Solar flares are dramatic releases of energy from the Sun. They are associated with sunspots and their magnetic fields, and when the Sun is at its most active during its 11-year-long cycle, we get a lot of them at high energy. The emission of powerful solar flares can create radio blackouts and damage satellites and living organisms. Luckily, our atmosphere and magnetic field keep us safe.Stars too have flares, and researchers over the last decade or so have found evidence that some of these flares can be up to hundreds of times more energetic than what has been recorded from the Sun. The obvious question is, if it’s happening elsewhere in the galaxy, can it also happen to the Sun? The answer is a strong maybe.NASA’s planet-hunting telescope Kepler has observed many tens of thousands of stars, precisely measuring their brightness. Professor Kazunari Shibata from Kyoto University and his team were interested in seeing if they could spot changes in brightness from some of these stars. A bright flare from the Sun would increase its luminosity by maybe a fraction of a percent – but the flares from these objects were making the stars up to 1.5 percent.Members of the team did not originally believe such flares were possible. Theoretical considerations said yes, but observations up to about the early 2010s did not. Those team members set out to disprove the findings but without success.I encourage many theorists to really study whether this is correct or not.Professor Kazunari Shibata“Doctor Maehara was a postdoc of my group and he didn't believe in such superflares from Sun-like stars,” laughs Professor Shibata as he told us about the beginning of the work. “He was very careful and a very strict analyzer. He tried to reject all the discoveries but some of them remained. They couldn’t be rejected.”More recently, the team has measured what they believe to be coronal mass ejections and filaments from Sun-like stars, also in the context of events that are more powerful than what we are used to from our own Sun.Based on the many aspects of this research and a simple model of the formation of these stellar flares, the team expects that one of these events happens on certain Sun-like stars with a frequency of once every 6,000 years. That's rare by human standards, but certainly not rare when it comes to the history of a star.   The simplistic model applied to the Sun suggests that a superflare 100 times more powerful than what we have measured is possible but unlikely. Such an event would require about eight years of build-up and the formation of an enormous sunspot. But Professor Shibata stresses how simple the model they used is and it is up to the theorists to work out if solar superflares are a realistic possibility.“From even this simple calculation, I suggested [the superflares] as a possibility. And of course, this is a big challenge I put to Solar Dynamo theorists. And I encourage many theorists to really study whether this is correct or not,” Professor Shibata told IFLScience.Shibata presented his and his team's work at the 32nd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union which took place in South Africa.

Minouche Shafik has resigned as president of Columbia University just a few months after radicals set up an encampment and eventually barricaded themselves inside a building to protest ongoing hostilities in Gaza and the school's ties to Israel.On Wednesday, Shafik released a letter announcing her resignation, and she made very clear that the disruptive protests on campus last spring prompted it."Tension, division, and politicization have disrupted our campus over the last year," she wrote, leading to "turmoil" that has precluded open dialogue.Though she denounced all forms of discrimination, Shafik also championed the importance of "free speech" and "openness to new ideas" and claimed that educating future leaders while still holding fast to core academic principles was Columbia's "North Star.""I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion," she insisted.On Thursday, Speaker Johnson celebrated the news of Shafik's resignation, calling it 'long overdue.'Despite her alleged efforts at promoting these traditional values, Shafik said she and the students and faculty of like mind were "the subject of threats and abuse" and that the campus protests took "a considerable toll" on her family.Tensions on campuses around the country had been simmering for months following the attacks on Israelis on October 7, but they escalated significantly in April. At that point, pro-Hamas protesters established an encampment in the center of Columbia's campus, harassed Jewish students and faculty, and demanded that Columbia leaders divest the school from Israel.The situation at Columbia became so untenable that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) met with Shafik in late April and afterward called for her resignation. A few days later, Shafik authorized the NYPD to arrest participants who had ignored orders to disperse, locked themselves inside Hamilton Hall, and proceeded to deface the building by breaking windows and scrawling anti-Semitic messages.On Thursday, Speaker Johnson celebrated the news of Shafik's resignation, calling it "long overdue."Shafik's resignation took effect immediately, just as students are set to return to campus for the fall semester. She was just one year into her term as president.Katrina Armstrong, CEO of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, is expected to serve as interim president until a permanent replacement can be found.Shafik, who was born in Egypt and earned a D.Phil. in economics at Oxford, claimed she has accepted a position with the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom."I am very pleased and appreciative that this will afford me the opportunity to return to work on fighting global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas of lifelong interest to me. It also enables me to return to the House of Lords to re-engage with the important legislative agenda put forth by the new U.K. government," she said.Shafik's resignation marks the third resignation of a female Ivy League president in the last nine months. Liz Magill stepped down from her role as president at the University of Pennsylvania last December, and Claudine Gay resigned from Harvard in early January.Both Magill and Gay struggled with pro-Hamas protests at their universities as well and were grilled by members of Congress for apparently permitting anti-Semitism to run rampant on campus on their watch. The final weeks of Gay's tenure were also marred by accusations of plagiarism and academic misconduct.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

College sports broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit said that he is done dealing with "two different sets of rules" when it comes to expressing his opinion.The former Ohio State University quarterback was asked online by a fan how he felt about men, or presumably men who identify as women, participating in women's sports."Do men belong in women's sports? Time for influential men in sports media to stand up, Kirk," a fan asked him on X."Of course not. Ridiculous question," Herbstreit replied.'I didn't give a s**t. I don't really give a s**t, at all.'The broadcaster has been a mainstay on ESPN's "College Gameday" for decades and even has a special place in the hearts of video game fans for lending his voice to college football games.A week after his straightforward response, Herbstreit was questioned by OutKick's Dan Dakich about why he decided to answer the question in that manner."I've been biting my tongue on a lot of topics for three years," Herbstreit said. "I happened to see somebody say what he said, and he said 'should men be able to play in women's sports,' and I just said 'ridiculous question, of course not.' I didn't dwell on it, I didn't give a long answer, that was it. There was way more positive [reaction] than negative, I'm sure people were upset, but I think it's kind of a no-brainer."The announcer said that although he has four sons, if he had a daughter he would likely be "way more outspoken" on the topic. — (@) 'It's almost like there are two different sets of rules.'Dakich pressed Herbstreit about the idea that he didn't know he'd be drumming up controversy with the comments, given his massive platform. Herbstreit didn't back off and replied by saying he's had enough of walking on eggshells when it comes to his opinion."I didn't give a s**t. I don't really give a s**t, at all. I'm done giving any s**ts, at all, about any of it," the 54-year-old said. Herbstreit then pointed to a two-tier system about how the opinions of Christians are treated in the media:"It's almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a view that is a little bit more traditional, and you know I'm a Christian guy, it's like there's a different set of rules from that viewpoint. It's hard to turn the cheek time after time after time, so yeah, I didn't really care and don't care at all."The football analyst also mocked the idea of getting canceled and reiterated that he has no energy to give in that regard."I think [not caring] is a good thing ... compared to 'oh gosh, I don't want to get canceled, don't want to get people upset,' I just don't give a s**t."College football returns for the 2024 season on August 24. Herbstreit is set to appear on ESPN's kickoff show that will air in Dublin, showcasing a matchup between Florida State and Georgia Tech.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Taliban took to the streets of Kabul Wednesday to celebrate the third anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Adding insult to injury, the Islamic extremists paraded around the former U.S. Bagram Air Base with the expensive U.S. weaponry and vehicles that were abandoned along with American citizens during the rushed exit — an exit Kamala Harris once boasted cosigning and President Joe Biden deemed an "extraordinary success." Joined by Iranian and communist Chinese diplomats, Taliban officials who have yet to be recognized internationally gave speeches about the significance of their Aug. 15, 2021, reconquest of Kabul, bragging both about advancing Islamic law and about developing "peace and security" by means of a burgeoning military system, reported the Associated Press. "The Islamic Emirate eliminated internal differences and expanded the scope of unity and cooperation in the country," said Mohammed Abdul Kabir, a senior Taliban military official now serving as the acting third deputy prime minister for political affairs. "No one will be allowed to interfere in internal affairs, and Afghan soil will not be used against any country." Whereas the Islamic extremists suggested Afghanistan has thrived in recent years, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan noted Wednesday that religious minorities, women, journalists, former government security officials, and other groups have been subjected over these past three years to "serious and targeted human rights violations by the Taliban. These include arbitrary arrests and detentions, unlawful killings, acts tantamount to enforced disappearance, rape and other crimes of sexual violence, and torture and ill-treatment." House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) noted that footage of a Taliban military parade involving American equipment serves as a "stark reminder that the Biden-Harris Administration chose to arm the Taliban and leave behind American soldiers." "We will never forget the devastating consequences of the White House's reckless withdrawal from Afghanistan," added Johnson. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote, "Infuriating. This was Kamala Harris's gift to the Taliban." The Pentagon confirmed that over $7 billion worth of military equipment was effectively left behind for the Taliban. 'Kamala Harris was the last person in the room with Joe Biden when he made the disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.' Blaze News previously reported that one intelligence assessment estimated that 2,000 armored vehicles and 40 aircraft including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones were left behind for the Taliban. Last year, the House Budget Committee noted that an additional 181,640 air-to-ground munitions and 50,150 practice munitions were left behind along with 9,200 guidance, control, assemblies, fuses, or launchers; "'nearly all' night vision, surveillance, 'biometric and positioning equipment' totaling nearly 42,000 pieces of specialized equipment"; and "'nearly all' of the communications equipment, including base-station, mobile, man-portable and hand-held commercial and military radio systems, and associated transmitters and encryption devices." These figures don't include all of the American weapons the Taliban inevitably lifted from those Afghan forces that were ultimately left at the mercy of the extremists. The special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction revealed that from 2017 to 2019, the U.S. gave Afghan forces over 7,000 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs, and 1,394 grenade launchers. Ahead of the withdrawal, the U.S. also supplied Afghan forces with 211 aircraft. Far more was lost than weapons during the Biden-Harris withdrawal. Amid the confusion, an Islamic terrorist — who reportedly had been released amid the chaos just days earlier from the Parwan prison at Bagram Air Base — detonated a suicide bomb on Aug. 26, 2021, at Abbey Gate, the last route open for Afghans into the Hamid Karzai International Airport. The ISIS-Khorasan suicide bombing killed 11 Marines, a solider, and a sailor: Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui; Marine Lance Cpl. David Lee Espinoza; Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee; Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover; Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss; Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez; Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum; Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola; Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo; Marine Cpl. Humberto Sanchez; Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz; Navy Hospitalman Maxton Soviak; and Marine Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page. The attack also left 45 other service members wounded and killed at least 170 Afghan civilians. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in a Thursday statement, "Today marks three years since the Biden-Harris Administration's colossal failure in the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Americans must never forget the 13 service members who lost their lives and the Gold Star families they left behind in this completely preventable tragedy. We honor their lives and their sacrifices, and we must continue to demand answers, transparency, and accountability." Stefanik noted further that "Kamala Harris was the last person in the room with Joe Biden when he made the disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. Kamala Harris owns this catastrophic withdrawal and proves just how incompetent, incapable, and dangerous she would be as our nation's commander in chief." Harris confirmed to CNN in April 2021 that she was the last person in the room after Biden decided on his particular withdrawal scheme and noted she felt comfortable with the decision. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted Thursday, "Three years ago today, Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban. Kamala Harris needs to answer questions about her role in the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Minnesota governor’s ‘aw shucks’ demeanor can’t hide the fact that he abandoned his city to riots and walked out on his battalion before it deployed.

Trump Legal Team Asks for Sentencing Delay in New York Case

Multiple people face federal charges and at least one was arrested related to an investigation into the death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry in Los Angeles nearly a year ago, various media outlets reported on Thursday.

Emboldened by success in its initial efforts to cut dietary salt intake by Americans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced Phase II of the endeavor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his call to substitute India's religious-based laws with a uniform civil code in the interest of national unity, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

An Antifa member was found guilty on charges related to a 2021 clash at a Proud Boys park rally in Oregon, according to local officials.