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Science 13 October 1995:
Vol. 270. no. 5234, p. 235
DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5234.235
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Research News

Richard A. Kerr

Mystery solved? Two teams of physicists believe they have fingered the source of puzzling flashes that can sometimes be seen in the atmosphere high above giant thunderclouds. The culprit: molecular nitrogen excited by electron collisions. Lightning strokes power the whole process, they believe, by sending pulses of energy into the upper atmosphere and causing slower changes in the atmosphere's electric field.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)