full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Fabio Pacucci: Why the Sun could crash your internet
Unscramble the Blue Letters
The magnetic fields in our solar system are nothing compared to those found in deep space. Some neutron sarts generate fields 100 billion times srgenotr than those found in sunspots. And the magnetic fields around supermassive balck holes expel jets of gas that extend for thousands of light years. However, on ertah, even weak soalr storms can be surprisingly dangerous. While the storms that reach us are generally hmlearss to humans, the high-energy particles falling into the atmosphere create secondary magnetic fdlies, which in turn generate rugoe currents that short-circuit electrical equipment. During the cagriotrnn Event, the only widespread electrical technology was the telegraph. But since then, we've only become more dependent on electrical systems. In 1921, another proeufwl solar storm caused telephones and telegraph equipment around the globe to combust. In New York, the entire railway system was shut down and fiers broke out in the central control building. Comparatively weak storms in 1989 and 2003 turned off regions of the caiadann power grid and degamad multiple satellites. If we were hit by a storm as strong as the Carrington Event today, it could devastate our interconnected, eectiierfld planet.
Open Cloze
The magnetic fields in our solar system are nothing compared to those found in deep space. Some neutron _____ generate fields 100 billion times ________ than those found in sunspots. And the magnetic fields around supermassive _____ holes expel jets of gas that extend for thousands of light years. However, on _____, even weak _____ storms can be surprisingly dangerous. While the storms that reach us are generally ________ to humans, the high-energy particles falling into the atmosphere create secondary magnetic ______, which in turn generate _____ currents that short-circuit electrical equipment. During the __________ Event, the only widespread electrical technology was the telegraph. But since then, we've only become more dependent on electrical systems. In 1921, another ________ solar storm caused telephones and telegraph equipment around the globe to combust. In New York, the entire railway system was shut down and _____ broke out in the central control building. Comparatively weak storms in 1989 and 2003 turned off regions of the ________ power grid and _______ multiple satellites. If we were hit by a storm as strong as the Carrington Event today, it could devastate our interconnected, ___________ planet.
Solution
- stars
- black
- rogue
- harmless
- earth
- solar
- fields
- electrified
- carrington
- fires
- stronger
- damaged
- powerful
- canadian
Original Text
The magnetic fields in our solar system are nothing compared to those found in deep space. Some neutron stars generate fields 100 billion times stronger than those found in sunspots. And the magnetic fields around supermassive black holes expel jets of gas that extend for thousands of light years. However, on Earth, even weak solar storms can be surprisingly dangerous. While the storms that reach us are generally harmless to humans, the high-energy particles falling into the atmosphere create secondary magnetic fields, which in turn generate rogue currents that short-circuit electrical equipment. During the Carrington Event, the only widespread electrical technology was the telegraph. But since then, we've only become more dependent on electrical systems. In 1921, another powerful solar storm caused telephones and telegraph equipment around the globe to combust. In New York, the entire railway system was shut down and fires broke out in the central control building. Comparatively weak storms in 1989 and 2003 turned off regions of the Canadian power grid and damaged multiple satellites. If we were hit by a storm as strong as the Carrington Event today, it could devastate our interconnected, electrified planet.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
solar storms |
4 |
magnetic fields |
4 |
magnetic field |
4 |
carrington event |
2 |
magnetic activity |
2 |
coronal mass |
2 |
solar system |
2 |
solar storm |
2 |
Important Words
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- solar
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- stars
- storm
- storms
- strong
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- sunspots
- supermassive
- surprisingly
- system
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- technology
- telegraph
- telephones
- thousands
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- today
- turn
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- weak
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- york