Technologies

There’s a Growing Weak Spot in Earth’s Magnetic Field. What it Means

The weak spot has been known about for over half a century, but it’s now getting bigger.

It would be an understatement to say that the Earth’s magnetic field is important. It’s one of the reasons we’re able to live on this rock tumbling through space, and it also gives us the gorgeous aurora borealis. So it’s a pretty big deal when it changes — and such a change is occurring right now in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the magnetic field’s weakest point appears to be growing.

The European Space Agency spent 11 years studying the magnetic field via the agency’s Swarm operation. Part of the mission was to measure and observe the South Atlantic Anomaly, a pronounced weak spot in the Earth’s magnetic field that sits over South America. This was originally discovered in 1958 when satellites first started measuring radiation around the Earth, so its existence is nothing new.

However, data from the Swarm mission shows that the weak spot has been rapidly growing, extending its presence across the Atlantic Ocean toward Africa.

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Why is the weak spot growing?

Per the ESA, this phenomenon can be best explained by strange behaviors far within the Earth at the boundary where the Earth’s liquid outer core meets the rocky mantle layer. This boundary, referred to as reverse flux patches, is acting funny and causing the magnetic field to weaken in that one spot.

«Normally, we’d expect to see magnetic field lines coming out of the core in the southern hemisphere,» says C.C. Finlay, lead author of the study and professor of geomagnetism at the Technical University of Denmark. «But beneath the South Atlantic Anomaly, we see unexpected areas where the magnetic field, instead of coming out of the core, goes back into the core. Thanks to the Swarm data, we can see one of these areas moving westward over Africa, which contributes to the weakening of the South Atlantic Anomaly in this region.»

In addition to the South Atlantic Anomaly, the Swarm mission also showed that a stronger section of the magnetic field over Canada was also getting weaker, while the one over Siberia was getting stronger.

A danger to satellites everywhere

The weakened zone won’t have a significant impact on humans, as the atmosphere primarily deals with the elements that affect the Earth’s surface. As NASA says, the weakening is still within what scientists consider «normal variation,» so daily life isn’t affected.

However, things in low Earth orbit aren’t so lucky. Per the ESA, satellites and other spacecraft passing through the region will face higher radiation exposure that «can lead to malfunctions or damage to critical hardware, and even blackouts.»

As Finlay notes in the study, space agencies take the SAA into consideration when building modern spacecraft, satellites and other space-worthy technology, so not only are existing satellites at risk of damage, but the expanding weak spot will also affect how future satellites and spacecraft are designed.

The ESA says that the Swarm mission will continue to gather data about the Earth’s magnetic field into the foreseeable future.

«It’s really wonderful to see the big picture of our dynamic Earth thanks to Swarm’s extended timeseries,» says ESA Swarm Mission Manager Anja Stromme. «The satellites are all healthy and providing excellent data, so we can hopefully extend that record beyond 2030, when the solar minimum will allow more unprecedented insights into our planet.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Oct. 25

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 25.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the longest one of the week, and some of the answers are tricky. Read on for help. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Sword go-with
Answer: SHIELD

7A clue: Hamburger or Frankfurter, for example
Answer: GERMAN

8A clue: Sticky stuff on bark
Answer: TREESAP

10A clue: Hotel room pricing
Answer: RATE

11A clue: Classic arcade game of hopping between obstacles
Answer: FROGGER

14A clue: The «W» of the W.N.B.A.
Answer: WOMENS

15A clue: Looked after a pup
Answer: DOGSAT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Drill instructor’s rank: Abbr.
Answer: SGT

2D clue: «___ Loss» (#1 album for Drake and 21 Savage)
Answer: HER

3D clue: Fury
Answer: IRE

4D clue: Appears on the scene
Answer: EMERGES

5D clue: Dish layered like this: sheet of noodles, sauce, cheese, repeat
Answer: LASAGNA

6D clue: Genetic screening procedure
Answer: DNATEST

9D clue: «As ___ my last email …»
Answer: PER

11D clue: Subject line abbreviation
Answer: FWD

12D clue: Aussie marsupial, for short
Answer: ROO

13D clue: «No wayyyy!»
Answer: OMG

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Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 25, #397

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 25, No. 397.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. It helps if you’re familiar with the athletes of the Pacific Northwest. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: When you get hurt.

Green group hint: Beaver State.

Blue group hint: Not surnames, but…

Purple group hint: Think oxygen.