Blasting the sky with a car-sized LASER could divert lightning away from airports and power plants, scientists say

By beaming a giant laser into the sky, lightning can be thrown away from airports and nuclear power plants.

In the United Kingdom alone, lightning strikes the ground about 300,000 times a year, striking 30 to 60 people and killing about three people.

But the biggest threat is the damage that lightning can do to power stations, with one in 2019 causing the UK’s worst blackout in a decade, killing 1.1 million people.

Now, in the future, a laser the size of a large car could protect against these higher acts of violence and deflect lightning from buildings.

Scientists fired 1,000 pulses of laser light per second from a 26-foot-tall machine weighing more than three tons and sent the beams into the atmosphere above a tower in Switzerland, which is struck by lightning about 100 times a year.

During the more than six-hour use of the laser during thunderstorms between June and September last year, the researchers were able to deduce four lightning strikes.

Lightning takes the path of least resistance before hitting the ground.

The air, which does not conduct electricity, is difficult to move, so lightning will break in a different direction to reach a power plant or airport, which conducts electricity much better.

Scientists fired 1,000 pulses of laser light per second from a 26-foot-long, more than three-ton machine and sent the beams into the atmosphere above a tower in Switzerland, which is struck by lightning about 100 times a year

But laser pulses can attract lightning in the same way and charge the air so that it conducts electricity.

It catches lightning above a building, and the lightning then travels through charged air before falling harmlessly to the ground.

Traditional lightning rods do a similar job, but experts say they can only deflect lightning as far as it’s long — for example, a 30-foot rod can only deflect lightning 30 feet away.

Scientists hope lasers, although currently extremely expensive, could be the future for protecting critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, wind farms and airports

Since lightning rods cannot deflect lightning far enough from tall buildings, laser technology can help protect larger infrastructure.

Scientists have been working on it with lasers for more than 40 years, but according to the new study, this is the first time it has been detected outside the laboratory.

Professor Jean-Pierre Wolf of the University of Geneva, who led the team behind the breakthrough, said: “It was very emotional to see how the flash was deflected by the laser pulses.

“This comes four years after my own house was actually struck by lightning, smashing the chimney and windows and leaving my wife without power.

“I was at a conference where this research was discussed, so it could have been Revenge of the Flash.”

Globally, lightning causes up to 24,000 deaths each year.

The lightning rod is said to have been invented by US President Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century – made of conductive metal to attract lightning and conduct it safely to the ground.

But scientists hope that lasers, while currently extremely expensive, could be the future for protecting critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, wind farms and airports.

The study, published in the journal Nature Photonics, showed that lightning can be redirected over 50 meters using two high-speed cameras.

The researchers also used antennas to track the lightning’s path based on the electromagnetic radiation it produces.

Laser pulses, which form long strings in the atmosphere, ionize nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the air, charging them and attracting lightning.

Lasers also appear to prevent lightning in the first place, as they impart a negative electrical charge to the air so it can move toward the positively charged underside of a cloud and neutralize the charged particles that might otherwise cause lightning.

WHY DOES LIGHTNING STRIKE?

Lightning occurs when strong upward movements in the air create static electricity in large and dense rain clouds.

Parts of the cloud are positively charged and others negatively charged.

When this separation of charges is great enough, a violent discharge of electricity known as lightning occurs.

“Lightning is a major hazard that claims many lives every year”, says the United Nations World Meteorological Organization

Such a discharge starts with a small piece of ionized air hot enough to conduct electricity.

This small area grows into a forked lightning channel that can stretch for several kilometers.

The channel has a negative point that ejects charges to the ground and a positive point that collects charges from the cloud.

These charges migrate from the positive side of the channel to the other negative side during a flash, causing the charge to be released.