Lightning rods are unfortunately only effective in a limited area. If you need to protect a large complex such as an airport or a wind farm, the new invention of French scientists is much more suitable.

what is known

Climbing to the top of the mountain, scientists conducted a spectacular experiment – with the help of a laser they shot a lightning discharge. This is the first demonstration of the functionality of the invention in real storm conditions. The tests were carried out from July to September 2021.

Researchers from the Paris Polytechnic Institute went to the top of Mount Zentis in Switzerland to conduct their tests here. They installed laser equipment near a telecommunications tower that ended with a lightning rod struck by lightning about a hundred times a year.

• The laser emitted short, intense pulses of infrared light about 1,000 times per second.
• Them created something like a reduced-density plasma channel, separating electrons from air molecules and pushing some of them apart. This channel facilitates the transport of lightning from the sky to the earth..
• The scientists adjusted the laser to create an electrically conductive channel at a distance slightly greater than the height of the tower. This allowed the lightning rod to stop the discharge and ground it before burning the laser equipment.

In total, four lightning bolts hit the tower while the laser was on. It happened once in relatively daylight and the cameras managed to capture the moment. The images show lightning zigzagging downwards and then traveling about 50 meters along a laser-created channel before exiting the lightning rod.

Computer simulation of lightning movement in scientists’ experiment: video

To track the trajectories of the other three lightning bolts, the scientists watched the radio waves emitted by the discharges. Their orbits were also altered by laser beams.