.) Comment. Unanswered above is the question of why comet storms should be periodic. One hypothesis is that Nemesis, the so-called Death Star, a dark companion of our sun, lurks out there, periodically nudging the Oort Cloud of comets, causing it to release some of its comets. From Science Frontiers #62, MAR-APR 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... 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 ... 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 opposite ...

... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Reversed Magnetization In Rocks A fundamental assumption of paleomagnetism is that the natural remanent magnetism (NRM) of rocks is acquired parallel to the applied magnetic field. There are unsettling exceptions: "Andesitic pumice, which was hurled several hundred kilometres during the disasterous 1985 eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano (Columbia), carries a stable but reversed NRM with southerly declination and negative inclination. Heating experiments show that this magnetization is due to a self-reversal mechanism which also induces a reversed thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) in the laboratory field." (Heller, Friedrich, et al; "Reversed Magnetization in Pyroclastics from the 1985 Eruption of Nevado ... Ruiz, Columbia," Nature, 324:241, 1986.) Comment. Much of the evidence for continental drift, especially the paths taken by the continents, is based upon paleomagnetism. From Science Frontiers #49, JAN-FEB 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...

... 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 Magnetic Theory Of Dowsing The following two paragraphs were taken from a letter to Nature: "David Marks, in The Skeptical Inquirer, asserts that there are no theories to account for paranormal effects. This is not true for dowsing. Serious dowsing claims, such as those made by Soviet geologists, which are difficult to account for in terms of the reception of normal sensory cues, may be explained by postulating human sensitivity to small magnetic field gradient changes. The theory is supported by a series of tests involving 150 subjects. "The magnetic theory predicts that dowsers can achieve above-chance re sults only if the features they claim to detect ... associated with magnetic gradients of at least one nanotesla per metre. This was not the case in Randi's recent experiments, so his chance results are therefore consistent with the magnetic theory, which merits further investigation." (Williamson, Tom; "Dowsing Explained," Nature, 320:569, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #47, SEP-OCT 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...