Friday is here, and the 'A Taste of Science for the Weekend' corner is back — number 83.
This time: cathodic protection, magnetic saturation, satellites falling from the sky, and how all of it connects to the aurora borealis.
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The aurora borealis (in the video) is one of the most spectacular and well-known natural phenomena in the world.
The Sun periodically ejects enormous quantities of magnetized plasma in a phenomenon known as the 'solar wind,' and when that wind encounters Earth's magnetic field, the electrons within it collide with atoms in the atmosphere, causing them to release photons of light.
But in several particularly unusual cases, these magnetic storms have gone beyond being a breathtaking natural spectacle and caused real, tangible damage.
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One of the challenges with underground pipeline systems is corrosion.
Even with an anti-corrosion coating, a small crack is enough to turn the pipe's metal into an anode — it begins surrendering electrons to the surrounding soil and gradually breaks down into rust.
One fascinating solution is cathodic protection, in which the pipeline system is connected to a power source and continuously charged with a weak electrical current. The current replenishes the electrons lost to the environment, thereby preventing the metal from corroding.
Studies have shown that during magnetic storms, the voltage level in pipelines becomes unstable and the rate of corrosion increases rapidly.
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Transformers are a core component of the electrical grid, responsible for stepping voltage and current up or down as electricity passes between networks. Grid electricity runs on alternating current and reverses direction roughly 50–60 times per second; with each cycle, the transformer's magnetization rises to a peak and then falls.
In 1989, a magnetic storm penetrated Québec's power grid through its grounding points and continuously drove the transformers to maximum magnetization with direct current — a state known as magnetic saturation. After 90 seconds, the power grid collapsed, leaving 6 million people without electricity.
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In 2022, 49 Starlink satellites were launched into space.
The day after launch, a magnetic storm struck the atmosphere. The storm raised atmospheric temperatures and caused the atmosphere to expand to a much greater altitude than usual.
As a result, gas density at the satellites' cruising altitude increased by 50%. The intense drag exerted on the satellites as they traveled through the denser environment caused them to decelerate, fall back into the atmosphere, and burn up. Of the 49 satellites, 38 were destroyed and only 11 survived.
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Magnetic storms also disrupt the accuracy of navigation systems — a disruption that, in May 2024, shut down the operation of autonomous tractors relying on GPS for precision seeding. The magnetic interference also degrades the accuracy of oil-drilling systems and even affects microwave-based communications signals.
But research into the aurora borealis has also led to beneficial discoveries in the scientific world.
Analyzing plasma behavior is important for nuclear fusion reactors, in which powerful magnets compress plasma until fusion occurs. Plasma is also used in the etching of silicon wafers for computer chips, and even in medicine to target bacteria and cancerous cells.
Shabbat Shalom 😊
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Video credit: @Apalapse
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