The electric power grid, and consequently the power to your home and business, can be disrupted by space weather. One of the great discoveries of the 19th century was the realization that a time-varying magnetic field is able to produce an electrical current in a conducting wire. The basic idea is that the time rate of change of the magnetic flux (i.e. lines of magnetic force) passing through a current loop is proportional to the current that is generated around the loop. A slightly earli...