The earth is kind of a strange place, there are things here that many of us really don't give much thought to. We are surrounded by an atmosphere that by and large, filters out harmful rays that bombard us from space. The thing about these rays is they are not constant. Sometimes a new sauce of rays, such as cosmic rays will be discovered. Did you ever wonder what happens when the atmosphere, our natural filter, has to face an increased amount of bombardment by many different types of rays? First of all let me clarify one point. the term Ray really does not apply to the bombardment of the earth, since what we term as cosmic rays are really particles that are hitting us. As for the question about protection by the atmosphere from these particles, science has told us that our atmosphere will protect us. While this is mostly true, it is certainly not 100% truthful in all areas on the earth. If one was to go to an area that is under the ozone hole, they would be subject to more cosmic radiation than the rest of us. When we fly in airplanes at high altitudes, we subject ourselves to more radiation than those of us on the ground. I wouldn't worry about this very much even when we consider the amount of time that a frequent flier spends in the air. Supposedly the atmosphere is such a great protector that only one high energy particle will strike any given square kilometer of earth once in a century. I guess you can't ask for any better odds than that. It does make me wonder however, if anyone has ever been struck by one of these particles and could they have possibly survived? The particles that come from the Sun are also called cosmic rays, but again this is another misnomer. Neither are they cosmic or are they rays. When the Sun puts out increased solar activity from flares and such, there is actually a decrease in particles striking the earth from other sources. I know this sounds strange, but it is very easily cleared up. The reason that this happens is that the solar wind increases along with the flare activity and blows most of the other particles out-of-the-way, this is called the Forbush decrease. When solar rays strike the Earth, they do not do so evenly around the whole globe of the atmosphere. This fact was only recently discovered.

One has to wonder if it would be possible to somehow capture the energy from these cosmic particles, turn it into electricity and beam it back down to earth. It seems to me that if this could be accomplished, it would end probably end our need on this planet for energy forever. Here is where things get strange folks. It is said that the famous electronic genius Nichola Tesla was working on a secret project using a 1931 Pierce Arrow automobile. Thus story goes on to state that he had a special top made for the car, out of a secret material that somehow would use cosmic rays to power the automobile. Just from reading the paragraph above, we have learned that cosmic rays or particles, are stopped by the atmosphere. If Tesla was able to capture them, he must have had some sort of device that would open a path for them in the atmosphere or he had some other way to get them to strike the roof of the car. The car itself was run on an 80 hp electric engine and it is said that it would reach 90 mph. Supposedly Tesla drove the car for a solid week. In 1915 it is said that Tesla wrote a letter that stated that he had mastered the art of sending electricity through the air and it would be possible to use electricity in this form to power cars and airplanes, among other things. This is not so hard to believe if you know anything at all about Nichola Tesla and his experiments. His genius far surpassed that of Thomas Edison and that is why Edison fired him. He had discovered alternating current and Edison was using direct current, which was far more inefficient and needed many more boosters to send the electricity down the line. This infuriated Edison because it indicated that one of his own staff had outdone him. Edison was a very proud man.

There are some people who now think that cosmic rays may have something to do with the intense electrical fields that are generated in thunderstorms. Other people think just the opposite is happening, that the electrical fields in thunderstorms are affecting the cosmic rays or particles. Indeed if cosmic rays are helping to generate more electricity and thunderstorms, then this certainly proves that they contain energy that we should be able to capture. If the opposite is true and the thunderstorms affect the cosmic rays in some manner, this should be investigated more thoroughly. The reason that I say this, is that electricity may provide a means of releasing the power in these particles and if we can release more power than we we use to get to it, then we still have a potent source of energy. When an excess amount of cosmic rays hit the Earth's atmosphere, they disrupt the earth's electrical field. One thing that is hard to understand is how a thundercloud which does not have enough power to send the electricity through the air, can generate a lightning bolt that ionizes and travels through the atmosphere. There is a theory that states that a process called induction charging takes place in these clouds. Put simply it states that some water droplets rise while cold ice crystals sink and when they collide, they transfer electrons which cause some of the particles in the clouds to be positively charged and others to be negatively charged. The theory goes on to say that a shower of cosmic rays can ionize the cloud and lower the threshold, so that a lightning discharge can take place.

Storm Clouds
Photo Source: NASA

There are all kinds of estimates on the power of a lightning bolt, but I like the claim that the discharge from one large bolt could power New York City for about six months. It is claimed that a lightning storms destroy more property in one year than hurricanes floods and tornadoes combined. Of course we are talking worldwide when we say this. We all know that there have been some severe storms lately. One has to wonder why the power of lightning has not been harnessed for the good of mankind. It certainly isn't hard to attract lightning, Toronto's CN Tower, which is the tallest tower in the world, receives about 75 lightning hits a year. Just think about all that power being wasted. Probably a good portion of Canada could be powered for a year with the power from these bolts. It is said that one small lightning storm will generate enough power to power the entire United States for 20 minutes. You have to realize that there are thunderstorm going on constantly in different places in this country. If we could harness the power from each one of them, that might be all we need. It is amazing when you think that we have known about this power existing for so long and really have done nothing about it. In the past the idea of capturing the energy from lightning was stymied by the inability to store this energy. This has all changed today, since we have utility scale battery technology and other methods, such as flywheels and capacitors for storing energy. If a plant was built to capture lightning energy in an area that had frequent thunderstorms, there would be no need for any other method of power generation. Why aren't we doing this?