I'm not 100% sure what this has to do with a Brazilian race car driver - Helio Castroneves - but there was much talk of "Helio's fear". Possibly he knows a lot about it and is afraid.
Apparently, the Ulysses deep-space probe shows that "the protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation" (let's call it "the big bubble"), is 25 per cent smaller than the first time they checked it.
If you have any information about the theft of that 25%, please contact NASA. Personally, I think the police should talk to Helio. Maybe that's why he's afraid.
Anyway, scientists are apparently baffled (what DO they learn at university???) and have just launched an Ibex into space (again, what DO they learn at university???).
[color="DarkOrange"]An Ibex - possibly similar to the one launched by NASA to investigate Helio's fear.[/color]
Apparently the Ibex will orbit 240,000 kilometres above the Earth and "listen" for the shock wave that forms as our solar system meets interstellar radiation - at the big bubble. The Telegraph reports that the scientists hope the Ibex will enable them to better understand what happens at this boundary.
Given the distance to the big bubble, I would've thought an elephant would've been a better choice, as they have bigger ears (and they don't forget).
According to Dr Nathan Schwadron, a co-investigator on the Ibex mission at Boston University, "There is a very high-energy galactic radiation that is dangerous to living things" on the other side of the bubble. If it continues to weaken, it is feared intergalactic cosmic radiation reaching Earth will increase, disrupting electrical equipment, damaging satellites and potentially harming life. This will affect Ibexes too (which is presumably while they're on board with the project) - not because they use electrical gadgets, but because they are also living on this planet, would be harmed by galactic radiation and might face further delays in their own space program.
Bottom line: Enjoy your electrical gadgets while you can people, because if the orbiting Ibex can't work who pinched 25% of the big bubble, we're in trouble.
(Real story here)
