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... 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 The Sweet Track About 6,000 years old, the Sweet Track is one of the oldest manmade structures in Europe. The Sweet Track is a single line of wooden planks that runs for about 1,800 meters (well over a mile) across a swamp in Somerset, England. Evidence is that this ancient road was overwhelmed by the swamp after only 10 years of use. A jadite axehead found along the Sweet Track probably came from the Swiss Alpa, indicating crossChannel commerce even 6,000 years ago. (Lloyd, Philippa; "A Long and Ancient Road," Nature, 345:577, 1990. Also: Antiquity, 64:210, 199.) From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 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 Great ancient civilizations in amazonia? ridiculous!Even though the first Europeans who sailed up the Amazon circa 1540 reported large, well-populated cities on the Amazon flood plains, modern archeologists have generally traveled to the high Andes for "high" ancient civilizations in South America. In retrospect, this is not surprising. By 1700, the cities of the 1540s had been swallowed up by the jungle. Besides, most thought, the conditions in the lowland tropics are too harsh to nourish advanced societies. Fortunately, a few archeologists have recently invaded Amazonia with aerial sensors, magnetometers, and the oldfashioned shovel. And indeed there once was a high civilization along the great river; and, some say, it may have spread from the lowlands to the Andes far to the west. What a turnabout in archeological outlook -- if sustainable by facts. One intriguing site in Amazonia is the island of Marajo, 15,000 square miles in area, located at the mouth of the Amazon. Here are found some 400 huge dirt mounds, including one with a surface area of 50 acres and a volume of a million cubic yards. Radiocarbon dates suggest that Marajo had been occupied for over a thousand years. Nearby, on the Tapajos River in Brazil, A. Roosevelt found elaborate pottery, finely carved jade, and a culture going back perhaps 7,000 years. In other parts of Amazonia, surveys uncovered tens of thousands ...
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... 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 Another Anomaly Bites The Dust Some mysterious cultural practice of ancient people all over the world resulted in curious grooves on tooth surfaces. The grooves occur near the cementoenamel junction, mostly on molars and premolars, and usually on males. The diameter of the channel between adjacent teeth varies from 1-4 millimeters. (See SF#61 for an earlier item on the subject.) Proposed solutions to this riddle range from bacterial attack, to gritty saliva propelled through the teeth, to the overenthusiastic use of bone toothpicks. But Australian aborigines have provided a more convincing explanation. When the aborigines want, thin, strong cords for fashioning spears and spearthrowers, they take a pliable, thinned, kangaroo sinew, pull it down between their molars like dental floss and begin "stripping" it, by pulling it back and forth. They get their thin cords this way but also grooved teeth. (Eckhardt, Robert B.; 'The Solution for Teething Problems," Nature, 345: 578, 1990.) Comment. Unless someone comes up with a fatal objection to this theory, we must de-anomalize the grooved-teeth phenomenon. From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 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 Two Hot Spots On Mercury Radio telescopes can give planetary astronomers a rough idea of the temperature existing several feet below the surface of a distant planet. Scrutinizing Mercury with their big electronic "ears," they have found two spots on the plamet where the temperatures are several hundred degrees higher than in the surrounding areas. Actually, these hot spots are easy to understand; because, to a Mercurian, the sun comes to a stop in the sky over one of these points and then moves backwards to the other point 180 away. As the sun tarries over these two spots, it heats them preferentially. The strange apparent motion of the sun is due to the 3:2 ratio between Mercury's period of revolution around the sun (88 days) and its axial spin period (59.6 days). What is surprising is that the energy detected radiating from the two hot spots is all reradiated solar energy; that is, there seems to be no contribution at all from Mercury's core! If no heat is leaking out of Mercury's core, the core itself is very likely solid. If it is solid, it cannot establish convection cells and thus generate a magnetic field through dynamo action. But back in 1975, the Mariner 10 spacecraft radioed back that Mercury actually does possess a magnetic field, and a surprisingly large one at that. (Wilford, John Noble; "Theory of Mercury ...
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... 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 Those Amazing Insects Scientific creationists often point out marvels of biological engineering as proofs that evolution by small chancedirected steps is, to say the least, improbable. A sharp arrow for their qui ver has just appeared in Science. Caterpillar-ant vibrational communication. Some species of caterpillars cannot survive predation unless they are protected by ants. To attract the ants, who just happen to dote on special secretions of the caterpillars, the caterpillars send out vibrational signals across leaves and twigs. In addition to their secretory structures, the caterpillars have also evolved novel vibrators to send out their calls for protection. A few butterfly species from all continents (except Antarctica) have evolved these devices. Looking at this geographical spread, P. J. DeVries thinks that the two sets of organs must have developed independently at least three times . (DeVries, P.J .; "Enhancement of Symbioses between Butterfly Caterpillars and Ants by Vibrational Communication," Science, 248:1104, 1990.) From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 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 Nature Communicates In Mysterious Ways Most of us will recall that the wings of butterflies and moths sometimes display eyespots, which, according to current thinking, are designed to startle potential predators. Perhaps so, but butterfly and moth wings can convey a wide range of "signals." K.B . Sandved, a nature photographer, has also found remarkable renditions of all the letters in the English alphabet (one at a time, of course) on the wings of these insects. In fact, he has accomplished this several times over using different species. He has found all the Arabic numerals, too, as well as ampersands, question marks -- you name it! Although Greek pi and capital omega have turned up, butterflies and maths are clearly trying to impress people who utilize the Roman alphabet. After all, it is difficult enough to evolve an ampersand; generating Chinese characters would strain credulity too much. (Amato, Ivan; "Insect Inscriptions," Science News, 137: 376, 1990.) Comments. Incidentally, of what survival value are these wing symbols? Obviously, the butterflies and moths have not got their act completely together as yet. Words and phrases will come soon, we are certain. Look at the eggplants for example. They have specialized in Arabic. It has recently been reported in British newspapers and on BBC Radio 4 that when the Kassam family sliced up an eggplant, ...
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... 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 The bombardier beetle pulse-jet Creationists have long pointed to the bombardier beetle's jet-like defensive spray mechanism as a device that could not have evolved in many small steps. It must be complete and perfect to work at all. New high-speed photos and related research demonstrate that: "The ejection system of the beetle shows basic similarity to the pulse jet propulsion mechanism of the German V-1 'buzz' bomb of World War II." What the beetle has "evolved" is an intermittent explosive process that fires about 500 pulses per second. The explosive energy comes from the mixing of two separate fluids (hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide with oxidative enzymes). (Dean, Jeffrey, et al; "Defensive Spray of the Bombardier Beetle: A Biological Pulse Jet," Science, 248:1219, 1990.) Comment. The fundamental question is, of course, how can many, small, random mutations contribute to the development of the mechanisms of the pulse jet, its two fuels, the pumps, the fuel reservoirs, the control system, etc., when only the complete, perfected system has survival value. Although creationists argue that the theories of evolution and natural section are unconvincing here; it is still possible that atheistic factors still beyond our ken are operating, and that what we really need is a better theory of evolution. From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT ...
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... 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 Of time and the coral - and other things, too R. Fairbanks is a paleooceanographer at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory. Recently he has been drilling deeply into the submerged coral reefs off Barbados. During his research, it has been discovered that the radiocarbon (C1 4 ) scale is in serious error beyond 10,000 years BP. Radiocarbon dating is widely used in archeology, but it has always been hard to estimate how much radiocarbon was present in the earth's atmosphere thousands of years ago. As a matter of fact, even before Fairbanks' discovery, a major correction to the radiocarbon time scale was made using tree-ring counts as an absolute reference. But tree ring data go back to only about 10,000 years. The latest correction was made by E. Bard, also at Lamont-Doherty, who took Fairbanks' coral cores and compared the radiocarbon dates with uranium-thorium dates. The result is that at 20,000 BP, the radiocarbon date is 16,500 BP, 3500 years too low. [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 ...
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... 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 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 ...
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... 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 Wyoming: a periodic spring "Near the base of a limestone cliff in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest, spring water gushes from an opening for several minutes, stops abruptly, then begins a new cycle a short time later. This is Periodic Spring, whose intermittent flow is a rare geologic phenomenon. The water is cold and clear, an indication that this is not a geyser like Old Faithful; such geysers, of volcanic origin, send forth hot water. Through the years various observers have timed the flows at anywhere from four to twentyfive minutes, with similarly varying dry spells. The intermittent flow is especially regular in late summer and autumn. During stormy periods or when there is heavy snow melt-off, the flow fluctuates but does not stop entirely." At full flow, Periodic Spring discharges about 285 gallons/second into a stream 9 feet wide and 1 feet deep. Periodic Spring, therefore, is fairly impressive, but it is not anomalous. (Mohlenbrock, Robert H.; "Periodic Spring, Wyoming," Natural History, 99: 110, April 1990.) Comment. Siphon action nicely explains periodic springs. Water keeps flowing through the upper loop until the water level in the reservoir drops below the siphon intake. The spring will not flow again until the reservoir fills to the top of the upper loop(level a) again initiating siphon action. Siphon action seems simple ...
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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 The Clovis Police A new group of law-enforcers has been formed. Although the Clovis Police do not carry guns, they will make sure that all who stray from the archeological mainstream will be held up for censure. (Does this mean denial of funds and access to some journals?) The "law" that the Clovis Police will enforce says that humans did not enter the New World before 12,000 BP -- the oldest date of the artifacts attributed to the Clovis people. Perhaps we have dwelt on this subject too long, but the whole idea of the Clovis Police is counter to the spirit of science. The members of the Clovis squad and their objectives can be found in a recent issue of Science. (Marshall, Eliot; "Clovis Counterrevolution," Science, 249:738, 1990.) Somehow, the following two important articles escaped the Clovis Police. Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Pennsylvania. Responding to mainstream criticism of Meadowcroft radiocarbon dates (Some people just refuse to believe them!), J.M . Adovasio et al report that they now have 50 internally consistent dates, some made using accelerator mass spectrometry, that place humans at Meadowcroft at least 14,000-14,500 years ago. (Adovasio, J.M ., et al; "The Meadowcroft Rockshelter Radiocarbon Chronology 1975-1990," American Antiquity, 55:348, 1990.) Monte Verde, Chile ...
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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. 72: Nov-Dec 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects IS THE ARCTIC ICE COVER THINNING?" In May 1987 a British submarine carried out an ice profiling experiment in the Arctic Ocean in which the route closely approximated that of an earlier voyage in October 1976. Over a zone extending more than 400 km to the north of Greenland there is evidence of a significant decrease in mean ice thickness in 1987 relative to that found in 1976. This thinning amounts to a loss of volume of at least 15% over an area of 300,000 km2 ." (Wadhams, Peter; "Evidence for Thinning of the Arctic Ice Cover North of Greenland," Nature, 345:795, 1990.) In an accompanying discussion of the ice problem, A.S . McLaren et al note that since the late 1800s, Arctic researchers using drills have reported consistently that the Arctic ice thickness averaged 3-4 meters. U.S . subma-rine surveys concurred with these figures during cruises in 1960 and 1962. Satellite surveys of ice cover from 19781987 found no trends. In other words, other sources of data on the Arctic ice reveal little change. The new results, therefore, need further confirmation. (McLaren, A.S ., et al; "Could Arctic Ice Be Thinning?" Nature, 345:762, 1990.) From Science Frontiers #72, NOV-DEC 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 Impact Crater Beneath Lake Huron "With the help of magnetic sensors, scientists have detected a rimmed circular structure, 30 miles in diameter, more than a mile beneath the floor of Lake Huron. They believe the magnetic ring marks a buried crater -- blasted by a meteorite at least 500 million years ago." (Stolzenburg, W.; "Impact Crater May Lie beneath Lake Huron," Science News, 138:133, 1990.) Reference. Many other impact craters are cataloged in section ESC in our catalog: Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds. Details on this book here . From Science Frontiers #72, NOV-DEC 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 Wagnerian Sands Of The Desert "The sun was sinking in the west African afternoon when we plunged into a wild Land Rover ride across the dunes. Within moments we lost all sense of direction, regaining it only momentarily when we caught a glimpse of the sea, as we sped along the notorious Skeleton Coast of Namibia. When we finally stopped, it was at the top of a crescent-shaped behemoth. On the inside of the curve, the dune was a good 200 feet high and as close to vertical as a sand dune gets. "We gathered timidly at the edge of the precipice. But our guide, seemingly bent on suicide, sat down at the crest and started to slide down the dune face, the seat of his pants sending a small cascade of sand slithering to the bottom. Instantly, the entire dune began to pulsate, groaning and grumbling, as if armies of Frank Herbert's sand-worms from Dune were chewing their way to the surface. In a moment, all of us were laughing and scooting down the dune, the unearthly roar echoing in the natural amphitheater." What a delightful introduction to one of Nature's light-hearted anomalies! Such booming dunes and roaring sands may be found in thirty-or-so localities all over the world, mostly in desert envi-ronments. Most of the booming dunes are composed of quartz sands, the main exception being ...
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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 Crop circle update: what are "they" trying to tell us?Several hundred crop circles have afflicted English farmers' fields already this year. The English newspapers haven't neglected them, but where are Nature and Science? Here is a genuine mystery, and most scientists don't dare touch it for fear of being labelled "kooks." Well, we do have one item from New Scientist, but we'll have to rely upon the newspapers for this evermore-bizarre phenomenon. Australia now a target. "Dozens of flattened rings of wheat have been reported recently in Australia over a wide area of arable country in northwestern Victoria. The rings resemble the corn circles found in southern Britain. "Max and Nancee Jolly, farmers at Turiff West, found 12 rings in their wheat crop. Each ring was 12 metres across and rock-hard in the middle. 'The wheat in the rings was bent over at the base but not damaged in any other way.' said Nancee Jolly." The Australian Sceptics suspect pranksters. (Anonymous; "More Circles," New Scientist, p. 23, August 11, 1990.) An article in a Perth newspaper puts the number of wheat circles in Victoria at 400, as of July 9. That's a lot of work for hoaxers! It is also said that the soil in the rings is "magnetically altered," whatever ...
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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 The Belgian Flying Triangle Updated In SF#80, we printed a brief item from an English newspaper about a rash of Belgian sightings of "flying triangles." Our invitation to our European readers to expand on this "flap" brought numerous articles from European papers and magazines. Normally, we bypass UFOtype observations, but the Belgian flying triangles are so remarkable that they deserve a little space. Artist's concept of the Belgium Flying Triangle, with three white lights on the corners, one red light in the center. (From: Télérama , February 21, 1990.) Very briefly, we have roughly 1000 observations by several thousand people, beginning in October 1989 and still continuing. Most witnesses report a dark, triangular object with three bright lights plus a flashing red one in the middle. Size estimates vary from the size of a football field to that of conventional aircraft. The object sometimes hovers for minutes at a time. It also can move very slowly and then suddenly accelerate to high speeds. Some observers report a faint humming sound; others say that it is noiseless. The American Stealth fighter (Fll7) is roughly triangular, and there has been much speculation that people have been seeing this craft on night missions. The characteristics reported for the flying triangle, however, are hardly those of a jet aircraft. But one must always remember that human observers are imperfect. The July 5, 1990, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects America b.c . and even earlier The thought that the Atlantic might have been a thoroughfare long before Columbus and the Vikings has been ridiculed by most archeologists for decades. New England megaliths and B. Fell's translations of purported Celtic ogham inscriptions have met only with derision in the professional literature. But times are changing -- at least we hope so. The Red Paint People. Public TV recently aired a program on North America's Red Paint People, so-called because they added brilliant red iron oxide to their graves. It also seems they knew how to sail the deep ocean, as G.F . Carter now relates. "Decades ago, Gutorn Gjessing pointed out that the identical [Red Paint] culture was found in Norway. No one paid much attention to that, but more recent carbon-14 dating has shown that the identical cultures had identical dates, and people began to pay more attention. It is now admitted that this is a high latitude culture that obviously sailed the stormy north Atlantic and stretched from northwest Europe over to America. It seemingly extends from along the Atlantic coast of Europe to America and in America from the high latitudes of Labrador down into New York state. "The dates are mind-boggling: 7,000 years ago both in Europe and America. That is 2,000 years earlier than the Great Pyramids of Egypt. It is at least 4 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Spontaneous human combustion and ball lightning?Mainstream science scarcely acknowledges ball lightning; spontaneous human combustion it ridicules. Recently, G. Egely of the Central Institute of Physics, in Budapest, investigated a case where both phenomena may have been involved. G.T . Meaden, editor of the Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., summarized Egely's report as follows: "The date was 25 May 1989, and the place a field by the roadside near Kerecsend, a village 109 kilometers from Budapest. The victim was a 27year old engineer within whose body, it is conjectured, ball lightning formed. The man had stopped his car and walked to the edge of a field about ten metres distant to urinate. Suddenly his wife who had remained behind in the car saw that the young man was surrounded by a blue light. He opened his arms wide and fell to the ground. His wife ran to him noticing that one of his tennis shoes had been torn off. Although it looked hopeless she tried to help him, but soon after she was able to stop a passing bus. Amazingly, the bus was filled with medical doctors returning from a meeting; unhappily they immediately pronounced that the man was dead. "At the autopsy a hole was found in the man's heel where the shoe had been. The lungs were torn and damaged, and the stomach and belly were carbonized! This is ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Asteroid impact or volcanos?The debate over the real cause of the terrestrial catastrophism that occurred at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, some 65 million years ago, grinds on. Some physical scientists claim rather imperiously that the dinosaurs and many other species were done in by the impact of a huge asteroid/meteorite. The worldwide iridium spike is conclusive, they say. Many paleontologists and geologists, however, remain unconvinced and prefer widespread volcanism. We have already covered the various arguments in past issues of Science Frontiers; here, we want to advise our readers that a pair of excellent articles by principals in this debate have appeared in Scientific American. Generally speaking, it seems that the proponents of the impact theory are now listening to the other side. For example, multiple impacts are now proposed to account for evidence of the type introduced below. (Alvarez, Walter, and Asaro, Frank; "An Extraterrestrial Impact," Scientific American, 263:78, October 1990. Also: Courtillot, Vincent E.; "A Volcanic Eruption," Scientific American, 263:85, October 1990.) A spike dulled. The case for a single asteroid/meteorite impact has been weakened by a recent reexamination of the classic exposure of the CretaceousTertiary boundary at Gubbio, Italy. Here, the discovery of an iridium "spike" at the boundary was thought to betoken a sudden, catastrophic, extraterrestrial event. On further ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Crop Circle Corner The Wiltshire crop "scroll". Dimensions in meters. Every week, it seems, some new facet of the crop circle phenomenon appears. It is reminiscent of the early days of UFOs. Several books have appeared. A periodical, The Cereologist , now promises to keep everyone up-to-date. People are scouring the old literature and pouring over aerial photos for pre-1980 examples. Theories abound, especially those invoking extraterrestrials! We have room here for only a few brief items. Scorched earth in Xenia, Ohio. A hired hand of Gene Eck was harvesting a field of soybeans when he came upon a circle of flattened plants -- bent but not broken -- some 80 feet in diameter. Inside this circle was a 40-foot-diameter ring of burnt stubble. Within the ring was a patch of undisturbed foxtail 14 feet in diameter. The soybean circle was a half mile from the nearest road; no tracks led into it. (Williams, Nat; Illinois Agri-News, November 9, 1990. Cr. R.A . Ford) Column of light in Wiltshire. During the summer of 1990, teams of English ob servers scanned the cereal fields at night. At 2:30 AM, on July 25, R. Fla-herty, an experienced wildlife photographer, saw a single shaft of light descending from high in the sky toward a Wiltshire wheat ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Five Reasons Why Ufos Are Not Extraterrestrial Machines Regardless of what mainstream science thinks of them, UFO observations continue to pile up -- by the tens of thousands! In fact, like the crop-circle events, UFO reports are increasing in number and strangeness. It doesn't matter that the UFOs and their alleged occupants may be physically real. There are tens of thousands of people who think that they have observed something strange -- even after all hoaxes and misinterpretations of natural phenomena have been culled out. Most of those who are willing to accept UFOs as valid phenomenon think they are real hardware piloted by extraterrestrials. J. Vallee, a computer scientist and prolific writer on the subject, demurs, and he gives five reasons why: "( 1 ) Unexplained close encounters are far more numerous than required for any physical survey of the earth; (2 ) The humanoid body structure of the alleged 'aliens' is not likely to have originated on another planet and is not biologically adapted to space travel; (3 ) The reported behavior in thousands of abduction reports contradicts the hypothesis of genetic or scientific experimentation on humans by an advanced race; (4 ) The extension of the phenomenon throughout recorded history demonstrates that UFOs are not a contemporary phenomenon; and (5 ) The apparent ability of UFOs to manipulate space and time suggests radically different and richer alternatives." If not extraterrestrial hardware, what are the UFOs ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A GOLDEN CALENDAR FOR USE AT STONEHENGE?" The lozenge, of 0.5 -mm beaten gold, was excavated in 1808 AD from the Bush Barrow, 1 km from Stonehenge. "Until now, it has been assumed that the plaque was only decorative. After examination and measurement, the patterns of its carefully inscribed markings are believed to be identifiable as a calendar fashioned for use at Stonehenge. Found over the breast of a skeleton of a tall man, its symmetrical shape and correct corner angles make it appear probable that the plaque had something to do with the four cardinal points and solstitial sunrises and sunsets. Markings on a gold lozenge excavated near Stonehenge. Some interpret the lines as indicators of solar and lunar positions on astronomically significant days. If so, this lozenge represents surprising sophistication 3600 years ago. "By fixing the flat lozenge on a table at eye level and orientating it with its shorter diagonal on the meridain, an observer could use an alidade while watching sunrise or sunset throughout the year. Were the bronze rivets, found nearby, the remains of the alidade? Markings exist on the plaque which indicate that the 16-month calendar was in use. Guide lines exist for inserting the intercalary leap day. Eight additional lines can be identified as indicating moonrise and moonset at the equinoxes' standstills. Using actual horizon altitudes at Stonehenge and azimuths shown by the lozenge, calculation shows that the average discrepancy of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects An Unexplained Event September 6, 1990, 2029 UT. Horn church, England. "The sky was 'crystal clear' and there was brilliant moonlight, the Moon being 1 day past Full. An object approximately 0.5 -0 .75 the size of the Full Moon, but a dull, mottled red in colour, was observed to cross the sky from west to east in approximately 3 seconds. As it approached the area of the Moon it faded away, giving the impression of being drowned out by the moonlight. Mr. Scarlioli observed the object to be of an irregular shape and says that he could see it 'turning' as it moved along. No trail was left behind the object and there were no 'sparks' normally associated with the fragmentation of a fireball during the ablation process. No sound was heard from this object. There is currently no explanation for this event." (Anonymous; "Unexplained Event 1990 Sep 6, 2029 UT," Meteoros , 20:44, Autumn 1990.) From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Did the pharaohs cheat with concrete?" The Great Pyramid of Egypt, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, may have been at least partially constructed with man-made concrete. "Edward Zeller, cirector of the radiation physics laboratory at Univ. of Kansas Space Technology Center, Law rence, recently examined a stone sample, taken from a pyramid passageway, under a binocular microscope and discovered that it was filled with oval air bubbles, 'like you'd expect to see in plaster,' he says. "The finding supports a theory proposed by French geochemist Joseph Davidovits, who says Egyptians built the pyramids by pouring concrete into forms. Such technology was not thought to have existed during the construction of the pyramids around 2690 BC. "Zeller still has his doubts. "' The sample is clearly made of manufactured stone and it's part of the pyramid,' he says. 'But a single speci-men does not a pyramid make.'" (" Did the Pharoahs Cheat with Concrete?" R&D Magazine, p. 5, December 1990. Cr. J. Wenskus.) Reference. An earlier report on the theory proposed by Davidovits may be found in SF#54. From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Gaia on mars?H.L . Helfer, University of Rochester, noting the absence of extensive cratering on the northern plains of Mars, suggests that some 2-3 .5 billion years ago these plains were covered with oceans. These ancient seas, perhaps as much as 700 meters deep, protected the plains from direct impacts. Further, crater density counts for Chryse and the Martian highlands imply that Mars possessed a fairly dense atmosphere until about 1.5 billion years ago. In his Abstract Helfer speculates as follows: "With both early Earth and early Mars having similar atmospheric compositions and not too dissimilar atmospheric structures, it is reasonable to suppose that the warm Martian oceans, like the ancient oceans of Earth, would develop anerobic and aerobic photosynthesizing prokaryotes and structures like stromatolites. Their development might have changed the Martian atmosphere. Their fossils might be found along the fringes of the old oceans, the northern lowland plains." (Helfer, H.L .; "Of Martian Atmospheres, Oceans, and Fossils," Icarus, 87:228, 1990.) Comment. The Gaia influence is seen in the molding of the Martian atmosphere into something more conducive to the development of life. One can also speculate that, if life did develop on Mars, it could have seeded the earth via bits of debris blasted off by meteorite impacts. Several meteorites picked up in Antarctica are thought to have come from Mars ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Solar eclipse affects a pendulum -- again!The period of a Foucault pendulum located at Jassy University, Romania, was carefully monitored during the solar eclipse of February 15, 1961. The pendulum's length was 25.008 meters; its spherical bob weighed 5.5 kilograms. The eclipse commenced at 8h 49m 3s and terminated at 11h 16m 50s. Observations are recorded in the table below left: Time Period (sec) 8:49 10.028 0.004 9:13 10.028 0.004 9:43 10.024 0.004 10:00 10.019 0.004 10:12 10.020 0.004 10:24 10.024 0.004 10:58 10.028 0.004 Effects of a solar eclipse upon a paraconical pendulum. (After M.F .C . Allais). If the above effect of the eclipse on the pendulum period is not strange enough, consider what happened at 10:08, in the chart, above right. "At that moment a surprising fact occurred, the pendulum produced a perturbation by describing an ellipse whose major axis deviated in relation to the initial plane by approximately 15 . The eccentricity of the ellipse was 0.18. At the end of the eclipse the pendulum continued to maintain the elliptical oscillation, but the major axis approached increasingly to its initial plane." (Jeverdan, G ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Echidna Eccentricities Monotremes: platypus (below); one of two species of echidnas (above) The echidna is one of the monotremes-- an egg-laying mammal. Like its relative, the platypus, it is a strange mixture of mammalian, marsupial, and reptilian characteristics. For example, echidna eggs are soft and leathery, like those of reptiles, but they are brooded in a marsupial-like pouch. The emerging baby echidna has an egg tooth like the birds and reptiles, while the adult has no teeth at all. Rather, it has a narrow snout through which it ingests ants and termites caught on its sticky tongue. In this it resembles the mammalian ant-eaters, which are also toothless but an ocean away from Australia. In fact, the echidna is often called a "spiny anteater" for it has the sharp spines of a hedgehog or porcupine. There are more anatomical peculiarities, but let us focus on the echidna's strange behavior during the mating season. At this time, 2 to 8 echidnas can be seen roaming the Australian bush in "trains" headed by a female with the smallest male acting as a caboose. When mating time arrives, the female anchors herself to a tree with her forelegs. To-gether the males dig a circular "mating rut" up to 10 inches deep around the tree. (Australians have puzzled over these circular trenches for years. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Mechanical Paradox In Thrust Faulting In many parts of the world, older rocks are found on top of younger rocks. Ob-viously the Principle of Superposition is contradicted in such situations. Two possible explanations exist for these inverted strata: (1 ) The dating of the rocks is incorrect; or (2 ) Geological forces somehow slid the older rocks over the top of the younger rocks. Few mainstream scientists give any thought to the first possibility because it implies that evolution did not proceed as presently envisioned. (Rocks are often dated by their fossil contents.) So, geologists are left with the problems of sliding great masses of rock over rough surfaces for great distances. Sketch of the forces acting upon a thrust block being pushed by a wedge-shaped driver Low-angle thrust faulting is not a trivial geological process. To illustrate, the Lewis Overthrust in Montana and adjacent Canada involves the shoving of a block of old strata hundreds of feet thick, hundreds of miles long, over younger rock for a distance of possibly 50 miles. In contemplating such overthrusts, one immediately comes face to face with the Mechanical Paradox. Brief-ly, given the coefficient of friction between the layers of rock, the weight of the thrust block, and the mechanical strength of the rock being pushed, it can be shown that pushing the thrust block at the rear edge will crush it long before it begins to slide. For ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Newtonian Gravity May Have Broken Down In Greenland Anomalies in the measurement of gravity in Australian mines have stimulated an experiment in one of the very deep holes drilled in the Greenland ice cap. The hole at location Dye-3 is 2 kilometers deep. Gravity measurements were made at 183-meter intervals between depths of 213 and 1673 meters. Elaborate precautions were taken to assure that proper corrections were made for ice density and the nature of the rock below the ice. Ice-penetrating radar sketched the topography of the icerock surface, and surface-gravity measurements assessed density variations in surrounding ice and rock. The results of this finely tuned experiment are found in the final two sentences of the report's Abstract: "An anomalous variation in gravity totaling 3.87 mGal (3 .87 x 10- 5 m/s 2 ) in a depth interval of 1460 m was observed. This may be attributed either to a breakdown of Newtonian gravity or to unexpected density variations in the rock below the ice." (Zumberge, Mark A., et al; "The Greenland Gravitational Constant Experiment," Journal of Geophysical Research, 95:15483, 1990.) From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Pi Surprise Consider the positive integer, 8. It can be written as m 2+ n 2 , a sum of two squares of integers, in just 4 ways, namely when the pair (m , n) is (2 , 2), (2 , -2 ), -2 , 2), and (- 2 , -2 ). The integer 7, on the other hand, cannot be written as the sum of any squared integers. On the average, over a very large collection of integers from 1 to n, in how many ways can an integer be written as the sum of such squares? The answer is little short of astounding: closer and closer to pi! (Anonymous; "Closing Pi Surprise," Algorithm , p. 7, n.d . Cr. C.H . Stiles) From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Earthquake Lights Observed In Canada Numerous earthquake lights (EQLs) were reported between November 1, 1988, and January 2l, 1989, in the Saguenay region of Quebec. These luminosities were associated with 54 seismic shocks recorded in this area. Most were small, but a strong foreshock (magnitude 4.8 ) occurred on November 23; the main quake (magnitude 6.5 ) hit 60 hours later. Through appeals by radio and newspapers, 52 observers of EQLs were located. They reported a wide spectrum of luminosities, some of which were very strange. In the sky, some observed silent sparkings, diffuse glows, and aurora-like stripes. For an account of the more enigmatic EQLs, we quote M. Ouellet: "Fireballs a few metres in diameter often popped out of the ground in a repetitive manner at distances of up to only a few metres away from the observers. Others were seen several hundred metres up in the sky, stationary or moving. Some observers described dripping luminescent droplets, rapidly disappearing a few metres under the stationary fireballs. Only two fire-tongues on the ground were reported, one on snow and the other on a paved parking space without any apparent surface fissure. The colours most often identified were orange, yellow, white and green. Some luminosities lasted up to 12 min." (Ouellet, Marcel; "Earthquake Lights and Seismicity," Nature, 348:492 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Predictive Psi "A case study is reported in which the author, a psychologist, began spontaneously saying an unusual word, coup d'etat , aloud repeatedly, and then received a letter from a Mrs. Coudetat the following day." (Tart, Charles T.; "A Case of Predictive Psi, with Comments on Analytical, Associative and Theoretical Overlay," Society for Psychical Research, Journal, 55:263, 1989.) Comment. Verily. psi works in mysterious ways! This amusing abstract came from the periodical Exceptional Human Experience , 8:93, December 1990. From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Repent! the phase change is coming!The world as we know it may not end in a nuclear holocaust or even in the greenhouse effect. Rather, suggest M. M. Grone and M. Sher, the universe-as-a -whole may undergo a phase change. Such an event has already happened once and it may again. Approximately 10-10 seconds after the Big Bang, the force laws changed discontinuously as the universe cooled. Some models of the cosmos predict that another such phase change may occur when photons suddenly acquire mass. Grone and Sher have sketched the effects on terrestrial civilization: "The most dramatic effect would be the elimination of all static electric and magnetic fields over a range greater than 1 cm, and the elimination of all electromagnetic radiation with frequencies smaller than a few hundred gigahertz. We have shown that there would be relatively little impact on atomic structure and on solar radiation. The absence of electrostatic fields would force a redesign of current power plants (to use smaller solenoids); the absence of radio and television waves would force a much greater use of cables. The elimination of solar and geomagnetic fields would have a significant meteorological impact. The potential ly most devastating effect could be on the propagation of neural impulse along motor neurons; it appears that the effects might be small, but they do depend on the precise value of the photon mass." Crone and Sher conclude that ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cold Fusion Update Over the past six months, we have collected a couple dozen articles on cold fusion. Most authors now dismiss cold fusion as a false trail that leads nowhere interesting, certainly not to small, cheap fusion powerplants. It is time, they say, to stop wasting money and move on. Yet, a small band of researchers insists that "something is going on," something worth persuing just to see what it is. After all, almost 100 laboratories have reported anomalous phenomena; that is, anomalous neutrons, charged particles, heat production, or helium. Can all of these results be in error? Those who would answer "yes" point to more than 100 laboratories with negative results. In the face of all these claims, counterclaims, and contradictions, to say nothing of mean-spirited academic sniping, one must conclude cold fusion is down but not totally out. Good con and pro articles appeared in a recent issue of New Scientist. (Close, Frank; "Cold Fusion I: The Discovery That Never Was," and Bockris, John; "Cold Fusion II: The Story Continues," New Scientist, pp. 46 and 50, January 19, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 The Grand Lake Stream Enigma A little over a year ago, we reported on W. Elliott's discovery of a small, stone-covered cist in eastern Washington County, Maine. This cist contained several stone artifacts bearing remarkable symbols, writing, and portrayals of a man and a slain animal. Naturally, mainstream archeologists look askance when amateur archeologists come across such anomalous materials. Happily in this instance, a professional archeologist, J.B . Petersen, Director of the University of Maine's Archaeological Laboratory, took an interest in the site near Grand Lake Stream. After careful study of the site and its artifacts, he has prepared a preliminary report. Petersen's report is accompanied by many photos and sketches made during his excavations. On p. 000 we reproduce a photo of the amulet with its strange epigraphy. Now, we add a sketch of the "elongated hafted ground biface, with human figure." Over 13 inches long, this artifact depicts a trousered, bearded man of European countenance, who is missing one arm and a foot. Petersen asserts that the artifacts have no affinities with American Indian artifacts: rather they have a European flavor. What can one make out of all this? Petersen is only able to state: "Although the site is undoubtedly human-made, its function, antiquity and cultural attribution cannot be precisely specified on the basis of the unique characteristics of both the ...
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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 The first food: tholin "You've just had a hard day evolving into the first life-form on your primitive planet, and you're ready to chow down. Problem: What can you eat? A quick survey of the food chain isn't promising; you're it. Do you simply starve to death, ending your world's brief experiment with life? Not if a rust-colored substance called tholin is within reach. Tholin may have served as breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the first life on Earth." The tholins are hard, red-brownish substances made of complex organic compounds. They do not exist naturally on earth, because our present oxidizing atmosphere blocks their synthesis. However, tholins can be made in the lab by subjecting mixtures of methane, ammonia, and water vapor to simulated lightning discharges. Conditions like this probably exist many places in the universe. In fact, the icy moons of the outer solarsystem planets appear ideal places for tholin manufacturing. What would eat such stuff? Lab tests show that many kinds of bacteria love it and thrive on it. (Chaikin, Andrew; "First Foods," Discover, p. 18, February 1991.) Comment. A purposeless universe that just happens to create a substance for primitive life? Strange that things should be this way! From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991 ...
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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 Halley reappears!No, comet Halley has not reversed direction for an anomalous encore. We'll have to wait another 70-or-so years for that. However, Halley did make a surprise reappearance on February 12, 1991. Astronomers were startled by a sudden flare-up. It was not a trivial brightening; the width of the flare was a remarkable 300,000 kilometers. Comets often flare up as they swing close to the sun and absorb its heat and radiation. But Halley is now billions of kilometers away in the frigid reaches of the outer solar system. No one knows what happened. (Pease, Roland; "Halley at Large," Nature, 349:732, 1991.) Comment. Other comets have mysteriously flared up far from the sun. See ACO2 in our catalog The Sun and Solar System Debris. Apparently comets harbor considerable pent-up energy. If proximity to the sun is not required to stimulate gas releases or chemical reactions, comets may have their own energy agenda. Comets seem to be little more than chunks of dirty ice. Where could the flare energy come from? If only cold fusion were a viable "acceptable" energy source! To order The Sun and Solar System Debris, see: here . From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Of iron whiskers and particles that increase mass with age!Two pillars of the Big Bang hypothesis are: (1 ) Redshifts of galaxies support the notion of an expanding universe; and (2 ) The background microwave radiation can be interpreted as the dying embers of the Big Bang itself. Proponents of the Big Bang feel secure atop these pillars. But should they? A few Big-Bang skeptics, who have survived considerable establishment pressure, see growing cracks in those pillars. J. Narlikar identified two such cracks and, best of all, offered exciting remedies: (1 ) The redshift relationship, which works well with galaxies, falls apart when applied to quasars (see graphs); and (2 ) The background microwave radiation is much too smooth to come from the lumpy universe we observe. Narlikar opines as follows: Plot of red shift versus galaxy faintness supports the proposition that red shift is proportional to distance The same plot for quasars produces a scatter of points, suggesting that here red shifts have nothing to do with distance. "Given these problems, it is not a sound strategy to put all of our cosmic eggs in one big-bang basket. Rather, we should explore other possibilities. Thirty years ago, there was a more open debate on alternative theories, which made valuable contributions to our undersanding of cosmology. For a healthy growth of the subject, the big bang hypothesis needs competition from other ...
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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 Monster Skeletons Found In Underwater Fiji Cave The scene is a remote underwater cave 51.5 kilometers from one of Fiji's resort islands. K. Deacon, a professional diver from Sydney is the source of the following report. "' We have found what appears to be two adults, one adolescent and one juvenile,' he said. 'They bear no resemblance to any marine creature I know.' "The adult skulls were about 1 m long with a total body length of 8 m to 10 m. They looked prehistoric and perhaps were land animals or amphibious species. "The cave, now a part of a reef about 50 m under water, may once have been above sea level. .. .. . "Mr Deacon believed the creatures were either prehistoric or contempory animals unknown to science -- or, if they were some known kind of animal, then how they had found their way into the cave was a mystery." (Spencer Geoff; "Monsters Found in the Fiji Deep," New Zealand Herald , May 31, 1990, Cr. R. Collyns via L. Farish.) From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 Platypus Paradoxes After elucidating echidna eccentricities in the preceding item, we now provide platypus paradoxes. Did you know that the platypus bill is a finely tuned instrument with approximately 850,000 electrical and tactile receptors? These are far more sophisticated than those found in fish. When the platypus goes foraging underwater, a furry groove closes, covering its eyes and ears, and the nostrils on the bill are sealed shut. It becomes a high-tech predator -- despite all those snide remarks about its primitive nature. The poison spurs on the back legs of the male platypus are nothing to fool around with. They can cause humans severe pain and weeks of paralysis. And a dog can lose its life when a platypus clamps its legs around its muzzle and drives in its spurs. But, ask evolutionists, how did this poison apparatus get on the hind legs? The supposed ancestors of the platypus, the reptiles, modified their salivary glands for venom delivery. How did the platypusses break from this evolutionary mold and innovate? It's not consistent with the text! The fossil record reveals that a platypus-like creature lived long before the Age of Mammals. These early platypusses had teeth in the adult phase, whereas their modern relatives replace their baby teeth with horny plates -- another innovation. Therefore, far from being a hodgepodge of parts left over from bird and reptile evolution, the platypus has actually pioneered several zoological ...
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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 The Dinosaurs Of Winter And The Polar Forests It seems appropriate after suggesting above that the dinosaurs might have been frozen to death in a cosmic winter to remind the reader that some of the dinosaurs were pretty tough animals. Many dinosaur fossils have been dug up in Alaska, northern Canada, Siberia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. Not only were some dinosaurs cold-resistant but, seeing many were herbivorous, they were also able to migrate to more temperate climes as the long days of the polar summers waned. The point here is that the dinosaurs as a clan were very adaptable and should have survived severe environmental stress. (Vickers-Rich Patricia, and Rich, Thomas H.; "The Dinosaurs of Winter," Natural History, 100:33, April 1991.) That the polar regions were once covered by lush forests has been underscored by recent discoveries in both polar regions. Stumps of huge trees 45 million years old dot the now-bleak landscape of Axel Heiberg Island far north of the Arctic Circle. In Antarctica, heaps of 3- million-year-old fossil leaves have been found within 400 kilometers of the South Pole. (Francis, Jane E.; "Arctic Eden," Natural History, 100:57, January 1991. Also: Peterson, Christian; "Leafing through Antarctica's Balmy Past," New Scientist, p. 20, February 9, 1991.) ...
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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 Crop Circle Roundup Summary of Britain's 1990 crop circles. "Over seven hundred circles were found in Britain in 1990, the earliest in April, the latest toward the end of August. They were spread across thirty counties, including Wales and Scotland, besides which there were numerous good reports of circles from Ireland, Holland, Bulgaria, Japan (at least twenty), Canada (over twenty), the U.S .A . and some other countires. The large British total was made possible because of the cooperation of so many enthusiasts via the nationwide CERES organisation. "As usual for Britain most circles were found in wheatfields, but there were some reports from fields of barley, rapeseed, linseed, and long grass grown for silage. In 1990, as in 1989, Wiltshire dominated the British scene with about 70% of the year's total. This year the leading counties were Wiltshire: over 400; Hampshire: over 50; Norfolk: 18; Devon: 17; Sussex: 16; Oxfordshire: 13; Buckinghamshire: 12; and so on." In his review of the 1990 phenomena, G.T . Meaden dwelt on the Hampshire dumbbell formations. From these many spectacular "circles" we focus on the one at Seven Barrows, Hampshire. Two of the 1990 Hampshire dumbell formations. (L ) Near Seven Barrows; (R ) Near Morestead. "The next system ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects An ancient egyptian ship in australia?The illustration, right, was taken from a newspaper, The Australian . It is a computer-enhancement of a badly faded painting found on Booby Island off the coast of Australia. R. Coleman, the Queensland Museum's curator of Maritime History and Archaeology, was quoted in the paper as saying: "Using this technique we are able to selectively neutralize confusing background virtually making the original image pop out of the background...this system... will add tremendously to our knowledge of those cultures prior to European set tlement." (Anonymous; "An Ancient Egyptian Ship in Australia?" Epigraphic Society, Occasional Papers , 19:211, 1990.) Comment. The vessel in the sketch does seem to have Egyptian lines. However, as our friends in Australia often remind us, we must be wary of what we read in Australian newspapers. From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The orogrande, nm, site The discovery in a New Mexico cave of numerous stone artifacts, hearths, butchered animal bones and a clay fragment dating back at least 35,000 years could provide proof that the Americas were inhabited long before the generally accepted date of 12,000 years ago, believes Richard MacNeish, research director of the Andover, Mass., Foundation for Archaeological Research. An article in the Baltimore Sun stated: "The most solid proof of human presence earlier than 12,000 years ago may be a piece of a clay pot that appears to have a human fingerprint. "The shard was found in a layer of sediment that has been dated as being 35,000 years old. If confirmed as human, it could be the key to the findings, some archaeologists say." (Chandler, David L.; "Dig Finds Signs of Humans in N.M . 35,000 Years Ago," Baltimore Sun, p. 3A, May 6, 1991.) Comment. It is certain that these discoveries will be disputed -- and rightfully so. Even if they stand, it takes a generation to erase a false paradigm from the roster of science. From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Will earth's rings return?" In the past, the Earth had a ring system just like Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, according to a Danish astronomer. He has gone so far as to say that our planet boasted rings on 16 separate occasions in the past 2800 years. "Kaare Rasmussen of the National Museum in Copenhagen carried out a survey of all reports of meteorite falls, fireballs and showers of shooting stars from 800 BC to 1750 AD. He then carried out a statistical analysis of the data. He discovered that there were many distinct periods of intense activity." Rasmussen found that the active periods, during which he believes a ring existed about the earth, began with a peak of high meteoritic activity as the ring formed, as a consequence of the earth's capture of a comet or asteroid. This was typically followed by a decrease of activity indicating ring stability. Finally, the ring broke up as its particles were decelerated by the earth's upper atmosphere, leading to another peak of activity. Thus, the plot of me-teorite activity is U-shaped, as in the figure, with the bottom of the U a bit higher than the normal background. (Gribbin, John; "Will the Earth's Rings Return?" New Scientist, p. 19, April 6, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Eight Leatherback Mysteries Our subject here is the leatherback turtle. Weighing up to 1600 pounds, it is the largest of the sea turtles. It is also the fastest turtle, hitting 9 miles per hour at times. But weight and speed are not necessarily mysterious; here are some characteristics that are: The leatherback is the only turtle without a rigid shell. Why? Perhaps it needs a flexible shell for its very deep dives. What looks like a shell is its thick, leathery carapace -- a strange streamlined structure with five to seven odd "keels" running lengthwise. These turtles are warm-blooded , and able to maintain their temperatures as much as 10 F above the ambient water, just as the dinosaurs apparently could. The bones of the leatherback are more like those of the marine mammals (dolphins and whales) than the reptiles. "No one seems to understand the evolutionary implications of this." Leatherbacks dive as deep as 3000 feet which is strange because they seem to subside almost exclusively on jellyfish, most of which are surface feeders. Like all turtles, leatherbacks can stay submerged for up to 48 hours. Just how they do this is unexplained. Their brains are miniscule. A 60-pound turtle possessed a brain weighing only 4 grams -- a rat's weighs 8! Leatherbacks' intestines contain waxy balls, recalling the ambergris found in the intestines of sperm whales. The stomachs of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Flying, parachuting, and falling frogs (Top) Shapes of flying and non-flying frogs. (Bottom) Aerodynamic diagram for a flying frog. Falling frogs have always been a Fortean favorite. These particular frogs plummet to earth in uncontrolled, unchecked free fall after (presumably) being lofted by whirlwinds. But there are frogs that are aerodynamically more sophisticated; these creatures glide and parachute through the dense tropical forests. S.B . Emerson and M.A .R Koehl have inquired into (even resorting to models in wind tunnels) the morphological and behavioral changes that have accompanied the repeated evolutions of these airworthy amphibians. "This paper reports an examination of the shift from aboreal to 'flying' frogs where we evaluate the the aerodynamic performance consequences of both a behavioral and morphological change. 'Flying' frogs have evolved independently several times among the 3,400 species of anurans. Although the particular nonflying sister species to each flying form remains unknown, in all cases flyers are distinguished from related, nonaerial, aboreal frogs by a similar suite of morphological characters: enlarged hands and feet, full webbing on the fingers and toes, and accessory skin flaps on the lateral margins of the arms and legs. 'Flying' frogs are not capable of powered flight, but do travel considerable horizontal distances during vertical descent. They are technically classified as gliders because they can descend at an angle less than 45 to the horizontal ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Baby Oil Geologists maintain that most of the oil they pump out of the ground was formed tens and hundreds of millions of years ago from biological debris. But in the Guaymas Basin, in the Gulf of California, the oil seeping out of the sediments is only 4240 years old! Actually, it could be even 500-3000 years younger than that for two reasons: (1 ) The organic debris that was C-14-dated may have taken many years to become incorporated in the sediments; and (2 ) The dating may be skewed by older material in the sediments. By subtraction, the oil might be as young as 1240 years! The picture geologists draw of the Guaymas Basin is that of a spreading center covered by perhaps a half kilometer of sediments. Spewing up from the spreading center is hot water at 300-350 C, which "cracks" the organic material in the sediments, converting it into petroleum only 10-30 meters below the sea floor. (Hecht, Jeff; "Youngest Oil Deposit Found below Gulf of California," New Scientist, p. 19, April 6, 1991.) Comment. Since spreading centers are really cracks in the earth's crust, it is possible that some of the feed materials for this modern "petroleum factory" in the Guaymas Basin could consist of abiogenic, primordial methane and other organics seeping up from deep within the earth. Reference ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Atlantic's waves getting bigger "According to a study by the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, waves in the northeastern Atlantic are getting bigger. The average wave height in the 1960s was about 7 feet. Now the average is 9-10 feet." (Anonymous; Coming Changes , 13:7 , MayJune 1991.) Comment. This is a very large increase (about 30%) for this geophysical variable. Have surface winds increased that much in such a short period? From Science Frontiers #76, JUL-AUG 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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