Los Alamos Creative District News:

Attend Science On Tap at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17 at UnQuarked in Central Park Square to learn the shocking truth about lightning.

Lightning strikes the earth more than one billion times each year, causing thousands of fatalities worldwide, and costs nearly a $1 billion in damages in the U.S. alone.

When strong updrafts cause layers of positive and negative charge to develop in the atmosphere, lightning discharges occur to restore the balance of the Earth’s electrical state. Because the fundamental physical mechanisms of that discharge are not perfectly understood, lightning continues to surprise researchers despite its ordinariness.

Tess Light and Tim Hamlin, both with the Lab’s Space and Remote Sensing Group, touch on research that dates back to the 1960s when it was developed in connection with space payloads that monitor the Earth for evidence of nuclear treaty violation. Learning more about lightning is an outgrowth of those sensors.

Science On Tap happens every third Thursday of the month, featuring a new topic each time. The program is sponsored by the Los Alamos Creative District and hosted by the Bradbury Science Museum. The On Tap series begins each evening with an informal 10-15 minute lecture followed by a lively group discussion. All ages are welcome! On Tap is a way for people to get out and about in the community, learn something new, and meet people with similar interests. The “On Tap” series happens twice a month. The discussions are supported by Bradbury Science Museum, Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos Historical Society and PEEC at the Los Alamos Nature Center.

The Los Alamos Creative District is a program of Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation, a private, not-for-profit economic and community development organization serving the Los Alamos area since 1983. LACDC serves as the umbrella organization for the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, Los Alamos MainStreet, Discover Los Alamos, Los Alamos Small Business Center, project Y Cowork Los Alamos and the Los Alamos Research Park.