I would have thought shooting the laser would just cause lightning to strike the laser emitter itself. But they can tweak the laser to make the air ionization start some distance from the emitter. So, they can make the lighting strike something else. There is a neat picture in the article showing lighting going along, then following the laser beam down for a bit, then leaving the laser beam and going to a tower. People first tried this in 1999.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !technology@lemmy.world
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Later: Swiss scientists use lasers to cause lightning strikes
Nature powered Tesla coils
We’re one step closer to controlling the weather. That is, if you don’t believe we hadn’t already accomplished that with HAARP.
I would have thought shooting the laser would just cause lightning to strike the laser emitter itself. But they can tweak the laser to make the air ionization start some distance from the emitter. So, they can make the lighting strike something else. There is a neat picture in the article showing lighting going along, then following the laser beam down for a bit, then leaving the laser beam and going to a tower. People first tried this in 1999.
Is there any feasible tech that can harvest energy from a lightning bolt? Maybe a molten salt type thing?
Turns out there’s only about 0.25 kW of energy in a lightning bolt - which costs maybe 5-10 cents in the US - so it’s not really worth it.
sounds like a supplement renewable energy if you can harvest it cheaply
Not today zeus