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Gamma bursts are common in thunderstorms

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Why is thunder so powerful? Cardiff University's Jessica Leigh Jones explains

A group of scientists have discovered that gamma-ray bursts are common in thunderstorms here on Earth.

Gamma-ray bursts or cosmic bangs, are one of the most powerful explosions of energy in the universe.

The high energy explosions normally happen when a star explodes in space.

It was only recently that scientists discovered that these cosmic bangs happen here on Earth.

Now, new research, released at the American Geophysical Union's Fall meeting, has found that around 1,100 of these cosmic bangs occur everyday here on Earth.

They used a Nasa satellite to monitor different types of storms on Earth and found that every storm, no matter how big or small, had gamma-ray bursts.

Scientists from France and the Netherlands were also able to confirm that lightning produces X-rays.