The Power

Makkah meet calls for panel to unify lunar calendar

2012-02-15T10:58:00.001+08:00

By ARAB NEWS

Published: Feb 15, 2012 01:51 Updated: Feb 15, 2012 01:51

JEDDAH: A conference of experts in Makkah has called for the formation of a committee of astronomers and Islamic scholars that would try to unify the beginning of lunar months in Muslim countries.

“The committee would consider Makkah as the center for astronomical observation and issue a unified Hijri calendar,” said the final communiqué issued by the three-day conference on Tuesday.

The committee, to be based at the Muslim World League (MWL) in Makkah, will study all the research work so far conducted on the issue.

Organized by the Islamic Fiqh Academy, an affiliate of the MWL, the conference emphasized the importance of sighting the moon to determine the beginning of lunar months of Ramadan and Dul Hijjah.

However, the conference said that Islam has no objection to making use of modern technological means to sight the moon. It pointed out that air pollution as well as an increasing number of aircraft and satellites have made it difficult to sight the moon with the naked eye.

Prominent figures, including Islamic scholars, jurisprudents and astronomers from within and outside the Kingdom, took part in the event at the MWL headquarters. Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance Saleh Al-Asheikh opened the conference on Saturday.

“The beginning and end of a lunar month will be based on sighting the new crescent, either by the naked eye or using astronomical observatories. If the crescent is not sighted the month will have 30 days,” the communiqué said, quoting the sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

The conferees said the statements of witnesses could not be accepted if it was impossible to sight the moon on the basis of categorical scientific facts. They also agreed that Muslim minorities living in a country should start or stop fasting during Ramadan if the moon was sighted anywhere in the country.

“If a Muslim minority in a non-Muslim country cannot sight the new moon for any reason they should follow the nearest Muslim country or Muslim minority group,” the communiqué said.

The conference urged Muslim astronomers to provide correct information related to moon sightings to relevant authorities in a country. It also urged the public not to cast doubt on moon sightings after approved by the authorities.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has emphasized the significance of determining the start of the lunar month on the basis of the sighting of the moon. “Islam has defined that the beginning and ending of the fast depends on the sighting of the crescent and there is no difference of opinion on this,” he said.

The grand mufti reiterated Shariah principles should be upheld when calculating lunar months. “We are not waging a war on astronomy. But we don’t want to cross the boundaries of Shariah when making lunar calculations,” he said, while urging the Ummah to stick to relevant Islamic principles.

Penyelidik dakwa temui UFO di dasar laut Teluk Bothnia

2012-02-14T17:19:00.002+08:00

Rahayati Binti Ali | 14/02/2012 04:51 PM

IMEJ kabur di Teluk Bothnia yang didakwa sebuah UFO yang ditemui penyelidik dari Sweden.

Sepasukan peneroka lautan diketuai penyelidik Sweden dilaporkan menemui apa yang mereka percayai sebagai ‘objek terbang tidak diketahui (UFO)’ yang terdampar di dasar laut baru-baru ini.

Beberapa gambar daripada penemuan itu menunjukkan apa yang kelihatan tanda geseran di belakang objek terbabit, memberikan isyarat bahawa ia mungkin bergerak di dasar laut atau terhempas di atasnya.

Pakar membuat spekulasi bahawa objek itu mungkin ada kaitan dengan kegagalan fungsi sonar pasukan ekspedisi. Laporan baru pada awal minggu ini menyatakan pasukan itu menemui objek kedua berhampiran dengan yang pertama. Ketua ekspedisi, Peter Lindberg berkata, beliau menemui satu objek menarik dengan panjang kira-kira 91 meter dengan jauh 285 kaki di bawah dasar laut. Objek itu ditemui di Teluk Bothnia, antara Sweden dan Finland.

Lindberg berkata, beliau melihat calar atau tanda yang menjejaskan kawasan sekitar hampir dengan objek terbabit yang mungkin menyatakan objek itu bergerak di dasar laut. Sehingga ke hari ini, objek itu masih belum dikenal pasti dan pakar masih menyoal sama ada imej sonar terbabit adalah sesuatu yang tepat.

Hanumant Singh, seorang penyelidik dari Institut Lautan Woods Hole, berkata alat sonar imbasan tepi yang digunakan oleh Lindberg untuk menemui objek itu tidak boleh dipercayai. Singh berkata sonar sebenarnya digunakan untuk mencari kapal karam, yang memiliki profil lebih besar di atas lantai lautan, namun kurang tepat untuk mendedahkan objek berbentuk leper dan rendah.

Brooke Bowman, dari CNN pula berpendapat objek pertama itu tidak berada di dasar laut dengan sendirinya, sebaliknya pasti ada sesuatu yang berlaku. Pasukan peneroka lautan juga menjumpai satu lagi objek kecil berbentuk cakera berhampiran. Kedua-duanya menunjukkan satu tanda seretan lebih 400 meter panjang.

Saiz kedua-duanya dan bentuknya yang ganjil mewujudkan beberapa teori pelik. Sebahagian teori mengenai objek itu termasuklah ia adalah Millennium Falcon Han Solo dari kapal Atlantis “Star Wars, sebuah piring terbang yang terhempas, kapal perang Russia, sebuah Stonehenge laut atau satu pembukaan ke dunia lain di dalam Bumi.

Sonar imbasan tepi terkenal mengeluarkan imej palsu namun pengumuman penemuan imej kedua, menghapuskan perasaan ragu-ragu teori bahawa dua imej palsu sama tidak mustahil. Kisah itu semakin menarik apabila mendapati imej objek kedua adalah salinan imej pertama.

“Saya mengesahkan bahawa kami menjumpai dua objek ganjil. Kami menjumpai satu lagi objek kira-kira 200 meter daripada penemuan pertama menggunakan alat sonar yang sama,”kata Lindberg. Lindberg kemudian memberitahu media mengapa pasukannya masih belum mendedahkan imej objek kedua. “Kami memutuskan untuk tidak mendedahkan objek terlalu banyak kerana ada banyak gangguan pada imej sonar apabila kami melihatnya, justeru ia agak kabur,”katanya. - Agensi

BREAKING NEWS FROM AL-AQSA MOSQUE

2012-02-12T22:27:00.000+08:00

Breaking News: A comprehensive follow-up of events in Jerusalem on the eve of Al-Aqsa Mosque storm

Jerusalem Center for Media – Exclusive – Correspondents network -

09:15 – The official speaking for Israeli police on its behalf announce a while ago: that it would not allow Likud members to enter Al-Aqsa

08:20 – Takbeers inside the yards of Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem center for Media reporter confirms the existence of at least 300 stationed in yards of the mosque.

08:00 – Mohammed Grabula director of the Federation of Arab medics confirm to the Jerusalem center for media that the occupation forces prevented crews Arabs ambulance and Medic from entering al-Aqsa mosque

06:00 – Jerusalem center for Media confirms that the old city of Jerusalem is calm and the worshipers got out of Al Aqsa Mosque after their morning prayers.

05:30 – Jerusalem Center for Media correspondent confirms that more than “1500″ person who performed the dawn prayer in Al Aqsa Mosque.

04:30 – Occupation opens the gates of Al Aqsa Mosque and hundreds of worshipers flocking to the squares and the corridors of the mosque.

03:55 – dozens of residents of Jerusalem continued to crawl to the Old City of Jerusalem on their way to the Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem center media for Media reporter confirms the absence of barriers at the entrances to the Old City.

03:00 – Network Jerusalem: Gazans activists call for horn-General and the dawn prayers in the courtyard of the Unknown Soldier and the Declaration of the strike in Gaza in solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque in front of attempts to break into the occupation.The marches will start from the Unknown Soldier Square at ten am

02:55 – Palestinian Information Center reporter in Cairo: Egyptian military junta lifts state of preparedness in the army and warns the Zionist entity of prejudice to Al-Aqsa Mosque

02:40 – Jerusalem for Media correspondent confirms that the old town doors are open and withdrawal of occupation troops from the place and everyone can pray Fajr Al-Aqsa Mosque.

02:25 – Until the moment the doors of the old town are open , but there is reinforcement of occupation army, and everyone can go to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

02:10 – A relative lull in Jerusalem and the spread of rumors through the pages of social networking and the dissemination of old photographs as urgent .. No settlers and confrontations in the Old City of Jerusalem in the meantime.

01:20 – Enhanced forces of the Israeli occupation based in the Kabsa Junction area and produce warnings voice from military jeeps

12:15 – Tour of the settlers in the Al-Wad Street in the old Jerusalem surrounded by heavy military guard

12:10 – Arrested two young men by the occupation from the western entrance to the village of Silwan

12:05 – Number of senior occupation officers enter from Al-Maghariba Gate walk toward Al-Buraq gardens

12:01 – Enhanced occupation forces spread in Ras al-Amud and Rababa Valley in Silwan

12:00 – Enhanced occupation forces and undercover units spreaded in the area of Ain Silwan and Al-Bustan

11:45 – Member of the Committee for Defense of Silwan, Fakhri Abu Diab, confirms that the occupation forces sprayed tear gas in the neighborhood of Al Bustan

11:02 – verbal altercations between young men and soldiers of the occupation in neighborhood of Wad in the Old City Jerusalem

11:00 – the occupation forces to prevent young people from gathering Jerusalem Old City of Jerusalem

10:50 – the occupation forces distributing food and drink to the soldiers deployed in the alleys of the old town and the area around Al-Aqsa Mosque.

10:05 – Jeep belonging to the military occupation forces stationed near the “obsessive Pace,” in neighborhood of Wad in the old Jerusalem.

09:55 – Jerusalemites boy attacked a settler and be able to pull the black hat and leave the area despite the military buildup in the Old City of Jerusalem.

09:42 – The occupation forces put barriers on the door of Al-Sahera – one of the doors of the Old City of Jerusalem.

09:40 – The occupation army arrested one youth from the old town after clashes the door of Al-Majles.

09:30 – Clashes near the door of Al-Majles – one of the doors of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

09:15 – Limited clashes in Hetta door – one of the doors of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

08:55 – The arrival of 200 Israeli soldiers to Al-Wad neighborhood in the Old town.

08:30 – the arrival of the enhanced soldiers of the occupation to the Old City of Jerusalem.

08:00 – the occupation officers who toured the old town and the area around Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Video of the speech of Mufti to the stationed in Al-Aqsa12/02/2012

February 12, 2012 9:55 am
Al-Aqsa & Old City
no comments

Jerusalem Center for Media – Rasim Abdul Wahid – Asmaa Thaher

the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Mohammed Hussein praised the response to the citizens of the calls to go to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and stay in it and meeting to defend it.

His Eminence addressed the stationed people in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa this morning and confirmed that the real and practical response to the threats of occupation and the Jewish radical right against Al Aqsa Mosque is in the presence of intense and continued travel to it.

His Eminence emphasized that the al-Aqsa mosque is under the the frenzied campaigns of occupation and it’s radical groups, He asked the stationed to take caution and not to open the way for the occupation forces to intervene in Al-Aqsa.

On the other hand, citizens still fill Al Aqsa Mosque yards and they spread in different facilities.

At the same time, the occupation police announced, a while ago, that it will not allow members of the extremist right-wing Likud to broke into the Al Aqsa Mosque, while the continued closure of the Mughrabi Gate, which is commonly used for the entry of tourists and Jewish extremists to the al-Aqsa mosque.

A numbers of police officers and soldiers of the occupation are deployed around Al Aqsa Mosque and in the streets of the old town while large numbers of Jerusalemites located near the gates to prevent any process from extremist Jews to storm the mosque Al-Mubarak.

Hamas warns against storming Al-Aqsa Mosque

February 12, 2012 10:37 am
Al-Aqsa & Old City
no comments

Jerusalem Center for Media – Sources -

A prominent Hamas leader warned against implementing fanatic Zionist leaders’ plans to storm the holy Aqsa Mosque.

Dr. Ismail Redwan said in press statement on Sunday that “storming Al-Aqsa by some Zionist fanatics is provocation of Muslims’ feelings and faith”, stressing that the move will anger the Arab and Islamic nations.

He called upon “the sons of Palestine to defend and protect Al-Aqsa Mosque”.

Redwan also appealed for the Arab and Islamic worlds, to hold their responsibilities to protect Islamic holy sites, and to organize mass demonstrations to support the Palestinian people and to reject the Israeli occupation’s policy.

Members of the Israeli right-wing party “Likud” declared that they would break-in to al-Aqsa mosque on Sunday, to invite for building their temple on the ruins of the mosque.

Some websites that belong to the right-wing party have lately published an announcement in the name of “Likud”, calling on thousands of the party members to break –in to the Mosque, in a delegation, and Moche Viglin would be on the top of it.

Viglin was Netanyahu counterpart in the elections of the Likud, few days ago, and he took around 25% of the votes.

Palestinians gather in Jerusalem to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinians rally to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque amid rumours of an imminent attack by extremist Jews

Ahram Online , Sunday 12 Feb 2012

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Al-Aqsa Mosque (R) and the Dome of the Rock Mosque (L) lie on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, (Photo: AP).

Thousands of Palestinians gathered around Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, according to reports, in an attempt to prevent an allegedly impending attack Sunday by Israeli Likud supporters aiming tear down the Islamic shrine.

Likud leader Moshe Feiglin had urged party activists to "purify the site from the enemies of Israel who stole the land and build the Third Temple on the ruins of the mosques," according to The Jerusalem Post, referring to the ancient Temple of Solomon, the ruins of which are claimed to lay under Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Fatah official responsible for the Jerusalem file, Hatem Abdel Kader, told the Kuwait News Agency KUNA that large numbers of Palestinian residents in Jerusalem observed fajr (dawn) prayers in Al-Aqsa early Sunday and stayed to protect the mosque from a possible attack.

The Jerusalem Post said Israeli police prevented Feiglin and three other Likud activists from entering the Haram El-Sharif area where Al-Aqsa Mosque lies, saying the area was closed to all non-Muslims as a result of Feiglin's announcement.

Israeli army and police set up barricades on Saturday at the Damascus, Herod and Lions' gates to the Old City, carrying out identity checks.

Many clashes occurred between Jerusalem residents and Israeli forces, according to the Middle East News Agency (MENA), at Al-Nazer, one of 11 gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Al-Wad Street, while Israeli army, police and intelligence officers patrolled streets close to the mosque's gates.

News of the attack called for by Feiglin caused alarm on social networking site Twitter where users implored Palestinians able to go to Al-Aqsa and defend it. Others claimed the whole affair was a hoax.

Ice Age Europe

2012-02-12T13:05:00.001+08:00

Ice age Europe: How the big freeze, with temperatures as low as MINUS 40, has turned Britain and the continent BLUE.

Hundreds of Eastern European villages cut off as temperatures plummet to -40C
Melting snow causes dam wall to break and flood entire village in southern Bulgaria, killing four
European crisis commissioner says 'the worst is yet to come'

By LEE MORAN

Last updated at 11:24 AM on 9th February 2012

Europe continues to be blanketed in snow as the cold snap which has so far killed hundreds across the continent shows no signs of stopping.

Hundreds of villages across Eastern Europe were today completely cut off as temperatures plummeted in some places to -40C.

Rescue teams struggled to evacuate southern Bulgarians where villages flooded after rain and melting snow broke damn walls.

All white: Europe continues to be blanketed in snow as the cold snap which has so far killed hundreds across the continent shows no signs of stopping

Frozen: Lampposts are covered in the ice of waves in the Croatian Adriatic coastal town of Senj

Clear up: Volunteers clear the snow from the ice on the route of the intended Dutch Elfstedentocht (Eleven City Races) skating marathon in Sneek, Netherlands, today

A man enjoys the ice the typically Dutch way, on a bicycle, while others skate and walk on Prinsengracht canal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Residents were also warned that there was more snow to come - which would be followed by severe floods when the temperature finally starts to rise and the snow melts.

Meanwhile temperatures in Britain are due to plummet to as low as -13C, with the big freeze due to last well into the weekend.

More...

Around 146 towns and villages in Romania were isolated with no road or train connections because of blizzards.

Up to 174 villages had no electricity, said Alin Maghiar, spokeman for Romania's emergency department.

Electricity was also cut off to 300 towns and villages in Bulgaria, roads were closed and several border checkpoints with Romania and Turkey were shut, the Interior Ministry said.

An 18-month-old Siberian tiger plays in the winter snow at Skopje zoo

Smothered: Italy has also been blanketed in snow, which has disrupted schools, transport and general day to day life

Ice babies: A squirrel devours a nut Lazienki park in Warsaw, Poland (left), as a swan sits on partly frozen water in Strasbourg harbour (right)

Play time: Children and adults stroll on a frozen lake in Hamburg, Germany, despite warnings not to do so from national officials

Melting snow caused a dam wall to break and flood an entire village in southern Bulgaria yesterday. Four people drowned and more than 50 were evacuated.

Four more people died when their cars were swept away by high waters.

Iliyan Todorov, from the village of Biser, told Trud newspaper: 'It was terrifying. We were warned that the tsunami was coming only five minutes before the wave came. We survived by a miracle.'

European Commissioner for Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva added that 'the worst is yet to come' after visiting the village.

A snow covered train tracks are seen in the town of Alexandria, northern Greece

Ice covers the seafront of the Adriatic coastal town of Senj, Croatia

A boy slides down a hill on a plastic sheet in Bucharest, Romania, while cars remain covered by snow in the village of Mercogliano in southern Italy

Snow patrol: A police car battles blizzards and limited visibility on the A2 motorway which connects Bucharest to Constanta

Stroll: A hiker walks in front of a frozen waterfall in Oberhaslach, eastern France (left), while another walker goes along the ice covered landscape of the Tamina gorge in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

Hard hit: Ukraine has been the worst affected by the cold snap, with 135 confirmed dead so far

The really hard. The warmer weather will cause melting of the snow and the situation will most probably worsen.'

She told bTV: 'The next two weeks may be

Ukraine has been hardest hit, with 135 people confirmed dead so far and forecasters saying bitter temperatures, as low as -30C, would continue for at least another eight days.

The Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas have been forced to close due to strong winds, and Romania's main port of Constanta was also shut.

Authorities in Serbia said they were preparing to use explosives to break ice on the rivers Ibar and Danube.

Warming up: A Georgian man exercises near the frozen Tbilisi reservoir today as the snow shows no signs of letting up

Tough times: A woman waits for a bus in Kosovo's capital Pristina (left) as a snow truck battles against the elements near the village of Dardhishte (right)

Predrag Maric, head of the Interior Ministry's emergencies department, said: 'An ice cap half a metre deep has formed on the Ibar near Kraljevo and there is a real danger that it could cause the river to overflow into the city.'

He said 62miles of the Danube were freezing over and that it would also be mined.

Eleven people have died so far from the cold and snow in Serbia, with the latest victims a 62-year-old man found dead close to his home near Arilje, and a woman killed by falling ice in the capital Belgrade.

Serbian power provider TENT, which provides more than 60 per cent of the country's electricity, said it was managing to maintain supplies but was working at full capacity in 'extreme' conditions.

A sunken houseboat is seen on the frozen Zwanenburgwal canal in Amsterdam after its water pipes burst

Making use: People skate across frozen canals in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which have been closed to commercial shipping

People skate on the frozen Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands

To the south in Albania, the Kukes lake on the border with Kosovo - supplying a hydropower plant at Fierze - was frozen over for the first time in more than a decade, putting more pressure on already strained power supplies.

The cold weather has increased demand for gas in many European countries.

Italy took emergency measures yesterday to deal with what it called critical shortages of Russian gas.

Supplies to other members of the European Union mostly improved at the weekend but remained below normal.

Russia, which supplies about a quarter of Europe's natural gas, reduced westward flows through pipelines across Ukraine last week citing greater domestic demand because of the extreme weather.

Race horses are exercised on the snowy gallops in Malton, North Yorkshire, England

Snow covers boats on a frozen section of the Sava river in Belgrade, Serbia

Mush! A competitor speeds through the snow with his Siberian huskies during a dog race in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

Eropah kembali ke Zaman Ais

ANGKA kematian akibat cuaca sejuk melampau di seluruh Eropah meningkat kepada 540 orang pada musim sejuk mutakhir ini.

Banyak kematian dicatatkan dalam tempoh dua minggu kebelakangan ini dan ia dikaitkan dengan suhu sejuk yang jatuh menjunam sehingga -39.4 darjah Celsius di beberapa negara seperti Ukraine dan Republik Czech.

Ekoran kesejukan melampau, sekurang-kurangnya 135 orang telah mati di Ukraine, Poland (82), Rusia (46), Bulgaria (32), Republik Czech (25), Lithuania (24) dan Serbia (16).

Jurucakap Kementerian Situasi Kecemasan Ukraine, Olena Didyuk berkata, masyarakat gelandangan menjadi golongan yang mencatatkan kematian paling tinggi.

"Cuaca terlampau sejuk, mereka pula tidak mempunyai pakaian dan tempat perlindungan yang baik.

"Kebanyakannya ditemui mati dalam timbunan salji tebal, di sungai yang sudah membeku dan dan di pekarangan rumah," kata Dudyuk.

Bagi pengemis dan gelandangan yang tidak mempunyai tempat tinggal, stesen-stesen keretapi bawah tanah seperti yang terletak di bandar Kiev menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari kerana mereka ingin memanaskan badan.

Tisu membeku

Selain itu, lebih daripada 3,000 khemah yang dilengkapi sistem pemanas dipasang di seluruh negara itu untuk menampung keperluan golongan tersebut.

Menurut Didyuk lagi, sehingga kini sudah lebih 2,000 orang ditempatkan di beberapa hospital di negara itu untuk diberi rawatan akibat hipotermia (kesejukan) dan frostbite atau reputan fros.

Penyakit berkaitan kesejukan melampau ini mudah terjadi apabila berlakunya pembekuan tisu dalam badan.

Memetik kenyataan penyelidik Patologi di Universiti Perubatan Georgetown, Amerika Syarikat, (AS), Dr. Melissa Conrad Stoppler, tangan dan kaki merupakan anggota badan yang mudah terkena reputan fros.

"Selain itu, bahagian tubuh yang terdedah seperti tetapi hidung, pipi, tulang kering, telinga, dan kornea mata juga berisiko," katanya dalam laman portal kesihatan, www.emedicinehealth.com.

Tambahnya, bahagian badan yang terjejas kerana radang dingin akan memberi rasa terbakar, menyucuk dan kebas.

BANYAK aktiviti kehidupan yang terbantut kerana cuaca sejuk yang melampau.

Lebih buruk, kecuaian dalam menguruskan kecederaan itu boleh menyebabkan kecacatan.

"Reputan fros boleh dikenali melalui sifatnya yang membengkak, kemerahan, rasa nyeri dan kuping putih pada kulit.

"Dalam keadaan ekstrem, tisu yang cedera akan mati dan kulit akan melepuh.

"Dapatkan rawatan segera di hospital atau cari kawasan yang boleh memberi kehangatan untuk mengelakkan reputan fros menjadi lebih teruk.

"Sebaik sahaja anda berada dalam bangunan, cara terbaik untuk memanaskan bahagian reput fros ialah dengan merendam anggota tubuh di dalam tab air sederhana panas 42 darjah Celcius," kata Stoppler.

Selain reputan fros, penurunan suhu badan secara mendadak yang disebabkan kehilangan haba terlalu banyak juga boleh menyebabkan kematian.

Keadaan yang dikenali sebagai hipotermia ini terjadi apabila tubuh sukar mengatasi tekanan yang dihasilkan oleh suhu dingin.

Gejala hipotermia boleh dilihat daripada tubuh yang menggeletar, kulit bertukar kelabu, degupan jantung lemah, tekanan darah menurun dan kekejangan otot.

Menurut portal kesihatan Pusat Perubatan Universiti Maryland, AS, apabila suhu badan menurun mendadak di bawah normal, ia akan melambatkan peredaran darah, pernafasan dan pergerakan sistem saraf.

Hipotermia sering berlaku secara berperingkat-peringkat, ada juga kes yang dilaporkan berlaku dalam masa beberapa minit sahaja.

Contohnya, sekiranya seseorang itu jatuh ke dalam air sejuk, badan akan kehilangan haba lebih cepat.

Hipotermia teruk juga boleh menyebabkan denyutan jantung tidak teratur sehingga membawa kepada kegagalan jantung dan kematian.

Teori Zaman Ais

SUHU bawah paras beku menukarkan salji kepada ais.

Sementara itu, saintis mikropalentologis di Balai Cerap Bumi Lamont-Doherty di Columbia University AS, George Kukla berpendapat, keadaan dialami Eropah kini menyamai zaman ais yang direkodkan kira-kira 115,000 tahun lalu.

Dalam temu bual panjang lebar dengan majalah Gelf, Kukla yang juga bekas profesor paleoklimatologi menjelaskan, apa yang berlaku adalah sangat serupa dengan masa tahun 115,000 lalu.

Paleoklimatologi ialah kajian tentang iklim pada masa geologi lampau yang melibatkan pentafsiran tentang mendapan glasier, fosil, data paleogografi, data isotop dan data sedimentologi.

"Apabila glasier bermula ratusan tahun dahulu, percaya atau tidak, glasier terakhir bermula dengan pemanasan global.

"Pemanasan global sentiasa mendahului Zaman Ais. Sejarah yang direkodkan menunjukkan teras ais berulang setiap 100,000 tahun atau lebih.

"Ahli sains terdahulu percaya Zaman Ais akan terbentuk secara perlahan-lahan dan mengambil masa berpuluh ribu tahun.

"Kini sesetengah penyelidik telah mendedahkan bukti mengejutkan bahawa Zaman Ais boleh tercetus dalam tempoh 10 tahun akan datang," katanya yang merupakan pelopor penyelidikan perubahan iklim yang dicetuskan oleh matahari.

Dalam temu bual yang berlangsung pada Mac 2011 itu, Kukla berpendapat, manusia perlu bersedia menghadapi Zaman Ais yang dijangka berlaku dalam masa kurang dari 10 tahun.

"Orbit mengelilingi matahari menjadi daya penggerak utama di sebalik pembentukan glasier pada Zaman Ais.

"Hubungan ini cukup jelas dan konsisten untuk dianggap sebagai sebab paling munasabah jika kita bakal berdepan dengan Zaman Ais," katanya.

Teori penyelidikan itu mungkin ada benarnya. Eropah kini bukan sahaja dicengkam kesejukan melampau tetapi dilitupi ais yang merencatkan pelbagai aktiviti kehidupan manusia.

Cuaca buruk melampau yang berlaku itu turut melumpuhkan sistem penerbangan dan pengangkutan air di timur Eropah.

KEBANYAKAN sungai di negara Eropah timur mula membeku dan berbahaya kepada kapal.

Terbaru, sungai paling sibuk di Eropah iaitu Sungai Danube kini terpaksa ditutup kepada semua pelayaran setelah ia membeku.

Sungai sepanjang 2,860 kilomter (km) yang merentasi 10 negara itu merupakan medium utama kepada pengangkutan air, perikanan dan industri pengairan.

Sebanyak 244 kapal tersadai di pelabuhan sungai yang mengalir ke Laut Hitam itu manakala pasukan penyelamat Ukraine di Croatia menyelamatkan anak kapal yang terperangkap dalam salji sejak Jumaat lalu.

6.8 Magnitude Quake In Philippines

2012-02-06T17:20:00.002+08:00

Death toll in strong quake rises to 40

By Alex Pal, Dona Pazzibugan, Florence Baesa
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Inquirer Visayas, Philippine Daily Inquirer

6:16 pm | Monday, February 6th, 2012

MAP of the Philippines locating the epicenter of a 6.8-magnitude quake Monday, Feb. 6, 2012.

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – At least 40 persons, including a nine-year-old girl, died in Negros Oriental during the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the province and other areas shortly before noon Monday, local authorities here said.

The quake hit 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of the city of Dumaguete on Negros Island at 11:49 am (0349 GMT) at a depth of 46 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) measured it as 6.9 at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, centered off the heavily populated central island province of Negros and Cebu.

Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey website placed the epicenter of the earthquake at 46.6 kilometers deep, some 72 kilometers north of Dumaguete City, 74 km west, northwest of Tagbilaran, Bohol and 80 km west, southwest of Cebu City.

The earthquake was the strongest to be ever felt in Negros Oriental, according to several residents here.

Of the latest death count, 29 died in the mountain barangay (village) of Planas during a landslide triggered by the earthquake, Mayor Ernesto Reyes of Guihulngan City said in a phone interview.

Reyes said 10 other persons were also reported to have died due to a landslide at the Guihulngan national road. Earlier, Reyes said that as many as 30 houses were also buried in the landslide.

According to the mayor, about 100 persons were injured and brought for treatment to the Guihulngan District Hospital and neighboring district hospitals.

He expressed fear that there might be more fatalities and injured in other villages. Reyes said their communication with the villages has been cut off.

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo earlier said 9-year-old girl identified as Bernadette Raidan died when a wall collapsed in Tayasan town, Negros Oriental. The Office of Civil Defense administrator Benito Ramos earlier said that Raidan was the first confirmed casualty due to the quake. He added that classes in the girl’s school were reportedly suspended due to aftershocks.

Meanwhile, aside from Raidan, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), in its 5 pm situation report, have confirmed the death toll to still be at seven, including Raidan. The NDRRMC identified other casualties as Anafe Estrabella, a Grade 6 pupil, of Barangay Mompong in Jimalalud, Negros Oriental, who was pinned to death by a collapsed wall of a chapel and Betty Yap Manzano, 62, of Guihulngan, Negros Oriental. Meanwhile, four other casualties remain unidentified, the NDRRMC said

The quake also triggered another landslide in the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, also in Negros Oriental. An unknown number of people were trapped, said La Libertad police chief inspector Eric Arrol Besario.

“We’re now getting shovels and chain saws to start a rescue because there were people trapped inside. Some of them were yelling for help earlier,” Besario told The Associated Press by phone. Three key bridges in the town suffered cracks and were no longer passable, he said.

A three-story office building also collapsed in La Libertad, but occupants managed to run out.

The quake was felt at Intensity 7 in Dumaguete City, Villahermoso, Negros Oriental; Intensity 6 in La Carlota City and La Castellana, Negros Occidental and Argao, Cebu.

Intensity 5 was felt in: Iloilo City; Roxas City; Dao and Ivisan in Capiz; Ayungon, Negros Oriental; Kanlaon City; Lapu-lapu City; Guimaras; Cebu City; Bacolod City; Sagay City; Tagbilaran City; and Candoni Banalbagan, Negros Occidental.

Intensity 4 was recorded in: Kalibo, Aklan; San Jose de Buenavista, Pandan, Anini-y and Patnungon all in Antique; Sipalay, Negros Occidental, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo; Ormoc City and Dipolog, Phivolcs said.

Intensity 3 was felt in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte; Legaspi City, Albay; Carmen, Cagayan de Oro; Tacloban City; Catbalogan, Samar, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, Masbate, Masbate; and Cagayan de Oro City.

Intensity 2 was recorded in: Cabid-an, Sorsogon; Boronga, Eastern Samar; and Mambajao, Camuigin. Meanwhile, intensity 1 was felt in Pagadian City, Phivolcs said.

At Intensity 5, the shaking is strong enough to be felt by almost everyone and to awaken a sleeping person and make doors swing open. At Intensity 4, the shaking is strong enough to be felt by most people indoors and rattle dishes, windows and doors.

Ramos said the violent shaking of buildings in the cities of Cebu and San Carlos led to broken windows and cracks on the walls, but no high rises were believed to have sustained major damage.

Ramos said earlier they were still getting damage reports from other affected areas.

While no immediate damage was reported, Silliman University announced the suspension of all classes and offices for Monday afternoon.

Mark Raygan Garcia, director of the Office of Information and Publication, said class suspensions were a precautionary measure that would give university personnel time to inspect all buildings and facilities.

“This puts premium on the safety and welfare of our students and personnel,” Garcia said.

In Cebu, people and students left the buildings, shopping malls and schools. Classes were suspended in some schools in Cebu City.

Negros Oriental police chief Edward Carranza said the temblor damaged many houses in Guihulngan and he ordered his men to help displaced residents find shelter.

Officials in some areas suspended work and canceled classes. Power and telecommunications were knocked out in several places.

Carranza said police rushed out of his building when the quake struck. “All my personnel ran out fearing our building would collapse,” he said.

“Now it’s shaking again,” he said as an aftershock hit. “My keychain is dancing.”

Philippine seismologists and local residents said there was panic but no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.

Philippine seismologists briefly issued a tsunami alert for the central islands. Five bamboo and wooden cottages were washed out from a beach resort in La Libertad by huge waves, but there were no reports of injuries, said police Superintendent Ernesto Tagle. Elsewhere along the coast, people rushed out of schools, malls and offices.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a widespread destructive tsunami.

But Phivolcs raised its tsunami warning to the second of a three-stop alert level for coastal areas in Negros, meaning the public is asked to stay away from beaches and “be watchful” for any signs of rising tides.

However, level two does not warrant any evacuation.

Ramos said the chances of a tsunami or a tidal wave were very slim because the quake’s epicenter was located on a narrow strait between two islands.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. Dona Pazzibugan, Leila Salaverria, Philippine Daily Inquirer; Inquirer.net

Originally posted at 12:31 pm | Monday, February 06, 2012

6.8 quake in Philippines kills 13, buries homes

By JIM GOMEZ | Associated Press – 13 mins ago

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong earthquake in the central Philippines killed at least 13 people Monday as it destroyed buildings and triggered landslides that buried dozens of houses, trapping residents. At least 29 people were missing.

The 6.8-magnitude quake, in a narrow strait just off Negros Island, caused a landslide in Guihulngan, a city of about 180,000 people in Negros Oriental province. As many as 30 houses were buried and at least 29 people were missing, Mayor Ernesto Reyes said.

"Their situation is bad because if you are covered by landslide for one hour, two hours, how can you breathe?" he said. "But we just hope for the best, that there are still survivors."

Rescuers were using picks and shovels to dig for survivors, he said.

At least 10 people were confirmed dead, including students at a college and an elementary school and others in a town market that collapsed, Reyes said. About 100 were injured.

The quake, which hit at 11:49 a.m. (0349 GMT), triggered another landslide in the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, also in Negros Oriental. An unknown number of people were trapped, said La Libertad police chief inspector Eric Arrol Besario.

"We're now getting shovels and chain saws to start a rescue because there were people trapped inside. Some of them were yelling for help earlier," Besario told The Associated Press by phone. Three key bridges in the town suffered cracks and were no longer passable, he said.

The epicenter was closest to Tayasan, a coastal town of about 32,000 people flanked by mountains in Negros Oriental province. Two died there, including a child when a concrete fence of a house collapsed, said Benito Ramos, head of the Office of Civil Defense.

Another child was killed in a church when a wall collapsed during a funeral in Negros Oriental's Jimalalud town, Mayor Reynaldo Tuanda said.

Tayasan police officer Alfred Vicente Silvosa told The AP by phone that aftershocks were preventing people from returning to their homes. Seismologists recorded nearly 45 aftershocks.

"We are outside, at the town plaza. We cannot inspect buildings yet because it's dangerous," Silvosa said. "I felt the building shaking, so I rushed out of the building. Our computers, shelves, plates, the cupboards, water dispenser all fell."

A three-story office building also collapsed in La Libertad, but occupants managed to run out.

Negros Oriental police chief Edward Carranza said the temblor damaged many houses in Guihulngan and he ordered his men to help displaced residents find shelter.

Officials in some areas suspended work and canceled classes. Power and telecommunications were knocked out in several places.

Carranza said police rushed out of his building when the quake struck. "All my personnel ran out fearing our building would collapse," he said.

"Now it's shaking again," he said as an aftershock hit. "My keychain is dancing."

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 44 miles (72 kilometers) north of Dumaguete city on Negros and hit at a depth of 29 miles (46 kilometers). The area is about 400 miles (650 kilometers) southeast of the capital, Manila.

The Philippines is located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A 7.7-magnitude quake killed nearly 2,000 people in Luzon in 1990.

___

Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano and Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

People rush to streets and others cluster on a pedestrian bridge after an earthquake was felt in Cebu City in the central Philippines. Authorities issued a tsunami alert that was later lifted.

U.S. and Israel Set Stage for False Flag and Iran Attack

2012-02-06T08:17:00.003+08:00

Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet.com
February 4, 2012

Events over the last several days reveal that the United States and Israel plan to conduct a false flag terror event to be blamed on Iran. The event will likely occur within the next six months and will result in an attack on Iran prior to the November election.

Obama’s intelligence chief, James Clapper (center), warned of Iranian terror attacks inside the United States.

Intelligence in U.S. and Israel Warn of Domestic Terror Attack

Officialdom in the United States and Israel have issued a warning about an Iranian “threat stream” against Israeli “soft targets” in America.

The warning arrives several days after Obama’s intelligence boss James Clapper said Iran may strike inside the United States,

“We predict that the threat on our sites around the world will increase… on both our guarded sites and ‘soft’ sites,” states a letter sent out by the head of security for the Israeli Consul General for the Mid-Atlantic States.

Guarded sites are Israeli government facilities like embassies while soft sites are Jewish synagogues, schools, and community centers.

Yoram Cohen, the head of Israel’s security service Shin Bet, said recently that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard will attack Israeli and Jewish targets abroad in response to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.

In January it was reported Mossad was behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan.

“The thwarted assassination plot of a Saudi official in Washington, D.C., a couple of months ago was an important data point,” a nameless official told ABC News, “in that it showed at least parts of the Iranian establishment were aware of the intended event and were not concerned about inevitable collateral damage to U.S. citizens had they carried out an assassination plot on American soil.”

Cohen linked the alleged threat to the discredited plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in October. A court document in the case revealed that the FBI and the DEA concocted the plotas a sting operation and used failed used car salesman and alcoholic Mansour Arbabsiar as a patsy. Arbabsiar, who is from Iran, thought he was participating in a drug deal.

Despite the fallacious nature of the plot, intelligence officials used it to hype the specter of Iranian terrorism that will likely result in a false flag operation used as a pretext to invade Iran.

“In the past few weeks, there has been an escalation in threats against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,” an intelligence document cited by ABC News states. It warns that demonstrations against Israel “could potentially turn violent at local synagogues, restaurants, the Israeli Embassy and other Israeli sites.”

The Israeli bulletin also provides an excuse for the TSA to step-up intrusive pat-downs and demand travelers be subjected to dangerous naked body scanners at airports across the United States.

“According to our evaluation there is a possibility that the forged passports will be used in order to pass as Israeli citizens at the security checks in Israel and around the world. Israeli security authorities may consider an Israeli citizenship as a [criterion] to proceed with a more lenient security check in secure sites such as airports, etc.,” the bulletin explains.

The latest warning arrives two weeks after the Turkish newspaper Zaman reported that a cell of the Quds Unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard planned to attack U.S. embassy in Ankara and other targets across Turkey.

Fast Moving Timeline for War

The latest development follows a number of events over the past few weeks that point toward a concerted attack by Israel and then the United States on Iran:

• DEBKAfile reported earlier in the week that the United States will have 100,000 troops in the region by March. “Pentagon has been quietly massing troops and armaments on two islands located just south of the Strait of Hormuz, and within easy striking distance of Iran,” Mac Slavo wrote on January 31.

• On Friday, the establishment media reported that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said “there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June,” according to theWashington Post. The timeline is predicated on Iran entering an Israeli contrived “zone of immunity” in its unsubstantiated effort to build a nuclear bomb.

• Iran has issued a number of threats in response to punitive oil and economic sanctions devised by the United States and Europe. On Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a nationally televised speech that his country will retaliate if Western nations impose crippling oil sanctions. In January, in response to European Union foreign ministers deciding to impose an oil embargo on the country, Iran vowed to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

• Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey admitted on January 9 that Iran has the ability to close off the strategic shipping lane linking the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf. He said doing so would constitute a “red line.”

• In December, in response to Sec. Def. Panetta’s not ruling out an attack, Iran announced it would hold a military exercise in the Persian Gulf. The 10 day exercise, dubbed “Velayat-e 90,” demonstrated that Iran has the ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. further exacerbated the situation by sending the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis through the Strait of Hormuz while Iran was conducting its war game.

• Russia and China have indicated that an attack on Iran would constitute an attack on their national security. “Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security,” said Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s deputy prime minister and former envoy to NATO, in mid-January.

War President: Re-electing Obama

In November, DEBKAfile said Obama will use war as a re-election tool. “President Barack Obama went on line to America’s senior allies, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Israel and Saudi Arabia, with notice of his plan to attack Iran no later than September-October 2012 – unless Tehran halted its nuclear weaponization programs,” the neocon-connected subscriber-only publication predicted.

“Obama’s announcement was not perceived as a general directive to US allies, but a guideline to blow the dust off the contingency plans for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities which stayed locked in bottom drawers for three years,” states the report, adding that “Obama’s announcement spurred Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Israel into girding their navies, air forces, ballistic units and anti-missile defense systems for the challenges ahead.”

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Britain’s foreign secretary William Hague said in January his country has not ruled out military action against Iran. Britain had dispatched its “most formidable warship HMS Daring” to the Persian Gulf region prior to Hague’s remarks.

In 2010, as Obama’s job rating began its descent into the abyss, former Clintonite and Democrat operativeMark Penn said Obama needs a domestic terror attack to regain his popularity. In July of that year, another former Clintonite, Robert Shapiro, said the only thing can preserve the Obama presidency is war.

“The bottom line here is that Americans don’t believe in President Obama’s leadership,” said Shapiro, writing for the Financial Times. “He has to find some way between now and November of demonstrating that he is a leader who can command confidence and, short of a 9/11 event or an Oklahoma City bombing, I can’t think of how he could do that.”

The late Washington Post columnist David Broder was more succinct. “With strong Republican support in Congress for challenging Iran’s ambition to become a nuclear power, he can spend much of 2011 and 2012 orchestrating a showdown with the mullahs. This will help him politically because the opposition party will be urging him on. And as tensions rise and we accelerate preparations for war, the economy will improve,” he wrote in late 2010.

Tensions will undoubtedly rise if there is a terror attack inside the United States, either against an Israeli target or American one.

It would provide an airtight excuse to unleash the awesome power of the U.S. military against Iran and cast Obama in the adulatory light all “war presidents” receive as the masses fall in line and wave their flags and cheer on “our boys” as they decimate another country and engage in yet another bloody massacre of innocents.

ASTEROID 433 EROS BERADA PALING DEKAT DENGAN BUMI SEJAK 1975

2012-01-31T11:08:00.002+08:00

by Agensi Angkasa Negara (ANGKASA) on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:03am

ASTEROID 433 EROS

BERADA PALING DEKAT DENGAN BUMI SEJAK 1975

Asteroid 433 Eros seperti yang dilihat oleh kapal angkasa NEAR NASA pada 29 Februari 2000. (NASA/JPL/JHUAPL)

Pada 31 Januari 2012, asteroid 433 Eros akan berada pada kedudukan paling hampir dengan Bumi sejak 37 tahun yang lalu, bergerak merentasi langit malam dalam buruj Leo, Sextans dan Hydra. Ketika ia berada paling dekat dengan Bumi iaitu kira-kira 26.7 juta kilometer.

Asteroid yang bersaiz 34 kilometer ini akan dapat dilihat walaupun menerusi teleskop kecil dengan kecerahannya sekitar magnitud 8 dan berkemungkinan mencecah sehingga magnitud 7. Asteroid 433 Eros tidak pernah berada sedekat sekarang sejak tahun 1975, dan ia juga tidak akan berada sedekat ini lagi sehinggalah pada tahun 2056.

Asteroid Eros dijumpai pada 13 Ogos 1898, oleh ahli-ahli astronomi Carl Gustav Witt di Berlin dan Auguste Charlois di Nice. Pengiraan terhadap orbit Eros menunjukkan ianya berbentuk bujur memanjang yang merentasi orbit Marikh. Ini memberikan kita peluang yang baik untuk melakukan pencerapan kerana ianya boleh membantu kita melakukan pengiraan jarak dari Bumi ke Matahari dengan lebih tepat.

Mengkaji objek angkasa seperti asteroid Eros ini boleh memberikan kefahaman kepada kita tentang pembentukan sistem suria. Ia juga membolehkan ahli astronomi lebih memahami komposisi asteroid yang mana maklumat ini boleh digunakan untuk mengelak apa-apa kesan hentaman yang berpotensi berlaku terhadap Bumi di masa-masa akan datang.

Imej Asteroid 433 Eros dirakamkan pada 30 Januari 2012 menerusi teleskop berdiameter 20 inci di Observatori Negara Langkawi.

Walaupun Eros akan berada kepada kedudukan menghampiri Bumi pada 31 Januari2012, tetapi tidak akan ada bahaya perlanggaran. Ia masih kekal pada jarak kira-kira 26.7 juta kilometer atau 0.178 AU. Jarak ini adalah lebih 80 kali lebih jauh berbanding jarak asteroid 2005 YU55, yang berada dalam lingkungan orbit bulan pada 8 November 2011 yang lalu.

Observatori Negara Langkawi

Agensi Angkasa Negara (ANGKASA)

Solar Flares can create earthquakes, facts and history

2012-01-29T09:04:00.002+08:00

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By Lyn.Stewart

As I was writing the hub about whether or not we can predict earthquakes I found that there is a lot of very interesting information regarding Solar Flares. I then decided that Solar Flares need to have their own special hub so this is why I am writing this.

According to scientists at (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. "The next solar activity cycle will be 30 to 50 percent stronger than the previous one, and up to a year late in arriving. ... One needs to go back over 8,000 years in order to find a time when the sun was, on average, as active as it is at present!" - They were speaking about the solar activity we are starting to experience at this time.

NASA admitted on their website "spacequakes can cause Northern lights and magnitude 5 or 6 earthquake". To find out more on Earthquakes please click here

BELOW IS REAL TIME SOLAR STORM WARNING DATA.

When all three graphs below hit 9, is when the sun has become extremely violent and a world-wide power blackout may be emanate.

See all 8 photos

March 19th 2011, Prominence Eroption up close

Source: NASA

The different strength Solar Flares explained

Scientists classify solar flares according to their brightness in the x-ray wavelengths. There are three categories of solar flares -

C-class flares - These are small solar flares with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.

M-class flares - These are medium-sized solar flares. They can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms can sometimes follow an M-class flare.

X-class flares - these are the biggest and are classified as major events that can trigger radio blackouts around the whole world and long-lasting radiation storms in the upper atmosphere.

Solar Flares in History

The earliest surviving record of sunspot observation dates from …

364 BC based on comments by the Chinese astronomer Gan De. From the State of Qi reportedly discovers the moon Ganymede, belonging to Jupiter, and makes the earliest known sunspot observations.

By 28 BC, Chinese astronomers were regularly recording sunspot observations in official imperial records

The first clear mention of a sunspot in Western literature was ...

17 March 807 AD by the Benedictine monk Adelmus, who observed a large sunspot which was visible for eight days; however, Adelmus incorrectly concluded he was observing a transit of Mercury

813 AD. A large sunspot was also seen at the time of Charlemagne's death in

1129 Sunspot activity was described by John of Worcester,

12th century Averroes provided a description of sunspots;however, sadly these observations were misinterpreted as planetary transits, until Galileo gave the correct explanation in 1612.

Nostradamus, Solar Flares and Earthquakes

So basically it sounds like a solar flare created either an Auroras or bolide explosions in areas that don’t normally get southern lights. And there will be an earthquake 3 days after the start of this occurrence.

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August 1^st 2010. Solar flare

August 3^rd 2010. A 6.4 earthquake hit Papa New Guinea.

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February. 15^th 2011. We had a Class X solar flare. The flare hit the earth onFebruary 18^th 2011.

On February 22^nd 2011 the deadly 6.3-magnitude Christchurch earthquake struck

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On March 9^th 2011, a class X1.5 solar flare erupted;

A Coronal Mass Ejection struck our magnetic field March 10^th. Bright Aurora Borealis were visible in the northern United States. This was a result of an M3 flare that occurred late on March 7^th, 2011

On Friday, March 11^th, 2011 On Friday, an 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, creating a tsunami.

Solar Flare facts

The sun goes through a roughly 11-year cycle of activity, from stormy to quiet and back again.

Solar storms are like a rubber band that has been twisted too far, solar magnetic fields can suddenly snap to a new shape, releasing tremendous energy as a solar flare or a coronal mass ejection (CME).

Solar flares are explosions in the sun’s atmosphere. The largest of these can be equal to billions of one-megaton nuclear bombs.

Solar magnetic energy can also blast billions of tons of plasma into space at millions of miles (kilometers) per hour as a CME. This solar activity often occurs near sunspots. (dark regions on the sun caused by concentrated magnetic fields).

large amounts of energy are released, accelerating the surrounding particles to almost the speed of light.

The temperature of the flares can soar to millions of degrees.

Solar flares are different to 'coronal mass ejections' (CMEs).

CMEs are huge bubbles of gas threaded with magnetic field lines that are ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours.

Scientist have discovered a new technique of "helioseismology" this means that scientists can now see inside the sun and follow the plasms flows.

How do the two major plasma flows work?

The first of the major plasma flows acts like a conveyor belt. deep beneath the surfaceof the sun the plasma flows from the poles to the equator. At the equator, the plasma rises and flows back to the poles, where it sinks and repeats.

The second flow is like a taffy pull. The surface layer of the sun rotates faster at the equator than it does near the poles. So as the solar magnetic field crosses the equator as it goes from pole to pole some of it it gets wrapped around the equator, over and over again. This leads to the peaks in solar storm activity. Solar fireworks in the form of flares and CME's dissipate some of the built up energy.

Source: NASA

So what can happen when one of these solar flares hits the earth

Solar flares facts -

They cause Environmental disturbances: (Geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, radio blackouts: xrays, cell phone, GPS, satellite interruptions.)

Large solar flares cause Auroras (during x class flares, auroras may be seen very far south)

Earthquakes can be attributed to increased solar activity.
Large Solar flares can cause shockwaves or bolide explosions (large fireballs in the sky these can also sound like explosions)
Ice can fall from the sky
Birds can fall dead from the sky (if there hit by a shockwave or bolide explosion) and they may effect marine life.

Okay If your anything like me you now whant to know ...

What does this all mean?

Solar Flares cause Environmental disturbances: (Geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, radio blackouts: xrays, cell phone, GPS, satellite interruptions.)

Solar Flares (scientists are now calling them Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)) cause Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMP’s) or bursts of electromagnetic radiation from a major Solar Flare.

Basically a really large Solar Flare could practically take out the world's electricity distribution on a semi-permanent basis. It would take many years, if not decades, to repair the world's electrical system, even if replacement parts were immediately available. There would be massive damage to power generation, distribution facilities, substations and countless transformers and switching equipment everywhere. When high power transformers used in substations or on utility poles are damaged, they must be scrapped or rebuilt. If the factories that create or repair these electrical components are also without power, they will be unable to rebuild or repair electrical equipment. With an AC power outage, there will be no diesel fuel available to fill the tanks of large heavy goods vehicles used to transport and install the massive electrical components.

It takes an enormous amount of power to bring a power plant online. This power must come from another power plant. If all power plants were knocked off line, or all those in a specific region, there would be no means to start them back up again. It would take a year or two to get one operational again and additional years to power the rest. So it might be a decade for human civilisation to achieve a semblance of what it was, prior to the Solar Flare. That also means no GPS, Internet, Satellite or Mobile phones, T.V, ATM’s, Radio. Also many Fuel pumps use electronic pumping systems.

Scientists from NASA say - "If forecasters are correct, the solar cycle will peak during the years around 2013". "We need to be Preparing for a "solar Katrina," launching a new science, harnessing the talents of scientists around the globe".To find out what you need to have before this happens click here

A Sun Spot shows as a dark patch

Large Solar flares can cause shockwaves or bolide explosions

Ice can fall from the sky

An Alva family says a chunk of ice fell from the sky and landed in their backyard. The homeowner says the skies were clear blue and can't figure out how it happened. Cyndi Smith says she is still trying to figure it all out. "I don't know a space ice comet! I don't have any ideas where it came from," she said.

Monster ice meteors, called megacryometeors, drop singly from cloudless skies and can weigh a couple hundred pounds. More than 50 such events have been reported globally in the past seven years alone, according to a planetary geologist at the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid.

Birds can fall dead from the sky and marine life can be effected.

On the night of New years eve 2011, 5,000 blackbirds fell out of the sky ...

Karen Rowe, an ornithologist for the wildlife commission said, "It’s important to understand that a sick bird can't fly."

Their stomachs were empty, which rules out poison, Dr. George Badley said, and they died in midair, not on impact with the ground. Tests for poisonous gasses and other diseases have turned up negative in all the reports given to the media. Preliminary autopsies on 17 of the up to 5,000 blackbirds that fell on this town indicate they died of blunt trauma to their organs, the state's top veterinarian told NBC .

Game and Fish Commission officers said there were reports of loud noises shortly before the birds began to fall from the sky, which may have accounted for why they were flying at such an unusual hour.

An overhead bolide explosion is enough to send a shock wave into the earth, killing bird’s mid-flight or causing earthquake-like effects. Overhead explosions may have startle the birds out of the trees into the sky, and then the shock wave of another struck them mid-flight as they frantically tried to escape. Birds have much more sensitive internal organs than humans do. By the time the shock wave reached the surface, it would have likely dissipated enough so that any surface dwelling creatures (including humans) were unaffected and probably only heard it as a loud 'thunder'.

Australian Prime Minister 'Trapped' By Aboriginal Protesters

2012-01-26T13:30:00.001+08:00

JULIA Gillard and Tony Abbott have been bundled out of a Canberra restaurant after the building was rushed by Aboriginal protesters today.

The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader were trapped in the building for about 30 minutes as about 100 activists from the nearby Aboriginal Tent embassy banged on windows.

The leaders' were escorted out of The Lobby restaurant by body guards and into a waiting car as protesters were pushed back by a line of Australian Federal Police officers.

Mr Gillard stumbled and lost a shoe as she was rushed from the building, but was unhurt.

The Lobby is just metres away from the Tent Embassy, which was established 40 years ago tomorrow.

The incident was sparked by comments made by Mr Abbott made earlier in the day, which were interpreted as a call to disband the Tent Embassy.

"Look, I can understand why the Tent Embassy was established all those years ago. I think a lot has changed for the better since then," he said in a doorstop interview in Sydney.

''I think a lot has changed for the better since then.

''We had the historic apology just a few years ago, one of the genuine achievements of Kevin Rudd as prime minister.

''We had the proposal which is currently for national consideration to recognise indigenous people in the Constitution.

''I think the indigenous people of Australia can be very proud of the respect in which they are held by every Australian and yes, I think a lot has changed since then and I think it probably is time to move on from that.''

Protester Kalara Gilbert told The Australian Online the crowd was angered by the comments.

“Some people found out that they were at that restaurant so we thought we’d take the fight to the people,” Ms Gilbert said.

“What Tony Abbott said was disgraceful. Our people are living in awful third world conditions, they’re dying and this government just continues to turn a blind eye to it.”

Aboriginal activists from the embassy are demanding the Prime Minister sign a treaty of sovereignty granting ownership of Australian land to its indigenous peoples.

PM dragged away after being trapped by protesters

Dylan Welch

January 26, 2012 - 4:50PM

· Read later

The Prime Minister,Julia Gillard, and Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, had to be extracted from arestaurant near Parliament House as angry protesters banged on the glass.

Supporters of theAboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra picketed the Lobby restaurant over commentsby Mr Abbott this morning that the tent embassy should close.

As many as 200 gatheredin front of the restaurant, banging on its glass walls and yelling"shame" and "racist".

The incident, about2.30pm at the restaurant several hundred metres from Parliament, occurred whileMs Gillard and Mr Abbott were presenting the National Emergency Medals.

The pair were forced tostay inside for 30 minutes while the protest outside continued.

As many as 1000 peoplehad gathered as part of a march to mark the 40th anniversary of the TentEmbassy.

Ms Gillard was escortedin dramatic fashion from the building by her federal police Close PersonalProtection team.

Fairfax photographerAlex Ellinghausen, who took the pictures on this page, said that, contrary tothe claims of Ms Gillard's office that she merely "stumbled", she was"dragged out" by her bodyguards.

"The police werepulling her out and they were clearly a bit faster than her and along the wayshe lost a shoe and tumbled," he said.

One of the protesters,the chairman of the Northern Basin Aboriginal nations, Fred Hooper, spoke toSky News shortly after the politicians’ dramatic exit, explaining why theycaused the incident.

‘‘We were peacefullycelebrating the 40th anniversary of the aboriginal tent embassy. The oppositionleader on national television made a comment to tear down something that havebuilt over 40 years, which is sacred to us,’’ he said.

‘‘So what do you expectus to do when we're 200 yards away from the person that makes that comment? Doyou expect us to say, ‘yeah Tony we're gonna do that now? We're gonna rip itdown?’’’

Earlier today one ofthe tent embassy's founders, Michael Anderson, addressed a rally at the site.

"To hell with thegovernment and the courts in this country. You haven't got a high hope to takeus on," he said.

"We will forcethese issues. Too many of our families have suffered for some bastard to get inthe road."

Mr Sean Gordon,Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council leader from North West NSW, said the protesthad been peaceful until an announcement was made in which Mr Abbott's commentswere read to the crowd.

"It was likewaving a red rag at a bull. This is the 40th anniversary of the tent embassyand these blokes are 200 metres away. If Tony Abbott is a visionary then whydid he fail to see what this would do to our people."

"In answer to theOpposition Leader's comments an NSW Aboriginal Council member, Roy RC,told reporters "maybe Abbott is right and it is time for the tent embassyto go."

"And then it istime to erect a black Parliament with politicians we can choose, politicianswho are going to have a say in our lives," he said.

Mr Gordon said furtherprotests were planned for the rest of the week and that "we're going tokeep the fight going. We are standing up here and we are not going away."

Mr Abbott'scomments about the Tent Embassy were made during an event at the Sydney OperaHouse this morning in response to a question from the media about whether theTent Embassy was still relevant.

Fenomena Ribut Geomagnetik

2012-01-26T11:29:00.003+08:00

SIARAN MEDIA : NOTA MAKLUMAN BERKAITAN SIARAN BERITA TV3 PADA 24 JAN 2012 MENGENAI FENOMENA RIBUT GEOMAGNETIK

by Agensi Angkasa Negara (ANGKASA) on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 11:23am

NOTA MAKLUMAN

BERKAITAN SIARAN BERITA TV3 PADA 24 JAN 2012 MENGENAI FENOMENA RIBUT GEOMAGNETIK

LATARBELAKANG

Matahari adalah sebuah bintang bersaiz sederhana dan mempunyai aktiviti luaran (permukaan) seperti pembentukan tompok hitam (sunspot), penyemburan tenaga melalui fenomena seperti suar matahari (flare) dan penyemburan jisim korona (Coronal Mass Ejection, CME) yang boleh menyebabkan fenomena ribut suria (solar storm). Aktiviti matahari ini mempunyai kitaran ‘senyap’ dan juga ‘aktif’ selama 11 tahun yang berulang yang dikenali sebagai kitaran suria (solar cycle). Fenomena di mana matahari mengalami aktiviti ‘aktif’ ini di kenali sebagai solar maksimum (solar max) yang dijangka akan berlaku dalam tahun 2012 hingga 2013.

Kesan fenomena ribut suria dan interaksinya dengan medan magnet dan lapisan ionosfera Bumi boleh menyebabkan ribut geomagnetik yang mana boleh menyebabkan gangguan kepada sistem komunikasi radio dan radar, sistem satelit dan gangguan kepada sistem navigasi seperti kompas yang berpandukan kepada magnetik Bumi dan fenomena kenampakan aurora di kutub utara dan selatan Bumi. Ribut geomagnetik yang sangat kuat seperti yang berlaku pada tahun 1989 boleh menyebabkan arus aruhan yang menyebabkan kebakaran alat transformers di jaringan elektrik voltan tinggi di Wilayah Quebac, Kanada.

Satu Nota Jemaah Menteri (N618/2011) daripada MOSTI telah dibentangkan pada 3 Ogos 2011 yang telah menerangkan fenomena berkaitan, dan juga jangkaan berlakunya solar maksimum pada tahun 2012 – 2013 ini, dan kesannya kepada Bumi dan aktiviti berkaitan. Satu jawatankuasa bersama antara Agensi ANGKASA Negara dan Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (JMM), Jawatan Kuasa Pemantauan Solar Maksimum, juga telah diwujudkan untuk memantau dan menangani fenomena solar maksimum ini.

PERKARA YANG HENDAK DIMAKLUMKAN BERKAITAN SIARAN BERITA TV3 PADA 24 JAN 2012

Untuk makluman, satu fenomena letusan suar matahari dan semburan CME telah dilaporkan berlaku di permukaan Matahari pada 23 Jan 2012 yang dikesan melalui satelit khas pemantauan Matahari, SOHO dan STEREO milik NASA dan ESA. Letusan ini telah menyebabkan fenomena ribut geomagnetik di Bumi pada 24 Januari sekitar jam 15:00 UT (jam 23:00 Waktu tempatan). Fenomena ini telah dilaporkan oleh stesen TV3 pada 24 Januari (LAMPIRAN).

Menurut laporan daripada National Space Weather Prediction Centre (NSWPC) dan National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hari ini (25 Jan 2012), skala ribut Geomagnetik yang telah berlaku hanyalah pada skala G1 (bacaan paling rendah) dan bukannya G2 - G3 seperti yang dilaporkan oleh berita TV3 semalam, dan ianya tidak memberi gangguan kepada sistem infrastruktur di Bumi dan hanya telah mewujudkan fenomena aurora di kutub utara. Untuk makluman YB juga, skala G5 ialah bacaan yang paling tinggi.

Untuk makluman juga, fenomena seperti ribut geomagnetik ini hanya memberi kesan yang ketara kepada negara-negara yang berada di kutub atau di latitud tinggi seperti USA, Rusia, Eropah manakala negara-negara yang berada berhampiran Khatulistiwa adalah lebih selamat. Sehubungan dengan itu, Malaysia diramalkan selamat dan tidak akan terkesan dengan fenomena berkaitan.

Untuk makluman, bermula bulan Januari 2012 ini, Jawatan Kuasa Pemantauan Solar Maksimum akan menyediakan laporan berhubung dengan fenomena ini secara bulanan untuk makluman umum.

Disediakan oleh:

Jawatan Kuasa Pemantauan Solar Maksimum

25 Jan 2012