PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet 28/2002 - 22 February 2002
--------------------------------
"Malheureusement, déplore François Colas, aucun programme
de
détection n'est installé dans l'hémisphère sud et ne scrute
le ciel
austral. Nous voudrions qu'un télescope européen d'un mètre de
diamètre le
fasse. Cela coûterait moins de 500 000 euros par an, ce qui
n'est pas cher
pour sauver le monde..."
--Le Monde, 21 February 2002
"At the same time as dealing with cosmic hazards,
catastrophic mass
extinctions and historical impacts, CCNet also accentuates the
progress of technological advancement which has significantly
boosted
the chances for better search programmes and planetary defence
systems. By
balancing the growing awareness of Earth's catastrophic history
with the
prospect of future disaster prevention, CCNet is steering clear
from
doom-mongering and cultural pessimism."
--Benny J. Peiser, "Communicating Heaven and Hell"
(1) FRENCH ASTRONOMERS CALL FOR EUROPEAN NEO TELESCOPE "POUR
SAUVER LE
MONDE"
Le Monde, 21 February 2002
(2) SCIENTISTS SIMULATE COMET STRIKES
Orlando Sentinel, 17 February 2002
(3) MONSTER ERUPTION FROM THE SUN
Paal Brekke <pbrekke@esa.nascom.nasa.gov>
(4) CRATER CORE HOLDS DINOSAUR DEMISE DETAILS
United Press International, 21 February 2002
(5) (VERY SLOW) COLLISION MAY HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD
ABC News
(6) COMMUNICATING HEAVEN AND HELL: HANDLING THE IMPACT HAZARD ON
THE NET
Benny J Peiser, Liverpool John Moores
University, UK
(7) COMET IKEYA-ZHANG
Mark Kidger <mrk@ll.iac.es>
(8) AND FINALLY: LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE AND MALARIA BROKEN
AFRICA'S MALARIA RESURGENCE ISN'T DOWN TO
GLOABL WARMING
Nature Science Update, 21 February 2002
==================
(1) FRENCH ASTRONOMERS CALL FOR EUROPEAN NEO TELESCOPE "POUR
SAUVER LE
MONDE"
>From Le Monde, 21 February 2002
http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3244--263684-,00.html
Les astres du système solaire sont criblés de cicatrices dues
aux astéroïdes
La terre est une prestidigitatrice. Elle a quasiment réussi à
faire
disparaître de sa surface toutes les traces des bombardements
spatiaux dont
elle a été victime depuis sa formation, il y a un peu plus de
4,5 milliards
d'années. Moins de 200 cratères d'impact sont ainsi
répertoriés sur notre
planète. Encore a-t-il fallu, afin d'établir cette courte
liste, que les
géologues fassent preuve de beaucoup de perspicacité et
reçoivent l'aide de
la photographie aérienne ou des satellites d'observation de la
Terre.
Contrairement à la Lune, dont la surface est comme criblée de
cicatrices de
variole, notre globe garde peu de marques des collisions qu'il a
pourtant
subies en plus grand nombre, étant donné sa taille plus
importante.
L'étude des cratères peut livrer de nombreuses informations sur
les astres
qui les portent. Notamment dans le cas de Mars. Alors que les
cratères
visibles sur la Lune présentent des bords francs, ceux de la
planète rouge,
photographiée quotidiennement par la sonde américaine Mars
Global Surveyor
(MGS), sont entourés d'un anneau d'éjecta - les matières
éjectées vers
l'extérieur lors de l'impact - en forme de pétales de rose.
"En fait, assure
François Colas, astronome au CNRS et spécialiste des
astéroïdes et comètes
qu'il suit au télescope du pic du Midi, il ne faut pas chercher
plus loin la
preuve de la présence d'eau sur Mars. Celle-ci se trouvait dans
le sous-sol
sous forme d'eau liquide ou plus probablement de glace qui a
fondu en raison
de la chaleur dégagée par l'impact." La suite se devine :
arrivant comme un
pavé lancé dans une mare de boue, l'astéroïde a éclaboussé
les terrains
entourant le cratère qu'il créait.
CATASTROPHE PLANETAIRE
Grâce aux sondes spatiales, les astronomes ont pu vérifier que
chaque
planète ou satellite un tant soit peu important a été, est, ou
sera bombardé
par les bolides (astéroïdes ou comètes) qui traversent le
système solaire.
Les astéroïdes ne s'épargnent pas entre eux. Grâce aux images
prises par la
sonde NEAR en 2000 et 2001, les astronomes ont ainsi pu
déterminer qu'Eros
(33 km de long sur 15 de large) devait sa forme de banane à une
collision.
"On pensait jusqu'alors qu'un impact sur un corps de cette
taille devait le
pulvériser, explique François Colas. Mais Eros, qui devrait
ressembler à un
ballon de rugby, est parcouru de failles qui ont amorti le
choc."
A l'heure actuelle, environ 100 000 astéroïdes ont été
identifiés. La
plupart gravitent entre Mars et Jupiter dans une ceinture de
cailloux
volants. Ces cousins directs des planétésimaux, qui, peu après
la naissance
du Soleil, se sont agrégés pour donner les planètes
telluriques, n'ont pu en
faire autant et demeurent les vestiges des origines du système
solaire. La
majorité voyagent sur des orbites stables mais il arrive que des
perturbations gravitationnelles en éjectent quelques-uns.
Lorsque ces
astéroïdes expulsés se dirigent vers l'intérieur du système
solaire, une loi
curieuse veut que leur orbite saute d'une planète vers l'autre.
Ils sont
ainsi tour à tour Mars-croiseurs, géocroiseurs,
Vénus-croiseurs et finissent
généralement leur course dans la fournaise de notre étoile.
Qu'on les nomme
géocroiseurs ne signifie pas qu'ils vont forcément venir
percuter la Terre
mais simplement qu'ils ont une chance de croiser sa trajectoire.
Les astronomes estiment qu'existent environ 2 000 géocroiseurs
d'un
kilomètre de diamètre ou plus. S'ils entraient en collision
avec la Terre,
il en résulterait une catastrophe planétaire. La probabilité
est infime mais
non nulle.
Depuis une dizaine d'années, plusieurs programmes de détection
de ces corps,
minuscules à l'échelle du système solaire, scrutent en
permanence le ciel et
ont permis la découverte d'environ la moitié de ces bolides
potentiellement
dangereux. Cela permet d'en définir la trajectoire et de
calculer les
risques d'écrasement sur la Terre dans les décennies ou les
siècles à venir.
Le plus important programme, l'américain Linear (Lincoln Near
Earth Asteroid
Research), a reconverti en observatoires automatisés deux
télescopes
utilisés par l'armée américaine pour la détection des
satellites militaires
soviétiques...
"Malheureusement, déplore François Colas, aucun programme
de détection n'est
installé dans l'hémisphère sud et ne scrute le ciel austral.
Nous voudrions
qu'un télescope européen d'un mètre de diamètre le fasse.
Cela coûterait
moins de 500 000 euros par an, ce qui n'est pas cher pour sauver
le monde...
Le rapport entre l'investissement pour avoir un tableau complet
des
géocroiseurs et le coût des dégâts en cas de collision est
imbattable. Ces
observations nous aideraient à mieux connaître les
astéroïdes, à comprendre
comment fonctionnent les rebonds qu'ils effectuent de planète en
planète et
à affiner notre compréhension de la formation des
planètes."
Pierre Barthélémy
Copyright 2002, Le Monde
============
(2) SCIENTISTS SIMULATE COMET STRIKES: FINDINGS MIGHT SHED LIGHT
ON ORIGINS
OF EARLY EARTH LIFE
>From Orlando Sentinel, 17 February 2002
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
By Andrea Widener, Knight Ridder Newspapers
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The large bullet rips down the gun's long
barrel at
the mind-bending speed of 4,500 miles per hour.
In fractions of a second, it strikes its target with a dull
thump.
With this target, a shiny silver capsule filled with a teardrop
of water,
scientists are simulating the scorching impact of a comet
striking the
Earth.
These intense temperatures and pressures, while lacking the
violence of real
comet strikes, are giving scientists insights far beyond what has
been
available up to now.
Experiments by Jennifer Blank at Lawrence Livermore in Livermore,
Calif.,
and a small group of others are shedding light on one of
science's most
fundamental questions: How did life begin?
The implications of comets contributing the elements of life on
Earth would
have great meaning for those searching for life on other planets,
as well.
"It is so interdisciplinary, physics with organic chemistry
with planetary
science all under the umbrella of exploring life's origins,"
explained
Blank. The building blocks of life, the essential molecules that
form the
basis of everything from bacteria to brain surgeons, are either
local
creations or imports from meteors or comets.
In the 1950s, two University of Chicago scientists did several
experiments
suggesting these fundamentals were formed when lightning spurred
chemical
reactions in the Earth's warm, chemically rich early atmosphere.
The result
of this process was aptly called the primordial soup.
It turns out the process might not be quite that simple.
In the half century since that groundbreaking experiment,
geologists have
disputed whether the Earth's atmosphere was either as warm or as
chemically
rich as researchers originally believed. It might not have been
able to
create the cell essentials, like sugars and amino acids.
So some far-out thinkers have turned to the stars.
Researchers already knew these particles were found in outer
space and would
have hitched a ride on the comets that, in the more volatile
early days,
regularly smashed into the Earth. But most scientists assumed
that life's
somewhat-fragile essentials wouldn't survive the crash landing --
and the
2,000-degree temperatures such landings created.
That is, until Blank's big-gun experiments proved otherwise.
It turns out researchers ignored two vital elements -- pressure
and time.
While high temperatures would tend to burn things up, immense
pressures
would tend to hold them together. And while seconds-long hot
stretches might
burn some molecules up, many can survive a short-term scorching
fairly
unscathed.
Copyright (c) 2002, Sentinel Communications Co
===========
(3) MONSTER ERUPTION FROM THE SUN
>From Paal Brekke <pbrekke@esa.nascom.nasa.gov>
SOHO observed a huge eruptive prominence arching out from the Sun
on Feb.
18, 2001. Part of the prominence can bee seen streching out from
the Sun's
south polar region.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/
NOTE: THIS ERUPTION WAS NOT HEADED TOWARDS THE EARTH!
Regards
Paal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Paal Brekke,
SOHO Deputy Project Scientist (European Space Agency - ESA)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Email: pbrekke@esa.nascom.nasa.gov
Mail Code 682.3, Bld. 26, Room 001, Tel.:
1-301-286-6983 /301 996 9028
(cell)
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA.
Fax:
1-301-286-0264
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
SOHO WEB: http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
============
(4) CRATER CORE HOLDS DINOSAUR DEMISE DETAILS
>From United Press International, 21 February 2002
MERIDA, Mexico, Feb 21, 2002 (United Press International via
COMTEX) --
Scientists hope rock samples collected from a mile-long core into
an ancient
impact crater will unlock secrets of how the crash triggered a
sudden
climatic change that led to the demise of the dinosaurs, and
ultimately, to
the rise of mammals and the human species.
Drilling into the Chicxulub impact crater on Mexico's Yucatan
Peninsula is
expected to wrap up this week, with preliminary analysis on the
excavated
samples to begin at the lead institution, the Universidad
Nacional Autonoma
de Mexico.
The goal of the $1.5-million International Continental Drilling
Program is
twofold: to identify what type of celestial body crashed into
Earth 65
million years ago; and detail the sequence of events that altered
the
planet's ecology and environment, killing 75 percent of Earth's
plant and
animal species in the process.
"The hypothesis that a meteorite impact caused the demise of
the dinosaurs
and consequently perhaps paved the way for mammalian evolution
has been one
of the most important recent and important findings in Earth
sciences," said
University of Arizona-Tuscon geosciences professor Joaquin Ruiz.
Earth's environment has been profoundly affected several times in
its
history by asteroid, comet or meteorite impacts, said Harvard
University's
Stein Jacobsen, who was on a team 10 years ago that studied
Chicxulub crater
rock samples and confirmed the then-controversial impact theory.
It will be interesting to be able to distinguish whether the
impact was
caused by a comet, for which there currently are no direct
samples, or an
asteroid, Jacobsen said from Cambridge, Mass. It would be very
rare to find
particles from the actual impactor, which likely was vaporized in
the crash.
Rather, scientists will be able to study secondary evidence, such
as how the
underlying rock was affected by the impact structurally and
chemically.
To reach the crater floor, drilling teams first had to bore
through almost a
half-mile of sedimentary rocks that settled on top of the crater
after the
impact. This month, scientists got their first look at the impact
breccias,
impact melt layer and the fractured rock beneath the basin. By
this weekend,
drilling through several hundred feet of underlying continental
crust
bedrock is expected to be finished, successfully completing the
first effort
to obtain a continuous core of rock from the famed crater.
The rock samples hold the untold details of Earth's rapid
climatic and
environmental changes, said project co-investigator David Kring,
a
University of Arizona planetary scientist.
For example, most of the rocks struck by the asteroid or comet
contained
mainly anhydrite, a calcium sulphate mineral, which, when
vaporized produces
sulfur-oxide gases that can affect Earth's climate. When these
gases reached
the atmosphere by the force of the impact, the gases formed
aerosols that
cooled the planet's surface and then returned to the ground as
acid rain.
"The impact had a tremendous effect," said Kring.
"There were wildfires,
dust, soot, toxic chemicals, temperature changes, acid rain and
greenhouse
warming. The magnitude of what happened depends on the type of
rocks that
were hit."
"We want to figure out the sequence of events that caused
all these species
to die," he said.
Impact cratering is the dominant geologic process in the solar
system,
affecting all the terrestrial planetary surfaces, including
Mercury, the
moon and Mars.
Earth's craters are mostly hidden by other geologic processes,
such as the
formation and motion of the continental plates, the creation of
mountains,
erosion and volcanism. The Chicxulub crater, which was found
during oil
exploration, is the most famous of about 160 known impact sites
on Earth.
Copyright 2002 by United Press International.
===========
(5) (VERY SLOW) COLLISION MAY HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD
Tibet Cooled The World
http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s485706.htm
Tibet is a spiritual place. It sits on the roof of the world -
the 5 km high
Tibetan plateau. Some researchers now believe that this plateau
cooled the
whole planet, and maybe helped the evolution of the human brain.
Now the climate of the world has been fairly predictable over
most of the
last few hundred million years. Until recently, it was warm and
wet, like
the tropics. Back then, the level of carbon dioxide was twice the
level that
it is today. The dinosaurs, who lived from 200 million to 65
million years
ago, enjoyed a temperature about 8-11Co warmer, and swam in seas
about half
a metre higher than we do today.
But all this changed 50 million years ago when India collided
with Asia at
the frightening speed of 20 centimetres per year (roughly 4 times
faster
than your fingernails grow). As a result of this slow but
gigantic
collision, the Himalayas and Tibet relentlessly and gradually
rose above
sea-level as India ploughed northwards another 2,000 km. India
slowed its
northward speed to a more sedate 5 cm per year.
During this enormous collision, the Antarctic began to ice up and
the world
cooled down. The world's temperature kept on dropping. About 2-3
million
years ago, our human brain began to double in size from 600 ml to
about
1,200 ml.
It could be just a coincidence, but Big Brains do need a lot of
cooling.
After all, we humans really need our big brains. We can't see
very clearly,
we can't run very fast, our skin won't even stand up to a rose
bush and our
nails are pathetic as claws. Compared to the other animals on the
planet,
our big brain is our only worthwhile asset. But while our brain
weighs only
2% of our body weight, it takes 20% of our blood supply, and so
20% of our
waste heat gets dumped from our head.
Now a new theory claims that the Tibetan Plateau is responsible
for cooling
the world by taking carbon dioxide out of the air. The Tibetan
Plateau is a
huge area, roughly half the size of Australia, and mostly higher
than 5 km
above sea level. Clouds run into this plateau, and dump their
water as rain.
In fact, the Tibetan plateau causes the annual Asian monsoons. As
a result,
eight huge rivers, which include the Ganges, Mekong, Indus and
the Yangtze,
drain from the Tibetan Plateau and its approaches. These rivers
drain a
total area of less than 5% of
our Earth's land area, but they dump 25% of the minerals that
reach the
ocean.
The very heavy rains combined with enormously steep slopes cause
huge
erosion. The carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the rain drops
forms a weak
acid - carbonic acid. This carbonic acid combines with granite
and limestone
which come from the massive erosion. The combination of carbon
dioxide and
granite/limestone makes minerals which wash downhill towards the
ocean.
These minerals are very rich in carbon. So Tibet takes carbon
dioxide out of
the atmosphere, and shoves it not into trees, but into minerals.
So, according to this theory, the Tibetan plateau is really a
huge pump that
takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and deposits it on
the ocean
floor where it stays locked away for millions of year.
The Tibet theory was created by oceanographer Maureen Raymo from
MIT and her
colleague Bill Ruddiman, a paleoclimatologist of the University
of Virginia.
They claim that chemical reactions caused by the Tibetan plateau
have
removed so much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, that the
temperature has
dropped - not the Greenhouse Effect but the Tibetan Ice Block
Effect.
Now the theory is in its early days, and it's not rock solid, but
we do know
that after about 50 million years of a steady downward drop in
both
temperature and carbon dioxide levels, the Earth's climate seems
to have
stabilised into an oscillating series of Ice Ages and non-Ice
Ages. And at
the end of that drop, our brains began to evolve larger. So maybe
Tibet not
only chilled out the world, it also gave us swollen heads.
© Karl S. Kruszelnicki Pty Ltd 2002.
==============
(6) COMMUNICATING HEAVEN AND HELL: HANDLING THE IMPACT HAZARD ON
THE NET
Presenting CCNet at the "COMMUNICATING ASTRONOMY"
CONFERENCE
http://www.iac.es/proyect/commast/
Benny J Peiser, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
In 1997, CCNet was set up as a scholarly e-mail network in order
to
disseminate and discuss pertinent issues related to NEO research
and the
hazards to civilisation due to asteroids and comets. Since then,
the
Cambridge-Conference Network has grown into one of the most
lively and
stimulating electronic science and astronomy networks. With its
1200
subscribers from around the world, CCNet has become one of the
principal
outlets for accurate information, critical analysis and
thought-provoking
debates on all matters concerning NEOs, natural disasters and
efforts to
prevent future impact calamities. At the same time as dealing
with cosmic
hazards, catastrophic mass extinctions and historical impacts,
CCNet also
accentuates the progress of technological advancement which has
significantly boosted the chances for better search programmes
and planetary
defence systems. By balancing the growing awareness of Earth's
catastrophic
history with the prospect of future disaster prevention, CCNet is
steering
clear from doom-mongering and cultural pessimism.
============================
* LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR *
============================
(7) COMET IKEYA-ZHANG
>From Mark Kidger <mrk@ll.iac.es>
Dear Benny:
As you point out, there is considerable interest in Comet C/2002
C1
(Ikeya-Zhang) which could potentially turn out to be the first
confirmed
return of a comet with a period superior to 155 years (the
current record
holder is Comet Herschel-Rigollet, last seen in 1939). Nakano has
suggested that it may be identical to C/1532 R1.
Although C/1532 R1 was observed from September 2nd to December
30th its
orbit is rather uncertain. The orbit used in the IAU/CBAT/MPC
"Catalogue of
Cometary Orbits" is that of Olbers, calculated in 1787. This
orbit is
compared below to that of Comet Ikeya-Zhang.
C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) C/1532 R1
T 2002 Mar. 18.9388 1532 Oct. 18.832
q 0.507200 0.51922
z +0.017337
w 34.5777 24.53
W 93.4156 93.81
e 0.991207 1.0
i 28.1110 32.59
As we can see, the similarity is quite impressive. Brian Marsden
estimates
an orbital period of 400-500 years for Ikeya-Zhang based on an
arc of 11
days, which would be consistent with a previous apparition in
1532.
The orbit of C/1532 R1 however is not completely determined,
despite the
long visibility of the comet and a 1785 solution by Mchaine gave
a rather
different solution, with an inclination of 42 degrees, and an
Ascending Node
of 126 degrees, very much less similar to the orbit of
Ikeya-Zhang.
C/1532 R1 was evidently an exceptional object. David Hughes's
1987 catalogue
of cometary absolute magnitudes from 568 - 1978 assigns it an
absolute
magnitude of +1.8, one of just 12 comets that has an absolute
magnitude of
+2 or brighter, putting it into the "giant comet"
class, almost 100 times
intrinsically brighter than the average long-period comet.
Current light
curve fits to C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) suggest an absolute
magnitude from
+6.5-7.5, average, or slightly fainter than average. This is an
evident
inconsistency. While the date culled from pre-telescopic light
curves is
very uncertain, 5 magnitudes is a big difference.
As second point to watch for is the light curve of Ikeya-Zhang.
Jonathan
Shanklin suggests in his note that this comet is brightening very
fast (15
log r). This is a very fast brightening rate consistent with a
gassy comet -
gassy objects rarely brighten very rapidly close in to the Sun.
If we take the archetypal active evolved object, 1P/Halley, the
brightening
rate at r < 1.7AU was found by Daniel Fischer to be 9.1 log r.
C/1995 O1
(Hale-Bopp), also an active multiple-return object, brightened at
7.5 log r
for most of its inbound passage.
Comets are full of surprises. C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) did reach the
upper bound
of predictions (a little below magnitude 2), but took an unusual
route to
get there! It may be too early to call Ikeya-Zhang yet.
Readers who are interested in following the comet's light curve
from day to
day can try these two sites:
Seichii Yoshida's Japanese data:
http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2002C1/2002C1.html
My own light curve from mainly Spanish data:
http://www.iac.es/galeria/mrk/Light_2002c1.g
Mark Kidger
============
(8) AND FINALLY: LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE AND MALARIA BROKEN
AFRICA'S MALARIA RESURGENCE ISN'T DOWN TO
GLOABL WARMING
>From Nature Science Update, 21 February 2002
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-12.html
JOHN WHITFIELD
Climate change cannot explain the growth of malaria in the
highlands of East
Africa, say researchers. Drawing simplistic links between global
warming and
local disease patterns could lead to mistaken policy decisions,
they warn.
Drug resistance, or the failure of the health-care system to keep
pace with
population growth, are more likely culprits for malaria's rise,
say Simon
Hay, of the University of Oxford, and his colleagues. These
should be the
focus of public-health efforts, they urge. Malaria kills between
one million
and two million Africans each year.
Through records and computer simulation, Hay's team reconstructed
the
climate of four regions in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi
between 1911
and 1995.
Malaria cases in these regions have increased sharply in the past
two
decades, in some areas more than fivefold. The pattern is similar
across
tropical Africa. Hay's team chose upland areas because they are
most
sensitive to climate change.
But the reconstruction revealed no significant trends in
temperature,
rainfall or the number of months when conditions were suitable
for malaria
transmission - the disease thrives in warm, wet weather.
"The climate hasn't
changed, therefore it can't be responsible for changes in
malaria," says
Hay.
There's been an unseemly rush to link climate to disease, agrees
Paul
Reiter, an expert in insect-borne diseases at the Harvard School
of Public
Health. "The most important factors are always going to be
economics,
politics and lifestyle," he says.
Hay and Reiter add that even in temperate regions, global warming
is
unlikely to increase the threat of malaria. The disease was
present in
Europe and North America until the second half of the twentieth
century,
until factors such as wetland draining, insecticide and improved
public
hygiene eliminated it, they point out.
Blowing hot and cold
"There's been some terrible bandwagon-jumping and
misdirection of resources
that could be spent learning how to control mosquito-borne
disease," says
Reiter. "We urgently need to cool down the rhetoric and
start to look
objectively at what the factors behind their recent resurgence
are."
But this study does not prove that there's no link between
climate change
and the growth of malaria in these regions, says Jonathan Patz,
who studies
climate's relationship with health at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore.
Some regions of East Africa do show warming trends, he says. That
the team
considered climate over a much longer period than they analysed
disease
could have confused their analysis, he believes.
"I think there's a mismatch between the results and the
strong conclusions
of this paper," says Patz. He feels it's still not clear
whether climate
change has influenced disease.
What's needed, he says, are studies that consider climate,
disease
statistics and social factors simultaneously. These may help to
predict the
effect on malaria if climate in upland East Africa does change.
References
Hay, S. I. et al. Climate change and the resurgence of malaria in
the East
African Highlands. Nature, 415, 905 - 909, (2002).
© Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002
MODERATOR'S NOTE: ... told you so: GLOBAL WARMING, LITTLE ICE AGE
& THE
MALARIA SCARE, CCNet 27 January 2000
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc012700.html
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COMMUNICATING ASTRONOMY: AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
http://www.iac.es/proyect/commast/
Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos
La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
25 February - 1 March, 2002
Organized by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC)
Contact email: commast@ll.iac.es
RATIONALE
Astronomical publishing is now in a state of flux for two main
reasons: 1)
rapid technological change in editorial and production systems,
and 2)
intense commercial drives to increase productivity from the
international
conglomerates that now own the majority of publishing houses.
The new technology offers astronomers a wide range of possible
presentational formats. Cost-cutting exercises, however, have
resulted in
traditional in-house editing being cut back, the onus of quality
of
presentation now being laid more on the shoulders of authors of
research
papers and editors of conference proceedings.
Areas in need of clarification are the moves by the big
international
journals towards more unified house styles, particularly in such
matters as
bibliographical referencing and the accessing of information from
large
on-line databases. The nature and scope of peer review will be
critically
assessed, as will the arguments for and against the establishment
of
free-access electronic international journals.
The challenge of accurate popularization of science and the
problems of
``dumbing down'' will be discussed in the contexts of popular
books and
magazines, newspapers, and TV/radio documentaries and news
reports.
This meeting will look at how scientific results published in
astronomical
research journals are modified as they percolate through the
various genres
dedicated to teaching, popularization and news reporting. The
differing
editorial criteria for each genre will be examined by recognized
experts,
and ways in which scientists, popular writers and journalists can
work
together for the good of the dissemination of science will be
discussed in
depth Some of the best authorities in all fields of
astronomy publishing
and broadcasting (researchers, journal editors, book publishers,
authors,
science journalists, TV and radio producers, etc.) will exchange
views and
explain the techniques and skills they employ to communicate
astronomy.
PROGRAMME OF TALKS AND SOCIAL EVENTS
Sunday, 24 February
19:00
Welcoming cocktail & inauguration of the art exhibition
Cosmic Perspectives
Monday, 25 February
Professional journals and circulars
8:00(8:45
Registration
8:45(8:55
Welcome by IAC Director
Francisco Sánchez
8:55(9:00
Announcements
9:00(9:45
Information obtainable from bibliometric studies
Helmut Abt
9:45(10:15
Scientific productivity of large telescopes
C. R. Benn
10:15(10:30
Counting publications in astronomy
L. J. Corral
10:30(10:45
Bibliometry or bibliometrics: a librarian's viewpoint
Monique Gómez
10:45(11:00
Peer reviewing
Helmut Abt
11:00(11:30
COFFEE BREAK
11:30(12:00
The peer review process in modern astronomical professional
publishing
John E. Beckman
12:00(12:30
Possible threats from rapid publication
Derek McNally
12:30(13:00
The IAU Working Group on Publishing
Michelle C. Storey
13:00(15:00
LUNCH
15:00(15:30
The Astrophysics Data System: discovery tool and literature
archive
Guenther Eichhorn
15:30(16:00
Editing Astronomy and Astrophysics
Peter Schneider
16:00(16:30
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
TBA
16:30(17:00
COFFEE BREAK
17:00(17:30
Pluses and minuses of electronic publishing
Gerry Gilmore
17:30(18:00
PASA: an electronic astronomy journal
Michelle C. Storey
18:00(18:15
The Information Circular of Commission 26 of the IAU
Josefina F. Ling
Tuesday, 26 February
Conference proceedings and academic book publishing
9:00(9:30
Editing conference proceedings
Terry Mahoney
9:30(9:45
Genre conventions in astrophysics poster presentations
Anna Fagan
9:45(10:00
Web-based submission of conference proceedings papers
Johan H. Knapen
10:00(10:30
>From final draft to publication: what do astronomers need to
know?
J. J. Blom
10:30(11:00
Building and maintaining book series for a learned society
publisher
Tom Spicer
11:00(11:30
Astronomy textbooks
Jay M. Pasachoff
11:30(11:45
Astronomy in the Spanish pre-university educational system: the
particular
case of the Canary Islands
Cristina Silvia Hansen Ruiz
13:30
BUS LEAVES FOR EL PORTILLO
14:30
LUNCH AT RESTAURANT EL PORTILLO
16:00
VISIT TO TEIDE OBSERVATORY
Wednesday, 27 February
Professional journals and circulars (continued)
9:00(9:30
Communicating Heaven and Hell: handling the impact hazard on the
Net
Benny Peiser
Conference proceedings and academic book publishing (continued)
9:30(10:00
Editing the Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Paul Murdin
10:00(10:30
Dictionaries: what the art of the lexicographer can do for
astronomy
Terry Mahoney
Educating for astronomy
10:30(11:00
The creation of distance-learning material
Barrie Jones
11:00(11:30
COFFEE BREAK
11:30(11:45
The Contribution of students to astronomical research
Miquel Serra-Ricart
11:45(12:15
Internet astronomy: a new form of education
J. E. F. Baruch
12:15(12:45
Teaching astronomy in the modern classroom
Margarita Metaxa
12:45(14:45
LUNCH
Popular astronomy
14:45(15:15
The human factor
Heather Couper
15:15(15:45
Outreach from research centres: a luxury or a necessity?
Luis Antonio Martínez Sáez
15:45(16:15
Eavesdropping on the Universe
J. E. F. Baruch
16:15(16:30
Communicating astronomy from the observatory: the ING experience
Javier Méndez
16:30(17:00
COFFEE BREAK
17:00(17:30
Developing and implementing a strategic communications plan
Chales Blue
17:30(17:45
Developing the Royal Observatory Greenwich (ROG): using a
heritage site to
inspire interest in modern astronomy
Robert Massey
17:45-18:00
The IAC and its observatories: a natural platform for outreach
Begoña López Betancor
19:00
Video conference to celebrate 45 years of Sky at Night
Sir Patrick Moore, Pieter Morpurgo and Ian Russell
Thursday, 28 February
Popular astronomy (continued)
9:00(9:30
Bridging the gaps
Richard Tresch Fienberg
9:30(9:45
Which science concepts appear in popular science magazines? How
do they
interrelate? A particular case: stars
Jesús Pérez Ceballos
9:45(10:15
Communicating astronomy through the Internet
Mark Kidger
10:15(10:30
The Web: a new frontier in scientific outreach
Angel Gómez Roldán
10:30(10:45
Amusing astronomy
Ignacio García de la Rosa
10:45(11:00
Astronomy in a science museum
Erik Stengler
11:00(11:30
COFFEE BREAK
11:30(12:00
Hands-on experiments on the planets: a tour of some museum
experiments
Museum staff
12:00(12:30
Outreach and the professional astronomer: a survey of attitudes
Luis Díaz vilela
12:30(12:45
Amateur astronomy in Europe
Anastasia Pappa
12:45(15:00
LUNCH
15:00(15:30
Science or nonsense? The role of TV graphics
Nigel Henbest
15:30(16:00
The making of SPACE
Richard Burke-Ward
16:00(16:30
Writing for TV
Hugh Mason
16:30(17:00
COFFEE BREAK
17:00(17:30
Time for Space: five minutes a week for astronomy
Inés Rodríguez Hidalgo
17:30(17:45
Achieving mind control¾how SF writers use astronomy
Sheila Crosby
20:30
CONFERENCE DINNER AT TABERNA "LOS MOSQUETEROS"
Friday, 1 March
Campaigning astronomy
9:00(9:30
Communicating lost libraries
R. Elizabeth Griffin
9:30(10:00
Radio pollution¾the unseen threat to astronomy
Ian Morison
10:00(10:30
Fighting light pollution in the Canaries: a success story
Javier Díaz Castro
Astronomy and the news media
10:30(10:45
An observatory's links with the media
Ian Morison
10:45(11:00
A cosmic trip: from press release to headline
Carmen del Puerto
11:00(11:30
COFFEE BREAK
11:30(11:45
How important are scientific criterio in EPO?
Luis Cuesta
11:45(12:15
Conference summary
TBA
12:15(13:30
Round-table discussion
TBA
13:30
END OF CONFERENCE
19:30
PUBLIC LECTURE:
ET, please phone Earth!
Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest