Wednesday, October 22, 2014

A GLIMMER OF HOPE? --- Brazil protects giant swathe of Amazon rainforest.

Tuesday, October 21 2104.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The Brazilian government said on Tuesday it has put an environmentally rich area of the Amazon rainforest under federal protection, creating a reserve larger than the U.S. state of Delaware.

The new reserve, called Alto Maues, has 6,680 square km (668,000 hectares or 1.65 million acres) of mostly untouched forests that are not known to have human presence, the Brazilian Environment Ministry said.

Declaring a federal reserve means forest clearing and similar development are forbidden. Putting large areas of mostly intact rainforest under federal protection is one of the tools the Brazilian government has to combat deforestation and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The creation of these reserves is part of the country’s climate policy. Deforestation is the main cause of carbon emissions in Brazil, unlike most countries where the burning of fossil fuels leads emissions.

The decree creating the reserve was eagerly expected by environmental groups. “This is essential to protect unique Amazon species, such as some types of primates,” said Mauro Armelin, a conservationist working for the local office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). WWF said at least 13 species of primates and more than 600 species of birds are found in the Alto Maues area. The organization, however, said that declaring the area a federal conservation unit does not guarantee its integrity.

Amazon deforestation went up in Brazil last year for the first time since 2008, as illegal loggers and land grabbers increased their activities, challenging government controls. The destruction of the world’s largest rainforest rose 29 percent in 2013 from the previous year, totaling 5,891 square km (3,360 square miles).

(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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Inexplicable signal from unseen universe provides tantalizing clue about one of astronomy's greatest secrets --- dark matter.

Date:
October 16, 2014
Source:
University of Leicester

The first potential indication of direct detection of dark matter -- something that has been a mystery in physics for over 30 years -- has been attained. Astronomers found what appears to be a signature of 'axions', predicted 'dark matter' particle candidates.


FIGURE: A sketch (not to scale) showing axions (blue) streaming out from the Sun, converting in the Earth's magnetic field (red) into X-rays (orange), which are then detected by the XMM-Newton observatory. (Credit: Coopyright University of Leicester)

Cutting-edge paper by Professor George Fraser -- who tragically died in March this year -- and colleagues at the University of Leicester provides first potential indication of direct detection of Dark Matter -- something that has been a mystery in physics for over 30 years.

Space scientists at the University of Leicester have detected a curious signal in the X-ray sky -- one that provides a tantalising insight into the nature of mysterious Dark Matter.

The Leicester team has found what appears to be a signature of 'axions', predicted 'Dark Matter' particle candidates -- something that has been a puzzle to science for years.

In a study being published on Monday 20 October in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the University of Leicester scientists describe their finding of a signal which has no conventional explanation.

As first author Professor George Fraser, who sadly died in March of this year, wrote: "The direct detection of dark matter has preoccupied Physics for over thirty years." Dark Matter, a kind of invisible mass of unknown origin, cannot be seen directly with telescopes, but is instead inferred from its gravitational effects on ordinary matter and on light. Dark Matter is believed to make up 85% of the matter of the Universe.

"The X-ray background -- the sky, after the bright X-ray sources are removed -- appears to be unchanged whenever you look at it," explained Dr. Andy Read, also from the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy and now leading the paper. "However, we have discovered a seasonal signal in this X-ray background, which has no conventional explanation, but is consistent with the discovery of axions."

This result was found through an extensive study of almost the entire archive of data from the European Space Agency's X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, which will celebrate its 15th year in orbit this December. Previous searches for axions, notably at CERN, and with other spacecraft in Earth orbit, have so far proved unsuccessful.

As Professor Fraser explains in the paper: "It appears plausible that axions -- Dark Matter particle candidates -- are indeed produced in the core of the Sun and do indeed convert to X-rays in the magnetic field of the Earth." It is predicted that the X-ray signal due to axions will be greatest when looking through the sunward side of the magnetic field because this is where the field is strongest.

Dr. Read concludes: "These exciting discoveries, in George's final paper, could be truly ground-breaking, potentially opening a window to new physics, and could have huge implications, not only for our understanding of the true X-ray sky, but also for identifying the Dark Matter that dominates the mass content of the cosmos."

President of the Royal Astronomical Society Professor Martin Barstow, who is Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Head of the College of Science & Engineering and Professor of Astrophysics & Space Science at the University of Leicester said: "This is an amazing result. If confirmed, it will be first direct detection and identification of the elusive dark matter particles and will have a fundamental impact on our theories of the Universe."

The XMM-Newton observatory, its operations and data archive, constitute a major international collaboration within the European Space Agency (ESA) member states and beyond. The work of a number of authors on the calibration of XMM-Newton was supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA).

Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Leicester. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:
G. W. Fraser, A. M. Read, S. Sembay, J. A. Carter, E. Schyns. Potential solar axion signatures in X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton observatory.Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 20 October, 2014 (in press) [link]

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