Earth’s Invisible “Force Field”

About 7,200 miles above Earth there lies an invisible shield that protects the Earth from killer electrons that have posed a serious threat to astronauts and their equipment in space. The researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have found that this shield is rather like the fictional Force Field that  protected the Star Ship Enterprise in Star Trek.

Essentially it is something between the two previously knownVan Allen radiation belts around the earth which stops these electrons from wreaking havoc on Earth. Professor Daniel Baker who headed the study said that it’s almost like theses electrons are running into a glass wall in space.

The team originally thought the highly charged electrons, which are looping around Earth at more than 100,000 miles per second, would slowly drift downward into the upper atmosphere and gradually be wiped out by interactions with air molecules. But the impenetrable barrier seen by the twin Van Allen belt spacecraft stops the electrons before they get that far, said Baker.

So perhaps it is indeed true that the Earth is protected in more ways than we can begin to imagine. As the team continues its scientific study we should learn more about this invisible shield that protects us.