Month: February 2021

Categories
Science

What Are Extrasolar Planets? – Universe Right this moment

What Are Extrasolar Planets? - Universe Today

For countless generations, human beings have looked out at the night sky and wondered if they were alone in the Universe. With the discovery of other planets in our Solar System, the true extent of the Milky Way galaxy, and other galaxies beyond our own, this question has only deepened and become more profound.

And whereas astronomers and scientists have long suspected that other star systems in our galaxy and the Universe had orbiting planets of their own, it has only been within the last few decades that any have been observed. Over time, the methods for detecting these “extrasolar planets” have improved, and the list of those whose existence has been confirmed has grown accordingly (over 4000 and counting!)

Definition:

An extrasolar planet (aka. exoplanet) is a planet that orbits a star (i.e. is part of a solar system) other than our own. Our Solar System is only one among billions and many of them most likely have their own system of planets. As early as the sixteenth century, there have been astronomers who hypothesized the existence of extrasolar planets.

List of potentially habitable exoplanets discovered so far in our Universe. Credit: phl.upl.edu

The first recorded mention was made by Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, an early supporter of the Copernican theory. In addition to supporting the idea that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun (heliocentrism), he put forward the view that the fixed stars are similar to the Sun and are likewise accompanied by planets.

In the eighteenth century, Isaac Newton made a similar suggestion in the “General Scholium” section which concludes his Principia. Making a comparison to the Sun’s planets, he wrote “And if the fixed stars are the centers of similar systems, they will all be constructed according to a similar design and subject to the dominion of One.”

Since Newton’s time, various discovery claims have been made, but all were rejected by the scientific community as false positives. In the 1980s, a group of astronomers claimed that they had identified some extrasolar planets in nearby star systems, but were unable to confirm their existence until years later.

First Discoveries:

One of the reasons why extrasolar planets are so difficult to detect is because they are even fainter than the stars they orbit. Additionally, these stars give off light that “washes” the planets out – i.e. obscures them from direct observation. As a result, the first discovery was not made until 1992 by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail.

Using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the pair observed several terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. It was not until 1995 that the first exoplanet confirmation around a main-sequence star was made. In this case, the planet observed was 51 Pegasi b, a giant planet found in a four-day orbit around the Sun-like star 51 Pegasi (approx 51 light-years from our Sun).

Initially, most of the planets detected were gas giants similar to, or larger than, Jupiter – which led to the term “Super-Jupiter” being coined. Far from suggesting that gas giants were more common than rocky (i.e. “Earth-like“) planets, these findings were simply due to the fact that Jupiter-sized planets are simply easier to detect because of their size.

The Kepler Mission:

Named after the Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler, the Kepler space observatory was launched by NASA on March 7th, 2009 for the purpose of discovering Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. As part of NASA’s Discovery Program,  a series of relatively low-cost projects focused on scientific research, Kepler‘s mission was to find evidence of extrasolar planets and estimate how many stars in our galaxy have planetary systems.

Relying on the Transit Method of detection (see below), Kepler‘s sole used a photometer to continually monitor the brightness of over 145,000 main sequence stars in a fixed field of view. This data was then transmitted back to Earth where it was analyzed by scientists to look for any signs of periodic dimming caused by extrasolar planets transiting (passing) in front of their host star.

The initial planned lifetime of the Kepler mission was 3.5 years, but greater-than-expected results led to the mission being extended. In 2012, the mission was expected to last until 2016, but this changed due to the failure of two of the spacecraft’s reaction wheels – which are used for pointing the spacecraft. This disabled the collection of science data and threatened the continuation of the mission.

On August 15th, 2013, NASA announced that they had given up trying to fix the two failed reaction wheels and modified the mission accordingly. Rather than scrap Kepler, NASA proposed changing the mission to utilizing Kepler to detect habitable planets around smaller, dimmer red dwarf stars.  This proposal, which became known as K2 “Second Light“, was approved on May 16th, 2014.

The K2 mission (which lasted until ) focused more on brighter stars (such as G- and K-class stars). As of February 6th, 2021, astronomers have confirmed the presence of 4,341 exoplanets in 3,216 planetary systems, the majority of which were found using data from Kepler. All told, the space probe observed over 530,506 stars in the course of its primary and K2 missions.

In November of 2013, astronomers reported (based on Kepler space mission data) that 1 in 5 stars in the Milky way could have Earth-sized planets orbiting within their habitable zones – between 40 and 80 billion. They further estimated that 7 to 15% of these planets (average of 5.6 billion) orbit Sun-like stars – aka. main sequence G-type yellow dwarfs.

Diagram showing the habitable zone of the Solar System (upper row) and in the Gliese 581 system (lower row), based on the work of Franck Selsis, Univ. of Bordeaux. Credit: ESO

Habitable Planets:

The first exoplanet confirmed by Kepler to have an average orbital distance that placed it within its star’s habitable zone was Kepler-22b. This planet is located about 600 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus and was first observed on May 12th, 2009, and then confirmed on Dec 5th, 2011. Based on all the data obtained, scientists believe that this world is roughly 2.4 times the radius of Earth and either has oceans or a watery outer shell.

The discovery of exoplanets has also intensified interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, particularly for those that orbit in the host star’s habitable zone. Also known as the “goldilocks zone“, this is the region of the solar system where conditions are warm enough (but not too warm) so that it is possible for liquid water (and therefore life) to exist on the planet’s surface.

Prior to the deployment of Kepler, the vast majority of confirmed exoplanets fell into the category of Jupiter-sized or larger. However, over the course of its missions, Kepler managed to identify over 6000 potential candidates, many of them falling into the categories of Earth-size or “Super-Earth” size. Many of these are located in the habitable zone of their parent stars, and some even around Sun-like stars.

And according to a study conducted by NASA’s Ames Research Center, analysis of the Kepler mission data indicated that about 24% of M-class stars may harbor potentially habitable, Earth-size planets (i.e. those that are smaller than 1.6 times the radius of Earth’s). Based upon the number of M-class stars in the galaxy, that alone represents about 10 billion potentially habitable, Earth-like worlds.

Meanwhile, analyses of the K2 phase suggest that about one-quarter of the larger stars surveyed may also have an Earth-size planet orbiting within their habitable zones. Taken together, the stars observed by Kepler make up about 70% of those found within the Milky Way. So one can estimate that there are literally tens of billions of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy alone.

Detection Methods:

While some exoplanets have been observed directly with telescopes (a process known as “Direct Imaging“), the vast majority have been detected through indirect methods such as the transit method and the radial-velocity method. In the case of the Transit Method (aka. Transit Photometry), a planet is observed when crossing the path (i.e. transiting) in front of its parent star’s disk.

When this occurs, the observed brightness of the star drops by a small amount. This can be used to determine the radius of the planet and can sometimes allow a planet’s atmosphere to be investigated through spectroscopy. However, it also suffers from a substantial rate of false positives and requires that part of the planet’s orbit intersects with a line-of-sight between the host star and Earth.

As a result, confirmation from another method is usually considered necessary. Nevertheless, it remains the most widely used method and is responsible for more exoplanet discoveries than all other methods combined. Both the Kepler Space Telescope and TESS were specifically designed to conduct this kind of photometry (see above).

The Radial Velocity (or Doppler Method) involves measuring the star’s radial velocity – i.e. the speed with which it moves towards or away from Earth. The is a means of detecting planets because, as planets orbit a star, they exert a gravitational influence that causes the star itself to move in its own small orbit around the system’s center of mass. This method has the advantage of being applicable to stars with a wide range of characteristics.

However, one of its disadvantages is that it cannot determine a planet’s true mass, but can only set a lower limit on that mass. It remains the second-most effective technique employed by exoplanet hunters. Other methods include Transit Timing Variation (TTV) and Gravitational Microlensing. The former relies on measuring the variations in the times of transit for one planet to determine the existence of others.

This method is effective in determining the existence of multiple transiting planets in one system but requires that the existence of at least one already be confirmed. In another form of the method, timing the eclipses in an eclipsing binary star can reveal an outer planet that orbits both stars. As of February 2020, 21 planets have been found with this method while numerous more were confirmed.

In the case of Gravitational Microlensing, this refers to the effect a star’s gravitational field can have, acting as a lens to magnify the light of a distant background star. Planets orbiting this star can cause detectable anomalies in the magnification over time, thus indicating their presence. This technique is effective in detecting stars that have wider orbits (1-10 AUs) from Sun-like stars.

Other methods exist, and – alone or in combination – have allowed for the detection and confirmation of over four thousand exoplanets, while another 5,742 candidates await confirmation. Of these, 1473 (34%) have been gas giants comparable to Neptune (Neptune-like), while 1359 (31%) have been gas giants comparable to Jupiter (Jupiter-like).

Another 1340 (31%) have been terrestrial planets that are several times more massive than Earth (Super-Earths) while 163 have been comparable to Earth in terms of size and mass (4%). A further 6 exoplanets have been detected and confirmed that remain unclassified.

Closest to Earth

On August 24th, 2016, the ESO confirmed the existence of an Earth-sized rocky exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, an M-type (red dwarf) star located 4.25 light-years away. This makes this particular exoplanet, known as Proxima b, is the closest exoplanet to Earth. Equally important is the fact that it is believed to orbit within Proxima Centauri’s habitable zone.

The discovery was made by the Pale Red Dot campaign and a team of astronomers led by Dr. Guillem Anglada-Escudé of the Queen Mary University of London. Based on observations made using the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) and Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle (UVE) spectrographs at the ESO’s La Silla Observatory and Very Large Telescope.

Based on the data obtained by the Pale Red Dot campaign and subsequent observations, Proxima b is estimated to be 1.2 times as massive as Earth and between one and 1.3 times its size. It orbits its parent star at a distance of roughly 0.05 AU (7.5 million km; 4.6 million) and takes just 11.2 days to complete a single orbit. Like many rocky planets orbiting M-type stars, Proxima b is believed to be tidally-locked.

Given the tenuous nature of M-type stars and their tendency to produce powerful flares, it is unclear whether or not Proxima b could maintain an atmosphere and liquid water on its surface over time. Multiple studies and climate models have been performed to determine the likelihood of Proxima b being able to support life, but no scientific consensus has emerged.

On the one hand, multiple studies have concluded that solar flare activity from its host star would inevitably strip Proxima b of its atmosphere and irradiate the surface. Meanwhile, other research and modeling have found that if Proxima b has a magnetic field, a dense atmosphere, and plenty of surface water and cloud cover, the odds of it being habitable are encouraging.

In January of 2020, an INAF-led team of astronomers announced the possible detection of a second planet around Proxima Centauri (using Radial Velocity measurements). According to the research team’s paper, their measurements indicated the presence of a mini-Neptune (Proxima c) orbiting its parent star at a distance of 1.5 AU (~224.4 million km; ~139.4 million mi).

By June of 2020, a team of astronomers from the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory used radial velocity measurements gathered by Hubble (25 years ago) to confirm the presence of Proxima c. Their research also placed tighter constraints on the planet’s mass and orbital period, which are now estimated at 0.8 Jupiter masses and ~1900 days, respectively.

In December of 2020, astronomers at the Parkes radio telescope in Australia announced the detection of a “tantalizing” radio signal coming from the direction of Proxima Centauri. The signal was picked up between April and May of 2019 as part of a Breakthrough Listen observation campaign. This signal, Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1 (BLC1), lasted for 30 hours and showed a number of curious features.

For instance, the signal was an extremely sharp narrowband emission – at 982 megahertz (MHz) – that appeared to be undergoing a shift in frequency (aka. Doppler shift). According to various astrophysicists, this is consistent with a moving source (i.e. a planet orbiting its star). However, the scientific community has since announced that the signal is unlikely to be anything other than the result of natural phenomena.

Current Missions

On April 18th, 2018, NASA launched the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to space. This mission has effectively picked up the trail blazed by Kepler, using the same method but superior instruments to monitor thousands of stars simultaneously. Equipped with four wide-angle telescopes and associated charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors, TESS is currently carrying the first spaceborne all-sky transiting exoplanet survey.

TESS’s primary mission lasted two years – officially ending on July 5th, 2020 – followed by NASA announcing a 27-month extension on August 12th. For the first year of its Extended Mission, TESS will re-observe the southern ecliptic hemisphere (which it monitored during its primary mission) and the next 15 months monitoring art of the northern ecliptic hemisphere and ~60% of the ecliptic.

During its primary mission, TESS scanned about 75% of the sky and surveyed 200,000 of the brightest stars near the Sun for signs of transiting exoplanets. As of February 6th, 2021, the TESS mission has detected a total of 2,487 exoplanets and confirmed 107, ranging from terrestrial candidates to super-Jupiters.

In addition, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia Observatory continued to monitor the precise positions, proper motions, and orbits of over 1 billion stars, planets, comets, asteroids and quasars. This mission commenced operations in 2013 (the same year that the ESA’s Herschel Space Telescope retired) and its primary mission was intended to last five years.

Currently, Gaia is in an extended part of its mission that will last until December 31st, 2022, though it is expected to receive another extension to December 31st, 2025. To date, the mission has been in continuous operation for 7 years, 1 month, and 18 days, and will continue to map the cosmos for the sake of creating the largest and most precise 3D space catalog ever made.

The Hubble Space Telescope in orbit around Earth. Credit: NASA

Another exoplanet-hunting mission overseen by the ESA is the CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS), which launched on Dec. 18th, 2019, and is the first Small-class mission in the ESA’s Cosmic Vision science program. Between now and the end of its primary mission (scheduled for mid-2023), CHEOPS will study known exoplanets to obtain more accurate estimates on their mass, density, composition, and formation.

And of course, there’s the venerable Hubble Space Telescope, which has remained in operation for over 30 years! In addition to making profound discoveries that have altered our perception of the Universe around us (such as measuring the rate of cosmic expansion, leading to the theory of Dark Energy), Hubble has also played a vital role in the detection and characterization of exoplanets.

For instance, early in its mission, Hubble detected debris disks around distant stars (from which planets form) as well as planetary systems that were in the process of formation. Meanwhile, the archives of Hubble’s past observations have allowed astronomers to go back and find evidence of planets making transits in front of their stars, as well as provide spectra that allowed for the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres.

Hubble’s many years of observation also helped astronomers to learn about the diversity of exoplanets and establish the current method for classifying them. On top of all that, Hubble has taught astronomers a great deal about the diversity of parent stars and how their characteristics can influence a planet’s habitability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVz3UrSsE4

Future Missions

In the coming years, several next-generation space telescopes will be sent to space to aid in the ongoing hunt for habitable exoplanets. On October 31st, 2021, NASA’s long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be launched to its position at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point. This mission will be the largest and most-sophisticated space telescope to date and will have to go through a complex deployment phase once it’s in position.

Using its highly-sophisticated infrared (IR) suite and light-blocking coronographs, the JWST will be able to detect lower-mass exoplanets that orbit nearer to their stars. This is where most Earth-like rocky planets that orbit within a star’s habitable zone (and are therefore considered to be “potentially-habitable”) are expected to be found.

Until now, existing space telescopes do not have the resolution or sensitivity to study these planets via Direct Imaging. Existing telescopes have also not been able to obtain spectra from smaller, rocky planets when they transit in front of their stars. However, the JWST instruments will be able to determine the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres by examining which IR wavelengths are absorbed and/or radiated.

There’s also the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a successor mission nicknamed the “Mother of Hubble.” Combing a 2.4 meter (ft) primary mirror with the Wide-Field Instrument IR camera, a coronograph, a spectrometer, and a large field of view, the Roman space telescope will be able to bring the same image sharpness of Hubble to an area of the sky 100 times as large.

The ESA is also prepping a series of next-generation observatories, like the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) space telescope. This mission will observe up to one million stars for planetary transits, attempt to characterize their atmospheres, and characterize stars by measuring their oscillations. This will be the third medium-class mission in the ESA’s Cosmic Vision program and is scheduled to launch sometime in 2022.

This will be followed by the Cosmic Vision’s fourth-medium mission, known as the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL). This mission, which will launch sometime in 2029, will observe at least 1,000 known exoplanets as they transit in front of their stars to study and characterize the composition and thermal structures of their atmospheres.

There’s an entire Universe of worlds out there to discover, and we’ve barely scratched the surface!

Universe Today has many interesting articles on exoplanets. Here’s What Does “Earthlike” Even Mean & Should It Apply To Proxima Centauri b?, Focusing On ‘Second-Earth’ Candidates In The Kepler Catalog, New Technique to Find Earth-like Exoplanets, Potentially Habitable Exoplanet Confirmed Around Nearest Star!, Planetary Habitability Index Proposes A Less “Earth-Centric” View In Search Of Life, Habitable Earth-Like Exoplanets Might Be Closer Than We Think.

For more information, check out Kepler‘s home page at NASA. The Planetary Society’s page on Exoplanets is also interesting, as is the NASA Exoplanet Archive – which is maintained with the help of Caltech.

Astronomy Cast has an episode on the subject –  Episode 2: In Search of Other Worlds.

Sources:

Like this:

Like Loading…

Categories
Health

CDC director warns that strains in hospitalized instances may reverse a decline

CDC director warns that strains in hospitalized cases could reverse a decline

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

New, highly contagious variants of the coronavirus pose a “threat” to the United States and could reverse the recent decline in Covid-19 cases and hospital stays, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Monday.

The US reported a 7-day average of 119,900 new Covid-19 cases per day last week, a decrease of nearly 20% from the previous week but is still “dramatically higher” than the summer peak, CDC said -Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a White House press conference about Covid-19.

The nation also reported an average of 9,977 Covid-19 hospital stays per day last week, a decrease of at least 17% from the previous week, she said.

“The continued proliferation of variants remains a major problem and threat that could reverse the recent positive trends we are seeing,” said Walensky. “Please keep wearing a mask and stay 6 feet away from people you do not live with. Avoid travel, crowds, poorly ventilated rooms, and get vaccinated if you can,” she added.

U.S. health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have raised concerns about the Covid mutations that may be beyond the protection of the vaccines currently on the market. Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax have previously said that their vaccines may be less effective against B.1.351, the highly contagious strain in South Africa.

On Sunday, South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the country would stop using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 in its vaccination program after data showed it offered minimal protection against B.1.351, the nascent strain there. He said the government would wait for advice from scientists on how best to proceed after disappointing results from a trial conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand.

As of Sunday, the CDC had identified 690 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, which were first identified in the UK, Walensky told reporters on Monday. The agency has identified six cases of the South African tribe as well as three cases of P.1, a variant first identified in travelers from Brazil.

Walensky said public health officials are working to find more cases of these variants, adding that federal and state officials have increased genome sequencing 10-fold in the past three weeks. “We expect to find more cases in the coming weeks,” she added.

The U.S. is always working to find out exactly how contagious and deadly the new strains are, said Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last month that early data suggests the strain on the country could be more deadly. Fauci said Monday that there is currently no data to suggest the virus is mutating into a “less virulent” strain, meaning less harmful than the original virus.

The UK data “has yet to be confirmed,” added Fauci. “So far, however, there is no evidence that it is less virulent. Sometimes when viruses mutate in order to spread more efficiently they become less virulent, but we have no data to suggest that this actually happens.”

Meanwhile, Fauci has been pushing for people to be vaccinated as soon as possible, saying last week that the virus cannot mutate unless it can infect hosts and replicate.

Categories
Technology

6 stunning methods satellites are making our lives simpler

6 surprising ways satellites are making our lives easier

Almost 3,000 operational spaceships orbit our earth. That number is growing steadily thanks to cheaper materials and smaller satellites.

With so many satellites in orbit, it can create problems, including space debris and the way they change our view of the night sky. However, satellites provide an important service.

Many people are familiar with GPS, which helps us navigate. Some may know that satellites provide important data for our weather forecasts. But satellites affect our lives in many ways – and some of them may surprise you.

1. Spend money

Whether you’re paying for your morning coffee with contactless payments, Google Pay, or even cash withdrawn from an ATM, nothing would be possible without satellites. In fact, all financial transactions – from multi-million pound stock market transactions to your monthly Netflix subscription – rely on satellite location and timing services for security reasons.

Global navigation satellite systems orbit approximately 20,000 km above the surface of the earth and continuously communicate with phones and computers to tell them exactly where they are and what time it is. GPS, a US system, is the best known of these, but the European Galileo system and the Russian GLONASS system offer similar services.

We rely on this precise point in time to ensure financial transactions are synchronized. If we got our timing wrong, money could get into one person’s account before it leaves the other person. This is especially problematic for stock market trading, where prices can fluctuate dramatically in a matter of seconds, but it is also a security requirement for financial institutions worldwide.

2. Save lives

Many people will have heard that natural disasters such as forest fires and tropical storms are becoming more common and more devastating due to climate change. Fortunately, satellites provide a way to monitor these disasters, study their behavior, and even aid our response and relief efforts.

German company OroraTech uses data from a number of spacecraft to detect outbreaks of fire as soon as they occur. They use infrared images to identify hot spots, wind readings to predict the path of the fire, and terrain and vegetation maps to help fire fighters plan their response.

Data from satellites has also been used to monitor tropical storms, predict their path, and help communities prepare for the expected impact.

While all of these efforts are admirable, for such a drastic global challenge we need a coordinated global response. In 2000, 17 countries agreed to freely share satellite data in emergencies. To date, this charter has been used in disaster support in nearly 700 countries using data from more than 60 satellites.

3. Stand up for what is right

Satellites operate in a “no man’s land” where no country or entity can claim any region of space as its own. Because of this, unlike airplanes or drones, which may need permission to enter another country’s airspace, satellites can capture images anywhere on earth.

Most satellites operate near Earth, only 300 km to 1000 km above our heads, and only take 90 minutes to complete a full orbit around the Earth. As the earth rotates beneath the spaceship, each orbit brings new areas of the earth into view.

With nearly 3,000 satellites overhead, it’s very difficult to hide in the sky from all eyes. Because of this, satellite data has become an important source for activists, journalists and investigators. It has empowered local communities to tackle illegal deforestation, enabled the prosecution of war criminals, and exposed government fabrications like the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17.

4. Stop pirates

All ships of a certain size must broadcast their position about every minute. Near the coast these signals can be picked up by antennas on land. However, when ships are at sea, these signals can only be received by satellites and of course by other nearby ships.

Pirates, illegal fishermen and others who do no good often do not carry a beacon or turn it off to avoid being detected. Fortunately, high resolution satellite imagery can detect boats against the dark surrounding ocean using a technique known as synthetic aperture radar.

By comparing the locations of the ships seen to the location of the beacons that were detected, we can identify the ships that have “gone dark” and alert the authorities that something suspicious is afoot.

5. Discover endangered species

As you might imagine, animal counting is a tough business made even more difficult by animals living in remote, hard-to-reach places. To address this challenge, satellite imagery has been used to estimate the size of penguin colonies by measuring the amount of guano (bird droppings) on the ice.

Recently, scientists have even been able to identify and count individual animals such as whales and elephants in images from space using extremely high-resolution satellite data. Far from tracking down a lost dog, it is an incredible tool for conservationists trying to save endangered species from extinction through poaching, human encroachment, and habitat destruction.

6. In search of life

Not all satellites orbiting our Earth are looking down – some of them are looking out into space. There are many telescopes on earth that we can use to examine our skies. However, if we put these telescopes into orbit, we can avoid looking through Earth’s atmosphere and get a clearer view of the cosmos beyond.

This clear view is especially important in our search for exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars outside of our solar system. In contrast to stars, planets do not emit their own light source. Hence, we recognize them by measuring the tiny drop in starlight that occurs as the planet passes in front of the star it is orbiting.

The hope is that some of these planets can be like our own earth and harbor extraterrestrial life. Cheops, a European Space Agency mission launched in 2019, has just started sending back information about their first distant worlds discovered. It may seem like a long shot, but one day these missions could answer the age-old question of whether anyone is out there.

This article by Ciara McGrath, Research Associate, Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, has been republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Categories
Sport

Chiefs ‘bully Mathieu deletes a tweet after accusing Buccaneers’ Tom Brady of “saying one thing I will not repeat”.

Chiefs 'bully Mathieu deletes a tweet after accusing Buccaneers' Tom Brady of "saying something I won't repeat".

What did Tom Brady say to trigger bully Mathieu?

During the first half of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 55 loss to the Buccaneers, Kansas City Security had a heated verbal exchange with Brady, who won the Super Bowl MVP award after leading Tampa Bay to victory with a 201 yard pass and three touchdowns would have. After a Brady TD pass with only six seconds left in the second quarter, Mathieu ran to Brady and put a finger right in his face. Brady then felt the need to prolong the conversation and chase Mathieu before teammates parted the two.

MORE: Brady puts NFL’s GOAT out of reach for Mahomes (and everyone else).

Mathieu was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, but Brady was not penalized.

In a since-deleted tweet posted on Sunday evening, Mathieu claimed Brady may have crossed the line with his choice of words.

“He called me something that I will not repeat, but yes, I will let all media submit to me [the] Bus like I did something or said something to him, “tweeted Mathieu.” Go back to my previous games against [Brady]. I showed him nothing but respect. Check out my interviews about him. I show mercy. “

During his post-game media availability, Mathieu declined to provide details about the trash talk incident but told reporters he didn’t think it would affect his performance.

“I thought I played as hard as possible today,” said Mathieu (via ProFootballTalk). “Look, Tom Brady is a great quarterback. I never really saw that side of Tom Brady, to be honest. But whatever. No comment. It’s over. I’m done with it.”

Mathieu ended the defeat with three duels and had to intercept in the first half with a holding penalty.

Categories
Entertainment

Kodak Black affords to pay tuition charges for the youngsters of two FBI brokers who have been fatally shot in Florida

Kodak Black offers to pay tuition fees for the children of two FBI agents who were fatally shot in Florida

TSR Positive Images: Kodak Black has shown that he is a man who loves giving back on many opportunities. Even when he was behind bars, Kodak and his camp contributed to many causes and he is now helping two families in need.

According to TMZ, Kodak had his attorney Bradford Cohen send a letter to the Miami FBI office offering to pay tuition fees for the children of two agents who were fatally shot on duty last week. Cohen also announced Kodak’s contribution during a performance over the weekend.

In the letter, Cohen cited that Kodak is no stranger to losing loved ones and growing up in a home for single parents. He says Kodak’s goal is to ensure that families affected by this loss don’t have to worry about sending their children to college.

Kodak had agreed to pay tuition fees for all three children of special agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger. The agents reportedly served every warrant on Tuesday when they were killed. Three other agents were injured at the scene.

Kodak Black offers to pay tuition fees for children of two FBI agents recently killed in Florida 🙏 pic.twitter.com/uSB4O9mHfB

– Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) February 6, 2021

We have shared Kodak’s other charitable work on many previous occasions, including contributions he made to schools in Broward County and his donations to families during the vacation.

When the pandemic affected schools in Florida, Kodak and his team sent school supplies to home school students who were homeschooled during the pandemic.

We hope Kodak continues to give something back after its release!

Would you like updates directly in your text inbox? Contact us at 917-722-8057 or https://my.community.com/theshaderoom

Categories
Science

Weekly Local weather And Power Information Roundup #441 – Watts Up With That?

Weekly Climate And Energy News Roundup #441 – Watts Up With That?

The Week That Was: 2021-02-06 (February 6, 2021)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project

Quote of the Week: “We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962 [H/t Tony Heller]

Number of the Week: – Down About One-Third Since 1945

THIS WEEK:

By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

Censorship: Since 1978, microwave sounding units (MSUs) onboard satellites measure the intensity of upwelling microwave radiation from atmospheric oxygen. In 1990, Roy Spencer and John Christy announced a way of using these data to calculate comprehensive atmospheric temperature trends. Primarily from irregularity in orbits, several small errors were discovered and rapidly corrected. This is the way science works by constant testing of assumptions and hypotheses against physical evidence and correction of deficiencies.

Initially, Christy and Spencer received awards for their critical work. Since the mid-1990s, the US climate science establishment largely ignores their work, even though it has not been discredited or replaced by superior methods. The satellite system provides the only worldwide temperature-measurement system!

The climate establishment has no logical or scientific reason for ignoring important scientific data (evidence). Further, the work is ignored by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), particularly in its second assessment report (1995) and subsequently. Christy and Spencer have had difficulty publishing their work in western journals. Why the censorship?

The Quote of the Week is from a 1962 speech by John F. Kennedy celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Voice of America, founded 79 days after the US entered World War II. The speech also states:

“In 1946 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution reading in part, ‘freedom of information is a fundamental human right, and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.’ This is our touchstone as well.”

Kennedy’s speech prompts questions: Why does the UN IPCC suppress freedom of information, a fundamental human right?

Why do US scientific entities and US funded scientific organizations suppress important scientific information from the US public? What do they have to fear?

See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkvoiceofamerica.htm

****************

Update of Science by John Christy: What has advanced and what has not advanced in climate science is the theme of a video presentation John Christy gave for Climate Intelligence, CLINTEL, an independent foundation exploring climate change and climate policy. Founded in 2019 by “emeritus professor of geophysics Guus Berkhout and science journalist Marcel Crok CLINTEL’s main objective is to generate knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of climate change as well as the effects of climate policy.” Its activities include:

“1. The Foundation tries to communicate objectively and transparently to the general public what facts are available about climate change and climate policy and also where facts turn into assumptions and predictions.

“2. The Foundation conducts and stimulates a public debate about this and carries out investigative reporting in this field.

“3. The Foundation wants to function as an international meeting place for scientists with different views on climate change and climate policy.

“4. The Foundation will also carry out or finance its own scientific research into climate change and climate policy.

“CLINTEL wants to take the role of independent ‘climate watchdog’, both in the field of climate science and climate policy.”

In short, CLINTEL performs good investigative reporting on government funded climate science, where major news organizations have failed. The major news organizations have become carnival barkers for bandwagon science.

In his update of science to CLINTEL, Christy presents an amusing cartoon of a heating and cooling tug-of-war, depicting what is occurring at the surface of the globe. We have heat loss, cooling, primarily from surface radiation (outgoing longwave radiation) and evaporation. We have heating primarily from solar radiation and downward atmosphere radiation. The relative sizes of these components appears mislabeled, solar radiation is by far the dominant one. What Christy describes as downward atmosphere radiation, TWTW terms as atmospheric blocking of outgoing radiation. What is important is the very small influence of human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). It is a light weight in a tug of war between giants.

What is more important for TWTW is the graph showing 39 IPCC Climate Model Simulations using the latest models (CMIP-6). These are performed for the tropical upper troposphere (atmospheric pressure of 300 to 200 hPa, or an altitude of approximately 30,000 to 40,000 feet). The tropics lie between roughly 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator.

For the 40-year period of satellite observations of temperature trends, 1979 to 2019, the observed temperature trends are compared with model runs. The observed average warming trend is 0.17 degrees C per decade. The model average over the period is a warming of 0.40 degrees C per decade. If global climate models cannot describe what has occurred in the past 40 years, there is no logical reason that they can describe what will occur in the next 40 or 80 years.

Simply put, the UN IPCC modeling effort and its participants are not trying to understand the greenhouse effect and how greenhouse gases influence temperatures. Is this what they are afraid to let the public judge?

Also interesting is the graph of the 5-year running mean of tropical temperature anomalies using CMIP-6 models (the latest being used by the IPCC). The trends from three weather balloon data sets and weather analysis data are also included. Here one can see the general agreement between satellite data, weather balloon data, and reanalysis. Since the early 1990s there is a growing disparity between observational datasets and modeling. That disparity is now greater than the actual atmospheric warming trend.

NASA announced that Gavin Schmidt, the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (NASA-GISS), has become a Senior Climate Advisor to the Biden Administration. Thus, the GISS model (GISS-E2) is of particular interest among those Christy examined. It too overestimated the warming of the tropical atmosphere at 30 to 40,000 feet by about two times, though not as badly as some other models.

Hopefully, the Biden Administration will not continue the modeling deceptions. Instead, it will follow the lead of John F. Kennedy. It will be honest with the American people, and not be afraid of them.

For the folly of using surface data to estimate the CO2 influence on climate change see the essay by Roy Spencer on US warming trends. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Expanding the Orthodoxy. For the video of Christy’s presentation, one may have to obtain the password from the post by Marcel Crok. The video contains data contradicting claims of a climate crisis, extreme weather events, etc.

****************

Radiative Transfer from Russia: Writing in No Tricks Zone, Kenneth Richard brings attention to a paper by Boris. M. Smirnov in the Journal of Atmospheric Science Research. Smirnov is a nuclear physicist and headed the laboratory at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (Moscow). According to Amazon, his available books include: Global Atmospheric Phenomena Involving Water: Water Circulation, Atmospheric Electricity, and the Greenhouse Effect (2020), Theory of Gas Discharge Plasma (2014) (part of the Springer Series on Atomic, Optical, and Plasma Physics), Microphysics of Atmospheric Phenomena (2016) and with Vladimir Krainov, Atomic and Molecular Radiative Processes: With Applications to Modern Spectroscopy and the Greenhouse Effect (2019).

His work is in the field of physics TWTW has been emphasizing in recent months. The climate establishment in Western Europe and North America, under the UN IPCC, has been ignoring critical work in the most important discipline in physics needed to understand the greenhouse effect – Radiative Transfer – how certain gases block, not trap, outgoing longwave radiation. Thereby, these gases prevent the earth from going into a deep freeze at night, permitting vegetation and complex life on land. Contrary to what some politicians may say, radiative transfer is not simple physics, but it is critically needed to separate the effects of human increases in greenhouse gases from other human influences and from natural variation.

As seen by John Christy’s analysis of how poorly the climate models describe the historical warming of the atmosphere over the tropics for the past 40 years, there is no logical reason to assume that they correctly estimate the greenhouse effect or correctly predict its effect into the future. Further, when the IPCC says that most of the recent warming is from humans, there is no logical reason to assume this warming is from increasing CO2 instead of other human influences such as increasing population and urbanization.

In his June 2020 paper, Smirnov writes:

“Atmospheric radiative fluxes are evaluated for the line-by-line model of spectral lines in considering the atmosphere as a weakly nonuniform plane layer and altitude profiles of its parameters are taken from the model of standard atmosphere. Concepts of molecular spectroscopy are combined with the local thermodynamic equilibrium for greenhouse gases and with information from HITRAN data base for parameters of radiative transitions. In addition, the energetic balance of the Earth allows one to determine the radiative flux from clouds. As a result, the algorithm is worked out for evaluation of the atmospheric radiative flux toward the Earth depending on its composition. We … concentrate on the change of atmospheric radiative fluxes as a result of doubling of the concentration of CO2 molecule.”

Smirnov uses the same important HITRAN database as W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, which is far more appropriate in estimating the changing greenhouse effect than surface temperature trends. To estimate the influence of doubling CO2 in today’s atmosphere Smirnov uses a:

“…combination of thermodynamics and molecular spectroscopy of atmospheric air with usage [of, sic] the contemporary data for radiative IR transitions in molecules from HITRAN data base within the framework of the line-by-line model, as well as the energetic balance of the Earth and its atmosphere for radiative fluxes of clouds.”

  and concludes:

We above determine the above change of the global temperature according to which the greenhouse effect due to CO2 molecules is approximately 25% of the total change of the global temperature under contemporary atmospheric conditions. As it follows from this, the basis of the Paris climatic agreements is wrong. It would not indicate the danger of a wide propaganda about the role of carbon dioxide in the future climate. In particular, the propaganda of European media in interest of some financial groups convinces European habitants that the most danger in futures follows from injection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of combustion of fossil fuels. Indeed, a contemporary increase of the carbon dioxide amount in the atmosphere is a result of human activity which changes the carbon equilibrium between the atmosphere, land, and oceans. The careful investigations are required, as the above NASA programs for atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperature, which allow one to understand a real state of affairs in order to conserve our planet for the man.” [Boldface added. This is a rough translation, unedited by TWTW.]

As he states, Smirnov’s calculations need to be double-checked. But this is exactly the type of work the UN IPCC must include before its assessments are sufficiently sound for establishing policy. Further, it is interesting to note that Smirnov’s latest book was published by the Russian Academy of Sciences. Included in the introduction is:

“This book covers the role of water in global atmospheric phenomena, focusing on the physical processes involving water molecules and water microparticles. It presents the reader with a detailed look at some of the most important types of global atmospheric phenomena involving water, such as water circulation, atmospheric electricity and the greenhouse effect. Beginning with the cycle of water evaporation and condensation, and the important roles played by the nucleation and growth processes of water microdroplets, the book discusses atmospheric electricity as a secondary phenomenon of water circulation in the atmosphere, comprising a chain of processes involving water molecules and water microdroplets. Finally, the book discusses aspects of the molecular spectroscopy of greenhouse atmospheric components, showing how water molecules and water microdroplets give the main contribution to atmospheric emission in the infrared spectrum range.”

Needless to say, the book takes a totally different approach to the issue of climate science than the IPCC, specifically emphasizing the science of radiative transfer, which is the only atmospheric science that pertains to the greenhouse effect. Would the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine dare publish a book proposing an approach to climate change different from the IPCC? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.

****************

The Improving State of the World: In 2007, the CATO Institute published a book by Indur Goklany, The Improving State of the World: Why We’re Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives On a Cleaner Planet. The book is based on a review of extensive data, carefully resourced, and uses effective graphs to present a sound, comprehensive argument supporting his theme. Needless to say, the book was not well received by environmental groups.

Now, the Global Warming Policy Foundation has produced a short update of the book in a pdf.

“Impacts of Climate Change: Perception and Reality” concisely addresses topics such as extreme weather events, wildfires, food and hunger, sea-level rise, etc. As typical of Goklany, the paper is well-researched. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.

****************

Number of the Week: – Down About One-Third Since 1945. Roger Pielke Jr. has a shocking data-backed essay for those who are alarmed by extreme weather events. “Since 1945, the number of hurricanes that make landfall has declined by about a third.” These data show how poorly NOAA informs the public about extreme weather events. In its current counts of hurricanes NOAA is including storms way out to sea that were ignored or not even known in the past. Why does NOAA fear the American public so much that it cannot correctly inform the public that its counting systems have changed when it makes press releases? As Pielke writes:

“Even if the world returns to a much more active period of hurricane activity, like that observed in the 1950s, we can be confident that progress made in forecasting, warning, evacuation and overall societal resilience empowers us to be well-prepared for whatever the future may hold.” See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.

Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC

Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science

Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013

Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf

Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts

Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014

Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf

Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels

By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019

Download with no charge:

Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming

The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus

By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015

Download with no charge:

https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming

Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate

S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008

Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data

By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019

Challenging the Orthodoxy

Testing Climate Claims: 2021 Update

Updating the science – what has advanced and not advanced

By John Christy, Irish Climate Science Forum, Jan 21, 2021

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/rec/play/cGvKo-h6Vu9hLJQK6gvwXUYG3CVGp_UTz7iT4zsOFIYwKRu4_-QiCaXKFqkH7bXDEpYeEOY_gdK2pztJ.l5_YJh2tOn3W_eqp?continueMode=true

[SEPP Comment: Video may require a password obtained from Marcel Crok’s post immediately below.]

Climate Model Failure

By Andy May, WUWT, Feb 2, 2021

Link to: New presentation by John Christy: models for AR6 still fail to reproduce trends in tropical troposphere

By Marcel Crok, CLINTEL, Jan 22, 2021

https://clintel.org/new-presentation-by-john-christy-models-for-ar6-still-fail-to-reproduce-trends-in-tropical-troposphere/

Molecular Physicist’s New Publications Add To The List of Over 130 Low CO2 Climate Sensitivity Papers

By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Feb 1, 2021

Link to paper: Atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate

By Boris. M. Smirnov, Journal of Atmospheric Science Research, June 2020

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341932879_Atmospheric_carbon_dioxide_and_climate

Link to book: Global Atmospheric Phenomena Involving Water: Water Circulation, Atmospheric Electricity, and the Greenhouse Effect

By Boris M. Smirnov, Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, 2020

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-58039-1#authorsandaffiliationsbook

New report: Climate “emergency” claims falsified by real world data

Press Release, Global Warming Policy Foundation, Feb 4, 2021

Link to paper Impacts of Climate Change: Perception and Reality

By Indur M. Goklany, GWPF, 2021

A Remarkable Decline in Landfalling Hurricanes

Since 1945, the number of hurricanes that make landfall has declined by about a third

By Roger Pielke Jr., The Honest Broker, Feb 1, 2021

https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/a-remarkable-decline-in-landfalling

Judith Curry Interview (Part II: Public Policy)

By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Feb 4, 2021

“People are looking for simple problems with simple solutions, and they thought that climate change was a simple problem.”

“Thinking that we can control the climate is misguided hubris.”– Judith Curry

[SEPP Comment: Different emphasis than the editing of the interview presented in last week’s TWTW.]

Climate Researcher’s New E-Book: IPCC Significantly Overstates CO2, “The Sorry State Of Climate Science”

By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 5, 2021

[SEPP Comment: Reviewing “The Rational Climate e-Book: Cooler is Riskier. The Sorry State of Climate Science and Policies” by geologist Patrice Poyet.

Could Recent U.S. Warming Trends be Largely Spurious?

Several lines of evidence suggest observed warming trends are not nearly as large as what you have been told.

By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Jan 29, 2021

How much global warming should IPCC’s next report predict?

By Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, WUWT, Feb 2, 2021

Defending the Orthodoxy

How to predict the unpredictable in a changing climate

Press Release by Evan Lim, Earth Institute at Columbia University, Feb 5, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-unpredictable-climate.html

Link to paper: Embracing the Darkness: Methods for Tackling Uncertainty and Complexity in Environmental Disaster Risks

By Miriam Matejova and Chad M. Briggs, Global Environmental Politics, Jan 26, 2021

https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/glep_a_00591

[SEPP Comment: Step 1, assume you know far more than what anyone else knows; Step 2, Keep your predictions far enough into the future so no one can confront you with physical evidence that you are wrong; and Step 3, Claim the disastrous event is building now but is hidden and it will hit suddenly far in the future. A technique well established by NASA-GISS in sea level rise.]

COVID-19 lockdowns temporarily raised global temperatures

Reductions in aerosol emissions had slight warming impact, research shows

By Staff, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Feb 2, 2021 [H/t WUWT]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/ncfa-clt020221.php

Link to paper: Climate Impacts of COVID‐19 Induced Emission Changes

By Gettelman, et al. Geophysical Research Letters, Dec 29, 2020

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL091805

[SEPP Comment: NCAR learned how to play games with aerosol v. CO2 long ago. The atmosphere may be on a cooling trend from the previous high. So, they need excuses.]

Human activity caused the long-term growth of greenhouse gas methane

By Staff Writers, Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 01, 2021

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Human_activity_caused_the_long_term_growth_of_greenhouse_gas_methane_999.html

Link to paper; Emissions from the Oil and Gas Sectors, Coal Mining and Ruminant Farming Drive Methane Growth over the Past Three Decades

By Naveen Chandra, et al. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II, 2021

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmsj/advpub/0/advpub_2021-015/_article

Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science

Accurate reporting falls like leaves in autumn

By David Whitehouse, GWPF, Feb 3, 2021

Shark teeth offer clues to ancient climate change

Teeth from the long-extinct sand tiger shark provide historical information

Press Release, NSF, Feb 2, 2021

https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=302036&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1

Link to paper; Probing the Ecology and Climate of the Eocene Southern Ocean With Sand Tiger Sharks Striatolamia macrota

By Sora L. Kim, et al. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, Nov 6, 2020

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020PA003997

From abstract: Two possible hypotheses to explain these observations are (1) †S. macrota modified its migration behavior to ameliorate environmental changes related to the Drake Passage opening, or (2) the local climate change was small and gateway opening had little impact.

[SEPP Comment: Estimates of opening of the Drake Passage range from 49 million to 17 million years ago. Based on a sparse database, this paper suggests the passage opened about 45 to 43 million years ago. A study in Marine Geology suggests full opening about 23 million years ago. The issue is significant because the full opening of the passage set up the Antarctic circumpolar circulation, a period of glaciation and a colder period.

This research brings up a problem in modern climate science. Rather than a time-consuming literature review, use an model to produce the results you want without validating the model.]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0025322777900457

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/1939/chapter/107596068/The-Oligocene-Miocene-boundary-cause-and]

Questioning the Orthodoxy

A Nation That Is Afraid Of Its People

By Tony Heller, His Blog, Feb 2, 2021

https://realclimatescience.com/2021/02/a-nation-that-is-afraid-of-its-people/

A Couple Of Very Safe Bets For The Next Four Years

By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 31, 2021

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-1-31-a-couple-of-very-safe-bets-for-the-next-four-years

“World carbon emissions will increase, not decrease, over the next four years.

“It is almost impossible for this prediction to be wrong.  The countries that are obsessed with reducing greenhouse gas emissions — along with the U.S., it’s the European Union, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — may seem like all the important countries of the world; but the fact is that they have only a small minority of the population.  In the aggregate, the named countries come to fewer than 800 million people, in a world now approaching 8 billion.”

This Week In Climate History

By Tony Heller, His Blog, Feb 4, 2021

This Week In Climate History

Video “History is overflowing with evidence that climate alarmism is a cult, not a science.”

Environmental Activism as Carbon Imperialism: Nightmare for the Poor

By Vijay Jayaraj, Master Resource, Feb 1, 2021

Are you ready for the climate lockdowns?

It’s only a matter of time

By Stephen L. Miller, Spectator.US, Feb 5, 2021

https://spectator.us/topic/ready-climate-lockdowns-environment/?utm_source=Spectator+USA+Email+Signup&utm_campaign=50eae9a16e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_8_31_2020_19_27_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_edf2ae2373-50eae9a16e-154770766&mc_cid=50eae9a16e&mc_eid=692499491a

Climate, COVID Crisis Opportunities Used to Reset a New World Order

By Larry Bell, Newsmax, Feb 3, 2021

https://www.newsmax.com/larrybell/covid-fauci-schwab-trudeau/2021/02/03/id/1008517/

“In a Sept. 3 co-authored article in the science journal Cell, Fauci wrote that we must empower the U.N. and other international organizations to ‘’rebuild the infrastructure of human existence, from cities to homes to workplaces, to water and sewer systems, to recreational and gathering venues.’”

After Paris!

Cop26 dream team: The people setting the climate agenda on seven key issues

By Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Feb 4, 2021

Cop26 dream team: The people setting the climate agenda on seven key issues (climatechangenews.com)

Change in US Administrations

Biden: ‘We can’t wait any longer’ to address climate crisis

By Matthew Daly and Ellen Knickmeyer , AP, Jan 28, 2021

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-biden-cabinet-climate-climate-change-01c131fb04f2720eee5146388e9fc783

“Biden also directed U.S. agencies to use science and evidence-based decision-making in federal rules and announced a U.S.-hosted climate leaders summit on Earth Day, April 22.” [Boldface added]

Biden Presidency: The Dopes Have Taken Full Control

By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 28, 2021

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-1-28-biden-presidency-the-dopes-have-taken-full-control

How Fast Will Biden Need To Move On Climate? Really, Really Fast

By Lauren Sommer, NPR, Feb 2, 2021

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/02/963014373/how-fast-will-biden-need-to-move-on-climate-really-really-fast

“‘We need to increase tree cover five times faster than we are,’ said John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy for climate. ‘We need to ramp up renewable energy six times faster. And the transition to electric vehicles needs to take place at a rate 22 times faster.’”

John Bolton: Biden’s climate obsession may strengthen China and alienate Western allies

By John Bolton, The Wall Street Journal, Via GWPF, Feb 5, 2021

China Uses Climate Change To Threaten Joe Biden Administration

By John Feng, Newsweek, Feb 2, 2021

https://www.newsweek.com/china-uses-climate-change-threaten-joe-biden-administration-1566056

Kerry saves the debate

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 3, 2021

[SEPP Comment: Apparently, Kerry realizes that modern society needs reliable electricity, and to abandon hydrocarbon energy, it most go nuclear. The feasibility is a matter of permitting and costs.]

Problems in the Orthodoxy

France found guilty of failing to meet Paris Agreement pledge

By Staff, Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Feb 3, 2021

G20 Countries’ Climate Policies Fail to Make the Grade on Paris Promises

Editorial, BloombergNEF, Feb 1, 2021

https://about.bnef.com/blog/g20-countries-climate-policies-fail-to-make-the-grade-on-paris-promises/

So you admit you were lying

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 3, 2021

“So let us trash our own people or the planet gets it. Strange priorities you have there.”

Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science

Effects of Elevated CO2 on the Development and Fecundity of an Aphid Pest

Navarro, E.C., Lam, S.K. and Trebicki, P. 2020. Elevated carbon dioxide and nitrogen impact wheat and its aphid pest. Frontiers in Plant Science 11: 605337, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.605337. Feb 5, 2021

http://www.co2science.org/articles/V24/feb/a3.php

“However a major challenge in meeting such needs is overcoming food production losses caused by pests. And in this regard, they note the total loss of food crops due to insect pests amounts to an estimated 30-40% of annual global food production. Thus, reducing these losses will go a long way toward meeting the increasing food needs of society. What is more, these production gains will occur naturally, without the aid of insecticide use, the latter of which application over time can lead to harmful chemical buildup unintended environmental problems.”

[SEPP Comment: Apparently, it is too much to expect true environmentalists would be celebrating the benefits of increasing atmospheric CO2.]

The Interactive Effects of CO2 and Light Intensity on Lettuce Growth

Esmaili, M., Aliniaeifard, S., Mashal, M., Ghorbanzadeh, P., Seif, M., Gavilan, M.U., Carrillo, F.F., Lastochkina, O. and Li, T. 2020. CO2 enrichment and increasing light intensity till a threshold level, enhance growth and water use efficiency of lettuce plants in controlled environment. Climate Dynamics 44: 3469-3479. Feb 1, 2021

http://www.co2science.org/articles/V24/feb/a1.php

Models v. Observations

Scientists say (6)

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 3, 2021

Link to paper: The vertical profile of recent tropical temperature trends: Persistent model biases in the context of internal variability

By Dann M Mitchell, et al. Environmental Research Letters, Oct 13, 2020

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9af7

[SEPP Comment: All the models reviewed perform poorly. The Canadian model is the worst.]

Unexpected ice

Sea ice in the Southern Ocean defies predictions.

By Natasha Vizcarra, Earth Data, Dec 28, 2020

https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/sensing-our-planet/unexpected-ice

Link to pdf: Unexpected ice

By Natasha Vizcarra, Earth Data, Dec 28, 2020

“Scientists have been watching this feedback loop of warming and melting in the Arctic. To them, Arctic sea ice is a reliable indicator of a changing global climate.]

[SEPP Comment: Sad comment indicating failure to examine history and believing model outputs instead.]

Measurement Issues — Surface

A New Millennial Global Surface Temperature Reconstruction

By Andy May, WUWT, Feb 3, 2021

[SEPP Comment: Discussing the new paper by Nicola Scafetta. There have been efforts to calculate the effects of CO2 and other greenhouse gases since John Tyndall announced the results of his experiments in infrared absorption and emission in 1859. Based on his understanding of Tyndall’s work, in 1896 Svante Arrhenius claimed CO2 emissions would warm the earth significantly. A decade later he significantly reduced his calculations, possibly after recognizing that he misunderstood Tyndall’s work.]

Tokyo, Hachijō-jima See No Annual Warming In Decades, January Temperature Trend Continues Decline

By Kirye and Pierre, No Tricks Zone, Feb 3, 2021

Measurement Issues — Atmosphere

UAH Global Temperature Update for January 2021: +0.12 deg. C (new base period)

By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Feb 2, 2021

Link to Global temperature Report

By Staff, Earth System Science Center, UAH, January 2021

https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/

Robust Measurements Show The Northern Hemisphere’s Atmosphere Cooled -0.6°C In 5 Years 60 Years Ago

By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Feb 4, 2021

[SEPP Comment; According to the abstract: “Between May 1958 and April 1963 the mean temperature of the atmosphere in the northern hemisphere fell by about 0.60° C. The data which led to this conclusion are presented in this article.” https://www.nature.com/articles/242310a0

The excerpt states: “…from all available daily meteorological soundings during the five-year period starting on May 1, 1958.” The measurements are not comprehensive.]

Changing Weather

UK Daily Rainfall Extremes

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 4, 2021

“I do not claim any climatological significance in any of this. But what it does show though is that there is no evidence that a warmer atmosphere is driving more extreme rainfall.”

Changing Climate

To a scientist with a hammer

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 3, 2021

Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations

Global Warming, It’s Always a Shore Thing

By Salvatore Babones, Quadrant, Feb 4, 2021

“Noah and Utnapishtim both embraced the Great Flood, even relished it, and adapted to it. Of course, they were both responding to orders received directly from God. We have only the Word of the IPCC. Venetians, man your gondole!” [Plural of gondola]

Changing Seas

A Mixed Up Mixed Layer

By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, Feb 2, 2021

Naming a First Old Porites, Craig

By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Feb 5, 2021

Scientists combine, organize 40 years-worth of data on coral spawning

By Brooks Hays, Washington DC (UPI), Jan 29, 2021

https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Scientists_combine_organize_40_years_worth_of_data_on_coral_spawning_999.html

Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice

Greenland: “A New Study Says”

By Tony Heller, His Blog, Feb 5, 2021

Greenland : “A New Study Says”

[SEPP Comment: Glaciers were disappearing in 1952, 1939, 1903! See links immediately below.]

Greenland is careening toward a critical tipping point for ice loss

By Mindy Weisberger, Live Science, Feb 1, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://www.livescience.com/greenland-ice-loss-threshold-2055.html

Link to paper: A 21st Century Warming Threshold for Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet Mass Loss

By B. Noël et al. Geophysical Research Letters, Jan 19, 2021

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020GL090471

“As a result, we can more accurately project the future evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss and its contribution to sea-level rise,” Noël said.”

[SEPP Comment: Did it reach a tipping point when the Vikings farmed parts of it? The experts cannot project if the current phase will continue for 5 years 50 years or 100 years!]

Antarctica’s ice melt isn’t consistent, new analysis shows

Press Release by Laura Arenschield, The Ohio State University, Feb 1, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-antarctica-ice-isnt-analysis.html

Link to paper: Complex Patterns of Antarctic Ice Sheet Mass Change Resolved by Time‐Dependent Rate Modeling of GRACE and GRACE Follow‐On Observations

By Lei Wang, James L. Davis, and Ian M. Howat, Geophysical Research Letters, Dec 11, 2020

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL090961

Changing Earth

Scientists Discover Plate Tectonics… Again

By David Middleton, WUWT, Feb 5, 2021

Un-Science or Non-Science?

By the late 21st century, the number of people suffering extreme droughts will double

Increase in water scarcity will affect food security and escalate human migration and conflict, scientists say

Press Release by NSF, Feb 2, 2021

https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=302035&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1

Link to paper: Global terrestrial water storage and drought severity under climate change

By Yadu Pokhrel, et al. Nature Climate Change, Jan 11, 2021

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00972-w

Lowering Standards

Back to the Dark Ages, Says New Report

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 3, 2021

“What these new age hippies really want is to return us all to the dark ages!

“Worse still, they want to condemn the third world to a life of poverty.”

[SEPP Comment: Discussing a review by “Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta, of the University of Cambridge, says prosperity has come at a ‘devastating’ cost to the natural world.”]

Dunce’s Cap For Slingo!

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 2, 2021

“Julia Slingo, the chief scientist at the Met Office”

Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?

Harrabin Complaint [About Harrabin to the BBC]

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 4, 2021

Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?

A team of climatologists is studying how to minimize errors in observed climate trend

Press Release by Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Feb 3, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-team-climatologists-minimize-errors-climate.html

From Kepshire: “(a) only more rubbish is obtained by digitizing rubbish,

(b) there is no agreed definition for global temperature anomaly (GTA),

(c) each team that provides GTA estimates uses a unique definition which it changes several times during each year, and

(d) if global temperature anomaly were an agreed parameter then there is no possibility of a calibration standard for determinations of it.”

BBC Wants Iceland To Freeze Again

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 1, 2021

“Dr Baxter is a lecturer in Communication Design, whatever that is. But he obviously does not know the first thing about glaciers or Icelandic history:”

Sea level will rise faster than previously thought

News Release, University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Science, Feb 2, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210202164530.htm

Links to DOI did not work.

[SEPP Comment: Vague title – thought by whom, Jim Hansen with six-meter exponential rise by the end of the century?]

Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.

The Shocking Climate Graph @climateofgavin Doesn’t Want You To See

By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Feb 3, 2021

“What Wei Zhang has illustrated is almost a perfect correlation between adjustments to the surface temperature record made by NASA GISS (and Gavin Schmidt) and the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. They’ve artificially cooled the past prior to 1960 (about the time Mauna Loa CO2 measurements started) and artificially warmed 1960 to the present.”

Alarmist Fantasies Exposed: UN Gets Hit For Fraudulent, Misleading Press Release On Natural Disasters

By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Feb 2, 2021

[SEPP Comment: According to its website: “As the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDRR brings governments, partners and communities together to reduce disaster risk and losses to ensure a safer, more sustainable future.” TWTW no longer considers exaggeration in UN reports as unusual, particular concerning weather-caused disasters. https://www.undrr.org/about-undrr ]

Climate Change Making Atmospheric River Storms Stronger Claim–Not Supported By Actual Data

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 2, 2021

“The author, Tom Corringham, a Postdoctoral Scholar in Climate, Atmospheric Science and Physical Oceanography, admits that his research is confined to economics and atmospheric science. Consequently, his work is at best theoretical, and should not be used to make unsubstantiated claims about what is actually happening.”

Speaking of decimal places

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 3, 2021

“And once again one must beware the hypnotic effect of the pseudo-precision.”

Trickery: Fake animal ‘tragedy’ boosted globalist ‘Great Reset’

Davos billionaires in tears over natural behavior blamed on ‘climate change’

By Art Moore, World Net Daily, Jan 31, 2021

Expanding the Orthodoxy

NASA Announces New Role of Senior Climate Advisor

By Marc Etkind, NASA, Feb 3, 2021

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-new-role-of-senior-climate-advisor

New SEC senior advisor will specialize in climate change, ESG

By Aaron Nicodemus, Compliance Week, Feb 1, 2021

https://www.complianceweek.com/regulatory-policy/new-sec-senior-advisor-will-specialize-in-climate-change-esg/29995.article

Report urges overall strategy for national security and climate crisis

Press Release by University of Pennsylvania, Feb 3, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-urges-strategy-national-climate-crisis.html

Link to report: Lessons from the Arctic: The Need for Intersectoral Climate Security Policy

By Alexandra A.K. Meise. Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, University of Pennsylvania, Dec 2020

https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/11334-cerl-climate-security-policy-paper-meise

“Defining Climate’s Threats and Opportunities”

The Diplomat: Military Preparedness for Climate Disasters will Limit Scope for CO2 Savings

By Eric Worrall, WUWT, feb 4, 2021

Questioning European Green

HANDS OFF OUR SAUSAGES No10 slaps down plans for ‘meat tax’ after outrage from MPs over green agenda

By Natasha Clark, The Sun, Feb 4, 2021

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/13949302/meat-tax-boris-johnson-green-agenda/

Questioning Green Elsewhere

Homeowners Beware of Climate Change Regulations

By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Feb 2, 2021

Green Jobs

Number of people employed in German renewables sector has halved since 2011

By Benjamin Wehrmann, Clean Energy Wire, Feb 4, 2021

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/number-people-employed-german-renewables-sector-has-halved-2011

Biden’s ‘Green Energy Jobs’ Really Means ‘No Energy Jobs’ And ‘Low-Paying Energy Jobs’

By Mike Pasko, The Federalist, Jan 27, 2021

https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/27/bidens-green-energy-jobs-really-mean-no-energy-jobs-and-low-paying-energy-jobs/

Northern Powerhomes Want £143bn of Your Money!

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 3, 2021

‘The report naturally boasts about creating 77000 jobs, but these would come at the incredible cost of £1.8 million each!

‘It also claims a GVA (Gross Value Added) of £3.8 billion, but this is fantasy economics, which does not account for the fact that the money has to be taken from elsewhere.

“Truly the economics of the mad house!”

Non-Green Jobs

Siemens slashes 7,800 jobs for green transition

By Saleha Riaz, Yahoo, Feb 2, 2021 [H/t GWPF]

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/siemens-slashes-7800-jobs-as-green-energy-changes-course-for-company-084551054.html

Funding Issues

The EU-China investment agreement is a disaster for the West

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 4, 2021

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/the-eu-china-investment-agreement-is-a-disaster-for-the-west/

“It has been evident for a while that the hard up EU is desperate to get hold of Chinese investment, but I suspect part of this latest move is to get China onside with EU climate policy. If so, they are making a huge mistake, because China will simply carry on doing what is in its own interest.”

Litigation Issues

The Climate Change Lawsuits Against Big Oil, Explained

By Daniel Farber, The Appeal, Jan 29, 2021

https://theappeal.org/the-lab/explainers/the-climate-change-lawsuits-against-big-oil-explained/

“However, if the litigation ever reaches the stage of discovery, and the produced information becomes available to the public, we will learn more about what oil companies knew about climate change and how they influenced public perceptions and debate. The release of such information is likely to result in bad publicity that will only encourage divestment movements, make oil company stock less appealing, and further undermine the industry.”

Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes

Raise fuel duty, Rishi, and watch the Red Wall votes evaporate

By Howard Cox, The Conservative Woman, Feb 3, 2021

[SEPP Comment: The Red Wall refers to the Labor Party heartlands, the Midlands.]

UK Carbon Tax to Drive Up the Cost of Gas Heating, Milk and Beef

By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Feb 5, 2021

UK Carbon Tax to Drive Up the Cost of Gas Heating, Milk and Beef

“BAPEN Publishes Results of Biggest Malnutrition Survey Ever Undertaken (Scotland), last updated October 2020, shows malnutrition in patients admitted in English hospitals running at 30%.”

Subsidies and Mandates Forever

Tesla’s dirty little secret: Its net profit doesn’t come from selling cars

By Chris Isidore, CTV News, Jan 31, 2021

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/tesla-s-dirty-little-secret-its-net-profit-doesn-t-come-from-selling-cars-1.5289810

EPA and other Regulators on the March

EPA’s Transparency Rule: Post Mortem

By Marlo Lewis, Jr. CEI, Feb 5, 2021

EPA’s Transparency Rule: Post Mortem – Competitive Enterprise Institute (cei.org)

Energy Issues – Non-US

Ofgem condemned for misleading the public about energy price rises

By Staff, Global Warming Policy Forum, Feb 5, 2021

“’To blame ‘the market’ for what is effectively a manifest failure of ever more expensive Net Zero policies is an attempt to deflect attention from the true culprits behind rising energy poverty. If Mr Brearley and Ofgem really wanted to do something for hard-pressed consumers they would tackle the ballooning effect of climate policies.’ GWPF director Benny Peiser said.”

Cumbria’s New Coal Mine

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 5, 2021

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/cumbrias-new-coal-mine/

How China could turn off Britain’s lights

Businesses loyal to Beijing are taking over our nuclear power and electricity systems

By Clive Hamilton, UnHerd, Jan 25, 2021

Washington’s Control of Energy

Shafting The Poor

Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, Feb 5, 2021

Return of King Coal?

China’s Coal Boom: New coal power plant capacity in 2020 grew more than 3 times rest of the World’s

By Staff, Reuters, Feb 3, 2021

https://www.thegwpf.com/chinas-new-coal-power-plant-capacity-in-2020-more-than-3-times-rest-of-the-worlds/

In 2020 China built three times more coal power than the rest of the world

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Feb 5, 2021

https://joannenova.com.au/2021/02/in-2020-china-built-three-times-more-coal-power-than-the-rest-of-the-world/

Link to report: China Dominates 2020 Coal Development

By Christine Shearer and Lauri Myllyvirta, Global Energy Monitor, Feb 2021

https://globalenergymonitor.org/report/china-dominates-2020-coal-development/

Nuclear Energy and Fears

Net Zero fiasco: Nuclear winter for Britain as power plants close

By Staff, The Sunday Times, Via GWPF, Jan 31, 2021

https://www.thegwpf.com/net-zero-fiasco-nuclear-winter-for-britain-as-power-plants-close/

Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other

Most forest biomass worse for climate than fossil fuels

By Staff Writers, Brussels Belgium (SPX). Jan 29, 2021

https://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Most_forest_biomass_worse_for_climate_than_fossil_fuels_999.html

Link to report: The use of woody biomass for energy production in the EU

By Camia Gluntoli, et al. Joint Research Centre (JRC), EU, 2021

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC122719/jrc-forest-bioenergy-study-2021-final_online.pdf

The Crippling Cost of Hydrogen

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Feb 1, 2021

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2021/02/01/the-crippling-cost-of-hydrogen/

“The UK currently consumes 2789 billion mmbtu a year. An increase in cost from about £7 to £32 per mmbtu, as Timera estimate, would imply the annual cost would rise from £19bn to £89bn.

“Naturally proponents claim that costs of electrolysis will miraculously drop to competitive levels by 2050. There again, pigs might fly!”

[SEPP Comment: See two links below.]

Hydrogen to cut Swedish national GHG-emissions by 30 per cent

By Staff Writers, Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) Feb 01, 2021

https://www.oilgasdaily.com/reports/Hydrogen_to_cut_Swedish_national_GHG_emissions_by_30_per_cent_999.html

Hydrogen-powered drives for e-scooters

By Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Techxplore, Feb 1, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-hydrogen-powered-e-scooters.html

“This provides a safe way of storing hydrogen in a chemical form that is easy to transport and replenish without the need for an expensive network of filling stations.”

Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage

Salt battery design overcomes ‘bump’ in the road to help electric cars go the extra mile

News Release by University of Nottingham, Feb 1, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kekpshire]

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-salt-battery-road-electric-cars.html

Link to paper: Quasi-solid-state electrolyte for rechargeable high-temperature molten salt iron-air battery

By Shiyu Zhang, et al. Energy Storage Materials, March 2021

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2405829720304268?via%3Dihub

Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles

Toyota CEO Agrees With Elon Musk: We Don’t Have Enough Electricity to Electrify All the Cars

By Bryan Preston, PJ Media, Dec 21, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/bryan-preston/2020/12/21/toyota-ceo-agrees-with-elon-musk-we-dont-have-enough-electricity-to-electrify-all-the-cars-n1222999

Electric Vehicles and Their Drawbacks, Chapter II

By Geoffrey Pohanka Real Clear Energy, Feb 2, 2021

https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/02/02/electric_vehicles_and_their_drawbacks_chapter_ii_658924.html

[SEPP Comment: The third-generation car dealer realizes you cannot believe everything the EV salesman says about charging times!]

Not your father’s Oldsmobile

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Feb 3, 2021

Not your father’s Oldsmobile

Environmental Industry

German green group branded a Russian ‘puppet’ over Nord Stream II gas pipeline

By Staff, The Sunday Times, Via GWPF, Jan 31, 2021

https://www.thegwpf.com/german-green-group-branded-a-russian-puppet-over-nord-stream-ii-gas-pipeline/

Other Scientific News

Novel photocatalyst effectively turns carbon dioxide into methane fuel with light

News Release, City University of Hong Kong, Feb 2, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210202113725.htm

[SEPP Comment: Artificial photosynthesis which may become useful if oil and natural gas “run out.”]

BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE

Climate change ‘key’ in Covid-19 spreading to humans – study

By Staff, Russian Times, Feb 5, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]

https://www.rt.com/news/514751-climate-change-spreading-covid-19/

Link to paper: Shifts in global bat diversity suggest a possible role of climate change in the emergence of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2

By Robert M. Beyer, Andrea Manic, and Camilo Morac, Science of The Total Environment, Jan 26, 2021

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721004812

[SEPP Comment: And if they tweak their study, the researchers could claim that climate change caused the far deadlier flu of 1918-19. It may have even caused WW I!]

John Kerry Confronted Over His Private Jet Use — His Response Says It All

By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Feb 3, 2021

Video

That Way Madness Lies

By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Feb 2, 2021

ARTICLES

Eurocrats Are From Pluto

Team Biden will be disappointed if it mistakes them for starry-eyed idealists.

By Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, Feb 1, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/eurocrats-are-from-pluto-11612222054?mod=opinion_lead_pos10

TWTW Summary: The columnist and editor of “The American Interest” writes:

“Sooner or later every new presidential administration experiences that sinking feeling that one of its big ideas may not be working well. For Team Biden, that moment arrived last week as Germany, with widespread support in the European Union, made clear that Europe has no real interest in countering either Russia or China.

Warning against the ‘building of blocs,’ Chancellor Angela Merkel told her virtual audience at the World Economic Forum that she thought Europe should not join with either the U.S. or China against the other. Coming on top of an earlier European refusal to defer moving on an EU-China investment accord until the incoming Biden administration could weigh in on the matter, Europe has made its views crystal clear. Uighurs, Hong Kong and the growing military threats in and around the South China Sea matter much less to European policy makers than their commercial interests do.

Alexei Navalny’s challenge to President Vladimir Putin has likewise prompted a European response that is less than robust. As democracy activists and human-rights organizations on both sides of the Atlantic sought to pressure Western governments to do something about Mr. Navalny’s detention and the arrests across Russia, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs announced that he was pressing ahead with a previously planned visit to Moscow for meetings with Mr. Putin. Light wrist slaps may follow, but little more.

For starry-eyed American liberals—in whose rich fantasies Europe’s chancelleries are inhabited by committed idealists—this may come as a shock. Europeans aren’t from Mars, and some may hail from Venus, as Robert Kagan put it in his 2004 essay ‘Of Paradise and Power.’ But those who rule the Continent come mostly from Pluto, a cold and remote planet named for the ancient god of the underworld—and of wealth.

It’s a mistake to see Europeans as idealists merely because they like multilateralism and discount the importance of military power. Multilateralism is a realist program for Europe, not an idealist one. Even the largest European states know that they are too small to figure as great powers on their own; they must work together if they want to sway Washington and Beijing. As Mr. Kagan noted, they also understand that a rules-based international order grounded in multilateral institutions increases European world influence.

Most Europeans today believe military power simply doesn’t do them much good. For the large majority of European countries that don’t share borders with Russia, Moscow doesn’t look like a major military threat—China even less so. When serious Europeans think about security issues, they worry first about migration, cybersecurity and outside influence—which includes Moscow, Beijing and, yes, Washington. Fears that Russia will attack Lithuania or that Beijing will invade Taiwan come much further down the list—well behind European concerns over America’s ability to force other countries to follow its lead on economic sanctions.

Liberals and idealists often dismiss commercial realists as cynics, chiding them for putting Nord Stream II over Mr. Navalny, Gucci over the Uighurs. There is something to that. But a German trade negotiator trying to keep the exports flowing from Westphalia to Wuhan might retort that fighting far-right German populism by seeking jobs for German workers isn’t an ignoble objective, and perhaps not something for the U.S. to obstruct.”

After discussing political polls, the author concludes:

“If Germany’s Greens do well enough in approaching national elections to enter the governing coalition, the trans-Atlantic gap may narrow. But overall, Russia is too weak and China is too far away to frighten Europeans into a policy rethink.

That could change, and a more threatening Sino-Russian alliance could drive the Old World back into the arms of the New. But until then, whether the U.S. president is an angry America Firster or an ingratiating liberal multilateralist, European commercial realism is here to stay. Where European commercial interests diverge from American geopolitical priorities, the U.S. will have to get used to Europe saying no.”

Like this:

Like Loading…

Categories
Technology

China and the United Arab Emirates are on their technique to Mars – they hope to find it

China and the United Arab Emirates are on their way to Mars - they hope to discover it

How times have changed since the Apollo era. Two space missions from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expected to reach Mars within a few days. The UAE’s Hope mission will go into orbit around Mars on February 9th. The next day, China’s Tianwen-1 mission – an orbiter and lander – will go into orbit with an estimated landing date sometime in May.

It is a very big moment for both countries. Hope is the first ever interplanetary mission by an Arab nation. And if China succeeds, it will be the first country to visit Mars on the first try and land on Mars. The odds are against them, almost 50% of all Mars missions fail. China lost a Mars orbiter mission (Yinghuo-1) back in 2011.

But before the missions can begin science, tense moments await. When they arrive on the planet, they have to set off their engines to burn at just the right time to slow down the probes so they can be captured by Mars’ gravitational field. Due to the great distance from the earth, this must be done automatically by the probe.

Tianwen-1

If all goes well, the orbiter Tianwen, which means “questions to the sky,” and the as-yet-unnamed rover will attempt to measure the Martian climate and the “ionosphere,” a layer of electrically charged particles that surround the planet. This work could help understand how Mars is losing its atmosphere. But it will also aid future crewed missions to Mars by exploring its surface and mapping its shape, geology, and internal structure.

The orbiter is equipped with cameras, a magnetometer (for measuring magnetic fields) and various particle analyzers. It also acts as a relay station to keep in touch with the rover. The rover, the size of a small car, is only slightly smaller than the NASA Perseverance rover, which is also approaching Mars. It looks similar, with a six-wheel drive, large solar panels, and a pole with cameras. The latter can identify surface compositions at a distance between two and five meters.

What makes this mission even more fascinating is that the rover includes a ground penetrating radar. During the rover’s estimated lifespan of 90 Mars days – a Mars day is almost 38 minutes longer than ours – it can explore the underground structure and look for water deposits underground. The European Mars Express Orbiter found evidence of underground saltwater lakes using radar in 2018, but never took measurements on the surface.

[Read: How much does it cost to buy, own, and run an EV? It’s not as much as you think]

The rover will not visit these specific locations but could find similar conditions at the proposed landing site, which we know was previously covered by mudflats. There is great interest in such deposits as they represent a resource for future astronauts on the planet. We also cannot rule out that the lakes could harbor some form of life.

China has already used radar technology with great success on its latest Yutu-2 rover to identify individual layers of water ice up to 40 m below the surface of the moon.

The Chinese National Space Administration announced that the rover will land in the region known as Utopia Planitia, the largest known impact basin in the solar system. For the first three months, the orbiter will monitor and identify the exact location.

Oddly enough, following the successful launch of the mission, a press release initially stated the intended coordinates within Utopia Planitia (110.318 degrees east and 24.748 degrees north), but these were quickly removed, possibly to ensure that this would not contradict a minor change later – or with political motivation. Alfred McEwen, director of the Planetary Image Research Laboratory at the University of Arizona, told Space.com that the intended landing site is safe and scientifically very interesting.

China’s first Mars rover has to go through the so-called seven minutes of terror: the automated descent of a lander through the Martian atmosphere in order to successfully decelerate and land in one piece, without active communication with an orbiter or ground control. To achieve this, an initial deceleration is done with a “conical aeroshell,” which is a protective shield that creates drag (drag) but heats up immensely, followed by a parachute and then firing retrorockets for one gentle touch to allow down.

Hopeful UAE

The Hope Mission is the UAE’s first interplanetary mission to arrive on Mars coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the UAE’s founding. This mission launched from Japan in July 2020 with the same “launch window” (the time when the distance between Earth and Mars is less) to reach Mars as the missions in China and NASA.

Hope will orbit Mars for a Martian year – almost two Earth years. The Martian atmosphere is examined more closely from distances between 22,000 km and 44,000 km. The mission will study global weather, its connections to the upper atmosphere, and how this may explain the changing abundance of hydrogen and oxygen there. This will help us understand how Mars is gradually losing its atmosphere and what role dust plays in Martian weather – also important information for those who would like to settle on Mars one day.

These busy times for anyone interested in Mars exploration began by two relative newcomers to the treasonous business of Mars exploration and offer a welcome, fresh perspective. It’s great to see the group of nations exploring Mars expand. And if you haven’t had enough of seeing these missions, sit back for a few days until the NASA Perseverance rover comes to you on February 18th.

This article by Daniel Brown, professor of astronomy at Nottingham Trent University, is republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read Next: How Polestar Uses Blockchain To Increase Transparency

Categories
Sport

“Tompa Bay” is Titletown – Tom Brady, fierce protection, led Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Tremendous Bowl 2021 victory

"Tompa Bay" is Titletown - Tom Brady, fierce defense, led Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl 2021 victory

TAMPA, Florida – Eleven months ago, it was inconceivable that quarterback Tom Brady would choose the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of all people to continue his football journey.

Equally implausible was that this partnership – forged in a coronavirus pandemic-ridden off-season, with little time to connect with new teammates or master a new game book – Brady’s 10th Super Bowl appearance and the seventh Vince Lombardi Trophy would produce.

At the age of 43. On his home turf at Raymond James Stadium.

2 relatives

But on Sunday night Brady and the Bucs defeated Patrick Mahomes and the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs 31-9, giving the Bucs their second Lombardi trophy. They played in front of the first audience in Super Bowl history and in front of 7,500 health care workers. Brady was 21 of 29, overtaking 201 yards and three touchdowns, including two against Rob Gronkowski.

“To come here to Tampa, to come to an organization that was ready to win, to come here with the players, they are all fantastic players, great guys, just everyone overall, the story is amazing, and it definitely ranks one of mine greatest achievement ever, “said Gronkowski.

It was a brilliant defensive performance and a brilliant game plan from Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles. The Bucs defense, which made a quantum leap this postseason after being lit by Tyreek Hill for 269 yards and three touchdowns in Week 12 of the regular season, threw Mahomes out of rhythm and put him under severe pressure in the absence of the Chiefs Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz tackled the offensive.

Mahomes was constantly thrown off balance, and the Bucs defenders were on the ball, with Antoine Winfield Jr. scoring an intercept in the third quarter.

“I can’t do him enough credit,” said coach Bruce Arians of Bowles. “You know, I think he was a little tired of hearing how unstoppable they were. I thought he had a fantastic plan just to hold them in front of us and do really good. Patrick wouldn’t beat us if we did run.” … “

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw three touchdowns when he received his seventh Super Bowl ring. Mark LoMoglio / AP Photo

Mahomes was released three times, intercepted twice and kept out of the end zone.

You couldn’t think of anything if you tried.

The same goes for Brady, who goes into the wrong house and gets kicked out of a public park when ordering at home. This resulted in a semi-awkward encounter with the mayor and a promise she must fulfill: renaming “Tampa Bay” to “Tampa Brady”.

“Tompa Bay” has a nice sound too. Hey, a deal is a deal.

Three players Brady personally recruited for Tampa – Gronkowski, wide receiver Antonio Brown and Leonard Fournette – scored all touchdowns in that Super Bowl, with Gronkowski scoring two goals in the first half.

play

1:12

Tom Brady tosses two of his three touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski when the Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV.

“It’s great to see great players make great games,” said Brady. “Just love what they did, what they added to the team. Gronk is an incredible player, teammate, talent, work ethic, commitment. And AB [Brown] is just since he got here he’s done everything right. So impressed with him. “

On Fournette, Brady said, “He was great and just did everything. Blocked, ran, just had an amazing season. We got him pretty late and he just showed up big. It was amazing how he performed in the greatest moments. “

Brady called his shot early. When he first signed with the Bucs, indicating that he was not interested in receiving Chris Godwin’s # 12 (he got the number, eventually), he asked General Manager Jason Licht if # 7 was available. “Why 7?” Asked light.

Brady replied, “After the seventh Super Bowl.”

Bold? Maybe. But he deserves it.

Bucs 31, Chiefs 9
• Brady, defense leads Bucs to victory »
• Chiefs dynasty delayed by loss »
• Mahome’s quest put on hold »

Brady was in rare company even before Sunday, his six championship rings tied him to Michael Jordan, one of his idols. But on Sunday night he outperformed Jordan and Alabama’s trainer Paul “Bear” Bryant. Now he’s linked with Nick Saban, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth, to name a few.

The athletes who won more? Bill Russell won 11 NBA titles and Sam Jones 10. In baseball, Yogi Berra won 10 World Series rings, Joe DiMaggio nine and Phil Rizzuto, Frankie Crosetti, Bill Dickey and Lou Gehrig eight each – as did Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Tom “Satch” Sanders and John Havlicek in the NBA. And don’t forget Brady’s former trainer Bill Belichick, who has eight Super Bowl rings – two with the New York Giants and six with the New England Patriots.

Almost all of these players and coaches have made it with the same team year after year and built the greatest dynasties in professional sport. Brady started over at a time when Father Time was supposed to catch up with him.

Arians pointed out “the belief he gave to everyone in the organization that this is possible” after the NFC championship game. “It only took one man.”

Many argued that Brady took the greatest risk of his career, leaving the only team he ever knew with the Patriots, the only head coach he ever knew in Belichick, and the only path he ever knew : winning. He traded those things for a Bucs team that hadn’t been in the postseason for 13 years, hadn’t won a playoff game in nearly two decades, and still has the worst profit share in the league (.393).

Brady wasn’t sacrosanct in Tampa. Sometimes he fought. The lack of an off-season hurt him when he got on the same side as Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. Brady admitted “we weren’t great” after losing to the Chiefs in Week 12 when the Bucs missed a touchdown and fell to 7-5.

Access elite coverage for every fan: highlights from the biggest games, original series from NFL legends, unparalleled analysis and much more. Sign up now to unlock everything ESPN + has to offer.

The Bucs ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak and didn’t look back. They won three postseason games on the road – including trips to New Orleans and Green Bay to face Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers – before dethroning the Chiefs game on Sunday night as the fourth team in NFL history to host a Super Bowl won as the Road Wild Card Team. Now comes a new test for a team that is still used to life in the spotlight: repetition as champions, something Brady did only once with the Patriots in 2003 and 2004, and something the Chiefs did in the 2020 season have not achieved. Brady is set to be in the second year of a two-year $ 50 million deal and this week he said he would “definitely consider” playing past the age of 45, which could widen the Bucs’ window to assert themselves.

Gronkowski has already confirmed his return. But the Bucs have to re-sign Godwin, who becomes an unrestricted free agent. So did pass rusher Shaq Barrett, with whom they couldn’t make a deal in the last off-season and who forced him to play under the franchise label, and linebacker Lavonte David. The Bucs will have a salary cap of around $ 30 million.

The trainers and the front office loved Brown. Can you re-sign it? And can he still avoid problems outside of the field without the structure of a season? His civil suit was postponed to December 2021 because of the pandemic.

There is also Leonard Fournette, whose 313 meters before the start of Sunday were the most players in the playoffs. Will Tampa Bay be able to bring him back?

“We were obviously all-in for this season, but the way we are set up now – there are a lot of questions and a lot of unknowns about the size of the salary cap right now, but I think we are set up beautifully”, said light. “A young defense, a young secondary, young receivers [and] a fairly young offensive line. I wouldn’t say it changed on March 20th [when Brady signed]. We’re still looking for the long term and we still have a long term plan [with] the way we set things up. “

Categories
Health

In line with examine outcomes, the UK coronavirus pressure within the US is doubling each 10 days

According to study results, the UK coronavirus strain in the US is doubling every 10 days

The mutant strain of coronavirus, first identified in the UK, remains at low levels in the US, but doubles its range roughly every 10 days, according to a study published by researchers on Sunday.

The study helped model the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which last month had predicted that the more contagious variety could be the dominant strain in the US by March.

The US still has time to take steps to slow the new strain of the virus, the researchers wrote, but they warned that the variant “without” determined and immediate public health action “is likely to have devastating consequences for COVID-19. Mortality and morbidity in the EU will have US in a few months. “

The research, which was partially funded by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health and Canadian Institutes of Health Research, has been published on medRxiv, a preprint server, and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The new strain of coronavirus, also known as B.1.1.7, spread quickly in the United Kingdom and has become the dominant strain in that country, which by some standards is the hardest hit in Europe.

Health officials have said that existing vaccines are likely to work against new strains, although their effectiveness may be somewhat reduced.

The study found that there are “relatively small” amounts of B.1.1.7. in the US at the moment, but given its rapid spread, it is “almost certainly destined to become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 line by March 2021”.

The new strain accounted for 3.6% of coronavirus cases in the United States in the last week of January, according to the study.

Researchers found that tracking the nationwide spread of the strain is made difficult by the lack of a national genomics surveillance program like in the UK, Denmark and other countries.

They wrote that they had “relatively robust” estimates from California and Florida, but that data outside of those states were limited.

The growth rate of the virus was different in the two states, with B.1.1.7. seems to spread a little more slowly in California. The study’s authors wrote that the strain doubled roughly every 12.2 days in California, 9.1 days in Florida, and 9.8 days nationally.

The study supports the conclusion that the new strain is already spreading via “significant community transmission”.

The authors suggest that the virus was introduced into the country via international travel and spread via domestic travel as millions of Americans crossed the country around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years in the fall and winter.

The authors also found that the variant grew a little slower than in European countries. This is another investigation, but it may be due to the sparse current data or other factors – including “competition from other, more transferable” variants.

Other strains of coronavirus of concern have been detected in South Africa and elsewhere.

The researchers warned that their results “reinforce” the need for robust surveillance for possible new and emerging coronavirus variants in the US.

“Since laboratories in the US only sequence a small subset of SARS-CoV-2 samples, the true sequence diversity of SARS-CoV-2 is still unknown in this country,” they wrote.

“The more established oversight programs in other countries have issued important warnings of worrying variants that could affect the US, with B.1.1.7 being just one variant that demonstrates the ability to grow exponentially,” they added.

“Only with consistent, unbiased, large-scale sequencing that encompasses all geographic and demographic populations, including the often underrepresented, along with continued international scientific collaborations and open data sharing, can we accurately assess and track new variants emerging during COVID-19 Pandemic, “the researchers wrote.

Subscribe to CNBC Pro for the live TV stream, deep insights and analysis of how to invest during the next president’s term.

Categories
Science

Darkish Power Survey finds a whole lot of recent gravitational lenses

Dark Energy Survey finds hundreds of new gravitational lenses

It is relatively rare for a magical object from fantasy stories to have an analog in real life. A really working crystal ball (or palantir) would be useful for everything from military operations to checking grandma. While there is nothing to be able to observe the mundane daily routines, there is something equivalent for extraordinarily distant galaxies: gravitational lenses. Now, a team led by Xiaosheng Huang from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and several universities around the world has published a list of more than 1200 new candidates for gravitational lenses.

Gravitational lenses occur when a massive object, such as a galaxy, is aligned directly between Earth and another massive object that is even further away. Although usually attributed to Einstein, they were first published by Orest Khvolson and Frantisek Link in 1924 and 1936, respectively, and arise from general relativity. This theory assumes that the light from the source (i.e. the object further away) bends around the gravitational weight of the object in the foreground.

The “molten ring” is one of the most complete Einstein rings (a kind of gravitational lens) ever discovered.
Photo credit: NASA

The effects of this bending can be fascinating, like the molten ring we reported on late last year. So far, however, there have only been a few hundred examples of such light distortions in the universe. The discovery of 1,200 new potential candidates is a huge boost to the overall catalog of these fascinating phenomena and potentially doubles the number of candidates ever found.

Part of the reason they are “candidates” rather than confirmed lenses is because the work of discovering them was performed by a computer-generated algorithm. The researchers developed a neural network-based algorithm that was originally developed for the Strong Gravitational Lens Finding Challenge. Data from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) was fed into the winning algorithm to get the new catalog.

UT video explaining the concept of the gravitational lens.

As any computer scientist will tell you, training sets are one of the most important inputs to a neural network program. The students have dealt with this important aspect. Students helped sort tens of thousands of images and eventually developed 632 previously discovered lenses and 21,000 non-lens images to ensure the algorithm can distinguish between real and imitation lenses.

This meticulous collaboration between the work and the algorithm included 60 “Grade A” lenses with the most pronounced lens-like features. Another 105 candidates in class B (slightly less pronounced) and 176 candidates in class C (weaker characteristics) round off the total. To prove that these candidates are indeed gravitational lenses, the team secured observation time using the Hubble Space Telescope, which began in 2019.

A gravitational lens found in the DESI data of four different background galaxies that appear as partial rings around the orange galaxy in the foreground.
Photo credit: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, Berkeley Lab, DOE, KPNO, CTIO, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA)

Your final results with the Hubble data have yet to be published. However, the LBNL researchers aren’t the only ones using this technique to look for gravitational lenses. A team from Australia published another list of potential lenses, and the LBNL team only found about 60% of what that team did. The rest was likely due to differences in training sets or algorithmic quirks. Obviously, there is much more to discover in the world of gravitational lenses.

If the researchers could use a crystal ball to find them all, it would make their job a lot easier. However, they are limited to terrestrial technologies such as the Vera C Rubin Observatory, which is scheduled to start operating in 2023. With the added power of observation from these new platforms, the team hopes to reach 1,000 new lens candidates, which will greatly increase the total number of these phenomena found so far. A real crystal ball could probably also tell you whether or not it is capable of this.

Learn more:
LBNL: AI finds more than 1,200 candidates for gravitational lenses
LBNL: Seeing the Universe through New Lenses
arXiv: Discovery of new powerful gravitational lenses in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys
NOIR Lab: doubling the number of known gravitational lenses

Mission statement:
Gravitational lenses compared side by side with the DECaLS survey and Hubble’s picture of them.
Image Credit: Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, Hubble Space Telescope

Like this:

To like Loading…