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The Sun's 'Quiet Period' Explained

Posted by Soulskill on from the ra-needs-naps-too dept.

Arvisp writes with this excerpt from the BBC: "Solar physicists may have discovered why the Sun recently experienced a prolonged period of weak activity. The most recent so-called 'solar minimum' occurred in December 2008. Its drawn-out nature extended the total length of the last solar cycle — the repeating cycle of the Sun's activity — to 12.6 years, making it the longest in almost 200 years. The new research suggests that the longer-than-expected period of weak activity may have been linked to changes in the way a hot soup of charged particles called plasma circulated in the Sun."

11 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Climate change by wvmarle · · Score: 0, Troll

    What you saying? This is not caused by global warming?

    1. Re:Climate change by Dishevel · · Score: 0, Troll

      Solar minimum is minimum of sun spots. Sun spots are relatively cooler areas of the sun. So while I am not saying for a fact that the increased solar minimum is responsible for what they were calling Global Warming I am stating that your particular argument is bullshit and stupid.

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    2. Re:Climate change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      The sun's solar minimum is not caused by global warming, nor is the hottest decade on record caused by the sun's solar minimum.

      No. The hottest decade on record is caused by putting your thermometers on blacktop, in the exhaust of an air conditioner, and adjusting older temperatures downward.

  2. Cycle my ass ... by unity100 · · Score: -1, Troll

    whenever some private interests need an excuse for something they are doing, a 'cycle' is invented. thanks to 'think thank's and private 'research institution's. thats privatization of science, and thought process for ya.

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  3. Re:Just Pushes Back The Question by demonbug · · Score: 0, Troll

    '... may have been linked to changes in the way a hot soup of charged particles called plasma circulated in the Sun.

    So why did the "hot soup of charged particles called plasma" change in the way that they circulated?

    Because God made it so.

    What, did you sleep through your creationism classes in high school or something?

  4. Re:Finally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Finally some evidence to prove my new theory I will soon propose: Global Cooling.

    You're late to the party. They changed it to be "climate change" some time ago so no matter if the globe "cools" or "warms", some people can equally claim the sky is falling and push through their unrelated political agendas.

  5. are we really surprised? by SolarStorm · · Score: -1, Troll

    The sun is 4.6 BILLION years old and we are concerned with a couple of years difference in the Solar Cycle? How many of our empirical evidence cycles have we measured in this sort of accuracy? The whole cycle measures within 2.3e-8% of its lifespan and we are surprised that we haven't got the accuracy narrowed down? What other natural phenomenon have we measured to this accuracy cause I would really like to see the ruler that was used...

    1. Re:are we really surprised? by EmagGeek · · Score: 0, Troll

      Don't you get it? Things can never change. Any deviation from what we expect means there is a calamity brewing that needs a billion dollars to be thrown at it so that it can be understood.

      The Human Race is emotionally incapable of dealing with change.

  6. Good thing by SnarfQuest · · Score: -1, Troll

    It's a good thing that the sun has no effect on Global Warming, as specifically commented on by the GW supporters, or else they would have had to explain the sunspot problems before now. Because of these great scientists, everyone now knows that the sun has no effect on the temperature of the Earth.

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  7. I am surprise this isn't blamed on global warming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    You know, how our Carbon emissions are actually weakening the sun. Because we know humans have more impact on the environment that a hot glowing ball of gas in the sky.

  8. oh gee by unity100 · · Score: 0, Troll

    arent you the easy to fool moron then ...

    there cycles being in nature does NOT mean that 'private research institutions' can suddenly start inventing numerous 'cycles' just in a decade, whereas there have been only a set amount of cycles invented since the start of scientific revolution.

    iiiirrronically, these sudden discovery outbreaks coincide with the start of talk about how reckles industries hurt the planet ...

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