What is the St. Elmo’s fire?

St. Elmo's fire is a colorful discharge of atmospheric electricity that normally occurs through a thunderstorm. When a sharp object comes in interaction with an astonishingly high electrical field and a large number of electrons, the electrons can generate radiance in various colors, like a neon sign, ensuing in this uncommon phenomenon. 'St. Elmo' is a derivation of St. Erasmus of Formia.

St. Elmo’s Fire is usually experienced on North Pacific crossings-out over the Aleutian Chain of Islands (Alaska).

It is universally observed on the fringe of propellers and along with the wingtips, windshield, and nose of aircraft hovering in dry snow, in ice crystals, or near thunderstorms. Several flight processes, in addition to mechanical and electrical devices deliberated to reduce the accumulation of electrical charge, are utilized as safeguards in preventing or monitoring these discharges.

Is St. Elmo’s fire dangerous?

St. Elmo’s fire looks quite dangerous even though it’s not. The only thing destructive when this infrequent weather phenomenon happens is the storm that precasted it.

Engineers, nevertheless, have to take corona discharge into account when designing electrical equipment, particularly power lines, as unwanted instances of St. Elmo's fire can sap valuable electricity. To make that effect lesser, many long-distance power lines feature hoop-like "corona rings" around sharp and pointed areas such as the tips of towers and poles. These rings keep the electric field from getting concentrated enough to produce a large quantity of plasma.

In other cases, engineers have found many ways to use corona discharge in their favor. The process is involved in the making of ozone, an industrial disinfectant. Corona discharge also plays an important role in creating the charged surfaces needed inside a photocopier.

Researchers have elucidated the phenomenon and put it to work in modern technology, the harmless but captivating glow of St. Elmo’s fire still has the power to astound bystanders, just as it has for millennia.

How is St. Elmo's fire different from lightning?

Like lightning, St. Elmo's Fire is plasma or ionized air from which it emits a glow. Lightning is the movement of electricity from a charged cloud which then lands on the ground, St. Elmo's Fire is simply sparking, something like a few shots of electrons into the air.
-By Sarah Malik (SMSMB)

Maelstroms are a kind of whirlpools that are stronger than any common whirlpool. They are bodies of swirling water formed when two opposing currents meet. They may be formed wherever water is flowing, from creeks and streams to rivers and seas. The Maelstroms are formed by the combination of the strong currents that cross the Straits of Molenstraumen (Moskenstraumen) between the islands and the great magnitude of the tides. The maelstrom of Saltstraumen is the world's strongest maelstrom and is located 30 km east of the city of Bodo, Norway. Its impressive strength is due to the fact that it is caused by the world's strongest tide occurring in the same location. A narrow channel connects the outer Saltfjord with its extension, the large Skjerstadfjord, causing a colossal tide that in turn produces the Saltstraumen maelstrom. Tsunamis generated by large earthquakes historically, forming short-living maelstroms at points along the area of wave impact, dependent upon submarine topography. Most notably, the tsunami from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake created a maelstrom off Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture. The world's strongest maelstrom forms in the Saltstraumen Strait in northern Norway. Whirlpools that are up to 33 feet in diameter occur every six hours. A maelstrom can be dangerous due to powerful currents that occur below the surface, which can pull surrounding objects into its vortex.
-By Saksham Gupta (SMSMB)

A fog tsunami initially resembles a tsunami. When warm air condenses above cold oceans to form fog, this phenomenon can be seen. So, when the water is cool enough and the warm air above it blows to form droplets, also known as fog which then forms Fog tsunami which are also parallel to the coastlines. The sea breezes later cause it to appear like a tsunami and this is how this unique phenomenon is formed. Its appearance can also be compared to that of a sandstorm. In simple words, it can be called a tsunami, but that of clouds. This is a mesmerizing phenomenon but is rarely seen due to the perfect combination of temperature needed to form it. It’s a huge fog bank and can also be seen from satellites.

-By Nikunj Soni (SMSMB)

A waterspout is a spinning column of air and mist that occurs on lakes, rivers, and at sea. Waterspouts are classified into two types: fair weather and tornadic. Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that develop over water or travel from land to water. They are connected with violent thunderstorms and are frequently accompanied by high winds and waves, enormous hail, and deadly lighting. Tornadic waterspouts are more deadly than fair weather waterspouts, which are not frequently connected with thunderstorms and normally form along the dark flat base of a line of emerging cumulus clouds. While tornadic waterspouts form downward in a thunderstorm, a fair weather waterspout develops on the surface of the water and makes its way upward. Fair weather waterspouts originate in mild wind conditions and move relatively little.
-By Parnika Snehi (SMSMB)

Spectacular and beautiful, Tidal Bores is a rare tidal phenomenon that pushes up the river because of the gravitational pull of the stars and planets. It forms when the leading edge of the approaching tide forms a wave or waves of water that travel up a river against the direction of the river. They occur in relatively few locations worldwide.

Astonishingly, there are only 60 tidal bores each of different and unique wave heights, distances, and frequencies. The development of tidal bores depends upon the wind and depth of the water. They can be in the form of smooth, non-breaking waves or a variety of breaking forms thereby causing violence. They can uproot vegetation, drag people and animals to the river, thereby causing a direct impact on the ecology.

However, all the coasts don’t experience them. The places where tidal bore occurs should have shallow rivers and a narrow outlet to the sea. On the other side, the estuary must be wide and flat.

The leading edge of the bore can travel up to the speed to 40km or 25 miles. Surfing competitions also take place such as the ‘Silver Dragon’, also quite popular amongst the surfers. These tidal bores are surely to be visited and cherished.
-By Amey Aggarwal (SMSMB)

Do you want to hear anything incredibly "deep?" The ocean is divided into five "zones." The hadalpelagic zone, sometimes known as the hadal zone, is the deepest portion of the ocean, with depths ranging from 6,096 to 10,973 metres (20,000 feet to 36,000 feet). The hadal zone, named after the Greek underworld Hades, is made up of a succession of trenches, troughs, and deep depressions. The hadal zone is still one of the least explored and most intriguing areas on the planet. More than 400 species are currently known to exist in the hadal zone's 21 ditches.
-By Parnika Snehi (SMSMB)

The majority of people think that life on Earth is divided into two categories: plants and animals. However, that's not always true. Some single-celled planktonic algae in the ocean are able to photosynthesize like plants and consume other organisms like animals. They fall between the categories of autotrophs and heterotrophs. This hybrid source of nutrition is called mixotrophy. Mixotrophic algae can have an advantage in the development of harmful algal blooms - when algae grow out of control and cause toxic effects on humans, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. As a mechanism for augmenting nutrient supplies in nutrient-poor habitats, mixotrophy, the use of prototrophy and heterotrophy combined, has been emphasized. An alternative premise is that many harmful algae that thrive in eutrophic environments are mixotrophs that respond both directly to nutrient inputs, as well as indirectly through the abundance of bacterial and algal prey that the elevated nutrients stimulate. Phylogenetic groups and different plankton classes produce mixotrophic nutrition among plankton in the ocean, which takes on a variety of forms and strategies. Mixotrophs are flexible organisms that not only eat and take up nutrients from the sun but can also eat other plankton. Currently, mixotrophy is the default lifestyle of many single-celled plankton, and they often dominate marine communities. At the global scale, mixotrophy may have profound effects on marine ecosystem function due to its trophic flexibility.
-By Bhavya Gupta (SMSMB)

When air is pushed upward and gravity pulls it back down, gravity waves are formed. In order for gravity waves to be created, the atmosphere must be stable. This is because the difference in temperature between the atmosphere and the rising air creates a force that returns the air to its original position. As the air rises and falls, it creates a wave pattern. Gravity waves come in various types. In the ocean, gravity waves at the air-sea interface (surface waves) are known as surface gravity waves, and gravity waves within the water body (such as those between parts of different densities) are known as internal waves. Gravity waves include wind-created waves on the surface of the water, as well as tsunamis and ocean tides. Gravitational waves, which are generated by the wind, occur on the surface of ponds, lakes, seas, and oceans and last for 0.3 to 30 seconds. A gravity wave is a mechanism through which momentum transfers from the troposphere to the stratosphere and mesosphere. In the troposphere, gravity waves are generated by frontal systems or by airflow over mountains. There are surface gravity waves whose wavelengths exceed approximately 10 cm (4 inches), when gravity is the dominant force. Surface gravity waves have a speed that depends on their depth and wavelength, or period; the speed increases with depth and wavelength .
-By Bhavya Gupta (SMSMB)