Article Archive for September 2008
Sunspots. What Sunspots?
For the first time since 1913 we have had a month without a single sunspot. The 7 months prior to August averaged a very low 3 sunspots. This is the most likely cause for global temperatures dropping this year. Is it something we should be concerned about?
On the one hand, we could be heading into a “mini-Ice Age” that coincided with the Maunder Minimum of 1645 to 1715. This would mean colder weather and nothing an extra layer of clothing and a million glasshouses won’t fix.
On the other hand, it could just be “one of those things” and come right soon.
Or, there is grave concern that the Sun is building up to an almighty Coronal Mass Ejection or similar, in 2012, that could wipe out humankind.
Read more at Bob Kingsley’s site.
The Mystery of the Earth’s Core
It received a mention this week at New Scientist, as one of the seven biggest mysteries about Earth. This esteemed publication is not shy about telling us the potential harm of a magentic pole shift that could occur at any time:
Some researchers think that turbulence caused by the growth of the inner core may, over time, make the magnetic field less stable and more likely to flip, causing Earth’s north and south magnetic poles to swap places. When this happens – as it has done in the past – the planet is left temporarily unprotected from the energetic particles streaming out from the sun, known as the solar wind. This would leave us with no shield against magnetic particles from the solar wind. This would certainly bring down our computer systems and may prove to be damaging to life too. When this will happen next, however, nobody knows.
From issue 2675 …
World Ends in 2013, according to Newton (via Flynn)
From the excerpt I just read, it would appear that the entire premise of “Temple at the Center of Time: Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012,” by David Flynn, revolves around the following:
Because of how the prophet Daniel divided the prophetic week in half, Flynn believes the original founding date for the empire of the prophecy, Rome, would follow this pattern and be bisected. Therefore, correcting Newton’s date, the year 753 B.C. designates the founding of the physical Rome while A.D. 753 establishes the rebirth of spiritual Rome. Counting 1,260 years forward from A.D. 753, one arrives at the year 2013.
Since when does halving something mean a mirror image of dates, from BC to AD?
And, typically of such books that like to use numbers, 2013 is “near enough” to 2012.
Were Unicorns Real?
As this image of a deer in Italy shows, genetic abnormalities can cause a creature to have a “horn”. The reamining question is whether the unicorn myth was due to one odd deer (or horse), or whether it was an inherited genetic trait that existed in large enough numbers to give them their own name of unicorn.
New Galactic Alignment book
A new book is out this month, 2012 and the Galactic Center: The Return of the Great Mother. Fortunately for the author and the publisher, most people are not aware that the alignment actually happened in 1998. While I won’t be buying this book, I am curious to know whether Christine R Page lets her readers in on this little secret…
Blame it on the weather?
The phrase “blame it on the weather” takes new meaning in light of research suggesting that regional climate may very well have been responsible for the evolution of lifestyle, culture and even religion in the Middle East.
So says a Discovery.com news item that states that the Middle East, between 11,000 and 10,300 years ago, experienced a period of climate change, becoming colder and more arid. And consequently this created a cultural split between those who went on to live in the new desert, and those who lived in more fertile regions. These cultural differences can be traced back genetically.
Could it be that rather than just “blame it on the weather”, we can theorise that a pole shift was the cause of the major climate change, and that such a cataclysm would have been an additional factor in the emergence of different cultures.
Courts Asked to Halt Doomsday
Preparations for starting up the world’s largest atom-smasher on Sept. 10 are proceeding smoothly, but the legal tussle over whether it should be stopped is facing new twists. Look for Nobel laureates and diplomats to weigh in as a key federal court hearing nears.
It’s kinda like global warming. Hundreds of experts say the LHC is harmless, and a handful of experts say it could cause the end of us and our planet.
Meanwhile the European Court of Human Rights has rejected an emergency injunction to block the Large Hadron Collider from being turned on.
My opinion: I reckon they’ve already turned it on in a trial run, and we are still here.
