Written by Craig Murray
In 13 years of running my blog I have never been exposed to such a tirade of abuse as I have for refusing to accept without evidence that Russia is the only possible culprit for the Salisbury attack. The abuse has mostly been on twitter, and much of the most venomous stuff has come from corporate and state media “journalists”.
Written by Dr Tony Phillips
The vernal equinox is here. That means one thing: Cracks are opening in Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers have long known that during weeks around equinoxes fissures form in Earth’s magnetosphere. Solar wind can pour through the gaps to fuel bright displays of Arctic lights. One such episode occurred on March 9th. “The sky exploded with auroras,” reports Kristin Berg, who sent the picture (above) from Tromsø, Norway.
Written by Pierre L. Gosselin
A television documentary dubbed “The Weather Machine” produced in 1975 – long before NASA fiddled with the data – warned of an impending ice age (10:35), and maintained that the globe is cooling. Hat-tip: reader The Indomitable Snowman.
The documentary attempted and succeeded at presenting the latest on climate change at the time.
Written by www.craigmurray.org.uk
By Craig Murray, former British intelligence officer, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, and Rector (i.e. Chancellor) of the University of Dundee. Originally published at CraigMurray.org.uk.
As recently as 2016 Dr Robin Black, Head of the Detection Laboratory at the UK’s only chemical weapons facility at Porton Down, a former colleague of Dr David Kelly, published in an extremely prestigious scientific journal that the evidence for the existence of Novichoks was scant and their composition unknown.
Written by Michael Kile
Few stars in the frothy firmament of academic climate science shine more controversially than Dr Michael E. Mann, creator of the notorious “hockey stick” curve, gloomy prognosticator, conspiracy theorist, co-author of The Madhouse Effect: How climate change denial is threatening our planet, destroying our politics and driving us crazy, anti-Trump activist and fan of climate toothpaste, the only anti-apathy oral hygiene product with UH-OH formula.
Written by Morgan Kelly, Princeton Environmental Institute
Princeton University researchers have found that the climate models scientists use to project future conditions on our planet underestimate the cooling effect that clouds have on a daily — and even hourly — basis, particularly over land.
The researchers reported in the journal Nature Communications on Dec. 22 that models tend to factor in too much of the sun’s daily heat, which results in warmer, drier conditions than might actually occur. The researchers found that inaccuracies in accounting for the diurnal, or daily, cloud cycle did not seem to invalidate climate projections, but they did increase the margin of error for a crucial tool scientists use to understand how climate change will affect us.
Written by Professor Sir Venki Ramakrishnan
As Neils Bohr allegedly said, “It is hard to make predictions, especially about the future.” Indeed, Lord Kelvin’s 1895 declaration that “heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible” tends to loom in scientists’ minds when we are tempted to speculate about what technology might deliver.
Written by Andrew Orlowski
Elon Musk’s audacious plans are usually met with acclaim, and sometimes even awe – but not this time. Fresh details of The Boring Company’s urban transport plans have been lambasted on social media.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder (pictured above) gushed about “1000s of small stations the size of a single parking space that take you very close to your destination & blend seamlessly into the fabric of a city, rather than a small number of big stations like a subway”.
Written by Mary Halton
Image copyright REUTERSEarly humans may have flourished after the largest volcanic eruption in history, according to new research.
Mount Toba erupted in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago. The event was long thought to have caused a volcanic winter, drastically reducing the global human population at the time.
Written by CSIRO
Picture: Laura Romin and Larry Dalton
A breakthrough by Australian scientists has brought the introduction of an unlikely hero in the global fight against antibiotic resistance a step closer; the humble platypus.
Due to its unique features – duck-billed, egg-laying, beaver-tailed and venomous- the platypus has long exerted a powerful appeal to scientists, making it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology.
Written by Dr Klaus L E Kaiser
That title ought to get your attention in a hurry, don’t you agree? In my perception, it certainly should! So, what happened?
What Happened?
As you may have gleaned from recent news, on March 4, 2018, in the city of Salisbury (population of 60,000) in Wiltshire, England, two people were found on a downtown park bench in a state of unresponsiveness. They were transported to the local hospital where they are said to still remain in intensive care, nearly two weeks later.
Written by Professor Dr. Joachim Burger Palaeogenetics Group
The transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages in Europe is marked by two key events in European history, the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the migration into this Empire by various barbarian tribes such as the Goths, Alemanni, Franks, and Lombards. This resulted in a profound cultural and socioeconomic transformation throughout the continent, and many settlements from this epoch would subsequently develop into the villages and towns we still know today.
Written by Bertrand de Jouvenel
“The eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding…. I do not say the we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.” John F. Kennedy, speech at Rice University, 1962
Written by Mary Halton
Image copyright HUMAN ORIGINS PROGRAM, SMITHSONIANHumans may have developed advanced social behaviours and trade 100,000 years earlier than previously thought.
This is according to a series of papers published today in Science. The results come from an archaeological site in Kenya’s rift valley. “Over one million years of time” is represented at the site, according to Rick Potts from the Smithsonian Institution, who was involved in the studies.
Written by Paul Dorian
Overview: The sun is blank today for the 10th straight day and it has been without sunspots this year more than half the time as the current solar cycle heads towards the next solar minimum. Solar cycle 24 is currently on pace to be the weakest sunspot cycle with the fewest sunspots since cycle 14 peaked in February 1906. Solar cycle 24 continues a recent trend of weakening solar cycles which began with solar cycle 21 that peaked around 1980.
The last time the sun was this blank in a given year on a percentage basis was 2009 during the last solar minimum when 71{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} of the time was spotless. That last solar minimum actually reached a nadir in 2008 when an astounding 73{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} of the year featured a spotless sun – the most spotless days in a given year since 1913.
Written by Gary Norman
The energy market is undoubtedly in a state of flux. The current power play between the U.S., OPEC and Russia is symptomatic of the changing geopolitical and economic dynamics of the entire market, U.S. tight oil seems set to completely upset the apple cart, and rapid technological advances are putting hitherto unattainable reserves within our reach.