A 178-Year-Old Space Weather Mystery Has Finally Been Solved

A historical mystery about one of the earliest encounters between space weather and electrical technology has been resolved nearly two centuries later. A train that left Exeter 16 minutes late in the mid-1800s has helped scientists correct a nearly two-century-old mistake in the history of space weather. Researchers tracing the incident through railway records, newspapers, and telegraph messages found that a powerful solar storm was likely the cause of the delay.