Biggest solar storm in years is bombarding earth now

The biggest solar storm in five years is battering our planet right now, and may cause disruptions to satellites, power grids and communications networks over the next 24 hours, space weather experts say.

Two strong solar flares erupted from the surface of the sun late Tuesday (March 6), blasting a wave of plasma and charged particles toward Earth. After speeding through space at 4 million mph, this eruption of material — called a coronal mass ejection (CME) — should be hitting Earth now.

The storm is expected to create strong disruptions due to an odd combination of intense magnetic, radio and radiation emissions, making it the strongest overall solar storm since December 2006, even though the flare that triggered it was not the largest, space weather officials said.

The CME reached Earth this morning at about 5:45 a.m. EST (1045 GMT), according to officials at the Space Weather Prediction Center, which is jointly managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service. While the CME did not hit Earth head-on, the material delivered a glancing blow to the planet, and energetic particles will continue to interact with Earth's magnetic field over the course of the day.

The CME will likely trigger geomagnetic and solar radiation storms today, which could interfere with satellites in space and power grids on the ground, said Joseph Kunches, a space weather scientist at NOAA. Aircraft that fly over the Earth's polar caps may potentially experience communications issues as well, and some commercial airliners have already taken precautionary steps, Kunches said.

"There is the potential for induced currents in power grids," Kunches told reporters Wednesday. "Power grid operators have all been alerted. It could start to cause some unwanted induced currents."

The effects of this solar storm will likely last for 24 hours, and may possibly linger into Friday (March 9), Kunches said.

"Such a CME could result in a severe geomagnetic storm, causing aurora at low latitudes, with possible disruption to high frequency radio communication, global positioning systems (GPS), and power grids," NASA scientists said in a statement.

Experts also predict that the magnetic storm will likely enhance normal aurora displays (also known as the northern and southern lights). As the effects of the CME bombard Earth, these stunning light shows will be especially visible for people where it is currently night, though the full moon of March, which also occurs Thursday, may interfere with the display.

"Skywatchers at all latitudes should be alert for auroras," astronomer Tony Phillips wrote on his website Spaceweather.com, which regularly monitors space weather events.

Chaturman Gurung

Chaturman Gurung, a porter from Khewang VDC in the district, has never seen a break from his mundane job. Neither does he hope for such a chance in the future. Gurung, 64, started this profession in 1971 when he went to Ilam with some friends to carry goods of local traders. Since then, he is into this job. “One born into a poor

family has to struggle for survival like me. I do not think that I would get rid of this profession in this life,” he said.

“I would only have a chance to meet my family once a week while working in Ilam. Nowadays, I return home in the evening after work, and I am satisfied with it,” Gurung said.

He said that he used to receive Rs 50 paisa per kg for carrying goods for a day's walking distance when he started the job, but now he gets Rs 20 per kg for the same distance. Gurung remembers how he would carry a load of up to 80 kg when he was young. “But with my growing age, I hardly carry load of 50 kg now,” he said, adding that sometime he carries up to 60 kg of load, which makes him difficult to walk uphill.

Gurung had to go through difficult days in course of his job. “It was 15 years ago when I was seriously injured after falling on the ground while carrying load. Then I was bedridden for 15 days,” he said, adding that he had never confronted such a situation thereafter.

Gurung, the father of four sons and two daughters, earns Rs 1,000 a day on average. He now lives with his youngest son while his two sons are in Malaysia and one has settled down in the village. Gurung said he would continue his job until his strength allows him to do so

Messi

Messi is by far the best player in the world. He is incomparable he plays in a different league.

A man

A man left unable to walk by a tumour on his right leg that weighs more than the rest of his body went under the knife in Vietnam on Thursday to have the growth removed, hospital officials said.

Nguyen Duy Hai's massive 90 kilogramme (198 pounds) tumour is to be cut away by a team of doctors in a risky 10 hour procedure that has only a 50 percent chance of success, the France-Vietnam (FV) hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said.

Hai, 31, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, has been living with the tumour since he was four years old, FV hospital's statement read.

He had part of his leg amputated when he was 17, but the tumour, which is not cancerous, continued to expand, making it difficult for Hai to walk and sleep.

The growth is thought to be the largest ever recorded in Vietnam, according to state media, who have followed Hai's condition for years.

"This is a huge procedure with many risks, including the risk of death during surgery or post-operative care," the hospital said, adding that the patient and the family decided to proceed with the removal nonetheless.

Nepal's Nani break's yoga record

After Chandra Bahadur Dangi made the world record as the world’s shortest man standing at just 55cm tall, another Nepali man is all set to do the country proud again by setting another world record in yoga.
Nani Ram Dahal reportedly practiced yoga for a record 37 continuous hours from 8 am on Monday to 9 pm on Tuesday. He broke the previous world record for the longest yoga marathon set by an Austrian citizen, Michael Schwab, in September 2009. Schwab held the record at 29 hours and 4 minutes.
An elated Dahal has said he will soon inform the the Guinness Book of World Records to claim the world title for longest yoga practice. He set the “new record” in the presence of a team of 18 yoga experts, including Dammar Sunuwar and Meera Barakoti, amid a programme organised at Balmiki Campus, Exhibition Road.

SLC Examination

SLC examination begins tomorrow

This year’s School Leaving Certificate exminition is beginning across the country on Tuesday

Pokhara

Pokhara is a beautiful city in Nepal. It has a lot of worth seeing place like Fewa lake, begnas lake, vanishing seti river, peace stupa, museum, caves etc. From the pokhara we can see the Annapurna Himalayan range