212 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 83: Sep-Oct 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects On Cuna Writing And Its Affinities A sample of Cuna "writing" When Europeans "officially" reached the New World some 500 years ago, the "official" account states that they found that only the Mayans and Aztecs possessed writing. However, all anomalists recognize that "official" stories often sweep untidy facts under what has come to be an immense rug. One seldom mentioned and rather awkward bump beneath this rug is Cuna writing. The Cuna Indians occupied Panama and some nearby Caribbean islands at the Time of Contact. That the Cuna carved symbols of sorts on wooden boards and scribbled with natural pigments on bark cloth and paper is generally admitted, but this is not considered in the same league as Mayan writing. A sample of Easter Island "writing" from a talking board Cuna writing is ideographic. Today's average Cuna Indian can usually identify each ideogram as a bird, plant, or some other object. However, to those skilled in Cuna writing, each ideogram actually represents a phrase of about 8-10 words. The symbols thus have mnemonic value. Each wooden tablet is actually read from the lower right corner to the left. The next line up reads left to right, in socalled "boustrophedon" style. The tablets are usually songs for healing, histories, etc. In these features and general appearance, Cuna writing resembles the "writing" found on the "talking boards" of Easter Island ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 127: Jan-Feb 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Do Continents Really Drift?For geologists, Continental Drift (or "Plate Tectonics") is as vital to their scientific outlook as the Big Bang is to astronomers, or Evolution to biologists. Indeed, Continental Drift is taught as an unassailable hypothesis -- in essence, a "fact." It is, therefore, a tempting target for anomalists. Fortunately, there are some maverick geologists who are willing and able to draw up a list of arguments against the "fact" of Continental Drift. Australian P. James is one such brave soul. Here follows the abstract from one of his papers. "Anomalies in the three basic concepts of mobile plate tectonics -- sea-floor spreading, transform faults, subduction -- are analysed. The process is then extended to subsidiary aspects; sediments on a moving basement, continental evidence, mechanisms and measurements. In summation, the criticisms present a formidable and damaging document against the total framework of mobilism, both in its general concepts and it its detailed interpretations." From James' lengthy paper, we select just two anomalies that he has identified in the Atlantic where North America and Europe are supposedly drifting apart. First, repeated direct measurements of the drifting seem to be a wash; that is, there is no drift to speak of. The expansion of the Atlantic basin seems to be only 5-13 mm/year (just 20% of the predicted ...
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... -Aug 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The watchmaker is not blind after all!Neo-Darwinists are chained to the premise that evolution proceeds "blindly"; that is, mutations are random and unrelated to the biological needs for survival. This assumption is enshrined in R. Dawkins' book The Blind Watchmaker . Catchy though this title is, it looks more and more like the Watchmaker sees something. For over a decade, experiments have hinted that those mutations that are helpful to an organism's survival occur more often than those that are not "adaptively useful." This controversial phenomenon is termed "adaptive mutation." (SF#64 and SF#96*) A recent issue of Science presents two more papers that seem to confer the gift of sight on the old Watchmaker. Biochemist J.A . Shapiro, in a commentary accompanying the two Science papers, highlights a significant feature of adaptive mutation in bacteria: The genetic changes involved are multicellular. In other words, DNA rearrangements in one cell are actually transferred to other cells. But most profound of all for the whole science of biology is his sentence: "The discovery that cells use biochemical systems to change their DNA in response to physiological inputs moves mutation beyond the realm of 'blind' stochastic events and provides a mechanistic basis for understanding how biological requirements can feed back onto genome structure." (Shapiro, James A.; "Adaptive Mutation: Who's Really in the Garden?" Science, 268:373, ...
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... gulhas Current off the coast of South Africa. (From: Earthquakes. Tides....) Just between 1969 and 1994. 60 supercarriers were lost due to sudden flooding. Of this number, 22 were apparently swallowed by rogue waves. The rogue waves appear unexpectedly. They dwarf all surrounding waves. For a long time, the rogues were said to be just chance additions of two smaller waves. But they are too big and occur too frequently to be statistical flukes. In addition, statiticians have trouble in accounting for the fabled and feared "three sisters" -- three massive waves in succession. Consequently, scientists have retreated to a now-familiar refuge: nonlinear effects. They show mathematically how small perturbations in a physical system can lead to huge consequences -- on paper at least.. (Lawton, Graham; "Monsters of the Deep," New Scientist, p. 28, June 30, 2001.) Comments. Somehow, as insinuated above, blaming monstrous waves on non-linear effects is not very satisfying in our cause-and-effect world. Twenty-two huge vessels swallowed up by giant waves! Yet, we never see notices of such events in the papers! A small tanker oil spill gets much more media attention. From Science Frontiers #137, SEP-OCT 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 107: Sep-Oct 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ten Myths Of Science We have at hand a lengthy paper bearing the above title. It is copyrighted with ominous warnings about quotations. So, we will paraphrase a lot. The significance of the article is so great that we dare to quote the first sentence: "This article addresses and attempts to refute several of the most widespread and enduring misconceptions held by students regarding the enterprise of science." We now paraphrase the ten myths of science, as recognized by W. McComas of the School of Education, University of Southern California. McComas analyzes each "myth" in depth, explaining why it is not a "truth." Myth 1. Hypotheses turn into theories which eventually become enshrined as laws. Myth 2. Hypotheses are really only educated guesses. Myth 3. There exists a scientific method that is general and universal. Myth 4. Certainty results when facts are accumulated and analyzed. Myth 5. The scientific method leads to absolute truth. Myth 6. Science is less creative than it is procedural. Myth 7. All questions posed by the universe can be answered via the scientific method. Myth 8. High objectivity is the hallmark of science. Myth 9. Scientific knowledge is based mainly on experiment. Myth 10. Scientists always review and check the work of their colleagues. (McComas, William; "Ten Myths of Science: Reexamining What We Think We Know...," School Science ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 40: Jul-Aug 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mnemonism not so easy!" This paper reports a systematic study of a man (T .E .) with astonishing mnemonic skills. After a brief description of his most favoured mnemonic technique, the 'figure alphabet,' his performance and the mnemonic techniques used on five classical memory tasks are described. These are: one task involving both short- and long-term memory (the Atkinson-Shiffrin 'keeping track' task), two tasks involving just longterm memory (recall of number matrices and the effects of imagery and deep structure complexity upon recall), and two tasks involving just short-term retention of individual verbal items and digit span. Whenever possible, T.E .' s performance was compared with that of normal subjects, and also with other mnemonists who have been studied in the past. There was no evidence to suggest that T.E . has any unusual basic memory abilities; rather he employs mnemonic techniques to aid memory, and the evidence suggests that previous mnemonists who have been studied by psychologists have used very similar techniques." The "figure alphabet" employed by T.E . was used in Europe as early as the mid-1700s. The Hindus had a Sanskrit version even earlier. Basically, each digit is represented by a consonant sound or sounds: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 T N M R L J K F P Z D Ng G ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 67: Jan-Feb 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Solar Activity And Bursts Of Human Creativity Abstract "In a previous paper, evidence has been reported suggesting a link between historical oscillations of scientific creativity and solar cyclic variation. Eddy's discovery of abnormal secular periods of solar inactivity (' Maunder minimum' type) offered the opportunity to put the present hypothesis to a crucial test. Using time series of flourish years of creators in science, literature, and painting (AD600-AD1800), it was found that, as expected: Cultural flourish curves show marked discontinuities (bursts) after the onset of secular solar excursions, synchronously in Europe and China; During periods of extended solar excursions, bursts of creativity in painting, literature, and science succeeded one another with lags of about 10-15 years; The reported regularities of cultural output are prominent throughout with eminent creators. They decrease with ordinary professionals. "The hypothesized extraterrestrial connection of human cultural history has thus been considerably strengthened." (Ertel, Suitbert; "Synchronous Bursts of Creativity in Independent Cultures; Evidence for an Extraterrestrial Connec tion," The Explorer, 5:12, Fall 1989.) Comment. With apologies to the author, a few minor changes in punctuation have been made above. From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Africa not man's origin!The following abstract is from a 1982 paper in Nature. "It has been suggested that the evolution of man took place in Africa. This suggestion results from the unusual abundance of fossil material in Africa that is quite ancient in comparison with what is known elsewhere. The theory of an African origin has influenced the interpretation of the age of some non-African archaeologial sites. A case in point is the 'Ubeidiya locality in Israel, which is generally considered to be about 700,000 yr old because it has been assumed by a few that the associated Early Acheulian tool industry, and the persons who used it, would have taken considerable time to disperse from Olduvai Gorge to this non-African site in Israel. Here we evaluate fossil mammals from 'Ubeidiya, which are stratigraphically and directly associated with Early Acheulian artifacts, and find no substantial reason for considering the locality younger than 2Myr, and possibly as much as 500,000 yr older than any record of Early Acheulian artefacts or Homo erectus in Africa." (Repenning, Charles A., and Fejfar, Oldrich; "Evidence for Earlier Date of 'Ubeidiya, Israel, Hominid Site," Nature, 299:344, 1982.) From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Islands Of Hope For Life Eternal Frautschi examines expanding "causal" regions in the universe, where entropy (disorder) does not increase as fast as the maximum predicted by Thermodynamics. The conclusion of this highly theoretical paper is that, even in these "islands of hope," life and the order it requires cannot survive indefinitely if it is restricted to solid substances. But, ". .. it stands as a challenge for the future to find dematerialized modes of organization (based on dust clouds or an e- e+ plasma?) capable of self-replication. If radiant energy production continues without limit, there remains hope that life capable of using it forever can be created." (Frautschi, Steven; "Entropy in an Expanding Universe," Science, 217:593, 1982.) Comment. Who said Science was a conservative journal? This smacks of scifi tales of electrolife and Hoyle's Black Cloud. From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The bottle-green icebergs of antarctica Antarctic icebergs frequently incorporate sediments that turn them dark, even zebra-striped on occasion. But it is the bottle-green icebergs that provoke the most interest, for it is not certain why they are green. Is it due to intrinsic optical properties of the ice or impurities? A recent paper by J. Kipfstuhl et al suggests the latter and tells us where these translucent, strikingly green bergs originate. "A comparison of samples from a translucent green iceberg with a core from the Ronne Ice Shelf revealed an excellent agreement in isotopic composition, crystal structure, and incorporated sediment particles. Marine shelf ice which constitutes the basal portion of some ice shelves is considered to be the source of green icebergs. It [the green ice] most likely results from 'ice pump' processes which produce large amounts of ice platelets in the water column beneath ice shelves. These subsequently accumulate and become compacted into bubble-free, desalinated ice." The inclusions in the green ice are probably trapped by the accumulating platelets. Since the green ice is confined to the bottoms of the bergs, it becomes apparent only after the bergs capsize. The green icebergs in the Weddle Sea originate mainly from the Amery Ice Shelf. (Kipfstuhl, J. et al; "The Origin of Green Icebergs in Antarctica," Journal of Geophysical Research, 97:20,319, 1992.) Similar phenomenon ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 25: Jan-Feb 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Schizophrenia And Season Of Birth Several scientists have published data that suggest that schizophrenics are more likely to be born in the winter months. The data have been subjected to much criticism. In this paper, the authors were careful to avoid previous errors in data collecting and analysis. From the Abstract: "We studied the birth months of 3,556 schizophrenics at a Minnesota Veteran's Administration hospital before and after instituting corrections for year-to-year across-month variations in birthrates in our expected values and the age-prevalence bias toward the January-March seasonality effect described in some earlier studies. Finally, we reanalyzed our data on a subset of patients in whom the ageincidence effect should be minimal. Even after these corrections the results supported the contention that the winter birthrate for schizophrenics is excessive, at least in severe climates." (Watson, Charles G., et al; "Season of Birth and Schizophrenia: A Response to the Lewis and Griffin Critique," Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91:120, 1982.) Comment. What could possibly cause this seasonal effect, assuming it withstands scrutiny? From Science Frontiers #25, JAN-FEB 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Global fire at the k-t boundary The worldwide deposit of iridium at the K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) boundary has been considered very strong evidence that a large astronomical object (asteroid or comet) devastated our planet some 65 million years ago. Some scientists, however, propose that the iridium layer was instead deposited through widespread volcanic activity. The proponents of an astronomical mechanism should be heartened by a recent paper in Nature, by W.S . Wolbach et al. Here is their Abstract: "Cretaceous-Tertiary (K -T ) boundary clays from five sites in Europe and New Zealand are 102 -104 -fold enriched in elemental C (mainly soot), which is isotopically uniform and apparently comes from a single global fire. The soot layer coincides with the Ir layer, suggesting that the fire was triggered by meteorite impact and began before the ejecta had settled." The composition of the hydrocarbons in the sediments points to the earth's biomass (mainly surface vegetation) as the source of the soot. The total quantity of K-T soot is equivalent to that which would be produced by burning 10% of all present terrestrial plant material. (Wolbach, Wendy S., et al; "Global Fire at the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary," Nature, 334:665, 1988.) Comment. Unmentioned in the above article is the possibility that extensive wildfires might have been ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is caddy a mammal?" Caddy" is short for Cadborosaurus , the speculative sea animal seen rather frequently off the British Columbia coast and as far south as Oregon. Professor P. LeBlond, University of British Columbia, recently presented a paper on Caddy at a joint meeting of the Canadian and American Societies of Zoology. Of all the supposed sea serpents, Caddy seems closest to respectability. Not only are there many sightings on record, but the remains of a 3-meterlong carcass of an apparent juvenile specimen of Caddy was discovered in the stomach of a sperm whale. Adult Caddys are about 7 meters long. "The descriptions [of Caddy] are generally similar. They suggest a long-necked beast with short pointed front flippers, a horse-like head, distinct eyes, a visible mouth and either ears or giraffe-like horns. Often Caddy is described as having hair like a seal, and sometimes a mane along its neck." Most interesting is Caddy's body hair, which implies a mammal rather than a reptile. But if it is a mammal, how does it get air, since it surfaces so rarely? Some have suggested that the giraffe-like horns are snorkels! But E. Bousfield, a colleague of LeBlond, thinks that the tubercules reported along the animal's back might be gill-like tissues that would allow a mammal to extract oxygen from seawater! With so ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 68: Mar-Apr 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Michigan's prehistoric garden beds Type 5. Parallel beds. Width of beds, 6 feet; paths, 4 feet; length, 12-40 feet; height, 18 inches. The prehistoric ridged fields, canals, aqueducts, and other agricultural engineering feats found in South and Central America, and even our own Southwest, continue to amaze us. Almost totally forgotten, however, are the equally impressive "garden beds" of southern Michigan. Happily, the INFO Journal has just reprinted B. Hubbard's 1878 paper describing these works that stretched for miles along the Grand and St. Joseph Rivers. Of course, modern activities have obliterated them completely; and even in Hubbard's day they were mostly gone. First, Hubbard's general description of the "garden beds": "The so-called 'Garden Beds' were found in the valleys of the St. Joseph and Grand Rivers, where they occupied the most fertile of the prairie land and burr-oak plains, principally in the counties of St. Joseph, Cass and Kalamazoo. "They consisted of raised patches of ground, separated by sunken paths, and were generally arranged in plats or blocks of parallel beds. These varied in dimensions, being from five to sixteen feet in width, in length from twelve to more than one hundred feet, and in height from six to eighteen inches. "The tough sod of the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 35: Sep-Oct 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Different Way Of Looking At The Universe Here is an excellent survey of American archeoastronomy from Canadian medicine wheels to Mesoamerican aligned structures. To the anomalist, the most interesting part of Aveni's review paper is found in his comments about the world view of the Precolumbian Americans, particularly the Maya. That the Maya were acute astronomers is beyond question. They had even developed a correction scheme to keep Venus' 584-day canonical cycle on track with its true synodic period of 583.92 days. Their predictions of the position of Venus were accurate to 2 hours in 481 years! Not bad for a civilization that did not seem to have any conception that the planets revolved around the sun. The Maya, in fact, did not seem to care what made heavenly bodies move; they only wished to predict their appearance accurately. Instead of developing celestial mechanics based on gravitation and laws of motion, as we have done, they were content with numerical algorithms; that is, ways of computing a desired result. Their astonishingly accurate predictions of Venus, solar eclipses, and other astronomical phenomena evolved from cycles of numbers advancing each day like interlocking gear teeth. These algorithms gave them no insight into cause and effect, but they got the right answers. They needed no physical laws, just patterns of numbers. It was a different way of comprehending and dealing with the universe. (Aveni, Anthony F.; " ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 86: Mar-Apr 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hypnosis And Basketball Hypnosis has often been applied to imroving various aspects of human performance -- both intellectual and physical -- with debatable success. Basketball may now be added to this file, according to a recent paper by E.H . Schreiber: "Throughout one basketball season 12 male and 12 female basketball players were interviewed prior to individual and group sessions with hypnosis. The athlete's shooting scores were compared with those of the previous basketball season. The hypnosis groups showed higher cumulative scores for shooting than players in the control group." (Schreiber, Elliott H.; "Using Hypnosis to Improve Performance of College Basketball Players," Perceptual and Motor Skills , 72:536, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 37: Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects When Mars Had Lakes Rhythmic layered deposits can be seen in the Valles Marineris, a large Martian valley. The strata are erosional remnants up to 5 kilometers high, with individual layers 170-220 meters thick. They can be traced on spacecraft photographs for some 50 kilometers. The material making up the strata is clearly different from that of the valley walls. After the layers were deposited, they were deeply eroded by some event in Martian history that seems related to the formation of the great outflow channels associated with Valles Marineris. The author of this American Geophysical Union paper concludes: "The morphology and history of the sediments are consistent with deposition in standing bodies of water early in Martian history." (Nedell, Susan S., and Squyers, Steven W.; "Geology of the Layered Deposits in the Valles Marineris, Mars," Eos, 65:979, 1984.) Comment. The "event" that deeply eroded the Martian deposits may have been similar to the catastrophic emptying of Lake Missoula, which carved out the Channelled Scablands of eastern Washington state as the Ice Ages waned. From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 86: Mar-Apr 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Once more science fiction predicts the future!In SF#85, the paper by M. Lampl et al demonstrated how children actually grow in sharp spurts, contrary to scientific expectations. It seems that H.G . Wells foresaw this discovery in his novel The Food of the Gods , published first in 1904. Wells had his Professor Redwood working with a measuring tape, too: (Wells, H.G .; Seven Famous Novels , Knopf, New York, 1934. Cr. A. Mebane) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 50: Mar-Apr 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Whales And Seafloor Pits Typical sizes, shapes, and disposition of whale-excavated pits in the Bering Sea. The focus of a 1987 paper in Scientific American, by C.H . Nelson and K.R . Johnson, is the northeastern Bering Sea, where sensitive side-scanning sonar has sketched large numbers of pits and furrows in the shallow sands. The pits range from 1-10 meters in length, 0.5 -7 meters in width, and 0.1 -0 .4 meters in depth. No known geological processes seem responsible. Farther east, in Nor-ton Sound, methane eruptions from buried organic matter do blow out circular craters; but the elongated pits investigated by Nelson and Johnson are gouged in sand considered too permeable for gas-crater formation. Rather surprisingly, the gray whale has become suspect as a pit excavator. They feed in the area of the pits; and the pits, before enlargement by currents, are just the size of the whales' mouths. The whales apparently dredge up sediment and, with their baleen, strain out amphipods (shrimp-like crustaceans) from the sand. The coexisting narrow furrows turn out to be the work of walruses digging for clams. (Nelson, C. Hans, and Johnson, Kirk R.; "Whales and Walruses as Tillers of the Sea Floor," Scientific American, 256:112, February 1987.) ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 50: Mar-Apr 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Lunar Magnetic Mollusc From the abstract of a paper in Science: "Behavioral experiments indicated that the marine opisthobranch mollusk Tritonia diomedea can derive directional cues from the magnetic field of the earth. The magnetic direction toward which nudibrachs spontaneously oriented in the geomagnetic field showed recurring patterns of variation correlated with lunar phase, suggesting that the behavioral response to magnetism is modulated by circa-lunar rhythm." The magnetic and lunar-phase detectors of this mollusc are not known. In fact, the authors remark in their introductory paragraph that, even in organisms possessing ferromagnetic materials in their systems, there exists no "direct neurophysiological evidence implicating ferromagntic particles in the the detection of magnetic fields." (Lohmann, Kenneth J., and Willows, A.O . Dennis; "LunarModulated Geomagnetic Orientation by a Marine Mollusk," Science, 235:331, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #50, MAR-APR 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 77: Sep-Oct 1991 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology PLIOCENE SCULPTURES OR FREAKS OF NATURE? A PAPER TRAIL FROM ASIA TO THE AMERICAS Astronomy Mercury: the impossible planet Eclipse shadow-band anomalies Biology Supernova theory exploded NO UNKNOWN MONSTERS IN THOSE FIJI UNDERWATER CAVES: NEVERTHELESS, THE MYSTERY DEEPENS DO BIRDS USE GENETIC MAPS DURING MIGRATION? Cooler heads, bigger brains? The aye-aye, a percussive forager identical Geology VALLEYS OF DEATH AND ELEPHANT GRAVEYARDS Anthracite man? METHANE HYDRATE: PAST FRIEND OR FUTURE FOE? The gruyerizaton of switzerland faulting Geophysics CROP CIRCLES: DAISY PATTERNS AND A RED BALL OF LIGHT Hovering ball of fire SOME OLD GEYSERS ARE NOT SO FAITHFUL WATER'S MEMORY OR BENVENISTE STRIKES BACK Physics Drip, drop, drup, dr** ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Meteorites Also Transport Organic Payloads Excerpts from the Abstract of a paper printed in Nature: "Much effort has been directed to analyses of organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites because of their implications for orgainc chemical evolution and the origin of life. We have determined the isotopic composition of hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon in amino acid and monocarboxylic extracts from the Murchison meteorite. .. .. . "These results confirm the extraterrestrial origin of both classes of compounds, and provide the first evidence suggesting a direct relationship between the massive organo-synthesis occurring in interstellar clouds and the presence of pre-biotic compounds in primitive planetary bodies." (Epstein, S., et al; "Unusual Stable Isotope Ratios in Amino Acid and Carboxylic Acid Extracts from the Murchison Meteorite," Nature, 326:477, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #52, JUL-AUG 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cold fusion: new experiments and theories Cold-fusion research continues in many labs, particularly outside the US, where minds seem more open. At a recent meeting in the Soviet Union, 45 coldfusion papers revealed intense foreign activity. The Soviets are spending 15 million rubles for further research. In Japan, a Japanese-American team has even set up an experiment a half-mile underground to cut out stray radiation. (R2) However, the US is doing something despite the ridicule from the popular and scientific media. B.F . Bush and J.J . Lagowski of the University of Texas in Austin and M.H . Miles and G.S . Ostrom of the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, Calif., say the helium levels they measured correlate roughly with the amount of heat generated in the fusion reaction. .. .. . Those who believe in cold fusion are quite excited. "It's a world-turning experiment, a lollapalooza," says John O'M . Bockris, a physical chemist who has researched cold fusion at Texas A&M University in College Station. (R1) According to Dr. Mallove of M.I .T ., another provocative set of experiments are those at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico where Dr. Howard Menlove has repeatedly detected bursts of neutrons, subatomic particles that are a fusion byproduct. (R2) ...
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... 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 A Tsunami And A Peruvian Cultural Glitch We quote from the abstract of a paper by R.M . Bird from American Antiquity. "While investigating the archaeological background of early maize on the coast of Peru, I realized that several factors affect interpretation. The estimated date for the start of common use of maize there is close to the apparent dates of a large tsunami, the abandonment of many coastal sites, and the start of occupation at Chavin de Huantar in the highlands. While investigating the possible relations between the principal pretsunami coastal culture and Chavin, I discovered that depictions of a monstrous head link the two cultures." The "monstrous head" is thought by the Bird to be a stylized representation of a tsunami wave. Not mentioned at all in the abstract are the physical evidences of tsunami damage along the Peruvian coast. This article portrays the possible effects on the ancient manmade structures in the region as well as the widespread deposits of sand, cobblestones, and other sediments. (Bird, Robert McK.; "A Postulated Tsunami and Its Effects on Cultural Development in the Peruvian Early Horizon," American Antiquity, 52:285, 1987.) Profile of a north-south site trench at a a site on the Peruvian coast, showing thick strata that may have been deposited by a tsunami. From Science Frontiers #53, SEP-OCT 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 89: Sep-Oct 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The birthday: lifeline or deadline?The following abstract is from a paper in Psychosomatic Medicine: "This study of deaths from natural causes examined adult mortality around the birthday for two samples, totalling 2,745,149 people. Women are more likely to die in the week following their birthdays than in any other week of the year. In addition, the frequency of female deaths dips below normal just before the birthday. The results do not seem to be due to seasonal fluctuations, misreporting on the death certificate, deferment of life-threatening surgery, or behavioral changes associated with the birthday. At present, the best available explanation of these findings is that females are able to prolong life briefly until they have reached a positive, symbolically meaningful occasion. Thus the birthday seems to function as a 'lifeline' for some females. In contrast, male mortality peaks shortly before the birthday, suggesting that the birthday functions as a 'deadline' for males." (Phillips. David P., et al; "The Birthday: Lifeline or Deadline?" Psychosomatic Medicine, 54:532, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #89, SEP-OCT 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 3: April 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Extraterrestrial Influences On Chemical And Biological Systems Conventional science shows little interest in the subject indicated by the title, except for some work that is done on circadian rhythms. However, readers of the journals Cycles and the Journal of Interdisciplinary Cycle Research are treated regularly to a wide variety of purported correlations of biological systems with solar and other extraterres-trial influences. The present paper suggests that extraterrestrial forces influence the earth's weather which, in turn controls physiological processes. The physiological processes studied include blood precipitation rate and blood hemoglobin values. Also mentioned are Piccardi's precipitation-rate experiments that seem to show a highly variable behavior of simple chemical systems that bear no obvious relationship to weather conditions. Tromp concludes from these data that unknown forces, probably extraterrestrial in nature, act upon the earth and its inhabitants. (Tromp, Solco W.; "Study of Possibly Extraterrestrial Influences on Colloidal Systems and Living Processes on Earth," Cycles, 28:34, 1977.) From Science Frontiers #3 , April 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 54: Nov-Dec 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Egyptian pyramids actually made of synthetic stone?The assertion of the title above has been around for a while, but now it has been detailed in a paper before the American Chrmical Society. "An authority on ancient building materials reported evidence Friday that the Egyptian pyramids were built of a remarkable synthetic stone that was cast on the site like concrete. "The new theory challenges the widely accepted belief that the pyramids were built from natural stone obtained from quarries and laboriously moved to the site on wooden rollers. "Dr. Joseph Davidovits said that the synthetic pyramid stone was made with cement far stronger than modern portland cement, which binds together the rock and sand in concrete. Portland cement has an average span of about 150 years, he said, but cements like those used in the pyramids last thousands of years. .. .. . "Davidovits said that a new deciphering of an ancient hieroglyphic text now provides some direct information about pyramid construction and supports his theory that synthetic stone was the construction material. .. .. . "Davidovits said the cement used in the pyramids binds the aggregate and other ingredients together chemically in a process similar to that involved in the formation of natural stone. "Portland cement, in contrast, involves mechanical rather then molecular bonding of the ingredients. Thus, pyramid stone is extremely difficult to distinguish from natural stone. "He cites a number of other pieces of evidence to support his ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 7: June 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bpm Equals Dowsing It is remarkable that this article appears in a reputable scientific journal. Williamson was stimulated to write about dowsing by apparent recent Russian successes with BPM (Bio-Physical Method) in locating minerals. BPM has created quite a stir in the USSR, with all the scientific trappings of conferences and journal papers. The Russians evidently use BPM in conjunction with aerial photogeological surveys in pinpointing mineral deposits. BPM anomalies are detected on foot by hand-held BPM de tectors (read: divining rods). Williamson goes on to describe the ridicule heaped on dowsing in the West. The negative experiments of Foulkes with trained dowsers shoved dowsing out to the lunatic fringe. But recently, a little-mentioned American study by Chadwick and Jensen seems to contradict Foulkes. Chadwick and Jensen, highly skeptical at the beginning of their experiments, were surprised to discover that their 150 novice dowsers were actually sensitive to the small magnetic field changes one expects in the neighborhood of mineral concentrations. The dowsing effect is weak but apparently real. (Williamson, Tom; "Dowsing Achieves New Credence," New Scientist, 81:371, 1979.) From Science Frontiers #7 , June 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 7: June 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is there a science of anomalies?Westrum and Truzzi term their paper a "bibliographical introduction" to anomalies. Indeed, the article is laced with references to the great classics on scientific anomalies and worth reading for this aspect alone. But the authors go farther. First, they define three different kinds of scientific anomalies: accepted, validated, and alleged. Next, they discuss the criteria used in judging anomalies by the scientific establishment. In dealing with anomalies, the focus inevitably narrows down to the reliability of the data and, quite reasonably, the honesty of those collecting, reproducing, and otherwise manipulating these data. Westrum and Truzzi then turn to the great anomaly collectors (Fort, Gould, Sanderson, Heuvelmans). What did these men produce and is it valuable to science? (Westrum, Ron, and Truzzi, Marcello; "Anomalies: A Bibliographical Introduction with Some Cautionary Remarks," Zetetic Scholar, 1:69, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #7 , June 1979 . 1979-2000 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 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. 64: Jul-Aug 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dream Esp And Geomagnetic Activity The following is an abstract from a paper by M.A . Persinger and S. Krippner. "The 24-hour periods in which the most accurate telepathic dreams occurred during the Maimonides studies displayed significantly quieter geomagnetic activity than the days before or after. This statistically significant V-shaped temporal sequence in geomagnetic activity was not evident for those periods when less accurate dreams occurred. When geomagnetic activity around the time of the strongest experimental telepathic dreams was compared to the geomagnetic activity around the time of spontaneous telepathic dreams from the Gurney, Myers and Podmore (1886) collection, very similar (statistically undistinguishable) temporal patterns were observed. Analyses of both experimental and spontaneous telepathic experiences indicated that they were more accurate (or more likely to have occurred) during 24hour intervals when the daily average antipodal (aa) index was approximately 10 3 gammas. When the daily aa index exceeded amplitudes of approximately 20-25 gammas, telepathic experiences became less probable." (Persinger, Michael A., and Krippner, Stanley; "Dream ESP Experiments and Geomagnetic Activity," American Society for Psychical Research, Journal, 83:101 1989.) Comment. It must be added here that mainstream science does not (yet) admit that telepathy exists as a legitimate scientific phenomenon. Nevertheless, there is an immense literature on telepathy and related parapsychological subjects. Once again we have a "shadow science," with ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 91: Jan-Feb 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Do earthquakes raise mima mounds?This possibility was tendered in SF#69 in our notice of a paper in Geology by A.W . Berg. Berg had covered a large sheet of plywood with sandy soil and then vibrated the wooden sheet. The result: small mounds formed at points where intersecting vibrations cancelled each other out. Could the many fields of Mima mounds in North America, Africa, and other continents have been created in a like manner by earthquakes? The recent severe quake in India proved that the answer to the above question might be "yes." Some farm-lands that had been flat were riven by cracks several inches wide and up to 70 feet deep and, in addition, topped by undulating mounds up to a foot high. (Anonymous; "Farmers Work Land Churned by Earthquake," Spokane Review , October 10,1993. Cr. J. Satkoski) Comment. Mima mounds are often higher than 1 foot, but at it certainly seems that Berg's experiment has been repeated by Nature herself. Mima mounds and like structures are cataloged in ETM1 in Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds. This catalog is described here . From Science Frontiers #91, JAN-FEB 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 94: Jul-Aug 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects First you don't see it; then you don't don't see it Astronomers are always claiming that they have observational proof that other stars have planets circling them and that black holes truly exist. These claims always fade away or are refuted. Recently, the papers were full of still another claim that a black hole had been found. This time there was no doubt; this was it; a bona fide, undeniable black hole. The search was finally over! Later, though, this claim was muted to: "the best evidence yet for a black hole." [Remember that no light escapes a black hole; you cannot see it directly. It is detected only through its effects on nearby observable matter.] Despite what the theorists fervently believe, black holes may not be lurking out there in space, unseen, but still able to gobble up matter and unwary alien spacecraft. For example, consider the following iconoclastic tidbit: "A gigantic, exceptionally bright star that scientists thought could become a black hole is actually shedding mass at such an astonishing rate that it eventually will disappear, a discovery that casts doubt on theories of stellar evolution, a researcher reports. "' If such massive stars are losing mass at such a prodigious rate, they will not form black holes but will peel off to virtually nothing,' Sally Heap, a NASA astronomer, said yesterday at a national ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 94: Jul-Aug 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Our genes aren't us!Almost without exception, biology textbooks, scientific papers, popular articles, and TV documentaries convey the impression that an organism's genes completely specify the living animal or plant. In most people's minds, the strands of DNA are analogous to computer codes that control the manufacture and disposition of proteins. Perhaps our current fascination with computers has fostered this narrow view of heredity. Do our genes really contain all the information necessary for constructing human bodies? In the April 1994 issue of Discover, J. Cohen and I. Stewart endeavor to set us straight. The arguments against the "genes-are-everything" paradigm are long and complex, but Cohen and Stewart also provide some simple, possibly simplistic observations supporting a much broader view of genetics. Mammalian DNA contains fewer bases than amphibian DNA, even though mammals are considered more complex and "advanced." The implication is that "DNA-as-a -message" must be a flawed metaphor. Wings have been invented at least four times by divergent classes (pterosaurs, insects, birds, bats); and it is very unlikely that there is a common DNA sequence that specifies how to manufacture a wing. The connections between the nerve cells comprising the human brain represent much more information than can possibly be encoded in human DNA. A caterpillar has the same DNA as the butterfly it eventually becomes. Ergo, something ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 95: Sep-Oct 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects It's according to hoyle and wickramasinghe The June 17, 1994 issue of Science did not ignore it. In fact, this conservative journal devoted almost an entire page to a paper presented by Yi-Jehng Kuan and Yanti Miao at the recent Minneapolis meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Students of L. Snyder, at the University of Illinois, Kuan and Miao reported that the amino acid glycine had been detected in a molecular cloud named Sagittarius B2. Glycine has only ten atoms and is the smallest of the 20 amino acids vital to life-as-we-know-it. The Science article supposed that this discovery of extraterrestrial glycine might reignite speculation that earth life might not be unique after all. (Travis, John; "Hints of First Amino Acid outside Solar System," Science, 264:1669, 1994.) Structure of the amino acid glycine What Science did not mention but New Scientist did is that F. Hoyle and C. Wickramasinghe have long predicted that the molecules of life, as well as life itself, would be found in outer space. Now, after much ridicule, they are being vindicated. "It's been a long hard struggle," said Hoyle. Wickramasinghe remarked that the discovery was "no surprise at all." "He believes it is only a matter of time before other amino acids, together with nucleotide bases, the components of nucleic acids that ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 96: Nov-Dec 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Remarkable Straw Fall Summer of 1994, Bucks., England "Engineer Ken Davey thought he had stepped into a scene from the Bible when he saw tons of straw falling from the sky. "The 42-year-old, of Holtspur Avenue, Wooburn Green, was leaving work at Glory Mill Papers, Glory Mill Lane, on Thursday when he noticed the whole building was covered in straw. "He suddenly realised everyone was staring upwards at objects descending from the sky. "He said: "I looked up and these massive lumps -- some as big as bales -- were gracefully floating down. It was beautiful. .. .. . "Mr. Davey estimated as much as ten tons of straw had fallen. The whole of the surrounding area was covered in it." (Anonymous; "Glory! Glory! Haylelujah ," Midweek, Bucks Free Press, July 19, 1994. Cr. A.C .A . Silk) Comment. Rarely during haying season, we have seen whirlwinds drape trees and utility wires with wisps of hay -- but 10 tons of straw? Never even close! However, equally prodigious falls of hay and leaves were occasionaly remarked upon in the scientific journals of the last century. See GWF6 in Tornados, Dark Days, etc. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #96, NOV-DEC 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... exist, too, namely in North America and northern Australia. Both Australia and the Americas seem to have been peopled late; and both regions seem to have been invaded from the north - according to conventional thinking. Serious anomalies arise because some controversial dates of human occupation from South America and southern Australia are considerably older than those from North America and northern Australia* - at least if we dismiss those North American dates considered as "unreliable" by the archeological establishment. In the Americas, reliable dates older than 12,000 years are found in South America (Monte Verde, Chile); in Australia, all dates exceeding 24,000 years are found along the southern coast.* The "artifact gaps" are therefore clearly established! R.G . Bednarik, in a recent paper in Antiquity, offers a related observation: "It is generally agreed that both regions have been settled from the north, yet no trace has been found of the first settlers in either North America or northern Australia. In northern Australia one finds groundedge axes at up to 23,000 b.p ., which have no counterparts in the probable catchment area of the first colonizers, Indonesia; while in North America the earlist human settlers used elaborate projectile points, which have no counterparts in the final Pleistocene of eastern Siberia. When and where did such innovations then evolve?" Bodnarik's aolution to this double dilemma assumes that the first colonizers in both cases did indeed come from the north-- -some 40,000 years ago in both Australia and North America - but ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 97: Jan-Feb 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Major Study Of Dowsing Most evidence for the efficacy of dow-sing is anecdotal. Most evidence for the inefficacy of dowsing comes from carefully controlled field experiments, including such props as buried pipes with and without running water and other juicy targets for the dowser's wand. It is, therefore, somewhat surprising to find that a large study by physicists at the University of Munich supports the reality of dowsing. Here follows part of the abstract from a paper on this work: "We report on the first major scientific program to tackle this intricate problem aiming for, at least, solid proof for either existence or non-existence of the debated phenomenon. Within a period of two years some 100 dowsers have been tested by means of sophisticated experiments, designed and supervised by a very large team of scientists. A statistical analysis of the results revealed a very high level of significance for the existence of a real dowsing phenomenon. "Further geological experiments have been conducted, and are still going on, which aim at the location of underground drinking water. The results turn out to be extremely positive. This leaves hardly any doubt that certain persons are capable of locating position-dependent anomalies by utilizing a new, still unknown mechanism. Various attempts will be described which explain how the reproducible phenomena could be dealt with. In particular, arguments will be discussed which speak in favor of the dominance of a cause-reaction model ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 98: Mar-Apr 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Six Immense Armadas Of Icebergs Invaded The North Atlantic "Observations of large and abrupt climate changes recorded in Greenland ice cores have spurred a search for clues to their cause. The search has revealed that at six times during the last glaciation, huge armadas of icebergs launched from Canada spread across the northern Atlantic Ocean, each triggering a climate response of global extent." The foregoing abstract does not mention the interesting Heinrich layers that fostered the above scenario. In 1988, H. Heinrich published a paper describing a curious set of sedimentary layers found in cores drilled in the tops of the Dreizack seamounts in the eastern North Atlantic. Heinrich concluded that each of the six layers he found represented the melting of "six great armadas of icebergs." These icebergs carried debris picked up in Canada and, as they melted, deposited it on the seamounts and ocean floor. Each layer could be correlated with the major climate boundaries revealed by the Greenland ice cores. Very fittingly, these iceberg incursions are now termed "Heinrich Events." (Broecker, Wallace S.; "Massive Iceberg Discharges as Triggers for Global Climate Changes," Nature, 372:421, 1994.) From Science Frontiers #98, MAR-APR 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 48: Nov-Dec 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Rhythms in 5,927,978 french births The following is an English summary of a paper that appeared in a French scientific journal. "Is there any relationship between the times when babies are born and the synodic lunar cycle? There are published works that show that there is such a relationship. We have looked at 5,927,978 French births occurring between the months of January 1968 and the 31st December 1974. Using Fourier's spectral analysis we have been able to show that there are two different rhythms in birth frequencies: (1 ) A weekly rhythm characterized by the lowest number of births on a Sunday and the largest number on a Tuesday; (2 ) An annual rhythm with the maximum number of births in May and the minimum in September-October. "A statistical analysis of the distribution of births in the lunar month shows that more are born between the last quarter and the new moon, and fewer are born in the first quarter of the moon. The differences between the distribution observed during the lunar month and the theoretical distribution are statistically significant." (Guillion, P., et al; "Naissances, Fertilite, Rythmes et Cycle Lunaire," Journal de Gynecologie, Obstetrique et Biologic de la Reproduction, 15:265, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #48, NOV-DEC 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 99: May-Jun 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Where have all the black holes gone?Like the Big Bang, black holes are an astronomical staple. Most scientists and laymen assume that black holes are proven, well-observed denizens of the cosmos. Certainly the media entertains no doubts! Let us take a skeptical look. Does theory require black holes? In 1939, R. Oppenheimer and H. Snyder showed on paper that a massive star could collapse and create a black hole, assuming the correctness of stellar theories and General Relativity. Initially, scientists were skeptical about black holes because of their bizarre properties: They emit no light and inhale unwary starships. Black holes are also singularities, and singularities make scientists nervous. In the black-hole singularity, thousands of stars are swallowed and compressed into an infinitesimally small volume. (Ref. 1) This grates against common sense. The philosophical uneasiness about black holes is worsened by the discovery that they: ". .. threaten the universe with an irreversible loss of information, which seems to contradict other laws of physics." (Ref. 2) Adding to these problems are nagging doubts about General Relativity, which underpins black-hole theory. Recently, some theorists have shown that General Relativity requires that two bodies of approximately equal size not attract one another! (Ref. 2) Despite all these qualms, black holes have become a fixture of astronomy because they promise to explain the incredibly powerful energy sources ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 99: May-Jun 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Untapped Human Mind In 1994, J. Wilding and E. Valentine, both at the University of London, provided the British Journal of Psychology with two studies of people claiming to have exceptional memories. In their second paper (Ref. 2), they detailed the mental workings of TM, a 25-year-old male, and an accomplished user of mnemonics. TM astounds audiences with his seemingly impossible memory feats. These feats, however, are no mystery to TM, and he has carefully explained how it is all mnemonics and nothing paranormal. But there remains the clear implication is that the normal human mind is underestimated and underused. TM's "performances" involve six demonstrations, two of which we now elaborate upon. Demonstration 2. TM asks audiences for birthdates and very quickly gives the day of birth. He has explained this "gift" thusly: "The day of birth calculations were originally carried out through use of a system of numerical codes for years and months which were combined and subjected to certain calculations. However, with practice many shortcuts and mnemonics have been developed and now TM often knows instantly that certain dates imply certain days, like learning the multiplication table. Every year and month has a code from 0 to 6 and TM has learned the codes (by the method explained below) for all years from 1900 to 2000. For any given date the method is to add the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 8: Fall 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Brontides Become Respectable The mystery of natural detonations (Barisal Guns, mistpouffers, etc.) was probed by several scientific groups following the recent episodes of off-shore booms. This paper by Gold and Soter, from Cornell, would have warmed the heart of Charles Fort, for he made much of natural detonation: or "brontides," as they are termed in the early literature. Gold and Soter review the long history of brontides, noting that brontide activity is often associated with earthquakes, but not always. Natural booming noises, they contend, may be due to eruptions of natural gas. This would square with the rare observations of earthquake lights. Interestingly enough, the recent off-shore detonations were occasionally accompanied by luminous phenomena. (Gold, Thomas, and Soter, Steven; (Brontides: Natural Explosive Noises," Science, 204:371, 1979.) Reference. Brontides and other "water guns" are collected in GSD1 in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds. Details on the Catalog volume here . From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Sourcebook Subjects Giant sea-bed pockmarks [The following long, initially dull (? ) discussion leads unerringly to the Bermuda Triangle via a Fortean phenomenon!] Unrecognized until just a few years ago (SF#100*), sea-bed pockmarks are remarkable geological features. They occur worldwide on the floors of all of the oceans and even some lakes. They are found in shallow waters and at depths of thousands of meters. In diameter, these roughly conical depressions may span 350 meters or more and be up to 35 meters deep. No trivial phenomenon, some pockmark fields exceed 1,000 km2. Like the curious abyssal ridges (SF#97), sea-bed pockmarks are rarely discussed despite their great geological and economic importance. Recent issues of Geology contain three fascinating papers relating to giant sea-bed pockmarks. In Ref. 1, J.T . Kelley et al describe a pockmark field in Belfast Bay, Maine. Here, the density of the pockmarks reaches 160 per km2, and they are apparently the largest pockmarks yet discovered. The Belfast Bay field is "fresh" and "active" in the sense that the pockmarks are sharply defined and methane bubbles still stream up from buried organic matter. Natural-gas plume rising from the sea-floor off the Carolina coast. Another pockmark field is the subject of P.R . Vogt et al (Ref. 2). It occupies a strip about 1.3 km wide and 50 km long between Greenland and Spitzbergen. This strip of pockmarks seems to be underlain by a deposit ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects "ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE" CHANGES IN THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD A decade ago, a trio of geophysicists published a group of papers based on their measurements of the remnant magnetism of the 16-million-year-old layered lava flows at Steens Mountain, Oregon. (SF#45) At that time, they claimed that these finely bedded lava flows testified that, during a field reversal, the earth's field swung around at the astonishing rate of 3 per day! This rate is about one thousand times the current rate of polar drift. Mainstream geophysicists could not believe the 3 /day figure because it implied incredibly rapid changes in the flow of those molten materials within the earth that supposedly generate the geomagnetic field. The Steens Mountain data were "tabled"; that is, dismissed. The three researchers, though, continued their labors at Steens Mountain and have now offered additional, even more impressive data. They now find that the geomagnetic field probably shifted as much as 6 in a single day. Their work has been carried forward so professionally and meticulously that other scientists are finding their conclusions harder and harder to dismiss. Instead, the search is on for explanations of the rapid field changes. Three possibilities have been advanced -- all of them unpalatable to geophysicists: The Steens Mountain rocks are not faithful recorders of the main geomagnetic field. Should this be actually so, the whole field of paleomagnetism, including plate tectonics ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 103: Jan-Feb 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects "BLUE JETS" EMITTED UPWARD FROM TOPS OF THUNDERCLOUDS Geophysicists have recently recognized that something very strange transpires above thunderclouds. First, there is the phenomenon we have called "rocket lightning" in our books and newsletters. Scientists now call these upwardly directed discharges "sprites." (SF#84) The sprites are short-duration red flashes in the ionosphere, sometimes with bluish tendrils extending down into the thunderclouds. Second, there are the newly recognized "blue jets," a new class of upward discharges. This phenomenon is detailed in a paper by E.M . Wescott et al. Here is their abstract: "Initial observations of as newly documented type of optical emission above thunderstorms are reported. "Blue jets," or narrowly collimated beams of blue light that appear to propagate upwards from the tops of thunderstorms, were recorded on B/W and color video cameras for the first time during the Sprites94 aircraft campaign, June-July 1994. The jets appear to propagate upward at speeds of about 100 km/s and reach terminal altitudes of 40-50 km. Fifty-six examples were recorded during a 22-minute interval during a storm over Arkansas. We examine some possible mechanisms. but have no satisfactory theory of this phenomenon." (Wescott, E.M ., et al; "Preliminary Results from the Sprites94 Aircraft Campaign: 2. Blue Jets," Geophysical Research Letters, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 104: Mar-Apr 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Men Like Gods With the theft of the title from one of H.G . Wells' novels, we attend to an article that appeared in the London Times last summer. The article was based upon a paper written for the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society by Prof. E. Harrison. If, said Harrison, some properties of the universe had been just a tad different, our universe would be barren of stars, light, and of course life itself. He mentions such properties as the strength of gravity, the charge on the electron, and the speed of light. Why, he and many others have mused, are these critical properties so precisely adjusted so as to permit the existence of life -- and us? Harrison lists three answers: oThis is the way God wanted it to be. Further inquiry is unnecessary. oIf the universe were constructed any other way, we wouldn't be here to ask such silly, anthropomorphic questions! Some find this "anthropic principle" to be no answer at all. oOur universe was actually created and its properties fine-tuned by nonsupernatural entities of superior intelligence living in another universe. [These beings apparently get a kick out of manufacturing other universes, or perhaps it's a religious imperative for them!] Before you crumple up this issue of SF and hurl it at very high energy into a wastebasket, consider these two paragraphs from the ...
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... research of M.A . Persinger, at the Laurentian University, inquiring into the claimed effects of minute electromagnetic signals, such as those observed in the geomagnetic field, upon human consciousness and perception. On the other hand, we have R.G . Jahn's work in the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program, which looks into the anomalous information transfer between humans and the environment, as claimed to be seen in psychokinesis and remote viewing experiments. The research goals and methodologies differ, and the resulting reports couched in different terminologies, but the similarities are what is really important. Both scientists are exploring unconventional information pathways connecting the human brain (consciousness) and the environment. The pathways are open in both directions. First, we quote the summary from a recent Persinger paper. The jargon may be technical, but one can readily visualize the human brain immersed in a sea of signals -- nominally electromagnetic but possibly of other sorts. "Contemporary neuroscience suggests the existence of fundamental algorithms by which all sensory transduction is translated into an intrinsic, brain-specific code. Direct stimulation of these codes within the human temporal or limbic cortices by applied electromagnetic patterns may require energy levels which are within the range of both geomagnetic activity and contemporary communication networks. A process which is coupled to the narrow band of brain temperature could allow all normal human brains to be affected by a subharmonic whose frequency range at about 10 Hz would only vary by 0.1 Hz." (Ref. 1) Second, Jahn sees a remarkably similar information channel, but of a ...
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... pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Esp of atoms?Preamble. Theosophy is an occult doctrine with three professed goals: To form a nucleus of the univer sal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color. To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science. To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man. (From: Encyclopedia Americana) Just before the turn of the century, two leaders of the Theosophical movement, Annie Besant and C.W . Leadbeater, decided to collaborate on Goal 3 and investigate the micro-structure of matter. They eschewed the physics laboratory, preferring instead ESP. S. Phillips has now summarized their discoveries in a compact little paper. He concludes as follows: "This article has presented a few examples of the many correlations between modern physics and psychic descriptions of sub-atomic particles published over seventy years ago. Scientists and laypersons alike may find it difficult to believe that Besant and Leadbeater could in some way unknown to science describe the structure of objects at least as small as atomic nuclei, which are about one ten-thousand-billionth of an inch in size. But they cannot in all sincerity dismiss the Theosophists' claims as fraudulent for the obvious reason that they finished their investigations many years before pertinent scientific knowledge and ideas about the structure of sub-atomic particles and the composition of atomic nuclei became available to make fraud possible in principle. "Nor can critics plausibly reject their claim to possess micro- ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 11: Summer 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A GEOTHERMAL WOMB?A flurry of papers and at least one TV documentary have widely promulgated the news that many life forms thrive near the thermal vents 2,550 meters under the sea along the Galapagos Rift. Mollusks, worms, crabs, and other forms of life make up a successful biological community where light never penetrates. Terrestrial heat rather than the sun keeps this life going. The geothermal heat reduces sulfur compounds emitted from the vents and chemosynthesis proceeds up the biological ladder without need for sunlight. (Karl, D.M ., et al; "Deep-Sea Primary Production at the Galapagos Hydrothermal Vents," Science, 207:1345, 1980.) Comment. The implications are far-reaching. Does life exist at great depths in the earth and beneath the apparently lifeless surfaces of the other planets? Photosynthetically sustained life may represent only a small slice of the biological pie. Was sunlight necessary for life to originate and evolve -- assuming it did each? From Science Frontiers #11, Summer 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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