1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: tech are you So? Back in May twenty twenty four, 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: a massive geomagnetic storm created aurora across much of the 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: contiguous United States. Even folks in my home state of 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: Georgia were able to see the northern lights. Sadly that 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,639 Speaker 1: doesn't include me. I missed out on it, but I've 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: seen photos and videos of the night sky from that time, 10 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: and the colors are pretty darn spectacular. But while folks 11 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: were ewing and aweing over the chromatic display in the sky, 12 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: others were monitoring large systems like the power grid, because 13 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: geomagnetic phenomena has the potential to wreak havoc with stuff 14 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: like power lines and more. So, today I thought we 15 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: would talk about, you know, geomagnetic services or gmds, and 16 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: electromagnetic pulses or EMPs, and what happens if there's a 17 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: big enough zap applied to a region of the Earth. Now, 18 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: to get into this, we need to go back to 19 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 1: some basic earth science stuff. Our planet has a magnetic field, which, 20 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: through interaction with the solar wind, which is all this 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: stuff that's ejected by the Sun, will become a magnetosphere. 22 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: But let's take this step by step. So, first off, 23 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: Earth's magnetosphere is the strongest of all the rocky planets 24 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: in our Solar system. At the core of our planet 25 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: is a solid inner core that's made up of iron 26 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: and nickel metals, and they're hot. They're like they're real hot, 27 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: like surface of the Sun hot. And surrounding the solid 28 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: inner core is a liquid outer core. So the Earth's 29 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: core is kind of like a gusher turned inside out, 30 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: except it's a gusher made of super hot iron and 31 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: it probably wouldn't taste very good anyway. The outer core 32 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: of molten iron and nickel swirls around this solid core, 33 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: primarily due to heat from the inner core, kind of 34 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: making things move around through convection and the Earth's rotation. 35 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: So this churning molten goodness generates electrical currents. And these 36 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: currents are huge. They can stretch hundreds of miles across. 37 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: And as I'm sure you all know, there's a relationship 38 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: between electrical currents and magnetic fields. In fact, a lot 39 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: of our technology leverages this relationship, from dynamos to transformers 40 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: to lots of other stuff. So the result is the 41 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: Earth is like a giant magnet. This is why accompasses 42 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: needle points the way it does. The needle aligns itself 43 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: with the magnetic field of the Earth. Now that magnetic 44 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: field is really complicated, and it's constantly in flux, though 45 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: not always on a scale that we puny humans can perceive. 46 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: But we can kind of oversimplify this and say that 47 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: from space, if you were able to see the Earth's 48 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: magnetic field, and if we didn't have that pesky sun 49 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: coming into play, it would kind of look like the 50 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: Earth was a lot like a bar magnet. You would 51 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: see these magnetic lines emanating from the south magnetic pole, 52 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: looping around to the other side of the Earth, and 53 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: going back in through the north magnetic pole. These poles 54 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: aren't lined up with the ends of Earth's axis. Those 55 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: ends would actually be the true North and true South poles. 56 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: If the Earth were rotating around a stick, these would 57 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: be the two ends of that stick. But just note 58 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: that the Earth is not actually rotating around a stick. 59 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: Magnetic North is not in the same spot as true North. 60 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: In fact, magnetic north isn't always in the same spot 61 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: at all. It drifts over time. On average, the Earth's 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: magnetic poles flip every half million years or so. The 63 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: actual timing is random, so we can't just look at 64 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: a calendar and say, huh, and Thursday, in two thousand years, 65 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: the north pole is going to be on the south 66 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: end of the planet. The general hypothesis is that the 67 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: process of polarity reversal is well, let's call it gradual. 68 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: It can last like ten thousand years, not that anyone 69 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: in human history has actually observed this. We base our 70 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: understanding off of lots and lots of science, with the 71 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: most recent polarity reversal happening seven hundred eighty thousand years ago, 72 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: which you know, statistically means we're overdue, but there's no 73 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: reason to believe that's gonna happen anytime soon. But the 74 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: polls have swapped positions like one hundred and eighty three 75 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: times over the last eighty three million years. Now. There's 76 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of fringe theories about pole reversals that 77 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: don't have much, if any scientific evidence to support them. 78 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: So we're not going to dive into any of that, 79 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: I'll just say that if this episode sparks your interest 80 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: in magnetic fields, make sure to employ your critical thinking 81 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: and look for good sources when you look into it further, 82 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: because there's tons of, like I said, fringe theories and 83 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: misinformation about this stuff, where you're gonna hear all sorts 84 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: of crazy ideas about polarity reversal that's not really grounded 85 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: in science. Also, if this episode interests you in the 86 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: band that's named the Magnetic Fields, that's awesome because I 87 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: love that band. Okay, So the geodetic poles, as in 88 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: the true North and South poles, they also don't stay 89 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: in the same spot either, because the rotation of the 90 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: Earth isn't a perfect spin. It's a little bit wobbly, 91 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: kind of like how a toy tops spin starts to 92 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: slow down. You'll see it begin to wobble before it 93 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: falls over. But the poles don't wander by a lot. 94 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: We're talking less than a foot of migration in a year. 95 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: But I figured I should mention that before any well 96 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: actually start to roll in with me talking about magnetic 97 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: North moving and geodetic North not moving. It does move, 98 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: just not very much. All Right, back to science. So 99 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: we've got this magnetic field of the Earth. So what's 100 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: the big deal. Well, for us, the big deal is 101 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: that this magnetic field serves as a kind of force 102 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: field for certain types of charged articles and energies. And 103 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: I think an argument can be made that because of 104 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: our magnetic field, conditions were pretty darn good for life 105 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: to form on this planet. Actually, when you look at 106 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: Earth and you look at all the different factors that 107 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: have helped contribute to life having a place to have 108 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: a foothold, it's pretty phenomenal. We're the right distance from 109 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: our Sun so that we can get the energy we 110 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: need for life. We're not too close where the Sun 111 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: would burn off everything, or too far where we wouldn't 112 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: get enough energy. We also have these larger planets in 113 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: the outer Solar systems, some of which have over time 114 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: blocked or potentially blocked perhaps Earth destroying asteroids on their 115 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: way in. Like it's almost like we've got bouncers in 116 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: our solar system that protect us. So there are a 117 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: lot of different factors at play. Our atmosphere is another one, 118 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: but the magnetosphere plays a big part in this too. 119 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,799 Speaker 1: So without our magnetic field, we might not be here. 120 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: If we didn't have the magnetic field, at the very least, 121 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: I could say we would have few video streaming services. 122 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: Of course, our atmosphere does help protect us from stuff too. 123 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: The magnetic field also protects our atmosphere. The magnetic field 124 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: kind of protects us from stuff like electrons and protons 125 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: that have been fired off from the Sun, as well 126 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: as cosmic rays from deep within the galaxy. A flow 127 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: of charged particles and energy from the Sun called the 128 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: solar wind, could really do damage to the Earth if 129 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: it weren't for this magnetic field. So, for example, that 130 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: atmosphere that you and I enjoy that could be stripped 131 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: away by the solar wind if it weren't for the 132 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: magnetic field keeping the wind at bay. That might be 133 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: what happened to Mars. The red planet does have a 134 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: magnetic field, but it is far less powerful than Earth's. 135 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: It's a very weak magnetic field. So there's this hypothesis 136 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: that the solar wind has, over the course of billions 137 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: of years, stripped away much of Mars's atmosphere and left 138 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: it with a very very thin atmosphere. Our magnetic force 139 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: field isn't like a solid wall, however, it's flexible, so 140 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: the solar wind pushes against it, and this means that 141 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: the field gets shaped into what we call the magnetosphere. 142 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: The solar wind pushes against the day side of Earth's 143 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: magnetic field and smushes it a bit. On the night 144 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: side of Earth, the magnetic field trails back with a 145 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: long tail. Some people have actually compared it to being 146 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: kind of comet shaped, and the night side would be 147 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: the tail side of the comet. So on the day side, 148 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: the magnetic field is confined to around ten Earth radii 149 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: from the center of the Earth, so the Earth radius 150 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: is nearly four thousand miles. So you do the math, 151 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,199 Speaker 1: it means the magnetosphere on the day side stretches out 152 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,959 Speaker 1: a little less than forty thousand miles from the core 153 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: of the Earth most of the time. Anyway, the night 154 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: side stretches out hundreds of Earth radii, and that means 155 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: that the magnetosphere actually goes out beyond where the Moon's 156 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: orbit is. Moon's orbits that are around sixty Earth radii. So 157 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: on the day side of Earth, there's this boundary between 158 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: the magnetic field and the solar wind that's called the 159 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: magneto pause. This is really the force field thing I 160 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: was talking about. Much of it as charged particles that 161 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: were coming our way, and then they collect in one 162 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: of two zones called radiation belts. Specifically, they're called the 163 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: Van Allen radiation belts. They're named after James Van Allen. 164 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: These zones have, as the name suggests, energetic particles in them, 165 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: and these particles can pose a challenge for us that 166 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: scientists and engineers have to take into account when they 167 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: design satellites because the charged particles can really mess with 168 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: electronic systems. The doses of radiation are low enough so 169 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: that they pose no real serious risk to human health, 170 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: which is good because we have sent astronauts through them. 171 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: So it's a good thing that the radiation isn't at like, 172 00:09:57,559 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: you know, a harmful level as far as our actual 173 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: will direct health is concerned. This magnetopause force field is 174 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: pliable and it's not impenetrable. Sometimes stuff gets through it. 175 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: The Sun is constantly blasting out charged particles and such, 176 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: and sometimes during particularly active solar events, the Sun might 177 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: shoot a bunch of stuff our way during what's called 178 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: a coronal mass ejection. That's what happened back in May 179 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty four. The sun pooped out a whole 180 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: series of CMEs toward Earth, and the National Oceanic and 181 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: Atmospheric Administration or NOAH, alerted folks to it on May tenth, 182 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Initially, NOAH graded this geomagnetic storm as 183 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: a G four on its weather scale. G four is 184 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: a severe geomagnetic storm, but the agency would later upgrade 185 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: this to a G five, which is the highest on 186 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: the scale it goes from one to five. Five is 187 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: an extreme geomagnetic storm. The severity of a storm is 188 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: part of what determines what, if any effect the storm 189 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: is going to have with us here on Earth. The 190 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:08,599 Speaker 1: Aurora are one such effect. We can see this beautiful 191 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: display of colors in the night sky when the magnetic 192 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: field is reacting this way. But the storm can also 193 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: interfere with our power systems, our radio broadcasts, satellite navigations, 194 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,839 Speaker 1: spacecraft operation, and more. And again this gets us into 195 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: the connection between electrical and magnetic activity. A strong geomagnetic 196 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: storm can push the magnetosphere around and magnetic lines get 197 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: metaphorically entangled and twisted, and this in turn creates magnetic 198 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: disturbances here on Earth. Another thing that happens is the 199 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: storms can affect the density and distribution of density of 200 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: the Earth's upper atmosphere. That includes the thermosphere, which is 201 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: where lower orbit satellites are. They're in the thermosphere. There 202 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: are thousands of satellites in Earth's atmosphere. Technically, the thermosphere 203 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: is the penultimate layer above it's above the mesosphere as 204 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: below the exosphere, which is the final layer of the 205 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: Earth's atmosphere. The temperature of the thermosphere actually goes up 206 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: as you climb in height. We often think of air 207 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: getting colder as you go higher in altitude. That's true 208 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: for the troposphere. That's the part of the atmosphere where 209 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 1: we live. It's our atmosphere where you spend all your time, 210 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: assuming you're not an astronaut. But it's also true that 211 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: that trend of when you go higher in altitude the 212 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: temperature gets colder. That's also in the mesosphere. However, the 213 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: stratosphere and the thermosphere are both different. As you go 214 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: higher in both the stratosphere and the thermosphere, the temperatures 215 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: get warmer. It's funny because it's troposphere, then stratosphere, then mesosphere, 216 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: than thermosphere, so it goes cold hot cold hot. Essentially, 217 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: what's happening is in the stratosphere and the thermosphere. As 218 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,439 Speaker 1: you're climbing in altitude, you're encountering atmosphere that has absorbed 219 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: more radiation from the Sun, including stuff like X ray 220 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: radiation and ultraviolet radiation, and thus it is warmer than 221 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: areas below. Okay, we're going to talk some more science 222 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: stuff and then we'll start talking about how these things 223 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: affect us here on Earth. But first, before we do that, 224 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break to thank our sponsors. Okay, 225 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: So I was talking about the thermosphere and how as 226 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: you climb the thermosphere the temperature actually increases. The thermosphere 227 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,559 Speaker 1: is also where the ionosphere is. This is a zone 228 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: where the energy from the Sun is strong enough to 229 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: eject electrons off of atoms, which turns them into ions. 230 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: Right Like, So, if you have an atom and you're 231 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 1: able to blast it with enough energy, you can cause 232 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: it to push out an electron and now it will 233 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: be positively charged, right, You'll have more protons than electrons. 234 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: Protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged. Overall, your 235 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: ion has a positive char So that happens in the ionosphere. 236 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: This is also the part of our atmosphere that can 237 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: reflect certain radio waves, which makes it possible to beam 238 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: shortwave radio broad casts across the world, particularly at night. 239 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: It works really well at night time anyway. By shifting 240 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: the density and the density distribution of the thermosphere, a 241 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: geomagnetic storm can create conditions that affect spacecraft passing through 242 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: those regions. So if you're passing through a denser region 243 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 1: of atmosphere, that's going to mean that you're encountering a 244 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: greater amount of drag on your spacecraft. It slows down 245 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: the spacecraft. So for a satellite, this could mean that 246 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: engineers will have to make adjustments so that the satellite 247 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: will continue to operate properly because it wouldn't be in 248 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: the position it thinks it should be due to the 249 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: fact that there's drags slowing it down. Or if a 250 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: satellite slows down enough, well, its orbit can start to 251 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: decay right because it's not going fast enough to maintain 252 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: that orbit, and eventually it's going to meet a fiery 253 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: end as it plunges toward Earth. So these are things 254 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: that engineers and scientists have to account for. These changes 255 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: can also affect how radio waves travel through the atmosphere, 256 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: which means stuff like positioning information from GPS and other 257 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: navigational systems can have errors and become unreliable. You know, 258 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: we take it for granted when we pull up a 259 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: GPS tool that we know exactly where we are, but 260 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: if they're outside factors that are affecting the satellites, the 261 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: information we have is not going to be accurate and 262 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: it may end up being that, you know, the GPS 263 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: tells us we're in a totally different spot than where 264 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: we actually are. Beyond that, the actual surfaces of spacecraft 265 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: can build up electrical charges due to these geomagnetic storms, 266 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: and that also can cause malfunctions. The extreme magnetic activity 267 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: can also induce current in electrical systems and overload them, 268 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: so you can get a system to essentially get fried. 269 00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: It's kind of like if a power surge were to 270 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: fry a computer you have plugged into the wall. Like 271 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: if you don't have your computer plugged into a surge 272 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: protector and there's a power surge, yeah, your computer can 273 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: be toasted. Well, a geomagnetic storm can do that same 274 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: sort of thing by inducing a strong electric charge within 275 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: the computer system or within the circuitry that your computer 276 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: system is plugged into. Now that last one, as I said, 277 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: doesn't just impact spacecraft in orbit. I mean, spacecraft are 278 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: particularly vulnerable to this, but a strong enough geomagnetic storm 279 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: can actually affect large electrical systems here on Earth as well. Now, 280 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: for the most part, we're talking about big systems, right, Like, 281 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: most geomagnetic storms are not going to be powerful enough 282 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: to affect relatively tiny electronic systems. Like your smart watch 283 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: isn't likely to go bonkers because of a geomagnetic storm. However, 284 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: some of the systems that the watch is connected to 285 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: could be affected, right Like, if your watch is pulling 286 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: down data from a server farm, that server farm could 287 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: definitely be affected by a geomagnetic storm. A really strong 288 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: storm can potentially cause widespread blackouts, and transformers on the 289 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,880 Speaker 1: power grid can end up getting damaged as a result, severely, 290 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: So sometimes transformers will actually suffer so much damage they 291 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: need to be replaced. So a quick reminder on what 292 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: a transformer actually is. Essentially, a transformer's job and I'm 293 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: talking about electrical transformers, not the more than meets the 294 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: eye robot kind. But transformer's job is to take alternating 295 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,199 Speaker 1: current that's at one voltage and either step up or 296 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: step down that voltage, typically for the purposes of transmission. 297 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: So higher voltage alternating current or AC power travels further 298 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,360 Speaker 1: through power lines with less loss. So if you want 299 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: to transmit a lot of power from a central source, 300 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: like let's say it's a power plant, you want to 301 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: crank the voltage up really high to push it through 302 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: the powers lines and then have a second transformer on 303 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 1: the other end to bring the voltage back down before 304 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: you deliver it to your customers. So that's what transformers do. Essentially, 305 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: they do this by having two electromagnetic coils next to 306 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: each other, and as current flows through one coil, it 307 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: induces current to flow through the other coil. If coil 308 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: number one has fewer loops than coil number two, then 309 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: coil number two is going to have greater voltage than 310 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: coil number one. This is stepping up. If coil number 311 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: two has fewer loops in its coil than coil number one, 312 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: then it's going to be a step down. The voltage 313 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,959 Speaker 1: is going to decrease. That's the basics. There's more to 314 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,919 Speaker 1: it than that, but that's the basic idea. So a 315 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: geomagnetic storm, which is one that can induce massive changes 316 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: in current, can really mess up an electrical system that's 317 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: relying upon transformers. You can suddenly have cases where the 318 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: voltage is truly out of control. Now, if you've ever 319 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: been near a transformer when it overloaded, you've likely seen 320 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: a pretty spectacular and scary display. I've seen it happen 321 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: a few times. Often there's a very loud bang. I 322 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: remember the first time I ever heard one. I thought 323 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: someone had fired off a shotgun next to me. And 324 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: then often there's lots and lots of sparks from the transformer. 325 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: In the event of a single transformer going out, you 326 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: can end up having power loss in that immediate area, 327 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: and a power company can sometimes do some work to 328 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: get things back in order to re route some stuff 329 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: and be able to at least restore power in a 330 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: region within a few hours. Replacing the transformer takes a 331 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:38,199 Speaker 1: bit longer. But imagine that we're talking about an event 332 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: that takes effect over an entire region, not just like 333 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: one transformer on a city block or something. We're talking 334 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: about like a region that might be several states or 335 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: even countries in size. Well that large a section of 336 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: the power grid With that many potentially thousands of transformers overloading, 337 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: that would be truly disastrous. You would have a real 338 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:04,479 Speaker 1: mess on your hands. It could take you more than 339 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 1: a year to fix something like that. So a severe 340 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:09,879 Speaker 1: geomagnetic storm has the potential to do a lot of 341 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: damage here on Earth. With enough warning, various parties like 342 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,359 Speaker 1: power companies can actually make adjustments that will mitigate the problem. 343 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: You can also harden things against these geomagnetic storms to 344 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: some degree. We'll talk more about that a bit later, 345 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: but we can still experience effects here on Terra Firma. However, 346 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: we do have methods to at least minimize their impact. 347 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: So if we have enough warning ahead of time, there 348 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: are certain steps that we can take that will reduce 349 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: the impact of these geomagnetic events. But what if we 350 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: could create the same sort of magnetic disturbance on a 351 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: human made scale, And what if we could weaponize that? 352 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,919 Speaker 1: And what if we already have And I'm not talking 353 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,360 Speaker 1: about hypotheticals now. We didn't necessarily set out to do 354 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: this initially. It was really a byproduct of looking for 355 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,199 Speaker 1: a way to create really huge, deadly explosions meant to 356 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 1: kill people directly. But now that we've figured out how 357 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: to do it, well, what are the implications of that? 358 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: So what I'm talking about here are nuclear detonations, And 359 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: I talked about nuclear detonations a bit not too long ago, 360 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: But one thing I didn't mention is that they can 361 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: create They do create electromagnetic pulses or EMPs. When a 362 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: nuclear payload explodes. One of the many byproducts of that 363 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: explosion is a release of highly energetic gamma rays. These 364 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: rays truly have a tremendous amount of energy, and they 365 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:43,120 Speaker 1: can strip electrons off of atoms and ionize air molecules, 366 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: which creates free electrons called Compton electrons and positively charged 367 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: ions as a result. This is also where we talk 368 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: about ionizing versus non ionizing radiation. When you talk about radiation, 369 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,479 Speaker 1: most people immediately think of nuclear radiation, but radiation is 370 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,400 Speaker 1: a broader term. It doesn't just mean stuff that's radioactive. 371 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,879 Speaker 1: Radiation is more about how the energy propagates. Right. Well, 372 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: if something is non ionizing, it means that the energy 373 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: contained within that thing is not sufficient to strip electrons 374 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: away from atoms. So, for example, radio waves are non ionizing. 375 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:27,360 Speaker 1: They do not have the energy necessary to ionize atoms, 376 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: and that's why people who are skeptical of claims that 377 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: radio waves, like being near a radio tower can have 378 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: a negative impact on your health. That's the big counter 379 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: argument to that is that radio waves do not have 380 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: the facility to ionize atoms, whereas something like gamma radiation, 381 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: which has a tremendous amount of energy in it, it 382 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: definitely has the ability to ionize atoms. So these charged 383 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: particles will generate an electromagnetic field, and that field is 384 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: extremely strong near the point of detonation, like way stronger 385 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: than other areas within our magnetosphere, and so it can 386 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: interfere with not just electronic systems here on Earth, but 387 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: the magnetosphere itself really and it can have a really 388 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: big impact on stuff like power lines, street lamps, that 389 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: sort of stuff. It can also have an impact on 390 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: electronic systems and devices because while the Sun can do 391 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,239 Speaker 1: similar things like an electromagnetic pulse, can do it on 392 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:33,640 Speaker 1: a scale that's far more intense and targeted to a degree. 393 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: So a high altitude nuclear detonation could do this, and 394 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: in fact it has done this. This is not theoretical, 395 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: we have observed it. So back in nineteen sixty two, 396 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: the United States was really getting into the spirit of 397 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: the Cold War with what was then the Soviet Union. 398 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: So both of these superpowers had at one point put 399 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,919 Speaker 1: a moratorium on nuclear testing. But then the Soviet said, colmorat, 400 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 1: we are going to test nuclear warheads again. And that 401 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: was like in nineteen sixty one. And then the US 402 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: responded in kind saying, well, gosh, if you're going to 403 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: do it, we sure as heck are going to do 404 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: it too. Because this idea of mutually assured destruction was 405 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: kind of the go to for superpowers. Then, this idea 406 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: that if we can guarantee that we could destroy you, 407 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: you'll be too timid to try and destroy us, because 408 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: we'll just all go down together. It was a cheerful time. 409 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: Those of you who grew up in the Cold War 410 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. So a subset of 411 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,119 Speaker 1: the weapons that the United States tested were part of 412 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: a project that was called Operation fish Bowl, which was 413 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: a series of high altitude nuclear explosion tests. One such 414 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:49,439 Speaker 1: test took place on July ninth, nineteen sixty two. The 415 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: US launched a Thoor rocket because boy, we're really good 416 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: at naming stuff, and this rocket carried a one point 417 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 1: four megaton thermonuclear warhead. It launched off an island called 418 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: the Johnston Atoll, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It's 419 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. It's 420 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: been under US control since the thirties, and it's about 421 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: nine hundred miles away from Hawaii. The explosion would be 422 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: referred to as Starfish Prime. That was the name given 423 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: to this test. So the thor rocket carried this payload 424 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: to an altitude of around two hundred and fifty miles, 425 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: then the payload detonated. The test was done in order 426 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: to get detailed measurements about the nature of the explosion, 427 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,960 Speaker 1: which included the electromagnetic output of the explosion. Because previous 428 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: tests had not really been thorough or well done, they 429 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: didn't gather much useful data. I could argue that those 430 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 1: previous tests were more about the US showing the Soviet 431 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: Union the size of America's explosives and less about learning 432 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,639 Speaker 1: anything useful. That will leave it for now. The explosion was, 433 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: of course spectacular, was terrifying, awe inspiring, all the things 434 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: that you would expect if you've seen Oppenheimer, but imagine 435 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: bigger and way up in the sky. The electromagnetic pulse 436 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: was far far more powerful than anyone anticipated, and it 437 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 1: propagated outward almost instantly because it's electromagnetic radiation, that's the 438 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: same thing that light is. Light is a type of 439 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: electromagnetic radiation, so it travels at the speed of light. 440 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,959 Speaker 1: And folks in Hawaii, sure as heck noticed because the 441 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: MP caused street lights to fail. Remember this is nine 442 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: hundred miles away, and Hawaii starts seeing like entire sections 443 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: of the state going dark because the street lights have 444 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,959 Speaker 1: all gone out. It also shut down the telephone system 445 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: between the island of Kawaii and the rest of the 446 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: Hawaiian islands, so Kawaii was kind of cut off from 447 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: everyone else. This blast created a temp a new radiation 448 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: belt at a high altitude, and by temporary, I mean 449 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,400 Speaker 1: it lasted a few years, that's how long it's stuck around. 450 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: But yeah, this was one that was in addition to 451 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,680 Speaker 1: the Van Allen Belts. This was also much much, much 452 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: more intense, stronger than the Van Allen Belts, and as 453 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: PBS would put it in an episode of Space Time, 454 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: a third of all low Earth orbit satellites that passed 455 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: through that radiation belt were destroyed due to going through 456 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: it repeatedly and slowing down and the orbit decaying and such, 457 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: or just having their electronics fried. Now, when you hear 458 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: a third of all the satellites that passed the root 459 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: were destroyed, that sounds like a lot, but keep in 460 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: mind this is the nineteen sixties, so a third ended 461 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: up being six satellites. We are, you know, talking about 462 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: the early days of the space race. However, if the 463 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: same thing were to happen today, it would mean that 464 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: thousands of satellites would have been affected as they passed 465 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: through this area. Tests like Starfish Prime showed that the 466 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: MP effects of nuclear detonations packed way more of a 467 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: wall than was originally believed, and I imagine it was 468 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: also a contributing factor to world powers agreeing on the 469 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of nineteen sixty three that 470 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:15,400 Speaker 1: would outlaw nuclear detonation tests underwater or in space. We'll 471 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: talk about more about, you know, what EMPs would do today, 472 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: but first let's take another quick break to thank our sponsors. 473 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:37,719 Speaker 1: So Starfish Primes EMP was literally off the charts, and 474 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,959 Speaker 1: by that I mean US instruments that were intended to 475 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 1: measure the EMP nature of this nuclear detonation essentially came 476 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: back with this is way too big for me to measure, like, 477 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: this is beyond my capabilities of measuring this, And that's 478 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: when we started to get a real handle on how 479 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: potentially devastating an EMP delivered at a strategic point could be. 480 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: For example, think about two one hundred and fifty miles 481 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: above Kansas, because it spreads out in all directions. You know, 482 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: Hawaii was nine hundred miles away from the Johnston at 483 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: all and still was affected. If you hit above Kansas 484 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: at two hundred and fifty miles of altitude, then potentially 485 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: you could wipe out the power grid of the entire 486 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: United States, including ones that are not connected to the 487 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: rest of the national power grid. I'm looking at you, Texas. 488 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:32,239 Speaker 1: So yeah, it could be a really devastating effect, and 489 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: I would argue they'd be far more disruptive today than 490 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: they would be in the nineteen sixties because we've grown 491 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: far more dependent upon electronic systems over time, particularly computers, 492 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: and as I mentioned earlier, computers are pretty delicate things. 493 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: A huge electric surge could fry computer systems and bring 494 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: down a lot of the infrastructure that we depend upon. 495 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: Most modern cars would be impacted because lots of cars 496 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: today have things like electronic ignition systems. Those could be 497 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: vulnerable to it. EA, older cars would have a better 498 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: chance of making it through, but there's no guarantee they 499 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: would get out, you know, scott free. They could also 500 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: have some issues. For one thing, you could have an 501 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: electric charge build up on a metallic surface. It's a 502 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: conductor after all, But not only could this pulse fry electronics. 503 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: I mean when you talk about large conductors and that 504 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: build up of charge. There are plenty of things that 505 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: we have that could end up becoming a huge issue, 506 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: like railroad tracks for example. You know miles and miles 507 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: of railroad tracks. That's just miles of metallic conductors that 508 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:37,719 Speaker 1: could store a charge in them. Or you know, a 509 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: network of pipes, or even metal fences, like a good 510 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: long metal fence could do it. So the effect on 511 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: those things would be bad. The effect on organisms, that's different. 512 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: It's it's not believed that an EMP would be directly 513 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: harmful to living organisms. In fact, that's one of the 514 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: big attractive things about the potential for EMPs. Right. However, 515 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: if all of your electronic systems fail around you, you're 516 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: going to be in a pretty tight spot. Even if 517 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: you personally have the capability to get along just fine 518 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: without all the modern conveniences of computers and electronics, the 519 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 1: folks around you might not be so adept at survival, 520 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: and people who are in a tight spot can be 521 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: pretty hard to predict, which is probably why emp's factor 522 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 1: into a lot of science fiction post apocalyptic stories. Now, 523 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,959 Speaker 1: there are ways, as I mentioned earlier, to harden electronic 524 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: systems against the effects of an EMP, but they tend 525 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: to be inconvenient and expensive. So, for example, you can 526 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: use metal shielding, which can help block the effects of 527 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: an EMP, but the shielding has to totally surround whatever 528 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: it is you're protecting, and you need to make sure 529 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: there aren't any gaps or holes or anything in the 530 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: shielding to boot in order to really protect whatever it 531 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 1: is you're trying to harden against an EMP. The other 532 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: thing you can do, because the e MPs are so devastating, 533 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: particularly toward anything that's based on semiconductor technology, you can, 534 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: in the design phase try to design components that are 535 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:09,239 Speaker 1: able to handle a higher current than they're typically going 536 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: to handle. Right in other words, that you've built an overhead, Right, like, 537 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: while this is meant to hold x amount of current, 538 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: the overhead you built means it can handle X plus 539 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: y and it can still function. You have to build 540 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: in that capability, and you know you can't necessarily do 541 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: that for the whole thing. You might just focus on 542 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: the components that are going to be the most vulnerable 543 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 1: within your system, because otherwise your costs are going to 544 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: go out of control. Now, you know a lot of 545 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 1: people are going to say like, okay, so what's the 546 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 1: likelihood of an EMP going off? And if they determine 547 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: the likelihood is low, then it's hard to justify the 548 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: expense of hardening things against it. Right. It would be 549 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: kind of like if someone came up to me and said, hey, 550 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: do you want to buy some shark attack insurance? And 551 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 1: I'm like, well, i live in Atlanta. I'm not close 552 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: to the ocean. Atlanta is not a coastal city. No, 553 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: the chances of me being attacked by a shark in 554 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: my day to day activities is beyond minuscule. Well, you 555 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: might say the same thing about EMPs and say, well, yeah, 556 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: it would be devastating if an EMP went off. And 557 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: this system went down. But at the same time, the 558 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: likelihood that is so low that we're not going to 559 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: spend the money to harden the system against EMPs. The 560 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: prospect of developing a weapon that can wipe out a 561 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,320 Speaker 1: nation's computer systems and other infrastructure without causing direct harm 562 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 1: to the population itself has tempted many nations, including the 563 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 1: United States, to pour a lot of R and D 564 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: into building non nuclear weapons capable of generating a large 565 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 1: EMP blast. Now I can't get into detail on this, 566 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: not because I don't want to, but because I don't 567 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: have access to all that information because a lot of 568 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: it is classified. So while I can say there are 569 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 1: lots of countries that have worked on various E bombs, 570 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: I don't have a ton of details. We do know 571 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: there are there are various ways to generate an EMP 572 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: that don't require a nuclear blast. So one is through 573 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: the use of high powered microwaves. Another is using what's 574 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: called a flux compression generator bomb. Essentially anything that can 575 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:18,319 Speaker 1: send a blast of electromagnetic energy outward and potentially, if 576 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: you're talking about grand scale, potentially ionizing surrounding molecules, that 577 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 1: does the trick Some of These weapons are designed to 578 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: deliver much more focused pulses, so a military could use 579 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,439 Speaker 1: this to take out a specific target while leaving other 580 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: areas relatively untouched. And that could be really handy if 581 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: you wanted to do something like let's say you want 582 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:43,840 Speaker 1: to neutralize a military headquarters, right like, there's an army 583 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: base or something, and you want to disrupt their capabilities. 584 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: But you don't want that same attack to disrupt a 585 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:56,279 Speaker 1: nearby hospital because obviously that would be inhumane, it would 586 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,400 Speaker 1: be really it'd be a war crime, essentially, is what 587 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: it would be. And to that you would need something 588 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 1: to be much more precise than a nuclear detonation, you know, 589 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: hundreds of miles above your target, because that's going to 590 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:12,880 Speaker 1: spread an EMP that affects a huge chunk of the region. 591 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 1: You need something that's going to be much more targeted, 592 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: probably not as devastating either, but at the same time, 593 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: you might be able to disrupt operations long enough to 594 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: be able to carry out some other attack or operation. 595 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: So you want a delivery system that can get the 596 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: job done without it being an all or nothing approach. 597 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: Those are the basics of gmds and EMPs, right like, 598 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 1: this is the world we live in. Even if we 599 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 1: didn't have EMPs, if we lived in a world that 600 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: was peaceful and you didn't have various nation states and 601 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: others trying to figure out how to disrupt or defeat 602 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: other ones, even if everybody was hunky dory and friendly, 603 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: we would still have gmds to worry about from the sun, 604 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,240 Speaker 1: because space is trying to kill us all the time. 605 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:05,839 Speaker 1: I've said it many times. And as we depend more 606 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: heavily on complicated computer systems, we do so with the understanding, 607 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,040 Speaker 1: or we should have the understanding, that events, both natural 608 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: and human generated, can absolutely disrupt those systems and bring 609 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,879 Speaker 1: them down. So one of the many concerns I have 610 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:27,680 Speaker 1: about the AI fad or trend, or whatever you want 611 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,680 Speaker 1: to call it, is that it's placing even more importance 612 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,719 Speaker 1: on computer systems that if something goes wrong with those 613 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: computer systems, you lose all those capabilities. So if we 614 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 1: put more and more of our dependence upon those systems 615 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: and then those systems subsequently fail, will be up a 616 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,960 Speaker 1: creek when that happens, and the creek will not smell nice. 617 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: I think you know which creek I mean. Here On 618 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,480 Speaker 1: that note, I think I'm going to go camping for 619 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,520 Speaker 1: a week and see how that suits me. No reason, 620 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,239 Speaker 1: you know not. I'm not saying anything's gonna happen, just 621 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: it might be nice to get away from it all. Yeah, 622 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,319 Speaker 1: that's what I mean, all right. I hope for those 623 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,759 Speaker 1: of you who were aware of the geomagnetic storm back 624 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:13,880 Speaker 1: in May of twenty twenty four, that you were able 625 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,479 Speaker 1: to go out and see some northern lights. Like I said, 626 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:19,279 Speaker 1: I missed it, and it really it really gets to 627 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 1: me because I think it would have been spectacular, but 628 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:24,319 Speaker 1: I didn't even learn about it. I didn't even see 629 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: the news till it was the following day, and we 630 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: didn't get enough activity for me to be able to 631 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 1: see it on the subsequent nights. So the night when 632 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:36,840 Speaker 1: I would have had the best chance of seeing something, 633 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,160 Speaker 1: I didn't even know anything was going on. I hope 634 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: that wasn't the same for all of y'all out there. 635 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: I hope a lot of you got a chance to 636 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 1: see it. I hear that it was truly, you know, 637 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,560 Speaker 1: inspiring and beautiful, So I hope you saw it. If not, 638 00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 1: I hope you get a chance to see the northern lights. 639 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,480 Speaker 1: At some point I might plan a trip just to 640 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,280 Speaker 1: have the chance to see it. The trick, of course, 641 00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: is that you never know if you're going to go 642 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 1: at a time when you can actually see it, but 643 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:05,800 Speaker 1: you can hope. So that's probably what I'll do. And meanwhile, 644 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,360 Speaker 1: I hope you're all well, and I'll talk to you 645 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:19,239 Speaker 1: again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For 646 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 647 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,320 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.