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Atmosphere Above Japan Heated Rapidly Before M9 Earthquake
Infrared emissions above the epicenter increased dramatically in the days before the devastating earthquake in Japan, say scientists.
Technology Review
Published by MIT
Geologists have long puzzled over anecdotal reports of strange atmospheric phenomena in the days before big earthquakes. But good data to back up these stories has been hard to come by.
In recent years, however, various teams have set up atmospheric monitoring stations in earthquake zones and a number of satellites are capable of sending back data about the state of the upper atmosphere and the ionosphere during an earthquake.
Last year, we looked at some fascinating data from the DEMETER spacecraft showing a significant increase in ultra-low frequency radio signals Read more…
Mississippi Nears Crest in Historic Vicksburg, Natchez
May 18 (Bloomberg) — The engorged Mississippi River is cresting in the state that bears its name, rising to major flood stage and above in towns famous for Civil War battles, riverboat landings and antebellum homes.
The river left standing its 1927 record in Greenville, Mississippi, when it crested there yesterday at 64.2 feet, below the 65.4-foot mark that helped lead to the creation of the U.S. Flood Control Act of 1928 for river management.
A crest of 57.5 feet, more than a foot above the 1927 high, is expected tomorrow at Vicksburg, while downstream at Natchez the river is forecast to top out May 21 at 63 feet, 5 feet above a 1937 record.
“We have the levee there and we’re praying it holds,” said Beth Hite, 53, bartender at Natchez’s Under-the-Hill Saloon, which bills itself as a place where thieves and gamblers roamed in the days when the town was a major riverboat stop. “We have been sandbagging and now they are building those artificial levees.”
Farther down the river, in Louisiana, 15 gates are open on the Morganza spillway, diverting the Mississippi’s excess into the Atchafalaya River basin. The opening of the spillway for the first time since 1973 eased the threat of flooding for Baton Rouge, New Orleans and a major petrochemical zone while sending the water into Cajun country.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said yesterday that the Read more…
Global Biometric Forecast to 2012
Biometric market has been growing as one of the fastest emerging markets for the past few years especially due to rising need for personal security concerns, and the advent of new technologies that offered numerous future growth opportunities. Recent developments, larger & wider scale adoption, significant capability & performance advancements, standards development, and consumer acceptance, indicate looming and substantial market expansion of the biometric industry.
Many governments across the world are adopting biometric technologies to strengthen national security and maintain individual identity. Besides, corporate security and identity theft are fueling growth in the global biometric market. According to our new research report “Global Biometric Forecast to 2012”, the global biometric market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 23% during 2011 – 2013. The report explains prevalent market trends and future scenario of the biometric market in different verticals, technologies, and regions, underlining the future potential areas and key issues crucial for the market development.
Among the technologies, fingerprint recognition is possibly the most widely used and familiar biometric technology. Further, biometrics is also becoming a Read more…
Alarming Number of Disasters Striking World “Food Baskets”
Millennium-Ark
May 16, 2011
Holly Deyo
Dear Friends and Readers of Millennium-Ark,
For the last 5 years, we have posted countless articles covering both natural disasters and their impact on our food supplies as well as on many other timely topics. After several decades of monitoring these events, it’s hard to convey how shocked we are by the sheer number of disasters that have occurred just in the first 4 months of 2011.
Yesterday, all day, I spent analyzing natural disasters and plotted them against our food belts. Never, ever, have I seen so many federally declared disasters this early in the year.
The DHS/FEMA maps were defined by 2 colors: blue signified no disasters (to distinguish the disaster-free areas from water, they are shown in white below) and yellow indicated declared disasters. Map after map, state after state were mostly yellow. Surely this must be an error? Thinking through the numerous news items on Earth Changes, with sinking feeling, I knew they were correct. It was only when the state information was transferred to a single national map, the implications become uncomfortably clear.
Notice how many disasters have occurred in food-producing areas. They are striking the heart of our food growing regions. Many food crops have been wiped out by drought, flood, hail and freezes. These food destroyers are occurring in greater frequency and having larger impact. America’s food belts are taking mighty hits. Some growing areas will not recover this entire year.
Iran to Display New Ballistic Missiles
Iran plans next Tuesday to show off a new set of ballistic missiles built recently within its borders, the country’s Fars News Agency reported (see GSN, March 1).
Military equipment “including some vessels, ballistic missiles and new ammunitions will come into use on the occasion of Khorramshahr Liberation Anniversary,” Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Wednesday, referring to Iran’s 1982 victory against Iraq in a southern coastal city.
The nation’s military would soon formally receive the new missiles, Vahidi said.
Iran’s missile manufacturing systems have advanced significantly over the past 10 years, according to the media report. The Middle Eastern nation tested an antiship ballistic missile in February (see GSN, Feb. 10).
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard last October received the third variant of the Fateh 110 ballistic missile, and another version of the weapon was due for testing soon, Fars reported. The Fateh 110 is a short-range, solid-fuel weapon suited for firing from a mobile launcher. The missile has sophisticated command and guidance mechanisms, the news report said (see GSN, Sept. 22, 2010; Fars News Agency, May 18).
Iran’s Shahab 3 ballistic missile is the greatest source of worry for Western countries, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. The weapon has a 1,240-mile range and could strike any point in Israel (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Monsters and Critics, May 18).
Supreme Court allows warrantless drug search in Kentucky case
The United States Supreme Court handed down a decision today that will profoundly affect the way police search for drugs. In reviewing a case out of Lexington, Kentucky, the Court—in an eight to one decision—ruled that “exigent circumstances” are created when police reasonably believe a suspect is in the process of destroying evidence, and therefore a search warrant is not constitutionally required.
In the case of Commonwealth of Kentucky vs. Hollis DeShaun King, the Lexington police conducted a “buy bust” raid on October 13, 2005, at an apartment on Center Parkway. Officers followed a suspected drug dealer to the apartment complex, and testified that they smelled marijuana outside an apartment door, knocked loudly, and announced their presence. As soon as the officers began knocking, they heard noises coming from Read more…
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