the solar minimum is a religious event here in berkeley on the north marina yet it is science! smile, ilsa<br>
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<p><span class="storyTitle"><font size="4"> Deep Solar Minimum</font></span></p>
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<td align="right" width="124"> <span class="storyTitle"> 04.01.2009</span>
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<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>April
1, 2009:</strong> The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like
the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it
goes even lower. </font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">2008
was a bear. There were no sunspots observed on 266 of the
year's 366 days (73%). To find a year with more blank suns,
you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless
days: <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/centuryplot_gif2.gif">plot</a>.
Prompted by these numbers, some observers suggested that the
solar cycle had hit bottom in 2008.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Maybe
not. Sunspot counts for 2009 have dropped even lower. As of
March 31st, there were no sunspots on 78 of the year's 90
days (87%). </font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">It
adds up to one inescapable conclusion: "We're experiencing
a very deep solar minimum," says solar physicist Dean
Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center. </font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">"This
is the quietest sun we've seen in almost a century,"
agrees sunspot expert David Hathaway of the Marshall Space
Flight Center.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/ssn_predict_l.gif"><img src="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/ssn_predict_l_strip.gif" alt="see caption" border="1" height="356" width="450"></a></font></p>
<p class="detailImageDesc"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>Above:</strong>
The sunspot cycle from 1995 to the present. The jagged curve
traces actual sunspot counts. Smooth curves are fits to the
data and one forecaster's predictions of future activity.
Credit: David Hathaway, NASA/MSFC. [<a href="http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml">more</a>]</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Quiet
suns come along every 11 years or so. It's a natural part
of the sunspot cycle, discovered by German astronomer Heinrich
Schwabe in the mid-1800s. Sunspots are planet-sized islands
of magnetism on the surface of the sun; they are sources of
solar flares, coronal mass ejections and intense UV radiation.
Plotting sunspot counts, Schwabe saw that peaks of solar activity
were always followed by valleys of relative calm—a clockwork
pattern that has held true for more than 200 years: <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/zurich.gif">plot</a>.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The
current solar minimum is part of that pattern. In fact, it's
right on time. "We're due for a bit of quiet—and here
it is," says Pesnell.</font></p>
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</tbody></table><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">But
is it supposed to be <em>this</em> quiet? In 2008, the sun
set the following records: </font>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>A
50-year low in solar wind pressure:</strong> Measurements
by the Ulysses spacecraft reveal a 20% drop in solar wind
pressure since the mid-1990s—the lowest point since such measurements
began in the 1960s. The solar wind helps keep galactic cosmic
rays out of the inner solar system. With the solar wind flagging,
more cosmic rays are permitted to enter, resulting in increased
health hazards for astronauts. Weaker solar wind also means
fewer geomagnetic storms and auroras on Earth.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>A
12-year low in solar "irradiance": </strong>Careful
measurements by several NASA spacecraft show that the sun's
brightness has dropped by 0.02% at visible wavelengths and
6% at extreme UV wavelengths since the solar minimum of 1996.
The changes so far are not enough to reverse the course of
global warming, but there are some other significant side-effects:
Earth's upper atmosphere is heated less by the sun and it
is therefore less "puffed up." Satellites in low
Earth orbit experience less atmospheric drag, extending their
operational lifetimes. Unfortunately, space junk also remains
longer in Earth orbit, increasing hazards to spacecraft and
satellites.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/irradiance.jpg"><img src="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/irradiance_strip.jpg" alt="see caption" border="1" height="324" width="500"></a></font></p>
<p class="detailImageDesc"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>Above:</strong>
Space-age measurements of the total solar irradiance (brightness
summed across all wavelengths). This plot, which comes from
researcher C. Fröhlich, was shown by Dean Pesnell at the Fall
2008 AGU meeting during a lecture entitled "What is Solar
Minimum and Why Should We Care?"</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>A
55-year low in solar radio emissions:</strong> After World
War II, astronomers began keeping records of the sun's brightness
at radio wavelengths. Records of 10.7 cm flux extend back
all the way to the early 1950s. Radio telescopes are now recording
the dimmest "radio sun" since 1955: <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/radioflux.jpg">plot</a>.
Some researchers believe that the lessening of radio emissions
is an indication of weakness in the sun's global magnetic
field. No one is certain, however, because the source of these
long-monitored radio emissions is not fully understood.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">All
these lows have sparked a debate about whether the ongoing
minimum is "weird", "extreme" or just
an overdue "market correction" following a string
of unusually intense solar maxima. </font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">"Since
the Space Age began in the 1950s, solar activity has been
generally high," notes Hathaway. "Five of the ten
most intense solar cycles on record have occurred in the last
50 years. We're just not used to this kind of deep calm."</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Deep
calm was fairly common a hundred years ago. The solar minima
of 1901 and 1913, for instance, were even longer than the
one we're experiencing now. To match those minima in terms
of depth and longevity, the current minimum will have to last
at least another year.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/226837main_SDOconcept2_HI.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/multimedia/SDOimg_concept2.html&usg=__DSb6L-W_Bv8_sThN_0g017826jM=&h=720&w=1280&sz=437&hl=en&start=16&um=1&tbnid=zL4PwEX1OZy-FM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=150&prev=/images?q=solar%2Bdynamics%2Bobservatory&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&um=1"><img src="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/226836main_SDOconcept2_540_med.jpg" alt="see caption" align="right" border="1" height="176" width="270"></a>In
a way, the calm is exciting, says Pesnell. "For the first
time in history, we're getting to see what a deep solar minimum
is really like." A fleet of spacecraft including the
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the twin STEREO
probes, the five THEMIS probes, Hinode, ACE, Wind, TRACE,
AIM, TIMED, Geotail and others are studying the sun and its
effects on Earth 24/7 using technology that didn't exist 100
years ago. Their measurements of solar wind, cosmic rays,
irradiance and magnetic fields show that solar minimum is
much more interesting and profound than anyone expected.</font></p>
<p class="detailImageDesc"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>Above:</strong>
An artist's concept of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Bristling with advanced sensors, "SDO" is slated
to launch later this year--perfect timing to study the ongoing
solar minimum. [<a href="http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/">more</a>]</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Modern
technology cannot, however, predict what comes next. Competing
models by dozens of top solar physicists disagree, sometimes
sharply, on when this solar minimum will end and how big the
next solar maximum will be. Pesnell has surveyed the scientific
literature and prepared a "<a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/images/deepsolarminimum/pianoplot.jpg">piano
plot</a>" showing the range of predictions. The great
uncertainty stems from one simple fact: No one fully understands
the underlying physics of the sunspot cycle.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Pesnell
believes sunspot counts will pick up again soon, "possibly
by the end of the year," to be followed by a solar maximum
of below-average intensity in 2012 or 2013.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">But
like other forecasters, he knows he could be wrong. Bull or
bear? Stay tuned for updates.</font></p>
<p align="center"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://science.nasa.gov/programs/mail/sendfriend.asp"><font size="3">SEND
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<p align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><span class="credits">
Author:<a href="mailto:james.a.phillips@earthlink.net"> Dr.
Tony Phillips</a> | Credit: <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/" onclick="openNASAWindow('http://science.nasa.gov'); return false;">Science@NASA</a>
</span></font></p>
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<td align="center" bgcolor="#d3d3d3"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>more
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<p> <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/23sep_solarwind.htm"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Solar
Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low</font></a><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
-- (Science@NASA)</font>
</p><p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/30sep_blankyear.htm">Spotless
Sun: Blankest Year of the Space Age</a> -- (Science@NASA)</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://nasascience.nasa.gov/heliophysics">NASA
Heliophysics Science Mission Directorate</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Explore
the Entire Region of the Sun's Influence with NASA's
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/helio_observatories.html">Heliophysics
Virtual Observatories</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Space
weather resources: <a href="http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/">NOAA
Space Weather Prediction Center</a>, <a href="http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/">Solar
and Heliospheric Observatory</a>, <a href="http://spaceweather.com/">Spaceweather.com</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>NASA's
Future:</strong> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/index.html">US
Space Exploration Policy</a></font> </p></td>
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<br clear="all">Ilsa Bartlett<br>Institute for Rewiring the System <br>2951 Derby Street #139<br>Berkeley, CA 94705<br><a href="http://www.hotlux.com/angel.htm">www.hotlux.com/angel.htm</a><br><a href="http://www.grassroutestravel.com">www.grassroutestravel.com</a><br>
<br>"Don't ever get so big or important that you can not hear and listen to every other person."<br>-John Coltrane<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/4/3 Florent Berthet <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:florent.berthet@gmail.com">florent.berthet@gmail.com</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>Well, the main reason I can think of why there are so few french Exl-ers is because french people suck at english. It's actually pretty impressive how much shitty a mentality we can have here. About the english language, I had already noticed the following in junior high school : if you try to talk english with a good accent, most of the time you will be laughed at, even in english class (yes, really.).</div>
<div><br></div><div>In the other and, one reason why there definitely SHOULD be a lot of french Exl-ers is because France is one of the least religious countries in the World (at the 8th position).</div><div><br></div><div>
But in the same time, the culture here is more oriented toward litterature than science. And by litterature, I mean french litterature, of course. We can still feel some kind of pride in our philosophers and authors of the past centuries (which weren't that good in average, but well...). For example, during all my schooling, I've always been given boring classic french books to read. Nothing recent, nothing coming from other countries, nothing even remotely related to science. No wonder then that so few frenchies are :</div>
<div><br></div><div>• open to other cultures and movements (e.g. the transhumanist one)<br></div><div>• interested in science and the future of our kind ("Isaac Asi-what?!")</div><div><br></div><div>And indeed, the only french group related to those topics I could find on Facebook, called "La singularité technologique Fr", has only 42 members...</div>
<div><br></div>This is a real pain, and since this is mostly due to the formal education, I don't think this is going to change by itself unless the education policy is modified. Unfortunately, this probably won't happen tomorrow. Laurent Lafforgue, a french mathematician who received the Fields Medal was, during some time, a member of the "Education High Council". He has quickly been forced to resign from it because he was highly critical about what they were doing to our educational system. He wrote a book on this issue in which he explains that these folks really seem to be willing to destroy the logic and curiosity of the children. For example, some private (and more independant) schools do WAY better than the public schools just by using a different pedagogy. But the gov. douches just do the exact opposite of what is widely known as the best methods. <br>
<div><br></div><div>So, this may explain that.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/4/2 spike <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:spike66@att.net" target="_blank">spike66@att.net</a>></span><div>
<div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br>
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________________________________<br>
<div><br>
From: <a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a><br>
</div>[mailto:<a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a>] On Behalf Of Florent Berthet<br>
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:18 AM<br>
<div> To: ExI chat list<br>
Subject: Re: [ExI] I am now a creationist<br>
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</div><div> Works fine here (I'm in France).<br>
<br>
</div> ...<br>
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Welcome Florent. I think you may be the only ExI poster from France. We<br>
noticed some time ago the lack of French ExI-ers. Why? We have several<br>
from Italy, some from other European nations but so few from France.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
spike<br>
</font><div><div></div><div><br>
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