A new dataset of global hurricanes since 1970 shows absolutely no trend, up or down.
More bad news for Al Gore: A new dataset of global hurricanes since 1970 shows absolutely no trend, up or down.
Tag: science
An meteorite that crashed in the Sierra Nevadas in April was traveling at the fastest speed on record, almost 18 miles per second.
An meteorite that crashed in the Sierra Nevada mountains in April was traveling at the fastest speed on record for an meteorite, almost 18 miles per second.
The recent youtube video showing an eagle swooping down to grab a toddler was faked.
The uncertainty of imagery: The recent youtube viral video showing an eagle swooping down to grab a toddler was faked.
Based on this example alone, it is becoming increasingly possible to fake a news story. You better have multiple sources on any strange event or else take it with a grain of salt.
The bar at the center of the Milky Way.
The bar at the center of the Milky Way.
Another Earth just twelve light years away?
Another Earth just twelve light years away?
The science team for Cassini has released a spectacular mosiac of Saturn and its rings, backlit by the Sun.
The science team for Cassini has released a spectacular mosiac of Saturn and its rings, backlit by the Sun.
NASA has named the impact site where the two GRAIL spacecraft hit the Moon today after American astronaut Sally Ride.
NASA has named the impact site where the two GRAIL spacecraft hit the Moon today after American astronaut Sally Ride.
Though this is a nice gesture, the entire public relations campaign surrounding the GRAIL impact today has been one of the more overhyped exercises at NASA. The impact is going to provide very little new science, and is necessary because no lunar orbit is stable and the spacecraft will eventually crash into the Moon anyway. Better to do it under controlled circumstances. To make such a big deal about it however is hardly interesting, especially since this has been done repeatedly by practically every lunar orbiter.
A preliminary copy of the next IPCC report has been leaked.
A preliminary copy of the next IPCC report has been leaked.
In the coming days there will be much discussion of this document — such as how it appears the IPCC has finally acknowledged the importance of the Sun’s variability to climate change — but for now, I post on the right what is probably its most important admission. This graph from the leaked report shows the rise in global temperatures as predicted by all the different climate models used by the IPCC, compared to actual observed temperatures. As you can see, since the late 1990s there has been no significant increase in global temperature. Moreover, the observed data now sits outside the predicted margin of error for all the models, making every single one of these models completely wrong.
But don’t worry, these facts aren’t important. In fact, any facts that contradict the religion of global warming must be ignored. It is far more important to shut down all industry and live like cavemen, just because we have faith in our belief in global warming.
An attempt to drill down into another buried lake in Antarctica, this time by Great Britain, has encountered serious technical problems because of a failed boiler.
An attempt to drill down into another buried lake in Antarctica, this time by Great Britain, has encountered serious technical problems because of a failed boiler.
China’s Chang’e 2 lunar probe, now out of lunar orbit, did a fly-by of the 3 mile wide asteroid Toutatis as it zipped past the Earth last week, resulting in some spectacular images.
China’s Chang’e 2 lunar probe, now out of lunar orbit, did a fly-by of the 3 mile wide asteroid Toutatis as it zipped past the Earth last week, resulting in some spectacular images.
Launched on October 1, 2010, Chang’e 2 orbited the Moon for 8 months before being redirected last year to the L2 Lagrange point, roughly a million miles on the side of Earth opposite the Sun. But when it left L2 last April, Western observers suspected the spacecraft was heading deeper interplanetary space. It didn’t take long to realize that Chang’e 2 was bound for Toutatis.
This is an example of a very smart re-use of a space probe.
By the way, the first fly-by of another planet took place fifty years ago this week.
Climate experts are now calling for an end to the regularly scheduled mega-climate summits.
Good news: Climate experts are now calling for an end to the regularly scheduled mega-climate summits.
That these summits haven’t accomplished anything but allow climate bureaucrats to burn tons of airplane fossil fuel to gather in some of the world’s nicest warm weather cities during the winter — thereby making them all look like hypocrites — is not the reason these experts want to cancel the summits. They want to cancel the summits because the summits aren’t getting them the results they want: strict regulation on the lives of everyone else.
Nowhere does the article address the simple fact that in the past three years, since the release of the climategate emails, the creditability of the entire climate change field has gone to zero. The public doesn’t buy their sales pitch anymore, and thus neither do politicians, which is why no one is willing to make a deal at these summits. No one believes anything these climate experts are saying, especially since they have refused to clean up the corruption within their field.
The first galaxies?
A river on Titan.
The nine most important archeological and paleontological discoveries in 2012.
The nine most important archeological and paleontological discoveries in 2012.
I especially like #8, since it involves an actual person.
Watch a three mile wide asteroid fly past the Earth – live tonight from 5 to 11 pm (Eastern)!
Watch a three mile wide asteroid fly past the Earth – live tonight from 5 to 11 pm (Eastern)!
The solar scientists change their prediction again
Today, with little fanfare, the solar scientists at the Marshall Space Flight Center adjusted slightly downward their prediction for the upcoming solar maximum, from a sunspot number of 73 down to 72. This was the fourth month in a row that they have revised their prediction.
The Marshall scientists do not archive their predictions, which I suspect is a convenient way of preventing people from noticing how much they change them. I however like to archive these revisions. Below is a full list of their changes during the past two years:
» Read more
Climate models still fail to predict mid- and long-term trends in the climate.The uncertainty of science: Climate models still fail to predict mid- and long-term trends in the climate.
The uncertainty of science: Climate models still fail to predict mid- and long-term trends in the climate.
To test the forecast quality of the 23 most important climate models, the AWI scientists investigated how well these models were able to reproduce atmospheric teleconnection patterns over the past 50 years. A total of 9 known circulation patterns were investigated retrospectively, four of which in special detail. The result was that the spatial distribution of atmospheric teleconnection patterns is already described very well by some models. However, none of the models were able to reliably reproduce how strong or weak the Icelandic Low, Azores High and other meteorological centers of action were at a particular time over the last 50 years, i.e. the temporal distribution patterns. [emphasis mine]
The “centers of action” are large global weather patterns like el Nino that can influence the global climate worldwide. Most climate scientists believe that global warming will manifest itself first in these centers of action. Yet, no climate model was able to predict what we know actually happened during the past fifty years with these large centers.
But we must ignore this fact and base all our climate law on what these models predict. What could go wrong?
In related news, the United Kingdom had its coldest autumn since 1993 this year. And if you look at the temperature graph at the link, covering autumn temperatures since 1910, you will notice hardly any change, up or down.
Vi Hart – What was up with Pythagoras?
An evening pause: “And he was afraid of beans.”
A look at some modern animals, drawn with the same limited fossil record we have for the dinosaurs.
The uncertainty of science: A look at some modern animals, drawn with the same limited fossil record we have for the dinosaurs.
In other words, almost everything we assume about the dinosaurs is probably wrong.