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A geomagnetic storm is hitting the northern part of the U.S. Here’s how the solar event may impact you

Warnings about Hurricane Milton hitting Florida have dominated news reports this week. But there have been warnings from forecasters with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center about another storm brewing: a severe geomagnetic storm.

What is a geomagnetic storm?

According to Jonathan Blazek, an assistant professor of physics at Northeastern University, these events are triggered by a coronal mass ejection, which is when the sun lets off a mass ejection of particles. Sometimes, these particles hit Earth and interact with our magnetic field and upper layers of the atmosphere. This, Blazek says, is a geomagnetic storm.

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AP Photo/Kyle Green

October 10, 2024
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What happens to sea life during hurricanes? Can they move to calmer waters? A marine scientist explains

When hurricanes roar in, expect sharks to head out to sea, corals to shatter, and grouper and other reef fish to end up dead on shorelines.

Hurricane Milton was making its way across the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday and expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area on the west coast of Florida.

A big storm like Milton can be expected to churn the water 60 to 80 feet below the sea’s surface, says Mark Patterson, a professor at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center.

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AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

October 09, 2024

Scientists recreate genome of 52,000-year-old freeze-dried woolly mammoth

The 52,000-year-old freeze-dried remains of a woolly mammoth were so remarkably preserved that scientists were recently able to reconstruct its genome. Their discovery not only unearths new information about these ancient creatures but reveals a new kind of natural preservation that could open the door to studying other intact ancient animals.

“This is fascinating because this is a new type of fossil,” says Michele Di Pierro, an assistant professor of physics at Northeastern University who was one of many researchers involved in the research that was published in Cell. “Typically, we see in fossils the displacement of organic material with minerals, and that preserves larger structures. Here, this is a molecular fossil. Here we’re talking about each piece of DNA … is in exactly the same position as it was 50,000 years ago.”

 

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Nano Calvo / VWPics via AP Images

October 09, 2024

Is Tampa prepared for the devastating impact of Hurricane Milton?

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward central Florida, Northeastern University disaster recovery experts say residents should expect extensive destruction from the storm and its surge — particularly if Tampa is hit directly.

“Tampa is the most vulnerable place,” says Q. Jim Chen, professor of civil and environmental engineering and marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern.

 

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AP Photo by Ronaldo Silva

October 08, 2024

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