OASIS FORUM Post by the Golden Rule. GoldTent Oasis is not responsible for content or accuracy of posts. DYODD.

October 2014 – GEOLOGY – Earth’s magnetic field is constantly shifting, and roughly every 200,000 to 300,000 years it flips north and south completely. We’re currently overdue for a switcheroo—and scientists now say it could happen in a time as short as 100 years, potentially altering life in unexpected ways. It was long thought that these reversals took as many as 7,000 years to completely switch, according to a 2004 study funded by the National Science Foundation. But over the past few years, other scientists have suggested that the shifts have occurred at speeds previously unimagined. And a brand-new study published in the Geophysical Journal International by a team of scientists from Europe and the U.S. sheds even more light on these speedy changes—suggesting that the last 180-degree flip only took about 100 years. How did they discern changes in the magnetic field that date back hundreds of thousands of years? By testing layers of ash deposited by volcanic eruptions over the course of 10,000 years, found in a lakebed near Rome. According to a release from Berkeley, the magnetic field directions are “frozen” into these layers of ash, which could be reliably dated to find out when the reversals occurred and how long they took to complete. “We don’t know whether the next reversal will occur as suddenly as this one did, but we also don’t know that it won’t,” said Berkely’s Paul Renne, one of the study’s authors.
We’ve known for a long time that the Earth’s magnetic field is shifting, We know, for example, that the North Pole has moved 600 miles in the last 200 or so years. We also know that, as observed by three ESA satellites this summer, the Earth’s magnetic field is weakening in some areas and strengthening in others. We also know that the shifting currents are already necessitating some changes in our human world: Airports that name their runways after compass directions have recently been forced to rename and repaint due to the shift. So it’s no surprise that a flip may be imminent—more so that a true, full reversal could happen so quickly. And, as the study suggests, how it could actually change the way we live on Earth. For example, a weakened field means less protection for humans against harmful rays that cause cancer, meaning that the cancer rate would likely increase. And the infrastructural impact of a flipped field could be massive, too, causing problems with the electricity grid and other sensitive systems. –GIZMODO
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/page/5/

October 2014 – HEALTH – Ebola is a lot easier to catch than health officials have admitted — and can be contracted by contact with a doorknob contaminated by a sneeze from an infected person an hour or more before, experts told The Post Tuesday. “If you are sniffling and sneezing, you produce microorganisms that can get on stuff in a room. If people touch them, they could be” infected, said Dr. Meryl Nass, of the Institute for Public Accuracy in Washington, DC. Nass pointed to a poster the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly released on its Web site saying the deadly virus can be spread through “droplets.” “Droplet spread happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose or mouth of another person,” the poster states. Nass slammed the contradiction.
“The CDC said it doesn’t spread at all by air, then Friday they came out with this poster,” she said. “They admit that these particles or droplets may land on objects such as doorknobs and that Ebola can be transmitted that way.” Dr. Rossi Hassad, a professor of epidemiology at Mercy College, said droplets could remain active for up to a day. “A shorter duration for dry surfaces like a table or doorknob, and longer durations in a moist, damp environment,” Hassad said. –NY Post

Bird Flu In Egypt?

We have just learned that a human case of H5N1 avian influenza has been reported in a 3-month-old girl in Giza governate, Egypt. The child’s parents said the little girl had been exposed to dead birds.
The child was treated with Tamiflu and is reported to be in stable condition. According to Egypt’s health ministry, this is the fourth case of human H5N1 in 2014.
In Russia, the first case in two years of a highly pathogenic bird flu virus has been reported in villages in Southern Russia. Domestic chickens, ducks, and geese were found infected with the H5N1 serotype in early September. This is the first incidence of bird flu in Russia since December of 2012. Some 350 domestic fowl have been culled in Russia and are believed to have become infected through wild ducks and geese.
(http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/ October 1, 2014.)

Kim Jong Un Is Still Missing . . . Does Anybody Really Care?

Kim Jong Un, the public face of the North Korean government hasn’t been seen lately, and everybody who has nothing better to do is wondering what on earth became of him. Did he get purged? Did he have a heart attack or some other health problem? Who’s running North Korea if he isn’t?
His father was reclusive and was rarely seen in public, but Kim Jong Un seems to enjoy the spotlight, and since he “is” North Korea, everyone has gotten used to seeing the ubiquitous film clips showing him inspecting all sorts of factories and meeting with all kinds of dignitaries. According to one publication, “Clearly, his goal is not just to look at things, but to be looked at.”
And now we can’t see him, so we are feeling bereft.
The most reliable guess as to his whereabouts, after a video clip on September 3 showed him limping and said he was suffering from “discomfort” because of his excessive hard work for the sake of North Korea, is that he is recovering from ankle surgery.
It seems that Kim Jong Un isn’t entirely incommunicado — he has written several items, including letters to Bashar al-Assad and various communist leaders abroad.
However, everyone agrees that if he failed to show up for the October 10 celebration of “Party Foundation Day,” something is seriously amiss in North Korea.
And it looks as though something is up, because Kim Jong Un failed to show up at the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party. Speculation is still running wild, but alas, no real information has yet emerged.
Then there were a couple of “appearances” that nobody could seem to confirm. In other words, the pictures published in North Korea’s news publications could have been taken any time and almost anywhere.
Sooner or later, we’ll find out something, and when we do, we’ll be sure to let you know.
(http://www.defenseone.com/, October 8, 2014; http://www.washingtonpost.com/ October 11, 2014.)

If you think Ebolas bad.
A man in Uganda who lives in the capital city of Kampala has died of Marburg, a highly infectious and virulent hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola. Authorities in Uganda have put about 80 people who came into contact with the man under quarantine.
Marburg fever begins with a severe headache, followed by hemorrhage, and kills about 80% of the people who get it. The virus causing Marburg is in the same family of viruses as Ebola, and like Ebola, there is no vaccine or treatment for the virus. It is transmitted through bodily fluids and by handling infected wild animals such as monkeys.
The man who died has a brother who has now developed similar symptoms and is in quarantine with about 60 healthcare workers.
The man who died worked as a radiographer at Kampala’s Mengo Hospital. After his death on September 28, nearly 100 people who had been in contact with him have been identified, including workers at the hospital and another clinic that treated him, and people living in the district where the deceased man was buried.
The Ugandan government has mobilized health teams and issued a public alert, and 99 people are now in quarantine, all of whom had had contact with the deceased man, who is still the only known case.
Some 11 of those people had developed some symptoms, but tests revealed the symptoms were not due to Marburg.
Marburg is named after Marburg, Germany, where the disease was first recognized in 1967. Uganda had its first experience with the disease in 2012, and 9 people died.
Uganda has also had a history of Ebola outbreaks, also.
As yet, we have seen no speculation or information as to how this deceased man contracted Marburg.
However, two new “suspect cases” of Marburg are in isolation at the hospital Mulago, the national referral hospital in Uganda. Since they had no contact with the health worker who died on September 28, fears are that a second outbreak may have begun.
As of October 16, a woman died of “suspect symptoms” in the Kenyan town of Bungoma, near the border of Uganda. Residents are considering measures to screen people crossing into Kenya from neighboring countries.
Somehow, we suspect that the people of Kenya and Uganda are a lot calmer than the residents of the United States in regard to these deadly fevers.
(www.theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/, October 6, October 9, October 14, October 16, 2014.)

by Chembiological