The tonka bean tree, scientifically known as Dipteryx oleifera, has developed the ability to not only survive strikes but also to transfer the electricity from lightning to its “enemies” and ...

The tonka bean tree can survive a lightning strike, and thrive. Lightning strikes may kill untold numbers of trees every year, but one tropical species has evolved to benefit from the sudden jolts ...

By Rebecca Dzombak When lightning strikes a tree in the tropics, the whole forest explodes. “At their most extreme, it kind of looks like a bomb went off,” said Evan Gora, a forest ecologist ...