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The Sun's 'Quiet Period' Explained

Posted by Soulskill on from the ra-needs-naps-too dept.

Arvisp writes with this excerpt from the BBC: "Solar physicists may have discovered why the Sun recently experienced a prolonged period of weak activity. The most recent so-called 'solar minimum' occurred in December 2008. Its drawn-out nature extended the total length of the last solar cycle — the repeating cycle of the Sun's activity — to 12.6 years, making it the longest in almost 200 years. The new research suggests that the longer-than-expected period of weak activity may have been linked to changes in the way a hot soup of charged particles called plasma circulated in the Sun."

12 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Oblig: by lul_wat · · Score: 3, Funny

    You want solar maximum? No soup for you !

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    Divide a cake by zero. Is it still a cake?
  2. Re:hot soup? by 0racle · · Score: 4, Funny

    We frequent a different Slashdot don't we?

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    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  3. Inactivity? by Anarki2004 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's this nonsense about inactivity? The most recent java update I can find is July 7, 2010. What's that? You mean there's more than one sun?

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    The teachers will crack any minute, purple monkey dishwasher.
    1. Re:Inactivity? by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 4, Funny

      That big glowing ball in the sky is now called "the Oracle." Get with the times!

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      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  4. Re:Solar Cooling! Man is at it again! by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You: We should nuke the sun from orbit!
    Moderator: The nuke won't make it into orbit, it's too hot.
    You: Let's go at night, then.
    Moderator: Oh yeah, of course!

  5. How can you joke about this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    We're all going to die and you're making jokes? We're facing the biggest mass extinction event since dinosaurs discovered gasolene... AND YOU'RE JOKING ABOUT IT?

    MODERATORS -- MOD THE NON BELIEVER DOWN!

  6. Seems normal to me. by Zeek40 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Generally after I've spent a night spewing out hot liquids and gasses, I need a day or two to sleep it off. I can imagine plasma makes for an even worse hangover.

  7. Now we know the truth! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The fact is that global warming is caused by the earth not letting go of the heat it collects from the sun. Thus it seems obvious that this solar activity is caused by the earth stealing too much heat and actually cooling the sun measurably. Soon it'll be a cold husk all due to the fossil-fuel burning SUVs that people insist on driving.

    You have destroyed the solar system BP, I hope you are happy!

    [/sarcasm]

  8. Re:Climate change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    There is a blight more serious than Global Warming, it is cyclical and is happening now. Run for the hills. Beware the political campaign signs.

  9. Re:hot soup? by idontgno · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, I think it's better to use car analogies instead of big words here.

    Sorry, my car-ma ran over your dogma.

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  10. Re:A couple of important questions by demonbug · · Score: 2, Funny

    How long will it take until the Sun enters the "quiet period" again? How "loud" will it be until then?

    My sources indicate it may, in fact, go to 11.

  11. Re:Solar Cooling! Man is at it again! by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 3, Funny

    You: We should nuke the sun from orbit!
    Moderator: The nuke won't make it into orbit, it's too hot.
    You: Let's go at night, then.
    Moderator: Oh yeah, of course!

    Slashdot: Aren't the nukes technically already in orbit?

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