scholarly journals The disputed sound of the aurora borealis: sensing liminal noise during the First and Second International Polar Years, 1882–3 and 1932–3

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Amery
Keyword(s):  
Visual Features ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Sound Recording ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Aurora Borealis ◽  
Polar Science ◽  
International Polar ◽  
Low Altitude ◽  
Second International

This paper discusses heightened interest in the potential audibility of the aurora borealis during the First and Second International Polar Years (IPYs) of 1882–3 and 1932–3. Galvanized by a growing volume of local accounts expressing belief in the elusive noises, written by the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands, northern Canada, and Norway, auroral researchers of each era were determined to establish the objectivity of auroral sound. There was considerable speculation within the auroral research community as to whether the apparent noises were imagined or illusory, connected to discussions about the possibility of low-altitude aurorae. The anglophone auroral sound debate primarily played out within the official reports of IPY expeditions, the journal Nature , and a Shetland Island newspaper. I argue that the embodied senses were used exclusively to register the liminal sounds of the aurora across the two periods, despite developments in sound recording technologies, the primacy of mechanical objectivity, and instruments transported to the polar regions for the investigation of visual features of the phenomenon. This overlooked episode complicates narratives of polar science in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by revealing a faith in the corporeal senses and the significant role of amateur observers.

scholarly journals The State of Polar Research after the International Polar Year 2007–2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Ian Allison
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
The State ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
International Geophysical Year ◽  
International Polar ◽  
International Geophysical ◽  
Second International

The International Polar Year 2007–2008—like its predecessors the first International Polar Year 1882–83 (championed by Georg von Neumayer as Chairman of the International Polar Commission), the second International Polar Year 1932–33 and the International Geophysical Year 1957–58—was an intensive, internationally coordinated campaign of scientific research in polar regions.

scholarly journals 100 Years of Progress in Polar Meteorology

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 21.1-21.36 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. Walsh ◽  
David H. Bromwich ◽  
James. E. Overland ◽  
Mark C. Serreze ◽  
Kevin R. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
High Pressure Cell ◽  
Decadal Variations ◽  
International Polar ◽  
Polar Meteorology

AbstractThe polar regions present several unique challenges to meteorology, including remoteness and a harsh environment. We summarize the evolution of polar meteorology in both hemispheres, beginning with measurements made during early expeditions and concluding with the recent decades in which polar meteorology has been central to global challenges such as the ozone hole, weather prediction, and climate change. Whereas the 1800s and early 1900s provided data from expeditions and only a few subarctic stations, the past 100 years have seen great advances in the observational network and corresponding understanding of the meteorology of the polar regions. For example, a persistent view in the early twentieth century was of an Arctic Ocean dominated by a permanent high pressure cell, a glacial anticyclone. With increased observations, by the 1950s it became apparent that, while anticyclones are a common feature of the Arctic circulation, cyclones are frequent and may be found anywhere in the Arctic. Technology has benefited polar meteorology through advances in instrumentation, especially autonomously operated instruments. Moreover, satellite remote sensing and computer models revolutionized polar meteorology. We highlight the four International Polar Years and several high-latitude field programs of recent decades. We also note outstanding challenges, which include understanding of the role of the Arctic in variations of midlatitude weather and climate, the ability to model surface energy exchanges over a changing Arctic Ocean, assessments of ongoing and future trends in extreme events in polar regions, and the role of internal variability in multiyear-to-decadal variations of polar climate.

scholarly journals British radio observations during the Second International Polar Year 1932-33

1937 ◽  
Vol 236 (764) ◽  
pp. 191-259 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Polar Regions ◽  
Radio Waves ◽  
Radio Observations ◽  
Geophysical Investigation ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
Atmospheric Physics ◽  
New Methods ◽  
International Polar ◽  
Improved Methods ◽  
Second International

The present communication deals with radio observations made by British workers as part of the general geophysical investigation of polar regions carried out during the Second International Polar Year, 1 August, 1932, to 31 August, 1933. In the long period which has elapsed since the first International Polar Year of 1882-83, the field of geophysical inquiry has been greatly extended by the use of improved methods and instruments. Such advances have been especially notable in atmospheric physics. Among the new methods which have been developed we may count the use of radio waves for the exploration of upper-atmospheric electrification. The prosecution of such methods in recent years has supplemented in many ways the information obtainable from a study of terrestrial magnetism and the aurora. The development of radio methods of ionospheric exploration has proceeded in England during the last ten years under the auspices of the Radio Research Board of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. On the scientific side the work has been directed to the elucidation of the structure of the ionosphere, its variation with time, and the correlation of such variations with other geophysical phenomena. Quite independently of any participation in the work of the International Polar Year, the results of work in England had, for reasons which will be stated later, suggested the need for carrying out similar observations in high latitudes, and Sir George Simpson, F.R.S., a member of the Board, had pointed out the special suitability of Northern Norway for such work. The proposals for an expedition were, however, held in abeyance because of the great advantages which were seen likely to accrue from merging such work in the international effort of the Second Polar Year.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 101-108
Author(s):  
Marc Belissa ◽  
Gary Berton
Keyword(s):  
General Framework ◽  
American English ◽  
Atlantic History ◽  
Thomas Paine ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Second International

The volume contains six contributions (and an introduction) that have been presented in the Thomas Paine Second International Conference held in Paris Ouest Nanterre in 2014. All scholars involved in the field of research of Atlantic history agree on the fact that the partitioning between ‘national’ historiographies (American, English and French) is detrimental in the understanding of the role of specific transatlantic actors, of which Thomas Paine is one the most spectacular example for the era of the revolutions (1760–1830). This conference gathered American, British and French historians to develop this fruitful approach. The papers presented here participate in the historiographic opening up of studies on Thomas Paine and propose studies, reflexion and specific comments on how Thomas Paine converges within the general framework of Atlantic history and Republicanism history.

scholarly journals The mirror mechanism: recent findings and perspectives

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1644) ◽  
pp. 20130420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Rizzolatti ◽  
Leonardo Fogassi
Keyword(s):  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Human Studies ◽  
Visual Features ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
Motor Intention ◽  
Similar Motor ◽  
Motor Acts

Mirror neurons are a specific type of visuomotor neuron that discharge both when a monkey executes a motor act and when it observes a similar motor act performed by another individual. In this article, we review first the basic properties of these neurons. We then describe visual features recently investigated which indicate that, besides encoding the goal of motor acts, mirror neurons are modulated by location in space of the observed motor acts, by the perspective from which the others’ motor acts are seen, and by the value associated with the object on which others’ motor acts are performed. In the last part of this article, we discuss the role of the mirror mechanism in planning actions and in understanding the intention underlying the others’ motor acts. We also review some human studies suggesting that motor intention in humans may rely, as in the monkey, on the mirror mechanism.

scholarly journals Action of taxol on mitosis: modification of microtubule arrangements and function of the mitotic spindle in Haemanthus endosperm.

1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 527-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Molè-Bajer ◽  
A S Bajer
Keyword(s):  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Chromosome Fragments ◽  
Immunocytochemical Method ◽  
And Function ◽  
Spindle Function ◽  
Direction Opposite

We have studied the effect of taxol on mitosis in Haemanthus endosperm. Immuno-Gold Stain (IGS), a new immunocytochemical method (17), was used to visualize microtubules (MTs) in the light microscope. Observations on MT arrangements were correlated with studies in vivo. Chromosome movements are affected in all stages of mitosis which progresses over at least 10(4) range of taxol concentrations. The three most characteristic effects on MTs are: (a) enhancement of the lateral associations between MTs, seen especially during the reorganization of the polar region of the spindle, (b) promotion of MT assembly, leading to the formation of additional MTs in the spindle and MT arrays in the cytoplasm, and (c) an increase in MT stability, demonstrated in their increased cold resistance. In this report, the emphasis is on the primary, immediate effects, occurring in the first 30 min of taxol action. Effects are detected after a few mins, are reversible, and are concentration/time dependent. The spindle and phragmoplast are remarkably modified due to the enhancement of lateral associations of MTs and the formation of abundant nonkinetochore and polar, asterlike MTs. The equatorial region of the interzone in anaphase may be entirely depleted of MTs, and the spindle may break perpendicular to the spindle axis. Mitosis is completed in these conditions, providing evidence for the motile autonomy of each half-spindle. Trailing chromosome arms in anaphase are often stretched and broken. Chromosome fragments are transported away from the polar regions, i.e., in the direction opposite to that expected (5, 6). This supplies the first direct evidence of pushing by elongating MTs in an anastral higher plant spindle. These observations draw attention to the relation between the lateral association of MT ends to assembly/disassembly and to the role of such an interaction in spindle function and organization.

scholarly journals Evolution in the cold

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Antarctic Fish ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Evolutionary Studies ◽  
Adaptive Radiations ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Theodosius Dobzhansky once remarked that nothing in biology makes sense other than in the light of evolution, thereby emphasising the central role of evolutionary studies in providing the theoretical context for all of biology. It is perhaps surprising then that evolutionary biology has played such a small role to date in Antarctic science. This is particularly so when it is recognised that the polar regions provide us with an unrivalled laboratory within which to undertake evolutionary studies. The Antarctic exhibits one of the classic examples of a resistance adaptation (antifreeze peptides and glycopeptides, first described from Antarctic fish), and provides textbook examples of adaptive radiations (for example amphipod crustaceans and notothenioid fish). The land is still largely in the grip of major glaciation, and the once rich terrestrial floras and faunas of Cenozoic Gondwana are now highly depauperate and confined to relatively small patches of habitat, often extremely isolated from other such patches. Unlike the Arctic, where organisms are returning to newly deglaciated land from refugia on the continental landmasses to the south, recolonization of Antarctica has had to take place by the dispersal of propagules over vast distances. Antarctica thus offers an insight into the evolutionary responses of terrestrial floras and faunas to extreme climatic change unrivalled in the world. The sea forms a strong contrast to the land in that here the impact of climate appears to have been less severe, at least in as much as few elements of the fauna show convincing signs of having been completely eradicated.

Does Philosophy ‘Leave Everything as it is’? Even Theology?

1989 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 225-236
Author(s):  
Renford Bambrough
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Three Dimensional Objects ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Aurora Borealis ◽  
The Church

Does photography leave everything as it is? Clearly not. It scalps Uncle George, as he stands at the church door, proudly, innocently, in the role of bride's father, and it decapitates his nephew James, who had until now been a head taller than any other member of the wedding group. It reduces to two dimensions, and to black and white, such solid three-dimensional objects as the Rocky Mountains and St Paul's Cathedral, such colourful scenes and sights as the Aurora Borealis and sunset in the desert.

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