It's well-known that lightning is an electric current—a quick, powerful burst of charge that flows within a cloud or between a cloud and the ground. But surprisingly, scientists still don't fully understand how the initial ...
The UN's weather agency announced Thursday the longest lightning bolt on record—a single flash in Brazil on October 31, 2018 that cut the sky across more than 700 kilometers.
Earth Sciences
Jun 25, 2020
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A single flash of lightning in the United States nearly two years ago cut across the sky for nearly 770 kilometres, setting a new world record, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Environment
Feb 1, 2022
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The January 15, 2022, eruption of Hunga Volcano in Tonga continues to break records. According to a new study, the eruption created a "supercharged" thunderstorm that produced the most intense lightning ever recorded. There ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 20, 2023
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Lightning is a unique and fascinating phenomenon that has been studied for centuries. Although we now have a better understanding of this naturally occurring spectacle, many of its secrets are yet to be uncovered.
Somewhere on Earth, there's always a lightning flash. The globe experiences lightning some 50 times a second, yet the details of what initiates this common occurrence and what effects it has on the atmosphere – lightning ...
Astronomy
Nov 15, 2013
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Scientists now know that thunderstorms, working as powerful natural terrestrial particle accelerators, produce intense flashes of ionizing radiation called "dark lightning." To further their understanding of this phenomena, ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 13, 2013
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Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge on Earth, geologists say.
Earth Sciences
Mar 16, 2021
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A team of researchers from Denmark, Norway, Spain and Italy has found that both terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and ionospheric ultraviolet emissions are spurred by lightning. In their paper published in the journal Science, ...
Ferocious lightning storms millions of times more powerful than those on Earth could be responsible for unexplained radio signals from planets orbiting other stars.
Space Exploration
Apr 26, 2016
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