
Lightning Strike Kills More Than 300 Reindeer in Norway - alizauf
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/world/europe/hardangervidda-norway-lightning-reindeer.html
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Scaevolus
Detecting lightning automatically isn't that hard-- it's a sudden burst of
powerful, wideband static. There are several sites where users collaboratively
trilaterate lighting strikes by sharing precise time-of-arrival data--
including live maps!
[http://en.blitzortung.org/live_dynamic_maps.php?map=11](http://en.blitzortung.org/live_dynamic_maps.php?map=11)

The process is fast enough that in a thunderstorm, you'll probably get a
packet specifying the lightning's coordinates before you hear the thunder!

Here's what the storm looked like:
[http://i.imgur.com/mkIqnlD.gif](http://i.imgur.com/mkIqnlD.gif)

~~~
Udik
You do, and on lightningmaps.org you can even watch on the map the thunder
front traveling at the speed of sound. Disappointingly, though, it appears
that the lightnings positioning isn't reliable enough to actually predict when
you'll be reached by the thunder, let alone go out there and look for a nice
piece of fulgurite!

~~~
thaumasiotes
Do what the guy does in Sweet Home Alabama: go off into the wilderness, put up
some big metal rods, and after a thunderstorm check the rods for lightning
strikes.

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buro9
Or go build your own lightning field like Walter de Maria

[https://artappreciation101.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/demar...](https://artappreciation101.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/demaria_the-
lightning-field-19771.jpg)

[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2...](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2013/jul/29/walter-
de-maria-art-lightning)

Of which there is a great description if Geoff Dyer's latest book White Sands.

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Loic
I can remember a similar event in the Alps in France. What was interesting (it
was with cows) is that only the cows showing or turning their back to the
lightning strike were killed.

It was because of the potential difference between the front and back legs
(you have more than 1m), the ground resistance was higher than the wet cow and
the current just went through the cow. When the cows were not facing (or back)
the strike, the ground resistance was lower, the current did not went through
the cows.

So, if you are wet, in the mountains and lightning strikes are firing, make
small steps :)

~~~
saiya-jin
this is a basic advice on any electrical course I had to go through. if things
get really hairy, you should only jump around with both feet together, and
have arms close to the body (not so easy somewhere on the wilderness)

~~~
madengr
Actually you hop on one foot, that way the current path does not go fully
across your heart.

~~~
jhayward
Not quite. It is the voltage potential caused by having your feet on two
different pieces of ground, which have a voltage gradient between them, that
causes the current to flow. If you keep your feet together you are less likely
to be harmed.

The farther apart your feet are the greater the voltage between them. This is
called "step potential" in electrician and lineman safety training.

~~~
madengr
Yes, but if are hopping on one foot, you have no opportunity to complete the
circuit with both feet.

~~~
triplesec
but if your feet are touching it's the same thing, because you've shorted the
circuit. Also, any chance of arcing to the ungrounded leg?

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prophesi
I'm probably a terrible person for this, but my first thought was:
[http://media-
dominaria.cursecdn.com/attachments/104/60/63503...](http://media-
dominaria.cursecdn.com/attachments/104/60/635032499431831568.jpg)

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f_allwein
"They were standing on a hill, moving up that hill."

Bad idea in a thunderstorm. It is recommended to stay in low-lying areas
instead: [http://www.wildbackpacker.com/wilderness-
survival/articles/s...](http://www.wildbackpacker.com/wilderness-
survival/articles/surviving-a-lightning-storm/)

~~~
lagadu
Technically true but teaching that to reindeer may be something of a challenge
:)

~~~
karmapolice
They just learned by natural selection :)

~~~
classicsnoot
IANAB, but lately i have been thinking a lot about evolution and how it
changes a species. The context i am considering is social evolution, but i
think the rules of biological evolution apply. From what i understand,
Reindeer have learned nothing from the event in general. In the localized
area, a bunch of Reindeer are out of the gene pool and any of their kin that
are close enough to encounter their carcasses but not the the cause are going
to freely associate the deaths with whatever the perception sensory suite
allows. My assertion: Evolutionary "learning" occurs over a long period of
time through strings of events with similar inputs and outputs.

Not an argument or rebuttal; your comment made me think about it. :]

~~~
karmapolice
Nah, I was just kidding. Unless there are similar events occurring during a
lot of time, making those reindeers that prefer staying more separated and in
lower areas have a significant advantage, and these preferences are
hereditary...

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sandworm101
Wait a second. Anyone else see the 'The Tick' pilot? Wasn't this the opening
sequence, Superion falling to earth and killing a bunch of reindeer?

That aside, this must have been one heck of a lightning bolt. I've been within
few meters of one with no ill effect. It must have been nothing compared to
this monster. Or could it have been several bolts?

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liotier
An recently, in July: 1500 reindeer dead, 40 humans hospitalized amid anthrax
outbreak in Siberia - [https://news.vice.com/article/reindeer-dead-humans-
hospitali...](https://news.vice.com/article/reindeer-dead-humans-hospitalized-
anthrax-outbreak-russia-siberia)

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agentgt
Not to sound to heartless but I wonder if the animals will be taken for meat,
buried, or nothing done at all (ie left for nature). What normally happens in
these situations?

~~~
halfdan
Literally the last sentence in the article:

> "The normal routine in such cases is to let nature take its course."

~~~
agentgt
How embarrassing! I must have coalesced that last paragraph with the
advertisement and missed it.

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tke248
I wonder if this ever happened to ancient armies

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huhtenberg
Music in the video really ties it together, but they really should've dropped
the bass when switching to the aerial footage.

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digi_owl
I can't shake the feel that the thunderstorms have gotten stronger in recent
years.

