Lightening may be able to strike twice after all. Scientists have discovered that the dazzling and potentially dangerous light display has an invisible twin.
Dark lightening, as they call it, is produced by thunderstorms as well, but rather than pinpointing an electric charge, it radiates gamma rays and x-rays.
A million times stronger than it's sparkly counterpart, the phenomenon's energy dissipates quickly and is far less likely to cause immediate harm. It can, however, pump a person with a lifetime supply of ionizing radiation.
Their discovery was actually an accident. Researchers were looking for specifics in the process of how a cloud turns into a conductor and produces plain old lightening when they stumbled upon the new kind.
Before the discovery of dark lightening only things like nuclear explosions and collapsing stars were thought to have high-level gamma ray producing power.
Gamma radiation can cause a wide range of consequences from reddened skin to death.
Before you go buy a lead-lined raincoat, you should know that the odds of being exposed to dark lightening are really slim. Scientists aren't sure if anyone has ever been hit by it.
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