List of All Articles with Tag 'sp'

Nasa has built an artificial intelligence model to predict where on Earth an impending solar storm would strike, a new system that scientists said can provide “30 minutes of advance warning”. The AI model analyses Nasa satellite data to raise the alarm on dangerous space weather, said researchers from the American space agency’s Goddard Space Center. The warning may provide just enough time for countries to prevent severe impacts of these storms on power grids and other critical infrastructure, according to the new study published recently in the journal Space Weather. Solar storms are caused when the Sun emits a burst of electrically charged plasma in what is called a coronal mass ejection. These charged particles create so-called geomagnetic storms that may cause blackouts and technological malfunctions of instruments on Earth as they interfere with the protective magnetic field around the planet. While these storms range from mild to extreme, their effects could become increasingly disruptive in a technologically dependent world. For instance, a solar storm in 1989 caused blackouts across Quebec, Canada for 12 hours, plunging millions into the dark and closing schools and businesses. Another popular solar superstorm event known as the Carrington Event sparked fires at early telegraph stations in 1859 that prevented messages from being sent. Scientists warned that the risk of such a devastating solar storm is increasing as we approach the next “solar maximum” – a peak in the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle. To prevent such a devastation, Nasa scientists developed the new AI model to identify links between solar wind measurements from previous Sun missions and geomagnetic disturbances observed at ground stations across Earth. The computer model they developed, called DAGGER, can quickly and accurately predict geomagnetic disturbances worldwide, “30 minutes before they occur,” researchers said. When they tested the model against two geomagnetic storms that happened in August 2011 and March 2015, it was able to “quickly and accurately” forecast the storm’s impacts around the world. The new prediction system is the first to combine swift analysis of AI, with real measurements from space and across Earth to generate frequently updated predictions. Scientists believe the early warning provided by the system can help take action to protect infrastructure from an impending solar storm, such as temporarily taking sensitive systems offline or moving satellites to different orbits. Read More Stunning aurora lights up skies over Australia: ‘Brightest one I’ve ever seen’ How a severe solar storm could leave a lasting impact on our world The world is not yet ready to overcome a once-in-a-century solar superstorm, warn scientists Astronomers find ‘objects that no one has ever seen before’ Saturn’s rings are no more than 400 million years old – study Strange sounds recorded by balloons in stratosphere leave scientists puzzled

President Joe Biden previewed his 2024 election pitch to young Black voters Saturday in commencement remarks at a Howard University graduation ceremony in Washington, DC, articulating his vision of a "future for all Americans,"

The IRS criminal investigation division is ramping up collaboration with counterparts overseas in pursuit of sanctions evaders. The

Scientists think they have found an explanation for what scientists thought was a “runaway” black hole speeding through the universe. Last month, scientists reported that they had seen what appeared to be an object unlike anything seen before. What originally appeared to be scratches on Hubble images was actually a black hole that had been thrown out from its home galaxy and was now speeding through the cosmos, scientists said. Astronomers had come to that conclusion after spotting a long trail of stars, formed 8 billion years ago. It was a stretched out, narrow shape, roughly the same size as our own Milky Way. Last month’s study suggested that those stars were the wake left behind from that runaway black hole. As the black hole travelled through a gas cloud, it left behind the right conditions to start forming stars, that study suggested. It was shock and a breakthrough for a number of reasons: it was unprecedented, and required a number of different conditions for it to be true. That led astronomers both to celebrate and question the theory, and in the time since other researchers have been working on their own ideas. Now scientists at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) have suggested their own, more ordinary explanation of the unusual, long star structure. They suggest that it is in fact just a flat or thin galaxy – one without a bulge that makes it wider – that is being seen from its side. “The motions, the size, and the quantity of stars fits what has been seen in galaxies within the local universe,” said Jorge Sanchez Almeida, an IAC researcher who is the first author of the article, in a statement. “It’s a relief to have found the solution to this mystery, the new proposed scenario is much simpler. In one sense it is also a pity, because the existence of fleeing black holes is expected, and this could have been the first one to be observed.” The team compared the mystery structure with another, much better known galaxy, named IC5249. That is near to us, has a similar mass of stars, and doesn’t have a galaxy either. They found that it was surprisingly similar. The stars were moving in similar ways to those found in closer, comparative galaxies, researchers said. That led scientists working on the new paper to suggest that it is a relatively normal and expected galaxy, rather than an out-of-control black hole. But they hope that further observations will shed further light on what exactly it is doing – and could still allow the galaxy to prove of interest to astronomers. “We also looked at the relation between the mass of the assumed galaxy and its maximum velocity of rotation, and discovered that indeed it is a galaxy which behaves like a galaxy,” said Ignacio Trujillo, an IAC researcher who worked on the study. “It is an interesting object, because it is quite a large galaxy at a very large distance from Earth, where the majority of the galaxies are smaller.” The proposal is reported in a paper, ‘Supermassive black hole wake or bulgeless edge-on galaxy?’, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Read More Aliens may intercept human communication ‘within next 100 years’, study says Powerful auroras likely this week due to rare ‘backward’ sunspot Meteorite crashes through roof of New Jersey home Aliens may intercept human communication ‘within next 100 years’, study says Powerful auroras likely this week due to rare ‘backward’ sunspot Meteorite crashes through roof of New Jersey home

Cal Raleigh became the first catcher to homer from both sides of the plate at Fenway Park, and George Kirby pitched the Seattle Mariners past the Boston Red Sox 10-1

Chicago Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger left Monday night’s game against the Houston Astros with an apparent injury after making an acrobatic catch in the seventh inning

Shohei Ohtani made more history, becoming the first starting pitcher since 1964 to reach base five times in a game as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-5

The Colorado Rockies placed first baseman C

The New Orleans Saints have been in talks with franchise all-time sack leader Cameron Jordan about a multi-year extension and have signed veteran receiver James Washington

Marcelo Bielsa has been appointed as Uruguay head coach. The 67-year-old had been out of football management since leaving Leeds almost 15 months ago. The Uruguayan Football Association confirmed Bielsa’s appointment on a deal running until the 2026 World Cup. He succeeds Diego Alonso as national team boss. Alonso’s contract expired after the World Cup in Qatar earlier this season, where Uruguay suffered a shock group-stage exit. Bielsa served as manager of Argentina from 1998 to 2004 and he also had a four-year stint in charge of Chile. Bielsa guided Leeds back to the Premier League from the Championship in 2020 and was one of the most popular managers in the club’s history. But he left in February last year following a run of four successive league defeats. His lengthy managerial career has also included spells with Athletic Bilbao, Marseille and Lille. Uruguay are currently 16th in FIFA’s world rankings, with Bielsa’s first major campaign at the helm set to be next year’s Copa America in the United States. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Marcelo Bielsa has been confirmed as the new Uruguay coach to the end of the 2026 World Cup

The Spanish league says it is working with Espanyol to identify those involved in the field invasion that forced Barcelona players to cut short their title celebrations and rush into the locker room