380 results found.
... reply to the July 28 report in Nature, Benveniste complains that the three double-blind tests, the negative ones, "worked poorly mainly due to erratic controls." (Bell, L.; "Nature Douses Dilution Experiment," Science News, 134:69, 1988.) Comment. Closely related to the French dilution experiments with antibodies was a clinical trial of a homeopathic treatment for hay fever, carried out by D. Reilly, of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and published in The Lancet about two years ago. "In trials with double-blind controls, he and his colleagues found that a solution, so dilute as to contain no molecules of pollen from the original solution, reduced allergic symptoms." (From: Vines, above.) Naturally, we will be keeping SF readers up-to-date on this matter. Already comparisons are being made with R. Blondlot's famous experiments with N-rays -- experiments that were also duplicated in other laboratories. The solution may be psychological rather than physical. From Science Frontiers #59, SEP-OCT 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf059/sf059p07.htm
... voice range, one may speculate that some forms of human chanting, enhanced by the cavity resonance, were invoked for ritual purpose." In a few cases, it appeared that some of the standing stones had beeen intentionally positioned to enhance the chamber's acoustical properties. (Jahn, Robert G., et al; "Acoustical Resonances of Assorted Ancient Structures," Technical Report PEAR 95002 , Princeton University, March 1995. Devereux, Paul, et al; "Acoustical Properties of Ancient Ceremonial Sites," Journal of Scientific Exploration, 9:438, 1995.) Comment. Apparently, humans living over 5,000 years ago were rather sophisticated in their ability to manipulate sound to impress audiences. This talent has not been lost; for example, rock music! *We will cross-reference SF items with both issue number (# 00) and page number (/ 00) in the book Science Frontiers, which collects the first 86 issues of SF. For orders of the latter, see: here . From Science Frontiers #102 Nov-Dec 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf102/sf102a01.htm
... 5 kilometers in diameter. No biological extinctions are correlated with the 2.3 -million-year date, but there appears to have been a major deterioration of climate at about this time. There was a shift in the marine oxygen isotope records and, more obvious, the creation of the huge loess (sandy) deposits in China. What the impact may have done is to vaporize enough water into the atmosphere to increase the earth's albedo, reflecting sunlight back into space, lowering the average temperature, and thus triggering the Ice Ages. (Kyte, Frant T., et al; "New Evidence on the Size and Possible Effects of a Late Pliocene Oceanic Asteroid Impact," Science, 241:63, 1988.) Comment. Aficionados of the Ice Age problems will have to add this theory to the already long list of Ice Age hypotheses. From Science Frontiers #59, SEP-OCT 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf059/sf059p12.htm
... and other cetaceans also seem to "talk" to one another, and that other animals employ their sense of smell for relaying messages. But most of us do not realize that lowly fireflies congregate to communicate en masse, with untold thousands of individuals cooperating in huge synchronized light displays. In reading some of the descriptions of these great natural phenomena, one recalls the light displays used to communicate with the aliens in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind . J. Buck has been studying flashing fireflies for over half a century. In fact, his first review paper was published in 1938. Buck has now brought that paper up to date in the current Quarterly Review of Biology with a 24page contribution. It is difficult to do justice to this impressive work in a newsletter. Our readers will have to be satisfied with a mere two paragraphs, in which Buck summarizes some of the incredible synchronies. "More than three centuries later Porter observed a very different behavior in far southwestern Indiana in which, from the ends of a long row of tall riverbank trees, synchronized flashes '. .. began moving toward each other, met at the middle, crossed and traveled to the ends, as when two pebbles are dropped simultaneously into the ends of a long narrow tank of water...' "In 1961 Adamson described a still different type of display, the first from Africa: 'It is then too that one sees the great belt of light, some ten feet wide, formed by thousands upon thousands of fireflies whose green phosphorescence bridges the shoulder-high grass. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf061/sf061b08.htm
... tumor, in 1950. Among 43 statements that Iranga made about the previous life, 38 were correct for this family, the other 5 were wrong, unverifiable, or doubtful. Iranga's village was 15 kilometers from Ilpitiya. Each family had visited the other's community, but they had had no acquantance with each other (or knowledge of each other) before the case developed." Stevenson's conclusion was that the three children had information about deceased persons that could only have been obtained paranormally. (Stevenson, Ian, and Samararatne, Godwin; "Three New Cases of the Reincarnation Type in Sri Lanka with Written Records Made before Verification." Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 176:741, 1988.) Comment. Our prediction is that sciencein-general will remain unimpressed by such data. From Science Frontiers #62, MAR-APR 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf062/sf062p12.htm
... the surface lithographic plate has been sliding over a fixed mantle plume. The heat brought to the surface via this plume has created the volcanic chain as the surface plate has drifted over it during the past 73-or-so million years. Obviously, this model is starkly contradicted by the fossil plume under South America (described above) that seems to have been firmly attached to the South American plate for 120 million years. No differential motion there! Now, from a different line of evidence, P.D . Ihinger is challenging the well-entrenched "Hawaiian-volcanic-chain" theory. For example, the Hawaiian volcanoes do not line up exactly. There are dozens of short, overlapping segments rather than a continuous trace across the Pacific basin. On the map, you will also see a sharp dog-leg in the trace. Further, the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, only 40 kilometers apart, disgorge lavas that are distinctly different. Something is not right! Ihinger postulates a strong mantle current flowing ponderously under the Hawaiian chain, dissecting the rising plume of hot rock into small "plumelets". These discrete blobs of hot rock are dispersed by the current of semi-solid rock and disrupt the expected simple pattern. (Ihinger, Phillip D.; "Mantle Flow beneath the Pacific Plate: Evidence from Seamount Segments in the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain," American Journal of Science, 295:1035, 1995. Also: Monastersky, R.; "Volcanoes Reveal Earth's Hidden Currents," Science News, 148: 357, ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf103/sf103g10.htm
... helicopters and jets that they lose their balance as they attempt to keep track of them. (Tweedie, Neil; "Scientists to Check on Toppling Penguins," The Age, November 2, 2000. As downloaded from the web: www.theage.com.au/frontpage/20001102/A22021-2000Nov2.html . Cr. P. Huyghe) But a missive from the British Antarctic Survey insists: .. .there is no scientific evidence for penguins falling over backwards when helicopters overfly. (Holden, Constance, ed.; "Prostrate Penguins?" Science, 290:1495, 2000.) Comment. Some birds are easily mesmerized. For example, one can hypnotize a chicken simply by holding it down on a flat surface for a minute or two. This will sometimes immobilize it for over an hour! (See BBX3-X1 in Biological Anomalies: Birds.) Magpies pay for their meals. One day last July, Gill Waring noticed a magpie by the birdbath in her garden in Rosefield Avenue, Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside, after she had put some bread out for the birds. After that the magpie kept returning and she started finding coins around the birdbath. One day she saw it leaving money. After a month, the bird had left 1.70 pounds in denominations including 5p and 2p. Magpies, of course, are attracted to bright objects and have a reputation as thieves. (Anonymous; "Magpie Leaves Tip," Fortean Times, p. 23, no. 141, December 2000. Source cited: Daily ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf133/sf133p07.htm
... a billion virus particles into your stomach! This level of virus density in natural water is about 10 million times that formerly estimated. Besides reducing your thirst, what are the implications of this discovery? First, it suggests that bacteria in natural waters are probably kept in check by viruses as well as protozoans. So far, this sounds good. Second, since viruses can ferry genetic material between organisms via transduction (i .e ., host DNA is carried to the next host). This means that genes for antibody resistance and increased bacterial virulence (as present in sewage) may be spread quickly and widely. Also, "engineered bacteria" proposed for use in agriculture, viz., the ice-minus bacterium created to protect strawberries, may die, but their new genes will soon be everywhere. (Weiss, R.; "Aquatic Viruses Unexpectedly Abundant," Science News, 136: 100, 1989.) From Science Frontiers #66, NOV-DEC 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf066/sf066b10.htm
... his work became increasingly sophisticated. Eventually, he was painting Indians, churches and haciendas recalled from distant memories of his youth. Similarly, a 51-year-old housewife who had never had artistic training took up painting. She initially created unsophisticated images of rivers, ponds and rural settings; later, elaborate and sometimes eccentric versions of the works of great masters. Unfortunately, such new-found talents are short-lived. They, too, deteriorate. (Stein, Rob; "Patients' New Gift Paints Clearer Image of Disease," The Brain in the News, p. 7, October 30, 1998. Cr. J. Cieciel) Comment. This peeling away of mental barriers suggests that we all have hidden or suppressed capabilities. Perhaps, some day, we will know how to unlock these in normal people. It is pertinent here that in idiot savants these mental barriers are also somehow removed to expose remarkable mathematical talents, such as calendar calculating. See OUR UNTAPPED TALENTS in SF#125. From Science Frontiers #133, JAN-FEB 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 thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf133/sf133p15.htm
... seven letters in an undetermined script below; and a 15- inch ceremonial slate spear point showing on one side a bearded, trousered man in a hat or helmet with one arm severed and one foot missing, and on the other side a bear-like animal with two spears sticking out of him. In front of the bear are marks resembling the Roman numerals for eight, with the V tipped to one side." Members of NEARA (New England Antiquities Research Association) have visited the site; and professional archeologists have been invited to inspect the finds. (Wiggins, John R.; "Archaeological Riddle," Ellsworth American , August 3, 1989. Cr. J. Covey.) Comment. Obviously, we have here either a hoax or an important anomaly. Time will tell. Maine amulet with unusal symbols. On the other side is an eye of God -- an Old World motif. From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf067/sf067a03.htm
... , or perhaps it's a religious imperative for them!] Before you crumple up this issue of SF and hurl it at very high energy into a wastebasket, consider these two paragraphs from the Times article. "' We are beginning to see how universes can be created,' Professor Harrison says. 'A small amount of matter -- roughly 10 kg -- at very high energy is forged into a black hole. Under the correct conditions, the interior of the black hole inflates into a new universe that endures for billions of years and contains billions of galaxies.' "At most, he argues, human intelligence is only one million years old. 'If we can already see how in principle universes can be created, then surely our descendants in the far future will have the knowledge and technology to design and create them.'" (Hawkes, Nigel; "Aliens May Have Created Universe, Says US Scientist," London Times, August 21, 1995. Cr. B. Greenwood via L. Farish, UFO Newsclipping Service, #2 Caney Valley Drive, Plumerville, AR 72127-8725) Comment. So, if we evolve further, as we must be doing, we can create new universes ourselves and truly be like gods! And we look down on the alchemists of yore. From Science Frontiers #104, MAR-APR 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf104/sf104p13.htm
... are not too dissimilar. Persinger relies upon the electromagnetic medium; Jahn's is not specified. Jahn and Persinger are visionary regarding their research. It is perhaps well to reproduce Persinger's warning: "Within the last two decades, a potential has emerged which was improbable but which is now marginally feasible. This potential is the technical capability to influence directly the major portion of the approximately six billion brains of the human species without mediation through classical sensory modalities by generating neural information within a physical medium within which all member of the species are immersed." (Ref. 1) Can Orwell's Big Brother be far away? Some writers, such as J. Vallee, suggest that we are already being manipulated via some unrecognized information channel. References Surely all readers of SF will understand that Science and Nature do not yet publish the types of research just described. Ref. 1. Persinger, M.A .; "On the Possibility of Directly Accessing Every Human Brain by Electromagnetic Induction of Fundamental Algorithms," Perceptual and Motor Skills, 80:791, 1995. Ref. 2. Jahn, Robert G.; "' Out of This Aboriginal Sensible Muchness': Consciousness, Information, and Human Health," American Society for Psychical Research, Journal, 89:301, 1995. From Science Frontiers #104, MAR-APR 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf104/sf104p14.htm
... of 40 kilometers. If Gold's hypo-thesis about the origin of methane is correct, methane might well be found seeping up through this wound in the earth's outer skin. Further, the shattered granite might prove to be a gigantic reservoir of valuable methane. The Swedes decided to drill. After three years and the expendi-ture of $40 million, drilling at the Siljan Ring has been terminated. The drill penetrated to 6.8 kilometers before it got stuck. No significant methane had been found. The experts snickered! But the story is not finished, at least as far as Gold is concerned. He maintains that the drilling stopped just short of an apparent reservoir at 7.2 kilometers (probably located by seismic methods). Another, deeper hole will vindicate him, he believes. After all, there are tantalizing hints: The drillers did find an assortment of hydrocarbons that could have been deposited by upward-seeping methane. Skeptics say they are derived from the drilling fluids. Tons of micrometer-sized grains of magnetite were taken out of the hole. Gold opines that these grains were synthesized by bacteria subsisting upon seeping methane at a depth of 6 kilometers. Russian drillers on the Kola Peninsula report the existence of intriguing circulating fluids as far down as 12 kilometers. Despite the problems and disappointments at the first hole, some Swedish investors seem ready to finance a second hole at the Siljan Ring. (Kerr, Richard A.; "When a Radical Experiment Goes Bust," Science, 247:1177, 1990.) Reference ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf069/sf069g09.htm
... . They have discerned intriguing synchrony. "Miwa and his colleages studied primeval forests in Japan's Shizuoka and Nigata Prefectures, recording signals for two days at a time. In each forest, there were several groups of between 20 and 50 trees showing a similar pattern of changes in their potentials, each of which contained about half a dozen species. Neighboring trees were the most likely to be synchronized, but the groups did not have rigid boundaries. The membership of the groups was also not fixed: between the first and second days of recording, individual trees 'joined' and 'dropped out'." Miwa advances the idea that the trees must somehow be communicating with each other to achieve this synchrony. Botanists, though, suspect that environmental conditions force this coordinated behavior. Miwa will next remove a few members from each group to see if his arbicides are noticed by the neighbors. (Endo, Shinichi; "Japan's Ancient Trees Whisper Their Secrets," New Scientist, p. 19, May 13, 1995) Cross reference. This is not the first time we have offered evidence of "tree talk". See "Trees Talk in W-Waves". (SF#63) From Science Frontiers #105, MAY-JUN 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf105/sf105p05.htm
... lef off with: "It's time to acknowledge that we do have a pre-Clovis culture in the New World." (Pre-Clovis -before 12,000 years ago.) It's all true! A long-standing consensus has collapsed: the 12,000-year barrier, like the Berlin Wall, has disintegrated. The two most important demolition charges were the widely-accepted dates of 16,000 B.P . from the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Pennsylvania, and 13,000 B.P . from the Monte Verde site in Chile. The Monte Verde date probably represents an American entry date of at least 20,000 years ago, if one accepts that the first Americans trekked all the way down from the Bering Strait to Chile. Will there be a "domino effect" in American archeology? Radiocarbon dates of 33,000 B.P . have already been accepted by some non-American archeologists for the Monte Verde site. Add 7,000 years for the trip south from Alaska, and the entry date is pushed back to 40,000 B.P . There are even older dates - over 100,000 years - suggested by mavericks such as G.F . Carter. It appears that the American past is going to be exciting in the future. (Morell, Virginia; "Confusion in Earliest America," Science, 248:439, 1990.) Coming back to reality, the archeological picture is not changing as rapidly as we have suggested above. Paradigms don't collapse overnight. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf070/sf070a01.htm
... .); and F. Hoyle (The multidisciplinary iconoclast who helped de velop the Steady State theory of the universe.) None of these scientists has recanted, even in face of not-so-subtle pressures to conform. The first paper in Hypothesis. Arp et al summarize in two sentences: "We discuss evidence to show that the generally accepted view of the Big Bang model for the origin of the Universe is unsatisfactory. We suggest an alternative model that satisfies the constraints better." Most of the paper sets out observational evidence for the authors' main themes, as stated parenthetically above following their names. Space is also devoted to the contention that the vaunted "proofs" of the Big Bang are really not. Since these themes have appeared repeatedly in Science Frontiers, we will bypass details here. The paper concludes with suggestions for an alternative to the Big Bang, which is based upon multiple creation events -- thousands of them, each on the scale of superclusters of galaxies! (Arp, H.C ., et al; "The Extragalactic Universe: an Alternative View," Nature, 346:807, 1990.) Comment. There are two ironies: Irony #1 . J. Maddox, Nature's editor, while trying to encourage alternatives to the Big Bang on one hand, has been most fierce in suppressing Benveniste's infinite-dilution research and cold fusion, although perhaps with some justification. Irony #2 . In their conclution, Arp et al remark: "Geology progressed favour-ably from the time Hutton' ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf072/sf072a03.htm
... obdurate chocolate-colored granite in the same room? These granites are much harder than limestone and even harder than the copper saws and drills that the Egyptian stoneworkers had at their disposal. So, how did they work their granite? [No lasers allowed!] The King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid is encased with multiton blocks of hard-to-work granite. For some reason the five granite slabs in the ceiling were finished on only their bottom sides. (From: Ancient Structures) As a matter of fact, there is little mystery here despite what you read in the popular magazines. The Egyptian workers simply dribbled quartz sand beneath the copper saws and drills. This abrasive is harder than the mica and feldspar components of granite but not the quartz. Nevertheless, granite will yield slowly to the abrasive, as do the copper tools themselves. In 1999, D.A . Stocks tested the efficacy of copper saws and drills on the granite in the Aswan quarries 500 miles up the Nile. The copper saw in his test was 1.8 meters long, 15 centimeters in depth, and 6 millimeters thick. Stocks experimented with both wet and dry sand and smooth and notched saws. In one test, workmen cut a slot 3 centimeters deep and 95 centimeters long in14 hours. It was slow work, but the ancient Egyptians had plenty of time and manpower. In the same experiment, the copper saw blade was ground down 7.5 millimeters. Overall, dry sand with a smooth blade worked best. Similar tests with a tubular copper drill were ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf137/sf137p01.htm
... host would also benefit from avoiding the costs of warming an extra egg [the parasite's ] for some of the incubation period, costs that can be considerable, as well as the possible cost of having to rear an extra chick. G.D . Ruxton et al have used game theory to show that Yom-Tov's speculation has considerable merit. However, there are nonadaptive explanations. The females in the species that lay pale last eggs may simply run out of egg pigment, or they may change physiologically as the egg-laying phase nears its end. (Ruxton, G.D ., et al; "Are Unusually Colored Eggs a Signal to Potential Con-specific Brood Parasites?" American Naturalist, 157:451, 2001.) Comment. We will not quarrel with game theory but hasten to point out that the evolution of interspecies signalling requires: (1 ) A population of hosts in which some females, for one reason or other, lay pale last eggs; and (2 ) A population of parasites in which, for one reason or another, some individuals have an aversion to laying eggs in nests with a pale egg. It takes two to signal! 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 thinking about working at home. ABC ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf137/sf137p05.htm
... boundary at Gubbio, Italy. Here, the discovery of an iridium "spike" at the boundary was thought to betoken a sudden, catastrophic, extraterrestrial event. On further study, though, the spike no longer seems so sharp. In fact, it is spread through about 3 meters of sediments at the boundary. Said sediments apparently took 500,000 years to accumulate! This broad smear of iridium no longer seems indicative of a single extraterrestrial impact. (Rocchia, R., et al; "The CretaceousTertiary Boundary at Gubbio Revisited: Vertical Extent of the Ir Anomaly," Earth and Planetary Science Letters , 99:206, 1990.) Comment. Is it even indicative of multiple impacts? Recall that no one has yet (1990) found a single crater that everyone will accept as evidence. Reference. Iridium spikes and the supposed Cretaceous-Tertiary impact are to be found in ESB1 in our catalog: Anomalies in Geology. For more on this volume, see: here . From Science Frontiers #73, JAN-FEB 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf073/sf073g09.htm
... ASTRONOMY. Here, it is our model of the earth's interior rather than that of the sun that is at risk. There is simply not enough helium escaping from earth's crust to account for the heat flowing outwards from our planet's core. You see, most of the earth's internal fires are fueled by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. The heat produced by these disintegrations eventually makes its way to the surface where we can measure it. but the helium (4He) created by the radioactive decay of the uranium and thorium is mostly missing. The discrepancy is large, and scien tists are confronted with the possibility that we are wrong about either the source of the earth's heat or the facts of nuclear physics. You can bet it will not be the latter. We are confident that helium atoms cannot change their type like those solar neutrinos! Neither can we blame chemical sequestration because helium is a noble gas. Perhaps the missing helium is physically trapped and stored somewhere in the earth's mantle. No one knows the answer; nor does any one pay much attention to this clearcut anomaly. (Chin, Gilbert, ed. ; "A Scarcity of Gas," Science, 292:2219, 2001.) 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. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf137/sf137p10.htm
... he is a reductionist. The implication is that everything mental can be reduced to manipulating those 1s and 0s. In reality, Kasparov's brain may have been innovating, working out new strategies, discerning Big Blue's weaknesses. These "higherlevel" functions are needed when the problem (chess) is too complex for a computer to evaluate all possible moves. (A computer can always win or draw at checkers -- a simpler game.) Of course, we do not know how "higher-level" functions are "mechanized" -- perhaps they are not, and there is "something else" going on in the human brain. Another interesting fact, incidental to the Kasparov match, is that Big Blue. Blue, when faced with identical chess boards, will sometimes make different moves! Maybe even Big Blue's behavior is not always reducible to 1s and 0s. (Horgan, John; "Plotting the Next Move." Scientific American, 274:16, May 1996) From Science Frontiers #106, JUL-AUG 1996 . 1996-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf106/sf106p00.htm
... the secret (" ils ont finalement decouvert le pot aux roses"). The crop circles and all the elaborate designs are man-made! In fact the French team demonstrated how one could quickly make circles and more complex designs with a garden roller. Case closed!? (Pinvidic, Thierry; "L 'Histoire Folle des Ronds dans le Ble," Science et Vie , no 878, p. 28, November 1990. Cr. C. Mauge.) Comment. That all crop circles are manmade is debatable, certainly many are, and one can make a case for a meteor ological origin for the simpler geometries. One English contact states firmly that a review of old aerial photographs found no complex patterns at all. But who knows what next week's mail will bring? From Science Frontiers #73, JAN-FEB 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf073/sf073g11.htm
... -Darwinism. Now, neo-Darwinism is supported by many experiments showing that some mutations are indeed random. Consequently, as M. Gillis re-marks in her BioScience article, the biological community 'got locked into its belief that an organism cannot control its own mutation.' Furthermore, Cairns' claims recall the long battle with Lamarckism, a subject that biology has closed-the-book-on. In a nutshell, Lamarckism has been interred since the 1950s, and 'Nobody wants to give the appearance of straying from the neoDarwinism fold.' Gillis goes on to review some recent experiments supporting those of Cairns. But, impressive though these may be, there have been neo-Darwinian explanations for some of the results. Even so, more and more biologists are now willing to accept at least the possibility of non random mutation of bacteria. But, in the end, all participants in the debate recognize a great void: There exists no acceptable mechanism by which a life form can steer its own evolutionary way; that is, shape its own genome. What besides natural selection can do this? (Gillis, Anna Maria; "Can Organisms Direct Their Own Evolution?" BioScience, 41:202, 1991.) From Science Frontiers #75, MAY-JUN 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf075/sf075b06.htm
... . Who built it? Passions are running high in New Zealand, where three hypotheses are being advanced: The wall was built some 2,000 years ago by the first settlers of New Zealand, the Waitahas, who were subsequently nearly exterminated by the Maoris, who arrived only 800 years ago. There are political problems with this theory, for the Maoris insist they are the original New Zealanders and therefore are due compensation for lands expropriated by later Europeans. The wall is merely what's left of a sawmill built only 50 or so years ago. The wall is simply a natural rock formation that has happened to split neatly into rectangular blocks -- like those slabs of beach rock that comprise the controversial Bimini "road" in the Bahamas. Future study of the "wall" will doubtless narrow the list to one. Meanwhile, let's take a look at the wall itself. B. Brailsford, of Christchurch, has been the chief investigator of the Kaimanawa wall, aided by American D.H . Childress, and others. The stones that make up the wall are 4-ton blocks of ignimbrite, a soft volcanic rock that could have been easily dressed with stone tools. The wall is topped by a red beech tree 2.9 meters in circumference and over a meter of accumulated humus. According to Brailsford, who was interviewed by the Listener : "There was no doubt that the stones had been cut. The four visible stones in the front wall were a uniform 1.6 metres tall, and 1 metre wide. In one place ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf107/sf107p00.htm
... seems to be filaments threading the surfaces of cosmic bubbles (voids). It seems to be slow-moving and cold (no electromagnetic radiation), but no one really knows what it is. Apparently, it constitutes 30% of that part of the universe that we have so far detected. (We are doing a lot of guessing here!) Are all the baryons assembled in galaxies? Baryonic matter includes protons, neutrons, and electrons. Baryons should be abundant in intergalactic space, but they are nowhere to be found. What is the dark energy? Whatever it is, scientists have so far only been able to name it. It is thought to be associated with a repulsive force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe. What is the destiny of the universe? Will entropy do us in? (Sincell, Mark; "The 8 Greatest Mysteries of Cosmology," Astronomy, 29:46, June 2001.) Comments, It is easy to add to the above list: (1 ) Why does anything exist? (2 ) Is there life elsewhere in the universe? (3 ) Are redshifts really good yardsticks? (4 ) Are there other universes, as distinct from the other dimensions mentioned above? From Science Frontiers #138, NOV-DEC 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 ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf138/sf138p02.htm
... me but I was alone. I must admit I began to feel a little unnerved by it. I quickened back; the glow could still be seen except it had drifted out over the lake. It was about six feet (two metres) high and three feet (one metre) wide -- although not a column. Indeed, at one point I almost thought it looked like a figure. I have never seen such a peculiar sight in all my days, and only wish someone else had seen it, too. (Roland, Cynthia; "Peculiar Sight in Park," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 26:229, 2001.) Comment. It is the luminous feature of this phenomenon that makes it so interesting. Could it have been a will-o 'the-wisp? Or it might have been kin to the drifting, luminous "bubble" described in SF#102. From Science Frontiers #138, NOV-DEC 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 thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf138/sf138p08.htm
... stra tum consists of 1-6 -millimeter particles of tektite-like glass. Most of the glass particles are spherical, but a few have the splash-forms and dumbbell shapes of bona fide tektites. The thickness of the Haitian deposit and the large sizes of the particles suggest that the smoking gun must be nearby. Ironically, the Haiti stratum was originally classified as of volcanic origin; and we must add that we are presenting here only the conclusions of the asteroid school. But where oh where is this crater? The Manson crater in Iowa (now buried) is of the right age but too small. The best candidate so far is buried in northern Yucatan. The Chicxulub crater is discernible on gravity- and magneticanomaly maps and is probably of the right age. Only drilling will confirm the guilt of the suspect. Even if Chicxulub is the culprit, much debate prevails over exactly how the dinosaurs were done in. Was it a "cosmic winter" due to dust intercepting sunlight? Or perhaps a "cosmic summer" resulting from a super-greenhouse effect caused by: (1 ) impact-released methane trapped in sediments, and (2 ) the CO2 from zapped carbonate rocks. (Smit, Jan; "Where Did It Happen?" Nature, 349:461, 1991, and Sigurdsson, Haraldur, et al; "Glass from the Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary in Haiti," Nature, 349:482, 1991.) Reference. Section ETC in catalog Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds is devoted entirely to impact craters. Ordering data here . ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf075/sf075g09.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Psi Effects In The Sacrifice Of Marine Algae It is safe to say that mainstream science will categorically reject the results of the experiments reported below. The reason is simple: no known mechanism exists for ESP -- in this instance, the anomalous transfer of information between isolated life forms. Experimental setup for measuring the activity of marine algae. Two scientists at the University of Delaware have designed an experiment that measures the activity of marine algae in a seawater culture. By passing a laser beam through the culture and thence to a photomultiplier tube, they can, utilizing the Doppler shift, measure the collective activity of the cells. (See figure.) Various experiments were run by the Delaware researchers, but their second series in particular seems worth reporting. "A second series of experiments used the sacrifice of clones as a distant stimulus. The data appear to show that the marine alga Tetraselmis suecica reacts dramatically to the sacrifice of cells in a physically isolated aliquot of the same culture if the experimenters are aware of the moment of sacrifice, and excited by the novelty of the experiment. In sharp contrast, only marginally significant results were obtained when the same experiment was run entirely automatically, with the time of the sacrifice defined by random number selection, and the experiment activated by computer command in an empty laboratory." (Pleass, C.M ., and Dey, N. Dean; "Conditions That Appear to Favor Extrasensory ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf076/sf076p13.htm
... 1990, 108 pp. This thick booklet bears the subtitle Picture Book of the Stone Age . And a picture book it is, with hundreds of drawings interspersed with 26 pasted-in color photos. The text is English. What do these photos and drawings show? Basically, they portray stones and pepples picked out of gravel pits and similar accumulations of rocky debris that look like human heads, ape heads, primitive tools, etc. Some of the pebbles do indeed resemble humanmade artifacts. (See accompanying sketch.) Most, though, require some imagination. The import of these artifacts, if that is what they really are, comes home when one learns that they come from deposits that are millions of years old! If any of these pebbles are really human-made, anthropology will be stood on its head. Since the present report is the 20th in a series, one can assume that the contributors to Archaeologische Berich ten have amassed incredibly large collections of ancient stones and pebbles that "look like" artifacts. Comment. Similar purported artifacts have been found at the controversial Calico Hills site, California, in Pleistocene deposits that may be 100,000 years old. And don't forget that "Face on Mars"! From Science Frontiers #77, SEP-OCT 1991 . 1991-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf077/sf077a01.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 77: Sep-Oct 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Cooler heads, bigger brains?When anthropologist D. Falk discovered that an automobile's engine was limited in power by its radiator's capacity to cool it, he applied this thinking to the human brain. The human brain, like the automobile engine, must be kept cool if it is to function well. It follows that if the brain of an animal is not functioning well, the body that brain controls will not perform well either. Overheated brains, then, are sure roads to extinction in the highly competitive natural world. A couple million years ago, two groups of human precursors were competing for dominance in Africa. The group that won and subsequently evolved into Homo sapiens had, according to Falk, a better brain-cooling system. The evolutionary development that probably led to this advantage was a more extensive network of emissary veins, which permitted better dissipation of heat. This, in turn, allowed the evolution of larger brains and dominance by Homo sapiens. Other anthropologists, how ever doubt that such a minor change in the circulatory system could account for the emergence of modern man. (Shipman, Pat; "Hotheads," Discover, 12:18, April 1991.) Comment. What an intriguing concept! Perhaps human male baldness also confers more cooling efficiency and is setting the stage for a new expansion of the human brain -- at least the male brain, sorry girls! More seriously ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 13 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf077/sf077b08.htm
