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Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
English majors at Chinese universities face uncertain future as AI replaces basic skills
AI translation tools now achieve over 95 per cent accuracy at 1 per cent the cost of human services. BEIJING - Once boasting abundant opportunities to land promising careers, foreign language majors are now confronting profound change as artificial intelligence ( AI ) disrupts traditional career paths and universities implement sweeping reforms. In 2023, the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province, was among the first top-tier universities in China to discontinue its English major. In 2024, the University of International Business and Economics and Beijing Language and Culture University announced the suspension of enrolment for several master's programmes in less commonly taught languages, including Japanese translation and Italian interpretation. In May 2024, the University of Jinan in Shandong province announced it had halted enrolment in nine undergraduate majors, including Korean and German. That same month, Shenyang Aerospace University in Liaoning province listed 10 majors paused for enrolment, including English. According to the university undergraduate major approval catalog covering 2018-2022 released by the Chinese Ministry of Education, a total of 28 foreign language-related majors were discontinued by 109 universities. Among these, 26 universities discontinued Japanese, 21 discontinued English, and 10 discontinued Korean. Golden era over Language majors enjoyed a golden era from 1999 to 2010, fuelled by China's World Trade Organisation accession in December 2001. During this period, universities offering foreign language programmes surged from 200 to over 600, representing a 200 per cent increase, according to education news portal EOL. By 2010, the total number of English majors in colleges nationwide reached 850,000, with employment rates consistently exceeding 90 per cent . In 2005, English graduates commanded starting salaries 15 per cent above the national undergraduate average. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore July BTO launch to have over 4,600 balance flats, 2 BTO projects with under than 3-year wait Singapore Acute psychiatry services to be expanded across all healthcare clusters: MOH Singapore 'Kpods broke our marriage, shattered our children': Woman on husband's vape addiction Business US tariffs may last well after Trump; crucial for countries to deepen trade ties: SM Lee Multimedia Telling the Singapore story for 180 years Asia Indonesia police detain 12 suspects over baby trafficking ring linked to Singapore Life Walking for exercise? Here are tips on how to do it properly Singapore 'Nobody deserves to be alone': Why Mummy and Acha have fostered over 20 children in the past 22 years This trajectory, however, has reversed dramatically in recent years. AI translation tools now achieve over 95 per cent accuracy at 1 per cent the cost of human services, and have seized 40 per cent of the general translation market. The shift has eliminated demand for basic 'human translation machines 'while creating niches for 'translation managers' proficient in AI collaboration, EOL said. Employment statistics reflect the crisis. The 2023 employment rate for language majors fell to 76.8 per cent , 5.6 percentage points below the national undergraduate average, according to a report by Beijing-based education consultancy MyCOS. Only 52 per cent of language majors secured jobs related to their major, forcing nearly half to switch fields. Satisfaction with such majors plummeted from 78 per cent in 2010 to 67 per cen t in 2023, the report said. Traditional employment sectors contracted sharply. International trade and business hires declined from 28 per cent in 2010 to 18 per cent in 2023, while translation and localization roles halved from 15 per cent to 8 per cent during the period. Education and tutoring dropped from 25 per cent to 22 per cent , with K12 English training experiencing particularly severe contraction, MyCOS said. A new graduate of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) , who asked to be identified by her surname Zeng, said she has witnessed the decline of English majors at one of the country's best foreign language higher-learning institutions as the minimum entry scores for its flagship English programme have dropped over the years. For Ms Zeng, the trade-off between pragmatism and the nuances and beauty of the English language is a daily concern. She said: 'When I tell people I studied English, their first question is always about AI – 'why bother learning English when AI can do translation?' they ask.' She added: 'What we study is the aesthetic beauty of language, without which, even with ChatGPT, people cannot tell whether the English written by the AI tool is good or not.' Moreover, when learning English, students also understand the political system of English-speaking countries, critical thinking, and the philosophy of the Western world, which are all useful knowledge to have, she said. Through intensive reading in English, students are exposed to independent thinking, and concepts such as equality and caring for others, she said. However, Ms Zeng acknowledged the difficulties English major graduates face in landing jobs in the face of economic headwinds. After experimenting with cross-border e-commerce livestreams and corporate training, she now tutors wealthy Beijing students – work that pays very well but offers no stability. 'I am afraid the difficulty for English graduates to find jobs is that they have not learned the language well enough, and they are not capable of even writing a simple e-mail,' she said. 'It is something I cannot understand, but it is part of the harsh truth.' She said she still recommends high school graduates to learn English at BFSU, which has a great environment and caring and highly capable teachers. Mr Zhao Xincheng's post-graduation odyssey illustrates the decline of English as a major. A graduate of Wuhan University in Hubei province, Mr Zhao secured a tutoring position last autumn, only to receive a termination notice in April – two months before his graduation. 'No explanation, just 'position eliminated',' he said. Multiple subsequent interviews yielded nothing. Mr Zhao said he is not inferior to his classmates in terms of language skills, appearance, personality and communication skills. He believes he has been terminated for no good reason and feels frustrated. Mr Zhao is now preparing to take the civil service exams in 2025 . He said he does not recommend English as a career choice for students. If they like to study languages, they should have skills in other fields to increase their employment competitiveness, he said. Broader decline There is a broader trend of English declining as a major said Professor Wu Peng, dean of Jiangsu University's Overseas Education College. Since 2022, he has found fewer students inquiring about enrolling in an English major, he said. There are also fewer students with high entrance scores choosing the major, while more English major students are choosing to later switch to engineering, he said. However, Prof Wu believes the decline is not limited to English as a major, or China alone. It exists in liberal arts majors in almost all countries as well as 'less useful' engineering majors, he said. Prof Wu attributed the waning interest to policy shifts (like the 'double reduction' policy reducing K-12 English tutoring jobs), technological disruption (AI handling 80 per cent of basic translation), and the discipline's core weakness. Its biggest failing is producing over 100,000 graduates annually who are mainly focused on pure language skills, while market demand now centers on high-end interdisciplinary competence. Associate Professor Dai Jiangwen, head of the English department at Beijing Jiaotong University, rejected claims that English majors are 'declining', arguing that the discipline requires optimisation aligned with national needs and the fourth industrial revolution. She emphasised foreign languages' critical role in safeguarding information sovereignty, developing language technologies like machine translation, and preserving linguistic diversity. Prof Dai stressed the 'irreplaceable humanistic attributes' of the discipline in the AI era – fostering emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, and critical thinking that AI lacks. Both professors agreed the core issue is structural. Prof Dai pinpointed outdated curricula, faculty misalignment with industry needs, rigid disciplinary classifications, and obsolete training models. Prof Wu said graduates face intense competition from students in other fields who also possess strong English skills plus specialised knowledge. Prof Dai strongly recommended English majors include language intelligence programmes in their studies, calling it a 'direct path' for humanities students to enter the AI industry. She pointed to one programme that combines linguistics, AI, data science and cultural studies as an example. Prof Wu advised current students to urgently build 'English plus' skills (for example international law and data science), master technical tools, and target high-growth niche areas like specialised translation services or cross-border e-commerce. He recommended the major only to students with clear interdisciplinary ambitions and international career plans, favoring dual-degree 'English plus X' paths. Prof Wu said while national policies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and reform and opening-up provide long-term demand for English talent, 'pure English' ability is devalued. He stressed the urgent need for 'English plus minor languages' or 'language plus professional' compound skills, noting there was a deficit of more than 500,000 students who are fluent in English plus languages like Russian or Arabic, adding that current faculty structures are ill-prepared. Both professors agreed AI will reshape, not replace, language fields. Prof Dai said machines cannot fully replicate human translators' creativity, especially in nuanced communication and cultural adaptation. Prof Wu predicted AI would automate low-end translation but create new roles like 'AI trainers' or 'cultural adapters', leading to human-AI collaboration. He emphasised that humanities disciplines, and exploring 'what makes us human' fundamentally define the boundaries of AI and other technologies. He said, 'AI will force the humanities to upgrade, not disappear, and create experts who can use AI but understand humans better than AI.' CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Asia News Network
6 days ago
- Business
- Asia News Network
Chinese foreign language majors face uncertain future as AI replaces basic skills
July 16, 2025 BEIJING – Once boasting abundant opportunities to land promising careers, foreign language majors are now confronting profound change as artificial intelligence disrupts traditional career paths and universities implement sweeping reforms. In 2023, the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province, was among the first top-tier universities in China to discontinue its English major. In 2024, the University of International Business and Economics and Beijing Language and Culture University announced the suspension of enrollment for several master's programs in less commonly taught languages, including Japanese translation and Italian interpretation. In May 2024, the University of Jinan in Shandong province announced it had halted enrollment in nine undergraduate majors, including Korean and German. That same month, Shenyang Aerospace University in Liaoning province listed 10 majors paused for enrollment, including English. According to the university undergraduate major approval catalog covering 2018-2022 released by the Ministry of Education, a total of 28 foreign language-related majors were discontinued by 109 universities. Among these, 26 universities discontinued Japanese, 21 discontinued English, and 10 discontinued Korean. Golden era over Language majors enjoyed a golden era from 1999 to 2010, fueled by China's World Trade Organization accession in December 2001. During this period, universities offering foreign language programs surged from 200 to over 600, representing a 200 percent increase, according to education news portal EOL. By 2010, the total number of English majors in colleges nationwide reached 850,000, with employment rates consistently exceeding 90 percent. In 2005, English graduates commanded starting salaries 15 percent above the national undergraduate average. This trajectory, however, has reversed dramatically in recent years. AI translation tools now achieve over 95 percent accuracy at 1 percent the cost of human services, and have seized 40 percent of the general translation market. The shift has eliminated demand for basic 'human translation machines 'while creating niches for 'translation managers' proficient in AI collaboration, EOL said. Employment statistics reflect the crisis. The 2023 employment rate for language majors fell to 76.8 percent, 5.6 percentage points below the national undergraduate average, according to a report by Beijing-based education consultancy MyCOS. Only 52 percent of language majors secured jobs related to their major, forcing nearly half to switch fields. Satisfaction with such majors plummeted from 78 percent in 2010 to 67 percent in 2023, the report said. Traditional employment sectors contracted sharply. International trade and business hires declined from 28 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2023, while translation and localization roles halved from 15 percent to 8 percent during the period. Education and tutoring dropped from 25 percent to 22 percent, with K12 English training experiencing particularly severe contraction, MyCOS said. A new graduate of Beijing Foreign Studies University, who asked to be identified by her surname Zeng, said she has witnessed the decline of English majors at one of the country's best foreign language higher-learning institutions as the minimum entry scores for its flagship English program have dropped over the years. For Zeng, the trade-off between pragmatism and the nuances and beauty of the English language is a daily concern. She said: 'When I tell people I studied English, their first question is always about AI — 'why bother learning English when AI can do translation' they ask?' 'What we study is the aesthetic beauty of language, without which, even with ChatGPT, people cannot tell whether the English written by the AI tool is good or not.' Moreover, when learning English, students also understand the political system of English-speaking countries, critical thinking, and the philosophy of the Western world, which are all useful knowledge to have, she said. Through intensive reading in English, students are exposed to independent thinking, and concepts such as equality and caring for others, she said. However, Zeng acknowledge the difficulties English major graduates face in landing jobs in the face of economic headwinds. After experimenting with cross-border e-commerce livestreams and corporate training, she now tutors wealthy Beijing students — work that pays very well but offers no stability. 'I am afraid the difficulty for English graduates to find jobs is that they have not learned the language well enough, and they are not capable of even writing a simple e-mail,' she said. 'It is something I cannot understand, but it is part of the harsh truth.' She said she still recommends high school graduates learn English at BFSU, which has a great environment and caring and highly capable teachers. Zhao Xincheng's post-graduation odyssey illustrates the decline of English as a major. A graduate of Wuhan University in Hubei province, Zhao secured a tutoring position last autumn, only to receive a termination notice in April — two months before his graduation. 'No explanation, just 'position eliminated',' he said. Subsequent multiple interviews yielded nothing. Zhao said he is not inferior to his classmates in terms of language skills, appearance, personality and communication skills. He believes he has been terminated for no good reason and feels frustrated. Zhao is now preparing to take the civil service exams next year. He said he does not recommend English as a career choice for students. If they like to study languages, they should have skills in other fields to increase their employment competitiveness, he said. Broader decline There is a broader trend of English declining as a major said Wu Peng, dean of Jiangsu University's Overseas Education College. Since 2022, he has found fewer students inquiring about enrolling in an English major, he said. There are also fewer students with high entrance scores choosing the major, while more English major students are choosing to later switch to engineering, he said. However, Wu believes the decline is not limited to English as a major, or China alone. It exists in liberal arts majors in almost all countries as well as 'less useful' engineering majors, he said. Wu attributed the waning interest to policy shifts (like the 'double reduction' policy reducing K-12 English tutoring jobs), technological disruption (AI handling 80 percent of basic translation), and the discipline's core weakness. Its biggest failing is producing over 100,000 graduates annually who are mainly focused on pure language skills, while market demand now centers on high-end interdisciplinary competence. Dai Jiangwen, head of the English department at Beijing Jiaotong University, rejected claims that English majors are 'declining', arguing that the discipline requires optimization aligned with national needs and the fourth industrial revolution. She emphasized foreign languages' critical role in safeguarding information sovereignty, developing language technologies like machine translation, and preserving linguistic diversity. Dai stressed the 'irreplaceable humanistic attributes' of the discipline in the AI era — fostering emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, and critical thinking that AI lacks. Both professors agreed the core issue is structural. Dai pinpointed outdated curricula, faculty misalignment with industry needs, rigid disciplinary classifications, and obsolete training models. Wu said graduates face intense competition from students in other fields who also possess strong English skills plus specialized knowledge. Dai strongly recommended English majors include language intelligence programs in their studies, calling it a 'direct path' for humanities students to enter the AI industry. She pointed to one program that combines linguistics, AI, data science and cultural studies as an example. Wu advised current students to urgently build 'English plus' skills (for example international law and data science), master technical tools, and target high-growth niche areas like specialized translation services or cross-border e-commerce. He recommended the major only to students with clear interdisciplinary ambitions and international career plans, favoring dual-degree 'English plus X' paths. Wu said while national policies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and reform and opening-up provide long-term demand for English talent, 'pure English' ability is devalued. He stressed the urgent need for 'English plus minor languages' or 'language plus professional' compound skills, noting there was a deficit of more than 500,000 students who are fluent in English plus languages like Russian or Arabic, adding that current faculty structures are ill-prepared. Both professors agreed AI will reshape, not replace, language fields. Dai said machines cannot fully replicate human translators' creativity, especially in nuanced communication and cultural adaptation. Wu predicted AI would automate low-end translation but create new roles like 'AI trainers' or 'cultural adapters', leading to human-AI collaboration. He emphasized that humanities disciplines, and exploring 'what makes us human' fundamentally define the boundaries of AI and other technologies. He said: 'AI will force the humanities to upgrade, not disappear, and create experts who can use AI but understand humans better than AI.'
India Today
04-07-2025
- Science
- India Today
105 pillars of light seen over the Himalayas. We now know what they were
On the night of May 19, 2022, the skies above the southern Tibetan Plateau, near the sacred Pumoyongcuo Lake, were illuminated by a breathtaking display: 105 towering pillars of red light flickered above the amateur photographers captured the images, details of which are published in a paper in Springer Nature. The phenomenon, now confirmed as the largest outbreak of 'red sprites' ever recorded above a single South Asian thunderstorm, has finally been explained thanks to a detailed study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China. The lightning that caused the sprites was mostly of positive type. (Photo: Angel An and Shuchang Dong) advertisementWHAT WERE THE PILLARS OF LIGHT? Red sprites are a rare and enigmatic form of high-altitude lightning, occurring between 40 and 55 miles above the Earth, far above conventional thunderstorm typical lightning, these electrical discharges manifest as fleeting, jellyfish-shaped flashes of crimson that can sometimes be crowned with bluish that remarkable night, two Chinese astrophotographers, Angel An and Shuchang Dong, captured the full spectacle, including not only the 105 red sprites but also 16 secondary jets and at least four elusive green emissions known as 'ghost sprites'—the first such sightings in TRIGGERED THE PILLARS OF LIGHT?Scientists found that these sprites were caused by powerful lightning strikes that hit the ground from the top of strikes came from a huge thunderstorm system, called a mesoscale convective complex, which covered over 2,00,000 square kilometers from the Ganges Plain all the way to the Tibetan Plateau. The phenomenon is now confirmed as the largest outbreak of 'red sprites'. (Photo:Angel An and Shuchang Dong) The lightning that caused the sprites was mostly of positive type and had very strong peak currents, over +50 kiloamperes. These strikes happened in the flatter, widespread part of the storm, similar to what's seen in big storms over the U.S. Great Plains and parts of coastal unravel the precise origins of each sprite, the research team developed an innovative method that synchronised video frames with satellite motion and star field data, achieving timing accuracy within one allowed them to link about 70 percent of the sprites to their triggering lightning strikes, providing unprecedented insight into the coupling between thunderstorms and the upper discovery not only confirms that Himalayan thunderstorms can produce some of the world's most complex and intense upper-atmospheric electrical discharges, but also opens new avenues for studying the physical and chemical impacts of such events on regional and global atmospheric scientists and skywatchers alike, the 105 pillars of light above the Himalayas have become a landmark event in the exploration of Earth's most mysterious lightning phenomena.- Ends
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The most otherworldly, mysterious forms of lightning on Earth
Our atmosphere is like one big electrical circuit: Thunderstorms are the batteries that charge it up, and lightning is the current flowing through it. On the ground we see evidence of this circuit when lightning cracks and strikes the ground, or when it lights up deep inside a thundercloud, but high above the clouds lies a secret electrical zoo full of sprites, elves, and jets. These fantastical terms refer to light displays called transient luminous events or TLEs that occur in Earth's upper atmosphere during thunderstorms. 'TLEs are mysterious, beautiful, and uniquely different from conventional lightning, yet they connect weather, space, and electricity in one dramatic moment. They occur high above the clouds, almost silently, and are invisible to most people—but they reflect powerful processes unfolding deep within thunderstorms,' says Hailiang Huang, a Ph.D. student at the University of Science and Technology of China who studies TLEs. The very first photographic observations of these events in 1989 captured red flashes streaking across the sky in the blink of an eye. The displays were dubbed red sprites, inspired by characters in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and a medley of other fairytale names followed, as researchers discovered new types of TLEs. Today, scientists are still working to understand these curious phenomena—what causes them, how often they happen, and what they can tell us about Earth's atmosphere. Just like storm chasing, some photographers have taken to sprite chasing, searching for elusive red sprites and other TLEs above nighttime thunderstorms. (See rare colorful lightning sprites dance above a hurricane.) Red sprites have been observed off the coast of Europe and over the U.S. Great Plains, but in 2022, astrophotographers Angel An and Shuchang Dong captured 105 red sprites, the largest number ever seen in a single thunderstorm in South Asia, researchers recently reported in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Science. 'Red sprites are the most iconic [of TLEs],' says Huang, the lead author of the paper. They flash into existence for just a fraction of a second in a spindly root-like system of red streaks. The phenomenon is caused by positive lightning that strikes the ground, creating an electric field that reaches up into the atmosphere, about 50 to 90 kilometers above Earth. On the Tibetan Plateau, north of the Himalayas, thunderstorms are very common. The dramatic changes in elevation produce intense convection in the atmosphere and the churning of wet air creates clouds—a rich laboratory for studying TLEs. Yet none had been recorded there until An and Dong's storm imagery in 2022. Huang and his collaborator Gaopeng Lu, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China, developed a method to synchronize the videos and photos that An and Dong took on the Tibetan Plateau. Using satellite data and maps of the stars in the night sky to determine the timestamps of each video frame, the team linked around 70 percent of verified sprites to the parent lightning that triggered them. To Huang, the results demonstrate the scientific value of amateur observations. 'It's exciting that this field brings together professional scientists and passionate amateurs, working side by side to understand something so ephemeral, yet so profound.' Not only did the photographers capture a significant number of red sprites, the Himalayan storm also featured even rarer TLEs called jets and ghosts. The team found 16 secondary jets, powerful columns of often blue or purple light darting upwards into the sky, and at least four ghosts, green hazy glows that can sometimes hover above red sprites. 'While sprites [and other TLEs] may appear delicate and silent in the upper atmosphere, they are often linked to powerful, sometimes devastating weather systems,' says Huang. 'Understanding them not only satisfies our curiosity about the upper atmosphere, but also helps us learn more about the storms we face here on Earth.' (Here's the science behind the world's strongest lightning strikes.) Different types of TLEs vary based on altitude, the type of lightning at play, and the chemicals present in that part of the atmosphere, but the exact causes of each type of TLE are yet to be confirmed. Since 2022, NASA's Spritacular project has tried to capture this variety, also relying on data from amateurs—hundreds of citizen scientists. 'I had been seeing wonderful images captured by the public all around the globe, shared sporadically over the internet and the science community was mostly unaware of these captures,' says Burcu Kosar, an atmospheric physicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center who leads the project. 'Spritacular was born to bridge this gap, connecting the public with the science community, by creating the first crowdsourced database of sprites and other TLEs.' Spritacular invites volunteers to submit images they've captured of TLEs all around the world, and they've collected over 700 submissions from almost 900 users across 20 different countries. Participants can also help comb through the database, identifying sprites from users' images or those collected from the International Space Station. The project aims to collect a broad data set of recorded TLEs, since most of the previous sightings have only been one-offs. If they can collect a large enough amount of observations, then Kosar and her team can start to identify patterns and trends in the data and also study rarer TLEs like ghosts and jets. Understanding TLEs on Earth could also inform our investigations of other planets. Data from NASA's Juno mission suggests that sprites and mysterious rings of light called elves also occur in Jupiter's atmosphere. (Does lightning strike on Venus?) Since TLEs are so fleeting in nature, Kosar and her collaborator József Bór, a TLE researcher at the Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science in Hungary, agree that their project's strength lies in the people of Spritacular. 'I think it is the power of the community which makes Spritacular very strong for TLE-related scientific work,' says Bór. The community effort that drives TLE research could help answer one of the most pressing questions around sprites and other TLEs—how climate change may impact their occurrence. 'Rising global temperatures due to climate change will impact thunderstorm intensity and frequency, this will also lead to stronger lightning activity, all of which are precursors for TLE activity,' says Kosar. 'Details are still an active area of research, but studying TLEs could become even more important for tracking how our atmosphere is changing.' Working with climate and space scientists to understand how changing storm patterns might influence TLE activity globally is next up for the Chinese team, too. For Huang, it's an exciting field to be part of: 'It feels like exploring an atmospheric frontier. Every observation is like capturing a rare and fleeting signal from the edge of space—visually stunning and physically meaningful.'
National Geographic
26-06-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
The most otherworldly, mysterious forms of lightning on Earth
Red spites, a type of transient luminous event or TLE, appear in the upper atmosphere above a thunderstorm in Oklahoma in April 2025. Our atmosphere is like one big electrical circuit: Thunderstorms are the batteries that charge it up, and lightning is the current flowing through it. On the ground we see evidence of this circuit when lightning cracks and strikes the ground, or when it lights up deep inside a thundercloud, but high above the clouds lies a secret electrical zoo full of sprites, elves, and jets. These fantastical terms refer to light displays called transient luminous events or TLEs that occur in Earth's upper atmosphere during thunderstorms. 'TLEs are mysterious, beautiful, and uniquely different from conventional lightning, yet they connect weather, space, and electricity in one dramatic moment. They occur high above the clouds, almost silently, and are invisible to most people—but they reflect powerful processes unfolding deep within thunderstorms,' says Hailiang Huang, a Ph.D. student at the University of Science and Technology of China who studies TLEs. The very first photographic observations of these events in 1989 captured red flashes streaking across the sky in the blink of an eye. The displays were dubbed red sprites, inspired by characters in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and a medley of other fairytale names followed, as researchers discovered new types of TLEs. Today, scientists are still working to understand these curious phenomena—what causes them, how often they happen, and what they can tell us about Earth's atmosphere. Red sprites, like these captured in December 2024 in Mississippi, are by far the most common TLE observed by both researchers and photographers. A photographer snapped this image of red sprite lightning in June 2023 in Kansas. Some have described the flashes as looking like carrots or jellyfish. Just like storm chasing, some photographers have taken to sprite chasing, searching for elusive red sprites and other TLEs above nighttime thunderstorms. (See rare colorful lightning sprites dance above a hurricane.) Red sprites have been observed off the coast of Europe and over the U.S. Great Plains, but in 2022, astrophotographers Angel An and Shuchang Dong captured 105 red sprites, the largest number ever seen in a single thunderstorm in South Asia, researchers recently reported in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Science. 'Red sprites are the most iconic [of TLEs],' says Huang, the lead author of the paper. They flash into existence for just a fraction of a second in a spindly root-like system of red streaks. The phenomenon is caused by positive lightning that strikes the ground, creating an electric field that reaches up into the atmosphere, about 50 to 90 kilometers above Earth. On the Tibetan Plateau, north of the Himalayas, thunderstorms are very common. The dramatic changes in elevation produce intense convection in the atmosphere and the churning of wet air creates clouds—a rich laboratory for studying TLEs. Yet none had been recorded there until An and Dong's storm imagery in 2022. Huang and his collaborator Gaopeng Lu, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China, developed a method to synchronize the videos and photos that An and Dong took on the Tibetan Plateau. Using satellite data and maps of the stars in the night sky to determine the timestamps of each video frame, the team linked around 70 percent of verified sprites to the parent lightning that triggered them. To Huang, the results demonstrate the scientific value of amateur observations. 'It's exciting that this field brings together professional scientists and passionate amateurs, working side by side to understand something so ephemeral, yet so profound.' Not only did the photographers capture a significant number of red sprites, the Himalayan storm also featured even rarer TLEs called jets and ghosts. The team found 16 secondary jets, powerful columns of often blue or purple light darting upwards into the sky, and at least four ghosts, green hazy glows that can sometimes hover above red sprites. 'While sprites [and other TLEs] may appear delicate and silent in the upper atmosphere, they are often linked to powerful, sometimes devastating weather systems,' says Huang. 'Understanding them not only satisfies our curiosity about the upper atmosphere, but also helps us learn more about the storms we face here on Earth.' (Here's the science behind the world's strongest lightning strikes.) A database of transient luminous events Different types of TLEs vary based on altitude, the type of lightning at play, and the chemicals present in that part of the atmosphere, but the exact causes of each type of TLE are yet to be confirmed. Since 2022, NASA's Spritacular project has tried to capture this variety, also relying on data from amateurs—hundreds of citizen scientists. 'I had been seeing wonderful images captured by the public all around the globe, shared sporadically over the internet and the science community was mostly unaware of these captures,' says Burcu Kosar, an atmospheric physicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center who leads the project. 'Spritacular was born to bridge this gap, connecting the public with the science community, by creating the first crowdsourced database of sprites and other TLEs.' In the U.S., transient luminous events have been seen above thunderstorms in the Great Plains and the Midwest. These were snapped in Kansas on June 19, 2020. Spritacular invites volunteers to submit images they've captured of TLEs all around the world, and they've collected over 700 submissions from almost 900 users across 20 different countries. Participants can also help comb through the database, identifying sprites from users' images or those collected from the International Space Station. The project aims to collect a broad data set of recorded TLEs, since most of the previous sightings have only been one-offs. If they can collect a large enough amount of observations, then Kosar and her team can start to identify patterns and trends in the data and also study rarer TLEs like ghosts and jets. Understanding TLEs on Earth could also inform our investigations of other planets. Data from NASA's Juno mission suggests that sprites and mysterious rings of light called elves also occur in Jupiter's atmosphere. (Does lightning strike on Venus?) Since TLEs are so fleeting in nature, Kosar and her collaborator József Bór, a TLE researcher at the Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science in Hungary, agree that their project's strength lies in the people of Spritacular. 'I think it is the power of the community which makes Spritacular very strong for TLE-related scientific work,' says Bór. How climate might impact TLEs The community effort that drives TLE research could help answer one of the most pressing questions around sprites and other TLEs—how climate change may impact their occurrence. 'Rising global temperatures due to climate change will impact thunderstorm intensity and frequency, this will also lead to stronger lightning activity, all of which are precursors for TLE activity,' says Kosar. 'Details are still an active area of research, but studying TLEs could become even more important for tracking how our atmosphere is changing.' Working with climate and space scientists to understand how changing storm patterns might influence TLE activity globally is next up for the Chinese team, too. For Huang, it's an exciting field to be part of: 'It feels like exploring an atmospheric frontier. Every observation is like capturing a rare and fleeting signal from the edge of space—visually stunning and physically meaningful.'
