Good news: Immensely powerful red dwarf superflares may not sterilize their planets

Any aliens living on a planet huddling close to a red dwarf star can breathe a sigh of relief (assuming they breathe, and can sigh, and feel relief): It’s possible extremely powerful explosive stellar flares don’t sterilize the planets as previously thought.

Maybe.

Red dwarf stars are much smaller, cooler, and dimmer than the Sun. Also unlike the Sun red dwarfs are fully convective, meaning hot plasma rises from their core all the way to their surface (in the Sun the convective region is much ...