thunderstump or paratonnerre

Maybe the day is not so far off when we can choose whether March goes out like a lion or like a lamb. Physicists in Toulouse, after an edifying battery of experiments with a high-powered laser beam (ion cannon) in the desert of Mexico, have demonstrated that they can redirect and guide, if not also trigger, a lightning bolt away from intended, Thor-chosen, target.

High powered pulses from a laser create a channel of ionized air that lingers like the ozone smell after a thunder storm and forms a path that the lightning will travel down, instead of keeping to the shortest route for grounding and discharge. Researchers hope that in the future, such techniques could protect buildings and power-grids from storm damage, but I think that this also has some exciting and dark implications. Maybe engineers could harass the power of thunderstorms for energy production with a better grasp and control of the pattern of strikes.

Or maybe, like my mother has always feared, this is the start of weather-control for diabolical purposes.

Lightning-wielding agents certainly could escalate tensions, grounding aircraft and decommissioning whole fleets of surveillance drones, as well as disrupting communication. The potential for intimidation could be stronger than any direct-attack, I think. The sabotage that weather can wreck on mood and health presents a potential marketing tussle as well, off-putting for some activities and making shut-ins of us all. I hope these fulminologists (those who study the phenomena) are being responsible with their research. Despite the sophistication of technology, the forces of nature are still surprising and overwhelming.