On stormy days, how can we protect ourselves from the dangerous lightning that falls from the sky? This question has haunted mankind for centuries. And while we had no answers, magic and mysticism took hold of these phenomena.
Until, in the 1706th century, the American Benjamin Franklin (1790-XNUMX) invented the famous lightning rod. This occurred after Franklin decoded that lightning is an electrical phenomenon.
The ingenious solution is still used today to protect buildings and other structures. Unfortunately, the lightning rod has a limitation: it only protects a small area.
Thus, scientists try to develop new ideas to protect wider areas. An innovative solution consists of emitting a powerful laser that captures the rays.
And in the summer of 2021, in Switzerland, a team of scientists led by Aurélien Houard managed to demonstrate unequivocally that a natural ray was deflected by a laser over more than 50 meters.
Note that this is not just any laser. This technology was, in fact, awarded in 2018. That year, the Nobel Prize in Physics was divided between the North American Arthur Ashkin, the French Gérad Mourou and the Canadian Donna Strickland. It was the latter two who developed new ways of producing very short, high-intensity laser pulses.
On the date of awarding the Nobel, the academy designated these inventions as “revolutionaries in the field of laser physics”. And a few years later, here is another successful experience. The objective is to protect larger structures, such as airports, for example.
More tests will be needed, as always, but if in a few years you see a laser lightning rod, don't be surprised. It is only science contributing, once again, to our security.
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