How to piece together a prophecy of doom from science
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 08/08/2013 08:36 AM
[
Comments
]
I have been perusing the net going bleary eyed from all the red and black flagged headlines that hint that our imminent destruction is near. I have vetted the just plain crazy ones and what I have left are a few geeky science ones; which when you string them together seem quite dark.
Allow me to walk you through the end of times.
The sun’s magnetic field is about to flip within the next few months; and according to NASA supported research, “it looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.” This sounds really bad, right?
i24 notes that the event which occurs every 11 years, is marked by a weakening in the Sun's magnetic field, which results in a period of increased sunspot activity.
The reversal regularly occurs at the halfway point of the solar cycle, where the sun's magnetic field dissipates to zero and the internal magnetic dynamo reorients itself. It is also known as the 'Solar Maximum,' as it is the high point in solar activity.
At the time of the last reversal in 2000, physicists predicted that the next Solar Maximum could be the strongest yet.
This is a massive event for the solar system. The sun's magnetic influence extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto, and the ripples caused by the field's change in polarity can extend all the way to the far-off Voyager probes.
While this event is a regular occurrence it may have serious implications for Earth. The ripples can disrupt the 'space weather' and stir up storms, which in turn can impact Earth's climate.
The other thing that might also impact earth comes from space as well; remember the meteor that exploded above Chelyabinsk, Russia? Well that meteor might have a gang - a gang which is speeding towards earth possibly on the same trajectory.
Scientific American says that researchers propose that these rocks are pieces of a rubbly asteroid that came apart sometime in the past 40,000 years. The break-up may have been triggered by stresses from temperature swings as the parent asteroid looped out past Mars and then back towards Venus on its travels around the Sun, says Carlos de la Fuente Marcos.
The rocky fragments could one day follow their planet-pummeling sibling to Earth, he says. "More objects with the same orbital signature may encounter our planet in the future."
Now of course it is logical to surmise that the reversal of magnetic fields will obviously make the flight path of this gang of asteroids beeline for earth, which will already be in the midst of some magnetic super storm that was initiated by the raining down of solar wind.
Quick get the tinfoil helmets ready!
Allow me to walk you through the end of times.
The sun’s magnetic field is about to flip within the next few months; and according to NASA supported research, “it looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.” This sounds really bad, right? i24 notes that the event which occurs every 11 years, is marked by a weakening in the Sun's magnetic field, which results in a period of increased sunspot activity.
The reversal regularly occurs at the halfway point of the solar cycle, where the sun's magnetic field dissipates to zero and the internal magnetic dynamo reorients itself. It is also known as the 'Solar Maximum,' as it is the high point in solar activity.
At the time of the last reversal in 2000, physicists predicted that the next Solar Maximum could be the strongest yet.
This is a massive event for the solar system. The sun's magnetic influence extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto, and the ripples caused by the field's change in polarity can extend all the way to the far-off Voyager probes.
While this event is a regular occurrence it may have serious implications for Earth. The ripples can disrupt the 'space weather' and stir up storms, which in turn can impact Earth's climate.
The other thing that might also impact earth comes from space as well; remember the meteor that exploded above Chelyabinsk, Russia? Well that meteor might have a gang - a gang which is speeding towards earth possibly on the same trajectory. Scientific American says that researchers propose that these rocks are pieces of a rubbly asteroid that came apart sometime in the past 40,000 years. The break-up may have been triggered by stresses from temperature swings as the parent asteroid looped out past Mars and then back towards Venus on its travels around the Sun, says Carlos de la Fuente Marcos.
The rocky fragments could one day follow their planet-pummeling sibling to Earth, he says. "More objects with the same orbital signature may encounter our planet in the future."
Now of course it is logical to surmise that the reversal of magnetic fields will obviously make the flight path of this gang of asteroids beeline for earth, which will already be in the midst of some magnetic super storm that was initiated by the raining down of solar wind.
Quick get the tinfoil helmets ready!
Comments
