60 years ago, NASA put forward a hypothesis about the Earth’s energy fields. This hypothesis has now been confirmed. This could also change the idea we have had of our Earth.
What kind of hypothesis is that? As early as 1968, astronauts noticed a supersonic wind of particles shooting into space. Experts then suspected that an invisible field must be driving these particles. But this could not be proven.
Sixty years ago, researchers put forward a hypothesis suggesting the existence of a weak energy field surrounding our planet. Its discovery promised to revolutionize our understanding of the dynamics that influence the upper layers of our atmosphere.
A team of researchers has now confirmed the existence of this energy field, the so-called ambipolar field. The details and results of this experiment have now been published in an article in the journal Nature.
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Our Earth has three energy fields surrounding it, not just two
What was confirmed? The so-called “ambipolar field” was confirmed. This is an electric field that generates an intense particle wind in the polar region. The field directs this wind from our atmosphere into space. This means that our Earth no longer has just two fields – gravitational field and magnetic field – but three.
Glyn Collinson, a member of the team responsible for the discovery, stated in the official press release:
Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar cap. Now that we’ve finally measured it, we can learn how it shaped our planet and others over time.
Now the team wants to continue researching and find out what this means for life on Earth.
How could one prove its existence? The Endurance mission launched in May 2022. At an altitude of about 518 km, the vehicle’s instruments registered a small electrical difference of about 0.55 volts. The team explains that this voltage difference is enough to explain the existence of the polar wind.
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