The detached bursts of brilliance might explain why the lowest point of a lightning bolt will sometimes suddenly brighten by up to 50% and double its speed as it hurtles to Earth.
lightning
Posted inEditors' Vox
Connecting Thunderstorms and Climate Through Ozone
New data links thunderstorms to climate via their impacts on aerosols, ozone, and water vapor in the stratosphere.
Posted inScience Updates
Where Does Lightning Come From?
Thunderstorms and Elementary Particle Acceleration (TEPA-2015); Yerevan, Armenia, 5–9 October 2015
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Sun's Magnetic Field Impacts Earth's Thunderstorms
Lightning strikes are more frequent when Earth encounters a polarity switch in the solar magnetic field.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Long Is a Bolt of Lightning?
Better calculations of bolt length could help quantify how much climate-changing nitrogen oxide gas is made when lightning strikes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ocean Lightning Storms Are Larger Than Land Lightning Storms
A new study uses data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission to demonstrate that electrified storms in the tropics are 10 times larger over the ocean than those over land.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lightning "Impulses" Improve Models of Global Electrical Circuit
New simulations of how thunderstorms drive electrical currents through the Earth's atmosphere combine precision with computational speed.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Gaseous Planets May Have Huge Luminous Rings Caused by Lightning
What business do elves have in the upper atmospheres of gas giants? Plenty, it seems. The enormous ring-shaped phenomena triggered by lightning may occur on Jupiter, Saturn, and exoplanets.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Newly Discovered Properties of Elusive Gamma Ray Flashes
The properties of terrestrial gamma ray flashes have eluded scientists for years. This new study sheds light on how they originate.
Posted inNews
Experiment Captures First Image of Thunder
Scientists can now visually capture the sound waves created by thunder, a technique that could lead to an increased understanding of how lightning forms and transmits energy.