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Category: climatology – Page 113

Gamma rays from lightning found to create antimatter in the air

Circa 2017

Lightning is one of Earth’s most energetic events, but there’s much more to it than just a flashing fork and the rumble of thunder. Lightning strikes have been known to generate gamma rays, and now a team of Japanese researchers has found that those bursts can create photonuclear reactions in the atmosphere, resulting in the production – and annihilation – of antimatter.

Bursts of gamma rays from lightning were first detected in 1,992 thanks to NASA’s Compton Gamma-ray Observatory. Since then, these Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGF) have been studied intently, and the new research out of Kyoto University has found an unexpected cause of some of the signals.

“We already knew that thunderclouds and lightning emit gamma rays, and hypothesized that they would react in some way with the nuclei of environmental elements in the atmosphere,” says Teruaki Enoto, lead researcher on the project. “In winter, Japan’s western coastal area is ideal for observing powerful lightning and thunderstorms. So, in 2015 we started building a series of small gamma-ray detectors, and placed them in various locations along the coast.”

In first, ocean drone captures footage from inside hurricane

In a world first, US scientists on Thursday piloted a camera-equipped ocean drone that looks like a robotic surfboard into a Category 4 hurricane barreling across the Atlantic Ocean.

Dramatic footage released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the small craft battling 50-feet (15 meter) high waves and winds of over 120 mph (190 kph) inside Hurricane Sam.

The autonomous vehicle is called a “Saildrone” and was developed by a company with the same name.

Desert Freezer Invented In 400 BCE? Yakhchals Yazd, Iran

Check Out Found And Explained; https://www.youtube.com/c/FoundAndExplained.

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Ancient Structures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyM1QcUGVGdfmvhQKoWzGJnJgQ4BfaplL
Ancient Queens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-5ENRuFn9g&list=PLyM1QcUGVG…Py&index=1
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Fact or Fiction?: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyM1QcUGVGdeib_J7to1OuMEa6635OoQo.

#yakhchal #yazd #windcatcher.

How did the ancient inhabitants of the hot Iranian desert keep themselves cool during the intensely hot summers where even being in the shade is very unpleasant?
Well, besides the windcatchers they had in their homes of course, since we spoke about them a while ago.
Think about being in the middle of a hot dry desert, it would be a blessing to be able to drink cold beverages and eat ice cream in the middle of summer to cool off, or to keep your meat, dairy, fruits and other foods fresh for longer periods of time by cooling them.
But I am hearing you asking yourselves… ice?? how on earth would they be able to provide ice in the middle of a hot and dry desert?
The answer to that is simple yet innovative; build a Yakhchal.

We don’t know for certain where the first ice houses were built on the planet, and we aren’t sure about when the first yakhchal was built either but we do know that around 400 BCE the Persian engineers were already mastering the art of storing ice in the middle of the desert, it was already a widespread phenomenon around this time.
This shows that the actual invention of the Yakhchal happened much earlier as you don’t master something by doing it for a short amount of time, but it’s unfortunately unclear for how long.
The practice of storing ice itself was already long established by the time of 400 BCE, we know for a fact that the Mongols were already storing ice for quite some time, although again it’s unclear for how long, but there are accounts of them doing it before 400 BCE.
Ice was mentioned in older texts in Iran from before 400 BCE, but there was no mention of how it was produced, which doesn’t allow scholars to interpret that as yakhchals already being used for very long before 400 BCE, although it is of course hypothesized as I said earlier, you don’t master something by doing it for a short amount of time.

Music; Adrian von Ziegler.

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Electric vehicle battery startup ONE backed by BMW, Gates-led firm

Oct 18 (Reuters) — Michigan-based Our Next Energy, which is developing an advanced battery for electric vehicles, has raised $25 million from investors ranging from German automaker BMW (BMWG.DE) to a clean technology venture firm headed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the young company said on Monday.

Investors in ONE’s Series A round include BMW iVentures, Detroit-based Assembly Ventures and Chicago-based Volta Energy Technologies, which is partnered with Argonne National Laboratories. Another investor is Singapore-based electronics manufacturer Flex Ltd (FLEX.O), which is also a strategic partner with ONE.

The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the investment arm of Breakthrough Energy, founded by Gates in 2015 to support and fund innovations to counter climate change. Among the Kirkland, Washington company’s investments: Battery recycler Redwood Materials, electric aircraft maker ZeroAvia and solid-state battery developer QuantumScape (QS.N).

Space and the environment, conflict or synergy? — William Shatner vs. Prince William

Both environmentalists and space-enthusiasts want the human species to survive long term.

Is there really a conflict between the two movements?

Here is a short youtube video I did today.

Should we cancel all our space programs and divert all funding and talent to fight climate change as suggested by Prince William? Should only billionaires do that?

Can we do both goals at the same time?

Continue reading “Space and the environment, conflict or synergy? — William Shatner vs. Prince William” | >

How to Talk to a Science Denier — with Lee McIntyre

Many people reject scientific expertise and prefer ideology to facts. Lee McIntyre argues that anyone can and should fight back against science deniers.
Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/2jTiXCLzMv4
Lee’s book “How to Talk to a Science Denier” is out now: https://geni.us/leemcintyre.

“Climate change is a hoax—and so is coronavirus.” “Vaccines are bad for you.” Many people may believe such statements, but how can scientists and informed citizens convince these ‘science deniers’ that their beliefs are mistaken?

Join Lee McIntyre as he draws on his own experience, including a visit to a Flat Earth convention as well as academic research, to explain the common themes of science denialism.

Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an Instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School. He holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He has taught philosophy at Colgate University (where he won the Fraternity and Sorority Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching Philosophy), Boston University, Tufts Experimental College, Simmons College, and Harvard Extension School (where he received the Dean’s Letter of Commendation for Distinguished Teaching). Formerly Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, he has also served as a policy advisor to the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and as Associate Editor in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

This talk was recorded on 24 August 2021.

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Continue reading “How to Talk to a Science Denier — with Lee McIntyre” | >

Artificial intelligence: ‘The window to act is closing fast’

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a force for good that could play a huge part in solving problems such as climate change. Left unchecked, however, it could undermine democracy, lead to massive social problems and be harnessed for chilling military or terrorist attacks.

That’s the view of Martin Ford, futurist and author of Rule of the Robots, his follow-up to Rise of the Robots, the 2015 New York Times bestseller and winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year, which focused on how AI would destroy jobs.

In the new book, Ford, a sci-fi fan, presents two broad movie-based scenarios.

Scientists Can Grow Meat Protein. With Gene-Edited Barley?

ORF Genetics in Iceland is growing 100,000 genetically engineered barley plants in a greenhouse measuring over 22 square feet (2 sq m) to create lab-grown meat.

This cutting-edge approach has the potential to lower prices, eliminate reliance on live animals in the lab-grown meat sector, and speed up the scaling-up process, according to BBC. And, with the fact that meat accounts for nearly 60 percent of all greenhouse gases from food production in mind, such a development could have far-reaching implications in the fight against climate change.

Who Wants To Be An Astronaut

Axiom Space, a venture-backed unicorn building the next generation International Space Station, is teaming up with Discovery Channel to give away a trip to the space station onboard SpaceX to the winner of a series of rigorous challenges meant to simulate astronaut training. The series is expected to air in 2022 and for those wanting to go up, casting is underway at discovery.com/astronaut. What this means is that the commercialization of space is happening in a very real way. No longer the realm of science fiction, private startups are joining forces with Fortune 500 companies to build industrial complexes in low Earth orbit for a multitude of commercial purposes including research, development, manufacturing, climate sensing, and even hospitality, with space hotels being planned to serve as WeWorks for those seeking off-planet retreats and remote work offices. you ever gazed up at the stars and wondered what it would feel like to be looking back down at Earth? Are you a space enthusiast who would give anything to travel to space, but never thought you’d have an opportunity? Welcome to WHO WANTS TO BE AN ASTRONAUT — the ultimate chance of a lifetime. Compete for a seat on a flight to the International Space Station where the winner will be able to do something only a handful of humans have ever done…travel into space.

We’re not looking for rocket scientists — this is an opportunity for regular people to have the chance to travel to space and share that journey with the world. (Ok, ok, if you’re a rocket scientist you’re welcome to apply too!)

If this sounds like a mission you want to be part of, now is your chance. Fill out the application below and submit a short video (30−60 seconds) telling us about yourself, why you deserve a chance to travel to space, what it would mean to you, and why you want to participate. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Sustainable Electricity-Free Air Conditioner Can Harness Solar Energy To Reduce Temperatures on Hot Days

A simple cooling system driven by the capture of passive solar energy could provide low-cost food refrigeration and living space cooling for impoverished communities with no access to the electricity grid. The system, which has no electrical components, exploits the powerful cooling effect that occurs when certain salts are dissolved in water. After each cooling cycle, the system uses solar energy to evaporate the water and regenerate the salt, ready for reuse.

“Hot regions have high levels of solar energy, so it would be very attractive to use that solar energy for cooling,” says Wenbin Wang, a postdoc in Peng Wang’s lab. In many parts of the world, there is a greater need for cooling because of climate change, but not every community can access electricity for air conditioning and refrigeration. “We conceptualized an off-grid solar-energy conversion and storage design for green and inexpensive cooling,” Professor Wang says.

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