We delve into the details of a powerful X 2.7 class solar flare that erupted from a newly active sunspot region, AR14087. Although the flare was not initially directed towards Earth, its rotation has now positioned it directly in our path. We discuss the mechanics of solar flares, their classification, and the potential impacts of such events on our planet, including disruptions to communication systems, satellite operations, and even power grids.The Gannon Storm: A Historic Geomagnetic Event
The episode highlights the Gannon Storm, a severe geomagnetic storm that struck Earth on May 10, 2024. Coinciding with a space weather exercise, this event caused significant disruptions, including high voltage power line failures and rerouted flights due to radiation exposure. We analyze its effects on the atmosphere, satellites, and even the ionosphere, revealing insights into how such storms can impact modern technology.Ancient Solar Storms and Their Modern Implications
In a fascinating segment, we discuss a groundbreaking study that identifies the strongest solar storm ever recorded, dating back to 12350 BCE. This ancient event, significantly more intense than any modern storm, provides invaluable data for understanding solar activity and its potential risks to contemporary infrastructure.Science Robert: Long Work Hours and Brain Changes
We also touch on a new study revealing how long working hours could alter brain structures, potentially affecting memory and emotional regulation.Join us as we unpack these cosmic phenomena and their implications for life on Earth and beyond.
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com
✍️ Episode References
Journal of Occupational Environmental Medicine
https://journals.lww.com/joem/Pages/default.aspx
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support.
00:00 Solar flares are powerful blasts of energy erupting from sunspots
10:30 May 2024 was the biggest geomagnetic storm in over 20 years
14:29 New study reveals strongest solar event ever recorded, rewriting science on space weather
18:23 A new study claims people who work long hours could have altered brain structures
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Stuart Gary: This is space Time Series 28, Episode
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 61, for broadcast on 21 May,
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 2025. Coming up on Space Time,
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 the biggest solar flare this year, the biggest
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 geomagnetic storm in the past 20 years,
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 and the most extreme solar storm known to have hit
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 the Earth. All that and more coming up
00:00:20 --> 00:00:21 on, Space Time.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 Voice Over Guy: Welcome to Space Time with Stuart Gary
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 Gar.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 Stuart Gary: Well, we've just experienced the largest solar flare so far this
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 year, producing an X 2.7 class event.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 The massive eruption emanated from a newly appeared
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 active sunspot region cataloged as AR14
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 087. It's one of two X class
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 flares and several smaller M M class events all coming
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 from the same region. luckily they weren't
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 pointed directly towards the Earth, leaving the planet on
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 the outer edge of the strike zone. But of course that's
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 now changed as this active region has now
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 rotated to directly face the Earth. The
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 event happened as the sun reaches solar
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 maximum, the climax of its 11 year solar
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 cycle. Solar flares are powerful blasts of
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 energy erupting from sunspots on the sun's surface.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 Sunspots are slightly cooler regions on the Sun's
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 surface. The photosphere caused by magnetic field lines
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 from deep inside the sun breaking through the surface
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 and looping out into space. because the
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 sun is fluid rather than solid, different
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 latitudes rotate at different rates. This
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 causes the magnetic field lines to twist and M snap
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 when they reconnect, a process called magnetic
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 reconnection. It triggers powerful explosions near the
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 surface known as solar flares. Solar
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 flares are classified according to their strength.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 The smallest ones are B class. That's followed by
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 C, then M, M, and the largest are, X class
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 flares. It's similar to the Richter scale used for
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 earthquakes, with each letter representing a tenfold
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 logarithmic increase in energy output.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 So an X class flare is 10 times as strong as
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 an M M class flare and 100 times as strong as a C
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 class flare. Within each letter class, there's a
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 finer scale from 1 to 9. C class
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 flares are too weak to noticeably affect the Earth.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 But M M class flares can cause brief radio
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 blackouts at the poles and minor radiation storms
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 that could endanger people in space.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 Although X is the last letter, these flares can have more than
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 10 times the power of an X1 class, so they
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 can go much higher than an X9.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 The most powerful flare on record was back in
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 2003, during the last solar maximum.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 In fact, it was so powerful, it overloaded the sensors
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 measuring it. They cut out at x17 and the
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 flare was later estimated to be about at x 45.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 A powerful x class flare like that can create long
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 lasting radiation storms which can harm and even
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 destroy satellites and give airline passengers flying near
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 the poles dose of radiation, scramble
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 communication and navigation systems and even
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 overload power grids, causing widespread blackouts
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 on the ground. The most powerful solar flares can
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 trigger coronal mass ejections, huge blasts of the
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 sun's material, including protons, electrons,
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 magnetic field and helium nuclei. Now,
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 our current Solar cycle number 25 began
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 back in December 2019, and so should be
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 reaching solar max around now. This is
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 when the sun reaches its most violent phase, with
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 lots of sunspot activity and consequently lots of
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 number of sunspots are predicted to reach a peak of around
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 115 by July this year, making the
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 current solar cycle weaker than average and only slightly
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 more active than the previous solar cycle. 24.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 During each of these roughly 11 year solar cycles, the
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 sun's magnetic field flips in polarity. Now north
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 pole becomes south and south pole north. And this
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 flip occurs when the solar cycle reaches solar
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 minimum, with the next flip probably occurring around
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 2030. This is space time
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 still to come, the biggest geomagnetic storm in 20
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 years and the most extreme solar storm ever
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 known to have hit the earth. All that and more still to
00:04:20 --> 00:04:21 come on, spacetime.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 Stuart Gary: Foreign.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 Stuart Gary: Spectacular. The most recent geomagnetic, storm events
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 we've seen pale into insignificance when compared to
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 the solar storm that hit the Earth just a year ago, which has
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 now officially been listed as the biggest in 20 years.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 Amazingly, that event coincided with the
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 inaugural space where the tabletop exercise.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 The exercise was meant to be a training event where experts
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 could work through real time ramifications of a major
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 geomagnetic storm, a global disruption to Earth's
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 magnetic field. Now as we mentioned earlier,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 geomagnetic storms can decimate satellites,
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 overload electrical power grids and expose
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 So minimizing the impact of such storms
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 requires close coordination. And so this meeting
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 was a chance for scientists to practice. But
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 then their simulation turned into reality.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 The director of NASA's Space Weather Program, Jamie
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 Favors, says the plan was to run through a
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 hypothetical scenario, finding where existing
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 processes worked and where they needed improving.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 But then this hypothetical scenario was interrupted by the
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 real thing. On, May 10,
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 2024, the first G5 or severe
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 geomagnetic storm in more than two decades hit planet
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 Earth. The event, named the Gannon Storm
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 in memory of the leading space weather physicist Jennifer
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 Gannon, didn't cause any catastrophic damages.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 But a year on, Key insights into the Gannon Storm
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 are, helping scientists understand and prepare for future
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 geomagnetic events. The Gannon Storm had
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 effects both on and off our planet. On the
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 ground, some high voltage power lines tripped,
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 transformers overheated and GPS guided
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 tractors veered off course in the Midwest United States,
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 further disrupting spring planting that had already been delayed by
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 heavy rains in the air. The threat of higher
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 radiation exposure, as well as communications and
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 navigation losses, forced numerous transatlantic and
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 Trans Pacific flights to change course. During
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 the storm, Earth's upper atmospheric layer, the
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 thermosphere, heated to unusually high temperatures.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 In fact, at 160 kilometers in altitude, the temperature
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 which typically peaks at around 650 degrees
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 Celsius, surpassed over
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 1150 degrees.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 NASA's Global Scale Observations of the Lemon
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 disk, or gold mission observed the atmosphere
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 expanding from the heat generated to create a strong
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 wind that lofted heavy nitrogen particles much higher
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 into space. in orbit, the expanded
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 atmosphere increased drag on, thousands of satellites.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 NASA's ICESat 2 lost altitude and wound
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 up entering safe mode, while NASA's Colorado Inner
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 Radiation Built Experiment CubeSat was forced to
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 deorbit prematurely. Other spacecraft,
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 such as the European Space Agency Sentinel Mission, required
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 more power to maintain their orbital altitude, and they were
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 forced to perform manoeuvres to avoid collisions with space debris.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 The storm also dramatically changed the structure of the
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 Earth's ionosphere. A dense zone of the
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 ionosphere that normally covers the equator at night dipped
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 downwards towards the south pole, forming a sort of
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 checkmark shape and causing a temporary gap near the
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 equator. The Gannon storm also rocked Earth's
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble that surrounds the planet.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 Data from NASA missions MMS and Thermus
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 Artemis saw giant curling waves of particles
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 and rolled up magnetic fields along the edge of the
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 coronal mass ejections. And these waves were
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 perfectly sized to periodically dump extra magnetic
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 energy and mass into the magnetosphere upon impact,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 in the process creating the largest electrical current seen in the
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 magnetosphere in 20 years. Incoming
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 energy and particles from the sun also created two
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 new temporary belts of energetic particles within the
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 magnetosphere. These belts form between the
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 existing Van Allen radiation belts, which permanently surround
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 the Earth. The storm also ignited auroral
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 activity around the globe, including at lower latitudes where
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 these celestial light shows are rare. NASA's
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 Aurorasaurus project was flooded with more than 6
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 observer reports from over 55 countries on all
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 seven continents. Photographers helped
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 scientists better understand why the aurorae Observed throughout
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 Japan Were magenta Rather than the typical red
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 in color. Researchers studied hundreds of photos
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 and found that the aurorae Were surprisingly high
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 around 1km above the ground. That's around
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 320km higher than red aurorae typically
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 appear. In a paper published in the journal
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 Scientific Reports, the authors found the peculiar
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 color of the aurorae Likely resulted from a mix of
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 red and blue. Aurorae Produced by oxygen and nitrogen
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 molecules Lofted higher than usual as the Ganon storm
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 Heated and expanded the upper atmosphere.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 And impacts of the Sun's amped up solar activity didn't end
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 in Earth space. The solar region that
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 sparked the Ganon storm Eventually rotated away from our
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 planet and redirected its outburst towards the planet
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 Mars as energetic particles from the sun
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 Struck the Martian atmosphere. NASA's MAVEN orbiter watched
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 the aurora Engulf the red planet from May 14th
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 through the 20th. And solar particles
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 overwhelmed the star camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 orbiter, Causing the camera to cut out for almost an hour. Hour.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 Meanwhile, down on the Martian surface, Images from the
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 navigation cameras on NASA's Curiosity rover were
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 freckled with snow streaks and specks Caused by
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 the charged particles. Curiosity's radiation
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 assessment detector Recorded the biggest surge of radiation
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 since the rover landed on the red planet Mars Gale
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 crater back in 2012. Had
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 astronauts been there, they would have received a radiation dose
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 of around 8100 micrograys.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 That's equivalent to some 30 chest x rays.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 The Gannon storm spread aurorae to unusually
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 low latitudes. In fact, it's been called the best
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 documented Geomagnetic storm in history. And the
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 data captured during this historic event Will continue to be
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 analyzed for years to come, Revealing new lessons
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 about the nature of geomagnetic storms and how best
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 to weather them. This report from
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 NASA TV.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 Stuart Gary: In May 2024, a
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 spectacular multicolored light show Flooded
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 the skies across the world. These
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 displays are known as the auroras. They're
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 usually seen near the polar regions. But that May,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 sky watchers spotted the glowing lights Far
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 from Earth's poles. People were
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 witnessing the biggest geomagnetic storm
00:10:50 --> 00:10:51 in over 20 years.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 Speaker D: This storm was so intense, it was the most intense
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 in two decades. This was one of those large events that
00:10:58 --> 00:10:59 we've been talking about for years.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 Stuart Gary: It all began from this active region on the Sun.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 Active regions are known for having intense
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 magnetic fields, and the more tangled those
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 fields become, the more likely they are to erupt.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 Speaker D: We watched the active region evolve,
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 and we thought that this might be something to watch
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 and might be something active eventually.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 Stuart Gary: The active region unleashed a chain of huge
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 solar eruptions directly towards us.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 Speaker D: What made it so strong was the fact that there
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 was so much energy put off by the sun. It
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 was really great conditions for the perfect storm.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 Stuart Gary: On May 10, the eruptions reached Earth,
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 triggering a global disruption to Earth's magnetic
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 field. Known as a geomagnetic
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 storm, it was rated a G5,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 the rarest and strongest type. The
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 powerful storm pushed Auroras to appear in
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 unusual places like Arizona in the United
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 States and Perth, in Australia.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 Speaker D: That energy interacted with the Earth and
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 created the aurora and caused all sorts of
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 disturbances that we felt here on the ground.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 Stuart Gary: The storm caused some high voltage lines to
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 trip and transformers to overheat.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 Transatlantic flights rerouted due to
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 risks of high radiation exposure and
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 communication and navigation disruptions.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 Farther up, NASA saw Earth's upper atmosphere
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 get unusually hot. The temperature
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 100 miles up in the thermosphere usually
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 peaks at 1 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 But during the storm, it reached
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 The heating caused the atmosphere to expand,
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 which affected satellites.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 Speaker D: There were thousands of satellites that had to
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 move their orbits because the storm was coming through.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 Stuart Gary: The storm also affected the space beyond Earth. it
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 created two new temporary belts of energetic
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 particles around our planet, adding to
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 Earth's two permanent ones, which are known as
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 the Van Allen radiation belts. The
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 particles in these belts can harm orbiting satellites
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 and astronauts heading for deep space. So
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 NASA studies them closely. As the
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 sun rotated, the active region eventually
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 moved away from Earth, and redirected its outbursts
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 towards Mars. On Mars, NASA's
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 Curiosity rover saw solar particles from the
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 storm. The rover also recorded the
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 biggest surge of radiation since it landed in
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 2012. If an astronaut had been on the
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 Martian surface, they would have received a radiation
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 dose equivalent to 30 chest x rays at
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 once. With spacecraft
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 throughout the solar system and modern cameras in so
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 many people's pockets, the storm was the most well
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 documented in history.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 Speaker D: There's lots of data. We're able to actually
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 use that data to understand things and predict more
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 and more how this is going to affect our Earth.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 Stuart Gary: Although the storm passed within days, NASA
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 will continue to learn from the observations for years
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 to come, helping us better prepare for the next
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 big storm.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 Stuart Gary: And in that report from NASA tv, we heard from NASA
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 heliophysicist Kelly Coric. This
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 is space time still to come. The
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 most extreme solar storm ever known to have hit the
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 Earth. And later in the Science report, a new study
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 claims people who work long hours could have
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 altered brain structures.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 All that and more still to come on, space time
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 Foreign
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 the strongest solar event ever recorded, in the
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 process rewriting science's understanding of space
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 weather and radiocarbon dating. This
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 new finding expands the timeline and intensity of
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 known solar activity and sets a new upper boundary
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 for such solar phenomenon. The study's
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 authors discovered an extreme spike in
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 radiocarbon corresponding to the year
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 12350 BCE during
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 the dusk of the last ice age. The study
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 by Celia Gulobeko and Ilya Usorskin from the University
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 of Ulu in Finland utilized their newly developed
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 chemistry climate model, which was specifically designed to
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 reconstruct solar particle storms under ancient global
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 climatic conditions. The model confirmed that
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 the detected solar event was approximately 18%
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 stronger than the notorious year 775
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 event, which until now had been the strongest solar
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 storm ever recorded. Its intriguing archives
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 Filippenko says that compared to the largest event in the
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 modern satellite era, which is the 2005 particle
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 storm, the ancient 12350 BCE
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 event was more than 500 times more intense.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 Other large known solar particle events occurred around the
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 years 994, 663
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 BCE, 5259 BCE
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 and 7176 BCE, and a few
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 other candidates are still being investigated. The
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 new model was verified using wood samples recently found in
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 the French Alps dating back some 4300
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 years. Solar particle storms are
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 rare, but when they occur, they bombard the Earth
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 with an enormous amount of high energy particles.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 In comparison, the famous Carrington solar storm
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 of 1859 was a different kind of event
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 and not accompanied by a solar particle storm,
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 Kolubenko says. The ancient event in
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 12350bce is the only known
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 extreme solar particle event outside the Holocene
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 epoch, which is the past 12 years of stable warm
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 climate. With this model, the authors were able to
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 assess the strength, timing, and terrestrial effects of what
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 is now the most powerful and extreme solar particle event
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 ever known. Solar particle storms can
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 greatly enhance the normal production of cosmogenic
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 isotopes like radiocarbon 14 in the atmosphere, which
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 are produced by galactic cosmic rays.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 Such enhanced production, preserved in annual tree
00:17:02 --> 00:17:05 rings, serves as a clear cosmic timestamp and
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 making possible absolute dating of tree samples.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 These dramatic spikes, known as Miyake events after
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 the Japanese researcher first discovered them, offer invaluable
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 data for scientists studying both solar activity,
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 ancient Earth systems, and space climate.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 Miyake events allow scientists to pin down
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 exact calendar years in floating archaeological
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 chronologies. Radiocarbon signals from
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 such events have already enabled researchers to precisely
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 date Viking settlements in Newfoundland and Neolithic years
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 communities in Greece. The findings are revising
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 science's understanding of solar physics and space
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 weather extremes. And this event establishes a
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 new worst case scenario. Understanding its
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 scale is critical for evaluating the risks posed by
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 future solar storms to modern infrastructure such as
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 satellites, power grids and communication and navigation
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 systems. This is spacetime
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 and time. Now to take another brief look at some of the other stories making
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 news in Science this week with a science report.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:22 A new study claims that people who work long hours
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 could have altered brain structures. A report
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 in the Journal of Occupational Environmental Medicine looked
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 at brain scans of 110 participants who worked either
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 52 or more hours a week or a standard
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 35 to 40 hour week. They found
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 that when compared with those who worked standard hours, those
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 who worked excessive hours had changes in brain regions
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 associated with working memory, problem solving and
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 emotional regulation. Now, while this study only
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 provides a snapshot can't be used to show cause and
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 effect. The authors say previous research had linked overwork
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 with various health issues and these results can help provide
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 more insights into overwork and our bodies.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 Engineers have invented a smart sponge like
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 device that can capture water from thin air.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 A report in the Journal of Cleaner Production claims
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 the system uses the sun's energy and works even in
00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 low humidity where other technologies such as fog
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 harvesting and radiative cooling have struggled.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:21 They say the water from air device remained effective across a
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 broad range of humidity levels from 30 to 90%
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 and temperature levels between 5 and 55
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 degrees Celsius. A
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 new study claims that a ban on smartphones and
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35 social media access for kids doesn't promote a
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 healthy use of technology by children. The
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 findings reported in the British Medical Journal claims the
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 focus should move to a rights based approach with age
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 appropriate design and education. One that protects kids
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 from harm while developing the right skills to help them
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 participate in a digital society. The
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 authors say that blanket restrictions on technology like
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 smartphones are a stopgap solution that does little
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 to support a child's longer term healthy engagement with
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 digital spaces across school, home, and other
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 occasions.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 Australian telecommunications giant Telstra has begun
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 testing the Starlink broadband satellite network for
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 remote customers beyond the conventional cell phone network.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 With the details, we're joined by technology editor Alex
00:20:17 --> 00:20:20 Zaharov-Reutt Vroith from tech advice Start Life.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Yeah, well they've been testing their Starlink capability
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 to send, text messages to people and they're going to
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 launch this in Australia later this year. Now this mirrors
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 what Verizon did in with their
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 ability to send messages via Starlink. And this
00:20:34 --> 00:20:37 is augmented over what Apple launched a couple of
00:20:37 --> 00:20:40 years ago, or the iPhone 14, which has now been extended to
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 the iPhone 13, to send emergency messages via SOS.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 And now, of course, you can send other messages and use
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 Find My and let your relatives see where you are. But in other parts of the world,
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 like Australia and New Zealand, and phone companies are like, wow,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54 well, we can send messages and hopefully eventually, soon
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 also make phone calls via satellite networks when people are
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 outside of the traditional cellular
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 networks. And this is a very handy capability. So
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 Telstra has sent 55 text messages
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 in its testing phase. And so this is basic testing.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 You don't have to be doing this for emergency
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 purposes, but it is for hard to reach places where
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 the network doesn't exist. You know, this is part of
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 the ability for regional Australians, primarily because they're the
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 ones who live outside of the traditional, 4G and
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 5G mobile network coverage. And, they did also send
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 500 plus messages in the live trial. And they've been also
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 sending GPS coordinates merges via text
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 message. So this is an awesome update to
00:21:34 --> 00:21:37 the ability for the world to stay in contact now, wherever you
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 are. And, the ubiquitous communications that
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 we've sort of, I guess, dreamed of for years, ever since we've had
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 satellite calls via Iridium and then, the
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 mobile networks that have grown and grown, this is the next logical
00:21:48 --> 00:21:51 step. And given the fact that Elon Musk wants to get us all
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 to Mars, no doubt at some point soon this will be
00:21:54 --> 00:21:57 interplanetary as well. But for the time being, we're still firmly
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 anchored here on Earth.
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 Stuart Gary: That's Alex Zaharov-Reutt Vroith from Tech Advice Start.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 And that's the show for now. Space Time is
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