Cause of Aurora Borealis Confirmed

An anonymous reader writes "There are reports that satellites have aided scientists in confirming why the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) exists. 'New data from NASA's Themis mission, a quintet of satellites launched this winter, found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting Earth's upper atmosphere to the sun. The energy is then abruptly released in the form of a shimmering display of lights.'"

It's TWUE!

[interiot]

I'm sure the electric universe guys [wired.com] will have a field day [thunderbolts.info] with this...

What?

[Jethro]

I thought it was already well established that the aurora was caused by Santa's reindeer throwing up.

Oblig.

[Xinef Jyinaer]

Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?

Re:Obviously

[Walt Dismal]

You've RUINED my Christmas. I always thought it was Santa who caused the lights.

Sincerely,

Billy Widget, Age 8, Cleveland Ohio

P.S. I bet you're going to tell me next that there is no Easter Bunny, storks don't deliver babies, and Microsoft sells flawless software. I'm not THAT dumb.

at this time of year?

[User 956]

There are reports that satellites have aided scientists in confirming why the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) exists. 'New data from NASA's Themis mission, a quintet of satellites launched this winter, found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting Earth's upper atmosphere to the sun.

That's not true at all. It happens when you're cooking steamed hams, and your kitchen catches on fire.

Yes, but what about the alternatives?

[commisaro]

What about the "Intelligent Twinkling" explanation? Scientists seem completely unwilling to even CONSIDER this possibility!

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Nonsense.

[Moofie]

It's Dust.

Where's MY Panserbjørne?

Re:It's TWUE!

[deft]

"I'm sure the electric universe guys will have a field day with this..."

I'd say they will have a magnetic field day with this one.

Re:The More Important Discovery

[Shining Celebi]

Every single person who doubts that this is more than coincidental can surely be excused for the sole reason that the implications are kind of hard to get a full handle on. It's really kind of shocking.

Why yes, I suppose it would be.

Re:Oblig.

[operagost]

Mmm... steamed hams.

Re:What?

[bpsbr_ernie]

I always thought it was fairy dust or glitter from the angels... obviously, I was wrong, its the sun farting in our general direction...

Re:Obviously

[zolaar]

Did you ever stop to think that, maybe, Santa made the Sun? When Santa and the Y'ter Bunny (having returned to Santa seeking guidance from its "creator") merged consciousnesses and ascended to a higher plane of existence?

As for your other assertions, I'll leave you with this: weiners make more than just pee-pee; Microsoft, on the other hand, doesn't.

lyrics

[grayNOISEeffect]

"flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields"

Aren't those the lyrics to some 90s trance song?

Re:The More Important Discovery

[GreenLED]

To sum up the whole story, the
universe is incredibly fascinating.
It's hard to believe all of this stuff
could possibly be made of of chance.

A magnetic rope, wow.

Re:Zonk - WTF-Over?

[zolaar]

Ooh, yeesh... buddy, hate to be the one to break it to you... "science" class got cut from your kids' school's budget back about... well, about two or three years after the Beijing Wall came down and Germany finally gave up Communalism in favor of Christianity...

Yeah, I know, bummer.

Would it make you feel better to know that, once a week, we show the kids our HD-DVDs of "Smarter Than A 5th Grader - Season 1"? We feel that seeing another child succeed on television helps develop a child's positive self-image. An incredibly handy attribute when you're standing in the unemployment line.

Re:The More Important Discovery

[aichpvee]

I thought it was Dust...

Re:The More Important Discovery

[GreenLED]

We're so smart, it took us, oh...
"millions" of years to figure this
out. Hmmm, if you figure that
the earth has been around for
6,000 years, that actually puts
us in a better "light" -- we must
be pretty stupid. I wonder how
much longer it will take to figure
out that it's impossible to throw
a boat-load of random plane
parts on a tarmark, come back
5 billion years later and find out
"It's A Plane!!!!!!" Om my goodness!

Even video gamers realize you have
to program a game before you can
have fun playing it. :)