Brit boffins building space detector to warn when alien dust is wreaking havoc on Earth

dailystar.co.uk:

space weather detector to warn when alien dust is wreaking havoc on Earth. Highly-charged particles from outer space have sent a passenger jet spiralling out of control, triggered power cuts, sparked fires and even rigged an election.

Solar winds - the electromagnetic forces that cause the northern lights - were the most likely culprit. READ MORE: Deadly and dangerous viral web crazes – from face peeling off to two-year frostbiteThe UK is now developing a £1.26 million early warning system that can detect such surges from the ground.In 2003, alien particles penetrated the memory chip of a vote-counting machine in federal elections in Belgium and changed the result.At first fraud was suspected when more votes were counted than there were people on the electoral roll.An inquiry found space dust was to blame for contaminating the chip.In 2008 a Qantas flight from Singapore to Perth went out of control for 23 seconds, plunged 690ft and injured a third of the passengers.Investigators said cosmic rays striking flight computers were a possible cause.They were similarly blamed for a power outage affecting six million in Quebec, Canada, and telegraph lines catching fire in New York.The Earth's magnetic field usually protects the planet from solar winds - the beams of charged particles constantly flowing from the sun.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.But every so often a high-powered flare breaks through.Lancaster University engineer Michael Aspinall, who is working on the detection team, said the effects of such space weather could be devastating."No electricity means no computers, no communication, no navigation.