Recent content by Devon Fletcher

At the poles, of course, longitude is irrelevant, all lines of longitude come to a point. So latitude is the relevant measurement, and this had long been practised, and could be determined to pretty good resolution, from shots on any of a large number of bodies.

An interesting piece on the politics of fear in the USA: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35382599

Trump's 'popularity' is largely driven by his overt xenophobia, and taps into the issues that trouble many in the GOP. Islam, Mexicans, BHO. The political system in the USA is fatally flawed, with the real power being wielded by the wealthy donors, who determine where the campaign funds will...

According to Hay, the CO2 (and other) molecules can have an electron 'promoted' to a higher orbit (and therefore capable of an emission), by a photon of the appropriate ...or slightly higher...energy. The energy excess to the promotion is absorbed as translational (temperature).energy. All...

Of course, the 'average' temperature of anything is a rather nebulous concept, and, in the case of the Earth, things like the albedo, relative temperatures, and radiated energy, are constantly changing, and vary widely across the globe. As the atmosphere absorbs some of the radiation coming from...