New SETI Sky Surveys for Radio Pulses

Berkeley conducts 7 SETI programs at IR, visible and radio wavelengths. Here we review two of the newest efforts, Astropulse and Fly's Eye. A variety of possible sources of microsecond to millisecond radio pulses have been suggested in the last several decades, among them such exotic events as evaporating primordial black holes, hyper-flares from neutron stars, emissions from cosmic strings or perhaps extraterrestrial civilizations, but to-date few searches have been conducted capable of detecting them. We are carrying out two searches in hopes of finding and characterizing these mu-s to ms time scale dispersed radio pulses. These two observing programs are orthogonal in search space; the Allen Telescope Array's (ATA) "Fly's Eye" experiment observes a 100 square degree field by pointing each 6m ATA antenna in a different direction; by contrast, the Astropulse sky survey at Arecibo is extremely sensitive but has 1/3,000 of the instantaneous sky coverage. Astropulse's multibeam data is transferred via the internet to the computers of millions of volunteers. These computers perform a coherent de-dispersion analysis faster than the fastest available supercomputers and allow us to resolve pulses as short as 400 ns. Overall, the Astropulse survey will be 30 times more sensitive than the best previous searches. Analysis of results from Astropulse is at a very early stage. The Fly's Eye was successfully installed at the ATA in December of 2007, and to-date approximately 450 hours of observation has been performed. We have detected three pulsars and six giant pulses from the Crab pulsar in our diagnostic pointing data. We have not yet detected any other convincing bursts of astronomical origin in our survey data. (Abridged)Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Accepted to Acta Astronautica "Special Issue: Life Signatures

Data loggers in artificial eggs reveal that egg-turning behavior varies on multiple ecological scales in seabirds

In most avian species, egg-turning behavior during incubation is vital for proper embryonic development and hatching success. However, changes in turning behaviors are rarely studied across different temporal scales (e.g., day–night or across incubation phases), though the timing of incubation behaviors affects reproductive success. We used data loggers encapsulated in artificial eggs to measure turning rates and angle changes of eggs in Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) and Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) nests. We examined diurnal and daily cycles in egg-turning behaviors across early, middle, and late incubation phases. Our results indicate that (1) egg-turning behaviors remain similar throughout incubation, resulting in a consistent environment for developing chicks; (2) egg-turning rates and angle changes vary according to diurnal cycles and day length in each species; and (3) egg-turning rates, but not angle changes, were similar between species. Egg-turning behaviors may vary among species according to seasonality and geography, and using consistent methodologies to measure egg turning will further clarify the role of egg turning in avian life history and ecology

As the Egg Turns: Monitoring Egg Attendance Behavior in Wild Birds Using Novel Data Logging Technology

Egg turning is unique to birds and critical for embryonic development in most avian species. Technology that can measure changes in egg orientation and temperature at fine temporal scales (1 Hz) was neither readily available nor small enough to fit into artificial eggs until recently. Here we show the utility of novel miniature data loggers equipped with 3-axis (i.e., triaxial) accelerometers, magnetometers, and a temperature thermistor to study egg turning behavior in free-ranging birds. Artificial eggs containing egg loggers were deployed in the nests of three seabird species for 1–7 days of continuous monitoring. These species (1) turned their eggs more frequently (up to 6.5 turns h−1) than previously reported for other species, but angular changes were often small (1–10° most common), (2) displayed similar mean turning rates (ca. 2 turns h−1) despite major differences in reproductive ecology, and (3) demonstrated distinct diurnal cycling in egg temperatures that varied between 1.4 and 2.4°C. These novel egg loggers revealed high-resolution, three-dimensional egg turning behavior heretofore never measured in wild birds. This new form of biotechnology has broad applicability for addressing fundamental questions in avian breeding ecology, life history, and development, and can be used as a tool to monitor birds that are sensitive to disturbance while breeding

Signatures of wedgelets over Fennoscandia during the St Patrick s Day Storm 2015

During the long main phase of the St Patrick's Day storm on March 17, 2015, we found three separate enhancements of the westward electrojet. These enhancements are observed in the ionospheric equivalent currents computed using geomagnetic data over Fennoscandia. Using data from the IMAGE magnetometer network, we identified localised field-aligned current (FAC) systems superimposed on the pre-existing ionospheric current system. We suggest that these localised current systems are wedgelets and that they can potentially contribute to a larger-scale structure of a substorm current wedge (SCW). Each wedgelet is associated with a negative BX spike. Each spike is recorded at a higher latitude than the former one and all three are very localised over Fennoscandia. The first spike occurred at 17:34 UT and was observed at Lycksele, R rvik and Nurmij rvi, the second spike was recorded at 17:41 UT and located at Lycksele and R rvik, whereas the last spike occurred at 17:47 UT and was observed at Kevo and Abisko. Simultaneous optical auroral data and electron injections at the geosynchronous orbit indicate that one or more substorms took place in the polar ionosphere at the time of the wedgelets. This study demonstrates the occurrence of small and short-lived structures such as wedgelets at different locations over a short time scale, 15 min in this case