John Drummond, Wayne Orchiston, Carolyn Brown
et al.
C/1910 A1 was one of the Great Comets of the twentieth century. Although it was widely observed from the Northern Hemisphere, it was first discovered by observers south of the Equator. The comet arrived just months before the widely anticipated apparition of Comet 1P/Halley and was significantly more spectacular. As a result, the two comets were confused, and many who, in later years, talked about how prominent Comet 1P/Halley was in 1910 were often remembering C/1910 A1. In this paper, we present the results of a detailed search through historical records and media publications in Aotearoa / New Zealand, to investigate how extensively C/1910 A1 was observed from New Zealand. We compare our results with observations reported for Comet 1P/Halley later in 1910, finding that surprisingly few observations of C/1910 A1 were made by New Zealand observers. We discuss cases where the comet was misidentified as being an early sighting of 1P/Halley and compare the observations made in New Zealand with international observations/records/accounts. We find that, although the Great January Comet of 1910 was observed from New Zealand, it was witnessed by few compared to other parts of the world, meaning that the apparition of C/1910 A1 was something of a missed opportunity for New Zealand astronomers.
Tom Dobber, Ronan Ó Fathaigh, Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius
In this paper, we examine how online political micro-targeting is regulated in Europe. While there are no specific rules on such micro-targeting, there are general rules that apply. We focus on three fields of law: data protection law, freedom of expression, and sector-specific rules for political advertising; for the latter we examine four countries. We argue that the rules in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are necessary, but not sufficient. We show that political advertising, including online political micro-targeting, is protected by the right to freedom of expression. That right is not absolute, however. From a European human rights perspective, it is possible for lawmakers to limit the possibilities for political advertising. Indeed, some countries ban TV advertising for political parties during elections.
Ricardo Hueso, Leigh N. Fletcher, Damya Souami
et al.
The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will transform our knowledge of the outer planets and their satellite systems; however the visibility of unique targets of opportunity with high scientific value will be reduced for northern objects. Uranus' declination favors observations from the Northern Hemisphere until 2055, and Neptune will be favored from the Northern Hemisphere from 2027 for the next 90 years. Jupiter and Saturn experience cycles of better observability from either hemisphere on cycles of 10 and 30 years. These planets and their satellite systems often offer unique opportunities for discovery through time-critical observations. We argue that a 30-m class size telescope in the Northern Hemisphere with complementary scientific instrumentation to that on the ELT will secure the possibility of observing high-impact unpredictable phenomena in these systems.
Coping with prolonged periods of low availability of wind and solar power, also referred to as renewable energy droughts or "Dunkelflaute", emerges as a key challenge for realizing decarbonized energy systems based on renewable energy sources. Here we investigate the role of long-duration electricity storage and geographical balancing in dealing with such events, combining a time series analysis of renewable availability with power sector modeling of 35 historical weather years. We find that extreme droughts define long-duration storage operation and investment. Assuming policy-relevant interconnection in our model, we find 351 TWh long-duration storage capacity or 7% of yearly electricity demand in the least-cost system that can cope with the most extreme event in Europe. While nuclear power can partially reduce storage needs, the storage-mitigating effect of fossil backup plants in combination with carbon removal is limited. Policymakers and system planners should prepare for a rapid expansion of long-duration storage to safeguard the renewable energy transition in Europe.
Caterina Morelli, Simone Boccaletti, Paolo Maranzano
et al.
The assessment of corporate sustainability performance is extremely relevant in facilitating the transition to a green and low-carbon intensity economy. However, companies located in different areas may be subject to different sustainability and environmental risks and policies. Henceforth, the main objective of this paper is to investigate the spatial and temporal pattern of the sustainability evaluations of European firms. We leverage on a large dataset containing information about companies' sustainability performances, measured by MSCI ESG ratings, and geographical coordinates of firms in Western Europe between 2013 and 2023. By means of a modified version of the Chavent et al. (2018) hierarchical algorithm, we conduct a spatial clustering analysis, combining sustainability and spatial information, and a spatiotemporal clustering analysis, which combines the time dynamics of multiple sustainability features and spatial dissimilarities, to detect groups of firms with homogeneous sustainability performance. We are able to build cross-national and cross-industry clusters with remarkable differences in terms of sustainability scores. Among other results, in the spatio-temporal analysis, we observe a high degree of geographical overlap among clusters, indicating that the temporal dynamics in sustainability assessment are relevant within a multidimensional approach. Our findings help to capture the diversity of ESG ratings across Western Europe and may assist practitioners and policymakers in evaluating companies facing different sustainability-linked risks in different areas.
Christian Soto, Trisha Ashley, Andrew J. Fox
et al.
The Galactic Center (GC) is surrounded by plasma lobes that extend up to ~14 kpc above and below the plane. Until now, UV absorption studies of these lobes have only focused on high-velocity components (|v_LSR| > 100 km/s) because low- and intermediate-velocity (LIV) components (|v_LSR| <100 km/s) are blended with foreground interstellar medium. To overcome this difficulty, we present a differential experiment to compare the LIV absorption between different structures within the GC region, including the Fermi Bubbles (FBs; seen in gamma-rays), the eROSITA Bubbles (eBs; seen in X-rays), and the Loop I North Polar Spur (LNPS) association, an X-ray and radio feature within the northern eB. We use far-UV spectra from Hubble Space Telescope to measure LIV Si IV absorption in 61 AGN sight lines, of which 21 pass through the FBs, 53 pass through the eBs, and 18 pass through the LNPS. We also compare our measurements to those in the literature from sight lines covering the disk-halo interface and CGM. We find that the FBs and eBs have enhancements in measured columns of 0.22-0.29 dex in log. We also remove the contribution of a modeled disk and CGM component from the measured Si IV columns and find that the northern eB still retains a Si IV enhancement of 0.62 dex in log. A similar enhancement is not seen in the southern eB. Since the LNPS model-subtracted residuals show an enhancement compared to the rest of the northern eB of 0.69 dex, the northern eB enhancement may be caused by the LNPS.
We study the distribution of strike size, which we measure as lost person days, for a long period in several countries of Europe and America. When we consider the full samples, the mixtures of two or three lognormals arise as very convenient models. When restricting to the upper tails, the Pareto power law becomes almost indistinguishable of the truncated lognormal.
Motive and electrical energy has played a crucial role in human civilization. Since Ancient times, motive energy played a primary role in agricultural and industrial production as well as transportation. At that time, motive energy was provided by work of humans and draft animals. Later, work of water and wind power was harnessed. During the 19$^{\text{th}}$ century, steam power became the main source of motive energy in USA and Britain. Modern transportation and industry depend on the work of heat engines that use fossil fuel. A brief history of different sources of energy is presented in this work. The energy consumptions in pre-industrial and industrial societies are calculated. The lost opportunities for the Second Industrial Revolution (such as fast breeder reactors and thermonuclear power stations) are discussed. The case that the Solar Power will become the main source of energy by the second half of this century is presented. It is calculated that the Solar Power has the potential to bring about the new Industrial Revolution. Based on material and energy resources available in the Solar System, it is demonstrated that the Solar System Civilization supporting a population of 10 Quadrillion with a high standard of living is possible.
Aims.Molecular masers, including methanol and hydroxyl masers, and in particular the ones in excited rotational states (ex-OHmasers), are one of the most informative tools for studying star-forming regions. So, the discovery, of new maser sources in theseregions is of great importance. Many studies and surveys of ex-OH maser sources have been carried out in the southern celestialhemisphere, but only a few have been done in the northern hemisphere. The specific aim of this work is to close this gap.Methods.The star-forming regions in the northern hemisphere with known active methanol masers were observed to search for newex-OH maser sources with the 32 m and 16 m radio telescopes of the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC).Results.Three OH maser lines in the excited state at the 6035 MHz in three northern hemisphere star-forming regions are detected.The maser 189.030+0.783 was previously known, but we suggest this maser is a possible variable. We confirm recent detections ofthe ex-OH masers 85.41+0.00 and 90.92+1.49 by other authors. The magnetic field strength in the masering regions is estimated byusing right circular polarization (RCP) and left circular polarization (LCP) pair splitting. The high-velocity resolution provides uswith an estimation of a comparatively small magnetic field strength for the 189.030+0.783 and 90.92+1.49 star-forming regions
ABSTRACT: Den orolige mannen (2009) [The Troubled Man, 2011] is Henning Mankell’s twelfth and last Kurt Wallander novel. Uniquely in the series,
it combines detective and spy fiction. Its rich metaphoric texture is based on a continued
play between surface and depth, between what is illusory and what is true. Wallander’s
investigation into the disappearance of an aristocratic former naval officer, Håkan
von Enke, and the death of that officer’s wife Louise, takes the detective back into
the Cold War with its atmosphere of spies, moles, and treachery. Mankell also offers
readers an unprecedented look into Wallander’s inner life where increasing moments
of forgetfulness are leading him towards “det tomma universum som heter Alzheimer” [the empty universe that is called Alzheimer’s] (555). The novel is further enhanced by a metafictional retrospect of Wallander’s earlier
career and his most important relationships: with his daughter Linda and the love
of his life, Baiba Liepa.
History of Northern Europe. Scandinavia, Language and Literature
Matthew B. James, Graeme L. White, Roderick R. Letchford
et al.
Presented here is list of 50 pairs quasi-evenly spaced over the northern sky, and that have Separations and Position Angles accurate at the milli-arcsec, and milli-degree level. These pairs are suggested as calibration pairs for lucky imaging observations. This paper is a follow-up to our previous paper regarding southern sky calibration pairs.
A new mathematics, the constructive one, characterizes a singular limit as undecidable. Hence, a singular limit between two theories actually represents a difference between two different kinds of mathematics. This particular situation suggests a mathematical definition of the notion of incommensurability. As a consequence of the resulting incommensurabilities among many couples of theories the foundations of physical theories are pluralist, not only in both epistemological and ontological senses, but also in mathematical sense. Hence since longtime the history of physics is developing along a plurilinear path.
We present an updated three dimensional map of the Milky Way based on a sample of 2431 classical Cepheid variable stars, supplemented with about 200 newly detected classical Cepheids from the OGLE survey. The new objects were discovered as a result of a dedicated observing campaign of the ~280 square degree extension of the OGLE footprint of the Galactic disk during 2018-2019 observing seasons. These regions cover the main part of the northern Galactic warp that has been deficient in Cepheids so far. We use direct distances to the sample of over 2390 classical Cepheids to model the distribution of the young stellar population in the Milky Way and recalculate the parameters of the Galactic disk warp. Our data show that its northern part is very prominent and its amplitude is ~10% larger than that of the southern part. By combining Gaia astrometric data with the Galactic rotation curve and distances to Cepheids from our sample, we construct a map of the vertical component of the velocity vector for all Cepheids in the Milky Way disk. We find large-scale vertical motions with amplitudes of 10-20 km/s, such that Cepheids located in the northern warp exhibit large positive vertical velocity (toward the north Galactic pole), whereas those in the southern warp - negative vertical velocity (toward the south Galactic pole).