Almost 250 years ago, for over two weeks, the skies above parts of Asia lit up in what looked like a burst of fiery red. Those who saw the strange phenomenon kept notes of the event, and now it has been identified as potentially the longest geomagnetic storm ever recorded.

New study from the University of Chicago, Illinois proves global warming skeptics are smarter and more rational than you think. Researchers find that analytic thinking is not sufficient to promote skepticism toward various unfounded beliefs. Instead, skeptics show higher analytic thinking and value epistemic rationality interactively. Cognitive ability, rather than analytic cognitive style, seems to account for these findings.

If you want to understand the limitations of the algorithms that control what we see and hear—and base many of our decisions upon—take a look at Facebook Inc.’s FB 0.17{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117}experimental remedy for revenge porn.

This overlooks the fact that ‘the majority of petroleum is converted to petroleum products, which includes several classes of fuels’. It also includes ‘conventional fertilizers [which] are commonly derived from petroleum. In fact, a single 40-pound bag contains the equivalent of 2.5 gallons of gasoline.’ Electricity is only a manufactured power source, as far as national networks are concerned.

Scientists have discovered prehistoric fossils in Antarctica that reveal that the frozen continent once had tree-filled forests. The team estimates that Antarctica’s trees grew around 260 million years ago, during the Permian Period – this was even before dinosaurs existed.

Previously, it was thought that the Universe was isostatic, so there must be an equal number of counterclockwise and clockwise rotating galaxies.  Now it appears not so according to this arxiv study, ‘Color Differences between Clockwise and Counterclockwise Spiral Galaxies.’

Policy makers and environmentalists want increasing road vehicle electrification in the UK with a government date of 2040 for complete electrification. But independent scientists calculate that the actual cost of converting to electric  from petrol engines could DOUBLE human emissions of carbon dioxide.

Europe is waging a war on the internal combustion engine as part of the region’s broader crusade against man-made global warming.

France, Germany and the U.K. are leading a Europe-wide push to phase out gasoline- and diesel-powered cars in the coming years and replace them with electric and hybrid vehicles. The recent anti-internal combustion engine craze has got automakers worried.

Top American scientist targeted for exposing lies and misinformation about global warming and geoengineering  publishes an open letter exposing American Geophysical Union for its role in ‘criminal’ conspiracy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/comp-reports/ecu/theworldatone270317

Readers may recall an item on the BBC World at One back in March about rising sea levels in Florida, when their correspondent claimed that:

1) Rising seas and flooding are turning Miami Beach into a modern day Atlantis, the city being submerged by water.

2) Sea levels at Miami are rising at ten times the global rate.

Objective science once conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was coopted by the Obama administration to push anti-fossil energy policies under the guise of CO2 influences on climate change and ocean acidification.

Aerobic exercise can improve memory function and maintain brain health as we age, a new Australian-led study has found.

New research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows that a geothermal heat source situated far below Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land is the likely cause for some of the melting beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (see here, here, and here).

The graph [after the jump] is noisy, but the density is needed to see the seasonal patterns in the oceanic fluctuations. Previous posts focused on the rise and fall of the last El Nino starting in 2015.

This post takes a longer view, encompassing the significant 1998 El Nino and since. The color schemes are retained for Global, Tropics, NH and SH anomalies. 

Despite the long time frame, I have kept the monthly data (rather than yearly averages) because of interesting shifts between January and July.

The Noble Lie is a concept discussed by Plato in the dialogues, lies told by oligarchs to get the populace in the right frame of mind, deceptions intended to influence the mindset and behavior of the populace.

The Noble Lie is not often noble; it is the tool of the totalitarian. Totalitarianism is built on the Noble Lie and the best evidence of it in modern society is political correctness and its accompanying censorship and intimidation of any speech or conduct that contradicts the Orwellian “good think” of the Noble Lie.