Cosmological parameters from the comparison of peculiar velocities with predictions from the 2M++ density field

Peculiar velocity measurements are the only tool available in the low-redshift Universe for mapping the large-scale distribution of matter and can thus be used to constrain cosmology. Using redshifts from the 2M++ redshift compilation, we reconstruct the density of galaxies within 200 Mpc/h, allowing for the first time good sampling of important superclusters such as the Shapley Concentration. We compare the predicted peculiar velocities from 2M++ to Tully-Fisher and SNe peculiar velocities. We find a value of $\beta^* \equiv \Omega_{\rm{m}}^{0.55}/b^* = 0.431 \pm 0.021$, suggesting $\Omega_{\rm{m}}^{0.55}\sigma_{\rm{8,lin}} = 0.401 \pm 0.024$, in good agreement with other probes. The predicted peculiar velocity of the Local Group arising from the 2M++ volume alone is $540 \pm 40$ km/s, towards $l = 268 \pm 4, b= 38 \pm 6$, only $10^\circ$ out of alignment with the Cosmic Microwave Background dipole. To account for velocity contributions arising from sources outside the 2M++ volume, we fit simultaneously for $\beta^*$ and an external bulk flow in our analysis. We find that an external bulk flow is preferred at the 5.1$\sigma$ level, and the best fit has a velocity of $159\pm23$ km/s towards $l=304 \pm 11, b = 6 \pm 13$. Finally, the predicted bulk flow of a 50 Mpc/h Gaussian-weighted volume centred on the Local Group is $230 \pm 30$ km/s, in the direction $l=293\pm 8, b = 14 \pm 10$, in agreement with predictions from $\Lambda$CDM.Comment: 17 pages. MNRAS, in press. Density and peculiar velocity grids available at http://cosmicflows.uwaterloo.ca or http://cosmicflows.iap.f

Catholics in a changing Scotland: the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, 1878-1965

Between 1878 and 1965, the Catholic Church in Scotland changed from a small, reclusive and relatively unassertive community to become a force to be reckoned with in social and political terms. The thesis (the first to be based on a thorough examination of the episcopal correspondence of St Andrews and Edinburgh 1878-1965 held in the Scottish Catholic Archives, Edinburgh), argues that this change was caused by the combination of two momentous but unexpected and unconnected events in the 1850s and after — first, the arrival in Scotland of large numbers of economic migrants from Ireland (most of them Catholics) and second, the conversion (through the influence of John Henry Newman) of influential members of the Scottish aristocracy. The former were mainly confined to what is today the geographically small but very densely populated province of Glasgow, the latter, to the geographically more extensive province of St Andrews and Edinburgh, where Irish migrants, much fewer in numbers, integrated more successfully. While Irish migration has been extensively studied by scholars, the conversion of the aristocracy has, with some notable exceptions, remained unappreciated. The thesis contends that it was principally the simultaneous impact of these two phenomena which accounted for the development of the Catholic community in modern Scotland; that it was not only the critical mass of migrants which gave the Catholic Church political leverage but also the networking skills and the funds ofthe convert elites. Other changes in the Catholic Church were subsumed into this larger picture: the role of the clergy was transformed from a pastoral one in 1886 to a combative one in the 1930s and 1940s, while at the same time shifting vis-a-vis the laity (who were themselves moving from subjugation to co-responsibility). The thesis, however, deals not only with the secular clergy but also with the activities of religious orders — the important national provincial Council of Fort Augustus (1886), for example, and the consecration in 1929 of the dynamic Benedictine Abbot Andrew J. McDonald as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. By 1918, the virtual collapse of the Catholic school system played into the hands of the government; the resulting financial compromise was mutually beneficial but its price (while it affirmed the Catholic community by providing the educational tools for better employment opportunities), was the loss of autonomy and control. After a series of financial scandals in the 1880s and other examples of mismanagement in the first two decades of the twentieth century, episcopal and parish finances gradually recovered as stricter safeguards were imposed. Between the first and second Vatican Councils a sea-change is visible, not only in the relationship between pope and bishop but also between clergy and laity. The pressure of social and political events 11 gradually transformed the hierarchical pyramid that was the Catholic Church of 1878 into the more egalitarian model of the People of God as embraced in 1965 by the Second Vatican Council

Ice as a granular material

Ice is a unique material, fundamental to vital processes on earth, in the atmosphere [1] and as planets and comets form [2]. In this work, we introduce two experiments investigating ice as a granular material, to provide snippets of insight into those processes. Initial investigations of ice particles in a granular flow show that the energy spent in collisions can generate localised surface wetting, even below the melting point [3]. This wetting reduces friction between granules, leading to acceleration of the bulk flow and in turn more wetting. The experiments described here are designed to show how even wetting invisible to an observer, can fundamentally alter the flow. The experiments also use the diamagnetic properties of ice to investigate how the outcome of high speed binary collisions, energetic enough to generate some melting, depends on this wetting

Claiming veganism and vegan geographies

A decade ago, veganism was a fringe radical movement. It was also largely absent from the geographical discipline, despite a rich history of vegan scholarship being present in disciplines such as Sociology and Psychology. However, veganism has recently seen a surge in popularity, with more people than ever before becoming vegan for a mixture of animal welfare, environmental, and health-based reasons. With this mainstreaming, veganism has become contentious and fiercely defended. As veganism has become a growing social and political force, geographers have started to take notice of this previously fringe movement, which is gaining economic, ecological, and cultural power as investment flows into ‘plant-based’ products and new markets are emerging. In this commentary, we look at how veganism has recently been taken up in Geography via several distinct trends that all stake a claim in defining an emerging geographical sub-discipline, vegan geographies. We note the importance of scholarly pluralism and attention to establishing geographical sub-disciplines more broadly

Passing ship effects on water surface elevations

Hydrodynamic

Forecasting tropical cyclone surge

Hydrodynamic

The Earth by TELEMAC

Water Qualit