Bottling summer lightning
Our features editor reflects on how nature’s sound and light show affects the atmosphere, and the long track to harness fusion
With summer comes hot weather. And hot weather often brings thunderstorms. As I write this during a record-breaking heatwave in the UK and much of Europe, sadly there’s no sign of a cooling shower or spectacular storm in the forecast. Lightning storms are such a common occurrence that it’s easy to forget what incredible displays of nature’s power they are.
Intense heat and high energy are also what nuclear fusion is trying to produce, albeit in a more contained and controllable way than lightning. Work on a sustained energy-producing nuclear fusion reaction as a source of power has been going on almost as long as we have known how stars are powered