Awesome Facts About Lightning

 Trees sometimes can take direct hits from lightning and not get burnt – the electricity passes over their wet surface and goes straight into the ground. Glass forms when lightning strikes into sandy soil. After a storm you can find strips of glass in the sand. If you have wet clothes on, lightning will do you less harm.

In March of 1991 a single six-hour storm stretching over Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri caused more than 15,000 lightning strikes. During the storm the skies were ablaze with almost constant lightning. Lightning hits the Empire State Building (NY, USA) about 23 times a year.

Lightning strikes also occur on Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. The Aztecs believed that lightning accompanied the dead, splitting the earth and making its way into its depths.

In the Middle Ages it was believed that church bells expelled evil spirits. Thunder and lightning were regarded as diabolical, so during a thunderstorm monks tried to constantly ring the bells. As a result the victims of lightning very often were bell-ringers. The irrational fear of lightning is known as keraunophobia. The fear of thunder is termed brontophobia.

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   September 18, 2014

   Reply

   Orion Stallard

   No mention of dark lightning or terrestrial gamma radiation? This is the newest and to me most interesting area of research around lightning. Also, would be interested in hearing if there have been any developments in harnessing and storing the energy produced in electrical storms.

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   September 18, 2014

   Reply

   Devendra

   This is new to me, cosmos is awesome.
   Regards, Devendra