Scientists on January 16 said that for the first time use lasers to redirect lightning in the hope that this technique will help prevent lightning strikes fatal lightning strikeand one day can actively fire lightning.
Around the world, lightning strikes about 40-120 times per second, killing more than 4,000 people and causing billions of dollars in damage each year. But the protection of people and structures from being struck by lightning from above is still the lightning rod It was invented by the sage Benjamin Franklin in 1749.
A team of scientists from six research institutions has worked together for years to use the idea, but replace a simple metal pole with a much more precise and sophisticated laser.
Lead author of the study, physicist Aurelien Houard at ENSTA Paris’ optical laboratory, said: “We wanted to present the first evidence that lasers can affect lightning and this is the simplest way to redirect lightning.” But Mr Houard added that it would be better to be able to detonate active lightning in the future.
When scientists testing this theory in New Mexico in 2004, their laser failed to transmit lightning because lasers at the time did not generate enough electrical circuits per second for lightning. Mr Houard also added that it would be difficult to “predict where lightning will strike.”
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In a study published in the journal Nature Photonics, scientists describe using a laser from the top of a mountain in Switzerland to redirect a lightning bolt more than 50 meters.
Lightning is an electrical discharge that forms on storm clouds, or between clouds and the ground. The laser produces plasma, which contains ions and electrons that heat the air. The air becomes the “conducting medium that should form a preferred path for lightning.”
In their experiment, the scientists used a car-sized laser that can ignite 1,000 lightning bolts per second at the top of the 2,500-meter-high Mount Santis. This peak is home to a communications tower and is regularly judged 100 times a year.
After 2 years of generating a powerful laser, it took several weeks to move it piece by piece through a cable car. Finally, an aircraft must drop large containers that can hold telescopes. This glass focuses the laser with the greatest intensity on a point about 150m in the air, right at the top of the 124m high tower mentioned above.
The laser was initially 20cm in diameter and then narrowed to just a few centimeters at the top. During a summer storm in 2021, scientists were able to capture a laser that redirects a lightning bolt about 50m away. Three other lightning strikes were also successfully redirected.
In theory, the technology could be used not only to redirect lightning bolts but also to detonate them. This allows scientists to better protect strategic facilities such as airfields or rocket launchers.
Bich Lien (VNA/Vietnam+)