Struck out
reserchers in the us and Japan are trying to device methods of using lasers to deflect lightning bolts and prevent the harm that ensues. The significance of this can hardly be underestimated. Since time immemorial, people have sought ways to prevent lightning from causing destruction. In the ancient times, sacrifices were made to the gods to provide protection, the most powerful of whom invariably wielded the thunder, be it Indra in Indian mythology, Zeus in Greek scriptures, or Jehovah in the Bible. But never have humanity's chances of avoiding damage caused by lightning seemed stronger than they are now ( Scientific American , Vol 227, No 2).
In 1752, Benjamin Franklin performed his famous experiment with the kite where he concluded that people can avoid the worst effects of lightning by mounting well-grounded lightning rods on buildings. Although he initially believed that such pointed rods worked because "the electrical fire would... be drawn out of the cloud silently before it could come near enough to strike,' Franklin later realised that these devices either channel the discharge or work to direct lightning away. This same principle
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