The World Meteorological Organization says there is a new record-holder when it comes to lightning bolts seen from space - an extraordinary 515-mile streak which illuminated the skies from eastern Texas through Missouri in October 2017.The record-breaking "megaflash" occurred during a thunderstorm system known as a Mesoscale Convective System, which was moving along the Gulf Coast ahead of a frontal boundary.Members of the WMO said they were able to identify the bolt using satellite-based mapping technology and submitted their findings to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society."This new record clearly demonstrates the incredible power of the natural environment," Randall Cerveny, a member of the WMO, stated. "It also testifies to the significant scientific progress in observing and evaluating such extreme events."WHAT IS HOTTER: LIGHTNING OR FIREWORKS?Recent advances in space-based lightning mapping technology are said to aid in the ability to measure flashes more accurately."The extremes of what lightning is capable of is difficult to study because it pushes the boundaries of what we can practically observe," Michael Peterson, lead author and committee member of the Severe Storms Research Center, said in a statement. "Adding continuous measurements from geostationary orbit was a major advance. We are now at a point where most of the global megaflash hotspots are covered by a geostationary satellite, and data processing techniques have improved to properly represent flashes in the vast quantity of observational data at all scales."The flash replaces the previous record holder, which occurred in April 2020, when a bolt's flash was estimated to have been more than 477 miles long and stretched from Texas through Mississippi.Vaisala, a global technology company, detected some 242,101,157 lightning bolts in the skies over the U.S. in 2024, with an annual average of more than 20 million that actually reach the ground.WHICH STATES HAVE THE MOST LIGHTNING INSURANCE CLAIMS?In addition to records relating to the length of the flash, the WMO also highlighted other historical incidents involving acts of Mother Nature.The longest-duration flash on record lasted more than 17 seconds over parts of Uruguay and northern Argentina in June 2020.Other notable lightning-related incidents include a 1975 strike that killed 21 people in Zimbabwe and a 1994 incident in Egypt that killed 469 due to a lightning-induced oil tank fire.The organization emphasized that while lightning remains a source of awe, it is also a considerable public safety hazard."Lightning claims many lives each year and can spark wildfires or pose hazards to aviation," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo stated. "Understanding the scale and behavior of extreme flashes is vital for public safety and risk management."

NEW YORK The largest mass transit system in the country was swamped by flash flooding as water poured into New York City's subway system and Grand Central Terminal, causing a travel nightmare for commuters Thursday.The messy commute across the Big Apple and much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic was brought on by heavy rain from severe thunderstorms, which prompted New York Governor Kathy Hochul to declare a State of Emergency.Water could be seen cascading onto a Metro North train on one of Grand Central's 44 platforms, the most in the country.The view from inside the cab made it look like the train was parked under a waterfall.DEADLY FLASH FLOODING SWAMPS I-95 CORRIDOR, PROMPTING WATER RESCUES AND STATES OF EMERGENCYMeanwhile, straphangers in Brooklyn were forced to climb along fencing to avoid wading through murky water that had seeped into the 7th Avenue station.Water even poured inside subway cars on the 6 line, sending riders to the exits.The floodwaters caused delays for millions of commuters who tried to head home and avoid the worst of the rain.Brooklyn's Prospect Park recorded 2.49 inches of rain Thursday. Bayside, Queens recorded 6.35 inches.The Long Island Railroad, which stops at Grand Central, was partially suspended due to flooding. Video out of Queens showed firefighters assisting some passengers out of a train that was halted due to the severe weather.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said it suspended traffic in both directions on the Port Washington Branch due to flooding east of Flushing Main Street.Delays spilled into Friday morning as crews worked to repair damage caused by Thursday's storm, the MTA said.The MTA says it served roughly 3.4 million riders daily in 2024.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. A wildfire that broke out in Grand Canyon National Park has now been deemed a "megafire" due to its size.The Dragon Bravo fire ignited from a lightning strike on July 4. As firefighters readied to contain the blaze, fire conditions rapidly changed, causing the fire to explode in size.As of Friday, the Dragon Bravo Fire has burned 111,970 acres, becoming a "megafire" a term given by the U.S. Forest Service when a fire reaches over 100,000 acres.SEE IT: AERIAL FOOTAGE OF GRAND CANYON WILDFIRE CAPTURES FLAMES RAVAGING HISTORIC NATIONAL PARKTrees and brush continue to be the primary fuel for the fire.Nearly 1,200 personnel are battling the wildfire, which is now 9% contained.SEE IT: CHARRED REMAINS OF HISTORIC GRAND CANYON LODGE AFTER WILDFIRE RIPS THROUGH NORTH RIMThe fire closed the Grand Canyon's North Rim for the remainder of the 2025 season after causing significant damage, including burning the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and the Grand Canyon Visitor's Center. In total, 70 structures have been lost, according to the National Park Service.Several trails within the Grand Canyon's inner rim are also closed due to smoke accumulation from the Dragon Bravo Fire.3 CRITICALLY ENDANGERED CALIFORNIA CONDORS RELOCATED DURING ARIZONA WHITE SAGE FIREFire officials said the fire continues pushing north, particularly into a burn scar from a 2006 wildfire called the Warm Fire.Weather conditions on Friday may help firefighters fight the fire, as relative humidity is expected to be within 15-20%, the highest humidity in eight days.But overall, extreme fire conditions still remain in place.

CAYAMA, Calif. -- A fast-moving wildfire exploded in size late Friday in Southern California, triggering evacuations across two counties and sending firefighters scrambling.The Gifford Fire started along Highway 166 west of Cayama on Friday afternoon and had already grown to over 23,500 acres by Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire. The fire is just 5% contained."The terrain and abundance of fuels have made suppression efforts challenging," fire officials wrote. "But firefighters remain focused on a full-suppression strategy."Some evacuations have been ordered in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties near the Los Padres National Forest.Time-lapse video from a camera atop Plowshare Peak showed the rapid spread of the flames as they marched up the hillside Friday night, nearly surrounding the camera.The camera was still operational Saturday morning and for now it appeared the station had survived.But firefighters will continue to face hot and gusty conditions battling the fire as Southern California is square in its summer dry season. Temperatures this weekend are expected to reach the mid-upper 90s, with relative humidity readings in the teens and winds gusting to 25 mph.There are no reports yet of any injuries or significant property damage.

NEW CUYAMA, Calif. A nearly 40,000-acre wildfire forced people from their homes in two Southern California counties over the weekend as firefighters worked to contain the blaze in challenging terrain.The Gifford Fire started along Highway 166 west of Cayama on Friday afternoon, and by Sunday morning, it had exploded to 39,676 acres and was only 5% contained, according to San Luis Obispo County emergency management officials.WATCH: CALIFORNIA'S GIFFORD FIRE RACES UP HILLSIDE TOWARD CAMERA AS BLAZE EXPLODES IN SIZEThe fire is burning inside the Los Padres National Forest, consuming thick brush along both sides of Highway 166, with most of the fire in Santa Barbara County. According to the U.S. Forest Service, additional firefighting resources have been brought in to combat the fire burning in rugged terrain, including air tankers and helicopters.Video shared by the Forest Service shows an air tanker making a drop on the blaze.The fire is burning just west of the recent Madre Fire, which became California's largest wildfire of the year on July 3. The Madre Fire was fully contained on July 28 after burning more than 80,000 acres, according to the Forest Service.UTAH GOVERNOR DECLARES MONTH-LONG STATE OF EMERGENCY DUE TO INTENSIFYING WILDFIRESSome evacuations have been ordered in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties near the Los Padres National Forest. Those remained in place and additional evacuation orders were issued in both counties on Sunday morning.Forest Service officials said three people were injured because of the fire. One civilian was taken by helicopter to the hospital for burn injuries. Two contractors were injured in a UTV rollover incident. All the victims were taken to Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment.According to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard, Southern California faces elevated fire behavior with gusty winds in the week ahead. Under these conditions, abnormally elevated fire behavior and growth are possible.Forecasters are tracking smoke moving across Southern California from the Gifford Fire.

You ask it to draft an email. Tell it to summarize a report. You might even have it write a whole essay. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are incredible tools for efficiency. But whats the hidden cost of all this convenience? Is offloading our mental work to AI slowly eroding our cognitive abilities? A []The post Is ChatGPT Making Us Dumber? A New MIT Study Has Answers appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.

Most of us have used Excel in some way in our daily lives. But in todays world of powerful language models powered by AI, are you still struggling with long Excel formulas or finding it difficult to use Excel efficiently? If yes, then ChatGPT is here to help. Whether youre stuck on any Excel formula []The post Save Hours with these 5 ChatGPT Excel Hacks appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.

Lately, it feels like theres a new ChatGPT version popping up every other day. Theres GPT-4o, the all-rounder, o3, the deep thinker, some speedy mini models that no one knows what they do, GPT-4.5 for creative writing, and a few legacy versions you probably would want to avoid. So if youve ever wondered which ChatGPT []The post All ChatGPT Models Explained: Which to Use and When? appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.

In the newest AI battle, OpenAIs o3-pro vs Googles Gemini 2.5 Pro, the two are competing for the title of the best at advanced reasoning and multimodal ability. o3-pro builds on the o3 foundation, equipped with enhanced reasoning, tool use, and performance, particularly in science, programming, and reliability. The Gemini 2.5 Pro hits the mark []The post OpenAI o3 pro vs Gemini 2.5 pro appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.

Since the beginning of 2025, we have been seeing the launch of one amazing model after another from DeepSeek-R1 and o3-mini to Grok 3 and Claude 3.7 Sonnet. The latest addition to this ever-expanding list of advanced AI models is the much-awaited OpenAI GPT-4.5. This new model in the GPT series brings Vibe Check []The post Everything You Need to Know About OpenAIs GPT-4.5 appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.

OpenAI has been at the top of the generative AI game for the last 3 years, releasing one ground breaking model after the other. Yesterday, they released GPT-4.5, a model with a higher EQ and creative sense for everyday tasks. The model competes with OpenAIs flagship and by far the most used model GPT-4o []The post GPT-4.5 vs GPT-4o: Is GPT-4.5 Really Better? appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.

Autonomous agents are making our lives easier by automating tasks while transforming how we interact with technology. Last year, OpenAI had brought agentic features to AI chatbots by introducing Scheduled Tasks and Operator Agent, while Anthropic did the same with Computer Use on Claude. China has now stepped into the world of autonomous AI agents []The post Is Manus AI Better than OpenAI Operator? appeared first on Analytics Vidhya.