This video is offered by the Astrofotos with Mobile Course. Learn more at the end of this video. In recent years, researchers have documented a number of strange atmospheric phenomena on Earth that were previously unproven or even totally unknown.
There are transient light events such as Red Sprites, Blue Jets, Giant Jets and ELVES, Noctilucent Clouds, and rarely seen variants of familiar phenomena such as green lightning and red auroras. These are just some of the incredible occurrences that we were able to observe and verify. However, despite astonishing advances in our technology and research capability, there are still phenomena that are almost completely beyond our ability to prove them.
Of these, none is more strange and terrifying than a Ball Lightning, a supposed electrical occurrence so incomprehensible that it even seems fanciful! The Globe Lightning phenomenon has been reported so many times and with so much scientific scrutiny, that it occupies an unusual place between science and folklore. But contrary to most myths, ball lightning has a growing body of evidence that suggests we shouldn't just take its existence seriously — but that we may have already proved it.
So what is ball lightning? How are scientists trying to reproduce it in the lab? And if it's a real phenomenon, as many experts believe, why is it so hard to prove?
I'm Dennis Ariel, and you're watching Astrum Brasil. Join me today as we delve into the fascinating history of ball lightning encounters , examine some of the most intriguing new theories, and learn about stunning lab experiments that are trying to demystify one of science's strangest unsolved mysteries. For centuries, reports of ball lightning came from all over the world.
Stories vary, but many agree on some details: the phenomenon appears as a glowing orb on fire, sometimes the size of a golf ball and sometimes much larger. It is usually white or blue, but it can also be red, orange or yellow. The phenomenon is said to last between one and several seconds, floats on a slow path, sometimes changing direction, even erratically, and supposedly passes walls and windows unharmed.
According to some accounts, globular rays break up; in others, it explodes violently causing severe damage and leaving behind a sulfur odor. In its most destructive form, ball lightning has been reported to maim and kill people, and destroy heavy walls, doors, and ships. Now, here at Astrum Brasil, we do not accept anecdotal evidence as proof, however convincing it may be: only observation, controlled tests and repeatability can scientifically confirm a phenomenon!
So, with that in mind, let's take a look at some of the alleged ball-ray encounters that we find most intriguing. In 1739, a ship called the Catherine and Mary was sailing along the Florida Gulf Coast when it encountered a deadly storm. According to an eyewitness, "a great ball of fire fell from the element and split our mast into ten thousand pieces.
. . killed one man, another had his hand torn off, and if it hadn't been for the violent rains, our sails would have been consumed by flames.
" ”. That's quite a story, but it gets weirder! In 1753, Georg Richmann, a renowned electrical professor and researcher, was attending a conference in Saint Petersburg when he saw a storm approaching.
Bringing in a professional recorder to record his observations, he hastened to perform a kite experiment, similar to the one Benjamin Franklin had performed the year before. As later reported by the professional engraver, Richmann was conducting the experiment when a blue sphere of fire crept down the rope, fatally hitting him and knocking the engraver unconscious. The autopsy reported found a coin-sized red mark on the professor's forehead and injuries consistent with electrocution.
But perhaps the most convincing eyewitness account comes from 1963, when RC Jennison, a researcher at the University of Kent, was flying late at night from New York to Washington. Jennison was sitting in the cockpit shortly after midnight when the plane was engulfed by a bright electrical discharge. Within seconds, a glowing sphere about 20 centimeters in diameter emerged from the cockpit and traveled the length of the aircraft.
In 1969, Jennison published his observations in precise detail in the pages of the journal Nature. Due to reliable reports like Jennison's, scientists have taken the phenomenon seriously and come up with several models to explain it. One theory proposes that ball lightning may be a hallucination triggered by the magnetic field near a lightning bolt.
Citing similar hallucinations experienced during epileptic seizures, this theory suggests that ball lightning may be an invention of the stimulated occipital lobe. However, if true, it apparently contradicts reported damage caused by ball lightning, such as the death of Georg Richmann. Another hypothesis proposes that ball lightning is a reaction of contained plasma, like Saint Elmo's Fire, the phenomenon observed on ship's masts, when the tension between air and ground is great enough to break air molecules into highly excited particles.
. According to this theory, the plasma in a ball radius becomes an independent bubble that behaves like a Soliton, a self-reinforcing wave that maintains its shape and moves at constant speed. Don't worry if you find this confusing.
We are touching on a very complicated subject that even researchers are still struggling to understand! One of the most promising hypotheses was proposed by John Abrahamson and James Dinniss at the University of Canterbury in the year 2000. This model proposes that a powerful positive beam can vaporize molecules in the soil, causing energized nanoparticles to react with oxygen in the air to produce light.
and hot. And remarkably, this model is supported by a strange incident that occurred ten years ago in Lanzhou, China. Remember when I said there was no verified lightning recording?
Well, that might not be entirely true. In July 2012, researchers at the University of the Northwest installed spectrometers to record ordinary lightning when powerful lightning produced a brilliant white sphere. The orb had an estimated glow of 5 meters in diameter, which turned red as it traveled for 10 meters before rising into the air.
All of this was recorded with high-speed video, which unfortunately has not been released. But at least they released a spectrometer recording. The spectrometer confirmed emission lines for silicon, calcium and iron – all common in soil.
So if this observed phenomenon was indeed ball lightning, as it appears, it adds strong evidence to support the vaporized silicon hypothesis. But the model does not account for certain behaviors described in ball-ray encounters, such as the ability to pass through solid matter. So what does that mean?
Well, either those accounts are wrong, or ball rays could be a collection of separate phenomena. In addition to proposing theoretical models, scientists have tried to reproduce globular rays in the laboratory, with incredible results. An experiment at the Max Planck institute allegedly produced a ball-beam-like effect when researchers discharged a high-voltage capacitor into liquid water.
In 2006, researchers at Tel Aviv University conducted an experiment by pointing a microwave drill, consisting of a magnetron and a microwave beam, at a strip of solid silicon. When the researchers moved the beam away, the drag produced a small ball of plasma – almost identical in appearance to the globular lightning reports! A surprising result for sure; but is this phenomenon produced in the laboratory the same as those reported in nature?
It's quite possible! But even today, we just don't know! Another experiment, carried out in 2018, came to even more impressive conclusions.
Using advanced experimental engineering, physicists have successfully created a Shankar Skyrmion, a quasiparticle that is like an entangled three-dimensional magnetic field. Without getting too complicated to explain, what the researchers did was apply an external magnetic field to a system of rubidium atoms close to absolute zero. The magnetic field controlled the atoms in such a way that they all rotated facing the same direction on the surface of the node, while rotating unusually on the inside.
In other words, the magnetic field has maintained a stable spherical configuration, capable of doing things like crushing or deforming while retaining its essential properties. This finding could have major implications for quantum computing, but the researchers also believe that the synthetic magnetic field they created models the electromagnetic field expected from globular rays. This theory will require a lot of follow-up research, but it's a promising discovery that could explain some of the purported features of ball rays, such as the ability to pass through solid barriers.
Then that's it. A survey of the incredible history of ball-ray encounters, as well as cutting-edge research that came very close to proving it. So what's your opinion?
Do you find any of these theories convincing? Have you, or someone you know, ever experienced an encounter with something that looked like ball lightning? I'd love to hear more about your story in the comments.
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