Space storm alert: 90 seconds from catastrophe

[Loonix 0]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.300-space-storm-alert-90-seconds-from-catastrophe.html?full=true&print=true

A solar storm may fry our powergrids and leave us without electricity for months or even years. This may happen at any time, although one of this magnitude has not occurred since 1859.

Time to prepare?

[downwardspiral 0]

That certainly would make for interesting times.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[SkyBastard 0]

Quick everyone! Back to the trees!

Dude #320
"Superstitious" is just a polite way of saying "incredibly fucking stupid".
DONK!

[kelpdiver 2]

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Time to prepare?

I got my guns and ammo. I'll rule my block in San Francisco.

[JohnRich 4]

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A solar storm may fry our powergrids...

Have you seen the new movie "Knowing"?

[riddler 0]

Long-line current induction is a subject studied in great detail by electical power engineers (usually at the graduate level). There are safety stopgaps in place to prevent the collapse of the entire grid, but portions of it can go out from any Solar Storm. It won't cause the entire system to collapse. Portions that do can be brought back online in a timeframe of a few milliseconds, to a few days, depending on the damage.

If you have any doubt that the author is trying to promote a poor understanding of technology by underscoring it with a panaphobic topos, then I will refer you to the first paragraph where it fictionally depicts a disaster scenario starting with "IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 ..."

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Loonix 0]

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Long-line current induction is a subject studied in great detail by electical power engineers (usually at the graduate level). There are safety stopgaps in place to prevent the collapse of the entire grid, but portions of it can go out from any Solar Storm. It won't cause the entire system to collapse. Portions that do can be brought back online in a timeframe of a few milliseconds, to a few days, depending on the damage.

If you have any doubt that the author is trying to promote a poor understanding of technology by underscoring it with a panaphobic topos, then I will refer you to the first paragraph where it fictionally depicts a disaster scenario starting with "IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 ..."

I also noticed that 2012 part..
I also found it odd that there would be no way to implement fuses or similar devices to limit the damage, but trusting you, I guess there actually are. Good.



Johnrich,
No, I haven't.

[billvon 3,059]

OTOH, the technology of set-top boxes, LNA's and LNB's for satellite receivers, medium distance non-hardened computer signaling (like USB and Ethernet) and longer distance communications mediums (like DSL) do present more fragile targets for damage than, say, the telegraph lines of the 1860's.