Scientists explore 'dark lightning'
By Matthew Abshire, CNN
Just when you thought being struck by lightning couldn’t get any more terrifying, there's this:
Researchers at the Florida Institute of Technology are investigating what is being dubbed “dark lightning,” using computer models. This invisible phenomenon is not some cosmic event happening millions of light years from us, but actually occurs within storm clouds in our atmosphere at altitudes low enough for a commercial airliner to pass through.
CNN’s Chad Myers points out the real danger with “dark lightning” is not from a traditional bolt of energy, but an unleashing of exponentially high amounts of X-rays and gamma rays.
If an airplane accidentally ends up in a storm with this dark lightning, the radiation doses for passengers would be equivalent to about 10 chest X-rays if the plane flies at the top of the storm, researchers calculated.
But, researcher Joseph Dwyer said in a statement, "near the middle of the storms, the radiation dose could be about 10 times larger, comparable to some of the largest doses received during medical procedures and roughly equal to a full-body CT scan."
Researchers do not yet know how often, if ever, this situation would happen, but scientists are investigating the issue. Dwyer and colleagues presented their findings at a press conference at the European Geosciences Union in Vienna, Austria, this week.
Bottom line: “dark lightning” is nothing to fear. You can only be struck by it if you are flying directly through a thunderstorm, a situation pilots usually try to avoid.
Watch the video above for more.
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So dark lightning is really the energy that's stored inside the storm clouds! That energy then sends potent lightfingers in a flash to earth, because it can't be contained & must expend itself! Interresting!!
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"exponentially high amounts..."
Do you know what the word "exponentially" means?
I wonder if this "dark purple haze" in the video bit implied Saint Elmo's Fire, which is an electrical phenomenon sometimes visible in certain conditions where a blue or purplish electrical haze manifests around objects. Not to suggest that all Saint Elmo's Fire is caused by radiation, but I'm wondering if perhaps a radiation strike could induce it.
It must be from flying at FL370 with the flaps extended and the landing gear down.
This is why we need lead lined planes!
Dark Lightning...not as strong as the Light side of Lightning, but easier, more seductive...
My you are a racist! I guess I am too since I always preferred white lightning.
Haha, I like how Asdrel makes a Star Wars joke, and you use that as an excuse to show off some good ol' fashioned racism. Classic United States.
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Dave is a dummy !
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This probably happens when flying near or in a storm and no one knows about it.
This happened to me. It's how I got my superpowers.
Segregated lightning.
Typical meteorological racism. Lightning of color?
Can't all lighting just get along...? RK
"You can only be struck by it if you are flying directly through a thunderstorm, a situation pilots usually try to avoid."
Now that's an understatement. If an airplane is flying directly through the middle of a thunderstorm, the radiation dose should be the least of your concerns.
No one has e ER survived the fly-thru to complain about he 10 chest x-rays.
I'll take the 10 chest x-rays. Should make a good investment for my future.
Happy Dark Lightening to all, and to all a happy Shabbat Shalom.
What about those hurricane-chasing research planes?
Even those avoid flying through thunderstorms to the maximum extent possible. They fly over the hurricane, then down into the eye where the winds are calm.
I've read some of the articles about this, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around there being enough energy in a lightning burst to produce radiation of the high energy variety such as gamma and x-rays. Just when you thought you couldn't be surprised by Nature locally, it let's you know that something was going on all the time and you didn't have a inkling at all.
Good observation, Doug. Or not.... 🙂
Seriously, I love it when something like this is discovered. It should cause the know-it-alls in our lives to stop thinking so arrogantly.
Quite true. Scientists are puzzled, as well. There is some speculation that there may be an interaction between particles in a thunderstorm and cosmic rays, but it isn't very strong. There's no question, though, that thunderstorms emit gamma rays; they've been observed with satellites, and new observations scheduled to occur shortly may provide higher resolution views of such events that might help pin down a cause.