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from the magnetic-field-finally-flipping? dept.
The earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from huge blasts of deadly solar radiation, has been weakening over the past six months, according to data collected by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite array called Swarm. The biggest weak spots in the magnetic field which extends 370,000 miles (600,000 kilometers) above the planet's surface have sprung up over the Western Hemisphere, while the field has strengthened over areas like the southern Indian Ocean, according to the magnetometers onboard the three Swarm satellites, with two separate satellites floating in tandem.
The scientists who conducted the study are still unsure why the magnetic field is weakening, but one likely reason is that Earth's magnetic poles are getting ready to flip, said Rune Floberghagen, the ESA's Swarm mission manager. In fact, the data suggest magnetic north is moving toward Siberia. "Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred if not a few thousand years," Floberghagen told Live Science. "They have happened many times in the past."( 50 Amazing Facts About Planet Earth )
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @10:27PM
Somehow, this is Bush's fault.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Thursday July 10 2014, @07:26AM
No, it dates all the way back to Nixon, now we know what Watergate was really about! They saw the first signs and wanted to keep it secret until we discover Unobtaineum.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.