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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday May 20 2017, @12:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-earth-in-the-bubble dept.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/human-activity-changing-space-too-180963369/

There's hardly anything on Earth that has escaped human influence—from the oceans to the atmosphere. But a new study suggests that human activity is also influencing the space around our planet; this is on top of the space junk already swirling around out there. Very Low Frequency (VLF) broadcasts have created a planetary cocoon, shielding the planet from high energy particle radiation, according to a NASA press release.

[...] This ephemeral bubble adds to the already protective magnetosphere, encompassing our planet. Researchers report the find this week in the journal Space Science Review.

The discovery was made using the Van Allen Probes, spacecraft launched in 2012 to monitor the bands of charged particles surrounding the Earth.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasas-van-allen-probes-spot-man-made-barrier-shrouding-earth/


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:19AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:19AM (#512483)

    Can the lucky escapees who colonize Mars use some form of these VLF radio signals to start establishing a radiation shield to reduce their exposure?

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:29AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:29AM (#512489) Journal

    That's a pretty good question. I think before that can be established, we need to know what kind of magnetic field Mars has. I don't believe I've ever heard any reports, or even speculation, about a Martian magnetic field. It seems to me that all of those protective fields, beginning with the ionosphere, are all related to magnetics. No magnetic field, nothing to hold it in place, right?

    The very first hit on a Duck search:
    http://www.sophisticatededge.com/does-mars-have-a-magnetic-field.html [sophisticatededge.com]
    "Mars does not have a significant magnetic field, though scientists believe it once did. In 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor detected sporadic magnetic fields around the southern hemisphere of Mars. However, these magnetic fields were incredibly weak and short-lived compared to the Earth’s. [“Solar wind ripping chunks off Mars .” COSMOS magazine]"

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:36AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:36AM (#512493)

      Venus has no magnetic field either though. When I looked into this a few years ago at least the layperson explanations surrounding these magnetic fields and their effects sounded like bs.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:37AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:37AM (#512494)

    Nope.

    The main mode of long distance propagation is an Earth-ionosphere waveguide mechanism. The Earth is surrounded by a conductive layer of electrons and ions in the upper atmosphere at the bottom of the ionosphere called the D layer at 60 km altitude, which reflects VLF radio waves. The conductive ionosphere and the conductive Earth form a horizontal "duct" a few VLF wavelengths high, which acts as a waveguide confining the waves so they don't escape into space.

    • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday May 20 2017, @11:23AM

      by kaszz (4211) on Saturday May 20 2017, @11:23AM (#512582) Journal

      And to keep electrons and ions in place there needs to be a magnetic field right? However if they are present then the VLF energy supposedly react with any disrupting radiation?

      Kind of like how a saucepan with cooking water "protects" against poking fingers into the water.