At www.physorg.com/print201526370.html ... a University of Dundee press release claims a breakthrough in the study of magnetic fields - which will add to what we know about stars including our Sun. The team, from a magnetohydrodynamics research group, used computer simulation of plasma in the atmosphere of the Sun and by looking at how the magnetic field responded to plasma they have uncovered what they say are now rules that govern, or exact influence, over the solar atmosphere.
What makes a Black Hole?
This is one of those uncomfortable pieces of emerging evidence that might result in an upset. At www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100818085938.htm is a story that is being widely reported - it's just too good to ignore. European astronomers have demonstrated that a magnetar, an unusual form of a neutron star, was formed from a star with at least 40 times the mass of our Sun. The result presents a challenge as a star as enormous as this was thought to become a black hole - but that did not happen.
AGW and droughts and the end of the world and all that kind of thing
At http://geology.com/nasa/plant-productivity/ is a piece of NASA field research on how AGW will affect plant productivity. It seems to be an attempt to counter evidence that crop yields and terrestrial vegetation has increased as C02 has risen - some 6 per cent between 1982 and 1999. However, models would seem to disagree with the field data - hence the story. Warming temperatures are not going to endlessly improve plant growth - that is obvious.
The moon may have shrunk
At www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/62406/title/Moon_shrink/ it is alleged the moon has shrunk - over the last I billion years. The evidence is lobate scarps and the hypothesisi s that scarps formed due to shrinkage as the moon cooled causing the crust to wrinkle.
Ancient Creation Myths - one kind of interpretation
At www.thunderbolts.info August 20th ... 'What on Earth ... ' is a post by Rens van der Sluijs and along the vein of his auroral notions as outlined in his book and in various articles. He suggests ancient creation myths have an origin in auroral phenomena and take place with the magnetosphere of the earth - which on occasions appeared to be alive. For example, according to the San Bushmen, 'in the earliest days the Sun lived among the tribes of the bush' and 'was like other men' - which is clearly not right.
A Chinese Pompeii ?
http://english.peopledaily.com.ch/90001/90782/7112363.html provides information about a Chinese catastrophe from ancient history in Hunan province. As Pompeii was destroyed by a volcano and the city preserved beneath a thick stratum of ash so too was an ancient Chinese town destroyed, by locusts . and preserved intact.
Plasma Images
www.rupestre.net/field/ is all about rock art in Italy, at Valcamonica. The Footsteps of Man Archaeological Cooperative Society is based in Valcamonica, an Alpine valley where there is a lot of rock art. See images below ...
Mud volcanoes on Mars
At www.physorg.com/print201452152.html ... in the August issue of Icarus there is a paper claiming some 18,000 circular mounts have been mapped on Mars in a region that might have as many as 40,000 of them. They used images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and think they might actually be mud volcanoes. These are geological structures in which a mixture of gas, liquids and fine grained rock (mud) is forced to the surface from serveral km underground.
Galactic volcanoes
At www.physorg.com/print201424073.html we have an image of a galactic volcano - erupting. Of course, it isn't a real volcano but it is likened to one (see also www.dailygalaxy.com August 21st for a slightly different slant). The image comes from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and happened 50 million light years away - in the centre of the Virgo cluster.
Climate - an emphasis on the data
At http://climateaudit.org August 19th ... there is a guest post by the author of the blog, Air Vent, and he thinks he has solved a mystery concerning the Mann 2008 updated hockey stick model and the temperature data at the root of the computer generated modelling. In fact, the authors utilised already existing 'model data' which they claimed as a 'known' temperature signal and added various levels of white noise. The latter tends to flatten the hockey stick handle by obscuring its ups and down.