Comet Ison Brightening

No, this isn't oceanography.  But it is significant for everyone interested in science in general.


Comet McNaught in 2007.  Image credit: Siding Spring Observatory.

Comet ISON continues to brighten.  Check out this article from UniverseToday.com

http://www.universetoday.com/106404/comet-ison-suddenly-brightens-as-it-dives-toward-the-sun/

And here's the link to the Hubble Site blog:
http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/comet_ison

A Tale of Two Seasons

Image Credit - Wikipedia.

I read some tropical stats on the 2013 hurricane seasons.  The stark differences are staggering:

Atlantic
Tropical Depressions - 13
Tropical Storms - 12
Hurricanes - 2
Major Hurricanes (Cat 3 or higher) - 0

Eastern Pacific
Tropical Depressions - 21
Tropical Storms - 20
Hurricanes - 9
Major Hurricanes (Cat 3 or higher) - 1

Western Pacific
Tropical Depressions - 48
Tropical Storms - 30
Hurricanes - 13
Major Hurricanes (Cat 3 or higher) - 5

Here's the link to Wikipedia's portal for global tropical cyclones.  They give an excellent summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Tropical_cyclones

Here's the link to NASA's post on Earth Observatory about Super Typhoon Haiyan.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82341&eocn=home&eoci=nh

Here's another link to s superb summary on Weather Underground:
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2573

Do You Like to Sing?

Do sing a lot? Or at least listen to a lot of music? Well for decades there's been much speculation about our noisy relatives in the ocean, marine mammals in general and cetaceans in particular.



Here's an interesting article, courtesy of the BBC Nature crew (always a source of outstanding videography and research):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-24745910