 |
Weather As Art
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, many of us are wishing that we had some sort of control over the weather. Science fiction writer John Varley even thought about how we might become weather artists in his 1976 novel The Phantom of Kansas. Remarkably, there are real weather artists who try to make what beauty they can from nature's worst storms.
The novel is set on Earth's moon; enormous interior caverns are dug to create vast lunar disneylands, spaces in which Earthlike environments are simulated:
These caverns were big enough to have their own weather, and they did. People who programmed the weather started out with nice days, but eventually started tinkering until the storms and sunsets were good enough to be able to charge admission. One of the best artistic creations was called Cyclone:
In the mid-nineteen seventies, artist Walter de Maria created The Lightning Field near Quemado, New Mexico. It consisted of 400 stainless steel poles averaging just over twenty feet in height. The overall dimensions were 5,280 x 3,300 feet.
The Kansas disneyland was one of the newer ones, and one of the largest. It is a hollowed-out cylinder twenty kilometers beneath Clavius. It measures two hundred and fifty kilometers in diameter and is five kilometers high. The curvature of the floor is consistent with Old Earth so the horizon is terrifyingly far away. Only the gravity is Lunar.
(Read more about the lunar disneyland)
Cyclone has a definite beginning, however. At least to the audience. It begins with the opening bolt of lightning. I worked on it a long time, and designed it to shatter nerves. There is the slow building of thunderheads ... then it hits. It crashes in at seventeen points in a ring around the audience, none further away than a half a kilometer. It is poperly called chain lightning, because after the initial discharge it keeps flashing for a full seven seconds. It's designed to take the hair right off your scalp...
(Read more about this environmental happening)
(From The Lightning Field)
Writers sometimes say you should write what you know, advice Varley took to heart with his story. He had a childhood encounter with Hurricane Andrew in Port Arthur, Texas. A category 4 storm, it killed hundreds of people in nearby Louisiana.
The earliest science fiction reference I know about for control of the weather is in John Jacob Astor's 1894 novel A Journey in Other Worlds - people use aeriducts to make rain at will; complete control over all weather is also foreseen. Other more modern references include the weather integrators found in Robert Heinlein's 1940 novel Methuselah's Children and the regular showers in the lunar habitats from Arthur C. Clarke's 1955 novel Earthlight. Human beings have, of course, been trying to figure out how to manipulate the weather since the dawn of recorded history.
Thanks to Blue Monkey for contributing the tips on this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/13/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Steam Infrastructure-Powered Music
What happens when city steam infrastructure is dedicated to the production of music?
James Cameron's Avatar Synthespians
Updated with comment by Jeff Kleiser and a video. Is the world ready for artificial actors? James Cameron's technology in Avatar may make this long-delayed idea a reality.
Time Inc. Digital Magazine Video
Compare this video of Time's prototype digital magazine with an earlier tongue-in-cheek video of a real-world handheld device.
Best Handheld Device?
Is this device the most usable handheld ever created? You be the judge after watching a short and informative video.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Put MercuryHouseOne Anywhere
Perhaps looking out through the spray of Victoria Falls.
Computational Wood: Grow Circuits In Living Trees
Just tap into the information tree.
SIRI Virtual Assistant Like Pohl's Joymaker
Man Forrester! Your joymaker is ready.
Liquid Glass Universal Spray-On Protectant
Also used to protect galactic way stations.
WIND Wearable Robot Controller
Robot wirelessly sense, robot do.
Gesture Cube Touch-Free Input
Just think of the gestures you'll use!
IMPASS Robot 'Smart Wheel' Video
I love it when good robot research comes together.
Predator, Prey Robots Evolve
Humanity must make a choice about robot evolution.
Mind-Control Lights At Vancouver Olympics
Bringing The Game to the Olympic Games.
PALRO Companion Robot
Who's your favorite companion robot?
Wasabi Smoke Alarm Now Available
It's an odalarm!
Spyder Olympic GS Suit With d3o
An impact suit made with a shear thickening material.
First Transistor That Mimics Brain Synapse
The Nexus Six phone will need a Nexus-6 brain.
Legged Squad Support System Monster BigDog Robot
A robotic pack mule for soldiers.
Implantable Energy-Harvesting Rubber Sheets
Take a deep breath, and power up that cell phone!
Bose Ride System Smooths Your Ride
Ride the spaceways - uh, roads - in comfort.
