4 ms·
Why you should care, and why this is revolutionary science: Lightning has recently been found to generate positrons via gamma rays. This is very recent science
by rms 15y ago
Why you should care, and why this is revolutionary science:
Lightning has recently been found to generate positrons via gamma rays. This is very recent science and definitely underexplored and not yet solved via theory.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/11jan_antimatter/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/11...
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011EO220001.shtml http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011EO220001.shtml
A Tesla Coil this large looks a lot like a lightning generator, an opportunity to explore the space where electrical arcs become lightning.
Lightning had also been hypothesized to produce x-rays for a long time, with evidence of x-rays in lightning only confirmed in 2001. The creation of x-rays by lightning bolts is also not completely explained by theory.
Basically, lightning is extremely poorly understood for such a basic natural phenoma and there is ample room for exploration, possibly leading to economical ways of generating antimatter.