Ths is part of the article taken from<br />Last Days Chronicles published by hallindsey.com<br /><br />SIGNS IN THE SUN<br /><br />Sunspots have been more common in the past<br />seven decades than at any time in the past 8,000<br />years, according to a new historic reconstruction<br />of solar activity. "<br /><br />"Sunspots are areas of intense magnetic<br />energy. They act like temporary caps on <br />upwelling matter, and they are the sites of<br />occasional ferocious eruptions of light and<br />electrified gas. More sunspots generally mean increased solar activity.<br /><br />Sunspots have been studied directly for about four centuries, and these direct observations<br />provide the most reliable historic record of <br />solar activity. "<br /><br />"A new study, led by Sami Solanki of the<br />Max Planck Institute in Germany, employed a<br />novel approach to pinning down sunspot activity<br />going back 11,400 years:<br /><br />Cosmic rays constantly bombard Earth's atmosphere.<br />Chemical interactions create a fairly constant source of stuff call carbon-14, which falls to<br />earth & is absorbed and retained by trees. But <br />charged particles hurled at Earth by active<br />sunspots deflect cosmic rays. So when the Sun<br />gets wild, trees record less carbon-14.<br /><br />While trees don't typically live more<br />than a few hundred years or perhaps a couple thousand, dead and buried trees, if preserved,<br />carry a longer record, 'as long as tree rings can be identified,' said Manfred Schuessler, another<br />Max Planck Institure research who worked on the<br />study.<br /><br />The study's finding: Sunspot activity has been<br />more intense and lasted longer during the past<br />60 to 70 years than at anytime in move than<br />eight millenia. "<br /><br />"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the<br />moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth<br />distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and<br />the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for <br />fear, and for looking after those things which <br />are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And THEN shall they see the<br />Son of man coming in a cloud with power and<br />great glory." (Luke 21:25 thru 27)<br /> <br /> <small>[ 13. February 2005, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: Cyber Canary ]</small>