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Written by: Dr. Tony Phillips

Published: 12 February 2012

This just in: The Solar System is different from the space just outside it.

Researchers announced the finding at a press conference on Jan. 31, 2012. It’s based on data from NASA’s IBEX spacecraft, which is able to sample material flowing into the solar system from interstellar space.

“We’ve detected alien matter that came into our solar system from other parts of the galaxy – and, chemically speaking, it’s not exactly like what we find here at home,” said David McComas, the principal investigator for IBEX at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

Our solar system is surrounded by the heliosphere, a magnetic bubble that separates us from the rest of the Milky Way.

Outside the heliosphere lies the realm of the stars or “interstellar space”; inside lies the sun and all the planets.

The sun blows this vast magnetic bubble using the solar wind to inflate the sun’s own magnetic field.

It’s a good thing: The heliosphere helps protect us from cosmic rays that would otherwise penetrate the solar system.

Launched in 2008, the IBEX spacecraft spins in Earth orbit scanning the entire sky.

IBEX’s special trick is detecting neutral atoms that slip through the heliosphere’s magnetic defenses. Without actually exiting the solar system, IBEX is able to sample the galaxy outside.

The first two years of counting these alien atoms have led to some interesting conclusions:

“We've directly measured four separate types of atoms from interstellar space and the composition just doesn't match up with what we see in the solar system,” said Eric Christian, mission scientist for IBEX at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Among the four types of atoms detected – H, He, O and Ne – the last one, neon, serves as a particularly useful reference.

“Neon is a noble gas, so it doesn’t react with anything. And it’s relatively abundant, so we can measure it with good statistics,” explained McComas.

Using data from IBEX, the researchers team compared the neon-to-oxygen ratio inside vs. outside the heliosphere.

In a series of six science papers appearing in the Astrophysical Journal, they reported that for every 20 neon atoms in the galactic wind, there are 74 oxygen atoms.

In our own solar system, however, for every 20 neon atoms there are 111 oxygen atoms.

That translates to more oxygen in any given slice of the solar system than in local interstellar space.

Where did the extra oxygen come from?

“There are at least two possibilities,” said McComas. “Either the solar system evolved in a separate, more oxygen-rich part of the galaxy than where we currently reside or a great deal of critical, life-giving oxygen lies trapped in interstellar dust grains or ices, unable to move freely throughout space – and thus undetectable by IBEX.”

Either way, this affects scientific models of how our solar system – and life – formed.

“It’s a real puzzle,” he said.

While IBEX samples alien atoms from Earth orbit, NASA’s Voyager spacecraft have been traveling to the edge of the heliosphere for nearly 40 years – and they could soon find themselves on the outside looking in.

Researchers expect Voyager 1 to exit the solar system within the next few years. The new data from IBEX suggest the Voyagers are heading for a new frontier, indeed.

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Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 12 February 2012

A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has identified January 2012 as the fourth-warmest January on record for the contiguous United States.

In the contiguous U.S., the average temperature for January was 36.3°F which is 5.5°F above normal range, according to the report.

This makes the month not only the fourth warmest of its kind in history, but also the warmest since 2006, the report showed.

“It's warmer this year mainly because of the jet stream pattern,” said AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Michael Pigott.

“Generally, for the most part of the winter, it has been on a west-to-east pattern,” said Pigott. “Meteorologists refer to this as a 'zonal flow.' Essentially, we've seen a lot of storms moving from west to east, and not a lot traveling northward or southward. So, anything in the Arctic is staying up there, and anything in the U.S. is staying put as well. If you have north-to-south undulations in the jet stream, you do get warmer air heading northward to the poles, and colder air comes down toward the U.S. from the Arctic."

Nine states recorded their top ten warmest average temperatures for January in 2012: Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Arizona and Kansas.

It has also been the fifth-warmest, six-month period from August 2011 to January 2012 ever recorded in the contiguous U.S. Forty states have had warmer-than-average temperatures.

Even though the contiguous U.S. has seen record warmth this winter, Alaska is a different story. Several towns in Alaska have seen their coldest January on record.

“Since the jet stream isn't moving colder air southward, it's getting trapped over Alaska,” Pigott said. “It's basically creating an extreme divide in record temperatures there compared to the rest of the U.S.”

In addition to a warm January in 2012, it has also been dry. In fact, the contiguous U.S. has seen its 28th-driest January in recorded history.

The central Plains had below-average precipitation for the month, especially in Kansas. Kansas had its third-driest January in recorded history, while Nebraska saw its eighth-driest January.

“One reason the central Plains have seen less-than-average precipitation has been due to the weakening of storms coming from the West,” said Pigott. “When these storms hit the Rockies, they tend to stall out and weaken in intensity.”

However, this has not been the case for every state. Texas has actually seen above-average precipitation for the second month in a row. The state had not had two consecutive months of above-average precipitation since January-February 2010.

If March comes in like a lamb ...

The warm trend may continue through the end of February and into March, but temperatures are not expected to be as high as they were in January.

“It looks like the pattern will be similar for most of the country, but not to the same extent,” said AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston. “We are getting in a pattern where we're more susceptible to cold air masses coming down. However, that doesn't mean they're going to stay. They're still going to be progressive. That means cooler temperatures will come in for only a few days, then disappear again.”

Intermittent stretches of cooler air will bring overall average temperatures closer to normal for the months ahead.

“The average will be somewhat above normal, though it won't be as above normal as January. But, it will be closer to normal,” added Boston.

Boston also stated that he thinks temperatures in the Northeast will begin to drop “just in time for spring,” with a pattern developing for cooler-than-normal weather in the Northeast starting later in March and continuing through April.

Boston also said that much of the rest of the contiguous U.S. will remain warmer with the possible exception of the Pacific Northwest.

“It may stay pretty active up there and get lots of rain and therefore keep their temperatures held down pretty well,” said Boston.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 11 February 2012

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Just three days after the state Legislature passed it, a bill that restores funding to school transportation programs statewide received the governor’s approval.

On Friday Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 81, which replaces the $248 million midyear cut to the Home-to-School Transportation program Brown made with a smaller, more equitable reduction across all school districts in California.

SB 81 moved quickly through the Legislature and made it to the governor’s desk in just three days. The bill goes into immediate effect.

“This is a victory for every child in the state,” said state Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa). “Every child should have equal access to a quality education. SB 81 ensures kids will get to school so they can learn, get an education and be on track to be successful and contributing members of our society.”

Assemblyman Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) praised Gov. Brown for taking quick action on the bill and understanding its importance to school children in rural areas.

“I am thrilled that the Legislature and governor were able to come together to restore the funding that gets California’s students to school,” Chesbro said. “Home-to-School Transportation is an essential service in my district. This bill was signed just in time to save the jobs of many school bus drivers and ensure that there is no interruption in getting kids to school.”

Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook told Lake County News on Friday that the governor’s midyear cuts to Home-to-School Transportation and special education transportation would have amounted to just over $1 million for Lake County's school districts.

However, SB 81 has reduced those cuts by $527,000, bringing the total reduction for the county to approximately $482,147, Holbrook said.

Konocti Unified and Kelseyville Unified, with the county’s largest transportation needs, had $263,976 and $147,140 in funding restored to them, respectively, according to Holbrook.

Holbrook said his office contacted Chesbro and Evans, with both being “really responsive” to concerns about the funding loss and writing to the governor.

Chesbro and Evans both decried the cuts, saying they were unfairly hitting the rural areas they serve.

Holbrook said the governor’s midyear cuts were not across the board, but targeted the last half of the 2011-12 fiscal year’s transportation funding, and amounted to a 50-percent cut for schools with transportation programs based on a formula developed a long time ago.

The result was that some districts were hit particularly hard. Districts with no transportation had no cuts, but schools with transportation needs were harder hit, with some cuts amounting to several hundred dollars per student, he said.

The cuts totaled more than $100 per student for the Kelseyville and Konocti districts, according to Holbrook.

With SB 81 becoming law, the cuts total about $42 per student across the board, whether their schools offer transportation or not, Holbrook said.

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