Predicting space climate change

The recent decline in the open magnetic flux of the Sun heralds the end of the Grand Solar Maximum (GSM) that has persisted throughout the space age, during which the largest‐fluence Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events have been rare and Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) fluxes have been relatively low. In the absence of a predictive model of the solar dynamo, we here make analogue forecasts by studying past variations of solar activity in order to evaluate how long‐term change in space climate may influence the hazardous energetic particle environment of the Earth in the future. We predict the probable future variations in GCR flux, near‐Earth interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), sunspot number, and the probability of large SEP events, all deduced from cosmogenic isotope abundance changes following 24 GSMs in a 9300‐year record

Mars riometer system

A riometer (relative ionospheric opacity meter) measures the intensity of cosmic radio noise at the surface of a planet. When an electromagnetic wave passes through the ionosphere collisions between charged particles (usually electrons) and neutral gases remove energy from the wave. By measuring the received signal intensity at the planet's surface and comparing it to the expected value (the quietday curve) a riometer can deduce the absorption (attenuation) of the trans-ionospheric signal. Thus the absorption measurements provide an indication of ionisation changes occurring in the ionosphere. To avoid the need for orbiting sounders riometers use the cosmic noise background as a signal source. Earth-based systems are not subject to the challenging power, volume and mass restriction that would apply to a riometer for Mars. Some Earth-based riometers utilise phased-array antennas in order to provide an imaging capability.UnpublishedVienna - Austria3.9. Fisica della magnetosfera, ionosfera e meteorologia spazialeope

Policies for promoting agricultural development. Report of a Conference on Productivity and Innovation in Agriculture in the Underdeveloped Countries / David Hapgood, Editor ; Max F. Millikan, Conference Chairman

Conference held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Endicott House, Dedham, Massachusetts, June 29 through August 7, 1964Conference financed by A.E.D"1514"--handwritten on cove

Normas para el fomento del desarrollo agricola : informe de la Conferencia sobre Productividad e innovaciones en agricultura en los países en desarrollo. Centro de Estudios Internacionales, Instituto Tecnologico de Massachusetts

"C/ 65-3a. 1514"--handwritten on cove

Detection of an intergalactic meteor particle with the 6-m telescope

On July 28, 2006 the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences recorded the spectrum of a faint meteor. We confidently identify the lines of FeI and MgI, OI, NI and molecular-nitrogen N_2 bands. The entry velocity of the meteor body into the Earth's atmosphere estimated from radial velocity is equal to 300 km/s. The body was several tens of a millimeter in size, like chondrules in carbon chondrites. The radiant of the meteor trajectory coincides with the sky position of the apex of the motion of the Solar system toward the centroid of the Local Group of galaxies. Observations of faint sporadic meteors with FAVOR TV CCD camera confirmed the radiant at a higher than 96% confidence level. We conclude that this meteor particle is likely to be of extragalactic origin. The following important questions remain open: (1) How metal-rich dust particles came to be in the extragalactic space? (2) Why are the sizes of extragalactic particles larger by two orders of magnitude (and their masses greater by six orders of magnitude) than common interstellar dust grains in our Galaxy? (3) If extragalactic dust surrounds galaxies in the form of dust (or gas-and-dust) aureoles, can such formations now be observed using other observational techniques (IR observations aboard Spitzer satellite, etc.)? (4) If inhomogeneous extragalactic dust medium with the parameters mentioned above actually exists, does it show up in the form of irregularities on the cosmic microwave background (WMAP etc.)?Comment: 9 pages, 6 EPS figure

Movement of a secondary immiscible liquid in a suspension using a non-invasive technique

In this paper, the movement of a secondary immiscible liquid when added to a suspension of hydrophilic particles in a continuous hydrophobic phase is investigated. This was achieved through an approach using high speed camera and X-ray computer tomography. These non-invasive approaches allowed the secondary liquid displacement within the suspension to be monitored on the surface level and within the suspension through a time lapse of scans. The addition of a small amount of secondary liquid to suspensions, can lead to a transition from a fluid-like to paste-like structure. The kinetics taking place and responsible for this, during both short and long term storage were investigated to better understand the mechanisms taking place. Water was added as the secondary immiscible liquid to suspensions composed of sucrose (icing sugar) and sunflower oil. Different volumes of secondary liquid were added to the suspensions. The rate of movement as well as the spreading of the secondary liquid into the suspension was calculated from the scans taken. The surface area to volume ratio was proposed as a reason for the spreading of the liquid for the smaller volume droplet being greater in comparison to the larger volume droplet

A bear’s biography: hybrid warfare and the more-than-human battlespace

This paper makes an intervention highlighting the animal dimension of military geographies as an overlooked yet illuminating aspect of the hybrid nature of warfare. By bringing animal geographies into dialogue with critical military geographies and with a focus on relational ethics, the processes, performance and consequences of the more-than-human nature of the battlespace are examined through a vignette of Wojtek the bear. Wojtek was a mascot, pet and officially enlisted soldier of the Polish Army in the Second World War who travelled the desert plains, helped to fight at the Battle of Monte Cassino, before being demobbed with his fellow Polish comrades in the UK, eventually ending his civilian days in Edinburgh Zoo. Although a well-known figure Wojtek and his biography have predominately been used as a means to explore the Polish soldiers’ experience of the Second World War with the result that the bear as an animal is absent. This paper, therefore, puts the bear back into his biography in order to acknowledge the role and lived experience of animals in the military. Further, it suggests that exploring the place of animals in the military requires geographers to articulate the hybrid nature of warfare and also to explore the ethico-political relations this produces

A slow release nitrogen fertiliser produced by simultaneous granulation and superheated steam drying of urea with brown coal

Background: The inefficient use of nitrogen (N) fertiliser as a consequence of N losses from soil is a pressing issue in broad-acre agricultural systems. The research reported here tested the hypothesis that granulation of synthetic N fertiliser (urea) with a natural organic C resource (brown coal) would reduce fertiliser N loss from the soil system. Results: Urea-enriched brown coal granules were simultaneously formed and dried within a pilot-scale superheated steam dryer. After application to unplanted soil columns, the urea-brown coal granules reduced nitrous oxide emission by up to 40 %, reduced mineral nitrogen leaching and maintained higher levels of N in topsoil when compared to conventional urea alone. Reduced gaseous N losses without a reduction in plant N uptake were also observed in planted soil columns treated with urea-brown coal granules. Conclusions: Brown coal-urea blended fertiliser showed potential for more efficient use of N in the long term and has environmental benefits in retaining more N in the soil

Exact Vlasov-Maxwell equilibria for asymmetric current sheets

The NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale mission has made in situ diffusion region and kinetic-scale resolution measurements of asymmetric magnetic reconnection for the first time, in the Earth's magnetopause. The principal theoretical tool currently used to model collisionless asymmetric reconnection is particle-in-cell simulations. Many particle-in-cell simulations of asymmetric collisionless reconnection start from an asymmetric Harris-type magnetic field but with distribution functions that are not exact equilibrium solutions of the Vlasov equation. We present new and exact equilibrium solutions of the Vlasov-Maxwell system that are self-consistent with one-dimensional asymmetric current sheets, with an asymmetric Harris-type magnetic field profile, plus a constant nonzero guide field. The distribution functions can be represented as a combination of four shifted Maxwellian distribution functions. This equilibrium describes a magnetic field configuration with more freedom than the previously known exact solution and has different bulk flow properties