Latest / Sorta Sophisticated / Episode 086 - Sky on Fire: Why the Northern Lights Are Having Their Best Year Ever

Transcript

Episode 086 - Sky on Fire: Why the Northern Lights Are Having Their Best Year Ever · Sorta Sophisticated

• 0:04
  Speaker A: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Sort of Sophisticated, the podcast where we try to be more cultured and curious, even though we're just winging it, people. We are. We are winging it. We are way out on the wing, hanging on for dear life, hoping something sticks. Sitting across from me, as always, looking randomly prepared today, I'm nervous. Is my co host, Amanda. She is up to something. Hello, Amanda.
• 0:29
  Speaker B: Hi. I'm not really, like, prepared. I think I'm just dressed warmer than you are.
• 0:33
  Speaker A: You are these work clothes? Is that what's going on?
• 0:35
  Speaker B: Maybe. Maybe mildly. Not a lot.
• 0:37
  Speaker A: I don't know. With the glasses and the whole look. You look. You look like you're ready to be sophisticated.
• 0:41
  Speaker B: I thought I had a stye.
• 0:43
  Speaker A: You thought you had a sty? Yes. Say that three times fast. I. I had a sty in the eye.
• 0:48
  Speaker B: I know. So I haven't been wearing contacts because I freaked out.
• 0:51
  Speaker A: You look sort of sophisticated.
• 0:53
  Speaker B: Thank you.
• 0:53
  Speaker A: So this is. This is good. This is it today. Let's. Let's do this.
• 0:58
  Speaker B: I'm here. I'm ready. Let's go.
• 1:00
  Speaker A: So shout out. So somebody, like, DMed me Instagram and, like, gave me an episode idea.
• 1:05
  Speaker B: Really?
• 1:06
  Speaker A: That we're using.
• 1:07
  Speaker B: You're full of.
• 1:07
  Speaker A: No, no. That we're totally using. No. And I gave him a T shirt and a gift card. Oh, my God. So we're giving stuff away, people with our first giveaway.
• 1:15
  Speaker B: I love it.
• 1:16
  Speaker A: How's that?
• 1:16
  Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
• 1:17
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally.
• 1:18
  Speaker B: Whoever that is, shout out. Appreciate you.
• 1:20
  Speaker A: Can I shout? We talk. We've talked about it before. Oh, Pete Toomey. Oh, my buddy, Pete Toomey.
• 1:25
  Speaker B: Love it. Pete, he just.
• 1:26
  Speaker A: He's like, totally. He got merch. What is this all about? We got. We got merch.
• 1:30
  Speaker B: Make him a walking billboard.
• 1:32
  Speaker A: It's incredible. All right.
• 1:33
  Speaker B: I love it. I have a story for you.
• 1:34
  Speaker A: What?
• 1:34
  Speaker B: So I was talk to somebody who obviously, you know this person, and we're talking about something not related to the podcast.
• 1:39
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:39
  Speaker B: Halfway through our conversation, they go, you're the girl from the podcast.
• 1:43
  Speaker A: Oh, my God, that's excellent.
• 1:44
  Speaker B: And I was like, yes. Yep, yep, that's me. And they're like, no wonder your voice sounded so familiar.
• 1:51
  Speaker A: And I was like, oh, wow, you're famous. Let's go.
• 1:56
  Speaker B: I'm not even famous because I know you. But, you know, you're getting traction. And I'm very impressed, Peter, by how many people like to listen and learn random facts to seem sort of sophisticated, which I also pulled out when I was in Napa. You're welcome. At the French Laundry.
• 2:10
  Speaker A: Look at this. We're doing an EP on that. Get ready. I think this might be a next week. Or we might just, like, stick it in there.
• 2:16
  Speaker B: I mean, you better. Cause I might forget everything.
• 2:17
  Speaker A: I know, I know. That's what I'm nervous about. I know, I know, I know. Do you even want to hear what this guy even, like, brought up?
• 2:22
  Speaker B: Yes. Yes. I want to know what today's episode is. Courtesy of Pete. But not Pete. Pete. But Pete.
• 2:27
  Speaker A: The other Pete. Yes. So he told me we had to do an episode on the northern lights because apparently, like, they're going off right now.
• 2:33
  Speaker B: Okay, but there's conspiracy around this.
• 2:35
  Speaker A: What do you mean?
• 2:36
  Speaker B: So there's a conspiracy. It's not the true northern lights. It's all of, like, the weather, cloud seeding, government, like, taking over the weather. And that's why the northern lights, which you can normally only see in, like, the Norway area.
• 2:50
  Speaker A: So I'm going to debunk.
• 2:51
  Speaker B: Proceeded to.
• 2:52
  Speaker A: I'm going to debunk the whole theory.
• 2:53
  Speaker B: All the way down.
• 2:54
  Speaker A: Okay, let's go with all the.
• 2:55
  Speaker B: But also, I've seen the northern lights.
• 2:57
  Speaker A: You have?
• 2:57
  Speaker B: In Maine.
• 2:58
  Speaker A: You did?
• 2:59
  Speaker B: All places.
• 2:59
  Speaker A: Oh, my. Really?
• 3:00
  Speaker B: Yeah. I'll show you pictures.
• 3:01
  Speaker A: Oh, my God. That's excellent. I've never. I've never seen them.
• 3:03
  Speaker B: It was great.
• 3:04
  Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, we're going to talk a little bit about that. Oh, this is all. This is good. They are on my bucket list. I fully intend on going to see them.
• 3:10
  Speaker B: But see, you're going to be going to Denmark, so you should.
• 3:13
  Speaker A: Oh, no, but in July, I don't think I'll see them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good point.
• 3:17
  Speaker B: But anyways. Yes, So I do want to see them in, like, the Norway area. But.
• 3:20
  Speaker A: All right, well, then let's go. Okay. Official title is sky on Fire. Why the northern lights are having their best year ever.
• 3:29
  Speaker B: Are you going to get sciencey?
• 3:30
  Speaker A: Oh, we're going to get so sciencey. We're going to get cultured. I'm going to tell you why we're going to get cultured and then we're.
• 3:34
  Speaker B: Going to get science curious. I get. Because I kind of get like, the sciency stuff that I don't know of why it happens. But cultured. Why is it? It's a cultural phenomenon. It's a cultural.
• 3:44
  Speaker A: I mean, now you're nuancing me. I just liked cultured and curious because it was alliteration and I just counted all as the same thing.
• 3:49
  Speaker B: But I mean, knowing what the Northern lights is, because it is a cultural phenomenon, because we have friends that are in Colorado, and this past week, when they saw them at their house in Colorado, she texted me. She's like, look, I can see the Northern lights. And then I was like, you know, I know we all know about the Northern lights, but why is it cool?
• 4:05
  Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. So whenever we put two or three things together, like we talked about before, like science or history or like philosophy, if we can get a little bit of prehistoric stuff or if we can get a little bit of travel, then it can. Then I count it as culture.
• 4:20
  Speaker B: Is this the twofer?
• 4:21
  Speaker A: It's a threefer.
• 4:22
  Speaker B: It's a threefer.
• 4:23
  Speaker A: Right? Because it's science. It's travel, because we're gonna chase it.
• 4:26
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 4:26
  Speaker A: Those two, and we have all the historical context about all of the generations before and how they interpret it all the way. So maybe even, like, philosophical already. We're gonna blow your mind.
• 4:34
  Speaker B: This got way deeper than was going to go.
• 4:36
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, no, this is going to be excellent.
• 4:37
  Speaker B: Okay, here we go. I'm ready.
• 4:38
  Speaker A: Word of the day. Ready. Mendacious.
• 4:41
  Speaker B: Mendacious.
• 4:42
  Speaker A: Mendacious.
• 4:43
  Speaker B: Menacious.
• 4:44
  Speaker A: Mendacious.
• 4:45
  Speaker B: Something dious.
• 4:46
  Speaker A: So it's like, just say it with boodilacious. I like that. And this is why our podcast is explicit. Because of Amanda. Boodalacious. Okay. No, mendacious means dishonest or misleading. But, like, doing it with confidence. Like being a fucking liar with confidence.
• 5:05
  Speaker B: So a narcissist.
• 5:06
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yes. Let's do that. Perfect. Right? Like when people tell us, oh, dude, I totally listen to your podcast all the time.
• 5:13
  Speaker B: Ooh, they're being mendacious.
• 5:14
  Speaker A: They are totally being mendacious. That's it. Yeah. So it comes from the Latin mendax. Mendax.
• 5:19
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 5:20
  Speaker A: Meaning liar or false.
• 5:22
  Speaker B: So then why don't you go ahead and start your whole mendacious story to the northern lights.
• 5:29
  Speaker A: That's true. That's kidding. No, you were absolutely right, because I am 11. Seven. That perked out. We should have brought mendacious. Should have been our word of the day when we did the lying.
• 5:36
  Speaker B: No, because then it's too easy.
• 5:38
  Speaker A: Oh, that's true. We tried to separate. Okay, okay, okay. So northern lights. I'm make this super simple not to bore everybody, because I don't want to go crazy on the northern lights and all the science. No, I'm going to do science.
• 5:47
  Speaker B: Oh, science.
• 5:48
  Speaker A: And I'm not. Yeah. And I don't want to, like, oh.
• 5:49
  Speaker B: Now this is all out of whack.
• 5:50
  Speaker A: Okay, whatever. I'm going. I'm going rogue.
• 5:53
  Speaker B: Let's go. Teach me.
• 5:55
  Speaker A: I started the ad. I started the ADD medicine. It's crazy. We're freaking out. Can I combine that with alcohol, by the way, or is that bad? Who cares? Here we go, people. We're gonna find out. Here is the sort of sophisticated version in a nutshell. So basically, it all starts when the sun sends out these solar flares. Yes. Highly charged particles. Yes. During solar storms, they are like little blasts of energy randomly flying through space. And apparently, these solar flares, well, solar storms, we'll call them, they like, happen all the time, like a few times a week. Okay, Like a lot. I didn't know that. Yeah, but I have to learn all this shit. I'm not nerding out. This was crazy.
• 6:30
  Speaker B: Are we dying? Cause we have many solar flares. Is it like an influx of solar flares? And so the Earth is going to.
• 6:34
  Speaker A: Be crispy, little by little? Yes.
• 6:37
  Speaker B: Oh, dear.
• 6:38
  Speaker A: I know. There's so much here. Okay. I didn't realize our sun was.
• 6:41
  Speaker B: It's getting, like, dark real quick.
• 6:42
  Speaker A: No, no, no, no. Relax. It's going to be like, for the next generations. We're going to be dead. Don't even worry about it. It's all going to be good, right? Remember, we're from the great generation of the 80s. Well, you're born in the 80s, but I love the 80s.
• 6:52
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 6:53
  Speaker A: I didn't realize the sun was so unstable, by the way. I thought it was like this yellow ball that I used to draw when I was like 7 years old. Be like, look, Mommy, a rainbow. And the sun? No, it's like gas and boiling plasma. It's like lava. It's twisting and pulsating and moving and it has get this like massive magnetic field around it that's always, like, freaking out. So anyway, the sun, as it rotates, right? It's magnetic field line. Things get all tangled up like. Like rubber bands. They get all twisted, okay? And then suddenly they either snap or they somehow untangle themselves and get rearranged. And when that happens, the sun shoots off these bursts of energy we were just talking about in the form of these particles.
• 7:35
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 7:36
  Speaker A: And that's what they call a solar storm. You with me so far?
• 7:39
  Speaker B: Yeah. No, but I'm freaking out.
• 7:40
  Speaker A: What?
• 7:41
  Speaker B: This sounds horrible.
• 7:42
  Speaker A: It does, but it's fine.
• 7:43
  Speaker B: We're gonna die.
• 7:44
  Speaker A: We're not gonna die.
• 7:45
  Speaker B: Are you sure?
• 7:45
  Speaker A: Yes. Because now Earth has its own magnetic field.
• 7:47
  Speaker B: Oh, God.
• 7:48
  Speaker A: We have, like a force field against it all Cause our Earth magnetic field gets involved with the sun's magnetic field.
• 7:55
  Speaker B: Yeah. It's real science.
• 7:56
  Speaker A: Okay. Sorry.
• 7:56
  Speaker B: And now my anxiety has peaked.
• 7:58
  Speaker A: Okay, I'm gonna bring it back down.
• 7:59
  Speaker B: You have ADHD medicine. I need anxiety meds.
• 8:02
  Speaker A: No, this is gonna be fine.
• 8:04
  Speaker B: Is it fine?
• 8:04
  Speaker A: Yes, because our Earth's magnetic field saves us from the sun's magnetic solar flares that are coming off or doing whatever, and that our Earth sucks the flares to the poles. That's why they go to the North Pole and the South Pole. So, like, if you lived in the North Pole and South Pole, you should be worried.
• 8:20
  Speaker B: What?
• 8:20
  Speaker A: Like, if you were Inuit people. Oh, my God, you're gonna be dead in, like, five seconds. But, like, we're good. Cause we're, like, close to the equator. Psa. Close to the equator. That's all. If that's the only sort of sophisticated thing you learned today, we're on track.
• 8:32
  Speaker B: All I know is that somehow the sky and Earth are doing some sort of traffic control, and we're not gonna die. And it sounds like we're gonna die.
• 8:41
  Speaker A: Everything's gonna be fine.
• 8:41
  Speaker B: Now we're talking about. Look at the northern lights. I'm just gonna think how their solar flares and how I'm gonna die, and now the magic is all gone. But P.S.
• 8:47
  Speaker A: What?
• 8:48
  Speaker B: Northern lights are also called the aurora borealis, correct?
• 8:51
  Speaker A: They are, totally. Yes.
• 8:52
  Speaker B: But, like, I associate aurora borealis with Norway. Is it, like, Norwegian?
• 8:56
  Speaker A: No.
• 8:56
  Speaker B: So it did not start there.
• 8:57
  Speaker A: No, you just associate that. Because, of course, you can see them all in Norway. So you want it to be Norwegian.
• 9:03
  Speaker B: Well, then why would it not be Norwegian?
• 9:05
  Speaker A: It's a Roman thing.
• 9:06
  Speaker B: I'm sorry.
• 9:06
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 9:07
  Speaker B: You can't see it from Italy.
• 9:09
  Speaker A: That's okay.
• 9:09
  Speaker B: Or Rome, but.
• 9:10
  Speaker A: Yeah, you can. I mean, you could probably see it. Europe somewhere. Like, I don't. Listen, I don't come up with this every time.
• 9:15
  Speaker B: This is why it's cultured, because everything comes from.
• 9:18
  Speaker A: Everything comes from Rome or Greek or Latin or whatever.
• 9:20
  Speaker B: I mean, it does always come from Rome, right? Isn't that where everything started?
• 9:23
  Speaker A: So I guess we call them the northern lights because, duh, you can see them from the North Pole. That's like the sort of simple answer.
• 9:29
  Speaker B: Yeah, it makes sense.
• 9:30
  Speaker A: Right? But the aurora borealis, that's the science y name for just, like, the regular northern light. So it comes from the Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the dawn. And Borealis literally means of the north, named for Boreas, the Greek God of the north wind, apparently. So Aurora Borealis literally means the dawn of the north.
• 9:50
  Speaker B: Okay, okay.
• 9:51
  Speaker A: Oh, and fun fact. Yes. When I was researching all this, not gonna lie, I went down a little rabbit hole here. Cause I wanted to know all this shit. I found out that the term aurora Borealis was not popularized in Norway. It was popularized in 1619 by none other than our main man. Are you ready for this? Galileo. Galileo. Figaro. Magnifico. Yeah. So apparently he thought the lights were just reflections of sunlight in our atmosphere. Or wrong.
• 10:18
  Speaker B: I could see why.
• 10:18
  Speaker A: That dummy. What a dumb Galileo. What does he know? Okay.
• 10:22
  Speaker B: He was a good theologist.
• 10:23
  Speaker A: He really was.
• 10:24
  Speaker B: Theologist? What was he?
• 10:25
  Speaker A: He was ahead of his time. That's what he was. I don't know. He was a scientist. He was everything. He was. Yeah, all the things. Then years later, scientists kept the name because they said it sounded elegant and mythological and, like, way better than magnetic plasma glowy thing.
• 10:41
  Speaker B: I mean, it absolutely does sound better. So props to Galileo for being, like, the badass that he was. Oh, my God. Isn't he also the one that, like, flat Earthers hate?
• 10:49
  Speaker A: What do you mean?
• 10:50
  Speaker B: I mean, like, wasn't he the first person to prove that, like, Earth revolves around the sun?
• 10:54
  Speaker A: Yes. Right. So, total legend there. Thank you very much. Good remind. We should do an app on Galileo. I was just throwing shade on Galileo. Yeah, he was the man. Speaking of sciency stuff, I have a fun fact. Can I do another fun fact?
• 11:07
  Speaker B: Absolutely.
• 11:08
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 11:08
  Speaker B: Always.
• 11:09
  Speaker A: Do you know where all the different colors come from? Like of the northern lights or the aurora boreals?
• 11:13
  Speaker B: No, because I also don't even know where rainbow colors come from besides a prism.
• 11:17
  Speaker A: Well, that's good enough. Remember, we're only sort of sophisticated. That's good. Okay, so check this out. When you see the different colors, they're, like, reacting to different gases in our atmosphere. Green. It's because the particles are reacting to what scientists call low altitude oxygen. Yeah, in our atmosphere.
• 11:34
  Speaker B: Okay, that kind of makes sense.
• 11:35
  Speaker A: When you see red, the particles are reacting to high altitude.
• 11:40
  Speaker B: The red's up here and the green's out here. Okay.
• 11:42
  Speaker A: And then the purple or the pink come from reacting with nitrogen. Oh, so that's what's going on in there.
• 11:47
  Speaker B: So wait, so if you don't see any of these colors, does that just mean we're dead because the solar flares just killed us.
• 11:52
  Speaker A: Well, it might mean you're dead.
• 11:53
  Speaker B: Okay, fair.
• 11:54
  Speaker A: I would argue if you don't see those colors, you just don't live in the right color.
• 11:57
  Speaker B: What if you were colorblind you couldn't see red or green. Oh, no. I'm gonna ask my friend now.
• 12:01
  Speaker A: That's terrible. Let's find that out, okay? Because this is what we. This is what we need to know. Hey, you're missing out, buddy. That's wondering.
• 12:10
  Speaker B: I'm just curious.
• 12:10
  Speaker A: All right, so basically, that's sort of the gist of the whole. That's the sciency part. Like, the fastest way I could come up with it.
• 12:17
  Speaker B: Okay, fair. Is there a history part of this lesson?
• 12:19
  Speaker A: History? I don't know. How far back in history do you want me to go? Like, when the Earth cooled and the dinosaurs.
• 12:23
  Speaker B: I guess when the first reporting of the aurora.
• 12:26
  Speaker A: I don't know. The first reporting.
• 12:27
  Speaker B: Okay, fine. Well, there has to be some, like, mythology or, like, it's been represented in some sort of history.
• 12:32
  Speaker A: Fine, fine, fine. We'll do, like, cultures and how they view. I didn't look up.
• 12:37
  Speaker B: I mean, some people are probably like, we saw Aurora Borealis is the best time to go get pregnant.
• 12:41
  Speaker A: Like, wow. First of all, anytime is the best time to go pregnant. Who are we kidding? All right, let's go.
• 12:47
  Speaker B: This guy.
• 12:47
  Speaker A: Who doesn't want a little duh.
• 12:49
  Speaker B: Nope, nope, nope. We're talking about Aurora Borealis.
• 12:52
  Speaker A: Every culture. We'll do some cultures, Every culture had their own little ideas about the Aurora Borealis. Or the northern lights, if you will. Let's start with Norse mythology, like the Vikings. Because I like the Vikings. Remember the rapers and the pillagers and the murderers?
• 13:03
  Speaker B: The Vikings or How to Train youn Dragon Vikings.
• 13:06
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 13:06
  Speaker B: They were very.
• 13:07
  Speaker A: They're not nice. They were never nice. Did you ever see Vikings, the series? The streaming series?
• 13:11
  Speaker B: No.
• 13:12
  Speaker A: Okay, well, watch it. So the Vikings thought they were reflections of the shields of the Valkyries. Do you remember the Valkyries? The Valkyries were these, like, hot warrior women who rode on horses and escorted all the dead soldiers to the afterlife. They're not, like, real.
• 13:26
  Speaker B: Okay, so that would be their marks.
• 13:28
  Speaker A: Yes. Okay, so basically the idea was the lights were, like, from the warrior shields. Okay, that's Vikings.
• 13:36
  Speaker B: I mean, that kind of makes sense. That's all they were thinking about.
• 13:38
  Speaker A: Thank you.
• 13:39
  Speaker B: Are you a Viking?
• 13:40
  Speaker A: Well, I'm a Viking fan. They're my favorite football team.
• 13:42
  Speaker B: Are they really?
• 13:43
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 13:44
  Speaker B: Minnesota.
• 13:44
  Speaker A: Yes. I love them. You have to say it like this. You have to say Minnesota.
• 13:47
  Speaker B: Minnesota.
• 13:48
  Speaker A: Yeah, Minnesota.
• 13:49
  Speaker B: Why Minnesota?
• 13:50
  Speaker A: No, I don't. Because I like the Vikings. Because I like the Valkyries.
• 13:53
  Speaker B: You are hot.
• 13:55
  Speaker A: When I die, I don't want to go to heaven. I want to Go to Valhalla.
• 13:58
  Speaker B: You're so stupid.
• 13:59
  Speaker A: No, I do like, I want to go on the road to Valhalla. I want to be like one of those warriors that, like, up with the Val.
• 14:04
  Speaker B: You better. You better start.
• 14:05
  Speaker A: And then get her pregnant. Here we go, raping and pillaging. I know. I need to, right?
• 14:10
  Speaker B: Maybe we shouldn't. Maybe we shouldn't.
• 14:11
  Speaker A: I think this is what my second adulthood is going to be about.
• 14:14
  Speaker B: This is what they're going to use when you're, like, on trial to be convicted. Is this episode right here.
• 14:18
  Speaker A: Nobody. Nobody checked my chat GPT history. Okay, let me move on. So now in Finnish folklore. Let's go to Finnish folklore. The Finns, right? The lights came from what they thought was this magical arctic fox. Like an arctic fox? Yes. Running across the snow, sweeping its tail back and forth, sending sparks up into the sky.
• 14:37
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 14:37
  Speaker A: That was their sort of mythology behind the whole thing, right?
• 14:40
  Speaker B: Yep. It's very cute.
• 14:42
  Speaker A: It is.
• 14:42
  Speaker B: It is much cuter than the Vikings.
• 14:43
  Speaker A: It is a lot cuter than the Vikings. The Vikings were about blood. Sweet, right? It really was. Anyway, better than all the science shit we're talking about in parts of China and Japan. They thought the lights were dragons. You brought up dragons.
• 14:54
  Speaker B: That makes sense. Yeah.
• 14:55
  Speaker A: Everything's dragons, right? They thought they were omens tied to destiny because, you know, that's how they roll. And by far my favorite. The indigenous people of North America believe the lights were the spirits of their ancestors guiding them. I've heard that right from the afterlife. Like Brother Bear. Did you ever watch Disney? Not a super famous Disney one, but, like, I love. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm like a huge fan of, like, the whole indigenous cultures thing. Anyway. And then, you know, that brings us to like the 1600s, when Galileo basically decided he figured everything out and was super smart and ruined it and made it all sciencey instead of all folklory and mythological. Like, we like it.
• 15:32
  Speaker B: I mean, it's pretty cool, though, that amongst all the cultures in different, like, continents and areas, that they all had an explanation for the phenomenon within, like, their culture. Right. They made this thing that they saw that was magical, mystical, you know, unknown as to.
• 15:52
  Speaker A: They weaved it in with their culture.
• 15:54
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 15:54
  Speaker A: This is why I think this episode is about being cultured and curious. Because every different society, every different culture weaves it in because it's that amazing. I know. I love it.
• 16:03
  Speaker B: So, like, within our own culture, I feel like it's a whole phenomenon that we're trying to weave because every time There's a solar flare and people can see it. Like, my friends in Colorado who sent a text that basically were like, look, it's the Northern lights. And now it's all over Instagram and everyone's running outside. Which also, by the way, you see better via the camera than you actually see with your naked eye.
• 16:21
  Speaker A: Totally.
• 16:22
  Speaker B: But all that to say. You said naked.
• 16:24
  Speaker A: I can't concentrate. You said naked.
• 16:25
  Speaker B: Oh, my God. All that to say. Something has to be happening because I should not be able to, like, get a picture from my friends in Colorado saying that they see the northern lights. I went to Maine to go see it, and that's very far away.
• 16:37
  Speaker A: Wait a second. So you're mad because they got to see it in Colorado? Yeah, but then, first of all, they didn't see it as good as you did. And the further up you go, the better you see them. You know that, right?
• 16:45
  Speaker B: I mean, sure, but you should not be able to see it in Colorado. Why is that happening?
• 16:49
  Speaker A: Cause here. I'm debunking. You're.
• 16:50
  Speaker B: Okay, go ahead.
• 16:51
  Speaker A: Whatever the theory was, who was it?
• 16:52
  Speaker B: I mean, I think that the government. Yeah, I don't know what you want.
• 16:55
  Speaker A: Okay, I am going to explain to you.
• 16:57
  Speaker B: Super fan, we're all dying.
• 16:58
  Speaker A: Okay. I'm gonna explain to you the science behind why we're blowing up right now, specifically with the northern light. Like, why 2026 is popping off or.
• 17:06
  Speaker B: Going to be popping off, why we're gonna die. Go.
• 17:08
  Speaker A: You are gonna Google how many people have died from looking at the northern lights just so we can throw that. So, I don't know. Look it up. Shout out to Jeanette. Let's go. We're gonna tell you how many people died. Okay? So here we go. So they actually say, Amanda, believe it or not, it's been some of the best viewing in the last 30 years.
• 17:23
  Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Now you hear about it all the time.
• 17:25
  Speaker A: Okay. Which was probably why, let's be honest, Pete sent me this whole, like, episode idea to begin with, because he's probably found it on TikTok or Instagram or whatever. So, apparently, there's something called the sun's solar maximum. A solar maximum. It happens every 11 years. And that's making the sky go off, like, way, way more than normal.
• 17:44
  Speaker B: But wait, you said the past 30 years, but then you also said the past 11 years.
• 17:48
  Speaker A: Yeah. Relax.
• 17:48
  Speaker B: So why is it.
• 17:49
  Speaker A: Okay, relax.
• 17:49
  Speaker B: Hold on.
• 17:50
  Speaker A: Okay, so solar maximums happen every 11 years, but that doesn't mean, like, they're all the same. Okay, right.
• 17:56
  Speaker B: So we're gonna die because they're stronger now.
• 17:57
  Speaker A: Oh, God. With the death. So think of, like, hurricane season.
• 17:59
  Speaker B: Well, I looked.
• 18:00
  Speaker A: Or fire season. Right. Wait, you looked it up?
• 18:02
  Speaker B: I did. No one's died for the Northern lights.
• 18:04
  Speaker A: Find something for her, please. Anything. I don't care.
• 18:06
  Speaker B: It's because we're going to die.
• 18:08
  Speaker A: Okay, but that's what we're gonna hold on to. I think that's terrible. My point, if I can get back to it, this is ADHD. My point is, every 11 years that cycle happens, Some cycles go off more than other cycles. So over the course of the last 33 years, the last two cycles haven't been as big. This cycle is popping. Does that make sense?
• 18:25
  Speaker B: Yes. Okay, so it conserved its energy and now is extra.
• 18:28
  Speaker A: Here we go. Bingo. And I guess this particular cycle is having more storms than even the scientists originally predicted. So I guess it's like El Nino. They can predict, like, when it's gonna go, like, big and. Yeah, I know, it's crazy. So more of them are actually hitting the Earth instead of spinning off into space or whatever they do. I don't even know. And then on top of that, apparently the Earth's magnetic field is letting a bunch more shit sneak in. We have, like, more holes in our magnetic atmosphere than, like, than we normally do. So wait, so anyway, put all that together, you get a way brighter, way more frequent Northern Light viewing episodes. And apparently that's why we're having all these viewings, like, as far south as, I don't know, Mexico or whatever the hell it is.
• 19:09
  Speaker B: Wait, hold on. Now you're, like, pushing it all the way down in Mexico. I feel like that's a lie. You can't see it all the way to Mexico.
• 19:15
  Speaker A: It is a lie. I'm being mendacious.
• 19:16
  Speaker B: Okay, well played.
• 19:19
  Speaker A: Just made that shit up. We're sort of sophisticated, but you get the point.
• 19:21
  Speaker B: Okay, okay, so let's say Mid Colorado, which you can't really see until. Unless you have a camera, blah, blah, blah.
• 19:28
  Speaker A: Well, Rocky Mountain High, Colorado is a great place because you can go smoke a little weed while you're watching the north.
• 19:33
  Speaker B: That wasn't my question.
• 19:34
  Speaker A: Okay, what was the question?
• 19:35
  Speaker B: I don't think your medication's working for you.
• 19:37
  Speaker A: Okay, Sorry.
• 19:37
  Speaker B: But also, where is the best place to see it?
• 19:40
  Speaker A: Arendelle. Elsa and Anna's castle in Arendelle. Did you know that's where it's based out of?
• 19:45
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 19:46
  Speaker A: I didn't know that.
• 19:47
  Speaker B: You didn't know that?
• 19:48
  Speaker A: No, I didn't know that.
• 19:49
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah, look at that.
• 19:50
  Speaker A: Fun fact you just threw at me. Right? I like that. High five. Good work. Okay, Apparently a place called Tromso, it's basically like the super bowl for seeing, like, the northern lights. Okay.
• 20:00
  Speaker B: Is there a certain time?
• 20:01
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah. You go in the wintertime.
• 20:02
  Speaker B: Any winter time. Well, there must be, like, a certain time, right?
• 20:05
  Speaker A: Oh, I don't know. When they go off, they go off from, like, what is it, November to, like, March? I don't know. Don't quote me on that. I don't know exactly. But yeah, like, winter time. But Tramso also has, like, all the infrastructure because that's what they've built, the tourism around in that town. They've, like, tours and, like, places to eat and the kitschy stores and the whole thing, because they've been doing it forever. So, like, that's the place to go to, like, bucket list.
• 20:27
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 20:28
  Speaker A: Go there, stay there, stay the week, because they're set up for you. Right. But if you want the Instagram vibe, the whole, like, best picture.
• 20:35
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 20:36
  Speaker A: Then you got to go somewhere else.
• 20:37
  Speaker B: Where?
• 20:37
  Speaker A: Iceland. Oh, yeah.
• 20:38
  Speaker B: Totally different because of the ice, because it's clear and white and reflects.
• 20:42
  Speaker A: Yeah, all that stuff, too. By the way, people shout out to our episode on Iceland, if you haven't. That was a riveting episode. So go back and listen to it. Thank you very much. Shameless plug. It's because it's sitting in the middle of the ocean, so weather has the most to do with it.
• 20:58
  Speaker B: Because you're the most clearest view.
• 21:00
  Speaker A: It's the best chance and the, like, toughest. But because it's, like, isolated. It depends. It depends. But it's gonna give you the best, if you can.
• 21:11
  Speaker B: It's kind of a dice roll.
• 21:12
  Speaker A: It is. You're absolutely right. Right, right, right, right. Totally. So Norway, like, safest bet. Iceland get the prettiest. But dice roll. Good point. And then there's the whole Finnish Lapland. In Finland. The Finnish Lapland? Yeah. What's that? Yeah. After looking at Instagram photos, by the way, this is by far my favorite place. Because that's the one with. You've probably seen it. That's got the fairy tale vibes. It's all the houses that look like they're from, like, Brothers Grimm. You know what I'm talking about? Igloos, reindeers, cute little villages, snow everywhere. Right.
• 21:39
  Speaker B: Take me.
• 21:40
  Speaker A: Very reliable. Very reliable. Okay. I'm telling you, it's a very reliable place to go and see the Aurora Boreales. Why did I do, like, half Donald Trump and Half Bill Clinton. I don't know what I did there. Okay. If you want something closer and cheaper. Cause we live in la. Fairbanks, Alaska.
• 21:55
  Speaker B: Yep, I've heard of Alaska.
• 21:56
  Speaker A: Go to Alaska. Five hour flight, not glamorous. It's not gonna pop like it does in Iceland, but statistically one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights. Like, sort of not guaranteed the northern.
• 22:06
  Speaker B: Lights onto my bucket list of Alaska.
• 22:08
  Speaker A: And then of course, there's anywhere in Canada. Cause you know, it's Canada.
• 22:11
  Speaker B: Canada.
• 22:11
  Speaker A: Cause they're always popping off in Canada. Right. But the most important thing, Amanda, like, regardless of where you go, is you can't go for one night. You can't just like, try to figure this out. Be like, oh, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna look. That's bullshit. The odds are, like, way too low. You have to, like, that has to be the reason for the trips. Like when you went to Maine, like.
• 22:28
  Speaker B: You go for a week and you.
• 22:29
  Speaker A: Yeah, you have to, like, that's the whole point. That's why you go to Norway. That's why you go to.
• 22:31
  Speaker B: I mean, that's why we picked that week in Maine that we did.
• 22:34
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm talking like five, six, seven nights. You gotta go. You like. Cause weather, like, you have to like the clouds and the whole. Yes, yeah. Clouds ruin all the time. You need multiple nights, just. You gotta go.
• 22:44
  Speaker B: But also not just going for like five to seven nights. Like, you need to bring a tripod.
• 22:49
  Speaker A: Oh, totally.
• 22:50
  Speaker B: I try to take pictures with my phone and like, the exposure light needs to be on for so long. And like, you know, we all have like, shaky paw and like, it makes it all blurry, which is cool effect, but not what you want. But definitely bring a tripod.
• 23:02
  Speaker A: Wow, look at you.
• 23:03
  Speaker B: Is there anything else?
• 23:04
  Speaker A: There is. You have to be prepared to stay up, like, really late. Like your version of late, not my version of late. Because, like, the best time to go is like between 10pm and 2am Absolutely. Right, fine. So you got to make a week of it.
• 23:15
  Speaker B: But you have to make a week of it.
• 23:16
  Speaker A: You got to go at 2 o' clock in the morning and you got to bring a tripod because the tripod is going to be way better than your stupid shaky hands. So I think. I think sort of that's like the. That's the little hack, right?
• 23:27
  Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. That is the hack. Okay, well, let's pause for a second.
• 23:30
  Speaker A: Wait, are we pausing? Are we pivoting or are we piecing out?
• 23:33
  Speaker B: No, no, we're just like taking a beat because you had to like, go.
• 23:37
  Speaker A: Shout out to our greatest episode of all time.
• 23:38
  Speaker B: It's true.
• 23:39
  Speaker A: Fine, go.
• 23:39
  Speaker B: Sorry, missed it. But you said plan to be there for a week in order to experience it. But I do want to argue a little bit that you should go and you should plan for a week to be wherever it is for a week. But you're going to appreciate the culture, you know, enjoy the environment that you're in, getting back with nature, all of the things where it's not just, I'm going for Aurora Borealis because you can be sorely disappointed if you miss it or you don't see it.
• 24:02
  Speaker A: Yeah. This is a live in the moment. Oh, you're absolutely right.
• 24:04
  Speaker B: Experience where every one of these places that you're going to go view is this.
• 24:08
  Speaker A: You are absolutely right. This is an Amanda moment, not a Peter moment. Because, like, I suck at this. This is where you do very well because you can, like, live in the moment and chill out. Like, we went to Hawaii, the same thing. Like, you're awesome at this.
• 24:18
  Speaker B: Like how I drove two extra hours, four hours. You will do that.
• 24:21
  Speaker A: So I have to take a little page out of your book here. I completely agree with what you're saying. Here's the weird sort of like psychological vibe. You gotta love Instagram and TikTok because it brings Aurora Borealis, the northern lights, to life so people see them, so people wanna go see them, so people can understand why they're important and all of that. But then you're absolutely right on the opposite side of it. It' it's not just a frickin Instagram photo. The whole idea of going is to reconnect with sort of culture and community and generations before you and the indigenous people and like this whole concept of sort of slow down, patience, enjoy your life, live in the moment, which is like, weird. So you sort of like, appreciate, but you need. You need both.
• 25:06
  Speaker B: Well, but I think it's taking yourself out of. I mean, you're living in the present, but you're also taking yourself out of the present social context. Right. Where you're thinking more of. This is a phenomenon that has gone generations and hundreds of years before me that I get to experience in this moment.
• 25:22
  Speaker A: Yes. You know what? You know what? I would suggest screw TikTok and Instagram because that's just. Someone's just scrolling and looking at me. Oh my God, the northern lights, I should go see them. Blah, blah, blah, hurry up and go. Right? And that's the whole, like, Anxiety ridden culture we have. You know what people should do instead?
• 25:34
  Speaker B: No.
• 25:34
  Speaker A: They should listen to this podcast on the northern lights for fun and then realize they learn all about the culture and all about the curiosities of all this stuff and then experience.
• 25:45
  Speaker B: Yep.
• 25:45
  Speaker A: Thank you. What was that? This is commercial right here. Let's do this. Shout out to Pete Toomey, by the way. Right.
• 25:51
  Speaker B: Good job. Good job, Pete.
• 25:52
  Speaker A: Let's go. More people. Send more episode ideas. This is excellent.
• 25:55
  Speaker B: I do love, like, going down rabbit holes and learning about things that, you know, we again see it on social media and everywhere else. But then we don't pause to think about what's the significance of the northern lights. Like, what is the deeper rabbit hole?
• 26:08
  Speaker A: This is why I love doing this.
• 26:10
  Speaker B: I agree.
• 26:10
  Speaker A: This was one of those episodes where I was like, oh, my God. Like, I just. Every new thing I learned, I'm like, that's fascinating. I gotta go figure that out. When are we going? Let's just plan that. Like, are we like, let's go Fairbanks, Alaska. Let's just do that.
• 26:20
  Speaker B: Let's go. Twist my arm as long as we can. Do sled dogs.
• 26:22
  Speaker A: I have an idea. Well, Iditarod race.
• 26:24
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 26:25
  Speaker A: In Alaska. It'll be excellent.
• 26:27
  Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I've always wanted to go that did a Rod.
• 26:29
  Speaker A: I just want to see.
• 26:30
  Speaker B: Or like the little puppy.
• 26:31
  Speaker A: I want to see your girls in those huge ass parkas that are bigger than them. Right.
• 26:34
  Speaker B: Okay, so we're going to go do Iditarod. And I think we've gotten enough info about kind of the northern lights, why they happen, the history behind them, how it's culturally relevant.
• 26:43
  Speaker A: What if you were married to a guy named Rod? Would you say, I did a Rod? No. Bad joke.
• 26:55
  Speaker B: Punches pop in your head.
• 26:56
  Speaker A: It did. And shout out to one of my best friends, Ann Kreidel, who's dating a dude named Rod. I think.
• 27:03
  Speaker B: I think just did a rod.
• 27:08
  Speaker A: Oh, my God. I'm losing my mind here. That was excellent. Okay, sorry.
• 27:11
  Speaker B: You need a texter. Okay, well.
• 27:13
  Speaker A: Oh, my God.
• 27:14
  Speaker B: Okay, well, while we're on the, I guess, train of laughter, is there any more fun facts?
• 27:19
  Speaker A: Fun facts? Yeah, let's just do fun facts. Okay, fine. I'm still laughing about that whole thing. Wow. Okay, number one fun fact. Here we go. Did you know the northern lights make sounds?
• 27:28
  Speaker B: No, they don't.
• 27:29
  Speaker A: Yeah, they make sounds. Yes. Like, I like that. That's really cool. Okay, so I guess during very strong aurora events, electrical energy can start to build up closer to the ground. And when it suddenly discharges. It can create crackling or popping sounds. Basically, the sky is leaking energy into the air around you. What was our word of the week about crackling? We had a word of the week on crack. Yes, we did. We did. We did crepitate.
• 27:56
  Speaker B: Oh, my God. Did you pull that out of your ass right now?
• 27:59
  Speaker A: I did. I just pulled crepitate right out of my ass.
• 28:01
  Speaker B: Good job.
• 28:01
  Speaker A: That was it.
• 28:02
  Speaker B: That was impressive. Not gonna lie. But I'm also. Now my anxiety's peaked again.
• 28:05
  Speaker A: Here it is.
• 28:06
  Speaker B: Now it's all the solas that are coming out.
• 28:07
  Speaker A: You're getting brain cancer. Okay, number two, you can see Aurora's Amanda on other planets. Well, I mean, you have to go to the planets, but you get my point.
• 28:16
  Speaker B: In theory or has this been proven that you can actually zoom out?
• 28:18
  Speaker A: Because we have, like, rovers. There's rovers that are out there. Right. I did a rover. Okay, sorry. So any planet with a strong magnetic field and an atmosphere can have an aurora.
• 28:28
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 28:29
  Speaker A: And I guess, like, Jupiter's are the most intense because the magnetic field is by far the strongest one in, like, our whole solar system. And it's constantly being bombarded with those charged particles. So you gotta love Jupiter. Number three, auroras actually happen during the day, too. You just can't see them.
• 28:44
  Speaker B: I mean, that makes sense that it's happening all the time. It doesn't just happen at night.
• 28:47
  Speaker A: Correct.
• 28:47
  Speaker B: I would assume the sun goes down, which is why you can see it. Some sort of like. Yes.
• 28:51
  Speaker A: The process never stops. Yes. Daylight obviously overwhelms the glow, so the show only becomes visible when the sky gets dark at night. Okay, fine.
• 28:57
  Speaker B: Just like stars. Just like stars.
• 28:58
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.
• 28:59
  Speaker B: They're always out. The moon's always out.
• 29:01
  Speaker A: Okay, number four, the solar storms. Like that.
• 29:04
  Speaker B: Yeah, these massive ones that we're having. Sure, sure, sure.
• 29:06
  Speaker A: Yeah. They've actually knocked out entire power grids.
• 29:10
  Speaker B: I believe it. I told you. You make fun of me for my anxiety spiking, but did we ever find.
• 29:14
  Speaker A: Out if anybody died?
• 29:15
  Speaker B: They haven't died. I told you.
• 29:16
  Speaker A: Can you chat?
• 29:16
  Speaker B: I did, I did. No one's ever died.
• 29:18
  Speaker A: Okay, fine. I'm going to find something. I'll get back to you, Jeanette. All right, check this out. So when a big solar storm hits Earth, it shakes our planet's magnetic field, like, with a sudden jolt. And that movement creates electrical current in the ground. Long power lines, especially in places like Canada, act as giant antennas and start picking up all that extra energy. Our systems aren't necessarily built for that. Kind of surge. So transformers overheat, and then the safety systems kick in and shut everything down.
• 29:46
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 29:46
  Speaker A: And I guess it just happened, like recently. Well, not recently, but like in 1989, when a solar storm knocked out the power across all of Quebec in under two minutes, leaving millions of people without electricity because the auroras wanted to flex.
• 29:59
  Speaker B: But didn't that also happen?
• 30:00
  Speaker A: And nobody died. Oh, did it?
• 30:03
  Speaker B: When Spain had their outage, didn't they blame it on a solar.
• 30:05
  Speaker A: Oh, look at that.
• 30:06
  Speaker B: I don't know.
• 30:07
  Speaker A: There you go.
• 30:07
  Speaker B: I thought it was.
• 30:08
  Speaker A: Was it more recent?
• 30:08
  Speaker B: I could be wrong.
• 30:09
  Speaker A: Oh, shit.
• 30:09
  Speaker B: I gotta look that one up this year.
• 30:11
  Speaker A: So we're sort of sophisticated. It's fine. It's close enough.
• 30:13
  Speaker B: Oh, I don't know. I may be wrong.
• 30:14
  Speaker A: All right, we're gonna. We're gonn asterisks. We're right. Okay. Number five. In 1859, the auroras were actually so bright you could read by them. You didn't even need light. You could read. It was like the sun was out. Yeah. The Carrington event, as it was called, was so powerful that the Earth's magnetic field was hit directly by an enormous solar eruption, flooding the atmosphere with energy and lighting up the night sky worldwide. Bright enough for people to read by those lights. All right, number six, how about this one? Red auroras are rarer than green ones. We talked about earlier how red ones come from high altitude and like, green ones come from low altitude. But I guess the higher you go, the less oxygen there is. Duh. That tracks. So you can only see red displays during especially powerful storms.
• 30:55
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 30:56
  Speaker A: Most of them are only gonna be green and like pink and like. Yeah, yeah. Purple. Uh huh. Number seven. Auroras helped scientists understand the Earth's magnetic field. Long before we could measure magnetism directly, scientists noticed that auroras followed predictable paths near the poles. We were talking about the North Pole and the South Pole, which started to reveal the invisible shape of the Earth's magnetic shield. They didn't know the Earth had a magnetic shield until they started figuring this out. Yeah. And then subsequently, years later, we learned how to actually measure magnetism and figure it all out. But that's kind of cool that, like, that was our first blueprint, you know, when you were little and like, you put the paper over the paper and like, you would rub same thing. That's what we were figuring out, like without science. How cool is that? We were like, anyway, baby steps. History is fascinating to me. Okay. And finally, I always save the best for last. Here we go. Some cultures Believe that auroras actually reacted to human behavior. They reacted to our behavior.
• 31:48
  Speaker B: Huh.
• 31:48
  Speaker A: Because the lights would shift and pulse, like, so unpredictably.
• 31:51
  Speaker B: Right.
• 31:52
  Speaker A: Many cultures thought they were actually alive or at least aware of what was going on down here on Earth, which led people to believe that things like whistling or singing or dancing or even, like, manifesting your thoughts could influence the northern lights, and then they could subsequently help us. So there you go.
• 32:10
  Speaker B: I like it.
• 32:11
  Speaker A: Kind of cool.
• 32:11
  Speaker B: I do. It's fire. Oh, my goodness. So good. I really did enjoy that episode a lot. Like, it was a good one. And I'm kind of surprised. It's like, oh, shout out to Pete. Yeah, let's go, too. How interesting can it be? But it was super interesting. Your fun facts were good. And, like, the fact that the sky can, like, make sound is wild.
• 32:30
  Speaker A: Right.
• 32:30
  Speaker B: Think about it. Or, like, there's a solar flare and they take out a whole power grid. Like, it's just all this energy that we don't see. Right. That's, like, all around us. Or that the fact that red auroras are super rare. And if you see it, you should be, like, celebrating because.
• 32:43
  Speaker A: Because it's not often.
• 32:44
  Speaker B: Right, Right.
• 32:45
  Speaker A: I know.
• 32:45
  Speaker B: I don't know. It's just so much. Okay, so that's my one thing that I have a takeaway from this. Do you have, like, four or five other takeaways that would be good to remember, you know, as our, like, hit it list.
• 32:54
  Speaker A: Oh, I got to hit it list.
• 32:55
  Speaker B: Let's go.
• 32:56
  Speaker A: All right, so if you guys like the episode or we're even mildly curious about it, then here' suggestion for you. Follow NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
• 33:06
  Speaker B: What does the thing.
• 33:07
  Speaker A: I know there is. Yeah. Or NOAA space weather updates. Not because you need to understand any of it, because that would be crazy, but because it'll make you realize that stuff is happening, like, right now. Yeah. The same way. Remember when we were, like, Kilauea, we were watching the cams.
• 33:21
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 33:21
  Speaker A: You go to any one of these websites and you can sort of get a vibe on where. Right.
• 33:24
  Speaker B: You sort of gonna happen.
• 33:26
  Speaker A: Yes. It's all live shit. It's not like a documentary version of it or anything like that.
• 33:29
  Speaker B: Got it.
• 33:30
  Speaker A: Yeah. And then second, just watch, like, YouTube POV videos from, like, Norway or Iceland or Alaska. Like, I don't even care. They do a great job showing all the unpredictability and all of, like, the humbling experience. That's cool. The whole aurora. And then, of course, if you're feeling adventurous, people just meet Amanda And I in Fairbanks, Alaska. Cause we're setting up a date. And if you don't want to do any of that. And just want to be warm and cozy under a blanket. Because you liked our episode on Cozy, Then just remember these relevant details that seem sophisticated. Number one, the Northern Lights aren't magic. Although, honestly, I kind of wish they were. I'm not gonna lie. They're solar energy colliding with the Earth. They happen because charged particles from the sun slam into the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, creating light through physics, not weather. Number two, 2026 is a rare moment, not just another cycle. Solar maximum happens every 11 years. But this one is stronger, better, aimed at the Earth. And happening during conditions that make auroras brighter and visible farther south than we've seen in decades. Number three. The light looks slow, but the energy behind them is moving incredibly fast. What appears to be dancing curtains in the sky Is actually energy racing along magnetic fields, Lighting up different paths of the atmosphere in real time at tens of thousands of miles per hour.
• 34:46
  Speaker B: That one should just blow everybody's mind, right?
• 34:49
  Speaker A: That should have been a fun fact.
• 34:50
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 34:51
  Speaker A: Number four. Since the beginning of time, Auroras have always mattered to science, to culture, and all of humanity. They inspire mythology across civilizations. Like we were saying earlier, help scientists understand the Earth's matter magnetic field. Thank you, Galileo. And have, more importantly, shaped how humans tell stories. And remember that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. And finally, like Amanda was saying, seeing them is about patience, not perfection. The Northern Lights don't perform on command. You need multiple nights, the right location, realistic expectations, and a willingness to just stand there and wait if you want the experience to be unforgettable.
• 35:25
  Speaker B: And there you have it, dear listeners. The Northern Lights in their glowing, unpredictable glory. Learning about the auroras isn't just about science or pretty skies. It's about how humans have always looked up to the heavens. To connect across time through the same ageless sense of wonder and curiosity. If we did our job today, you're walking away a little more curious and maybe ready to casually explain solar storms, biking myths, or why red auroras are such a big deal. The next time the sky comes up at your dinner conversation.
• 35:52
  Speaker A: What is it with you in the red auroras? You really like that?
• 35:54
  Speaker B: It's super cool. Think about it. It's so cool. It's rare. Like, if you're gonna go try to see Aurora Borealis, you might as well aim for the stars.
• 36:01
  Speaker A: I'm with you.
• 36:01
  Speaker B: And look for the red.
• 36:02
  Speaker A: Whoa. Whoa.
• 36:03
  Speaker B: I like this and if this episode made you stop scrolling and actually look up once in a while, leave us a review and tell us. Was it the ancient legends, the modern science, or the idea that the universe still refuses to perform on command that stuck with you?
• 36:16
  Speaker A: If you DM us on Instagram which one of those it was, you get a free T shirt. Let's go, people.
• 36:21
  Speaker B: Oh. So, until next time, stay curious, stay humble, and remember, sometimes the most powerful moments happen when you're quiet, patient, and willing to wait for the sky to show up.