Up to 24,000 people around the world die every year from lightning-related incidents, so you might think this natural phenomenon is something to be feared and avoided. That's not always the case, ...

In their open-access paper for Geology, Kimberly Genareau and colleagues propose, for the first time, a mechanism for the generation of glass spherules in geologic deposits through the occurrence of ...

When lightning strikes the beach or desert, the electricity vaporizes the sand in less than a second, creating a geological phenomenon you might have to see to believe. The sand vaporizes as the ...

Sweet Home Alabama had us all believing that when lightning hits the ground, it can create beautiful, intricate glass sculptures. And while the phenomenon is rare, this can actually happen - although ...

(WGHP) – “Can lightning turn sand at the beach into glass?” Dianne from Winston-Salem asks. “If so, how and in what conditions?” Yes, it is possible for lightning to turn sand into glass. However, ...

Studying volcanic eruptions in person can be dangerous, and scientists have died trying. Volcanic lightning -- yes, volcanoes make lightning! -- by contrast offers a safer opportunity to examine what ...

Materials researchers have reported the highest known breakdown strength for a bulk glass ever measured. Breakdown strength, along with dielectric constant, determines how much energy can be stored in ...