Daily Telegraph? Shades of Adrian Berry, give us a break !
On Wednesday, September 4, 2013 8:25:03 AM UTC-4, Josh Horton wrote: > > Potential GE applications ...? > > from the Daily Telegraph: > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/10268455/Weather-could-be-controlled-using-lasers.html?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer2eb6a&utm_medium=twitter > > Weather could be controlled using lasersScientists are attempting to > control the weather by using lasers to create clouds, induce rain and even > trigger lightning. > [image: Scientists are attempting to control the weather by using lasers > to create clouds, induce rain and even trigger lightning.] > A laser beam (red) and the cloud of generated particles (illuminated by an > auxiliary green laser, which makes each particle shine) in a cloud chamber > Photo: J.P. Wolf / University of Geneva > [image: Richard Gray] <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/> > > By Richard Gray <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/richard-gray/>, > Science > Correspondent > > 1:53PM BST 27 Aug 2013 > > [image: Comments]57 > Comments<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/10268455/Weather-could-be-controlled-using-lasers.html#disqus_thread> > > Experts from around the world are to gather at the World Meteorological > Organisation next month to discuss how powerful laser pulses can be used to > generate changes in the atmosphere that influence the weather. > > Their experiments have shown that intense pulses of light can cause ice to > form and water to condense, leading to the formation of clouds. > > The scientists have now begun testing their equipment outside for the > first time with extremely short pulses of laser light were fired into the > sky. > > Researchers have also proved that lightning discharges can be triggered > and channelled through the air using laser pulses. > > They hope the technology could allow lightning during thunderstorms to be > guided away from sensitive buildings such as power plants or airports. > Related Articles > > - > > 'How we made the Chernobyl > rain'<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549366/How-we-made-the-Chernobyl-rain.html> > > 22 Apr 2007 > - > > Singapore haze: Cloud seeding > explained<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/nick-collins/10134918/Singapore-haze-Cloud-seeding-explained.html> > > 21 Jun 2013 > > It could also be used to manipulate the weather by creating clouds and > triggering rainfall ahead of major public events. > > Professor Jean-Pierre Wolf and Dr Jerome Kasparian, both biophotonics > experts at the University of Geneva, have now organised a conference at > the WMO next month <http://www.laserweatherandclimate.com/> in an attempt > to find ways of speeding up research on the topic. > > They said: "Ultra-short lasers launched into the atmosphere have emerged > as a promising prospective tool for weather modulation and climate studies. > > "Such prospects include lightning control and laser-assisted condensation." > > There is a long history of attempts by scientists to control the weather, > including using techniques such as cloud seeding. > > This involves spraying small particles and chemicals into the air to > induce water vapour to condense into clouds. > > In the 1960s the United States experimented with using silver iodide in an > attempt to weaken hurricanes before they made landfall. > > The USSR was also claimed to have flown cloud seeding > missions<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549366/How-we-made-the-Chernobyl-rain.html> > in > an attempt to create rain clouds to protect Moscow from radioactive fallout > from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. > > More recently the Russian Air force has also been reported to have used > bags of cement to seed clouds. > > Before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Chinese authorities used > aircraft and rockets to release chemicals into the atmosphere. > > Other countries have been reported to be experimenting with cloud seeding > to prevent flooding or > smog<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/singapore/10133948/Singapore-haze-Indonesia-to-make-it-rain-to-stop-life-threatening-smog.html> > . > > However, Professor Wolf, Dr Kasparian and their colleagues believe that > lasers could provide an easier and more controllable method of changing the > weather. > > They began studying lasers for their use as a way of monitoring changes in > the air and detecting aerosols high in the atmosphere. > > Experiments using varying pulses of near infra-red laser light and > ultraviolet lasers have, however, shown that they cause water to condense. > > They have subsequently found the lasers induce tiny ice crystals to form, > which are a crucial step in the formation of clouds and eventual rainfall. > > In new research published in the* Proceedings of the National Academy of > Sciences <http://www.pnas.org/content/110/25/10106>*, Professor Wolf said > the laser beams create plasma channels in the air that caused ice to form. > > He said: "Under the conditions of a typical storm cloud, in which ice and > supercooled water coexist, no direct influence of the plasma channels on > ice formation or precipitation processes could be detected. > > "Under conditions typical for thin cirrus ice clouds, however, the plasma > channels induced a surprisingly strong effect of ice multiplication. > > "Within a few minutes, the laser action led to a strong enhancement of the > total ice particle number density in the chamber by up to a factor of 100, > even though only a 10-9 fraction of the chamber volume was exposed to the > plasma channels. > > "The newly formed ice particles quickly reduced the water vapour pressure > to ice saturation, thereby increasing the cloud optical thickness by up to > three orders of magnitude." > > Another paper in the journal of *Applied Physics > Letters<http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v102/i9/p091112_s1?isAuthorized=no> > * also indicated that ultraviolet lasers were far more efficient at > producing condensation. > > In March this year, Professor Wolf and his team also tested a high powered > 100 terawatt laser in the field by firing it into the sky above a research > centre in frascati, near Rome in Italy. > > He said: "The aim of the experiment is to investigate the scaling up of > the water condensation experiments already demonstrated at lower > intensities." > > Professor Jean-Claude Diels, from the department of Physics at the > University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, will talk at the conference on how > laser pulses can be used to guide lightning. > > Previous attempts to guide lighting have used rockets towing wires as they > were fired into storm clouds. > > Laboratory tests by Professor Diels, however, have shown that electrical > discharges can be guided along the path of a laser beam. > > Their work has raised hopes that pulses of light can be used to steer > lightning strikes away from buildings, vehicles and areas where they would > be dangerous to humans. > > Professor Diels said: "We are investigating a scaling up of these > experiments across larger gaps. An application being investigated is the > triggering and guiding of lightning." > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
