PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

No evidence of planetary influence on solar activity

2013-09-05
(Press-News.org) The Sun is a magnetically active star. Its activity manifests itself as dark sunspots and bright faculae on its visible surface, as well as violent mass ejections and the acceleration of high-energy particles resulting from the release of magnetic energy in its outer atmosphere. The frequency with which these phenomena occur varies in a somewhat irregular activity cycle of about 11 years, during which the global magnetic field of the Sun reverses. The solar magnetic field and the activity cycle originate in a self-excited dynamo mechanism based upon convective flows and rotation in the outer third of the solar radius.

Systematic observations of sunspots since the beginning of the 17th century indicate that solar activity also varies on longer timescales, including periods of very low activity, such as the so-called Maunder minimum between 1640 and 1700. Analysis of radioactive isotopes in tree rings and in polar ice sheets show that other such grand minima of solar activity have occurred over the past millenium, and also revealed a number of quasi-periods in the activity variations, ranging from 80 to about 2000 years. Before the magnetic nature of sunspots and other phenomena were discovered, a popular theory associated the activity cycle with the planetary orbital periods, primarily motivated by the similarity between the approximately 11-yr solar cycle and the 11.87 orbital period of Jupiter. In principle, the planets can affect the Sun by exerting tides (similar to terrestrial ocean tides caused by the moon), but these effects are extremely tiny (tide heights of a few millimeters, at most) in comparison to all other dynamical forces. Furthermore, detailed statistical analyses have time and again shown that apparent similarities between some planetary periods and solar activity variations were consistent with chance and were statistically insignificant.

With a new reconstructed record of solar activity, inferred from the radioactive isotopes of beryllium and carbon in ice cores covering the past 9400 years, Abreu et al. (2012, A&A, 548, A88) have recently revisited this issue. They compared the quasi-periods found in this data set between 40 and 600 years with periods in the tidal torque exerted on a thin shell in the solar interior, which they assumed to be ellipsoidally deformed. Abreu et al. found seemingly striking similarities between the solar and the planetary periods in 5 period bands. Their statistical analysis appeared to show that these coincidences are not due to chance, which would mean that the planets affect solar activity after all.

In a new paper published in A&A, R. Cameron and M. Schüssler, however, identify subtle technical errors in the statistical tests performed by Abreu et al. Correcting these errors reduces the statistical significance by many orders of magnitude to values consistent with a pure chance coincidence. The quasi-periods in the isotope data therefore provide no evidence that there is any planetary effect on solar activity.



INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Neuronal-like cell differentiation of non-adherent BMSCs

2013-09-05
It is widely believed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells are highly adherent fibroblastic cells, defined as colony-forming unit-fibroblasts. Nevertheless, a few reports have shown that the non-adherent bone marrow cells can give rise to colony-forming unit-fibroblasts in vitro, and possess a certain differentiation potential. According to a recent study from Dr. Xiaoming Ben and colleagues, non-adherent bone marrow cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells from C57BL/6J mice cultured using the "pour-off" method developed colony-forming unit-fibroblasts, and could be expanded ...

Antenatal taurine relieves brain injury in the fetus with intrauterine growth restriction

2013-09-05
Increased brain cell apoptosis in intrauterine growth-restricted fetal rats is a key reason for unfavorable long-term prognosis of the nervous system. The harmful effects of intrauterine growth restriction on fetal brain development originate in the womb. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain ideal outcomes through postnatal intervention. Taken together, active prenatal intervention is of great importance to the optimal prognosis of the intrauterine growth restricted fetus. Prof. Jing Liu and colleagues from the General Hospital of Beijing Military Command found that taurine ...

Simulating Alzheimer's disease in transgenic mice

2013-09-05
Death of neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus and locus coeruleus is a pathological characteristic of the disease. Previous studies concerning the pathological characteristic of Alzheimer's disease mainly focus on learning and memory-related hippocampus, and less attention has been paid to the locus coeruleus. Noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus can produce norepinephrine that has excitatory effects on the hippocampus and cortex, suggesting that the locus coeruleus has an important role for learning, memory and other cognitive functions. A recent study published ...

Study reveals new insight into how cheetahs catch their prey

2013-09-05
A new research study has revealed that the cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, matches and may even anticipate the escape tactics of different prey when hunting, rather than just relying on its speed and agility, as previously thought. The study, which has just been published in the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters was carried out by a team of researchers from Queen's University Belfast, in collaboration with other Institutions in the UK (University of Aberdeen, University of Swansea, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, University of Oxford), ...

Young adults with autism found to have difficulty transitioning into employment

2013-09-05
Washington D.C. -- A study published in the September 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have more difficulty transitioning into employment than their peers with different disabilities. Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2; a longitudinal nationally-representative survey of youth ages 13-16 years as of December 2000 and receiving special education services), a group of researchers led by Dr. Paul Shattuck of Washington University ...

Wide range of differences, mostly unseen, among humans

2013-09-05
No two human beings are the same. Although we all possess the same genes, our genetic code varies in many places. And since genes provide the blueprint for all proteins, these variants usually result in numerous differences in protein function. But what impact does this diversity have? Bioinformatics researchers at Rutgers University and the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have investigated how protein function is affected by changes at the DNA level. Their findings bring new clarity to the wide range of variants, many of which disturb protein function but have no ...

Religious leaders can be key to biological diversity

2013-09-05
Leaders of the major world religions can play a key role in preserving biological diversity. A new study carried out by ecologists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), among others, indicates that if the world's religious leaders wished to bring about a change, they would be ideally positioned to do so. – Our study investigates how the various religions are distributed around the world and how they overlap areas that are important for global biological diversity, says Grzegorz Mikusinski, a researcher at SLU who directs the project. Our analysis indicates ...

What is the brain telling us about the diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder?

2013-09-05
Philadelphia, PA, September 5, 2013 – We live in the most exciting and unsettling period in the history of psychiatry since Freud started talking about sex in public. On the one hand, the American Psychiatric Association has introduced the fifth iteration of the psychiatric diagnostic manual, DSM-V, representing the current best effort of the brightest clinical minds in psychiatry to categorize the enormously complex pattern of human emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems. On the other hand, in new and profound ways, neuroscience and genetics research in psychiatry ...

U-M technical reports examine hydraulic fracturing in Michigan

2013-09-05
ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan researchers today released seven technical reports that together form the most comprehensive Michigan-focused resource on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural gas and oil extraction process commonly known as fracking. The studies, totaling nearly 200 pages, examine seven critical topics related to the use of hydraulic fracturing in Michigan, with an emphasis on high-volume methods: technology, geology and hydrogeology, environment and ecology, public health, policy and law, economics, and public perceptions. While considerable ...

New technique to assess the cost of major flood damage to be unveiled at international conference

2013-09-05
A new approach to calculating the cost of damage caused by flooding is to be presented at the International Conference of Flood Resilience: Experiences in Asia and Europe at the University of Exeter this week. The methodology combines information on land use with data on the vulnerability of the area to calculate the cost of both past and future flooding events. Climate change, along with increased building on flood plains, has led to both a greater likelihood and a higher impact of flooding across the globe. The method has already been employed to estimate the damage ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Different types of depression linked to different cardiometabolic diseases

Ketogenic diet may protect against stress experienced in the womb

Adults 65 years and older not immune to the opioid epidemic, new study finds

Artificial intelligence emerging as powerful patient safety tool in pediatric anesthesia

Mother’s ZIP code, lack of access to prenatal care can negatively impact baby’s health at birth, new studies show

American Society of Anesthesiologists honors John M. Zerwas, M.D., FASA, with Distinguished Service Award

A centimeter-scale quadruped piezoelectric robot with high integration and strong robustness

Study confirms that people with ADHD can be more creative. The reason may be that they let their mind wander

Research gives insight into effect of neurodegenerative diseases on speech rhythm

Biochar and plants join forces to clean up polluted soils and boost ecosystem recovery

Salk scientist Joseph Ecker awarded McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies

ADHD: Women are diagnosed five years later than men, despite symptoms appearing at the same age.

Power plants may emit more pollution during government shutdowns

Increasing pressures for conformity de-skilling and demotivating teachers, study warns

Researchers develop smarter menstrual product with potential for wearable health monitoring

Microwaves for energy-efficient chemical reactions

MXene current collectors could reduce size, improve recyclability of Li-ion batteries

Living near toxic sites linked to aggressive breast cancer

New discovery could open door to male birth control

Wirth elected Fellow of American Physical Society

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: October 10, 2025

Destined to melt

Attitudes, not income, drive energy savings at home

The playbook for perfect polaritons

‘Disease in a dish’ study of progressive MS finds critical role for unusual type of brain cell

Solar-powered method lights the way to a ‘de-fossilized’ chemical industry

Screen time linked to lower academic achievement among Ontario elementary students

One-year outcomes after traumatic brain injury and early extracranial surgery in the TRACK-TBI Study

Enduring outcomes of COVID-19 work absences on the US labor market

Affirmative action repeal and racial and ethnic diversity in us medical school admissions

[Press-News.org] No evidence of planetary influence on solar activity