Lightning kills 8 pupils in Uganda

PUPILS, teachers, parents and the neighbours of Buramba Primary School in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, were on Thursday evening left in shock, after lightning struck eight pupils to death and left 23 critically injured.
The shocking incident happened at 4:45 PM during a simple drizzle, as the pupils were in class for evening lessons at the school.
According to the Bushenyi District Police Commander SP Richard Anyama, the lightning struck only P.6 and P.7 classes.
The dead pupils included four girls and four boys and 6 of them were in P.7 while two were in Primary 6.
31 pupils were struck down, of whom 8 died on the spot and 23 were rushed to Kampala International University (KIU) Western Campus in Ishaka Town, where they are being treated.
Anyama confirmed the dead as Guston Mukundamukama P7, Hillary Tusiime (13) P7, Agnes Kyomugisha (14) P.7, Junior Nuwahereza (16) P7, Danson Nuwamanya P7, Grace Ainembabazi (14) P7, Anitah Nuwandita (14) P6 and Confort Akampurira (12) P6.
Efforts to contact the school’s head teacher were futile.
This was the second time it rained in the area in recent days and also for the first time in a number of years in the middle of a dry spell.
On Sunday, a heavy downpour characterized by strong winds and hailstones, destroyed plantations and livestock in the adjacent areas of Nyamitanga, Kyamutiganzi and Irembezi, all in Kyabugimbi sub county in Bushenyi district.

A case of Side flash!

ETOWAH, Ark. (July 3, 2014) Steven Shepherd, 16, died in a hospital after lightning struck him as he stood outside of a church in the Carroll’s Corner community in Arkansas, a sheriff says.
Shepherd was standing next to a tree Tuesday night when a storm began to move in, Mississippi County Sheriff Dale Cook said.
The boy’s mother was working inside the church with others and began to look for him after noticing he was missing.
The teenager was found lying face down next to a tree that had been struck by lightning.
He was taken to the South Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Osceola, where he later died.

Source: http://www.kwtx.com/weather/headlines/Lightning-Strike-Kills-Teen-Standing-Outside-Of-Church-265732061.html

short lightning safety YouTube releases

Hello - I thought you might like to see a couple of short lightning safety
YouTube releases as examples of what can be done and easily transmitted by
Facebook, YouTube, etc. 

If any of you want to modify any of the materials at the website
(www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov) for your country to be in the languages your
country uses and to show situations and people and dress that would be
native to your area or to use, the people at our National Weather Service
(particularly John Jensenius)have worked with many non-US people to provide
the source materials that can be modified for use in your country or region.


Here's a great article based on an interview John Jensenius  (the father of
lightning safety week) recently did.  He focuses on the ones that are
DANGEROUS, not the common but harmless myths:

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/debunked-5-lightning-myths-could-k
ill-you-n135971

John's 2013 Lightning Safety Message: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPcgOr24sWY

John's 2014 Lightning Safety Message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yvhJWUNUs&feature=youtu.be

Lightning Safety website:  www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov

Here's one done by Ryan Blumenthal, MD, from South Africa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTkjlUwdXeo&list=PLxJ8ks5VMybCzbxHc9HVaq4oPs4
jtl-S6&feature=share&index=3



Mary Ann Cooper, MD, Founding Director
African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetism
Professor Emerita, Department of Emergency Medicine
University of Illinois @ Chicago
www.uic.edu/labs/lightninginjury
************************************
    'WHEN THUNDER ROARS, GO INDOORS'
  National Lightning Safety Awareness Week
                  Last full week of June
          www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov
************************************

Research Training Fellowship for Developing Country Scientists (RTF-DCS): Call for Applications for 2014-15

Greetings from the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre)!!

2.       The NAM S&T Centre invites applications from the scientists, technologists and engineers of the developing countries for the award of the Fellowships under its ‘Research Training Fellowship for Developing Country Scientists (RTF-DCS)’ scheme for the year 2014-15. The RTF-DCS Programme was initiated by the Centre two years ago with full financial support of the Government of India, Department of Science & Technology (DST) and is aimed at capacity building of the developing countries in the fields of Science & Technology through the affiliation of their scientists with the Indian scientific and academic Centres of Excellence.

3.       The salient features of the RTF-DCS programme are as under:-

         (i)    No. of Fellowships: 20

         (ii)   Duration of Fellowship: 6 months

(iii)  Broad Disciplines, in which Fellowship are available: Agricultural Sciences; Biological and Medical Sciences; Chemical Sciences; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; Earth Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Materials, Minerals and Metallurgy; and Multi-disciplinary & Other Areas.

(iv)  Eligibility Conditions: Scientists/ researchers from any developing country (except India) below 40 years of age, possessing at least a Master’s Degree in any Natural Science subject or equivalent degree in Engineering or Medicine and allied disciplines.

(v)  Financial Terms: Full financial assistance to the Fellows, including (a) round trip international airfare by excursion/economy class, (b) a consolidated monthly Fellowship amount of Indian Rupees (INR) 35,000 [about US$575 at the current exchange rate] (non-taxable) to cover accommodation, meals  and  other miscellaneous expenses and (c) a one-time grant of INR 15,000 [about US$250] for domestic travel, including airport transfers, visiting research institutions, attending scientific events and field-trips within India. The Indian host institutions will also be suitably compensated for their services for implementation of the programme.

4.       Detailed guidelines of the Fellowship scheme are given in the attached Announcement Brochure.

To prepare the proposal, the applicants should carefully study the material available in these guidelines. It is advisable for an applicant to make a prior contact with an institution where work is in progress in the area of interest to the applicant or a concerned Indian scientist, and obtain consent that the applicant, if selected, will be accepted to work in the institution on the proposed research project. A copy of the consent letter should be enclosed with the application. A suggestive list of Indian academic and research institutions has been enclosed with the Announcement, but the applicant is free to contact any other institution in India about which information may be gathered either through Internet search or other means.

However, even if an applicant has not been able to secure such prior consent, the NAM S&T Centre will try to find a suitable matching institution for him/her.

5.       Application should be submitted to the NAM S&T Centre in the prescribed format (enclosed with the Brochure). Only electronic communication will be accepted, therefore filled-in application form and the enclosures should be sent as attachments to an e-mail, after scanning the documents wherever required. Please do not send hard copies of the application.

6.       Selection will be made by an International Selection Committee and will be based on the quality of the research proposal submitted by the applicant, applicant’s academic merit and available slots in the Fellowship scheme.

7.       The last date for submission of completed application form along with required enclosures is Monday, 14^th  July 2014

You are earnestly requested to please widely disseminate this announcement to the concerned researchers and research institutions in your country.



If you are interested, send email to acle@mubs.ac.ug

NAM S&T Centre – DST (South Africa) Training Fellowship on Minerals Processing & Beneficiation: Call for Applications for 2015

The Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre; www.namstct.org) has initiated a new Joint NAM S&T Centre – DST (South Africa) Training Fellowship on Minerals Processing & Beneficiation jointly with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of South Africa [www.dst.gov.za] and is pleased to invite applications for the same for the year 2015. The Fellowship is aimed at providing opportunity to the scientists and technologists from the member countries of the NAM S&T Centre for affiliation with MINTEK, South Africa (www.mintek.co.za) for a period of three months to address the skills gap in the minerals beneficiation value chain and to get exposed to minerals processing technologies and undergo in-service training attached to the existing MINTEK programmes. This training programme will provide direct and indirect benefits to the Fellows from the member countries of the NAM S&T Centre and the host country, South Africa, through creation of networks and exposure to new developments in mineral processing and beneficiation.

Under this scheme, twenty Fellowships are available for the year 2015 each for a maximum duration of three months. The sending country or the candidates themselves will have to arrange for their international travel to and from South Africa. DST (South Africa) will provide a subsistence allowance @ of US$300 per month, in South African Rand, for meals and out-of-pocket expenses in South Africa for the duration of the Fellowship. Accommodation will also be covered by the host country.

Applications recommended by the parent institutions of the interested scientists, technologists and engineers may be submitted in the relevant format by email directly to Mr. Selby Modiba / Ms. Palesa Motsoeneng of DST, South Africa at their email addresses Selby.Modiba@dst.gov.za; Palesa.Motsoeneng@dst.gov.za.

In matter of selection, the decision of DST, South Africa shall be final which will also send the Fellowship Award Letters to the selected applicants. All applicants are required to seek administrative clearance from their respective parent organisations. Copies of the guidelines for the Fellowship and the application form are attached (also available at the Centre’s Website www.namstct.org). The Guidelines may please be read carefully before making the application.

The last date for submitting application for the Fellowship is 31^st August 2014.

You are earnestly requested to please widely disseminate this announcement to the concerned scientists, researchers, minerals processing professionals, research institutions, and industry in your country.

If you are interested, please contact acle@mubs.ac.ug

Lightning Application and Research Community (LARC) to Launch at International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity

At the International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity (ICAE 2014) Conference June 15-20 in Norman Okla., Earth Networks, the operator of the world’s largest lightning network, will formally announce the creation of the Lightning Application and Research Community (LARC), a new group for researchers and scientists with a mutual interest in furthering the understanding of atmospheric lightning. By fostering communications among researchers and scientists from both academic and public realms who study cloud-to-ground and in-cloud lightning, the mission of LARC is to create a forum for ongoing dialog and the collaborative exchange of lightning science research.  “With the growing interest in utilizing total lightning data in research, there needed to be a way to stimulate discussion and share efforts among the research and application community. The formation of LARC will provide a platform for scientists and researchers who share a common goal in furthering atmospheric science and associated technologies for monitoring and measuring lightning,” says Chris Sloop, Chief Technology Officer, Earth Networks.  More than 20 academic and research organizations currently utilize total lightning data from Earth Networks Total Lightning Network, a global network of more than 800 lightning sensors situated in over 40 countries around the world. The sensors within the network detect both cloud-to-ground lightning and in-cloud lightning strikes. In-cloud lightning has been shown to be a valuable precursor to severe weather, including strong winds, hail and tornadoes – and serves as the foundation of the Earth Networks Early Warning System.  During the ICAE conference, researchers from Earth Networks and other academic and research organizations, such as the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil, will present sessions and posters based on data collected by the sensors within the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network. Highlights include:      Guinea-Conakry Lightning Network: In 2013, as part of a public-private partnership with the National Meteorological Service of Guinea, Africa, Earth Networks established the first-ever comprehensive lightning-based early warning system. An overview of the demonstration project and technology will be presented.     Proximity Alerts Based on Total Lightning: This poster session will present the science of lightning-based warnings based on the detection of in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning.     BrasilDAT Lightning Network: Researchers from INPE will present a poster session entitled “Peak Current Analysis of Negative Flashes Detected by E-fast Antenna and BrasilDAT Lightning Location System.”     ENTLN Status Update: This session will focus on the heights of cloud pulses as detected by the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network. The network, for the first time, enables the measurement of heights over large areas, such as the U.S.     Total Lightning Data in Severe Storms: This poster session investigates how properties such as lightning flash rate, in-cloud/cloud-to-ground ratio, and peak currents may be used to characterize the lightning data in different types of severe storms.

Safe from lightning when inside a car?? Interesting read

Couple Rescued After Lightning Strike Engulfs Truck In Flames Mid-Drive (VIDEO)

A car can be a safe place to ride out a lightning storm -- as long as you aren't driving when the bolt strikes.
That's what happened to Al and Betty Perry recently as they were driving down a stretch of highway near Edmonton, Canada. The couple's car was struck by lightning while it was in motion, resulting in a fiery blast that melted parts of the vehicle.
Surveillance cameras captured footage of the strike.
"It sounded like a sonic boom,” Al Perry recalled in a later interview with CTV News.
The bolt deployed the vehicle's airbags and apparently fried its electronics, locking the couple inside while smoke began to fill the cabin. Despite their best efforts, the two couldn't escape the smoldering truck, Al Perry told CTV.
"I turned my body and put my two feet up and tried to kick the window out,” he said. “I don’t know how many times I tried and tried and tried."
But just as their truck became what Al Perry called a "coffin," a police officer drove by. He helped rescue Al and Betty, and neither sustained serious injuries in the incident.
The damage done to the Perry's car is consistent with findings from the National Weather Service, which reports that lightning striking a car can ruin the vehicle's electrical system, leaving it inoperable.
According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, if you find yourself driving during a storm, the best choice is to pull over.
"We suggest pulling off to the side of the road in a safe manner, turning on the emergency blinkers, turning off the engine, putting one's hands in one's lap, and waiting out the storm," the institute says on its website.
Contrary to popular belief, a car's ability to shelter its occupants from lightning has nothing to do with the vehicle's tires. Instead, it's the metal of the car's chassis, which directs the energy toward the ground, that saves lives. For maximum lightning safety, the car's windows should also be rolled up.
The NLSI notes, however, that "situations alter results." If the car is made of fiberglass or is a convertible, for example, the conductor effect may not work.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/08/lightning-strikes-truck-video_n_5468879.html