Dodecahedral topology fails to explain quadrupole-octupole alignment

The CMB quadrupole and octupole, as well as being weaker than expected, align suspiciously well with each other. Non-trivial spatial topology can explain the weakness. Might it also explain the alignment? The answer, at least in the case of the Poincare dodecahedral space, is a resounding no.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Does the correlation between solar cycle lengths and Northern Hemisphere land temperatures rule out any significant global warming from greenhouse gases?

Since the discovery of a striking correlation between solar cycle lengths and Northern Hemisphere land temperatures there have been widespread speculations as to whether these findings would rule out any significant contributions to global warming from the enhanced concentrations of greenhouse gases. The present analysis shows that a similar degree of correlation is obtained when testing the solar data against a couple of fictitious temperature series representing different global warming trends. Therefore, the correlation cannot be used to estimate the magnitude of a possible contribution to global warming from human activities, nor to rule out a sizable contribution from that source