Former Tropical Storm Edouard brings bitter temperature drop to Germany
By Kalte Sonne
(Translated/edited and image added by P. Gosselin)
Stupidity clicks well in Germany. Alarmist messages about tropical storm Edouard now running through the Internet on numerous websites have been no better in quality than the earlier reports of an impending summer of heat shocks (The opposite has been true so far this summer).
On the other hand, reports like those by Fabian Ruhnau of Kachelmannwetter are beneficial, which assess former tropical strom Edouard somewhat differently, without neglecting the powerful thunderstorms:
“On Friday, a small, but rather weather-intensive low-pressure system will sweep over Northern Germany. It is ‘formerly EDOUARD’, the low was once a tropical storm, but is now just a normal low. In the run-up to the cold front, hot air reaches the south and southeast, where powerful thunderstorms can form. During the weekend the weather will calm down and get colder again.”
The kneejeck digital excitement and constant alarms are clearly a sign of our times. But a very dangerous one, because permanent alarm dulls the senses.
The lead author worked at Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia, 30333, USA. Virology Journal is a publication of the National Institutes of Health, which Anthony Fauci joined in 1968 and has directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (NIAID) since 1984.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a newly discovered coronavirus (SARS-CoV). No effective prophylactic or post-exposure therapy is currently available.
We report, however, that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. This may negatively influence the virus-receptor binding and abrogate the infection, with further ramifications by the elevation of vesicular pH, resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS CoV at clinically admissible concentrations.
The infectivity of coronaviruses other than SARS-CoV are also affected by chloroquine, as exemplified by the human CoV-229E [15]. The inhibitory effects observed on SARS-CoV infectivity and cell spread occurred in the presence of 1–10 μM chloroquine, which are plasma concentrations achievable during the prophylaxis and treatment of malaria (varying from 1.6–12.5 μM) [26] and hence are well tolerated by patients. It recently was speculated that chloroquine might be effective against SARS and the authors suggested that this compound might block the production of TNFα, IL6, or IFNγ [15]. Our data provide evidence for the possibility of using the well-established drug chloroquine in the clinical management of SARS.
Conclusions
Chloroquine, a relatively safe, effective and cheap drug used for treating many human diseases including malaria, amoebiosis and human immunodeficiency virus is effective in inhibiting the infection and spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. The fact that the drug has significant inhibitory antiviral effect when the susceptible cells were treated either prior to or after infection suggests a possible prophylactic and therapeutic use.
This means, of course, that Dr. Fauci has known for 15 years that chloroquine and it’s even milder derivative hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) will not only treat a current case of coronavirus (“therapeutic”) but prevent future cases (“prophylactic”). So HCQ functions as both a cure and a vaccine. In other words, it’s a wonder drug for coronavirus. Said Dr. Fauci’s NIH in 2005, “concentrations of 10 μM completely abolished SARS-CoV infection.” Fauci’s researchers add, “chloroquine can effectively reduce the establishment of infection and spread of SARS-CoV.”
In connection with the SARS outbreak – caused by a coronavirus dubbed SARS- CoV – the NIH researched chloroquine and concluded that it was effective at stopping the SARS coronavirus in its tracks. The COVID-19 bug is likewise a coronavirus, labeled SARS-CoV-2. While not exactly the same virus as SARS-CoV-1, it is genetically related to it, and shares 79% of its genome, as the name SARS-CoV-2 implies. They both use the same host cell receptor, which is what viruses use to gain entry to the cell and infect the victim.
We finally got some dry air in N. Alabama, so I captured ~900 photos of comet NEOWISE starting about 3:45 this morning from the Monte Sano east overlook, using 2 cameras, one wide angle (30mm) for landscape shots and one telephoto (200 mm) for time lapse.
Time lapse video I took of Comet NEOWISE this morning from Huntsville, AL (watch full-screen). I used constant camera exposure settings, so you can see how much the sky brightens in only 20 minutes.
Comet NEOWISE rising in the northeast sky from Huntsville, AL, on July 11, 2020. Constant camera settings (2.5 sec exp., ISO 640, f/2.8) with a Canon 6D MkII, and Canon 200 mm lens.
The comet arrived at perihelion on July 3, sweeping to within 27.7 million miles (44.5 million km) of the sun and is now heading back out to the outer reaches of space. Nonetheless, the comet continues to evolve and its tail continues to grow.
Until now, the comet has been accessible only to those waking up at the break of dawn and scanning the sky near the northeast horizon. The comet has appeared to rise tail-first, followed by its bright head or coma, shining as bright as a first-magnitude star. So far, the comet has had to compete with low altitude, bright twilight and the light of a nearly-full moon. Some have been stymied from getting a good look at NEOWISE because of these factors, or perhaps because of poor weather. But things are going to be getting better for skywatchers in the days ahead.
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Although the comet is moving away from the sun and beginning to fade, that dimming initially will likely be slow, because it is now approaching the Earth. It will be closest to our planet on the evening of July 22 (“perigee”), when it will be 64.3 million miles (103.5 million km) away. Thereafter, fading will be more rapid as the comet will then be receding from both the Earth and the sun.
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As a morning object, the comet’s best views will come during a three-day stretch on the mornings of July 11, 12 and 13, when it will stand 10 degrees above the northeast horizon, 80 minutes before sunrise — the beginning of nautical twilight. Your clenched fist held at arm’s length measures approximately 10 degrees in width. So, on these three mornings, the head of Comet NEOWISE will appear about “one fist” up from the northeast horizon.
The sky should appear reasonably dark at that time with only the light of the last quarter moon providing any interference. As the minutes tick off, the comet will be getting higher, but the dawn sky will be getting increasingly brighter as well.
After July 13, NEOWISE will drop rapidly lower and swing more toward the north-northeast. By July 18, it will appear only 5 degrees above the horizon at the start of nautical twilight. And only a few mornings later its altitude will have become too low to see it at all in pre-sunrise sky.
Evening visibility
But as its morning visibility diminishes, there is good news: Comet NEOWISE will become prominent in the evening sky after sunset. That will also mean a much larger audience will be able to see it during “prime-time” viewing hours instead of having to awaken during the wee hours of the early morning.
The first good opportunity for evening viewing begins on July 12, when the head of the comet will stand 5 degrees above the north-northwest horizon, 80 minutes after sunset (the end of nautical twilight). By July 14 its altitude will have already doubled to 10 degrees, and by July 19 it will have doubled yet again to 20 degrees up by the end of nautical twilight. By then it will have moved to above the northwest horizon.
So, we at Space.com feel that the best time to view the comet during the evening will come during the July 14-19 time frame.
Chris White Tech Reporter July 08, 2020 3:09 PM ET
A Virginia-based law firm is suing Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison for access to records revealing his use of attorneys financed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to engage in a climate crusade targeting oil companies.
The nonprofit Government Accountability & Oversight (GAO) filed a lawsuit Wednesday for records detailing how the Democratic attorney general is allegedly deploying Bloomberg-financed lawyers to advance a lawsuit his office leveled against the fossil fuel industry. The firm’s complaint was filed on behalf of the nonprofit group Energy Policy Advocates.
The law firm’s complaint also reveals that the Minnesota attorney general entered into confidentiality agreements and so-called common interest agreements requiring his office to obtain the consent of the private attorneys before releasing public information about such climate lawsuits.
GAO attorney Chris Horner believes such contracts undermine open records laws and violate obligations of attorneys general to taxpayers.
“They likely are void as against public policy including that underlining open records laws, and probably violate obligations of state attorney generals to the people of their states by purporting to contract away the public’s right to access to public information such as is embodied in the MGDPA,” Horner staid in a statement Wednesday.
The agreements cover records related to lawsuits two Special Assistant Attorneys General (SAAGs) inside Ellison’s office leveled against ExxonMobil. Ellison announced lawsuits targeting Exxon, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute over what he calls “a campaign of deception” on climate change.
SAAGs are placed in attorney general offices around the country by New York University’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC), which received $6 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2018.
The NYU School of Law launched the group in 2017 to “identify and hire NYU Law Fellows who serve as special assistant attorneys general in state attorney general offices, focusing on clean energy, climate and environmental matters,” according to the NYU Law website.
Ellison submitted an application for SAAGs in March 2019, according to the GAO lawsuit.
He expressed in the application a willingness to do more in certain areas of “known public interest to Bloomberg and his SEEIC,” the complaint stated. Ellison’s application also suggested the attorney general intends on focusing on “multistate initiatives…including…supporting state-led efforts to investigate Exxon Mobil [sic].”
Neither Bloomberg nor Ellison’s office have responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requestS for comment about the lawsuit.
Iowa Climate Science Education 