"Railway Storm", May 13, 1921. On that day, astronomers noticed a huge spot on the Sun with a radius of about 150 thousand kilometers. On May 15, a geomagnetic storm followed, knocking out half of the equipment of the New York Central Railroad and leaving almost the entire East Coast of the United States disconnected.
Solar flares on July 21, 2012. The active solar region 1520 fired a massive X1.4-class flare towards Earth, causing auroras and severe radio disruptions. X-class flares are the most powerful X-ray intensity known. They usually do not reach Earth by themselves, but their effect on the magnetic field cannot be underestimated.
The 1972 Flash and Apollo 16. Traveling through space during maximum solar activity is extremely dangerous. In August 1972, the Apollo 16 crew on the moon narrowly escaped the impact of an X2-class flash. If the astronauts were a little less fortunate, they would receive a dose of 300 rem, which would almost certainly kill them within a month.
Solar flare on Bastille Day. On July 14, 2000, satellites detected a powerful X5.7-class flare on the surface of the Sun. The ejection was so strong that even Voyager 1 and 2, located at the edge of the solar system, detected it. All over the Earth there were interruptions in radio communications, and people flying over the poles of the planet received a dose of radiation - fortunately, relatively small.
The solar flare on August 9, 2011 marked the peak of the current solar cycle, reaching power X6.9. It was the largest of cycle 24 emissions recorded by NASA's new Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite. The flash ionized the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere, causing radio interference.
The largest outbreak of 2015 occurred on May 7. Its power reached "only" the X2.7 class, but it was enough to cause bright auroras and interruptions in communications. And besides - the most beautiful photographs from observing satellites.
The solar flare on December 5, 2006 reached a record power of X9, but fortunately was not directed towards the Earth. Our planet, in principle, is a rather small "target", with which mankind is very lucky. Two STEREO solar activity vehicles recently launched into orbit tracked the event from start to finish.
The geomagnetic storm on March 13, 1989 demonstrated just how dangerous solar storms can be. The aftermath of the X15 class outbreak has caused power outages for millions of Canada's residents in Montreal and the surrounding area of Quebec. Electrical grids in the north of the United States barely survived the electromagnetic shock. All over the world, radio communications were interrupted and the aurora was spreading.
The October 2003 Halloween Flash was one of the most powerful X45-class solar storms ever recorded. Most of it passed by the Earth, but coronal mass ejections damaged a number of satellites and caused interruptions in telephone and mobile communications.
Superstorm Carrington. On September 1, 1859, astronomer Richard Carrington observed the brightest flare, the coronal ejection from which reached Earth in only 18 hours. Telegraph networks were failing throughout Europe and the United States, and some stations caught fire from short circuits. That ejection was not the largest, around X10, but it hit the Earth in the perfect time and caused the most damage.
The power of "solar storms" reaches billions of megatons in TNT equivalent - this is how much energy our entire civilization could consume in a million years. Coronal mass ejections are mainly represented by electromagnetic radiation, which, when accurately hitting the Earth, causes geomagnetic storms. Consequences - interruptions in communication and failure of electronics. Considering that every year mankind relies more and more on technology, a strong geomagnetic storm can create real chaos. Here are the 10 most powerful solar storms in the last two centuries.
MOSCOW, December 26 - RIA Novosti. A superflare on the Sun in 774 AD was several times more powerful than the previous record holder, the "Carrington event" of 1859, capable of destroying all electronic devices and electrical grids on Earth, astronomers say in an article posted in the Cornell University electronic library.
The Sun periodically experiences flares - explosive episodes of energy release in the form of visible light, heat and X-rays. It is believed that the most powerful outbreak occurred in 1859 during the so-called "Carrington event". During this powerful outbreak, approximately 10 yottojoules (10 to 25 degrees) of energy were released, which is 20 times more than the energy released during the fall of the meteorite that destroyed the dinosaurs and marine reptiles.
Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas at Lawrence (USA) and his colleague Brian Thomas (Brian Thomas) of Washburn University in Topeka (USA) studied a "superflare" in the Sun in the 8th century AD, of which traces were recently found in growth rings of Japanese cedars.
As the researchers note, the discoverers of the ancient flare, Japanese physicists led by Fusa Miyake from Nagoya University (Japan), considered it a so-called "superflare", the power of which exceeded all known bursts of solar activity by several orders of magnitude.
Some astronomers have questioned this scenario. In their opinion, this outburst cannot be explained by an unusually strong emission of plasma on the Sun, and its cause lies in other cosmic or natural disasters.
Melotte and Thomas tested both hypotheses by trying to calculate the exact amount of energy that could have been released during a superflare in 774.
To do this, scientists calculated the proportion of radioactive carbon-14 in the annual rings of cedars, and determined the amount of energy that was brought to Earth by the flash. Then astronomers tried to calculate the energy of the ejection on the Sun itself, changing the area of the flare and the fraction of its matter that reached our planet.
It turned out that the power of the flash was two orders of magnitude lower than the maximum values that their colleagues had predicted. However, this does not deprive the 774 event of its "superflash" status. According to the calculations of the researchers, during the burst of 774, about 200 yottojoules (2 * 10 to the 26th power) of energy were released on the Sun, which is 20 times more than the power of the "Carrington event".
A similar cataclysm today would lead not only to the destruction of electronics on board satellites and the Earth's surface, but also to the appearance of other anomalies. Thus, the fraction of ozone at the stratospheric-tropospheric boundaries would decrease by 20% in the first months after the outbreak, and would remain low for several years.
According to Melotte and Thomas, this would lead to poorer plant and animal health around the world, and an increase in skin cancers. However, mass extinction of flora and fauna is unlikely, which adds another argument in favor of the feasibility of such outbreaks.
According to the authors of the article, such "superflares" can occur once every 1250 years, which emphasizes the importance of observing the "health" of the Sun, given their catastrophic consequences for the infrastructure of modern civilization.
Despite the fact that the Airbnb accommodation search service is very popular all over the world, not everyone in Russia knows it. Many continue to use well-known
agoda.com or booking.com.
We will tell you how to register, quickly find good and inexpensive accommodation (for example, accommodation with a swimming pool, gym, jacuzzi and a waterfall for $ 11 per day),
get a discount coupon
$ 25, what to look out for and what Airbnb's pros and cons.
What is Airbnb
Airbnb is a site where the owners of private houses, cottages, apartments and even castles rent out their living space to travelers for a long and short period. In addition to a roof over your head, you get the feeling of being at home on the other side of the earth, communication with locals, advice on which sights to visit and which tourist scam, valuable recommendations on the best cafes and convenient modes of transport. In general, along with the accommodation, you get a lot of delicacies that cannot be fished out from the well-trained staff of the hotel.
The essence of the Airbnb service is that ordinary residents of cities and resorts in more than 190 countries of the world post photos and descriptions of their houses, apartments, rooms on the site. Someone rents out housing for the duration of the holidays, someone rents out vacant rooms in the house, but for someone it is a mini-business.
Airbnb is highly developed in the US and Europe, but there are many offers in Asia as well. Here are the proposals for 2015:
- Apartment in Thailand for $ 37 per day.
- One-bedroom apartment on the beachfront in Vietnam for $ 35 per day.
- House with pool in Bali for $ 47 per day.
You can rent a house both for a short period and for a long time.
How to register and get a $ 25 discount
Step 1
If you are not registered yet, then go to
this link. This will give you a $ 25 discount on your first booking if the total booking value is over $ 75.
Example: you found a house in Sri Lanka for $ 40 per day, including commission. You want to rent it for 2 days. Accordingly, the cost of housing should cost $ 80. But now you have a discount and instead of $ 80, you will pay $ 60. Not bad, huh?
If the cost of your first booking is less than $ 75, you can still register using my link. After all, the discount will last for 1 year, and during the year you will probably want to rent a house or apartment through airbnb.
Step 2
And we register in a convenient way for you: via Facebook, Google + or via mail.
If you have a Facebook account, then the most convenient way is to use it. You only need to enter your username and password.
If you chose to register via mail, then a letter will be sent to the mail you indicated. Follow the link in the letter and registration is over. As you can see, everything is very simple.
Step 3
Now all that remains is to fill out your Airbnb profile: upload a photo and write a short story about yourself. Why you need it: Airbnb is a service that emphasizes trust in the community, and the host will be happy to meet you through your profile before inviting you to their home. If you are traveling abroad, it is better to write about yourself in English. If you don't know a foreign language, translate the text using Google Translate.
It is not necessary to tell about yourself in detail, write what you think is necessary, there are no rules.
You can verify your profile and link it to your facebook account. I did so. Thanks to this, the owners of the houses can make sure that I am a real person.
Step 4
We are looking for housing! We drive in in the search the country or immediately the city where you are going to fly, the date of arrival and departure, the number of guests.
A list of available accommodations appears for the dates you selected. If you are interested in a specific city or even an area, zoom in on the map to the right and only offers of the area you need will be shown on the left.
Narrow down your search range:
- Select the type of accommodation: "Entire home", "Private room", "Shared room".
- Move the white price sliders left and right, thereby increasing or decreasing prices.
If you absolutely need a kitchen, air conditioning, a swimming pool or something else, then click on "More filters" and select the items you need there.
We are going to fly to Hong Kong for a few days in the coming months, so we compared prices from agoda.com, booking.com and airbnb. Hong Kong is an expensive vacation spot, the cost of not so ugly hotels here starts at $ 30. Breakfast is not included, the rooms are tiny, you can hardly turn around. Example:
Crystal
hostel for $ 39.
Therefore, it seems to me more logical to rent an apartment for the same money, where there is more space and there is a kitchen. Cooking yourself, you know, is cheaper than eating in cafes and restaurants in Hong Kong.
Apartment in Hong Kong for $ 38.
For a comfortable vacation for two, for a family with children or for a group of friends with a budget of $ 50 per day, you can find excellent two-room apartments with a kitchen.
In general, Airbnb has options for every taste and wallet. In expensive Hong Kong and Singapore, you can find inexpensive options for apartments and not go broke on food, preparing food yourself. And in the resorts you can find accommodation for $ 10 on the very shore, while hotels with less favorable location cost $ 12-15.
- It is necessary to carefully read the description of the housing: only a room or a whole house is rented, is there an air conditioner and others
moments that are important to you - Please be aware that on holidays (New Years, national holidays) prices may be overpriced.
- Look at prices for the week, month (if indicated). They are lower than daily rent.
- Check the cancellation conditions. If you are not sure if you will definitely go, choose apartments and houses on airbnb with
flexible booking conditions.
- Some hosts charge a separate cleaning fee. If you do not want to overpay, then you are looking for housing without such
additional boards. In addition, some take a deposit for the safety of property. The deposit is debited from your card and
is frozen, if during the holiday there are no controversial points, then the deposit is returned to your card. I AM
I try to ignore such ads. - If you are traveling in a large company, then pay attention to the item "Surcharge for each subsequent guest".
Most often, this column says "Free", but there are exceptions.
- Examine the map at the end of the announcement. If the living space is far from the center or those places that you want
visit in a new city, find out how developed the urban transport system is. - If you are traveling to mountainous areas, such as Vietnamese Dalat, then look for accommodation with a heater. Don't look at
that Vietnam is the tropics and it must be hot there. actually it's chilly in the mountains. - Response rate - if the profile indicates a frequency of 10%, do not waste time on this person, but the frequency is 90-100%,
says that you will definitely be answered. If you are looking for accommodation for the coming days, then pay attention to the paragraph
"Response time".
We send a request for rental housing
- An important point: send a request to only 1 person, do not send to others until the first one answers. Insofar as
if he confirms the request, then the money is automatically debited from the card. The host must respond within 24
hours. - When the host confirms the booking, a corresponding letter will be sent to your mail.
- After that, you can still ask the host any questions you are interested in through messages on your Airbnb profile. AND,
of course, do not forget to write to him what time you arrive.
How to pay in installments
The cost of booking can be divided into 2 parts, paying half of the amount when choosing accommodation, and the other half - closer to the date of arrival. This is a free feature.
- Installment is available when booking accommodation for an amount of and at least 14 days prior to arrival.
- The date of the second payment, which is charged automatically, is set individually.
- If the second payment cannot be debited, the booking will be canceled.
- There is no additional charge for using the "Pay less upfront" service.
- The service can be selected both on the Airbnb website and in the iOS and Android apps.
Pros and cons of renting a home through Airbnb
pros
- Price
Renting a room is cheaper than a hotel room. And also whole houses and even castles are rented here. Nobody wants to live in a castle, on a yacht or a tree house inexpensively?))
- Security
The owner will receive the money only a day after you check in. Before that, they are frozen. If the cancellation conditions were flexible and you cancel the trip, the money will be refunded to you.
.
- Compensation if there is something wrong with the housing
If the house you arrived at does not match the photo and description, if it is not clean and in the wrong area as stated, if the host canceled the reservation in less than 24 hours, Airbnb will resolve the issue and refund the money paid.
.
Accommodation reservations are accepted at consulates and visa centers.
Minuses
- Speed
Only a small percentage of accommodations can be booked instantly, like on agoda.com or booking.com. In most cases, you need to wait for the owner to respond. Let me remind you that he is obliged to answer within 24 hours.
If you see just such a green button, it means that you do not need to wait for a response and you will immediately receive a confirmation of your booking by e-mail. To see only such ads, select the "Instant booking" option in the Filters.
- Airbnb Commission
The amount of the fee is written on the line "Airbnb Service Fee". It is charged, firstly, for the confidence that the owner will not wave his pen to you after receiving payment, and secondly, for round-the-clock operational technical support, and thirdly, for assistance in resolving controversial issues. Each service for renting private housing takes a commission, most often it is already included in the rental price, and here it is prescribed separately.
Our experience
Malaysia (about Penang)
Penang Island in Malaysia always has a good selection of accommodations. Choose what you like best: a room with a floor-to-ceiling window with a gorgeous sea view, a huge swimming pool, a gym, a basketball court and 2 tennis courts on the roof of the building, or do you prefer housing, where instead of a tennis court, there is a jacuzzi and a sauna? And I will also clarify that all this can be obtained for $ 11 per day.
Another rental option in an excellent condo on Penang Island in Malaysia is to rent a room in
Sri Lanka (Hikkaduwa)
In Sri Lanka, we rented a room in a house right on the ocean for $ 10. In other Asian countries, you can find better options for this amount, but in Sri Lanka, unfortunately, the price tag for housing is too high. Therefore, we were happy to find such a cozy option, moreover, on the best beach in Hikkaduwa. Left the house, went into the jungle and after 30 seconds you are by the ocean, and there is no one around! Gorgeous.
The most trump card in this house, of course, is not the room and not even excellent owners. This is the location.
And now about our feelings: Pawithra, the sister of the owner of the house, explained by phone to the tuk-tuker how to get home when I caught a cold, actively treated my throat, rented us a full-fledged motorcycle for only $ 4 a day (there are no such prices in Hikkaduwa at all ), gave valuable advice where it is more profitable to buy and where to go. Thanks to her, we chose a great area for a long and happy life in Hikkaduwa, renting a house for $ 220 a month. But I will not advise living with Pawithra, because there are a lot of similar offers in Hikkaduwa.
Sri Lanka (Kandy)
But I personally highly recommend the next heroine of the post. Meet the Sri Lankan Kalyani. Her husband rents a room in their home in Kandy with a private bathroom, fan, hot water and breakfast for $ 19 a day.
It is not so easy to melt our hearts, we rarely make friends with the locals, more often we only have business relations with them, but we became good friends with Kalyani. It's all about her sincere care and, probably, the accumulated maternal love, or something. Her children live abroad and she misses them very much, so after talking with us, Kalyani said that we are like children to her and we owe her nothing for her help.
At the first meeting, she met us in a car and took us home, then drove us to the bus stop, although this was not necessary, at the end of our stay she took us to the railway station, fed us fruit for slaughter, really for slaughter, made us such breakfasts as we love, sometimes I cooked and dinners, I connected my spouse if we had to go somewhere and learn something about Kandy. In general, she surrounded us with such care that we really felt at home. At the same time, she was not intrusive and did not violate our personal space.
We chose this option because there is a work desk and as many as 2 cabinets (and not hangers, as usual for Sri Lankans). There is a fan, but we never even used it, because the house is surrounded by shady trees. The house is neither hot nor stuffy.
The living room has a nice little balcony where we whiled away the evenings and listened to the sounds of the jungle.
View from the window. In the evenings, monkeys gallop through the jungle.
The house is clean with fresh and artificial flowers.
Very quiet area. The nearest stop is 15 minutes on foot. To the center - 30 minutes on foot, or by bus.
When you walk to the stop, there are great views.
There are many similar accommodations on Airbnb, but if you want to stay at Kalyani, here is a link to her profile.
husband. Say hello from Daria and Denis, I think she will be pleased. And if you sign up for this
link, then you will be pleased, because you will receive a $ 25 gift for booking if its cost exceeds $ 75.
So, if you rent a house from Kalyani (or someone else, it doesn't matter) for $ 19 per day for 4 days, then instead of $ 85 ($ 76 for housing + $ 9 percent airbnb) you will pay only $ 60.
Belarus (Brest)
In Brest, we rented an excellent new two-room apartment in the very center for 40 BYN.
Clean, comfortable, floor-to-ceiling windows - we liked it!
Georgia, Tbilisi)
In Tbilisi we rented an apartment for a long time. Be sure to post.
The apartment is great. A two-bedroom apartment in the center for only $ 14 per day.
In Georgia, we also rented housing in Gori and Bakuriani.
We also rented housing in Russia (Chelyabinsk), Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand (Phuket and Bangkok), but we have not yet had time to write posts about this.
Hope this detailed article was helpful to you. If you still have questions, then ask them in the comments, put the likes, tell your friends about the article. All great rest and all kinds of bonuses while traveling!
The question that certainly worries us when paying for something over the Internet, when placing our personal data and when booking a vacation home - is it safe, is it reliable, will I not run into scammers?We will discuss all these questions regarding the rental service in this article. By the way, if you still do not know what kind of site this is, then we advise you to read it.
We will not describe what to pay for services or goods through a secure payment form - a proven method that is worth relying on. We will not talk for a long time that large companies do not seem to save money on their information security department. We'd better tell you how not to become a victim of fraud, what to do if any conflict does arise, and how and when to pay correctly for your accommodation, booked through the site.
Firstly, all accommodation on the site is divided into one that is booked instantly, as soon as you click the "Book" button, and this does not require confirmation from the owner of the accommodation, and where this confirmation is still needed. The second category is much larger, about which it is worth clarifying at what point to pay.
Now you have chosen the apartment / villa / hut that suits you and are ready to pay for the reservation. Do not hurry. Since some owners forget to update the calendar or for any other reason, the dates that you need will be available on the site, but will not be available in the mind of the owner. So it would be better to first write a personal message on the website to the owner of the apartment to clarify whether he agrees to your dates, conditions, etc. In addition, you can at the same time ask questions that interest you, for example, is there Wifi, how long to walk to the beach, and so on.
In principle, if you pay for the apartment right away, and the owner refuses to make a reservation, it's okay, the money will be returned to you. True, in about a month - it all depends on how long your bank will do it.
Secondly, so that you do not have problems with the site, you must remember one simple thing - payment is made only through the site! 
Unfortunately, there are not so few scammers in the world, and their small percentage is also directly related to the Airbnb service. Sometimes it happens that the owner of the apartment asks you to pay him a deposit for the safety of the property directly to his bank account or simply offers to bypass the site collection (it is charged from both the guest and the landlord), again paying the bill directly. In no case do this, no matter how you would like to save an extra couple of thousand. In 99 percent, if you transfer money to the owner's account, and not through the website, then you will not receive any apartment / villa / hut, and the “owner” will disappear from the radar.
All negotiations with landlords, all money transfers, everything that is generally at least somehow connected with the Airbnb service, do through the site. Otherwise, in case of problems, misunderstandings or errors, the company will not be able to help. So, we advise you to "play by the rules" for the safety of funds and to preserve your nerves.
By the way, it also happens that after booking accommodation on the site, a letter comes to your mail with a request to pay the bill. This is also the job of scammers, it is best to report this to Airbnb security by email [email protected], and delete / ignore / burn the letter. We remind you that payment is only through the secure payment form and nothing else!
If you did everything correctly, but when you check in to the apartment or when paying or during your stay, and indeed at any time you have problems - call the support service, where not only do they speak Russian, they will also promptly solve all your questions and misunderstandings. The free international support number is 8 800 301 71 04. We hope you don’t need it! 
In addition, on the official website in the support section, in the "Trust and Security" tab, you can find answers to the most popular questions that users have.
August 26, 2014 at 09:23 AM- Airbnb Blog
How to rent a house
A little secret for those looking for accommodation for two. Search for an apartment / room for one person, and then add a second guest in the selected option. Please note that rooms for two or three guests may be more profitable even than those in the singles category.
Search filters greatly facilitate the choice of housing: the Internet, parking, the possibility of holding events, smoking - this is not a complete list of criteria by which you can choose the appropriate options. In addition, the ability to search by keywords has been implemented, which allows you to find apartments with an office / workplace / next to key locations. Convenient when you need housing exclusively for work or business negotiations; the choice of housing on the map of the area will allow you to stay exactly next to the office of the desired company.
The issue of accommodation in the search depends on many factors, including the profile data and the specifics of the trip.
Verified photos
The photo in the ad can tell a lot about the rental location. An Airbnb sign in the upper right corner of a photo means the photos were uploaded to the site by the host. And the Verified Photo sign indicates that an Airbnb photographer was in this place and took a photo session. That is, the photo is exactly true.
Don't be afraid to live in a room
If you are not a social phobia, try renting a room, not an apartment. Firstly, the room will cost you less. Secondly, communication with the owners of the apartment will solve many everyday issues: there will be someone to ask about the nearest pharmacy / ATM, or maybe they will have a drink together in a nearby bar. Carefully read the apartment descriptions and user profiles - usually they indicate whether the owner wants to spend time with the guests or not. To maintain your privacy, check if the room is locked with a key.
Response rate
Do you want hosts to respond quickly to any questions you may have? Pay attention to the number under the owner's photo in the ad. "Response rate" is a measure of how often the landlord responds to inquiries. Hosts who have this figure above 90% respond as quickly as possible.
If you need an apartment right now, look for options with the "Instant booking" button, which allows you to make a reservation without waiting for confirmation from the owner.
Reviews
Read the reviews! Travelers who lived in this place honestly write about how they spent their time there. However, the lack of any feedback is not a cause for concern. Just ask all the most important questions for you on the site so that you understand exactly where you will live. In addition, an apartment that has few reviews so far can be cheaper. Travelers publish reviews about the owners of accommodation - you can find out in advance their nature and manner of communication with guests.
We monitor user behavior on the site and do not allow positive reviews. For example, when a tenant and landlord are constantly booking a room with each other, the system may interpret this as an attempt to create a positive rating on the site.
Security
Reservations, payment, communication between the tenant and the landlord, reviews are information that we closely monitor. Airbnb's intelligence collection system takes into account many factors, relying on patterns of potentially dangerous actions (in many ways, this is similar to what has been successfully implemented in eBay). Every property that is hosted on the Airbnb platform is awarded a Trust Point. A property with a low score is automatically flagged for more detailed scrutiny, which helps track money laundering and other forms of fraud. The system works perfectly - for 6 million residents in 2013, conflicts that required compensation from the company were noted only 700 times. And don't forget that we have a constant customer service hotline, so feel free to complain.
Do not forget to study the profile, this will avoid cases of communication with "random" people.
Communication with the owner
It is customary for us to communicate with the owners kindly. Discuss in advance a standard set of questions: how the keys will be handed over, is there Wi-Fi in the apartment, adapters for sockets, a hair dryer, pets, is it possible to use the kitchen, where is the nearest store / pharmacy, how quickly and by what transport can you get there to the city center and so on.
Bargaining with the owners for housing is possible and necessary. You can convince the owner to change the rental price. When making a last-minute booking, it may be more beneficial for the landlord to welcome you than to leave the apartment empty. Is it possible to significantly reduce the cost of an air mattress, cot or sofa? No. But when settling in with a family for normal money, you can rent a really good apartment.
Some owners are worried about their property and usually ask for a small security deposit. After you leave the place of residence, the deposit is returned to the card (provided that you left the apartment safe and sound). The term for returning to the card is determined by your bank. To avoid controversial issues (if the owner tries to accuse you of damage to property), it will not hurt to invite the owner to make a detour or take a photo of the room when you leave the apartment.
Of course, you can perfectly do without all of the above. But you can get much more good impressions (or even get them altogether), and in some cases even save money, with the help of our tips. If you have any observations or questions not mentioned here, leave them in the comments.
