Call for volunteers to help save Earth from solar storms

Space enthusiasts are invited to become scientists to help identify massive solar eruptions by watching video clips recorded in space.

Scientists from the University of Reading are asking members of the public to help review NASA footage in the latest Solar Stormwatch project.

The project, hosted by Zooniverse, launches on 20 September and asks volunteers to review footage of eruptions on the sun’s surface.

Each eruption was made up of a billion tonnes of matter travelling at a million miles per hour.

These solar storms are capable of damaging satellites, overloading power grids and exposing astronauts to cancer-causing radiation.

Hundreds of volunteers assisted in the first Solar Stormwatch project in 2010, leading to seven scientific publications.