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Å Our cover is a portion of the newest image of the
famous Cydonia region of Mars, which contains many geological anomalies. It is
best known for the “Face” object near the upper right corner. The image was
taken by Mars Express, the
Mars-orbiting spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA). The original image
is in color.
Å *** NOTICE:
Our mailing address as of 2006 is: Meta Research /
Å *** As a first step in our transition to internet
publication, this issue will be available to our readers on-line. To read
and/or download or print the on-line version with its higher-resolution, color
original graphics and active links, go to the following link: http://metaresearch.org/publications/bulletin/2006issues/0915/Mrb06c.asp.
Please send suggestions about making accessibility easier to tomvf@metaresearch.org.
Å We begin this issue by repeating our important 2-part notice
of planned changes to both this publication and other Meta Research activities that
will affect all Members and subscribers for 2007. Additional details of these
changes will appear on our annual renewal form.
Å Our lead article discusses the official decision of
the International Astronomical Union in August 2006 to drop Pluto from the
ranks of the major planets and reclassify it as the first member of a new class
of “dwarf planets” – a change that has proved unpopular with large numbers of
scientists and the public alike. It concludes with a description of the
petition for reconsideration signed by hundreds of astronomers.
Å Our second article is entitled “Specious science”. It
actually collects three unrelated topics in the news over the last six weeks under
one umbrella through the common theme of scientists or their agencies drawing
unwarranted conclusions from data where some prior interest or bias exists. The
three topics we develop here are (1) the question of the existence of “dark
matter”, (2) the question of origin of the Cydonia Face mesa, and (3) the
question of the nature of the microwave radiation arriving from all directions
on the sky. This last topic was just recognized in an inappropriate way in the
newly announced Nobel Prize for Physics.
Å Meta Science
in the News also carries three
stories in this issue because much is happening on many fronts these days, all
of it favorable to Meta Science (though no one could tell that from the papers
and press releases). The first news note is about observations of the supposed
first burst of galaxy formation and the supposed void that preceded it. The
second concerns the Stardust
mission’s findings about the chemical nature of comets. And the third mentions
the finding of the most distant objects yet seen in our solar system (over 100
au from the Sun) and the implications of these finding for the structure and
origin of the solar system.
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