The 'missing element' in Earth's core has been identified

Japanese scientists believe they have established the identity of a "missing element" within the Earth's core.

They have been searching for the element for decades, believing it makes up a significant proportion of our planet's centre, after iron and nickel.
Now by recreating the high temperatures and pressures found in the deep interior, experiments suggest the most likely candidate is silicon.
The discovery could help us to better understand how our world formed.
Lead researcher Eiji Ohtani from the University of Tokyo told BBC News: "We believe that silicon is a major element - about 5% [of the Earth's inner core] by weight could be silicon dissolved into the iron-nickel alloys."

Hard to reach
The innermost part of our Earth is thought to be a solid ball with a radius of about 1,200km.
It is far too deep to investigate directly, so instead scientists study how seismic waves pass through this region to tell them something of its make-up.
These difficult experiments are really exciting because they can provide a window into what Earth's interior was like soon after it first formed.
It is mainly composed of iron, which makes up an estimated 85% of its weight, and nickel, which accounts for about 10% of the core.
Add this together though and around 5% is unaccounted for.
To investigate, Eiji Ohtani and his team created alloys of iron and nickel and mixed them with silicon.
They then subjected them to the immense pressures and temperatures that exist in the inner core. They discovered that this mixture matched what was seen in the Earth's interior with seismic data.
Prof Ohtani said more work was needed to confirm the presence of silicon and that it did not rule out the presence of other elements.
Core formation
Commenting on the research, Prof Simon Redfern from the University of Cambridge,  said,  "These difficult experiments are really exciting because they can provide a window into what Earth's interior was like right after it first formed, 4.5 billion years ago, when the core first started to separate from the rocky parts of Earth.
"But other scientists have recently suggested that oxygen might also be important in the core."
He said that knowing what is there could help scientists to better understand the conditions that prevailed during the formation of the Earth. In particular whether the early interior was one where oxygen was greatly limited - known as reducing conditions. Or whether oxygen was in abundance, which is described as oxidizing.
If a certain amount of silicon had been incorporated in Earth's core more than four billion years ago, as suggested by Prof Ohtani's results, that would have left the planet relatively oxygen rich. But if, instead, oxygen was sucked into the core that would leave the rocky mantle surrounding the core depleted of the oxygen.
Since the planet is oxygen rich, it would appear that Professor Ohtani's findings are probably correct or at least, on the right track. This knowledge helps us to understand what created the Earth and the conditions on it and will help in finding a similar earth-like planet.

Shift to green energy is 'irreversible' despite Trump's best efforts to turn the clock back

Renewable energy sources will continue to grow in the US despite the antipathy of the incoming Trump administration, says President Obama. The President says it's unlikely that power companies will switch back to coal, regardless of Mr Trump's plans to boost production.

Mr Trump has also said he wants the US to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.
But President Obama says this would see the US lose its "seat at the table".
The President's views appeared in a policy forum article in the highly regarded research journal, Science.

The editors believe it is the first time that a sitting President has written such a feature.

No going back

In the article, the President argues that a "massive scientific record" shows that climate change is "real and cannot be ignored". Mr Obama also details the reasons he believes the trend towards a low-carbon economy is now "irreversible".
He points to the fact that between 2008 and 2015 the US economy grew by 10% while emissions of CO2 fell by almost the same amount.  Mr Obama says that US businesses have increasingly seen the financial benefits from cutting carbon through greater energy efficiency.

Citing the examples of corporations like General Motors and Alcoa, the President says the US consumed 2.5% less energy in 2015 than in 2008 while the economy was now a tenth bigger. There would be a huge financial penalty if economies don't reduce their emissions, Mr Obama writes.
If CO2 continues to rise then global temperatures could go up by 4 degrees C by the end of this century, and that could cost the world economy 4% of GDP. In US terms that would equate to the loss of federal revenue of between $340bn and $690bn every year.

Coal on the slippery slope

Pointedly, Mr Obama says that 2.2 million Americans now work in jobs connected to energy efficiency - double the 1.1 million that work in fossil fuel production and electricity generation.
Thanks to hydraulic fracturing, gas has emerged as a transformative energy source, now accounting for 33% of US electricity production. Despite Mr Trump's plans to revive the coal industry by cutting red tape, "it is unlikely that utilities will change course and choose to build coal-fired power plants, which would be more expensive than natural gas plants, regardless of any near-term changes in federal policy."
Even states that supported Donald Trump in the presidential election had moved heavily to renewables. Iowa generated 32% of their electricity in 2015 from wind, up from 8% in 2008.
On the Paris climate agreement, Mr Obama said this was a "fundamental shift in the diplomatic landscape which has already yielded substantial dividends".
Pulling out of the agreement, as Mr Trump has mulled doing, would see the United States lose its seat at the table, and be unable to hold other countries to their commitments, the President wrote. Continued participation in the Paris process, Mr Obama said, would yield great benefit for the American people and the international community.
However, the outgoing president was careful to offer an olive branch of sorts to President-elect Trump. Mr Obama argued that the targets that the US signed up to in the Paris agreement could be achieved in many different ways and "this does not mean that the next Administration has to follow identical domestic policies".  His message is pretty clear though. The future is renewable energy. Mr Trump is trying to turn the clock back, not to mention deny climate change, in the face of all the world's most renowned scientists and visible evidence of global warming in every country in the world.

Union soldier carried a bullet in his head for thirty one years

Jacob Miller was shot in the head at the Battle of Chickamagua on 19 September 1863. Never heard of it? The most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, the battle resulted in the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg. Everyone in Miller's unit assumed he was one of them.

ADVERTISING

inRead invented by Teads

The Union soldier ended up living for another 54 years. His survival was nothing short of miraculous. Why's that? Because he had a giant bullet hole in his forehead. Left for dead on the battle field, Miller regained consciousness hours later. His firsthand account of the battle was published by The Joliet Daily News in 1911. It's a riveting read.

"When I came to my senses some time after I found I was in the rear of the confederate line. So not to become a prisoner I made up my mind to make an effort to get around their line and back on my own side. I got up with the help of my gun as a staff, then went back some distance, then started parallel with the line of battle. I suppose I was so covered with blood that those that I met, did not notice that I was a Yank, (at least our Major, my former captain did not recognize me when I met him after passing to our own side)."

Battle of Chickamagua

The wound never really healed, but it's pretty safe to assume it saved his life. What happened next?

"I suffered for nine months then I got a furlough home to Logansport and got Drs. Fitch and Colman to operate on my wound. They took out the musket ball. ( they thought they got it all ) After the operation, in a few days, I returned to the hospital at Madison and stayed there till the expiration of my enlistment, Sept. 17, 1864. Seventeen years after I was wounded a buck shot dropped out of my wound and thirty one years after two pieces of lead came out."

Let that sink in for a moment. Miller walked around with a bullet in his forehead for 31 years. Was he bitter? Hardly.

"Some ask how it is I can describe so minutely my getting wounded and getting off the battle field after so many years. My answer is I have an everyday reminder of it in my wound and constant pain in the head, never free of it while not asleep. The whole scene is imprinted on my brain as with a steel engraving. I haven’t written this to complain of any one being in fault for my misfortune and suffering all these years, the government is good to me and gives me $40.00 per month pension."

Notice how he's wearing a Medal of Honor? It has nothing to do with the hole in his head. Miller was awarded the medal in recognition of his gallantry in the charge of a "volunteer storming party" on the 22nd of May 1863. Pretty inspiring stuff.
What I would like to know is how this guy survived. Did the bullet lodge in his sinuses? Or did it lodge between the two halves of the frontal lobe without damaging it?  Seems like an earthly miracle to me. Stranger than fiction.

A comet and a mysterious object headed toward Earth

NASA recently spotted two massive space objects hurtling towards Earth.

While the American space agency has pinpointed one as a comet, the other has left it slightly more baffled.
The comet is set to fly close to Earth this week, but the mystery object isn't expected to make an appearance until February.
The object, dubbed "2016 WF9", was detected by NASA's asteroid- and comet-hunting NEOWISE project on 27 November 2016.

 

It is roughly 0.3 to 0.6 miles (0.5 to 1 kilometres) across and is in an orbit that takes it on a scenic tour of our solar system.

At its farthest distance from the sun, it approaches Jupiter's orbit.

Over the course of 4.9 Earth-years, it travels inward, passing under the main asteroid belt and the orbit of Mars until it swings just inside Earth's own orbit.
After that, it heads back toward the outer solar system.

However, NASA scientists are not sure whether it is a comet or an asteroid .
"2016 WF9 could have cometary origins," said Deputy Principal Investigator James "Gerbs" Bauer at NASA's JPL.
"This object illustrates that the boundary between asteroids and comets is a blurry one; perhaps over time this object has lost the majority of the volatiles that linger on or just under its surface."

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech 

 

While 2016 WF9 is dark like a comet, it appears to lack the characteristic dust and gas cloud that defines a comet.

On 25 February, 2017 WF9 will approach Earth's orbit at a distance of nearly 32 million miles (51 million kilometres) from our home planet. NASA said that the object is "not a threat to Earth for the foreseeable future".

Meanwhile, the other object, which has been firmly classified as a comet could be visible this week. The comet, C/2016 U1 NEOWISE, "has a good chance of becoming visible through a good pair of binoculars, although we can't be sure because a comet's brightness is notoriously unpredictable," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at JPL.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Credits: Getty 

 

Those in the northern hemisphere may be able to spot the comet in the southeastern sky shortly before dawn this week. It is moving farther south each day and it will reach its closest point to the sun, inside the orbit of Mercury, on 14 January, before heading back out to the outer reaches of the solar system for an orbit lasting thousands of years.

While the comet may be visible to stargazers, it is not considered to be a threat to the planet.
The NEOWISE project discovered more than 34,000 asteroids during its original mission and was brought out of hibernation in December 2013 to detect comets and asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth. We hope this program and others like it do not come under Mr Trump's axe, as he chops away at vital public institutions which are a necessary part of the infrastructure of the United States.

No reason for posting this ...Just a small slice of life

BBC's - sample from the year in pictures

Our selection of some of the most powerful photographs taken around the world this year.
At the beginning of the year an urgent global race was under way to establish how and why the Zika virus could be causing a devastating spike in cases of babies being born in South America with underdeveloped brains. Brazil reported about 4,000 cases of microcephaly since October 2015 - an unprecedented number. The World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency in response.
A supporter was overwhelmed when US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greeted her at a campaign rally in Lowell, Massachusetts in January. Mr Trump entered the race with very low expectations, but rode a wave of protest all the way to election day and victory.
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were invited to step out and try Argentina's national dance, the tango, at a state dinner on a visit to Argentina in March.

Ieshia Evans, a 27-year-old nurse from New York, became an icon of the Black Lives Matter movement after this image of her went viral. It was taken on 9 July as she protested in Baton Rouge against police killings of unarmed black men.
 

On 11 July, New Yorkers witnessed an urban solar phenomenon, with the Sun setting in alignment with the city's skyscrapers and giving an effect fans say is reminiscent of England's Stonehenge – Manhattanhenge.

 
A glass walkway around Tianmen mountain in Hunan was an addition to China's craze for vertiginous tourist attractions. The 100m walkway turns around the side of the sheer cliff face. For those immune to the terror of a vertical drop, it's a perfect place to enjoy spectacular views across the Hunan countryside.
A mural of David Bowie that became a shrine to the musician after his death is to be listed by the local council to ensure its long-term protection. Crowds of fans gathered in Brixton in south London, Bowie's birthplace, to celebrate his life and music. The influential singer died of cancer on 11 January at the age of 69.
Beyonce opened the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards in Los Angeles with a surprise performance of her song Freedom with Kendrick Lamar, dancing in a pool of water. She won video of the year and the viewers' choice award for her song Formation but had already left the ceremony to fly to London for a concert so her mother Tina Knowles accepted the award on her behalf.
At least 3,800 migrants have died or are missing in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016 - the deadliest year on record, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said. This was despite a significant drop in migrant crossings compared with 2015, when 3,771 deaths were reported. Here migrants, most from Eritrea, jump into the water during a rescue operation north of Sabratha, Libya.

Two runners at the Rio Olympics were praised after stopping to help each other after both women fell during the 5,000m. US runner Abbey D'Agostino encouraged New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin as she lay dazed on the track after the two collided. Despite D'Agostino visibly limping, she managed a few steps after helping Hamblin to her feet before falling to the track, with the New Zealander returning the favour and helping her rival up.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt managed to find time to smile for the cameras while easing to a 100m semi-final victory. It prompted a flurry of internet memes. He later won the final in a time of 9.81 seconds - his third 100m Olympic crown.
A photograph of a dazed and bloodied Syrian boy rescued from a destroyed building in Aleppo after an air strike caused outrage around the world. Images of the boy, identified as five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, sitting in an ambulance were released by activists and were subsequently shared widely on social media.
Congolese soldiers arrest a civilian protesting in the town of Butembo in August against the government's failure to stop the killings and inter-ethnic tensions in North Kivu province. Days earlier, suspected rebels killed at least 30 civilians in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The military blamed Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels for the deaths in the village of Rwangoma near the town of Beni in North Kivu province.
Families made their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in Aleppo on 11 September. A ceasefire was supposed to open the way to aid deliveries in Syria but Russia accused the United States of failing to fulfil its obligations under the agreement.
Devotees carry the idol of Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, through the streets on the last day of the 10-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India.
A long-awaited military offensive to reclaim the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State forced thousands of Iraqis to flee their homes. The offensive was launched on 17 October, more than two years after jihadists overran the city before seizing control of much of northern and western Iraq.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II looked around a supermarket during a visit to the town of Poundbury, after unveiling a statue of the Queen Mother at the model town in Dorset. Prince Charles designed the village on the outskirts of Dorchester after outlining his plan in his 1989 book, A Vision of Britain.
The Moon came closer to Earth than at any time since 1948. Skygazers around the world congregated near landmarks, on beaches and atop tall buildings to take a look. The "supermoon" reached its brightest in Asia on 14 November. 

New Year's Chuckles