"Star Trek" envisioned a futuristic world in the 24th century that made incredible technological advancements. Streaking across the galaxy in starships that could fly faster than the speed of light, there were many innovations shown on screen that seemed to be fantastical. It turns out that some of them may actually be rooted in real science!
This article from Discovery news discusses a recent finding that Earth itself uses shielding to protect us from high energy particles. This invisible barrier helps keep "killer electrons" from bombarding the surface of the planet.
Now, in a new study published in the Nov. 27 issue of the journal Nature, Baker and his collaborators have discovered an oddity at the inner edge of these belts: There’s an invisible barrier blocking the high-energy electrons from making contact with our atmosphere.
“It’s almost like theses electrons are running into a glass wall in space,” said Baker in a UC press release. “Somewhat like the shields created by force fields on Star Trek that were used to repel alien weapons, we are seeing an invisible shield blocking these electrons. It’s an extremely puzzling phenomenon.”
At first, scientists assumed that it was magnetism. They soon realized that it had to be something else that they are still attempting to understand.
Now the researchers are focused on a cold cloud of electrically charged gas that is known to surround Earth, starting at an altitude of 600 miles. This cloud, known as the plasmasphere, extends thousands of miles into the Van Allen Belts and may have a dramatic interaction with the high-energy particles, thereby blocking them from dropping close to our atmosphere. High-energy electrons are stopped in their tracks at an “extremely sharp” boundary approximately 7,200 miles in altitude.
Here is a link to the full article: Raise Shields! Star Trek-Like Barrier Protects Earth : Discovery News
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