The other day, I heard people talking about the low-altitude northern lights. This phenomenon is said to be caused by large-scale solar flare activities. When huge amounts of electrons emitted from the solar surface enter the earth’s atmosphere, they react with oxygen and nitrogen in the air, leading to give rise to the aurora. The reason why this phenomenon exceptionally spread to lower altitudes was the excessive amounts of electrons from the sun. They are likely to give major influences on electronic devices around us. As the proverb goes, beautiful things entail thorny problems.

The beauty of the northern lights was apparently something to be feared in medieval age before its mechanism was unraveled by modern science. At that time, the northern lights must have caused no real harm as any kinds of electronic devices didn’t exist back then. I gather they were regarded an object of psychological fear. This is interesting because this feeling of fear connotes a sense of respect toward nature. If we look up at the sky and see the northern lights spreading over there in today’s world, what kind of feelings do we have? Perhaps various kinds of feelings, such as physical, economical and artistic ones, are likely to emerge.

For a long time, people have talked much about two different types of fears: scientifically invoked one and culturally nurtured one. Fears from scientific causes should be treated carefully as they are closely related to actual harm. At the same time, though, I hope the northern lights remain an object of cultural awe.   

Takeshi Umemoto

Context Design Dept. IT Admin Unit.

Unit Leader