The VC Bar

Welcome to the Volcano Café bar, a place for all things on or off topic and inane ramblings. There has been a need of late to find a place better suited to various theories, long comments and enthusiasm. This page will be less moderated than the main article pages and cleared out every month (this may change depending on use).

Have fun and don’t forget to tip the barman 😉

4,748 thoughts on “The VC Bar

  1. When there’s no running lava to watch there’s always water. RÚV has set up a livestream for the ongoing jökulhlaup. It shows the old bridge over Eldvatn. Note that the road over the bridge is not the ring road but Skaftártunguvegur. It’s located right next to the ring road, but the river makes a turn here and the ring road crosses it further downstream. The peak flow is expected on Wednesday or early Thursday.

    https://www.ruv.is/streymi/ruv3

    • Yeah, the Wuhan area was a known ‘hot-spot’ for zoonotics. Makes sense to put a surveillance lab there.

      Of course, if they’re not allowed to talk with local medics, who are not allowed to notice admission ‘spikes’ because it makes local politicians look bad, you have a disaster in the making…

      FWIW, that Wuhan doc who blew whistle on local out-break, was publicly shamed and forced to ‘recant’ by local authorities, cleared and given a medal by Peking –You could not make it up !! Well, now he’s safely dead, he’s been ‘lost’ from the official Covid history as gloriously depicted in new Wuhan museum…

  2. Nice video comparing the water level between when the camera was set up with the water level during the peak flow. Note that the reference level in the video is higher than normal, because when the camera was set up the flow rate remained elevated after the hlaup from the western cauldron.

  3. I thought I would visit the bar for this little finding.

    While thinking about the inflation on the big island, I put in my search window (duck duck) “diagram of Mauna Loa plumbing. it brought up the “images” section and I found 2 (did not look at all of the pictures) references to Volcano cafe, one on the first line of images!

    Congrats!
    Mac

  4. You have allways clear answers for stupid questions.
    Fukushima earthquake – in our country seismologist say that ground go up for cca 1-2 cm when wave hit us.
    How long and flat is this wave?
    People dont feel it I know, but what is with large buildings.

    • It depends strongly on what kind of waves, but typically it will be over a width of 500 meters to a few kilometers.

  5. Back to Mars for a bit and a bit of a mystery what is going on with Ingenuity. JPL tweeted that the higher speed rotor test was a success and next would be a short hop to verify that in flight. Well I waited and waited but no imagery came down from the flight and, to be honest, I was starting to think it had crashed. Then suddenly two still images from the navcam appeared followed a few days later by some more new still images from the navcam which at least proved it was still in one piece and exactly where it was at end of Flight 13.

    Some of the images were taken by Ingenuity in the Mars afternoon when the helicopter should be asleep – maybe the different lighting and shadow tells them something.

    This image taken in the afternoon for example

    This image was acquired on Sep. 21, 2021 (Sol 209 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 14:55:40.

    And there are now 6 images of exactly the same spot taken at different times of the day (latest dated yesterday). I’m hopeful the mystery is solved with a NASA tweet soon and that it isn’t bad news.

    • Obviously the test worked but the helicopter did not move. Which perhaps was intended: a stationary test

      • Yes, they did the stationary test and tweeted it was a sucesss and next day (at earliest) was planned to hop. No imagery arrived and no updates came from JPL. The raw image server was ominously blank for recent imagery for many days. Then we got this strange sequence with an unusually large number of likes on the raw image server for such apparently boring, repetitive images.

        I find it strange.

    • I think they are playing with us now!

      Dennis @martiandennis

      Sol 214: Color image of the ground terrain where Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter is at. There sure are a lot of pebbles. Just a quick note, solar conjunction starts on October 2, when Mars goes behind the Sun from us and we will lose radio contact for ~12 days. https://go.nasa.gov/3CRcvEZ

      Mars Helicopter Sol 214: Color Camera, imaged at 18:07:17.37543 (local mean solar time)

      65dBA noise @65dbNoise

      Interesting new images from #Ingenuity on Sol 214. Notice that they were captured at 18:07 PM LMST, so there are no hard shadows.
      RTE and Navcam images, slightly enhanced.

    • Mystery solved – there was an issue but the team is hopeful they can work around the issue. More at link below.

      https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/status/336/2800-rpm-spin-a-success-but-flight-14-delayed-to-post-conjunction/

      2,800 RPM Spin a Success, but Flight 14 Delayed to Post Conjunction

      The test flight was scheduled to take place on Sept. 18, 2021 (Sol 206) and was supposed to be a brief hover flight at 16 feet (5 meters) altitude with a 2,700 rpm rotor speed. It turned out to be an uneventful flight, because Ingenuity decided to not take off. Here’s what happened: Ingenuity detected an anomaly in two of the small flight-control servo motors (or simply “servos”) during its automatic pre-flight checkout and did exactly what it was supposed to do: It canceled the flight.

      Ingenuity controls its position and orientation during flight by adjusting the pitch of each of the four rotor blades as they spin around the mast. Blade pitch is adjusted through a swashplate mechanism, which is actuated by servos. Each rotor has its own independently controlled swashplate, and each swashplate is actuated by three servos, so Ingenuity has six servos in total. The servo motors are much smaller than the motors that spin the rotors, but they do a tremendous amount of work and are critical to stable, controlled flight. Because of their criticality, Ingenuity performs an automated check on the servos before every flight. This self-test drives the six servos through a sequence of steps over their range of motion and verifies that they reach their commanded positions after each step. We affectionately refer to the Ingenuity servo self-test as the “servo wiggle.”

      The data from the anomalous pre-flight servo wiggle shows that two of the upper rotor swashplate servos – servos 1 and 2 – began to oscillate with an amplitude of approximately 1 degree about their commanded positions just after the second step of the sequence. Ingenuity’s software detected this oscillation and promptly canceled the self-test and flight.

      Our team is still looking into the anomaly. To gather more data, we had Ingenuity execute additional servo wiggle tests during the past week, with one wiggle test on Sept. 21, 2021 (Sol 209) and one on Sept. 23, 2021 (Sol 211). Both of the wiggle tests ran successfully, so the issue isn’t entirely repeatable.

  6. Meanwhile in Iceland, Grímsvötn and Öræfajökull playing dueling banjos.

    Saturday
    25.09.2021 06:54:23 64.476 -17.242 1.9 km 2.1 99.0 8.0 km N of Grímsfjall
    Saturday
    25.09.2021 05:32:13 64.016 -16.644 5.8 km 2.1 99.0 1.8 km E of Hvannadalshnjúkur

    • And it continues. Time to bring a canoe and wait for the jökulhlaup?

      Saturday
      25.09.2021 08:24:38 64.390 -17.376 6.6 km 1.6 99.0 5.2 km WSW of Grímsfjall
      Saturday
      25.09.2021 07:59:11 64.025 -16.692 2.0 km 1.0 99.0 1.1 km NNW of Hvannadalshnjúkur

  7. Biggest quake yet detected on Mars – 4.2

    https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9046/nasas-insight-finds-three-big-marsquakes-thanks-to-solar-panel-dusting/

    NASA’s InSight Finds Three Big Marsquakes, Thanks to Solar-Panel Dusting

    On Sept. 18, NASA’s InSight lander celebrated its 1,000th Martian day, or sol, by measuring one of the biggest, longest-lasting marsquakes the mission has ever detected. The temblor is estimated to be about a magnitude 4.2 and shook for nearly an hour-and-a-half.

    This is the third major quake InSight has detected in a month: On Aug. 25, the mission’s seismometer detected two quakes of magnitudes 4.2 and 4.1. For comparison, a magnitude 4.2 quake has five times the energy of the mission’s previous record holder, a magnitude 3.7 quake detected in 2019.

    …Temblor Insights

    While the Sept. 18 quake is still being studied, scientists already know more about the Aug. 25 quakes: The magnitude 4.2 event occurred about 5,280 miles (8,500 kilometers) from InSight – the most distant temblor the lander has detected so far.

    Scientists are working to pinpoint the source and which direction the seismic waves traveled, but they know the shaking occurred too far to have originated where InSight has detected almost all of its previous large quakes: Cerberus Fossae, a region roughly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) away where lava may have flowed within the last few million years. One especially intriguing possibility is Valles Marineris, the epically long canyon system that scars the Martian equator. The approximate center of that canyon system is 6,027 miles (9,700 kilometers) from InSight.

    To the surprise of scientists, the Aug. 25 quakes were two different types, as well. The magnitude 4.2 quake was dominated by slow, low-frequency vibrations, while fast, high-frequency vibrations characterized the magnitude 4.1 quake. The magnitude 4.1 quake was also much closer to the lander – only about 575 miles (925 kilometers) away.

    That’s good news for seismologists: Recording different quakes from a range of distances and with different kinds of seismic waves provides more information about a planet’s inner structure. This summer, the mission’s scientists used previous marsquake data to detail the depth and thickness of the planet’s crust and mantle, plus the size of its molten core.

  8. Even though La Palma isn’t quite a tourist eruption, still a VEI-2, I think (unless anyone can correct me). I don’t know what you guys here on VC have found (I am relatively new to the geology scene as well), have you seen an increase in interest this year? I am really heartened by the amount of people taking an interest in God’s creation – from Fagradalsfjall to La Palma. Yes they are small eruptions, but beautiful enough to spark attention. Fagradalsfjall sparked mine, and I have learned so much it is unreal. My knowledge has gone from the back on an envelope to two sides of A4. Thank You VC! Still much more to learn.

    Great presentations by GutnTog and Bushcraft Bear (who must team up for the next eruption), make it all the more worthwhile.

    I think there is enough of us on VC with varying skillsets to actually make some high-quality educational programming on current eruptions and seismic activity, perhaps geological stuff in general.

  9. Even though La Palma isn’t quite a tourist eruption, still a VEI-2, I think (unless anyone can correct me). I don’t know what you guys here on VC have found (I am relatively new to the geology scene as well), have you seen an increase in interest this year? I am really heartened by the amount of people taking an interest in God’s creation – from Fagradalsfjall to La Palma. Yes they are small eruptions, but beautiful enough to spark attention. Fagradalsfjall sparked mine, and I have learned so much it is unreal. My knowledge has gone from the back on an envelope to two sides of A4. Thank You VC! Still much more to learn.

    Great presentations by GutnTog and Bushcraft Bear (who must team up for the next eruption), make it all the more worthwhile.

    I think there is enough of us on VC with varying skillsets to actually make some high-quality educational programming on current eruptions and seismic activity, perhaps geological stuff in general.

    Just out of interest… who would be up for it?

  10. From Nature Geoscience
    “Volcanic eruptions shape Earth’s surface and provide a window into deep Earth processes. How the primary asthenospheric melts form, pond and ascend through the lithosphere is, however, still poorly understood. Since 10 May 2018, magmatic activity has occurred offshore eastern Mayotte (North Mozambique channel), associated with large surface displacements, very-low-frequency earthquakes and exceptionally deep earthquake swarms. Here we present geophysical and marine data from the MAYOBS1 cruise, which reveal that by May 2019, this activity formed an 820-m-tall, ~5 km³ volcanic edifice on the seafloor. This is the largest active submarine eruption ever documented. Seismic and deformation data indicate that deep (>55 km depth) magma reservoirs were rapidly drained through dykes that intruded the entire lithosphere and that pre-existing subvertical faults in the mantle were reactivated beneath an ancient caldera structure. We locate the new volcanic edifice at the tip of a 50-km-long ridge composed of many other recent edifices and lava flows. This volcanic ridge is an extensional feature inside a wide transtensional boundary that transfers strain between the East African and Madagascar rifts. We propose that the massive eruption originated from hot asthenosphere at the base of a thick, old, damaged lithosphere.”

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00809-x.epdf?sharing_token=fr72mryHjxybwaxXKqY3OtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NSBetbdc8xjAoUF6mTp-3NjqCoMd3tJrlk3_3eFacxKQRs8hxbE9U7H9regb5IA9ZQNcJQHNE9XwNSDtQOkHB_R_pCGW1YfBFTmoCtef0T4u3jMYNJh9IU4FTVycJWgv9ILN0vOKp4wqpC9s8X_hpISTQ6TAVVzG6Spv14n6zULc-tyFZa0S3qpcjQX9CeD3I%3D&tracking_referrer=www.dailymail.co.uk

    • That lava ascent directly from
      80 kilometers depth too .. so Mayotte is going to be a seriously hot lava

  11. IO haves Basaltic Lava flows Thats are 100 s of km long .. Albert When Juno Returns to IO Do you think its will be unregonicable from the 2000 s ?

    Some Ionian lava flows and lakes are even hotter than Earths

  12. Lei Kung Fluctus is the most extensive basalt flow field in IO it covers an area of 1.25*10^5 km² thats larger as Nicaragua, in terms of volume it may fall short of some terrestial flood basalt flows but one has to remeber that it is a recently emplaced flow. It have not yet been totaly snowed over by sulfur. Lei Kung Fluctus is probaly result of many decades lava long tube feed eruptions. Its a much larger lava flow than Amirani as example.
    This moon is amazing 🙂

  13. IO may erupt 600 km3 of lava basalt lava flows every year I think

    This is the Amirani basalt pahoehoe flow on IO
    ( the largest active lava flow on IO in year 1999 ) this lava flow is almost 600 kilometers long and is supplyed by lava tubes glowing skylights can be spotted from orbit. Lava breaks out on the surface very much like hawaiian flows. IO erupts high temperature basaltic magmas 1300 C, thats rich in sulfur gas, the sulfur escapes the lava lakes and snows out as sulfur snow. Tube feed flows like Amirani can last for many decades. The largest pahoehoe field on IO is called Lei Kung Fluctus as description above

    Another style of IO basalt flows are the Pillanian style, that involves huge lava fountains and fast flood basalts ( Pillian Patera 1997 erupted 56 km3 of basaltic lava in a week and filling a 70 km wide pit crater with a lava lake.

    • Hi Albert Do you think This lava flow is still active these days When Juno arrives?

      • There will be activity somewhere on Io. There always is. I’d love to know whether there is any recycling mechanism. Volcanoes put a lot of new crust out each year on Io. Is there any process that brings it back down? Perhaps as the top layer is added, the bottom of the crust melts and the whole thing sinks a bit? In that case there may be an interesting fault system hiding underneath the lava fields.

        • Yes the crust recycles itself in that way .. There is No tectonics

          Sillicate Lava flows and sulfur snow are piled on top eacother.. and compressed and buried until they melt again in the inner Ionian magma ocean.

        • Ionian lava flows have all very very low viscosity… as low as halemaumau and possible much lower if its komatites… some of the flows

      • And Albert Yes …

        Lava flows over IO s surface in a vaccum.. lava flows free over IO s surface, some flows are as Big as the UK or much larger

        IO haves huge lava lakes too like Loki Patera and Pele Patera

      • Albert another question

        Knowing How huge IO s basaltic lava lakes are .. some lava lakes are as Big as Sicily! on IO

        Are these Ionian lava lakes holes into IO s global magma ocean?

      • Loki Patera is a real open lava sea .. 280 km wide!
        Sea of molten basalt .. with a thin crust on the top that often founders

        Is this a hole into IO s magma ocean? Is the entire Moon liquid on the inside?

  14. This is a thermal photo of Pele Patera lava lake volcano on IO. This is IO s most active open lava lake with the most constant thermal emissions. Ionian lava lakes are Absoutley huge compared to earths counterparts. Halemaumau overlook was 280 m wide, but Pele Patera lava lake on IO coud be 60 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide. The bright spots are lava fountains where sulfur gases escaped and the black crust breaks up. 1280 C to 1500 C been estimated for Pele lava fountains on IO. Galileo probe spotted many fountains and crust founderings in Pele lava lake. This lava lake must be a spectacular sight, sitting in a massive ”canyon” with fountains and waves roiling over the black crust.

    There is a constant tephra plume from Pele too suggesting really tall lava fountains. Smaller emissions are spattering. Splashing are common among the pits walls of this lava lake

    • A 60 km long lava lake must be a sight to behold… Earth terestrial premanent lava lakes never reaches that size.

      Pele Patera is IO s most constant strong thermal emission, much more intense than Loki Patera .. suggesting Pele Patera is a much more active lava lake thats more vigorously over turning

      Chad perhaps = What woud a lava lake the size of Sao Miguel look like?

      Ionian lakes are off the chart compared to Earth terestrial lava lakes. The largest Ionian lava lake is almost 300 kilometers wide .. and is perhaps a window into IO s inner magma ocean

      Perhaps the Moon will melt competely in the future .. becomming an entirely liquid lava lake planet If tidal forcing makes it even closer to Jupiter in eliptical orbit ?

      Coud you tidaly heat a planet to competely molten state? ( quite hell Idea? )

    • Juno Spacecraft will have a look in 2024 on IO

      IO s lavas are also very hot .. I think almost 1650 C to 1700 C been measured in local intense lava fountains .. These lava are white hot and as liquid as liquid steel. Woud be like a flood of liquid steel flowing over the surface. Pillan Patera erupted 56 km3 of Komatite in a few days If I remeber right, that woud be a sight on the ground.

      The 70 km wide and 3 km deep Pillan Patera was also filled by lava cascading over the walls as 3 km high lava falls, an Impressive sight for soure for any astronaut on the surface.

      Everything is changing on IO basaltic flows comes and goes, and gets snowed over by sulfur and gets covered by new komatite and basalt flows.

      IO haves Only very flat shield volcanoes and calderas, the crust maybe too hot and weak to support tall edifices

      Probaly Komatites thats erupting
      Many Ionian lava flows are look fluid and pahoehoe like

      IO is a real hellmoon, sulfur snow from magma degassing, and even snow of metal oxides, Infact IO was the inspiration for Mustafar in Star Wars

    • Albert My addiction for IO haves No limit

      I hopes there will be an IO Global Surveyor one day .. If we can pack it in radiation proof insulating materials.

      I hopes Juno can provide some fun from IO at least, I wants Juno to be put in orbit around IO, but that woud take alot of fuel from the tank.
      How radioation proof is Juno?

      I wants To see these volcanoes all the time

      I hopes Nasa coud work on souch a project one day, that woud be fun, but I know that costs and budget are priority and they haves other more boring projects as priority now

    • Some Ionian Ultramafic Lavas woud be very much like liquid iron erupting
      That forms a very difftent volcanic landforms than Earths

      Perhaps the vents resembles liquid slag dumps.. with thin thin flows in thin sheet layers

      But There are clearly thicker basaltic flows too on IO and most of IO s lava flows haves surface morphological features of fluid Hawaiian lavas

      As Albert says There is always stuff going on .: on IO

    • Hi Albert .. knowing the size of IO s lava flows and open lava lakes

      Do IO have some VEI 8 magma chambers? Sulfur is the primary eruptive volatile in IO s Basaltic and Komatites magmas.

      When Juno arrives in IO in 2024 it will be alot of fun

  15. I have had fantastic dreams about IO

    Being in an astronaut tourist group .. on IO s dark side. Watching the bigger than niagara sized lava rivers fiery falls and glowing ribbons flowing over a pitch dark landscape.
    Space – suit clad figures look at it .. bathed in the hot glow of the lava.

    Huge standing lava waves and lava currents .. yet all silent in the vaccum, its flowing very fast for soure

    Above is the enormous jupiter ( 40 times bigger than the Moon is in our sky ) lit Half
    by the sun .. with its glowing crimson plasma tourus and thunderstorms flashes on Jupiters nightside

    IO s sky too is alive by yellow sulfur sodium Northen lights that coils itself like an uneasy snake over the enraged lava landscape

    But the astronauts are focused on the raging lava rivers

    The spacesuits have their own northen ligths that glow around the persons. The future equipment that shields against Jupiters Radiation

    Thats What lava hike on IO is like and it exist in our solar system

    What a sight What a sight!

  16. Mars solar conjunction command moratorium coming to an end and I see Maven is the first to be commanded back to High Gain Antenna/High bitrate. The landers were continuing to uplink basic health data and the orbiters continued to relay that to Earth with restricted bandwidth so hopefully no surprises and everything gets back up to speed quickly over the next few days as individual mission moratoriums expire.

    Deep Space Network
    @dsn_status
    2h
    DSS 25 receiving data from MAVEN at 285.7kb/s.
    IN LOCK IN LOCK 1 TURBO

    During the moratorium Maven was downlinking at 11 bits per second so that’s quite an improvement 🙂

  17. Full comms now also re-established with MRO

    Deep Space Network
    @dsn_status
    8m
    DSS 34 receiving data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at 0.7Mb/s.
    IN LOCK IN LOCK 1 TURBO

  18. Fun Jupiter question that Albert and Chad may answer .. How to turn Jupiter into water

    We know that Jupiter is mostly made of only hydrogen.

    What will happen If We Add a whole
    Jupiter mass again of pure oxygen to the poor Jupiter? Just add more than 320 Earth masses of oxygen atoms to Jupiter!

    A ligthning storm woud then combust the whole planet? turning it into a water giant?

    If the whole Jupiter bulk of hydrogen burned in that way .. woud it be possible?

    Perhaps Jupiter woud become a H2O giant then .. perhaps similar to a huge version of Neptune

    • As soon as there islightning bolt or meteor hit, Jupiter will start shining brightly as the oxygen combines with methane and hydrogen 🙂

      Everything woud turn to water then ..
      Tranforming Jupiter into an enormous hot ocean of super – ionic compressed liquid states of Ice
      Perhaps it woud become an Ice Giant just bigger .. ?

    • Turning Jupiter to a water giant woud require another Jupiter mass of oxygen to be dropped into a Jupiter itself

      The oxygen gas giant woud be strange world in its own right.. having huge deep oceans of liquid metallic oxygen

      You Only need to collide these two to kick the process starting .. 🙂

    • If the entire bulk of Jupiters hydrogen was combusted to water .. you haves No hydrogen envelope at all

      That woud transform Jupiter into a giant oceanic planet perhaps like an overgrown kamino … with surface ocean and rest is superhot ionic ices deep below ..

      It woud be an object that I doubt exist in a real universe

      But oceanic terestrial exoplanets exist

  19. I am having an extremely time understanding where we are with these vaccine. No one will shut up about how effective they are but it’s been barely a year since the initial vaccine rollout and we’re already talking about doing another booster rollout. Excuse me? When I got my smallpox shot, I didn’t need to get a booster after a year, same with all the other vaccines. Speaking of which, what kind of vaccine doesn’t stop me from getting the disease, doesn’t stop me from dying, and doesn’t keep me from spreading the disease? They’re are freaking covid outbreaks in countries with the highest vaccination rates! That’s never happened with the other effective vaccines so what makes these so amazing?

      • Then why is no one treating it like a flu shot? The flu shot didn’t eradicate the flu, I don’t think this shot isn’t going to eradicate Covid-19. Plus if the scientists are real lucky with the flu shot it’d stop me from getting the flu. I think people need to calm down about Covid 19, it’s bad but not unprecedented, we’ve had similar pandemics before and this one will end just like all the others. The vaccine may help, especially those who are at the most risk but they probably won’t end the pandemic and we shouldn’t pretend it’s a guarantee they will.

        • Some of what you say is correct but covid is not the flu. Everyone we know who has had it says so. It is considerably worse. Vaccines are worth it. We have not had such an epidemic since a century.

          • The Hong Kong flu in the 60s had a pretty similar death toll when adjusted for population growth. On a completely unrelated, The NIH says that there was gain of function research at the Wuhan Lab, Just like the WMDs in a Iraq, and every other B.S lie the government tells.

    • Tallis, there is a lot of obfuscation about this. That’s all I can say.
      In Germany, they want us to get a booster with the Pfizer or Moderna stuff at some point. I won’t. I did well with Astra and will fly to England for that if I can’t get it in Italy or Austria.
      Even I am highly suspicious by now.
      And the Elderly will continue to die, with this or another virus, at the end of their life.
      For the middle aged folks though it seems to work.

      • Besides, Tallis, say “Spanish” Flu, please. It came in with Chinese staff who were supposed to work behind the lines in the European war. The boat landed in Portland or Seattle, and the first cases seem to have appeared in a fort in Kansas were everybody was instructed.
        From there it went to France and Spain.

        • I can only give you one explanation, Tallis, but it can be wrong. Pfizer didn’t produce vaccinations, never. This company in Germany is brand-new (maybe also Moderna) and did only a cooperation with Pfizer. So, Pfizer entered the market for vacc. They want to go on with vacc. for Malaria and other diseases. But they are not far enough, I’d say. So stop the vacc. and the new company is broke. Pfizer itself will survive being specialized on cancer, but would take a blow.
          Astra by contrast is specialized in vaccinations.
          A lot of people have bought stock of the new company, possibly also states.
          That’s the most simple explanation I have at hand.
          We were always supposed to co-finance new products by consommation. That’s what publicity is there for, and with cars or clothes it works. This is a purely economical explanation that makes some sense, maybe. It’s cynical, I know, but the system is cynical, and this is the first time that a considerable number of people see it. And a growing number of people on the continent say they won’t go with the booster. Not before a year has gone by at least.

  20. Snowball effect. New viruses with higher death rates than most put pressure on health care systems. If overwhelmed they can collapse. People start dying from easier treatable issues because the system has filled up with sick and dying from new virus. Flu doesn’t do this because it’s less deadly and the system has had time to set up to cope with it, plus its seasonal. The flu vaccine is not that effective. Like COVID vaccines it keeps a lid on the number of people requiring medical support. The worry is how long COVID vaccines remain effective against an evolving virus. I suspect not much longer. Luckily smarter minds than you and me are already working on the next one. This new RNA vaccine enables much faster development against emerging variants.

    The lab theory remains unlikely, but not impossible. As China wont play ball with WHO, Future generations will know as these things tend to get out once enough time has passed.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/10/06/origin-very-close-relatives-of-sars-cov-2-identified-in-laotian-bats/?sh=585019da7611

  21. The KT boundary is fascinating…
    As example: did modern megathermal broadleaf tropical rainforests exist during the Latest Maastrichtian? 66 MA. Did the dinosaurs walk through hardwood broadleaf rainforests during the very end of their reign? And When did these angiosperm rainforests evolve?

    Hell Creek Formation 66 Ma is dominated by angiosperms and was a tropical seasonal moonsoon forest with only minior gymnosperm elements. Walking With Dinosaurs last episode potraited Hell Creek very wrong in the forests enviroment, better they shot it in Indias moonsoon forests than in Chile. The dinosaurs where also outdated now in that episode.

    Modern Megathermal broadleaf tropical rainforests haves a very poor fossil record, because decomposition is extremely rapid in the heat and humidity. Only a few oxygen poor localities in the world have preserved them.
    The fossil record of modern Jungles been poor and mysterious.

    But example as PETM 50 million years ago, we know that already 50 million years ago that the entire planet was covered by modern megathermal rainforest, fossils from oxygen poor anoxic lakes like Messel Pit, London Clay, Bighorn Basin and Green River formations as well as European Amber, and some seafloor pollen cores.

    Messel Pit 49 Ma is the most detailed and most extraodinary fossils that have ever been found, color, fur, cells, even eyes turned to stone. That locality had made it clear, that it was very similar to Borneo today in species of plants and animals back then. Pretty much all modern megathermal rainforest plant and animal elements have been found in Messel Pit.

    Titanoboas carbon deposits in South America from Paleocene 60 million years ago, have shown a very similar biota to todays rainforests. Just with extinct giant snakes, crocs and turtles. Very similar to today in the huge angiosperm diversity, just perhaps a little less diversity in the diversity of plant species.

    Primate evolution seems co – evolve with the rise of angiosperms and fruit, most species never fossilize. Looking at the genetic molecular clock of primates, puts the origin back to almost 80 million years, long before the Late Paleocene early primate fossils. And 80 million years ago is also during the Cretaceous Terestrial Revolution I think. That perhaps puts the origin of the modern tropical rainforest to 80 million years ago?

    So I Ask it here

    • Albert perhaps you knows
      When did modern tropical rainforests evolve?

      Looks like it acually it is in the Cretaceous. Fossilization is generaly absent in souch forests.. things decompose ..

      • We can assume that some of our coal deposits come from rainforest-like environments. Rain forests have long been around, but consisting of different species. Like the coral reefs: reefs are ancient, but different organisms played the role of coral

      • I mean modern megathermal broadleaf rainforests

        Their origin is still a mystery!

        But they where global already 50 million years ago

        • Those type of trees predate the PT extinction. So presumably they would have been part of the rain forests well bfore dinosaurs evolved

        • What???? !!!
          What????

          Did broadleaf tropical megathermal rainforests evolve before the Cretaceous?

          But first flowering plants are Only Early Cretaceous!

          I think you get it wrong

          There was No papaya, maghony, or beans in the Permian!

        • In the paper of Condamine I put a link to yesterday he speaks about a period between 76 and 66 mya. He mentions the rise of angiosperms very precisely as he discusses the possibility whether a change of diet might have been responsable for the decline of their diversity. He also mentions blossoms at some point. So, Albert is right about their appearance before the K-Pg-event.

          And you are right that the presentation of their environment in the end might be completely wrong, especially because the ocean levels had risen and it had gotten considerably colder which he also writes about in that paper.

          • Primitive Primates also evolved around 70 to 80 million years ago ..perhaps because of a link with rise of angiosperm rainforests?

      • The origin of the modern jungle is a mystery.. !

        Because fossilization is so poor in souch Warm and wet enviroments

        But the modern jungle was already global 59 million years ago, on every single continent ..

        The origin of modern tropical megathermal rainforests is the greatest mystery in paleontology

    • Albert all edivence for the Modern Tropical Rainforests are at oldest around 62 million years old.

      The older rainforests where coniferious gymnosperms

      They fossilize very poorly broadleaf megathermal jungles … because of the heat and humidity in these forests.

      Genetic Clocks of Primates puts the primate clade back almost 80 million years, to the Cretaceous Terestrial Revolution … describes the intense diversification of flowering angiosperms, insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals during the Middle Cretaceous. Perhaps modern tropical rainforests evolved in the Middle cretaceous..?

      Perhaps dinosaurs after all did walked through flowering angiosperm Jungles like in Jurassic Park 3 ….

    • The origin of The Modern Tropical Rainforest is really the greatest mystery in all paleontology …

      Competely unknown when it appeared! Althrough molecular clocks of primates goes back 80 million years ago .. so perhaps broadleaf megathermal angiosperm rainforests appeared During the Middle Cretaceous?

      • I am not sure I understand the question. Species have come and gone but the rainforest is an ecology, not specific species. It is like dating Shakespeare by the age of the current actors in the play. Angiosperms evolved more than 150 million years ago. Why would they not have been in the forests?

        • Evolved yes. But Condamine speaks of a rise of Angiosperms. So they might have had a time of radiation as the climate changed from very hot and dry to warm and the ocean levels rose. Precisely before the so-called K-Pg-event.
          That goes well with a decline in diversity in Dinosaurs, esp. Tyrannosaurus Rex. His clade suffered. Other clades suffered less.

      • I means the modern megathermal rainforest
        Dominated by angiosperms
        The kind of rainforests that been ever since PETM…

        Did the dinosaurs dwell in modern megathermal rainforests as well?

        The origin of the modern tropical rainforest is the greatest mystery in Paleontology

        • What I don’t understand, Jesper, is that you come along with a movie. You should look up the locations for “Eyes Wide Shut”. You will be surprized how Stanley Kubrick was able to create the impression of New York.
          So, that’s not important. Mososaur didn’t have this appearance.

        • You missunderstands everything

          Its me looking for the origin of the modern tropical rainforests 🙂 But as you say perhaps they began to evolve in the Middle Cretaceous.

          Their fossil record is very poor: the broadleaf tropical rainforest

          Better to use DNA analysis on living jungle plants and lock at their molecular clocks

          But its perhaps me writing so poorly.
          I suffers from Severe Dyscalculia, Severe Dyslexia: its almost Impossible for me to do stuff

          Im going to let others write stuff for me later here
          I write too poorly to do the commentary

          • This might be helpful:
            “Conclusions
            Because palms are restricted to TRF (Tropical Rain Forest) and assuming biome conservatism over time, our results suggest the presence of a TRF-like biome in the mid-Cretaceous period of Laurasia, consistent with controversial fossil evidence of the earliest TRF.”
            Title:
            “Origin and global diversification patterns of tropical rain forests: inferences from a complete genus-level phylogeny of palms”
            https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7007-9-44

            Hope you like it.

          • Hey, I didn’t see the rest of your post about dyslexia first, Jesper, I was in a hurry.
            I don’t have the slightest problem at all with your language, not at all.
            Do not let others write for you, it would not be the original Jesper any more with good thoughts and ideas and a lot of great knowledge about volcanoes and their petrochemistry.
            Stay like you are. Please.
            I was only wondering about that terrible movie.
            So you have problems reading papers as well?
            I like you. Don’t feel bad. I am sorry I made that remark about the movie.
            I found them incredibly stupid and was disappointed of my appreciated Steven Spielberg. I loved ET very much though and not only ET.
            ET was a great phantasy. Dinosaurs though existed once. They were animals, inhabitants of regions near shallow oceans that are also gone, like the Midwestern seaway. They behaved like animals. They didn’t choose to be predators. So I hated the movies turning them into monsters.

            So, there were probably palmtrees in the Mid-Cretacious, beginnings of a Tropical Rainforest. In Laurasia. Take care.
            Sorry I didn’t see this before.

  22. Ingenuity Flies Again!

    https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/

    Mars Helicopter Sol 241: Navigation Camera

    NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter’s fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight.

    This image was acquired on Oct. 24, 2021 (Sol 241 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 12:34:15.

    If all went to plan that was a short test hop to try out the new higher rotor speed in flight which should allow Ingenuity to continue to fly as Martian surface pressure drops seasonally and will also be handy if the helicopter needs to fly at higher absolute altitude in the future. Hopefully we’ll hear more on the issue that prevented the initial Flight 14 test but as it took off this time, they either worked around it or the unplanned rotor oscillations issue didn’t re-appear.

  23. Jesper,
    found something about the earliest date for palmtrees in Africa and South America as well (much older than 50my), only abstract, rest not free:

    “The African palm fossil record is limited but the data provide an outline of palm evolution from the Late Cretaceous through the Neogene. Pollen attributed to palms is reported from the Aptian (125–112 Mya), but the earliest unequivocal record in Africa is Campanian (83.5–70.6 Mya). Palms diversified 83.5–65.5 Mya and became widespread, although most records are from the west and north African coasts. Many taxa were shared between Africa and northern South America at that time, but a few were pantropical.”
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227679490_The_fossil_history_of_palms_Arecaceae_in_Africa_and_new_records_from_the_late_Oligocene_28-27_Mya_of_North-Western_Ethiopia

    • Thank you so much : ) so they where already present as early as Aptian.
      Palms became then later very common in Latest Cretaceous.
      Hell Creek formation ( 66 MA ) are full of fan palm fossil pollen and seeds.

      By Paleocene- Eocene Thermal Maximum .. Coconut Palms where growing in the polar regions because carbon dioxide levels where so high.

      But Im also very intrested in the origin of modern tropical rainforest trees
      ( broadleaf flowering rainforests fossilize very poorly .. things rot there )

      Palms are very strange acually, are not related at all to typical trees, palms are in a diffrent clade.

      My favorite Palm is the Canary Date Palm

  24. The palms sourely liked the climate in Late Cretaceous too.. with high volcanic cO2 levels. Cretaceous Thermal Maximum happened during the Cretaceous Terestrial Revolution.

    The ”cool tropics paradox” is not longer fact. New clues suggest that the Equator during these greenhouse eras where much much hotter than todays Equator.

    Denaliwatch Can you find information on When the coconut clade evolved too?
    Where coconuts evolved too in Cretaceous?

    • I won’t forget it, but this week I have no time left for the coconut research. Next week. I think it’s puzzling that you are interested in coconuts and Io at the same time.

  25. The Atlantic Ocean is assumed to have started in the centre of Pangaea between the East coast of North America and Northwest-Africa. It’s thought to be between 177 and 200 My old.
    The Canaries are supposed to have developped in the Cretacious. When I see them so nicely lined up parallel to the shelf and combine that location with the age of the Atlantic I’m wondering whether the Canary Islands might be developping subduction under all those miles of debris.
    I don’t find anything about this bold thought, so it’s just a thought. But at some point oceanic crust starts to subduct. And with this huge amount of sediment nobody might really know how the exact depth is there.

    For this thought I had to go back to the Pacific Ocean. And it says here:
    “But after 100 million years, the density has increased to the point where the survival of the oceanic crust becomes marginal. It is now close to beginning to descend and subduct. Oceanic plates can only survive for so long. Unlike the continents, oceanic plates have short lives and they die young. 200 million years is about the limit, and many start to subduct earlier. As long as there is a spreading center, the subducted crust will be continuously replaced and the plate can survive.”
    https://www.volcanocafe.org/hawaii-and-the-story-of-the-pacific-ocean/comment-page-2/

  26. Possible Aurora tonight with the predicted CME arrival from the first X class flare (X1) of the new solar cycle.

    https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/alerts-watches-and-warnings

    Space Weather Message Code: WATA50
    Serial Number: 66
    Issue Time: 2021 Oct 29 1529 UTC

    WATCH: Geomagnetic Storm Category G3 Predicted

    Highest Storm Level Predicted by Day:
    Oct 29: None (Below G1) Oct 30: G3 (Strong) Oct 31: G3 (Strong)

    THIS SUPERSEDES ANY/ALL PRIOR WATCHES IN EFFECT

    NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
    http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

    Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
    Induced Currents – Power system voltage irregularities possible, false alarms may be triggered on some protection devices.
    Spacecraft – Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites and orientation problems may occur.
    Navigation – Intermittent satellite navigation (GPS) problems, including loss-of-lock and increased range error may occur.
    Radio – HF (high frequency) radio may be intermittent.
    Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon.

    • Nothing substantial yet but some disturbance in the solar wind.

      Space Weather Message Code: WARK04
      Serial Number: 3951
      Issue Time: 2021 Oct 30 2149 UTC

      WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 4 expected
      Valid From: 2021 Oct 30 2150 UTC
      Valid To: 2021 Oct 31 1200 UTC
      Warning Condition: Onset

      • Still nothing to get excited about but time yet,

        Space Weather Message Code: ALTK04
        Serial Number: 2245
        Issue Time: 2021 Oct 30 2242 UTC

        ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 4
        Threshold Reached: 2021 Oct 30 2237 UTC
        Synoptic Period: 2100-2400 UTC

        Active Warning: Yes

        NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
        http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

        Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 65 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
        Induced Currents – Weak power grid fluctuations can occur.
        Aurora – Aurora may be visible at high latitudes such as Canada and Alaska.

      • Still not exciting but going up…

        Space Weather Message Code: WARK05
        Serial Number: 1615
        Issue Time: 2021 Oct 30 2247 UTC

        WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 5 expected
        Valid From: 2021 Oct 30 2247 UTC
        Valid To: 2021 Oct 31 0900 UTC
        Warning Condition: Onset
        NOAA Scale: G1 – Minor

        NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
        http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

        Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 60 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
        Induced Currents – Weak power grid fluctuations can occur.
        Spacecraft – Minor impact on satellite operations possible.
        Aurora – Aurora may be visible at high latitudes, i.e., northern tier of the U.S. such as northern Michigan and Maine.

  27. Carl
    concerning those First People (I wrote two comments about them on your main post), they fit very well into the debates going on today. They lived there, fought wars among tribes, yes, but are said to have been careful hunters and fishers. Then they lost their brains, when business people offered them cheap pearls, and worse, alcohol, to get them to move elsewhere.
    Somehow this reminds me a little bit of your idea of handing out a cruise ticket 😉 although a cruise might be slightly better. And they can go back at least. The First People learned to write and wrote letters to presidents. The presidents promised and promised and broke every one of the promises.
    Today some of the FP are into gambling. Such a loss of knowledge about nature and how to deal with it. Such a pity. When they found out the truth about the Ghost Forest they also asked the First People there, and those told a 300 year old story, transferred from one generation to the next: That whole tribes had vanished in a monster-tsunami.

    • Addition: The great-grandson of Sitting Bull (I imagine him more like DT than like Light-Feather Joe) is having a whole lot of trouble to even get a hand on the remains of his ancestor. The body or what remains of it doesn’t belong to the First people, and that’s a real shame. But as he is fighting with proof he might win. He wants him in a place near where he had lived. Sitting Bull finally helped to kill G.A. Custer, the s.o.a.b. who mutilated Indian women and children, in the War of Little Bighorn. It was the Custer atrocities that got me into a similar state of mind Carl was in in Southern Congo, a mixture maybe between disbelief and utter disgust. And pity.
      https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-analysis-confirms-claim-of-sitting-bull-descendant-180978968/

  28. Some people got some good Aurora pics a few days ago – may be another chance tonight

    Space Weather Message Code: WARK05
    Serial Number: 1618
    Issue Time: 2021 Nov 03 2002 UTC

    WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 5 expected
    Valid From: 2021 Nov 03 2005 UTC
    Valid To: 2021 Nov 04 0600 UTC
    Warning Condition: Onset
    NOAA Scale: G1 – Minor

    NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
    http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

    Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 60 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
    Induced Currents – Weak power grid fluctuations can occur.
    Spacecraft – Minor impact on satellite operations possible.
    Aurora – Aurora may be visible at high latitudes, i.e., northern tier of the U.S. such as northern Michigan and Maine.

    ——————————————————————————–

    Space Weather Message Code: SUMSUD
    Serial Number: 232
    Issue Time: 2021 Nov 03 1957 UTC

    SUMMARY: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse
    Observed: 2021 Nov 03 1957 UTC
    Deviation: 21 nT
    Station: FRD

    NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
    http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

    • Kp 5 reached – 6 expected ; 7 possible?

      Space Weather Message Code: ALTK05
      Serial Number: 1343
      Issue Time: 2021 Nov 03 2138 UTC

      ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 5
      Threshold Reached: 2021 Nov 03 2124 UTC
      Synoptic Period: 2100-2400 UTC

      Active Warning: Yes
      NOAA Scale: G1 – Minor

      NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
      http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

      Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 60 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
      Induced Currents – Weak power grid fluctuations can occur.
      Spacecraft – Minor impact on satellite operations possible.
      Aurora – Aurora may be visible at high latitudes, i.e., northern tier of the U.S. such as northern Michigan and Maine.

      ——————————————————————————–

      Space Weather Message Code: WARK06
      Serial Number: 448
      Issue Time: 2021 Nov 03 2134 UTC

      WARNING: Geomagnetic K-Index of 6 expected
      Valid From: 2021 Nov 03 2135 UTC
      Valid To: 2021 Nov 04 0300 UTC
      Warning Condition: Onset
      NOAA Scale: G2 – Moderate

      NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
      http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

      Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 55 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
      Induced Currents – Power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms.
      Spacecraft – Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible.
      Radio – HF (high frequency) radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes.
      Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state.

    • Strong to extreme storming now forecast.

      Space Weather Message Code: ALTK06
      Serial Number: 483
      Issue Time: 2021 Nov 03 2205 UTC

      ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 6
      Threshold Reached: 2021 Nov 03 2146 UTC
      Synoptic Period: 2100-2400 UTC

      Active Warning: Yes
      NOAA Scale: G2 – Moderate

      NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
      http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

      Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 55 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
      Induced Currents – Power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms.
      Spacecraft – Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible.
      Radio – HF (high frequency) radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes.
      Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state.

      ——————————————————————————–

      Space Weather Message Code: WARK07
      Serial Number: 79
      Issue Time: 2021 Nov 03 2205 UTC

      WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 7 or greater expected
      Valid From: 2021 Nov 03 2204 UTC
      Valid To: 2021 Nov 04 0300 UTC
      Warning Condition: Onset
      NOAA Scale: G3 or greater – Strong to Extreme

      NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
      http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

      Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
      Induced Currents – Power system voltage irregularities possible, false alarms may be triggered on some protection devices.
      Spacecraft – Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites and orientation problems may occur.
      Navigation – Intermittent satellite navigation (GPS) problems, including loss-of-lock and increased range error may occur.
      Radio – HF (high frequency) radio may be intermittent.
      Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon.

  29. Stopping and redirecting lava flows:

    I’ve followed with great interest the attempts in Iceland to divert lava flows, going back decades, and also read what I can find of attempts at Etna and Mona Loa.

    So, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a purely results-based look at the attempts made at the current Icelandic eruption, as some were failures, and others were not. The first attempts at the current Icelandic eruption (the east and west berms to keep lava out of Nagatthi valley failed (they were quickly overtopped). Later attempts, such as the berm alongside the western flow down into Natthagi were better;one small breach of the berm occurred, and those berms were larger and thicker.

    However, at the south end of Natthagi valley was the most effective barrier of all; once it was in place, the lava there did not advance so much as another inch. It never quite reached the berm there. You can see it on many images of the site; a long finger of lave stopped just feet from the berm, and it’s surrounded on three sides by yellow police tape (no doubt bearing the Icelandic version of “do not cross”.). There were also, I heard, signs warning of fines for crossing the police tape.

    So, if we are going purely on results, can we not logically conclude that yellow police tape (plus threats of fines) is the most effective means by which to stop a lava flow?

  30. Albert, are we passing through the echo of a supernova presently?

    What do you (or anyone) know about this fascinating bit of science?

    https://www.pnas.org/content/117/36/21873

    Tangentially related; I read a comment from someone suggesting that we are about to be entering the “debris field” of a supernova that occurred somewhere in Orion a few hundred million years ago, and that he’s (openly stated this part is speculation) concerned about a possible bombardment of remnant objects that could take the form of various planetary fragments (this was in reference to discussion about the origin of Oumuamua).

    I can’t find anything scientific about this idea other than the paper at the top of my post, which is something quite different (but still fascinating)

    • The sun is in a region where an occasional supernova goes off. It spends a fair fraction of time inside supernova bubbles. Nothing worrisome, they are enormous bubbles formed by the shock waves which cover around 10% of the milky way. That ‘bombardment’ is nonsense. The person who made that comment has no feeling for how large space really is. The Fe-60 particles do come from supernovae but there are really very few of them. The solar wind protects us against high energy particles from the interstellar medium but some get through.

      • These bubbles maybe hot but They are so low in density .. better than the best vaccum chamber on Earth so still near absolute zero

      • Awesome stuff, thank you!

        I assumed as such but found it intriguing regardless (moreso the idea of drifting into the remnants of a supernova).

    • Thanks for that video; I had no clue that ET reentry had ever been filmed (it usually occurred over the Indian Ocean),

      Unfortunately, recovering the ET wasn’t feasible; it’d have needed attitude-control thrusters (for correct orientation during reentry), a heat shield, parachutes, etc, and every pound of recovery hardare would have reduced the shuttle’s payload capacity by a pound. A recoverable ET would, unfortunately, have reduyced the shuttle’s payload by nearly half. It would also have been coming down in sea water, and required refurbishment (same as the SRB’s; the refurbishment was so hard that they never were able to actually save any money by recovering the SRBs).

      What I always favored was, on missions where the payload mass wasn’t maxed out, was delaying the ET jetison until after the OMS-1 circularization burn, to put it in orbit (it was a small burn, adding just 100 feet per second or so). The ET could have been made into a wonderful space station component or orbital propellant depot, or as-is a massive sunshade, structural element, etc. It was, as you say, a waste of resources letting them burn up, especially after expending so much energy to get them 99,5% of the way to orbit anyway.

      HAve you ever seen the high-def video NASA made from a camera in the SRB nosecone, showing the full flight of the SRB (launch through splashdown) and has sound? If you haven’t seen it, I might highly recommend it. Best shuttle in-flight video ever IMHO,

  31. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/11/04/clear-evidence-of-a-low-altitude-cometary-air-burst-over-the-atacama-desert-ca-12000-years-ago/

    “RESEARCH ARTICLE| NOVEMBER 02, 2021
    Widespread glasses generated by cometary fireballs during the late Pleistocene in the Atacama Desert, Chile
    Peter H. Schultz; R. Scott Harris; Sebastián Perroud; Nicolas Blanco; Andrew J. Tomlinson
    Geology (2021)

    Twisted and folded silicate glasses (up to 50 cm across) concentrated in certain areas across the Atacama Desert near Pica (northern Chile) indicate nearly simultaneous (seconds to minutes) intense airbursts close to Earth’s surface near the end of the Pleistocene. The evidence includes mineral decompositions that require ultrahigh temperatures, dynamic modes of emplacement for the glasses, and entrained meteoritic dust. Thousands of identical meteoritic grains trapped in these glasses show compositions and assemblages that resemble those found exclusively in comets and CI group primitive chondrites. Combined with the broad distribution of the glasses, the Pica glasses provide the first clear evidence for a cometary body (or bodies) exploding at a low altitude. This occurred soon after the arrival of proto-Archaic hunter-gatherers and around the time of rapid climate change in the Southern Hemisphere.

    Schultz et al., 2021”

  32. Here is a city with a very nasty climate: Shingapore, almost unique among cities on Earth. One of very few cities on Latitude 0.
    The Equator is challenging, extremely humid and temperatures in the 30 s in the noon.
    But its the high humidity is bad. Shingapore is very muggy place.You needs air condition 24 hours non stop. Extremely muggy it is there.
    Shingapore is superbad with that climate.
    I was there in 2015 and very much like a steam bath.

    In the warm Cretaceous and Eocene its possible that the Equator back then woud be leathal to humans, climate simulations yeilds
    45 degrees C and near 100% humidity. The global warming will make the Equator into an unlivable sauna.

    Very few large human populations on Earth are Equatorial.

    • Tallis, they’ve done it before.

      https://www.lockhospital.com.au/home
      The excuse at the time was “It’s for their own good.”

      Now, they’re doing it again.

      What I’m on about here (The goings-on at the Howard Springs camp, which they call a “National Resilience Center”, and it’s not the only one), is their use of force (the army) to remove aboriginal people from their homes and haul them away to a camp if they are suspected of being exposed. They are doing this with others as well, though so far only the Aboriginal people have been subject to these mass sweeps by the army. Including those kids – whose only crime was to have been claimed to have been exposed to the virus. Then, the kids tested NEGATIVE and still weren’t let go. Instead, when they escaped this illegal confinement, they were hunted down. I assume they’ve been returned to the camp by now, and will face massive fines and criminal prosecution (they are all minors).

      Given the history (The Lock Hospitals, and other abuses) I found this quote rather chilling;
      “This is the first time we’ve had to use the centre for large numbers of people from an Aboriginal community, but it probably won’t be the last time.”

  33. Question for Chad and Albert

    What woud be more destructive

    A new Chicxulub Impact or a imaginary
    Nuclear Test with the same yeild as Chicxlulub?

    They woud both be insanely bad, But very difftent processes of destruction and energy

    What woud be the worst one?

    • Chad, since You knows alot which one woud be most destructive?

      You get a serious fireball with one with the nuke bomb with Chicxulub yeild.. it basicaly blowing away the atmosphere over a round continent sized area. The shockwave will look like a terryfying front of fire

      Chicxlulub Asteorid 2.0 will be bad too but from competely diffrent physics.

      But I guess they are both bad

    • Well we have Only blew Nukes smaller than Tsar Bomba so its hard To say what this hypotetical Mega Nuke woud do to the planets atmosphere

    • They woud both be bad.. But I do wonder What a nuke with same yeild as Chicxlulub woud do to Earth

    • I haves No Idea of the effect of a hypotetical thermonuclear weapon with the same yeild as Chicxlulub had
      It woud be insanely bad for soure, but not soure what exactly woud happen

    • What woud a thermonuclear destination with same energy as Chicxulub do the Earths atmosphere?
      Chad whats your suggestion?

  34. I really liked this explanation of how to determine epicentre and depth for earthquakes
    it’s probably been shared before as it’s a numberphile video, but in case it has not been seen
    https://youtu.be/2vnqSwWAn34

  35. 2:20 – 2:45 and 2:59 – 3:25 and 3:33 – 3:59
    Defentivly one of the best soundtracks in the entire walking with saga, Benjamin Bartlett nailed the Megalodon theme right on, defentivly impressive, John Williams level, If you are afarid of sharks You will be a jibbering wreck,

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9Pg1M0PdQ&list=RDIA9Pg1M0PdQ&start_radio=1

    And the whole Chased By Seamonsters seriers can be seen here https://www.documentarymania.com/results-series.php?search=Chased+by+Sea+Monsters

  36. Really horrific, historic tornado outbreak occurred yesterday affecting many states in the central US last night. One of them potentially stole the record of “longest track” from the Tri-State tornado in 1925 in both track length and number of states crossed, becoming the first ‘Quad-State’ tornado with suggestions of a 250 mile track length (totally nuts).

    It’s possible the tornado was a tornado family (multiple independent tornadoes spawned from the same supercell), but that’s also true of the Tri-State tornado. Regardless, a historic supercell in a historic December outbreak. Judging from some of the damage pics, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the first EF-5 since 2013.

    https://watchers.news/2021/12/11/us-tornado-outbreak-damage-fatalities-december-2021/

    • The news sound terrible. The BBC reports that the town of Mayfield is completely destroyed

      • I’d be very surprised if we’re not talking high end EF-4 to 5 here.

        On radar, the cell was immaculate with one of the most well defined hook echos and one of strongest correlation coefficient drops I’ve ever seen. IIRC the debris signature was over 20 miles in diameter at one point. The velocity signature was also off the charts for a very prolonged amount of time as the cell’s inflow remained unobstructed for a crazy duration.

        And yes, the damage so far is absolutely catastrophic.

        • This outbreak would be incredible even if it happened during peak season, since this was December outburst, this might rank as one of the most noteworthy storms of the last few decades

        • It seems amazing to me that accidentally Bjarki mentioned the New Madrid Earthquakes a few weeks ago. Different reason, similar desastre, only 80 miles from Mayfield to the west.

          • Meant last week, a few days ago, with a video in Carl’s last post.

  37. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zUz8NM5-jyo

    A very angry Nyiragongo in 2004 showing the lava lake conduit open to the surface, its a tremedous ammounts of gas thats being released here. In 2005 the lava lake calmed down and began to placid circulation. Its circulating here too but Very vigorously

  38. Hi Members,

    I have a question about Venus.

    It is generally held that Venus underwent a resurfacing event at approx 750 million years ago. I like to ask if this resurfacing event possible again at some point in the future, especially considering that radioactive element continue to heat the interior of Venus, just as it is doing now on Earth?

    Of course, Earth’s internal heat is continually released, so the internal heat never builds up, but Venus has a stagnant lid interior that allowed the heat to build up.

    Thanks.

  39. Question – what causes the Puerto Rico Trench? It’s only a small area of subduction but it’s ridiculously deep (8400m) and it is the most negative gravity anomaly on earth, where the North American plate is actively being pulled down. I found it strange due to the size of the North American plate compared to the Carribbean, albeit the Carribbean plate might be very buoyant due to being made up primarily of volcanic material, and there is some microplate action going on, but also this ‘downward force’ – I couldn’t understand what would cause that.

    Also what implications does that have for the future of the Atlantic – is it likely that seafloor spreading and divergence will cease due to slab-pull? I know some future earth tectonic designs have the Atlantic re-closing.

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