The biggest solar flare in four years exploded on the surface of the sun on Valentine's Day, probably coinciding with the exact moment when you saw the bill for dinner. A particle cloud has been barreling out from the giant star, and there have been concerns that the radiation could disrupt communication and navigation satellite. In China radio communication has already been affected, and AFP reports that this could "trigger blackouts around the world." But don't worry about the particle storm; NASA's Dean Pesnell insists, "It won't hit us dead-on." Which is exactly what the NASA scientist in the movies would tell the media before fleeing to his well-stocked bunker.
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Results tagged “northernlights”
Radiation From Huge Solar Flare Will Make Pretty Auroras
Photos of Mysterious "Northern Lights" Surface!
Now that city investigators have closed the file on The Great Maple Syrup Smell Scare, maybe they can get cracking on the Mysterious Northern Lights that have been baffling and entrancing New Yorkers. A reader sent us some photos of the as-yet unexplained lights from his East Village apartment, telling us that they changed colors every ten seconds or so and lasted about fifteen minutes. Then, in the comments section of yesterday's post, he goes all Fox Mulder WITH THE CAPS:
THERE IS NO WAY THIS WAS FROM YANKEE STADIUM OR SHEA. THE PICS WILL SETTLE THAT, BUT WILL DEFINITELY RAISE QUESTIONS AS TO WHAT PRODUCED THE LIGHT, WHICH WAS VERY COOL LOOKING, IT CHANGED EVERY 10 SEC OR SO AND WAS SOMETIMES RED, BLUE, PURPLE, WHITE, AND GREEN. IT CONTINUED FOR MAYBE 15 MIN AND LOOKED TO BE SHINING VERTICALLY DOWN RATHER THAN UP. IT WAS ALSO SUPER HIGH IN THE SKY.OKAY! So we've got at least three reported sightings, two in Brooklyn and now one from Manhattan (which should shut "The Facts" up, ha). Still no response from our contact at the Mets, which makes us feel both suspicious and a little hurt. So let's just blame the Mets, which works for just about any situation.
Pencil This In
DISCUSSION: Noam Chomsky will be taking questions on US foreign policy tonight, following a screening of Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech. Get your questions ready, smartypants. You can watch the video of Pinter's speech here, too.
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