--- title: "Scientists Say Laser Device Can Make Lightning Strike Specific Targets" description: "A researcher told Agence France Presse that small laser pointers could be used to guide lightning strikes and thereby prevent them from igniting wildfires." date: "2020-11-12" modified: "2020-11-12" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/laser-device-lightning-strike-targets" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "lasers" - "lightning" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Say Laser Device Can Make Lightning Strike Specific Targets ![A researcher told Agence France Presse that small laser pointers could be used to guide lightning strikes and thereby prevent them from igniting wildfires.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Laser Thor An international team of researchers says that small lasers could be used to guide lightning strikes — much like Thor's legendary hammer Mjölnir. "It turns out that to deliver particles, you do not need high-intensity lasers, even low intensity like your laser pointer will be already enough," Andrey Miroshnichenko, a researcher at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia, [told *Agence France Presse*]() of the work. The team says it's already tested the concept in labs using devices known as hollow lasers, which in effect create a pipe of light. These lasers can short circuit storm clouds and trigger lightning strikes by heating micro-particles in the air. ## Laser Pointers High-powered lasers made the process not only expensive and hard to predict, but dangerous as well. But according to new research by the team, as detailed in [a paper]() published in the journal *Nature Communications* last month, the idea might work just as well using low intensity laser pointers. Through "the use of a laser beam of a few hundred milliwatts of power," the "discharge threshold" of electrical charges in the air could be decreased by 30 percent, the team write in their paper, allowing them to guide the lightning "along a predetermined path in the air." "We can imagine a future where this technology may induce electrical discharge from passing lightning, helping to guide it to safe targets and reduce the risk of catastrophic fires," co-researcher Vladlen Shvedov from the Australian National University told *AFP*. Or you could use it to smite your enemies. Just saying. **READ MORE:** [Laser-guided lightning may help prevent wildfires]() \[*AFP*\] **More on lasers:** *[NASA Facility Will Beam Messages to Space Through Lasers]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()