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The impact of cosmic rays on the climate could be greater than scientists suspect after experiments showed they may have a pivotal role in cloud formation.Researchers have managed to replicate the effect of cosmic rays on the aerosols in the atmosphere that help to create clouds. Henrik Svensmark, a weather scientist in Denmark, said the experiments suggested that man’s influence on global warming might be rather less than was supposed by the bulk of scientific opinion. Cosmic rays — radiation, or particles of energy, from stars, which bombard the Earth — can create electrically charged ions in the atmosphere that...

Cosmic rays blamed for global warming By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:08am GMT 11/02/2007 Man-made climate change may be happening at a far slower rate than has been claimed, according to controversial new research. Scientists say that cosmic rays from outer space play a far greater role in changing the Earth's climate than global warming experts previously thought. In a book, to be published this week, they claim that fluctuations in the number of cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere directly alter the amount of cloud covering the planet. High levels of cloud cover blankets the Earth...

Cosmic rays may solve global warming problem By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 04/10/2006) Cosmic events could help soften the impact of global warming by triggering cloud formations, suggests research published yesterday. A team of Danish scientists concluded in the Proceedings of the Royal Society that making clouds is plausible, using the Sun's magnetic field. The Sun has been at its strongest for more than 60 years and a period of high solar activity could be approaching its end. "This would produce a cooling effect that could counter part of the global warming predicted for the next century," said Dr...

BLURRY snaps could be a thing of the past with the development of a digital camera that refocuses photos after they have been taken. The camera could be useful for action shots taken by sports photographers or for CCTV surveillance cameras, which often produce fuzzy shots due to poor lighting. In an ordinary digital camera, a sensor behind the lens records the light level that hits each pixel on its surface. If the light rays reaching the sensor are not in focus, the image will appear blurry. Now, Pat Hanrahan and his team at Stanford University have figured out how...

The radiation encountered on a journey to Mars and back could well kill space travellers, experts have warned. Astronauts would be bombarded by so much cosmic radiation that one in 10 of them could die from cancer. The crew of any mission to Mars would also suffer increased risks of eye cataracts, loss of fertility and genetic defects in their children, according to a study by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Cosmic rays, which come from outer space and solar flares, are now regarded as a potential limiting factor for space travel. "I do not see how the problem...

Nikola Tesla: Unsung genius or raving loony? The history of technology is populated with a marvellous cast of characters. On the one hand you have the colourful, hard-working inventors like Thomas Edison who slaved away morning, noon and night to produce many of the wonders that we take for granted such as the incandescent light, the telephone, and the garlic peeler. On the other you have the moonbat crazies who show up at the patent office with a cardboard box stuffed with wires and a torch battery claiming that they've made contact with John Kerry's charisma. And then there is...

A huge blast of radiation from an exploding star might have been behind one of the Earth's worst mass extinctions, some 450m years ago. In the latest issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, scientists argue that a gamma ray burst, the most powerful explosion that occurs in the universe, was responsible for the Ordovican mass extinction in which 60% of all marine invertebrates died. Gamma ray bursts are thought to be caused either when two neutron stars collide or when giant stars collapse into black holes at the end of their lives. For around 10 seconds, intense pulses of energy...

Cosmic Rays to Solve Ancient Mexican Mystery By John von Radowitz, PA Science Correspondent Sub-atomic particles created by cosmic rays from space are to be used to probe a giant Mexican pyramid and solve one of the world’s greatest archaeological mysteries. Investigators are to install detectors beneath the Pyramid of the Sun that look for muons – charged particles generated when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere which continuously shower the Earth. They hope the rate at which muons pass through the pyramid will reveal any hidden burial chambers inside. The step pyramid, about 30 miles north-east of Mexico city, is...

'No cosmic ray climate effects' By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent Clouds' role in climate change remains contested The principal cause of recent climate change is not cosmic rays but human activities, a group of scientists says. They say an article last year linking cosmic rays and changes in temperature was "scientifically ill-founded". They say the authors' methods were open to doubt and their conclusions wrong, surprising experts with their claims. In Eos, the journal of the American Geophysical Union, the 11 Earth and space scientists insist that greenhouse gases remain the chief climate suspect. In the climate...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - A new satellite could offer more information into the gamma ray bursts that occurred billions of years ago. Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory discovered the strange phenomenon 30 years ago, but much about it - such as why they happen - remains mysterious. In May 2004, when a new satellite called SWIFT launches, they might finally be able to unravel some of the mysteries about gamma ray bursts. "We've had to create an explanation to fit what we're seeing, rather than understanding what gamma ray bursts are by predicting them," said Ed Fenimore, a Los...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 25 A Slow Explosion Credit: Y. Grosdidier (U. Montreal) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA Explanation: Why would a gamma ray burst fade so slowly? This behavior, recorded last October, is considered a new clue into the cause of gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions known in the universe. The burst, first detected by the orbiting HETE satellite and later tracked by numerous ground-based telescopes, showed an...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 26 Anticrepuscular Rays Over Horseshoe Canyon Credit & Copyright: Peggy Peterson Explanation: What's happening over the horizon? Although the scene may appear somehow supernatural, nothing more unusual is occurring than a setting Sun and some well placed clouds. Pictured above are anticrepuscular rays. To understand them, start by picturing common crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours though scattered clouds. Now although sunlight...

New fabric will block radiation rays - claim November 13 2002 at 03:12PM London - Scientists have created what is claimed to be the world's first radiation-proof fabric which provides as much protection as a lead vest but at a fraction of the weight. Instead of heavy metals to block radiation and X-rays, the new fabric called Demron is non-toxic, lead-free and fused between two layers of woven fabric. "Demron's potential applications range from lightweight full-body suits, that would allow the wearer to move unencumbered in high-radiation areas, to protective tents and radiation-proof linings for aircraft and spacecraft," New Scientist...

Saturday, 19 October, 2002, 12:36 GMT 13:36 UKCosmic rays 'linked to clouds' The influence of clouds on climate change is poorly understood By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent German scientists have found a significant piece of evidence linking cosmic rays to climate change. They have detected charged particle clusters in the lower atmosphere that were probably caused by the space radiation. They say the clusters can lead to the condensed nuclei which form into dense clouds. Clouds play a major, but as yet not fully understood, role in the dynamics of the climate, with some types acting to...

Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 13 Aristarchus Plateau Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman Explanation: Anchored in the vast lava flows of the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum lies the Aristarchus Plateau. Recorded from a backyard observatory on planet Earth, this sharp, amazingly colorful view nicely captures the geologically diverse area, including the brownish plateau, Aristarchus and Herodotus craters, and the meandering Vallis Schroteri. The bright impact crater at the corner of the plateau is...

Catch some rays, sun-shunning Aussies told August 05 2002 at 08:51AM Sydney - After years of being ordered to shun the sun, Australians are now being advised to get a little more light in their lives. New research suggests that efforts to reduce skin cancer and a growing tendency for people to stay indoors may be having an unwanted adverse effect - vitamin D deficiency, which can contribute to the brittle bone disease osteoporosis. In a "clinical update" published in the respected Medical Journal of Australia, Professor Caryl Nowson of Deakin University reported that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency...