The sensors reported an X28 flare before cutting out. Fortunately, X-class flares occur on average about 10 times per year, and flares as powerful as the one recorded in 2003 are even less likely. How do solar flares affect Earth? Different types of flares, particularly X-class flares,...
Glaser, Andrew
A bulletin issued by the Solar Forecast Center warning of an imminent solar flare on May 23, 1967.That information came from the North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) newly established Solar Forecasting Center. A few days prior, it had detected a massive solar storm, one of the...
Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is a stream of photons, traveling in waves. The photon is the base particle for all forms of EM radiation. But what's a photon? It's a bundle of energy -- of light -- always in motion. In fact, the amount of energy a photon carries makes it sometimes...
Okay, so we know EMPs can be caused by major solar storms and even by a lightning storm if we are unlucky enough to be near a strike. But how likely is a man-made EMP that can cripple the nation or even the entire world?
A solar flare is a large explosion in the Sun's atmosphere that can release as much as 6 × 1025 joules of energy. The term is also used to refer to similar phenomena in other stars, where the term stellar flare applies. "Killer" solar flares have been observed on other stars. In 20...
Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI team; Data processing: E. Kraaikamp (ROB) As tempting as it is to cite one, no single number can describe the temperature of the whole Sun. Its layers are at different temperatures because they're doing very different things. The Sun is a gigantic ...
The storm will also likely disrupt the ionosphere, a section of Earth’s atmosphere filled with charged particles. Some long-distance radio transmissions use the ionosphere to “bounce” signals around the globe, and those signals can be disrupted. ...
You’ve likely used (or passed through) several today.Microwave OvensThe mesh screen in the window of your microwave is a Faraday cage.Microwaves use high-energy radiation to reheating your leftovers.And without it, this radiation would leak, cooking the rest of your kitchen....
Websites are no longer only viewed on computers—they're more likely than ever to be viewed on a phone, tablet, TV, or just about any other type of screen. You should always keep that in mind when creating new content and designs. Emulation is a great tool to approximate how websites...