Scientists in Japan Just Found a Detailed Record of Earth's Last Magnetic Switcharoo

 Every 200,000 to 300,000 years, Earth's magnetic poles reverse. What was once the North Pole becomes the south and the other way around. it is a time of invisible upheaval.

The last reversal was unusual because it absolutely was to see you later ago. for a few reasons, the poles have remained oriented the way they're now for about three-quarters of 1,000,000 years. a replacement study has revealed a number of the detail of that reversal.

The study of the Earth's magnetic flux is termed paleomagnetism. It involves the study of rocks and sediments and sometimes archaeological materials. Rocks that were once molten retain a record of the Earth's field of force as they solidified.

The related field of magnetostratigraphy studies the record of geomagnetic reversals that are contained in those rocks. By dating the rocks, researchers can construct a timeline of the Earth's reversals.

The last reversal is known as the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal after the co-discoverers: Bernard Brunhes, a French geophysicist, and Motonori Matuyama, a Japanese geophysicist. Over the years since its discovery, researchers have tried to grasp exactly when it happened, and also how long it took.

This new study is titled "A full sequence of the Matuyama–Brunhes geomagnetic reversal within the Chiba composite section, Central Japan." The lead author is Yuki Haneda, a project researcher at the National Institute of Polar Research and a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan.

The paper is published in the journal Progress in Earth and Planetary Science.

Lava flows are a reliable indicator of the orientation of Earth's magnetic poles at the time the lava solidified. But what they cannot provide could be a timeline. They're more like snapshots that freeze a flash in time.

Lava flows are very helpful when it involves understanding the Earth's force field at the time of solidification. "However, lava sequences cannot provide continuous paleomagnetic records because of the character of sporadic eruptions," lead author Haneda said in very promulgation.

A better record will be found in some sediment deposits, which may form over an extended period of your time. one amongst these deposits is named the Chiba composite section. It's in Japan, and geophysicists consider it to be a really detailed record of the Matuyama-Brunhes reversal.

"In this study, we collected new samples and conducted paleo- and rock-magnetic analyses of samples from the Chiba composite section, never-ending and expanded marine succession in Central Japan, to reconstruct the complete sequence of the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal," Haneda said.

The Chiba composite section is widely considered to contain the foremost detailed marine sedimentary record of the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal, per Haneda.

It is the international standard for the lower boundary of the center Pleistocene Subseries and the Chibanian Stage — when a man emerged as a species.

The Chiba composite section is notable for its well-preserved pollen and marine micro- and macrofossils. It also contains tephra beds. Tephra could be a fragmentary material produced by volcanic eruptions, normally spoken as volcanic ash.

All in all, Chiba provides the foremost reliable chronostratigraphic framework of the fundamental measure round the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal.

What they found goes against what other studies have uncovered, especially when it involves how long the reversal took to occur. Some studies suggest it took several thousand years, while another suggested that the reversal was completed in one human lifetime.

The different time estimates depend largely on where on Earth researchers gather their evidence. This study supported the Chiba composite section says it took about 20,000 years, including a ten,000 year period of instability leading up to the reversal.

"Our data is one amongst the foremost detailed paleomagnetic record during the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal, offering deep insight into the mechanism of the geomagnetic reversal," Haneda said.

The marine micro-fossils and pollen found within the Chiba composite section also hold clues to the magnetic reversal. The team of researchers goes to analyze fossils and pollen next to undertake to find out more.

This figure from the study shows the location of the study area on Japan's Boso Peninsula. (Haneda et al., 2020)

The question that looms over Earth's geomagnetic reversals is 'What effect do they have?' That's outside the scope of this study, but it is the focus of other research. 

Some researchers have wondered if magnetic reversals have contributed to temperature change. While the evidence is nowhere near complete, some scientists have outlined how reversals might play a task.

In 2006 a team of researchers made a presentation to the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting titled "Does the Earth's force field Influence Climate?"

When mentioning the accepted causes of temperature change on Earth, the team said, "Magnetism has seldom been invoked, and evidence for connections between climate and force field variations have received little attention."

"The most intriguing feature is also recently proposed archaeomagnetic jerks. These seem to correlate with significant climatic events."

Archaeomagnetic jerks are quick changes within the Earth's geomagnetic field that are localized instead of global. While there's only a correlation between them and climate, a causal link might sooner or later be established. Could there even be a causal link between magnetic reversals and climate?

The effect that magnetic reversals wear animals is likewise a desirable and open question. Many animals undertake long, migratory voyages. Whales, birds, and sea turtles, for instance.

And there's evidence that some migratory species depend upon Earth's force field to navigate. The phenomenon is named magnetoreception.

How are creatures that depend upon magnetoreception suffering from geomagnetic reversals?

During a reversal, the magnetic poles not only switch places but the sphere strength drops. There might also be temporary poles at the equator or perhaps multiple temporary poles. The poles may also wander around, leaving their original position and returning before eventually switching completely.

It's not clear what effect a reversal has on animals. But there's some evidence that solar storms, with all their magnetic activity, can create confusion for migrating whales and will even drive them to beach themselves.

During a reversal, the protective effect of the Earth's field of force is reduced. More radiation may reach the surface of Earth during a reversal, which could put animals like whales in peril the identical way a solar storm might. However, the evidence for this can be not clear.

In any case, life on Earth has survived many geomagnetic reversals, and still, life thrives. Modern humans haven't faced one yet, so observing the following one are very instructive. 

The most likely effect is going to be on our power and communications systems, including satellites. because the global magnetic flux weakens, more of the Sun's radiation can get through. we all know from things just like the Carrington Event that that scenario is often very damaging. 

While this study can't address these questions, it does advance our understanding of the previous reversal. 

"Our results provide an in-depth and expanded sedimentary record of the M–B geomagnetic reversal and offer valuable new information to further understand the mechanisms and dynamics of geomagnetic reversals," the authors conclude.

The Mystery of The Platypus Deepens With The Discovery of Its Biofluorescent Fur

 Scientists are seeing the Australian platypus in a whole new light. Under a source of illumination, this bizarre-looking creature appears even more peculiar than normal, glowing a soft, greenish-blue hue rather than the everyday brown we're wont to see.

The recent discovery has not been found in the other monotreme species, and it's scientists wondering: Have we been overlooking an ancient world of fluorescent fur?

"Biofluorescence has now been observed in placental New World flying squirrels, marsupial New World opossums, and therefore the monotreme platypus of Australia and Tasmania," the authors write.

"These taxa, inhabiting three continents and a various array of ecosystems, represent the main lineages of Mammalia."

(Anich et al., Mammalia, 2020)

Over the centuries, bio fluorescence has been reported in various plants, fungi, fruits, flowers, insects, and birds. It's only recently, however, that scientists have begun to actively hunt examples within the kingdom. Many discoveries thus far were simply happenstance. 

In 2015, for example, scientists chanced upon the primary fluorescent marine turtle while searching for glowing coral. Two years later, the primary fluorescent frog was found unexpectedly, and therefore the team advised others to "start carrying a UV flashlight to the field".

Among mammals, the primary example of bio fluorescence was reported in 1983 within the Virginia opossum, the sole marsupial in North America. But it wasn't until 2017, and by complete accident, that researchers uncovered something similar in North America's flying squirrels (Glaucomys), which are categorized as placental mammals.

While conducting an evening survey of lichens, researchers were amazed to show their LED torch on a bright, bubble-gum pink opossum.

One of the sole things the opossum and squirrel share in common is their nocturnal lifestyles. this is often also when UV light is at its strongest, which suggests the trait can be common among mammals most active in the dark, dawn, or dusk.

Like flying squirrels and opossums in North America, platypuses in Australia are active in the dark. However, they're separated from these other animals by some 150 million years of evolution.

Australia's hidden glows

Despite being home to a number of the foremost primitive mammals on Earth, relatively little attention has been paid to bio fluorescence in Australia's animals. But if they even have glowing fur, the trait may well be way more ancient and potentially more common among mammals than we thought.

"It was a combination of serendipity and curiosity that led us to shine a UV light on the platypuses at the sector Museum," recalls biologist Paula Spaeth Anich from Northland College. 

"But we were also curious about seeing how deep within the mammalian tree the trait of bio fluorescent fur went."

Researchers began with two stuffed museum specimens, a male and a female collected in Tasmania. These creatures' fur was found to soak up short UV wavelengths so emit actinic radiation, fluorescing green or cyan. 

Examining another platypus specimen collected from New South Wales, researchers found the identical thing.

"The pelage of this specimen, which was uniformly brown under actinic radiation, also bio fluoresced green under UV light," the authors write.

To their knowledge, the team says this can be the primary time bio fluorescence has been reported in monotremes. However, in June of this year, a member of The Queensland Mycological Society claimed to own discovered a road-killed platypus with an analogous glow.

"The fur of the platypus mostly appeared dark/purple needless to say under the UV light, but a number of it turned mosstone, although not brightly so," writes Linda Reinhold within the society's non-peer-reviewed newsletter.

Reinhold also found two northern brown bandicoots on the road with fluorescent pink fur, and he or she did manage to snap those.

Lighting up the dark

It's still too early to mention what advantage this trait might give nocturnal mammals – our sample sizes are too small – although scientists have some ideas.

In 2017, when the flying squirrels were discovered with bio fluorescent fur, some thought it would need to do with camouflage since many trees are covered in bio fluorescent moss and lichen.

However, the bandicoots found by Reinhold are ground-dwelling mammals, and their fluorescence may make them stand out.

Standing out may well be a plus, betting on the circumstances. for a few birds, their bio fluorescent feathers play part in mating rituals. Fish use the trait to speak among themselves.

Yet within the platypus, both the male and feminine specimens showed similar fluorescence, suggesting the trait isn't sexually dimorphic. What's more, because the platypus usually swims with its eyes closed, the glow in its fur probably isn't there to speak with others of its kind.

Instead, researchers think it'd help camouflage the platypus from other UV-sensitive nocturnal predators by absorbing UV light rather than reflecting it.

Further study is required within the wild before we are able to say of course what's happening. we do not even know the way the bio fluorescence of this fur even works, and also the benefits of this trait might vary from species to species.

Still, the very fact that this strange glow exists across the fur of egg-laying monotremes, marsupials, and placental mammals suggests it's deep roots.

If nothing else, the invention could be a nice reminder of our sheer ignorance.

Researchers Decipher The Secret Ingredients of Ancient Egyptian Ink

 An analysis of 12 ancient papyrus fragments has revealed some surprising details about how the Egyptians mixed their red and black ink – findings which could give us lots more insight into how the earliest writers managed to urge their words down on the page.

We know that ancient Egyptians were using inks to put in writing a minimum of as far back as 3200 BCE. However, the samples studied during this case were dated to 100-200 CE and originally collected from the famous Tebtunis temple library – the sole large-scale institutional library is known to possess survived from the amount.

Using a kind of synchrotron radiation techniques, including the utilization of high-powered X-rays to analyse microscopic samples, the researchers revealed the fundamental, molecular, and structural composition of the inks in unprecedented detail.

"By applying the 21st century, state-of-the-art technology to reveal the hidden secrets of ancient ink technology, we are contributing to the disclosing of the origin of writing practices," says physicist Marine Cotte from the EU Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in France.

The red inks, typically wont to highlight headings, instructions, or keywords, were presumably coloured by the natural pigment ochre, the researchers say – traces of iron, aluminium, and hematite point to the present being the case.

More intriguing was the invention of lead-based compounds in both the black and therefore the red inks, with none of the normal lead-based pigments used for colouring. this implies the lead was added for technical purposes.

"Lead-based driers prevent the binder from spreading an excessive amount of, when ink or paint is applied on the surface of paper or papyrus," the team writes in their study.

"Indeed, within the present case, lead forms an invisible halo surrounding the ochre particles."

As well as explaining how the traditional Egyptians kept their papyrus smudge-free, it also suggests some pretty specialised ink manufacturing techniques. It's likely that the temple priests who wrote using this ink weren't those who were originally mixing it.

"The indisputable fact that the lead wasn't added as a pigment but as a drier infers that the ink had quite a complex recipe and will not be made by just anyone," says Egyptologist Thomas Christiansen, from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

"We hypothesise that there have been workshops specialised in preparing inks."

X-ray fluorescence maps showing iron (red) and lead (blue) in the red ink. (The Papyrus Carlsberg Collection/ESRF)

Interestingly enough, the preparation of amount of money inside a workshop has also been mentioned during a Greek document dated to the third century CE, backing up the thought of specialized ink mixing in Egypt and across the Mediterranean.

This technique of using lead as a desiccant was also adopted in 15th century Europe as work of art began to seem – but it might seem that the traditional Egyptians discovered the trick a minimum of 1,400 years earlier.

The researchers are planning more tests and different forms of analysis, but what they've found thus far is already fascinating – another example of how modern-day scientific instruments can unlock even more secrets from the past, even right down to coloured ink.

"The advanced synchrotron-based microanalyses have provided us with invaluable knowledge of the preparation and composition of red and black inks in ancient Egypt and Rome 2,000 years ago," says Christiansen.

A Rare Hybrid of a Comet And an Asteroid Is Showing Off Its Cometary Traits

Centaurs are rare celestial objects which will combine a number of the various features of asteroids and comets. They're basically rocky in nature, like asteroids, but may also throw out clouds of dust and gas as their exteriors vaporize, like comets.

When centaurs emit these gases, they're considered active. We've only ever found 18 chemically active centaurs within the last century some, but now a replacement one has been added to the list – and it would be ready to tell us more about how these mysterious flying rocks develop their unique characteristics.

Keeping a detailed eye on centaurs may be a huge challenge – they seem to be a great distance away, orbit in irregular ways, and take up lots of telescope time – but during this case, researchers studied archival images similarly as used new data gathered from the Dark Energy Camera at the Inter-American Observatory and therefore the Walter Baade Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory, both in Chile, and therefore the Large Monolithic Imager at Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona.

"We developed a unique technique that mixes observational measurements – for instance, colour, and dirt mass – with modelling efforts to estimate such characteristics because the object's volatile sublimation and orbital dynamics," says astronomer Colin Chandler, from the Northern Arizona University.

That technique, involving a specially developed algorithm to appear for activity traces in existing space imagery, revealed evidence of Centaur 2014 OG392 converting solids into gases (sublimation) and giving up a protracted comet-like halo.

Backed up with new observations recorded over the course of the past two years, it seems clear that this particular centaur is special. Computer modelling then helped the astronomers work out what kinds of ice might be burning off the rock.

It's a tricky calculation to create, not least because the asteroid is perhaps not made of one form of ice but from a combination of materials that may all burn differently. The researchers think they know what's happening, however, and what can be happening on other similar objects.

"We detected a coma as far as 400,000 km [248,548 miles] from 2014 OG392," says Chandler, "and our analysis of sublimation processes and dynamical lifetime suggest carbonic acid gas and/or ammonia are the foremost likely candidates for causing activity on this and other active centaurs."

A coma is an envelope of ice and comet dust that forms around the comet's nucleus because it passes near the Sun. it's the coma that provides comets with their fuzzy appearance.

Because of the invention, The Centaur is not any longer a centaur any longer – it is a fully-fledged comet, with the designation C/2014 OG392 (PANSTARRS), something that the researchers are "very excited" about.

These varieties of objects, et al. like them, are thought to possess barely changed since the very period of time of the system, which means they're incredibly useful time capsules for studying how our planets formed and settled into their own orbits.

Any centaurs, comets, and asteroids that are still around are still around for a reason – they haven't spun out of the scheme or flown into the Sun – and scientists can work backwards from that.

There's lots more to get about centaurs, and we're learning more about how they work all the time. As more data is gathered and better analysis techniques are developed, we should always finally be able to solve a number of the mysteries surrounding these weird and wonderful system travellers.

Could Nasa Nuke Planet X To Save Earth Or Is It Too Late?

 According to crazy conspiracy theorists, who believe the mythical planet will appear within the skies on Saturday, NASA should be looking to wipe out Nibiru with a W.M.D. to avoid wasting Earth from death and destruction. Planet X believers claim the massive planet, also referred to as Planet X, will pass Earth at four million miles away in October, but the vast size of it'll cause our poles to modify and large seismic activity thanks to the gravity.

And Christian theorists claim the arrival of Nibiru from Saturday, September 23 indicates The Rapture is on the point of start before the Second Coming of Christ.

NASA has reassured us Nibiru could be a massive online hoax, however, many conspiracy theorists continue claiming a large hide is underway and world leaders are preparing to cover away in bunkers while the remainder folks perish.

Some have even outlandishly claimed online that NASA should be looking to “nuke” Nibiru before it gets here.

One online forum user posted: “Isn’t this planet X presupposed to be amazingly large?

“I say, if that planet comes around we declare war on those technology hoarding a** wipes. I put forth a motion to nuke the **** out of this Planet X. Put this in your sig if you're in agreement.”

But if Earth were faced with the threat of a rogue planet passing, could Nasa actually send nuclear warheads into space to enlarge Nibiru to avoid the catastrophe or would the mission be in vain?

Firstly, the US space agency says it'll NOT take any action because it's dismissed Nibiru as a hoax.

Nasa scientist Dr David Morrison said: “Nibiru isn’t real, Planet X isn’t real. We shouldn’t worry about this hoax.”

Dr Morrison added: “There is not any credible evidence whatever for the existence of Nibiru. There aren't any pictures, no tracking, no astronomical observations.

“I can quite specifically say how we all know Planet X or Nibiru doesn't exist and doesn't threaten the planet.”

Secondly, Nasa doesn't yet have the technology.

The Nasa Near-Earth Object defence programme (NEOWISE) has yet to check any theoretical way of coping with even an oversized asteroid that threatened the planet, let alone a rogue planet if one existed.

And, there's not expected to be any useable system in situ for a minimum of the following 100 years. To add to the current, two out of three of Nasa’s proposed deflection strategies, firing nuclear bombs at an asteroid heading towards Earth, or trying to alter its course using the gravitational attraction of an area craft, wouldn't work in step with a panel of experts from campaign group World Asteroid Day.

It is believed that hitting a serious asteroid with a nuclear bomb would simply cause it to blow into smaller fragments that may precipitate on earth, increasing the realm of impact.

Scientists also fear we might not have a spaceship large enough to knock even an enormous asteroid after all if it had been heading to earth, so there's little that would be done to affect the trail of a planet.

Nasa itself believes it should be possible to destroy one if it absolutely was far enough away when the warhead struck.

They have been investigating a way to use nuclear bombs to deflect comets, asteroids and meteors.

But Nasa is confident it still has time to develop its deflection strategy.

Nasa scientist Jason Kessler, who runs the ‘near-Earth” asteroid programme, said: “The likelihood of something hitting us within the future is pretty guaranteed, although we’re not freaking out that there's an imminent threat.”

The US space agency is confident there are not any large asteroids on the right track for Earth anything soon.

A Nasa spokesman said: “Nasa knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, therefore the probability of a significant collision is kind of small.

“In fact, as best as we will tell, no large object is probably going to strike the planet any time within the next several hundred years.”

But online forums are awash with debate about Nibiru.

YouTube by Sky-Watcher Matt Rogers, a conspiracy theorist who scours the sky for evidence of Nibiru claims in an exceedingly new video that world leaders know Nibiru is coming, and that we are all doomed, but they're keeping it from the general public to forestall panic, as they wait to cover in underground bunkers.

Mr Rogers, who is predicated within the UK, said: “NASA has covered it up. the govt shut it all the way down to prevent mass panic, but it's coming, this is often a fact.”

There is, of course, no evidence to copy his claims.

Interactive Map Shows Where You'd Pop Up If You Dug Straight Through The Earth

 In most countries, people have a belief about where they'd find themselves if they dug their way through the middle of the planet and popped abreast of the opposite side. For people within the USA, they think it’s China. For people within the UK, they think it’s Australia. Australians think it's somewhere in Europe and hope it isn't the united kingdom because the weather is just too terrible there.

But prepare to readjust your childhood belief, as this interactive map will show you where you'd really find yourself if you were to dig your way through the world and somehow aren't getting burned to death by the core, or crushed by the extraordinary pressure. If you're within the UK, sorry, don't pack a hat with corks on. One, it's offensive, and two, you are going to finish up within the ocean just off the south-east coast of recent Zealand, not Australia like you have been taught. 

In fact, there aren't many places in Europe it's safe to dig down from. Most European countries lead straight to the ocean. the sole really safe place you'll visit from Europe by digging your way down is central Spain.

And where would you finish up if you travel from the USA? You guessed it. You're also ending up within the sea. The closest place we are able to find where you'd find yourself near actual terra firma is near Fort McMurray in Canada, which places you on one among the Heard Island and McDonald Islands. You can try the map for yourself here, and enter your location to search out out your antipode point.

So before you are trying and dig your way through the world sort of a supervillain or a crazed mole, take a glance at the map and see where you'll find yourself. you would like to be dressed appropriately upon arrival.

NASA confirms there is water on the moon that astronauts could use

 Water on the moon could also be more abundant and accessible than previously thought, which may be excellent news for future astronauts.

Paul Hayne at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his team used camera images and temperature measurements taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to map cold, permanently shadowed regions on the moon, which are thought to be the places possibly to contain ice because of their lack of exposure to sunlight.

While there has been any evidence for the presence of water on the moon, these “cold traps” were previously thought to be restricted to deep, kilometers-wide craters. However, the team found that there are micro-cold traps – areas at the meter and millimeter-scale that are permanently shadowed and then could contain more accessible ice. Altogether, the researchers estimate that cold traps occupy about 40,000 square kilometers or roughly 0.1 percent of the moon’s surface.

“We’re seeing billions and billions of those cold traps at scales that haven’t been seen before,” says Hayne. “That presents a chance to extract ice rather more readily. we predict this is often revolutionary in terms of what is going to be possible for astronauts on the moon.”

A separate study has additionally confirmed the presence of water ice (H2O) instead of hydroxyl (OH), which previous observations were unable to tell apart between. Casey Honniball at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and her colleagues used the agency’s SOFIA telescope, which is mounted on a plane to induce a clearer view through Earth’s atmosphere, to identify a spectral signature that's unique to water. “I screamed in excitement,” says Hannibal.

Hannibal says the readings are in keeping with the presence of individual water molecules incorporated in grains within the lunar surface. “This type of water is predicted to be widespread on the surface,” she says.

“Water is central to human life but is pricey to start space,” says Hannibal. “Finding water on the moon may mean we will utilize the water that's there versus bringing the water with us.”

But it still isn’t clear how stable water during this form is over long periods, says William Bottke at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado. “Astronauts may additionally have great difficulty extracting this water,” he says. “For example, to replenish a bottle, the astronauts might process thousands of kilograms of rocks.”