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LiveScience
LiveScience
Ben Turner

Lightning on Earth is sparked by a powerful chain reaction from outer space, simulations show

Earth Benjamin Franklin
Trieste Lightning.

The energy needed for thunderstorms could come from an avalanche of electrons seeded by extraterrestrial cosmic rays, a new study claims.

Scientists already knew that lightning is an electrical discharge between thunderclouds and Earth's surface, but exactly how storm clouds obtain an electric field powerful enough to hurl a bolt has remained a mystery for centuries.

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