Abstract: The temperature on Earth varied largely in the Pleistocene from cold glacials to interglacials of different warmths. To contribute to an understanding of the underlying causes of these changes we compile various environmental records (and model-based interpretations of some of them) in order to calculate the direct effect of various processes on Earth's radiative budget and, thus, on global annual mean surface temperature over the last 800,000 years. The importance of orbital variations, of the greenhouse gases CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O, of the albedo of land ice sheets, annual mean snow cover, sea ice area and vegetation, and of the radiative perturbation of mineral dust in the atmosphere are investigated. Altogether we can explain with these processes a global cooling of 3.90.8K in the equilibrium temperature for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) directly from the radiative budget using only the Planck feedback that parameterises the direct effect on the radiative balance, but neglecting other feedbacks such as water vapour, cloud cover, and lapse rate. The unaccounted feedbacks and related uncertainties would, if taken at present day feedback strengths, decrease the global temperature at the LGM by 8.01.6K. Increased Antarctic temperatures during the Marine Isotope Stages 5.5, 7.5, 9.3 and 11.3 are in our conceptual approach difficult to explain. If compared with other studies, such as PMIP2, this gives supporting evidence that the feedbacks themselves are not constant, but depend in their strength on the mean climate state. The best estimate and uncertainty for our reconstructed radiative forcing and LGM cooling support a present day equilibrium climate sensitivity (excluding the ice sheet and vegetation components) between 1.4 and 5.2K, with a most likely value near 2.4K, somewhat smaller than other methods but consistent with the consensus range of 24.5K derived from other lines of evidence. Climate sensitivities above 6K are difficult to reconcile with Last Glacial Maximum reconstructions.

Abstract: Inequities in access to the latest advances in health care and effective drugs constitute public health problems today,1 but was this also the case in ancient societies when practitioners used traditional medicines with limited means? The excavation of frozen graves in Yakutia (present day eastern Siberia, Russia) dating from 1700 CE2 led to the identification of a woman, buried almost naked, covered with a magnificent robe and with half a horse bit in her mouth (figure). The other half of the horse bit was found in the trunk behind her head with her earrings, bracelets, and signet rings.

Abstract: The highest energies of solar energetic nucleons detected in space or through gamma-ray emission in the solar atmosphere are in the GeV range. Where and how the particles are accelerated is still controversial. We search for observational evidence on the acceleration region(s) by comparing the timing of relativistic protons detected at Earth and radiative signatures in the solar atmosphere during the particularly well observed 2005 Jan 20 event. This investigation focusses on the post-impulsive flare phase, where a second peak was observed in the relativistic proton time profile by neutron monitors. This time profile is compared in detail with UV imaging and radio spectrography over a broad frequency band from the low corona to interplanetary space.It is shown that the late relativistic proton release to interplanetary space was accompanied by a distinct new episode of energy release and electron acceleration in the corona traced by the radio emission and by brightenings of UV kernels. These signatures are interpreted in terms of magnetic restructuring in the corona after the CME passage. We attribute the delayed relativistic proton acceleration to magnetic reconnection and possibly turbulence in large- scale coronal loops. While type II radio emission was observed in the high corona, no evidence of a temporal relationship with the relativistic proton acceleration was found.

Abstract: Telemetry methods and remote sensing now make it possible to record the spatial usage of wide-ranging marine animals and the biophysical characteristics of their pelagic habitats. Furthermore, recent statistical advances mean that such data can be used to test ecological hypotheses and estimate species distributions. Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys are highly mobile marine predators with a circumpolar breeding and foraging distribution in the Southern Hemisphere. Although they remain relatively abundant, increased fisheries bycatch has led to their listing as endangered by conservation bodies. We satellite-tracked 163 breeding Black-browed Albatrosses and eight closely related Campbell Albatrosses T. impavida from nine colonies. We then quantified habitat usage, and modeled population-level spatial distribution at spatiotemporal scales .50 km and 1 month, as a function of habitat accessibility, habitat preference, and intraspecific competition, using mixed-effects generalized additive models (GAMM). During incubation, birds foraged over a wider area than in the post-brood chick-rearing period, when they are more time constrained. Throughout breeding, the order of habitat preference of Black-browed Albatrosses was for neritic (0500 m), shelf-break and upper shelf-slope (5001000 m), and then oceanic (.1000 m) waters. Black-browed Albatrosses also preferred areas with steeper (.38) bathymetric relief and, in addition, during incubation, warmer sea surface temperatures (peak preference ;168C). Although this suggests specialization in neritic habitats, incubation-stage Black- browed Albatrosses from South Georgia also foraged extensively in oceanic waters, preferring areas with high eddy kinetic energy (.250 cm2/s2), especially the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence, a region of intense mesoscale turbulence. During chick-rearing, this species had a more southerly distribution, and following the seasonal retreat of sea ice, birds from some populations utilized neritic polar waters. Campbell Albatrosses showed similar bathymetric preferences but also preferred positive sea level anomalies. Black-browed Albatross foraging areas were partially spatially segregated with respect to colony and region, with birds preferring locations distant from neighboring colonies, presumably in order to reduce competition between parapatric conspecifics. At the global scale, the greatest concentrations of breeding Black-browed Albatrosses are in southern South American neritic, shelf-break, and shelf-slope waters. These regions also hold large fisheries and should therefore be a priority for introduction of bycatch mitigation measures.