Environment Laser creates clouds over Germany

[The Helper]

A laser has been used to generate small clouds on demand in lab, and real-world experiments suggest this could be a way to call down rain when it's needed.

People have experimented with cloud seeding for decades in the hope of boosting rainfall, usually by sprinkling silver iodide crystals into clouds high in the atmosphere.

These crystals encourage large water droplets to form around them, and the droplets then fall as rain – in theory, at least. "The efficiency of this technique is controversial," says Jérôme Kasparian at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, one member of a research team that think lasers may be a better way to trigger rain on demand.

Kasparian and colleagues have just reported the first successful use of this technique to summon clouds from air both in the lab and in the skies over Berlin, Germany.

Laser creates clouds over Germany

After using lasers to create mini clouds in the lab, physicists tried it in the skies over Berlin

www.newscientist.com

 

[Carnerox]

Watch this kill us all.

 

[seph ir oth]

Wouldn't this theoretically make the air more arid and dry after it rains? Just a thought.

 

[Dan]

terraforming!!! cool; however... this is kind of a scary thought when you start to thinking about how we would immediately try to use this all over the place without too much thought as to what the consequences would be...

 

[CatCat]

Wouldn't this theoretically make the air more arid and dry after it rains? Just a thought.

Perhaps, but humidity level is balance equation. If the humidity is "forced" to become less due to this laser. Then due to less water in the atmosphere balance will kick in which will cause the atmosphere to absorb more moisture from the earth.
You may be aware that this balance value is closely tied to temperature. So e.g. say you turn the radiator on in your house when it is very cold. You would then forcibly rise the temperature of your house atmosphere. The atmosphere in your house can (and will) absorb more moisture. This makes it seem like everything is "dryer", because the air suddenly takes up more water to compensate.

So the air will become more arid and "dry" but, it will also absorb water at a much quicker rate, so theoretically it will compensate. This does mean that the air fronts take up more water from ground level though. But since bodies of air are always in motion, we can just assume they'll do that in the oceans (since there's a lot of water there).

 

[Monovertex]

Anybody thinking Red Alert 2 after reading the title?

 

[Durandal]

No just thought it was cool...scientists are learning how to do way awesome stuff these days...

 

[FireCat]

Watch this kill us all.

Clouds would kill us? Sounds horrific.

Well, seriously.. playing with nature should be forbidden.

 

[Durandal]

Clouds would kill us? Sounds horrific.

Well, seriously.. playing with nature should be forbidden.

Why?

 

[chanta45]

Playing with nature should be forbidden? lol nub

Science is playing with nature, get over it.

 

[Slapshot136]

Why?

because we rely on nature for way too much to risk screwing it up

 

[SerraAvenger]

Playing with nature should be forbidden? lol nub

Science is playing with nature, get over it.

Killing people should be forbidden? lol nub

Guns kill people, get over it.

 

[Durandal]

because we rely on nature for way too much to risk screwing it up

I asked because I was challenging his viewpoint

I can provide plenty of evidence why tampering with nature can be a good thing

 

[esb]

We have been 'tampering with nature' ever since we invented anything. Anything artificial is tampering with nature because nature didn't make it. And yeah, most has gotten us killed. Nature uses storms, fire, thunder, heat, floods, etc. to kill, that's about it (which aren't so often). Oh, and disease too.

 

[YourFace]

We have been 'tampering with nature' ever since we invented anything. Anything artificial is tampering with nature because nature didn't make it. And yeah, most has gotten us killed. Nature uses storms, fire, thunder, heat, floods, etc. to kill, that's about it (which aren't so often). Oh, and disease too.

Precisely, global warming is messing with nature, for those who believe in it, and we are the cause of it.

 

[esb]

OR, Global warming IS nature, and we are just sitting here going along for the ride of Earth's cycle. Who knows, can't tell. Instead of trying to study and blame one another, we should just get ready and prepare for it. It seems inevitable.

 

[NightShade]

^ well, now it's pretty inevitable, whoever is right. to stop it going past the 2º increase we would have to cut emissions by like 20% (which will never happen).

making rainclouds are nothing compared to some of the things that people are like considering releasing aerosols into the atmosphere to combat warming (aka dupming stuff into the atmosphere that will reflect some of the suns rays back into space, like a small volcanic winter).

 

[SerraAvenger]

we should just get ready and prepare for it.

I've been saying that for two years. Hardly anyone listens.

 

[Bartuc08]

I agree, we shouldn't be tampering with nature like this, on one hand, yes it sounds really cool in theory. At the same time there's a reason it rains when it rains. Forcing rain in an area that has little, or maybe even no rain, could prove disastrous. It could change the habitat and environment drastically, or not at all. I'd much rather not find out.

As for the natures cycles, I also agree. The Earth, like our bodies and everything in nature, goes through life cycles. Global Warming, most likely followed by an Ice Age, would wipe the slate clean allowing new life to begin again.

Kind of went off topic, but regardless, it sounds cool, but personally I don't know if I want it to be used.

 

[Durandal]

In terms of weather I agree, as it's a fairly complex system that we can't begin to understand

Also, global warming is utter bullshit, I live in Idaho, and anyone else who lives here will laugh in your face when you mention it.

So will the canadians, and anyone near the arctic

However, tampering with nature isn't all bad, genetic manipulation with plants have led to higher yields of crops for example.

We also 'tamper' daily with organizations such as the fish and game, who ensure that people don't take more then the environment can give back