The-Energy-Syndicate
Energy Syndicate - Tales of Life
TO READ MORE - CLICK THIS
Item by the Energy-Syndicate
'Voyager 1' set off from Cape Canaveral on August 20th 1977, and has been travelling for almost 50 years. In 2012 Voyager 1 made history when it passed into Interstellar space and left the Suns heliosphere. In a Star Trek’esque fashion, Voyager was originally made for a five year mission. Incredibly, it continued to send data to NASA for decades until recently when it apparently malfunctioned to a near critical state. Many thought an issue with the FDS (Flight Data Sub System) had seen the end of communication with the craft. However, March 3rd 2024, NASA detected activity, usable data, from Voyager. An engineer discovered a signal from Voyager that contained the entire memory of the FDS! They now believe there is a chance of correcting the problem. At a distance of 15 billion miles and a 46 hour signalling path, to antiquated technology, it is quite an achievement.
Astronomical notes from the Energy Syndicate
‘The Plough’ is one of the most famous patterns of stars and possibly one of the easiest ones to spot. It is an asterism that forms part of the Great Bear or Ursa Major constellation. It is often described as, and called, the Saucepan which appears to be made up of 7 stars; one star is actually 2 stars close together (Mizar and Alcor) – 3 stars make up the handle and 4 stars form the pan. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Plough is visible throughout the night. Face north to locate its distinctive shape. The Plough rotates around Polaris which can be found by extending a line from the last 2 stars of the Ploughs ‘pan’ – the first significant star that the line passes, is Polaris. The movement of the Plough around Polaris (the North Star) can be used as a clock – every quarter rotation around Polaris equates to 3 hours.
April 2024
Item by the Energy-Syndicate
Recent studies have discovered that homo sapiens had reached northern Europe as early as 45,000 years ago. This means that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens lived side by side for several thousand years. The evidence would indicate that there is less likely to have been some blood thirsty desire for one species to eradicate the other than some previous theories had suggested. The new evidence was discovered in Ilsenhöhle cave which is under Ranis Castle, Germany. The caves were first excavated almost 100 years ago but the more recent excavations revealed homo sapiens had managed to survive the glacial conditions a far north as Britain. After almost 500,000 years, the Neanderthals died out but during their coexistence with homo sapiens, bred together and live on in our DNA.
Earth Watch - April 2024
Item from The-Energy-Syndicate
Recent studies have shown plankton, less than 0.02mm, play a pivotal role in the health of the oceans and life on earth. Plankton populations come in different sizes but it is the plankton less than 0.02mm that makes up the bulk. Monitoring organisms of this size has not been easy for scientists; the primary reasons that plankton has not been significant in the environmental policy discussions. Not recognising their significance has been a failing. The findings of some studies show 99.98% of plankton consists of these tiny creatures. It would appear that confirmation of planktons essential role has arrived just at the time it would also appear to be in peril; the research shows that these creatures are vulnerable to changing ocean temperatures and could suffer in the current volatile conditions.
