Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. For as long as people have traveled through Lake Maracaibo ...

Storm chasers flock to remote Catatumbo, where most experts estimate that lightning strikes roughly 140 to 160 nights a year, with flashes often visible seven to 10 hours per night. Almost anywhere ...

PUERTO CONCHA, Venezuela—Normally, there is just an hour between the sun going down and the sky lighting up over the Catatumbo Delta. It’s already dusk, and Dylan and I are sitting on a dock in a ...

Lightning was likely the first source of fire for prehistoric humans—and it remains, along with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, one of nature’s most amazing displays of power. One place in ...