116 pointsby sohkamyung5 days ago9 comments
  • goda902 days ago
    > People have wanted to collect rain to create electricity, but that hasn’t worked on a large scale

    It might be a useful effect for small electronics in damp environments where solar isn't a great option. Caves, rainforests, showers.

    • gustavus2 days ago
      https://what-if.xkcd.com/23/

      In short it won't be. Less than $100 in a century during the highest recorded rainfall in the US.

      • dsimms2 days ago
        I had totally forgotten about the rain generator item in that edition of What If! I think because it includes this gem:

        Q. What if you strapped C4 to a boomerang? Could this be an effective weapon, or would it be as stupid as it sounds?

        A. it's the second one. Aerodynamics aside, I’m curious what tactical advantage you’re expecting to gain by having the high explosive fly back at you if it misses the target.

        • oniony2 days ago
          Well it would gently encourage you not to miss.
        • colechristensen2 days ago
          There's two kinds of boomerang, the one to try to hit something with has a different shape and goes in a straight line without returning. It indeed might be a clever alternative to a grenade, made of explosives in a thin metal shell because one person could throw more explosive mass further than a person could throw a grenade.
      • goda90a day ago
        That's for a turbine setup. We need to do the math on a kind of rain powered flow battery instead. And it doesn't need to offset grid power, just handle cases where hookup is inconvenient and solar is off the table.
  • The stone erosion question is interesting. If this effect works on limestone too, it could explain some geological formations we've been attributing purely to chemical weathering. Might be a whole new field of research
    • lacunarya day ago
      isn't this still a form of chemical weathering?
  • a day ago
    undefined
  • hinkley2 days ago
    Wonder if this effect happens at all with stone.
  • anigbrowl2 days ago
    Nice to see people working on quotidian science issues like this rather than chasing unicorns.
    • fuzztester2 days ago
      Startup with that monetizable name starting in 3 - 2 - 1 -
      • teeray2 days ago
        Chasing Unicorns is a pretty good band name too.
  • khelavastr2 days ago
    protonated rain aka acid rain
  • phendrenad22 days ago
    So if I pour water onto a huge dome of metal, it might build up enough of a negative static charge to jump a spark gap? New science exhibit idea!
    • pfdietz2 days ago
      Water-driven electrostatic generators are really easy to build. The key is to have droplets separate at a point where there's an electric field, which causes the detaching droplet to carry a charge. Properly arranged this can cause an exponential increase in charge with time.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin_water_dropper

  • froh422 days ago
    pay/somethingwall