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Brightest Galactic Flash Ever Detected Hits Earth

Posted by timothy on from the betting-that's-estimated-rather-than-measured dept.

phenon writes "On December 27th scientists detected the largest cosmic blast to strike the Earth, actually altering the earths ionosphere briefly. MSNBC reports (along with Space.com), that this event happened from a magnetar 50,000 light years away from us, and if it had happened from a distance of 10 light years away, we would be talking about mass extinction here on earth. The cosmic ray blast was measured at 10,000 trillion trillion trillion watts of power!"

19 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. pet and repeat were in a boat... by NMerriam · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's so bright, we can't even look at slashdot to see if it's been mentioned already!

    --
    Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
  2. Stroy is a dupe by Andy_R · · Score: 5, Informative

    The first one hasn't even dropped off the front page yet.

    --
    A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
  3. Um, Yeah . . . . . . by theparanoidcynic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do Slashdot editors even read Slashdot?

    --
    Only in a Slashdot fantasy can a Slackware install turn into several hours of sex . . . . .
    1. Re: Um, Yeah . . . . . . by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


      > Do Slashdot editors even read Slashdot?

      No, they've got better things to do with their time.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    2. Re:Um, Yeah . . . . . . by lxt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Isn't that kind of like asking if porn producers get off on their own material?

      (quite how I've dumped Slashdot editors and porn producers in the same barrel, I'll never know...)

    3. Re:Um, Yeah . . . . . . by HeghmoH · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The comparison is pretty good, actually.

      Both produce large quantities of schlock. They don't care about the material, but they know that it sells. Nobody respects them, but they make a lot of money anyway.

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      Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
    4. Re:Um, Yeah . . . . . . by budgenator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Would be interesting if editors got modded too, imagine an editor having such poor karma they couldn't accept an article!

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    5. Re:Um, Yeah . . . . . . by Daravon · · Score: 3, Funny

      It begs the question, what do Slashdot editors read when they're slacking off at work? MSN?

      --
      I traded all my mod points for these magic beans.
  4. Twice in two days! by SClitheroe · · Score: 5, Funny

    My tinfoil hat is taking a real beating from all these cosmic rays!

  5. At least it's not... by Apathetic1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    'nuff said.

    --

    My username does not make me Apathetic. It's irony, get it?

  6. Damn right it's old news by BlastM · · Score: 4, Funny

    So this happened 50,000 years ago, and it's only now being posted to SlashDot?

    Gotta be a new record.

  7. Re:dupe, dupe, dupe of earl by Drey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dupe of URL, surely?

  8. Hmmmmmmmmm by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Funny

    With over 50 redundant "dupe" responses on slashdot, you'd think this story is becoming a DUPER-NOVA!

  9. Darn, I *did* read this last night. by Hackenslacker · · Score: 3, Funny

    For a second there, I had thought I had a sixth sense last night about something 50,000 lightyears away not being 10 lightyears away, and not killing us. But, no, I actually did read about this just before I went to bed, and had forgotten.

  10. Dr. Little. Dr. Chicken Little, astronomer. by superultra · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems that with every disaster that NASA or an astronomer discovers in the universe, the news always has to add, "If it were closer to Earth, we'd all be dead!"

    Well, duh. I know that intergalactic disasters are a hard sell for primetime news, but is it really necessary to endanger Earth every f-ing time something in the universe blows up? As our ability to perceive and record these incidents gets better, it's going to get very tired, very fast. "Major sun flare on Alpha Centauri! If We Were Living on the Sun, We Would All Suffer First Degree Burns or More!"

    Is it the news outlets adding the "If X was close to Earth we'd be dead" or is it the scientists seeking to justify their work? All this article writes is, "If the explosion had been within just 10 light-years, Earth could have suffered a mass extinction, it is said." Did the reporter's mom say that? Grr.

  11. Re:Story is a dupe by jericho4.0 · · Score: 3, Informative
    There was a dupe in the last year that only had one story seperating them....

    --
    "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
  12. Just for fun by hsoft · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll try to submit this story to slashdot right now... Just to see if they'll post it AGAIN. :)

    Cmon, I can understand that duplicate stories can happen, but in the same day!!??

    --
    perception is reality
  13. Dupe, Dupe, Dupe... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Funny
    Dupe of URL, Dupe, Dupe,
    Dupe of URL,
    Dupe, Dupe,
    Dupe of URL, Dupe, Dupe.

    As I click through this whirl, Nothing can stop the Dupe of URL
    And you,
    you code in Perl
    No one can hurt you, oh, no...

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  14. Re:Story is a dupe by Everleet · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...or a TV news network that repeated the same story every 15 minutes for a month?

    Oh wait.

    --
    It's tragic. Laugh.