To prepare for a coronal mass ejection, I ...
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 11830 votes
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 40 comments
Time Loop (Score:1)
I think I saw this episode of Stargate SG-1 already...
At first, I misread cornal as corneal (Score:2)
The picture that formed in my mind was disturbing, to say the least.
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Re:At first, I misread cornal as corneal (Score:4, Informative)
Re:At first, I misread cornal as corneal (Score:4, Funny)
I have a huge cornal mass ejection after eating too much creamed corn and prunes...
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Wouldn't that be a colonal mass ejection? Pretty much by definition.
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Or a kernel ass evacuation
A cornal what? (Score:5, Informative)
What's a cornal, again?
All I could find is this: http://www.spanishdict.com/tra... [spanishdict.com]
"A strap or thong with which oxen are tied to the yoke by the horns."
How could that thing eject mass is beyond my comprehension, let alone why should we prepare for it.
Or maybe we're talking about Cornal Hendricks, who can eject mass, and yeah, I'd prepare for that by not sitting behind him.
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CORONAL. (Score:2)
You were probably joking, but for anyone who is really confused, it's coronal mass ejection [wikipedia.org]. The solar flare thing that was supposed to affect us this afternoon (in the USA).
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Yes sir, I was joking. :)
Good catch!
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Meh :) At the time I was reading, only one other comment in response to the article spelled it properly, and I just figured someone might actually be wondering, as a result.
Oddly, the site is offering to let me moderate you now. But that would be immoderate.
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The solar flare thing that was supposed to affect us this afternoon (in the USA).
Which raises the question, did anyone notice?
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The solar flare thing that was supposed to affect us this afternoon (in the USA).
Which raises the question, did anyone notice?
Well, I certainly didn't. Actually had a better throughput on my connection than I did the previous day.
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Waxed my cablemodem so I could surf faster!
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Waxed my cablemodem so I could surf faster!
Thanks, now I'm having dirty thoughts about your DOCSIS.
Re:A cornal what? (Score:5, Funny)
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A jet mounted laser is more portable...
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Yes, but some students may sneak aboard and sabotage it before the demonstration.
Would you want your house destroyed by lased popcorn?
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Mmmmm. Tasty destruction.
Now what am I going to do with all these boards and 6-inch spikes [youtube.com]? A girl's gotta have her standards.
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Just want to say I love the idea in your sig.
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Thank you.
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The Turkey Shot Out Of The Oven
The turkey shot out of the oven
and rocketed into the air,
it knocked every plate off the table
and partly demolished a chair.
It ricocheted into a corner
and burst with a deafening boom,
then splattered all over the kitchen,
completely obscuring the room.
It stuck to the walls and the windows,
it totally coated the floor,
there was turkey attached to the ceiling,
where there'd never been turkey before.
It blanketed every appliance,
it
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+1 funny, I remember that from when I was very young.
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Give it time, at the rate the AGW crowd claim the planet is heating up they'll start popping about 3 this afternoon. Or maybe tomorrow. Or, vaguely possibly, two days before the day after next Thursday.
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What's a cornal, again?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C... [wikipedia.org]
A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space.
So. Posh name for "Solar Wind Ejaculation".
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To prepare for a cornal mass ejection ... (Score:1)
I first learned how to spell "coronal"
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Except the one the Slashdot editors have almost always leaves out context too.
LMJGTFY (Score:1)
Head for the hills, or the coast, or... (Score:2)
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Backup My Data (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't actually prepare for coronal mass ejections, but backing up data just always makes sense.
In fact, I think I'll go back it up right now.
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I don't actually prepare for coronal mass ejections, but backing up data just always makes sense.
In fact, I think I'll go back it up right now.
I did, but the whole foil thing is a joke. High energy protons aren't going to be stopped by aluminium foil. Get farther away from the sun, or put a big mass between you and it (be on the far side of the planet, leeward) are your options for avoiding CME damage. Foil, lead, concrete won't do a thing to help; not unless you're also at the bottom of a very deep mine shaft.
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We should always stay on the far side of the plane to protect our selves.
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However, it takes a really fast car to stay on the other side of the planet.
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Picking up extra fuel for the generator is on my list.
To prepare for a cornal mass ejection, I ... (Score:2)
...Google what a cornal mass ejection is...then hand over my geek creds in shame :P.
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Why? the only person who should hand in his card is the person who spelled coronal as 'cornal'
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How poetic! (Score:2)
To prepare for a cornal mass ejection, I... Stockpile toilet paper...
You call that cornal mass? You're feeling poetic in the bathroom.
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How about sharing legitimate advice? (Score:2)
Instead of a whimsical poll, I wish slashdotters would be sharing legitimate advice about how to protect devices from EMP (either natural or man-made).
For example, if I store a hard drive or other sensitive device in a safe, can any old safe protect it, or does it have to be a safe specially designed to offer EMP protection?
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EMP does not equal CME
There is no EMP issue with CMEs. CMEs can cause power outages due to overload (charged particles building up in the electrical system). EMP comes from nuclear bomb blasts and if we're preparing for that the best thing to do is bend over and kiss your arse goodbye. BTW, see my earlier posts about the foil thing. CMEs are producing high energy protons. Six feet of lead won't stop that. You have to put distance and/or a lot more mass between the CME and whatever you want to protect than y
An EMP from a super solar flare... (Score:2)
According to http://watchdog.org/138940/sol... [watchdog.org] , "An EMP from a super solar flare would behave similarly to one generated by a nuclear missile that detonated in Earth’s upper atmosphere."
Are you saying that writer doesn't know what he's talking about?
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Are you saying that writer doesn't know what he's talking about?
That is exactly the case. There is an infinitesimal kernel of truth at the center of that pearl of idiocy; a high-altitude nuclear detonation does produce geomagnetic field disturbances similar to, but much more violent than, a CME impact. But the effects one normally thinks of as coming from a nuclear EMP -- small electronics being suddenly destroyed by radio-frequency electromagnetic fields -- are absolutely absent from a CME-induced geomagnetic storm.
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There are three components to a nuclear EMP. One affects electronics and can punch though a Faraday cage, one affects electronics but can be stopped by a Faraday cage, and one which affects power lines and a Faraday cage for individual devices is overkill. The range of each component is an order of magnitude greater than the previous.
A geomagnetic storm (from a Carrington Event scale CME) only produces the third component. It won't affect your harddrive unless it's plugged into a wall-socket and you're real
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What exactly is that first component? Is there any way an average Joe can protect his electronics from it? Or is the only defense, "pray that a nuke won't detonate above your region"?
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What exactly is that first component?
Ionisation of the upper atmosphere creates a cloud of relativistically accelerated electrons which the Earth's magnetic field causes to flow (or rather, to slam) back into the ground. That creates a RF pulse so sharp that it creates a voltage potential across any electronics or electrical devices, no matter how well protected against surges. It is sharp enough to create a voltage potential across a Faraday cage, removing the cage's protective effect. (And if you've seen Faraday cages resist lightning, you'l
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As an aside, it's been suggested that a lot of magma moving around under Sicily induced enough current in power lines to cause failures, as distinct from the consequences of not keeping those power lines in good repair. It's a good story even if it's accuracy is in doubt.
Thanks (Score:2)
Thanks for the mixture of good news (solar storm only produces type 3) and bad news (average Joe can't defend against type 1). These posts should probably be +5 Informative.
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EMP does not equal CME
No... but a big CME, as it interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere, can generate an EMP. That's what actually causes the overload in electrical systems, not the charged particles.
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Working in the north of Finland, and down a mine is exactly where our backup tapes go. Not that I deleted some local backups and had cause to find out or anything... oops.
As for CME preparation: Charge the camera batteries, make a flask of coffee, and break out the winter gear so girlfriend doesn't get cold and want to go home.
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uh... EMP from a charged front hitting a powerline can cause MAJOR damage. Ask the Canadians.
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Just wrap it in foil.
Several inches of steel is no better than a sheet of foil in being a faraday cage.
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Eddy currents can melt a thin enough layer with a big enough EMP.
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To melt foil would be one SERIOUS EMP. The likelyhood of such an EMP is vanishingly small, and if it ever did happen, you would have a lot more serious issues than whether your porn survived.
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if it's steel and grounded, you're good. Most safes are steel, so they make effective Faraday cages.
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and put the microwave in the safe...
yawn (Score:2)
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nah, not really. I can look out of my window and see HV powerlines that aren't RF shielded. I have unshielded ethernet cables. For that matter, I'm pretty sure that I have at least two pairs of headphones that use unshielded cables, and I know for a fact that my studio microphone's cable is unshielded because I wired that myself. ANY of that gear gets hit with an EMP, pretty much anything that isn't fuse protected that's connected to them is gonna be fucked.
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Nope.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad... [slate.com]
Harden my network cabling against possible (Score:2)
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lol (Score:5, Funny)
You know how when you first look at a block of words, your eyes and brain kind of skip around, read things out of order, and occasionally change words to fit what you think you're reading? My brain's first impression of this poll was...
To prepare for a mass ejaculation, I ...
_ Do nothing
_ Stockpile toilet paper
At that point, I figured I was reading it wrong.
In either case, my first answer is "Back up my data and foil-wrap the drive." Then the toilet-paper thing. :-)
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Wow I really did not understand this poll... (Score:2)
Accelerate backup schedule, if warranted. (Score:2)
Considering all I've done since the last full backup is easily kept on a single flash drive, I just make an incremental backup sooner than I otherwise would.
General Emergency Preparation (Score:2)
I don't do anything specifically for a mass ejection from the Sun, but I do have six months of food, three wells on the property with potable water, plenty of fire wood, a few thousand rounds of ammunition (not expecting a war or anything, I've just come across some good deals so why not), etc., etc. Six months isn't a super long time but it's better than nothing at all.
I haven't done anything to protect my electronics against a mass EMP type of deal, but if the whole electrical grid and everything else is
Bank customer records (Score:1)
Does anyone know which financial institutions have their data protected against a Carrington Event-sized CME hitting the earth? I'd hate to lose all my money because my bank's customer records were destroyed.
Imagine people not being able to buy groceries, because the customer records of their bank and credit cards were destroyed. Even if the banks and cc card companies restored the data from backups quickly, it could get ugly in grocery stores.
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You know all the banks "money" exists in a ledger at the Federal Reserve banks (also a computer). Even if your bank does a back up, if the Fed doesn't, you're still screwed.
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Does anyone know which financial institutions have their data protected against a Carrington Event-sized CME hitting the earth? I'd hate to lose all my money because my bank's customer records were destroyed.
A certain right wing talk show host in the US recently made a big fuss about he has bought an "EMP-proof" car. I guess that this means either pure diesel or spark plugs and points IC engine (he never did elaborate on what model it was) . However he made no reference to stockpiling fuel for the vehicle so I am apt to wonder what will happen in his post EMP world when everything else electronic around him will have died.
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nah he bought a prop from Bugsy Malone (built by Albert Luxford, no less!)
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uh, fuck the banks? We do have the option, even now, of fucking them off and going back to a fair barter system, or even a proper backed currency controlled by the State (therefore the People) rather than a private institution issuing debt. Two examples that spring to mind are the United States Dollar (Lincoln and Kennedy tried and were shot for it), and the Bradbury Pound.
Grew up in 60's (Score:1)
I still remember going through the duck and cover drills.
I would stockpile spelling checkers... (Score:2)
Cornal Mass Ejection - BBQ Aftermath (Score:2)
Easy answer (Score:1)
Usually not much to do (Score:2)
Unless you're managing a power plant, somewhere that uses long-distance radio links or a place with long non-fiber network cable runs, you can ignore it.
Tuck and Roll (Score:2)
I plan to wear my finest tinfoil hat! (Score:2)
Adjusted to a jaunty angle. That aluminum umbrella will finally see some use too.
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I'm sure there's a word for this, but "tinfoil," like "dashboard," is one of those words that stuck around, and was repurposed, long after the original item disappeared. But I would suggest that aluminum foil is every bit as effective, for all uses, as actual tin foil. Just use Reynold's Heavy-Duty.
Go outside and take a look (Score:2)
Oh no (Score:2)
Will this brick my Prius? Do I have to wrap it in tin foil or something?
Verify servers, maybe switch to low graphics. (Score:2)
Typically, I check on all of my servers to ensure data's flowing. If they're not, I look to how we can fix it or route around any problems.
If I was more worried about the storms, I'd make sure that our development servers were configured to take load from the main production ones, and that we switched off superflous graphics on the websites. With our upgrades after the last Venus Transit, I'm not worried.
But then again, I'm responsible for web & database servers at the Solar Data Analysis Center, so
Toilet paper, Guns and Water (Score:2)
Well, I already stockpile two of the three. I just need more toilet paper and I am ready!
Auroras (Score:2)
Mostly I try to see the aurora borealis (Score:1)
Tinfoil! (Score:1)
I couldn't find any spare, so I had to use my hat :(
Now all I keep hearing is some Vogon poerty...
1970s poster (Score:2)
This reminded me of a 1970s poster that said in the event of an atomic bomb... "Put you head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye."
Backup My Data (Score:2)
I guess I could've said, "backup my data," but I do that anyway. I also already stock up on toilet paper and water because I hate shopping. You can only shoot one gun at a time, so stock up on ammo if you like. But I don't think it'll repel a coronal mass ejection.
aluminium flight case for the win (Score:2)
all my magnetics are stored in EMP proof boxes anyway, nothing short a direct hit from a nuke or a house fire is going to kill them.
Missing option (Score:2)
"Quickly grab a sock."
Solar Monitor is up. (Score:3)
Solar Monitor : http://solarmonitor.org/ [solarmonitor.org]
If you want explanations of what's going on, see The Sun Today : http://www.thesuntoday.org/ [thesuntoday.org]
Or, the official 'space weather' site, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center : http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ [noaa.gov]
Re: Go outside, enjoy northern lights. (Score:2)
Very nice sir.
-- de kc2kth
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