Large Storms On Earth Are Particle Accelerators 166
MondoMor writes "Apparently, the atmosphere above Earth's strongest storms acts like a particle accelerator, according to a UC Santa Cruz paper. TGFs (Terrestrial Gamma ray Flashes) may occur as seldom as 50 times a day, 'but the rate could be up to 100 times higher if, as some models indicate, TGFs are emitted as narrowly focused beams that would only be detected when the satellite is directly in their path.' I'm glad the gamma-ray bursts are directed into space."
We already knew TGIFs were dangerous (Score:5, Funny)
Last time I was in a TGIF restaurant, I was exposed to all sorts of dangerous things...
Waiters
Loud Americans with cigars
and of course copious amounts of spilled beer.
Not a new idea. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Free particle accelerator for use! (Score:3, Funny)
I don't want these gamma ray flashes in my backyard.
Re:Important! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not a new idea. (Score:5, Funny)
Hmm... Mesons, Bosons... I'm missing Totons and Dorons...
Good old Egon' (Score:3, Funny)
me too (Score:3, Funny)
No way, if they shot down to earth, then we could ALL be the Hulk.
Re:Space elevators? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Magnetic Field? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes: Bloody difficult.
Re:I am Glad! (Score:3, Funny)
hmmmmm....
Ground a tesla coil to my old boss' office chair
OR
Fry him with radioactive lightning....
Option 2 just sounds like more fun.
Shame it can't be done... =]
So it just may be then (Score:5, Funny)
What about aliens, though? (Score:4, Funny)
As am I, but I fear that these bursts of gamma rays are the real reason nobody's made first contact with us yet. It's kind of like when you go around town looking for a restaurant, you generally avoid the restaurants that bullets fly out of when you're pulling into the parking lot, opting instead for a restaurant where you can get at least to the hostess or maybe even your table before anyone shoots at you.
It's the same thing at work, here. Aliens do not want to share their warp drive technology with a planet that blasts them with gamma rays every time they fly by.
Re:A fingerprint? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Space elevators? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory (Score:3, Funny)
Five points from Slytherin, for making a pointless joke about Muggles.
Fools! (Score:3, Funny)
.
.
Especially the accursed Reed Richards.
Re:We already knew TGIFs were dangerous (Score:2, Funny)
2. craft dumb joke about the US
3. profit
Re:Not a new idea. (Score:2, Funny)
Nuc-lions, Tigons and Bearyons! Oh,my!
(Okay, a bit of massaging of Nucleons and Baryons to make a better fit!)
Re:Images of these gamma bursts (Score:4, Funny)
David Smith was my Prof... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Mystery Spot (Score:3, Funny)
I leave near there. It's situated on a hill where you don't really have any reference points for what's uphill/downhill. The shack itself was carefully designed in the '20s to fool your sense of perspective. It's just like a hundred other roadside attractions in out-of-the-way places. Just some optical illusions.
BTW, I remember a few years ago when some girls I knew were visiting from out of town, and asked me if I knew where the Mystery Spot was... (of course, I told them that I most certainly did--at least, according to my ex-girlfriend anyways...)