Category: Science
Again and again, people call it global warming. Change in weather, the weird set of climates from the usually normal warm and cold day shifts have totally been amazing and strange to people since clearly, adjustments to the obvious movement of the usual seasons have been a necessity.
As it stands right now, summer, spring or winter have been moved out of the usual months where they are expected to fall. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed records that January showed the warmest winter experienced to date. 10 warmest winters have occurred since 1995 and the second warmest was experienced in 2004 based on the records of NOAA.
A lot of the change in climate has been pointed towards the ever growing issue of pollution, notably the rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Many are expecting the El Nino phenomenon to take place and from all indications, the warm climate that most parts of the world is experiencing is just a glimpse of warmer days to come.
06 Mar 07 in
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Comments OffFor the past years, the climate has been changing. Initially some people considered the cold climate to fall in the holiday season, something that has been apparent from past years. The warm climate on the other hand would usually set in the summer where people would troop to the beaches and go surfing or swimming.
However, the change in climate has been mind-boggling. A lot has to be connected with the polluting air which has been known to affect the ozone layers leading to a global warming shift. While people have resorted to various practices to attend to such issues, it is obvious that the efforts have not been enough.
The effects can be seen in the rising case of illnesses and weird weathers during known seasons. Natural disasters such as storms, earthquakes and tsunamis have been coming one after another. Could it be the wrath of nature perhaps? Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure, a lot of changes in the natural course of living are sure to be waiting in the wings.
Have you ever dreamed of going into space but know that the chances of your becoming an astronaut is anywhere from slim to none? Don’t despair. Thanks to enterprising businessmen like Richard Branson, you may still be able to fulfill your dream.
Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic, has already signed an agreement with Swedish company, Spaceport, to search for a possible launch site for a great view of the aurora borealis. They are looking at Kiruna airport as a possible launch site. This airport located on the northern area of the US has been a launch site for satellites. If it is found suitable for a good look at the northern lights, tours will begin in 2011 or 2012.
In the meantime, other concerns are being resolved as well. No trip of this kind has ever been made before so these companies have no idea of the effect of the phenomena may have on any spacecraft. Test runs are scheduled for this February.
We have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge about everything. This includes a desire to solve the many mysteries of the past and reweave some of the lost tapestries of history. So a find like the caves in the southern Nullarbor plains of Australia is treasure indeed.
The caves contained fossils, complete skeletons of animals that are no longer found today. Most of these creatures are found to be from the middle pleistocene era. The bones have been dated to confirm that these are from creatures living 800,000 to 200,000 years ago. Some of these species did not make it past the ice-age.
With the use of the fossils, 8 new species of kangaroo have been completely identified. Two of the species are of tree dwelling kangaroos, kangaroos that adapted to living in the branches of trees. There were also fossils of various species wallaby, various species of large lizards among them one of the King’s skink (a large lizard), mulgara and a pair of parrots.
Harvard University conducted a study that has the tobacco companies on the defensive. The results of the study show that the tobacco companies have been manufacturing cigarettes that have higher nicotine content. This means that people become more addicted and it will be harder for them to quit should they want to.
The study was conducted using data that these companies provided themselves, from the period of 1997 to 2005. They provided their filter designs as well as their measurement of nicotine per stick of cigarette and how many puffs it would take to finish a stick. The nicotine levels rose in all brands, in all categories irregardless of whether it was regular, menthol, light or ultra light. The increase was as much as 10% says Greg Connolly, one of the authors of the study and former director of the Tobacco Control Program of the state health agency.
Major tobacco manufacturer, Philip Morris, is challenging the findings of this study. They insist that while the nicotine levels may have fluctuated a little per batch, the 1997 and 2006 batch have identical nicotine levels.
