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Science
Over the Edge
A
Roundup of Strange Science for the Month
Applet credit:
Ed Hobbs
December
2011
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In the
News:
 Ancient Whale Found in Marble - Last month's Journal
of Vertebrate Palaeontology tells the strange tale of an
Italian marble vender named Francioni who found a whale.
Not in the Ocean, but in a slab of marble he was cutting.
At first he thought it was a dinosaur, but when he contacted
the University of Pisa, Giovanni Bianucci, who studies ancient
marine life, told him it was an ancient whale of a type
called an archaeocete. Bianucci found that the marble
came from the Tarfa Valley in Upper Ebypt near the town
of Shaikh Fadl. The new species has been named Aegyptocetus
tarfa ("Egyptian whale from Tarfa") and is estimated to
be around 40 million years old. The largest part of the
specimen is a skull 27 inches (68cm) long. Part of the back
bone has also been preserved, but the limbs have been lost.
Unhealed bite marks suggest that the whale may have met
its end because of a shark attack. Though Francioni was
going to sell the fossil to a private collector, the city
of Pisa intervened and the ancient whales is now on permanent
display at the University's Natural History Museum.
Sunstone Legend Might be True - Legend has it
that the Vikings navigated on stormy or cloudy days by holding
a "sunstone" up to their eyes that revealed the direction
of the sun. Now according to an article in the Proceedings
of the Royal Society B, a team of researchers has replicated
this trick using a type of crystal called an Icelandic spar.
Much of the Vikings exploration came in the 8th to 11th
centuries before the invention of the magnetic compass,
so navigation by the sun was extremely important. The spar
is a crystal of calcium carbonate with a special property
called birefringence, which means the light entering the
crystal is split and travels down two paths giving a double
image. The brightness of the image is dependent on the angle
the light entered the crystal. By comparing the brightness
of the two images the user can locate the position of the
sun, even on a cloudy day, within about 5 degrees. Though
these sunstones have yet to have been found at a Viking
settlement, one was found on the 1592 wreck of an English
ship, whose large cannon would have interfered with the
accuracy of a magnetic compass.
Nano-sized SUV - Scientists have built a four-wheel-drive
vehicle only one nanometer in length, which is less than
one billionth the size of a standard SUV. Scientists at
the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have constructed
the vehicle out of carbon and it can drive in a straight
path along a copper surface. The vehicle gets its power
from electrons that are shot at it from an electron microscope.
Scientist hope to use what they learn from this vehicle
to figure out how to transport molecules in a nanoparticle
machine or factory. James Tour of Rice University in Texas,
US, described the miniature SUV as "… an important and fundamental
milestone in the quest for nanomachines that will one day
do useful work."
Ice 10? - In Kurt Vonnegut's famous book, Cat's
Cradle, a new form of ice (Ice 9) is invented that destroys
the world because it freezes at 114 degrees Fahrenheit (46
Celsius) and transfers this property to the world's oceans.
That was only fiction, but scientists Pradeep Kumar and
H. Eugene Stanley do believe they have discovered a fourth
phase of water other than ice, steam and the regular-old
liquid. They think this special form of water occurs under
high pressure at low temperatures. Normally liquid water
usually freezes into ice at 32 Fahrenheit (0 Celsius), but
under high pressure this can fail to happen. Using computer
simulations the researchers found that what does happen
is that under pressure at 54 degrees below zero Fahrenheit
(-48 Celsius) the structure of the water seems to become
extremely ordered much like ice, even though it stays in
a liquid state. This new form of water also seems to be
more conductive of heat, just the opposite of what happens
when water moves into a normal ice state.
Asteroids Giveth and Taketh Away - It has been
accepted that an asteroid strike helped bring the reign
of the dinosaurs to an end, but scientists have been wondering
if another such impact on the Earth was responsible for
the rise of the terrible lizards in the first place. The
theory that a giant meteor strike was responsible for the
mass extinction at the end of the Triassic era that cleared
the way for the dinosaurs has been around for a while, but
Paul Olsen and Dennis Kent of Columbia University think
they finally have found some evidence. The remains of an
asteroid impact crater near Rochechouart, France was re-evaluated
recently to be 199 million to 203 million years old. This
would make it the perfect suspect for the Triassic-Jurassic
extinctions. Though the asteroid seems a bit too small to
have done the job all by itself, Olsen and Kent suggest
that it may have been accompanied by other asteroids, or
was the tipping point in an environment already under assault
by volcanic activity.
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Science Quote of the Month - "Science
is what you know. Philosophy is what you don't know."
- Bertrand Russell
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What's
New at the Museum:
The
Electric Trains of Christmas - Toy
electric trains have been identified with the Christmas
season for nearly a century. How did these miniatures from
the world of transportation become icons of the winter holiday
season?
>Full
Story
Mount
Everest
- On May 29th, 1953, two men reached the highest
peak in the world. A feat that had eluded realization even
after the South and North Poles had been conquired. The
next in our series on natural wonders.
>Full Story
Mysterious Picture of the Month - What
is this thing?
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Ask
the Curator:
Night With the Devil - In the movie Fantasia
there is a work called "A Night On Bald Mountain" by Modest
Mussorgsky and during the intro it says that the Bald Mountain
is a real location and according to tradition, is the gathering
place of Satan and is followers. My question is this has
there been any sighting of paranormal activity around the
mountain? - Ben
The piece you
are referring to was written by the innovative Russian composer
Modest Mussorgsky in 1867. This work, unfortunately, was
never performed before Mussorgsky's death in 1870. In 1881
his friend composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov did an arrangement
of it and this premiered in 1886 quickly becoming a favorite
of concert goers the world round. Leopold Stokowski also
did a new arrangement of it in the early 20th century and
this version that is used in the 1940 Disney film.
Many of Mussorgsky's
works were inspired by Russian folklore and Night on
Bald Mountain is no exception. The use of the word "bald"
is a direct translation from the Russian, but in this case
it really means "bare" as in a mountain with no trees. The
idea stems from the folklore of Eastern Europe in which
witches would meet at midnight on bare hilltops to perform
unholy rites. As Mussorgsky himself wrote "So far as my
memory doesn't deceive me, the witches used to gather on
this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief
- Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a
circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of
a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into
a sufficient passion by the witches' praises, he gave the
command for the Sabbath, in which he chose for himself the
witches who caught his fancy."
Night on Bald
Mountain had a long history. In 1858 Mussorgsky started
working an Opera called St. John's Eve using elements from
Nikolai Gogol's short story St. John's Eve about
a Russian peasant who makes a deal with a witch that costs
him his immortal sole. The project was never completed,
but some of the pieces may have been transferred to The
Witch an 1860 opera project by Mussorgsky based on a
play by the same name written by Baron Georgy Mengden, a
friend of the composer.
It was Mengden's
play the first introduced the idea of a witches' Sabbath
as the centerpiece of the music. The Witch was never
completed, but Mussorgsky used elements of it to compose
St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain (the original
title of the piece) in 1867. The work was meant to be a
"tone poem" which means it is meant to illustrate a poem,
story or picture. In this case the music is used to evoke
in the listener a picture of a meeting of witches with their
master, Satan.
So where is the
Bald Mountain at? Lysa Hora is the location identified by
Mussorgsky in his notes. Lysa Hora is not so much a mountain
as a low hill located inside the boundaries of the Ukrainian
capital city Kiev. The name translated into English comes
out as "Barren Mount" or "Bald Mount." Though today the
hill is fairly wooded, in earlier times much of it had no
trees. It is referred to as a meeting place of witches in
works by Gogol and Mikhail Bulgakov.
In 1872 the
Russian Army built a fort on the hill. Later this was converted
to a storehouse. Beginning in 1906 the Tsarist government
used it as an execution place for over 200 prisoners. Today
it is a nature preserve.
There are claims
that the place is haunted and people have allegedly had
paranormal experiences there, but whether this is because
there is something abnormal about the place, or people are
simply being affected by its reputation is unknown.
Lysa Hora is
just one of a number of "bald" mountains in Eastern Europe
that have an evil reputation. Zamkova Hora, also in Kiev,
has a similar status. In Germany the Brocken, the highest
peak of the Harz mountain range, is also known as a bare
mountain where witches meet. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
used it in his in his play Faust. The Brocken spectre,
an optical illusion that looks a bit like a ghost, but is
caused by fog and bright sun behind a person, maybe the
one of the reasons that this particular peak has a reputation
for paranormal events.
Despite the popularity
of the Rimsky-Korsakov version, modern music historians
suggest that in "fixing" Mussorgsky's music Rimsky-Korsakov
was really changing the character of the work and making
it more bland and acceptable to audiences. The original
version has now been recorded and it is a quite a bit more
of the nightmare that Mussorgsky meant it to be.
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History:
Fate of Flight 19 - December 5th, 1945 marks
the anniversary of one of the most well-known mysteries
of the Bermuda Triangle: The disappearance of Flight 19.
On that date five Avenger bombers took off from the NAS
at Ft. Lauderdale never to be seen again. While proponents
of the Bermuda Triangle suggest that their disappearance
was due to paranormal phenomena, it's more likely their
demise was due to compass failure and poor piloting. For
more information on this mystery check our video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODwlTDOfvGE
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In the
Sky:
Take a Shot at Andromeda - December 24th might
be an excellent time to see if you can find the great Andromeda
Galaxy (AKA M31). It's a new moon so the sky will be very
dark. Pretty much everything you see in the sky with your
naked eye is a member of our own galaxy. However if you
can find M31 you will be looking at something outside our
galaxy about 2 million light years away. To start first
find the great square of the constellation Pegasus. Then
from the top left star, go two stars to the left and up
a bit. Then make a 90 degree right hand turn and head upwards
passing on small star to a dim smudge that is M31. Though
you can see M31 with the naked eye if it's dark enough,
binoculars will definitely help. If you have a problem finding
the great square, first find the big dipper. Use the two
"pointer" stars at the front and draw and imaginary line
through them to the star Polaris (AKA the North Star and
end of the handle of the little dipper) then go an equal
distance on the other side and you will be in the great
square.
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Observed:
Canadian Lake Monster On YouTube - Ogopogo, the
monster that supposedly inhabits Lake Okanagan, in Canada,
put in an appearance on a YouTube video last month. Richard
Huls, while visiting the area, saw something in the lake
and captured it on his cell phone camera. Some of the monster's
supporters claim there is more evidence for Ogopogo in Okanagan
than Nessie in Loch Ness, Scotland. Mr. Huls put his video
up on YouTube, so you can judge for yourself if it is really
the legendary monster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsuMDVmoM7c&feature=player_embedded
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On
the Tube:
Please
check local listing for area outside of North America.
NOVA: What Darwin Never Knew - One
hundred and fifty years later, scientists decode nature's
greatest mysteries--a two-hour special.
On PBS: December
21 at 9 pm; ET/PT.
How Will the World End? - The Mayans predict that time will end on December 21, 2012. But how
likely is a global apocalypse from a scientific point of
view? When, where and will it happen, if at all? Samuel
L. Jackson hosts this CGI spectacular.On The Discovery Channel: Dec 11, 8:00 pm; Dec
12, 1:00 am; ET/PT.
Prophets of Science Fiction: Philip K. Dick - Philip K. Dick lived a life straight from the pages of his mind-bending
sci-fi stories. His writing inspired Blade Runner and influenced
the development of robotics and law enforcement. The troubled
sci-fi legend questioned the definition of reality. On The
Science Channel: Dec 02, 10:00 pm; Dec 03, 1:00 am; Dec 07, 9:00 pm; Dec 08, 12:00 am;
ET/PT.
Prophets of Science Fiction: Arthur C. Clarke - Some sci-fi storytellers are content to predict - but Arthur C. Clarke
creates. His collaboration with Stanley Kubrick on 2001
predicted videophones, iPads, and commercial spaceflight.
His sci-fi legacy inspires us to unveil the mysteries of
the universe. On The Science Channel: Dec 01, 1:00 am; Dec 02, 5:00
am; ET/PT.
Finding the Next Earth - Join astronomers as they enter the final lap in a race to find a planet
capable of sustaining life, a world like ours, the next
Earth. See the launch of Frances CoRot and Americas Kepler
missions, and the smoking hot worlds they discover. See
a controversial and tantalizing discovery of a planet where
life could exist in a strange twilight zone, that is, if
the planet really exists. Astronomers are working to determine
what conditions are necessary for life to exist, and they
are building the radical James Webb Space Telescope, a spacecraft
that can look at the atmosphere around a planet and reveal
whether or not life as we know it actually exists. It could
be the greatest discovery in human history and it could
change how we see ourselves. On The National Geographic Channel: Dec 1, 09:00 PM; ET/PT.
The Truth Behind: UFOs - UFOs. Everyones heard about them but what are they exactly? The Truth
Behind travels to the unofficial UFO capital of the world
to investigate. Charting the rise of UFO sightings from
the 1940s to the present day, the investigation examines
the conspiracy theories, conducts a stakeout in the desert,
looks into a recent sighting, and takes a field trip to
a crash site in Nevada might unearth some clues. Well hear
the experiences of a man whos flown in a real flying saucer
and has got the footage to prove it. All to find the Truth
Behind UFOs. On The National Geographic Channel: Dec 1, 10:00 PM; ET/PT.
The Truth Behind: The Crystal Skulls- Crystal Skulls mysterious artefacts found around the world that have
captured the imagination of new age enthusiasts and esteemed
academics alike. One skull in particular has long been the
source of controversy and intrigue. The Truth Behind Crystal
Skulls looks specifically at the provenance of the Mitchell-Hedges
Crystal Skull, claimed to have been discovered in Belize
in the early 20th Century. The program answers the questions
that continue to mystify its proponents. Is it a contemporary
object of art? Is it an ancient Mayan artefact dating to
over 3000 years ago? This adventurous documentary finds
the answers by delving in to the murky past of the skull
and taking us on a journey through the streets of Beijing,
the jungle of Belize and the cities of Washington DC and
London UK to discover the truth. On The National Geographic Channel: Dec 8, 10:00 PM; ET/PT.
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LGM:
LGM
Archive 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
2008, 2009,
2010, 2011
Copyright Lee Krystek 2011. All Rights Reserved.
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