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Scientists Discover A New Kind Of Lightning

Posted by timothy on from the zap-zap dept.

Exoman writes "Lightning that shoots upward up to 60 miles from the clouds? A team of researchers led by Han-Tzong Su of the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, videotaped the discharges last July from an observatory on the southern tip of the island. The lightning was firing from the top of thunderclouds more than 300 miles away across the South China Sea. The researchers reported their work Thursday in the journal Nature."

3 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. I thought i'd heard of this before... by Kiriwas · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I thought I'd seen this on Discovery or such a long time ago, they were called sprites when I saw them. Is this something different?

  2. Re:A question by Chatmag · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Lightning does create an upper atmosphere layer of ozone, which is beneficial. Without it, we'd fry.

    Carbon monoxide (fossil fuel burning, auto emissions, that MickieD you ate) creates a layer of ozone at the surface of the earth, which cannot go into the upper atmosphere, and is harmful.

    --
    Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
  3. So, here I am with mod points... by Royster · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...and I see this message attached to a 5:Informative comment. I'm supposed to mod it down as overrated on the basis of the say so of a nick that says Sir Holo who claims to be a Solid State physicist?

    If the poster is full of shit, explain his errors. Becuase otherwise, I have no basis to accept your words over his.

    --
    I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i