BLACK AURORAS OVER ALASKA: Todd
Salat is a veteran photographer of auroras in Alaska. For years he has
chased the lights and seen most of what Mother Nature has to offer. But
even he was puzzled on Nov. 22nd when these strangely-shaped auroras
appeared overhead:
"I saw these bizarre auroras
drift over southcentral Alaska around 4 am last Friday morning," says
Salat. "It came up from the northwest and I was like, whoa! It looked
like the letter E to me."
Salat may have witnessed an episode of 'black auroras.' They are dark rings or black blobs that sometimes appear in an otherwise ordinary expanse of auroral light. For example, look at Figure 1 in this research paper on the topic. Some researchers call them "anti-auroras." The black auroras in Salat's photo are circled here.
Ordinary auroras are caused by electrons
raining down from space. Black auroras are the opposite. Instead of
electrons raining down, electrons are propelled upwards back into
space. Europe's fleet of Cluster spacecraft flew over a black aurora on
Jan. 14, 2001, and saw the process in action:
Sensors onboard the spaceraft detected
strong positive electric fields in the black aurora zone. These fields
reversed the normal downward rain of aurora-causing electrons.
The study of black auroras is
still in its infancy, and forecasters cannot yet predict when or where
they might appear. Aurora watchers, the next time a geomagnetic storm
erupts, be alert for black.
The Earth can support us - climate science is part of the programming to get us to be afraid... DO NOT BE AFRAID - resist fear! THE UN and other agencies are eugenicists... What they are not telling you, this is all a part of their campaign to "eliminate the useless eaters" - you and me ... TRACE
Can Earth Support a Human Future? Maybe, If the Rich Consume Less. (OH SURE)
Due to their extravagant habits, the richest 1 percent produces more greenhouse gas than half the global population.
Climate
activists including Greta Thunberg march to protest against private jet
flights and the proposed expansion of Farnborough Airport on January
27, 2024, in Farnborough, United Kingdom.Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images
The
latest study by renowned Dutch climate scientist Klaus Hubacek and his
team offers an eye-opening look at the 1 percent’s extravagant consumer
behaviors that — in combination with rampant militarism and the
continued dominance of the fossil fuel industry — are pushing the Earth
toward disastrous climate tipping points from which there might be no
return.
Published last week in the journal Nature, the study found that the world’s richest 1 percent are responsible for a staggering 50 times more greenhouse gas pollution than the 4 billion people on the bottom half of the global economic scale combined.
Disparities are only growing. The global wealth gap has exploded over the past decade, according to the aid group Oxfam International. Since 2020, the world’s richest 1 percent has captured nearly two-thirds of all newly created wealth.
The
United States and other wealthy fossil fuel economies are
disproportionately responsible for the climate crisis compared to poorer
nations, creating a constant source of tension
at international climate talks. However, massive disparities in
resource and energy consumption also exist within individual countries,
and Hubacek’s study breaks an extensive dataset down to 201 “consumption
groups” across 168 nations.
In
the U.S. and many other wealthy countries, the environmental footprint
left behind by the richest 10 percent dwarfs the footprint of the bottom
10 percent on the economic ladder, the study finds. The top 10 percent
of consumers living in wealthy nations such as Germany or Luxembourg
have vastly different consumption habits than the richest 10 percent in
the Republic of Congo, for example, and the study goes beyond previous
research to account for these disparities.
Hubacek, a professor at the University of Groningen and a lead author
of the most recent United Nations climate report, has devoted his
career to examining how humans are performing within what are known as
“planetary boundaries.” Scientists use these planetary boundaries as
frameworks to examine how much human exploitation the planet can absorb
before the ecosystems we depend on collapse.
“The
basic calculation is, given a certain number of people on the planet
and the planetary boundaries, how much can we consume to stay inside
these limits?” Hubacek explained in a statement last week. (THAT IS THEIR BULLSHIT THEORY)
(In 60 years WATER HAS BEEN SEVERELY POLLUTED by BIG BIZ)
With
8 billion people living on Earth, we are burning through resources and
accelerating climate disruption at a rapid pace. The study examines how
different consumer groups contribute to key indicators such as climate
change and carbon pollution emissions, fertilizer usage, land loss and
system change, and freshwater consumption to gauge what needs to change
before the planet is pushed to the brink.
The
world’s top 10 percent of consumers were responsible for a whopping 43
percent of climate-warming carbon pollution, the study found. On a per
capita basis, the environmental impacts of the top 10 percent were 4.2
to 77 times that of the bottom 10 percent, with large disparities in
terms of climate-warming carbon emissions and the extinction of animal
species.
Scientists determined in 2023 that humanity has already crossed six of nine observed “planetary boundaries,” overshooting the safe limits for human life
in terms of carbon in the atmosphere, biosphere integrity and the
availability of fresh drinking water. At this point, the rate of species
extinction is estimated to be at least 10 times faster than the average
rate over the past 10 million years, meaning that the planet’s genetic
diversity has crossed over into the danger zone.
Even
though many emissions result from institutions such as large militaries
that would require government action to change (emissions that exist
outside the sphere of individual consumer choices), the study emphasizes
that the people with the most wealth and agency — higher-income people
living in high-income countries — can make much more of a difference
than everyone else. The study stresses that the choices made by those
with the most privilege present both a threat to global ecological
stability and an opportunity for change.
“Our
results challenge the pessimistic view that reducing consumption
requires a return to primitive lifestyles, showing instead that
substantial environmental benefits can be achieved by moderating the
consumption of the affluent,” the authors wrote.
If
those with the most privilege were, en masse, to stop engaging in
excessive travel on airplanes, excessive consumption of luxury goods and
the consumption of red meat, the study suggests the results could be
dramatic.
For
example, if the top 10 percent adopted the consumption habits of the
average European, or even the modest consumers within their own economic
class, global pressure on the environment would decrease by 9 to 23 percent, and “overshoots” of the planetary boundaries would be mitigated by 18 to 81 percent.
For
this reason, Hubacek’s team argues that new technology is not necessary
to save the planet; rather, a massive, global sea change in the diet and
lifestyles of top consumers would do the trick. The authors point to numerousstudies
showing that progressive taxes on luxury goods can start to curb
overconsumption among the rich while funding environmental cleanup
programs.
This is far from the first time scientists have warned
that the rich people of the world are responsible for the most
environmental damage. A global explosion of affluence over the past
half-century has continuously increased pollution and gobbled up
resources far more rapidly than advances in technology can keep up with.
Meanwhile, billionaires are building luxury doomsday bunkers
and launching themselves into space as they fantasize about relocating
to a different planet entirely if humanity happens to burn this one out. While Hubacek’s latest study shows that solutions to existential
environmental crises are right in front of us, the authors are also
sober about today’s political realities.
“Targeting
affluent groups with mitigation measures may face resistance owing to
their political power,” the authors wrote. “Bottom-up actions, which
play a crucial role in cultural and value changesare vital for pushing
top-down changes and establishing maximum consumption thresholds through
democratic decision-making.”
THE RICH DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AND ME - they are inbred psychopaths...
The Screaming Mandrake: Power, Potions and Witchcraft
Belonging
to the nightshade family and found in the Mediterranean region, the
mandrake has been known for centuries as one of the most powerful and
potent of all plants. People originally believed that the mandrake had
two forms; one male and the other female. Some botanists now think that
these are two distinct species with…
Belonging to the nightshade family and found in the Mediterranean
region, the mandrake has been known for centuries as one of the most
powerful and potent of all plants. People originally believed that the
mandrake had two forms; one male and the other female. Some botanists
now think that these are two distinct species with the one known as the
Autumn Mandrake native to the Levant area and the other Mandragora
Officinarum found in the rest of the Mediterranean[1].
Two Mandrakes. Wellcome Collection.
The name mandragora (mandrake in Middle English and Middle Dutch) is formed from man symbolising its resemblance to a miniature person and dragora or drake taken from the archaic word for dragon alluding to its magical powers[2].
A Powerful Poison
The medical properties of the mandrake were known to the Egyptians 6000 years ago. Egyptians called it ‘the water of life’
and used it to improve health, vigour and longevity. The mandrake was
attributed with divine powers and placed in a visible corner of a
dwelling. Vows were made to it and candles lit[3].
Dioscorides describing the mandrake. Wellcome Collection.
Mandrake plants contain hyoscine, an alkaloid which if too much is
ingested causes hallucinations, delirium and even comas. Accidental
poisoning could lead to various symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea,
dizziness and blurred vision[4].
There were some positive benefits of medicinal mandrake such as the
relief of rheumatic pains and eye infections and even as far back as
AD60 the Greek botanist and physician Dioscorides wrote about its use as
an anaesthetic. An anaesthetic mandrake root mixture which also
contained opium, hemlock and ivy was used by surgeons well into the
Middle Ages.
During the Roman period a mandrake infused wine or ‘death wine’ was also known to have been offered to those being crucified[5]. I suppose being drugged into a near coma made the tortuous punishment a little easier to bear.
For many it was the presence of this alkaloid together with the
mandrake’s unusual shape that conjured up images of magic and power.
Mandrakes were also believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac (as long as
the dosage was right otherwise the outcome would not have been so
pleasant for either parties!). The Greek made a mandrake love potion by
steeping the root in wine and vinegar and the plant became associated
with the Greek goddesses Aphrodite and Circe (the goddess of sorcery)
who used the potion to cast a spell over the Argonauts. In Arabic the
mandrake is known as the Devil’s Apple and was believed to
inflame a man’s love. It was also alleged that if a man carried the
female-shaped mandrake in his pocket he would win the woman he desired.
‘Goe, and catche a falling starre, Get with a child a mandrake root’, John Donne[7]
The mandrake has long been linked to fertility probably because its
shape reminded people of a human figure. Even in early illustrations it
was drawn with a head, body and legs crossed.
One of the oldest references can be found in the Bible in Genesis,
when Rachel desperate for a child asks her sister Leah for a loan of the
mandrakes which her son, Rueben had harvested from the field as it was
believed that eating the sweet smelling yellow fruits of the mandrake
would imbue a person with sexual energy and fertility.
The mandrake could also act like an ancient test tube such as in the legend of King
Hermones who wanted a male heir but was adamant in his refusal to have
sex with women! The king ordered his advisors to find another solution.
His astrologers, at an auspicious time took the king’s semen and placed
it on a mandrake. Through alchemy a male-child was created much to the
king’s delight [8].
Not only could the mandrake help to get a woman pregnant it was also
used in childbirth. In order to make use of the mandrake’s power it had
to be carefully looked after e.g. the root was placed on a plate and fed
with milk or red wine on special days such as every Friday. The milk
used to bathe the mandrake could then be fed to pregnant women. Some
traditions suggest putting the mandrake under a woman’s bed in a plate
full of milk mixed with breast milk. Both rituals were believed to ease
childbirth and protect the mothers and babies. [9].
‘Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake’s groan’[10]
One of the most powerful legends concerns the deadly scream emitted
by the mandrake when it was pulled out of the ground and how to avoid
being its victim.
In Theophrastus’ treatise written in or around 230BC he explains how
to pick the mandrake to avoid being bewitched. He advised drawing three
circles around the plant with a sword of virgin iron and then facing
west cut portions of the taproot. After cutting the second portion the
picker must dance around the plant muttering incantations concerning the
mysteries of love. The sword should only ever be used to cut a mandrake[11].
A later account written by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus (c.37
to 100AD) was the first to mention the use of a dog to extract the
plant. He instructed the digger to dig around the root until the lower
part was exposed. A starving dog should then be fastened by a rope to
the mandrake root and then encouraged to pull out the plant by placing a
piece of food just out of its reach. The scream of the mandrake would
kill the dog instead of its master and the mandrake would then be safe
to handle[12]. This practice of using a dog to remove the mandrake was still being used in the 13th century as witnessed by the Moorish herbalist Ibn al-Baitar. He wrote that the dog in this case survived the ordeal[13]. In Germany it was believed that the dog had to be completely black with no blemishes.
Pulling a mandrake with a dog. Wikimedia.
Other variations on how to extract the mandrake have come down to us.
These include stuffing your ears with wax or earth and blowing a horn
whilst pulling the mandrake out. Anything to drown out the mandrake’s
screams. Pliny suggests using an ivory staff to dig around the mandrake,
others advise placing crosses on the plant for protection against evil
forces whilst the Roman writer Apuleius stated that on certain holy days
an evil spirit would emerge to do the pickers’ bidding, similar to the
genie in a lamp.
Some claimed that the legend of the screaming mandrake was invented
by witches to stop ordinary folk from picking their precious plant[14].
Witches were believed to enter an alliance with the spirit of the
mandrake. They would promise to care for the mandrake if the mandrake’s
spirit would act as a vessel for other spirits and familiars. Offerings
were made to the mandrake spirit on the night of a full or dark moon and
a circle of salt drawn around the plant. A black dog was tied to the
plant and food used as a lure. The mandrake was then covered by a cloth
and placed in a special bag.
A more practical but less colourful explanation is that it was the
squelching sound made by the mandrake when its fleshy roots was pulled
out of the damp earth that was mistaken for a screech.
The Little Gallow’s Man
Male Mandrake from Hortus Sanitatis. Wellcome Institute.
Myths also arose relating to where mandrakes could be found. In Welsh
folklore mandrakes were found at crossroads. Crossroads were associated
with supernatural and dark forces and it was here criminals were often
hanged and buried along with others who could not be interred on
consecrated ground.
Crossroads and gallows were known to be popular places for the
gathering of herbs for a witches brew and so the link between mandrakes,
gallows and witchcraft was widely accepted. The ground where a gallows
was placed was seen as contaminated by the blood or semen of the hanged.
Some stories stated that it had to be semen from innocent men who with
the help of a witch were given a second chance at life as a mandrake
whilst others claimed that they were formed from the tears and blood of
the fallen innocent. In Iceland the mandrake was known as Thjofarot or
Thiefs’ root and it was believed to grow where the froth from a hanged
thief’s mouth fell[15].
Talismans and Charms
Female Mandrake. Wellcome Institute.
Mandrakes became popular as talismans and good luck charms. They were
thought to bring wealth, popularity and the ability to control one’s
own and other people’s destinies[16]. It was believed that King Solomon wore a mandrake root seal which enabled him to gain sovereignty over souls.
The powers of the mandrake seem to be limitless such as making a
person invisible, healing domestic animals, changing the weather,
guiding a person to hidden treasure, transmitting diseases and allowing
its owner to tell fortunes.
Mandrakes could also protect a family as well as individuals.
Sprinkled with blessed water and salt mandrakes were buried near the
front door to protect the households from intruders and evil spirits.
In Germany the trade in mandrake talismans flourished as they rose in
popularity and were worth their weight in gold. Often roots of other
plants were carved to look like mandrakes in order to meet the increased
demand. People took painstaking care of their mandrakes wrapping them
in white cloth, tying it with golden rope and placing them in special
boxes or bags of pure silk[17]. In Germany the talismans were passed down to the youngest son.
Although mandrake charms were at first ignored by the ecclesiastical
authorities the scale of their popularity eventually started to worry
the Church. Wearers of the charms were accused of invoking demons and
tried for witchcraft. In 1603 in Romorantin, France the wife of a Moor
was hanged as a witch for keeping a familiar in the form of a mandrake
and in 1630 three women in Germany were executed for possessing mandrake
talismans. Although this was not the first time that the church took
exception to mandrake talismans e.g. in 1431 during her public
interrogation Joan of Arc was asked whether she was had a mandrake
figurine to which she replied ‘I have no mandrake, and never had one,’ [18]
the increasing hostility of the church did dampen public enthusiasm for
the charms. Trouble was that giving away a mandrake charm was not easy
as they had a habit of returning unaided to their owners.
Up Up And Away!
Witches taking flight. Goya. 1796-98. British Museum Collection.
Witches on brooms, flying high above the ground silhouetted against
the moon is an image most of us grow up with but this was not always the
case. In earlier traditions witches were believed to be able to fly on
just about anything including kitchen utensils and furniture. It was only later that witches were linked to brooms.
The famous witches’ brew was made from deadly nightshade, henbane,
devil’s snare and of course mandrake. Such a concoction was obviously
lethal and so could not be ingested. It had to be placed somewhere where
the user could get the maximum effect without dying. There are only two
places on the body which are suitable; the armpits and the genitals.
Women’s clothing at the time would have made it extremely difficult to
smear the ointment on their armpits so they were left with only one
alternative. In order to reach far enough inside the vagina an
appropriate implement was needed and so they used a tool which was
easily available – a broom handle[19].
Historical evidence can be found for the use of the broomstick. On
being arrested for witchcraft and the killing of her husband in 1324, a
broom with the tip coated in a strange substance was found in the
cupboard of Lady Alice Kyteler[20].
The medieval chronicler of witches Jordanes de Bergamo in the 15th century stated that he had heard witches confess to using brooms to insert a potion into their ‘hairy places’[21] which enabled them to fly. Giovanni Della Porta in the the 16th century confirmed that he had witnessed a woman who had applied the brew to her body state that she ‘had passed over both seas and mountains’[22]
and the ‘witch’ Antoine Rose testified that she had smeared a potion
given to her by the devil onto a stick which she had then straddled
shouting ‘Go, in the name of the devil, go!’[23]
Since the ointment contained ingredients which are known to cause
intense hallucinations it is not surprising that the women believed they
were flying, what is more remarkable is that more of them did not
poison themselves before they were arrested and executed.
The English Mandrake
Although the power of the mandrake was well-known in Britain they
were expensive and difficult to obtain and so people began to look
around for cheaper substitutes. Carvers of mandrake charms saw the large
root of the white byrony (a climbing plant belonging to the gourd
family) as a perfect alternative. Known as the English Mandrake these
counterfeit mandrakes were carved to represent the human body with wheat
and grass used to represent pubic hair. Not everyone was convinced by
the power of the English Mandrake, Dr William Turner denounced the
superstition stating that people ‘are thus deprived both of their wits and money’.
These views did not seem to have damaged their popularity as the charms
were considered valuable heirlooms and left as bequests in wills.
False Mandrake Root. Wikimedia.
In Jean-Baptiste Pitois’ book ‘The History and Practice of Magic’ he
describes how to make a powerful charm from the root of the byrony plant[24].
Take it out of the ground on a Monday (preferably the day of the moon) a little time after the vernal equinox.
Cut the ends of the root.
Bury it at night in a country churchyard in a dead man’s grave.
For 30 days water the plant with cow’s milk in which three bats have drowned.
On the 31st day take out the root in the middle of the night and dry
it in an oven heated with the branches of the verbena plant.
Then wrap it in a dead man’s winding sheet and carry it with you everywhere.
Even in the early years of the 20th century the confusion
between the byrony and the mandrake persisted. A story told in
Warwickshire claims that in December 1908 a man employed in digging a
garden half a mile from Stratford upon Avon cut out the large root of a
white byrony plant. Mistaking it for a mandrake he stopped working
claiming that it was bad luck to cause damage to them. A few days later
he fell down some steps and broke his neck[25].
Although not quite as potent as the mandrake the white byrony it can cause nausea, vomiting, anxiety, paralysis and death[26] so it is not really surprising that it came to be viewed with the same mixture of respect and fear.
An Unbreakable Cord
The reputation of the mandrake affected one of the other members of
its family, the tomato. Early herbalists associated the tomato with the
mandrake and so in the 18th century instead of being eaten people preferred to grow them as ornamental plants[27].
Potatoes were also initially viewed with suspicion, luckily for the
sake of the humble chip and roast dinners people eventually overcame
their fears.
The myths surrounding the link between the mandrake and witchcraft
are numerous. It was believed that if a witch made love to a mandrake
root they produced offspring which couldn’t feel real love and possessed
no soul[28].
Many of the stories contradict each other but they do show how over the
centuries the mandrake has been seen as a powerful and dangerous
supernatural tool. Even though today getting hold of a mandrake is much
less hazardous, being available online and even on eBay, the plant’s
link to witchcraft remains unbroken as it still plays an important role
in modern witchcraft.
Professor Sprout pulling a Mandrake. From Warner Bros Harry Potter films.
A RARE SINE WAVE IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE: Imagine
you're at a hard rock concert. Waves of heavy metal crash against your
eardrums, you can barely hear a thing, when, suddenly, the delicate
trill of a flute cuts through the cacophony.
Something like that happened to Stuart
Green of Lancashire UK during the severe geomagnetic storm of Oct. 10,
2024. "My backyard magnetogram was a riot," says Green. "But when I took
a closer look, there was a delicate wave riding on top of the 'noise.'"
Green detected a rare "pulsation
continuous"--or "Pc wave" for short. This is research jargon meaning,
essentially, a pure sine wave in the magnetosphere. Pc waves are
classified into 5 types depending on their frequency. Green's specimens are Pc1 and Pc2.
Usually, Pc waves are recorded only during
periods of extreme quiet. They are delicate and hard to detect.
Capturing one during riotous geomagnetic activity is extremely unusual.
It is a testament to the sensitivity of Green's research-grade (albeit homemade) magnetometer--and the degree to which every mode of the magnetosphere was simultaneously activated by the Oct. 10th storm.
Zooming into Green's data shows the 7-to-8 second regularity of the waves
So what? These particular waves matter
because they can help satellites survive severe space storms. Fast Pc1
and Pc2 waves scatter "killer electrons"
out of the Van Allen radiation belts, making the region safer for
satellites that orbit through the belts when they are supercharged by
solar activity.
Would you like to monitor the magnetosphere for rare waves? Stuart Green's backyard magnetometer is a great DIY project. Here are his instructions.
