A message went viral warning about a threat from the passage of cosmic rays near the Earth, which would increase radiation, stating that to prevent it and not suffer serious damage, nearby electronic devices must be turned off. This is false, the message has been circulating on networks since 2015 and mentions sources of information that do not exist or that have not mentioned the event.
In case you are short on time:
- A message that went viral on networks states that cosmic rays will soon affect the earth, increasing radiation and that to prevent this, electronic devices must be turned off.
- This misinformation has been circulating since 2015 through different media, but an exact date or location of the phenomenon has never been specified.
- The information sources mentioned in the message do not exist or do not contain information about this event.
By Lucas Vergara Vera
A message has circulated on social networks (1,2,3) that warns of an alleged threat due to the passage of cosmic rays near the Earth that could cause severe damage to humans, because the planet will have high radiation, and a call is made to turn off electronic devices as prevention.
«Singapore TV announced this news (…). Tonight, from 12:30 am to 03:30 am, our planet will have very high radiation. The cosmic rays are going to pass very close to the Earth. So please turn off your cell phone. “Do not leave the equipment close to your body, as it can cause terrible damage,” the publications state.
There is no record of this information
The Fast Check Cl team conducted a keyword search on Google, finding various publications on social networks and media made since 2015 (1,2,3,4,5). In these, the same message is shared or mentioned and the date or details about when the alleged anomaly would occur are never specified.
Subsequently, a search was carried out for “Singapore TV”, the supposed media outlet responsible for having shared the information, but this name does not belong to any television channel that currently exists in Singapore.
Following this, the other sources of information mentioned in the message were reviewed: “Google” and “NASA BBC News.” The first is not valid as a source of information, since it is a search engine and the second is not a real entity, it is the sum of two acronyms.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) are independent organizations whose official pages (1,2) Nor was support found for the viralized message.
Effects of cosmic rays
Fast Check CL also contacted Astronomer Faviola Molina, Data and Quality Control Specialist at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), to consult on the effect of cosmic rays and how they could affect the population.
To begin with, the astronomer ruled out that the information shared could be real, stating that “There are no observations of cosmic ray sources so strong and so well defined that they only act in a range of 3 hours».
In addition to the above, he clarified that cosmic rays come from any part of the Universe, which can include “many, many astronomical objects such as the Sun, other stars, supernovas, black holes, etc.”
However, Molina affirms that the atmosphere is responsible for blocking most of these particles and that those that surpass this barrier “do not represent a risk to our lives or our electronic devices. “All beings are always permeated by these particles, in fact, we have evolved receiving such radiation.”
The astronomer indicated that within the types of radiation to which we are exposed, the most common variant is solar radiation, specifying that we appreciate this to a greater extent during the day, in the range of light we call optical (because our eyes can see it) and infrared (which we feel in the form of heat).
However, it also emits other ranges ranging from gamma rays, X-rays, to low-energy radio waves, but even so our existence on the planet remains safe.
Different experts agreed with this in the verification carried out by the Argentine platform, Chequeado, where it is ensured that “these events do not cause any direct risk to the health of human beings on Earth and, much less, the non-existent risk would be aggravated by the presence of a cell phone.
Solar storms
On the other hand, the Astronomer referred to the news about some solar storms that could be seen in different parts of the world as colorful luminosities in the night sky.
As Molina explained to Fast Check CL, auroras are the result of the interaction of our atmosphere with charged particles emitted from the Sun at very high speed, adding that “the stronger the solar storm, the Auroras are visible from greater areas from Earth».
Conclusion
Fast Check CL determined that this content is false. This message has been circulating since at least 2015, but the sources of information it mentions do not exist, are not correct, or have not shared said information. Furthermore, experts deny that cosmic rays with these characteristics exist.
