bree stealth

Rooted in Icelandic custom, though unlikely to be put into practice, is the science fiction brainchild of Dr Grant Allen from Manchester University’s Centre for Atmospheric Science.
Eyjafjallajokull volcano
Blowing a hole in Eyjafjallajokull could help beat the ash cloud. In theory

He notes that, during previous eruptions, explosives have been used to create channels through which magma can flow harmlessly into the sea.

“The Icelanders are very adept at doing this sort of thing,” he says.

Of course, this volcano is different. Getting at the magma and diverting it away from contact with the glacier which currently sits over the eruption site would involve blowing a hole in the side of the mountain itself.

“It would take something like a nuclear weapon to do it,” Dr Allen adds. “I don’t think you would really have control of the situation.”

CREATE RAIN TO WASH AWAY ASH CLOUD

Cloud seeding, in which particles are dropped or fired into clouds in an effort to change precipitation levels, is already a reality, much beloved by dictators who seek to control the weather on national holidays in their name.
Rain
Rain stops… volcano?

But employed on an as-yet unprecedented scale, it is – just – possible to imagine water vapour clouds being used to tackle volcanic ash, says Prof Foulger.

“You fill the atmosphere with dust which causes rain,” she says. “You would just wash the ash out of the atmosphere.”

But, she acknowledges, the technology to do so on such as scale would be way beyond mankind’s capability at the moment.

“You’d also have to do a cost analysis to see whether it would be really worth the expense,” she adds.

USE ELECTROSTATICS

On a similar – if barely more practical – theme, Prof David Pyle, earth scientist at Oxford University, suggests another way to sweep away the ash cloud.
Electric lightbulb
It doesn’t take a bright spark to see why this might not be entirely practical

The key to his method is determining the electrical charge of the ash particles.

“If you knew whether they were negatively charged or positively charged, you could flush it with something that had an opposite polarity – bits of plastic or lumps of rock.

“What you’d hope is that, as these large particles came through the cloud, they would attract the fine ash particles, clump together and sweep them to the ground.”

The drawback, he says, is that you would need to have aircraft continually feeding the ash cloud with the larger particles – no mean undertaking during an eruption expected to last months.

Face it guys: you tell more lies than your lady does! And that’s not all: you fell less guilty about it. At least this is what a recent study commissioned by The Science Museum has revealed.

Don’t get started on the sexist jokes now. Wait till you hear the explanation: it seems that in a poll of 3000 people, researchers have found that the average British men tells somewhere around three lies a day. Sum that up with 365 days and you’ll get approximately 1090 lies a year. It’s a huge number, isn’t it?

The average woman tells only two lies a day, which means she tells almost 730 lies a year. And wait ’till you hear who are the biggest liers among men and woman.

Men are more likely to tell a lie their mother, perhaps they know mom’s don’t agree with going to pubs or with men leaving all their dirty laundry on the bedroom floor. At the same time, only 20% of the ladies have admitted they have lied to their dear mother and only 10% of all the respondents agrees they are likely to lie to their partner.

Also, as we’ve mentioned above, men are less likely to feel guilty about telling a lie. Ladies, on the other hand, get very stressed out because of this and their conscience is too strong to be ignored. 82% of them admitted they feel very guilty after telling a lie, while only 70% of men feel the same way.

Here is the top 10 lies used by men and below you’ll see the top 10 lies used by ladies:

Men’s Top 10 lies
1. I didn’t have that much to drink
2. Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine
3. I had no signal
4. It wasn’t that expensive
5. I’m on my way
6. I’m stuck in traffic
7. No, your bum doesn’t look big in that
8. Sorry, I missed your call
9. You’ve lost weight
10. It’s just what I’ve always wanted

Women’s Top 10 lies
1. Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine
2. I don’t know where it is, I haven’t touched it
3. It wasn’t that expensive
4. I didn’t have that much to drink
5. I’ve got a headache
6. It was in the sale
7. I’m on my way
8. Oh, I’ve had this ages
9. No, I didn’t throw it away
10. It’s just what I’ve always wanted

The leading scientific group in the United States reported Wednesday that a “strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring” and is largely caused by human activity.

The National Academy of Sciences, which issued three reports relating to climate change on Wednesday, acknowledged that “certain Earth system processes” are not fully understood. But the group added that “it is clear” Earth’s future climate will be markedly different from what it has been for the last 10,000 years.

Environmental groups used the report to refute claims pushed by climate change skeptics that the so-called Climategate e-mail controversy and errors in the United Nations report on global warming undercut evidence that burning fossil fuels is altering the climate.

“This report should put to rest the unfounded contrary assertions advanced by special interests and help clarify the fact that our nation’s most distinguished scientists are unified in their support of this core message: Man-made climate change is real and we need to address it now,” said James McCarthy, a biological oceanography professor at Harvard University, in a statement released by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

UCS is a backer of climate legislation in Congress.

The science academy does say there are unresolved questions surrounding climate research.

“Certain Earth system processes – such as ice sheet dynamics, cloud processes, and regional climate effects – are either incompletely understood or not fully resolved in current climate models, leading to uncertainties in the magnitude and rate of global climate change and its manifestations at local and regional scales.”

But the report adds: “Despite these uncertainties and complexities, it is clear that Earth’s future climate will be unlike the climate that ecosystems and human societies have become accustomed to during the last 10,000 years, leading to significant challenges across a broad range of human endeavors.”

The effort to pass climate legislation in Congress seemingly suffered a blow late last year when a number of hacked e-mails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom were released.

The e-mails seemed to show climate researchers trying to hide data that didn’t support their conclusions, but initial investigations have found the e-mails don’t undercut the science supporting human-caused climate change.

Meanwhile, errors in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report – such as an unsubstantial claim about the pace of glacier melt in the Himalayas – added to the controversy.

Gallup reported in March that a survey it conducted showed fewer Americans believed climate change was real, although a majority still believed that it was.

The academy says, however, that “science has made enormous progress toward understanding climate change.” Although it is not possible to predict how a changing climate will affect different regions, the effects could also be more severe than projected and the danger warrants action, the academy said.

The other two reports are on possible ways to reduce the risks associated with climate change and how to adapt to the impacts already occurring.

It was strike two for a major science funding bill Wednesday as House Republicans again united to derail legislation they said was too expensive.

Going down to defeat was the COMPETES Act, which would have committed more than $40 billion over three years to boost funding for the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies involved in basic and applied science, provided loan guarantees to small businesses developing new technologies and promoted science and math education.

Congress enacted a first version of the legislation in 2007 with a large majority in the House and a unanimous vote in the Senate. But in this election year, with Republicans out to show their anti-spending credentials and intent on disrupting the Democratic agenda, things are different.

Republicans support science research, said Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, top Republican on the Science and Technology Committee. But the Democratic bill “continues to take us in a much more costly direction and authorizes a number of new programs which have little to do with prioritizing investments” in science and technology.

Committee chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., said he had made a “sincere attempt to compromise” with Republicans on a bill he said was essential to reversing trends over the past two decades where the United States has been losing its technological edge to other countries.

Last week Republicans forced Democrats to pull the bill from the floor by pushing through an amendment that combined substantial cuts to many of the main initiatives in the bill with a provision cracking down on federal workers caught viewing pornography on their office computers.

Many Democrats, fearful that a vote against an anti-pornography measure could be used against them in election ads, went along with the GOP amendment.

The legislation presented Wednesday restored the programs the Republicans tried to kill but reduced to three years, rather than five, the life of the measure, thus cutting the original $85 billion price tag to about $47 billion. It also included the anti-pornography provision.

But Democrats made a losing gamble by bringing the bill up under a procedure that prevented Republicans from offering more amendments but requiring a two-thirds majority for passage. The vote was 261-148 for passage, short of the two-thirds needed. Every Democrat supported it, but only 15 of 163 voting Republicans backed it.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in a statement that he was “extremely disappointed Republicans continued to play political games, voting against a job-creating measure that had bipartisan support.” He said he planned to bring the bill back to the floor soon under normal rules requiring only a majority for passage.

Camping is an exciting recreational activity, which can either be undertaken in the lush green virgin forests surrounded by mystic hills and wildlife, or it can be undertaken in the camping sites and facilities provided by the national parks and other legally human-penetrable protected areas. In case you plan to cook in the camp, carry the essential cooking vessels and the ingredients in sufficient quantities. Do not leave left over food inside the tent – either leave it locked in your vehicle or hang it from a tall unapproachable tree.

Never commit the mistake of feeding animals. Carry mosquito and bug repellants in addition to first aid kits. Most wild animals are scared of people, and will not show up near your camp site. But in case a dangerous animal shows up, never try to corner it, as it may try to attack you. Just respect the animal and walk away without any sudden body movements and the animal will know you are not a threat and will flee. It is always advisable to have an overnight campfire to ward off wild animals.

Camping bestows a person with the rare opportunity to connect with nature and relax in the lap of pristine beauty. You can also undertake some kind of adrenalin pumping activities such as rafting, rock climbing, hiking, etc. You can also watch wild nocturnal creatures come out in the open after dusk from the tree top huts or from camouflaged vehicles. Bird lovers can go for bird watching early mornings or just before the onset of dusk.

Camping Is An Excellent Recreational Activity, Which Allows You To Connect With Nature And To Unwind And Relax In The Beautiful Natural Surroundings.

(Thanks Josh and the guys from the Propane Fire pits helper site)

The most essential element that can turn a patio or backyard into the most irresistible and attractive place in the entire house is a fire pit. During the recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the numbers of people wanting to expand their backyards and patios and make them look as beautiful as any other part of the home. So as to achieve this, these people are investing good amount of money towards buying outdoor accessories such as patio furniture, outdoor lighting, barbecue grills and fire pits. Currently, fire pits are available in different types and models. One such variety is a propane fire pit. Fuelled by a natural gas called as propane, this fire pit the most ideal choice for people wanting to stay away from the ash and smell of smoke that is generated by traditional fire pits.

One important aspect that must be always remembered while using a propane fire pit is the safety precautions. Presence of a rotten egg smell around the fire pit indicates gas leak. Propane is a colorless and odorless gas. Due to this, manufacturers selling this gas add a foul smelling chemical into the gas before filling into cylinders. So as to avoid any fire accident, fire pit must be kept away from all those materials that can catch fire instantly such as furniture, firewood, trees, plastic materials, electrical cords and other power sources. Children should never be allowed to play around a fire pit when it is in use. People should maintain a distance of at least 3 feet from the fire pits. Regular cleaning of burners and proper maintenance are extremely essential.

Propane Fire Pits, If Used Properly And Safely, Can Be A Useful Decorative Item In The House.