9 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 65: Sep-Oct 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The Wood Turtle Stomp J.H . Kaufmann is a zoologist with strong proclivities for wood-turtle watching. Not a very strenuous vocation you say! Be that as it may, wood turtles make up for their lack of speed with some interesting talents. Besides being able to home accurately over unfamiliar terrain, they also know how to "grunt" - not vocal grunting, but a much more curious activity. Kaufmann relates one of his observations: "I came upon an adult male. When I first saw him he was sitting quietly beside a creek, but he soon wandered into a damp thicket of alder, spicebush, and false hellebore. Before disappearing from sight, however, he began to rock back and forth. I followed, trying to stay just close enough to see what he was up to without disturbing him. Fortunately, he did not scare easily, which allowed me to approach within a few yards as he meandered, walking and rocking. First, I noticed that the rocking was caused by short bouts of stomping with the front feet, alternating between left and right. Then he suddenly jabbed his head at the ground and ate something. This behavior continued for a half hour, and several times I caught a glimpse of the prey - earthworms snatched from the surface. I suddenly realized the turtle was 'grunting' for worms!" Turtle preparing to stomp; i.e . 'grunt ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 118 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf065/sf065b05.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 135: MAY-JUN 2001 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Don't Stomp on Ball Lightning!Mid-December 1991. Brixham, Devon. Two young men aged about 22/23, Mr. Andrew Clark and friend, were inside Mr. Clark's cottage when a storm of lightning and thunder began. Suddenly, an orange fuzzy airborne blob, the size of a football but not perfectly spherical, came through the wall -- so it was said -- and hovered at a low level. His friend lept on to a settee; Andrew Clark jumped on to the lightning ball. This burnt the plastic sole of one of his training shoes and melted a hole some 50 to 70 mm across. The lightning ball was disrupted and "a part of it" went sideways and burnt out the transformer of his C.B . radio (to which was attached a radio mast fixed on the roof outside). The total duration of the event had been about five seconds. Andrew's foot was quite badly burned and he had to go to the doctor for treatment. (Anonymous; "Ball Lightning at Brixham in 1991," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 26:22, 2001.) From Science Frontiers #135, MAY-JUN 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 57 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf135/sf135p12.htm
... , p. 93, April 11, 1998.) Mummified llamas yield superior wool. The wool found on a group of mummified llamas that had been sacrificed and buried some 1,000 years ago in Peru had hair far finer than cashmere and far superior to that of modern llamas. The ancient Peruvians apparently knew how to breed their animals to accentuate certain features. Their secret was lost during the Spanish conquest. (Anonymous; "Mummified Llamas Yield Superior Wool," NEARA Transit, 10:6 , Spring 1998.) Telestomping elephants. Elephants, rhinos, okapis, and even some birds use infrasound (frequencies below 20 Hertz) for communication. At a recent meeting of the American Acoustical Society, University of California researchers reported that elephants also send low-frequency acoustic signals by stomping the ground. Almost inaudible in the air, the sounds travel through the ground and can be picked up by ground microphones. It is thought that this communication channel has a range of as much as 50 kilometers -- far greater than the sounds could be perceived in the air. Supporting this notion, anecdotes say that elephants somehow know when other elephants are being killed far, far away. They run in the opposite direction! But how do they detect the stomping sounds if they travel through the ground? (Anonymous; "Stomping Ground," New Scientist, p. 25, December 13, 1997.) Some sperm are immense -- and nutritious. Fruitflies smaller than a tomato seed pro-duce sperm almost 6 centimeters (2 .3 inches) long. These ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 38 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf118/sf118p09.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 114: Nov-Dec 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Do woodcocks "grunt" for worms?Earthworms have a potentially fatal habit: When they detect vibrations propagating through the ground, they quickly squirm their way to the surface. Perhaps they think a mole is tunneling after them, or maybe rain is beating down above. Whatever goes through their "minds," they emerge on the surface in response to vibrations and may be snapped up by several species that know their weakness. Human fishermen know the worms' weakness and "grunt" for them in several ways; say, by drawing a notched stick across the trunk of a small tree to generate vibrations. Wood turtles are said to "stomp" for worms. (SF#65) Kiwis and Kagus also stomp for their dinner. (Kagus are rather strange birds found in New Caledonia.) We have just learned that Woodcocks will beat their wings against the ground to coax earthworms within range. (Hennigan, Tom; "A Wonderfully Bizarre Bird," Creation/Ex Nihilo , 19:54, September-November 1997.) Comment. Woodcocks seem to lure worms to the surface in still another way: They "bob" or "rock" their body in a most peculiar manner. It is thought that the resulting pressure waves are transmitted to the ground through their feet and that these bring their favorite prey to where they can be grasped. (Marshall, William H.; "Does the Woodcock Bob ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 24 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf114/sf114p03.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 65: Sep-Oct 1989 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The samurai and the ainu Breaking the 12,000-bp barrier Astronomy Sweeping anomalies under the rug Fossil from mars? Biology The wood turtle stomp Why the hammer head? Initial bipedalism! Microorganisms at great depths Geology Fossil ufos Chemical surprises at the k-t boundary Geophysics Unusual sounds preceding lightning Books about the crop circles Psychology Pi in the mind! Calendar calculating by "idiot savants" General How fares cold fusion? How fares benveniste? ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 15 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf065/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 98: Mar-Apr 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Some Shaky Observations Back in SF#65, we offered an item on how wood turtles stomp the ground to force earthworms out of their burrows. (When humans do this -- and they do -- it is called "grunting for worms!) Other animals also use vibrations for communication and, rather surprisingly, for cutting leaves. Malaysian tree frogs. Zoologists already knew that Puerto Rican white-lipped frogs use vibrations to communicate amongst themselves. The Malaysian tree frog can now be added to the list of substrate vibrators. The female will sit on a reed or small sapling and tap out a "come-hither" message with her toes. The message goes forth in minute seismic waves. The males detect these vibrations and proceed, sometimes in great numbers, to the source of the vibrations, and the species is thereby perpetuated. (Mestel, Rosie; "Courting Tree Frogs Make the Earth Move," New Scientist, p. 8, December 10, 1994.) Leaf-cutting ants. Leaf-cutting ants neatly excise penny-size pieces of leaves and tote them back to their fungus gardens. J. Tautz and colleagues, University of Wurtzburg, noted that the ants chirped as they sliced at the leaves with their jaws. With a little instrumentation, they discovered that during each chirp both ant and leaf vibrated at about 1,000 hertz. The vibration apparently rigidizes soft leaf tissues and ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf098/sf098b09.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 135: May-Jun 2001 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Most Mysterious Manuscript A Nuclear Catastrophe in Paleoindian Times? Astronomy Asteroid Ponds, Beaches and Boulders 0.999999999999999999999999c Sourceless Magnetic Fields? Biology Host Tapeworms for Health! Fall Babies Live Longer Longevity and Sardina Where is the Maestro? Geology Oil Deposits and Rotary Phenomena Does the Earth Breath? Geophysics Kisses from Heaven Don't Stomp on Ball Lightning! Whence Whitings? Psychology Modelling Exceptional Human Experience (EHEs) Unclassified Let There Be Dark! ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf135/index.htm
... 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 Grunting Transcends Biological And Geographical Boundaries "Grunting for worms," that is. Birds are the most frequent worm-grunters; but reptiles do it (turtles, SF#65); and so do mammals (humans, SF#106). Grunting is an amusing and effective technique for luring earthworms to the surface where they can be consumed or used for fish bait. Animals usually grunt for worms by stomping on the ground after a rain. Just why the worms below rush to expose themselves upon detecting these seismic signals is known only to them. Perhaps they think more rain is falling or that a mole is burrowing toward them. All we know is that grunting works. In the article under review, English seagulls are reported doing a flat-footed version of an Irish jig to entice their dinner to the surface. Oystercatchers, on the other hand, prefer a reel-like dance in which they cavort in circles and straight lines. Somehow, the grunting technique has been communicated to birds everywhere. Red-billed gulls in New Zealand grunt for worms, so do the olive thrushes of South Africa. (Smith, Richard Hoseason, et al; "Rain Dance," New Scientist, p. 102, May 12, 2001.) Comment. It is mildly anomalous that this unlikely hunting technique is found in so many places and employed by so many species. Our own research adds that strange New ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf136/sf136p05.htm
... and Snakes with Aerodynamic Surfaces [BRB] Receptacles for Carrying Eggs Young Reptiles with Lures Snake with Extra Hinge in Jaw Reptiles that Change Color Midwife-Toad Saga (Kammerer) Gecko with Velcro Feet Neoteny and Heterchrony All-Female Species [BRF Parthenogenesis, Virgin Birth] Giant Reptiles Tuatara Third Eye Salamander Cannibalistic Morphs Convergence among Island Lizards Living Fossils (Evolutionary Stasis) Throat Teeth in Snakes Fringed Feet on Desert Lizards Olms Hairy Frogs Snakes Have Two Penises Changing Color to Control Temperature Spines to Condense Moisture Frogs with Pouches for Young Incubator Structures on Toads Chameleon Tongues Longer Than Bodies Riddle of the Basilisk BRB BEHAVIOR Snakes Swallowing Young Frogs Swallowing Young Frogs "Appreciating" Music Arboreal Salamanders Frogs Croaking in Unison Lizards Running on Water Pair-Bonding in Frogs Unusual Copulation Technique in Iguanas Snake Balls Frog Battles Turtles Stomping for Worms Lizards Rain Down from Trees Unusual Lizard Courtship Lizards Mimicking Insects Fabled Snakes (Hoop and Milk Snakes) Iguana Sociality Toad Handedness Death Feints Frog Cocoons Chicken-Eating Frogs Snake Maternal Impressions Decapitated Snakes Dangerous Flying Reptiles [BRA] "Vagabond" Female Green Turtles Tuataras Copulate Like Birds Horned Toads Squirt Blood Cannibalism in the Womb in Salamanders Snake Odor-Warfare Evolution of Instincts BRC BIOCHEMICAL PHENOMENA Snakes Produce Antivenins Effective against Many Different Venoms Newt and Toad Eggs Are Toxic Identical Chemical Defenses in Some Birds and Frogs Snake Venoms Vary with Geography Human and Crocodile Hemoglobins Very Similar Electrodynamic Fields in Reptiles Poison Frogs Get Their Poison from Their Prey Electrical Fields around Frog Eggs Remarkable Biochemical Reactions during Tadpole Metamorphosis BRD DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE AND TIME Amphibian Decline Worldwide Blind Cave Dwellers Mass Migrations and Concentrations Out-of ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 5 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /cat-biol.htm
