Tag Archive for 'Clouds'

What! Ice cream clouds. I thought it was a joke when I first read about this but after a bit of research, I realized it was indeed, quite real (in theory, at least).

As described by Dr. Andrew Maynard, Chief Science Advisor, Project of Emerging Nanotechnologies, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on “The Cloud Project” website:

Imagine, at the very point where humanity begins to push the boundaries of sustainable existence under existing conditions, we develop the means to conform our global environment to our needs—inverse-evolution if you like. We discover that science and technology give us a lever large enough to shift the world, metaphorically speaking. We find that by controlling matter at the nanoscale, we can bend it to our will at the megascale. In short, geoengineering appears to be humanity’s right-of-passage to planetary maturity. But these abilities seem to far outstrip our understanding of their consequences. It almost seems that scientists are in danger of applying the hypothesis-driven science of the laboratory to the whole world, while forgetting that when the hypothesis fails, there aren’t too many options to go back and start again.

Nanotechnology is a very tricky subject and the gaps between what could be possible and what currently is possible in this field are huge. So the geniuses over at “The Cloud Project” (a collaboration between Zoe Papadopoulou and Cathrine Kramer. Made at the Royal College of Art, London, Design Interactions dept.) decided it would be best to promote this type of science by demonstrating some of the fascinating possibilities that are out there to the scholars and dreamers of the world. Just how did they think to accomplish such a feat, you might ask? How could they get people to have conversations about nanotechnology, geoengineering and emerging technologies in general? They went straight for the gut, straight for the ultimate weakness for tons of people around the world…ICE CREAM.

Lecturing in what appears to be one of the cutest ice cream trucks ever and equipped with real ice cream to hand out, The Cloud Project’s designers and scientists give an explanation about how to create nano ice cream crystals. They describe how The Cloud Project concept would spray flavored condensation and liquid nitrogen into clouds, “seeding” them, and forcing flavored snow to fall from the heavens. So basically…

Ice cream clouds, it sounds like heaven. I can see it now: a few years from now, when we look up the weather forecast; “We’ll have thick vanilla overcast with a light chance of sprinkles” (sprinkles! get it?!)

Science + Technology + Ice Cream = Ultimate Deliciousness.

To read more about the “Cloud Project” hypothesis, visit their website here!

Have a lovely day,
Carla

(via “we make money not art“)