Lightning

Latest about lightning

Lightning strikes light up the sky in Montevideo, Uruguay on Feb. 20, 2022.

What's the longest lightning bolt ever recorded?

By Emma Bryce published

Lightning is one of the greatest natural forces on our planet. New mapping tools are revealing just how big it is.

Weather
An illustration showing the donut-shaped Van Allen radiation belts swirling around Earth, with electrons spiraling through them.

Ultra-fast electron rain is pouring out of Earth's magnetosphere, and scientists think they know why

By Brandon Specktor published

Scientists discovered the mechanism that causes electrons to 'downpour' into Earth's atmosphere.

Astronomy
video clip shows the height of the volcanic plume generated by an underwater volcano called Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai

Tonga underwater volcano eruption shattered two records

By Nicoletta Lanese published

The eruption triggered nearly 590,000 lightning strikes.

Volcanos
A lightning "mapper" on the GOES-16 satellite captured images of the megaflash lightning bolt on April 29, 2020, over the southeastern U.S.

Lightning bolt breaks record for longest ever recorded

By Stephanie Pappas published

Storms in the U.S. and Uruguay set new records for longest lightning bolt and longest-duration lightning flash.

Weather
An artist's illustration of a kite with a key being struck by lightning

Did Benjamin Franklin really discover electricity with a kite and key?

By Jacklin Kwan published

Here's what historians have to say about whether Benjamin Franklin really flew a kite tied to a key during a lightning storm.

Human Behavior
What would happen if the speed of sound was as fast as the speed of light?

What if the speed of sound were as fast as the speed of light?

By Isobel Whitcomb published

The speed of light moves 1 million times faster than the speed of sound. What would happen if the speed of sound sped up to match it?

Physics & Mathematics
mars dust storm

7 solar system worlds where the weather is crazy

By Jonathan O'Callaghan, Daisy Dobrijevic, How It Works magazine published

What's the weather like on other worlds? Expect methane rain, global haboobs and a 10,000-mile-wide hurricane.

Astronomy
An artist's rendition of the early Earth environment. Lightning generated by storms and volcanic plumes frequently strikes volcanic rocks. The lightning strikes create fulgurites which contain phosphorus in a form that can be dissolved in water and concentrate in waters like volcanic ponds. Here, the phosphorus is able to form biomolecules which help lead to the emergence of life.

Billions of lightning bolts may have jump-started life on Earth, study suggests

By Brandon Specktor published

Lightning storms on early Earth may have given the planet enough phosphorus to craft the first DNA and RNA molecules, study suggests

Weather
This otherworldly image, captured by a camera on a telescope at Maunakea, shows two lightning phenomenon: a red sprite and a blue jet.

Rare red sprite and blue jet create otherworldly light show above Hawaii

By Stephanie Pappas published

A camera at an observatory in Hawaii captured a red sprite and a blue jet in the same frame.

Planet Earth
Caught on high-speed video, lightning streamers of opposite polarity approach and connect in this sequence of video frames, slowed by more than 10,000-fold. The common streamer zone appears in the last two frames before the whiteout of the lightning flash. This lasted about 0.00003 seconds at full speed

Video catches split second before intense lightning strike

By Nicoletta Lanese published

Scientists captured high-speed footage of the moment before lightning strikes.

Weather
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