University of Tokyo graduate student Yuuki Wada with colleagues from Japan have discovered a connection between lightning strikes and two kinds of gamma-ray phenomena in thunderclouds. The research suggests that in certain ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 25, 2019
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1
Did ancient supernovae induce proto-humans to walk on two legs, eventually resulting in homo sapiens with hands free to build cathedrals, design rockets and snap iPhone selfies?
Earth Sciences
May 28, 2019
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1129
In contrast to popular belief, lightning often does strike twice, but the reason why a lightning channel is 'reused' has remained a mystery. Now, an international research team led by the University of Groningen has used ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 17, 2019
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66
In the western Utah desert, the Telescope Array sprawls across an area the size of New York City, waiting for cosmic rays. The facility detects the high-energy particles that collide with Earth's atmosphere constantly; the ...
Astronomy
May 17, 2018
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281
Aviation experts estimate that every commercial airplane in the world is struck by lightning at least once per year. Around 90 percent of these strikes are likely triggered by the aircraft itself: In thunderstorm environments, ...
Engineering
Mar 9, 2018
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170
Scientists at Amherst College and Aalto University have created, for the first time a three-dimensional skyrmion in a quantum gas. The skyrmion was predicted theoretically over 40 years ago, but only now has it been observed ...
Quantum Physics
Mar 2, 2018
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Lightning may strike less often in future across the globe as the planet warms, a scientific study suggests.
Earth Sciences
Feb 12, 2018
4
187
A storm system approaches: the sky darkens, and the low rumble of thunder echoes from the horizon. Then without warning... Flash! Crash!—lightning has struck.
General Physics
Nov 22, 2017
31
2882
A lightning strike near Cape Canaveral forced SpaceX to delay until Saturday its first-ever cargo delivery to the astronauts living in orbit using a vessel that has already flown to space once before, NASA said Thursday.
Space Exploration
Jun 1, 2017
0
110
Benjamin Franklin, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, is believed to have experimented with lightning's powerful properties using a kite and key, likely coming close to electrocuting himself in the process.
Earth Sciences
Apr 26, 2017
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