Today in Science: Solar flare lights up the sky

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November 12, 2025—The science of auroras, how to find a prime number without a computer, and the skill that delays cognitive decline.  —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS Oil derricks in Brazil. Anton Petrus/Getty Images The International Energy Agency predicts global demand for oil and gas will rise well beyond 2030. The agency had previously forecasted that demand for oil would peak by 2030, but weak climate action altered their assessment. | 2 min read  Learning a new language may slow brain aging, a large international study finds. | 2 min read In the 1800s French mathematician Édouard Lucas devised a calculation trick to prove a number is a prime. More than 150 years later, his method is still used, no computer needed. | 5 min read  The virus that causes mono may also cause lupus, according to a new study. | 3 min read More News TOP STORIES The aurora borealis glows above rural Monroe County near Bloomington, Ind., on November 12, 2025. Jeremy Hogan/Getty Images Skies Aglow Last night, a strong geomagnetic storm created stunning auroras across the U.S., even as far as Florida. An area on the surface of the sun called active region 4274 (AR4274) has been sending out multiple solar flares. Did you see any auroras? Reply to this email and attach your pics!   How it works: Auroras occur after the sun emits what scientists call a coronal mass ejection, or CME, in the direction of Earth. A CME spews out a burst of plasma and magnetic field that careens toward Earth's atmosphere, compressing our planet's magnetic field as it travels. Plasma from the CME penetrates our disrupted magnetosphere and injects charged particles into the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. Matthew Twombly Space weather affects the density and turbulence of Earth's ionosphere. As radio signals travel through this layer of the atmosphere, its changing thickness may send waves on distorted paths, affecting communications transmission. And an influx of particles streaming toward Earth can cause brighter and more widespread auroras, as well as surges in power grids that lead to outages. Matthew Twombly The big picture: Why have there been so many auroras lately? For the last couple of years activity on the sun has been escalating as part of its normal approximately 11-year cycle between solar minimum (low activity) and solar maximum (lots of activity). I asked Meghan Bartels, our senior reporter who has been covering lots of recent solar flares, if we're technically in the midst of a solar maximum, which would explain all the auroras. "It's squidgy," she told me. "A solar max can only be identified months after we hit it—scientists declared we'd entered this period last October. But it can last for more than a year, so we're plausibly still in max, but we're also plausibly on the downslide at this point." The interesting thing, she added, is that sometimes space weather (as the energy, radiation and plasma streaming off the sun are fondly called) can be more intense in the first few years as the sun cycles out of its max. More coming: Last night's auroras were the result of CMEs released on Sunday and Monday, but Tuesday also saw such an outburst from the sun, which experts expect will reach Earth in the coming hours. An initial aurora forecast for tonight suggests the spectacle could continue tonight—but only for the northernmost portion of the country.  Green auroras light up the night sky over Monroe, Wisconsin, on November 11, 2025, during one of the strongest solar storms in decades. Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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EXPERT PERSPECTIVES We are not as prepared for an apocalyptic solar storm as we should be, Phil Plait, astronomer and columnist, wrote last year. Though a blockbuster CME is unlikely to hit us in this solar cycle, "reinforcing the electricity grid and making it more decentralized would be a good start" for preparations, he says. | 5 min read More Opinion WHAT WE'RE READING One-person billion-dollar companies, run mostly by AI agents, are on the way, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says. | WIRED A crucial NOAA lab that has been monitoring seismic activity for more than 25 years, tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes, is about to go offline because of funding cuts. | The Washington Post NASA delayed the launch of Blue Origin's ESCAPADE spacecraft because of elevated solar activity. | Spaceflight Now​ Supporting our work means amplifying science. Consider a subscription to Scientific American​​and back independent science journalism! Today in Science readers can get started for just $1.  I have never seen an aurora in real life. Sad! Let me live vicariously through you and please send me any good photos from last night or tonight's lights in the sky at the email address below or simply reply to this email.  Thanks for reading: newsletters@sciam.com.​ See you tomorrow!   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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