212 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Peace And Sunspots We quote the abstract of an article that appeared in the journal Cycles: "Periods of international peace were found to occur in nearly regular cycles of 11 years by Edward Dewey in 1957 by analyzing the earlier data of Raymond Wheeler. In this paper the phase relationship between sunspot cycles and international battles was investigated. It was found that peaceful periods ended 7 out of 11 times within two years prior to sunspot peaks. The probability of this occurring by chance is less than .008. "Geomagnetic storms are postulated as the triggering event since: Geomagnetic storms are known to occur with greater frequency and intensity near sunspot peaks; and Geomagnetic storms have been found by other researchers to be associated with increased frequency of accidents, illness, psychiatric hospital admissions, and crimes." (Payne, Buryl; "Cycles of Peace, Sunspots, and Geomagnetic Activity," Cycles, 35:101, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #42, NOV-DEC 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Large Quasar Inhomogeneity In The Sky "In an area roughly 20 x 70 on the sky, there exists an excess of bright, high-redshift quasars. Quasars with this distribution of apparent magnitude and redshift have a negligible chance of being drawn from the population of quasars present in other areas of the sky. At a mean redshift distance corresponding to their average z = 2, these quasars would represent an unprecedented inhomogeneity over enormous volumes of space in the universe." It is difficult for astronomers to accept such a large "bubble" in the cosmos, because the Big Bang Theory basically produces a "smooth" universe. The author of this paper, H. Arp, comments that the size of the inhomogeneity could be shrunk considerably if redshifts were not taken as measures of distance. (Arp, Halton; "A Large Quasar Inhomogeneity in the Sky," Astrophysical Journal, 277:L27, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #42, NOV-DEC 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 46: Jul-Aug 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Salt structures on venus?The following quotation is the abstract of a paper appearing in the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. "The discovery of a surprisingly high deuterium/hydrogen ratio on Venus immediately led to the speculation that Venus may have once had a volume of surface water comparable to that of the terrestrial oceans. We propose that the evaporation of this putative ocean may have yielded residual salt deposits that formed various terrain features depicted in Venera 15 and 16 radar images. "By analogy with models for the total evaporation of terrestrial oceans, evaporite deposits on Venus should be ar least ten to hundreds of meters thick. From photogeologic evidence and insitu chemical analyses, it appears that the salt plains were later buried by lava flows. On Earth, salt diapirism leads to the formation of salt domes, anticlines, and elongated salt intrusions -- features which have dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 km. Due to the rapid erosion of salt by water, surface evaporite landforms are only common in dry regions such as the Zagros Mountains of Iran, where salt plugs and glaciers exist. Venus is far drier than Iran; extruded salt should be preserved, although the high surface temperature (470 C) would probably stimulate rapid salt flow. Venus possesses a variety of circular landforms, ten to hundreds of kilometers wide, which could be either megasalt domes or salt intrusions colonizing impact craters. Additionally, arcuate bands seen in the ...
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... built radars or by electrical fish, but rather by animals much 'lower' on the evolutionary ladder -- fireflies. This illustration is Fig. 3 in a lengthy review article and carries the following unilluminating caption: "Examples of Entrainment of femme C's (see Table 3) Responses to Multiple Counterfeit Flashes." It seems that we have some sort of electronic warfare between the femme (predatory female fireflies that lure other fireflies with false signals) and the preyed-upon species. The many pages describe all sorts of feints, verification signals, and other stratagems. (Carlson, Albert D., and Copeland, Jonathan; "Communication in Insects," Quarterly Review of Biology, 60:415, 1985.) Comment. It is impossible to do justice to this paper in this short review, but two things should be mentioned: (1 ) Fireflies may be considered "low" on the evolutionary ladder, but their tiny brains certainly process a lot of data in complex ways; and (2 ) In southeast Asia, massed fireflies flash in synchronism along some riverbanks, creating one of the great spectacles of nature. See our Handbook Incredible Life for details. For a description of this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #44, MAR-APR 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... metal remained soft was between five and twenty seconds. Everyone was shouting and extremely excited. During the next hour, nineteen of the party attendees had experienced the metal getting soft and being easily formed into any shape." Such PK 'parties' have been held scores of times since 1981, leaving trails of damaged kitchenware and popped soy beans. It's all a lot of fun. The people attending "feel good" about themselves and their shared experiences. (Houck, Jack; "PK Party History," in Proceedings of a Symposium on Applications of Anomalous Phenomena, C.P Scott Jones, ed., Kaman Tempo, Alexandria, Virginia, 1984.) Comment. Is mass delusion the foundation of PK parties? Is the above article serious? Houck's paper is in a long collection of rather standard parapsychological fare presented at a conference held under the auspices of Kaman Tempo. The phenomena of PK parties are similar to the audible effects produced by a Toronto group a few years ago. In their case, the participants conjured up "Phillip, the Imaginary Ghost," who communicated via table rapping. In all such group efforts, including the classical seance, there is strong psychological involvement. Skeptics do not do well at PK parties. From Science Frontiers #39, MAY-JUN 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 27: May-Jun 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects An Earthen Stonehenge The six concentric octagonal (or circular) ridges at Poverty Point, Louisiana, are interupted by four avenues, as shown in the illustration. Other avenues may have existed to the east, assuming the ridges actually continued to complete the figure. K. Brecher and W.G . Haag have contended in earlier papers that two of the existing four avenues were solstice markers. R.D . Purrington, in the first of a pair of papers in American Antiquity, maintains that the Poverty Point ridges have been so badly eroded over the last 3,000 years that sight lines cannot be determined with any accuracy. In fact, the precise center of the octagonal figure is a matter of judgment. Purrington's reconstruction of sight lines along the avenues, using his assumed center, does not support the idea that the avenues were solstice markers. Brecher and Haag responded in the second paper that their viewing center is 100 meters from Purrington's . With this change. they claim good fits for two of the avenues as solstice markers. One of the two remaining avenues turn out to mark the setting of Canopus, the second brighest star in the sky. Even the unassigned last avenue has astronomical significance; it marks the setting of Gamma Draconis, a second-magnitude star, which the ancients employed as a nocturnal hour hand as it swung around the pole star. (Purrington, Robert D.; ...
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... to be tolerated, the devotees feeling it their right, and indeed duty, to defend the creed against all criticism by any means of chicanery and of sharp-practice within their power, however crude and improper, so long as they judge they can get away with it, but all the time representing themselves to the world as acting with judicial calm in the best interests of their science. It will be shown that all three of these tenets are wrong, and how their (naive) acceptance has hamstrung the believers from making progress in the deep waters of terrestrial science, though not of course in the worldly world of 'modern science.' Shades of Sir Cyril Burt." So begins a long technical article by R.A . Lyttleton, author of many scientific books and papers. (He may lose his union card after this paper!) Lyttleton proceeds to demonstrate the incorrectness of the first two tenets above. Lyttleton's reasoning is buttressed by many scientific observations and so much quantitative reasoning that it is impossible to encapsulate it all here. Suffice it to say that it all looks correct, serious, and above-board. (Lyttleton, R.A .; "Geophysics: The Sick Man of Science," ISCDS Newsletter, 5:3 , December 1984.) Comment. Now this is interesting. The ISCDS is the International Stop Continental Drift Society, now defunct. The Society's Newsletter, if you don't already know, is usually a tongue-in-cheek publication. Not so here, Lyttleton is deadly serious ...
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... Jan-Feb 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The genome's responses to challenges The genome is an organism's genetic endowment. It contains instructions for the organism's growth and development, but it is not like a rigid, uncompromising computer program. Rather, the genome: ". .. is a highly sensitive organ of the cell that monitors genomic activities and corrects common errors, senses unusual and unexpected events, and responds to them, often by restructuring the genome. We know about the components of genomes that could be made available for such restructuring. We know nothing, however, about how the cell senses danger and instigates responses to it that often are truly remarkable." Thus Barbara McClintock ends the paper she delivered in Stockholm when she received a Nobel Prize in 1983. Most of McClintock's paper reviews her pioneering work with the corn genome, but she adds some examples of other genomic responses to external stresses. One such stress is applied to an oak tree when a wasp lays its egg in a leaf. The stress causes the oak genome to reprogram itself and construct a wholly new and unplanned plant structure to house and feed the developing insect. Some of these structures (galls) are very elaborate and are precisely tailored to each different wasp species. From such examples, it is apparent that the genome of an organism somehow perceives stresses and reacts to them -- often in completely unanticipated ways. The stresses may be mechanical, thermal, chemical; in fact, almost anything ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Falling Masses Swerve South In 1901, Florian Cajori had a paper published in Science with the title: "The Unexplained Southerly Deviation of Falling Bodies." Cajori reviewed the pertinent measurements that had been made prior to 1901 on falling bodies, emphasizing that the anomaly described in the title of his paper truly existed. In a recent letter to the American Journal of Physics, A.P . French brings the record up to date. (It should be pointed out here that a slight easterly deflection of falling bodies is predicted, but that a southerly deflection should be negligible, although not zero.) In the post-1901 experiments, small southerly and northerly deflections have been detected. These should not occur for an ideal rotating sphere -- which the earth isn't . French ends his brief review by stating that the earth's gravitational field is now known well enough so that further experiments with falling objects might once-and-for-all determine the nature (and reality) of the delightful anomaly. (French, A.P ., "The Deflection of Falling Objects," American Journal of Physics, 52:199, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 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 What does it all mean?W.G . Pollard, a distinguished physicist, has written a very philosophical, almost mystical article on the nature of the cosmos. Let us begin with his abstract: "There are several hints in physics of a domain of external reality transcendent to three-dimensional space and time. This paper calls attention to several of these intimations of a real world beyond the natural order. Examples are the complex state functions in configuration space of quantum mechanics, the singularity at the birth of the universe, the anthropic principle, the role of chance in evolution, and the unaccountable fruit fulness of mathematics for physics. None of these examples touch on the existence or activity of God, but they do suggest that external reality may be much richer than the natural world which it is the task of physics to describe." Pollard then elaborates: Example 1. Quantum mechanics, a mathematical formulation of reality, has been extraordinarily successful in describing and predicting many things in the microscopic world. Pollard notes that quantum mechanics contains no hint of God per se and possesses no numinous quality, but its great complexity and multidimensionality provide evidence for "the reality of the transcendent order in which the natural universe is embedded." Example 2. The singularity at the beginning of the universe. Science is at a loss to explain creation and what happened before. (Pollard assumes that creation occurred like most scientists.) ...
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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. 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. 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. 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Antarctica revisited, hapgood acknowledged John G. Weihaupt's paper on possible recent changes in the Antarctic ice cover (summarized in SF#36) evidently stirred up considerable scientific interest. Two long letters and Weihaupt's reply have recently been published in Eos. First and significantly, Weihaupt's omission of any reference to Hapgood's popular work, Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, was pointed out and belatedly acknowledged by Weihaupt. The second letter was from a French scientist, who concluded that: ". .. in spite of some hard facts and in spite of warnings against simplistic theories, the idea of fast changes in the Ross Ice Shelf and its main nourishment area, Marie Byrd Land, is widespread in the United States." Weihaupt responded to this with a massive bibliography supporting the idea of recent, rather extensive changes in the Antarctic ice cover. He stated further that other research suggests that even the East Antarctic Ice Sheet may have undergone deglaciation during the Pleistocene. Those old maps showing Antarctica largely ice-free may not be so crazy after all. (Milton, Daniel J.; "Antarctic Ice Cover," Eos, 65:1226, 1984.) Comment. The real mystery is the identity of the ancient map-drawers. From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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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... , this position becomes difficult to maintain for companion galaxies that otherwise look perfectly ordinary." H. Arp and G. Burbidge, chief among those ordered to recant, are not convinced. Arp points to many cases where bridges of luminous material connect high-redshift quasars with low redshift galaxies. Also, the clustering of quasars around nearby galaxies supports the nearness of quasars. As Burbidge has observed, if: ". .. just one large redshift is not due to the universal expansion, Pandora's box is open. Much of our currently claimed knowledge of the extragalactic universe would be at risk, as would a number of scientific reputations." Indeed, reputations are on the line as are scientific ethics. Telescope time has been cut off from those supporting noncosmological redshifts. The papers written by scientists who haven't recanted are held up, refereed forever, and rejected. Come to think of it, the theological overtones of the call for "recantation" fit the redshift situation very well. (Anonymous; "Companion Galaxies Match Quasar Redshifts: The Debate Goes On," Physics Today, 37:17, December 1984.) Reference. The "redshift controversy is discussed in more detail in our Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mercury's orbit explained without relativity A most satisfying element of support for Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (GR) has been its accounting for the residual precession of Mercury's orbit. In recent years, however, a rival explanation has been found in the non-symmetric gravitational field of the sun. Surface oscillations of the sun betray hidden internal rotation, which produces asymmetry in the sun's gravitational field. By applying the distorted field in predicting the orbit of Mercury and the minor planet Icarus, astronomers are more successful than when they use the GR. The authors of this paper claim that GR averages some 2 standard deviations off the mark, while results -using the nonsymmetrical gravitational field of the sun are right on the money! (Campbell, L., et al; "The Sun's Quadrupole Moment and Perihelion Precession of Mercury," Nature, 305:508, 1983.) Reference. For other explanations of the advance of Mercury's perihelion, see AHB1 in our Catalog: The Moon and the Planets. Ordering information at: here . From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... due to a tenth major planet or a dark massive solar companion (MSC), he discovered that the perihelia of the outer planets (orbital points closest to the sun) were being disturbed with an average period of 11.2 years. This is almost exactly the sunspot period. This serendipitous finding caused Bagby to wonder whether some common influence was causing not only the sunspot cycle and those perturbations in outer-planet perihelia but also cyclic volcanic and seismic activity on earth. Some correlations indeed do indicate a sun-earth link of some sort. Bagby suggests two possibilities: (1 ) Mutual resonance effects between the planets, (2 ) The effects of a massive solar companion. (Bagby, John P.; "New Support for the Planetary Theory of Sunspots," privately circulated paper, 1983.) Comment. Even "farther out" is the thought that gravitational waves or some unrecognized influence from the galaxy or beyond causes the whole solar system to "ring." In this context, see again the above item on solar vibrations. From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Hope, De Queen, Fulton, Mela, Ola, Baresville, Little Rock and other Arkansas cities will remain mysterious, at least for a while. Authorities are baffled about their source. "The noises, which have been described as sounding like an explosion, a sonic boom, a book falling off a shelf and a hand pounding on a wooden door, apparently have been occurring since the beginning of the recent cold weather. Inquiries have produced a number of theories and guesses but no plausible explanations." No supersonic aircraft could be implicated, so the most popular view was that the extreme cold weather caused house timbers to crack. (Anonymous; "Mysterious Booms Heard around State Baffle Authorities; Some Blame Ice Cold," Arkansas Gazette, December 24, 1983. Plus other Arkansas papers of December and January. Cr. L. Farish) Comment. If popping house timbers were the cause, similar reports would be expected from other states every winter. The Arkansas episode echoes the famous 1977-1978 series of booms heard all along the eastern coast of North America. These detonations also occurred during cold weather and were blamed, by some, on the Concorde SST. From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 34: Jul-Aug 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The mind's control of bodily processes T.X . Barber has reviewed the role of the mind in the control of many physiological processes in a chapter appearing in a new book. The chapter is 58 pages long, with 176 references, making it a major contribution to the subject. To give the reader the flavor of this paper, two paragraphs are now reproduced: "The data presented in this chapter should, once and for all, topple the dualistic dichotomy between mind and body which has strongly dominated Western thought since Descartes. The meanings or ideas imbedded in words which are spoken by one person and deeply accepted by another can be communicated to the cells of the body (and to chemicals within the cells); the cells then can change their activities in order to conform to the meanings or ideas which have been transmitted to them. The believed-in (suggested) idea of being stimulated by a poison ivy-type plant, transmitted to a person who is normally hypersensitive to this type of plant, can affect specific cells (probably in the immunological and vascular systems) so that they produce the same type of dermatitis which results when the person actually is stimulated by a poison ivy-type plant. Similarly, individuals who are viewed as allergic to pollen or house dust may not manifest the allergic reaction when they believe (falsely) that they have not been exposed to the allergic substance. .. ...
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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 More Doubts About Asteroids In an apparent reaction to the stampede to climb aboard the extinction-by-asteroid bandwagon, dissenting papers have begun to appear in the scientific literature. For example, Van Valen's list of objections to the hypothesis of asteroid impact at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was reproduced in the last issue of Science Frontiers. Now, in a recent issue of New Scientist, T. Hallam raises still more objections: Tropical plants, mammals, crocodiles, birds, and benthic invertebrates were little affected by whatever happened at the Cretaceous-Tertiary interface. Furthermore, many groups that were extinguished were already well into a decline. Some geologists insist that some of the supposedly synchronous extinctions were probably separated by several hundred thousand years; viz., plankton and dinosaurs. The vaunted iridium anomaly in deep-sea cores is spread through a considerable thickness of sediment. Even after allowing for the mixing of sediments, the iridium-rich layer is thousands of years thick. According to the asteroid scenario, the clay layer separating the Cretaceous from the Tertiary should represent the fallout from impact-raised dust, which would include asteroidal material and a mixed sample of earth rocks. However, in Denmark, the boundary is marked by the so-called Fish Clay, which is almost pure smectite -- a single mineral and not a mixture of terrestrial rock flour. If it wasn't an asteroid impact, why the ...
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... Solar Companion is actually a distributed system; that is, appreciable mass also occupies the several stable Lagrangian points. The total MSC mass might be as much as half the sun's mass, perhaps 100 Astronomical Units (100 times the earth's distance from the sun.) If the MSC and its attendants are this massive, astronomers will have to revise the mass and density of the sun downward by a good bit. (What they have done in the past is estimate the mass of the solar system as a whole and assumed it mostly resides in the sun.) This would require a large change in our model of the sun and its system of planets. (Bagby, John P.; "Evidence for a Tenth Planet or Massive Stellar Companion Beyond Uranus," paper given at the Tomorrow Starts Here Conference, September 1982.) Reference. Our Catalog: The Sun and Solar System Debris contains an entire section on Planet X. Ordering information at: here . From Science Frontiers #25, JAN-FEB 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... by roots, is about 10 feet long and 7 feet wide. Its thickness varies from 2 feet at one end to about 18 inches at the other. The shape and thickness of the piece exactly match the hole that was left behind, just like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, though it was rotated about 20 degrees." There are no marks left by machinery in the area; and the sides of the hole reveal dangling roots, indicating that the slab was torn out rather than cut out. A final item of possible interest: on October 9, there was a small quake, magnitude 3, with the epicenter 20 miles southwest of the hole. (Anonymous; "A Rare Phenomenon Moves Earth," Philadelphia Inquirer, November 25, 1984. Also: many other papers, mostly in the west.) Comment. The quake mentioned was quite small. Large quakes, however, have been known to toss boulders out of the ground, leaving large holes behind. See Category GQHl in Anomalies in Geology. This Catalog volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #37, JAN-FEB 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 36: Nov-Dec 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Subterranean Electric Currents We have little appreciation of the immense electrical currents that flow through the rock formations beneath our feet. These "telluric" currents are primarily those induced by the earth's changing magnetic field, as it is affected by the solar wind. Telluric cur-rents do not flow uniformly through the earth's crust. Rather, they seek out low resistance rocks, in accordance with Ohm's Law. Such current concentrations can be detected at the surface with magnetometers. The present paper announces the discovery of a regional telluric current flowing in the vicinity of the San Francisco Peaks volcanic field in Arizona. The shallow part of the current flows in an unidentifiable "geoelectrical" structure not more than 10 kilometers below the surface. There are no surface hints as to what this geoelectrical structure could be. (Towle, James N.; "The Anomalous Geomagnetic Variation Field and Geoelectric Structure Associated with the Mesa Butte Fault System, Arizona," Geological Society of America, Bulletin, 95:221, 1984.) Comment. Similar anomalous magnetic fields exist in many areas, indicating a vast subterranean system of poorly understood geoelectrical structures. Some of the channeled earth currents are man-made, being the return paths in electrical power transmission systems. The return paths may be far-removed from the actual power lines because they tend to follow the geoelectrical structures. Reference. Other important subterreanean electrical currents are described in ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 33: May-Jun 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The inca's use of bismuth From Machu Picchu, Peru, comes a unique artifact: a llama-head knife made from two types of bronze. The knife blade and stem are made from low-tin bronze (not at all unusual), but the llama head is bronze with 18% bismuth. Bismuth occurs as a native metal in Peru and it is not surprising that the Incas knew of it. This is the first artifact, however, containing any appreciable proportion of bismuth in bronze. The authors of this paper believe that the use of bismuth was intentional for at least two reasons. (1 ) It gave the llama head an attractive lighter tone than the rest of the knife. (2 ) The handle was cast directly on the stem, and the use of bismuth in the bronze would prevent the bronze from expanding too much during solidification. The handle, therefore, would be more securely attached to the stem. The Incas thus seem to have been better metallurgists than we have supposed. (Gordon, Robert B., and Rutledge, John W.; "Bismuth Bronze from Machu Picchu, Peru," Science, 223:585, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #33, MAY-JUN 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Subjects Oh magic, thy name is psi Winkelman has written a remarkable article. Even more remarkable is the fact that it has been published in a mainstream scientific journal. In fact, this contribution is full of statements guaranteed to ruffle the feathers of any rationalistic scientist -- and 99.9 % of all scientists are rationalistic. Take, for example, the first sentence of Winkelman's summary: "The correspondences between parapsychological research findings and anthropological reports of magical phenomena reviewed here suggest that magic is associated with an order of the universe which, although investigated empirically within parapsychology, is outside of the understanding of the Western scientific framework." As a consequence of this inflammatory tone of the article, the comments that follow are rather emotional in many instances. A philosopher could write another paper on the character and prejudices of the "scientific belief system" based on these comments alone! Enough of the controversial nature of Winkelman's article; what does it say? Basically, it states that many magic systems; such as sorcery, witchcraft, divination, and faith healing; may have originated and still be sustained by the psi abilities of the practitioners of magic. Psi here includes telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, etc. The body of the paper reviews the characteristics of magic and the areas "correspondence" with parapsychology. Examples of areas of correspondence: altered states of consciousness, visualization, positive expectation, and belief. Indeed, the correspondences are strong; and this fact leads to the sentence from the summary quoted above. (Winkelman, Michael; "Magic A ...
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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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... 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. 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. 23: Sep-Oct 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The cretaceous-tertiary extinction bolide The recently discovered worldwide iridium-rich layer is taken by many scientists as evidence of the collision of an asteroid or comet with the earth about 65 million years ago. This cataclysmic event is also blamed (by some, at least) for the apparent sudden biological extinctions recorded on these pages of the fossil record. In this setting, the authors of this paper calculate the effects on the earth of a 10-kilometer-diameter object impacting at about 20/km/sec. Do the theoretical results jibe with the geological and paleontological data? Very definitely. Crater ejecta rich in extraterrestrial material would be blasted to an altitude of 10 km, where winds would insure global distribution. In terms of biological stress, the 10-km projectile would transfer 40-50% of its kinetic energy to the atmosphere, creating a heat pulse that could raise global temperatures 30 C (50 F) for several days. Many large animals might well succumb to such a temperature transient. In addition, the protective ozone layer might be blown away by shock waves and not reform for a decade. (O 'Keefe, John D., and Ahrens, Thomas J.; "Impact Mechanics of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Bolide," Nature, 298,123, 1982.) Reference. We catalog biological extinctions at ESB1 in Anomalies in Geology. To order this book, visit: here ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 21: May-Jun 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The earth's other moons Over the past two centuries, night-sky observers have recorded a number of objects that moved too fast to be asteroids and too slowly to be meteors. John P. Bagby has studied this problem for over 20 years, publishing several hotly debated papers during this period. His latest contribution summarizes evidence supporting his contention that the earth has captured chunks of space debris, some of which have disintegrated, some of which are still in orbit amidst tons of artificial-satellite debris. The supporting observations have come from optical surveillance programs, tracking networks, radio-propagation anomalies, and (most interesting to the anomaly collector) old reports of bright objects near the sun (especially the August 1921 object) and the curious group of retrograde objects that passed over Germany in 1880. (Bagby, J.P .; "Natural Earth Satellites," British Interplanetary Society, Journal, 34:289, 1981.) Reference. Material on the August 1921 object is cataloged at AEO1 in our book: The Sun and Solar System Debris. To order, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #21, MAY-JUN 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 18: Nov-Dec 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Senegambian Megalithic Monument Complex When one thinks of megaliths, one's thoughts usually turn to Britain and Brittany, forgetting that North Africa is covered with them. M.H . Hill sketches out in this paper the full extent of the great tract of megalithic remains on the Atlantic coast of Africa near Cape Verde, which he calls the Senegambian Monument Complex because it sits astride both Senegal and Gambia. An archeological inventory of the region discloses 212 pillar-circle sites and 251 "tombelles," which are stone cairns or heaps often surrounded by ring-like stone walls. Hundreds of sites with tumuli also dot the area. One of the pillar-circle sites boasts all of 50 individual pillar circles. Some of the pillars are topped with cupules, raised discs, or balls. The fanciest pillars are V- or Y-shaped with crossbars. Archeological exploration of these impressive sites is incomplete. Preliminary dating makes the Senegambian Complex over 1,000 years old. The functions of this vast array of megalithic sites is unknown, although it is not obviously astronomical. (Hill, Matthew H.; "The Senegambian Monument Complex: Current Status and Prospects for Research," in Megaliths to Medicine Wheels: Boulder Structures in Archaeology, Michael Wilson, et al, eds., Calgary, 1981, p. 419.) Reference. Much more information about these North African sites may be found in our Handbook: ...
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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. 17: Fall 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The gravitational "constant" is not!For too many years, physicists have been content with laboratory determinations of G (the gravitational constant) using the old Cavendish Balance. In this paper, Stacey and Tuck offer a disturbing collection of values of G determined from geophysical measurements; i.e ., measurements in mines, boreholes, and under the sea. These measurements are unanimous in producing G's that are larger than the usually accepted value by about 1%. Furthermore, the deeper the experiment, the greater the departure from the standard value. (Stacey, F.D ., and Tuck, G.J .; "Geophysical Evidence for Non-Newtonian Gravity," Nature, 292:230, 1981.) Comment. These geophysical measurements must be added to recent laboratory experiments indicating that gravity may not be best described by an inverse square law. See our Handbook Mysterious Universe. Ordering details here . From Science Frontiers #17, Fall 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 16: Summer 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A MARTIAN ICE AGE?Long, sinuous depressions called "outflow channels" are concentrated in the equatorial regions of Mars. They clearly resemble terrestrial stream beds and have been attributed to water action. The ancient Spokane Flood that carved our Washington State's channeled scablands is seen as an apt terrestrial analogy. The Martian channels, however, are much larger than the water-eroded terrestrial analogs. The authors of the subject paper suggest that ice rather than water created the Martian channels, pointing out that terrestrial ice-stream and glacier landforms are much closer to the Martian features in terms of scale. (Lucchitta, Baerbel K., et al; "Did Ice Streams Carve Martian Outflow Channels?" Nature, 290:759, 1981.) Comment. This suggests the possibility that earth and Mars may have had synchronous Ice Ages due to solar variations or, perhaps, the envelopment of the entire solar system by a huge cloud of absorbing matter. From Science Frontiers #16, Summer 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 16: Summer 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Grooves Of Phobos Still Unexplained The Martian satellite Phobos is etched by curious grooves. Initially, the grooves were thought to be fracture lines formed by the impact that blasted out Stickney, the huge crater seen on Phobos. However, studies of the grooves revealed at least three families of grooves of different ages, with members of each family located on parallel planes cutting right through the body of the satellite. Two recent papers have proposed radically different explanations. A. Horvath and E. Illes wonder whether Phobos might not be a layered structure, having once been part of a larger stratified body. J.B . Murray thinks the families of grooves might have been scraped out by disciplined formations of meteorites that were launched into space by Martian volcanos. (Horvath, A., and Illes, E.; "On the Possibility of the Layered Structure of Phobos," Eos, 62:203, 1981. Also: Murray, J.B .; "Grooved Terrains on Planetary Satellites," Eos, 62:202, 1981.) Comment. It is not easy to conceive of such well-drilled formations of meteorites. Neither is it easy to imagine a large, stratified body that might have given rise to Phobos. From Science Frontiers #16, Summer 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 14: Winter 1981 Supplement Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Do lightning channels accelerate matter?E.W . Crew suggests in this paper that two rare classes of meteorological observations may be created by the intense electrostatic accelerating forces present in lightning channels. The first class of observations consists of blasts of hot air noted some distance from violent lightning strikes but seeming associated with the discharges. Second, some superhailstones (hydrometeors) also seem to be correlated with violent lightning. The physical mechanism for the concentration and propulsion of matter is the electrostatic force naturally present in lightning discharge channels; it functions much the same as the particle accelerators in the physics lab. The observations of hot air blasts and superhailstones collected by Crew to support his theory are indeed suggestive, but more are needed. Crew also feels that some UFO sightings may be produced by the same mechanism. (Crew, E.W .; "Meteorological Flying Objects," Royal Astronomical Society Quarterly Journal, 21:216, 1980.) Comment. Note also that the fall of thunderstones is usually coincident with lightning discharges; and that some high quality observations of thunderstone falls are on record -- despite the tendency of Science to relegate them to myth. One must also consider the possibility that the passage of a meteor or superhailstone through the atmosphere might trigger lightning, thus putting the cart before the horse. From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 13: Winter 1981 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects New Definition For Humans Needed One scientist has defined humans as "tool makers" as distinguished from "tool users." This distinction is necessary because several animals employ tools for simple tasks, such as fishing termites out of holes. However, Kitahara-Frisch points out in this paper that experiments by Wright with a young orangutan proved that at least one animal can actually make tools; that is, use one tool to make another. More specifically, Wright taught the orangutan to strike sharp flint flakes from a core and then use them to cut a cord and gain access to its favorite food. (Kitahara-Frisch, J.; "Apes and the Making of Stone Tools," Current Anthropology, 21:359, 1980.) Comment. Apparently, with orangutans, at least, no manipulative or cognitive barriers exist to prevent them from entering their own Stone Age. Reference. The ability of non-human mammals to manufacture and use tools is cataloged at BMT11 in Biological Anomalies: Mammals I. To order, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 10: Spring 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cosmic Death Waves In the language of science, W.M . Napier and S.V .M Clube provide a scenario of cyclic terrestrial catastrophism. Their thesis is that the solar system periodically passes through the regularly spaced spiral galaxy arms every few 107 years. Planetesimals in these arms cra-ter the solar-system planets at these times and also provide the raw materials for new comets, asteroids, satellites, and even planets. Supporting their theory is the repeating history of geological revolutions with the accompanying extinctions and reflowerings of life. A remarkable feature of this paper is a table of shortlived solar-system phenomena (comets and rapidly evolving staellite-and-ring systems). The tenor is one of episodic catastrophism and a rapidly changing solar system; viz., Saturn's rings evolving in only 104 years. (Napier, W.M ., and Clube, S.V .M .; "A Theory of Terrestrial Catastrophism," Nature, 282:455, 1979.) Comment. This outlook differs radically from that still disbursed in our schools and colleges. From Science Frontiers #10, Spring 1980 . 1980-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 23: Sep-Oct 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects High Technology Experiments In Parapsychology R.G . Jahn, who is Dean of the School of Engineering/Applied Science at Princeton, has written one of the most important papers on parapsychology in recent years. Not the least significant factor is its publication in a top technical journal. This alone will insure wide discussion and debate within the scientific establishment. Probably the key feature of the Princeton work is its "high technology" content. This long, highly technical article is replete with circuit diagrams, photos of shiny equipment, charts, and the complete panoply of modern scientific research. In the section on psychokinesis, we read about Fabry-Perot interferometers, dual thermistors, glow-discharge experiments, Gaussian analog devices, etc. (There is a companion section on remote viewing experimentation!) To round out this overview, the section on historical/philosophical background and the superb bibliography must be mentioned. Although Jahn regards his work as only beginning, he does feel that the early results clearly show the existence of non-chance factors in psychokinesis and remote-viewing experiments. For example, interferometer fringes and straingauge readings seem to be changed by the application of "mental forces." But the experiments cannot always be replicated and subjects' abilities are ephemeral. The flavor of the Princeton findings are well put in these sentences from the summary paragraphs: ". .. it appears that once the illegitimate research and invalid criticism have ...
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... SITE IN COLORADO?In 1980, P.M . Leonard and J.L . Glenn, from the Hogle Zoological Gardens, Salt Lake City, visited a rock outcropping in Colorado that was reputed to be inscribed with 'peculiar markings.' The markings were peculiar all right, for Leonard and Glenn believe they are excellent examples of Consainne Ogam writing, a type ascribed to ancient Celts. Translation by B. Fell suggests that the Colorado site was a shelter for Celtic travelers long before Columbus! One of the many inscriptions was translated as: "Route Guide: To the west is the frontier town with standing stones as boundary markers." (Leonard, Phillip M., and Glenn, James L.; "A Celtic Frontier Site in Colorado," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Papers, vol. 9, no. 223, 1981.) Comment. Although the Colorado Ogam cannot be written off as plow scratches, as it is in the eastern states, one should be aware of the highly controversial nature of these claims for Ogam writing in North America. From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 10: Spring 1980 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Io's electrical volcanos Thomas Gold, of Cornell, long known for his provocative theories, has not disappointed us in this paper. Jupiter's moon, Io, exhibits an anomaly that seems to call for a radical explanation. Io's volcanos erupt with such violence that molten material is flung to heights of 250 kilometers. These outbursts proceed from caldera, and one is led to assume that normal volcanic action is to blame. Unfortunately for this simplistic idea, Io does not seem to possess low-molecular-weight substances, such as water, that could serve as a good propellant at reasonable temperatures. Sulphur is common, but its atomic weight is so high that temperatures exceeding 6000 K would be required to shoot matter out to 250 kilometers. Gold suggests that Io's volcanos get their firepower from electrical sources. He points out that Io short-circuits Jupiter's ring current periodically. Gold estimates that 5 million amperes flow through Io when it passes through the ring current. The energetic eruptions and caldera might therefore be electric-arc phenomena. The electrical energies available are sufficient to account for the observed outbursts. (Gold, Thomas; "Electrical Origin of the Outbursts on Io," Science, 206:1071, 1979.) Comment. Several scientists and non-scientists have proposed in the past that the sunspots and even some planetary craters result from large-scale electrical arcing within the solar system ...
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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 Hierarchies Of Evolution All organisms from man to mouse to amoeba are merely DNA's way of manufacturing still more DNA -- so goes the modern ramification of molecular biology and the Genetic Code. In other words, DNA and genes are selfish, and ultimate parasites, directing the evolution of life only to maximize the production of DNA. This theme is not the subject of this paper by Doolittle and Sapienza. Rather, they wonder about those nonsense DNA sequences that do not code for protein. The presence of these "useless" bits of genetic material is often explained in terms of gene "expression." Emphasis is always on maximizing the "fitness" of the organism (phenotype). Perhaps this seemingly excess genetic material actually maximizes the fitness (survivability) of the DNA itself. Evolution thus occurs at DNA and gene (genome) levels, despite what transpires at the organism (phenotype) level. (Doolittle, W. Ford, and Sapienza, Carmen; "Selfish Genes, the Phenotype Paradigm and Genome Evolution," Nature, 284:601, 1980.) Comment. We know that mitochondria and chloroplasts have their own genetic material; evolution may be occurring at this level, too, independent of pressures for change on the organisms. Waxing speculative, may there not be other hierarchies where systems are trying to maximize their own survivability, even at molecular, atomic, and subatomic levels? Don't laugh! ...
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... this boy has virtually no brain; his cortex measures only a millimeter or so thick compared to the normal 4.5 centimeters. Although the deeper brain structures may carry on much of the body's work, the cortex is supposed to be a late evolutionary development that gave humans their vaunted mental powers and superiority over the other animals. If the cortex can be removed with little mental impairment, what is it for in the first place? (Lewin, Roger; "Is Your Brain Really Necessary?" Science, 210:1232, 1980.) Comment. Brain size, then, may mean nothing in comparing ancient and modern human skulls or human brain capacity with those of animals! Where is the seat of intelligence? In some cases of hydrocephalus, the cortex is only paper-thin, but little mental impairments is apparent. From Science Frontiers #15, Spring 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... the rings are proportional to the alpha particle energy, and can thus identify the isotopes in the mineral. Some halos, however, are apparently formed by very short-lived polonium isotopes without any trace of parent uranium isotopes. How can polonium isotopes with half-lives only seconds long get into geologically old mica sans parents? York argues the case for selective local chemical concentration of polonium from fluids in the surrounding rocks. The captured polonium atoms decay almost immediately while the fluid containing the parent atoms passes on. R.V . Gentry objects that mica is almost im permeable and that we must consider the possibility that our concepts of geological time are grotesquely wrong. York energetically defends established Geology using radioactive dating and paleontological arguments. His contempt of Gentry's position is scarcely veiled. This paper is an excellent review of the piechroic halo problem as well as a classic defense of the scientific status quo. (York, Derek; "Polonium Halos and Geochronology," EOS, 60:617, 1979.) Comment. York does not mention Gentry's years of careful work that led him to his heresy, nor are the many objections to radioactive dating discussed. It reminds one of the confident assertions of the permanency of the ocean basins made only a few years ago. York might be correct, but the "we now know that" approach is disturbing. From Science Frontiers #9 , Winter 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 2: January 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Does man survive death?In this remarkable paper, published in one of the most important medical/psychological journals, the author surveys the history of research into the survival of bodily death. He identifies three historical periods that mirror the scientific thinking of their times. At one point, research waned as many investigators believed that living individuals with paranormal powers were responsible for all the evidence. Now, however, research again proceeds on a broad front; even though hampered by most scientists' outspoken disbelief in the whole business. The important types of evidence reviewed include the speaking of languages not normally learned, out-of-the-body experiences, and reincarnation memories. [Subjects that 99% of the scientific community would dismiss without examination. Ed.] The author, a professor of psychiatry, feels that this contempt is unwarranted and that most scientists are simply not aware of the vast amount of high quality data available. The long, well-documented paper concludes with the assertion that the data acquired so far do not actually compel the conclusion that life exists after death but that it certainly infers it strongly. (Stevenson, Ian; "Research into the Evidence of Man's Survival after Death," Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 185:152, 1977.) From Science Frontiers #2 , January 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 1: September 1977 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cattle Mutilations Called Episode Of Collective Delusion During the past several years, farmers in the western states have been reporting dead cattle that seemed strangely mutilated. Soft, exposed parts, such as the ears and genitals, were apparently removed with surgical precision. Some corpses seemed bloodless. Local papers blamed satan worshippers and UFO occupants. This paper analyzes the 1974 mutilation "flaps" in South Dakota and Nebraska, with special attention to the rapid rise and equally rapid decline of public interest as measured by newspaper coverage. In the opinion of the author, these two episodes are classic cases of mild mass hysteria, similar to the occasional crazes of automobile window-pitting. In all cases where university veterinarians examined the corpses, the mutilations were ascribed to small predatory animals. The veterinarians also pointed out that blood coagulates in a couple days after death, accounting for the frequent "bloodless" condition. With such expert reassurances, the "mass delusions" subsided quickly. Cattle mutilation flaps are thus seen by the author as episodes when people interpret the mundane in bizarre new ways, due perhaps to cultural tensions. It is noted, however, that expert veterinarians examined only a few of the dozens of mutilations, and that some people rejected the above commonplace explanations. (Stewart, James H.; "Cattle Mutilations: An Episode of Collective Delusion," The Zetetic, 1:55, Spring/Summer 1977.) From Science Frontiers #1 ...
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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 ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf003/sf003p11.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 2: January 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Sun-earth-moon system may not be stable The application of zero-velocity surfaces (a mathematical technique) to the sunearth-moon, three-body system indicates that the eccentricity of the earth's orbit renders the system unstable. The conclusion is that the moon may one day escape the earth and become a planet and, turning the situation around, that the origin of the moon by capture is a strong possibility. (Szebehely, V., and McKenzie, R.; "Stability of the Sun-Earth-Moon System," Astronomical Journal, 82:303, 1977.) Comment. This paper is typical of several recent ones in celestial mechanics that throw doubt on long-held dogmas about the long-term stability of the solar system. For more on this subject, consult ABB1 in our Catalog: The Sun and Solar System Debris. To order this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #2 , January 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf002/sf002p02.htm
