Ever heard of cows dying mysteriously during a thunderstorm?
The reason is that there is a potential energy difference between the front and back legs. If the lightning enters the front legs, it will travel through the body in search of ground, which it achieves by exiting the back legs. The cow has become part of the electrical circuit and because of this potential energy difference, it’s zapped – and bang you’re gone. If you’re not adverse to a bit of blood, check out this local story on a cow that survived a lighting strike.
On a lighter note, how many times does lightning strike the earth?
- 1,000 times a second
- 1,000 times a minute
- once a minute
- 30 times an hour
The answer is one.
The forecast is correct ! We are in the middel of a thunderstorm…
I always knew weather forecasting required no skill whatsoever. 🙂
Well… I live on the other side of the planet, you know…;o)
True. Better weather at the moment too. Not a fan of winter.
Marti
It should be summer over here, but it looks like autumn…
🙂
Leave it to you to teach me a tidbit like that. I’m going to share that one with my kids. They’ll think it’s cool, no doubt. But then again, so do I…
You must be the only subscriber who reads my did bit facts. Thanks for humouring me on this. PS. Maybe don’t show the kids the cow photo in the link – he looks rather miserable, but alive I guess.
Marti
Oh, they’re old enough now they’d find it fascinating, I’m sure. In fact, I suspect my 15-year-old would say something horrible like, “Sweet!” That’s how boys are, I guess. But they both love animals, so they’d need to know she was okay first. 🙂