Scientists create 'artificial ionosphere' using radio waves
London, October 4 : An experiment that fires powerful radio waves into the sky has created a patch of 'artificial ionosphere', mimicking the uppermost portion of Earth's atmosphere.
According to a report in Nature News, the experiment is called the 'High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program' (HAARP), near Gakona, Alaska.
It has spent nearly two decades using radio waves to probe Earth's magnetic field and ionosphere.
One of the most obvious results of the experiments is that they can create lights in the sky that are similar to auroras, the glowing curtains of light that naturally appear in the polar skies when electrons and other charged particles pour down from Earth's protective magnetosphere into the upper atmosphere.
There, at an altitude of about 250 kilometres, the charged particles collide with molecules of oxygen and nitrogen and make them emit light, similar to the process inside a fluorescent light bulb.
HAARP's high-frequency radio waves can accelerate electrons in the atmosphere, increasing the energy of their collisions and creating a glow.
The technique has previously triggered speckles of light while running at a power of almost 1 megawatt1.
But since the facility ramped up to 3.6 megawatts - roughly three times more than a typical broadcast radio transmitter - it has created full-scale artificial auroras that are visible to the naked eye.
But in February last year, HAARP managed to induce a strange bullseye pattern in the night sky.
Instead of the expected fuzzy, doughnut-shaped blob, surprising irregular luminescent bands radiated out from the centre of the bullseye, according to Todd Pedersen, a research physicist at the US Air Force Research Laboratory in Massachusetts, who leads the team that ran the experiment at HAARP.
The team modelled how the energy sent skywards from the HAARP antenna array would trigger these odd shapes.
They determined that the areas of the bullseye with strange light patterns were in regions of denser, partially ionized gas in the atmosphere, as measured by ground-based high-frequency radar used to track the ionosphere.
The scientists believe that these dense patches of plasma could be gas that was ionized by the HAARP emissions.
"This is the really exciting part - we've made a little artificial piece of ionosphere," Pedersen said.
"The novelty is not seeing the aurora - it's the fact that we can actually create enough high-energy electrons to form plasma," said Mike Kosch, chair of Experimental Space Science at Lancaster University, UK.
"It shows something completely different and new that we hadn't expected. We didn't know we could do that from a radio array on the ground," he added.
Comments
More Britain News
RSS-
British journalist pens Laras biography
British journalist James Fuller has written a biography of former West Indies captain Brian Lara, one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Fuller, also a keen cricketer who played at domestic level for 20 years, says he wrote 'Caribbean lives-Brian Lara' during the six years he lived in Lara's homeland of Trinidad and Tobago, reports CMC. Lara, who retired in 2008, holds the world record ...
-
British band Blue faces money issues
Band members Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe had split in 2005, but reunited in 2011, and are now facing issues. "Blue have been open about their recent financial struggles and are restructuring their business model," thesun.co.uk quoted the band's spokeswoman as saying. A source said: "There was no warning that the band had money problems. This has come as a complete ...
-
UK dating site pulls out Intimate Encounters option to ward off sleazy men
The founder of one of Britain's biggest dating website has now decided to take radical action to root out fake and sleazy profiles, after finding that many of the "women" who use the hook-ups section of his site are actually men in disguise. Writing to members on Monday, Markus Frind, the Canadian founder of Plenty of Fish (POF), said that he had been forced to make a series of changes to its ...
-
Sir Alex Ferguson writing tell-all autobiography
The retired boss of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has started writing his autobiography. The book, which will reveal everything about the years during which United won seven league titles and the Champions League in 2008, is set to release in October. In a report by Daily Star, United's glorious years include the period when the fiery Scot had bust-ups with David Beckham, Jaap Stam and ...
-
UK court rules public has right to know Boris Johnson fathered child during brief adulterous affair
The public has a right to know that London Mayor Boris Johnson fathered a child during an extramarital affair, the appeal court has ruled. Three senior judges decided on Monday that voters were entitled to be told that Johnson conducted a 'brief adulterous affair' with the woman who later gave birth to their daughter, now aged three. According to the Guardian, the mother Helen Macintyre, a ...
-
UK mum does house chores in her sleep
A woman from Newport, South Wales, has developed a peculiar condition in which she cleans and tidies the house while she is still sleeping. Claire Bartlett, 50, has an odd habit of doing the dishes, dusting and even shining the windows in a deep slumber, the Sun reported. It started in October 2012, but since she does such a good job of cleaning up, neither she nor husband Crispin, want to ...
-
Broad Anderson will make Ashes difficult for Aussies Ian Botham
Cricket commentator Ian Botham has said that England's opening bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad will make the Ashes series even more difficult for the Australians. The combination of Broad and Anderson with their skills and abilities will prove tough for the Australians as while Broad uses his pace and height to devastating effect; Anderson uses his swing and his craft to keep batsmen ...
-
Duchess Kate dubbed Britains Queen Wag by human rights activist
The Duchess of Cambridge has been branded Britain's "Queen Wag" by an outspoken author in her new book. Feminist Joan Smith devoted a whole chapter to Kate in her new book 'The Public Woman' and compared her to Cheryl Cole and Coleen Rooney, saying that in her opinion she is a "prime candidate" for the role of Queen of the Wags and deserves the title "more than anyone." The 59-year-old crime ...
-
British Open squash World no.1 Nicol too hot for Joshana
World No.1 and defending champion Nicol David outclassed India's Joshana Chinappa in the first round of the Allam British Open Squash Championships here Tuesday. The Malaysian squash great took 30 minutes to get past her 26th ranked opponent 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 at the KC Stadium. Joshana had qualified for the main draw. Dipika Pallikal, India's highest ranked player at 15, plays her first round ...
-
Bradley Lynch Hoping to be Part of Great Britain Squad at Rio Olympics
Contribution by Paul Smith, SportsbeatLONDON, England, May 22. SUTTON Coldfield swimmer Bradley Lynch believes he is capable of hitting peak form in time for Rio 2016. The 17-year-old City of Birmingham Swimming Club member made his Great Britain debut in last year's Open Water World Cup in Israel, winning a silver medal, before claiming a Nationals title in the 200m. His ability in varying ...
-
Former England centre Hipkiss retires
England's Dan Hipkiss (2nd R) is challenged by New Zealand's Ma'a Nonu during their international rugby union match at Twickenham Stadium in London November 21, 2009. REUTERS/Russell ...
-
Two people shot in London after knife attack
Two people have been shot in Woolwich, south east London, after armed police were called to an incident in which a man was attacked with a machete-style knife and dumped in the street. One witness, identified as James, said he and his partner saw two black men attack the young victim with knives, including a meat cleaver. "They were hacking at this poor guy, literally," he told ...
-
Julian Stevenson First picture of brother and sister killed by father who slit their throats in France
Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror A happy little boy with a protective arm wrapped around his adorable sister, this is the first picture of the tragic ...
-
Hosting 2022 Commonwealth Games would be wonderful for London says Mayor
May 22 - London Mayor Boris Johnson claims that he would fully support a bid from the city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games but admitted it a decision that is not for him to make. The Greater London Authority made clear their intention to host the event earlier this year with their plan being to use the facilities in place for London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics to stage the competition.Johnson ...
-
IMF urges UK to spend more to fund investment
gay marriage and has had to quell speculation that his coalition might not last until the next election.But at a news conference at Britain's finance ministry to present the report, IMF deputy managing director David Lipton made clear that he still thought a change of tack was needed."What is important now is not to make a mistake today and presume that all will be well with the ...
-
Police respond to serious incident in Woolwich south London
London .Officers were called to John Wilson Street at around 2.20pm on Wednesday and the immediate area was shut down.One source said police had opened fire during the incident, but there was no confirmation of this.Pictures posted on Twitter showed at least one person lying on the ground.On its Twitter account, the Metropolitan police helicopter team described the incident as serious.A Scotland ...
-
An interactive guide to Sir Alex Fergusons reign at Manchester United
Our guide presents every result from the 1,500-match and 27-year era of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign at Manchester United, from a 2-0 loss to Oxford United to a thrilling 10-goal draw against West ...
-
Haigh scoops British Book award
On Warne, Gideon Haigh's examination of one of the finest bowlers to play the game, was named the Cricket Book of the Year at the 11th annual British Sports Book Awards at Lord's on ...
-
Afghan interpreters win right to new life in Britain
Afghanistan Up to 600 Afghan interpreters who served with British forces in Afghanistan will be offered the chance of a new life in Britain after a government U-turn.Prime minister David Cameron had initially decided to discourage the interpreters from settling in Britain for fear of the message it would send out about the stability of Afghanistan as foreign forces pull out.Many of the Afghans ...
-
James Bulgers Mum Urges No Parole For Killer
James Bulger's mother has urged a parole board not to release her son's killer becuase he is "still a danger to society". Denise Fergus said that she believed Jon Venables had not "learned from killing James". Thirty-year-old Venables was imprisoned for a second time in 2010 after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children while on ...
-
Why Britains barren uplands have farming subsidies to blame | George Monbiot
State of Nature report , published today, you get an inkling of where the problem lies. It's illustrated in the opening pages with two dramatic photographs of upland Britain ...
-
Man charged over 1982 IRA parade bombing in London park
1 of 2. A police officer guards the rear entrance of Westminster Magistrates Court as the van carrying bombing suspect John Downey leaves, in London May 22, ...
News from around our Network
Comments
Have your say