Blast of Cosmic Rays Caught in Trees

Late in the 8th century, Earth was hit by a mystery blast of cosmic rays, according to a Japanese study that found a relic of the powerful event in cedar trees. Analysis of two ancient trees found a surge in carbon-14 – a carbon isotope that derives from cosmic radiation – which occurred just in AD 774 and AD 775, the team report in the journal Nature.

Earth is constantly battered by protons and other sub-atomic particles which are blasted across space by high-energy sources. The particles collide with the stratosphere and react with nitrogen to create carbon-14, which is then absorbed into the biosphere.

A team led by Fusa Miyake of Nagoya University found that levels of carbon-14 in the two cedars were about 1.2 per cent higher in 774 and 775 compared to other years :: Read the full article »»»»

Michio Kaku BigThink: Cataclysmic Solar Flares For 2012!?

What’s the worst possible thing that could happen in 2012? It just depends who’s boat your sitting on. For Doomsayers, 2012 is The Apocolypse, The End of Days – much like Harold Camping’s Rapture, May 21, 2011 and October 21, 2011 – For those of us still sat here asking wtf are you dribbling on about?

That überpopular Princeton wiz Michio Kaku – you’ll know who he is when you see the video – dispells a bundle of crackpot prophetic theories via his Big Think session.

The 2012 doomsday prophecies are many and varied, principally comprising of a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic events will occur on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and the crackpots swear by it!

Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining to this date, though none have been accepted by mainstream scholars, most likely due to the fact that since man began to look up and count at the same time he’s been predicting some form of galactic doom :: Read the full article »»»»