Ask the Naked Scientists
Can you die of fright?
Feb 23, 2024
This podcast explores the physics of lightning strikes, the effects of prolonged space travel on blood vessels and erectile dysfunction, the impact of fear on the body's fight or flight response, looking into the past through light travel time, and the differences in falling impact between humans and insects.
14:52
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Quick takeaways
- Lightning strikes result from static charge in clouds creating electric field leading to thunder.
- Extended space travel can accelerate aging of blood vessels causing potential health issues.
Deep dives
How Lightning and Thunder are Created
When lightning strikes, it is the result of tiny particles in clouds becoming statically charged, where negative particles gravitate towards the bottom of the cloud and positive particles towards the top. This charge imbalance creates an electric field between the cloud and the earth's surface, leading to ionization of the air when the electric field reaches a high voltage threshold. The resulting lightning bolt discharges massive amounts of energy and heats the surrounding air to 30,000 to 40,000 degrees, creating a shockwave that causes the sound of thunder.
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