Archive

Archive for July, 2011

Mars is left behind, Earth is ahead!

July 4, 2011 1 comment

spaceobs

L. Elenin / ISON-NM observatory

At the end of June 2011, Comet Elenin will cross the orbit of the fourth planet of the Solar System – Mars. It must be noted that from April to June, the comet did not come closer to the Earth, but moved “parallel” with it. Right at the beginning of July, the comet will begin to very quickly move toward our planet. I again want to emphasize, the comet will pass 35 million kilometers from the Earth. It is an absolutely safe distance, just a little closer to the Earth than the second planet, Venus, comes.

At left you can see an image of the comet taken June 21th at our observatory. In the earthly sky the comet is quite close to the Sun, and soon it will be impossible to observe – it will be hidden the rays of the setting Sun. C/2010 X1 (Elenin) will not emerge from solar conjunction until the beginning of October, when it will be visible in binoculars and maybe even with the unaided eye.

Read more…

Unidentified Object @ Antarctica’s Neumayer Station 061811- 062011

July 4, 2011 2 comments

These are recent photos from the Antarctica Neumayer Station on 6/18/11 – 6/20/11.
http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/stations/neumayer.shtml

This object would confirm what we are seeing at 2:57 in this video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUiKzdLb7Yc
Please take a look. This video confirms what we are seeing in the Antarctic.

These new photos have me extremely puzzled and concerned. We’ve identified the moon and the location of the Sun, but there is another large Read more…

Collapsing Coastlines

July 4, 2011 Comments off

sciencenews

access

Storms can ravage coastal permafrost, as shown near the village of Kaktovik, Alaska.© Accent Alaska.com/Alamy

Gray waves surged over miles and miles of open water, breaking against the bluffs underlying Kaktovik. The tiny village sits precariously on the Beaufort Sea, a frigid body of water bordering Alaska’s northeastern Arctic coast. As the choppy waters inundated vulnerable stretches of shoreline, the surf carved deep chasms into the tall bluffs.

Torre Jorgenson, a geomorphologist working near Kaktovik, watched the storm boil up, shaking homes and boats for nearly two days in July 2008. Dramatic erosion followed soon after. Blocks of graphite-colored earth, as much as 10 meters wide and several meters deep, toppled into the sea one by one like skyscrapers in a Japanese monster film.

“The locals had never seen that type of erosion,” says Jorgenson, also president of the U.S. Permafrost Association. “It was something new, a regime change.”

The erosion Jorgenson witnessed was a potent warning to Kaktovik’s residents of the instability of their coastal home. Seaside bluffs and beaches across the Arctic are Read more…

Soputan volcano eruption Sulawesi, Indonesia : subsiding activity tonight

July 4, 2011 Comments off

earthquake-report

Volcanic smoke billows from Mount Soputan as seen in this photo taken from the town of Amurang, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. (AP Photo) Volcanic smoke billows from Mount Soputan as seen in this photo taken from the town of Amurang, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. (AP Photo)VAAC Ash advisory for the area : The ash cloud from the initial explosion/eruption is drifting further to the south-west. The image confirms the subsiding activity of the volcano. Click on the picture to go straight to the VAAC page in Darwin, Australia. The report below dates from 14:22 UTC on July 3, 2011.
The sector most affected for the coming hours will be Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia.
VAAC comments on this latest report : HIGH LEVEL ERUPTION HAS CEASED AND IS DISSIPATING. LOW LEVEL VA NOT IDENTIFIABLE ON SAT IMAGERY DUE TO METEOROLOGICAL CLOUD BUT EXPECTED TO STILL BE IN AREA.

Read more…

Brown advocates for one world parliament

July 1, 2011 Comments off

theage

Bob Brown admits a global parliament won't come to pass in his lifetime.Bob Brown admits a global parliament won’t come to pass in his lifetime. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

GREENS leader Bob Brown – whose party assumes sole balance of power in the Senate tomorrow – wants Australia to join an international push for a global parliament.

This ”people’s assembly” would be based on one person, one vote, one value and was being vigorously promoted in Europe and the United Nations, he said yesterday.

He admits that it won’t come to pass in his lifetime but said if and when it does, ”it could be right here in Australia”.

But while the sky’s the limit for Senator Brown’s vision, for the world and for his party, he had a very down to earth message for the Coalition.

”The Greens will be a secure rock of stability in the Senate, to help make sure Australia gets the good government it deserves. To that end, we will not be supporting any Coalition move in the Senate, whether by legislation or amendments, that Read more…

Facial recognition now at all of Australia’s intn’l airports

July 1, 2011 Comments off

zdnet

Darwin International Airport has today launched its own SmartGate counters, ensuring that all eight of Australia’s international airports have the face-recognition technology.

(Ah ain’t long for this whorl image by
Chad Miller, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The technology uses electronic information embedded in e-passports and face-recognition technology to perform customs and immigration checks. During immigration, users scan their e-passports, which are equipped with an embedded chip, and have their photograph taken.

The technology maps the underlying bone structure of the face by measuring the distances between defining features such as the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. The measurements are digitally coded for comparison and verification purposes, and a mathematical algorithm is applied to determine whether the photo of the traveller’s face matches their e-passport photo.

It was first implemented at Brisbane International Airport in 2007, and since then it has been used by 3.5 million travellers, with close to one million using it in this year alone.

In this year’s Biometrics Institute Industry Survey, which canvasses opinions from 137 user organisations in Read more…

UN Criticizes China’s Failure to Arrest Sudan’s Bashir

July 1, 2011 Comments off

voanews

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir during the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 29, 2011.

Photo: AP
Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir during the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 29, 2011.

The United Nations has criticized China for failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to Beijing this week.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Thursday she is “disappointed” China welcomed Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The ICC has charged Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Pillay said Thursday that even though China is not an ICC member, Beijing still Read more…

Farm Animal Disease to Increase With Climate Change, Scientists Say

July 1, 2011 Comments off

sciencedaily

Researchers looked at changes in the behaviour of bluetongue — a viral disease of cattle and sheep — from the 1960s to the present day, as well as what could happen to the transmission of the virus 40 years into the future. They found, for the first time, that an outbreak of a disease could be explained by changes to the climate.

In Europe, more than 80,000 outbreaks of bluetongue were reported to the World Animal Health Organisation between 1998 and 2010, and millions of animals died as a result of the disease. Bluetongue was previously restricted to Africa and Asia, but its emergence in Europe is thought to be linked to increased temperatures, which allows the insects that carry the virus to spread to new regions and transmit the virus more effectively.

Researchers produced a mathematical model that explains how Read more…

Nearly 100,000 Chilean students demonstrate in Santiago

July 1, 2011 Comments off

monstersandcritics

Students are sprayed by a riot police water cannon during a protest march against the government of President Sebastian Pinera and the new education law, in Santiago.

Students are sprayed by a riot police water cannon during a protest march against the government of President Sebastian Pinera and the new education law, in Santiago.

Santiago – Close to 100,000 Chilean students and teachers demonstrated Thursday in front of the presidential palace in Santiago demanding reform in the country’s public education system.

The conservative government of President Sebastian Pinera has rejected student demands, which include tax reforms to finance education and healthcare and changes in the constitution.

‘They slammed the door on dialogue insofar as they make demands that show they are not in favour of coming to an agreement,’ said Education Minister Joaquin Lavin.

It was one of the largest demonstrations in Chile over the past 20 years. Towards Read more…

Argentina considers OPEC-like deal for lithium

July 1, 2011 Comments off

rawstory

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina is promoting the idea of an OPEC-like cartel for itself, Bolivia and Chile, which together control 85 percent of the world’s reserves of lithium, a key component in electric car batteries.

“In the near future and with our production at such a high level, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile will control the lithium market,” said Rodolfo Tecchi, the director of the technology and science promotion division of the Argentine Ministry of Science and Technology.

“They could do it with a sort of OPEC-like arrangement,” he added.

The three countries, which Forbes magazine calls the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” would establish “control mechanisms for the sale of lithium carbonate, avoiding Read more…

Categories: Argentina Tags: , , , ,