[quote=The Register]In 2013, the earth will be attacked from space, with one possible outcome being mind-bogglingly severe disruption to our tech-centric way of life.[/quote]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/16/solar_storms/

We should start printing out all Massassi forum pages now if we want to be ready to each have a copy and continue via slugmail. Heh.

Also, didn't we have an astrophysicist member? Opinions?

This isn't really news... at least not to me.

The sun's in an unusual low period of activity. It has only been 'recorded' once before but not really during a period of great scientific advancement... I highly doubt it'll do substantial damage to anything. But having GPS go down would be a PITA.

Ah crap... And then there was the 1998 Icestorm. And they never really upgraded our power grid system. I guess I'll be revisiting my barbarian roots come 2013.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

All they have to do is disconnect some high voltage transformers in time, it's no big.

Is there a way to accurately predict solar activity on that scale? It would seem if there way, that would be the easiest way to avoid a disaster. Just announce a power interruption, and turn everything off until it passes.... Seems logical.

Yes, ACE will give about 15 minutes of warning.

15 minutes seems pretty short for a world-wide reaction.

Got ours*, **** you**.

* early warning system
** you're covered, Quebec is on the same grid as the US east coast.

The Mayans were way off.

Doesn't it only take like 8 minutes for solar activity to make it to earth? or is that just the light? I need to research more.... This is stuff I should know! lol

15 mins would probably be enough time to shut stuff down, but it would be almost as bad as the grid going down on its own. Maybe slightly easier to reboot due to less damage?

No, you're right. But solar activity is preceded by some pretty clear warning signs like sudden cooling on the surface of the sun.