Scientists puzzled by 'bright spots' on surface of dwarf planet Ceres

Two strange reflective patches spotted on Ceres.
Image: NASA, JPL

Mashable | Feb 26, 2015 | Chris Taylor

A dwarf planet is shining two bright lights at a NASA spacecraft right now, and our smartest scientists are unsure what they are.

As bizarre as that sentence sounds, that's the situation with Ceres — the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, officially designated as a dwarf planet (the same category as Pluto).

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is approaching Ceres ahead of a March 6 rendezvous. The picture above was taken February 19, from a distance of just under 29,000 miles, and shows two very shiny areas on the same basin on Ceres' surface.

Previous Dawn images from further away showed a single light on Ceres, which was just as mysterious. Then, to the amazement of every astronomy geek, the one light turned out to be two — reflecting roughly 40% of the light hitting them.

Read more..

Fireball & sonic boom witnessed from Florida to South Carolina

Heat map of fireball sightings
(Image from AMSmeteors.org)

RT | Feb 23, 2015

Residents of the Sunshine State say they spotted a massive fireball soar through the Florida sky over the weekend, and similar reports have since surfaced from as far away as South Carolina.

According to the American Meteorological Society (AMS), 189 people have filed reports since late Saturday evening, when they saw a fireball cut through the night sky. At least 15 eyewitnesses described seeing the phenomenon accompanied by what the AMS called a "window rattling delayed boom."

It “sounded like an explosion,” a witness, who gave her name as Kasey W. from Lake City, FL, told the AMS. Another person who said she encountered the fireball, Lindsey E., also of Lake City, said her “windows and walls shook along with a loud pop and boom.”

The AMS has logged reports from supposed witnesses in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, and experts told local media that the apparent sightings seem to suggest a meteor is to blame.

“The fact that people heard sonic booms [means] it did survive down to the lower atmosphere," Robert Lunsford, a volunteer with the AMS, told Jacksonville’s WJXT. "So there's a good chance that some small fragments may have reached the ground probably about 50 miles west of Jacksonville.”

“The best way I can describe it is it looked like a large firework,” witness Tracie Sradley told Jacksonville’s Action News. “But then there was a big ball of fire behind it and as quick as we seen it, it was gone.”

The fireball, Sradley said, was “just like the brightest, the prettiest – it was actually gorgeous, it was beautiful.”

According to the AMS, reports from across the Deep South suggest the meteor was heading northeast and indeed met its demise just west of Jacksonville — around 250 miles south of Augusta, GA, where some witness reports were filed.

Sunday’s incident came just a few days after similar reports surfaced up the East Coast, where residents of the Mid-Atlantic states on Tuesday described seeing a fireball that the AMS believes was a 500-pound meteor that was traveling at around 45,000 miles per hour before breaking up in western Pennsylvania.

Lunsford told WJXT that this time of year presents the perfect conditions for meteor viewing.

"At this time of the year in the evening sky, we have a path in the sky called the ecliptic is where the moon and the sun and the planets all follow," he said. "During those three months it's highest in the sky during the evening hours.”

RAW: 500 pound meteor bursts into flames over Pittsburgh

RT America | Feb 18, 2015

A meteor weighing nearly 500 pounds entered the atmosphere over Pittsburgh, PA early Tuesday morning, bursting into a ball of flame as it descended through the Earth’s atmosphere.

'Solar Ballet': NASA releases spectacular 5yrs time lapse of Electric Sun

RT | Feb 13, 2015

February 11, 2015 marks five years in space for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which provides incredibly detailed images of the whole sun 24 hours a day. Capturing an image more than once per second, SDO has provided an unprecedentedly clear picture of how massive explosions on the sun grow and erupt ever since its launch on Feb. 11, 2010. The imagery is also captivating, allowing one to watch the constant ballet of solar material through the sun's atmosphere, the corona.

Courtesy: NASA


Watch the original here: http://youtu.be/GSVv40M2aks

Amazing Aurora Borealis lights up skies above US, Russia (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

RT | Feb 8, 2015

Image Credit: NASA / Jamie Adkins

A NASA astronaut on board the ISS has recently been busy snapping the Northern Lights in various locations around the globe. Be it at sunrise over the US coast, or in the dead of night above central Russia, the images are stunning.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore, US astronaut on the International Space Station, also managed to capture the lights of Aurora Borealis dancing dazzlingly over central Russia’s snowy landscape between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“#Moscow and distant #SaintPetersburg under the #Aurora” #AstroButch Photo Credit Barry Wilmore: 123F6230 #nasa #nasajsc #spacestation #internationalspacestation #explore #exploration #photography #ISS #Exp42 #cupola #geography #EarthArt #art #snow #lights #green #coverage #Russia
A photo posted by International Space Station (@iss) on Feb 7, 2015 at 9:30am PST

Earlier this week, NASA revealed an incredible video clip that shows how the sun rising over the northeast coast of the US as it met the polar light show. Wilmore made the video over Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, and it was posted with a caption: “All we need now are angels singing”.


Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, is nature’s spectacular show usually seen in the skies near the magnetic poles, in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Its dancing lights are an effect of particles from the sun triggering reactions in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, when photons of light are released by oxygen and nitrogen molecules.

“#sunrise touches #aurora. Still image from the time-lapse. #SharetheEarth” #AstroButch Phot Credit Barry Wilmore: 129C1830 #nasa #nasajsc #spacestation #internationalspacestation #explore #exploration #photography #ISS #Exp42 #cupola #geography #EarthArt #lights #night #bright #aurora #city #majesty #sunrise #eastcoast #breath taking #space #planet #environment #beyond #art
A photo posted by International Space Station (@iss) on Feb 4, 2015 at 12:44pm PST

The International Space Station, which can be partly seen on the video, captured by NASA, is currently home to six astronauts, three Russians among them.

“Aurora north of #Russia” #AstroButch Photo Credit Barry Wilmore: 131B1556 #nasa #nasajsc #spacestation #internationalspacestation #explore #exploration #photography #ISS #Exp42 #cupola #geography #EarthArt #Russia #Mediterranean #aurora #space #stars
A photo posted by International Space Station (@iss) on Feb 4, 2015 at 11:53am PST

NASA to seek life on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa

Jupiter’s moon Europe
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute)

Press TV | Feb 3, 2015

NASA gives go ahead for Europa mission as it announces funding for sending a probe to Jupiter's icy moon, which has a high probability of harboring life in our solar system.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) budget request for 2016 includes $30 million to send a spacecraft to examine Europa, NewScientist reported on Tuesday.

"For the first time, the budget supports the formulation and development of a Europa Mission, allowing NASA to begin project formulation," reads the budget request.

According to NASA, the funding will be used to initiate the planning stage for constructing a probe to carry out multiple flybys over the natural satellite -- rather than landing on or orbiting it – and perform a thorough and meticulous study on its surface.

This strategy will lower the cost and heighten safety of the mission as Europa resides in a high radiation environment which may endanger spacecraft.   

NASA will select instruments for the “clipper probe” this year in spring, and is aiming for a launch date in the mid-2020s.

Robert Pappalardo, the pre-project scientist for the Europa Clipper probe concept refers to the project as “a big deal”.

"We're moving toward the next phase, where you're a real mission. It's just thrilling after 15 years of pushing for it. It's a great day."

Since the 1990s, Europa has been tempting planetary scientists as the Galileo orbiter showed that it may have a deep ocean of salty liquid water, which may harbor life, underneath its thick icy exterior.

Catastrophic Anthropogenic Vulcanology

WATTS Up With That | Jan 31, 2015

Josh writes:

Following the hilarious post on how Climate Change now causes volcanoes to erupt “everywhere”, Josh opines, “What next, anthropogenic sunshine?”

Cartoons by Josh

As big as five football fields: Massive asteroid to be visible from Earth in just a day

Reuters / NASA

RT | Jan 24, 2015

An asteroid the size five football fields is approaching Earth and is expected to pass by on Monday. It will be visible through strong binoculars – definitely worth getting; the next time such an asteroid could be this close again will be in 2027.

At the closest point to the Earth, asteroid 2004 BL86 will be at a distance of 1.2 million kilometers which – approximately three times the distance from the Earth to the moon. Estimated to be 0.5 km in diameter, it is classified by scientists as potentially dangerous.

A space object is considered “potentially dangerous” if it crosses the Earth's orbit at a distance of less than 0.05 AU (approximately 19.5 distances from the Earth to the Moon), and if its diameter exceeds 100-150 meters. Objects of this size are large enough to cause unprecedented destruction, or generate a tsunami in case they fall into the ocean.

This graphic depicts the passage of asteroid 2004 BL86. (Image credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech)

However, according to astronomers, there is no threat of the object colliding with our planet this time.

“While it poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future, it’s a relatively close approach by a relatively large asteroid, so it provides us a unique opportunity to observe and learn more,” Don Yeomans from NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.

It is very rare that such a huge space body comes this close to Earth. The next time an asteroid might be passing by will be in 2027, when 1999 AN10 flies past Earth. As for 2004 BL86 itself, it can be monitored from Earth for another 200 years.

Astronomers strongly recommend trying to catch this unique opportunity to spot an asteroid in the sky. It will be possible on January 26 between 11:07 pm and 11:52 pm ET (04:07 and 04:52 GMT).

It will be best seen in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Amateur astronomers will be able to observe it with small telescopes and even strong binoculars.

“I may grab my favorite binoculars and give it a shot myself,” Yeomans said in the statement.  “Asteroids are something special. Not only did asteroids provide Earth with the building blocks of life and much of its water, but in the future, they will become valuable resources for mineral ores and other vital natural resources.”

Numerous observatories all over the world will use this opportunity to learn something new about 2004 BL86. NASA's Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will try to procure scientific data and radar-generated images of the asteroid while it is in its closest position to the Earth.

“When we get our radar data back the day after the flyby, we will have the first detailed images,” radar astronomer Lance Benne said. “At present, we know almost nothing about the asteroid, so there are bound to be surprises.”

2004 BL86 was discovered on January 30, 2004, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), responsible for the majority of asteroid discoveries from 1998 until 2005, when it was overtaken by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS). The asteroid orbits the Sun every 1.84 years.

Bigger problems than global warming – NASA discovers 8 new dangerous near Earth asteroids

The Chelyabinsk meteor, possibly
caused by a near Earth Asteroid

Watts Up With That | Jan 19, 2015 | Eric Worrall

In 2013, NASA decided to take time out from creating spectacularly useless climate models, and reactivated their Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer programme. The result is moderately terrifying – 8 previously unknown near Earth asteroids with catastrophic impact potential have been discovered, along with a host of smaller bodies which have the potential to wipe out a city.

According to The Register;

In December 2013, NASA re-activated the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) and in the twelve months since the project discovered three new comets and 40 previously-unknown near-earth objects, eight of which have Earth-bonking potential.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/16/ninety_new_doom_asteroids_found_in_2014/

The JPL website contains more information about the discoveries of various space survey projects;

“WISE was launched into a low-Earth orbit in December 2009, and surveyed the full sky in four infrared wavelength bands (3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 µm) with a 40 cm (16 in) diameter infrared telescope until the frozen hydrogen cooling the telescope was depleted in September 2010. Throughout this time, NEOWISE searched the WISE data for moving objects. Starting in October 2010, the mission was renamed NEOWISE, and the survey continued for an additional four months using the two shortest wavelength detectors. The spacecraft was placed into hibernation in February 2011, after completing its search of the inner solar system.

Recently, NEOWISE has been brought out of hibernation to learn more about the population of near-Earth objects and comets that could pose an impact hazard to the Earth. A three-year survey in the 3.4 and 4.6 µm infrared bands began in December 2013 in which NEOWISE will rapidly characterize near-Earth objects (NEOs) and obtain accurate measurements of their diameters and albedos (how much light an object reflects). NEOWISE is equally sensitive to both light-colored asteroids and the optically dark objects that are difficult for ground-based observers to discover and characterize. Just six days after the restart of the survey, NEOWISE discovered its first potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, 2013 YP139.
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/programs/neowise.html

The JPL data table is a little tricky to read, but if I’ve understood it correctly, you take the “H” value (absolute magnitude – a measure of “brightness”) from the asteroid table http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/Dangerous.html , and look up that value in the diameter conversion chart, to get a range of possible diameters http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/Sizes.html . The diameter estimate is a range, because the size of the asteroid is not the only factor which affects the magnitude / brightness of the object.

YP139 has a “H” value of 21.6, which corresponds to a possible diameter of 130 – 300 metres.

To put this into perspective, the Chelyabinsk meteor which caused a 500 kiloton explosion over Russia in 2013 was estimated to be around 20 metres in diameter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor A 300 metre object has the potential to cause (300 ^ 3 / 20 ^ 3) * 500 kilotons = 1.6 Gigaton explosion. An explosion of this magnitude, especially an ocean strike, could create gigantic Tsunamis, and would severely disrupt the global climate for several years, possibly longer.

Its nice to know that NASA occasionally takes a break from climate bothering, long enough to do something space related, but I’m mildly horrified that a project this important appears to be so far down the list of priorities, that the project was mothballed for a year while the survey satellite stood waiting for a refuel. Granted that a major Asteroid strike is a low probability event, but the consequences are potentially catastrophic – a big ocean strike could kill millions, maybe even billions of people.

As the Chelyabinsk wakeup call demonstrated, the risk of a damaging meteor impact is not a possibility which should be neglected.

Over 1,200 seabirds mysteriously die on Pacific Coast

© Natural News

Natural News | Jan 15, 2015 | J.D. Heyes

Officials on the Pacific Coast are puzzled by the deaths of hundreds of small, white-bellied seabirds since October.

The birds, called Cassin's auklets, are mostly gray in color and have blue feet. Media reports say they have been steadily washing ashore all along the Pacific Coast, from Northern California to the coast of the state of Washington, and that, naturally, is concerning wildlife and other experts because thus far they have yet to determine an exact cause for the massive deaths.

"To be this lengthy and geographically widespread, I think is kind of unprecedented," Phillip Johnson, the executive director of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, told the Pierce Pioneer, in its online edition. "It's an interesting and somewhat mysterious event."

At the time of publication, the Pierce Pioneer (PP) noted that the University of Washington's Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COSST) had gathered as many as 1,200 birds that have washed ashore over the past few months.

COSST volunteer Diane Bilderback commented that she had not found any dead auklets until the beginning of this past fall, pointing to a very recent phenomenon.

Wasting away - but why?

Other residents along the Pacific Coast have also said they have encountered scores of dead auklets in recent months, including Ken and Cathy Denton.

"We've seen a lot of common murres, but those are common," Ken Denton told the PP. "This is the most we've seen of something else."

Julie Parrish, the COSST executive director, said the large number of deaths, which appear to be continuing to rise, is definitely a cause for concern. She told the PP that the bulk of the birds appear to have starved to death, which she said could be caused by an unusually prolific mating season.

"Almost every breeding pair laid an egg, and as the young birds fly south for the winter they may not all be finding the small fish and shrimp they normally feed on," she said.

That claim was backed up by Julia Burco, a veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; she, along with other experts, believes that the birds are starving and that no toxin is responsible for their deaths.

Bird deaths follow a pattern of other mass deaths of sea life

The deaths of so many auklets comes on the heels of other mass deaths of sea-faring animals, as Natural News has documented:

-- In September, we reported that millions of sea stars were dying -- again, along the Pacific Coast -- stretching from Alaska to Mexico. The creatures, which belong to the class of animals known as Asteroidea, have been on Earth for some 450 million years, and more than 20 species of them have been affected. Experts say dead sea stars are exhibiting signs of "wasting syndrome," a condition which causes their limbs to disintegrate.

-- The BBC reported in December that 500 dead sea lions had been discovered along the northern coastline of Peru, for no inherently obvious reason. As we reported:

The latest of several mass die-offs in recent years, the rotting corpses were found on Anconcillo Beach, located in Peru's Ancash region. Both young and old sea lions were found at the site, which the local governor blamed on fishermen who may have poisoned them while they searched for food at the shoreline. Others like the environmental group Orca, however, say oil exploration is probably the cause.

However, a more likely cause for these deaths and others is rising levels of radiation from the disabled nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan. As The Christian Science Monitor reported, the levels of radiation in seawater from the damaged plant should peak along the U.S. Pacific Coast some time this year. That report is here.

Sources:

http://www.piercepioneer.com

http://www.spokesman.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.csmonitor.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

Ocean Snow in Florida Sets Record

News4Jax | Jan 9, 2015 | Blake Mathews

© New4Jax

 [...] According to meteorologist Jason Hess, only three snowfalls have actually accumulated officially in Jacksonville in 103 years (1956, 1986 and 1989) with the greatest 24 hour accumulation of 1.9 inches in February 1899 -- before records officially began.

Thursday's snowfall was a rare phenomenon known as 'ocean effect snow.' It's the same idea as lake-effect snow except it occurs over the ocean.  The idea here is that the water is warmer than the land this time of year allowing moisture to rise and condense to form clouds and rain or snow.

When our winds shifted to the northeast, the moisture began moving towards land. Even though the surface temperatures were above freezing near the surface, the air just above the boundary layer (basically the first few hundred feet above the surface) was below freezing allowing the snowflakes to make it to the ground before melting. Voila! Snow.

It nearly didn't happen though. A powerful arctic front pushed through Florida late Wednesday powered by a mega-high pressure system over the mid west. That high drove in a lot of dry air, evidence by our dew points (measure of moisture in the air) into the teens meaning any flakes would have evaporated before reaching the ground. Through the process of evaporative cooling (wet-bulbing), our atmosphere cooled and moistened just enough to allow for the flakes to hit the ground.

Snow was last observed officially, a trace, in Jacksonville the day after Christmas in 2010 with measurable snowfall in southeast Georgia.

Read more..

Very Strong Magnetic Storm Breaking All Rules?

Higher Truth Channel | Jan 7, 2015

SOTT Summary - December 2014: Extreme Weather, Earth Changes, Fireballs, High Strangeness

SOTT Media | Jan 7, 2015

© Courtesy SOTT Summary

The twelth installment in our monthly series, the following video compiles footage of 'signs of the times' from around the world during December 2014 - 'earth changes', extreme weather, meteor fireballs, high strangeness and planetary upheaval.

Mother Nature was apparently determined to see out 2014 with a bang, ramping up the extreme weather and Earth Changes in December. Snowstorms buried cities in Russia's Far east and Northeastern China, where a waterfall on the Yellow River partially froze. Japan was hit with record-breaking snowfall for the second time in a year, while a deep freeze in Northern India claimed at least 150 lives.

A week of non-stop electrical storms brought hail, flooding and widespread damage to Sydney, Australia, while a huge sinkhole swallowed three cars in Melbourne. Fish and whales continue to turn up dead in large numbers on coastlines and in freshwater lakes and rivers, thanks in part to increased volcanic activity, demonstrated above ground in December via eruptions in Indonesia, Mexico, Iceland, Cape Verde, Hawaii and Japan.

Drought-stricken Sao Paulo was inundated with rain, turning streets into rivers. Waterspouts appeared in Australia and the Mediterranean, a tornado hit downtown LA for the first time in decades, while another 'unseasonal' tornado outbreak in the U.S. South killed 5 and left dozens homeless. The "worst flooding in decades" hit Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia and Sri Lanka, where some quarter million people had to evacuate their homes.

A trail of storms pummelled the US West Coast, with landslides, mudslides, blizzards, and flash-flooding washing away homes and roads. Across the Atlantic, a so-called 'weather bomb' hit the UK and Ireland, bringing monster waves and hurricane-force winds. This was followed by a big freeze that brought blizzards to Western Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean, where Malta received its first snow in over a half-century.

Spectacular meteor fireballs were filmed over Puerto Rico, Brazil, the US, Canada, Spain, and Japan. So-called 'mystery' booms shook homes in communities from the US to the UK. An incredible UFO sighting in Santiago, Chile, and the appearance of a bright glowing 'plasma light' over Lima, Peru rang in the New Year.



Buckle up for 2015; it's gonna be 'interesting'!

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Sleepy Hollow: Unsolved mystery of slumbering village (RT Documentary)

RT | Dec 28, 2014

They call it Sleepy Hollow. A small village in Kazakhstan (see map here) which has succumbed to a mysterious ailment – its dwellers keep falling asleep for no apparent reason. The indiscriminate illness has no cure. Episodes begin without warning, and those affected never know if they will wake up again. Some blame ghosts, others the closed uranium mines located nearby. But despite multiple attempts by medics and scientists to solve the riddle, the causes and consequences of the disease remain unknown. Now the RTD team goes to Kalachi village to undertake its own investigation.

Quantum Physics and Romanesque Art - Lothar Schäfer, Ph.D.

scienceandnonduality | Dec 26, 2014

Deep Truths Are Eternal. They constantly return and engage the Human Mind. The discovery of Quantum Physics that there is an invisible part of the world, which doesn't consist of things, but of non-material forms, is such a truth. We find it, for example, in the work of the European Romanesque Artists, between 1000 – 1120 CE. the artists at that time believed that the basis of reality is an invisible mystery, and they wanted to reveal that mystery in their art. In this lecture the parallels between the world view of Quantum Physics and that of the Romanesque Artists will be described, which suggest that our mind is connected with a Cosmic Mind, which expresses its principles as thoughts in our mind and as material structures in the external world.

Lothar Schäfer is Distinguished Professor (emeritus) of Physical Chemistry at the University of Arkansas. His research in physical chemistry, electron diffraction, applied quantum chemistry, and computational chemistry led to developing the first real-time gas electron diffraction instrument in which data is recorded online, enabling the first pulsed-beam, timeresolved studies of laser-excited molecules, and to performing the first quantum chemical geometry determinations of peptide molecules, predicting structural trends in proteins a decade before experimental observation. Author of Infinite Potential and In Search of Divine Reality.

Rosetta Mission Update | Jets of Comet 67P -- Failed "Explanations" Continue

Thunderbolts Project | Dec 24, 2014

It seems that the puzzle of cometary jets continues to haunt comet science. The mystery has been stated and re-stated for decades.

But it’s possible that a resolution is now within reach, through the Rosetta Mission to comet 67P?Churyumov Gerasimenko?


This video is the third in a series of reports on the Rosetta Mission. First two updates:
Comets May Not Be What We Thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UliV...
Oops! No Water on Comet 67P? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqxF5...

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SOTT Earth Changes Video Summary - November 2014

© SOTT Earth Changes Screenshot

SOTT | Dec 7, 2014 | Sott Editors

It's one thing to have record early cold temperatures and record early snowfalls in both Eurasia and North America. To have the greatest ever snow coverage for the Northern Hemisphere by mid-November is something else. November 2014 was alternately mild and super-freezing as the Polar Jet Stream whip-lashed the North American continent, bringing monster snowstorms that dumped entire annual snowfall averages in many parts of the U.S., not least the city of Buffalo, New York, which was buried under 7 feet (2.25 meters) of snow.
Numerous bright meteor fireballs were caught on camera, including several big ones - probably comet/asteroid fragments - that were seen from huge swathes of the US, Russia, China, Japan and Europe. Buenos Aires was flooded for the second time this year, while record-breaking (in many cases, breaking records set last month) rainfall levels were seen across much of the western Mediterranean, killing many people in Morocco, southeastern France and northwestern Italy.

© SOTT Earth Changes Screenshot

Sinkholes from China to Florida opened up to swallow people and cars. Brisbane, Australia was literally smashed by baseball-sized hail in a surprise 'super-storm'. The Great Lakes began to refreeze by mid-November, not 4 months after finally thawing from last winter. Japan's largest active volcano erupted, as did Colima Volcano in Mexico, and Pavlof in Alaska, each sending ash plumes several kilometers high, while lava flows from Hawaii's Kilauea and Cape Verde's Fire Island destroyed homes.

Then there were UFOs over Paris and Iran, pods of deepwater whales seeking shallow waters, and tornado outreaks in the Mediterranean... has the world gone mad? These were the 'Signs of the Times' in November 2014:



Read more..

Wow! Milky Way, Auroras & Thunderstorms Stun In New Time-Lapse Video

Collective Evolution | Nov 29, 2014 | Arjun Walia

This amazing video footage comes from Randy Halverson at dakotalapse.com. It was shot from April to November of 2013 in South Dakota, USA. For more remarkable  footage you can visit the Facebook page here as well.

Our world and universe are filled with such beauty, and this time lapse captures a minuscule portion of that. When we stare in awe at beautiful images such as these, it generates changes in our biology. When we are feeling positive emotions like gratitude and appreciation, our heart sends out a completely different message because the heart produces the largest electromagnetic field produced in the body. You can read more about that here.

It can be a good idea to spend some time looking at a sunset, getting out in nature or spending some time staring at the stars on a clear night. This is something that’s been lost in our everyday existence, we’ve forgotten the beauty of nature and instead chose to destroy it. But we are in the process of change, the world is raising it’s voice and the movement continues to grow and gain strength.

I hope this video reminds you how beautiful it is to exist, and I hope it makes you appreciate your life and how lucky you are to be able to experience the human experience.

Why is it that when most of us grow into adults, we do not gaze upon phenomena like this with awe and wonder as we once did when we were children?

This footage is truly breathtaking, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Huelux from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

It’s scientifically-proven that meditation has powerful benefits.

Zen12 will transform the way you look at meditation. It uses special audio MP3s that help induce a deep state of meditation.

The program uses special ‘brainwave’ sounds to meditate for you. That means you don’t have to actively try to quieten your mind, stop fidgeting, or focus only on the meditation. And you don’t have to reschedule your day. Each session lasts just 12 minutes.

Try It Here

Lightning in the Wind

Thunderbolts Project | Nov 25, 2014 | Stephen Smith

Lightning from a supercell captured in
Paducah, Texas. Image credit: Kelly DeLay

Ionized particles from the Sun contribute to electric discharges on Earth

Electric Universe theories propose that plasma discharge behavior is a better model for solar activity than most consensus opinions would like to accept. Experiments using a positively charged sphere show that a plasma torus forms above its equator. Charged plasma bridges the torus, coupling the sphere’s middle and lower latitudes, consistent with the principle of “anode tufting,” a plasma discharge effect expected from a positively charged electric Sun.

Sunspot filaments, seen clearly in sunspot penumbrae, indicate that they are rapidly rotating charge vortices. Electric discharges in plasma form rope-like, hollow tendrils, so looking down into a sunspot will reveal its rotating discharge columns in profile. Since they are funnels of plasma, their centers are darker, where convection cells would appear darker at their edges.

Since the Sun is the most powerful electrical entity in the Solar System, it stands to reason that its influence will extend outward as far as its heliospheric boundary. That influence, as previous Pictures of the Day argue, instigates many electrical phenomena on Earth.

A recent press release ignores the primary electrical aspect of the Sun, preferring to focus on magnetic reconnection as the major factor in the Sun’s impact on lightning generation. It is a step forward for heliophysicists and planetary scientists to acknowledge the Sun-Earth connection, but it is disappointing to see them rely on such a poorly supported theory like magnetic reconnection.

Briefly, according to the announcement, solar magnetic field lines “stretch between two points…twist and entangle”, forming magnetic flux ropes that snap, releasing enormous energy that blasts away from the Sun as a solar flare or a coronal mass ejection. The field lines then relax until the next energy build-up.

Electric discharges in plasma create tube-like magnetic sheaths along their axes. If enough electric charge flows, it will cause the sheath to glow, sometimes creating a number of other sheaths within it. The sheaths are called “double layers.” Powerful electric fields appear between regions in the double layers, which accelerate charged particles. Sometimes, the stored electrical energy will be catastrophically released in a “Langmuir burst.” Those bursts are what conventional astrophysicists incorrectly call “magnetic reconnection”.

It is a confirmed fact that the movement of electric charges in plasma forms electromagnetic fields that constrict the current. As previous Picture of the Day articles point out, the constricted channel is known as a “Bennett pinch,” or “z-pinch.” The pinched electric filaments remain coherent over long distances, forming helical structures that can transmit power through space. It is that phenomenon that scientists refer to as flux ropes. They are also known as Birkeland currents.

Electric fields freely accelerate charged particles, which move outward in opposite directions, activating an electric current that follows the Sun’s magnetic field. That field is carried into Earth’s electrical environment along gigantic Birkeland current filaments. It was reported elsewhere that in September 2002 a major premise of Electric Universe theory was confirmed: weather systems on Earth are electrically connected to a field of charged particles called the ionosphere. Dual bands of plasma shining in ultraviolet light were found by the IMAGE satellite. The plasma streams are circling the Earth in opposite directions along the equator, carrying positive and negative electric charges.

Along with that observation, the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) satellites found what were called “space tornadoes” (Birkeland currents), electrified plasma vortices rotating faster than 1,600,000 kilometers per hour, about 64,000 kilometers from Earth. The THEMIS satellites, together with Earth-based stations, verified that those charged plasma formations are connected to the ionosphere. This means that the Sun is directly coupled to lightning generators on Earth—otherwise called thunderstorms.

As previously written, the capacitor effect is probably what contributes to lightning discharges. Capacitors are usually made of two conductors separated by an insulating medium, or dielectric insulator. An electric charge on one conductor attracts an opposite charge to the other conductor, resulting in an electric field between them that acts as an electrical energy reserve. Thunderstorms are most likely behaving like capacitors: the clouds are one plate, the ground another, and the atmosphere is the dielectric insulator.

Since the clouds are connected to the ionosphere, electric charges carried into the ionosphere by the solar wind cause increases in the electrical energy in the clouds, which also increases the stored charge in the ground. That accumulated charge overcomes the atmosphere’s ability to keep the two separate, so they reach out to each other in the form of “leader strokes.” When the two lightning leaders meet, a circuit between the clouds and the ground (or between one cloud and another) is completed: lightning flashes.

Stephen Smith

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Scientists Discover An Invisible Shield Surrounding Earth, Baffled At How It Formed

Inquisitr | Nov 26, 2014

Scientists have discovered something truly remarkable in the Earth’s atmosphere. An invisible shield is located approximately 7,200 miles above Earth that scientists are likening to “force fields on Star Trek.”

According to Front Line Desk, the shield was discovered in the Van Allen radiation belts, two doughnut-shaped rings above Earth that are filled with high-energy electrons and protons. Held in place by Earth’s magnetic field, the Van Allen radiation belts swell and shrink in response to incoming energy disturbances from the sun. The Van Allen radiation belts were first discovered back in 1958. However, scientists only discovered two belts, an inner and outer belt extending up to 25,000 miles above Earth’s surface.

However, last year, Professor Daniel Baker from the University of Colorado Boulder and his team used the twin Van Allen Probes launched in 2012 to discover a third, transient ‘storage ring.’ According to their research, the third belt is located between the previously known inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts. This belt is different in that it seems to come and go as space weather changes.

The purpose of the ring was quite clear to the researchers — the ring is used to block killer electrons from entering deeper into the Earth’s atmosphere. These electrons can be extremely devastating at their near-light speed and have been known to threaten astronauts, fry satellites and damage space systems.

Beta Wired notes that Baker likened the invisible shield to Star Trek force fields. The Earth’s magnetic field holds the belts in place, but the scientist says that the electrons in these belts — which travel at nearly the speed of light — are being blocked by some invisible force that reminded him of the kind of shields used in television series like Star Trek to stop alien energy weapons from vaporizing starships. However, in the case of Earth, the invisible shield is being used to stop killer electrons from entering the atmosphere.

Prior to the invisible shield discovery, scientists assumed that electrons making it into the upper atmosphere of the planet would be dispersed by air molecules, but it looks like these particles don’t even get that far thanks to Earth’s invisible electron shield.

Now that the scientists know the invisible shield exists, they are trying to determine how it was formed and exactly how it works.

“It’s almost like these electrons are running into a glass wall in space. It’s an extremely puzzling phenomenon.”

[Image Credit: NASA]