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Preempting Hailstone Formation To Protect Cars
Makarand writes "Nissan has become the first automaker in the United States to start using
a device that suppresses hail formation to protect its fleet of new vehicles
from hailstorm damage. The device is a cannon capable of shooting sonic waves upto
50,000 feet in the air to keep hailstones from forming. The
device comes with its own weather radar and activates when it detects
conditions favorable for hail formation. The device can provide
hailstorm protection in an area with one-mile radius by firing
sonic waves every five seconds."
Apparently you don't want to live nearby (see the bottom of the story).
This sounds like it's worse than living next to an airport.
Yeah, that web site looks pretty sketchy to me, not that I'm an expert. The photo you mentioned has a white area in the foreground---could be snow, could be hail---and a HUGE non-white area in the background. That is NOT a picture of a "small hail-free patch", surrounded by an area with hail. There is no hail or snow visible on the far side of the hail-free area. It does not seem possible from the picture on their website to verify that the white stuff is actually hail; it could be snow. The whole thing could be Photoshop.
Other pages on the site have:
* inconsistent information (every 5.5 seconds; every 6 seconds; every 5 seconds; the noise level is listed at various levels, too...)
* dubious statements like "supersonic explosions do not affect animals"
* incorrect spelling and punctuation
* overuse of jargon and jargon-y words (such as "ascending thermionic explosions"). Looking at this web site, I got the feeling that they did not want me to understand how it works, they just want me to be impressed.
* Worst of all: statistics! Why do they start the noise level measurements 50m away? Are you not supposed to go closer than 50m while it's operating? What if you install this on the roof of your car?
Of course, they don't have to explain their patented super-invention to me. But if they are going to deliberately withhold information, they could have been less patronizing about it! Overall, the site seems to have a very low level of professionalism. To whatever degree this reflects on the device itself, it reflects poorly.
zach
Did you even read the article? This is the ninth one installed in the United States. There are 400 world wide, ... its primary use is to protect crops...
And you think it doesn't work? How'd they sell 400 of the things? When's the last time you saw an apple with hail damage? Did you think it had just stopped hailing?
As for changing nature, sweet jeebus, we're humans we change nature to suit us all the time, or did you think crops just naturally formed in large patches of ground? You're surfing the net, if you have a CRT monitor you have electrons shooting out into your face right now. Did you think that someone just found it on the beach?
The basic principle is that nature is not as fragile as it's portrayed. I don't think shooting a couple of shock waves into the air is going to cause any irreparable damage, and if we didn't screw with nature occasionally we would still be sitting in caves, eating berries and grubs.