From the events of this past week, it looks like the new solar cycle is beginning to ramp up. The sun emitted its first X-class flare in more than four years on February 14, 2011. On the "Richter Scale" of solar flares, which ranks X1 as a big event, the blast registered X6.6, making it a rather significant solar flare. Fortunately, the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) produced by the event appears to be rather weak and is not expected to produce any strong effects on Earth other than perhaps some beautiful auroras in the high northern and southern latitudes. X-class flares can trigger radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. A NASA-funded report in 2009 by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a major solar storm comparable to one that occurred in 1859 occurred today, it could cause $1 to $2 trillion in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to ten years for complete recovery.