352 results found.
... . 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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... atmosphere could have been afire. This, according to B. Hurdle and colleagues at the Naval Research Laboratory, who speculate that the dinosaur hegemony may ended suddenly in flames rather than in a long, drawn-out whimper. (Day, Michael; "Hell on Earth," New Scientist, p. 5, November 20, 1999) 55 million years ago. Ten million years after the dinosaurs may have roasted in a global firestorm, another methane burp may have erupted from the oceans. This burp was slower and did not ignite but was just as lethal. It filled with atmosphere with a highly effective green-house: methane. The result was a pulse of global warming; as seen in a 5-7 -deg C increase in the temperature of ocean-bottom water during that period. Biological evidence for the event occurs in the skeletons of marine animals that litter the ocean sediments laid down in that lethal period. On the land, prior to the methane release, North America was'populated by an odd assortment of unfamiliar mammals; "unfamiliar" to ustoday because they left no descendents. These archaic mammals succumbed to the effects of the sudden global warming and were ultimately replaced by the ancestors of our familiar deer, horses, and canines that streamed across the now-open Bering Land Bridge. Geology, too, provides evidence of this traumatic event. Ocean-bottom cores reveal landslide debris that was probably triggered by the sudden decomposition of great masses of methane hydrate. Seismic probes of the ocean sediments reveal chaotic zones suggesting a violent event. ( ...
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... fluctuating around 8) and temperatures around 40 C are characteristic of hydrothermal systems on land. Furthermore, altered lavas in the zeolite metamorphic facies, which are rich in zeolites, clays and heavy metal sulphides, would provide catalytic surfaces, pores and molecular sieves in which RNA molecules could be assembled and contained. If the RNA could then replicate with the aid of ribozymes and without proteins, the chance of creating life becomes not impossible but merely wildly unlikely." The article concludes with a statement that self-replicating molecules synthesized in hydrothermal systems would be pre-adapted to "life" in the open ocean if they "learned" to surround themselves with bags of lipids. (Bag of lipids = a membrane.) (Nisbet, E.G .; "RNA and Hot-Water Springs," Nature, 322:206, 1986.) It just so happens that D.W . Deamer, University of California, Davis, has now found that the 4.5 -billion-year-old Murchison meteorite from Australia contains lipid-like organic chemicals that can self-assemble into membrane-like films. His paper was presented before the International Society for the Study of Origins of Life. (Raloff, J.; "Clues to Life's Cellular Origins," Science News, 130:71, 1986.) Comment. Strange that the earth should be "tailor-made" for biochemical operations and that outer space teems with meteorites transporting other ingredients of life-synthesis. That the earth's crust and deep soil are conducive to ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 101: Sep-Oct 1995 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Dragon fish see red Most fish that make a living in deep, dark ocean waters have eyes that are most sensitive to the blue part of the sun's rays (470-490 nanometers). These are the rays that penetrate to the greatest depths in the sea. This adaptation to blue light means that deepsea fish have evolved visual pigments different from those of surface fish and land animals. Visual pigments are complex chemical compounds, and one must suppose that many, many random mutations took place before deepsea fish were able to manufacture visual pigments different from their relatives living near the surface. (Or did deepsea fish come first?) But there is more to this story. Many dwellers in the black abysses generate their own light. They sport bioluminescent organs so they can be seen by others of their own species and, in addition, illuminate prey for easier capture. In another remarkable example of evolutionary convergence, these bioluminescent organs emit light spectrally matching the eye sensitivity of deepsea fish! So far, though, this story is not any more amazing that many others woven into evolution's fabric. But suppose that a deviant species of deepsea fish upset this cosy status quo by evolving visual pigment and bioluminescent organs operating in a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that other deepsea fish could not perceive. It would be as if this species had radar but the others did not! Well, three genera of dragon fish do ...
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... tell us are tens of millions of years old. This doesn't seem very serious until we learn that, given today's erosion rates, these landforms should be deeply eroded or, more likely, completely erased by the forces of nature. This paradox has long been used by Creationists to challenge geological dating methods. Mainstream geologists do recognize the paradox but have had scant success in resolving it. For example, geologist C.H . Crickmay wrote: Again, one finds all over the world, even high above and far distant from existing waterways, smooth-surfaced and level ground -- including everything from small terraces to broad, flat plains -- much of it still bearing intact a carpet of stream alluvium. Such lands were carved and carpeted, evidently, by running water, even though they are now in places where no stream could possibly run... What is remarkable about them is the perfection with which they have out-lasted the attack of "denudation" for all the time that has passed since they lay at stream level. (The Work of the River, New York, 1974) This paradox of uneroded ancient landforms remains as obdurate as the landforms themselves. (Oard, Michael J.; "Antiquity of Landforms: Objective Evidence That Dating Methods Are Wrong," CEN Technical Journal, 14:35, 2000. This Australian Creationist journal asks many such penetrating questions that we should not reflexively ignore.) From Science Frontiers #129, MAY-JUNE 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism ...
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... Of Crater Lake "A mysterious, small aqua-blue pool of dense fluid has been discovered at the bottom of Crater Lake. "' It is bizarre, it is remarkable,' said Jack Dymond, who with Robert Collier heads the three-year Crater Lake exploration project. 'I have never seen anything like it,' he said. "The Oregon State University oceanographer said the pool, about 6 feet in depth, is approximately 3 feet wide by 8 feet long. It is near the lush white and orange bacteria mats found last summer." The murky pool of fluid was discovered during a dive in a research submarine. The temperature of the pool was about 4.5 C (40.1 F) which made it 1 C warmer than the surrounding lake water. (Anonymous; "Strange Blue Pool Found in Crater Lake," Sunday Oregonian , August 13, 1989. Cr. R. Byrd) Comment. Some lakes in northern climes still retain ancient seawater in their bottoms. Also, we have the well-publicized African lakes that suddenly overturn, producing clouds of poisonous gases. See our catalog: Anomalies in Geology. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #66, NOV-DEC 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... were heavily forested, much of the solar energy would be absorbed and converted into heat. Climate-modellers confirm that sunlight-reflecting snow is better for the environment than trees. (Anonymous; "Reflect on It," New Scientist, p. 19, May 13, 2000.) Hydroelectric power is clean . Although widely proclaimed to be among the cleanest energy sources available, some hydroelectric powerplants actually con-tribute more greenhouse gases than large coal-fired plants! Submerged vegetation is the problem. When it decays, it releases greenhouse gases---in quantity. The forests first submerged by the reservoirs behind the dams contribute gases for only a few years. Most of the troublesome biomass is fed into the reservoirs from upstream. Compounding the problem are the vast areas of stagnant water behind many hydroelectric dams. There, in the absence of dissolved oxygen, the rotting vegetation generates methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. (Pearce, Fred; "Raising a Stink," New Scientist, p. 4, June 3, 2000.) From Science Frontiers #131, SEP-OCT 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
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... the Llanos de Mojos once supported a Precolumbian complex of societies linked together by networks of communication, trade, and alliances. Erickson asserts that these cultures erected: .. .thousands of linear kilometers of artificial earthen causeways and canals,... large urban settlements, and intensive farming systems. Indeed, aerial photographs of this immense region show patterns of canals and causeways that stretch from horizon to horizon. This is truly a remarkable, virtually unexplored region of ancient human endeavor. Even the geology of the region staggers the imagination. The Llanos de Mojos is a shelf of alluvial deposits 3,000 meters (2 miles) deep! (Mann, Charles C.; "Earthmovers of the Amazon, Science, 287:786, 2000.) Comment. The earth-and-water cultures of the Llanos de Mojos should be compared to the "hydraulic civilization" of ancient Sri Lanka. (MSC7-X3 in Ancient Infrastructure ) From Science Frontiers #132, NOV-DEC 2000 . 2000 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
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... dark, even zebra-striped on occasion. But it is the bottle-green icebergs that provoke the most interest, for it is not certain why they are green. Is it due to intrinsic optical properties of the ice or impurities? A recent paper by J. Kipfstuhl et al suggests the latter and tells us where these translucent, strikingly green bergs originate. "A comparison of samples from a translucent green iceberg with a core from the Ronne Ice Shelf revealed an excellent agreement in isotopic composition, crystal structure, and incorporated sediment particles. Marine shelf ice which constitutes the basal portion of some ice shelves is considered to be the source of green icebergs. It [the green ice] most likely results from 'ice pump' processes which produce large amounts of ice platelets in the water column beneath ice shelves. These subsequently accumulate and become compacted into bubble-free, desalinated ice." The inclusions in the green ice are probably trapped by the accumulating platelets. Since the green ice is confined to the bottoms of the bergs, it becomes apparent only after the bergs capsize. The green icebergs in the Weddle Sea originate mainly from the Amery Ice Shelf. (Kipfstuhl, J. et al; "The Origin of Green Icebergs in Antarctica," Journal of Geophysical Research, 97:20,319, 1992.) Similar phenomenon. The ice calving from Alaskan glaciers is often a beautiful blue color -- the consequence of the ice's high density rather than inclusions. Alaskans export this ice to Japan where it is popular in drinks at tony parties! ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 103: Jan-Feb 1996 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Remarkable Mayan Suspension Bridge We tend to think Mayan engineering only in terms of those impressive pyramids at Tikal, Copan, and many other sites, but they were accomplished builders of roads and bridges, too. "Scientists working at the Mayan ceremonial center of Yaxchilan, Mexico, have discovered the remains of a sophisticated 600-foot-long suspension bridge built in the seventh century A.D . The bridge, which spanned the Usumacinta River, had massive concrete piers, a rope-cable suspension system anchored to stone mechanisms, towers, and a bed of hard wooden planks. It probably stood for 500 years above water 40 to 150 feet deep, with a steady current of 5 to 7 m.p .h ., which increases to 10 to 15 m.p .h . at flood stage. Civil engineer and archeologist Jame O'Kon says the bridge was the world's longest until 1377, when a larger one was built in Italy." (Anonymous; "Mayan Suspension Bridge," INFO Journal, no. 73, p. 44, Summer 1995. Source cited: Washington Times, February 26, 1995. INFO = International Fortean Organization) Comment. One wonders why such a talented society collapsed so suddenly! From Science Frontiers #103, JAN-FEB 1996 . 1996-2000 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 The Martian Great Lakes P. Lowell hasn't been vindicated by the discovery of sedimentary formations on Mars, but his spirit must be pleased. Lowell's geometrical network of artificial canals have been superceded by great arroyos, flood-created deposits, and now evidence that Mars was once host to ice-covered lakes up to 3 miles deep and as large as Lake Superior. Photos from the Viking spacecraft reveal sedimentary layers up to 250 feet thick that seem to have been laid down by liquid water. The source of the sediments and mode of deposition are unknown. (Anonymous; "Great Lakes on Mars," Science 86, 7:13, April 1986.) Comment. The scientists reporting these findings, S. Squyres and S. Nedell, called attention to this type of Martian stratigraphy in Valles Marineris back in 1984. See SF#37. Reference. Martain layered deposits are cataloged at AME19 in the catalog The Moon and the Planets. To order, visit: here . Viking photo of probable sedimentary strata along the side of a Martian ridge. From Science Frontiers #45, MAY-JUN 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 54: Nov-Dec 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Huge Underground Electrical Circuit "Geophysicists from the Department of Earth Sciences and the Bureau of Mineral Resources have discovered part of a huge underground circuit near Broken Hill (Australia), which contains electric currents of more than a million amps. "The currents are spread too thinly for power production, but their existence helps account for problems experienced generally in interpreting the magnetic data used to produce geological maps. "The circuit was found using a sensor which detects fluctuating electric fields in the earth's crust. These are created in response to electrical events, such as thunderstorms and the movement of dissolved salts in artesian water." (" Scientists Discover Huge Underground Circuit," Monash Review, p. 10, December 1986, Cr. R.E . Molnar, The Monash Review is an Australian publication.) Comment. Could it be that a portion of the earth's "permanent" magnetic field is likewise generated by internal electrical currents? Are the ponderously moving internal convection cells and widely accepted dynamo effect really necessary? In other words, could our planet be a huge natural battery based upon geochemical differences? Reference. Earth-current anomalies are cataloged under EZC5 in Inner Earth. Book details here . From Science Frontiers #54, NOV-DEC 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... First, a tad of background: Great meteor impacts and tektite events seem to have occurred nearly simultaneously with deep-cutting biological extinctions and reversals of the earth's magnetic field. Ever since this apparent synchrony was recognized a few decades ago, theorists have been vying in generating scientific scenarios, especially some mechanism that would reverse the earth's magnetic field. New entrants in the lists are R. Muller and D. Morris, two Berkeley physicists. Here is how they see it: "A sufficiently large asteroid or cometary nucleus hitting the Earth lofts enough dust to set off something like a 'nuclear winter.' The cold persists long after the dust settles because of the increased reflectivity of the snow-covered continents. In the course of a few centuries, enough equatorial ocean water is transported to the polar ice caps to drop the sea level about 10 meters and thus reduce the moment of inertia of the solid outer reaches of the Earth (crust and mantle) by a part in a million. 'That doesn't sound like much, Morris told us. 'But when we realized that this translates into a full radian of slippage between mantle and core in just 500 years, we began to look seriously at the consequences.' With the moment of inertia of the crust and mantle 'suddenly' decreased, the argument goes, they begin spinning faster than the solid-iron inner core at the center of the Earth. The 2300-km thick shell of liquid outer core that separates the mantle from the inner core thus acquires a velocity shear, ...
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... winter snow on Mount Bachelor. Central Oregon is geologically young and plastered with lava flows and cinder cones. It is like a sponge, with many cubic miles of holes, air channels, and open fissures. The air in this rocky sponge is usually on the move in response to changes in atmospheric pressure. The earth absorbs air during barometric highs and expels it during lows. In some spots the expelled air is captured to cool homes during the summer. In the High Cascades, though, the underground winds pose hazards to skiers by creating blowholes in the snow. These blowholes are actually mildly anomalous because they blow out a gentle 40 F breeze regardless of the barometric pressure. Some of Oregon's blowing caves also "breath" without re gard to barometric pressure. Also, the water wells north of Fort Rock Basin often blow for days during periods of high barometric pressure -- times when they should be taking air in. (Chitwood, Larry; "Central Oregon's Underground World Filled with Wind That Roars, Whistles," The Oregonian, Octo ber 3l, 1985. Cr. R. Byrd) Comment. See category GHG2, in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds, for material on blowing wells, etc. This catalog volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Life Seeks Out Energy Sources Wherever They May Be Life is opportunistic; it siphons off energy wherever it can find it. That life utilizes solar energy we all know. And, of course, humans have tapped the atom for energy. In just the past few years, remarkable colonies of life forms have been discovered congregated around deep-sea hydrothermal vents where sunlight is essentially nonexistent. Still more recently, similar life forms have been found clustered around oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. As at the hydro-thermal vents, the clams, worms, crabs, and other organisms depend mainly upon the ability of bacteria to chemosynthesize -- the primary energy source being hydrogen sulfide in the vented water. (Paull, C.K ., et al; "Stable Isotope Evidence for Chemosynthesis in an Abyssal Seep Community," Nature, 317:709, 1985; Also: Weisburd, S.; "Clams and Worms Fueled by Gas?" Science News, 128:231, 1985.) Comment. Since the earth's crust seems honeycombed with fissures and rivers of life-sustaining fluids, subterranean life may be as common as the abyssal chemosynthetic life at the vents and seeps. This versatility of life signals us that we should look for life wherever there is energy of any kind. From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... mice that construct small pyramids of pebbles to extract moisture from the air, we serendipitously ran across the following: " Australian Native Mice . The species P. chapmani builds low mounds of pebbles over its burrow systems, and P. hermannsburgensis may use these mounds after they are constructed. The pebbles are of a uniform size and cover a large area, often a meter in diameter. The pebbles are probably collected both by excavation and from the surface. Some local mammalogists believe these are used as dew traps. Since the air around the pebbles warms more rapidly as the sun rises than do the pebbles themselves, dew forms on the pebbles by condensation. As the areas in which these mounds are found are quite dry, except after a heavy rain, these dew traps solve the problem of water shortage. Local farmers use the many pebble mounds for mixing concrete. It is believed that the ancient people of the Mediterranean region used a dew trap method comparable to that of P. chapmani ." (Nowak, Ronald M.; "Australian Native Mice," Walker's Mammals of the World , Baltimore, 1991, p. 820.) Comment. Now we must decide between at least three possibilities. Since the Australian native mice and Saharan mice are many thousands of miles apart, we have: (1 ) independent mouse inventions; (2 ) mouse telepathy; or, worst of all, (3 ) an example of Sheldrake's morphic resonance! From Science Frontiers #81, MAY-JUN 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... an anomaly. Some of the supposedly indestructable quarks seem to have fragmented, too. The collision energies seem high enough penetrate the integument of the quarks if they are divisible. There may be other explanations of the deviation from theory, but right now quarks seem a bit more fragile than they did just a few months ago. (Wilczek, Frank; "A Crack in the Standard Model?" Nature, 380:19, 1996. Also: Walker, Gabrielle; "The Secret Heart of a Quark," New Scientist, p. 17, February 17, 1996) Comment. If quarks can be split, perhaps their fragments can, too. Do any fundamental particles really exist? Who knows? We started a couple millennia ago with earth, air, fire, and water. We then found atoms, then protons, then quarks. There may be no floor to the universe; it's quicksand all the way down. There may be no roof either, because astronomers are finding ever larger clumps, skeins, and assemblages of galaxies. Matter could be infinitely ag gregative as well as infinitely divisible. From Science Frontiers #105, MAY-JUN 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects New Vertebrate Depth Record S. Eckert, of the University of Georgia, has reported that a leatherback turtle fitted with a recording device dove to 1200 meters. This exceeds the previous record for air-breathing vertebrates (sperm whales). Leatherbacks also hold other records, being the largest of living turtles (over 600 kilograms) and the most widely distributed reptile in the world. They are also capable of maintaining their body temperatures sub stantially above the ambient water temperature, although no one has as yet claimed that they are warm-blooded. (Mrosovsky, N.; "Leatherback Turtle Off Scale," Nature, 327:286, 1987.) From Science Frontiers #52, JUL-AUG 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... for A, B and D. The famous Bimini "wall" or "road," in the Bahamas, has engendered many a sensational article in the popular press. Atlanteans and even extraterrestrials have been credited with the building of the "road" and other constructions reported around the Caribbean island. The fact is that the "road" does exist, but the weight of opinion among those who have investigated it is that it is a natural formation of beach rock fractured in a disturbingly regular manner. But this assessment does not mean that all anomalies in the shallows around Bimini have been exorcised. D.G . Richards, in a splendid article in the Journal of Scientific Exploration gives us a blow-by-blow account of the investigations (both amateur and professional) of Bimini waters. It is a curious panorama of wild claims by adherents of the Cayce-inspired Atlantis searchers and the knee-jerk academic scoffers - both of which go overboard! Be this as it may, our purpose here is the recording of some of the features near Bimini that Richards thinks are still anomalous. Three of these are located at A, B, and D in the accompanying drawing, which is based on an aerial photo taken at 6,000 feet. A is a 90 bend in the renowned "road." This bend is decidedly anomalous for a beachrock formation. B consists of a parallel row of stones. D is made up of regularly spaced piles of stones and extends over 1 miles, cutting diagonally across ancient beach lines. Richards also employed a satellite image ...
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... releasing frozen-in oxygen as well as life forms -- still-living microorganisms and dead creatures that fell onto the Antarctic ice thousands of years ago. Thus, there is a perpetual source of food and new life. Cores drilled from the ice sheet capping Lake Vostok have brought up a great diversity of live microbes that have survived despite the low temperatures and passage of time. A living unicellular alga was found 2,375 meters down in ice about 110,000 years old. Spore-forming bacteria brought up from 2,395 meters are about 200,000 years old and still alive! Although science has proclaimed that Lake Vostok biology must consist entirely of microorganisms, no one really knows what is down there. Another fascinating fact is that some 70 other subglacial bodies of fresh water have been found under the central Antarctic ice sheet. Lake Vostok is only part of a "vast hydrological system." (Kapitsa, A.P .; "A Large Deep Freshwater Lake beneath the Ice of Central East Antarctica," Nature, 381:684, 1996. Monastersky, R.; "Giant Lake Hides beneath Antarctica's Ice," Science News, 149:407, 1996) Comment. Antarctica's "vast hydrological system" could be linked to a global crevicular system of fluid-filled, lifesustaining cracks, fissures, and porous rocks. From Science Frontiers #107, SEP-OCT 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Jupiter would provide us with some very interesting phenomena, but most thought that the debris kicked up by the impacts would reveal something new about Jupiter -- not about comets, since everyone knows what they are! Instead, the long-held theory that comets are simply dirty iceballs is now questioned. Shoemaker-Levi-9 was originally classified as a comet because: (1 ) Its fragments all appeared to be surrounded by comas like all well-behaved comets; and (2 ) It was easily torn apart by Jupiter's strong gravitational field as it narrowly missed Jupiter in 1992. This is just what one would expect from a loosely compacted dirty iceball. But doubts about Shoemaker-Levi-9 's true nature have arisen because of two observations: (1 ) No water vapor has been detected in the plumes thrown up by the impacts of the fragments; and (2 ) The comet's Fragment M, which was supposed to have vaporized in 1993, as comets are wont to do, apparently did not and left a scar on Jupiter like the other fragments. So, Shoemaker-Levi-9 had no discernible ice (unlike comets; it was fragile and easily fragmented (unlike rocky asteroids); and Fragment M did not have a coma (unlike comets but like asteroids)! Was Shoemaker-Levi-9 really a comet? (Roylance, Frank D.; "Is That Really a 'Comet' Hitting Jupiter?" Baltimore Sun, July 20, 1994. Roylance, Frank D.; "Fragment M's Reappearance ...
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... ' flew down to the ground.) Probably light phenomena were present at some other places. "The 1991 Sasovo explosion was accompanied by a number of intri-guing phenomena, sometimes resembling (ball) lightning and even tornado damage. There was some unusual and selective damage in the town and even in the village 20 km from the epicenter. Azimuth distribution of hurled frozen soil from the crater and damage had four lobes. But, on the other hand, a tree 10 m from the epicenter was undamaged. There was no damage on the ground level at a distance up to about 1 km from the crater (only ground swing and jerking), but several high suspended electric wires were torn off. At large distances, there was unusual damage at the ground level, and even water pipes at a distance up to 15 km from the epicenter were torn off. During the explosion, in closed and undamaged rooms, in most cases different things flew with soft landings, and even some people were transported by a unknown force. Hollow plastic toys and electric lamp bulbs exploded. Inner windows were smashed while outer ones were undamaged. At a distance of about 10 km from the main crater, two more pits in the ground appeared simultaneously with the main crater. Soil was hurled, and there were light phenomena." (Ol'khovatov, A. Yu.; personal communication, March 1994. Russian references cited by Ol'khovatov were: Izvestiya , p. 8, November 17, 1993; and Izv. AN USSR Earth Phys , 27:606, ...
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... may be the largest deep earthquake of the century -- magnitude 8.2 -- exploded 640 kilometers beneath Bolivia. "Exploded" may or may not be the proper word. Geophysicists are really not certain what causes the very deep quakes, because at 640 kilometers rocks are so hot that they flow rather than snap under geological stresses. The more common, shallow earthquakes are generally created when rocks snap and fracture. Since the deep quakes seem to be concentrated in subducted slabs of terrestrial crust that plunge down deep into the earth's mantle, geophysicists suppose that the increasing heat and pressure applied to the descending slabs may cause "explosive" phase changes in minerals contained in the slabs. Phase changes often involve volume changes that, if sudden, might generate seismic waves. Too, water of hydration in minerals may be explosively turned into vapor. But this is all surmise at present. The Bolivian quake also caused the whole earth to ring like a bell. Every 20 minutes or so, the entire planet expanded and contracted a minute but detectable amount. Another surprise: the Bolivian earthquake was felt a far away as Seattle -- the first time that a quake in that part of South America has been actually felt in North America. (Kerr, Richard A.; "Bolivian Quake Deepens a Mystery," Science, 264:1659, 1994. Also: Monastersky, R.; "Great Quake in Bolivia Rings Earth's Bell," Science News, 145:391, 1994.) Deep-focus earthquakes are cataloged in EQQ1 in our catalog ...
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... strong contrasts in the roughness of the ocean surface in the lee of those idyllic islands with their volcanic peaks that poke over 10,000 feet into the Pacific airstreams. These long streaks on the ocean surface are called "wind wakes." The wind wake leeward the Hawaii is spectacular. These islands are swept by steady northeast trade winds. Mauna Kea (4201 meters), Mauna Loa (4201 meters), and other Hawaiian peaks penetrate high above trade inversion. Together they create a visible wind wake some 3,000 kilometers long to the west -- many time-greater than any other island wind wakes to be seen on the planet. The effects of these soaring peaks are more than visual. Their wind wake drives an eastward ocean current that, in turn, draws warm water away from the Asian coast 8,000 kilometers distant from Hawaii. Thus, a few island mountains affect the climate of a continent a fifth of the way around the globe! (Xie, Shang-Ping, et al; "Far-Reaching Effects of the Hawaiian Islands on the Pacific Ocean-Atmosphere System," Science, 292:2057, 2001.) Comment. The Hawaiian wind wake is not anomalous but it is surely interesting. From Science Frontiers #137, SEP-OCT 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people ...
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... up to 23,000 b.p ., which have no counterparts in the probable catchment area of the first colonizers, Indonesia; while in North America the earlist human settlers used elaborate projectile points, which have no counterparts in the final Pleistocene of eastern Siberia. When and where did such innovations then evolve?" Bodnarik's aolution to this double dilemma assumes that the first colonizers in both cases did indeed come from the north-- -some 40,000 years ago in both Australia and North America - but that their invasion paths were confined to the low coastal areas. Then, as the Pleistocene ended and the ice sheets melted, the sea level rose to obliterate the signs of earliest occupation. Therefore, if archeological digs could be conducted under a few hundred feet of water along the continental shelves, the artifact gap could be filled! (Bodnarik, Robert G.; "On the Pleistocene Settlement of South America," Antiquity, 63:101, 1989.) Comments. Dredges have brought up elephant teeth from the continental shelf of earthern North Ameriva, but we are not aware of any human artifacts. The continental shelf along North America's west coast is hardly a thoroughfare, for it is very narrow. *Very old signs of human activity have now (1997) been found in northern Australia. (SF#110) Also in 1997, Clovistype projectile points were reported from eastern Siberia. The situation is still in a state of flux. From Science Frontiers #63, MAY-JUN 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 109: Jan-Feb 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Rogue wave smashes the queen elizabeth ii September 11, 1995. North Atlantic. Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II enroute from Cherbourg to New York. During this crossing of the Atlantic, the Queen Elizabeth II had to change course to avoid Hurricane Luis. Despite this precaution, the vessel encountered seas of 18 meters with occasional higher crests. At 0400 the Grand Lounge windows, 22 meters above the water, stove in. But this was only a precursor. "At 0410 the rogue wave was sighted right ahead, looming out of the darkness from 220 , it looked as though the ship was heading straight for the white cliffs of Dover. The wave seemed to take ages to arrive but it was probably less than a minute before it broke with tremendous force over the bow. An incredible shudder went through the ship, followed a few minutes later by two smaller shudders. There seemed to be two waves in succession as the ship fell into the 'hole' behind the first one. The second wave of 28-29 m (period 13 seconds), whilst breaking, crashed over the foredeck, carrying away the forward whistle mast. .. .. . "Captain Warwick admits that sometimes it can be difficult to gauge the height of a wave, but in this case the crest was more or less level with the line of sight for those on the bridge, about 29 m above the surface; additionally, the ...
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... Here follows a recent account: "Looking across the field of winter wheat to the east..., he suddenly noticed at a distance of 80 metres... what he took to be a large puff of white 'bonfire smoke' rising to 15 feet (5m) maximum height. The outer part of this 'smoke' column was scarcely rotating but the middle part, which was too thick to see through, was spinning rapidly. In a couple of seconds the effect had ended; the spinning central column had gone and the residual 'smoke' or cloud of fog drifted gently in the prevailing light north-east wind towards the southwest and dissolved after going several yards. He used the word smoke out of convenience but said that the effect was more likely caused by water vapour, cloud droplets or fog. He further emphasized the swiftness of the appearance and disappearance of the phenomenon. It had arrived suddenly like 'smoke from a distant cannon' or just as if 'a smoke-filled or fog-filled balloon had suddenly burst.' That is to say, it emerged as if from nowhere. He made the further point that the spinning column might have been very much longer than he could judge, for he realized that the only part he could see was the part rendered visible by the smoke or fog. The diameter of the cloud was about the same as its height, viz 4 or 5 metres." The same phenomenon appeared again a few seconds later, and still again 5 minutes later. Many crop circles have been found in ...
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... only 0.1 - 0.4 micrometers in diameter) are everywhere on earth, but it seems that virtually no one knows about them. The furor over ALH 84001 has underscored professional and public ignorance of nannobacteria. Some scientists have asserted that bacteria could never be as small as those "objects" seen in the greatly magnified photos of ALH 84001. This claim led R.L . Folk to fire off a letter to Science that began with these two sentences: "Enough! As one of the discoverers of mineralized nannobacteria on Earth*, I must come to their defense. They are so abundant in samples I have studied that I believe they may make up most of the Earth's biomass." Folk reports that nannobacteria are found just about everywhere: hot-spring waters, decaying leaves, even blood. Nannobacteria are key players in the earth's surface chemistry, precipitating a host of minerals and acting symbiotically to precipitate organic hard parts. (Folk, Robert; "In Defense of Nannobacteria," Science, 274:1288, 1996.) Comment. Ignorance of nannobacteria is not surprising. One needs a scanning electron microscope to see them. * See: Folk, R.L .; Journal of Sedimen tary Petrology, 63:990, 1993. From Science Frontiers #110, MAR-APR 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Bone Bed Discovered In Florida A new bond bed has been discovered south of Tampa. Paleontologists say it it is one of the richest fossil deposits ever found in the United States. It has yielded the bones of more than 70 species of animals, birds, and aquatic creatures. About 80% of the bones belong to plains animals, such as camels, horses, mammoths, etc. Bears, wolves, large cats, and a bird with an estimated 30-foot wingspan are also represented. Mixed in with all the land animals are sharks' teeth, turtle shells, and the bones of fresh and salt water fish. The bones are all smashed and jumbled together, as if by some catastrophe. The big question is how bones from such different ecological nitches -- plains, forests, ocean -- came together in the same place. (Armstrong, Carol; "Florida Fossils Puzzle the Experts," Creation Research Society Quarterly, 21:198, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #39, MAY-JUN 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 111: May-Jun 1997 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Carnot Creatures Photosynthesis is the ultimate source of energy for most of the life forms we recognize here on earth. Sure, there are also a few creatures that derive their energy by oxidizing the sulfides dissolved in the 400 water gushing forth from deep-sea vents. We will call them "geochemical creatures" to separate them from the "photosynthetic creatures" we are more familiar with. But, in principle at least, there could also be "Carnot creatures", whose metabolisms depend upon temperature differences like almost all human-built engines. Some bizarre animal, such as a meter-long tube worm, could plant one end on a hot rock surface and dangle the other in cold seawater to reject waste heat from its Carnot engine. Since thermodynamic-cycle efficiencies can approach 60% compared with only 10% for photosynthesis, evolution would have been remiss if it had not tried to evolve "Carnot creatures." For, as D. Jones comments below, Carnot creatures would be adaptable to many more habitats in the universe than photosynthetic creatures, which must have a sun with a very specific electromagnetic spectrum. "Many worlds, from distant 'brown dwarf' stars to the satellites of giant planets, may have internal heating but no effective 'Sun'. If Carnot life is possible, it may well have evolved in such dark and distant places -- making life abundant throughout the Universe. Indeed, our distant ...
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... It clearly showed a pentagonal pattern of canals surrounding Elysium. It is almost certain that these were not a 'picture defect'!" (Ref. 1) Searching for explanations, J. Gallagher has discovered that many of the prominent canals drawn by Lowell, Schiaparelli, et al, actually closely follow contour lines drawn on USGS maps of Mars from Viking data. It is quite possible, then, that the "canals" are really only elevational differences in Martian topography. (Ref. 2) Global Cooling. The Hubble Space Telescope recently photographed Mars when the planet was nearly totally shrouded by high cirrus clouds. Mars is now cloudier than it has been for years. The reason for this is that the planet's average temperature has fallen by almost 20 C. What little water vapor exists in the atmosphere freezes out into cirrus clouds. Why has Mars cooled so drastically? Because the huge dust storms of the Viking years have mysteriously abated. Now, we have to explain why dust storms no longer envelope the planet! (Ref. 3) References Ref. 1. Louderback, Daniel; Letter, Strolling Astronomer , 37:131, 1994. Ref. 2. Gordon, Rodger; Letter, Strolling Astronomer , 37:89, 1993. Ref. 3. Kerr, Richard A.; "Hubble Glimpses a Hazy Day on Mars," Science, 267:1912, 1995. Cross references. Modern sightings of canal-like lines on Mars can be found in The Moon and the Planets. Details here . From Science Frontiers #100, ...
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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 Expanding Phosphorescent Rings May 9, 1983. Gulf of Oman. Aboard the m.v . Mahsuri. "At 1650 GMT, a pale green glow was seen to emanate from the horizon ahead. This gave the appearance of strong moonlight upon the surface of the water. The moon, however, was not in evidence. At 1700 GMT, rapid flashes of light were observed sweeping across the sea directly ahead of the vessel, giving the initial impression of a sudden increase of wind speed causing excessive spray. By 1715 GMT, the vessel was totally surrounded by completely random movements of light as far as the eye could see. The onset of this phenomenon was so rapid, not to say eerie, that the Master was called to the bridge to witness the event. For the next 15 minutes the sea was at a height of activity, displaying several systems of the most unusual bioluminescence. The most significant of these were what appeared to be Phosphorescent Wheels, which, although they did not seem to rotate, originated from a central hub and spread out rings in rapid succession, forming concentric circles. This was pointed out by many of those who observed them as being similar to the instance of a stone being dropped into a quiet pond and causing waves to spread out. In this case each wave crest was a band of fantastic light. Each wheel would last for a couple of minutes, continually flashing out bands of ...
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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 From The Depths Of The Amazon Trawls lowered between 9 and 45 meters into the Amazon's muddy waters have brought up many bizarre fish never seen before. J. Lundberg and his team from the University of Arizona found two species of electric fish that subsist entirely on the tails of other electric fish. Some of the catfish are armorplated; others are transparent; another catfish is only 8 millimeters (1 /3 inch) long. Most interesting to taxonomists will be two separate species of electric fish that can be told apart only by the different patterns of electrical discharges they generate! What will trawls capture in the Rio Negro which is about 100 meters deep in one place? (Bille, Matthew A.; "Recent Discoveries: Fishing in South America," Exotic Zo ology , 4:1 , March/April 1997. Publication address: 3405 Windjammer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920.) From Science Frontiers #112, JUL-AUG 1997 . 1997-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... crack running westwards for about 6 m. Close to the hole this crack is somewhat widened, and one side of the crack twists itself 25-30 cm above the other. This twisting decreases as one gets further from the hole. The crack gradually subsides, and it is hard to tell exactly where it ends. "About 12 m NW of the hole there is an arched crack of about 15 m lying with its concave side towards the hole. It is plainest in the middle. Here the side closest to the hole has been twisted upwards about 15 cm. Here also the crack gradually disappears at both ends. There is an open hollow beneath the part which has been twisted upwards, about 30 cm below the surface. One theory has lightning creating a steam explosion from underground water. If this were the case, one would expect to find some fusion of the earth and more havoc wrought to the divot. "The slab of turf has an area of about 5 m2 and this should give a weight of between 1500-1700 kg." The article concludes with a brief description of three similar occurrences of the phenomenon in Norway. (Dybwik, Dagfinn, and M ller, Jakob J.; "Phenomenon in an And ya Moor - An Insoluble Mystery?" Ottar , no. 5, p. 15, 1988. Cr. T. Jonassen) Comment. One could easily dismiss (with a knowing smile) a single occurrence of the cookie-cutter phenomenon - but now we have a total of seven! The situation becomes more serious. ...
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... faulting is not a trivial geological process. To illustrate, the Lewis Overthrust in Montana and adjacent Canada involves the shoving of a block of old strata hundreds of feet thick, hundreds of miles long, over younger rock for a distance of possibly 50 miles. In contemplating such overthrusts, one immediately comes face to face with the Mechanical Paradox. Brief-ly, given the coefficient of friction between the layers of rock, the weight of the thrust block, and the mechanical strength of the rock being pushed, it can be shown that pushing the thrust block at the rear edge will crush it long before it begins to slide. For nearly a century, geologists have been trying to resolve this Mechanical Paradox. Three potential solutions have been proposed: (1 ) Lubricate the sliding surfaces with water under high pressure (the pore-pressure approach); (2 ) Allow the thrust block to slide, not as a unit, but in small discrete areas at different times (the dislocation approach); and (3 ) Push the thrust block not only from the rear edge but along the top surface (the tapered wedge approach). In fact, all three solutions may apply; but there is no consensus so far. Each solution has problems. (Washington, Paul A., and Price, Raymond A.; "The Mechanical Paradox of Large Overthrusts; Alternative Interpretation and Reply," Geological Society of America, Bulletin, 102:529, 1990.) Comment. Note that scientific creationists consider large thrust faults as arrows in their quiver. If a " ...
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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 Galloping Glaciers North America boasts 104 surge glaciers. No one knows why these glaciers behave so differently from normal glaciers; they certainly look the same. But while ordinary glaciers creep along a few inches per day , surging glaciers will sometimes charge ahead at the rate of several yards per hour . The surges may be years apart; and they may occur periodically. The surges start high up on the glacier and propagate down to the foot, which plods along a few inches per day until the surge arrives. Then, it leaps forward, only to return to normality until the next periodic surge. The surges seem to occur when water spreads out under the ice, lubricating its flow. Beyond this we know little. Why do some glaciers surge while those right alongside behave normally? Are the surges really cyclic? The Variegated Glacier, in Alaska, for example, surged in 1906, probably in 1926, in 1947, in 1964-65, and in 1982 -- about 20 years between surges. The surges do not seem to be connected to earthquakes, climatic changes, volcanic heat, or anything obvious. (Beard, Jonathan; "Glaciers on the Run," Science 85, 6:84, February 1985.) From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Sourcebook Subjects Degruyerizing Switzerland Some of those astounding "holes" in the integument of Switzerland have been made less mysterious by one of our Swiss readers. Two holes, which we did not mention specifically, have turned out to be a hoax and a mundane sinkhole. The hole at Confignon, which we did pinpoint, was actually 66 feet in diameter and 40 feet deep; but, according to the official geologist of the Geneva Canton, it was simply subsidence due to the drilling of a tunnel. Only the hole at Begnins (actually discovered December 15, 1982) retains an aura of mystery: "The case was investigated by the official geologist of the Vaud Canton, who found no rational explanation. He put forward the hypothesis of the existence of an old gallery for the harnessing of water. Unfortunately, the verification of his hypothesis would be too expensive, so the hole was filled up." (Mancusi, Bruno; personal communication, September 8, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #78, NOV-DEC 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... 80: Mar-Apr 1992 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Thousands Of Grebes Fall From The Skies December 10, 1991. Minersville, Utah. About 9:30 PM, the skies of Minersville were filled with the cries of birds. According to V. Hollingshead "They were just falling out of the sky, hitting the church, cars, the ball parks. Hundreds of them fell all over the streets. You could hear them hitting each other in the air, and hitting the ground." Minersville Elementary School Secretary S. Taylor reported that the birds landed everywhere, including the roofs of houses; they even broke some automobile windshields. Hundreds were killed, but many survived their fall and were taken to bodies of water where they could rest and take off. (Grebes cannot take off from land.) The birds were identified as eared grebes, which were migrating from Great Salt Lake to Baja California. It was theorized that a snowstorm and fog had exhausted and disoriented them. (Christensen, Kathleen; "Thousands of Grebes Fall from the Skies," Spectrum , December 12, 1991. Cr. D.H . Palmer.) From Science Frontiers #80, MAR-APR 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... ve just had a hard day evolving into the first life-form on your primitive planet, and you're ready to chow down. Problem: What can you eat? A quick survey of the food chain isn't promising; you're it. Do you simply starve to death, ending your world's brief experiment with life? Not if a rust-colored substance called tholin is within reach. Tholin may have served as breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the first life on Earth." The tholins are hard, red-brownish substances made of complex organic compounds. They do not exist naturally on earth, because our present oxidizing atmosphere blocks their synthesis. However, tholins can be made in the lab by subjecting mixtures of methane, ammonia, and water vapor to simulated lightning discharges. Conditions like this probably exist many places in the universe. In fact, the icy moons of the outer solarsystem planets appear ideal places for tholin manufacturing. What would eat such stuff? Lab tests show that many kinds of bacteria love it and thrive on it. (Chaikin, Andrew; "First Foods," Discover, p. 18, February 1991.) Comment. A purposeless universe that just happens to create a substance for primitive life? Strange that things should be this way! From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... but only the largest of them. The elliptical swirls of the smaller waves do not reach down to the rock shelf and are unaffected. But when bigger swells encounter the shelf they are amplified into giants. So challenging are these waves that. when conditions are right, expert surfers boat out to Cortes Bank and wait for the really big ones. Mike Parsons caught the first wave at dawn. It was 18 metres tall and moving at around 40 knots. You can't paddle fast enough to get onto a wave like that---you have to be towed by a jet ski. Evan Slater, editor of Swell.com, did try paddling onto a wave, but had to abandon his board and dive deep underwater to avoid being churned by the mammoth grinding walls of water. 18 meters is about 60 feet, but oceanographers calculate that an 18-meter wave is only 70% of what the Cortes Bank can generate. 25+ meters (80+ feet) is tops. (O 'Hanlon, Larry; "California Screaming," New Scientist, p. 34, July 28, 2001.) From Science Frontiers #139, Jan-Feb 2002 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free ...
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... road in Lake Wales, Florida. Here, at Spook Hill, the road "seems" to slope downhill, but yet cars in neutral apparently roll up the incline. Wilder, a member of the Tampa Bay Skeptics, made several pertinent observations during his investigation: "( 1 ) Although the phenomenon is striking when one approaches Spook Hill from one direction, if one gets out of the car and looks back, it is quickly apparent that one's senses have been deceived. Because the illusion fails when one looks in the opposite direction, the road has been made one-way, so that tourists will not be disappointed! "( 2 ) A storm drain is positioned at the true low point of the road, and cars seem to roll up to the drain. Water, in its gravitational wisdom, knows where to go! Neither were the city engineers fooled." Conclusion: Spook Hill is only an amusing illusion; there is no gravitational anomaly. (Wilder, Guss; "Spook Hill: Angular Vision," Skeptical Inquirer, 16:58, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #79, JAN-FEB 1992 . 1992-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... same body. Such mental and behavioral facets of multiple personality are well-recognized, even if not understood. What is even stranger and more anomalous about multiple personality is the remarkable mind-body relationship manifested. Consider, for example, the case of Timmy: "When Timmy drinks orange juice he has no problem. But Timmy is just one of close to a dozen personalities who alternate control over a patient with multiple personality disorder. And if those other personalities drink orange juice, the result is a case of hives. "The hives will occur even if Timmy drinks orange juice and another personality appears while the juice is still being digested. What's more, if Timmy comes back while the allergic reaction is present, the itching of the hives will cease immediately, and the water-filled blisters will begin to subside." How does one explain such phenomena? We cannot obviously, at least not yet. What the phenomenon of multiple personality does do is offer us a "window" for observing that mysterious interface between one's thoughts and bodily functions. Perhaps, if we can heal the mind, we can also heal the body. (Where have we heard this before?) (Goleman, Daniel; "Probing the Enigma of Multiple Personality," New York Times, p. B7, June 28, 1988. Cr. J. Covey) From Science Frontiers #59, SEP-OCT 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... not be determined, the bands appeared to be of great dimension. While still proceeding through the bioluminescence and observing astern, it was noted that the formation of the bands became disrupted and seemed to diffuse a ragged appearance at the perimeter of the wheel to the port side of the vessel. Judging by the distance of the vessels close by -- which were being tracked by radar -- the extent of the rotating bands to the west could not be determined but they were estimated to be between and n. mile. The duration of the phenomenon was 4 minutes from entering to leaving the bioluminescence." (Lehepuu, K.; "Bioluminescence," Marine Observer, 52:76, 1982.) Comment. Bright marine bioluminescence is not uncommon in the Atlantic, particularly in warm waters, but it is very unusual to find geometrically organized displays. The light wheels seen in the Persian Gulf and South China Sea are more frequent and more highly structured. No one has ever come up with a good explanation of how simple marine organisms cooperate to produce such large, complex, rotating displays. From Science Frontiers #117, MAY-JUN 1998 . 1998-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 117: May-June 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hard Facts At Cahokia Monk's Mound, the largest mound at the Cahokia Mounds State Historical Site, in Illinois, is not what it seems. Superficially, it is a terraced earthen mound 100 feet high and more than three football fields long. What we now see of the mound was apparently constructed between 900 and 1200 AD. The prevailing dogma has long been that the Indians who built Cahokia worked only with earth, never with stone. Indeed, suitable stone is scarce in the area. On January 24, 1998, while drilling to construct a water drainage system at Monk's Mound, workers hit stone -- at least 32 feet of it -- perhaps a region of cobbles or slabs of rock. This region of stone, of undetermined geometry, is located 40 feet below one of the terrace surfaces, but still well above the base of the mound. The stones could well be an artificial structure of some sort. The discovery challenges the current thinking about the culture that built Cahokia. Only further research will reveal the extent and configuration of the stony region and where the stones may have come from. An editorial in the March 14, 1998, St. Louis Post-Dispatch put the Cahokia discovery in the larger context: New World archeology is in flux. Humans occupied the Americas long before 12,000 BP, and some of them may have been Caucasian (e .g ., ...
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... patterns from North America to Australia lurch ponderously in sympathy. El Ninos occur every 4-7 years, suggesting some periodic phenomenon is waving a geophysical baton. The real cause of El Ninos is still obscure. However, the recent discovery of over 1,000 previously unmapped submarine volcanos rising from the seafloor in the eastern Pacific may lead to El Nino's source. The synchronous eruption of, say, 100 of these volcanos might warm the ocean around Easter Island a tad -- just enough to warm the atmosphere above a bit -- resulting in a shift of the high pressure area. The area of intense volcanic activity covers 55,000 square miles of sea floor where the Pacific and Nazca plates are separating. In addition to the active volcanos, many plumes of 800 F water gush from the sea floor in this area. The volcano-El Nino link is, therefore, not so far-fetched. (Nash, Nathaniel C.; "Volcano Group in Pacific May Cause El Nino," Pittsburgh Post Gazette, February 14, 1993. Cr. E. Fegert) Comment. If submarine volcanos do cause the El Ninos, and the El Ninos are periodic, the submarine volcanism would have to be periodic, too. This implies an unrecognized rhythm in the earth's internal fires. From Science Frontiers #89, SEP-OCT 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... chemistry in titan's atmosphere From the abstract of the referenced paper: "An organic heteropolymer (Titan tholin) was produced by continuous dc discharge through a 0.9 N2 / 0.1 CH4 gas mixture at 0.2 mbar pressure, roughly simulating the cloudtop atmosphere of Titan [one of Saturn's moons]. Treatment of this tholin with 6N HCl yielded 16 amino acids by gas chromatography after derivatization to N-trifluroacetyl isopropyl esters on two different capillary columns...The presence of 'nonbiological' amino acids, the absence of serine, and the fact that the amino acids are racemic within experimental error together indicate that these molecules are not due to microbiol or other contamination, but are derived from the tholin...These results suggest that episodes of liquid water in the past or future of Titan might lead to major further steps in the probiological organic chemistry on that body." (Khare, Bishun N., et al; "Amino Acids Derived from Titan Tholins," Icarus, 68:176, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #49, JAN-FEB 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... So unbelievable are the reported experimental results that the editors of Nature felt compelled to add an "Editorial Reservation" stating that, "There is no physical basis for such an activity." This is all great stuff. The original French work was duplicated by six other laboratories in France, Italy, Israel, and Canada. What makes it even more fun is the homeopathy connection. Homeopathic medicine is based on the theory that substances causing the symptoms of a disease in a healthy person can cure a sick person displaying these symptoms, providing the dose administered is vanishingly small. Science strongly and passionately debunks homeopathic medicine. The Editor of Nature thinks that there must be a systematic error somewhere. Other scientists suggest that, perhaps, somehow, the antibodies left an "imprint" on the diluting water molecules. So far, we have not read that Sheldrake's "morphic resonance" theory has been invoked. The first phase of this controversy is about complete, and we now list the references we have used so far. (Davenas, E.; "Human Basophil Degranulation Triggered by Very Dilute Antiserum against IgE," Nature, 333:816, 1988. Also: Browne, Malcolm W.; "Impossible Idea Published on Purpose," New York Times, June 30, 1988. Cr. D. Stacy, M Truzzi. Also: Nau, Jean-Yves, and Nouchi, Franck; "La Memoire de la Matiere," Le Monde, p. 1, June 30, 1988. Cr. C. Mauge. Also: Beil, L ...
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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 Those Old Maps Of Antarctica Was Antarctica nearly ice-free within the last few thousand years? Did the old navigators sail into these now-frigid waters and map this great southern continent? One way to answer such questions is by turning to old maps and, then, asking the geophysicists if most of the continent's ice cover could have disappeared fairly recently, as some ancient maps are purported to show. C.P . Hapgood, well known for his book Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, believed that ancient mariners did indeed map Antarctica when those climes were warmer. More recently, J.G . Weihaupt came to similar conclusions by a different route, which included geophysical considerations. (See SF#36 and #38.) Now, D.C .Jolly has put the whole problem in perspective in an excellent review. Jolly has studied the data in depth, as indicated by his 51 sources. In his view, it boils down to the fact that the old maps, which people of all persuasions use, are often incomplete and ambiguous. One can read a lot into them. To claim an ice-free Antarctica, one has only to make a few assumptions. For example, one reduces the size of a map feature here and rotates another there. It seems that those old map-makers didn't get things quite right! Jolly is fair about the whole business and ...
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... of the oil they pump out of the ground was formed tens and hundreds of millions of years ago from biological debris. But in the Guaymas Basin, in the Gulf of California, the oil seeping out of the sediments is only 4240 years old! Actually, it could be even 500-3000 years younger than that for two reasons: (1 ) The organic debris that was C-14-dated may have taken many years to become incorporated in the sediments; and (2 ) The dating may be skewed by older material in the sediments. By subtraction, the oil might be as young as 1240 years! The picture geologists draw of the Guaymas Basin is that of a spreading center covered by perhaps a half kilometer of sediments. Spewing up from the spreading center is hot water at 300-350 C, which "cracks" the organic material in the sediments, converting it into petroleum only 10-30 meters below the sea floor. (Hecht, Jeff; "Youngest Oil Deposit Found below Gulf of California," New Scientist, p. 19, April 6, 1991.) Comment. Since spreading centers are really cracks in the earth's crust, it is possible that some of the feed materials for this modern "petroleum factory" in the Guaymas Basin could consist of abiogenic, primordial methane and other organics seeping up from deep within the earth. Reference. Many questions remain about the origin and migration of oil. Many of these are discussed in ESC13 in our catalog: Anomalies in Geology. Details here . From Science Frontiers #76 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A COSMIC CAUSE FOR THE OZONE HOLE?Wouldn't you know it? Now they are blaming the polar ozone holes on Frank's icy comets -- or something very much like them! M. Dubin and I. Eberstein, two NASA scientists think that small icy comets can account for the seasonal ozone hole and the mysterious polar strato spheric clouds that form during the winter. They propose that ozone molecules bond to tiny ice particles in the winter and, when spring arrives, solar ultra-violet radiation converts water (ice) plus ozone into oxygen and hydroxyl ions. (Anonymous; "A Cosmic Cause for the Ozone Hole?" Sky and Telescope, 75:465, 1988.) From Science Frontiers #58, JUL-AUG 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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