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.
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.
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://web.archive.org/web/20260828190911/https://www.scien...
> 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.
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.
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.
Well it would gently encourage you not to miss.
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.
Someone submitted the design during WWI but it wasn’t used: https://www.southernhighlandnews.com.au/story/2992498/boomer...
Nice to see people working on quotidian science issues like this rather than chasing unicorns.
Startup with that monetizable name starting in 3 - 2 - 1 -
Chasing Unicorns is a pretty good band name too.
Wonder if this effect happens at all with stone.
protonated rain aka acid rain
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!
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
pay/somethingwall
https://archive.ph/holar
Nope, different article. Try this instead: https://archive.ph/FwVX4
Source publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10941-6
Whoops! thanks, guess I should have clicked it to double check thought it look familiar lol
I recommend deleting the incorrect link.