Lightning
Latest about lightning
![Lightning over city](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K37yGv9YD8bGerKCnVaAWk-320-80.jpg)
A Single Thundercloud Carries 1 Billion Volts of Electricity
By Brandon Specktor published
A single thundercloud is more powerful than even the most potent nuclear plants on Earth. Scientists used cosmic rays to prove it.
![reindeer-herd-dead-lightning](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/45S5tWKAyKCk9fhU3RHAbk-320-80.jpg)
A Field Covered in Dead, Headless Reindeer and Poop Is Teaching Us About the Circle of Life
By Yasemin Saplakoglu published
Scavengers are helping transform a grim landscape in Norway
![A lightning strike is visible in a photo taken from the International Space Station.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FEvTx6ruWfYMMsuSDVSaYY-320-80.png)
Plasma Scientists Created Invisible, Whooping 'Whistlers' in a Lab
By Rafi Letzter published
The strange radio bursts usually circle the Earth like electromagnetic ghosts, but scientists have now created and studied their shapes in a plasma chamber on Earth.
![Lightning drawing and photo](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vpjbyLzhG3ZWzEkK3N33gh-320-80.jpg)
Artists Have Been Drawing Lightning Bolts Wrong for Centuries
By Laura Geggel published
If you draw lightning bolts like crooked zigzags, then you're doing it wrong — but at least you're in good company. Artists have drawn lightning incorrectly for hundreds of years, a new study finds.
![tokamak fusion energy](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PoxihAC7VHfxZTD5N6VQQb-320-80.jpg)
Ghostly 'Lightning' Waves Discovered Inside a Nuclear Reactor
By Marcus Woo published
Whistler waves are normally produced in the atmosphere by lightning. They could help protect nuclear fusion reactors from runaway electrons.
![null](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vm2jSHpPahmshq8LmoaRvU-320-80.jpg)
A Massive Electrical Field Aligned All the Snowflakes in This Week's Nor'easter
By Rafi Letzter published
A powerful storm is causing ice crystals to form strange, radar-confusing patterns above New York City.
![Lightning hits One World Trade Center](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wdKNNtJfTMJ2qJLxB5gQAZ-320-80.jpg)
News Flash: Lightning Deaths Hit a Record Low in 2017
By Laura Geggel published
Death from lightning strike hit a record low in 2017 in the United States, according to a new report.
![Lightning over city](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K37yGv9YD8bGerKCnVaAWk-320-80.jpg)
Lightning Bolts Are Churning Out Antimatter All Over Planet Earth
By Rafi Letzter published
Flash, boom, gamma-rays!
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