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POPS Waiting For Godot “The thunderstorm is there and it’s kind of brewing and it’s unstable and the lightning hasn’t struck, and hopefully it won’t,” said Nathaniel C. Fick, a former Marine Corps infantry officer who briefed Mr. Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and is now the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a military research institution in Washington. “I think it can probably be contained and avoided, but people are aware of the volatile brew.” Last week the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., gave voice to the concerns of those in the military when he issued a terse statement criticizing Mr. Obama’s review of Afghan war strategy. “The extremists are sensing weakness and indecision within the U.S. government, which plays into their hands,” said Mr. Tradewell’s statement on behalf of his group, which represents 1.5 million former soldiers. Last August, in a speech to the V.F.W., Mr. Obama defended . . .
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POPSThe giant anvil-shaped cloud hovering 75,000ft above Earth "A giant, anvil-shaped cloud bubbles up towards the Earth's stratosphere, looming over West Africa. The amazing formation would be invisible to anyone on the ground and would even be obscure from a regular passenger jet since they can reach up to 75,000ft. But astronauts captured the astonishing picture from hundreds of miles up as they orbited the globe on the International Space Station. Anvil clouds are formed mostly from ice and normally form in the upper parts of thunderstorms. They get their shape from the fact that rising warm air in thunderstorms expands and spreads out as the air bumps up against the bottom of the stratosphere. Streaks of snow are often seen falling out of the edges of anvils. This light snow usually evaporates as it falls through the relatively dry air surrounding the upper part of the thunderstorm."
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POPSLesser Known Facts About Lightening There is a story towards the end of the article which is fascinating. "A dramatic report of ball lightening comes from a housewife in the Midlands are of England on August 8, 1975. She was in her kitchen in Smethwick during a very strong thunderstorm. A sphere of light about ten centimeters in diameter and surrounded by a bright purple halo appeared over the stove. The witness is quoted in saying, 'The ball seemed to hit me below the belt, as it were, and I automatically brushed it away from me and it disappeared. Where I brushed it away there appeared a redness and swelling on my left hand. It seemed as if my gold wedding ring was burned into my finger.' She also reported that it vanished with a bang."
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POPSThe World's Biggest Tornado Hunt Next month, 100 meteorologists will try to finally understand the dynamics of tornadoes—like the one that killed three people in Mena, Arkansas, last night.
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POPSVitalism - The Spark of Life You'll need to visit the BBC sites to get a full picture. The In Our Time Series has an episode on Vitalism just as new evidence for the role of lightning in the origins of life come to light.
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