Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal

Hurricane Danielle in the Mid Atlantic and a strong tropical wave near the coast of Africa. Image from Meteosat (Dundee Univrsity ground station).

We are now in the peak of the hurricane season and the Tropical Atlantic is heating up. The second hurricane of the season formed this afternoon in the mid Atlantic.

Hurricane Danielle will likely re-curve though and not affect North America. There is a slight chance of it approaching the NE coast of the U.S. or Canada.

More interesting is the strong tropical wave coming off of Africa behind it. Satellite images this evening show that it is very organized and we will likely see a tropical depression form soon after it gets away from the coast of Africa.

Dan

Jack Horkheimer. Exec. Director of the Miami Space Transit Museum. He died Friday.

His signature sign-off was “KEEP LOOKING UP!”

Jack Horkheimer was the star of the PBS series Star Gazer and taught millions to look up at the night sky in wonder. He was a grand ambassador for science. He died on Friday, and the astronomy world is the poorer for it.

You can file a complaint with the FTC over these scams. Click the image above to go to the FTC web page.

In the two months since I wrote the post about what a scam the iRenew bracelet was, I have had more comments than any other post I have ever written. Mostly from people who like me are amazed that people will fall for it. Many other comments explain very well why these scammers will make millions of dollars. The adverts are now all over Fox news and other outlets on late night cable TV.

Q-Ray Is A Scam Too

Do not think I’m exaggerating either. A similar piece of junk, the Q-Ray bracelet has already gotten into trouble with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and were ordered to provide 64 million dollars in refunds. I bet that is a drop in the bucket compared to how much they got away with. You can find out more about the Q-Ray scam and the lawsuits against them on Quackwatch.

While I’m On The Subject Of Scams…

A new scam for those that slept though junior high science Class. Can you say horse hockey? I knew you could...

I saw a new one being touted on twitter the other day. The Zero Point Magnetic Generator. It usually the revolutionary idea of perpetual motion to make free power for your home. Perpetual motion scams have been around for many decades and they have taken millions from the scientifically illiterate.

Just to be clear here- Perpetual motion violates the second law of thermodynamics. That means it will not, cannot, and NEVER will work. Period. A similar scam using a tank of water in your car boot to make hydrogen runs along similar lines.  It’s just as much a scam as the rest.

I mentioned some of those comments I have received on the first post. Many more were political in nature and off topic so they did not get approved. I tried to be more generous than usual in my editing, and here are my fave’s below (with the replies I have held off making).

Comments:

1.after wearing bracelet for 1 week i gained incredible strength, lost 50 lbs, attracted women by the dozen andit cured my cancer. lol people are so &^%ing stupid. I can imagine all the idiots running to their mailboxes in anticipation of their miracle cure. Thanks for putting at least 1 honest review of this scam.

Dan: Your Welcome!

2.Jack Rand

Actually I do have an iRenew bracelet, and it has worked for me! I really don’t care why it works, I only care that it makes me feel better. After I bought the bracelets online I got some pdfs from irenew. After reading a little bit about the theory behind this technology, I did a bit more digging and found this video from the same authors. The video called “The Living Matrix” is really amazing. It really breaks down a handful of technologies being used to help restore or heal a person’s body field.

Dan: Jack you missed the point! There is no such thing as a “body field”. See Barnum P.T. and Gary Stephens reply below.

3. You know – I have to add one thing – If you buy one of these, you should need to pass a test before you are allowed to vote. It is certainly one thing to screw yourself but when you vote, now you are passing on your stupidity to the lives of others. So: I-Renew = I shouldn’t vote

and my favourites:

4.what i find amazing is that there is no negative feedback on this product anywhere,(except here)yet,everyone here with negative feed has (never tried) the product. im reminded of a time when the world was once thought to be flat.with that said, if your going to lead the movement,on this so called fake irenew bracelet,at least try the damn thing first!

and gary stephens Reply:
August 14th, 2010 at 10:18 am

you don’t have to stick your head up a chickens ass to know where an egg comes from.

So in closing, while I do not mean to be harsh, if you bought one of these things, or your plans to build a zero point magnetic generator are in the mail, do yourself a favour. Turn off the TV and visit your local library. Might I suggest Tuning into Science Friday on NPR?  Oh, and quit reading the horoscope in your local paper.

That’s a SCAM too!

From NASA GISS

From NASA GISS

NASA released the July global temp data this evening. The last 7 months are the warmest January – July on record. The thermometer record goes back to 1880. Before 1880 there are proxies for temperature. Tree rings and ice cores for example. These proxies  (See Oldest Ice Core Recovered from Greenland) indicate we are very possibly in the warmest period in at least one thousand years.

The temperature anomalies map shows that the higher latitudes are continuing to warm the fastest. This comes on the 30th anniversary of a now famous paper by Wally Broecker back in 1980. Broecker predicted in 1975 that the slight cooling trend of the 1970’s would reverse itself and a significant warming trend would begin due to increasing greenhouse gases. The blog Real Climate (written by several climate experts) has details on this. You can also read the paper for yourself.

July 2010 was the warmest July on the record for the Northern Hemisphere as well.

Click image for full resolution. Image from NASA Aqua satellite.

The amazing and unprecedented Russian heat wave continues. Moscow hit 34C today, which is cooler than the near 38C (100°F) temperatures of the last few days. The fires burning in the drought ravaged peat bogs and forests around Moscow continue to cover Western Russia in a thick pall of smoke.

The intense heat can also be seen from the MODIS sensor on the NASA Terra satellite. This sensor allowed researchers to measure the average ground temperature over Russia from July 20-27th. They then compared that with the normal temperatures you would expect in late July to produce the map below.

Red areas indicate above normal temperatures. Blue is areas where the temp. was below normal from 20-27 July 2010. Image from NASA Terra satellite. Click for higher resolution.

There are some strong indications that the storm track over Russia is about to change and allow some cooler air to reach Moscow. It looks like it will stay quite warm but when you are breaking the record high by 19 degrees day after day, anything cooler is welcome. Keep in mind too that at Moscow’s latitude almost no one has an air conditioner. Until this year they would only be needed a couple of days a year!

Coverage of the heatwave on the BBC is worth reading and do check out the podcast of FOC (From our Own Correspondent) for a first hand account.

As for the climate change connections, see my last post on the Moscow heat. It still holds.

Here in Huntsville, we set a new record today. Today makes 37 days in a row with the morning low at 21C (70F) or higher. We also just had the hottest 10 days ever recorded here. Greenland is looking very nice right now!

Dan