🔆 Earth in the crosshairs of giant sunspot group eruptions

Plus: Jetpack gets Glocks, telecom AI to fix fusion snags, Landscape’s stainless steel rocket In Coordination with Smartasset [Find your perfect financial advisor with Smartasset.]( Navigate retirement confidently and unlock your financial future by taking the Smartasset Retirement Quiz. [Read more.]( A “solar archipelago” of over a dozen colossal sunspots, each wider than Earth, has sparked a flare storm from the Sun and sent clouds of charged particle hurtling our way. This sunspot group unleashed over 16 minor and 3 medium explosions in just days. Experts warn an extreme outburst may still come. When intense solar flares couple with coronal mass ejections, the resulting geomagnetic storms can spark satellite-disrupting radio noise and power grid fluctuations here on Earth. Increased aurora visibility is also common when our planet's magnetosphere interacts with ejected solar material. Predictive models suggest one such ejection of unknown intensity may impact us shortly, the risk remaining until the Sun’s rotate the sunspots away from the Earth in several days. Whether this delivers a [Carrington-level event]( or a non-event remains to be seen. We have the full story and predictions in today’s [Must Read](. Good morning. I’m Tim, newsletter editor at IE. This is the Blueprint. Let's get into it! ⬛️ [Get the best IE+ deal of the year, but hurry!]( There’s 50% off our ad-free premium content for a limited-time period. [Click here]( 🔐 Explore the Internet without limits or worries with AdGuard VPN — a great solution for your online privacy and security. Grab the two-year [AdGuard VPN subscription]( at a whopping 85 percent off and enjoy anonymous, ad-free browsing. VIDEO OF THE DAY [Is Nikola Tesla Overrated?]( Why is China creating humanoid robots? Discover how companion robots are addressing loneliness in an aging society and reshaping human connections. 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But what do we already know about its nuclear weapons? - 🎐 [Chinese firm installs world’s biggest wind turbine in ‘record’ 24 hours]( Faster installations could reduce construction costs as well as bring farms online faster, both big wins for the wind industry. - 🎣 [UK’s unique heat-capturing glass tubes are keeping US fishermen warm]( Heating and cooling accounts for 50 percent of energy demand and using the Sun's heat directly is an effective way to curb fossil fuel requirements. - 🌅 [World’s first offshore hydrogen pilot to scale up, passes sea trials]( Sealhyfe, Lhyfe’s offshore hydrogen pilot, triumphantly returns after meeting all objectives, marking a pivotal step in scaling up green hydrogen production offshore. - ⛽️ [Airbus tests autonomous air-to-air refueling with AI-guided drones]( The tests assessed the use of AI-based navigation sensors and enhanced algorithms for autonomous formation flight. Must Read [🚨 NASA warns of giant sunspots and solar storm]( A massive group of sunspots the size of 15 Earths is unleashing solar storms that could soon impact our planet. The dark patches on the Sun's surface have fired off several solar flares, with a major eruption potentially still to come. This volatile region already released a coronal mass ejection that models forecast may strike Earth's magnetic field today. While beautiful auroras often accompany such solar outbursts, hazardous geomagnetic storms can also occur. These space weather events have the power to disrupt infrastructure such as power grids, pipelines, radar systems and satellites. Experts are tracking the sunspot group's activity closely, as its looming alignment with Earth in the next few days poses the highest disruption risk if potent ejections continue. Scientists can simulate solar storms to anticipate potential chaos, but anticipating the Sun's cycles remains an imperfect science. With civilization increasingly reliant on electricity and orbiting satellites, space agencies now take solar monitoring very seriously. While we cannot control eruptions 92 million miles away, early warning can help mitigate any damage when our planet finds itself in the Sun’s line of fire. Click below for more details. [[Read More]( [Military]( [🔫 Gravity Industries unveils Predator-style shoulder guns for jetpack]( The elite jetpack maker Gravity Industries, known for its $475,000 Daedalus suit, just unveiled a battle upgrade, with shoulder-mounted Glock pistols firing on command via head tracking. Founder Richard Browning released this “Predator”-style armed accessory and it’s likely to provoke excitement and questions. Practicality in combat remains debatable given suits’ hefty price and firing instability. Click below to see it in action. [[Read More]( A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR [Find your perfect financial advisor with Smartasset.]( Choosing a financial advisor shouldn't be a leap of faith. Without expert advice, you're at risk of making decisions that could jeopardize your financial well-being. The cost of these mistakes isn't just monetary—it's nights spent tossing and turning, worried about the future. Smartasset understands these challenges and offers a lifeline. Here's how they make the process smooth: - Stress-Free Start: Begin with a free retirement consultation. - Expert Matching: Connect with up to three vetted and legal financial advisors tailored to your needs. - No More Guesswork: Eliminate the risk of choosing the wrong advisor. Take the [SmartAsset Retirement Quiz]( and embark on a future where your retirement savings work for you. Not against you. [[Read More]( [Science]( [🚀 China takes aim at Musk’s rockets with reusable steel clone]( Landscape, a Chinese startup, unveiled a reusable stainless steel rocket dubbed Zhuque-3 with specs rivaling SpaceX’s Starship. Promising 20 tons to orbit and advanced methane engines, the early stage launcher signals China’s escalating pursuit of cutting-edge commercial launch capabilities. Learn more about this upstart rocket builder. [[Read More]( [Innovation]( [⚛️ Telecom AI predicts nuclear fusion snags before they strike]( Deep Anomaly Surveillance (DeAnoS), an artificial intelligence tool designed for telecom networks, has been deployed in nuclear fusion research. It can spot problems early, flagging anomalies so that issues get addressed before they can derail complex reactions. This Japanese team-up between NTT and ITER shows how AI optimization can help to keep development of abundant clean energy on track. Click below for more. [[Read More]( QUESTION OF THE DAY How concerned are you about threats from solar storms? [Very, the risks are underestimated]( [Moderately, more safeguards needed]( [Not too worried]( [Not on my list of concerns at all]( YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Yesterday, we asked you whether advanced AI models, like OpenAI’s rumored Q*, should be opened up to independent audits. 65 percent of you say they should. 65% Yes, external reviews are essential 15% Maybe, it depends on safety risks 12% I've no strong opinion either way 8% No, it would compromise intellectual property “[The sunspot area is] so huge, it is altering the way the entire sun oscillates.” SpaceWeather.com representative THINGS WE LOVE [Electric Golf Cart]( [$1,516.40]( [Electric Food Cooker]( [$168.09]( [SEGA Astro City]( [$109.99]( [Bulova Watch]( [$335.56]( AND ANOTHER THING - [Formerly shatterproof Cybertruck windows to be bulletproof: Elon Musk]( - [Callum unveils game-changer Skye EV, an all-terrain electric SUV]( - [Strange deep-sea fish species spend entire lives swimming upside-down]( - [Scientists grow mineral in a lab, solve 200-year-old geology mystery]( - [Arizona's solar-over-canal project will tackle its major drought issue]( - [Black Friday Bonanza: 13 Deals you can't afford to miss!]( - [When will AI be flying a plane full of passengers?]( [premium] - [ESA's Ariane 6 rocket aces critical hot-fire test]( - [11 organizations tackling the space debris problem]( - [Aston Martin DB6 boasts interior made of eggs, corn, nuts and apples]( - [GodGPT: Anthony Levandowski revives AI Church with fresh religion reboot]( Need help with advertising? 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