Laser Brings a Bolt of Discovery

According to USA Today a high-powered laser has been used to trigger electrical activity within a thunderstorm. This artificially triggered lightning strikes allow researchers to study how and why lightning forms, and also give engineers a way to evaluate and test the lightning sensitivity of airplanes and infrastructure, such as power lines.

Researchers are sure that the laser causes electrical activity because they observed that some minor electric events were synchronized with the laser, precisely at the position where the laser beam was emitted.