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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Preparation and Reactivity of Gasless Nanostructured Energetic Materials
Published on: April 2, 2015
On the energy characteristics of ball lightning
A V Bychkov1, V L Bychkov, John Abrahamson
1Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Science, Izhorskaya 13/19, Moscow 127412, Russia.
Abstract:
A compilation of 17 observations of ball lightning showing the most energetic effects is presented along with estimates of their energy content. These observations were chosen from several thousand for the much stronger interaction of each ball lightning on its surroundings, and the method of energy estimation outlined. The case is put that some of the observations show a higher energy than self-contained chemical energy could provide. Comments have been added to the paper, arguing that the energy estimations themselves should be consistent with whatever model is used for ball lightning. For example, the presence of reacting nanoparticles releasing chemical energy may bring about the same observed effects with lower estimated energy.
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