[Rockhounds] Scientists Recreated Volcanic Lightning by Blasting Ash Out of a Cannon

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

There is nothing on Earth quite like volcanic lightning. Witnessing chaotic
towers of tumbling ash emerge from an explosive convulsion at the apex of a
mountain is already jaw-dropping enough. The emergence of purplish daggers
of light shooting out from that column, however, elevates it to something
more otherworldly.

Naturally, scientists want to know how volcanic lightning is made. Although
the collision of ash particles within the plume are known to play a key
role, the intricacies of this phenomenon have proven to be somewhat
elusive. Unperturbed, scientists have taken matters into their own hands:
They’ve been creating volcanic explosions in laboratories to produce the
lightning themselves.

https://gizmodo.com/scientists-recreated-volcanic-lightning-by-blasting-ash-1840068684