A recent study reveals that the explosion of SpaceX’s Starship rocket during its second orbital test flight created a temporary hole in Earth’s ionosphere. This hole was formed not by chemical reactions, but by the shock wave of the explosion, temporarily altering the properties of the plasma in that region of space.
NASA’s GOLD mission has uncovered enigmatic C-shaped formations in Earth’s ionosphere, challenging our understanding of this crucial atmospheric layer. These structures, unlike previously observed X-shaped formations, appear during periods of calm and could potentially disrupt communications.
Dark matter, a mysterious component of the universe that makes up about 85% of its total mass, has eluded detection despite decades of research. However, new theoretical research suggests that waves in an ocean of dark matter could generate detectable radio waves that would allow us to finally find this elusive component of the universe. The study, published in the preprint server arXiv, explores models of ultralight dark matter that interacts extremely rarely with normal matter. When this dark matter interacts with plasma waves in Earth’s ionosphere, it could produce a resonance that amplifies the interaction and produces radiation in the form of radio waves. Using a carefully tuned radio antenna, scientists may be able to detect these radio waves and finally study one of the most mysterious elements in the universe right on our cosmic doorstep.
