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Fighting Fires With Beams of Electricity

cylonlover writes "It's certainly an established fact that electricity can cause fires, but a group of Harvard scientists have presented their research on the use of electricity for fighting fires. In a presentation at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Ludovico Cademartiri told of how they used a unique device to shoot beams of electricity at an open flame over one foot tall. Almost immediately, he said, the flame was extinguished. 'Such a device could be used, for instance, to make a path for firefighters to enter a fire or create an escape path for people to exit, he said. The system shows particular promise for fighting fires in enclosed quarters, such as armored trucks, planes, and submarines.'"

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  1. REALLY want video! by wisebabo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If there's a story that is crying out for some audio-visual documentation, this had got to be it!

    I mean electricity and fire (and maybe they use a laser to create an ionized channel for the electricity to go through).