- One of the biggest disasters we face would begin about 18 hours after the sun spit out a 10-billion-ton ball of plasma--something it has done before and is sure to do again. When the ball, a charged cloud of particles called a coronal mass ejection (CME), struck the Earth, electrical currents would spike through the power grid. Full story:
* Getting Ready for the Next Big Solar Storm... 'Controlled' power cuts likely as Sun storm threatens national grid...US official: solar storms expected to peak in 2013 with potentially devastating effect... THERE'S A HOLE IN THE SUN!...Solar flares could paralyse Britain's power and communications, Liam Fox says...Discovery ( Aug 25, 2010): IS THE SUN EMITTING A MYSTERY PARTICLE?...LiveScience(29 July 2010): Antarctica Experiment Discovers Puzzling Space Ray Pattern... National Geographic (November 19, 2008): "High-energy electrons captured over Antarctica could reveal the presence of a nearby but MYSTERIOUS ASTROPHYSICAL OBJECT that's bombarding Earth with cosmic rays... Scientists baffled by unusual upper atmosphere shrinkage... Scientists: solar activity could hit London 2012 Olympic Games:
