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Showing posts with label firefighting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label firefighting. Show all posts

Monday, March 28, 2011

Putting out the Fire with Ray Guns!

I'd like to geek out for just a second:

We can extinguish fires with RAY GUNS NOW!

http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/55024-new-ray-gun-can-put-out-fires

And now to be more serious:

A team of scientists recently announced that they were able to manipulate electric fields within open-burning fires using a 600-watt (about the same as a good sized car stereo) "ray gun" device (although i highly doubt it did look like a ray gun). In the article I found on this, the scientists claim it can be used to manipulate the shape of the flames, blowing a pathway through the middle of the fire allowing firefighters or victims to escape through, and that such devices can be installed in ceilings, on ships, and cause minimal damage. All of this without using water or hazardous foam...

But wait, wouldn't there still be some water to contend with? And wouldn't that water in some way give a certain danger of electrocution? Also, I see no evidence of proper experimentation, just an italian physicist at Harvard University talking about his dreams of manipulating fire like he was Moses. I think its a neat idea, but until I see some sort of demonstration of its safety and practicality, I won't believe it. On a side note, I just hit 100 followers! Thanks guys!