Two stories of interest at Anthony Watts blog. At http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/09/weak-solar-convection-approximatel… … solar researchers have been trying to understand how the Sun transfers heat from its interior to the surface. A paper in PNAS reveals that observations don't match the theory. The speed of the Sun's plasma motions was approximately 100 times slower than previously projected by solar scientists – that is very much slower. Consensus theory has a problem – how does the Sun generate magnetic fields (see the paper in full at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1206.3173.pdf). The comments include two by Stephen Smith of Thunderbolts them – answered by Leif Svalsgard, solar scientist. The same story can be seen at http://phys.org/print261024884.html
At http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/09/aurora-borealis-induced-sounds-con… … which is about noise generated by the Aurora or Northern Lights. Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have found where the sounds in the northern lights come from – as known from folktales and travellers in the wilderness. The measured one was formed just 70m above ground level. It is thought they were made by the energetic particles in the solar wind that create the northern lights. These particles, or the geomagnetic disturbance produced by them, create crackles, pops, muffled bangs, distant noise and sputtering. These are noises that are also associated with shooting stars and meteors rushing through the atmosphere. Is there a connection?