Killer Electrons

[KX4QC]

KICKER: WHEN "KILLER ELECTRONS" JOIN THE CHORUS

PAUL/ANCHOR: For our final story, we turn to deep space -- and some new insights into an old discovery that could pose serious dangers for space travel. John Williams VK4JJW shares those insights.

JOHN: They're called chorus waves but these disturbances, first discovered in the earth's magnetic field decades ago, are apparently nothing to sing about.

For one thing, scientists realise these bursts of energy are not necessarily limited to the earth and nearby planets; their presence may pose dangers to deep space travel.

When the waves are converted to audio, the signals are said to chirp, mimicking birdsong. The dark side to this sweet song is the discovery that the waves are capable of accelerating particles to almost the speed of light - a rate that would endanger astronauts and spacecraft passing through them. Scientists have dubbed these particles "killer electrons."

The finding was made recently by researchers at Beiha

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