Sunspot 981 was small--only about as wide as Earth, which counts as small on the grand scale of the sun--and it has already faded away. But its three day appearance on Jan. 4-6 was enough to convince most solar physicists that Solar Cycle 24 is underway.

Doug Biesecker of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, likens sunspot 981 "to the first robin of spring. There's still snow on the ground, but the seasons are changing." Last year, Biesecker chaired the Solar Cycle 24 Prediction Panel, an international group of experts from many universities and government agencies. "We predicted that Solar Cycle 24 would begin around March 2008 and it looks like we weren't far off," he says.

Right: The first auroras of the new solar cycle, photographed Jan. 4, 2008, by Calvin Hall of Palmer, Alaska. [more]

The onset of a new solar cycle is significant because of our increasingly space-based technological society.

"Solar storms can disable satellites that we depend on for weather forecasts and GPS navigation," says Hathaway. Radio bursts from solar flares can directly interfere with cell phone reception while coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hitting Earth can cause electrical power outages. "The most famous example is the Quebec outage of 1989, which left some Canadians without power for as much as six days."

Air travel can be affected, too.

Every year, intercontinental flights carry thousands of passengers over Earth’s poles. It's the shortest distance between, say, New York and Tokyo or Beijing and Chicago. In 1999, United Airlines made just twelve trips over the Arctic. By 2005, the number of flights had ballooned to 1,402. Other airlines report similar growth.

"Solar storms have a big effect on polar regions of our planet," says Steve Hill of the Space Weather Prediction Center. "When airplanes fly over the poles during solar storms, they can experience radio blackouts, navigation errors and computer reboots all caused by space radiation." Avoiding the poles during solar storms solves the problem, but it costs extra time, money and fuel to "take the long way around."

Now for the good news: More solar storms also means more auroras—"the greatest show on Earth." During the last solar maximum, Northern Lights were spotted as far south as Arizona, Florida and California. Not so long ago, only visitors to the Arctic regularly enjoyed auroras, but with increasing attention to space weather and constantly improving forecasts, millions of people at all latitudes will know when to go out and look.

Much of this is still years away. "Intense solar activity won't begin immediately," notes Hathaway. "Solar cycles usually take a few years to build from solar minimum (where we are now) to Solar Max, expected in 2011 or 2012."

Hmmm, is it just me or does the expected times of 2011 or 2012 sound ominously familiar, if the Mayan prediction of the end of the world is taken into consideration??

Apocalypse 2012? Some say ancient records foretell end of the world
Could the end of the world be just four years away? A subculture has formed around the possibility, saying several prophecies predict some sort of apocalypse in or around 2012. It has been discussed online, analyzed in several new books and covered in the media.

Chance to win historic pub that comes with its very own resident spirit
With tales of glasses flying through the air and feet being tickled by invisible fingers, it is fair to say there is more than alcoholic spirits to welcome any new landlords to one Hampshire pub. Screams have often been heard crying out from the vaulted cellar as staff find themselves locked inside while footsteps roam the floorboards of the Hiltonbury Farmhouse.

The haunting hangman
Be afraid, be very afraid. One of Britain’s most notorious hangmen is back with a vengeance and could be haunting his former shop in Lowerplace. John Ellis was Rochdale’s last public executioner and after a well-documented lifetime of dispatching others, he brought his own days to a gruesome end when he committed suicide in 1932.

The Kursk and an unidentified submarine object
On Saturday, August 12,2000 the giant Russian nuclear submarine Kursk -- carrying a crew of 118 -- sank in the waters of the Barents Sea, after what Russian officials described as a "catastrophe that developed at lightning speed." At the time the Itar-Tass news agency said that the nuclear-powered Russian submarine Kursk reported it had hit an unidentified object underwater.

Emotional states and extra sensory perception
Is there a correlation and linkage between the ESP phenomenon, the phantasms of ghosts, and communication between pets and their owners? Is there a common denominator? Throughout our lives, our emotions track a parallel path alongside thought. Perhaps they are one and the same.

Man cut off hand bearing 'number of the beast'
A man who believed he bore the "mark of the beast" used a circular saw to cut off his hand, then cooked it in a microwave and called police.

"In Western culture, most of us are about to begin what we call the year 2008. Most Westerners use the Gregorian calendar, which was named after Pope Gregory XIII. Gregory decided how we would, to this day, number the years, the months and the days.

Different calendars use different numbering systems. In the Hebrew calendar, the year 2008 equates approximately to the Hebrew year 5768 while, in the Islamic calendar, the year 2008 sees the start of the year 1429. Other calendar systems include the ancient Chinese calendar, the Hindu calendars (that’s calendars, plural) and the Persian calendar.

According to numerology, 2008 is a year of new beginnings. However, you might wonder why the effects of numerology work in our particular calendar system when there are other calendars in use around the world. Our old year of 2007 reduced to the number “9” (2+0+0+7), which has a different effect than 2008, which is a “1” year (2+0+0+8 = 10, and then that 1+0 reduces further to 1).

But, who says that 2008 is the correct number to describe that year? How can it be a “1” year when other calendars call it something different than 2008?

The key is, that numbers have an effect on life. If you say that this year is called “2008,” then it will affect you as a number “1” type of a year. And, when billions of people say that it is 2008, then you have a huge consensus of consciousness creating a “1” year. In other words, the numbers work because we declare them to be so! When enough of us say that the year is 2008, then it will act like a “2008,” or “1” year.

It’s that old rule of consciousness: “Act as if, and it will be so.”

And, when billions of people act as if, then it will be so… big time!

As a “1” year, 2008 is a time when the world will support new beginnings in all areas of your life. Whatever needs renewing, according to numerology, this year is a great time to do it."

This article was written by Owen Waters, author of

"The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness"

"My husband is employed by a large corporation as an efficiency expert," said the young woman. "Just what does an efficiency expert do?" asked her neighbor. "Well," said the first woman," when we wives do it they call it nagging."

A company offered a prize for the best slogan advertising its line of soaps. One submission was: IF YOU DON'T USE OUR SOAP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, USE OUR PERFUMES.

The salesman reported back to his boss after several weeks on the road and said, "All I got was two orders." His boss inquired, "What were they? Any good?". The forlorn salesman replied, "Nope. They were 'Get Out!' and 'Stay Out!'.

A sign in a cocktail lounge: PLEASE DO NOT STAND WHEN THE ROOM IS IN MOTION.

Sign in undertaker's window: DRIVE CAREFULLY. WE CAN WAIT.

Sign in a bar: STAY AWHILE LONGER. YOUR WIFE CAN ONLY GET SO MAD.

Sign in an optometrist's window: IF YOU DON'T SEE WHAT YOU WANT, YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE.

Thanks for coming by and I hope you have a great weekend.

See you in the ether !