THIS is interesting:

The Sun is burning brighter than at any time over the past 1,150 years, according to a study by a professor at a Swiss university.

Professor Sami Solanki said this could be compounding the effects of greenhouse gases and contributing to global warming.

“We have to acknowledge that the Sun is in a changed state. It is brighter than it was a few hundred years ago, and this brightening started relatively recently – in the last 100 to 150 years. We expect it to have an impact on global warming,” he told swissinfo.

Via Futurepundit, who speculates that this means the Earth is likely to be cooler in the future (since it’s at an apparent high point now). Hmm. Fallen Angels is looking more prophetic all the time. Gary Hudson, call your office!

UPDATE: More here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Hey, Fallen Angels is available for free online at the Baen Free Library. Thanks to reader Ray Alderman for the pointer. For those too busy or too lazy to follow the links, the twist in Fallen Angels is that the Earth has been in an ice age for a hundred years, with only greenhouse emissions offsetting it. When those are cut for environmental reasons, the ice age falls and the glaciers advance.