Scientists use laser to guide lightning bolt for first time

This handout image released by ENSTA Paris – Institut Polytechnique de Paris on January 16, 2023, shows a snapshot of a lightning event at Schwaegalp near Santis Mountain in Switzerland. A powerful laser aimed at the sky can create a virtual lightning rod and divert the path of lightning strikes, a paper published in Nature Photonics demonstrates. The findings may pave the way for better lightning protection methods for critical infrastructure, such as power stations, airports and launchpads.

Yet the main protection against these bolts from above is still the humble lightning rod, which was first conceived by American polymath Benjamin Franklin in 1749. “We wanted to give the first demonstration that the laser can have an influence on lightning — and it is simplest to guide it,” said Aurelien Houard, a physicist at the applied optics laboratory of the ENSTA Paris institute and the study’s lead author.

That laser failed because it did not emit enough pulses per second for lightning, which brews in milliseconds, Houard said.For the latest experiment, the scientists left little to chance. “The current and power of a lightning bolt really becomes clear once the ground is connected with the cloud,” Houard said.

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