"Scandinavia and/or vikings"
November 20, 2013 | WorldNorwegian Town Welcomes the Winter Sun
A small town in Norway is seeing the winter sun for the first time.
Rjukan lies between tall mountains. It is in shadow for almost six months each year, from fall to early spring. To feel the sun, people have to take a cable car to the top of one of the mountains.
But now, mirrors are bringing the sun to them.
Celebrating the Sun
The three large mirrors are called heliostats. They are on a mountain 1,500 feet above the center of the town. Computers are used to move them. They are powered by the winter sun, which they follow across the sky.
The sun’s light hits the mirrors. Then the mirrors reflect the light down to the town.
The first day of winter light turned into a party. Families brought beach chairs and drinks. They put on sunglasses. They waved the nation’s flag.
The light from the mirrors is not the same as direct sunlight. But it makes the town’s center brighter.
Karin Roe works in the town’s tourist office. She said the light feels warm.
"When there is no time to get to the top of the mountains on weekdays, it will be lovely to come out for an hour and feel this warmth on my face," she said.
A Century-Old Plan
Norway is part of a region called Scandinavia. It is in northern Europe. It often is freezing during the winter. But people in Rjukan could not even enjoy a nice day.
"You would see that the sky was blue, and you knew that the sun was shining," said Roe. But you couldn’t quite see it. "It was very frustrating," she said.
Sam Eyde thought of the plan to light up Rjukan. That was 100 years ago. He built the town and a plant that produced power from water.
Eyde never saw his plan in action. But his company, Norsk Hydro, still exists. It gave much of the money needed for the project.
- See more at: http://www.newsforyouonline.com/stories.asp?ID=1512#sthash.uijAyFAm.dpuf
A small town in Norway is seeing the winter sun for the first time.
Rjukan lies between tall mountains. It is in shadow for almost six months each year, from fall to early spring. To feel the sun, people have to take a cable car to the top of one of the mountains.
But now, mirrors are bringing the sun to them.
Celebrating the Sun
The three large mirrors are called heliostats. They are on a mountain 1,500 feet above the center of the town. Computers are used to move them. They are powered by the winter sun, which they follow across the sky.
The sun’s light hits the mirrors. Then the mirrors reflect the light down to the town.
The first day of winter light turned into a party. Families brought beach chairs and drinks. They put on sunglasses. They waved the nation’s flag.
The light from the mirrors is not the same as direct sunlight. But it makes the town’s center brighter.
Karin Roe works in the town’s tourist office. She said the light feels warm.
"When there is no time to get to the top of the mountains on weekdays, it will be lovely to come out for an hour and feel this warmth on my face," she said.
A Century-Old Plan
Norway is part of a region called Scandinavia. It is in northern Europe. It often is freezing during the winter. But people in Rjukan could not even enjoy a nice day.
"You would see that the sky was blue, and you knew that the sun was shining," said Roe. But you couldn’t quite see it. "It was very frustrating," she said.
Sam Eyde thought of the plan to light up Rjukan. That was 100 years ago. He built the town and a plant that produced power from water.
Eyde never saw his plan in action. But his company, Norsk Hydro, still exists. It gave much of the money needed for the project.
- See more at: http://www.newsforyouonline.com/stories.asp?ID=1512#sthash.uijAyFAm.dpuf
-DNA evidence found- Bigfoot may be a bear!
December 4, 2013 | Science Expert Tests ’Bigfoot’ DNA, Finds Link to Ancient Polar Bear
Scientist Bryan Sykes might have solved the mystery of Bigfoot. He thinks Bigfoot is a bear.
The legend of a giant, hairy, ape-like creature with huge feet and a human-like face has been around for decades. The creature goes by many names. Some people call it Bigfoot. Some call it Sasquatch. Others call it the Yeti or the Abominable Snowman.
The creatures are said to live in forested and snowy mountains like the Himalayas. The Asian mountain range is the highest in the world.
There are people who claim to have seen a Yeti or its footprints. But few scientists believe the story. They say there is no proof that the beast is real.
Testing the Tales Last year, Sykes and a team of scientists decided to test the claims. They asked people to send in samples of hair said to come from the beasts. They said they would test the DNA from a few samples.
Now the results are back.
Sykes tested two hair samples. Both came from Himalayan animals that people said were Yetis. One sample came from a supposed Yeti mummy. A mummy is a body that has been preserved after death.
A French mountain climber took the sample. He saw the mummy 40 years ago. He was in India at the time.
The second sample was a single hair. It was found a decade ago in Bhutan. That is 800 miles east of where the other sample was found.
Results Sykes compared DNA from the hairs to a database of animal DNA. The hairs shared genes in common with an ancient polar bear jawbone. The jawbone dated back at least 40,000 years. It was found in the Norwegian Arctic.
The hairs were not related to modern Himalayan bears. They were directly related to ancient bears. Sykes said the creature might be an unknown type of bear. Or it might be a mixture of a polar bear and a brown bear.
The bear might act unlike other bears, Sykes said. That could be why people thought the creature was human. Maybe it walks on two feet more often. Polar bears sometimes walk on two feet.
"The next thing to do is go there and find one," he said. He thinks the bears still exist.
"I can’t imagine we managed to get samples from the only two ’snow bears’ in the Himalayas," he said.
Doubt Remains Sykes works at Oxford University in Britain. Some experts thought his project was a waste of time. They didn’t think the subject was worthy of science.
Now, some experts say Sykes could be right about Bigfoot. Others still think he’s wasting his time.
Sykes said he was simply trying to bring scientific thinking into the debate.
"The Yeti, the Bigfoot, is surrounded with myth and hoaxes," he said. "But you can’t invent a DNA sequence from a hair."
Scientist Bryan Sykes might have solved the mystery of Bigfoot. He thinks Bigfoot is a bear.
The legend of a giant, hairy, ape-like creature with huge feet and a human-like face has been around for decades. The creature goes by many names. Some people call it Bigfoot. Some call it Sasquatch. Others call it the Yeti or the Abominable Snowman.
The creatures are said to live in forested and snowy mountains like the Himalayas. The Asian mountain range is the highest in the world.
There are people who claim to have seen a Yeti or its footprints. But few scientists believe the story. They say there is no proof that the beast is real.
Testing the Tales Last year, Sykes and a team of scientists decided to test the claims. They asked people to send in samples of hair said to come from the beasts. They said they would test the DNA from a few samples.
Now the results are back.
Sykes tested two hair samples. Both came from Himalayan animals that people said were Yetis. One sample came from a supposed Yeti mummy. A mummy is a body that has been preserved after death.
A French mountain climber took the sample. He saw the mummy 40 years ago. He was in India at the time.
The second sample was a single hair. It was found a decade ago in Bhutan. That is 800 miles east of where the other sample was found.
Results Sykes compared DNA from the hairs to a database of animal DNA. The hairs shared genes in common with an ancient polar bear jawbone. The jawbone dated back at least 40,000 years. It was found in the Norwegian Arctic.
The hairs were not related to modern Himalayan bears. They were directly related to ancient bears. Sykes said the creature might be an unknown type of bear. Or it might be a mixture of a polar bear and a brown bear.
The bear might act unlike other bears, Sykes said. That could be why people thought the creature was human. Maybe it walks on two feet more often. Polar bears sometimes walk on two feet.
"The next thing to do is go there and find one," he said. He thinks the bears still exist.
"I can’t imagine we managed to get samples from the only two ’snow bears’ in the Himalayas," he said.
Doubt Remains Sykes works at Oxford University in Britain. Some experts thought his project was a waste of time. They didn’t think the subject was worthy of science.
Now, some experts say Sykes could be right about Bigfoot. Others still think he’s wasting his time.
Sykes said he was simply trying to bring scientific thinking into the debate.
"The Yeti, the Bigfoot, is surrounded with myth and hoaxes," he said. "But you can’t invent a DNA sequence from a hair."
Topic- Greenhouse gases: bad for the environment, but good for fueling vehicles.
Bull power
Meet the latest recruit in the war against global warming.
This Argentinian bull has a device attached to its back to prevent methane escaping when it belches.
The gas is collected from the bull's stomach through a small pipe and compressed in a canister. Every day one animal produces enough fuel to drive a car one kilometre.
According to the UN, 18% of greenhouse gas emissions are produced by livestock
Study: Earth's polar ice sheets vulnerable to even moderate global warming
Posted December 16, 2009; 01:00 p.m.by Steven Barnes
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An additional 2 degrees of global warming could commit the planet to 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) of long-term sea level rise
A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level.
According to the analysis, an additional 2 degrees of global warming could commit the planet to 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) of long-term sea level rise. This rise would inundate low-lying coastal areas where hundreds of millions of people now reside. It would permanently submerge New Orleans and other parts of southern Louisiana, much of southern Florida and other parts of the U.S. East Coast, much of Bangladesh, and most of the Netherlands, unless unprecedented and expensive coastal protection were undertaken. And while the researchers' findings indicate that such a rise would likely take centuries to complete, if emissions of greenhouse gases are not abated, the planet could be committed during this century to a level of warming sufficient to trigger this outcome.
The study, "Probabilistic Assessment of Sea Level During the Last Interglacial Stage," was written by Robert Kopp, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in Princeton'sDepartment of Geosciences and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs;Frederik Simons, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton; Jerry Mitrovica, a professor of geophysics at Harvard; Adam Maloof, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton; and Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs in Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School.
As part of the study, the researchers compiled an extensive database of geological sea level indicators for a period known as the last interglacial stage about 125,000 years ago. Polar temperatures during this stage were likely 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than today, as is expected to occur in the future if temperatures reach about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (about 4 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
"The last interglacial stage provides a historical analog for futures with a fairly moderate amount of warming; the high sea levels during the stage suggest that significant chunks of major ice sheets could disappear over a period of centuries in such futures," Kopp said. "Yet if the global economy continues to depend heavily on fossil fuels, we're on track to have significantly more warming by the end of century than occurred during the last interglacial. I find this somewhat worrisome."
Oppenheimer added, "Despite the uncertainties inherent in such a study, these findings should send a strong message to the governments negotiating in Copenhagen that the time to avoid disastrous outcomes may run out sooner than expected."
Previous geological studies of sea level benchmarks such as coral reefs and beaches had shown that, at many localities, local sea levels during the last interglacial stage were higher than today. But local sea levels differ from those in this earlier stage; one major contributing factor is that the changing masses of the ice sheets alter the planet's gravitational field and deform the solid Earth. As a consequence, inferring global sea level from local geological sea level markers requires a geographically broad data set, a model of the physics of sea level, and a means to integrate the two. The study's authors provide all three, integrating the data and the physics with a statistical approach that allows them to assess the probability distribution of past global sea level and its rate of change.
The researchers determined through their analysis that there is a 95 percent probability that, during the last interglacial stage, global sea level peaked more than 6.6 meters (22 feet) above its present level. They further found that it is unlikely (with a 33 percent probability) that global sea level during this period exceeded 9.4 meters (31 feet).
Sea levels during the last interglacial stage are of interest to scientists and important to policymakers for several reasons. Most notably, the last interglacial stage is relatively recent by geological standards, making it feasible for climate scientists to develop a credible sea level record for the period, and is the most recent time period when average global temperatures and polar temperatures were somewhat higher than today. Because it was slightly warmer, the period can help scientists understand the stability of polar ice sheets and the future rate of sea level rise under low to moderate global warming scenarios.
The findings indicate that sea level during the last interglacial stage rose for centuries at least two to three times faster than the recent rate, and that both the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheet likely shrank significantly and made important contributions to sea level rise. However, the relative timing of temperature change and sea level change during the last interglacial stage is fairly uncertain, so it is not possible to infer from the analysis how long an exposure to peak temperatures during this stage was needed to commit the planet to peak sea levels..
Meet the latest recruit in the war against global warming.
This Argentinian bull has a device attached to its back to prevent methane escaping when it belches.
The gas is collected from the bull's stomach through a small pipe and compressed in a canister. Every day one animal produces enough fuel to drive a car one kilometre.
According to the UN, 18% of greenhouse gas emissions are produced by livestock
Study: Earth's polar ice sheets vulnerable to even moderate global warming
Posted December 16, 2009; 01:00 p.m.by Steven Barnes
Tweet
e-mail | print
An additional 2 degrees of global warming could commit the planet to 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) of long-term sea level rise
A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level.
According to the analysis, an additional 2 degrees of global warming could commit the planet to 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) of long-term sea level rise. This rise would inundate low-lying coastal areas where hundreds of millions of people now reside. It would permanently submerge New Orleans and other parts of southern Louisiana, much of southern Florida and other parts of the U.S. East Coast, much of Bangladesh, and most of the Netherlands, unless unprecedented and expensive coastal protection were undertaken. And while the researchers' findings indicate that such a rise would likely take centuries to complete, if emissions of greenhouse gases are not abated, the planet could be committed during this century to a level of warming sufficient to trigger this outcome.
The study, "Probabilistic Assessment of Sea Level During the Last Interglacial Stage," was written by Robert Kopp, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in Princeton'sDepartment of Geosciences and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs;Frederik Simons, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton; Jerry Mitrovica, a professor of geophysics at Harvard; Adam Maloof, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton; and Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs in Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School.
As part of the study, the researchers compiled an extensive database of geological sea level indicators for a period known as the last interglacial stage about 125,000 years ago. Polar temperatures during this stage were likely 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than today, as is expected to occur in the future if temperatures reach about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (about 4 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
"The last interglacial stage provides a historical analog for futures with a fairly moderate amount of warming; the high sea levels during the stage suggest that significant chunks of major ice sheets could disappear over a period of centuries in such futures," Kopp said. "Yet if the global economy continues to depend heavily on fossil fuels, we're on track to have significantly more warming by the end of century than occurred during the last interglacial. I find this somewhat worrisome."
Oppenheimer added, "Despite the uncertainties inherent in such a study, these findings should send a strong message to the governments negotiating in Copenhagen that the time to avoid disastrous outcomes may run out sooner than expected."
Previous geological studies of sea level benchmarks such as coral reefs and beaches had shown that, at many localities, local sea levels during the last interglacial stage were higher than today. But local sea levels differ from those in this earlier stage; one major contributing factor is that the changing masses of the ice sheets alter the planet's gravitational field and deform the solid Earth. As a consequence, inferring global sea level from local geological sea level markers requires a geographically broad data set, a model of the physics of sea level, and a means to integrate the two. The study's authors provide all three, integrating the data and the physics with a statistical approach that allows them to assess the probability distribution of past global sea level and its rate of change.
The researchers determined through their analysis that there is a 95 percent probability that, during the last interglacial stage, global sea level peaked more than 6.6 meters (22 feet) above its present level. They further found that it is unlikely (with a 33 percent probability) that global sea level during this period exceeded 9.4 meters (31 feet).
Sea levels during the last interglacial stage are of interest to scientists and important to policymakers for several reasons. Most notably, the last interglacial stage is relatively recent by geological standards, making it feasible for climate scientists to develop a credible sea level record for the period, and is the most recent time period when average global temperatures and polar temperatures were somewhat higher than today. Because it was slightly warmer, the period can help scientists understand the stability of polar ice sheets and the future rate of sea level rise under low to moderate global warming scenarios.
The findings indicate that sea level during the last interglacial stage rose for centuries at least two to three times faster than the recent rate, and that both the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheet likely shrank significantly and made important contributions to sea level rise. However, the relative timing of temperature change and sea level change during the last interglacial stage is fairly uncertain, so it is not possible to infer from the analysis how long an exposure to peak temperatures during this stage was needed to commit the planet to peak sea levels..
-Controversial terms- "redskin" what does it mean?
Historic use[edit]"Redskin" was used throughout the English-speaking world (and in equivalent transliterations in Europe) throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a common term of reference for indigenous Americans. However, the more commonly used term from early colonization through the twentieth century was "Indian", perpetuating Columbus' belief that he had found the Indies.[9] The first use of red-skin or red Indian may have been limited to specific groups that used red pigments to decorate their bodies, such as the Beothuk people of Newfoundland who painted their bodies with red ochre.[10] Redskin is first recorded in the late 17th century and was applied to the Algonquian peoples generally, but specifically to the Lenape or Delaware (who lived in what is now southern New York State and New York City, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania). Redskin referred not to the natural skin color of the Lenape, but to their use of vermilion face paint and body paint.[11] The indigenous peoples of the continent had no common identity, and referred to themselves using individual tribal names, which is also preferred to the present day. Group identity for Native Americans only emerged during the late 18th and early 19th century, in the context of negotiations between many tribes signing a single treaty with the United States.[12]
During the entire history of America until the turn of the Twentieth century, Indigenous Americans were hunted, killed, and forcibly removed from their lands by European settlers.[13] This includes the paying of bounties beginning in the colonial period with, for example, a proclamation against the Penobscot Indians in 1755 issued by King George II of Great Britain, known commonly as the Phips Proclamation.[14][15] The proclamation orders, “His Majesty’s subjects to Embrace all opportunities of pursuing, captivating, killing and Destroying all and every of the aforesaid Indians.” The colonial government paid 50 pounds for scalps of males over 12 years, 25 pounds for scalps of women over 12, and 20 pounds for scalps of boys and girls under 12. Twenty-five British pounds sterling in 1755, worth around $9,000 today —a small fortune in those days when an English teacher earned 60 pounds a year.[14] Since the proclamation itself does not use the word, citing it as the origin of "redskin" as another word for scalp has also been called "revisionist history".[16] However, an historical association between the use of "redskin" and the paying of bounties can be made. In 1863, a Winona, MN newspaper, the Daily Republican, printed among other announcements: "The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth." [17]
A linguistic analysis of 42 books published between 1875 and 1930 shows that negative contexts in the use of redskin were significantly more frequent than positive usage.[9] The use of the word Indian in a similarly selected set of books was more balanced though negative contexts were still more frequent than positive contexts.[9] The term was in common use in movies during the most popular period for Hollywood westerns (approximately 1920-1970), with "redskins" usually being used to refer to Native Americans as primitive and warlike.[18] As with any term perceived to be discriminatory, different individuals may hold differing opinions of the term's appropriateness.[19]
During the entire history of America until the turn of the Twentieth century, Indigenous Americans were hunted, killed, and forcibly removed from their lands by European settlers.[13] This includes the paying of bounties beginning in the colonial period with, for example, a proclamation against the Penobscot Indians in 1755 issued by King George II of Great Britain, known commonly as the Phips Proclamation.[14][15] The proclamation orders, “His Majesty’s subjects to Embrace all opportunities of pursuing, captivating, killing and Destroying all and every of the aforesaid Indians.” The colonial government paid 50 pounds for scalps of males over 12 years, 25 pounds for scalps of women over 12, and 20 pounds for scalps of boys and girls under 12. Twenty-five British pounds sterling in 1755, worth around $9,000 today —a small fortune in those days when an English teacher earned 60 pounds a year.[14] Since the proclamation itself does not use the word, citing it as the origin of "redskin" as another word for scalp has also been called "revisionist history".[16] However, an historical association between the use of "redskin" and the paying of bounties can be made. In 1863, a Winona, MN newspaper, the Daily Republican, printed among other announcements: "The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth." [17]
A linguistic analysis of 42 books published between 1875 and 1930 shows that negative contexts in the use of redskin were significantly more frequent than positive usage.[9] The use of the word Indian in a similarly selected set of books was more balanced though negative contexts were still more frequent than positive contexts.[9] The term was in common use in movies during the most popular period for Hollywood westerns (approximately 1920-1970), with "redskins" usually being used to refer to Native Americans as primitive and warlike.[18] As with any term perceived to be discriminatory, different individuals may hold differing opinions of the term's appropriateness.[19]