Physics instructor writes book on shock waves

A sonic boom and a thunderclap may seem like different phenomena, but their behavior is the same, according to SDState Physics Instructor W. Robert Matson. This is one of the ways he explains shock waves in "Sonic Thunder," ...

How far away was that lightning?

You probably do it. It might be ingrained from when you were a kid, and now it's almost automatic. You see the flash of lightning – and you immediately start counting the seconds till it thunders.

Scientists capture sounds of volcanic thunder

Researchers report in a new study that they've documented rumblings of volcanic thunder for the first time, a feat considered nearly impossible by many volcanologists.

Team reveals the first 'images' of thunder

For the first time, scientists have imaged thunder, visually capturing the sound waves created by artificially triggered lightning. Researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are presenting the first images at a ...

New 'thunder-thighs' dinosaur discovered (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new dinosaur named Brontomerus mcintoshi, or "thunder-thighs" after its enormously powerful thigh muscles, has been discovered in Utah, USA. The new species is described in a paper recently published in ...

Wind Shear Accident Was Catalyst for Technology

Gray Creech of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center can remember August 2, 1985, as if it was yesterday. On that day 25 years ago the public affairs specialist was a young U.S. Air Force airman heading home on leave to North ...

Cannon-fired shock wave could stun, kill people

(PhysOrg.com) -- Police and military forces around the world may soon have a new non-lethal weapon at their hands. Called the Thunder Generator, the device is a cannon that fires shock waves that pass through people and objects. ...