ALLEZ ALLAIS

Both physicists and astronomers wish fervently that the Allais Effect would
go---far,  far  away !  Not only does the Allais Effect, if real, challenge
General Relativity but it is counterintuitive.

It all began in 1954 when M. Allais, a French economist, who had the
temerity to doubt the the obvious, decided to record the swings of a
simple pendulum for a period of 30 days---just to check out those pompous
physicists !  During his 30-day run, a solar eclipse occured. To Allais'
astonishment, and that of everyone else,  the swingling of his pendulum
sped up during the eclipse.

After lighting this bomb under the physics establishment, Allais went on
to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in economics. His physics experiment was
doubted but no one could question his standing in the intellectual world.

Over the passing years the Allais Effect was both observed and not
obervered  during subseguent solar eclipses.

Recently C. Duif, of the Delft University of Technology, in the
Netherlands, reviwed all the pertinent data.   He concluded that the
Allais Effect IS  real and  also linked to the  anomolous trajectories
of the deep space probes, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, now on the
outskirts of the solar system.

Three indigestible fixes come to mind, all anathema to physicists.

          * So-called Majorana shielding, an un-proven effect in which
             the Moon's mass partially blocks the gavitational force of the
             Sun.

          *  MOND (Modified Newtonian Dynamics), in which gravity
              gets a bit bit stonger at very low accelerations. Also hotly
              debated.

          * The force of gravity is different in different directions ( double
            "ugh").

 (Anonymous; "An Invisible Hand ?", economist.com, August 19, 2004.
Cr. L. M. Nash)

On November 27, 2004, the New Scientist published an article on the
Allais Effect. One of the many letters submitted in response asks why
the Allais Effect has not affected the highly sensitive navigational
equipment aircraft and ships during the solar eclipse.

Comment: Such as Pioneers 10 and 11 ?

(Grant, Peter' "Sunstruck Pendulums."
New Scientist, p. 30, December 25, 2004)