Nov 5, 2009: Fulgurites

xoxoxoBruce · 11-05-2009, 01:44 AM

Fulgurites are fused sand trails, often with a glass lined hollow core, that are the result of lightning strikes on loose sandy soil.

Quote:

Few of nature’s elemental phenomena are more powerful yet less permanent than lightning… well, not exactly. Fulgurites, or “petrified lightning”, are the glassy trails of lightning strikes left in sandy soil or exposed rocks. As fragile as they are beautiful, fulgurites are the next best thing to holding a lightning bolt in your hand!

Since they're so hard to find in nature, why not make your own?
All you need is some sand, and some lightning.

Quote:

Downed power lines are one thing; artificially triggering lightning to make DIY fulgurites is another thing entirely. That’s exactly what artist Allan McCollum has done, however, not one but some hundreds of times in the summer of 1997. The results range from slim glass tubes no larger than soda straws to the Mother Of All Fulgurites, a fork-tailed monster over 17 feet deep that the Guinness World Book of Records has recognized as the world’s longest.

So next time you're playing in the sandbox (watch out for cat poop), or at the beach, if you see one of these...

...probe it.

link

SPUCK · 11-05-2009, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

As fragile as they are beautiful, fulgurites are the next best thing to holding a lightning bolt in your hand!

I can assure you the "Best Thing" is NOT holding lightning in one's hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

So next time you're playing in the sandbox (watch out for cat poop), or at the beach(watch out for nails and burning embers), if you see one of these...

Sundae Girl · 11-05-2009, 07:03 AM

Ooh lovely!
I've been fascinated by fulgarites for years (since reading The Crow Road by Iain Banks).

Now I know they can look dirty too!
It's all gravy

dacliff · 11-05-2009, 09:02 AM

I first heard about this in a chick-flick from not so long ago:

Sweet Home Alabama

The ones in the movie looked a hell of a lot different tho, not at all like calcified turds.

monster · 11-05-2009, 09:28 AM

I'm pretty sure I di'int.....

.

glatt · 11-05-2009, 09:35 AM

That's a vulgurite, not a fulgurite.

monster · 11-05-2009, 09:43 AM

perfect

Cloud · 11-05-2009, 09:44 AM

it's the Sarlacc! run for your lives!

dacliff · 11-05-2009, 10:00 AM

Actually, 'tis coprolite

xoxoxoBruce · 11-05-2009, 12:23 PM

Don't gimme that shit.

Gravdigr · 11-05-2009, 02:58 PM

I've got some other shit over here you might like...

11-05-2009, 07:03 AM	#3
Sundae Girl famously pink Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Aylesbury, Bucks Posts: 10,630	Ooh lovely! I've been fascinated by fulgarites for years (since reading The Crow Road by Iain Banks). Now I know they can look dirty too! It's all gravy __________________ "It's all energy give and take anyway." T E H Shaw

11-05-2009, 09:28 AM	#5
monster eyeball-driller Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Brit in Ann Arbor MI Posts: 10,493	I'm pretty sure I di'int..... . Attached Images __________________ chaos is my co-pilot

11-05-2009, 09:43 AM	#7
monster eyeball-driller Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Brit in Ann Arbor MI Posts: 10,493	perfect __________________ chaos is my co-pilot

11-05-2009, 09:44 AM	#8
Cloud has doubts Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: USA MTZ (GMT-7) Posts: 6,291	it's the Sarlacc! run for your lives! __________________ Boredom is for extroverts. blog:www.piercedconsumer.com

11-05-2009, 12:23 PM	#10
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 32,457	Don't gimme that shit. __________________ Excuse me Miss, does this handkerchief smell like chloroform?

11-05-2009, 09:02 AM	#4
dacliff Pithy Euphemist Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 19	I first heard about this in a chick-flick from not so long ago: Sweet Home Alabama The ones in the movie looked a hell of a lot different tho, not at all like calcified turds.

11-05-2009, 09:35 AM	#6
glatt accepts the challenge Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 10,050	That's a vulgurite, not a fulgurite.

11-05-2009, 10:00 AM	#9
dacliff Pithy Euphemist Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 19	Actually, 'tis coprolite

11-05-2009, 02:58 PM	#11
Gravdigr Lecturer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: South Central...KY that is Posts: 927	I've got some other shit over here you might like... __________________ Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. Windows 7, you get busy dyin'. -Ellis Boyd Redding

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