Lifeboat Foundation

Glacial cyclicity of the Earth has often been considered on 100,000 year timescales, particularly for the Late Pleistocene (~11,700 to 129,000 years ago) swapping between periods of extensive polar and mountain glacier ice sheets, to warmer interglacial periods when ice sheets and glaciers retreated, with subsequent sea level rise. This is thought to be related to three key drivers affecting the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth from the sun.

Termed Milankovitch cycles, eccentricity considers the shape of Earth’s orbit changing from circular to more elliptical over 100,000 year timescales, while obliquity refers to the varying ‘tilt’ of the planet’s axis between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees over 41,000 years (contributing to seasons) and precession, which in simple terms is the direction Earth’s axis is pointed and can make the contrast between seasons more extreme in one hemisphere compared to the other.

Continue reading “New research finds Late Pleistocene glaciations terminated by Earth’s axis tilt rather than orbital eccentricity” »

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Google Flights today is releasing a new feature that will help travelers better determine the right time to book. Rolling out this week, the company is debuting new insights that will leverage historical trend data that lets consumers see when prices have typically been lowest to their chosen destination on their selected dates.

The addition aims to help consumers answer the question as to whether it’s better to book their flight now or wait for lower prices.

For example, Google explains, the new insights could tell users that the cheapest time to book their trip is currently two months prior to departure or that, typically, prices for their trip have generally declined closer to the date of departure. With this new understanding of whether or not they’re getting the best deal, consumers may chose to either book immediately or wait for a better price.