The Parker Solar Probe has already gone closer to the sun than any spacecraft and is the fastest human-made object ever.  It has discovered many things about the sun that scientists didn't know, including that solar wind travels 15–20 times as fast as scientists thought. In just one short year, the probe's initial observations have already unraveled decades-long mysteries about our home star. The probe has revealed insight into the formation and structure of solar winds, the connection between coronal mass ejections and energized particles, and the shape of the sun's twisting magnetic field. And the probe won't even get as close to the sun as it will be until 2024.   Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins via Popular Mechanics. Our climate is significantly influenced by solar activity, and we know so little about solar activity.  But global warming is settled science.  Or so we are...(Read Full Post)