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Instant Egghead - Do Cosmic Rays Spark Lightning?

Jun 22, 2012 |  2

Cosmic rays are subatomic particles from deep space that are constantly bombarding the Earth's atmosphere. Scientific American editor Phil Yam explains how they might play a role in seeding bolts of lightning.


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  1. 1. Sevvy1 09:20 AM 6/23/12

    I recall seeing satellite or shuttle based video of apparently coordinated lightning strikes at thousands of miles distance- this would appear to suggest a mechanism.

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  2. 2. TreeLuvBurdpu 10:06 AM 6/23/12

    If you're interested, Sevvy1, there was also a Discovery Channel program on something they called sprites. Sprites are events that some researches noticed when doing extremely high-speed video of lightening. The sprites occur high above the lightening and immediately before the lightening. I don't recall how they tied that in to cosmic rays, but there was some possible link indicated.

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