http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/catastrophism/ en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:21:56 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416609/posts Earth's north magnetic pole is racing toward Russia at almost 40 miles (64 kilometers) a year due to magnetic changes in the planet's core, new research says. The core is too deep for scientists to directly detect its magnetic field. But researchers can infer the field's movements by tracking how Earth's magnetic field has been changing at the surface and in space. Now, newly analyzed data suggest that there's a region of rapidly changing magnetism on the core's surface, possibly being created by a mysterious "plume" of magnetism arising from deeper in the core. And it's this region that... National Geographic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416609/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:21:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415631/posts WATERLOO, Ont. (Monday, Dec. 21, 2009) - Cosmic rays and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), both already implicated in depleting the Earth's ozone layer, are also responsible for changes in the global climate, a University of Waterloo scientist reports in a new peer-reviewed paper. In his paper, Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics and astronomy, shows how CFCs - compounds once widely used as refrigerants - and cosmic rays - energy particles originating in outer space - are mostly to blame for climate change, rather than carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. His paper, derived from observations of satellite, ground-based and balloon measurements as well... University of Waterloo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415631/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:11:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415413/posts For thousands of years astrologers have claimed that disasters are foretold in the movement of the planets. Now a new study suggests they might be right. Scientists have discovered that the faint gravitational tug of the sun and moon can set off tremors deep underground in one of the world's most dangerous earthquake zones. Although the pull of planetary objects is too weak to set off a full blown quake, the findings suggest that they could set in motion a chain of events, leading to devastation on the surface. The findings come from a study of the San Andreas Fault... dailymail.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415413/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:36:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414966/posts LEGAZPI CITY – (UPDATE) Alert level 5 could be declared any time on Mayon Volcano but volcanologists are waiting for one important sign – a chocolate-colored mass of ash column shooting straight up into the air as high as 10-15 kilometers from the crater. “Parameters are high until now and the intensifying activity might force us to raise the alert level to its highest level but it would happen only when Mayon shoots a straight ash column containing pyroclastic materials and molten, burning rocks as big as houses or buses from its crater, accompanied by intense rumbling and jittering of... The Inquirer (Philippines) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414966/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:49:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414984/posts The faint tug of the sun and moon on the San Andreas Fault stimulates tremors deep underground, suggesting that the rock 15 miles below is lubricated with highly pressurized water that allows the rock to slip with little effort . . . They found the strongest effect when the pull on the Earth from the sun and moon sheared the fault in the direction it normally breaks. Because the San Andreas Fault is a right-lateral strike-slip fault, the west side of the fault tends to break north-northwestward, dragging Los Angeles closer to San Francisco. "When shear stress on a plane... Daily Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414984/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:37:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414247/posts For almost 50 years, astronomers have puzzled over the youthful appearance of stars known as blue stragglers... They shine brightly, they are older than they appear, and they have, disconcertingly, gained mass at a late stage of life... Now, Mathieu and Wisconsin colleague Aaron Geller, writing Dec. 24 in the journal Nature, show that blue stragglers, in most if not all cases, steal that mass from companion stars and that they sometimes do so by crashing into their neighbors, a scenario once thought far-fetched by astronomers. In the new Nature report, Geller and Mathieu show that the mass-gathering ways of... ScienceDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414247/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:51:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413741/posts During the 70 years that the communists controlled the Soviet Union, they had a peculiar way of teaching history to the people. They would teach things as historical fact that never happened. If you were one of those who took umbrage with their revisionist history lessons, you would soon find yourself living in a tiny apartment in a part of the country where they laugh at anyone who claims the world is getting warmer. In a communist country this is the only way to convince the masses that they are actually better off than anyone in the history of... Enterprise Record Post Scripts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413741/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:19:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414127/posts Yesterday, Dec. 22nd at approximately 0455 UT, magnetic fields around sunspot 1036 erupted, producing a C7-class solar flare. NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft was almost directly above the sunspot at the time of the blast and recorded this extreme ultraviolet movie: The shadowy wave racing away from the blast site is a "solar tsunami"--a swell of hot, magnetized plasma about 100,000 km high packing as much energy as a million megatons of TNT. The tsunami petered out before it went more than halfway around the sun, but another manifestation of the blast is still going. The eruption hurled a faint coronal mass... Spaceweather.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414127/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:05:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413497/posts MANILA, Philippines - The Mayon Volcano's feared hazardous eruption may happen within the week, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Wednesday. "Yes. It is possible because the rate of changing from moderate-sized explosion, as we observed yesterday (Tuesday), is quite fast," Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum told ANC's News@8 when asked if the hazardous explosion may occur this week. Solidum, however, clarified that the Mayon Volcano may still calm down or settle with moderate eruptions during the week. He warned people that the continuous lava flow from the volcano still poses danger and the 6-kilometer to 8-kilometer danger... ABS-CBN News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413497/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:07:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414104/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tidal forces parallel to a segment of the San Andreas Fault in central California may be causing non-volcanic tremors that could help predict earthquakes, researchers said on Wednesday. Low-level tremors have long been associated with volcanoes, because they often warn of impending eruptions. A study published in the journal Nature says these tremors beneath the San Andreas Fault could provide similar clues about earthquakes. The researchers say the faint tug of the sun and the moon on the fault causes tremors well below the level where earthquakes occur. The finding suggests that rock far underground is lubricated... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414104/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:30:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411876/posts Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described in science textbooks. Their study is scheduled for Nov./Dec. issue of ACS' Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly publication. Anurag Sharma and colleagues note that the traditional process involves biology: Prehistoric plants died and changed into oil and gas while sandwiched between layers of rock in the hot, high-pressure environment deep below Earth's surface. Some scientists, however, believe that oil and gas originated in other ways, including chemical reactions between carbon... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411876/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:40:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411726/posts Portuguese scientists have found a depression on the Atlantic Ocean floor they think may be an impact crater. The roughly circular, 6km-wide hollow has a broad central dome and has been dubbed the "Fried Egg" because of its distinctive shape. It was detected to the south of the Azores Islands during a survey to map the continental shelf. If the Fried Egg was made by a space impactor, the collision probably took place within the past 17 million years... It lies under 2km of water about 150km from the Azores archipelago. The depressed ring sits roughly 110m below the... BBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411726/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:37:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2392593/posts I just found this video to be interesting and enjoyable. Enjoy. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2392593/posts#comment Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:33:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375076/posts The scariest story told this Halloween week had nothing to do with ghosts, goblins, or zombies, though it was certainly dripping with huge gobs of Gore. In fact -- the most terrifying words screeched in the past seven days came from the master of environmental horror himself. According to Arab Internet services company Maktoob.com, our favorite greenhouse gasbag spent Tuesday afternoon outlining the reasons why attendees of the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum must change their wicked gas-guzzling ways: “The North Pole ice cap is 40 percent gone already and could be completely and totally gone in the winter months... americanthinker.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375076/posts#comment Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:26:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410686/posts What the rings would look like from different cities and latitudes across the world. It's interesting to imagine how it would effect culture throughout time. It would have influenced religion, mythology, navigation, etc.. Creator - Roy Prol SONG- Schubert's Ave Maria Sung by Barbara Bonney YouTube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410686/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:24:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410988/posts Antarctica not always so cold and remote.... Antarctica harbours bones of dinosaur sand petrified rain forests. Did continental-drift bring Antarctica to the poles...or was it a shift in the earth’s axis that not only caused the death of the Mega fauna, but placed a massive ice sheet on the continent? In 1929, a group of historians found an amazing map drawn on a gazelle skin. Research showed that it was a genuine document drawn in 1513 by Piri Reis, a famous admiral of the Turkish fleet in the sixteenth century. His passion was cartography. His high rank within the Turkish... Various http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410988/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:04:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410919/posts CURIOUS EVENTS IN NEBRASKA: Earthquakes don't rock Nebraska very often. In fact, seismically speaking, it is one of the quietest places in North America. Nevertheless, on Dec. 16th at 8:54 pm CST, USGS seismographs detected a magnitude 3.5 temblor centered near Auburn, Nebraska: Click to view earthquake details and Nebraska seismic probabilities"It sounded like those loud grain haulers that drive by, but about five times louder," reports Laurie Riley, who lives near the epicenter. "The whole house shook. My kids came running down stairs – they were scared. It even moved my car, [which was parked outside on icy ground]."... SpaceWeather.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410919/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:58:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410521/posts December 18, 2009 Deep-sea volcano erupts 4,000ft under the Pacific Sophie Tedmanson in Sydney Scientists have filmed a volcanic eruption 4,000ft (1,220m) under the sea causing molten lava to flow across the deep ocean floor. The incredible footage, recorded by a submersible robot, shows the exact moment that a deep-sea volcano erupts from the ocean floor, sending an explosion of bright red lava bubbles and plumes of smoke-like sulphur through the water. The eruption of the West Mata volcano was filmed by US scientists in May during an underwater expedition south of Samoa. It is the deepest erupting volcano to... The Times(UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410521/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:27:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410788/posts A photo from Cassini shows sunlight reflecting from a giant lake of methane on the northern half of Saturn's moon Titan. (CNN) -- NASA scientists revealed Friday a first-of-its-kind image from space showing reflecting sunlight from a lake on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It's the first visual "smoking gun" evidence of liquid on the northern hemisphere of the moon, scientists said, and the first-ever photo from another world showing a "specular reflection" -- which is reflection from a liquid surface. Jaumann said he was surprised when he first saw the photos transmitting from Cassini, orbiting Saturn about a billion... Cnn.copm http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410788/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:11:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410086/posts Oh, where, oh where have all the sunspots gone? The fiery orange ball overhead has quieted during the past three years. Quiet in the sense that there have been very few sunspots – those black blotches on the sun’s surface caused by intense magnetic activity. But just how quiet is quiet? Well, so far during the recent solar minimum (a period of low activity during the sun’s typical 11-year solar cycle), we’ve seen 183 sun-spotless days in 2007, 266 in 2008 and 259 in 2009 (as of Dec. 16 2009). Earth hasn’t witnessed a similar three-year stretch (1911, 192, 1913)... examiner.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410086/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:11:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410013/posts SAN FRANCISCO — When the sun is relatively inactive — as it has been in recent years — the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere cools dramatically, new observations find. space.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410013/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:00:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409363/posts EVENTS IN NEBRASKA: "At 9 p.m. Central Time on Dec. 16th, a very bright meteor lit up the completely overcast sky like lightning in southeast Nebraska," reports Trooper Jerry Chab of the Nebraska State Patrol. "It flashed for approximately 2 seconds and was followed by ground shaking, which prompted many calls by the public to law enforcement in a three county wide area." The USGS says there was a magnitude 3.5 earthquake near Auburn, Nebraska, at 8:53 pm Wednesday night, about the same time and place as the fireball. Coincidence? Readers in Nebraska with photos or eyewitness accounts are encouraged... SpaceWeather.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409363/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:45:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409753/posts Astronomy experts are appealing for witnesses to an extremely rare fireball believed to have blazed across the morning sky. The spectacular sight, which star-gazers claim happened just before dawn on Monday, is being attributed to a massive meteor shower currently taking place over the northern hemisphere. "The fireball is really very special and unusual," Astronomy Ireland chairman David Moore said. Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409753/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:34:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409734/posts Could the Earth become a "snowball" in future? For the last million years, the Earth has been in its coldest state since the Neoproterozoic. We are now living in a relatively warm episode, some 80,000 years from the next glacial maximum, but some evidence suggests that each successive glaciation over the last several cycles has been getting stronger and stronger. During the most recent glacial event, 20,000 years ago, the deep ocean cooled to near its freezing point, and sea ice reached latitudes as low as 40 to 45 degrees north and south, still far from the critical threshold needed... Harvard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409734/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:11:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409179/posts PARIS (AFP) – Sea levels were likely eight metres higher around 125,000 years ago when polar temperatures were 3-5 degrees C warmer, says a new study published Wednesday to show the effects of global warming. The research by the US universities of Harvard and Princeton was released in the journal Nature as the world's nations met in Denmark to forge a strategy to head off harmful effects of global warming blamed on greenhouse gases. To understand the potential effects of a rise in temperature, the researchers reexamined data about the last interglacial stage -- a warmer period within an ice... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409179/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:39:48 GMT