Now, a team of international researcher believe they have found a way to navigate the electrical discharges to a safe target. Using a tractor beam with a hollow center, micro-particles in the air can be heated and broken down, allowing them to delivered to a specific point. Although still in the developmental phase, researchers believe the hand-held laser could be used in the field withing the next decade. In the lab, the team successfully used a laser tractor beam to direct the path of an electrical discharge to specific targets, Miroshnichenko said. The team used a laser intensity a thousand times less than that in any previous attempts, meaning any potential technology to control lightning could be much cheaper, safer and more precise.

Source: Daily Mail November 12, 2020 23:35 UTC