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Space weather has been known to cause disruptions to GPS and communications systems, and perhaps no one is feeling those headaches more than farmers this weekend. 404 Media reports that the heightened solar activity over the last few days has led to outages in the GPS navigation systems that guide some modern tractors from John Deere and other brands. The technology has allowed farmers to plant more efficiently in ultra-tight, straight lines, but they've been advised to temporarily stop using it due to the potential for inaccuracies that could cause havoc down the line come harvesting time.
John Deere's tractors connect to what are known as Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) systems, 404 reports, which allow for precision planting down to the centimeter level. If farmers were to go ahead and plant without their usual accuracy, "we expect that the rows won't be where the AutoPath lines think they are" when it's time to tend and harvest the crops, Landmark Implement, owner of some John Deere dealerships, told 404 Media.
The timing is terrible — it's peak planting season for corn, and one Nebraska farmer, Kevin Kenney, told 404, "All the tractors are sitting at the ends of the field right now shut down because of the solar storm." Many farms have had to pause planting, while others are carrying on and just hoping for the best.
The geomagnetic storm we're currently experiencing is the strongest observed in the last 20 years, and reached G5 levels on Friday and Saturday morning, which is considered to be "extreme." It later died down some to
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 Apple's "Let Loose" event this week went off largely as expected, headlined by new iPad Pro and iPad Air models.
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The strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years made the colorful northern lights, or aurora borealis, visible Friday night across the US, even in areas that are normally too far south to see them. And the show may not be over. Tonight may offer another chance to catch the aurora if you have clear skies, according to the NOAA, and Sunday could bring yet more displays reaching as far as Alabama.
— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 11, 2024
The NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said on Saturday that the sun has continued to produce powerful solar flares. That's on top of previously observed coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or explosions of magnetized plasma, that won't reach Earth until tomorrow. The agency has been monitoring a particularly active sunspot cluster since Wednesday, and confirmed yesterday that it had observed G5 conditions — the level designated "extreme" — which haven't been seen since October 2003. In a press release on Friday, Clinton Wallace, Director, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, said the current storm is "an unusual and potentially
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This isn't the kind of thing that can power my main desk on its own, but it's great for adding some extra power in a small space, like behind my TV. In addition to six standard AC outlets, you get two USB-A ports and a USB-C port, though at 2.1 amps total across the three they won't be powering any big laptops.
Note that this isn't just a cheap outlet extender, it's rated for 1800 joules of protection. That should be enough to protect your laptop and a bunch of mobile gear from anything up to a direct lightning strike on your house. It also has extra-wide spacing on the outlets, great for oddly-shaped plugs and "wall warts."
Normally $15.99, the gadget is on sale for a generous 38 percent off in a "limited time deal," bringing the sticker price down to just $9.99. You can click the check mark coupon on Amazon for an additional 5 percent off, bringing the final checkout price to $9.49. Grab a couple of them if you want…just don't use Amazon's 2-pack on the actual listing, which turns out to be more expensive.
Get a 6-outlet surge
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