posted 08-02-2001 11:16 AM            

US pioneers 'weather control powder'

Scientists hope to reduce the effects of hurricanes

By science reporter Julian Siddle
A company in the United States says it has invented a powder which can be used to remove clouds from the sky and even stop the development of hurricanes.

They say the new product could help many areas of the world which are subject to extreme weather conditions.

The powder absorbs water from storm clouds

The Florida based company, Dyn-o-mat, used a military aircraft to drop four tonnes of its powder onto a developing storm cloud.

The cloud disappeared from radar screens which were monitoring the experiment.

Officials from the company, which produces materials to absorb pollutants such as oil and acids, say they used a specially developed powder which absorbs large quantities of water.

The water is then turned into a gel before falling out of the sky.

'Completely safe'

The company says the gel is completely safe, bio-degradable, and breaks down in seawater - though they refuse to say exactly what is in it.

Among the applications which they envisage for the powder are not only clearing away clouds before sports fixtures, but also stopping hurricanes.

They believe that a tightly controlled jet of the powder aimed at the hurricane would cut it into smaller pieces, making it far less threatening.

The US government has already expressed interest in the new product, and the company says it could be useful worldwide.

posted 08-30-2001 07:17 PM            

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RAF rainmakers 'caused 1952 flood'

Unearthed documents suggest experiment triggered torrent that killed 35 in Devon disaster

John Vidal and Helen Weinstein
Thursday August 30, 2001
The Guardian

On August 15, 1952, one of the worst flash floods ever to have occurred in Britain swept through the Devon village of Lynmouth. Thirty five people died as a torrent of 90m tons of water and thousands of tons of rock poured off saturated Exmoor and into the village destroying homes, bridges, shops and hotels.

The disaster was officially termed "the hand of God" but new evidence from previously classified government files suggests that a team of international scientists working with the RAF was experimenting with artificial rainmaking in southern Britain in the same week and could possibly be implicated.

Squadron Leader Len Otley, who was working on what was known as Operation Cumulus, has told the BBC that they jokingly referred to the rainmaking exercise as Operation Witch Doctor.

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