Using a precisely aligned pair of laser beams, scientists can now hold a single aerosol particle in place and monitor how it charges up. The particle’s glow signals each step in its changing ...

Physicists have long known how lightning ends, in a blinding discharge that can heat air hotter than the surface of the Sun, but the precise trigger that starts a bolt inside a cloud has remained ...

Around 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year. — © AFP Around 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year. — © AFP By ...