Inverse - ⚡️ Controlled lightning

Jan. 18, 2023

It sounds like the work of a mad scientist: Playing God and manipulating lightning as we please. But it's actually possible to control incoming bolts, according to a new study.

In 2021, scientists trained a car-sized laser on a lightning rod atop a Swiss mountain (yes, we still use Benjamin Franklin's invention to this day). They watched as the laser guided four discharges of electricity, the first ever successful experiment of its kind.

This breakthrough could bring us an effective new from of lightning protection, and even illuminate the physics behind these strikes. But for now, please don't frolic outside in a storm.

What’s New
Innovation
Physicists used lasers to control lightning on a mountaintop

Last year marked the 270th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod — but it’s more than a relic of history. The Franklin rod remains in use today because the simple design exploits some powerful physics: A tall metal rod lures in lightning and chunky wires dissipate the storm’s energy into the earth, sparing humans and surrounding structures.

But thanks to recent physics breakthroughs, a wild new technology could end the rod’s lightning safety monopoly.

“The idea is to protect a much bigger space than the classical lightning rod,” Aurélien Houard, a physicist with France’s École Polytechnique, tells Inverse. Typically, this tool juts out several meters above a tall building, limiting the area it can cover. “What we want to do is to improve the protection range to hundreds of meters, or kilometers.”

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Science
5 charts reveal how hot 2022 was in new detail

It’s no secret that 2022 was a year of climate extremes. Record-setting temperatures, natural disasters, floods, droughts, and more made headlines all throughout the year.

Now, we’re starting to get a fuller picture of how 2022 compares to previous years. Reports released this month by NASA, NOAA, and the EU’s Copernicus program detail last year’s climate trends, based on data from satellite and ground-based monitors.

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Movies
'Guardians of the Galaxy 3's Adam Warlock reveal may be a big misdirect

An Adam bomb is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fans might feel its effects for years to come.

In a new conversation with Empire, writer and director James Gunn unpacked one of his last bits of business with Marvel Studios: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Gunn talked about his film’s antagonist, Adam Warlock, played by Midsommar’s Will Poulter. But while Gunn stopped short of calling Warlock a villain, he alluded to the longevity Warlock will have for the rest of Marvel’s Phase Five and Six.

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Gear
Apple’s new MacBook Pros are performance monsters

Apple surprise dropped new 2023 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros powered by the new M2 Pro and M2 Max chip, and a Mac mini configurable with an M2 or M2 Pro chip.

The new laptops offer faster CPU and GPU performance and more RAM than their predecessors, longer battery life, and also faster Wi-Fi 6E and HDMI support for 8K displays.

It’s a whole lot of computer in a laptop form factor. The best part: the new MacBook Pros start at the same $1,999 for the 14-inch and $2,499 for the 16-inch.

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Review
'Fire Emblem Engage' mixes incredible combat with forgettable characters

Fire Emblem’s tradition of focusing on character relationships hit a peak in Three Houses, and we all kind of assumed that would continue into Engage. Sadly, that’s not the case.

Fire Emblem Engage scales its social interactions down to a bare minimum, leaving a cast of underdeveloped characters in its wake. At the same time, it features some of Fire Emblem’s best tactical combat, making the game feel as sharply divided as its protagonist’s over-discussed red-and-blue hair.

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New research suggests pandemic-induced stress has fundamentally altered some people's brains. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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