Lightning Strikes Again
Can we collect electricity from lightning?
Is it possible to get power from lightning? This was the first CrowdScience question posed by listener John Emochu in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2016. We revisit John’s story as presenter Marnie Chesterton goes hunting for answers at a lightning lab in Cardiff, Wales, where she discovers just what lightning lab is, and how to make a tiny – but very loud – lightning bolt. And we tackle the best of the many questions that came into our inbox about thunderstorms after the original broadcast – from how many types of lightning exist to whether antennae in the clouds could gather electricity. Finally, we head to Kampala to meet listener John to hear just what he thought of the programme and what life is really like in one of the lightning capitals of the world.
Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at crowdscience@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Jen Whyntie
(Image: Artist impression of lightning inside a conical flask. Credit: Getty Images)
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Making tiny lightning bolts
Duration: 01:23
Broadcasts
- Fri 11 Aug 2017 19:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
- Sat 12 Aug 2017 22:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 12 Aug 2017 23:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 14 Aug 2017 02:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 14 Aug 2017 04:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 14 Aug 2017 06:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Mon 14 Aug 2017 13:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia
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CrowdScience
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe