Scientists Shoot Lasers Into Sky to Create Rain

Swiss researchers use laser beams to create water droplets.

The manipulation and creation of weather has always been in the realm of science fiction and fantasy, but thanks to recent developments by researchers at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, we could be one step closer to making rain. Beginning their research earlier last year, the team has recently concluded some of its initial field tests, finding success in creating water droplets in the sky with the help of lasers.

The technique is called laser-assisted water condensation and hopes to create rain by binding water molecules together so that they are large enough to avoid re-evaporation. After tests of firing lasers into the sky for 133 hours, the team found that intense pulses of laser created light was able to produce nitric acid particles that were capable of binding water molecules together.

Although the water droplets produced from this method aren't anywhere near the size of rainfall, the results of the testing are definitely worth further exploration. “We have not yet generated raindrops – they are too small and too light to fall as rain," University of Geneva physicist Jérôme Kasparian stated. "To get rain, we will need particles a hundred times the size, so they are heavy enough to fall.”

Kasparian went on to explain that laser-assisted water condensation could possibly be used to prevent dangerous storms. Rather than being used to create rain, the method could ensure that water molecules in storm clouds never grow large enough to fall, potentially preventing flooding. The technology and methods are still rough, but the team is confident that further research could some day lead to man made rainfall in arid lands.

Read more about the project in the Nature Communications publication here.