4 ms·

Isn't this a world shattering event? Why is no one talking about this? What happens if our magnetic field disappears for a while? The end of the digital age?

ben_w 4y ago
> What happens if our magnetic field disappears for a while? Magnetic compasses stop working, the aurora are visible everywhere except for light pollution, elevated levels of beryllium-10 and chlorine-36, satellites need a bit more rad shielding, otherwise very little.
- graderjs 4y ago
  No way man, magnetic field does way more than this: without its shielding our bodies and electronics are damaged by (possibly lethal doses) of radiation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field#cite_ref-MerrillMagnetosphere_25-2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field#cite_... If significant parts of the global grid went down, we can't pump oil and water, can't grow food, can't ship freight. We're fucked in that case. Humanity I mean. Nobody knows how to live off the land in most cities, right? Not a good prognosis. Let's hope it does not disappear. Definitely not "very little" !! :P :) xx ;p
  - ben_w 4y ago
    There is a lot of air between you and space, unlike the moon and space. We'd be fine. And the power grid isn't going to be taken down by just the magnetic field switching off, even CMEs are only a risk to the grid because of how they react with the magnetic field (and even then we could prevent that but for the politics). Plus we could fairly trivially make a replacement magnetic field. The numbers I've seen were for Mars, but the requirements were so small it would be a rounding error for the economy here on Earth.
    - graderjs 4y ago
      There is a lot of air between you and space, unlike the moon and space. True. But the magnetic field is not insignificant. We'd be fine. False. And the power grid isn't going to be taken down by just the magnetic field switching off, even CMEs are only a risk to the grid because of how they react with the magnetic field (and even then we could prevent that but for the politics). Where are you getting this stuff man? Plus we could fairly trivially make a replacement magnetic field. Hahaha. Yeah right! As if
      - ben_w 4y ago
        • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal Early research assumed reversals have a period with no magnetic field at all, and demonstrated that the atmosphere was still sufficient. The magnetic field has definitely dropped to 5% of it's current value while humans have been around. • https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth-Bamford/publication/355198821_How_to_create_an_artificial_magnetosphere_for_Mars/links/619549853068c54fa5f6d828/How-to-create-an-artificial-magnetosphere-for-Mars.pdf?origin=publication_detail https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth-Bamford/publicatio... Conclusion (for Mars): > We have shown that the currents required are between ~0.2-0.5 GAmps in one or many solenoid loops. Whilst the power requirement will depend upon the material used, it can be estimated to be between 0.1 and 100 GW which is between less than one but up to 50 typical 2 GW power stations. While not trivial this is not unimaginably large, Even the big number is about half the annual installation of PV on Earth.
        graderjs 4y ago
        Thank you! Interesting. Do you watch Suspicious Observers? What do you think? They cover many studies talking of the interactions of solar radiation, the galactic current sheet, and Earth phenomena.
krisoft 4y ago
> Isn't this a world shattering event? Quote from the article: "“Nothing cataclysmic is happening,” he added." > Why is no one talking about this? We are? It is an article on CNN. A lot of people are talking about it. In fact there were multiple previous posts with a lot of comments in the past few days about this. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34490701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34490701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34502058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34502058
the_third_wave 4y ago
Mostly because they have not managed to come up with a narrative which blames humanity for the core's fickleness and as such don't see how it can be exploited just yet. Once they come up with something it will spread like wildfire and quasi-religious core-mancers will chastise those living in the developed world for their sins against the planet, urging them to give up whatever has been deemed causal. Others will claim the reversed core will be especially harmful to certain identity groups who should be compensated since it is after all the fault of {white men|capitalism|the west}. The narrative will flourish for a bit until it is thoroughly debunked and - important - a new scare has been found. Those who drove the narrative will not lose face nor will they be reprimanded in any way - indeed, they have found a new looming disaster which to blame upon anyone but themselves.
- LBJsPNS 4y ago
  Or not.

ben_w 4y ago

> What happens if our magnetic field disappears for a while? Magnetic compasses stop working, the aurora are visible everywhere except for light pollution, elevated levels of beryllium-10 and chlorine-36, satellites need a bit more rad shielding, otherwise very little.

graderjs 4y ago
No way man, magnetic field does way more than this: without its shielding our bodies and electronics are damaged by (possibly lethal doses) of radiation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field#cite_ref-MerrillMagnetosphere_25-2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field#cite_... If significant parts of the global grid went down, we can't pump oil and water, can't grow food, can't ship freight. We're fucked in that case. Humanity I mean. Nobody knows how to live off the land in most cities, right? Not a good prognosis. Let's hope it does not disappear. Definitely not "very little" !! :P :) xx ;p
- ben_w 4y ago
  There is a lot of air between you and space, unlike the moon and space. We'd be fine. And the power grid isn't going to be taken down by just the magnetic field switching off, even CMEs are only a risk to the grid because of how they react with the magnetic field (and even then we could prevent that but for the politics). Plus we could fairly trivially make a replacement magnetic field. The numbers I've seen were for Mars, but the requirements were so small it would be a rounding error for the economy here on Earth.
  - graderjs 4y ago
    There is a lot of air between you and space, unlike the moon and space. True. But the magnetic field is not insignificant. We'd be fine. False. And the power grid isn't going to be taken down by just the magnetic field switching off, even CMEs are only a risk to the grid because of how they react with the magnetic field (and even then we could prevent that but for the politics). Where are you getting this stuff man? Plus we could fairly trivially make a replacement magnetic field. Hahaha. Yeah right! As if
    - ben_w 4y ago
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal Early research assumed reversals have a period with no magnetic field at all, and demonstrated that the atmosphere was still sufficient. The magnetic field has definitely dropped to 5% of it's current value while humans have been around. • https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth-Bamford/publication/355198821_How_to_create_an_artificial_magnetosphere_for_Mars/links/619549853068c54fa5f6d828/How-to-create-an-artificial-magnetosphere-for-Mars.pdf?origin=publication_detail https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth-Bamford/publicatio... Conclusion (for Mars): > We have shown that the currents required are between ~0.2-0.5 GAmps in one or many solenoid loops. Whilst the power requirement will depend upon the material used, it can be estimated to be between 0.1 and 100 GW which is between less than one but up to 50 typical 2 GW power stations. While not trivial this is not unimaginably large, Even the big number is about half the annual installation of PV on Earth.
      - graderjs 4y ago
        Thank you! Interesting. Do you watch Suspicious Observers? What do you think? They cover many studies talking of the interactions of solar radiation, the galactic current sheet, and Earth phenomena.

krisoft 4y ago

> Isn't this a world shattering event? Quote from the article: "“Nothing cataclysmic is happening,” he added." > Why is no one talking about this? We are? It is an article on CNN. A lot of people are talking about it. In fact there were multiple previous posts with a lot of comments in the past few days about this. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34495334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34490701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34490701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34502058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34502058

the_third_wave 4y ago

Mostly because they have not managed to come up with a narrative which blames humanity for the core's fickleness and as such don't see how it can be exploited just yet. Once they come up with something it will spread like wildfire and quasi-religious core-mancers will chastise those living in the developed world for their sins against the planet, urging them to give up whatever has been deemed causal. Others will claim the reversed core will be especially harmful to certain identity groups who should be compensated since it is after all the fault of {white men|capitalism|the west}. The narrative will flourish for a bit until it is thoroughly debunked and - important - a new scare has been found. Those who drove the narrative will not lose face nor will they be reprimanded in any way - indeed, they have found a new looming disaster which to blame upon anyone but themselves.

LBJsPNS 4y ago
Or not.