solar

Ok, look – we all know that the sun is a big ball of gas, right? Well, it's not.

It's really a big ball of plasma – a mixture of atoms and electrons stripped from those atoms.

So what? Plasma can hold a magnetic charge. Gas can't. It's this magnetic charge that shapes solar flares into huge loops, and helps transport the sun's energy from its core to its exterior, so that we on earth can benefit.

So it really is a big deal.