Watched the Lightning Show on TDC, Son Brought Up Interesting Idea...
 

TDC had a great show on tonite about lightning. One segment included sprites - those awesome electrical discharges which are in the upper atmosphere. Seems like they happen every few seconds around the world. The shapes look like branches or roots - our Son thought they look like nerves. Interesting.

If you consider the Earth a living thing, are we watching its "neurons" firing when we see sprites or even lightning?

I saw most of that show too, Lube.

Yeah, they both look a lot like nerves, but it's lightning, not neurons firing.

But you already knew that.

Remember the part about the area that had lots of methane escaping from rotting vegetation at the bottom of rivers and lowlands that rises to high altitudes and is ignited by lightning?

In the context of the question of whether the earth is a living thing, you know what that is, doncha?

too liberal???

You've gone all hippy eco-freak.

They also said that each strike could power a large city, so I was thinking with a hit every few seconds lets bottle it and use it to power the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1PELlDQNKY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv5BkBbrB1A&NR=1

have that on the dvr and already watched it once. loved the guy that photographs lightning for a hobby. so cool to see somebody fired up about anything!!!

here's one i took behind our house....note the planet you can see (haven't taken the time to figure out which one it was but can see it now sorta to the east)http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1250601179.jpg

and how cool were those pics of the fingers coming out of the ground!!! wowsers!