Ball Lightning
Ball lightning is a natural phenomenon, or debatably, a pseudoscientific theory. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms. It takes the form of a long-lived, glowing, floating object, as opposed to the short-lived arcing between two points commonly associated with lightning. An early attempt to explain ball lightning was recorded by Nikola Tesla on March 5, 1904 (Electrical World and Engineer).
Some laboratory experiments claim to produce ball lightning, but there is no consensus that the phenomenon reproduced is related to the natural one. The natural occurrences are, by their nature, difficult to document accurately. Consequently many scientists continue to dispute the existence of ball lightning as a distinct physical phenomenon (see, for example, the review by Singer (2002)). In one such occurrence, Singer reports that staff at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge apparently saw ball lightning, although Brian Pippard, the Head of Department, was skeptical on its reality.
Sometimes the discharge appears to be attracted to a certain object, and sometimes to move randomly. After several seconds the discharge leaves, disperses, is absorbed into something, or, rarely, vanishes in an explosion.
Ball lightning has been seen in places as diverse as "escorting" World War II bombers, flying alongside their wingtips. During this period, due to the enigmatic nature of this phenomenon, these appearances were referred to as "foo fighters." Other accounts place ball lightning as appearing over a kitchen stove to wandering down the aisle of an airliner. One report described ball lightning engulfing and following a car, causing the electrical supply to overload and fail.
One of the earliest recorded, and most destructive, occurrences is thought to have taken place during The Great Thunderstorm at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon, in the United Kingdom, on October 21, 1638. Four people died and around 60 were injured when what appears to have been ball lightning struck a church.
Another reference to ball lightning appears in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book On the Banks of Plum Creek [Harper Trophy, 1937] in which the lightning appears during a thunderstorm near a cast iron stove in the family's kitchen. It is described as appearing near the stovepipe, then rolling across the floor, only to disappear as the mother chases it with a willow-branch broom.
Notorious British occultist Aleister Crowley also reported witnessing what he referred to as "globular electricity" during a thunderstorm on Lake Pasquaney in New Hampshire in 1916. As related in his Confessions, he was sheltered in a small cottage when he "noticed, with what I can only describe as calm amazement, that a dazzling globe of electric fire, apparently between six and twelve inches in diameter, was stationary about six inches below and to the right of my right knee. As I looked at it, it exploded with a sharp report quite impossible to confuse with the continuous turmoil of the lightning, thunder and hail, or that of the lashed water and smashed wood which was creating a pandemonium outside the cottage. I felt a very slight shock in the middle of my right hand, which was closer to the globe than any other part of my body."
A famous example of the violent potential of ball lightning occurred in 1753 when Professor Georg Richmann, of Saint Petersburg, Russia created a kite flying aparatus similar to that built by Benjamin Franklin a year earlier. He was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, when he heard thunder. The Professor ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. While the experiment was underway, a large ball lightning showed up, collided with Richmann's head and killed him, leaving a red spot. His shoes were blown open, parts of his clothes singed, the engraver knocked out; the doorframe of the room was split, and the door itself torn off its hinges.
Recently scientists at Tel Aviv University claim to have produced ball lightning in the lab using a microwave drill and ceramic substrate.
A popular hypothesis is that ball lightning is a highly ionized plasma contained by self-generated magnetic fields: a plasmoid. This hypothesis is not initially credible. If the gas is highly ionized, and if it is near thermodynamic equilibrium, then it must be very hot. Since it must be in pressure equilibrium with the surrounding air, it will be much lighter and hence float up rapidly. Magnetic fields, if present, might provide the plasmoid's coherence, but will not reduce this buoyancy. In addition a hot plasma cannot persist for long, because of recombination and heat conduction.
There may, however, be some novel form of plasma for which the above arguments do not fully apply. For example, a plasma may be composed of negative and positive ions, rather than electrons and positive ions. In that case, the recombination may be rather slow even at ambient temperature. One such theory involves positively charged hydrogen and negatively charged nitrites (NO2) and nitrates (NO3). In this theory, the role of the ions as seeds for the condensation of water droplets plays an important role.
Other suggestions include:
- that some stored chemical energy is slowly being released, providing persistence and thrust.
- that ball lightning is some form of induction phenomenon. (Ball lightning having allegedly been witnessed inside metal aircraft.)
- that the lightning is a Hill's vortex, like a smoke ring.
Blood Rain in India (Kerala)
This natural phenomenon, actually since the date of July 25 and September 23, 2001, the rain falls down with a wide red. Just cash it makes the world community was shocked. There was what was like this. Moreover, the rain fell in southern India's Kerala region overwhelmingly believe in the greatness of god. It was raining heavily and colored red and other colors are yellow, pink and green. Actually, the black rain in Kerala had happend and also concentrated around the beginning of 1896 and several times since then.
At first, the experts argued that it was caused by the impact of venomena hypothetical meteor burst, but from the research conducted by the Indian government knows and they concluded that the rain which fell in Kerala air caused by spores from local terrestrial algae productive.
Especially the year 2006 the blood-colored rain came down in southern Kerala India, this is massively covered by media both locally and worldwide. Furthermore, the Indian State governments continued to conduct research on a rare natural phenomenon, the next Godfrey Louis and Santhosh Kumar of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam proposed research on the controversial hypothesis that the colored particles extraterrestrial cells.
The first rain fell in Kottayam and Idukki districts in the southern region of India. Not only red rain, the first 10 days of rain were reported yellow, green and even black. After 10 days, rainfall intensity subsided until September.
The rain fell only on a limited region and usually only lasts about 20 minutes per rain. The local residents find the clothes dried in the sun turns red like blood. Local residents also reported the sound of explosions and light rain that preceded the explosion is believed to be a meteor.
Rain water samples are taken soon to be investigated by the Indian government and scientists. One of the independent scientists who examined them was Godfrey Louis and Santosh Kumara from the University of Mahatma Gandhi.
They collected more than 120 reports from local residents and collect samples of red rain water from areas along 100 km. The first time they thought that the red particles are particles in the water-borne sand of the desert Arabs.
This never happened in July 1968 where the sand from the Sahara carried by the wind to cause red rain in England. But they found that the red elements in the water is not a grain of sand, but the living cells.
The composition of these cells consisted of 50% Carbon, 45% oxygen and 5% other elements such as iron and sodium, consistent with the other components of biological cells, and cells were also dividing. The cell was between 30-10 micrometers in diameter with a thick cell wall and has a variation in membrane nanostructure.
But there is no identifiable nucleus. Each cubic meter of samples taken, there are 100 grams of red elements. So when summed, then from July to September there were 50 tons of spilled red particles to Earth.
At the University of Sheffield, UK, an expert named Milton Wainwright microbiologically confirmed that the red elements are living cells. This is stated because Wainwright had found the DNA of the cell elements, although he has not managed to extract it.
Because of the red particles are living cells, the scientists theorized that particles that are blood red. According to them, possibly meteorite exploded in the air had been massacred a group of bats in the air. But this theory was rejected because of lack of evidence that supports such as bat wings who fell to earth.
By linking between the sound of explosions and light rain that preceded it, Louis put forward the theory that the red cells are extra-terrestrial beings. Louis concluded that the red material came from a comet entering the earth's atmosphere and exploded over the skies of India.
A study conducted by doctoral students from Queen's University, Ireland named Patrick McCafferty find a record of history linking colored rain with meteor explosion.
McCafferty analyzed 80 reports of colored rains, 20 reports of water turned into blood, and 68 examples of similar phenomena like black rain, milk or honey rain that falls from the sky.
36 percent of those samples was connected with the activity of a meteor or comet. Such incidents occurred from ancient Rome, medieval Ireland and England and even California-19th century.
McCafferty said, "there seems to be a strong relationship between reports of rain in color with meteor activity, the red rain of Kerala match these patterns and can not be ignored."
So, whether the red rain in Kerala are from outside the earth? Some scientists are skeptical necessarily rejected this theory. But some other scientists have not found the answer quickly glanced back to an obsolete theory proposed by the physicist Sir Fred Hoyle and Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe, a theory known as Panspermia, a theory that life on Earth originated from outer space.
According to both scientists in outer space in the beginning there was a cloud of interstellar gas that contains bacteria. As the cloud shrinks due to gravity to form a star system, the bacteria is in it still survive in the comet.
Source: http://id.shvoong.com/society-and-news/environment/2040816-blood-rain-india/#ixzz1ZdN50fbA
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