How is lightning initiated in thunderclouds? This is difficult to answer – how do you measure electric fields inside large, dangerously charged clouds? It was discovered, more or less by coincidence, ...

Though scientists have long understood how lightning strikes, the precise atmospheric events that trigger it within thunderclouds have remained a perplexing mystery. The mystery may now be solved, ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Floridians are no strangers to violent thunderstorms, living in the lightning capital of the country. But now scientists have discovered an exotic and dynamic form of energy ...

In the recent edition of Nature, groundbreaking results about the gamma-ray emissions produced during thunderstorms are presented. Overall, these findings reveal that gamma-ray emission from ...

Storm-chasing NASA pilots recently spent weeks flying an aircraft not unlike a spy plane directly into thunderstorms in an effort to gain new insights about lightning and severe weather. Lightning has ...

Thunderstorms are far more radioactive than previously thought, routinely producing gamma rays—the highest-energy form of electromagnetic radiation typically associated with supernovas and other ...

When Joseph Dwyer’s aeroplane took a wrong turn into a thundercloud, the mistake paid off: the atmospheric physicist flew not only through a frightening storm but also into an unexpected—and ...

Victor Pasko, left, professor of electrical engineering in the Penn State School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Zaid Pervez, a doctoral student in electrical engineering, revealed ...