NASA's Van Allen Probes discover particle accelerator in the heart of Earth?s radiation belts

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Scientists have discovered a massive particle accelerator in the heart of one of the harshest regions of near-Earth space, a region of super-energetic, charged particles surrounding the globe called the Van Allen radiation belts. Scientists knew that something in space accelerated particles in the radiation belts to more than 99 percent the speed of light but they didn't know what that something was. New results from NASA's Van Allen Probes now show that the acceleration energy comes from within the belts themselves. Particles inside the belts are sped up by local kicks of energy, buffeting the particles to ever faster speeds, much like a perfectly timed push on a moving swing.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/F7B1mOeF3rU/130725140725.htm

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