PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Monday, December 09, 2002 Los Alamos National Laboratory New theory unravels magnetic instability Reconnection, the merging of magnetic field lines of opposite polarity near the surface of the sun, Earth and some black holes, is believed to be the root cause of many spectacular astronomical events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, but the reason for this is not well understood. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory now have a new theory that may explain the instability and advance the understanding of these phenomena. Theorists Giovanni Lapenta of Los Alamos National Laboratory's Plasma Theory...