Sounding similar to a something a villain from Captain Planet would do, scientists have discovered a way to steer lightning with lasers.
A team of French scientists have been able to do this in a lab, but the theory has been proven to work. In the experiment, a "virtual lightning rod" is created by using pulsed lasers that create a column of charged gas in the air. The lightning then zips down the column of air if the conditions are right, and then on to its destination. Currently the process can shift the spot of a lightning strike by up to 50 meters.
We here at Komplicated knew that this is what Storm has been doing since Giant-Size X-Men #1.
[Source: Gizmodo]