4 ms·
From "Getting hit by lightning is good for some tropical trees" (2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43506262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=435062
by westurner 1y ago
From "Getting hit by lightning is good for some tropical trees" (2025) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43506262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43506262 :
>> "Gamma radiation is produced in large tropical thunderstorms" (2024)
>> "Gamma rays convert CH4 to complex organic molecules [like glycine,], may explain origin of life" (2024)
TIL that gamma radiation destroys Teflon. And lighting storms produce gamma radiation.
And that "Lightning on Earth is sparked by a powerful chain reaction from outer space, simulations show" (2025) https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/lightning-on-earth-is-sparked-by-a-powerful-chain-reaction-from-outer-space-simulations-show https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/lightning-on... :
"Photoelectric Effect in Air Explains Lightning Initiation and Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes" (2025) https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JD043897 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JD04...