Sunspot Peak 2012

There have been many studies linking solar activity with terrestrial seismicity. The recent flurry of activity may find it's connection in the current Saros Cycle 24.

Sunspots are regions of the solar surface that are darker and cooler than their surroundings. Caused by fluctuations in the intense magnetic field that surrounds our closest star, sunspot activity increases and decreases on an 11-year cycle. Intense sunspot activity brings with it solar storms. , events where charged particles stream off the surface of the sun, with the potential to wreak havoc with our planet's upper atmosphere. During solar storms, satellites can be damaged, power transmission can be disrupted and the skies light up with auroras. There are also links between sunspot activity and climate. Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, have used a new model of the sun's interior to refine predictions of future sunspot activity. By using data going back over a century, the scientists were able to determine that the sun's magnetic field has a memory of around 20 years. This model was able to predict the past six cycles with around 97 percent accuracy, and has led to revised predictions about the next cycle, number 24. According to Mausimi Dikpati, one of the physicists who gave a press conference yesterday, the next sunspot cycle will be between 30 and 50 percent stronger than the current cycle, with a peak in activity in 2012. Armed with a six year warning, mission planners at NASA, satellite controllers and engineers in the power industry ought to have ample time to take this looming danger into account.

Jethro Tull 1674-1741

Jethro Tull invented the seed drill (in 1701), the horse-drawn hoe, and an improved plough. Tull was educated at Oxford, England where studied law, he later studied agriculture during his travels across Europe. Jethro Tull inherited land in the southern part of England where he put into practice his study of agriculture. His seed drill would sow seed in uniform rows and cover up the seed in the rows. Up to that point, sowing seeds was done by hand by scattering seeds on the ground. Tull considered this method wasteful since many seeds did not take root. The first prototype seed drill was built from the foot pedals of Jethro Tull's local church organ. Jethro Tull was part of a group of farmers who founded the Norfolk system, an early attempt to apply science to farming. In 1731, Jethro Tull published "The New Horse Houghing Husbandry: or, an Essay on the Principles of Tillage and Vegetation".