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Increased cosmic rays are irradiating airline travelers


RT
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 11:54 UTC
airplane
You are now free to radiate about the cabin. Airline travelers and pilots face an even higher risk of radiation doses at elevated altitudes than expected, NASA research shows. The study may impact air travel as well as exploration of Mars.

On Friday, NASA scientists released results from their study NASA's Radiation Dosimetry Experiment, or RaD-X. NASA has been sending giant helium-filled weather balloons into the stratosphere and beyond, and the balloons are equipped with instruments that detect cosmic radiation from outer space.

These are the first detailed insights into radiation levels in the magnetosphere, 120,000 feet above Earth, where charged particles are primarily controlled by the planet's magnetic field.

"The measurements, for the first time, were taken at seven different altitudes, where the physics of dosimetry is very different," Chris Mertens, principal investigator of the RaD-X mission, said.

Comment: The part they're leaving out is that more cosmic rays than ever before are reaching the atmosphere:

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Snowflake Cold

Kashmir experiences record snowfall, 11-feet snow depth in avalanche-hit Gurez


The New Indian Express
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 09:47 UTC
Snowfall continued intermittently for the fourth consecutive day, virtually cutting of the Valley from rest of the country due to closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway
© Shuaib Masoodi
Snowfall continued intermittently for the fourth consecutive day, virtually cutting of the Valley from rest of the country due to closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway
The snowfall in Kashmir in last few days has broken the record of over two decades.

A Meteorological department official said Kashmir has recorded heavy snowfall this year.

He said it was the heaviest snowfall recorded in the valley since 1992.

"We had witnessed major snowfall in 1992 and 2006 but the present snowfall has broken the record of last 25 years," the official said.
The upper reaches of the Valley including Keran, Karnah, Gurez, Machil, Tanghdar, Uri, Gulmarg, Yousmarg, Pahalgam, Sonarmarg have witnessed heavy snowfall. The ski resort of Gulmarg has recorded more than 7 ft of snowfall while Gurez, which has witnessed at least three snow avalanches in 72 hours, has experienced about 11 ft of snowfall.

The plains including Srinagar have also experienced heavy snowfall.
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Attention

Ethiopia's Erta-Ale volcano: Lava flows from crater for first time in a decade


nazret.com
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 01:34 UTC
Erta Ale volcano
© Traveldudes.org
Erta Ale - The world's only permanent lava lake
The world's famous active volcano and molten lava lake of the Afar Regional Sates of Ethiopia, Erta-Ale, is flowing out of its crater for the first time in a decade says Addis Ababa University.

The unusual happening was made public today by Professor Gezahegn Yirgu of the Addis Ababa University Department of Geology.

The molten lava crater is a famous destination for tourists and scientists both from home and abroad. It has been flowing in large amount over for a week now, said the professor.

According to the professor, the molten lava has filled another crater and flowing further south wards towards Afdera town. It the flowing continues, it disrupts life in the area. That needs a serious scrutiny in the area, he said.

The professor also noted that at the right side of the road to Erta-Ale, a new happening has been observed; lava is coming out of a new depression in the area.


Comment: The recent Erta'Ale eruption also produced the largest sulfur dioxide emission ever measured (by satellite) from the volcano.



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Fire

Deadly wildfire like 'Dante's Inferno' razes entire town in Chile

Jonathan Watts and Mauricio Weibel
The Guardian (UK)
Thu, 26 Jan 2017 22:25 UTC
santa olga wildfire
© Martin Bernetti—AFP/Getty Images
Santa Olga, which was destroyed by a forest fire, on Jan. 26, 2017.

One body found in smouldering ruins of Santa Olga, the worst-hit of several smaller communities, as hot, dry weather fuels fiercest fires in recent history

An entire town has been consumed by flames in Chile as unusually hot, dry weather undermined efforts to combat the worst forest fires in the country's recent history.

More than 1,000 buildings, including schools, nurseries, shops and a post office were destroyed in Santa Olga, the biggest of several communities to be reduced to ashes in the Maule region.

One body was later recovered from the ruins. Two people are missing, but most of the residents were evacuated unharmed. Few will have a home to return to.

Drone images showed entire neighbourhoods reduced to ashes. The roads are still neatly symmetrical, but the buildings in block after block lie in smouldering ruins under a hazy sky.

Even for a region that is frequently hit by earthquakes and floods, the extent of the destruction was shocking.

"Nobody can imagine what happened in Santa Olga. What we have experienced here is literally like Dante's Inferno," said the Carlos Valenzuela, the mayor of the encompassing municipality Constitución. "We were recovering after the last earthquake, but this tragedy has messed up everything."


Comment: Chile declares 'state of catastrophe' due to worst forest fires for over a decade

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Binoculars

Tiny seabirds from the Arctic battered by storm rescued in unprecedented numbers on Cape Cod

Steve Annear
Boston Globe
Thu, 26 Jan 2017 19:35 UTC
Dovekie

Dovekie
The Nerf football-sized birds were scattered around Cape Cod.

Someone had located one of the black-and-white critters wandering aimlessly in the parking lot of a Shaws grocery store, in Orleans. A second Dovekie — a waterborne bird and relative of the Puffin — was found nearby, at the Barley Neck Inn. Others were stranded in Brewster, and parts of Eastham.

They were far from home. Dovekies are arctic birds typically found miles offshore, not anywhere near Cape Cod or any big land mass. They had been blown in by powerful winds and large waves produced by Tuesday's Nor-easter, which battered much of the state coastline.

With the help of volunteers and staff from Wild Care, Inc., a non-profit in Eastham that takes in sick and injured wildlife for rehabilitation, many of the Dovekies found along the beaches and marshes and those discovered in backyards or parking lots, were returned to their ocean habitat unharmed Thursday.

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Binoculars

Unusually large influx of over 300 glaucous gulls from the Arctic hits the UK and Ireland

Andrew Forgrave
Daily Post (UK)
Thu, 26 Jan 2017 19:19 UTC
A juvenile Glaucous Gull announces its arrival
© AR Jones Photography
A juvenile Glaucous Gull announces its arrival
From the edge of the Arctic, an influx of Glaucous Gulls has arrived this week, more than 300 recorded across Britain and Ireland.

These are big, beefy birds that spend the nesting season raiding colonies of other seabirds and frequently steal food from other gulls; I've seen one wrestle a fish from the bill of a Great Black-backed Gull, a slightly bigger bird.

Adult Glaucous Gulls are pale grey, with white wing feathers, but most arrivals here are immature birds the colour of slushy snow.

Most Glaucous Gull arrivals have been along North Sea coasts and in western Ireland, but a couple have made it into North Wales, the most showy in Holyhead Bay.

Thanks to the lettered ring on its leg, we know that this one comes from Svalbard (Spitsbergen), 2,000 miles to the north.
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Attention

Dead sperm whale found in Guimaras, Philippines


Panay News
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:58 UTC
Joint personnel of the Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) Buenavista and the Guimaras Environment and Natural Resources Office (GENRO) hauled the 500 kilogram dead sperm whale to MacArthur’s Wharf.
© Coast Guard Sub-Station Iloilo
Joint personnel of the Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) Buenavista and the Guimaras Environment and Natural Resources Office (GENRO) hauled the 500 kilogram dead sperm whale to MacArthur’s Wharf.
A sperm whale, commonly known as balyena, was found dead in Barangay Sawang, Buenavista, Guimaras.

It was already decomposing when Barangay Kagawad Rex Camarista discovered it around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

The marine mammal was 4.5 meters long and weighed an estimated 500 kilograms, Lieutenant Commander Ramil Palabrica, head of the Coast Guard-Iloilo, told Panay News.

It was found 700 meters away from the Sawang shoreline, Palabrica said.
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Cloud Lightning

Youth killed by lightning strike in Uttar Pradesh, India


India.com
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:23 UTC
LIGHTNING
A 17-year-old youth was killed after being struck by lightning at Nasirpur village in the district, police said today.

Monu had come out of his house yesterday during rains when lightning struck, killing him on the spot.

His body has been sent for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, rains have been reported in different places in the district today as well.

Source: Press Trust of India
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Wolf

Fox bit off man's ear, mauled a schoolgirl and chased a supermarket delivery driver in Storrington, United Kingdom

Jennifer Hale
The Sun (UK)
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 14:30 UTC
This fox severed a man’s ear as he slept on a park bench

This fox severed a man’s ear as he slept on a park bench
A man had his ear torn off and several residents of a quiet village were attacked by a 'psycho fox'.

The animal terrorised the streets of Storrington, West Sussex, eating most of a 24-year-old man's ear as he slept on a park bench.

The man had fallen asleep on the bench after drinking - and passers-by rushed to the scene when they heard him screaming in agony.

Two men saw the fox eating the man's ear - and it turned on them when they tried to intervene.

The man was taken to hospital for treatment afterwards.

He was rushed to hospital after screaming in agony as the fox ate parts of his ear

He was rushed to hospital after screaming in agony as the fox ate parts of his ear
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Attention

Man attacked by deer at Otford, Australia

AngelaThompson and Ben Langford
Illawarra Mercury
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 13:39 UTC
A man has suffered stab wounds to his chest and stomach in a deer attack at Otford.

A man has suffered stab wounds to his chest and stomach in a deer attack at Otford.
A man has suffered stab wounds to his chest and stomach in a deer attack at Otford.

The stag's antler pierced 10cms into the right, lower side of the man's chest, puncturing his chest wall, shortly before 3.20pm Friday.

He suffered a second wound to the left side of his stomach.

A NSW Ambulance helicopter was called in to collect the man from Bulgo Beach, in the Royal National Park.

Rusa deer stag
© Queensland Government
Rusa deer stag
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