The advance could open the way to use lasers to protect airports, rocket launchpads, and other sensitive infrastructure, researchers say. Still, it remains unclear whether the million-dollar technology works any better than a relatively cheap lightning rod.
To help prevent such damage, people rely on a technology invented in 1752 by American polymath Benjamin Franklin: the lightning rod. Consisting of a pointed metal rod attached to a building’s roof and connected to the ground by a wire, the rod creates a strong electric field that draws lightning away from the building. When the rod is hit, the wire safely ushers current to the ground.
At least, it does in laboratory experiments. Efforts to control natural lightning in New Mexico in 2004 and Singapore in 2011 still failed to influence the paths of bolts, Houard notes. The researchers succeeded where others hadn’t in part because their laser fired 1000 times per second, rather than 10 or fewer, Houard says. The rapid-fire pulses kept a stable conductive channel open even in the swirling atmosphere, he speculates. The other big difference? “We choose a specific location where the lightning is always hitting the same point,” he says.
the fact that this makes me start singing 'lightning wielder..' is all your fault JayHerrans
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