{"id":11007,"date":"2008-02-07T11:19:30","date_gmt":"2008-02-07T17:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=11007"},"modified":"2008-02-07T11:19:30","modified_gmt":"2008-02-07T17:19:30","slug":"al-gore-must-be-in-the-solar-system-dan-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=11007","title":{"rendered":"Al Gore Must Be In the Solar System [Dan Collins]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nuke him from orbit <\/a>. . .\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every day, scientists hoping to see an increase in solar activity train their instruments at the sun as it crosses the sky. This is no idle academic pursuit: A lull in solar action could potentially drive the planet\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s temperature down, or even prompt a mini Ice Age.<\/p>\n

For millennia, thermonuclear forces inside the star have followed a regular rhythm, causing its magnetic field to peak and ebb, on average, every 11 years. Space weathermen are watching for telltale increases in sunspots, which would signal the start of a new cycle, predicted to have started last March and expected to peak in 2012. \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cWhen the sun\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s active, it\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s a little bit brighter,\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d explains Ken Tapping, a solar researcher and project director for Canada\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s National Research Council.<\/p>\n

So far, Tapping reports no change in the magnetic field strength, as measured by radio<\/a> telescopes. On the more positive side, last month NASA reported a small, earth-sized sunspot with a magnetic field pointing in the opposite direction from those in the previous cycle; qualities that designate the spot as a signal of a new upturn in activity. At the solar maximum, scientists expect to see between 75 and 150 such sunspots per day.<\/p>\n

Tapping oversees the operation of a 60-year-old radio telescope that he calls a \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cstethoscope for the sun.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d Recent magnetic field readings are as low as he\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s ever seen, he says, and he\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s worked with the instrument for more than 25 years. If the sun remains this quiet for another a year or two, it may indicate the star has entered a downturn that, if history is any precedent, could trigger a planetary cold spell that could bring massive snowfall and severe weather to the Northern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

The last such solar funk corresponded with a period of bitter cold that began around 1650 and lasted, with intermittent spikes of warming, until 1715. While there were competing causes for the climatic shift\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u009dincluding the Black Death\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s depopulation of tree-cutting Europeans and, more substantially, increased volcanic activity spewing ash into the atmosphere\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u009dthe sun\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s lethargy likely had something to do with it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

h\/t Reynolds<\/a><\/p>\n

Also:<\/p>\n

Why do today\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s men run from commitment \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u009d indefinitely delaying settling down in a marriage they take seriously, and having kids? Dr. Helen Smith <\/a><\/strong>asks whether they are indeed pampered eternal adolescents more interested in exploding toilets and video games<\/font><\/a> than real life, or if they are simply making a logical choice when \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cthe reward for being an adult in our society is so low,<\/em> especially for men.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nuke him from orbit . . .\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Every day, scientists hoping to see an increase in solar activity train their instruments at the sun as it crosses the sky. This is no idle academic pursuit: A lull in solar action could potentially drive the planet\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s temperature down, or even prompt a mini Ice Age. For millennia, thermonuclear forces inside the star have followed a regular rhythm, causing its magnetic field<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}