The End of the World by: Radiation?

Team: 113

School: Santa Fe High

Area of Science: Cosmology

Proposal: Our sun has a fascinating life, a lot of it dangerous! The sun has many sudden outbursts of radiation and heat, called solar flares. Scientists are trying to figure out how big a solar flare, aimed in the right direction, could damage people beyond repair. Our lives would be drastically changed if the Earth were to be hit with such a solar flare.

Our goal is to calculate how big a solar flare would have to be in order to hurt or kill a large number of people. We also plan to determine how we can protect ourselves against these flares. Such flares are capable of knocking out our sources of power and WiFi along with cell towers. In the 1800's a solar flare hit the Earth head-on and caused damage. Luckily, the only thing that was damaged was a new type of technology: the telegraph. How would you live without technology?

Team Members:

Sponsoring Teacher: Anita Nugent

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