The end of civilization in a flash of radiation. What is a "Miyake event"?

There is no shortage of apocalyptic scenarios: an asteroid, nuclear war, global warming… However, few people know that our civilization is at any given moment Could ruin the “Miyake event”. Few people, because we knew about the existence of such a phenomenon only a decade ago.

In 2012, the Japanese Astronomer Fusa Miyake of Nagoya University reported in the scientific journal Nature about this remarkable discovery. And note that the annual rings Japanese rice Those characteristic growths of the stem, which are fully visible when cut, contain an exceptionally high concentration of an isotope of carbon (or simply a species of carbon), in particular carbon 14 (which we write as C-14).

C-14 They are formed in the Earth’s atmosphere; This is due to the arrival of neutrons on our planet along with cosmic radiation (neutrons are a component of the cell nucleus, but they can also move freely – this is used in nuclear energy). Because C-14 behaves chemically the same as “normal” and more common carbon-12 (C-12), plants freely absorb and absorb it from the environment. They incorporate into the composition of the molecules that they build. Under normal circumstances, the ratio of C-12 to C-14 is constant, that is, it does not change.

but a lot Heavy rain of cosmic rays It could lead to an increase in the amount of carbon-14 dioxide in the atmosphere and a rapid, albeit short-term, change in its ratio to carbon-12. Like the one Miyake found in Japanese rice rings.

Miyake struck when the brave sat on the throne

When a plant dies, metabolism stops. From that point on, the concentration of C-14 becomes less and less the same Radioactive isotopesie: unstable, disintegrating. However, this type of carbon decays very slowly: in each sample, about half of the nuclei decay 5730 lat. Scientists can use this fact to estimate the age of a given material based on its carbon-14 concentration with very high accuracy: The lower it is, the older the object under study. Call it professionalRadiocarbon“.

Now let’s go back to Japanese rice. As with any other tree, we can tell its age by counting the annual growth rings; We can also evaluate the year in which a particular layer was grown. Miyake found an increase C-14 concentration in jars from 774. He concluded that this could only be explained by an exceptionally strong rain of cosmic rays – the same thing that creates this isotope in the atmosphere – hitting Earth this year.

dose of this radiation And it was not fatal to humans eitherOr other organisms – after all, in the eighth century, historians have not recorded mass extinctions anywhere. It was the same with the next powerful dose of radiation that Miyake was able to calculate In 993 – that is, immediately after the death of Mishko I And when Boleslav Krupry, who later became the first king of Poland, was already sitting on the ducal throne in Poland.

Miyake’s discovery inspired scientists to research more of these events. Over the past decade, four of these proven factors have been found to be: 7176 frames, 5410 frames, 5259 frames or 663 frames

Technological end of the world

Scientists list among the possible causes of the Miyake event Supernova explosions and solar flares; These events may lead to an increased dose of radiation reaching the Earth, which then translates into higher concentrations of C-14 in the atmosphere and, by extension, also in tree rings.

Complementary measurements over Antarctic ice cores, where cosmic rays have led to elevated concentrations of radioactive beryllium-10 in the years under review, indicate that at least the Miyake events From the years 774 and 993 of solar origin.

Artit_Wongpradu/Shutterstock

Japanese cedar – By analyzing the rings of these trees, Fusa Miyake made his discovery.

It is impossible to deduce the chronological pattern of Miyake’s past events When can we expect the next rain?. But even if the next rain, like the previous rains, is not biologically deadly, it will be Our civilization will be seriously threatened anyway.

What would happen on our planet if suddenly – because of radiation – All satellites, computers and all electronic infrastructure have been disruptedIt has been adequately described by authors specializing in science fiction literature. It will be the end of the world. However, no one knows if Miyake’s next event will be or not Signed tomorrow, or in 2000. years.

Miyake and the Vikings

However, for the time being, data on known Miyake precipitation can be used for scientific purposes. Only thanks to the event of the year 993, we know that the Vikings They arrive in North America in the exact year 1021 — 471 years before Christopher Columbus.

This precise identification was achieved by analyzing the wood of fir and juniper from the settlement Lance O’ Meadows on the beach Newfoundland In present-day Canada. There are remains of Viking longhouses, ships’ nails and bronze pins also found nearby.

In wood, scientists from the University of Groningen have identified rings Higher concentration of C-14 – same as thisidentified by Miyake in rings of Japanese cedar trees dating back to AD 993. By the time the trees were cut down and the houses built, another 28 annual rings had grown. And so, in the year 2021 – exactly a thousand years later – the exact arrival of the Vikings has been achieved. Such accurate dating is not possible using the C-14 method.

Benjamin Blair

“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”

The end of civilization in a flash of radiation. What is a “Miyake event”?

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The end of civilization in a flash of radiation. What is a “Miyake event”?

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