The field, dubbed the "polar wind," explains how Earth's atmosphere escapes easily and rapidly above the north and south poles, and may have played a role in shaping our planet's thin upper atmosphere.

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[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Edit: ELECTRICAL field sorry

A long-sought invisible force wrapped around Earth has been detected more than half a century after it was first hypothesized.

99% chance I'm being an idiot here, but, compass?

[–] tb_@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Magnetic field ≠ electric field

[–] bbuez@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Fucking magnets, how do they work?

[–] yamaonan@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Miracles!

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago

Pure gumption

[–] Redacted@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

I think it means the electric field created within Earth's atmosphere that is responsible for lightning as opposed to the (electro)magnetic field which forms the magnetosphere around Earth and makes compasses work.

[–] keturn@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

NASA link: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-discovers-long-sought-global-electric-field-on-earth/