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I dunno, I think this is a somewhat legitimate issue. There's probably going to be another large solar flare on the scale of the Carrington event eventually and
by DannoHung 15y ago
I dunno, I think this is a somewhat legitimate issue. There's probably going to be another large solar flare on the scale of the Carrington event eventually and being prepared to recover from broken electronics and electrical systems in its wake isn't such a ridiculous notion.
I definitely do doubt that we're going to have to worry that much about terrorists using an EMP strike. I'd expect a nation with nuclear capability would be much more likely (like Schwarzkopf suggested doing in 91).
- jefffoster 15y agoI hadn't heard of the Carrington event (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859). Even in 1859 it caused havoc, so it's interesting to think what it would do to modern infrastructure. From the article: Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed in some cases even shocking telegraph operators. Telegraph pylons threw sparks and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire. Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies.
- chopsueyar 15y agoSome telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies. What would cause this?
- rcthompson 15y agoTelegraph signals are sent by turning on and off the current in the wire. If the solar storm generates a sporadic electrical potential (rather than a constant unchanging one), then the receiver will get an apparent transmission, although it will be complete gibberish.
- chopsueyar 15y agoSo how long is the solar storm duration?