Super slow-motion video of lightning reveals hidden parts of each bolt
Lightning is a deadly and mysterious force on this planet, and scientists studying it have turned to modern photography techniques to try to unravel some of its secrets.
Researchers at the Florida Institute of Technology are using slow-motion photography -- in this case, 7,000 frames per second -- to detect processes involved with different types of lightning strikes that are hidden to the human eye.
For example, in the video above, which was filed on May 20, 2016, one can see a series of "stepped leaders" emerge from the underside of a thunderstorm toward the ground.
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These are negatively charged particles, and as they descend it is thought that they induce upward moving streams of positively charged particles to extend from the planet's surface.
It is where the stepped leaders meet these positively charged channels that the bright flash of a "return stroke" occurs.
The human eye only sees that return stroke, and sometimes we see it flash multiple times.
The researchers are hoping this camera will help them learn more about the most mysterious types of lightning, including so-called "blue jets," that thunderstorms emit into the upper atmosphere.
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Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
