Sunday, April 1, 2012

Tattooed by Lightning

This is a Lichtenberg figure: the characteristic tissue trace of a lightning strike. Via geardiary.com.



If lightning strikes you, you probably won't get off as easy as this guy (a few nasty blisters? I mean come on.) More on lightning safety here. For those of us in California, lightning isn't generally too much of a concern, unless you're in the Sierras - which can get struck by lightning any month of the year. Electric fields strengthen on high points, so keep this in mind when hiking up anything pointy! (The very Doctor Seuss-looking Mt. Thielsen below, in the central Cascades, is covered with glassy tracks in the stone where lightning has struck it.)

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