The same images were shared in similar Facebook posts here and here.įulgurites are natural formations consisting almost entirely of silicon dioxide, or silica, and are created when lightning strikes damp sand.Ī reverse image search of the photos on Google led to this Flickr photostream by academic and artist Matthew Kaliner, who goes by the username "sandcastlematt". You can learn more about fulgurites at en./wiki/Fulgurite (Wikipedia).Screenshot of the misleading claim shared on Facebook, taken on October 26, 2021 Stroke of good fortune: A wealth of data from petrified lightning. Pickering, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.Įven if you’re afraid of thunderstorms, the amazing powers of lightning are bound to impress you! And lightning strikes can even tell a story of ancient times.- E. The researchers suspect that, when the fulgurites were created, the climate in southwest Egypt was similar to present-day conditions in Niger.įulgurites and their gas bubbles are good windows into the past, scientists say, because such glasses remain stable over time.Īnalyzing the Egyptian fulgurites, in particular, is “an interesting way of showing that the climate in this region has changed,” says Kenneth E. Today, shrubs and grasses grow in the hot, dry climate of Niger, 600 kilometers (375 miles) south of the Egypt site. Their chemical analyses showed that the landscape could have supported shrubs and grasses 15,000 years ago. The scientists, for the first time, also looked at the gases trapped inside bubbles in the glass. The gases trapped in bubbles within samples of fulgurite provide clues to ancient soil and atmospheric chemistry and climate. By measuring the intensity of the glow when the samples were heated, the researchers found that the fulgurites formed around 15,000 years ago. The older the material is, the more defects there are, and the stronger the minerals glow at certain wavelengths of light when they’re heated. Over time, exposure to natural radiation causes small defects in the glassy fulgurites. When heated, minerals in fulgurites glow. Recently, scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City studied fulgurites that had been collected in Egypt in 1999. These lumps and tubes of glass suggest that lightning used to strike there more often in the past. Between 19, satellites in space detected hardly any lightning in the area.Īmid the region’s sandy dunes, however, fulgurites are common. Thunderstorms are rare in the desert of southwest Egypt. Now, scientists are studying fulgurites in Egypt to piece together a history of the region’s climate. ( Fulgur is the Latin word for lightning.) Then it hardens into lumps of glass called fulgurites. This melted substance combines with other materials. When a bolt of lightning strikes a sandy surface, the electricity can melt the sand. When lightning strikes the ground, it fuses sand in the soil into tubes of glass called fulgurites. Lightning also has the power to make glass. Lightning can frighten pets and kids, start fires, destroy trees, and kill people. That’s five times as hot as the surface of the sun. One bolt heats the air to 30,000 degrees C.
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