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NASA新發現 地球磁場傳送門 「時空旅行」有譜

—英媒:地球磁場隱藏傳送門 穿越時空可直達太陽

地球磁場發現隱藏入口直通太陽大氣層
美國科學家在地球與太陽之間的太空區域發現隱藏的「入口」,被稱之為「X點」或者「電子擴散區」

地球磁場發現隱藏入口直通太陽大氣層
地球與太陽之間的磁力線,穿過X點/新浪科技


  科學家指在地球外圍有幾個隱藏「磁場傳送門」,是來往太陽及地球的捷徑。

多啦A夢的隨意門,未必是科幻小說或漫畫的情節,美國科學家發現地球磁場有幾個隱藏的「磁場傳送門」,時開時關,一旦出現,就會提供由地球直達太陽捷徑。太空總署( NASA)計劃深入研究這道傳送門,一旦成功,可能為人類提供時空旅遊之門。

艾奧瓦大學科學家斯卡德( Jack Scudder)說,在地球16,000至48,000公里外的磁場發現多個隱藏的磁場傳送門,稱為「 X點」或「電子擴散區」( Electron diffusion region)。這些 X點「看不見,也不穩定,會毫無預警地開關」,有時每天開關幾十次,一旦開啟,就會製造一條由地球直接抵達太陽的捷徑,一下子縮短近1.5億公里的距離,讓太陽粒子不受干擾地直抵地球。由太陽飄浮過來的帶磁電粒子,令地球的大氣層有電磁現象,形成極光甚至地磁風暴。

NASA擬監看 X點

NASA極地衞星在十年前已瞥見 X點,署方形容 X點是「宇宙或時空中的不尋常通道,聯繫旅行者與遙遠界域,亦是通往未知之門」。 NASA宣佈在2014年,展開「磁層多尺度測量行動」,發射四艘可測量磁場組合與能量粒子的探測船,環繞地球監看 X點開關。
英國《每日郵報》/Guardian Express(香港蘋果日報編譯)


地球磁場 有任意門通太陽 NASA新發現 「時空旅行有譜」

美國科學家發現能量可快速通往太陽的入口。

自由穿越時間與空間是科幻小說的常見元素,日本漫畫《哆啦A夢》也有個來去自如的任意門,如今這種奇想可能成真。美國研究發現,確有傳送能量的「磁場任意門」存在,能以極高速往來地球與太陽間,像是地球磁場的「神祕通道」,可直達太陽表面。

美國航太總署(NASA)和艾奧瓦大學合作研究,分析NASA正義號(THEMIS)和極地號(Polar)衛星探測所得數據,加上歐洲太空總署(ESA)的群簇衛星,發現在離地球數萬公里之處,有多處「電子擴散區」(electron diffusion regions)、又稱「X點」的存在,每天開關數十次,作用像是地球與太陽間的捷逕入口。

每天開關數十次

艾奧瓦大學教授史卡德(Jack Scudder)指出,這些入口位於地球磁場和太陽磁場相連處,在兩地間創造出毫無阻礙的直通路徑。這些入口不但不顯眼,存在也不穩定且難辨識,每天開關數十次,但開啟和關閉時皆無跡象可循。但若入口開啟,便能以極高速傳送能量到1.5億公里外的太陽,也因速度極快而引發地磁風暴。

持續時間不確定

不過史卡德表示,研究團隊雖發現通道間有帶電粒子,但仍無法確定神祕入口的組成元素為何。此外,入口的持續時間也不相同,有些入口快速出現又消失,有些則維持較久。

NASA預計2014年啟動「磁氣圈多尺度測量計劃」(MMM),將派遣4艘太空船環繞地球,監看「磁場任意門」的開啟情形,試圖解開磁場交界何以形成通道的原理。

英國物理學家霍金3年前曾祕密舉辦一場派對,證明時空旅行不存在。資料照片

霍金仍嗤之以鼻

宇宙中有「磁場任意門」,令科學家和天文迷大為興奮,彷彿離時空旅行更進一步,但英國知名物理學家霍金(Stephen Hawking)卻對時空旅行嗤之以鼻。日前流出的一段影片顯示,霍金曾於2009年6月28日舉辦一場「歡迎時空旅行者」派對。派對訊息事前保密到家,以防惡作劇者搗亂,直至結束後才發出邀請函。

霍金認為,如果時空旅行真的存在,那麽就算是事後才收到邀請,也有辦法回到過去與他相會。但影片顯示,在備有香檳和點心、以鮮花和氣球裝飾的會場中,霍金始終獨自一人。他說:「我用實驗證明,時空旅行並不存在。」

磁場任意門示意圖

磁場任意門入口位於地球磁場和太陽磁場相連處,每天開關數十次,入口開啟便能以極高速傳送能量到1.5億公里外的太陽。 (台灣蘋果日報 莊蕙嘉╱綜合報導)


視頻解說詞如下:

Hidden Portals in Earth's Magnetic Field

A favorite theme of science fiction is "the portal"--an extraordinary opening in space or time that connects travelers to distant realms. A good portal is a shortcut, a guide, a door into the unknown. If only they actually existed....

It turns out that they do, sort of, and a NASA-funded researcher at the University of Iowa has figured out how to find them.

"We call them X-points or electron diffusion regions," explains plasma physicist Jack Scudder of the University of Iowa. "They're places where the magnetic field of Earth connects to the magnetic field of the Sun, creating an uninterrupted path leading from our own planet to the sun's atmosphere 93 million miles away."

Observations by NASA's THEMIS spacecraft and Europe's Cluster probes suggest that these magnetic portals open and close dozens of times each day. They're typically located a few tens of thousands of kilometers from Earth where the geomagnetic field meets the onrushing solar wind. Most portals are small and short-lived; others are yawning, vast, and sustained. Tons of energetic particles can flow through the openings, heating Earth's upper atmosphere, sparking geomagnetic storms, and igniting bright polar auroras.

NASA is planning a mission called "MMS," short for Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, due to launch in 2014, to study the phenomenon. Bristling with energetic particle detectors and magnetic sensors, the four spacecraft of MMS will spread out in Earth's magnetosphere and surround the portals to observe how they work.

Just one problem: Finding them. Magnetic portals are invisible, unstable, and elusive. They open and close without warning "and there are no signposts to guide us in," notes Scudder.

Actually, there are signposts, and Scudder has found them.

Portals form via the process of magnetic reconnection. Mingling lines of magnetic force from the sun and Earth criss-cross and join to create the openings. "X-points" are where the criss-cross takes place. The sudden joining of magnetic fields can propel jets of charged particles from the X-point, creating an "electron diffusion region."

To learn how to pinpoint these events, Scudder looked at data from a space probe that orbited Earth more than 10 years ago.

"In the late 1990s, NASA's Polar spacecraft spent years in Earth's magnetosphere," explains Scudder, "and it encountered many X-points during its mission."

Data from NASA's Polar spacecraft, circa 1998, provided crucial clues to finding magnetic X-points. 
Data from NASA's Polar spacecraft, circa 1998, provided crucial clues to finding magnetic X-points. Credit: NASA

Because Polar carried sensors similar to those of MMS, Scudder decided to see how an X-point looked to Polar. "Using Polar data, we have found five simple combinations of magnetic field and energetic particle measurements that tell us when we've come across an X-point or an electron diffusion region. A single spacecraft, properly instrumented, can make these measurements."

This means that single member of the MMS constellation using the diagnostics can find a portal and alert other members of the constellation. Mission planners long thought that MMS might have to spend a year or so learning to find portals before it could study them. Scudder's work short cuts the process, allowing MMS to get to work without delay.

It's a shortcut worthy of the best portals of fiction, only this time the portals are real. And with the new "signposts" we know how to find them.

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