Observations reveal lightning as the source of extreme air-cleaning oxidants

Observations reveal lightning as the source of extreme air-cleaning oxidants

Observations from NASA's storm-chasing aircraft DC-8 reveal that lightning can produce extremely high concentrations of two major oxidants that help clear the air and the atmosphere. In May and June 2012, the DC-8 jet flew through the eye of thunderstorms over…

Thunderstorms create radioactivity

Thunderstorms create radioactivity

A new study, published this week in Nature, shows that thunderstorms can also produce radioactivity by triggering nuclear reactions in the atmosphere. This may sound like the plot of a blockbuster science fiction disaster. But in reality, it’s nothing to worry…

Shockingly powerful lightning on Earth

Shockingly powerful lightning on Earth

A new scientific paper suggests that lightning on Earth may be vastly more powerful than conventional science has ever suggested. Investigators sought to answer how much energy is in a terrestrial bolt of lightning through the study of fulgurites, which are hollow…

Lightning reshapes rocks at the atomic level

Lightning reshapes rocks at the atomic level

At a rock outcropping in southern France, a jagged fracture runs along the granite. The surface in and around the crevice is discolored black, as if wet or covered in algae. But, according to a new paper coauthored by the University of Pennsylvania’s Reto