http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/lightning http://io9.com/tag/lightning

Residents of Venezuela have been treated to a light show that has been going on for thousands of years. One spot on the Catatumbo River gets, regularly, forty thousand bolts every night. The lightning has helped sailors navigate, foiled attacks on the nearby countryside, and is actually responsible for Venezuelan independence. Find out about the most zapped spot on earth. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871791&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Earth pulses with a special kind of resonant wave. The Schumann Resonance has long been dubbed 'the Earth's heartbeat,' and it has only been spotted from below. Recently, though, satellites have found signs of this electromagnetic heartbeat leaking up into space. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863588&view=rss&microfeed=true

The sky above this Singapore hotel seems perfectly normal...but then something weird starts happening in the clouds. They suddenly change shapes, brighten and dim, and seem to pulsate for no apparent reason. This strange phenomenon has baffled scientists...until now. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5859018&view=rss&microfeed=true

Everyone loves a Tesla coil. Photographer Rob Flickenger is such an aficionado that he photographed one blazing à la "bullet time" from The Matrix. 100+ Tesla coils blasting in the background of every other scene would've improved the sequels immensely. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5816873&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last night an epic storm blew through Wisconsin. According to Menasha resident Jon Baas, hundreds of nonstop lightning flashes lit up the sky for an hour. Wisconsinites also contended with with high winds, rain, and hailstones the size of baseballs. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5790793&view=rss&microfeed=true

Find out why every time you accidentally leave a trace of tinfoil on your leftovers, your microwave looks like it's the Fourth of July. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5745084&view=rss&microfeed=true

Mysterious lights are seen at sunset and during the night. They reappear again and again, in all kinds of weather conditions, causing no damage. What could they be? Have you seen them? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5712822&view=rss&microfeed=true

Lightning can do a lot more than ruin your electronics. It can climb through the plumbing into your house and zap you to death. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5672266&view=rss&microfeed=true

Venus's atmosphere is 93 times heaver than Earth's, the air is mostly carbon dioxide, the planet is covered in sulfur dioxide clouds,and ground temperatures reach 860 degrees. And yet lightning works exactly the same way on both planets. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5645624&view=rss&microfeed=true

It skitters across the ground, floats in the air, is cold to the touch, and leaves scorch marks. It's been scientifically explained, or hey, it might be a total hallucination. It's ball lightning! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5601177&view=rss&microfeed=true

Find out how it will make everyone's food safer someday. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5579625&view=rss&microfeed=true

The heavens have certainly been punishing Chicago this week. Watch as three mighty bolts of lightning simultaneously attack three of the Windy City's tallest buildings. Clearly, Thor is a Flyers fan. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5573071&view=rss&microfeed=true

Two Tesla coils, a Faraday suit, and 500,000 volts of electricity are all that ArcAttack needed to stage a positively shocking performance of the Who theme at the Bay Area Maker Faire. [Topless Robot] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5549138&view=rss&microfeed=true

Click to viewIt can power a time machine, steal Superman's strength and even help Zack Morris graduate high school. Oh, lightning – is there anything you can't do? Long before nuclear energy and genetic engineering joined the team, lightning reigned as the top catch-all explanation for the funky phenomenon of the week, even transcending genre to become a standard sitcom plot device. Click through for clips of the flashiest lightning this side of Mt. Olympus. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5100043&view=rss&microfeed=true

We long ago declared Saturn's moon Titan the one of the awesomest moons in the solar system (though this assertion was controversial). Granted, it’s freezing cold, but its Earth-like features have set astrobiologists dreaming and made it one of the most popular extraplanetary settings in science fiction. And a new discovery about this infamous lunar body further suggests that Titan has the capacity to produce life. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5071146&view=rss&microfeed=true

When other planets do storms, they do 'em right. The Cassini spacecraft snapped photos of this monster thunderstorm on Saturn that's been raging for five months now, each lightning bolt packing 10,000 times more juice than it's Earthly counterparts. Jupiter's still got the illest storm in the solar system with it's almost four-century old Great Red Spot, but Saturn's storm's not too shabby — it's that blotch down in the lower right-hand part of the planet. That bright spot just below the rings? That's Saturn's moon Tethys looking way bigger than it should because it's in the foreground, just to give you a rough sense of scale. (from NASA) More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=385982&view=rss&microfeed=true

Some of the greatest battles in science fiction haven't involved dogfights or shoot-outs, but time-traveling smackdowns, with two different people trying to change history out from under each other. Like Marty and Biff, trying to wipe out each other's timelines in this clip from Back To The Future 2. As soon as you have more than one time machine, you can have timeline-altering sniper fights, and whoever can erase the other person's time line first wins. Start your paradox engines, and may the slipperiest time-trickster win! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=379263&view=rss&microfeed=true

No, it isn't a time-traveling Tesla aiming his Cosmic Ray at the city that hardly needs more electricity. This is from a lightning storm two days ago in Las Vegas. Getty Image by Ethan Miller. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=328330&view=rss&microfeed=true