Author: University of Witwatersrand November 3, 2021

Lightning in Johannesburg, South Africa. Image source: Dr. Carina Schumann, Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory | Wisdom University

Scientists in South Africa and the United Kingdom have found conclusive evidence in forensic lightning pathology that can help save lives threatened by the increase in deadly lightning activity caused by climate change.

As the world gathers to hold COP26 in Glasgow, scientists have found conclusive evidence in forensic lightning pathology, which will help develop life-saving knowledge to address the number and severity of thunderstorms and lightning strikes caused by global climate change The fatal impact of increasing severity.

New research by South African and British scientists can help forensic teams understand whether people or animals are victims of fatal lightning strikes based on analysis of bones alone. Their research was published in Forensic Science International: Synergy under the title "Using Thor's Hammer: Experimentally Induced Lightning Strikes on Human Bones by High Pulse Current."

Climate change is intensifying, and there is evidence that the incidence and severity of thunderstorms and lightning strikes may increase. Sadly, fatal attacks on wild animals, livestock, and people are common-African countries have the highest death rates in the world.

In South Africa, more than 250 people are killed by lightning every year, and 24,000 people worldwide die every year. When a lightning death is suspected, forensic pathologists determine the cause of death by looking for signs of lightning trauma to the deceased’s skin and organs. However, when the body is skeletalized, the soft tissue is absent and cannot be attributed to lightning death.

This new research provides a tool to investigate the cause of death when skeletons are found as part of an accident or death investigation.

Experimental lightning: Experimental lightning trauma in action. The image on the left shows the bone before the current is applied. The intermediate image is a high-speed capture with current passing through. The picture on the right is the bone after the current has passed. The impact of barotrauma shows that the internal pressure wave splits the bone tissue. Credits Nicholas Bacci, Faculty of Anatomical Sciences | Wits University and Hugh Hunt, Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory | Wisdom University

According to Dr. Nicholas Bacci, a lecturer at the School of Anatomical Sciences at Jinshan University and the first author of the paper, “Determining death caused by lightning is usually done through marks left on the skin or damage to internal organs-and when the corpse is decomposed , These tissues cannot survive. Our work is the first study to determine the unique markers of lightning damage deep in human bones, and allows us to recognize lightning when only dry bones are alive. This may allow us to be able to unexplained circumstances Identifying accidental deaths and homicides, while enabling us to have a more comprehensive understanding of the true incidence of deaths caused by lightning strikes."

The research was conducted by the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa (University of Witters), Northumbria University in the United Kingdom and the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research for forensic anthropology, anatomy, lightning physics and micro-computed tomography (micro-computed tomography). CT) cooperation between experts. Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA).

Researchers produced artificial lightning in the laboratory and then applied it directly to human bones, which were extracted from donated corpses that died naturally.

Dr. Hugh Hunt from the Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory (JLRL) of Wits University explained: “We use equipment to generate high pulse currents (up to 10,000 amperes) in the laboratory to simulate the effect of lightning passing through the skeleton. Natural lightning usually has significantly more High peak current, but this allows us to better control the experiment instead of trying to somehow place human tissue in the path of natural lightning strikes," said Hunt, a senior lecturer and head of JLRL. School of Electrical and Information Engineering.

The experiment showed a pattern of bone damage, which was caused by lightning currents of short duration.

Lightning strikes the Centec Building in Johannesburg, South Africa. Image source: Dr. Carina Schumann, Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory | Wisdom University

Senior author and associate professor of Northumbria University's Forensic Science Research Group Dr. Patrick Randolph-Queeny and the Jinshan University Human In-Depth Journey Discovery Center explained: "Using a high-power microscope, we can see that it is caused by the passage of thunder currents. Microcracks generated in bones. This is manifested as cracks radiating outward from the center of bone cells, or irregular jumping between cell clusters. Compared with other high-energy traumas (such as those caused by burning in a fire), The overall damage pattern looks very different."

"Although this experiment was conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, we saw the same trauma on animals killed by natural lightning. We were able to compare the human results with the bones of a poor giraffe killed by lightning— —Even though the microstructure of human bones is different from animal bones, the trauma pattern is the same. This is the conclusive evidence we are looking for in forensic lightning pathology," he added.

Comparative histology: Modes of microtrauma and microfractures caused by experimental induced current passing through human bones (middle) and known deaths from natural lightning strikes in juvenile giraffes (bottom). The control sample (undamaged) can be seen in the top panel. Image source: Patrick Randolph-Quinney | Forensic Science Research Group, Northumbria University and Tanya Augustine & Nicholas Bacci, Faculty of Anatomical Sciences | Wisdom University

The uniqueness of this research is that it brings together different disciplines, working together to understand the impact of lightning on the body, and its long-term goal is to create a safer environment for those who are at risk of death from lightning.

Ken Nixon, an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering of Jinshan University and a member of the board of directors of the African Lightning and Electromagnetic Network Center, explained: “This is a multidisciplinary project that highlights how forensic scientists can explore a real-world problem with physicists and engineers. It is related to the deaths of many people every year, especially in countries such as South Africa, Zambia and Uganda."

"As global climate change leads to an increase in the number and severity of thunderstorms and lightning strikes, we need more such research, combining different fields with real experience in dealing with lightning. Ultimately, our goal at Wits is to make our buildings The environment and the countryside are safer for those exposed to the deadly effects of lightning energy in South Africa and provide life-saving knowledge phenomena for more and more people around the world affected by such natural disasters," he said.

Without the state-of-the-art imaging technology of the School of Anatomical Sciences of the Wits School of Health Sciences and the micro-CT facility of the South African nuclear energy company Pelindaba, this research would be impossible.

“Researchers in South Africa are absolutely at the forefront of combining cutting-edge imaging methods to discover new breakthrough knowledge about modern and ancient human bones,” noted Dr. Tanya Augustine, an anatomist at Wits Medical School, who co-led the project. Research and is the corresponding author of the paper.

"In the past few years, the Wits and NECSA teams have unraveled the secret of cancer in the human fossil record and provided evidence for the cause of death of Australopithecus, and now these technologies allow us to unlock the mystery of fatal lightning strikes," she said . Add to.

Reference material: "Controlling Thor's Hammer: Experiments on Human Skeleton Induced by Lightning Stroke by High Pulse Electric Current", November 3, 2021, International Forensic Medicine Collaboration. DOI: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100206

"At a time when global climate change has led to an increase in the number and severity of thunderstorms and lightning strikes,..."

Where is the support for this statement? Although there are about 60 references, the original article neither made this claim nor provided any citations to support it.

The original article did say, "The approximate value based on real storm observations suggests a global lightning density of 6 times per square kilometer per year." This does not seem to be enough to accurately conclude that lightning strikes are increasing in response to the claimed "climate change" .

Why does the quality of "science" seem so bad in all climate-related things? Of course there can be no hidden agenda!

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