Getting hit by lightning is not usually a good thing. But one tropical tree species seems to harness heaven’s wrath. Not only do the trees survive lightning strikes, but their height and voluminous ...

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Brazilian researchers captured on camera the brief moment when lightning rods on buildings released an upward discharge to attract incoming lightning. By Nicholas Bakalar Benjamin Franklin invented ...

Lightning is one of the most powerful forces on Earth, and try as we might, it’s tough to control... but not impossible. Early this year, a team of European scientists scaled the heights of human ...

Lightning rods protect buildings by providing a low-resistance path for charges to flow between the clouds and the ground. But they only work if lightning finds that path first. The actual strike is ...

Lightning may look beautiful but every year it kills thousands of people, does huge amounts of damage to buildings and infrastructure, and causes power outages. The only protection we have is ...

A high-speed photo of lightning rods at work during an electrical storm in São José dos Campos, Brazil, is helping scientists understand how the devices compete to attract strikes and keep buildings ...

With a high-speed camera and the luck of being in the right place at the right time, physicist Marcelo Saba, a researcher at Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE), and Ph.D. candidate ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Scientists were ...

Lightning is estimated to cause up to 24,000 deaths globally each year. It starts forest fires, burns buildings and crops, and causes power outages. The best, most practical technology available to ...

We debunk myths about what attracts lightning and give you practical advice on what to avoid to prevent a nearby lightning ...