New research suggests that the elusive will-o\u2019-the-wisp is triggered when flashes of \u201cmicrolightning\u201d arc between electrically charged bubbles of methane in water. As multiple bubbles of methane oxidize and combine, they produce the will-o\u2019-the-wisp\u2019s eerie light, according to the authors of a study published September 29 in the journal PNAS<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a paradox here: If you have a fire, you put it out with water. But little water droplets can make a fire,\u201d said senior study author Dr. Richard Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and professor of chemistry at Stanford University in California.<\/p>\n Using high-speed cameras recording video at 24,000 frames per second, the study authors captured flashes of electricity zipping between the surfaces of tiny charged bubbles. When oppositely charged bubbles came together, electrons jumped from a negatively charged surface to a positive one and generated a spark, Zare told CNN.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s lightning,\u201d he said. Though this lightning is at a minuscule scale, \u201cit has enough energy to make all types of chemical reactions occur.\u201d Future experiments with this mechanism could help researchers develop more sustainable methods for common chemical processes, Zare added.<\/p>\n Re-creating microlightning in a lab<\/p>\n Other explanations for glowing will-o\u2019-the-wisp lights don\u2019t hold up under scrutiny, Zare told CNN. Proposals that the lights were swarming insects or birds carrying glowing fungus were quickly debunked. Static electricity needs dry conditions to spark, which wouldn\u2019t occur in swampy, water-logged ecosystems.<\/p>\n When the Italian chemist and physicist Alessandro Volta \u2014 who discovered methane in 1776 \u2014 suggested that lightning ignited methane in swamp gas to create will-o\u2019-the-wisps, he was closer to the truth than he suspected.<\/p>\n The will-o’-the-wisp’s spectral glow, depicted in this detail from an engraving by Josiah Wood Whymper published in 1849’s “Phenomena of Nature,” now may have a scientific explanation: tiny flashes of lightning that ignite microscopic methane bubbles. – Science & Society Picture Library\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cHe thought it was lightning in the sky,\u201d Zare said. \u201cBut no. It\u2019s microlightning.\u201d<\/p>\n In a prior study, Zare and other researchers showed that charged water droplets measuring between 1 micron and 20 microns in diameter \u2014 smaller than the width of a human hair \u2014 could generate microlightning<\/a> powerful enough to form organic molecules. Billions of years ago, this process may have produced the building blocks of Earth\u2019s earliest life.<\/p>\n The new experiments took place in a water-filled container. A microbubble generator pumped methane bubbles into the water through a nozzle. As the methane bubbles filled the water, the scientists observed microlightning flashes jumping between the surfaces of adjacent bubbles, resembling microlightning seen in earlier experiments with charged water droplets.<\/p>\n \u201cThe article puts forward a very interesting hypothesis and reports some evidence in support,\u201d Dr. Alexei Khalizov, a physical chemist and a professor of chemistry and environmental science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, told CNN in an email.<\/p>\n However, lingering questions accompany this explanation for the will-o\u2019-the-wisp phenomenon, said Khalizov, who was not involved in the new research.<\/p>\n For example, the researchers\u2019 experiments used pure, deionized water, while real swamp water is teeming with organic and inorganic compounds, Khalizov said. Among these compounds are salts called electrolytes, which could suppress charge separation between gas bubbles.<\/p>\n \u201cDeionized water is a good insulator. Regular water is not,\u201d he said. \u201cWill the reported phenomenon even occur in non-deionized water?\u201d<\/p>\n And while the experiments show the presence of microlightning between bubbles, the glow was not reproduced at a level that would be seen in a swamp. Nevertheless, Khalizov said that \u201cthe process is still very intriguing\u201d and that further study of microlightning could reveal their role in oxidizing trace gases released at the sea surface \u2014 some of which play a role in global warming.<\/p>\n Beyond will-o-the-wisps<\/p>\n Harnessing microlightning could present more sustainable options for chemistry, according to Zare. \u201cWe\u2019re doing this at room temperature without applying any external electric field and without necessarily having to add catalysts,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n One possible application for microlightning could be triggering chemical reactions that reduce atmospheric methane, the most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Methane makes up about 11% of greenhouse gas emissions<\/a> globally and is about 28% more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is: Can we really scale it up and make it commercial and industrial?\u201d Zare asked. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m working on.\u201d<\/p>\n Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine. She is the author of \u201cRise of the Zombie Bugs<\/a>: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control\u201d (Hopkins Press).<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aafe7072d8fb214aced147ed52398d92.jpeg\"\/)
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