The biggest solar storm in five years is battering our planet right now, and may cause disruptions to satellites, power grids and communications networks over the next 24 hours, space weather experts say. Two strong solar flares erupted from the surface of the sun late Tuesday, blasting a wave of plasma and charged particles toward Earth. This eruption of material — called a coronal mass ejection, or CME — sped through space at 4 million mph (6.4 million kilometers per hour). Early predictions estimated that the CME would likely Earth as early as 1:25 a.m. ET Thursday, with the brunt of it arriving at around 7 a.m. ... (full story)