Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth

MaxwellEdison writes "Scientists have discovered evidence of magnetic portals connecting the Earth and the Sun every 8 minutes. 'Several speakers at the Workshop have outlined how FTEs form: On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun), Earth's magnetic field presses against the sun's magnetic field. Approximately every eight minutes, the two fields briefly merge or "reconnect," forming a portal through which particles can flow. The portal takes the form of a magnetic cylinder about as wide as Earth. The European Space Agency's fleet of four Cluster spacecraft and NASA's five THEMIS probes have flown through and surrounded these cylinders, measuring their dimensions and sensing the particles that shoot through.'"

Another misleading headline

"Magnetic Portals Connect the Solar Wind and the Earth's Magnetosphere" would be much better.

Yes, but...

(a) this is Slashdot, and (b) this is Halloween. How on Earth do you expect to find a sensible summary given a juxtaposition like that?

Re:Another misleading headline

Sorry, headline is correct. The Earth's magnetic field lines and the Sun's field lines are connecting every 8 minutes. The fact that they connect allows a stream of the solar wind into the Earth's magnetosphere and/or atmosphere. The article clearly states that the magnetic field of the sun and the earth become coupled every 8 minutes. Since this is an article posted on nasa.gov I'd like to assume that it isn't just another example of bad science journalism. Especially since it makes sense ;)

Well-done, NASA!

Now you're thinking with portals!

Re:Well-done, NASA!

Speedy solar particles go in, speedy solar particles come out!

Re:Well-done, NASA!

Congratulations. You euthanized your NASA test module more quickly than any test subject on record.

8 light-minutes

Is the Earth-Sun distance. Coincidence?

The Summary

Is a lie.

I'll elaborate for you

O <-- this is the sun.

WHOOSH <-- this is the WHOOSH going over your head.
. <-- you.
o <-- this is the earth.

The explanation is a lie

This article is about magnetic portals. Portal is also the title of a first-person adventure game for PC developed and published by Valve. One of the catchphrases from Portal is "The cake is a lie!", hence sokoban's comment "The summary is a lie".

THEMIS Probes

Naw them ain't probes, them is aliens.

STARGATE!!!!

Now we just need to find Daniel Jackson.

Re:STARGATE!!!!

i rather find Jack Daniels :D

Re:STARGATE!!!!

Can't be. The Sun isn't covered in Canadian forests.

Learn something new every day

On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun)

Really? How fascinating!

Re:Learn something new every day

I'm from the day side of the earth and am really getting a kick out of these replies.

Re:Learn something new every day

we, the people of the night side of earth, object to the hotheaded policies of the day side government. despite all of your anti-nighttime propaganda, your DST [wikipedia.org] ploy to temporally encroach on our borders is plain to see. thus you have broken the circadian treaty that has kept peace between our two nations. we will not stand for this diurnal threat to our coolheaded & peace-loving society.

we declare war on the heathen sun-worshipers to, once and for all, bring an end to their sidereal tyranny. the crepuscular revolution has begun!

Re:Learn something new every day

It makes it warmer.

Every 8 minutes. We call the time 4 minutes later "mini ice minutes."

Aurora Borealis?

FTA:
"the cylindrical portals tend to form above Earth's equator and then roll over Earth's winter pole"

I wonder if that's why the aurora borealis seems to crawl across the sky. I seem to remember (from when I lived in the high north) that it happened in fairly regular intervals. The "every eight minuets" seems to ring true as the time between each pass of the light though I haven't been there in eight years so I might just be remembering it wrong.

8.32 light minutes

It is 93 million miles, or 8.32 light minutes, separating Sun and Earth (center to center) -- the magnetosphere will be slightly less. Coincidence? I hope they are investigating some sort of possible resonance or standing wave that is directly related to this distance.

Mal-2

Re:8.32 light minutes

It struck me that there was a similarity between the timing of the portals and the distance, too. Now, we know of other planets in the solar system with a strong magnetosphere, so in addition to your suggestions, I'd also ask if NASA is looking to see if similar corridors exist for other planets and whether there is any similar correlation between their portals and distance.

Planets Aligned

So something cool might actually happen when all the planets are aligned? Portal from Sun to Neptune?

Re:Planets Aligned

Why is it always a trinket that gives you powers - why is it never a pair of pants or a left shoe.

Re:Who tagged "!ipods"?

It doesn't have anything to do with iPods which is exactly why it was tagged NOT iPods.

Re:Who tagged "!ipods"?

Well... it is true at least, right?

Lets add other fun !-tags.

Lets see... !aardvark, !aardwolf, !aargau, !aare, !aaron, !aascu...