Laser Rain

Physicists from the University of Geneva claim to have discovered a way to trigger rain with the use of laser. The technique can create small clouds through lasers which can increase density of rain. The laser method is a step ahead from cloud seeding technique which Geneva scientists say is good only on paper.

Scientists demonstrated the process in the lab by firing extremely short pulses of infrared laser light into a room of water-saturated air at the temperature of -24 degree Celsius. Thereafter, clouds formed along the lines of the laser beam. These clouds were generated as the lasers stripped the electrons from atoms in the air forming hydroxyl, a radical linked to formation of water in clouds.

The analysis of the air in the room after firing 220 millijoule lasers led to the observation that the droplets of water in the clouds had risen along with the total volume of condensed water. The team also conducted the experiment in Germany’s skies to prove detractors wrong who claimed that the experiment wasn’t relevant in a real atmosphere. In the ensuing experiment it was confirmed that the density and size of the droplets did increase after lasers pulses were sent into the sky.