Forums > Social Chat > A really cool idea I had (invovles lightning bolts
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1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.
1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.
Posted:
Ok so you can make a model rocket with a wire attached to it, and the other end is attached to the launch stand for the rocket. You fire it up into a thunder cloud and it causes a lightning strike precisely onto the launch pad and into the ground. They use this to study lightning.
My idea is to use the same thing to provoke lightning strikes, then dig up the fulgarites (formations of glass that are in the shape of the electricitys path when lightning hits the ground Fulgurite picture fulgarite picture #2 ) and sell them to people for an absurdly high price. You could use diffrent soil/types of sand to produce diffrent fulgarites. You could layer the diffrent sands or swirl them, or add various other substances that could have diffrent effects.
Another option may be to use a tesla coil, this may be neccesary because theres a patent Here for the rocket thing, and the patent holders might make me pay them fee's to use their rocket.
Ok so you can make a model rocket with a wire attached to it, and the other end is attached to the launch stand for the rocket. You fire it up into a thunder cloud and it causes a lightning strike precisely onto the launch pad and into the ground. They use this to study lightning.
My idea is to use the same thing to provoke lightning strikes, then dig up the fulgarites (formations of glass that are in the shape of the electricitys path when lightning hits the ground Fulgurite picture fulgarite picture #2 ) and sell them to people for an absurdly high price. You could use diffrent soil/types of sand to produce diffrent fulgarites. You could layer the diffrent sands or swirl them, or add various other substances that could have diffrent effects.
Another option may be to use a tesla coil, this may be neccesary because theres a patent Here for the rocket thing, and the patent holders might make me pay them fee's to use their rocket.
SILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posted:
all you have to do is modify the design a bit and not actually sell the rocket contraption and I don't think you have to worry about the patent. It's not like some guy using scuba gear has to pay the guy who patented the aqualung everytime he sells a sponge or tropical fish he collected.
besides, I am sure there are hundreds of patents involving tesla coils.
all you have to do is modify the design a bit and not actually sell the rocket contraption and I don't think you have to worry about the patent. It's not like some guy using scuba gear has to pay the guy who patented the aqualung everytime he sells a sponge or tropical fish he collected.
besides, I am sure there are hundreds of patents involving tesla coils.
-v-
Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!
SILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posted:
you could, of course, patent the method you use for making the fulgarites...
you could, of course, patent the method you use for making the fulgarites...
-v-
Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!
GOLD Member
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posted:
Wasn't that done in some film...??
Can't remember the name though
Some soppy love story about lost loves, one of whom lived at a beach & either he or she provoked lightning to create fulgurites in the sand which they later sold in some studio or gallery...
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Wasn't that done in some film...??
Can't remember the name though
Some soppy love story about lost loves, one of whom lived at a beach & either he or she provoked lightning to create fulgurites in the sand which they later sold in some studio or gallery...Anyone know what I'm talking about?
My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely 
veteran
1,359 posts
Location: London/ Surrey
1,359 posts
Location: London/ Surrey
Posted:
I think it was 'Sweet Home Alabama'. Watching that movie was a couple of hours I'll never get back.
Yeuch, I hate chick flicks.
edit: bringing up the movie is not meant to rain on your parade; in the movie the guy just waited for a storm and stuck metal spikes in the sand on a beach... patenting the method sounds like a cunning plan
EDITED_BY: polythene (1074772062)
I think it was 'Sweet Home Alabama'. Watching that movie was a couple of hours I'll never get back.
Yeuch, I hate chick flicks. edit: bringing up the movie is not meant to rain on your parade; in the movie the guy just waited for a storm and stuck metal spikes in the sand on a beach... patenting the method sounds like a cunning plan
EDITED_BY: polythene (1074772062)
The optimist claims that we are living in the best of all possible worlds.
The pessimist fears this is true.
Always make time to play in the snow.
GOLD Member
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posted:
Ya, that's the one!
Ya, that's the one!
My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely
GOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,617 posts
Location: Berlin, Ireland
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,617 posts
Location: Berlin, Ireland
Posted:
Cool idea.
It might be easier and safer to sell stolen office supplies on eBay though intstead....
*runs off to find phone number for the patent office*
Cool idea.
It might be easier and safer to sell stolen office supplies on eBay though intstead....
*runs off to find phone number for the patent office*
I live in a world of infinite possibilities.
member
1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.
1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.
Posted:
Down with hollywood!
Also his plan is crap because the likely hood of lightning strikes is a lot less.
Down with hollywood!
Also his plan is crap because the likely hood of lightning strikes is a lot less.
SILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom
Posted:
i've got one of those from algeria
not sure how they made it but i'm guessing they didn't just feel something hard in the sand while they were walking along!
it also wasn't that expensive.
to be honest the big carbon rod stuck in the ground method would probably work quite well in a desert...
i've got one of those from algeria
not sure how they made it but i'm guessing they didn't just feel something hard in the sand while they were walking along!
it also wasn't that expensive.
to be honest the big carbon rod stuck in the ground method would probably work quite well in a desert...
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
starring Skippy the green llama
1,148 posts
Location: Seattle, WA
1,148 posts
Location: Seattle, WA
Posted:
crazy astar, thats almost exactly the idea for lightning art I had..Still want to try it out at a burning man, after a bit more research. The only difference is I wanted to shoot around 6 rockets at once, modify the fins on each one so that they would fly in more of a wide spiral, perhaps after a little more testing I could move to more advanced patterns...We'll see
crazy astar, thats almost exactly the idea for lightning art I had..Still want to try it out at a burning man, after a bit more research. The only difference is I wanted to shoot around 6 rockets at once, modify the fins on each one so that they would fly in more of a wide spiral, perhaps after a little more testing I could move to more advanced patterns...We'll see
First intention, then enlightenment..
Ars Pyronomica
" Life is programmed. Whether death is programmed or not is yet to be determined."
member
1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.
1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.
Posted:
Uh do deserts get thunder storms? Wouldn't that mean precipitation? And uh, not being deserts. I realize occasionaly they get huge storms which usually cause floods, but they aren't exactly common.
Another issue with putting rods in the ground, especially if it was a beach is anyone passing by would be at risk. If a lightning strike happened while they were walking past your rod that you put there with the intention of attracting lightning strikes. Hello liability.
Uh do deserts get thunder storms? Wouldn't that mean precipitation? And uh, not being deserts. I realize occasionaly they get huge storms which usually cause floods, but they aren't exactly common.
Another issue with putting rods in the ground, especially if it was a beach is anyone passing by would be at risk. If a lightning strike happened while they were walking past your rod that you put there with the intention of attracting lightning strikes. Hello liability.
GOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted:
You could just ask me nicely to come visit...
You could just ask me nicely to come visit...
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
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