This rapid-fire laser diverts lightning strikes

  • 📰 Nature
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 27 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 14%
  • Publisher: 68%

Technology Technology Headlines News

Technology Technology Latest News,Technology Technology Headlines

A rapidly firing laser can divert lightning strikes, scientists have shown for the first time in real-world experiments

A laser beam shoots into the sky alongside the 124-metre-high telecommunications tower on Säntis mountain in the Swiss Alps.. The work suggests that laser beams could be used as lightning rods to protect infrastructure, although perhaps not any time soon.

Metal lightning rods are commonly used to divert lightning strikes and safely dissipate their charge. But the rods’ size is limited, meaning that so, too, is the area they protect. A sufficiently intense laser beam can create a conductive path for lightning to travel down, just as a metal wire can. Physicists think that it does this by shifting the properties of air so that the beam focuses into a thin, intense filament. This rapidly heats the air, reducing its density and creating a favourable path for lightning.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

That's good news. That should help fires from starting in some places. Maybe it will keep some EV's from shutting down also?

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 64. in TECHNOLOGY

Technology Technology Latest News, Technology Technology Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

How to embrace technology in the new yearBy leveraging the power of apps and other digital tools, you can automate and simplify financial tasks.
Source: ladailynews - 🏆 332. / 59 Read more »

Gen Z has a new 'vintage' technology to obsess over | CNN BusinessFirst, it was disposable cameras. Then it was low-rise jeans. Now, Gen-Z's latest 'vintage' obsession is the flip phone -- that mid-1990s era phone that has suddenly become oh so popular with millennials. I would love to read this article but as with every CNN article, AD COVERED CONTENT People should go back to writing letters
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »

Advanced DNA technology may help solve 1979 Bastrop County cold caseThe Bastrop County Sheriff's Office is partnering with DNA testing company Othram to try and identify a Jane Doe found in 1979. Investigators say they want to rule out a connection to serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.
Source: fox7austin - 🏆 594. / 51 Read more »

Aerogels could be the key to efficient air conditioning technologyHow can we keep our homes cool without polluting and energy-intensive air conditioning units? Researchers at MIT may just have the answer. Is anyone awake in there?! In the past couple of months your posts have gone from opening this page: “Application error: a client-side exception has occurred' (Due to bad Java coding) To not opening at all on iOS. This is getting beyond a joke!
Source: IntEngineering - 🏆 287. / 63 Read more »