In September 1859, the same year that Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," telegraph systems across Europe and North America stopped working and started sparking, leading to fires in some cases.

Recent research has uncovered evidence of several extreme solar storms that struck Earth in the distant past, with potentially catastrophic consequences if they occurred today. These findings, based on tree ring analysis and radiocarbon data,

Scientists find evidence of past solar storms that would have catastrophic impact on Earth today - New approach crucial to better understand risk and frequency of severe solar storms