Total Solar Eclipse March 29 2006: Getting The Perfect Picture

A total solar eclipse is occuring on March 29 2006. Solar eclipse has been coming and going since the beginning of time and have never fails to fascinate man.

So it seems that it is no surprise that the Exploratorium has gone to great lengths to ensure that they got the perfect location for that perfect picture for the solar eclipse that is predicted to occur on March 29 2006



Here in their own words:

Choosing the best place to view an eclipse requires research. We started with a map that shows the eclipse’s path of totality (a narrow path where the moon’s dark umbral shadow falls on the earth’s surface). Then, we analyzed sites along the path and asked ourselves questions: How long does totality last? What are the weather conditions, particularly the chances for clear skies? Is the site accessible by regular transportation? Is there good infrastructure (hotels, Internet access, consistent electricity)? Can the surrounding community support our efforts? Can telescopes and other equipment (in our case, two tons of it) be safely transported to the site?
We considered sending our team to Libya or Egypt. Totality in Libya will last for just over 4 minutes, which is a long time in eclipse terms. But the weather in Libya can be unsettled in March and, due to sandstorms, there’s also a chance that there will be dust in the air. This leaves an overall probability of seeing the eclipse in Libya at 44–53 percent. We also thought about going to Sallum, Egypt, which has an overall 60 percent chance of seeing the eclipse and totality at just under 4 minutes. However, both of these locations have very little infrastructure, plus travel arrangements are difficult.
In Side, Turkey there’s a 60 percent chance of sunshine and a 48 percent overall probability of seeing the eclipse. Totality will last for 3 minutes and 41 seconds. Side offers an excellent infrastructure and a mayor who’s very supportive of our work, plus it’s located near an airport. It’s the best place to send our team.
We won’t be alone in Turkey. Thousands of people from around the world will travel there to get a good glimpse of this eclipse. Joining our group in Side will be the Manchester Astronomical Society, the Malaysian Space Agency, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as dozens of tour groups (many led by professional astronomers).

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2006/why_side.html

Melting Ice: Answers To Oceanic Pollution?

Melting ice sheets could spur oceans' rise
By Deborah Zabarenko

Based on a report by Reuters on Thursday, scientists says Miami would be a memory, Bangkok a soggy shadow of its former self and the Maldive Islands would vanish if melting polar ice keeps fuelling a faster-than-expected rise in sea levels.

In an issue of the journal Science focussing on global warming, climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona reported that if global trends continue, Earth could ultimately see sea levels 20 feet higher than they are now.

One cannot help but wonder if this could be Nature's way to clean up the pollution accumulating in the oceans and seas, renewing the planet Earth for a new lease of life, a new Spring.

By the end of this century, Earth would be at least 4 degrees F (2.3 degrees C) warmer than now, or about as hot as it was nearly 130,000 years ago.

Back then, significant portions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melted, pushing the global sea levels to about 20 feet higher than current levels.

A similarly dramatic, and in some cases catastrophic, rise in ocean levels could happen by the year 2500, Overpeck said in a telephone interview, but he noted it could come sooner.

"We know when the sea level was that high in the past, and we know how much warming is necessary to get that amount of sea level rise from both Greenland and Antarctica," Overpeck said.

The Earth will get that hot sometime early in the second half of this century, he said, and once it does, the big ice sheets will start melting "in a more dramatic manner" than they currently are.

A conservative estimate would call for sea level rises of 3 feet (1 metre) per century, he said.

He cautioned, however, that this estimate assumes the Earth will get only as hot as it did 130,000 years ago when the ice sheets melted.

"If we decide to keep on the track we're on now and just keep on warming, because of greenhouse gas pollution, then we could easily cook those ice sheets more rapidly," Overpeck said.

The earlier ice melt was concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere in the summer months, and was due largely to changes in Earth's orbit, he said.

"The climate warming we're in now is global and it's year-round and it's due to human influences on the climate system," he said. "That will be more damaging to the ice sheets than the that warming we had 130,000 years ago."

The ice sheets are already melting, accelerated by relatively warm water that eats away at them, said NASA glacier expert Bob Bindschadler.

"It's not really a debate any more about whether sea level is rising or not. I think the debate has shifted to, how rapidly is sea level rising," Bindschadler said in a telephone briefing.

Overpeck's Web site -- http://www.geo.arizona.edu/dgesl/ -- offers dynamic maps of the projected results of the rise in sea levels.

Dengue Fever: Kill The Mosquitoes Or Kill The Virus

After reading so much about dengue fever and the Aedes mosquito, I have a burning question to be answer.
It is better to kill the mosquito or to innoculate or find everyone with denque fever and then isolate them.
Better here means cheaper, faster, effective, safe, environmental friendly.
Simple arithematics tell me mosquitos easily outnumbered people 1000 to 1 if not more. So if we can identify people who are carrying the dengue fever and isolated them it is not better?
I meant you can find mosquitoes everywhere and if they can't find a dengue infected person to bite they wont be spreading the dengue virus, right? To me the problem of finding and killing Aedes mosquitoes seems to be gargantuan compare to the problem of finding people infected with dengue.

Questions that can help answer this questions:

1. Is the dengue virus water borned?
2. Who, what is the natural host of the dengue virus? For example can you find the virus living in a plant?
3. Is there a quick test kit for the dengue virus for human testing.

Snow may not be kids' play all the time

Japan death toll from heavy snow rises to 84
Photo by AP.

The death toll from heavy snow in Japan has reached 84, as relatively warm weather over the weekend sparked avalanches, killing two people.
A 54-year-old man died in hospital after being rescued from the wreckage of his car garage which was crushed by accumulated snow, local media reported.
The man was trapped for two hours under the wreckage in Myoko city, northwest of Tokyo, one of the areas hardest hit by heavy snow in the past month, reports said.
Two mentally disabled men were buried under a wooden-framed house that was also crushed under snow in nearby Joetsu, the reports said. One managed to escape but the other died.
Temperatures rose Saturday in many areas heavily blanketed in snow causing avalanches, including one some 300 to 400 meters long (990 to 1,320 feet) and 30 to 40 meters wide at a ski slope.
Police are investigating whether anyone was injured on the slope in Shimane prefecture, west of Tokyo.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued warnings for avalanches caused by the rapid increase in temperatures and rain over the weekend in the areas covered by heavy snow."

Water By The Tonnes: Tsunami In Indonesia

How are you to know your beach front home is safe from Nature. Capture here a short video of the 2005 tsunami engulfing a beach front hotel.

Tsunami Footage 1 - SURFERmag.com
SURFERmag.com 3 min 44 sec - Sep 30, 2005 SURFERmag.com

Chickens best left alone unless fried and crispy

The bird flue killed a young Thai boy, Asia's 70th victim of the deadly virus, authorities said on Friday,

China also reported a new case of H5N1, the fifth person in the country known to have been infected with the deadly virus. The 31-year-old woman, who lived in the Heishan county of Liaoning province, has since recovered.

The death of the 5-year-old boy from the central province of Nakhon Nayok, took Thailand's bird flue death toll to 14 out of 22 known cases since the virus swept through large parts of Asia in late 2003.
He was the second Thai killed by the H5N1 virus since bird flue erupted anew in the country in October, when a 48-year-old man died.

The boy, who died in hospital on Wednesday, was not known to have had direct contact with chickens, health officials said. But there are chickens raised in his neighbourhood," said Thawat Suntrajarn, head of the Health Ministry's Disease Control Department. This has not however douse fear that the H5NI may not mutate into a form which could pass easily from person to person, setting off a pandemic which could kill millions of people without immunity to the new strain.

Questions: Should people be isolated from chickens? Or should chickens be isolated from birds?
I believe this is an economic question.

A First For That Little Red Dot Republic

Well, this got to be doing Singaporeans proud. In a cautious peek out of the closet, a local Singaporean organiser showcase the Republic's first ever sex exhibition, aptly named SexPo 2005.

Sexpo was more educational then entertaining for the 40000 or so who visited.

A notable highlight, ancient Chinese customs and practices related to sexuality and sexual health.

Others items at Sexpo, sex aids, safe sex practice, love( or what you make of it ), relationships etc.

In another Sexpo first, local producers launch a 35 minute video DVD on the Kama Sutra art of imtimacy.

So was the West promiscuous or did the East charmed them in their hazy colonial days?

More research will be needed.