The influence of human activity extends well beyond what is imagined. That is, beyond the Earth. According to a NASA video broadcast on May 17, based on a recent study, the probe Van Allen Probes detected a “bubble” around the blue planet, made indirectly “by the hand of man “. And according to astronomers, this bubble would serve as a barrier against cosmic radiation.

The researchers believe that this phenomenon is due to the very low frequency radio signals used in particular to communicate with submarines. They could affect how the particles move through the environment of our near-space. Indeed, these low frequencies travel beyond our atmosphere, in space, where they interact with the radiation of particles of high energies.

“A number of experiments and observations have shown that, under the right conditions, very low frequency radio communication signals can affect the properties of high-energy radiation in the space around the Earth,” explains Phil Erikson , Of the MIT Haystack Observatory.

Scientists have also discovered that the outer part of this bubble almost aligns with the inner edge of the Van Allen radiation belt. An area of ​​the magnetosphere – the area where the magnetic field of the Earth extends – which concentrates many protons. This lower section would constitute a kind of “impenetrable barrier”.

According to NASA, radio signals could one day be used to remove the excess radiation from the environment of our near-space. Scientists are already studying whether low frequency transmissions are capable of removing particles from the upper atmosphere during extreme weather events. Initiatives that look promising.