Great change is simmering in all facets of our civilization, from economics and politics to science and spirituality.

Our inherited concept of a machine world — the clockwork universe — is giving way, and the vision of a 'web' is rising to take its place. New and profound rethinking is taking place across modern science, from anthropology to physics. Interdependence is now seen as central to understanding organization and change at all levels, from chemical networks and living cells to ecosystems, cities and economies.   Current realities and new scientific insights are being woven into a fascinating vision of history and science, progressing through upheavals and rebirths up to the present day.

Humankind, too, is bound into the patterns and processes of this web world, and there are the already visible signs of an emerging 'integral Society' in which head, heart and soul need no longer be at odds.

Integral culture has the potential to build a more sustainable and peaceful civilization. Yet all great change comes as a result of pressure and our present social and economic systems are already becoming unstable. If we do not integrate the core lessons of the web world — learning, collaboration, and intricacy — into our ways of life, we face the spectre of collapse.

This is the current human condition, socially and scientifically laid out for all to see.

From:  After the Clockwork Universe by S J Goerner
Sub-titled The Emerging Science and Culture of Integral Society and published by Floris Books of Edinburgh

Venus, Mars and Uranus are gathering for a remarkable alignment. But don't bother looking for the conjunction; it is happening in the daylight sky within a few degrees of the glaring sun. Using an opaque disk to block the glare, coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are able to track the planets: [go to www.spaceweather.com for animation]

Venus and Uranus will cross paths within 1.5 degrees of the sun on March 27-28. Mars and Venus have their own very close encounter on April 6-7. Mars will be so close to the sun throughout the month of April that it will limit NASA's contact with the Mars rovers and orbiters.

According to a NASA press release, "Mars will be passing almost directly behind the sun [as seen from Earth]. The sun can easily disrupt radio transmissions between the two planets during the near-alignment. To prevent an impaired command from reaching an orbiter or rover, mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are preparing to suspend sending any commands to spacecraft at Mars for weeks in April. Transmissions from Mars to Earth will also be reduced." Mars will be at its closest to the sun, a slim 0.4 degrees on April 17th.

The ongoing dance of the sun and planets is invisible to the human eye, but coronagraphs can see the show. Join SOHO for a ringside seat.              www.spaceweather.com

On March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field, sparking shamrock-green auroras around the Arctic Circle. Many photographers were exhausted from staying up all night to record the display. Göran Strand of Frösön, Sweden, kept working, though. "I've spent the last five days processing the images I recorded." Click to view four hours of Northern Lights in only a few minutes:

"The time lapse consists of 2464 raw images totalling 30 gigabytes," he says. "The photo of the Sun in the movie is a hydrogen-alpha mosaic I made from ten images captured on March 16th, the day before the storm. That one was 10 gigabytes. So, all in all, this movie contains over 40 gigabytes of data."

A similar display tonight is unlikely. No CMEs are en route to Earth, and the solar wind is calm. NOAA forecasters estimate a scant 5% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on March 24th.                         www.spaceweather.com

Fairness Study.   A monkey shows it has principles....

Monkeys reject unequal pay
2 Monkeys Were Paid Unequally; See What Happens Next

This was clipped out of recent TED talk given by Frans de Waal regarding moral behavior in animals. In a nutshell we get to observe reaction and response of two Capuchin monkey when they receive different reward for same type of work. http://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waa...

The seasons are changing. Tomorrow, March 20th, the sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. This marks the beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere and Autumn in the southern hemisphere. At this time of year, day and night are of nearly equal length, hence the name "equinox" (equal night). Best of all, Spring is aurora season. www.spaceweather.com

JUPITER-MOON CONJUNCTION: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look up. The crescent Moon and Jupiter are having a close encounter in the constellation Taurus - and don't forget Comet Pan-STARRS near the western horizon: sky map.

STRONG CME IMPACT: As predicted, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field at 0600 UT on March 17th. The impact lifted the solar wind speed from 300 km/s to 700 km/s and sparked a moderately strong (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm. Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into the United States as far south as Colorado:

"Just after 4 am local time, the skies turned green and red behind the twin stone monoliths of Rabbit Ears Peak near Steamboat Springs, Colorado," reports photographer and astronomy professsor Jimmy Westlake.

In the contiguous United States, auroras also appeared above New York, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Michigan and the Dakotas. Scan the realtime photo gallery and count the states.

The show's not over. Geomagnetic storming is underway as Earth passes through the wake of the CME. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.   www.spaceweather.com

Suspicious0bservers·696 videos

Published on 16 Mar 2013

The REAL Climate Changer: http://youtu.be/_yy3YJBOw_o
Ice Age Soon? http://youtu.be/UuYTcnN7TQk
An Unlikely but Relevant Risk - The Solar Killshot: http://youtu.be/X0KJ_dxp170

TODAY's LINKS:
The Planets: http://www.theplanetstoday.com/geocen...

Published on 14 Mar 2013
Visit http://science.nasa.gov/ for breaking science news.

Comet Pan-STARRS has survived its encounter with the sun and is now emerging from twilight in the sunset skies of the northern hemisphere. A NASA spacecraft monitoring the comet has beamed back pictures of a wild and ragged tail.

When Sue Austin got a power chair 16 years ago, she felt a tremendous sense of freedom -- yet others looked at her as though she had lost something. In her art, she aims to convey the spirit of wonder she feels wheeling through the world. Includes thrilling footage of an underwater wheelchair that lets her explore ocean beds, drifting through schools of fish, floating free in 360 degrees. (Filmed at TEDxWomen.)

In repurposing her wheelchair to create fantastical art, Sue Austin reshapes how we think about disability. Full bio »

TED Conversations:   Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation.

Suspicious0bservers·695 videos

Published on 15 Mar 2013

The REAL Climate Changer: http://youtu.be/_yy3YJBOw_o
Ice Age Soon? http://youtu.be/UuYTcnN7TQk
An Unlikely but Relevant Risk - The Solar Killshot: http://youtu.be/X0KJ_dxp170

TODAY's LINKS:
Mercury: http://www.universetoday.com/100733/a...
Volcanic Lightning: http://www.weather.com/news/science/n... [Martin Rietze]
Feb Temps: http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail2...

CME IMPACT: As expected, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on March 15th at approximately 0500 UT. The impact was weak, but conditions for geomagnetic storming could develop as Earth passes through the CME's wake. High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on March 15th and 16th.

POSSIBLE EARTH-DIRECTED CME: A magnetic filament snaking around sunspot AR1692 erupted on March 15th at about 0600 UT. The slow explosion, which took hours to unfold, produced an M1-class solar flare and a bright CME. SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) captured the CME just as it was leaving the sun: [click on: http://spaceweather.com/images2013/15mar13/m1cme_anim.gif for animation].

The central location of the explosion combined with multiple views of the CME from SOHO and NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft suggest that the cloud is heading almost directly toward Earth. If so, an impact would likely occur in 2 to 3 days, setting the stage for weekend auroras. Stay tuned for refined estimates of the arrival time.

THE MAGNITUDE OF COMET PAN-STARRS: "There seem to be a lot of pictures, but a shortage of magnitude estimates for Comet Pan-STARRS," says Richard Keen, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Colorado. "I saw it for the first time this evening, and got a magnitude estimate before the comet slipped behind a narrow cloud bank." Keen is an expert observer of astronomical brightness, especially that of lunar eclipses which he uses to study aerosols in the stratosphere. "The comet is magnitude +0.2 with a short, but bright vertical tail. It was quite visible to the unaided eye. After the [head of the comet] set behind the mountains, the tail was visible for two or three more minutes." A growing number of observers say they can see the comet with their unaided eye. Here it is on March 14th at sunset over Valley Forge, PA:

Visibility should continue to improve in the nights ahead as Pan-STARRS moves away from the sun. Keen's magnitude estimate of +0.2 means that the comet is approximately twice as bright as a first magnitude star. When it is framed by darker skies, it will really stand out. Tonight when the sun goes down, step outside, face west, and take a look: sky map.
More: NASA video, 3D orbit, ephemeris, light curves.    
www.spaceweather.com        

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina, who has today been elected Pope Francis the First

Fonz Iam
Published on 13 Mar 2013

Jorge Mario Bergoglio introduces himself to the world as Pope Francis the First.

Francis I (Latin: Franciscus; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; December 17, 1936) is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, elected on March 13, 2013.  He chose his regnal name in honor of the Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi.  He is the first Pope born in the Americas and the first Jesuit priest chosen to be pope.   Prior to his election, he served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, since 1998, and as a cardinal, since 2001.

Jorge Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, one of five children of an Italian railway worker and his wife. After studying at the seminary in Villa Devoto, he entered the Society of Jesus [Jesuits] on March 11, 1958. Bergoglio obtained a Licentiate in Philosophy from the Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel, and then taught literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada in Santa Fe, and the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 13, 1969, by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He attended the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel, a seminary in San Miguel. Bergoglio attained the position of novice master there and became professor of theology.

Impressed with his leadership skills, the Society of Jesus promoted Bergoglio and he served as Provincial for Argentina from 1973 to 1979. He was transferred in 1980 to become the Rector of the seminary in San Miguel where he had studied. He served in that capacity until 1986. He completed his doctoral dissertation in Germany and returned to his homeland to serve as confessor and spiritual director in Córdoba.

Bergoglio succeeded Cardinal Quarracino on February 28, 1998. He was concurrently named Ordinary for Eastern Catholics in Argentina, who lacked their own prelate. Pope John Paul II summoned the newly named archbishop to the consistory of February 21, 2001 in Vatican City and elevated Bergoglio with the papal honors of a cardinal. He was named to the Cardinal-Priest of Saint Robert Bellarmino.

As cardinal, Bergoglio was appointed to several administrative positions in the Roman Curia. He served on the Congregation of Clergy, Congregation of Divine Worship and Sacraments, Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Congregation of Societies of Apostolic Life. Bergoglio became a member of the Commission on Latin American and the Family Council.

As Cardinal, Bergoglio became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice. A simple lifestyle has contributed to his reputation for humility. He lives in a small apartment, rather than in the palatial bishop's residence. He gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of public transportation, and he reportedly cooks his own meals.

Upon the death of Pope John Paul II, Bergoglio, considered papabile himself, participated in the 2005 papal conclave as a cardinal elector, the conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. A widespread theory says that he was in a close race with Ratzinger until he emotionally asked that the cardinals not vote for him. Earlier, he had participated in the funeral of Pope John Paul II and acted as a regent alongside the College of Cardinals, governing the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church during the interregnum sede vacante period.

During the 2005 Synod of Bishops, he was elected a member of the Post-Synodal council. Catholic journalist John L. Allen, Jr. reported that Bergoglio was a frontrunner in the 2005 Conclave. An unauthorized diary of uncertain authenticity released in September 2005 confirmed that Bergogolio was the runner-up and main challenger of Cardinal Ratzinger at that conclave. The purported diary of the anonymous cardinal claimed Bergoglio received 40 votes in the third ballot, but fell back to 26 at the fourth and decisive ballot.

On November 8, 2005, Bergoglio was elected President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference for a three-year term (2005–2008) by a large majority of the Argentine bishops, which according to reports confirms his local leadership and the international prestige earned by his alleged performance in the conclave. He was re-elected on November 11, 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Bergoglio

Just beautiful. The very best in humanity is Love. Here it is in spontaneous action.   Love Zen http://www.zengardner.com/no-greater-love/

CHANCE OF STORMS: NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on March 15th when a CME might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field. The CME was launched by a filament of solar magnetism that erupted on March 12th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the cloud arrives.  The source of the explosion was active region AR1690 on the sun's central meridian. Although AR1690 is almost directly facing our planet, debris from the blast will mostly miss Earth. A CME produced by the explosion is traveling north of the sun-Earth line. Nevertheless, the southern fringe of the CME might hit Earth's magnetic field on March 15th.

THE COMET SHOW BEGINS: Last night, March 12th, a rare meeting occured in the sunset sky. Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) was only a few degrees away from the exquisitely-slender crescent Moon. Brian Klimowski sends this picture from the countryside near Flagstaff, Arizona: