Hacker News Reader

I'm completely out of my depth here, but couldn't we develop some kind of force field to do this? I'm thinking something along the lines of a Faraday cage, but for the GCRs.

Is anyone researching this line of thought?

View on HN

A magnetic field (Van Allen belt, or analog on other bodies) deflects lighter charged particles better than heavier ones (with a greater mass-to-charge ration). E.g. - helium ions (alpha particles) vs iron nuclei as mentioned in the article.

Otherwise, pure mass over your head is the best defense.

It might not be impossible, but we'll need to develop some new physics first.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com