Take off a couple of zeros and divide by two and I will buy one. ...but it will probably kill me so I hope it stays out of my budget!
Ghost ship of Sutton Hoo to sail again centuries on Mark Bridge December 9 2019, 12:01am, The Times History please log in to view this image Experts have created a 3D replica of the 7th-century Sutton Hoo from imprints that it left in the earth The gold and silver treasures of Sutton Hoo have dazzled archaeologists and the public for decades. Now experts believe that creating a working, full-size replica of the ship in which they were discovered will hold the key to understanding how the Anglo-Saxons started England’s seafaring tradition. The 90ft vessel, dating from the early 7th century, was found in a burial mound in Suffolk 80 years ago. It has been described as a “ghost ship” because only rows of rusted rivets and an imprint of its long-rotted timbers remained for excavators. Based on these, a team of archaeologists, historians and shipwrights has used computer-modelling techniques to create a 3D plan of the ship that will be used to construct a replica capable of undergoing arduous sea…
bloody microbes have stolen gretas childhood Climate change: Methane pulse detected from South Sudan wetlands By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent, San Francisco 7 hours ago please log in to view this image Image copyright Copernicus Data 2019/ESA/Sentinel-2 Image caption The Sudd: Microbes in saturated soils will produce methane please log in to view this image Scientists think they can now explain at least part of the recent growth in methane (CH4) levels in the atmosphere. Researchers, led from Edinburgh University, UK, say their studies point to a big jump in emissions coming from just the wetlands of South Sudan. Satellite data indicates the region received a large surge of water from East African lakes, including Victoria. This would have boosted CH4 from the wetlands, accounting for a significant part of the rise in global methane. Perhaps even up to a third of the growth seen in the period 2010-2016, when considered with East Africa as a whole. "There's not much ground-monitoring in this region that can prove or disprove our results, but the data we have fits together beautifully," said Prof Paul Palmer. "We have independent lines of evidence to show the Sudd wetlands expanded in size, and you can even see it in aerial imagery - they became greener," he told BBC News. Methane surge needs 'urgent attention' Greenhouse gas concentrations break records Last decade 'on course' to be warmest please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and - just like carbon dioxide - is increasing its concentration in the atmosphere. It's not been a steady rise, however. Indeed, during the early 2000s, the amount of the gas even stabilised for a while. But then the concentration jumped in about 2007, with a further uptick recorded in 2014. CH4 (methane) is now climbing rapidly and today stands at just over 1,860 parts per billion by volume. There's currently a debate about the likely sources, with emissions from human activities such as agriculture and fossil-fuel use undoubtedly in the mix. But there is a large natural component as well, and a lot of current research is centred on contributions from the tropics. please log in to view this image Media playback is unsupported on your device Mark Lunt: "There is still huge uncertainty about methane sources" Exit player Media captionMark Lunt: "There is still huge uncertainty about methane sources" The Edinburgh group has been using the Japanese GOSAT spacecraft to try to observe the greenhouse-gas behaviour over peatlands and wetlands in Africa, and found significant rises in methane emissions above South Sudan centred on the years 2011-2014. Believing the region called the Sudd could be the culprit (soil microbes in wetlands are known to produce a lot of methane), the team started looking through other satellite data-sets to make the link. Land surface temperature observations supported the idea that soils in the region had become wetter; gravity measurements across East Africa also detected an increase in the weight of water held in the ground; and satellite altimeters had tracked changes in the height of lakes and rivers to the south. "The levels of the East African lakes, which feed down the Nile to the Sudd, increased considerably over the period we were studying. It coincided with the increase in methane that we saw, and would imply that we were getting this increased flow down the river into the wetlands," explained Dr Mark Lunt. please log in to view this image Image copyright Copernicus Data/ESA/Tropomi Image caption Tropomi detects a methane hotspot right over the Sudd (green square) please log in to view this image The Edinburgh group published its findings on Wednesday in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, and, as an update to the story, Dr Lunt is presenting new data here at the American Geophysical Union meeting. He's been looking at methane observations made by the EU's Sentinel-5P satellite. Its Tropomi instrument sees CH4 at a finer resolution than GOSAT, and it's clear from the European mapper that methane emissions are still elevated over South Sudan. The level of activity is nothing like the same as in the early 2010s, but the Sudd wetlands remain an important source. "It's a huge area so it's not surprising that it's pumping out a lot of methane. To give context - the Sudd is 40,000 sq km: two times the size of Wales. And being that big we expect to see the emissions from space," Dr Lunt told BBC News.
Denman Glacier: Deepest point on land found in Antarctica By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent, San Francisco please log in to view this image Media playback is unsupported on your device BedMachine Antarctic: Fly over the new map Exit player Media captionBedMachine Antarctic: Fly over the new map The deepest point on continental Earth has been identified in East Antarctica, under Denman Glacier. This ice-filled canyon reaches 3.5km (11,500ft) below sea level. Only in the ocean are the valleys deeper still. The discovery is illustrated in a new map of the White Continent that reveals the shape of the bedrock under the ice sheet in unprecedented detail. Its features will be critical to our understanding of how the polar south might change in the future. For comparison, the lowest exposed land on Earth, at the Dead Sea shore, is just 413m (1,355ft) below sea level. The new finding shows, for example, previously unrecognised ridges that will impede the retreat of melting glaciers in a warming world; and, alternatively, a number of smooth, sloping terrains that could accelerate withdrawals. "This is undoubtedly the most accurate portrait yet of what lies beneath Antarctica's ice sheet," said Dr Mathieu Morlighem, who's worked on the project for six years. Greenland ice melt 'is accelerating' Study underpins key idea in Antarctic ice loss Antarctic instability 'is spreading' please log in to view this image Image copyright BedMachine/UCI/BAS Image caption Denman's deep trough (dark blue) is 20km wide and 100km long - all filled with ice The University of California, Irvine, researcher is presenting his new compilation, called "BedMachine Antarctica", here at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting. It is also being published simultaneously in the journal Nature Geoscience. The map essentially fills all of the gaps in airborne surveys of the continent. For decades, radar instruments have crisscrossed Antarctica, sending down microwave pulses to peer through the ice and trace the underlying rock topography. But there are still vast areas for which there is little or no data. Dr Morlighem's solution has been to use some physics - mass conservation - to plug these holes. For instance, if it's known how much ice is entering a narrow valley and how fast it's moving - the volume of that ice can be worked out, giving an insight into the depth and roughness of the hidden valley floor. please log in to view this image Media playback is unsupported on your device Mathieu Morlighem: "The shape of the underlying bedrock influences how glaciers flow" Exit player Media captionMathieu Morlighem: "The shape of the underlying bedrock influences how glaciers flow" For the 20km-wide Denman Glacier, which flows towards the ocean in Queen Mary Land, this approach reveals the ice to be descending to over 3,500m below sea level. "The trenches in the oceans are deeper, but this is the deepest canyon on land," explained Dr Morlighem. "There have been many attempts to sound the bed of Denman, but every time they flew over the canyon - they couldn't see it in the radar data. "The trough is so entrenched that you get side-echoes from the walls of the valley and they make it impossible to detect the reflection from the actual bed of the glacier," he told BBC News. For comparison, the deepest ocean point - in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific - goes to just shy of 11km below the sea surface. There are land canyons that can be described to have taller sides, such as Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in China, but their floors are above sea level. please log in to view this image Image copyright NASA/USGS/Landsat Image caption Byrd Glacier is a giant ice stream that cuts through the Transantarctic Mountains please log in to view this image Much of what is in BedMachine Antarctica may not - at first glance - look that different from previous bedmaps. But, on closer inspection, there are some fascinating details that will generate considerable discussion among polar experts. For example, along the Transantarctic Mountains there is a series of glaciers that cut through from the continent's eastern plateau and feed into the Ross Sea. The new data shows a high ridge sits under these glaciers that will limit the speed at which they can drain the plateau. This will be important if future warming destabilises the floating shelf of ice that currently sits on top of the Ross Sea. Removal of this platform would ordinarily be expected to speed up the flow of feeding glaciers. "If something happened to the Ross Sea Ice Shelf - and right now it's fine, but if something happened - it will most likely not trigger the collapse of East Antarctica through these 'gates'. If East Antarctica is threatened, it's not from the Ross Sea," Dr Morlighem said. please log in to view this image Image copyright POLARGAP Image caption Airborne instruments are used to map Antarctica, but there are still huge data gaps In contrast to the situation in the Transantarctic Mountains, BedMachine Antarctica finds few impediments to the rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier. Roughly the size of the UK, this mighty ice stream terminates in the Amundsen Sea in the west of the continent. It worries scientists because it sits on a bed that slopes back towards the land - a geometry that tends to assist withdrawal. And the new map reveals only two ridges, some 30km and 50km upstream of Thwaites' current grounding line, that could act as potential brakes. Go past these and the melting glacier's pull-back could be unstoppable. BedMachine Antarctica will be fed into climate models that try to project how the continent might evolve as temperatures on Earth rise in the coming centuries. Getting realistic simulations out of these models depends on having more precise information on the thickness of the ice sheet and the type of terrain over which it must slide. Co-worker Dr Emma Smith from Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute uses this analogy: "Imagine if you poured a bunch of treacle on to a flat surface and watched how it flowed outwards. Then pour the same treacle on to a surface with a lot of lumps and bumps, different slopes and ridges - the way the treacle would spread out would be very different. And it's exactly the same with the ice on Antarctica," she told BBC News.
A lot of satellites are awaiting to be launched. Satellite constellations: Astronomers warn of threat to view of Universe https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50870117
A very lucky man saved by both “technology” and simple “luck”! Austria avalanche: Skier survives five hours in 'Christmas miracle' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50923644
A dangerous application of new technology: Russia deploys Avangard hypersonic missile system. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50927648
It will be a very big rocket. I look forward to seeing the final product! Nasa Moon rocket core leaves for testing https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51048986