While femtosecond-laser-beam filamentaton in the atmosphere has long been pursued as a way to guide lightning (or simply trigger lightning strikes), researchers at the University of Arizona (UA; Tucson, AZ) and the University of Central Florida (UCF; Orlando, FL) have developed a way to send high-energy femtosecond-laser beams through the atmosphere much farther than was previously possible, increasing the potential range for guiding lightning.
