digg

Facebook Connect Join Digg About
See the original image at science.nasa.gov

New Discoveries About the Amazing Northern Lights

science.nasa.gov — NASA's fleet of THEMIS spacecraft, launched less than 8 months ago, has made three important discoveries about spectacular eruptions of Northern Lights called "substorms" and the source of their power.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 12, 2007

Digg DudeWhat is Digg?

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg surfaces the best stuff as submitted and voted on by the community. Take the Tour to learn more.

61 Comments

show profanity settings
expand all
  • Tr33fiddy, on 12/12/2007, -2/+24Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?

    May I see it?
  • halohunter, on 12/12/2007, -4/+21Did they find out about Dust?
  • Verven, on 12/12/2007, -1/+11SEYMOUR! The house is on fire!

    No, mother. It's just the Northern Lights.
  • Klarth, on 12/12/2007, -2/+10Did I say steamed clams? Oh, no, I meant steamed HAMS!
  • ChaosProfessor, on 12/12/2007, -0/+6why call them steamed hams when they are obviously grilled
  • CheeseburgerBro, on 12/12/2007, -0/+6The headline is inaccurate, as this effect is not limited to only the northern lights. Like Poland, the Aurora Australis is always forgotten.
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -2/+7" The magnetopause is where the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field meet and push against one another like sumo wrestlers locked in combat."

    NASA has cool definitions.
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -2/+6I thought we were already aware that the aurora were cause by solar radiation colliding with the atmosphere. The new discovery is really the magnetic link between the atmosphere and the sun. More evidence of a connection between the sun and climate fluctuation?
  • scubachef11, on 12/12/2007, -0/+4I feel slightly embarrassed now that I realize this is a story about the phenomenon and not the cannabis strain.. Must've been the green thumbnail picture..
  • MacEnvy, on 12/12/2007, -0/+3Perhaps I should add to their research. I've made a few findings of my own about White Widow.
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -0/+3From the article : 'A "magnetic rope" is a twisted bundle of … hemp ….'
  • pyromanx, on 12/12/2007, -0/+3Those aren't high-res enough. Try this one: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071009.html
  • smackhero, on 12/12/2007, -0/+3you sound grumpy. are you going through magnetopause?
  • inactive, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2NoahHoward (1 hour ago): "The new discovery is really the magnetic link between the atmosphere and the sun. More evidence of a connection between the sun and climate fluctuation?"
  • inactive, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2pole reversal is due to occur in 2012, what makes you think it won't be pretty?
  • NightStryke, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2Seymore, you steam a good ham.
  • MacEnvy, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2Listen, I dugg your first comment up. And I don't deny that it *could* be a factor. But this particular article and the quoted research provide NO indication or evidence that this is the case, and so it isn't useful to talk about here. You can speculate all you want, but this research itself does not appear to provide evidence of an effect on climate change.
  • Tobark, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2Dugg for "magnetopause"
  • trogdor282, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2Yes, if only there were a way to use the sun as a source of energy. Sadly, this may prove to be impossible.
  • smackhero, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1no one specifically said that it can't. but there's no evidence of that right now, or at least none in the article.

    also, no one wants to have an off-topic discussion with some armchair-climatologist who's already made up his mind about global warming and is just looking for evidence (grasping at straws) that supports the conclusion he's already prematurely drawn.
  • smackhero, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1kyeran, are those your own photos? if not, who are the copyright holders? i just wanna know cuz i'd like to use some of them as stock images.
  • jphudy, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1I think that there is much more we have to learn. Especially with how this "magnetic rope" may be a cause of our pole reversals over time. Anyone think a pole reversal is due?? Don't think it will be pretty.
  • StarofTroy, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Our own government is experimenting with Dust! The conspiracy is out!
  • hulez, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Why didnt they tell us they were doing this 8 months ago? this tripped me out soooo much hehehe
  • SL021, on 12/12/2007, -2/+3Pretty...
  • Jahweh, on 12/12/2007, -1/+2Totally awesome
  • itspuddingtime, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1knowned =? owned =? pwnt ?
  • MrSidnet, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Dugg for bursty
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Coinciding prophecies of the end of the world by the Mayans? Other than that I don't think they ever came across any cataclysmic damage that they linked to pole switches.
  • thredden, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1"why dont you make like a leaf, and get the F*** out!"

    great movie
  • ilkeryoldas, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1videos or it didn't happen http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/06/aurora-natu ...
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1"it isn't useful to talk about here"

    Fair enough.
  • RonBurgundy76, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1Rosie O'Donnell and sumo wrestler are synonyms.
  • abuelos84, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1that's two of us...
  • abuelos84, on 12/12/2007, -0/+12012, The beginning of a new Era, at least that's what the Mayans said...
  • inactive, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1I don't get this at all...

    They call Aurora Borealis a "substorm" then discover what has been knowned about Aurora Borealis for 60 years?

    Am I missing something?

    http://www.imv.uit.no/english/science/publicat/way ...

  • BrandonWicks, on 12/12/2007, -2/+2"Rope? What in the hell would we need a bloody rope for?"
  • rohit12, on 12/12/2007, -0/+0awesome, amazing
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1Care to explain how that makes me a nutcase? Oh, of course solar radiation couldn't have anything to do with fluctuating temperatures on earth, how silly of me.
  • segaszivos, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1Old news. The auroras and the magnetic fields between our planet and other celestial bodies, including the sun, has been common knowledge for astro-physicists for over a half century.
  • sindex, on 12/12/2007, -0/+0"end of the world" is alarmist nonsense. The Mayans didn't predict the end of the world, their calendar simply resets. And if you believe in that, remember that the world has "come to an end" about 100 times from other predictions too. Yawn. Will something interesting happen? Probably. But something interesting happens everyday.
  • Volkov137, on 12/12/2007, -1/+1What about the amazing AK47, Cinderella, and Blueberry?
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -2/+1Way to be a forward thinker. You don't think piping solar radiation directly to the upper atmosphere has anything to do with temperature? You don't think 10 million degree explosions against the atmosphere contribute?
  • noahhoward, on 12/12/2007, -2/+1Wanted to add, it's called a hypothesis, and yes there is plenty of evidence that change in energy causes change in temperature.
  • MacEnvy, on 12/12/2007, -3/+2"More evidence of a connection between the sun and climate fluctuation?"

    Well, no, there's no indication of that from the evidence presented. Nice try, though.
  • khail250, on 12/12/2007, -2/+1terrorist made it
  • verkon, on 12/12/2007, -2/+1let me guess, they cause cancer as well?
  • hulez, on 12/12/2007, -5/+4***** THAT, APPRECIATE IT FOR WAHT IT IS
  • inactive, on 12/12/2007, -3/+1Hmmm...Let's see how long before some nutcase links fluctuations in the nothern Lights to Global warming.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 55 of 55 discussions

  • Add a Comment

    Login or register to comment!
    Or, sign-in super fast with your Facebook account ...

© Digg Inc. 2009 — Content created and posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain | Terms of Use Updated | Privacy Policy
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.