The Earth narrowly avoided being hit by a “cannibal” solar flare – but has been lashed by powerful enough blasts to disrupt communications. In recent days, space weather forecasters had warned that the Earth could be hit by a range of powerful flares that have been ejected from the Sun. Particular warnings focused on the “cannibal” flare, which was forecast to potentially glance Earth. “Cannibal” solar flares are formed when a later blast catches up with one that was ejected earlier, and consumes it. The energy of the two is combined, which can make them far more powerful than flares that are released on their own. The latest cannibal flare appears to have missed Earth, however. Forecasts had suggested that it was only expected to glance the planet, and so a miss was perhaps likely. The Earth was struck by an X-class flare, however. That is the most potent category of solar flares, and can cause considerable disruption on Earth. This time around, space weather experts warned that the blast was enough to disrupt radio and navigation signals in North America. It was measured as an R3 blackout – on a scale that runs from 1 to 5 – which meant that areas in the US and Canada as well as on the Pacific Ocean were at risk of having radio signals and navigation disrupted. The Sun moves through a cycle of activity every 11 years, during which it releases more and less “coronal mass ejections” or CMEs, and it is currently in a particularly busy part of that cycle. Those CMEs can bring energetic flares that hit Earth – and could one day cause considerable problems on the planet, disrupting energy grids and other important infrastructure. The latest flare was measured at X1.5 and is the 20th such X flare to have hit the Earth in its current period. It came out of a particularly active part of the Sun, and followed other, weaker flares, the UK’s Met Office said. Nonetheless, experts said the “minor ongoing solar radiation storm” was “waning” and that it did not expect significant disruption in the coming days. Read More Giant space ‘umbrella’ tethered to asteroid could protect Earth from climate crisis James Webb Space Telescope captures new images of the Ring Nebula Massive solar storm strikes Earth, Moon and Mars together for first time in history

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AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 8, 2023--

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A French company is aiming to complete a non-stop circumnavigation of the Earth using a solar-powered airship in a bid to test a new form of zero-emission travel. France-based Euro Airship is building the Solar Airship One with the aim of completing the round-the-world journey without fossil fuels in less than a month. Flying at an altitude of around 20,000 feet (6,000 metres), the futuristic craft uses a casing of solar panels, batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells to deliver power day and night, making it theoretically possible to fly forever. “The good thing is that we’re not doing this world tour flight just for an exhibition or for an adventure... There is an additional process after that for our technology,” French aerobatic pilot Dorine Bourneton, one of the pilots of the airship, told Flying magazine. “We’ve been working for the last 20 years in R&D, and we self financed it. Since July 2020, we signed a partnership with Capgemini, and they are helping to develop the industrialisation phase.” Engineers at Capgemini have been working with Euro Airship on the design, manufacturing and assembly process. “The Solar Airship project demonstrates that it is possible to catalyse an ecosystem to foster the emergence of sustainable air transport solutions,” said Corinne Jouanny from Capgemini Engineering. Construction of the Solar Airship One is set to begin this year, with the non-stop flight taking place in 2026. The project is part of a new generation of eco-friendly airships that are aiming to offer an alternative to conventional aircraft, which account for around 2 per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to estimates from the International Energy Agency. British manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles is also aiming to begin flights in 2026 of its Airlander 10 airship, while Google founder Sergey Brin is building the Pathfinder 1 airship as part od his Lighter Than Air venture. Read More Fossil fuels ‘becoming obsolete’ as solar panel prices plummet

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 8, 2023--

Several attendees at an NFT festival in Hong Kong have been hospitalised after they reported experiencing vision issues, eye-burning sensations and sunburned skin after the event, which was allegedly lit with UV lighting. ApeFest 2023 was held from Friday to Sunday for members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club and their guests. To be a member, people must own an NFT within the collection of digital ape artworks. The Bored Ape Yacht Club artworks, created by blockchain company Yuga Labs, gained notoriety for becoming an exclusive online club that includes celebrities who have bought a Bored Ape NFT, such as Madonna, Justin Beiber, Serena Williams and many more, according to Decrypt. The NFTs, which, like cryptocurrency, sit on a blockchain; the person who owns the image has sole intellectual property rights and can choose to sell to another owner. Many crypto and NFT owners and fans went to the event, but some came away from the experience with bizarre symptoms. Attendees took to X (formerly Twitter) to ask other fest-goers if they had similar symptoms. One user wrote: “Anyone else’s eyes burning from last night? Woke up at 3am with extreme pain and ended up in the ER.” To which another person, under the username @CryptoJune777, replied: “I woke up at 04:00 and couldn’t see anymore. Had so much pain and my whole skin is burned. Needed to go to the hospital.” @CryptoJune77 also added that a doctor said that it could have been the UV lighting coming from the stage that burned their skin and damaged their eyes. Many other people replied to the tweets, saying they had experienced the same issue, with some also adding that they had to go to hospital. Another user, Adrian ZduÅ„czyk, said he had to pay $3000HKD ($383USD) for his hospital expenses after he was diagnosed with “photokeratitis over both eyes” due to unprotected exposure to UV radiation. “So many of my friends are still unaware they must seek medical help to make sure they end up with no damage, as well,” the user wrote. “Please go get your eyes checked immediately. We’ve most likely been exposed to experience similar to Mt Everest climbers - snow blindness.” UV radiation can cause photokeratitis, which is essentially like sunburning your eye, which can produce symptoms such as blurriness, tearing, redness and, in rare cases, temporary vision loss or colour changes, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Photokertitis is often associated with snow blindness, as climbers, snowboarders, or skiers can experience it when the sun reflects off ice and snow. After the sunburn allegations started circulating on social media, the Bored Ape Yacht Club issued a statement on X. “Apes, we are aware of the eye-related issues that affected some of the attendees of ApeFest and have been proactively reaching out to individuals since yesterday to try and find the potential root causes,” they said in their post. “Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than 1% of those attending and working the event had these symptoms.” “While nearly everyone has indicated their symptoms have improved, we encourage anybody who feels them to seek medical attention just in case,” the club added. The owner of the Bored Ape Yacht Club project, Yuga Labs, told The Verge that it is aware of the situation and is taking the reports seriously. “We are actively reaching out and in touch with those affected to better understand the root cause,” said a spokesperson for the company. “Based on our estimates, the 15 people we’ve been in direct communication with so far represent less than one per cent of the approximately 2,250 event attendees and staff at our Saturday night event.” The Independent has contacted Yuga Labs for further comment. Read More Guidance set to urge parents not to buy smartphones for primary school children ChatGPT update allows anyone to make their own personalised AI assistant Elon Musk weighs in on the scooped bagel debate Guidance set to urge parents not to buy smartphones for primary school children ChatGPT update allows anyone to make their own personalised AI assistant Elon Musk weighs in on the scooped bagel debate

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