Posted on Thursday, 8th October 2009 by Interloper
So I was watching the MLB Playoffs, which isn’t something I normally do, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, I was watching the Playoffs (it was Philly versus Colorado) and there’s this exciting “alert” type of sound and it’s accompanied by a scrolling bar of text that says something about “seasonal solar flares” and how they might be causing viewing interruptions for some viewers.
Which is really kind of awesome. I don’t mean awesome as in “great”, but awesome as in “awe-inspiring”. What the scrolling box of text was telling me so matter-of-factly was that the tiny rotating orb of our planet was being bombarded with rays of energy, ejected through space from the distant sun.
Solar flares are actually massive explosions in the Sun’s atmosphere, producing radiation and accelerating particles in bursts of energy that travel outwards through space upon the solar wind. Radiation produced by these flares is potentially hazardous to astronauts and spacecraft, while also interfering with short-wave radio communication. I’m guessing that could have something to do with the interruptions in baseball playoffs transmission.
We should really be thankful that an interruption in our sports coverage is the worst we have to worry about, for those in space solar flares pose more danger in the form of proton storms. During a proton storm, streams of high energy particles can pass through the body causing biochemical damage. Thankfully most spacecraft are shielded against solar protons, meaning that astronauts should be “safe” as long as they stay inside.
I’m thinking “stay inside” is probably pretty good advice in space.
Posted in Insanity, Truth | Comments (0)
