The Impact of a Six‐Year Climate Anomaly on the “Spanish Flu” Pandemic and WWI

The H1N1 “Spanish influenza” pandemic of 1918–1919 caused the highest known number of deaths recorded for a single pandemic in human history. Several theories have been offered to explain the virulence and spread of the disease, but the environmental context remains underexamined. In this study, we present a new environmental record from a European, Alpine ice core, showing a significant climate anomaly that affected the continent from 1914 to 1919. Incessant torrential rain and declining temperatures increased casualties in the battlefields of World War I (WWI), setting the stage for the spread of the pandemic at the end of the conflict. Multiple independent records of temperature, precipitation, and mortality corroborate these findings

Merging of Components in Close Binaries: Type Ia Supernovae, Massive White Dwarfs, and Ap stars

The "Scenario Machine" (a computer code designed for studies of the evolution of close binaries) was used to carry out a population synthesis for a wide range of merging astrophysical objects: main-sequence stars with main-sequence stars; white dwarfs with white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; neutron stars with neutron stars and black holes; and black holes with black holes.We calculate the rates of such events, and plot the mass distributions for merging white dwarfs and main-sequence stars. It is shown that Type Ia supernovae can be used as standard candles only after approximately one billion years of evolution of galaxies. In the course of this evolution, the average energy of Type Ia supernovae should decrease by roughly 10%; the maximum and minimum energies of Type Ia supernovae may differ by no less than by a factor of 1.5. This circumstance should be taken into account in estimations of parameters of acceleration of the Universe. According to theoretical estimates, the most massive - as a rule, magnetic - white dwarfs probably originate from mergers of white dwarfs of lower mass. At least some magnetic Ap and Bp stars may form in mergers of low-mass main sequence stars (<1.5 mass of the Sun) with convective envelopes.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Coherent pion production in proton-deuteron collisions

Values of the proton analysing power in the $pd\to{}^{3}\textrm{He}\,\pi^0/^{3}\textrm{H}\,\pi^+$ reactions at 350-360~MeV per nucleon were obtained by using a polarised proton beam incident on a deuterium cluster-jet target and with a polarised deuteron beam incident on a target cell filled with polarised hydrogen. These results have a much larger angular coverage than existing data. First measurements are also presented of the deuteron vector analysing power and the deuteron-proton spin correlations. Data were also obtained on the deuteron-proton spin correlation and proton analysing power at small angles at 600~MeV per nucleon, though the angular coverage at this energy was much more restricted even when using a deuteron beam. By combining the extrapolated values of the spin correlations to the forward or backward directions with published measurements of the deuteron tensor analysing powers, the relative phases between the two non-vanishing amplitudes were evaluated.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

First measurements of spin correlations in the np -> d pi^0 reaction

The transverse spin correlations Axx and Ayy in the np-> d pi^0 reaction have been measured for the first time in quasi-free kinematics at the COSY-ANKE facility using a polarised deuteron beam incident on a polarised hydrogen cell target. The results obtained for neutron energies close to 353 MeV and 600 MeV are in good agreement with the partial wave analysis of data on the isospin-related pp-> d pi^+ reaction, though the present results cover also the small-angle region, which was largely absent from these data

The role of historical context in understanding past climate, pollution and health data in trans-disciplinary studies: reply to comments on More et al. 2017

Understanding the context from which evidence emerges is of paramount importance in reaching robust conclusions in scientific inquiries. This is as true of the present as it is of the past. In a trans‐disciplinary study such as More et al. (2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GH000064) and many others appearing in this and similar journals, a proper analysis of context demands the use of historical evidence. This includes demographic, epidemiological, and socio‐economic data—common in many studies of the impact of anthropogenic pollution on human health—and, as in this specific case, also geoarchaeological evidence. These records anchor climate and pollution data in the geographic and human circumstances of history, without which we lose a fundamental understanding of the data itself. This article addresses Hinkley (2018, https://doi.org/10.1002/2018GH000105) by highlighting the importance of context, focusing on the historical and archaeological evidence, and then discussing atmospheric deposition and circulation in the specific region of our study. Since many of the assertions in Bindler (2018, https://doi.org/10.1002/2018GH000135) are congruent with our findings and directly contradict Hinkley (2018), this reply refers to Bindler (2018), whenever appropriate, and indicates where our evidence diverges