A field snapshot in June. Reds are strong; blues are weak. The view is dominated by the core contribution
Europe’s Swarm space mission has begun making maps of Earth’s magnetic field. Data just released shows how the field generated in the planet’s liquid outer core varies in strength over the course of a few months. Swarm’s early assessment appears to support the prevailing view that this magnetic cloak in general is weakening. Many experts believe it heralds a flip in the poles, where north becomes south and vice versa, although it would take thousands of years to complete. The European Space Agency’s Swarm mission was launched last November. It comprises three satellites that are equipped with a variety of instruments – the key ones being state-of-the-art magnetometers that measure field strength and direction. They fly in a configuration that offsets one platform from the other two. The intention is that this should provide a three-dimensional view of the field, and make it easier to tease apart its various components. In the release this week from Esa, we get a view that is dominated by the contribution (95%) from the core. But eventually, Swarm will have the sensitivity to describe magnetism from other, more subtle sources, including that generated by the movement of our salt-water oceans.
Change in the field since January. Reds are a strengthening; blues are a weakening
The maps on this page use the magnetic unit of a nanoTesla. Earth’s field typically has a full strength of some 50,000nT. The maps illustrate a snapshot (in June) and the change that occurs through time (January to June). In the latter, field strength is seen to drop over the western hemisphere but rise in other areas, such as the southern Indian Ocean. Earth’s magnetic field is worthy of study because it is the vital shield that protects the planet from all the charged particles streaming off the Sun. Without it, those particles would strip away the atmosphere, just as they have done at Mars. Investigating the magnetic field also has direct practical benefits, such as improving the reliability of satellite navigation systems which can be affected by magnetic and electrical conditions high in the atmosphere. “I started my career in magnetometry and the accuracy we had then in the laboratories was less than what we can fly in space now,” explained Prof Volker Liebig, the director of Earth observation at Esa. “So what we have on Swarm is fantastic, but we need long time series to understand fully the Earth’s magnetic field, and we will get that from this mission,” he told BBC News.
The Swarm fly high above the Earth in a configuration that offsets one satellite from a pair of spacecraft
Has the Earth already been mapped by Aliens? Do Aliens even exist? Some people say yes, others no. Here’s an interesting perspective from one of NASA’s astronauts including Story Musgrave and SETI’s Seth Shostack. http://youtu.be/MBK6eHWbwNc Follow @AnimalXTV
The Animal X- Natural Mystery Unit may finally have proof that Bigfoot, more properly known as the ‘Unidentified North American Primate’, is alive and well. Daniel and Natalie join Bigfoot researcher Chester Moore, who says he’s found the home of an elusive non-human primate at a secret location in Texas.
As they search for clues, our investigators are stalked by this unknown creature for more than 24 hours. They hear eerie night calls, see broken and twisted tree limbs.
While filming this episode Natalie sees something. They are convinced that it was Bigfoot she glimpsed disappearing into the forest.
Could the mysterious image captured on their cameras be the face of the Texas Bigfoot?
Are these animals an unidentified category of ape? Or maybe they’re the missing link that science has been looking for? Amongst those convinced that Bigfoot exists is a prominent American criminologist and fingerprint expert Jimmy Chilcutt. This Police detective has no doubt that some footprint casts claimed to have been made by Bigfoot are genuine.
Join the team in the most exciting episode of Animal X to date.
For as long as humans have walked this planet, we have been haunted by tales of mysterious winged beasts. Who is Mothman? Do Thunderbeings really exist? Is Mexico home to an unidentified Birdman?
The Animal X – Natural Mystery Unit travels to Point Pleasant in the USA, where residents are still haunted by unexplained sightings of a mysterious winged creature they’ve called Mothman. In the 1960’s they watched in disbelief as this beast chased speeding cars and leapt onto the roofs of tall buildings.
Daniel and Natalie investigate the legend of the Thunderbird and talk with the Passamaquoddy tribe of Native Americans. Can their medicine men really transform themselves into giant winged Thunderbeings? They then travel to Mexico, where as recently as 2003, multiple sightings of winged humanoids were making headlines.
Will the Animal X – Natural Mystery Unit solve the riddle of these winged creatures? Was there a government conspiracy to cover-up Mothman? How much of this mystery is real and how much folklore is behind the sightings of large winged creatures that are said to inhabit our skies?
Many believe that huge unidentified monsters lurk in the world’s oceans and waterways. Do remnants of the dinosaur age still exist, and is this what people are seeing off the coast of Wales in Britain and in San Francisco Bay in the USA?
The Animal X – Natural Mystery Unit is on the hunt for Monsters of the Deep. Daniel and Natalie talk with eyewitnesses who have videotaped a pod of huge sea serpents. We have the videotape analyzed by an expert who says the tape is not a fake and the monsters are real.
So much of the ocean is still unexplored. Could there be large species we are yet to discover? Scientists answer ‘yes – it’s most likely’, and they’ve even recorded sounds from the depths of the ocean that they can’t explain. Have you heard of the Bloop? It’s the sound of a huge underwater creature and is the biggest mystery in the ocean today. Could it be the sea monster people have been talking about?
They meet the scientists from NOAA a US government agency. Scientists here say the biggest threat to any species in the ocean is over fishing.
It’s time for Daniel and Natalie to slip on their wetsuits and scuba gear and go exploring the big blue. Join them as they dive to ‘Aquarius’, the only inner-space station in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, searching for answers.
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Animal X UnCut
See some of the UNCUT interviews from this episode. To start with below picture links to Bill and Bob Clark’s UnCut interviews. Also their video of the monsters featured in this episode – UnCut.
Watch their full account of their encounters with these Monsters of San Francisco Bay.
Find out what one of the brothers thinks it is.
Monster of San Francisco Bay
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The Animal X – Natural Mystery Unit puts its investigative skills to the ultimate test trying to track down a live Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger as they are also known. Experts say the last of its kind died in an Australian zoo in the 1930’s, but many believe this the last of the great meat eating marsupials is still alive and well.
Daniel and Natalie head into the wild Western Australian bush to talk with a farmer who swears he has seen the creature dozens of times stalking prey on his property. They discover footprints and scats that are just hours old. Could these have been made by a creature said to be extinct for 70 years?
As they travel this vast country meeting eyewitnesses, the evidence becomes more and more compelling. Dan and Nat uncover secret documents suggesting a population of Tasmanian Tigers was secretly released onto the mainland over 100 years ago. They meet a man who claims he wrestled with the creature and a respected wildlife officer who describes how he watched a Thylacine walking through the Tasmanian bush.
If it is out there, many believe that Tasmania’s pro-logging policy will eventually kill off any chance the species has for survival. Is the government trying to keep the existence of the Thylacine hidden? Many think so.
Is the Thylacine still out there? The Animal X – Natural Mystery Unit investigates.
