And now for something completely different: lightening exposing planes to radiation?

[BRE]

Dark lightning: Study shows radiation levels from gamma rays on planes aren?t dangerous to people. (http://www.slate.com/blogs/trending/2013/04/11/dark_lightning_study_shows_radiation_levels_from_gamma_rays_ on_planes_aren.html)

Apparently, there is dark lightening that exposes air travellers to gamma doses equivalent to a CT scan. Belated April fool's video?

[douglasheld]

By the way this stuff has been known for years. Thunder storm radiation amazes physicists - physicsworld.com (http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2011/jan/07/thunder-storm-radiation-amazes-physicists)

[le Pingouin]

Alright, I'll be serious. Yes, it's been known for a while that gamma rays can be produced by thunderstorms but the exact process isn't known.

The intense electric fields associated with thunderstorm accelerate electrons to relativistic speeds and they collide with the nuclei of atoms in the air, generating gamma rays. Exactly when and where this happens is as yet unknown.

Then there are sprites, elves and blue jets!

[con-pilot]

I cannot tell you just how relieved I am that I am retired now, after flying for over 42 years, that they have just now discovered this dark lightening stuff.

Would hate to think that I had been exposed to all that radiation back when I did fly, probably be dead by now if that stuff had been around when I was flying. Most likely would had died from radiation before I could have flown 20 years. :rolleyes:





For those of you that do not understand sarcasm, feel free to look it up. :p

[Loose rivets]

Sprites are an incredible phenomenon and another darn good reason not to overfly the core of a thunderstorm.

Wiki:


Optical imaging using a 10,000 frames per second high speed camera shows that sprites are actually clusters of small, decameter-sized (10–100 m, 30–300 ft) balls of ionization that are launched at an altitude of about 80 km and then move downward at speeds of up to ten percent the speed of light, followed a few milliseconds later by a separate set of upward moving balls of ionization.[6] Sprites may be horizontally displaced by up to 50 km from the location of the underlying lightning strike, with a time delay following the lightning that is typically a few milliseconds, but on rare occasions may be up to 100 milliseconds.

I suggested in the early 90s that the entire core of a discharge might be lasing. The collapsing energy is easily able to make use of the very crude lens formed by the plasma-line structure.

[Green wave]

TGF's Terrestrial Gamma Flashes is lightening that occurs on TOP of clouds. This lightening can in fact pierce up to 1 inch through solid lead if struck. It is equivalent to 400 X-rays per 1000th of a second if exposed. Ask Dr Karl ...

[bubbers44]

After 40 years of flying guess I should be not here now.

[enicalyth]

I suggest that if lightening an aircraft increases radiation hazard then a simple lead weight would fix this at source. Preferably fired at 2800 feet per second from just behind the pilot's ear.... oh, you mean lightning. Silly me.

[Agaricus bisporus]

My thoughts exactly

+1