In this case I mean subatomic particles zipping around space at extremely high velocities. These can penetrate the human body and smack into our DNA molecules in the cells, which can cause replication errors (bad) or do so much damage the cells die (worse). In small doses the body can repair the damage, but if the dose is too high — either through one big event or low levels for a long time — it can be fatal.
Space is soaked in these particles. They come from two sources. One is the Sun itself, which blasts out particles as part of the solar wind. It also has explosive eruptions called solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that hugely magnify the number of particles.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
