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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 Galactic radiation belt?Both Jupiter and the earth boast radiation belts consisting of electrically charged particles tethered by the planet's magnetic fields. Recent radio astronomical studies of the Milky Way reveal long filaments of ionized gas about 150 light years long curving up out of the galactic disk, at a point about 30,000 light years from earth. These filaments emit radio energy just like the planetary radiation belts and are presumably held in the grip of a galactic magnetic field. There have been previ-ous hints of a weak and disorganized galactic magnetic field, but this is the first evidence for a strong polar field in our own Milky Way ... any other galaxy. The unexpected filaments were discovered by in a study of star formation in the core of the Milky Way. The radio energy emitted by the belts was originally thought to come from the galactic machinery that makes new stars; but now it looks like that machinery is not grinding out nearly as many new stars as once thought. (Thompsen, D.E .; "Galactic Dynamoism: A Radiation Belt?" Science News, 126:20, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #35, SEP-OCT 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 35: Sep-Oct 1984 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Ancient Egyptians in Hawaii Sinister Development in Ancient Greece Man the Scavenger A Different Way of Looking At the Universe Astronomy A Quick Quasar Monster Star Lurks Nearby Halley's Comet is Winking At Us Galactic Radiation Belt? Biology Dolphins to the Rescue -- again! Gravity and Going Around in Ellipses Getting the Pouch Right Are Bluebloods More Often Type A? Mind Before Life Caenorhabditis Elegans The Chinese Wild Man Geology An Extraordinary Peat Formation Confusing Seismic Data From the Deep Continental Crust Geophysics Infrared Atmospheric Waves Burning Mass Falls in B.C . Psychology The Immune System As A Sensory Organ Parapsychology: A Lack-of-progress Report Chemistry & ... Blooms in the Desert? ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 45: May-Jun 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Electromagnetic Radiation From Stressed Rocks Anomalous electromagnetic radiation has been detected prior to and during several recent earthquakes. T. Ogawa and his colleagues have surveyed these observations briefly and then repaired to the laboratory where they put rocks through the third degree. They concluded: "It has been demonstrated by the sample rock experiments that the ordinary crustal rocks produced electricity when they were shocked or fractured and radiated EM waves in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 kHz. The electric dipole moment to radiate the EM waves was estimated to be 10-14 C m." (Ogawa, Toshio, et al; "Electromagnetic Radiations from Rocks," Journal of Geophysical Research, 90:6245, 1985.) Comment. What was not mentioned by Ogawa et al is that it is just this kind of seismoelectricity that may be responsible for many of the sightings of earthquake lights and maybe even some so-called UFOs. Se GLD8 in Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... ONLINE No. 137: SEP-OCT 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Unexpected Signals Within Life Forms Multicellular organisms are information networks. They have to be because life is conferred by the flow of information. We all learn how the nervous system carries a heavy traffic of electrical signals, but we hear less about chemical signals, and they are more important. Chemical signalling molecules help cells learn what is going on around them so that they can make decisions concerning metabolism, division, and even whether to die not not. This is mainstream biochemistry, although there is much here yet to be learned. A signalling medium that still survives well off the mainstream is the old idea that information is carried from cell to cell via electromagnetic radiation. Yes, we mean mitogenetic radiation--the infamous M-rays of the 1920s and 1930s. During this period about a thousand technical papers were published on mitogenetic radiation -- mostly in Russian. The champion of mitogenetic radiation was A.G . Gurwitsch. He claimed that fundamental biological functions, such as cell division, were communicated via ultraviolet light. Although a few other researchers said they detected mitogenetic radiation, most could not replicate Gurwitsch's work. Mitogenetic radiation was thereafter subjected to the "cold-fusion" treatment; it was one of those things that "wasn't so"! In a recent article in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, R. Van Wijk tries to reignite interest in "bio-photons" that carry "bio-information. ...
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... Unidentified Objects Transiting Jupiter AG THE EARTH AGB ANOMALIES IN THE EARTH'S ROTATION AGB1 Variations in Latitude AGL EARTH-SATELLITE PHENOMENA AGL1 Slow Changes in Satellite Inclination AGL2 Sudden Perturbations of Orbital Elements AGL3 Slow, Unexplained Descent of Satellites AGL4 Direct Visual Observations of Natural Earth Satellites AGL5 Radio Propagation and Natural Earth Satellites AGL6 Correlation of Geophysical Events with Perigee Passages of Natural Earth Satellites AGO OBSERVATIONS OF EARTH FROM SPACE AGO1 Periodic Changes in Earth's Brightness AH MERCURY AHB MERCURY'S ORBITAL AND SPIN ANOMALIES AHB1 The Residual Advance of Mercury's Perihelion AHB2 Mercury's High Eccentricity and Inclination AHB3 Short Transit Times across the Sun AHB4 Mercury's Spin Resonance AHE GEOLOGY AND FIGURE OF MERCURY AHE1 The Asymmetry of Mercury's Topography AHE2 Mercury's Possible Prolate Shape AHE3 Swirl Markings AHF INTRINSIC RADIATION SOURCES AHF1 Extreme-Ultraviolet Emissions from Mercury AHO ANOMALOUS TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS AHO1 Mercury's Occasional Blunted Cusps AHO2 Terminator Irregularities AHO3 White Projections and Spots AHO4 Dark Linear Markings AHO5 Anomalous Brightness Temperatures AHO6 Ring of Light around Mercury's Dark Side AHX ANOMALIES OBSERVED DURING TRANSITS AHX1 Bright Spots on Mercury during Transit AHX2 Ring around Mercury during Transit AHX3 Illumination of Mercury's Disk during Transit AHZ MERCURY'S ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC FIELD AHZ1 Mercury's Unexpected Magnetic Field AHZ2 Mercury's Offset Magnetic Field AJ JUPITER AJB JOVIAN ORBITAL ANOMALIES AJB1 Cyclic Disturbances of Jupiter's Orbit AJF INTRINSIC RADIATION FROM JUPITER AJF1 Jupiter's Intrinsic Radiation AJF2 Variations in Jupiter's Decametric Radiation AJL JUPITER'S REMARKABLE GALILEAN SATELLITES AND RING AJL1 Pre-Voyager Sightings of Jupiter's Ring AJL2 Io's ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 118: Jul-Aug 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Glitches In The Terrestrial Conveyor Belt According to plate tectonics, the earth's continents are being transported -- very slowly -- on a subterranean conveyor belt of sorts. Although plate tectonics, nee continental drift, was ridiculed 50 years ago, it has been very successful in accounting for many geological phenomena. The theory is rarely challenged these days, but there are anomalies out there. "According to the simple plate-tectonic theory, the age of oceanic lithosphere is zero at a spreading oceanic ridge and increases with distance from the ridge. Thus the lithosphere of the central Atlantic, which current palaeogeographical reconstructions assure us began to open no earlier than 120 million years ago, has zero age at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and, supposedly an age of about 120 million years close to the land masses of Africa and South America at the appropriate latitude. Yet, Bonatti and others (Nature, v. 380, p. 518, 1996) have now recovered samples of 140-million-year-old pelagic limestones not even from the edges of the Atlantic but right in the middle of the ocean, close to the ridge. How can this be possible?" The only explanation (? ) seems to be that this errant chunk of crust got "trapped" in the middle of the Atlantic -- like a misdirected suitcase on an airport conveyor belt. (Anonymous; "Old Rocks near the MidAtlantic Ridge ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 75: May-Jun 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Of iron whiskers and particles that increase mass with age!Two pillars of the Big Bang hypothesis are: (1 ) Redshifts of galaxies support the notion of an expanding universe; and (2 ) The background microwave radiation can be interpreted as the dying embers of the Big Bang itself. Proponents of the Big Bang feel secure atop these pillars. But should they? A few Big-Bang skeptics, who have survived considerable establishment pressure, see growing cracks in those pillars. J. Narlikar identified two such cracks and, best of all, offered exciting remedies: (1 ) The redshift relationship, which works well with galaxies, falls apart when applied to quasars (see graphs); and (2 ) The background microwave radiation is much too smooth to come from the lumpy universe we observe. Narlikar opines as follows: Plot of red shift versus galaxy faintness supports the proposition that red shift is proportional to distance The same plot for quasars produces a scatter of points, suggesting that here red shifts have nothing to do with distance. "Given these problems, it is not a sound strategy to put all of our cosmic eggs in one big-bang basket. Rather, we should explore other possibilities. Thirty years ago, there was a more open debate on alternative theories, which made valuable contributions to our undersanding of cosmology. For a healthy growth of the subject, the big bang hypothesis needs competition from other ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 91: Jan-Feb 1994 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Some People Are Brighter Than Others We broached the subject of human bioluminescence in SF#59 and Biological Anomalies: Humans I, where the major evidence was anecdotal in nature. It is now evident that we have missed an important corpus of laboratory results, in which the spectra and intensity of human radiation has been measured. For example, consider the following abstract: "In measuring the output of light from the human skin, we estimated the total photon rates to be of the order of 170-600 photons/s /cm2 , depending on anatomical location. The light was strongest at the red end of the spectrum, but fell below detectable levels in the ultraviolet. Significant variations were observed between individuals in both photon rate and spectral profile. The photon rate also varied significantly with time for a single individual." It is important to recognize that, although the flux of photons emitted by individual cells is very low, it greatly exceeded the flux of blackbody radiation at 37 C (about 10-9 photon/s /cm2). Photon count for one subject. Experiments demonstrate that human bioluminescence originates mainly in body tissue, particularly skin cells, and not from skin bacteria or the blood. The authors of the present paper believe that the radiation comes from the "oxidation production of radicals." (Edwards, R., et al; "Measurements of Human Bioluminescence," International Journal of Acupuncture & Electro ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 73: Jan-Feb 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Things that ain't so Back in 1953. Irving Langmuir, the famous American physicist, gave a talk at General Electric on the subject of "pathological science." He discussed several things that could not be so . Of course, UFOs were on the list, but so was mitogenetic radiation -- radiation supposedly emitted by cells when they divide. In the context of Langmuir's talk, despite his emphatic interment of the subject, mitogenetic radiation was resurrected recently in the pages of Physics Today. A letter from V.B . Shirley included several recent scientific references that suggest that Langmuir was premature. "The gist of these articles is that many cell systems emit ultraviolet light during or immediately before cell division and that the total effect of this emission on neighboring cells is unknown." (Shirley, Vestel B.; "Mitogenetic Radiation: Pathology or Biology?" Physics Today, 43:130, October 1990.) From Science Frontiers #73, JAN-FEB 1991 . 1991-2000 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 Solar Radiation And Mental Illness Following in the footsteps of the Dulls (1933) and Friedman et al (1963), three Israeli scientists have also found surprisingly high correlations between solar activity and psychiatric illnesses. "Numbers of first admissions per month for a single psychiatric unit, from 1977 to 1987, were examined for 1829 psychiatric inpatients to assess whether this measure was correlated with 10 parameters of geophysical activity. Four statistically significant values were 0.197 with level of solar radioflux at 2800 MHz in the corresponding month, -0 .274 with sudden magnetic disturbances of the ionosphere, -0 .216 with the index of geomagnetic activity, and -0 .262 with the number of hours of positive ionization of the ionosphere in the corresponding month. Percentages of variance accounted for were very small." Quite understandably, these investigators concluded: "How to interpret properly associations of solar activity with human behaviors is yet impossible. The relative indifference of behavioral scientists to this question may reflect lack of an adequate theoretical framework relating to the question and the phenomenon." (Raps, Avi, et al; "Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXIX. Solar Activity and Admission of Psychiatric Inpatients," Perceptual and Motor Skills , 74:449, 1992.) From Science Frontiers #86, MAR-APR 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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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 A Bump In The Cosmic Background The accepted explanation of the microwave cosmic background is that it is the "echo" of the Big Bang that created the cosmos as we now know it. Ideally, this background radiation should be uniform in all directions and follow the intensity curve of a black body radiating at 2.7 K. Spatial anomalies have already been reported, and now an embarrassing bump has been found on the intensity curve at 0.5 -1 .0 millimeters wavelength. No explanation for this departure from the black body curve has been provided except to say that the Big Bang deviated from the perfect uniformity. (Anonymous; "Cosmic Background Not So Perfect," New Scientist, 92:23, 1981.) Reference. Anomalies associated with the cosmic background radiation are cataloged under ATF1 and ATF2 in Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos. For details on the book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #18, NOV-DEC 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 136: JUL-AUG 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 2000 CR105 and Planet X 2000 CR105 is a supercomet some 400 kilometers in diameter. It is one of hundreds of icy TNOs (Trans-Neptunian Objects) that normally populate the Kuiper Belt girdling the solar system just beyond the orbit of Neptune. The problem is that 2000 CR105 is not normal. Its orbit is highly eccentric, with an aphelion 13 times farther out than Neptune's . This massive object (probably mostly ice) takes 3175 years to circle the sun. 2000 CR105 is real; it has been photographed; it is not Mirror Matter; no one blames any terrestrial extinctions on it. Nevertheless, we can and must wonder how its orbit became so badly distorted. Often in past years, whenever astronomers detected cometary orbits gone awry, they invoked Planet X; that is, some undiscovered massive body plying the outer reaches of the solar system. Indeed, there have been several intense and unsuccessful searches for Planet X over the years. (See Chapter AX in The Sun and Solar System Debris.) History seems to be repeating itself with 2000 CR105. Astronomer B. Gladman proposes that 2000 CR105 was forced into its present eccentric orbit by an encounter with a Mars-size Planet X that now orbits the sun at a distance about 15 times that of Neptune. From the standpoint of celestial mechanics, this perturbation of 2000 CR105's orbit is certainly within the realm of possibility. But two associated ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Slice Of Ocean Crust In Wyoming Tucked among Wyoming's Wind River Mountains is a region of exotic crustal rocks. The best explanation conventional geology has come up with is that they were formed some 2.5 billion years ago by geological processes not in operation today. G. Harper, however, thinks that these Wyoming rocks look very much like some of the slices of ocean crust (terranes) that continental drift's conveyor belt has plastered against North America's west coast. The conveyor belt is, of course, the ocean floor that dives under the continent. The more he looked, the more Harper was convinced that there, in the middle of the continent, was a substantial chunk of ancient ocean crust. The implications: continental drift and terrane plastering have been in operation for billions of years: ". .. from their very beginnings continents have been built up from the bits and pieces of plate tectonics." Some other geologists concur and point to similar rocks in northern Canada and around the Great Lakes. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Plate Tectonics Is the Key to the Distant Past," Science, 234:670, 1986.) Comment. If the continents have been slapped together in such a disorganized manner, have stratigraphy and geological dating been compromised? Reference. "Exotic" terranes are discussed in ESR9 in Inner Earth. Information on this catalog here . Pangaea circa ...
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... Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A New Class Of Solar System Objects For decades astronomers have suspected and searched for Planet X, a large body beyond Neptune swinging slowly about the sun and gravitationally perturbing Neptune's orbit. Planet X has never been found, but somewhere out there are some pretty hefty bodies, as described by T. Van Flandern: "The discovery of a second miniplanet beyond Neptune, 1993 FW, augments the discovery of 1992 QB1 last fall. Both objects are believed to be in the 200-300-km-diameter range, with magnitudes between 2324, distances at discovery between 40-45 AU, and low inclinations.... Although the discoverers of these two objects hailed them as the first representatives of the elusive 'Kuiper belt' of comets, other theoreticians have confirmed that the line of reasoning leading to the suggestion of such a belt is spurious. That fact, combined with the absence of any comet-like characteristics in these two new objects, their relative size as compared with any other known comet, and their unusually red coloration, seem to make them the first-discovered members of a new class of solar system bodies. Since the searches leading to their discovery have examined only 1.5 out of tens of thousands of square degrees of sky wherein such objects might be discovered, it seems a reasonable conjecture that thousands of additional similar objects will ultimately be found. In short, it appears at this early stage that the solar system may have a second asteroid belt beyond Neptune." (Van ...
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... HYDROTHERMAL VENT INSTEAD OF A WARM LITTLE POND?If earth life didn't arrive from outer space (See under ASTRONOMY.), it may have arisen a couple miles below the ocean's surface at hydrothermal vents. The curious glows recently remarked at these vents (SF#87) have stimulated much speculation as to the potential role of these glows in the origin of life: "The history of hydrothermal activity predates the origin of life, and light in the deep sea has been a continuous phenomenon on a geological time scale and may have served either as a seed or refugium for the evolution of biological photochemical reactions or adaptations." We formally classify this item under GEOPHYSICS because scientists are still pondering how these glows are created. Some of the light is obviously black-body radiation from the very hot (350 C) water but: ". .. other potential, narrow-band sources of light may be superimposed on the blackbody radiation spectrum, including crystaloluminescence, Cerenkov radiation, chemiluminescence, triboluminescence, sonoluminescence, and the burning of methane in supercritical water." (Van Dover, Cindy Lee, et al; "Light at Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents," Eos, vol. 75, 1994.) Comment. If cold, diffuse molecular clouds in deep space can synthesize glycine, imagine what the hot, chemically-rich fluids around hydrothermal vents might be able to do. From Science Frontiers #95, SEP-OCT 1994 . 1994-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... yet posted BH HUMANS BHA EXTERNAL APPEARANCE AND MORPHOLOGY BHA1 Human Asymmetry BHA2 The Appearance of Beauty in the Human Lineage BHA3 General Physique Correlated with the Month of Birth BHA4 Human Body Badly Designed for Swimming BHA5 The Apparent Physical Degeneration of Humans BHA6 Human Physical Degeneration and Genius BHA7 Variability of External Appearance BHA8 Discordances in the Appearances of Identical Twins BHA9 Mirror-Image Twins BHA10 The Apparent Primitive Character of Some Features of the Human Body BHA11 Human and Orang-Utan Physiological Similarities BHA12 Significant Morphological Differences between Humans and the Great Apes BHA13 Sports, Monsters, Terata BHA14 Two Separate Populations of Pygmies BHA15 Birth Weight Varies with Month of Birth BHA16 Human Sexual Dimorphism BHA17 Sex-Ratio Variations BHA18 Gradations between Male and Female BHA19 The Sacral Spot BHA20 Pigmentation Peculiarity on Upper Arms BHA21 Spotted or Piebald People BHA22 Visible Radiation Emitted by the Human Body BHA23 Unidentified, Problematical Radiation Emitted by the Human Body BHA24 The Supposed Human Aura BHA25 Kirlian Photography of the Postulated Human Aura BHA26 Excessively Hairy Humans BHA27 Sudden Loss of Hair and (Sometimes) Regrowth BHA28 Baldness among Musicians BHA29 Human Hairlessness BHA30 Curious Human Hair Patterns BHA31 Sudden Blanching of the Hair BHA32 Sudden Color Changes in Human Hair BHA33 Hair Color Correlated with Eminence BHA34 Hair Color Correlated with Strength and Vitality BHA35 Remarkable Persistence of Hair Growth after Death BHA36 Voluntary Erection of Body Hair BHA37 Night-Shining in Human Eyes BHA38 Eye Color Correlated with Athletic Capability BHA39 Inherited Ear Pits BHA40 Supernumerary Ears and So-Called Gill-Slits BHA41 Nostril Orientation and Musculature BHA42 Differences and Similarities between Human and Primate Teeth BHA43 Racial Dental Differences BHA44 Historical Shrinkage of Human Teeth BHA45 Extra ...
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... "According to two scientists who stumbled on a startling statistical association -- though not necessarily a causeeffect relationship -- your life span may depend on the number of sunspots that appeared in the year your mother was born. "They found that if the sun was at a maximum in its 11-year cycle (during which the number of sunspots rises and falls), children of mothers born at that time would die an average of two to three years sooner than if their mothers had been born during the sunspot minimum." Before dismissing this fascinating correlation as "nut science," consider that the study was conducted by two established scientists at Michigan State University, B. Rosenberg and D.A . Juckett. Their report was published in the March 1993 issue of the mainstream journal Radiation Research . Furthermore, in two English studies of longevity. the same periodicity was remarked. Although the population sample in the Michigan State work was small (7552), the phenomenon appears sufficiently robust to admit to the columns of Science Frontiers! (In truth we covet bizarreness as much as robustness!) But what possible causal link might connect one's longevity with one's mother's date of birth? Rosenberg and Juckett point to the fact that when a woman is born all of her eggs are already formed. Later, they will mature and be released one at a time (usually). Therefore, if solar radiation levels (proportional to sunspot numbers) are high near her time of birth, her entire inventory of eggs will be bombarded by high levels of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Clump Of Antimatter The clumpiness of the universe described above assumed ordinary matter. Perhaps there are inhomogeneities on a different, more basic level -- matter vs. antimatter. According to one popular theory, the universe began with equal amounts of matter and antimatter. If so, where did all the antimatter go? We assume we observe a universe that is virtually 100% matter. Of course, we cannot really tell for certain because an antimatter galaxy would appear to us just like a galaxy composed of ordinary matter. The only clues revealing substantial pockets of antimatter would be the annihilation radiation produced where matter and antimatter regions rubbed against one another. The two types of matter always annihilate one another in bursts of very distinctive radiation. Well, there seems to be at least one region of antimatter near the center of our galaxy. The HEOS3 satellite and ballon-borne instruments have pinpointed a source of 511 kev gamma rays that can come only from a spot where electrons and positrons are mutually annihilating each other. (The positrons are antimat-ter analogs of electrons.) This region of mutual destruction is about 1013 kilometers across. Is it a pocket of antimatter left over after the Big Bang that a sea of surrounding matter is finally wiping out, or is it newly created antimatter in the vicinity of a black hole? No one knows. The mystery has deepened with the discovery that the intensity of the annihilation radiation varies with ...
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... Project Sourcebook Subjects Repent! the phase change is coming!The world as we know it may not end in a nuclear holocaust or even in the greenhouse effect. Rather, suggest M. M. Grone and M. Sher, the universe-as-a -whole may undergo a phase change. Such an event has already happened once and it may again. Approximately 10-10 seconds after the Big Bang, the force laws changed discontinuously as the universe cooled. Some models of the cosmos predict that another such phase change may occur when photons suddenly acquire mass. Grone and Sher have sketched the effects on terrestrial civilization: "The most dramatic effect would be the elimination of all static electric and magnetic fields over a range greater than 1 cm, and the elimination of all electromagnetic radiation with frequencies smaller than a few hundred gigahertz. We have shown that there would be relatively little impact on atomic structure and on solar radiation. The absence of electrostatic fields would force a redesign of current power plants (to use smaller solenoids); the absence of radio and television waves would force a much greater use of cables. The elimination of solar and geomagnetic fields would have a significant meteorological impact. The potential ly most devastating effect could be on the propagation of neural impulse along motor neurons; it appears that the effects might be small, but they do depend on the precise value of the photon mass." Crone and Sher conclude that the effect would be devastating to humanity but probably not fatal. (Crone, Mary M., and Sher, Marc; "The ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 124: Jul-Aug 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Photosynthesis At Deep-Sea Vents The surprisingly rich populations of lifeforms that prosper around the hydrothermal vents have been thought to be utterly dependent upon chemical energy for their survival. Such now seems to be a limited view. There is light at the bottom of the ocean! "Of particular interest is the potential for deep-sea vents and subsurface environments to support geothermally (rather than solar-) driven photosynthesis. Recent work on ambient light conditions at hydrothermal vents indicates that the photon flux generated by thermal radiation of 350 C water should be sufficient to sustain lowlevel photosynthesis, and there is at least one report of a faculative phototroph isolated from water samples taken near a deep-sea vent." A particularly important implication of this undersea light source is that the evolution of photosynthesis need not have been dependent upon the existence of life on land. Also, hydrothermal vents could have served as refuges for photosynthesizing life forms down the geological eons when: (1 ) ocean surfaces were ice-covered; (2 ) the terrestrial surface was exposed to deadly levels of radiation, as when the ozone layer was destroyed; and (3 ) when volcanism or dust from meteor impacts blackened the skies. (Van Dover, Cindy Lee; "Biology in Extreme Environments at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents," Eos, 70:F54, 1998.) From Science Frontiers #124, JUL-AUG 1999 . 1999-2000 William R ...
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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 vent glow and "blind" shrimp In 1988, when the research submersible Alvin was exploring those remarkable hydrothermal vents or "black smokers." Its CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) camera detected a ghostly glow emanating from the vents. Since this mineral-laden water gushing from these cracks in the deep-sea floor exits at 350 -400 C, the simplest explanation of the vent glow is that is is simply thermal radiation from the hot fluid. Indeed, color filters on the camera recorded a spectrum close to that of a 350 C plume. But the deep-sea shrimp camped around the vents have raised second thoughts. The shrimp, only a few inches long, live in the perpetual darkness of the miles-deep vents. They do not need and do not have ordinary eyes. Rather, they sport a mysterious organ on their backs that is connected to their brains by a nerve-fiber bundle much like an optic nerve. This organ is packed with the same light-sensitive pigments found in the eyes of surface creatures. Despite its unusual location on the shrimp, it is an "eye" of sorts. But of what use is it in the Stygian abysses? To find, perhaps, vent glows that betray the presence of chemosynthetic food sources. If this is so, the shrimps' optical organ, which is most sensitive in the blue-green portion of the spectrum, is ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 129: MAY-JUN 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Extremophilic Terraforming of Mars If we are to colonize Mars, we must make it more earthlike; and that is what terraforming does. Right now, the Martian atmosphere, surface temperatures, level of ionizing radiation, and noxious soil are inimical to delicate, complex life forms, such as us. But these hostile Martian conditions are easily endured by some bacteria, such as Deinococcus radiodurans . This bacterium, one of the extremophiles, lives in our sewage systems and other unpleasant places. It can survive desiccation, freeze-drying, and high radiation levels. D. radiodurans can do more than survive on Mars. It can begin to detoxify the soil and prepare the way for other pioneer microorganisms. And even more: What D. radiodurans can provide is a microscopic (and therefore easily portable) factory -- a kind of terra-forming toolkit -- from which any number of products potentially can be derived. Whether it is engineered to reduce metals, produce drugs for ailing astronauts or simply manufacture the polymers necessary for the production of thread, D. radiodurans , one of the world's oldest bacteria, may provide a means of expanding the limits of human imagination beyond the written sci-fi page. (Slotnick, Rebecca Sloan; "Extremophilic Terraforming," American Scientist, 88: 124, 2000.) Comment. Perhaps D. radiodurans is the oldest bacterium on earth. Having arrived eons ago on ...
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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 Venus: highly radioactive or just cooling down?The surface temperature of Venus is about 480 C, higher than any other solar system planet. While Venus does trap solar radiation in its atmosphere greenhouse fashion, data from Pioneer Venus Orbiter show that the planet radiates 15% more energy than it receives from the sun. In other words, Venus's surface is hotter then it would be if only the greenhouse effect were operating. Where could this extra energy come from? If it arises from the decay of naturally occurring radioactivity, Venus would have to have 10,000 times as much radioactivity as the earth. If this is the case, Venus must have had an origin radically different from the earth's . (Anonymous; "The Mystery of Venus's Internal Heat," New Scientist, 88:437, 1980.) Comment. Another possibility is that Venus is still cooling down and is much younger than the earth! From Science Frontiers #14, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 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 Cosmic Currents A survey of 390 elliptical galaxies have identified an unexpected streaming effect superimposed on the (postulated) general outward expansion of the universe. A team of seven astronomers first measured the velocities of the elliptical galaxies relative to the earth. Next they subtracted out the velocities of universal expansion and, lastly, the velocity of the earth relative to the 3 K cosmic background radiation. These subtractions enable us to determine how the 390 elliptical galaxies move relative to the cosmic background radiation -- which is about the best fixed reference frame we can come up with. For roughly 50 million parsecs in all directions from earth, the clusters and superclusters of galaxies are streaming through the cosmos in a group. What's more, they lie in and move parallel to a fairly well-defined plane. Just what this coordinated motion means in terms of the origin and evolution of the universe is anyone's guess. There doesn't seem to be anything in the Big Bang theory that would explain these cosmic currents. Something set all these galaxies in motion -- but what? (Waldrop, M. Mitchell; "The Currents of Space," Science, 232:26, 1986.) A giant elliptical galaxy containing many billions of stars. Hundreds of these immense assemblages are moving collectively though the cosmos. From Science Frontiers #46, JUL-AUG 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... there may be another cloud of comets that we can view directly. It is called the Kuiper Cloud (after G. Kui per). It is concentrated in the plane of the ecliptic just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Like the Oort Cloud, the Kuiper Cloud has not been seen yet, but we just might be able to with today's equipment! Its existence is hypothesized from the parameters of a different group of comets -- the so-called "short-period" comets, as exemplified by 76-year Halley's Comet. About 120 short-period comets have been discerned so far; and our computers now tell us that they cannot have originated in the Oort Cloud. Something closer and concentrated on the ecliptic is required. Thus the Kuiper Cloud or Belt was born. It is thought to be composed of debris left over after the formation of the solar system. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Comet Source: Close to Neptune," Science, 239:1372, 1988.) Just before the referenced Science article appeared, a piece on comet origins was printed in the New Scientist. Curiously, the Kuiper Belt was not even mentioned. Instead, we find: "Astronomers have discovered about 200 of these 'short'period' comets, with Halley's Comet the best known, but their orbits are of little use to astronomers studying the origin of comets." (Theokas, Andrew; "The Origin of Comets," New Scientist, p. 42, February 11, 1988.) * A. ...
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... Radon-222 ESC16 Methane Anomalies ESD DEPOSITS OF REMARKABLE SIZE ESD1 Bone Caves, Bone Caches,... ESD2 Bone Beds, Fish Beds,... ESD3 Sedimentary Deposits of Exceptional Volume ESD4 Historical Evidence for Large Scale Flooding ESD5 Recent Large Reductions of Polar Ice Cover ESD6 Giant Basalt Flows and Traps ESD7 Giant Accumulations of Oil ESD8 Giant Erratics and Megabreccias ESD9 Deposits of Great Areal Extent ESI INCLUSIONS ESI1 Inclusions in Crystals ESI2 Microdebris ESI3 Erratic Boulders, Stones, and Mineral Patches ESI4 Anomalous Amber Inclusions ESI5 Microfossil-Like Inclusions ESI6 Oil in Fossil Cavities ESI7 Carbon Dust on Fossil Plants ESI8 Great Rarity of Fossil Meteorites and Tektites ESI9 Stretched Pebbles ESM ANOMALOUS SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS ESM1 Unusual Superficial Aggregations of Rocks ESM2 Strewn Fields of Natural Glasses ESM3 Tektite and Microtektite Paradoxes and Anomalies ESM4 Boulder Trains and Belts ESM5 Rock Glaciers, Block Fields,... ESM6 Elevated Erratics... ESM7 Anomalous Glacial Drift ESM8 Fluidized Debris Slides ESM9 Surging Glaciers ESM10 Driftless Enclaves within Glaciated Regions ESM11 Anomalous Rock Motion ESM12 Superficial Rocky Debris of Doubtful Provenance ESP ANOMALOUS PHYSICAL PHENOMENA IN GEOLOGY ESP1 Anomalous Radiohalos ESP2 Flexible Rocks ESP3 Unusually Colored Rocks ESP4 Noncrushing of Fossils in Sediment Compaction ESP5 Remarkable Polished Rocks ESP6 Ringing Rocks ESP7 Small-Scale Magnetic Anomalies ESP8 Frazil Ice, Anchor Ice,... ESP9 Long-Range Fine Structure In Strata ESP10 Jointing, Cleat, Crack Patterns ESP11 Shocked Mineral Grains at Geological Boundaries ESP12 Radiometric Dating Discordances ESP13 Natural Fission Reactors ESP14 Musical Sands ESP15 Luminous Rocks ESP16 Explosive Rocks ESP17 Dry Quicksand ESP18 Glacieres/Natural Refrigerators ESP19 Radioactive Fossils ESP20 Clustering of Mineralogical Dates in Time and Space ...
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... , not a single important prediction of the theory has yet been confirmed, and substantial evidence has accumulated against it. Here, we examine the evidence for the most fundamental postulate of the big bang, the expansion of the universe. We conclude that the evidence does not support the theory, and that it is time to stop patching up the theory to keep it viable, and to consider fundamentally new working models for the origin and nature of the universe in better agreement with the observations." This paper's author, T. Van Flandern, dismisses quickly two pillars of the Big Bang; i.e ., its supposed predictions of the cosmic microwave background and the abundances of light elements in the universe: "The big bang made no quantitative prediction that the "background" radiation would have a temperature of 3 degrees Kelvin (in fact its initial prediction was 30 degrees Kelvin); whereas Eddington in 1926 had already calculated that the "temperature of space" produced by the radiation of starlight would be found to be 3 degrees Kelvin. And no element abundance prediction of the big bang was successful without some ad hoc parameterization to "adjust" predictions that otherwise would have been judged as failures." (Van Flandern, Tom; "Did the Universe Have a Beginning?" Meta Research Bulletin, 3:25, September 15, 1994. Address of the Meta Research Bulletin: P.O . Box 15186, Chevy Chase, MD 20815) From Science Frontiers #97, JAN-FEB 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... atmosphere is too thin -- essentially a good vacuum -- to cause frictional heating and consequent vaporization. We mentioned this conundrum briefly in SF#125. We now have the scientific details at hand concerning the supporting observations made during the November 1998 Leonid bombardment. The observations were made by an international team in China. Photographic cameras were employed as well as an all-sky TV camera equipped with an image intensifier. All photographed meteors began to visibly burn up below 130 kilometers, but the TV camera consistently picked up the same meteors at higher altitudes. Both sets of cameras recorded the same final burn-up heights. The most startling observation was a meteor that the TV camera detected at roughly 200 kilometers altitude. The highest observed Leonid meteor with initial mass of about 1 kg started radiating at an altitude of almost 200 km. The origin of meteor radiation at such high altitudes is still not well understood and more detailed observations will be needed, including near-infrared spectroscopy. (Spumy Pavel, et al; "Atmospheric Behavior and Extreme Beginning Heights of the Thirteen Brightest Photographic Leonid Meteors...," Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 35:243, 2000. Cr. R. Spaulding) Comment. As in SF#125, we must add that sounds are sometimes heard emanating from these anomalously high meteors, even though there is no air in which sound can he propagated. From Science Frontiers #133, JAN-FEB 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster ...
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... No. 106: Jul-Aug 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mud Springs Regurgitate Ancient Fossils Mud springs in Wiltshire, England, may be the only ones of their kind on the planet. The Wiltshire mud springs are cold. They are not hot and steaming like those seen where geothermal heat is close to the surface, as in New Zealand, Java, and Yellowstone. They are also unique in their entrainment of subterranean fossils and bringing them to the surface. "There is no explanation of the way the springs ooze a pale, cold, grey mud to the surface, forming blisters that spurt high into the air. "Neville Hollingworth of the Natural Environment Research Council said: 'They are like a fossil conveyor belt bringing up finds from the clay layers below and then washing them out in a nearby stream.'" The fossil conveyor belt yields bones of marine reptiles, oyster shells, and the remains of sea creatures that lived during the Jurassic, about 165 million years ago. Some of the bivalves still retain their organic ligaments. Geologists wonder what forces squeeze the mud to the surface like toothpaste from a tube. (Nuttall, Nick; "Mud Springs a Surprise after 165 Million Years," London Times, May 2, 1996. Cr. A.C .A . Silk) From Science Frontiers #106, JUL-AUG 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 112: Jul-Aug 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A TWISTED COSMOS?An astronomer really risks his or her reputation if he or she suggests that the universe has a preferred direction. A core belief in cosmology maintains that no point or direction in the cosmos is in any way "special." So, B. Nodland and J.P . Ralston stirred up a hornets' nest this past spring when they published a paper that began with this paragraph: "Polarized electromagnetic radiation propagating across the Universe has its plane of polarization rotated by the Faraday effect. We report findings of an additional rotation, remaining after Faraday rotation is extracted, which may represent evidence for cosmological anisotropy on a vast scale." (Ref. 1) Most inflammatory was their claim that the plane of polarization of the radio waves rotated more along a particular direction [axis?]; specifically, along a line connecting the constellations Aquila and Sextans. (Ref. 2) Only a few days after the NodlandRalston paper was published, it was blasted in Science. The major complaint was that their data were old and incomplete, since they derived mainly from observations made prior to 1980. (Ref. 3) Indeed, a similar study using more recent measurements but fewer radiation sources seems to refute the NodlandRalston claim of a preferred direction in the cosmos. (Ref. 4) Nodland and Ralston disagree with the charges and the implications of the other study. It will be a while before this ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 71: Sep-Oct 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects MODERN TECHNOLOGY GETS SUNBURNED During the 400-or-so years we have been counting sunspots and taking other measures of solar activity, the sun has, on the average, been getting more and more rambunctious. The sunspot peaks have been ascending to greater heights every 11-or-so years. Right now, near the peak of the present cycle, the earth is being bombarded by extra-high fluxes of X-rays, ultraviolet light, and other energetic radiation. A century ago, no one would have noticed or cared, but today our technological infrastructure is suffering. K.H . Schatten has listed some of the "sunburn symptoms" in a recent article in Nature. Fade-outs of over-the-horizon radio communications Greater aerodynamic drag on satel lites and earlier reentry Glitches and outright damage in satellite electrical systems Anomalous induced voltages in elec trical power systems and long-line communications Blackouts of high-frequency polar communications oInduced errors in VLF (Very Low Frequency navigation systems Occasional radiation levels that are hazardous to humans in high-flying aircraft. (Schatten, Kenneth H.; "The Sun's Disturbing Behavior," Nature, 345:578, 1990.) Comment. It would be interesting to learn whether the "computer errors" we encounter so frequently follow the sunspot cycle. One phenomenon, at least, seems anticorrelated with solar activity: The number of solar neutrinos measured here ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 32: Mar-Apr 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Oklo Phenomenon And Evolution A decade ago, French scientists discovered the remains of a natural nuclear reactor at Oklo, Gabon, in Africa. Somehow nature had concentrated enough uranium-235 in one place to start a chain reaction, with the attendant production of heat and radiation. Now U-235 is radioactive, and there is now much less around than in past geological eras. This has led some scientists to speculate that many more Okla phenomena may have flamed momentarily in earlier times, especially Precambrian days. The mutagenic radiation from such natural reactors could have been a major driving force in evolution. (Anonymous; "Natural Reactors Helped Evolution," New Scientist, 100:737, 1983.) Reference. For details on the Oklo Phenomenon, see category ESP13 in our Anomalies in Geology. For a description of this Catalog, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... same susceptibility to electrical effects, with the same lapse of time, should be observed in both animal and vegetable organisms. I have visited the sufferers, who are now in one of the hospitals of this city; and although their appearance is truly horrible, yet it is hoped that in no case will the injuries prove fatal. (Signed: Warner Cowgill, U.S . Consulate, Maracaibo, Venezuela, November 17, 1886.) (Cowgill, Warner; "Curious Phenomenonin Venezuala, Scientific American, 55:389, 1886.) The article in Infinite Energy discusses in some depth the reality of ball lightning, the similarities to modern UFO reports, the reliability of anecdotes, and, especially, the nature of the physiological effects, which resemble, in some aspects, radiation sickness resulting from exposure to intense X-rays or nuclear devices. It is also interesting that this anecdote, long-consigned to "fringe" publications, has now been resurrected in digital form by Scientific American, which is an establishment publication if there ever was one. Kaswell writes to this point as follows: My purpose was (in part) to show that mainstream scientists in main-stream publications like Scientific American evaluate the largely anecdotal evidence for the relatively non-controversial ball lightning by a different and more lenient standard than that they reserve for the highly controversial UFO reports. The Maracaibo case illustrates this beautifully, precisely because the report has aspects similar to both phenomena. (Kaswell, Gordon David; "Phenomenon in Venezuela: A Documented Case of Unexplained Radiation Exposure," ...
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... they gorged on squid. At daybreak, they were back drifting around Espiritu Santo. Apparently, the mountain was just a place to rest. But how did the hammerheads find their way back so unerringly? Furthermore, by tracking the tagged fish, the researchers found the sharks often precisely followed the same paths in what seemed a featureless ocean. How did they do it? It was quickly ruled out that they were following specific ocean currents or the bottom topography. The hammerheads seemed to possess some sort of unrecognized navigation sense. Suspecting they might be sensing the geomagnetic field, Klimley began towing a magne tometer behind the boat. Sure enough, the hammerheads were following paths coincident with lines of high magnetic gradient. And Espiritu Santo itself turned out to be a sort of magnetic beacon from which radiated these magnetic "paths" that the hammerheads followed so exactly. Now the question became: How do hammerheads -- and perhaps other animals -- sense such exceedingly small changes in the geomagnetic field? Some birds and mammals do have small particles of magnetite in their bodies, but no one knows how they might be incorporated into a sensory organ. On the other hand, hammerheads and many other sharks are extraordinarily sensitive to electrical fields, responding to fields as low as 10-8 volt/centimeter. Possibly the sharks' forward motion cuts the magnetic lines of force generating an electrical navigational signal. No one knows as yet. And so one mystery leads to another. (Klimley, A. Peter; "Hammerhead City," Natural History, 104:33, October 1995 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 66: Nov-Dec 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Neptune Spins Too Fast And Its Magnetic Field Is Awry Some pre-Voyager theories about Neptune have been severely tried by the data trickling back to earth across the great gulf separating us from what is now the most distant planet. Before Voyager, Neptune's spin period was believed to be about 17 hours. This was just the spin rate needed by theorists to explain why Neptune radiates much more heat than Uranus. It seems that spin rate is related to the mixing of a planet's molten innards, which in turn affects the rate at which heat reaches the surface where it is radiated away. With Neptune's period now pegged at 16 hours by Voyager's measurements, the mixing-cooling theory is in trouble. The magnetic-field situation is in even worse shape. When planetary scientists found that Uranus' magnetic field was tilted 60 from the axis of rotation, they worried a bit but didn't think that this one exception would overthrow the favored dynamo theory of field generation. After all, the magnetic fields of Jupiter, Saturn, and earth are reasonably well-behaved. But Neptune's field is now found to be misaligned by 50 ! The confidence of the planetologists has now been shaken. What, if anything, is different about Neptune and Uranus? It may just be that we don't really know how the magnetic field of any planet is generated. (Kerr, ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 90: Nov-Dec 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Lines Of Maser Spots Masers work like lasers, except they radiate microwaves instead of visible light. Natural masers have been found in the atmospheres of both earth and Mars as well as in interstellar space. They form in space when electromagnetic radiation falls upon dense molecular clouds, which then reradiate the energy at frequencies characteristic of the molecules, Armed with radio telescopes, astronomers can "see" masers as bright spots (" maser spots") in the radio sky. R. Norris and J. Whiteoak et al, at the Australia Telescope National Facility, while surveying just 16 regions of the Milky Way between 5,000 and 30,000 light years, detected a dozen intense methanol masers (6 .7 -12.2 gigahertz) arranged in lines. Early thinking is that these maser spots decorate the discs of gas clouds surrounding nascent stars. In other words, maser spots could be protoplanets. Given the small area of the sky sampled by Norris and Whiteoak, maser spots may be very common. (Dayton, Leigh; "Microwaves May Mark Position of Protoplanets," New Scientist, p. 16, July 10, 1993.) Questions. Whence all this interstellar methanol? And where does it all go when the protoplanets coalesce into planets? Could these molecular clouds also contain those other organic compounds necessary for the creation and development of life? If so, we can speculate that life may originate often and ...
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... Objects... GEL5 Anomalous Aspects of the Krakatoa Sunsets GEL6 The Alpine Glow... GEL7 Spectral Dispersion near the Sea's Surface GEL8 Low-Sun Landscape Fluorescence GEL9 Low-Sun Spectral Bows GEL10 Low-Sun Shadow Bands GEL11 The Second Purple Light GEL12 Moving Patches of Light on the Horizon Jumping Stars Post-Twilight Infrared Brightening of the Sky Extraordinary Sunsets GEM THE MAGIC OF MIRAGES GEM1 Fata Morganas GEM2 Telescopic Mirages GEM3 Lateral Mirages GEM4 Multiple Mirages GEM5 Mirages Sensitive to the Observer's Position GEM6 The Novaya Zemlya Effect GEM7 Illusions of a Flat Earth GEM8 Dynamic Mirages GEM9 Mirror or Reflection Mirages Double Moons Mock Mirages GER RADIO AND RADAR ANOMALIES GER1 Long-Delayed Radio Echos GER2 The Moon's Effect on Radio Propagation GER3 Thunderstorm Modification of Radio Propagation GER4 Stable Patterns of Electromagnetic Radiation GER5 Unidentified Radio Signals... GER6 The Humming Earth GER7 Polar Radio Blackouts GER8 Around-th e-World Transmission of High-Frequency Signals GER9 Periodic Fading of Satellite Radio Transmissions GER10 Sudden Disappearance of High Frequency Radio Transmissions GER11 Correlation of Radio Propagation Quality with Planetary Positions GER12 Earthquake-Induced Ionospheric Disturbances GER13 Easier Radio Transmission in One Direction than Its Reverse GER14 Radar Dot Angels GER15 Radar Ring and Line Angels GER16 Radar Ghosts Mexico's Zone of Silence Infrared Angels Extremely-Low-Frequency (ELF) Phenomena Effect of Low-Pressure Areas upon Shortwave Propagation Unidentified Atmospheric Radio Bursts Detected by Satellites GES SHADOW PHENOMENA GES1 Eclipse Shadow Bands GES2 Moving Shadow Bands in the Atmosphere GES3 Colored Shadows GES4 Shadow Bands Seen through the Telescope GES5 Unusual Shadows Observed during Eclipses GES6 Non-Eclipse Shadow ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 113: Sep-Oct 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects An exploded planet and the "face on mars"Between Mars and Jupiter swirls the main main asteroid belt. In the view of many astronomers, including T. Van Flandern, there resides the debris of an exploded planet. Van Flandern has adduced considerable evidence supporting the exploded planet hypothesis, which we will pass over in favor of a look at the possible effects of said exploding planet upon a large but equally hypothetical satellite of said planet. Such a satellite would have been heavily pelted by debris on the side facing the exploding planet. Furthermore, this battered sphere, having lost its gravitational "anchor," would assume a new orbit around the sun as well as a new orientation in space. Is there any object in the solar system plastered mainly on one side with debris and craters? You guessed it: Mars! What possible connection could there be between this purported cataclysm and the "face on Mars"? The connecting thread is very weak but so beguiling that we must mention it. T. Van Flandern has proposed eight tests for the artificiality of the "face" and its associated "pyramids," "city," etc. One is the three-dimensionality of the "face." Another is the "fractal" test, which is useful in distinguishing between artificiality and naturalness. The "face" readily passes four of the eight tests. A fifth test (bilateral symmetry) cannot be decided ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Did the pharaohs cheat with concrete?" The Great Pyramid of Egypt, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, may have been at least partially constructed with man-made concrete. "Edward Zeller, cirector of the radiation physics laboratory at Univ. of Kansas Space Technology Center, Law rence, recently examined a stone sample, taken from a pyramid passageway, under a binocular microscope and discovered that it was filled with oval air bubbles, 'like you'd expect to see in plaster,' he says. "The finding supports a theory proposed by French geochemist Joseph Davidovits, who says Egyptians built the pyramids by pouring concrete into forms. Such technology was not thought to have existed during the construction of the pyramids around 2690 BC. "Zeller still has his doubts. "' The sample is clearly made of manufactured stone and it's part of the pyramid,' he says. 'But a single speci-men does not a pyramid make.'" (" Did the Pharoahs Cheat with Concrete?" R&D Magazine, p. 5, December 1990. Cr. J. Wenskus.) Reference. An earlier report on the theory proposed by Davidovits may be found in SF#54. From Science Frontiers #74, MAR-APR 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 4: July 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects South Of The Bermuda Triangle On August 4, 1944, the 85-foot staysail schooner Island Queen departed Grenada bound for St. Vincent, carrying 75 passengers to a wedding. The black-hulled Providence Mark accompanied the Island Queen, and a friendly rivalry kept them neck and neck, often only a half mile apart. Off the western tip of Carriacou, a light, windless rain belt passed overhead. Observers aboard the Providence Mark saw the Island Queen enter a rain shower ahead of them. When the Providence Mark emerged from the shower, the Island Queen was nowhere to be seen. Thinking the Island Queen's more powerful motor had enabled it to pull far ahead, the Providence Mark captain figured he had lost the race. When he arrived at St. Vincent at 2350, the Is land Queen was not there. In fact, a thorough search by the U.S . and British navies never found any trace of the ship or its 75 passengers. (Anonymous; "The Riddle of the 'Island Queen!'" Nautical Magazine, 219:26, 1978.) From Science Frontiers #4 , July 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 57: May-Jun 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Stonehenge in quebec?" Are there carefully crafted stone structures in Quebec similar to that most mysterious of man-made structures, Stonehenge? The answer is yes, according to biology professor Gerard Leduc, who says he has found evidence of sundials in four different locations in the Laurentians and Eastern Townships." .. .. . "The stone complexes, comprising a centre stone and others radiating toward the east and west, may have been used as calendars whereby farmers could, for example, have known when to plant and harvest crops." Leduc also claims to have discovered: Unexplained stone walls two to three feet high that begin and end with no apparent purpose, and which are not associated with the fields of farmers. Grass circles showing up as yellowish rings in green grassy fields, caused by a different type of vegetation. These grass circles are perfect in shape and associated with stone structures. Trilithons, located at the sundial sites, consisting of three closely grouped rocks. (Morrissy, John; "Stonehenge in Quebec," Stonehenge Viewpoint, no. 79, p. 3, Winter 1988.) From Science Frontiers #57, MAY-JUN 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 45: May-Jun 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Polar Bear Coats Are Thermal Diodes "A polar bear's hairs are completely transparent. The bear appears white because visible light reflects from the rough inner surface of each hollow hair. However, the hairs are designed to trap ultraviolet light. Like light within an optical fiber, the radiation is conducted along the hairs to the skin. This summertime energy supplement provides up to a quarter of the bear's needs. Thus, even while actively pursuing prey, the bear can still concentrate on building up its blubber layers in preparation for winter." In other words, the bear's fur lets heat in but not out -- in effect a thermal diode. (Anonymous; "Solar Bear Technology," Science News, 129:153, 1986.) Comment. How come polar bears are favored with this "marvelous adaptation" while the arctic foxes and other mammals shiver? From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 5: November 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Petrol channels on mars?The many channels on Mars closely resemble terrestrial river beds. But Martian models that assume water to have been the eroding agent encounter difficulties, because Martian gravity is too weak to hold the hydrogen when water is dissociated by solar radiation. A better bet, say Y.L . Yung and J.P . Pinto, is liquid hydrocarbons; i.e ., petrol. Starting with a methane atmosphere, at 0.1 earth's atmospheric pressure, the natural loss of hydrogen would lead to the polymerization of hydrocarbons and eventual condensation. "Petrofalls" from this atmosphere could cover the Martian surface to a depth of one meter and lead to heavy erosion. (Anonymous; "Martian Surface in Good Spirits," New Scientist, 79:19, 1978.) Comment. There is an obvious connection here to the long-debated origin of terrestrial petroleum and, to be complete, Velikovsky's ridiculed claim of ancient terrestrial "petrofalls"! From Science Frontiers #5 , November 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 45: May-Jun 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ozone Hole Over Antarctica Reviewing ozone-mapping data from the polar-orbiting Nimbus-7 satellite, R. Stolarski and colleagues at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have seen the concentration of ozone over Antarctica drop dramatically -- some 40% -- every October. This disappearing act commences about a month after the sun begins to graze the northern horizon and affects the entire continent. By early November, the sun is high enough to manufacture enough ozone via its ultraviolet radiation to fill the ozone hole up again. An analogous hole does form over the North Pole in the northern spring. An additional fact of interest: the hole is getting deeper each year; that is, the ozone concentration is less and less each October. Speculations about the deepening seasonal hole involve the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons and Antarctica's physical isolation from other land masses which would help channel ozone southward from areas where the sun still shines. (Weisburd, S.; "Ozone Hole at Southern Pole," Science News, 129:133, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 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 Unwanted Noise On The Terrestrial Tape Recorder The hypothesis of continental drift and sea-floor spreading depends heavily upon the strip-like magnetic anomalies that parallel the active ocean ridges. Molten material pushing out along these ridges spreads out, solidifies, and is magnetized by the prevailing terrestrial magnetic field. Thus, the spreading sea floor becomes a "tape Recorder" preserving the record of changing terrestrial polarity over the past several hundred million years. As one drills into this thin conveyor-belt/tape-recorder, one would expect to encounter only rocks of one polarity. Not so! Some of the holes drilled by the Deep Sea Drilling Project have passed through several polarity zones. To illustrate, core 395A from the mid-Atlantic ridge is magnetized normally for the upper 170 meters, reversely for the next 310 meters, and normally again for 40 meters. Is the tape-recorder idea therefore incorrect? Some scientists argue that it is and that the whole modern edifice of plate tectonics is suspect. (Anonymous; "Testing Vine-Matthews," Open Earth, p. 28, April 1979.) From Science Frontiers #7 , June 1979 . 1979-2000 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 Spontaneous Human Combustion John Heymer's job with the Gwent Police was attending the scenes of serious crimes and sudden deaths to gather forensic evidence. On January 6, 1980, he investigated a "rather unusual" death at a Gwent council house. When he opened the door of the room, steamy, sauna-like heat still remained. The walls still radiated heat; condensation was running down the window; all surfaces were covered with a greasy black soot. "On the floor, about one metre from the hearth, was a pile of ashes. On the perimeter of the ashes, furthest from the hearth, was a partially burnt armchair. Emerging from the ashes were a pair of human feet clothed in socks. The feet were attached to short lengths of lower leg, encased in trouser leg bottoms. The feet and socks were undamaged. Protruding from what was left of the trousers were calcined leg bones which merged into the ashes. The ashes were the incinerated remains of a man. "Of the torso and arms nothing remained but ash. Opposite the feet was a blackened skull. Though the rug and carpet below the ashes were charred, the damage did not extend more than a few centimetres beyond the perimeter of the ashes. Less than a metre away, a settee, fitted with loose covers, was not even scorched. Plastic tiles which covered the floor beneath the carpet were undamaged." We do ...
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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 Tidal Wave Of Gammas Sweeps Solar System On March 5, 1979, a colossal burst of gamma rays swept through the solar system, triggering radiation detectors on nine different spacecraft. By comparing the times of arrival of the burst, the direction of the source was narrowed down to a "box" a couple of arc minutes across. Gamma-ray bursts have never before been correlated with visible sources, but this time the box contained the remnants of a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. The anomaly that arises involves the immense distance of the supposed source and the strength of the burst when it reached the solar system. The power level of the supernova remnant gamma flash would have had to be about 1037 watts -- a stupendous figure. If the supernova remnant is a neutron star, as current theories suggest, the neutron star would have to be 10 to 100 times the size of the usual neutron stars. (Anonymous; "Gamma-Ray Burst Comes from Outside the Galaxy," New Scientist, 87:776, 1980.) From Science Frontiers #13, Winter 1981 . 1981-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 84: Nov-Dec 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Orbiting Mountains Below Two years ago a Russian scientist suggested that tiny black holes orbiting within the earth might trigger volcanic activity. Now, he has extended the idea to earthquakes. "A .R . Trofimenko of the Minsk Department of the Astronomical-Geodesical Society of the USSR believes that all cosmic bodies, including the Sun and the Earth, are riddled with "mini" black holes left over from the big bang. Though much smaller than atoms. such black holes would each contain as much mass as a mountain, up to about 2 x 1020 grams. "Trofimenko originally suggested that energy radiated by these mini black holes could make hot spots that produce volcanic outbursts. Now he has investigated the way in which such objects, by orbiting about the Earth's core, would distort the gravitational field at the surface of our planet." Each time a mini black hole passes beneath a spot on the surface, there would be a "gravitoimpulse" too short to be detected by current instrumentation but sufficient to trigger earthquakes. (Anonymous; "Baby Black Holes Blamed for Earthquakes," New Scientist, p. 18, September 19. 1992.) From Science Frontiers #84, NOV-DEC 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Brain architecture: beyond genes "The human brain probably contains more than 1014 synapses, and there are simply not enough genes to account for this complexity." .. .. "Neuroscientists at a recent meeting highlighted how extragenetic factors -- including neuronal activity, contact with other cells, radiation, and chemical factors -- influence brain circuitry, especially during development." In computer terms, our brains are constantly reprogramming themselves in response to internal and external forces. (Barnes, Deborah M.; "Brain Architecture: Beyond Genes," Science, 233: 155, 1986.) Comment. Musing in a Lamarckian way, can the brain, as reprogrammed by external influences, ever feed back information to the genes? From Science Frontiers #47, SEP-OCT 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 81: May-Jun 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Unidentified light explained?The strange optical phenomenon reported in SF#80 may have been the consequence of a barium release from a NASA satellite. At 9:17 PM EST, on January 13, 1991, the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) detonated a small canister of barium over South America. The greenish glow was visible from the U.S . southeast coast in the southwestern sky. (Suplee, Curt; "NASA Light Show 'Paints' Earth's Magnetic Field," Washington Post, January 14, 1991. Cr. D. Kreinbrink) Comment: The observation reported in SF#80 was logged as occurring at 0210 UTC, January 13, so there is a time discrepancy that needs to be resolved here. From Science Frontiers #81, MAY-JUN 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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