[LAU] thunderstorm

[david]

nescivi wrote:
> 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.

Lightning rods. I think they not attracted and channeled lighting bolts, 
they also helped leak charges from the athmosphere to the ground before 
they became strong enough to generate a bolt.

Probably Wikipedia has a useful article on the subject.

-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community