Laser-guided lightning rod takes Ben Franklin invention to new heights

Final URL:View Discussion

Link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/01/16/laser-lightning-rod/

Benjamin Franklin is credited with inventing the lightning rod, and for some 270 years it has remained the main tool for protecting buildings from destructive and potentially deadly thunderbolts. But now an ambitious experiment on a Swiss mountaintop has demonstrated that a laser beam also can help guide the path of lightning, extending the effectiveness of the Franklin rod high into the sky.