My first post-Spain episode features an apology for not letting people know where the hell I was for the past month or two, followed by the revelation that the Earth has a secret superpower: the ability to accelerate particles to near light speed using just the power of its magnetic field! Some work by the new NASA Van Allen probes (along with the usual host of scientists and universities) have found that we have our own natural version of the LHC just hanging out there in space.