Earthquakes
USGS
| MAG | UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s |
LAT deg |
LON deg |
DEPTH km |
Region | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAP | 2.5 | 2012/10/10 23:12:51 | 17.857 | -66.755 | 6.0 | PUERTO RICO REGION |
| MAP | 2.6 | 2012/10/10 23:09:29 | 44.092 | -121.335 | 0.0 | OREGON |
| MAP | 4.9 | 2012/10/10 23:03:50 | -60.442 | -26.971 | 57.1 | SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION |
| MAP | 5.4 | 2012/10/10 22:49:36 | -60.320 | -26.693 | 55.3 | SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION |
| MAP | 2.5 | 2012/10/10 21:13:23 | 49.348 | -120.509 | 0.0 | BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA |
| MAP | 3.2 | 2012/10/10 20:48:56 | 19.712 | -64.427 | 42.0 | VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION |
| MAP | 5.2 | 2012/10/10 16:56:35 | 29.329 | 52.511 | 21.2 | SOUTHERN IRAN |
| MAP | 4.0 | 2012/10/10 16:37:00 | -26.164 | -71.243 | 8.3 | OFFSHORE ATACAMA, CHILE |
| MAP | 4.8 | 2012/10/10 15:29:33 | -6.482 | 153.720 | 36.3 | NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA |
| MAP | 2.7 | 2012/10/10 12:41:46 | 35.543 | -97.411 | 4.9 | OKLAHOMA CITY URBAN AREA, OKLAHOMA |
| MAP | 5.3 | 2012/10/10 12:19:47 | 10.244 | -85.375 | 35.6 | COSTA RICA |
| MAP | 4.9 | 2012/10/10 11:39:00 | -3.554 | 139.096 | 34.8 | PAPUA, INDONESIA |
| MAP | 2.6 | 2012/10/10 11:20:48 | 36.386 | -120.955 | 7.8 | CENTRAL CALIFORNIA |
| MAP | 4.9 | 2012/10/10 09:04:40 | 2.347 | 126.876 | 34.7 | MOLUCCA SEA |
| MAP | 4.5 | 2012/10/10 06:14:42 | 36.896 | 4.461 | 10.3 | NORTHERN ALGERIA |
| MAP | 3.9 | 2012/10/10 04:19:29 | 45.654 | -73.229 | 9.9 | ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY REG., QUEBEC, CANADA |
| MAP | 2.5 | 2012/10/10 03:32:29 | 19.403 | -155.268 | 1.7 | ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII |
| MAP | 4.6 | 2012/10/10 00:37:11 | 36.224 | 71.292 | 90.4 | HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN |
| MAP | 3.1 | 2012/10/10 00:19:08 | 36.586 | -121.182 | 3.6 | CENTRAL CALIFORNIA |
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Earthquakes in North Texas in late September were just flukes
by Ben Peyton of North Texas Daily
You can stop collecting canned goods and bottled water now.
Don’t expect this kind of occurrence in North Texas.
The three earthquakes that shook North Texas late last month left many mildly rattled residents scratching their heads.
North Texas is not on any major fault lines, and area residents are likely more familiar with tornadoes than other violent natural disruptions, but the two earthquakes that struck West Dallas and Irving on September 29 registered a 3.4 and 3.1 on the Richter scale, respectively. A third quake in Irving the next day registered at 2.1.
The quakes were strong enough to be felt, but there have been no reports of the seismic shifts causing any damages or injuries.
“Anything that can be felt is a noticeable earthquake in Texas,” geography professor Reid Ferring said.
North Texas does not have the geological conditions necessary to create large earthquakes, and historical data indicates that the recent seismic activity is not necessarily indicative of future earthquakes, Ferring said.
Environmental activists questioned whether there was a connection between the quakes and gas drilling at the Barnett Shale in North Texas.
A recent study conducted by Cliff Frohlich, a senior research scientist at the University of Texas’ Institute for Geophysics, found a connection between injection wells used to dispose of fracking wastewater – a byproduct of a drilling method used frequently in North Texas – and small quakes in North Texas.
The study found that most earthquakes in the Barnett Shale region occur within a few miles of one or more injection wells used to dispose of wastes associated with petroleum production, according to a University of Texas press release. The study indicates that fracking itself does not lead to an increase in earthquakes, but that there is some correlation between disposal of fracking wastewater and tiny quakes.
Other experts have said there is little connection between gas drilling in North Texas and these recent earthquakes.
Seismologist and SMU professor Brian Stump told NBC News that he does not believe fracking or gas drilling was a cause for the earthquakes, and Ferring said last month’s tremors were likely just fluke occurrences.
“It could just be a really natural rare event and very difficult to relate to any human activity,” Ferring said.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the largest earthquake ever recorded in Texas was a 5.8 in 1931 near Valentine, Texas.
“They may be alarming to some people. We don’t like to hear our houses shake,” Ferring said. “But I don’t think there’s any real threat to property, to buildings, to people or to water that we drink.”
Montreal Quake Highlights Eastern Canada Seismic Area
A significant earthquake has shaken an area of eastern Canada, serving as a reminder of the region’s potential for seismic instability.
Wednesday’s magnitude 3.9 temblor struck shortly after midnight, local time, with an epicenter near Beloeil, about 20 miles northeast of Montreal, Quebec, the USGS Earthquake Hazards website showed.
The shallow quake had a focal depth of 6 miles.
Epicenter for magnitude 3.9 earthquake near Montreal, Quebec, on Oct. 10, 2012 (USGS Earthquake Hazards Program).
Natural Resources Canada, meanwhile, pegged the quake magnitude at 4.5.
There were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the CBC News website said.
Even so, the shaking caused a bit of a stir. Calls to 911 spiked, and some people even left their homes briefly, the CBC said.
Buildings rumbled during that quake, lasting about 10 seconds.
The quake was felt in southern Quebec, easternmost Ontario and nearby border areas of the U.S., respondents to the USGS website reported. A few Ottawa residents felt the quake, according to the CBC.
Widespread perception is that eastern North America, both in the U.S. and Canada, is relatively stable and free of earthquakes. After all, eastern North America has no known active plate boundaries, unlike the notorious “Ring of Fire” seismic belts bordering the Pacific Ocean.
However, seismic records show that earthquakes are not at all uncharacteristic of the area.
A quake hits the area, mostly unfelt, about once every five days, CBC meteorologist — and seismologist — Johanna Wagstaffe said.
This latest temblor happened near the eastern edge of what the USGS calls the “Western Quebec Seismic Zone.” Historic earthquakes have been felt here for three centuries, and at least two were damaging.
Outline of the Western Quebec Seismic Zone (USGS).
The first of two historic damaging quakes within this seismic zone happened in 1732 and was of magnitude 6.2, according to the USGS.
Then, in 1935, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake rocked the Montreal area, where significant damage resulted.
A number of faults have been traced and mapped in this seismic zone. It is likely that many more remain undetected, the USGS said.
There are a number of known seismic areas in eastern North America, one of which is found north and east of the city of Quebec.
Others known to have yielded damaging earthquakes are found in the Boston area and in South Carolina.
The Central Virginia Seismic Zone sparked a damaging magnitude 5.8 earthquake that was felt in much of the mid-Atlantic states on Aug. 23, 2011.
LISS – Live Internet Seismic Server
GSN Stations
These data update automatically every 30 minutes. Last update: October 10, 2012 21:18:58 UTC
Seismograms may take several moments to load. Click on a plot to see larger image.
CU/ANWB, Willy Bob, Antigua and Barbuda
CU/BBGH, Gun Hill, Barbados
CU/BCIP, Isla Barro Colorado, Panama
CU/GRGR, Grenville, Grenada
CU/GRTK, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands
CU/GTBY, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
CU/MTDJ, Mount Denham, Jamaica
CU/SDDR, Presa de Sabaneta, Dominican Republic
CU/TGUH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
IC/BJT, Baijiatuan, Beijing, China
IC/ENH, Enshi, China
IC/HIA, Hailar, Neimenggu Province, China
IC/LSA, Lhasa, China
IC/MDJ, Mudanjiang, China
IC/QIZ, Qiongzhong, Guangduong Province, China
IU/ADK, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA
IU/AFI, Afiamalu, Samoa
IU/ANMO, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
IU/ANTO, Ankara, Turkey
IU/BBSR, Bermuda
IU/BILL, Bilibino, Russia
IU/CASY, Casey, Antarctica
IU/CCM, Cathedral Cave, Missouri, USA
IU/CHTO, Chiang Mai, Thailand
IU/COLA, College Outpost, Alaska, USA
IU/COR, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
IU/CTAO, Charters Towers, Australia
IU/DAV,Davao, Philippines
IU/DWPF,Disney Wilderness Preserve, Florida, USA
IU/FUNA,Funafuti, Tuvalu
IU/FURI, Mt. Furi, Ethiopia
IU/GNI, Garni, Armenia
IU/GRFO, Grafenberg, Germany
IU/GUMO, Guam, Mariana Islands
IU/HKT, Hockley, Texas, USA
IU/HNR, Honiara, Solomon Islands
IU/HRV, Adam Dziewonski Observatory (Oak Ridge), Massachusetts, USA
IU/INCN, Inchon, Republic of Korea
IU/JOHN, Johnston Island, Pacific Ocean
IU/KBS, Ny-Alesund, Spitzbergen, Norway
IU/KEV, Kevo, Finland
IU/KIEV, Kiev, Ukraine
IU/KIP, Kipapa, Hawaii, USA
IU/KMBO, Kilima Mbogo, Kenya
IU/KNTN, Kanton Island, Kiribati
IU/KONO, Kongsberg, Norway
IU/KOWA, Kowa, Mali
IU/LCO, Las Campanas Astronomical Observatory, Chile
IU/LSZ, Lusaka, Zambia
IU/LVC, Limon Verde, Chile
IU/MA2, Magadan, Russia
IU/MAJO, Matsushiro, Japan
IU/MAKZ,Makanchi, Kazakhstan
IU/MBWA, Marble Bar, Western Australia
IU/MIDW, Midway Island, Pacific Ocean, USA
IU/MSKU, Masuku, Gabon
IU/NWAO, Narrogin, Australia
IU/OTAV, Otavalo, Equador
IU/PAB, San Pablo, Spain
IU/PAYG Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands
IU/PET, Petropavlovsk, Russia
IU/PMG, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
IU/PMSA, Palmer Station, Antarctica
IU/POHA, Pohakaloa, Hawaii
IU/PTCN, Pitcairn Island, South Pacific
IU/PTGA, Pitinga, Brazil
IU/QSPA, South Pole, Antarctica
IU/RAO, Raoul, Kermandec Islands
IU/RAR, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
IU/RCBR, Riachuelo, Brazil
IU/RSSD, Black Hills, South Dakota, USA
IU/SAML, Samuel, Brazil
IU/SBA, Scott Base, Antarctica
IU/SDV, Santo Domingo, Venezuela
IU/SFJD, Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland
IU/SJG, San Juan, Puerto Rico
IU/SLBS, Sierra la Laguna Baja California Sur, Mexico
IU/SNZO, South Karori, New Zealand
IU/SSPA, Standing Stone, Pennsylvania USA
IU/TARA, Tarawa Island, Republic of Kiribati
IU/TATO, Taipei, Taiwan
IU/TEIG, Tepich, Yucatan, Mexico
IU/TIXI, Tiksi, Russia
IU/TRIS, Tristan da Cunha, Atlantic Ocean
IU/TRQA, Tornquist, Argentina
IU/TSUM, Tsumeb, Namibia
IU/TUC, Tucson, Arizona
IU/ULN, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
IU/WAKE, Wake Island, Pacific Ocean
IU/WCI, Wyandotte Cave, Indiana, USA
IU/WVT, Waverly, Tennessee, USA
IU/XMAS, Kiritimati Island, Republic of Kiribati
IU/YAK, Yakutsk, Russia
IU/YSS, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Russia
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Storms / Flooding
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| Name of storm system | Location | Formed | Last update | Last category | Course | Wind Speed | Gust | Wave | Source | Details |
| Prapiroon (22W) | Pacific Ocean | 08.10.2012 | 11.10.2012 | Typhoon IV | 0 ° | 176 km/h | 213 km/h | 4.57 m | JTWC |  |
Tropical Storm data
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| AL16 | Atlantic Ocean | 11.10.2012 | 11.10.2012 | Tropical Depression | 180 ° | 56 km/h | 74 km/h | 2.74 m | NOAA NHC | |
Tropical Storm data
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Epidemic Hazards / Diseases
‘Brain-eating’ amoeba kills 10 in Pakistan: officials
by Staff Writers
Karachi (AFP)
|
Authorities in Pakistan’s largest city have launched an urgent investigation after a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba killed 10 people in four months, officials said Tuesday.
The water company and health officials monitoring water in Karachi, home to 18 million people, have been ordered to trace the source of the Naegleria fowleri outbreak.
Saghir Ahmed, health minister of southern Sindh province of which Karachi is capital, said the drinking supply, swimming places and facilities used for the ritual ablutions Muslims must perform before prayers were all under investigation.
“There is no reason to panic and citizens should stay calm and take precautions,” Ahmed said.
“It is a water-borne infection and we are thoroughly inquiring about its arrival and spread here.”
Shakeel Malick, a health ministry official, said the amoeba had caused 10 deaths so far this year. He said there have been cases in the past, but so few that detailed numbers were not recorded.
The amoeba causes primary amoebic meningitis, a disease with a fatality rate of over 99 percent, said Faisal Mehmood, an expert in infectious diseases.
Naegleria fowleri is found in warm fresh water and usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. The amoeba passes through the nasal membranes and destroys brain tissues.
The ablutions Muslims must perform before praying involve rinsing inside the nose and Ahmed said people should use boiled water for the purpose while the outbreak was going on.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said nine cases had been confirmed and one more was suspected. It is working with Pakistani officials to investigate the cases and work out steps to prevent further infections.
“We are visiting houses of the victims and profiling their history,” Musa Khan, WHO’s head of disease early warning system in Pakistan, told AFP.
Misbahuddin Farid, who heads the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, said chlorine concentration was being increased in reservoirs and supply stations as a precaution.
A health ministry statement referring to recent lab tests said 22 per cent of 913 samples drawn from water supply sources in the last three months were found to be non-chlorinated.
Related Links
Epidemics on Earth – Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola
| 10.10.2012 | Epidemic Hazard | India | State of Tamil Nadu, Chennai [Stanley Medical College, Royapuram] |  |
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Epidemic Hazard in India on Wednesday, 10 October, 2012 at 09:03 (09:03 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| A 26-year-old man died of viral fever at Stanley Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday. While doctors initially said Sathya of Madhavaram died of hemorrhagic shock caused by dengue, they later said the death was caused by an unknown fever. “He didn’t test positive for dengue. It looks like a viral fever,” said a doctor in the emergency ward. An official in the Chennai Corporation’s health department said, “We don’t know what fever it was. He was brought very late to the hospital.” Doctors say many hospitals in the city are already crowded with hundreds of patients with severe viral infections. | |
| Biohazard name: | Unknown hemorrhagic fever |
| Biohazard level: | 4/4 Hazardous |
| Biohazard desc.: | Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | suspected |
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| 10.10.2012 | Epidemic | Puerto Rico | [Statewide] | |
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Epidemic in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, 10 October, 2012 at 03:12 (03:12 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Puerto Rico’s health department has declared a dengue epidemic. Health Secretary Lorenzo Gonzalez says at least six people have died, including two children younger than 10. A total of 4,816 cases have been reported, including 21 cases of the potentially fatal hemorrhagic dengue. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 342 new cases were reported in one week last month, twice the number of cases during the same period last year. Dengue cases usually flare up from August to January. The mosquito-borne virus causes fever, severe headaches and extreme joint and muscle pain. Dengue claimed a record 31 lives during a 2010 epidemic that saw more than 12,000 suspected cases. Gonzalez made the announcement on Monday. | |
| Biohazard name: | Dengue Fever |
| Biohazard level: | 3/4 Hight |
| Biohazard desc.: | Bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus (smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | confirmed |
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Meningitis outbreak poses questions for experts, clinicians
Lisa Schnirring 
Staff Writer
(CIDRAP News) – The number of patients sickened in a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to steroid injections for back pain rose to 137 today, including one more death, and clinicians are facing tough decisions about how to manage patients in light of unusual features of the outbreak.
In its latest update, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has received reports of 18 more cases since yesterday, along with news of another fatality, which raises the number of outbreak-related deaths to 12. The number of states reporting cases remained the same at 10.
A CDC conference call for clinicians today drew 2,000 participants, which the presenters called an “overwhelming response.” Two of the CDC’s experts were on hand to share the latest information on the illness and field many questions from health workers, ranging from pain clinic employees worried about their patients to an emergency department physician overwhelmed by the number of patients exposed to the recalled drug who are experiencing symptoms and need lumbar punctures to check for evidence of fungal meningitis.
The CDC experts included Melissa Schaefer, MD, a medical officer who works on ambulatory care and healthcare-related infection issues, and Tom Chiller, MD, MPH, a medical epidemiologist whose study emphasis has included fungal diseases. Both are with the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
Schaefer said the CDC is coordinating active outreach to patients exposed to one of the three recalled lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate that have been implicated in the outbreak. She said 75 facilities in 23 states received the medication and that about 13,000 patients had at least one injection from one of the lots.
Some patients also received joint-space injections with the recalled steroids, but she said so far the CDC hasn’t received any reports of infections related to those procedures.
The CDC’s investigation and clinical guidance are evolving quickly, and she advised health workers to consult the CDC’s outbreak Web page for daily updates.
Chiller said testing so far has confirmed that 10 of the infections involve Exserohilum, a type of black mold. “A rare and unique mold—not something we have seen causing meningitis previously,” he said. Tests have also identified Aspergillus fumigatus in one patient’s samples.
He said officials still don’t know if other types of mold are involved in the outbreak, a factor that—combined with unusual Exserohilum meningitis infections—makes it a challenge to craft treatment recommendations. For now, the CDC is recommending powerful doses of two antifungal drugs for infected patients that can penetrate the central nervous system and provide broad coverage against a range of fungi.
The CDC officials said experts are also wrestling with what to tell clinicians about the incubation period. Some patients have gotten sick after just 4 or 5 days, while others clearly started having symptom beyond 4 weeks, which was initially thought to be the outer limit of the incubation period.
“We know that fungi can be indolent and progression can be slow,” Chiller said.
Health officials are still collecting and analyzing information about the illnesses, Chiller said, but so far, the most common presenting symptoms seems to be headache, neck pain, nausea, and new neurologic deficits.
For the fatal cases, they said so far the most frequent cause of death is stroke or a complication of stroke. Schaefer and Chiller emphasized that the analysis of cases is still in the early stages, so it’s difficult to make definitive statements about the illness features and treatment protocols.
As the clinical picture continues to evolve, they urged clinicians to aggressively seek a diagnosis in suspected cases and to check the CDC’s Website each day for changes in recommendations as the outbreak and its investigation unfold.
See also:
Oct 10 CDC outbreak update
CDC Clinician Outreach Community Activity (COCA) Web page
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Solar Activity
2MIN News October 10. 2012
Published on Oct 10, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers
Pole Shift Video: http://youtu.be/uI10tKuLtFU
STARWATER: http://youtu.be/LiC-92YgZvQ
TODAY’S LINKS
Starwater Article: http://phys.org/news/2012-10-large-reservoirs-dawn-stellar-birth.html
Climate Disease – Coral: http://phys.org/news/2012-10-florida-tech-coral-disease.html
September Climate Review: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2012/9
Moon Water: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121009173748.htm
Oceanic Acidity: http://www.weather.com/news/ocean-acidity-shellfish-humans-20121008
REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]
HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]
CERES JPL: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=ceres;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#orb
SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos - as seen from earth]
SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT - as seen from earth]
Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI - as seen from the side]
SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it... trust me]
SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]
iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]
NASA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=…
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/
US Wind Map: http://hint.fm/wind/
NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory: http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/Default.php
RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]
GOES Xray: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sxi/goes15/index.html
JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/
LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php
Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can't figure out what this one is for?]
BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]
TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]
GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]
RAIN RECORDS: http://www.cocorahs.org/ViewData/ListIntensePrecipReports.aspx
EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/ssec/world/world-composite-ir-…
PRESSURE MAP: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=us&MENU=0000000000&…
HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker
INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]
NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/
PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]
QUAKES LIST FULL: http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/seismologist.php
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Space
Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days) |
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| Object Name | Approach Date | Left | AU Distance | LD Distance | Estimated Diameter* | Relative Velocity | |
| (1994 EK) | 14th October 2012 | 2 day(s) | 0.1356 | 52.8 | 230 m – 520 m | 12.22 km/s | 43992 km/h |
| (2012 PA20) | 15th October 2012 | 3 day(s) | 0.1502 | 58.5 | 100 m – 230 m | 10.36 km/s | 37296 km/h |
| (2012 RV16) | 18th October 2012 | 6 day(s) | 0.1270 | 49.4 | 310 m – 700 m | 16.14 km/s | 58104 km/h |
| 214869 (2007 PA8) | 05th November 2012 | 24 day(s) | 0.0433 | 16.8 | 1.5 km – 3.3 km | 10.79 km/s | 38844 km/h |
| (2011 UG21) | 06th November 2012 | 25 day(s) | 0.1784 | 69.4 | 340 m – 760 m | 19.73 km/s | 71028 km/h |
| (2010 WT) | 07th November 2012 | 26 day(s) | 0.1251 | 48.7 | 53 m – 120 m | 6.53 km/s | 23508 km/h |
| 333358 (2001 WN1) | 09th November 2012 | 28 day(s) | 0.1285 | 50.0 | 370 m – 830 m | 8.73 km/s | 31428 km/h |
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Black Holes Created On A Tiny Scale To Reveal Their Secrets
MessageToEagle.com – In the science fiction genre – black holes, weighing millions to even billions times more than our sun, are a very popular phenomenon but scientists still don’t know much about them.
They know how black holes born, where they use to be found, and why they exists in different sizes.
Still, there is much to be learned about this phenomenon lurking in the centers of most galaxies. These mysterious regions in space possess both large mass and gravitational force that not even light can escape from them.
It was in 2009, when Dartmouth researchers proposed a new way of creating a reproduction black hole in the laboratory.
Now, a team of scientists at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh will create laser pulses whose energy is measured in trillions of watts. They will be used to simulate conditions found around a black hole – a place where gravity is so strong that light cannot escape and the normal laws of physics break down.
It’s an ambitious and fascinating scientific idea to mimic black holes in a laboratory – on a very small scale. It’s also fascinating to look at how matter and energy interact.
Steven Hawking, who demonstrated that black holes radiate energy according to a thermal spectrum, based his famous calculations on assumptions about the physics of ultra-high energies and quantum gravity.
Scientists at Heriot-Watt University can’t yet take measurements from real black holes, instead they will work in the lab.
“What we are creating is the same space-time structure which characterises a black hole. But we’ are doing this with a light pulse, so we don’t actually have the mass which is associated with black holes,” Daniele Faccio, the lead scientist, explained.
“Gravitational black holes are generated by a collapsing star. We don’t actually have this collapsing star, so there’s no danger of being sucked into the black holes we are generating here,” Faccio added.
“Future studies will hopefully unravel other settings or combinations of materials and wavelengths that may indeed lead to the first experimental black hole laser,” scientists write in their paper. “In the meantime, this remains a fascinating scenario in which to combine technologies and ideas developed in the area of photonics to the study of owing media and horizon physics”.
MessageToEagle.com
See also:
10 Spectacular Hubble Space Telescope Images Never Released Before
MessageToEagle.com - NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.
RBSP is made of two spacecraft carrying identical instruments.
Each eight-sided satellite is approximately 6 feet across, 3 feet high, and weighs 1,475 pounds (including 62 pounds of propellant).
One spacecraft follows the other along nearly identical orbits.
The orbits lie nearly in the Earth’s equatorial plane and are highly elliptical, coming in as close as 375 miles and reaching out almost to 20,000 miles above Earth’s surface, thus traveling through diverse areas within the radiation belts.
Observations from both spacecraft will be compared by scientists, who can distinguish between different events;
those occurring simultaneously throughout the belts;
those that happen in only a single point in space, and
those that move from one point to another over time.
It’s a very important mission to explore our Earth’s radiation belts and find out:
“The $686 million Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission will help scientists to understand more about the chaotic regions overhead. The invisible particles within the belts make even determining their shifting size a challenge.” “In order to measure them, you have to fly through them with sensitive instruments,” said Berry Mauk, RBSP project scientist.
What’s the sun’s influence on the Earth and near-Earth space? What makes the radiation belts so dangerous? And why do they react so strangely to solar storms?
Immediately after launch, RBSP entered a 60-day commissioning phase of operations, where all of the spacecrafts’ systems and instruments are activated, monitored, and made ready for the two-year primary science mission.
| After the deployment of both spacecraft from the Centaur stage of the Atlas V rocket Some 90 minutes after launch, the RBSP team at the Mission Operations Center (MOC) began to establish contact with the twin probes, and make sure the spacecraft deployed their solar panels and were receiving power from them.
With those power and communications systems checked out, the RBSP spacecraft and teams had little time to celebrate – there was much to do on RBSP’s first day in orbit. The twin Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) booms (two on each spacecraft, located at the edges of two solar panels) were the first instruments to be powered up and deployed.
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This was done so that the magnetic signatures of the other instruments could be observed as they were powered up.
In addition to providing science data for the EMFISIS team, magnetometers on the booms are used by the mission operations team (along with sun sensors) to help determine the attitude of the spacecraft, which in this case is the angle at which they are pointed at the sun.
Van Allen Radiation Belts to be Explored by NASA RBSP Storm Probes
Additionally, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Ion Composition Experiment (RBSPICE) instrument was turned on – though only with low voltage, just enough to power up the Engineering Radiation Monitor (ERM), which keeps track of the amount of radiation entering RBSP.
The identical Radiation Belt Storm Probes follow similar orbits that take them through both the inner and outer radiation belts. The highly elliptical orbits range from a minimum altitude of approximately 373 miles (600 kilometers) to a maximum altitude of approximately 23,000 miles (37,000 kilometers). (Courtesy JHU/APL)
The first Saturday of the mission (Sept. 1) saw the first full powering-up of one of the many instruments on the spacecraft. At about 3 a.m. EDT, the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) instrument of the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT) aboard spacecraft A was turned on, and useable data began to immediately stream back to the REPT team. REPT-B was powered up 12 hours later.
Saturday’s achievements didn’t stop there:
The Relativistic Proton Spectrometer (RPS) on spacecraft B was turned on, while its sibling on spacecraft A was powered up on Sunday, Sept. 2.
Some radiation makes it through the atmosphere, but most of it is absorbed by the atmosphere or trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field into the radiation belts. Credit: NASA
During the first two weeks of orbit, the spacecraft completed a series of small changes in velocity and also adjusted the angle at which they face the sun, known as “precession.” These were done to optimize the orbit and operation of the spacecraft.
“Things are going very smoothly with the spacecraft,” says Ray Harvey, RBSP mission operations manager.
“We’ve also begun to send out preliminary test data for the space weather broadcast from the spacecraft, in the same format as the final broadcast will be, so the partner institutions can verify they are receiving it.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, the Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU) for Electric Field and Waves Suite (EFW) was powered up to prepare for the upcoming deployment of EFW’s four booms (per spacecraft), and on Thursday, Sept. 6, the eight Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometers (MagEIS, another of ECT’s three instruments) were powered up; each spacecraft has four MagEIS instruments that measure widely different energy ranges.
The next major instrument activity is the EFW boom deployment, which begins on Sept. 13, when both RBSP spacecraft will be spun up to seven RPM from their normal five RPM. This will prepare them for the change in momentum following the initial deployment of the EFW spin-plane booms.
The doors containing the booms will open, and then on Friday, Sept. 14, the first four meters of the booms will be deployed. Over the following days, more of each boom will be deployed every day, until the four booms (each is 50 meters long) are fully out.
In roughly the middle of this process, the RBSP MOC team will also send a command to open the door to the aperture on the RBSPICE instrument that will allow it to begin full science operations.
Sometime in mid to late October – the final RBSP instrument – (an ECT instrument: the Helium Oxygen Proton Electron (HOPE) instrument) will be powered up.
After that, the spacecraft have deployed all their booms and completed their commissioning-phase maneuvers.
MessageToEagle.com
In The Loop: The Electric Atmosphere – Plasma Is Next NASA Science Target
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Articles of Interest
Last Night’s View: Skies Filled with Stunning Aurora
by Nancy Atkinson
The Aurora Borealis fills nearly the entire sky in Cleary Summit, Alaska. Credit: Jason Ahrns on Flickr.
With just a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection (CME) this week, skywatchers in the northern latitudes have been enjoying some beautiful views of the Aurora Borealis. Here are a few stunning views from last night (October 8-9, 2012), including this jaw-dropping aurora that filled the entire sky for Jason Ahrns in Cleary Summit, Alaska. “This lens has a near-180 degree field of view from corner to corner – this swirl covered the entire sky, and put off enough light to read the focus indicator on my lens,” Jason wrote on Flickr.
See more below:
This view is from Kilmany, Scotland. “You could see the rays moving left – so stunning,” said photographer Corinne Mills.
This view came from the AuroraMAX camera in Yellowknife, NWT taken at 00:53 MDT on October 9, 2012. Credit: AuroraMAX.
“I’ve been tracking aurora activity all day and it peaked again tonight,” writes photographer Gareth Paxton on Flickr. “There was a substantial glow in the sky – this was taken from Linlithgow (Scotland).”
Northern lights over Ottawa, Canada. Credit: FailedProtostar on Flickr.
Stunning view from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Credit: Collin Chatfield.
Another beauty by Jason Arhns in Alaska, which he calls a “ghost flame.” Credit: Jason Arhns
Green aurora over Ulverston, Cumbria, UK. Credit: Raymond Gilchrist on Flickr.
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