Fulgurites are glass sculptures made by lightning vaporizing sand

Lichtenberg figures capture lightning-like patterns within insulators

When high-energy electrons from particle accelerators are fired into materials like acrylic, they form a charged plane before discharging into scarred patterns within the material. By evenly charging a cylindrical bottle through rotation during the irradiation process, a 3D figure of lightning in a bottle can be created.

Some scientists hypothesize that stressed rocks can discharge built-up static electricity in the form of lightning—a phenomenon known as fracto-luminescence, or earthquake lights.

By igniting flammable gas in a tube filled with holes and playing music into it, the fire will take the shape of the sound waves, enabling the visualization of audio.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Geode formation begins with trapped gas bubbles in igneous or sedimentary rock

Over thousands or millions of years, water seeps into the cavity created by the bubble and deposits minerals, which slowly build and crystallize into quartz, agate, amethyst or other crystals.

Cerulean eruptions result from sulfur being heated by molten rock

During eruptions, warm-colored lava at temperatures between 700 and 1,200 degrees Celsius (1,300 and 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit) burns minerals as they escape from underground reservoirs. In some volcanoes, such as Indonesia's Kawah Ijen and Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, abundant sulfur compounds that burn with blue flames appear to change the color of the melted rock.

Lightning bolts are about as thick as a garden hose

The conductive filament ranges from about 2.5 to 5.0 centimeters (1 to 2 inches), though its extreme brightness makes it appear much thicker and visible from miles away. Scars on individuals who suffer a direct strike produce Lichtenberg figures with similar maximum thickness.

Auroral myths include Valkyries, firefoxes, and torchlight from giants fishing at night

In Norse mythology, the light displays were considered reflections from the Valkyries' armor as the female warriors brought the souls of heroes to Valhalla. In Finland, firefoxes were thought to move so fast that they created sparks in the sky as their tails brushed against mountains.

Through sonoluminescence, concentrated sound waves can produce short, high-intensity flashes of light by rapidly collapsing microscopic bubbles to temperatures up to twice that of the sun's surface.

Where does your glass come from?

Glass is created from silica sand, soda ash, and limestone. The more transparent you want your glass to be, the higher the purity you need from your silica—a rarity. Colorless, low-iron glass featured in skyscraper windows and Apple's cube-shaped showrooms has increased demand for such pure silica.

Watch lightning strike a building at 40,000 frames per second

When the built-up layer of negative charge at the bottom of clouds is sufficiently high, a network of charge filaments will emerge. If one of the filaments meets a rising strand of positively charged particles, a highly conductive path forms, and charges across all filaments move to the path, generating lightning

Understanding ball lightning remains an area of active research

Observations of glowing orbs of light that appear during or after thunderstorms have been documented since at least the 12th century, but their rarity and short lifetimes have made their study challenging. Some theories suggest they form when lightning vaporizes pockets of gases in the air or certain materials on the ground.

View a gallery of bioluminescent organisms, including jellyfish and mushrooms

Some species produce a quick flash of light, while others glow steadily with an eerie glow, often to seek attention or in response to being disturbed. Snails, worms, fungi, and other organisms highlight that this ability evolved independently, rather than from one common ancestor.

Glow sticks feed energy released in chemical reactions to fluorescent dyes

When bent, the glass tube inside the stick breaks, releasing hydrogen peroxide into the surrounding solution. The ensuing reaction creates unstable molecules that decompose and release energy, which is then absorbed by molecular dyes that emit light when their excited electrons return to lower energy states.

View a gallery of diatoms—algae surrounded by glass-like shells—captured via microscope.

Solutions of bioluminescent bacteria can create FOMO-inducing living art

A 2002 exhibition at Montana State University-Bozeman placed the bacteria onto petri dishes that served as macroscopic pixels to create images. Once the bacteria finished eating all the food in the sealed dishes, the light slowly faded away, ending the exhibit.

Massive blooms of microscopic algae called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Hiroshimaites are glass-like spheres of fallout debris found in Hiroshima, where conditions created by the atomic bomb forged a previously unknown metal alloy with a unique crystal structure.

In 2009, accidentally drilling into magma provided time capsules of volcanic glass

While drilling for geothermal energy in Iceland's Krafla Geothermal Field, magma encountered at a depth of 2,100 meters quickly formed glass upon making contact with drilling fluid. By trapping dissolved gases, volatile chemicals, and the physical characteristics of magma before cooling, the glass acts as a time capsule of ancient volcanic activity and magmatic conditions.

View a gallery of plants made to shine using ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence photography, in which organisms re-emit the ultraviolet light they are exposed to in vibrant, glowing colors.

Fossils form in environments where dead organisms can be rapidly buried

Such landscapes enable corpses to be encased by terrain before significant decay occurs. They are most commonly found in river deltas and sinking coastal regions, where sediments accumulate over time until geological forces expose the areas to erosion, revealing embedded fossils.

Fireworks' chemical composition and internal layout produce their unique displays

The burning of different metal compounds, facilitated by combining fuel with oxidizers, results in explosions of varying colors. The timing and pattern are engineered through the arrangement of pellets and fuses.

Lightning forms when streams of rising and falling charged particles connect

In cloud-to-ground lightning, a buildup of negative charge at the bottom of clouds repels electrons on Earth's surface, leaving behind positively charged particles. When descending negatively charged air—the stepped leader—meets rising positively charged particles—the upward streamer—brightening runs up the connection, producing intense flashes known as return strokes.

The characteristic zigzag of lightning originates from columns of conductive oxygen

Energized electrons from the base of clouds collide with oxygen molecules, placing them in a "singlet delta state," which makes the air conductive. Collisions continue until more than 1% of nearby oxygen is in this state—about 0.00005 seconds—matching the electrical potential of the cloud and propogating electricity in a 50-meter "step."

Aurora-like magenta streaks across the sky may not be auroras

The phenomenon, known as STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), has only been observed alongside auroras. Rather than light emitted by gases energized by collisions with ionized particles from the sun, STEVE is a high-velocity, high-temperature stream of particles that glows. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The conditions needed for cloud iridescence, or rainbow clouds

The relatively rare phenomenon occurs when sunlight scatters off tiny water droplets or ice crystals in thin, newly-forming or semi-transparent clouds, such as altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular, and cirrus varieties. This effect is similar to what is seen in soap bubbles and mother-of-pearl shells and produces pastel-like colors.

Colorful thunderstorm phenomena can be viewed from the International Space Station

Transient luminous events are lightning-related phenomena that occur in the atmosphere above storm clouds. These events often look like columns of red light resulting from electrical discharge, but may also appear as purple tendrils or long blue jets.

Lightning is the sudden flow of electricity in the atmosphere as two oppositely charged regions seek to become balanced via the movement of electrons.

Speleothems are diverse mineral formations that form in air-filled caves

Speleothems like stalactites and stalagmites form when water deposits minerals after a cave rises above the water table and fills with air. These formations preserve the mineral deposits, which may serve as climate proxies, for as long as a million years.

View a gallery of various auroral shapes

Auroras can be generally classified as discrete (well-defined shapes) or diffuse (hazy shapes), with light taking various forms, including curtains, arcs, pillars, and rays. Some auroras can also pulsate, particularly after intense periods of auroral activity are winding down.

Blacklights can illuminate certain biological materials, including blood, teeth, and fingernails, because they contain fluorophores—molecules that visibly glow immediately after exposure to higher-energy light.

Lightning rods provide a conductive pathway to safely steer massive electric currents

The device is positioned higher above the ground to "catch" one of the many branching filaments of electrons from clouds before they make contact with other surface structures, which have been induced to have a positive charge by overhead storm clouds. The current is then sent to a conductive grid buried underground.

Dust particles on Mars can generate lightning

Through triboelectric charging, sand and dust on the Martian surface can become electrified when they rub against one another, causing friction to displace electrons and create charged particles. If this matter forms a strong enough electric field, it can overcome atmospheric insulation and produce electrical discharges, resembling lightning on Earth.

Variations in rapidly expanding gas and mechanical elements produce fireworks sounds

Chemical compounds designed to vibrate rapidly when ignited produce whistling, screeching sounds, while crackles and pops are created by small star pellets inside the firework, which explode one after another quickly. Fluttering and chirping sounds are produced by spinning elements that rotate rapidly as the firework ascends.

Microchip fabricators create light by heating tin droplets to over 220,000 Kelvin

Every second, lasers strike 50,000 droplets moving at 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour, vaporizing the tin in supernova-like miniature explosions that produce ultraviolet light. Knowing this light will spread via diffraction as it passes through a filter during manufacturing, designers reverse-engineer the filter design based on the required final microchip pattern.

View an animation of how certain chemicals fluoresce—that is, emit visible light after having absorbed higher-energy light, such as ultraviolet radiation.

Will-o'-the-wisps may be the result of microlightning between bubbles

Methane and air bubbles moving through water can generate small sparks between them, which can ignite gas. The above-ground phenomenon may have historically been the result of passing travelers igniting swamp gas with their lanterns. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Solid-state batteries substitute the fluid electrolyte layer with a solid

The non-flammable solid greatly reduces the risk of fire and explosion, as well as the release of toxic gases via leaks in the existing sulfide-based systems. These batteries use garnet-type solid electrolytes, which provide high ionic conductivity and chemical stability but require temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) for fabrication.

Bioluminescent organisms produce their own light through chemical reactions involving unstable, energetic molecules, while biofluorescent organisms almost immediately re-emit light shone on them, but at a different wavelength.

Thunderquakes—seismic waves created when lightning strikes the ground—have enabled scientists to image underground environments near Earth's surface by detecting vibrations along subterranean fiber-optic cables.

Biofluorescent animals—those that absorb light, such as ultraviolet rays, and re-emit other types of light, such as neon green—include some flying squirrels, scorpions, sea turtles, and platypuses.

Photographer captures glowing flowers in ultraviolet light

Debora Lombardi utilizes ultraviolet light to reveal unseen colors in flowers, re-shaping their natural beauty. Beginning during the lockdown of March 2020, Lombardi's experimentation evolved, culminating in a series recognized by the World Photography Organization. Her work highlights vibrant purples, blues, and yellows, transforming flowers into surreal, otherworldly specimens by exposing them to UV light in her Italy-based studio.

Bioluminescence provides organisms with a method of hunting, defense, or mating

Unlike glow sticks, bioluminescent reactions use renewable resources like oxygen and ATP. This ability allows fireflies to mate and deter predators, anglerfish to confuse and attract prey, and deep-sea shrimp to defend themselves by vomiting glowing slush.

View the various types of lightning

The most common form of lightning involves channels of electricity between oppositely charged regions within a cloud or between two clouds to reestablish electrostatic equilibrium. While cloud-to-ground lightning is understood best, research is ongoing to fully model the mechanisms behind rarer forms of lightning, such as transient luminous events.

Spikes of light around stars are artifacts of light bending around the mirror supports

Through diffraction, electromagnetic waves can bend around obstacles, as observed in the silver linings at the edges of clouds, where light should be blocked. Within reflecting telescopes, starlight diffracts around struts—beams holding a secondary mirror in place—and spreads perpendicular to them, creating pairs of spikes.

Volcanic activity can lead to the formation of fertile soils

Ejected rock can introduce key minerals found in fertilizers, including iron, magnesium, and potassium, to improve soil quality. Ash and basalt crystals can be easily absorbed into soils, infusing them with sulfur, oxygen, chlorine, phosphorus, calcium, and other critical elements.

View a gallery of biofluorescent animals, which contain cells that emit various colors when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Tiny water droplets can blur a rainbow's colors into a foggy white

When sunlight enters water droplets, it can reflect from the inside and spread out into different colors, producing a series of colorful arcs—supernumerary bows—which we refer to as rainbows. For droplets a few hundredths of a millimeter in size, these arcs overlap onto each other, producing fogbows of white light.

Cathode rays are beams of electrons that emit light when hitting a fluorescent screen

When these beams are emitted into an evacuated tube containing charged plates or a nearby magnet, deflections are observed due to the electron charge. In 1897, J.J. Thomson's calculations of this deflection led to his discovery of the subatomic particle.

Learn about endoliths, the polyextremophiles that thrive inside rocks

These organisms include species that live in Antarctica, where they perform photosynthesis using light and water that makes it through pores in sandstone. Others residing in Earth's crust can survive temperatures reaching 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) while generating energy through chemical reactions involving nutrients and gases trapped in rocks.