[LAU] thunderstorm

[nescivi]

On Monday 22 June 2009 20:44:05 TheOther wrote:
> david wrote:
> > Not much protects against lightning. Even unplugging from the mains
> > might not - lightning is powerful enough to jump across insulator gaps.
>
> Very true, David.  I don't know of *anything* that will stop lightning
> directly.

The opposite works though. Tesla was allegedly quite succesfull at attracting 
strange weather conditions around his lab, with all his magnets.

But yeah, unplugging the laptop as the thunderstorm was closing in might have 
helped.

Also, as far as I know, high buildings usually have thunder-antenna's (? not 
sure of the English word; though I just read that Benjamin Franklin invented 
them) which are supposed to catch lightning for you and bring it to ground, so 
that lower (parts of the) buildings in the surroundings are not as likely to 
get caught.
I guess you could put one of these on your house, so that if you get lightning 
in your house, it'll be more likely to go to there, rather than get into your 
electricity net.

sincerely,
Marije