What follows behind thunder? Of course, it's lightning. How does lightning occur, how do we keep ourselves safe and are there any benefits from lightning?

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Regina Barber and Emily Kwong of Short Wave about squid-inspired fabric, the growing height of Mount Everest, and new research into the mystery of how lightning forms.

A full understanding of how lightning forms in the clouds has eluded scientists, but new research promises to solve this enduring mystery.

Lightning may have jump-started life by converting atmospheric elements into vital building blocks.

The study, published in Science Advances, reveals that sprayed water forms droplets with opposite electrical charges. When these droplets come near each other, they create electrical sparks ...

New research suggests “microlightning” exchanges among water droplets in Earth’s early atmosphere may have sparked the building blocks of life.