When Benjamin Franklin fashioned the first lightning rod in the 1750s following his famous experiment flying a kite with a key attached during a thunderstorm, the American inventor had no way of knowing this would remain the state of the art for centuries.
Scientists now are moving to improve on that 18th century innovation with 21st century technology - a system employing a high-powered laser that may revolutionize lightning protection. Researchers said on Monday they succeeded in using a laser aimed at the sky from atop Mount Santis in northeastern Switzerland to divert lightning strikes.
The equipment was hauled to the mountaintop at an altitude of about 8,200 feet , some parts using a gondola and others by helicopter, and was focused on the sky above a 400-foot-tall transmission tower belonging to telecommunications provider SwisscomIn experiments during two months in 2021, intense laser pulses - 1,000 times per second - were emitted to redirect lightning strikes. All four strikes while the system was active were successfully intercepted.
"An intense laser can generate on its path long columns of plasmas in the atmosphere with electrons, ions and hot air molecules," Houard said, referring to positively charged particles called ions and negatively charged particles called electrons.
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