November 1, 2018 | Page 4 of 4 | Science Of Cycles News and Research

(NEW) Cosmic Ray Radiation Increasing in Earth’s Atmosphere to Its Core

This article as well as one I published on October 22nd titled: Cosmic Ray Particles That Tunnel Through Earth , tell the story of how legitimate research makes its way through the enormous pressure of peer review, ridicule, occasional self-questioning – and perhaps most of all, the 50-50 possibility that I will not get credit for my presented hypotheses first published in 2012.

My last point presented does indeed reflect ego, can’t sidestep this certitude, however they do tell me there is such a thing as ‘healthy ego’; so I hope my analogy reflects such. The facts have been provided in published papers and in two of my books “Solar Rain; The Earth Changes Have Begun” (2005) and “Global Warming; A Convenient Disguise” (2007).

You might remember my mentioning the term “space weather” – and perhaps more importantly – as it is defined today, began in the late 1990’s when both Mitch Battros and Tony Phillips (NASA contractor) launched our websites in 1997. My original site was www.earthchangestv.com and his is www.spaceweather.com. The Wayback Machine records indicate we both launched our site at the same time….December 1998. However, I know we both set up in 1997 and it may be that the Wayback Machine did not start recording until 1998.

Before my research and hypothesis was published, scientific disciplines spoke in terms of ‘climate’ which is measured in decades, centuries, and millennium. My studies highlighted the fact that symbiotic casual interaction perpetrated by various forms of charged particles. The actions and reactions of these storms would occur within minutes, hours, and days. This form of interaction is known as “weather.” Hence, space weather was born…..

The research below addresses the region of the United States; however, similar findings have been noted around the world except for one region. It is an area known as the South Atlantic Anomaly. A region that worries scientists at the moment is the South Atlantic Anomaly – a vast area stretching from Chile to Zimbabwe.

Here, the magnetic field is so weak that it is dangerous for the Earth’s satellites to pass through it because the high cosmic radiation in this area can destroy the electronics. Now a team of American researchers has found a possible reason for this anomaly, which, among other things, can pave the way for a better understanding of the weakening and reversal of magnetic poles.

High-altitude balloon flights conducted show that atmospheric radiation is intensifying from coast to coast over the USA, which would appear counter-intuitive as it directly corresponds with a decrease in solar activity during a cycles solar minimum.

Since 2015, we have been monitoring X-rays, gamma-rays and neutrons in the stratosphere, mainly over central California, but also in a dozen other states (NV, OR, WA, ID, WY, KS, NE, MO, IL, ME, NH, VT). Everywhere we have been there is an upward trend in radiation–ranging from +20% in central California to +33% in Maine. The latest points circled in red, were gathered during a ballooning campaign in August-October 2018.

How does Solar Minimum boost radiation? The answer lies in the yin-yang relationship between cosmic rays and solar activity. Cosmic rays are the subatomic debris of exploding stars and other violent events. Normally, the Sun’s magnetic field and solar wind hold cosmic rays at bay, however, during Solar Minimum these defenses weaken allowing a flood of galactic cosmic rays into the solar system.

Cosmic rays crashing into our plane’s atmosphere produce a spray of secondary particles and photons. That secondary spray is what we measure. Each balloon flight, which typically reaches an altitude greater than 100,00o feet, gives us a complete profile of radiation from ground level to the stratosphere. Our sensors sample energies between 10 keV and 20 MeV, spanning the range of medical X-ray machines, airport security devices, and “killer electrons” in Earth’s radiation belts.

Cosmic radiation at aviation altitudes is typically 50 times that of natural sources at sea level. Pilots are classified as occupational radiation workers by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and, according to a recent study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, flight attendants face an elevated risk of cancer compared to members of the general population.

They listed cosmic rays as one of several risk factors. Weather and climate may also be affected, with some research linking cosmic rays to to the formation of clouds and lightning. Finally, there are studies (one recently published in Nature) asserting that heart rate variability and cardiac arrhythmia are affected by cosmic rays in some populations. If true, it means the effects reach all the way to the ground.

Astronomers Discover The Giant That Shaped The Early Days Of Our Milky Way

Some ten billion years ago, the Milky Way merged with a large galaxy. The stars from this partner, named Gaia-Enceladus, make up most of the Milky Way’s halo and also shaped its thick disk, giving it its inflated form. A description of this mega-merger, discovered by an international team led by University of Groningen astronomer Amina Helmi, is now published in the scientific journal Nature.

Large galaxies like our Milky Way are the result of mergers of smaller galaxies. An outstanding question is whether a galaxy like the Milky Way is the product of many small mergers or of a few large ones. The University of Groningen’s Professor of Astronomy, Amina Helmi, has spent most of her career looking for ‘fossils’ in our Milky Way which might offer some hints as to its evolution. She uses the chemical composition, the position and the trajectory of stars in the halo to deduce their history and thereby to identify the mergers which created the early Milky Way.

The recent second data release from the Gaia satellite mission last April provided Professor Helmi with data on around 1.7 billion stars. Helmi has been involved in the development of the Gaia mission for some twenty years and was part of the data validation team on the second data release. She has now used the data to look for traces of mergers in the halo: “We expected stars from fused satellites in the halo. What we didn’t expect to find was that most halo stars actually have a shared origin in one very large merger.”

This is indeed what she found. The chemical signature of many halo stars was clearly different from the ‘native’ Milky Way stars. “And they are a fairly homogenous group, which indicates they share a common origin.” By plotting both trajectory and chemical signature, the ‘invaders’ stood out clearly. Helmi: “The youngest stars from Gaia-Enceladus are actually younger than the native Milky Way stars in what is now the thick disk region. This means that the progenitor of this thick disk was already present when the fusion happened, and Gaia-Enceladus, because of its large size, shook it and puffed it up.”

In a previous paper, Helmi had already described a huge ‘blob’ of stars sharing a common origin. Now, she shows that stars from this blob in the halo are the debris from the merging of the Milky Way with a galaxy which was slightly more massive than the Small Magellanic Cloud, some ten billion years ago. The galaxy is called Gaia-Enceladus, after the Giant Enceladus who in Greek mythology was born of Gaia (the Earth goddess) and Uranus (the Sky god).

The data on kinematics, chemistry, age and spatial distribution from the native Milky Way stars and the remnants of Gaia-Enceladus reminded Helmi of simulations performed by a former PhD student, some ten years ago. His simulations of the merging of a large disc-shaped galaxy with the young Milky Way produced a distribution of stars from both objects, which is totally in line with the Gaia data. “It was amazing to look at the new Gaia data and realize that I had seen it before!,” says the astronomer.

Comet Tails Blowing In The Solar Wind

Engineers and scientists gathered around a screen in an operations room at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., eager to lay their eyes on the first data from NASA’s STEREO spacecraft. It was January 2007, and the twin STEREO satellites — short for Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory — which had launched just months before, were opening their instruments’ eyes for the first time. First up: STEREO-B. The screen blinked, but instead of the vast starfield they expected, a pearly white, feathery smear — like an angel’s wing — filled the frame. For a few panicky minutes, NRL astrophysicist Karl Battams worried something was wrong with the telescope. Then, he realized this bright object wasn’t a defect, but an apparition, and these were the first satellite images of Comet McNaught. Later that day, STEREO-A would return similar observations.

Comet C/2006 P1 — also known as Comet McNaught, named for astronomer Robert McNaught, who discovered it in August 2006 — was one of the brightest comets visible from Earth in the past 50 years. Throughout January 2007, the comet fanned across the Southern Hemisphere’s sky, so bright it was visible to the naked eye even during the day. McNaught belongs to a rarefied group of comets, dubbed the Great Comets and known for their exceptional brightness. Setting McNaught apart further still from its peers, however, was its highly structured tail, composed of many distinct dust bands called striae, or striations, that stretched more than 100 million miles behind the comet, longer than the distance between Earth and the Sun. One month later, in February 2007, an ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA spacecraft called Ulysses would encounter the comet’s long tail.

“McNaught was a huge deal when it came because it was so ridiculously bright and beautiful in the sky,” Battams said. “It had these striae — dusty fingers that extended across a huge expanse of the sky. Structurally, it’s one of the most beautiful comets we’ve seen for decades.”

How exactly the tail broke up in this manner, scientists didn’t know. It called to mind reports of another storied comet from long ago: the Great Comet of 1744, which was said to have dramatically fanned out in six tails over the horizon, a phenomenon astronomers then couldn’t explain. By untangling the mystery of McNaught’s tail, scientists hoped to learn something new about the nature of comets — and solve two cosmic mysteries in one.

A key difference between studying comets in 1744 and 2007 is, of course, our ability to do so from space. In addition to STEREO’s serendipitous sighting, another mission, ESA/NASA’s SOHO — the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory — made regular observations as McNaught flew by the Sun. Researchers hoped these images might contain their answers.

Now, years later, Oliver Price, a planetary science Ph.D. student at University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the United Kingdom, has developed a new image-processing technique to mine through the wealth of data. Price’s findings — summarized in a recently published Icarus paper — offer the first observations of striations forming, and an unexpected revelation about the Sun’s effect on comet dust.

Comets are cosmic crumbs of frozen gas, rock and dust left over from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago — and so they may contain important clues about our solar system’s early history. Those clues are unlocked, as if from a time capsule, every time a comet’s elliptical orbit brings it close to the Sun. Intense heat vaporizes the frozen gases and releases the dust within, which streams behind the comet, forming two distinct tails: an ion tail carried by the solar wind — the constant flow of charged particles from the Sun — and a dust tail.

Understanding how dust behaves in the tail — how it fragments and clumps together — can teach scientists a great deal about similar processes that formed dust into asteroids, moons and even planets all those billions of years ago. Appearing as one of the biggest and most structurally complex comets in recent history, McNaught was a particularly good subject for this type of study. Its brightness and high dust production made it much easier to resolve the evolution of fine structures in its dust tail.

Price began his study focusing on something the scientists couldn’t explain. “My supervisor and I noticed weird goings-on in the images of these striations, a disruption in the otherwise clean lines,” he said. “I set out to investigate what might have happened to create this weird effect.”

The rift seemed to be located at the heliospheric current sheet, a boundary where the magnetic orientation, or polarity, of the electrified solar wind changes directions. This puzzled scientists because while they have long known a comet’s ion tail is affected by the solar wind, they had never seen the solar wind impact dust tails before.

Dust in McNaught’s tail — roughly the size of cigarette smoke — is too heavy, the scientists thought, for the solar wind to push around. On the other hand, an ion tail’s miniscule, electrically charged ions and electrons easily sail along the solar wind. But it was difficult to tell exactly what was going on with McNaught’s dust, and where, because at roughly 60 miles per second, the comet was rapidly traveling in and out of STEREO and SOHO’s view.

“We got really good data sets with this comet, but they were from different cameras on different spacecraft, which are all in different places,” Price said. “I was looking for a way to bring it all together to get a complete picture of what’s happening in the tail.”

His solution was a novel image-processing technique that compiles all the data from different spacecraft using a simulation of the tail, where the location of each tiny speck of dust is mapped by solar conditions and physical characteristics like its size and age, or how long it’d been since it’d flown off the head, or coma, of the comet. The end result is what Price dubbed a temporal map, which layers information from all the images taken at any given moment, allowing him to follow the dust’s movements.

The temporal maps meant Price could watch the striations form over time. His videos, which cover the span of two weeks, are the first to track the formation and evolution of these structures, showing how dust fragments topple off the comet head and collapse into long striations.

But the researchers were most excited to find that Price’s maps made it easier to explain the strange effect that drew their attention to the data in the first place. Indeed, the current sheet was the culprit behind the disruptions in the dust tail, breaking up each striation’s smooth, distinct lines. For the two days it took the full length of the comet to traverse the current sheet, whenever dust encountered the changing magnetic conditions there, it was jolted out of position, as if crossing some cosmic speed bump.

“It’s like the striation’s feathers are ruffled when it crosses the current sheet,” University College London planetary scientist Geraint Jones said. “If you picture a wing with lots of feathers, as the wing crosses the sheet, lighter ends of the feathers get bent out of shape. For us, this is strong evidence that the dust is electrically charged, and that the solar wind is affecting the motion of that dust.”

Scientists have long known the solar wind affects charged dust; missions like Galileo Cassini, and Ulysses watched it move electrically charged dust through the space near Jupiter and Saturn. But it was a surprise for them to see the solar wind affect larger dust grains like those in McNaught’s tail — about 100 times bigger than the dust seen ejected from around Jupiter and Saturn — because they’re that much heavier for the solar wind to push around.

With this study, scientists gain new insights into long-held mysteries. The work sheds light on the nature of striated comet tails from the past and provides a crucial lens for studying other comets in the future. But it also opens a new line of questioning: What role did the Sun have in our solar system’s formation and early history?

“Now that we see the solar wind changed the position of dust grains in McNaught’s tail, we can ask: Could it have been the case that early on in the solar system’s history, the solar wind played a role in organizing ancient dust as well?” Jones said.

Strong Storm Brings Flash Flooding, Tornadoes, Damaging Winds To East Coast

A strong storm brought torrential rain, gusty winds, and severe weather to many parts of the East Coast on Friday. More damage and strong winds are expected to occur as it progresses. On the opposite side in the West Coast with states like Colorado, California, Oregon, etc. there hasn’t been anything said if the storm will move over and hit these places, but residents should still be on the lookout and prepare just in case. This includes businesses getting in touch with a commercial roof repair company in their area, as well as homeowners contacting their plumbers to see how they can better protect their pipes if a storm does hit. Whether it is the East Coast or West Coast, when a storm warning comes, people must be prepared.

There were six reported tornadoes – five in Florida and one in Virginia — on Friday, including four confirmed tornadoes near Tampa Bay. Two of these confirmed tornadoes were EF-1. More damage surveys are expected today in the surrounding regions.

Power outages and downed trees were also reported and wind advisories and high wind warnings have been issued for a large part of America and the Northeast through Saturday. Residents affected may want to find an Aardvark Electric, Inc. – emergency electrician or similar company near them to repair any damage that occurs as a result of the severe weather.

There were also reports of hailstones bigger than golf balls affecting some areas. These obviously caused a lot of damage, smashing windows, breaking roof tiles, and denting vehicles. Many people will be left looking for auto hail damage repair in Austin, Texas after the bad weather passes.

Wind gusts over 70 mph were reported in parts of Maryland, which led to building damage in Carroll County, Maryland. In nearby Baltimore, strong wind gusts did major damage to an Amazon facility, toppling a 50-foot brick wall and killing one person. Strong winds have also been reported in Georgia.

In southern Pennsylvania, over 3 inches of rain was reported in Littlestown, Pennsylvania. Farther east in Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley, water rescues were reported near Pottsgrove.

Heavy rain associated with this strong storm is still moving through the Northeast Saturday morning. Some flooding remains possible, especially in parts of New England, with localized rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. An initial burst of strong winds is likely in New England.

As the storm quickly moves off to the north and east, it will rapidly intensify as it heads into southern Canada. Behind the storm, widespread strong winds will develop in the Northeast with gusts of 30 to 50 mph expected.

The storm will depart the region later Saturday, with winds calming down overnight. Sunday is looking much quieter in the Northeast, including for the New York City Marathon.

New storm developing

Meanwhile, a new system will quickly develop in the central U.S. on Saturday. As the storm intensifies on Saturday night and early Sunday, a large line of storms with locally heavy rain is possible from Texas to Illinois. While the severe threat should remain limited, a couple of damaging wind gusts are possible on the southern end of the line of storms, particularly in parts of Louisiana.

Up to 1 inch of rain is possible along the cold front. Farther north, some light snow is possible in parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota as the storm interacts with cold air.

The storm will slide off to the east by Monday with rain likely from the Great Lakes to the Carolinas.

Severe weather chances in South
Unfortunately, the weather pattern is looking quite active next week, with yet another storm developing by Sunday and Monday.

By Monday, a powerful storm, with an advancing cold front will slide through the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. As a result, the chances for a significant severe weather event are increasing for late Monday and into Tuesday — Election Day. The main risk will be damaging winds and possibly several tornadoes.

The threat will slide off to the southeast by Tuesday, with a threat for more damaging winds, tornadoes and hail.

And another storm looks to be developing immediately behind this storm as well.

Tropical Storm Xavier Brushes Mexican Coast With Wind, Rain

Tropical Storm Xavier is bringing heavy rains and gusty winds to Mexico’s central Pacific coast, though it’s expected to head out to sea and avoid a direct hit on land.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm was centered about 130 miles (205 kilometers) west-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, on Monday morning and was headed northwest at 3 mph (6 kph). Tropical-storm-force winds extended as far as 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the center.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), but is expected to start to weaken.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 kilometers)

Forecasters say it’s likely to bring 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 centimeters) of rain to parts of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco states.

UPDATED: Science Of Cycles Important Announcement

Here is an update to Science Of Cycles moving forward

I have been able to put off the Spectrum commitment for 7 days – for the reason that four people have come forward with $100 monthly commitments to keep SOC available to everyone. If just six more folks come forward with the same commitment, we will be off and running within 7to 10 days.

However, it certainly could be one person with a $500 monthly provision and one person with a $100 stipend or some combination thereof and we’re set. Note: When using this email address to reply (earthchanges@earthlink.net) you might get a auto-response to confirm you are not a robot – which is used to minimize spam of course.

Below is the original letter:

I am speaking with Spectrum network that offers a news channel in addition to their regular lineup. They are interested in my services to produce a science broadcast focused on many of the topics I cover on SOC.

Sounds great, and I should be jubilant; however, there is a reason I have not accepted previous offers. From past experience as well as speaking to many scientists I have interviewed over the years, I am reminded when you sell your services to agencies such as NASA and NOAA, freedom of expression is thwarted…and sometimes to extreme measures.

So before I sign on with Spectrum, I feel a strong compulsion to try one last time to maintain my independence, allowing me to present to you an unedited full throat analysis of events discovered and a full perspective of current research which is often not easily made available to the public.

With this in mind, I present this final evaluation. To maintain SOC services available to everyone, a need of a few sponsors to support a monthly provision of $1,000, or an annual support of $12,000. As you might have guessed, these amounts are simply to offset other expenses I incur. Whether it is one sponsor or divided by twenty sponsors, the sum amount remains the same of $12,000 yr. or $1,200 monthly.

In the last two years I have experimented with community based funding by placing a donation banner along with occasional special interest request. Although the community based funding did accomplish a significant goal – keeping this information available to everyone – I did find myself digging deep into my own pockets, which is simply not sustainable.

A benefit to you as a sponsor: I am more than happy to provide you with as much or as little exposure as you wish. In the ways of exposure, I will provide whatever advertising you need in the way of banners, announcements, tags on newsletters, and to provide a bit more exposure – I will announce you or company when I am a guest on talk shows and conferences.

My presumption is that you would agree that maintaining an emphasis of keeping our latest news and research available to everyone is a worthy cause. Perhaps the first and most important reason is the fact that the latest scientific findings of trends and cycles are likely to have an impact on all of us and I hope to have the freedom to inform you without restraint and in real-time.

I hope you find this proposal pleasing, and I look forward to further discussions to make sure we have win on all sides. You can contact me at: **earthchanges@earthlink.net**

Cheers, Mitch Battros

Underwater Volcano Chain Discovered Off Coast Of Tasmania

Scientists have discovered an underwater chain of volcanoes off the coast of Tasmania. A team from the Australian National University mapped the submerged terrain during a voyage aboard the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) research ship “Investigator.”

The underwater peaks, or seamounts, reach more than 9,000 feet high, but vary in shape and size. Researchers hope having detailed maps of the underwater area will help protect the environment, while aiding in future research.

“This is a very diverse landscape and will undoubtedly be a biological hotspot that supports a dazzling array of marine life,” Dr. Tara Martin from the CSIRO mapping team said in a statement.

So far, data from the research ship has already revealed increased marine life activity along the volcano chain.

“While we were over the chain of seamounts, the ship was visited by large numbers of humpback and long-finned pilot whales,” said Dr. Eric Woehler, who was aboard the Investigator. “Clearly these seamounts are a biological hotspot that supports life, both directly on them, as well as in the ocean above.”

According to Dr. Woehler, the whales may be using the seafloor to help navigate their way through the ocean during migration from winter breeding to summer feeding grounds.

The next step for researchers is to head back to the area, located about 250 miles east of Tasmania, off Australia’s southern coast. The Investigator has a voyage this month, and then another one in December. During the trips, researchers will be gathering high-resolution video of marine life, as well as collecting rock samples to study how this formed.