And he adds: “The explosion caused a scar – he adds Matthew Pasek researcher at the University of South Florida – thus the formation of fulgurite, also known as “petrified lightning”. A unique chemical reaction, caused by the event, creates a new substance containing phosphorus that is neither phosphate (very common on our planet) nor phosphide (very common in meteorites), but phosphite: the mineral was identified by Bindi in a sample of fulgurite, thanks to the analyzes that Performed at Florentine Laboratories. “In addition to studying how matter accumulates in extreme conditions,” Bindi comments, “studying phenomena such as lightning is important for understanding how much energy they have and thus being able to monitor their danger.” “Previous studies showed that the reduction of phosphates due to lightning was a widespread phenomenon on early Earth – concludes the third author of the study, Tian Feng This research can reveal that other forms of minerals are possible and that many of them could have played an important role in the evolution of life on Earth.
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