#solar-storms — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1070476/ Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm #aurora #cme #CoronalMassEjections #GeomagneticStorms #MagneticField #NorthernLights #Science #SolarStorms #SpaceWeather #SpaceX #StormWall #UK #UnitedKingdom

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm

Topline A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #Aurora #cme #coronalmassejections #geomagneticstorms #magneticfield #northernlights #solarstorms #SpaceWeather #spaceX #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/745044/

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm

Topline A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #Aurora #cme #coronalmassejections #geomagneticstorms #magneticfield #northernlights #solarstorms #SpaceWeather #spaceX #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/745044/

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm

Topline A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #aurora #CA #Canada #cme #coronalmassejections #geomagneticstorms #MagneticField #northernlights #solarstorms #spaceweather #SpaceX #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/781402/

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm

Topline A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #AU #aurora #Australia #CME #coronalmassejections #geomagneticstorms #Magneticfield #northernlights #solarstorms #SpaceWeather #SpaceX #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/780100/

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm

Topline A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #AU #aurora #Australia #CME #coronalmassejections #geomagneticstorms #Magneticfield #northernlights #solarstorms #SpaceWeather #SpaceX #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/780100/

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm https://www.byteseu.com/2167708/ #aurora #CME #CoronalMassEjections #GeomagneticStorms #MagneticField #NorthernLights #Science #SolarStorms #SpaceWeather #SpaceX #StormWall

https://www.europesays.com/ie/569650/ Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm #Aurora #cme #CoronalMassEjections #Éire #GeomagneticStorms #IE #Ireland #MagneticField #NorthernLights #Science #SolarStorms #SpaceWeather #SpaceX #StormWall

Scientists Propose ‘StormWall’ To Stop A $2.4 Trillion Solar Storm

Topline A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and…
#UnitedStates #US #USA #america #aurora #CME #coronalmassejections #geomagneticstorms #magneticfield #northernlights #science #solarstorms #Spaceweather #SpaceX #StormWall #technology #unitedstatesofamerica
https://www.europesays.com/3109153/

How Space Weather Could Bust The AI Boom
--
https://spacenews.com/how-space-weather-could-bust-the-ai-boom/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-electric-grid-meltdown <-- shared technical article, “AI Data Centers Pushing Electric Grid Into Meltdown”
--
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-032524-012356 <-- shared 2026 paper, “Magnetic Storms and Geoelectric Hazards”
--
#AI #datcenters #infrastructure #impacts #solarstorms #spaceweather #risk #hazards #overloading #electricity #energy #powersupply #energygrid #vulnerable #transmission #energy #demand #consumers #geoelectrical #geomagnetism #blackout #damage #cost #economics #equipment #transformers #carringtonevent #NERC #grid #reliability #electricaldemand #utilities #magneticstorm #electromagneticinduction #extremeevent #historicalevent #hazardanalysis #spaceweather #history #Carrington #geoelectric #humanimpacts #risk #hazard #monitoring #network #geology #geomagnetism #impedance #rock #soil #utilities #electricaltransmission #powerlines #magnetotelluric #sensor #blackout #brownout #energy #geoelectrichazard #geoelectric #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #geomagnetism #geomagneticstorm #telecommunication #electronics #hardened #geography #mitigation #preparedness #geomorphology #geomorphometry #surfacegeology #cost #economics #disaster #impacts #technology #InternetOfThings #internet #USA #review #CONUS #numericalmodeling #realtimemonitoring #AIBoom #Bust
@North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

How Space Weather Could Bust The AI Boom
--
https://spacenews.com/how-space-weather-could-bust-the-ai-boom/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-electric-grid-meltdown <-- shared technical article, “AI Data Centers Pushing Electric Grid Into Meltdown”
--
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-032524-012356 <-- shared 2026 paper, “Magnetic Storms and Geoelectric Hazards”
--
#AI #datcenters #infrastructure #impacts #solarstorms #spaceweather #risk #hazards #overloading #electricity #energy #powersupply #energygrid #vulnerable #transmission #energy #demand #consumers #geoelectrical #geomagnetism #blackout #damage #cost #economics #equipment #transformers #carringtonevent #NERC #grid #reliability #electricaldemand #utilities #magneticstorm #electromagneticinduction #extremeevent #historicalevent #hazardanalysis #spaceweather #history #Carrington #geoelectric #humanimpacts #risk #hazard #monitoring #network #geology #geomagnetism #impedance #rock #soil #utilities #electricaltransmission #powerlines #magnetotelluric #sensor #blackout #brownout #energy #geoelectrichazard #geoelectric #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #geomagnetism #geomagneticstorm #telecommunication #electronics #hardened #geography #mitigation #preparedness #geomorphology #geomorphometry #surfacegeology #cost #economics #disaster #impacts #technology #InternetOfThings #internet #USA #review #CONUS #numericalmodeling #realtimemonitoring #AIBoom #Bust
@North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

How Space Weather Could Bust The AI Boom
--
https://spacenews.com/how-space-weather-could-bust-the-ai-boom/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-electric-grid-meltdown <-- shared technical article, “AI Data Centers Pushing Electric Grid Into Meltdown”
--
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-032524-012356 <-- shared 2026 paper, “Magnetic Storms and Geoelectric Hazards”
--
#AI #datcenters #infrastructure #impacts #solarstorms #spaceweather #risk #hazards #overloading #electricity #energy #powersupply #energygrid #vulnerable #transmission #energy #demand #consumers #geoelectrical #geomagnetism #blackout #damage #cost #economics #equipment #transformers #carringtonevent #NERC #grid #reliability #electricaldemand #utilities #magneticstorm #electromagneticinduction #extremeevent #historicalevent #hazardanalysis #spaceweather #history #Carrington #geoelectric #humanimpacts #risk #hazard #monitoring #network #geology #geomagnetism #impedance #rock #soil #utilities #electricaltransmission #powerlines #magnetotelluric #sensor #blackout #brownout #energy #geoelectrichazard #geoelectric #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #geomagnetism #geomagneticstorm #telecommunication #electronics #hardened #geography #mitigation #preparedness #geomorphology #geomorphometry #surfacegeology #cost #economics #disaster #impacts #technology #InternetOfThings #internet #USA #review #CONUS #numericalmodeling #realtimemonitoring #AIBoom #Bust
@North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

How Space Weather Could Bust The AI Boom
--
https://spacenews.com/how-space-weather-could-bust-the-ai-boom/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-electric-grid-meltdown <-- shared technical article, “AI Data Centers Pushing Electric Grid Into Meltdown”
--
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-032524-012356 <-- shared 2026 paper, “Magnetic Storms and Geoelectric Hazards”
--
#AI #datcenters #infrastructure #impacts #solarstorms #spaceweather #risk #hazards #overloading #electricity #energy #powersupply #energygrid #vulnerable #transmission #energy #demand #consumers #geoelectrical #geomagnetism #blackout #damage #cost #economics #equipment #transformers #carringtonevent #NERC #grid #reliability #electricaldemand #utilities #magneticstorm #electromagneticinduction #extremeevent #historicalevent #hazardanalysis #spaceweather #history #Carrington #geoelectric #humanimpacts #risk #hazard #monitoring #network #geology #geomagnetism #impedance #rock #soil #utilities #electricaltransmission #powerlines #magnetotelluric #sensor #blackout #brownout #energy #geoelectrichazard #geoelectric #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #geomagnetism #geomagneticstorm #telecommunication #electronics #hardened #geography #mitigation #preparedness #geomorphology #geomorphometry #surfacegeology #cost #economics #disaster #impacts #technology #InternetOfThings #internet #USA #review #CONUS #numericalmodeling #realtimemonitoring #AIBoom #Bust
@North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

How Space Weather Could Bust The AI Boom
--
https://spacenews.com/how-space-weather-could-bust-the-ai-boom/ <-- shared technical article
--
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-electric-grid-meltdown <-- shared technical article, “AI Data Centers Pushing Electric Grid Into Meltdown”
--
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-032524-012356 <-- shared 2026 paper, “Magnetic Storms and Geoelectric Hazards”
--
#AI #datcenters #infrastructure #impacts #solarstorms #spaceweather #risk #hazards #overloading #electricity #energy #powersupply #energygrid #vulnerable #transmission #energy #demand #consumers #geoelectrical #geomagnetism #blackout #damage #cost #economics #equipment #transformers #carringtonevent #NERC #grid #reliability #electricaldemand #utilities #magneticstorm #electromagneticinduction #extremeevent #historicalevent #hazardanalysis #spaceweather #history #Carrington #geoelectric #humanimpacts #risk #hazard #monitoring #network #geology #geomagnetism #impedance #rock #soil #utilities #electricaltransmission #powerlines #magnetotelluric #sensor #blackout #brownout #energy #geoelectrichazard #geoelectric #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #geomagnetism #geomagneticstorm #telecommunication #electronics #hardened #geography #mitigation #preparedness #geomorphology #geomorphometry #surfacegeology #cost #economics #disaster #impacts #technology #InternetOfThings #internet #USA #review #CONUS #numericalmodeling #realtimemonitoring #AIBoom #Bust
@North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

'This one danced and snaked': @NASA astronaut captures aurora australis from space – video. Via @guardian #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

'This one danced and snaked': ...

'This one danced and snaked': @NASA astronaut captures aurora australis from space – video. Via @guardian #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

'This one danced and snaked': ...

'This one danced and snaked': @NASA astronaut captures aurora australis from space – video. Via @guardian #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

'This one danced and snaked': ...

'This one danced and snaked': @NASA astronaut captures aurora australis from space – video. Via @guardian #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

'This one danced and snaked': ...

https://www.europesays.com/ie/?p=531327 Scientists want to build a chemical shield around Earth #BostonUniversity #CommunicationsNetworks #Earth #Éire #IE #Ireland #Magnetosphere #ProtectiveShield #Science #Simulations #SolarEnergy #SolarStorm #SolarStorms #StormWall

@NASA Crew-12 Commander Captures Snaky Southern Lights From Space Station. Via @nytimes #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #RocketScience #ISS #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #AuroraAustralis #SolarFlare #SolarStorms

nytimes.com/2026/06/10/sci...

@NASA Crew-12 Commander Captures Snaky Southern Lights From Space Station. Via @nytimes #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #RocketScience #ISS #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #AuroraAustralis #SolarFlare #SolarStorms

nytimes.com/2026/06/10/sci...

@NASA Crew-12 Commander Captures Snaky Southern Lights From Space Station. Via @nytimes #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #RocketScience #ISS #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #AuroraAustralis #SolarFlare #SolarStorms

nytimes.com/2026/06/10/sci...

@NASA Crew-12 Commander Captures Snaky Southern Lights From Space Station. Via @nytimes #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy #RocketScience #ISS #NASA 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #AuroraAustralis #SolarFlare #SolarStorms

nytimes.com/2026/06/10/sci...

Scientists propose spraying chemicals into Earth’s magnetic field to protect us from powerful solar storms

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #BostonUniversity #BrianWalsh #chargedparticles #Earth #magneticfields #magneticreconnection #Magnetosphere #SolarEnergy #Solarstorm #solarstorms #SolarWind #SpaceWeather #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/693441/

Scientists propose spraying chemicals into Earth’s magnetic field to protect us from powerful solar storms

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #BostonUniversity #BrianWalsh #chargedparticles #Earth #magneticfields #magneticreconnection #Magnetosphere #SolarEnergy #Solarstorm #solarstorms #SolarWind #SpaceWeather #StormWall
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/693441/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/525685/ Scientists propose spraying chemicals into Earth’s magnetic field to protect us from powerful solar storms #BostonUniversity #BrianWalsh #ChargedParticles #Earth #Éire #IE #Ireland #MagneticFields #MagneticReconnection #Magnetosphere #Science #SolarEnergy #SolarStorm #SolarStorms #SolarWind #Space #SpaceWeather #StormWall

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1014603/ Scientists propose spraying chemicals into Earth’s magnetic field to protect us from powerful solar storms #BostonUniversity #BrianWalsh #ChargedParticles #Earth #MagneticFields #MagneticReconnection #Magnetosphere #Science #SolarEnergy #SolarStorm #SolarStorms #SolarWind #Space #SpaceWeather #StormWall #UK #UnitedKingdom

Incoming #CME could spark impressive #NorthernLights over the northern US tonight. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Incoming CME could spark impre...

Incoming #CME could spark impressive #NorthernLights over the northern US tonight. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Incoming CME could spark impre...

Incoming #CME could spark impressive #NorthernLights over the northern US tonight. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Incoming CME could spark impre...

Incoming #CME could spark impressive #NorthernLights over the northern US tonight. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Incoming CME could spark impre...

Incoming #CME could spark impressive #NorthernLights over the northern US tonight. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Incoming CME could spark impre...

“Here comes the sun”*…

Further, in a fashion, to last Wednesday’s post… We’ve looked before (e.g., here) at the potential havoc that solar storms could wreak on our electified lives. Now, as Paul Voosen reports, scientists are speculating on a defense, suggesting that gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe “space weather”…

When violent eruptions from the Sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field, they do more than paint aurorae across the night sky. They can scramble the electronics of satellites and induce powerful ground currents that knock out electrical grids. It’s been estimated that a one-in-a-100-year solar storm like the 1859 Carrington Event could cause more than $3 trillion of damage to the power grid alone. [See here.]

Yet for decades, society’s only defenses have been better space weather forecasts and more durable technology on the ground and in space. Now, a small group of space physicists says humanity should intervene and weaken solar storms in real time. In a study published [recently] in Space Weather, the researchers describe a provocative proposal called “StormWall”: a fleet of satellites that would release hundreds of tons of gases into space just before a solar storm strikes Earth. Computer simulations suggest the artificial cloud could cut the intensity of a major solar storm by half or more. “It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Daniel Welling, a co-author and space physicist at the University of Michigan.

Call it “helioengineering”—a deliberate intervention in the near-Earth space environment. But unlike controversial geoengineering proposals to mitigate global warming, which would inject long-lived Sun-blocking particles into the atmosphere, StormWall’s protective gases would dissipate within hours, says Brian Walsh, the study’s lead author and a space physicist at Boston University. “It’s waiting for us to do some temporary modification.”

The proposal would require more extensive simulations and testing. But it is “highly innovative and appears to be quite feasible in the near term,” says Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa. It’s a “laudable idea,” adds Gurudas Ganguli, a space physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)…

[Voosen explains the technology proposed and considers the challenges in its implementation…]

… Of course, like an airbag, StormWall would have to be replaced if deployed. But just as NASA and other space agencies are studying how to protect the planet from asteroids [and here], Walsh says there’s a good argument for fortifying an electronics-dependent society against massive solar eruptions. “If we lose all our power grids and can’t use the internet for 6 years, it would be traumatic.”

“Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’” from @science.org.

* George Harrison

###

As we apply sunscreen, we might send bright birthday greetings to Godfried Wendelen; he was born on this date in 1580. And astronomer (and Catholic priest) known as “the Ptolemy of his time.” Despite the tenets of his church, Wendelen was an audacious proponent of the Copernican theory that the planets orbit around the sun. He made more accurate measurements of the distance to the sun than those previously made by Aristachus (2,000 years earlier) from the geometrical relationships at the exact time of a half-moon.

Wendelen is considered by many as a precursor of Kepler and Newton, and was in fact cited by Newton in his Principia. The crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him

source

“Here comes the sun”*…

Further, in a fashion, to last Wednesday’s post… We’ve looked before (e.g., here) at the potential havoc that solar storms could wreak on our electified lives. Now, as Paul Voosen reports, scientists are speculating on a defense, suggesting that gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe “space weather”…

When violent eruptions from the Sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field, they do more than paint aurorae across the night sky. They can scramble the electronics of satellites and induce powerful ground currents that knock out electrical grids. It’s been estimated that a one-in-a-100-year solar storm like the 1859 Carrington Event could cause more than $3 trillion of damage to the power grid alone. [See here.]

Yet for decades, society’s only defenses have been better space weather forecasts and more durable technology on the ground and in space. Now, a small group of space physicists says humanity should intervene and weaken solar storms in real time. In a study published [recently] in Space Weather, the researchers describe a provocative proposal called “StormWall”: a fleet of satellites that would release hundreds of tons of gases into space just before a solar storm strikes Earth. Computer simulations suggest the artificial cloud could cut the intensity of a major solar storm by half or more. “It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Daniel Welling, a co-author and space physicist at the University of Michigan.

Call it “helioengineering”—a deliberate intervention in the near-Earth space environment. But unlike controversial geoengineering proposals to mitigate global warming, which would inject long-lived Sun-blocking particles into the atmosphere, StormWall’s protective gases would dissipate within hours, says Brian Walsh, the study’s lead author and a space physicist at Boston University. “It’s waiting for us to do some temporary modification.”

The proposal would require more extensive simulations and testing. But it is “highly innovative and appears to be quite feasible in the near term,” says Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa. It’s a “laudable idea,” adds Gurudas Ganguli, a space physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)…

[Voosen explains the technology proposed and considers the challenges in its implementation…]

… Of course, like an airbag, StormWall would have to be replaced if deployed. But just as NASA and other space agencies are studying how to protect the planet from asteroids [and here], Walsh says there’s a good argument for fortifying an electronics-dependent society against massive solar eruptions. “If we lose all our power grids and can’t use the internet for 6 years, it would be traumatic.”

“Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’” from @science.org.

* George Harrison

###

As we apply sunscreen, we might send bright birthday greetings to Godfried Wendelen; he was born on this date in 1580. And astronomer (and Catholic priest) known as “the Ptolemy of his time.” Despite the tenets of his church, Wendelen was an audacious proponent of the Copernican theory that the planets orbit around the sun. He made more accurate measurements of the distance to the sun than those previously made by Aristachus (2,000 years earlier) from the geometrical relationships at the exact time of a half-moon.

Wendelen is considered by many as a precursor of Kepler and Newton, and was in fact cited by Newton in his Principia. The crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him

source

“Here comes the sun”*…

Further, in a fashion, to last Wednesday’s post… We’ve looked before (e.g., here) at the potential havoc that solar storms could wreak on our electified lives. Now, as Paul Voosen reports, scientists are speculating on a defense, suggesting that gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe “space weather”…

When violent eruptions from the Sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field, they do more than paint aurorae across the night sky. They can scramble the electronics of satellites and induce powerful ground currents that knock out electrical grids. It’s been estimated that a one-in-a-100-year solar storm like the 1859 Carrington Event could cause more than $3 trillion of damage to the power grid alone. [See here.]

Yet for decades, society’s only defenses have been better space weather forecasts and more durable technology on the ground and in space. Now, a small group of space physicists says humanity should intervene and weaken solar storms in real time. In a study published [recently] in Space Weather, the researchers describe a provocative proposal called “StormWall”: a fleet of satellites that would release hundreds of tons of gases into space just before a solar storm strikes Earth. Computer simulations suggest the artificial cloud could cut the intensity of a major solar storm by half or more. “It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Daniel Welling, a co-author and space physicist at the University of Michigan.

Call it “helioengineering”—a deliberate intervention in the near-Earth space environment. But unlike controversial geoengineering proposals to mitigate global warming, which would inject long-lived Sun-blocking particles into the atmosphere, StormWall’s protective gases would dissipate within hours, says Brian Walsh, the study’s lead author and a space physicist at Boston University. “It’s waiting for us to do some temporary modification.”

The proposal would require more extensive simulations and testing. But it is “highly innovative and appears to be quite feasible in the near term,” says Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa. It’s a “laudable idea,” adds Gurudas Ganguli, a space physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)…

[Voosen explains the technology proposed and considers the challenges in its implementation…]

… Of course, like an airbag, StormWall would have to be replaced if deployed. But just as NASA and other space agencies are studying how to protect the planet from asteroids [and here], Walsh says there’s a good argument for fortifying an electronics-dependent society against massive solar eruptions. “If we lose all our power grids and can’t use the internet for 6 years, it would be traumatic.”

“Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’” from @science.org.

* George Harrison

###

As we apply sunscreen, we might send bright birthday greetings to Godfried Wendelen; he was born on this date in 1580. And astronomer (and Catholic priest) known as “the Ptolemy of his time.” Despite the tenets of his church, Wendelen was an audacious proponent of the Copernican theory that the planets orbit around the sun. He made more accurate measurements of the distance to the sun than those previously made by Aristachus (2,000 years earlier) from the geometrical relationships at the exact time of a half-moon.

Wendelen is considered by many as a precursor of Kepler and Newton, and was in fact cited by Newton in his Principia. The crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him

source

“Here comes the sun”*…

Further, in a fashion, to last Wednesday’s post… We’ve looked before (e.g., here) at the potential havoc that solar storms could wreak on our electified lives. Now, as Paul Voosen reports, scientists are speculating on a defense, suggesting that gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe “space weather”…

When violent eruptions from the Sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field, they do more than paint aurorae across the night sky. They can scramble the electronics of satellites and induce powerful ground currents that knock out electrical grids. It’s been estimated that a one-in-a-100-year solar storm like the 1859 Carrington Event could cause more than $3 trillion of damage to the power grid alone. [See here.]

Yet for decades, society’s only defenses have been better space weather forecasts and more durable technology on the ground and in space. Now, a small group of space physicists says humanity should intervene and weaken solar storms in real time. In a study published [recently] in Space Weather, the researchers describe a provocative proposal called “StormWall”: a fleet of satellites that would release hundreds of tons of gases into space just before a solar storm strikes Earth. Computer simulations suggest the artificial cloud could cut the intensity of a major solar storm by half or more. “It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Daniel Welling, a co-author and space physicist at the University of Michigan.

Call it “helioengineering”—a deliberate intervention in the near-Earth space environment. But unlike controversial geoengineering proposals to mitigate global warming, which would inject long-lived Sun-blocking particles into the atmosphere, StormWall’s protective gases would dissipate within hours, says Brian Walsh, the study’s lead author and a space physicist at Boston University. “It’s waiting for us to do some temporary modification.”

The proposal would require more extensive simulations and testing. But it is “highly innovative and appears to be quite feasible in the near term,” says Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa. It’s a “laudable idea,” adds Gurudas Ganguli, a space physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)…

[Voosen explains the technology proposed and considers the challenges in its implementation…]

… Of course, like an airbag, StormWall would have to be replaced if deployed. But just as NASA and other space agencies are studying how to protect the planet from asteroids [and here], Walsh says there’s a good argument for fortifying an electronics-dependent society against massive solar eruptions. “If we lose all our power grids and can’t use the internet for 6 years, it would be traumatic.”

“Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’” from @science.org.

* George Harrison

###

As we apply sunscreen, we might send bright birthday greetings to Godfried Wendelen; he was born on this date in 1580. And astronomer (and Catholic priest) known as “the Ptolemy of his time.” Despite the tenets of his church, Wendelen was an audacious proponent of the Copernican theory that the planets orbit around the sun. He made more accurate measurements of the distance to the sun than those previously made by Aristachus (2,000 years earlier) from the geometrical relationships at the exact time of a half-moon.

Wendelen is considered by many as a precursor of Kepler and Newton, and was in fact cited by Newton in his Principia. The crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him

source

“Here comes the sun”*…

Further, in a fashion, to last Wednesday’s post… We’ve looked before (e.g., here) at the potential havoc that solar storms could wreak on our electified lives. Now, as Paul Voosen reports, scientists are speculating on a defense, suggesting that gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe “space weather”…

When violent eruptions from the Sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field, they do more than paint aurorae across the night sky. They can scramble the electronics of satellites and induce powerful ground currents that knock out electrical grids. It’s been estimated that a one-in-a-100-year solar storm like the 1859 Carrington Event could cause more than $3 trillion of damage to the power grid alone. [See here.]

Yet for decades, society’s only defenses have been better space weather forecasts and more durable technology on the ground and in space. Now, a small group of space physicists says humanity should intervene and weaken solar storms in real time. In a study published [recently] in Space Weather, the researchers describe a provocative proposal called “StormWall”: a fleet of satellites that would release hundreds of tons of gases into space just before a solar storm strikes Earth. Computer simulations suggest the artificial cloud could cut the intensity of a major solar storm by half or more. “It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Daniel Welling, a co-author and space physicist at the University of Michigan.

Call it “helioengineering”—a deliberate intervention in the near-Earth space environment. But unlike controversial geoengineering proposals to mitigate global warming, which would inject long-lived Sun-blocking particles into the atmosphere, StormWall’s protective gases would dissipate within hours, says Brian Walsh, the study’s lead author and a space physicist at Boston University. “It’s waiting for us to do some temporary modification.”

The proposal would require more extensive simulations and testing. But it is “highly innovative and appears to be quite feasible in the near term,” says Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa. It’s a “laudable idea,” adds Gurudas Ganguli, a space physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)…

[Voosen explains the technology proposed and considers the challenges in its implementation…]

… Of course, like an airbag, StormWall would have to be replaced if deployed. But just as NASA and other space agencies are studying how to protect the planet from asteroids [and here], Walsh says there’s a good argument for fortifying an electronics-dependent society against massive solar eruptions. “If we lose all our power grids and can’t use the internet for 6 years, it would be traumatic.”

“Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’” from @science.org.

* George Harrison

###

As we apply sunscreen, we might send bright birthday greetings to Godfried Wendelen; he was born on this date in 1580. And astronomer (and Catholic priest) known as “the Ptolemy of his time.” Despite the tenets of his church, Wendelen was an audacious proponent of the Copernican theory that the planets orbit around the sun. He made more accurate measurements of the distance to the sun than those previously made by Aristachus (2,000 years earlier) from the geometrical relationships at the exact time of a half-moon.

Wendelen is considered by many as a precursor of Kepler and Newton, and was in fact cited by Newton in his Principia. The crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him

source

Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’. Via @sciencemagazine #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #CME #CoronalMassEjection

Radical proposal would block s...

Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’. Via @sciencemagazine #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #CME #CoronalMassEjection

Radical proposal would block s...

Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’. Via @sciencemagazine #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #CME #CoronalMassEjection

Radical proposal would block s...

Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’. Via @sciencemagazine #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #CME #CoronalMassEjection

Radical proposal would block s...

Solar Storms Stir Up Train Troubles; Mysterious Substance Claims Lives

Solar storms could impact train safety. In New Mexico, an unknown substance has caused deaths and sickened first responders. Learn what's happening.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance

https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Solar Storms Stir Up Train Troubles; Mysterious Substance Claims Lives

Solar storms could impact train safety. In New Mexico, an unknown substance has caused deaths and sickened first responders. Learn what's happening.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance

https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Solar Storms Stir Up Train Troubles; Mysterious Substance Claims Lives

Solar storms could impact train safety. In New Mexico, an unknown substance has caused deaths and sickened first responders. Learn what's happening.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance

https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Solar Storms Stir Up Train Troubles; Mysterious Substance Claims Lives

Solar storms could impact train safety. In New Mexico, an unknown substance has caused deaths and sickened first responders. Learn what's happening.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance

https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Space weather could make trains unsafe, with one expert warning of potential accidents. Meanwhile, a mysterious substance in New Mexico has led to fatalities and illness among first responders.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance
https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Space weather could make trains unsafe, with one expert warning of potential accidents. Meanwhile, a mysterious substance in New Mexico has led to fatalities and illness among first responders.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance
https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Space weather could make trains unsafe, with one expert warning of potential accidents. Meanwhile, a mysterious substance in New Mexico has led to fatalities and illness among first responders.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance
https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

Space weather could make trains unsafe, with one expert warning of potential accidents. Meanwhile, a mysterious substance in New Mexico has led to fatalities and illness among first responders.

#SolarStorms, #TrainSafety, #NewMexico, #PublicHealth, #UnknownSubstance
https://newsletter.tf/solar-storms-train-delays-new-mexico-substance-illness/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/509216/ ‘I would never have guessed it’: Unexpected effect is squeezing Mars’ atmosphere like toothpaste, experts say #Atmosphere #ChargedParticles #CoronalMassEjection #Earth&#39;sMagnetosphere #Éire #IE #Ireland #Mars&#39;Atmosphere #MavenSpacecraft #nasa #Science #SolarStorms #SolarSystem #TheRedPlanet #ZwanWolf

Unusual red northern lights over #Japan 🇯🇵 suggest some solar storms are stronger than we thought. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Unusual red northern lights ov...

Unusual red northern lights over #Japan 🇯🇵 suggest some solar storms are stronger than we thought. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Unusual red northern lights ov...

Unusual red northern lights over #Japan 🇯🇵 suggest some solar storms are stronger than we thought. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Unusual red northern lights ov...

Unusual red northern lights over #Japan 🇯🇵 suggest some solar storms are stronger than we thought. Via @spacedotcom #SkyWatchers 🌃✨🌠 #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Unusual red northern lights ov...

Scientists Unveil the Hidden Electrical Structure of the U.S., Exposing Serious Risks

Over the course of nearly 20 years, scientists installed and collected data at more than 1,800 magnetotelluric data…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #Electricity #GB #Geology #Harvard-SmithsonianCenterforAstrophysics #solarstorms #SpaceWeather #UK #UnitedKingdom
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/607883/

https://www.europesays.com/uk/989430/ Scientists Unveil the Hidden Electrical Structure of the U.S., Exposing Serious Risks #Electricity #Geology #HarvardSmithsonianCenterForAstrophysics #Science #SolarStorms #SpaceWeather #UK #UnitedKingdom

An ancient solar storm left clues in tree rings and a famous poet's diary: 'Red lights in the northern sky'. Via @spacedotcom #Space #Astrophysics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Science 🔭🔬🧪🥼🧑‍🔬 #History

An ancient solar storm left cl...

An ancient solar storm left clues in tree rings and a famous poet's diary: 'Red lights in the northern sky'. Via @spacedotcom #Space #Astrophysics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Science 🔭🔬🧪🥼🧑‍🔬 #History

An ancient solar storm left cl...

An ancient solar storm left clues in tree rings and a famous poet's diary: 'Red lights in the northern sky'. Via @spacedotcom #Space #Astrophysics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Science 🔭🔬🧪🥼🧑‍🔬 #History

An ancient solar storm left cl...

An ancient solar storm left clues in tree rings and a famous poet's diary: 'Red lights in the northern sky'. Via @spacedotcom #Space #Astrophysics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️ #SolarStorms #SolarFlare #CarringtonEvent #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CME #CoronalMassEjection #Science 🔭🔬🧪🥼🧑‍🔬 #History

An ancient solar storm left cl...