Is the Shroud of Turin in Relation to the Old Jerusalem Historical Earthquake?

Phillips and Hedges suggested, in the scientific magazine Nature (1989), that neutron radiation could be liable of a wrong radiocarbon dating, while proton radiation could be responsible of the Shroud body image formation. On the other hand, no plausible physical reason has been proposed so far to explain the radiation source origin, and its effects on the linen fibres. However, some recent studies, carried out by the first author and his Team at the Laboratory of Fracture Mechanics of the Politecnico di Torino, found that it is possible to generate neutron emissions from very brittle rock specimens in compression through piezonuclear fission reactions. Analogously, neutron flux increments, in correspondence to seismic activity, should be a result of the same reactions. A group of Russian scientists measured a neutron flux exceeding the background level by three orders of magnitude in correspondence to rather appreciable earthquakes (4th degree in Richter Scale). The authors consider the possibility that neutron emissions by earthquakes could have induced the image formation on Shroud linen fibres, trough thermal neutron capture by Nitrogen nuclei, and provided a wrong radiocarbon dating due to an increment in C(14,6)content. Let us consider that, although the calculated integral flux of 10^13 neutrons per square centimetre is 10 times greater than the cancer therapy dose, nevertheless it is100 times smaller than the lethal dose.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Atmospheric electrification in dusty, reactive gases in the solar system and beyond

Detailed observations of the solar system planets reveal a wide variety of local atmospheric conditions. Astronomical observations have revealed a variety of extrasolar planets none of which resembles any of the solar system planets in full. Instead, the most massive amongst the extrasolar planets, the gas giants, appear very similar to the class of (young) Brown Dwarfs which are amongst the oldest objects in the universe. Despite of this diversity, solar system planets, extrasolar planets and Brown Dwarfs have broadly similar global temperatures between 300K and 2500K. In consequence, clouds of different chemical species form in their atmospheres. While the details of these clouds differ, the fundamental physical processes are the same. Further to this, all these objects were observed to produce radio and X-ray emission. While both kinds of radiation are well studied on Earth and to a lesser extent on the solar system planets, the occurrence of emission that potentially originate from accelerated electrons on Brown Dwarfs, extrasolar planets and protoplanetary disks is not well understood yet. This paper offers an interdisciplinary view on electrification processes and their feedback on their hosting environment in meteorology, volcanology, planetology and research on extrasolar planets and planet formation

Effects of past and current crop management on soil microbial biomass and activity

As soil biota is influenced by a number of factors, including land use and management techniques, changing management practices could have significant effects on the soil microbial properties and processes. An experiment was conducted to investigate differences in soil microbiological properties caused by long- and short-term management practices. Intact monolith lysimeters (0.2 m2 surface area) were taken from two sites of the same soil type that had been under long-term organic or conventional crop management and were then subjected to the same 2½-year crop rotation (winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), maize (Zea mais L.), lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) rape (Brassica napus L. ssp. oleifera)) and two fertiliser regimes (following common organic and conventional practices). Soil samples were taken after crop harvest and analysed for microbial biomass C and N, microbial activity (fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis, arginine deaminase activity, dehydrogenase activity) and total C and N. The incorporation of the green manure stimulated growth and activity of the microbial communities in soils of both management histories. Soil microbial properties did not show any differences between organically and conventionally fertilised soils, indicating that crop rotation and plant type had a larger influence on the microbial biomass and enzyme activities than fertilisation. Initial differences in microbial biomass declined, while the effects of farm management history were still evident in enzyme activities and total C and N. Links between enzyme activities and microbial biomass C varied depending on treatment indicating differences in microbial community composition