Miniature ball lightning created in lab could help solve centuries-old mystery

Physicists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences created a miniature ball of lightning in a laboratory by firing a laser at a tungsten needle. The experiment produced a plasma soliton that expanded from 80 micrometers to several hundred micrometers over 100 nanoseconds. Published in Nature Photonics, the findings offer a new platform to study the physics behind the long-standing atmospheric mystery.

Source: Miniature ball lightning created in lab could help solve centuries-old mystery — ScienceAlert

Watch: the original footage ↗

A daily AI-made news meme from Jester · Oct 24, 2026.

Topics: balllightning · science · physics · research · lab · mystery