A multiwavelength model to visualise and analyse magnetic fields in the solar corona

Forty years of research into reading has elucidated many of the psychological processes underpinning the reading process, but until recently, the cognitive underpinnings of fluency have been relatively unknown. In this review, a description is provided of reading fluency as a cognitive and neurobiological phenomenon, including the research that has gone into understanding this process. My own and my colleagues’ work has focused heavily on this area, and I outline our main findings to date. I end by outlining the implications of this work for our understanding of reading fluency in normally developed and dyslexic adults.

Historic coal mining and the associated processes have had a detrimental effect on the natural environment in the south Wales coalfield as contaminated mine drainage from abandoned mines discharges into the local hydrological system. The legacy of coal mining includes the discharge of contaminated mine drainage from several abandoned mines and the formation of insoluble iron minerals. This article discusses the underground processes that lead to the formation of contaminated water and iron minerals. Four abandoned coal mines located in the western part of the coal field and the remediation systems operational at these sites were investigated. Contaminated mine waters at these sites are being remediated through the removal of iron so that the final concentrations are in line with those recommended by the Water Framework Directive.

The Sun’s complex magnetic field permeates through the photosphere (the Sun’s surface) and into the corona (the Sun’s atmosphere). New magnetic fluxes arise from the photosphere in the form of closed loops which expand into the corona. This is a typical process of coronal active regions which creates and replenishes the coronal field. Magnetic field and plasma (energetic ionised gas) are transported through the corona and flow with the solar wind into the heliosphere (the region of space influenced by the Sun including the solar system). Transportation of this kind is seen during explosive events from the Sun. According to current thinking, the only transport of material from the closed field of active regions is through eruptive events, so in the absence of eruptions the active region plasma is isolated from the solar wind. This article presents evidence to the contrary. The observations show the first evidence of the direct, quiescent expansion of active region closed field into the extended corona without an eruption, thus forming an important part of the solar wind. The evidence is gained through the application of new image processing techniques to coronagraph observations. The observations are presented, and their implications are discussed in the context of the current model of Sun-heliospheric connections.