Artificial intelligence helped analyse patterns in the sun's magnetic lines It found that the energy stored in the magnetic field can forecast flares The next step would be to incorporate data from the sun's atmosphere Soon, Stanford researchers say the computer could help predict when flares will cause widespread power outages on Earth before they form

By Ellie Zolfagharifard For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:07 EST, 20 January 2015 | Updated: 04:11 EST, 21 January 2015

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Artificial intelligence is helping astronomers predict deadly solar flares that have the potential to cause havoc on Earth.

US researchers say their super computer can provide advance warning of solar eruptions, which can release energy equivalent to 100 billion atomic bombs.

The flares arise from twisted magnetic fields that occur all over the sun's surface, and they increase in frequency every 11 years - a cycle that is now at its maximum.

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AI system forecasts devastating solar flares