The Chatter Box

MODIS Rapidfire For Citizen Scientists - #4This is part #4 of a brief explanation of the NASA/GSFC MODIS Rapid Response System - Rapidfire - together with a Howto for citizen scientists.  The first part was MODIS Rapidfire For Citizen Scientists - #1In this part, I describe some of the things to be seen in the MODIS images.

Search For Franklin - A Free ResourceMuch of what was known about the Arctic before the 20th century came from the sheer guts and determination of men who didn't know how to quit.The quest for a North West Passage was promoted by commercial and military considerations.  After the loss of the Franklin Expedition with two entire ships' crews, a 'no expense spared' approach was taken to finding the lost expedition.Many of the ships engaged in the search had to be abandoned due to the terrible conditions.  Eventually, all hope of finding any member of the Franklin crews alive was abandoned.

Understanding IceIce is just frozen water, right?Wrong!Now you will perhaps inquire with astonishment how it is possible that ice, which is the most brittle and fragile of substances, can flow in the glacier like a viscous mass; and you may perhaps be disposed to regard this as one of the wildest and most improbable statements that have ever been made by philosophers.Hermann von Helmholtz, 1865It's very difficult to make absolutely pure ice, even in the lab.  Most especially in natural conditions, when ice forms it includes all sorts of chemicals and particles - and they affect its properties significantly, as does the water itself and the bottom topography.

Am I Allowed To Say This?Law is the means by which the simplest ideas are expressed in the most complex language.Civil law is the means by which private arguments are rapidly made public at great expense.Right!  That's the whimsy out of the way.  What follows is my attempt to throw down some ideas for open discussion of the following proposition:The world's nations should get together and formulate an international treaty on libel law.Freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the highest degree of freedom known to mankind.  If you can suppress freedom of speech, you can suppress any human behaviour.

Arctic Ice July 2010In about a week the National Snow and Ice Data Center - NSIDC - will be publishing its analysis of June's sea ice.  I expect them to report another record loss of sea ice.My prediction for July is that Arctic sea ice loss will accelerate.Measuring ice behaviour

Scientific ConsensusSome scientific ideas are so easily grasped that they are easily explained to the general public.  Other ideas can only be fully understood after a minimum level of training and studies in the relevant area.  A few ideas are so obscure, so far removed from everyday experience that only a very few specialists fully understand the topic.Science is a landscape in which anyone may wander.  How pleasant to sit in the green pastures of accumulated knowledge and dip the fingers in a stream of certainty.  But how much more exciting it is to scuba-dive through flooded caves in search of the foundations of science: how much more satisfying it is to climb the highest peak and see the bigger picture.

Arctic Tipping Points - #7: Can The Arctic Recover?In Arctic Tipping Points - #6: Are We There Yet? I attempted to show that there are multiple feedback mechanisms which are capable of causing a composite positive feedback effect in which Arctic sea ice once reduced beyond a limit will disperse very rapidly and will fail to recover.Since I published that Article - April 29 2010 - I have investigated the matter further.  Current satellite data and historical reports combine to suggest that this year's Arctic sea ice loss will be the greatest ever seen in human history.

J' Recuse!I must declare my interest right up front.I am deeply concerned that we are leaving behind us a legacy of planet-wide pollution and despoilation for those who follow us as custodians of our planet.I am not anti-oil.  I do, however, strongly favor regulation of the oil industry on the lines of the aviation industry.If the aviation regulators grounded all BritAv JingoJets after one such airliner lost its tail in midair, would anyone think it sane to seek a court injunction against that safety notice?U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman should have recused himself, rather than make statements such as:"If some drilling equipment parts are flawed, is it rational to say all

Arctic Ice June 2010 - Solstice UpdateThis is an update to my articles Arctic Ice June 2010 and Arctic Ice June 2010 - Update, part of my ongoing series of articles about the Arctic.The NSIDC ice extent graph continues to show ice extent well below the 2007 levels.

MODIS Rapidfire For Citizen Scientists - #3This is part #3 of a brief explanation of the NASA/GSFC MODIS Rapid Response System - Rapidfire - together with a Howto for citizen scientists.  The first parts were - MODIS Rapidfire For Citizen Scientists - #1MODIS Rapidfire For Citizen Scientists - #2In this part, I'll show you some more tips on using the Arctic mosaic and images from the various bands available.Pinpointing the North Pole

BP's Tried And Tested FailuresIf you have a problem which has been attacked before, you don't try failed methods again unless your name is Homer Simpson - or you are too young to remember the event.The methods tried by BP in the Gulf of Mexico have been tried before.  They have failed before.  In the Gulf of Mexico.  At 18,000 feet, the same depth as the Deepwater Horizon well.

When Art Meets WarIf you want to make a good historical movie you should find yourself a good historian.If one of the characters is a singer, make sure they sing in a contemporary style.Now add in a stirring contemporary theme tune and you may well have a blockbuster.A war movie which misses an opportunity to show the realities of war is just so much blood and guts.  The realities of war are not just the horrors of bloodshed.  There are realities of psychology, physics and philosophy: of human interactions, of weaponry and of theories of war.