Cosmic rays illuminate lightning

Particles from space provide insights into charges in thunderclouds

Lightning illuminates the sky during a storm in Weld County, Colo.

ELECTRICAL SURGE  Lightning illuminates the sky during a storm in Weld County, Colo. Researchers at LOFAR in the Netherlands developed a new technique to expose the conditions inside thunderclouds that lead to lightning strikes.

Bryce Bradford/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

High-speed particles from space are helping to unravel a high-voltage mystery in the clouds.