Physicists have learned how to direct lightning with a laser.

To do this, they illuminated the space above the Sentis tower, located in the mountains of Switzerland, for two months during a thunderstorm. Of the 16 lightning bolts that hit the tower during the observation period, four were stimulated by a laser. Recent estimates show that, on average, lightning kills more than 4,000 people a year and costs the economy billions of dollars.