Comets in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

We present 25 accounts of comets from 40 Australian Aboriginal communities, citing both supernatural perceptions of comets and historical accounts of bright comets. Historical and ethnographic descriptions include the Great Comets of 1843, 1861, 1901, 1910, and 1927. We describe the perceptions of comets in Aboriginal societies and show that they are typically associated with fear, death, omens, malevolent spirits, and evil magic, consistent with many cultures around the world. We also provide a list of words for comets in 16 different Aboriginal languages.Comment: Accepted in the "Journal for Astronomical History & Heritage", 17 Pages, 6 Figures, 1 Tabl

Beyond the Kannisto-Thatcher Database on Old Age Mortality: an assessment of data quality at advanced ages

The old age population in developed countries has been increasing remarkably, yet internationally comparable high quality data on oldest-old mortality remain relatively scarce. The Kannisto-Thatcher Old Age Mortality Database (KTD) is a unique source providing uniformly recalculated old-age mortality data for 35 countries. Our study addresses a number of data quality issues relevant to population and death statistics at the most advanced ages. Following previous studies by Väinö Kannisto, we apply the same set of measures. This allows us to identify dubious or irregular mortality patterns. Deviations such as this often suggest that the data quality has serious problems. We update previously published findings by extending the analyses made so far to thirty five countries and by adding data on longer historical periods. In addition, we propose a systematic classification of country- and period-specific data, thus simultaneously accounting for each indicator of data quality. We apply conventional procedures of hierarchical cluster analysis to distinguish four data quality clusters (best data quality, acceptable data quality, conditionally acceptable quality, and weak quality). We show that the reliability of old-age mortality estimates has been improving in time. However, the mortality indicators for the most advanced ages of a number of countries, such as Chile, Canada, and the USA should be treated with caution even for the most recent decade. Canada, Ireland, Finland, Lithuania, New Zealand (Non-Maori), Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the USA have particular problems in their historical data series. After having compared the KTD with official data, we conclude that the methods used for extinct and almost extinct generations produce more accurate population estimates than those published by national statistical offices. The most reliable official data come from the countries with fully functioning population registers.World, data evaluation, mortality, old age

Arctic Soil Governs Whether Climate Change Drives Global Losses or Gains in Soil Carbon

Key uncertainties in terrestrial carbon cycle projections revolve around the timing, direction, and magnitude of the carbon cycle feedback to climate change. This is especially true in carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems, where permafrost soils contain roughly one third of the world's soil carbon stocks, which are likely vulnerable to loss. Using an ensemble of soil biogeochemical models that reflect recent changes in the conceptual understanding of factors responsible for soil carbon persistence, we quantify potential soil carbon responses under two representative climate change scenarios. Our results illustrate that models disagree on the sign and magnitude of global soil changes through 2100, with disagreements primarily driven by divergent responses of Arctic systems. These results largely reflect different assumptions about the nature of soil carbon persistence and vulnerabilities, underscoring the challenges associated with setting allowable greenhouse gas emission targets that will limit global warming to 1.5°C

Експресивно-емоційна характеристика фразеологізмів у збірці І.Я. Франка "Галицько-руські народні приповідки"

Початок ХХ ст. в історії української фразеографії ознаменувався виходом у світ "Галицько-руських народних приповідок" І.Я. Франка (1901-1910). Важливе місце в словникових статтях фольклорної збірки відводиться ремаркам, які надають експресивно-емоційних характеристик фразеологічним одиницям (ФО). У фольклорних працях кінця ХVІІІ – ХІХ ст. фіксувалися лише поодинокі позначки, що вказують на експресивно-емоційне забарвлення ФО. Уже в збірках І.П. Котляревського, М.В. Закревського, М. Номиса звертається увага на такі реєстрові одиниці, які потребують додаткової характеристики: Кырпа – носъ. говор. въ насмішку, кырпу гнуть – гордиться1; Заливъ за шкуру сала (Иронія; не разжиріешь отъ чужихъ подлостей)2; Я сказав на сміх (жартуючи). Пир., Л.3. Не випадково саме експресивно-емоційні позначки почали практикуватися першими. І.Я. Франко значно розширив систему цих ремарок. У багатьох словникових статтях фіксуються різноманітні позначки розташовані після реєстрових одиниць чи в контексті пояснювальної частини