Sillipedia
I found this in a Wikipedia article on auroras:
This article appears to contain speculation and unjustified claims. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. Please remove speculation from the article.
Here’s the material to which this referred.
Again, our understanding is very incomplete. A rough guess may point out three main sources:
- Dynamo action with the solar wind flowing past Earth, possibly producing quiet auroral arcs ("directly driven" process). The circuit of the accelerating currents and their connection to the solar wind are uncertain.
- Dynamo action involving plasma squeezed towards Earth by sudden convulsions of the magnetotail ("magnetic substorms"). Substorms tend to occur after prolonged spells (hours) during which the interplanetary magnetic field has an appreciable southward component, leading to a high rate of interconnection between …
This stuff looks like it was lifted from an introductory textbook. Is this speculation? Of course it is. Speculation is the lifeblood of science. Certainty is the exclusive province of religious zealots. Science is all about working hypotheses and the systematic checking and revision of them; a quest for truth that isn’t Quixotic because at every stage truth is closer.
Speculation in the presence of established doctrine is the mechanism by which science advances. The only certainty in science is that currently accepted theory is the best available approximation of truth. Childish desire for certainty is the root of religions ranging from Catholicism to Middle Management, and widespread fear of uncertainty is what allows the wicked (most of whom are clergy) to manipulate the snivelling masses into supporting their bigotry and excess. In this picture, revelation of new truth would incidentally reveal their larceny and deceit, so they respond to heresy (consideration of any idea outside of doctrine) with violent suppression.
I declare unscientific Wikipedia’s preference for institutionally-blessed revealed wisdom.