British Columbia fire officials are battling what they call one of the most challenging wildfires the province has ever faced. Helicopters rescued dozens of people trapped behind the fire line near Summerland. The BC Wildfire Service described the blaze as explosive, saying it is creating conditions never seen before.
In a separate discovery, scientists have found previously invisible plasma whirlpools on the Sun's surface, some just 20 kilometers wide. These tiny vortices may twist magnetic fields and help build up the energy released in small solar eruptions called nanoflares. They may also help magnetic fields spread through the Sun's atmosphere far faster than current models explain.