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Tempwave: Raytheon Plowshares Energy Weapon
Raytheon has worked hard on creating energy weapons for use in a variety of situations. A few months ago, the company demonstrated a prototype of a device called Tempwave, which can be used to warm crops that are subjected to frost and freezing temperatures.
( Tempwave tower at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario )
Tempwave(TM) is a Raytheon-developed system that uses low-level microwave radiant heat to prevent frost damage to crops. Microwave energy is transmitted from towers located in an orchard or vineyard changing the energy balance that slows cooling to prevent freeze damage.Tempwave sits atop a 25 feet pole and is powered by the grid. When its sensors detect weather conditions that may result in frost, its low-level microwave delivers energy directly to the crop without wasting energy on heating the intervening air. As long as the Tempwave system has enough power delivered to it, frost protection is guaranteed.
This device is a fascinating example of what Philip K. Dick called Project Plowshare. In his 1965 novel The Zap Gun, Dick refers to "plowsharing" which was a system in which warring nations would think of an offensive weapon and then immediately "plowshare" it into consumer goods.
PKD probably got the idea from an actual 1962 US program called "Operation Plowshare" which sought to employ nuclear weapons as hole-digging technology.
From The Firearm Blog via Frolix_8.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/30/2010)
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