Submission + - Scientists capture first 3D image of a streamer (arxivblog.com)
KentuckyFC writes: "Streamers are the whispy electronic filaments that feel their way towards the ground in the fraction of a second before a lightning strike. They are also seen in nature as sprites, giant electronic discharges that sit 100 kilometres or so above active thunderstorms.
Various scientists have captured ordinary 2D pictures of streamers. But now a group in the Netherlands have created the first 3D image of a streamer allowing its structure to be fully analysed for the first time.That could be handy because streamers may be useful in various upcoming applications such as ozone generation, bio fuel processing and plasma assisted combustion (abstract on the physics arXiv)."