ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2010) — The unusual "knot" in the bright, narrow ribbon of neutral atoms emanating in from the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space appears to have "untied," according to a paper published online in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Top: The IBEX science team compares the first and second maps to reveal whether there are time variations in the ribbon or the more distributed emissions around the ribbon. We see that the first and second maps are relatively similar; however, there are significant time variations as well. Bottom: One of the clear features visible in the IBEX maps is an apparent knot in the ribbon. This visualization shows a close-up of the ribbon (green and red) superimposed on the stars and constellations in the nighttime sky. (Credit: IBEX Science Team/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio/ESA)
Analyses of the first map, released last fall, suggest the ribbon is somehow ordered by the direction of the local interstellar magnetic field outside the heliosphere, influencing the structure of the heliosphere more than researchers had previously believed. The knot feature seen in the northern portion of the ribbon in the first map stood apart from the rest of the ribbon as the brightest feature at higher energies.
While the second map, released publicly with the just-published paper, shows the large-scale structure of the ribbon to be generally stable within the six-month period, changes are also apparent. The polar regions of the ribbon display lower emissions and the knot diminishes by as much as a third and appears to "untie" as it spreads out to both lower and higher latitudes.
"What we're seeing is the knot pull apart as it spreads across a region of the ribbon," says Dr. David J. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and an assistant vice president at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "To this day the science team can't agree on exactly what causes the knot or the ribbon, but by comparing different sky maps we find the surprising result that the region is changing over relatively short time periods. Now we have to figure out why."
As the IBEX spacecraft gathers a wealth of new information about the dynamic interactions at the edge of the solar system -- the region of space that shields our solar system from the majority of galactic cosmic ray radiation -- the IBEX team continues to study numerous theories about the source of the ribbon and its unusual features.
Space Ribbon Unwinds from Science News on Vimeo.
The Sanctity Of Universal Life
ReplyDeleteWe Have A Problem:
Everywhere we look, there is turmoil and despair: wars, famine, natural disasters and chaos. Ignorance has led to fear, fear has led to hatred, hatred has led to intolerance; intolerance has led to injustice. We are standing at the abyss, contemplating our demise. No one seems to know how to avert our course and resignation has become our refuge. But there has always been fear, there has always been hatred, there has always been intolerance, there has always been injustice. Why does it seem so different now? Why does it seem so omnipresent, so pervasive, and so insidious? It is because the conditions of the times are moving at a rate of hypervelocity. Current events are recorded and disseminated at the speed of light via the internet and satellite communications. The media has a format that creates a sense that the events are in your own back yard, thus creating psychological neuroses on a mass scale; only highlighting the problems of the world, never offering solutions. This provides the opening for the unscrupulous to infect the mind of the ignorant; the mind of the intellectually lazy, with demagoguery and hate mongering. Religion, often considered the antidote, offers no consolation. Faith is being eroded by the spiritually illiterate, morally bankrupt, overzealous and opportunistic purveyors of corrupted interpretations and intentional fallacy.
We’re out of time; spiraling out of control on a rudderless Ark. The world is facing crises on an unprecedented scale. From as far reaching as the Cosmos to as near as the depth of our planet’s core, recent discoveries and events have confirmed legitimate threats to our existence that we cannot control. Our entire planet is gripped by fear and consumed with violence; an absurd, destructive cycle, a death spiral. The more fearful we become, the more dangerous we become.
World leaders offer no solutions, blinded by greed and drunk with power, their only concern is to maintain their status. The new “spring” of revolution currently taking place is not the solution people hope for. Revolution is Natural Law in effect. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. People just want their turn. It starts out with high ideals and degenerates into abuse, greed and arrogance. The Mayans said ‘the downfall of civilization is preceded by greed and arrogance;’ check our history.
Unfortunately, World Religions have not been very helpful in solving Humanity’s problems either. Instead, the religions of the world have offered guilt, blood, confusion, obfuscation or disengagement. Everyone says theirs is the true god; the true religion. The problem is; we’re all wrong and we’re all right. The solution is; we’re all wrong and we’re all right. How do we “separate the wheat from the chaff?” The fact of the matter is, every religion possesses a sliver of Truth, corrupted by transmission; wrapped in superstition and fallacy. Religions as we know them are merely belief systems people choose to ascribe to, based on personal preference. The same as some people choosing to join one club over another, based on your likes and dislikes. Very little has to do with the truths propounded or inherent in the chosen religion.
The Solution:
continued @ link below
http://paradigmshift-thesanctityoflife.blogspot.com/2011/07/sanctity-of-life-one-true-religion.html