PopularMechanics082017

AUGUST 2017 _ http://www.popularmechanics.co.za 49

SOLAR FLARES

Bursts of electromagnetic

radiation that emanate from

the Sun during solar flares will

take down the power grid.

Standard-issue solar flares

are too small and too far

away to have any noticeable

effect on Earth. But coronal

mass ejections, a separate

phenomenon, can drive geo-

magnetic storms, which can

temporarily interfere with

high-frequency communica-

tions and could also affect the

power grid. According to Bob

Rutledge of the Space Weather

Forecast Office at the US

National Weather Service’s

Space Weather Prediction

Centre, significant CMEs

occur sporadically. The most

recent big events were record-

ed in 1859, 1921 and 1989.

Repairs to the grid would be

arduous and costly but, as

for physical risk, it’s minimal.

Specialists monitor space

weather closely. Because a

CME can take a day or more

to reach Earth, there’ll be

ample time to redirect power

loads, get aeroplanes back

on the tarmac and download

enough podcasts to get you

through it.

YOU’LL BE FINE. IT’LL GIVE YOU A

CHANCE TO READ A BOOK.

ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSES

Rogue nations could create

the equivalent of a coronal

mass ejection (See “Solar

Flares”) and use it as a

weapon to devastate a

nation’s power grid.

Electromagnetic pulses come

in three phases: E1, E2, and

E3. E1 and E2 pulses range

in the ten thousands of volts

per metre. Although they can

give small-scale equipment

trouble, the grid is generally

safe. An E3 pulse, however,

is similar to a geomagnetic

storm and can be caused by a

nuclear detonation in the air.

Since we can’t predict an EMP,

we can’t shut down the grid

in preparation. The long-term

effects could be devastating,

overloading the power grid

and causing an extended

breakdown in infrastructure.

BEST IF YOU DON’T MAKE EYE

CONTACT WITH NORTH KOREA.

W

hen I tell my mother that she’s made me afraid of

everything, she beams with pride. In her view, instilling

me with fear continues to be one of her most important

jobs as a parent. I can’t plunge to my death in a small

plane if I never get in one. I can’t break my wrist falling on black

ice if I stay indoors after every snowstorm. Last summer, on a

weekend visit, she called me back inside when I’d left her house

for a morning jog without putting on the bear bells she’d bought

for me. After 30 years of banning any of us from the grass in her

backyard (the ticks!) she finally relented, right after she replaced

it with tick-resistant mulch. I’m not as big of a scaredy-cat as

she is (I hid the bells in the mailbox until I got back), but I have

learnt to view most things in life as potentially dangerous. This

has made me miss out on some exciting opportunities, like flying

to the Alaskan bush in a prop plane to watch bear fish from the

riverbank, which my husband did without me. But on the plus

side, I’m also not dead. – Meryl Rothstein PM

EVERYTHING

If you aren’t careful, anything can kill you. And it will.