<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/27641de9-2be1-44ad-b515-5f4c8e1cfc3c/212910D3-7C7F-4E44-BBBF-A080CA3AA914/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/great-balls-of.html" href="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/great-balls-of.html" style="font-size: 11px;">blog.wired.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/great-balls-of.html"><DIV>Two hundred years ago this week, the warship <EM>HMS Warren Hastings </EM>was <A href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article5747952.ece">struck by a weird phenomenon</A>: "Three distinct balls of fire" fell from the heavens, striking the ship and killing two crewmen, leaving behind "a nauseous, sulfurous smell," according to the <EM>Times </EM>of London. </DIV><BR /><DIV>Ball lightning has been the subject of much scientific scrutiny over the years. And, as with many powerful natural phenomena, the question arises: "Can we turn it into a weapon?" Peculiar as it may seem, that's exactly what some researchers are working on -- even though it hasn't even been properly replicated in the laboratory yet. </DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/great-balls-of.html"><div align="center"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmUClLDb2dE&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" height="329" width="400" wmode="opaque" quality="high" align="right" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/great-balls-of.html"><DIV>The exact cause and nature of ball lighting <A href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/20/ball-lightning-physics.html">has yet to be determined</A>; there may be several different types, confusing matters further. But generally it manifests as a grapefruit-sized sphere of light moving slowly through the air which may end by fizzling out or exploding. </DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/212910D3-7C7F-4E44-BBBF-A080CA3AA914/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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