If You See This Laser Beam, Lightning Could Strike Nearby

Bright Side

you're out and about, maybe on a hike or just chilling in your backyard, and suddenly you spot this crazy laser beam streaking across the sky. Well, hold onto your hats because that laser beam could mean lightning is about to strike nearby. It's like a real-life warning sign from nature, telling you to take cover and stay safe. Scientists have found that these eerie laser-like beams, known as "lightning sprites," often appear right before lightning bolts zap down to the ground. And it's just one way of nature saying, "Hey, heads up, lightning's about to crash the party!"  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00When lightning flashes across the sky, it releases somewhere around 300 million volts,

00:06or the equivalent to power 25 million car batteries.

00:10Some say you're more likely to be zapped by lightning in your lifetime than to win the lottery.

00:15And statistics seem to prove this urban myth,

00:18as each year around 28 U.S. locals do get electrically charged from the sky.

00:26The world's infrastructure can be affected by lightning too.

00:29That's because it generally seeks out the tallest structure around.

00:33But in certain conditions, it can also strike an open field.

00:37So scientists came together and invented a laser lightning rod that might help.

00:42This unique invention might make lightning strikes a bit more manageable,

00:46since it can guard a much larger area than the traditional one.

00:50And it's flexible.

00:52Classic lightning rods work like magnets for that powerful electrical charge.

00:57There are these tall metal devices placed on top of buildings.

01:01When a storm approaches, the rod provides an easy path for lightning to follow,

01:05preventing it from hitting other parts of the structure.

01:08The rod is also connected to the ground with a conductor, like a wire,

01:13helping the electrical charge to safely make its way into the earth.

01:17This process protects the building, and the humans in it, by directing the electrical energy away.

01:24We've been using lightning rods for the last 300 years, courtesy of Benjamin Franklin.

01:29But they're not damage-proof.

01:31When it comes to safeguarding vast spaces like airports, they can't manage.

01:36That's because they can only cover an area proportional to their height.

01:43Here's where this new, improved lightning rod can help.

01:47When the laser zaps the sky, it leaves behind a trail of super-heated air called plasma.

01:53The same way a sculptor carves out traces in clay, the laser creates channels in the air.

01:59These channels then become the lightning's new favorite route, guiding it down to the ground.

02:05This new method was tested in the Swiss Alps back in 2021, and the results were promising.

02:11These lasers do have their own disadvantages.

02:14They aren't always available and need a heads-up.

02:17That's because they have to be activated before a bolt hits.

02:21If you're a second too late, tough luck.

02:25Also, once the laser stops, the air loses its conductivity pretty quickly.

02:31This means the laser rod might not have enough power to guide the lightning safely.

02:36A potential solution might be monitoring the electric fields around a certain area,

02:41predicting where lightning might strike.

02:44Yet, these new rods still need more testing, and lots of funds.

02:52The European Space Agency found another way to make lasers useful, to turn moon dust into roads.

02:59It would make our future lunar exploration missions much easier if a laser beam could do the hard jobs,

03:05allowing astronauts to drive around the moon.

03:08This discovery might also help with another tricky issue, moon dust clinging to everything in sight.

03:15Roads on the moon might seem too much of a hustle for now, since we haven't been to our satellites since 1972.

03:23But when future space explorers will touch down again, they don't just plan to walk small distances.

03:29It'll be nice to have them driving around, so they can explore larger areas.

03:34Problem is, that pesky moon dust is very fine, abrasive, and sticky.

03:40Back during the Apollo missions, it clogged up equipment, eroded spacesuits, and even caused a lunar rover to overheat.

03:48That's why scientists want to zap simulated moon dirt with a laser.

03:54This laser-powered project used a 12-kilowatt laser to melt simulated moon dirt into a solid, glassy surface, perfect for moon roads.

04:04The plan isn't to send a huge laser on the moon.

04:07This device they're testing here on Earth is like a stand-in for the sun, mimicking what lunar sunlight could do.

04:14The idea is to eventually concentrate sunlight using a big lens on the moon's surface.

04:20Some experiments have been done so far with different laser sizes, finding that a bigger beam made the whole process go smoother.

04:28Instead of dealing with tiny molten balls, they got a stable layer of molten moon dirt that's easier to work with.

04:35What they got was a glassy, somewhat brittle material that can handle downward forces.

04:41And even if it cracks, it's fixable.

04:44The laser beam was used to make triangle-shaped road parts that fit together like puzzle pieces, forming solid surfaces across lunar soil.

04:53If this goes as planned, we'll have moon roads made of interlocked triangles.

04:58This unique type of moon pavement could be the solution for landing pads, too.

05:06Lasers can help piece together information on long-lost civilizations, too.

05:11Discovering Maya cities has always been difficult for researchers exploring Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

05:17For years, experts believed no early civilization could have thrived in that harsh environment.

05:23But advancements like light-mapping technology and laser scans are showing us this might not be true.

05:30LiDAR technology can lend a helping hand for archaeologists, especially in areas that are hard to access.

05:38That's because it's like we're equipping computers with a pair of eyes.

05:42The whole thing works as a flashlight, sending out small light beams in the form of a pulsated laser.

05:49These beams balance off objects like trees and buildings and come back to the flashlight.

05:55LiDAR measures how long it takes for the light to return, creating a map of the surroundings.

06:01When a self-driving car or robot wants to know where it is, it uses LiDAR to send out these light beams.

06:08By figuring out how long they take to come back and where they hit, the car or robot can understand what's around it,

06:15making it safer for them to move around through the fog or at nighttime without bumping into things.

06:23With this technology, a team uncovered the massive Maya city of Ocomtun.

06:29LiDAR technology helped researchers to map the jungle floor, revealing hidden structures.

06:34Yet someone still needed to verify these findings on foot.

06:38The journey to Ocomtun wasn't extremely challenging.

06:41The region, quite far from the nearest airport, is mostly unexplored.

06:46The dense terrain made the trek challenging, taking the team up to two weeks to cover just 30 miles.

06:52But the effort paid off, revealing monumental structures like a large acropolis

06:57and intriguing shapes hinting at a marketplace or cultural center.

07:02LiDAR is also used in rovers we'll need to explore other planets.

07:07This will allow the robots we send up there to navigate their surroundings without direct human indications.

07:13It's also helped us better understand the best location to place solar panels,

07:18making it cheaper and faster for us to meet our energy needs.

07:23We might also be able to use lasers to predict how a volcano will form,

07:28and how a volcano will erupt.

07:32We might also be able to use lasers to predict how a volcano is going to act.

07:38These structures are loaded with magma, the molten rock sneaking upwards from the Earth's insides.

07:44When a volcano blows its top, a chemical reaction happens, transforming magma into what we call lava.

07:51The specialists behind this new use of lasers think of magma as the computer code of volcanoes.

07:58It reveals information on how a volcano might pop up.

08:02That's because not all eruptions bring lava, and even if they do,

08:06there are different lava types, depending on how runny it is.

08:10Magma is like a mix of liquid, gas, and crystals that are shaken up inside the volcano.

08:17There are many elements at play before a volcanic eruption,

08:20so it's hard to study and understand that complex chemistry.

08:24To organize things around a bit, scientists hit the cooled magma, the rock matrix, with a laser,

08:30just like the ones you might have encountered if you've ever had eye surgery.

08:34It makes the chemical components easier to study.

08:37This latest laser eye method was used on samples from a 2021 eruption, which lasted 85 days.

08:45It covered over four square miles, spewing loads of lava that wrecked over a thousand homes

08:51and displaced over 7,000 people.

08:54To prevent such events from happening again, scientists need more data.

08:59It's true, earthquakes and ground shifts help specialists predict what a volcano might do,

09:04but knowing a bit more about its chemistry can help a bit more.

09:09That's it for today!

09:10So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

09:15Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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