Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Struck!

What do you think this is? It is called a Fulgurite, and it belongs to me. My friend bought it on eBay and gave it to me. A Fulgurite is the result of lightening striking sand. The lightening rises the sand into a whirlwind and makes it into hollow tube, which hardens later. It is basically petrified sand. Fulgur is Latin for thunderbolt. They are fragile, and very light and airy. Pretty cool, huh?





I saw this man on T.V. who could stick his hand in lightening while wearing a special glove that would deflect it. Then he put on a special helmet that protected him from lightening striking his head. I took these pictures from T.V.



And I saw these for sale at a Science Museum!

Have you ever been shocked or struck by lightening?

“He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon, lighting up the earth from pole to pole. In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice, powerful and majestic.”

Job 37

24 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Well when I saw that first shot, I thought honeycomb. Now why would have man want to do such a thing? No I have never been hit by lightning.

Ann said...

WOW, that is fascinating. I've never seen or heard of that with the sand. Very cool.
I've never been shocked or struck by lightning and I can't imagine going out and purposely getting struck.

From the Kitchen said...

Interesting formation accomplished between lightning and sand. As for that man--what?????

Best,
Bonnie

Hootin Anni said...

Well, not hit by lightening, but pretty darned close. I was under the breezeway roof during a storm...the lightening struck so darned close, the hair on my arm stood straight up!!! Needless to say, I was indoors like a shot!!!

Neat post today. I love the petrified sand...never heard of it. Thanks to you, I learned something.

MadSnapper said...

that man needs his head examined for letting it strike him even protected. i am terrified of lightning and have not been struck but my first home we bought back in the 60's was struck 4 different times. we sold it and moved on... the glove shots are beautiful... i have been stung lightly by touching something but that is all...

Chatty Crone said...

Quite a nice science lesson! I did not know that!

Tanya Breese said...

that is really neat. on sweet home alabama, the guy makes glass from lightning striking the sand, somehow! i would not test out that glove...no way! i used to have an organ when i was a kid. the knob to turn it on was broken and i'd occassionally get a shock!

Patsy said...

If I had would I be smarter? Great post.

Tamago said...

Wow, that IS pretty cool! Never heard of Fulgurite and how interesting lightening can make such thing by striking sand.
Those scenes from TV are very impressive. Bit scary, though! Fortunately I've never been struck by lightening so far :-)

George said...

I try my best to stay away from lightning! The fulgurite is interesting.

Lux G. said...

Amazing things about lightning I wasn't familiar with. Nice!

Ruth Hiebert said...

That sand formation is really cool. DO I want to get struck by lightening?No,not even if I were protected.

Hootin Anni said...

PS...Ginny you asked in your comment for me today if I have close up photos of a tri-colored heron. Yes, I've posted many of them on my bird photo blog.

Here is one post. Just scroll down a bit and you'll see it again, ...it's got "Tri Colored Heron" typed below it I think.

Bobbie said...

You are always full of information, Ginny. This is so cool. Nope, I have never come close to being struck by lightening and have never won the lottery either. lol. and I'm okay with that.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue ι™ˆζ΄ι›ͺ said...

thunder striking is no good to the Chinese. I have seen man made lightning, and can be quite scary.

DeniseinVA said...

I've never seen anything like your sand before, what a neat gift from your frined. I have had an electric shock before. I touched a faulty electric switch and felt this charge from my finger tips to my elbow, it was very painful. I'm not quite sure what to think of the man and the lightning. I've heard the safest place in a lightning storm is your car because of the tires. It sounds sensible but need to find out if this is fact.

Filip and Kristel said...

I had never heard of such a fulgurite. Very interesting article and pictures.

Greetings,
Filip

Small Kucing said...

this is the first time I heard of fulgurite. Learnt something new today from you, Ginny :)

Pertified sand...that words reminds me of Harry Potter books where if kids looks into the eyes of the evil balisik...they will be pertified.

A great weekend to you :)

SquirrelQueen said...

The fulgurite is really amazing. Nature can create some really interesting stuff. Maybe that man got struck by lightning before and it messed up his brain. LOL!

Linda said...

Absolutely fascinating, Ginny!

Melanie said...

I have never heard of this before, Ginny! Very interesting!
No, I have never been struck by lightning, and I hope I never will be! I'm one of the first people inside when I start hearing thunder. :-)
Have a great weekend!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Hi Ginny. WOW, isn't nature amazing?? I wish you a wonderful weekend :)

Catherine said...

I saw this in a movie.
I think this man has too much time on his hands! Blessings, Catherine

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