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While it might look like a tranquil yellow ball from here, the sun is actually a raging inferno of intense magnetic forces and violent explosions.
So, although all life on Earth depends on the Sun to survive, it may one day be the thing that destroys us.
Scientists have recently warned that Earth is well overdue for a solar ‘superflare’ – a stellar explosion containing the energy of billions of atomic bombs.
When this happens, power grids will be damaged, satellites will fall from orbit, and the destruction of undersea cables could trigger an ‘internet apocalypse’.
From the superflare’s eruption from the sun, Earth will have just eight minutes before the first wave of radiation slams into the atmosphere.
However, the worst will still be yet to come as a vast wave of plasma and magnetic fields follows close behind, causing havoc for the planet’s electrical system.
The last time …