I’ve long been fascinated by lightning and have often wondered if we could weaponize it or harness it to power our cities. Thoughts that often sound far-fetched. After all, lightning is an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon. How could we possibly hope to contain it yet alone control it? And yet we may be on the verge of doing just that.
Futurism explains:
“An international team of researchers says that small lasers could be used to guide lightning strikes — much like Thor’s legendary hammer Mjölnir…
The team says it’s already tested the concept in labs using devices known as hollow lasers, which in effect create a pipe of light. These lasers can short circuit storm clouds and trigger lightning strikes by heating micro-particles in the air.
‘We can imagine a future where this technology may induce electrical discharge from passing lightning, helping to guide it to safe targets and reduce the risk of catastrophic fires,’ co-researcher Vladlen Shvedov from the Australian National University told AFP.”
Forest fire deterrence would obviously be a major benefit of this laser based system. But I can certainly think of quite a few other possibilities as well!
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