New Tractor Beam has Potential to Tame Lightning
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
New tractor beam has potential to tame lightning:
catastrophic bushfires.
An international team of researchers, including scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and UNSW Canberra, are pioneering laser tractor beam technology that has the potential to control the path and direction of lightning.
Co-researcher Dr Vladlen Shvedov, from the ANU Research School of Physics, said the team used a laser beam that mirrors the same process as lightning and creates a path that directs electrical discharges to specific targets.
"The experiment simulated similar atmospheric conditions to those found in real lightning," Dr Shvedov said.
"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."
The team used a laser intensity a thousand times less than that in any previous attempts, meaning any potential technology to control lightning could be much cheaper, safer and more precise.
Journal Reference:
V. Shvedov, E. Pivnev, A. R. Davoyan, et al. Optical beaming of electrical discharges [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19183-0)
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