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Showing posts with the label meteorology

Eyeball Planets, Lobster Oceans? Studying Exoplanet Climates

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Headlines about an "eyeball planet" got my attention last month. Then I got distracted by what I thought were more time-sensitive topics — and remembered what two scientists learned when they simulated ocean currents and winds on a tidally-locked exoplanet. That last item was from 2013. It's still the best discussion I've seen of what an "eyeball planet" might actually look like. Turns out that a patch of open ocean on a tidally locked exoplanet's ocean wouldn't necessarily be circular. But I'll admit that "eyeball planet" is a cool description. And may be easier to remember than terms like "lobster-like spatial pattern". So this week I'll be talking about LHS 1140 b, which may not be an "eyeball planet" after all, ocean planet simulations; and — briefly, for me — how I see extraterrestrial life. LHS 1140 b: Water, With Nitrogen in the Atmosphere — Maybe Tidally Locked Ocean Planets: Simple, and Not-So-Si...

Hurricane Beryl: Sort-of-Good News, and Taking the Long View

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Folks living in the Caribbean, Yucatan Peninsula, and south Texas are cleaning up after Hurricane Beryl. Some are also mourning those who didn't survive the storm. I haven't been personally affected by Beryl, although my in-laws are in Louisiana, next state over. They seem to have been away from the worst weather, for which I'm grateful. This week I'll take a quick look at what happened, what the storm doesn't mean, and — as usual — whatever else comes to mind. Death, Destruction, and a Power Outage Disasters and Focused Wrath: No Noticeable Correlation The Siloam Reminder Perspectives It's a Changing World Days, Millennia, and Planning Ahead More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Beryl stopped being a hurricane July 8, 2024. By then it had broken several records. I look at Beryl, and what we are learning about tropical cyclones.)