Tag: shockingly
Study Finds Shockingly Fast Sea Level Rise Around U.S. Southeast and Gulf Coast
Sea level rise is transforming the U.S. coastline across the country, but researchers have noticed that the rate of sea level rise has increased faster in the last decade around the Gulf and Southeastern coasts.
The sun has a shockingly huge spot on it right now
Don’t look now, but the sun has a big dot on it. Like, literally, don’t look. You could permanently damage your eyes.
At almost five times the diameter of Earth, sunspot AR3190 is an attention-seeking blob on the surface of our star — so big you can currently see it whenever the sun is shining. But don’t give into the temptation to gawk unless you have a pair of eclipse glasses or goggles, preferably ones certified by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
And by the way, it’s a good time to stock up on eclipse glasses because they tend to get expensive in the weeks before a solar eclipse, and there’s one coming on April 8.
So what’s the deal with this huge sunspot?
At the start of the current solar cycle — the sun’s roughly eleven-year pattern of only-somewhat-understood magnetic phenomena — astronomers predicted that the peak year for solar activity such as sunspots would be 2025. It’s only 2023, and we’re experiencing extraordinary levels of solar activity, including impressive eruptions of plasma, and quite a few big spots — though none of the others are nearly as large as AR3190. Sunspots like this are unusual, but far from unheard of.
Does this sunspot pose any danger?
This sunspot probably poses no actual danger, but it does have a decent chance of, well, exploding.
When a sunspot this size explodes, one can expect a release of energy called a solar flare. Astronomers expect that AR3190 would produce an “X-class” flare, the most intense kind. X-class flares send things like radio waves, X-rays, and gamma rays out into space at the speed of light. When Earth gets hit by a strong flare, the results can be good things like beautiful auroras at northern and southern latitudes, but also radio blackouts, satellite damage, and power grid disruption.
A sunspot explosion can also be accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME), which is a relatively slower ejection of particles from the sun’s “corona” — its atmosphere, basically. CMEs also cause beautiful auroras and also have the capability to disrupt communications and knock out power.
But it’s anyone’s guess if any of this will happen before AR3190 rotates out of view — which will also reduce the potential for the ensuing activities to cause problems on Earth.
Warhammer 40K: Darktide runs shockingly well on the Steam Deck
Shockingly, the Pixel 7a will probably look a lot like the Pixel 6a
If history is anything to go on, Google won’t announce the next entry in its Pixel A series until I/O 2023. That means we could be waiting as much as six months before the company is ready to share any substantial information on the device. Of course, that’s not stopping the rumor mill from getting an early start on leaking details about the Pixel 7a.
Over on Smartprix (via XDA Developers), Steve Hemmerstoffer of OnLeaks fame has shared early renders of the upcoming device. Unsurprisingly, the images suggest the Pixel 7a will look a lot like its predecessor and Google’s 2022 flagships. According to Smartprix, the dimensions of the new device are nearly identical to the Pixel 6a, with the former reportedly coming in at 10.1mm thick at the camera bump. The phone also looks to feature relatively thin bezels, a not-so-prominent chin and a center display cutout for the selfie camera.
Notably, the renders indicate the Pixel 7a will feature a SIM tray on its left side, suggesting – at least for the time being – Google won’t follow Apple’s decision to go all in on eSIM. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the search giant has decided to bring back the headphone jack; the analog port is nowhere to be found on the Pixel 7a.
The more interesting aspects of the Pixel 7a may be features that don’t show up in renders. According to Smartprix, the phone is likely to feature a 90Hz display from Samsung and an upgraded main camera sensor from Sony. It could also be the first Pixel A series phone to feature wireless charging. That’s about all we know about the device at the moment. However, we’re certain to get a fuller picture of the Pixel 7a as more information leaks, or when Google decides to get ahead of the rumor mill like it did with the Pixel 4.