ScienceCasts: Dark Lightning

Visit science.nasa.gov/ for breaking science news.
Researchers studying thunderstorms have made a surprising discovery: The lightning we see with our eyes has a dark competitor that discharges storm clouds and flings antimatter into space. Astrophysicists and meteorologists are scrambling to understand "dark lightning."

[@erikgrahn3363]

nasa is the coolest shit the us government does this is fascanating

[@thatamerican550]

Its probably the best thing the goverment has done in the scienitific field

[@g8ymw]

Looking at this, it looks like "sprites"+ other bits assosciated. Think of it like a cathode ray tube. The electron gun is Earth. The thundercloud is the shadow mask which some particles go through. Is this what causes "Sporadic E" which propogates radio at High HF and VHF frequencies?

[@Kazzimirski]

No, anti-matter (such as positrons and others) feel the same gravity as normal matter, so they are also pulled back towards earth. However these very small particles like electrons and positrons, are very light and so don't need a lot of energy (like e.g. from electric fields) to fly upwards. So this happens often for both positrons and alectrons (as in the video) and even other particles.

[@md_free85]

The implications of this are astounding, this will lead us to free energy and unlimited potential as a species.

[@snozie]

"To shed new light on dark lightning" xP that was funny NASA, very funny :P

[@sstrama]

Dark Lightning from earth clouds?! Wonderful presentation and thanks to NASA scientists. Dr. Shyam

[@kjmnature]

I just love the information on here

[@deeliciousplum]

Thank you for sharing this most insightful vid on dark lightening.

[@dev_ilmoon]

The title of this video, I interpreted as if Science was a wizard and he cast "Dark Lightning"

[@jerry-Shor]

I love NASA.... have a such a nice information in a very educative way... Bravo Nasa!

[@CoolHardLogic]

What's the connection between "Dark Lightning" and sprites, if any?

[@Kazzimirski]

Field lines are not made of matter (normal or anti), actually they don't even really exist, but they show the direction of the magnetic field. Namely, magnetic fields always have this special property that you can draw those field lines along them. And those field lines also happen to be the path along which particles (that don't go too fast) go approximately.

[@VladimirMinkin]

It will be great if you describe Dirac's theory of antimatter to the people

[@Tolkien5045]

Would it be possible that when the electrons discharge to form lightning, that positrons do the same? For every force, there is an equal and opposite force, right? Could the positrons be the equal and opposite form of electrons?

[@GomezKrew]

Thanks NASA for taking the time to create these videos. They're great!

[@ViperMD]

Excellent videos! Keep them coming. :)

[@subh1]

"dark" for physicists is synonymous to "things not well understood yet". This word will most likely maintain this connotation until at least another half a century.

[@djm2A]

Wow that is a whole bunch of energy being released and converted

[@hollidaydarwin]

Holy Moly, I new Darwin, NT was the lightning capital of Australia, but now looks to be the "Dark Lightning" (AKA sprites) capital of the world!

[@MALCOLMACDOO]

now they know how to create anti matter with out all the particle accelerators and vacuum chambers.

[@oleskke521]

what a beautiful voice!

[@rossim22]

How can NASA make videos like this and NOT take the Electric Universe model seriously?

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

This is an invitation to see an artist theory on the physics of light & time Based on just two postulates 1 Is that the quantum wave particle function Ψ or probability function represents the forward passage of time itself with the future unfolding photon by photon 2 Is that Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle ∆×∆p×≥h/4π that is formed by the w-function is the same uncertainty we have with any future event within our own ref-frame that we can interact with turning the possible into the actual!

[@heatherbrown4300]

Awesome video...keep them coming... :)

[@whosthatguy2345]

Can't believe people say learning about our universe is boring. I believe it's quite the opposite.

[@pepedoran1]

Keep up this great work, unwords and up words

[@mythtree]

An energy so intense you cannot see, competing with light, from coupling molecules, particles paired up creating continuous feedback so perfectly released, escapes into space, reaches, travels through you & on indefinitely, that's Dark Lightning... destination unknown; o if harnessed where it might lead!

[@uniseine]

This could be a way to drain the electrical dangers out of thunderstorms. It should be easy from Earth's surface to knock a few electrons loose. These electrons can then start the cascade, producing enough particles to discharge a thunderhead.

[@horsiechick04]

The only reason they do that is because it's required. I'm in school to be a teacher now and they stress that we have to include the objectives based on those standardized tests because the schools require it. But for a teacher to not be able to find an engaging lesson is their own fault. There are great teachers out there, and I hate that they all aren't. But don't think no teachers care just because you had a bad experience.

[@Postamt111]

at ScienceAtNASA The gamma-ray flashes are only in the equatorial area. I wonder why not on the 45 ° north latitude. Depends determined together with the magnetic field.

[@ROBINSONMARTE]

En el minuto 1:53 se explica que las corrientes de electrones a través de la nube cargada recorren caminos desde el lado superior e inferior de la misma calentando el aire a: ¡cinco veces la temperatura del Sol!, pero a partir del minuto 2:08 el experto Joseph Dwyer comienza a explicar cómo se producen los "relámpagos oscuros" y describe la avalancha de electrones que por encima de las nubes se acelera hasta una velocidad cercana a la de la luz, ¡como ocurre en un ciclotrón! y esos electrones,

[@theSpicyHam]

Hot news. Excellent video, thanks

[@vendico0]

Is it odd that the pattern of bursts are along the equator?

[@KevinNelsonBrewster]

There aren't many thunderstorms in Antarctica. Also the angle of the magnetic field may have something to do with it, force due to magnetism is proportional to the cos of the angle between the field lines and the partials' trajectory. Assuming particles are travailing skyward, there would be a maximum around the equator.

[@OnlyZunkin]

Kevin Nelson It could be that the satellite they are using to detect the Gama ray flashes orbits around the equator and it has a limited range from which it can detect the flashes? The most powerful thunderstorms on earth tend to occur in the great plains of the USA which is why it seems a little odd that there were no flashes detected there.

[@justaname111111]

wait is this re-upload ?

[@TiagoTiagoT]

Do dark lightnings only go up? What would it look like if a strong enough one hits the ground?

[@nawafddi]

thanks captions works good. thanks alot thanks scienceatNASA awesome videos

[@michaelwichael7624]

Agree sounds like is a biproduct of Sprites.

[@sheen3225]

dark lightning?

[@mystic8580]

I wouldn't be surpised...

[@renjithvijayan6853]

Thunderstorms... Surprising

[@Tonyrosama]

Since they are positrons they go away from earth if in a field line cause the field lines are made from "normal" matter?

[@vasiacool1]

I like the videos at this channel :)

[@InB4Desu]

The idea that any scientific discovery or advancement must be immediately helpful is foolish to the extreme. Many scientific advancements were known and studied but didn't "help us" for decades before they changed the world. Every discovery expands the body of knowledge, allowing for more discoveries based upon the ones before them. "There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere." - Isaac Asimov

[@ROBINSONMARTE]

así acelerados coliden con las moléculas del aire y a su vez produciendo rayos gamma y los rayos gammas se transforman en el par electrón-positrón, y ésos a su vez también interaccionan con más moléculas de aire creándose un ciclo que se repite como en un generador de fisión. Esta explicación demuestra que los temores de los físicos desarrolladores de las bombas nucleares era bien justificada; tenían el temor de que al probar la primera bomba atómica,

[@8emilio8]

Would this be linked to sprites? Dark lightning sounds like sprites to me.

[@ROBINSONMARTE]

prueban que los físicos tenían bien fundados sus temores, aunque realmente la atmósfera de la Tierra no reaccionó en cadena con la primera deflagración atómica: ¿por qué no ocurrió así?, si aquí vemos que el aire atmosférico sostiene este gigantesco generador de fisión con una producción masiva de "antimateria", ¿tendrá que ver el que este colisionador natural lo hace en la atmósfera superior donde la atmósfera es diferente en muchos aspectos? También, sugiero otro provecho para este ciclotrón.

[@racersthlm]

Could this be the clue to generating antimatter for fuel?

[@TheTaskmaster]

it's cool but unsurprising -- gamma rays are well known in lightning storms, so this makes sense

[@gooberdan1]

My mind was just blown

[@74lorentzen]

But why does it go "up" into space? Regular lightning goes cloud to cloud or down, in general. Why is Dark Lightning going up?

[@mystic8580]

According to Michio Kaku Dark matter is called dark because it is invisible to us. We can't see dark matter..

[@punkmom08]

High_Frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program

[@Merto6]

Does this mean cheap fuel for antimatter engines?

[@RHCMacedonia]

Does that mean that somehow we can try to create our own, lab-made antimatter? That would be great, the rocket fuel idea will be tested and maybe, somewhere in the future we will create a spaceship capable of going in the deep space. All of that allowed with the antimatter fusion.

[@LanceWinslow]

Very cool to know

[@LKWPETER]

RIGHT!

[@lmeza1983]

so can humans can build the shield carriers and power them with free energy?

[@Jimjolnir]

That's what she said and I concurred

[@creativity-official]

Science Casts: Dark Lightning

[@MrMinecraft575]

the only reason they do that is because they are more likely to get a grant if their kids have higher test scores. (i am not a teacher)

[@arkivx0]

How can we harness this.

[@Weiszcracker]

Does dark lightning cause cancer in people in airplanes?

[@chrispycritter2]

Does this have to do with sprites?

[@gooberdan1]

I know right...Bow down

[@deputylizard]

if you hadn't been to school. you wouldn't have been able to understand any of this stuff, which is new and additional anyway.

[@brentstv5876]

No way man that was a beam from the vrill galactic command stationed inside the poles Lol

[@lmomechtech7709]

Nice one...lol. I bow to the power of idiocy...

[@AnnunakiiCruz]

Awesome o.o

[@SapaHollidaySaparonia]

I would like more information about the dark and mysterious things in the skies of earth, yes please, like what is flying about up there and just how close is DA14 coming in February, and is 2012_S1 going to brush us with hydrogen cyanide from it's tail in October/ November?

[@NathanAmbrose42]

Dude I totally agree! I'm writing my senior thesis on the failures of our current education system, and the biggest problems are with standardized education, standardized testing, and poor teachers. No I'm not a teacher, I was being coy because I believe anyone can learn in any environment. I probably shouldn't have been so rude, but I do think students even in a public education system should try harder. I'm actually still a senior in high school.

[@yoyunyo222]

Jesus, i thought there was a spider on my screen. Jeez

[@paspi0274]

Este vide8 es muy eimportante para ciencia y para mi me en sena mucho grasias nasa

[@yousefabd9291]

سبحان الله العظيم

[@jennylynn1124]

Can we stop "mytery-afying" natural phenomena? "Dark lightning" IS plasma phenomena in dark mode, not some strange new matter.

[@Guitarm4n99]

it can

[@sonofjesus185]

I have a question, can dark lighting renergize the magnetic field around the earth?

[@Sesarrbg]

No, the magnetic field is caused by processes in the earth's core, the so-called Geodynamo.

[@pavalotheartist]

Sesarrbg It could be very different, The EU (Electric Universe) concept sees magnetism as consequence of currentflow through plasma. If that would be the case than the earth and the celestial bodies are in the center of such 'Birkeland'currents. So the magnetic field does not have to be generated by the earth itself. Apparently there is no evidence to back up the theory of the superdense spinning metallic core of the earth. There is an fascinating research about this going on, ignored or ridiculed by the people of the standard model (gravitationally based universe). I tend to support the new model but much research has still to be done. Thunderboltsprojects (also here on FB) is at the forefront of this. They consist by now of hundreds of ( so called 'dissident')scientist (astrophysicists, plasmaphysisists, geologist, archaeologists, meterorologists, chemical biologists, medical biologists, mathematicians and so on. From all places and disiplines they bring alternative ideas about the cosmology and many other scientific fields. The implications of this model are of shocking and astonishing character. Nevertheless their claims are backed up by data piling up day by day coming in from the ever growing fleet of probes out in space. They have explanations for every event that is anomalous in the standard model. They have a large number of video's on the different topics, such as comets, stars and galaxies, quasars, the flaws in maths behind black holes, dark energy and dark matter, the interpretation of redshift, planetary nebulae and the forming of all these objects. Essentially it's a totally different view of things which I found actually shocked my world. I was a believer of the Bigbang model for over thirty years ever since I learned about it as a boy. I've kept my interest in astronomy for all my life but I lost the ability to understand what they were talking about in the last two decades. Now it all is starting to make sense to me again. Ther is no convincing other that this is true but I can only invite you to go and study this for yourselves and then make up your own mind.

[@SapaHollidaySaparonia]

Tesla knew about it

[@LaughterOnWater]

Why isn't it called "Darkning"?

[@O2Hyii]

Just fucking awesome, all the gamma ray activety seems to be in the equator region, maybe because the higher temperatures, makes sense if lightning is 5x times hotter than the sun the radiation has to go somewhere, the earth spits gamma lol

[@HungryEyezFPV]

Very interesting. And obviously called dark for lack of knowledge about the phenomenon. Like Dark matter. Suspected but not proven or understood.

[@Sesarrbg]

No, it's called dark lightning because it doesn't produce visible light. It seems to be understood quite well.

[@HungryEyezFPV]

Well thank you for your undeniable ego.

[@Webslicer]

***** apparently you didn't watch the video. or you wouldn't have made your initial comment.

[@MrDieguense]

Lo que no entiendo es por què le empiezan a llamar oscuro a todo lo que encuentran? vamos a volver al iluminismo? la era ilustración?

[@electrostaticionengines4579]

Because it can not be seen with the eye. Didn't you listen to the video?

[@PenguinTD]

The is so cool!!! "Free positron" from Earth!!

[@777BeAsTlY777]

5 x hotter than the sun? :O

[@agent4051]

It's funny and sad because it's true.

[@coldmow]

Cool, we're getting close to Nikola Tesla's forgotten inventions! Portable free energy from the ionosphere!

[@Chemi4001]

oh yesh!

[@sizzla123]

....

[@Light_L994]

Amaterasu O.o

[@jennylynn1124]

Gee, you mean that black holes aren't required to produce positrons and other cosmic radiation!?! No kidding. Can we stop talking about these mathematical abstractions (black holes) as if they were real objects now? Please?

[@Guitarm4n99]

de nada ;))

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Love these videos but i find it annoying when they talk like the listener is 5 years old. I guess they use these vids for schools...

[@sheen3225]

it's not true

[@prasannakumar3956]

Leave a ;link to save!

[@MrHatt7777]

First - "mystery" is one of the great things about being a human, and its what makes the natural world, and life for that matter, worth living. Don't be such a downer. Second- Are they saying its a new kind of matter? There's nothing new or magical about anti-matter, and its not the same thing as plasma.

[@lmomechtech7709]

Must be hell to know so much as to take the wonder out of something exciting to real people. You should applaud yourself and then get back to your mundane, unexciting existence...so sad...

[@bigchris2142]

More confirmation of Electric Universe theory??

[@alexvco]

omg warp speed is now within reach

[@Jimjolnir]

I'm with you, it's almost frustrating, feeling like they're dumbing down for us laymen... it would be better to speak like an 'adult' and use the big words and make us think, ya know («like» EQOAnostalgis' post :) )

[@BazookaNinjask]

#MEGAPIKACHU

[@orbas88]

#NO

[@places2shopdotnet]

Use dark lighting to. To move our spacecrafts