[meteorite-list] Pseudofossils, Meteorwrongs, and Newspapers

From: Michael Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 17:31:59 -0700
Message-ID: <CDF4CA8F.2FF2F%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Thanks, Paul,
        The "Big Foot Skull" made me laugh out loud, literally.
I am thinking of utilizing that image in my Physical Anthropology
classes.
        Good one, Michael



On 6/29/13 9:15 AM, "Paul H." <inselberg at cox.net> wrote:

> Meteorwrongs are not the only scientifically dubious
> material that seems to get regularly published in the
> local newspaper without any scientific vetting. Not
> only are newspaper regularly publish stories about
> meteorwrongs without any critical analysis, they also
> publish stories about various pseudofossils that
> people have found. An example is:
>
> Man claims he found fossilized Bigfoot skull
> (Todd May of Utah says he believes his rock is
> a Bigfoot skull because he has seen live specimens.)
> Portland Press Herald, June 29, 2103
> http://www.pressherald.com/life/man-claims-he-found-fossilized-bigfoot-skull-_
> 2013-06-29.html
> Image at http://media.pressherald.com/images/portland-press-herald_3768607.jpg
>
> Man believes he found fossilized Bigfoot head
> by Mark Saal, Standard-Examiner, June 28, 2013
> http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Man-believes-he-found-fossilized-Bigfoot-he
> ad-4637134.php
>
> Similarly, it must have been an extremely slow day for
> news for this paper to have published the below story.
> It seems like the editor should have killed this story
> politely, but immediately.
>
> Mystery Rocks of Half Moon Bay: Resident Believes
> They are Dinosaur Artifacts. (Steve Culbreth shows
> off his rock collection in a photo slideshow.)
> by Angela Swartz, Half Moon Bay Patch, April 4, 2013
> http://halfmoonbay.patch.com/articles/check-out-these-unique-rocks-found-in-to
> wn#photo-13816954
>
> The Secret Life of Rocks by Steve Culbreth, Nov. 13, 2009
> http://www.slideshare.net/steveculbreth/the-secret-life-of-rocks-2497489
>
> Some articles related to such pseudofossils are:
>
> "Pareidolia." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia
>
> Pareidolia: Seeing Faces in Unusual Places
> by Kim Ann Zimmermann, LiveScience Contributor
> http://www.livescience.com/25448-pareidolia.html
>
> Mimetoliths by R.V. Dietrich
> http://stoneplus.cst.cmich.edu/mimetoliths/
> http://condor.cmich.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p1610-01coll1/id/3445
>
> Yours,
>
> Paul H.
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Received on Sat 29 Jun 2013 08:31:59 PM PDT