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When severe solar storms hurtle toward Earth, the planet's first line of defense is its magnetosphere, a vast magnetic bubble that deflects the brunt of the sun's dangerous charged particles. Historically, humanity has only attempted to forecast the storms and brace for impact.
Now, however, a team led by Brian Walsh of Boston University has proposed a bold method to actively strengthen that natural defense using a fleet of spacecraft designed to blunt the impact of space weather before it hits.
The concept, dubbed StormWall, uses computer simulations to show that reinforcing the magnetosphere could reduce the intensity of a major geomagnetic storm by more than half. If realized, the researchers say the system could protect vulnerable satellites, global communications networks, GPS systems and electrical grids from potentially catastrophic disruptions.
