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- Written by: Karen C. Fox
Every second, lightning flashes some 50 times on Earth. Together these discharges coalesce and get stronger, creating electromagnetic waves circling around Earth, to create a beating pulse between the ground and the lower ionosphere, about 60 miles up in the atmosphere.
This electromagnetic signature, known as Schumann Resonance, had only been observed from Earth's surface until, in 2011, scientists discovered they could also detect it using NASA's Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) aboard the U.S. Air Force's Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite.
In a paper published on May 1 in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers describe how this new technique could be used to study other planets in the solar system as well, and even shed light on how the solar system formed.
"The frequency of Schumann Resonance depends not only on the size of the planet but on what kinds of atoms and molecules exist in the atmosphere because they change the electrical conductivity," said Fernando Simoes, the first author on this paper and a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "So we could use this technique remotely, say from about 600 miles above a planet's surface, to look at how much water, methane and ammonia is there."
Water, methane and ammonia are collectively referred to as "volatiles" and the fact that there are different amounts on different planets is a tantalizing clue to the way the planets formed.
Determining the composition of a planet's atmosphere can be done with a handful of other techniques – techniques that are quite accurate, but can only measure specific regions.
By looking at the Schumann Resonance, however, one can get information about the global density of, say, water around the entire planet.
Simoes and his colleagues believe that combining this technique with other instruments on a spacecraft's visit to a planet could provide a more accurate inventory of the planet's atmosphere.
"And if we can get a better sense of the abundance of these kinds of atoms in the outer planets," said Simoes, "We would know more about the abundance in the original nebula from which the solar system evolved."
Accurate descriptions of planetary atmospheres might also help shed light on how the evolution of the solar system left the outer planets with a high percentage of volatiles, but not the inner planets.
Detecting Schumann Resonance from above still requires the instruments to be fairly close to the planet, so this technique couldn't be used to investigate from afar the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. Instead, scientists imagine something much more dramatic.
After a spacecraft is finished observing a planet, it could continue to detect Schumann resonance as it begins its death dive into the atmosphere.
During the process of self-destruction, the spacecraft would still provide valuable scientific data until the very last minute of its existence.
Karen C. Fox works for the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is calling upon bicycle riders and motorists alike to be cautious during May, National Bicycle Safety Month, and every other month during the year.
The total number of bicycle deaths in California have remained flat for the last two reporting years, while injuries have increased 4.6 percent.
Encouragingly, deaths and injuries for bicycle riders under age 15 have continued to fall.
OTS partners with other state departments, bicycle advocates and local agencies in an ongoing, multi-faceted campaign for bicycle safety through the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
“Bike Month is a great occasion for Californians, whether out with friends or family or on their own, to strap on a helmet, hop on a bike, and see just how fun and welcoming our streets and bike paths have become,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the Office of Traffic Safety. "Californians now see biking as a real transportation option. The key is to ensure that biking is safe for everyone."
Bicycles are associated with more childhood injuries than any other consumer product except automobiles.
Child bicycling deaths can increase 45 percent above the month average in the summer. More adults are choosing bicycles, both for commuting to work and for exercise.
Learning how to ride a bike is a rite of passage in childhood, and often reintroduced to adults.
Here are some important things for you or your child to consider before jumping on that bike:
Helmets – Every time, every trip
- Make it a rule: every time you and your child ride a bike, wear a bicycle helmet that meets the safety standards developed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. It’s your main source of protection in a crash or spill.
- If your child is reluctant to wear a helmet, try letting him or her choose their own.
- Make sure the helmet fits and that everyone knows how to put it on correctly. A helmet should sit on top of the head in a level position, and should not rock forward, backward or side to side. The helmet straps must always be buckled but not too tightly.
- EYES check: Position the helmet on your head. Look up and you should see the bottom rim of the helmet. The rim should be one to two finger-widths above the eyebrows.
- EARS check: Make sure the straps of the helmet form a "V" under your ears when buckled. The strap should be snug but comfortable.
- MOUTH check: Open your mouth as wide as you can. Do you feel the helmet hug your head?
The right bike
- Ensure proper bike type, size and fit. Get help from an expert or read up on your own before choosing a bike. Bring your child along when shopping for a bike for them. Buy a bicycle that is the right size for the child, not one he will grow into. When sitting on the seat, the child’s feet should be able to touch the ground.
- Make sure the reflectors are secure, brakes work properly, gears shift smoothly and tires are tightly secured and properly inflated.
Ride safe
- Ride wisely. You are a vehicle. Learn and follow all laws.
- Be predictable. Act like a driver of a motor vehicle.
- Be visible. See and be seen at all times.
- Stay focused. Stay alert.
Drive safe
- Motorists need to safely share the road.
- Don’t crowd bicyclists.
- Keep an eye out for bicyclists, as well as motorcycles and pedestrians.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
COBB, Calif. – A Cobb man is being held on $1 million bail for allegedly killing his girlfriend.
James Michael Carpy, 44, was arrested following the discovery on Friday of his girlfriend's dead body in their Cobb home, according to Capt. Chris Macedo of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
The name of the 33-year-old victim has not been released by the sheriff's office. Macedo said the woman's name is being withheld pending notification of family members.
At 6:52 p.m. Friday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on Hogan Hill Lane on Cobb on the report of a suspicious death, Macedo said.
The reporting party advised dispatchers that he had arrived at his daughter’s house and found her deceased, according to Macedo.
When deputies arrived on scene they located an unidentified female lying on the floor inside the residence. Deputies determined that woman was in fact deceased, but Macedo said the deputies were not able to determine the possible cause of her death.
Macedo said the deputies contacted the woman's father, who had found her, and he informed them that he went to his daughter’s residence to check on her as he had not heard from her since Thursday evening.
The woman's father informed sheriff’s deputies that his daughter lived at the residence with her boyfriend, Macedo said.
The man went to the Hogan Hill Lane residence with his girlfriend and his other daughter. He reported that Carpy answered the door, according to Macedo.
Macedo said the victim's father entered the residence and found his daughter deceased in a rear bedroom. The father then told his girlfriend to go to the neighbor’s house and call 911.
After interviewing the victim's father deputies contacted Carpy inside the residence, Macedo said. Carpy was detained without incident and transported to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for questioning.
After questioning, Carpy was arrested and booked at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility for murder and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, with bail set at $1 million, Macedo said.
Lake County Sheriff’s detectives were summoned to the scene to conduct the investigation, which is ongoing, Macedo said. He said no further information on the case will be released until Monday, May 7.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPGRADED THIS QUAKE’S MAGNITUDE FROM 4.3 TO 4.5.
COBB, Calif. – A 4.5-magnitude earthquake was reported early Saturday morning near The Geysers geothermal steamfield.
In its preliminary report, which was reviewed by a seismologist, the U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 2:23 a.m.
The quake's epicenter was located three miles east of The Geysers, three miles southwest of Cobb, four miles west northwest of Anderson Springs and 24 miles north of Santa Rosa at a depth of 1.7 miles, according to the report.
It was quickly followed by more than a dozen smaller aftershocks, the largest of which was 2.3 in magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Several residents of the Cobb area reported on Lake County News' Facebook page that they had been awakened by the quake, which some also reported seemed to last longer than usual.
Within a half-hour of the quake taking place the U.S. Geological Survey had received more than 70 shake reports from 23 zip codes.
Responses came from Clearlake, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown, as well as areas in Napa and Sonoma counties, and the Bay Area, with responses coming from as far away as Sacramento and San Francisco.
The last time a quake of similar magnitude was reported in the Cobb area was on Feb. 12, when a 4.3-magnitude quake – also located three miles east of The Geysers – occurred, as Lake County News has reported.
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