Science Mystery: Magnetic North is on the Move

World Magnetic Model

The northern magnetic pole of the Earth is said to be shifting towards Siberia away from the Canadian Artic. This shifting has compelled the scientists of NCEI to update the mid-cycle of World Magnetic Model– WMM. An official new magnetic model of the world is used for its navigation system which has been moving at a rate of about 50 to 60 kilometres per year, according to The Guardian. Essential to warrant precise navigation towards the North Pole, the World Magnetic Model update has moved ahead from a planned 2020 release owing to the present speed of this movement. The north magnetic pole is said to be on the move.

Instead of moving around as it had for ages, the pole had picked up considerable speed and is moving quickly towards Siberia. Funded by the US and UK military, usually an updated version of the World Magnetic Model is released once in five years wherein the last had been released in 2015. Release of the next version is scheduled to be towards the end of 2019.

The military utilises the World Magnetic Model for undersea and aircraft navigation, parachute positioning etc. The other governmental businesses like NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Forest Service and others tend to utilise this technology for the purpose of surveying and mapping, satellite/antenna tracing and air traffic management.

Unexpected Variations in Artic Area

Scientists have released an updated model to precisely present the changes of the magnetic field between 2015 and the present time, owing to the unexpected variations in the Artic area. This unexpected update before the official release of next year’s World Magnetic Model 2020, would warrant innocuous navigation for military application, search, rescue operation together with commercial airlines and others functioning around the North Pole.

 A geophysicist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, Ciaran Beggan commented, `We know from old ship’s logs that in the past 400 years, the north magnetic pole has hung around northern Canada. Till the 1900s, it had moved perhaps tens of kilometres, back and forth. However in the past 50 years it had started to move north and in the past 30 years it started to accelerate away. It went from moving at about five to ten km a year to 50 to 60 km a year currently. It’s now moving rapidly towards Siberia’.

Affecting Navigation 

The World Magnetic Model tends to trail the situations of the magnetic poles of the Earth.Beggan had mentioned that they realised that mainly up around the north magnetic pole, the inaccuracieshad seemed to be great for it to be useful. The drifting pole has the tendency of affecting navigation in the Arctic. Should the GPS fail, the pilots on planes and ships will fall back on compass navigation and would require an updated map for their on-board computers.

The US military, at high altitudes, have named airport runways after their direction with regards to magnetic north and tends to change them when the pole moves. The recent movement of the pole is believed to be due to the formation of a narrow stream which is like the jet stream in the atmosphere, in the liquid outer core of the Earth. The iron-nickel core is said to be so hot that it tends to flow like water – 3,000 km below the surface creating the magnetic field and moving it around the planet.

Weakening of Magnetic Field

Beggan had stated that the north magnetic pole has been caught in this jet and is pushing it rapidly towards Siberia. The south magnetic pole seems to be moving much slower than the north due to the liquid outer core moving differently in the southern hemisphere. The magnetic field of the Earth is growing gradually weaker which is leading the scientist to contemplate that it will ultimately lead the north and the south poles to change places like a bar magnet toppling over.

From the traces of rocks, researchers are aware that this had taken place earlier though not in the past 780,000 years. Daniel Lathrop, a geophysicist at the University of Maryland stated that `it’s not a question of if it’s going to reverse, the question is when it’s going to reverse and such a flip would not be instantaneous, but would take 1,000 or more years to play out’.

Lathrop is of the belief that the flip would take place sooner than later owing to the weakening of the magnetic field, considering that an area in the south Atlantic had already overturned below the surface of the Earth. According to Beggan the rise and the fall in the strength of the magnetic field’s movement seems to be a part of its natural behaviour.

 He said that in the long term, the movement of the north magnetic field would become noticeable since it tends to affect where aurora, namely the northern lights, can be seen. He further commented that the aurora is focussed around the north magnetic pole in a ring enabling the pole to move and the aurora tends to follow it.

Archaeologists discover ancient 4,400-year-old tomb decorated with Hieroglyphs in Egypt

Ancient Tomb - 

 

According to authority a well preserved ancient tomb of a priest Wahtye, has been excavated which dates back to over 4,400 years in the pyramid area of Saqqara, south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo capital. Saqqara had been the burial ground for Memphis the capital of ancient Egypt for over two millennia. To preserve their bodies for afterlife, the ancient Egyptians had preserved humans while the animal mummies had been utilised as religious offerings.

The tomb is said to be adorned with symbols and statues which has led the archaeologists to investigate the site further, for more findings. According to Reuters, Mostafa Waziri, secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, had informed reporters at the site that the tomb was discovered buried in a crest which had been intact and unharmed. The excavation as per New York Times had started since November.

Tomb – One of a Kind – Last Decades

 

According to his description, he had stated it as `one of a kind in the last decades’. The tomb belonged to a period during the rule of Neferirkare Kakai, who was the 3rd king of the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.The name of the departed, hieroglyphs engraved in the stone over the door of the tomb reveals the title, royal purification priest, royal supervisor together with inspector of the sacred boat. The tomb had only been partially unearthed and the archaeologists are anticipating more finding on excavating the site further. A last layer of debris had been removed from the tomb by the archaeologist who discovered five shafts within. On examination, it was found that one of the shafts was unsealed with nothing in it. However the other four had been sealed and more discoveries were anticipated on uncovering the shafts.

Tomb is Unique 

The rectangular gallery of the tomb is said to be ten metres long, thirty three metres wide and less than three metres high. It is covered in painted reliefs, sculptures together with inscriptions. Waziri had stated that the tomb is unique due to its statues and its almost flawless condition.Itportrays Wahtye together with his wife, Weret Ptah, his mother Merit Meen and the daily scenes comprising of hunting, making offerings, sailing and developing goods like pottery and obituary furniture. One will find big painted statues of the priest and his family in 18 niches and 26 smaller niches towards the floor have statues of an unidentified person in a standing or seated position with his legs crossed.

Rock-Cut Tomb Chapel

Besides this, the colour too is intact inspite of being 4,400 years old. Khaled al-Enany, Antiquities Minister had informed the audience of guests who had been invited inclusive of AFP reporters, that they would be announcing the latest discovery of 2018, a new discovery of a private tomb.An Egyptologist, Aidan Dodson at the University of Bristol had mentioned in an email that `what we have is a rock-cut tomb-chapel. What has been exposed so far is the public part of the complex, where family, friends and priests could come and leave offerings for the dead’. Dodsonwas not involved in this project. He had commented that the number as well as the variety of the statues seems unusual. He had also added that the rest of the decoration comprises of scenes intended to mystically construct an atmosphere for the next world especially the creation of food to sustain the dead for eternity and their acceptance of offerings.

Home to Well-Know Djoser Pyramid 

The Saqqara catacomb is also a home to the well-knownDjoser pyramid which is 4,600 years old structure that tends to overlook the site. It is considered to be the first tombstone of Egypt. The tomb had been erected by Imhotep, the master architect for Pharaoh Djoser which was 62 metres tall initially. It is said to be the oldest building in the world which is built completely of stone.

The ancient tomb had been a very famous tourist attraction for years enticing visitors in indulging in rare glimpses of this amazing site which was inhabited by people living there thousands of years ago. Moreover it is also considered as a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to several other tombs.

However inspite of its interesting site tourists have stopped visiting this country due to fear of violence created against the former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak. With the continuous political issues together with series of terrorists attacking tourist areas, international travellers have been discouraged from visiting this country.

A dozen of ancient unearthinghas been done by Egypt during this year. With these discoveries, Egypt expects to enhance its image abroad, reviving interest among tourists. Tourists not long ago used to visit its iconic temples and pyramid but had refrained from visiting this country owing to the 2011 political revolution. Egypt has now made its contribution with its archaeological discoveries, to international media and diplomats with the hope of gaining more visitors in the country.

Scientists Proposed a Nuclear 'Tunnelbot' to Hunt Life in Europa's Hidden Ocean

Nuclear Powered `Tunnelbot’

To produce a path through the thick shell of ice, researchers’ are intending to send a nuclear-powered `tunnelbot’ to Europa to hunt for life. Being the 4th largest of Jupiter’s 53 moons, Europa has been considered as the best choice in the solar system to introduce alien life. Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon is said to be somewhat smaller than Earth’s moon. Europa circles every 3.5 days around Jupiter and is tidally locked similar to the Earth’s moon. In this manner it is on the same side, wherein Europa tends to face Jupiter all the time. It is presumed to have an iron core, a surface ocean of salty water and a rocky mantle resembling the Earth. This ocean unlike on earth is considered to be adequately deep covering the entire surface of Europa. Moreover being away from the sun, the surface of the ocean is said to be globally frozen all over. Specialists are of the opinion that the hidden ocean encircling Europa and warmed by powerful tidal forces owing to the gravity of Jupiter could have favourable conditions for life.

Extra-Terrestrial Life

The plan has been initiated by scientists at NASA. The concept is to drill into the moon with the help of nuclear-powered robot tunnelbot, in an attempt to locate signs of aliens. This effort would provide an opportunity of probing below Jupiter’s moon Europa. According to the researchers, it would give them some insight of any aliens lurking there. The water concealed below Europa seems to be the likely areas for hidden alien life which could be trapped in a crust of ice thereby making it tough to explore. Hence, the researchers’ are set on in drilling through the crust and navigate for extra-terrestrial life. The researchers are of the opinion that the icy crust tends to conceal a kind of liquid water ocean which vents through that crust and could deliver the essential heat and chemical ingredients necessary for life in that particular ocean.

Tunnelbot

To get some insight below the thick layer of ice, researchers of NASA Glenn Research COMPASS team which is said to be a team of scientists and engineers around the country and engaged in resolving problems for NASA, believe that they can come up with tunnelbot. A meeting of the researchers had been conducted in December with the American Geophysical Union wherein a proposal had been presented for a tunnelbot. The tunnelbot could utilize nuclear power for melting a path through the shell of Europa.

 This would be carrying a cargo which could be helpful in tracing for indications for existing/nonexistent life Researchers are of the opinion that the tunnelbot can be utilized as an advanced nuclear device or some radioactive `general-purpose heat bricks of NASA to create heat and power. However, the radiation could bring about some design challenges. The tunnelbot can move in the ice on the frozen moon, hunting for small lakes with the shell or signs of life in the ice. As it tends to get immersed deeper it would branch out into a fiber optic cable. This could rise to the surface, setting up communication transmit at a depth of 3, 6 and 9 miles.

Mystery & Challenge

Researchers have mentioned that when the tunnelbot reaches the liquid ocean it would arrange cables or launch a device to refrain from falling through and to lock itself in position. At this point of time it is at an initial speculative proposal. The payload to sample Europa’s water and ice or how to get the tunnelbot on the moon has not yet been reckoned out by the researchers. This seems to be a significant mystery and challenge. This plan poses as an amazing insight into the future robotic mission to Europa. Moreover, ultimately it would also explore to see if the distant moon tends to have any indication of life.

American Geophysical Union

The researchers had mentioned in a proposal at the 2018 meeting of the American Geophysical Union that they had performed a concept study for a nuclear powered tunnelbot which would navigate through the ice shell reaching the ocean. The tunnelbot would assess the habitability of the ice shell together with the underlying ocean. The researchers have observed that there would be some issues with the plan. It comprises of how the tunnelbot tends to get all the way to that part of the world to be navigated. They have noted on `how initial deployment on the surface would occur, though not addressed and seems to be a challenge for further progress.

Two Prospects

Based on this, they have considered two prospects, one which could be driven by a nuclear reactor while the other through heat source bricks. Both utilize heat produced from these sources for melting through ice sources. However another issue also arises from embedding deep in the world. It would be complex for message to be sent through the ice. This means that the robot would be carrying cable that could send messages to and fro, to Earth. Moreover, researchers would also have to safeguard that the tunnelbot would have to leave a cable or even float on reaching the ocean ensuring that the cable does not touch the water while digging through the ice.

Preparing Two Analyses

According to Andrew Dombard associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, thickness of the ice is likely to be between 2 and 30 kilometres. This could be a main hurdle for anyone to overcome to explore these areas and have some insight of bio-signature representative of life on Europa.

Mr Dombard together with his colleagues had come up with a solution and believed that a nuclear powered tunnelbot would be the best solution for this plan. Mr Dombard had commented that they were not worried of how the tunnelbot would get to Europa or get deployed in the ice. They had presumed that it would get there and hence focused on its operation of descent to the ocean. The space agency has stated that it is preparing two analyses, comprising of one which would be landing on the surface exploring the distant moon within the next year.