Saturday, February 18, 2017

I was tired to start with,

so after a reasonably busy day and then dinner with daughter, I'm ready to relax and have some study time.  How 'bout you?













































Real science is never really settled,

is it?
By analyzing the orientations of the metals in a set of these jar handles with dates from 750 to 150 BCE, the scientists were able to see traces of the geomagnetic field's behavior. What they found was startling. Sometime late in the 8th century BCE, there was a rapid fluctuation in the field's intensity over a period of about 30 years—first the intensity increased to over 20 percent of baseline, then plunged to 27 percent under baseline. Though the overall trend at that time was a gradual decline in the fields' intensity similar to what we see today, this spike was basically off the charts.

Writing in The New Yorker, Lawrence University geologist Marcia Bjornerud points out that this geomagnetic spike is far bigger than anything geoscientists had believed possible. "Both the height and the sharpness of the spike they recount push up against the limits of what some geophysicists think Earth’s outer core is capable of doing," she explains. "If the eighth-century-BC geomagnetic jeté is real, models for the generation of the magnetic field need significant revision."
And, to make it even more interesting,
The researchers note that this geomagnetic spike is similar to another that occurred in the 10th century BCE. Data from the 10th century spike and this 8th century one indicate that such events were probably localized, not global. That said, they write that "the exact geographic expanse of this phenomenon has yet to be investigated, and the fact that these are very short-lived features that can be easily missed suggests that there is much more to discover."
And they note that such a spike today could mean disaster for the area where it happens.





Speaking of countries doing stupid things, Sweden has another to add to their list

Just a few weeks ago, a bulletproof vest saved the life of a 18-year-old in Malmo, and more people buy and wear bulletproof vests…

[But] Allan Widman, chairman of the Swedish parliamentary defense committee, demands that individuals are prohibited from wearing bulletproof vests to protect themselves from increasing violence, which he believes will increase further without a ban.

Widman has written a bill to the parliament in which he demands that it should be illegal and punishable for individuals to wear body armor in a public place.
Yeah.  Bad guys might use it, so the honest people should be banned from having it.  That's a GREAT idea, isn't it!


Also from Sweden,
Swedish police warns that Stockholm's main train station has become unsafe after being ‘taken over’ by dozens of Moroccan street children

The all-male migrant teen gangs are spreading terror in the centre of the Swedish capital, stealing, groping girls and assaulting security guards, according to Stockholm police. 

Members of the gangs, some as young as nine, roam central Stockholm day and night, refusing help provided by the Swedish authorities.
Apparently the idea of rounding the little bastards up just isn't tolerable, but their taking over the MAIN TRAIN STATION IN THE CAPITAL is...

You spend all these years working to destroy the legitimate gun culture in your country,

and you're surprised by this?  Then you're fools.
Britain's most senior policeman will today call for more trust in armed police as he admits that not enough officers are willing to carry guns. 

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe will use his final major speech as Scotland Yard Commissioner to call for greater public support for firearms officers. 

His comments come after a survey of his force yesterday found that one in eight officers would not be prepared to carry a gun under any circumstances, despite the threat of a Paris-style attack in Britain.
You've demonized people who legally own arms as criminals-in-waiting. 

You've arrested, prosecuted, and convicted people who brought guns they found to a police HQ to turn them in

You've treated someone finding a cartridge in the street as reason for a bomb squad and closing down the block.

You've made it a worse crime to defend yourself with 'too much force' or 'bad intent' than it was for the criminal to attack you.

You've done all that and more.  And this is one of the consequences.  And you're not happy about it.

You created this mess, now you're going to have to deal with it.


Friday, February 17, 2017

Oh, why not?

A bit more information to contemplate on









































It is that day that comes once a year,

so I'm throwing in some extra data samples.  In celebration, you might say