Scientists Just Witnessed Two Lightning Bolts Collide and Unleash a Blast of Radiation

What happens right before two arcs of lightning smash into each other? An invisible blast of radiation a million times more energetic than a lightning discharge is unleashed in the form of gamma rays, before disappearing almost as quickly as it came. Yes, astronomy-minded friends, this is a gamma ray burst, almost like the cosmic explosions we see in deep space produced when stars go supernova — except right here on Earth (and thankfully, a lot less deadly). For the first time, a team of researchers in Japan have witnessed one of these earthly gamma ray blasts, known as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, being produced by a lightning discharge, after two of them collided. The findings, published in a new study in the journal Science Advances, mark a major step forward in understanding how gamma rays are produced in the storm clouds that lour over our planet. Thunderclouds, on top of heaving with rain and crackling with arcs of electricity, are also brimming with gamma rays. But though t ... Read full article.