20110130

Astronomy current events question: thunderstorm-generated antimatter beams

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2011
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)
Robert Naeye, "Thunderstorms That Shoot Antimatter," January 11, 2011
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/113274169.html
NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope recently discovered that thunderstorms on Earth:
(A) produce antimatter beams that shoot into space.
(B) prevent runaway global warming.
(C) create temporary miniature black holes.
(D) could soon signal a magnetic pole reversal.
(E) may be caused by cosmic rays from space.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 24 students
(B) : 1 student
(C) : 0 students
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 8 students

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