Electric rain can eat through metal • Hacker News Board

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#21

Post by throwup238 » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 1:39 AM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #18

dsimms wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Someone submitted the design during WWI but it wasn’t used: https://www.southernhighlandnews.com.au/story/2992498/boomer...

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#22

Post by teeray » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 1:57 AM UTC

fuzztester wrote: post #20

anigbrowl wrote: post #19

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.

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#23

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 3:01 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#24

Post by elevaet » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 4:37 AM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #10

Wonder if this effect happens at all with stone.

Great question. You can get some really pronounced rain erosion grooves and patterns on limestone, I wonder if this effect is part of the story, or if it's just normal dissolving going on.

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#25

Post by ZeroDayDreamer » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 8:33 AM UTC

The stone erosion question is interesting. If this effect works on limestone too, it could explain some geological formations we've been attributing purely to chemical weathering. Might be a whole new field of research

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#26

Post by jszymborski » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

elevaet wrote: post #24

hinkley wrote: post #10

Wonder if this effect happens at all with stone.

Great question. You can get some really pronounced rain erosion grooves and patterns on limestone, I wonder if this effect is part of the story, or if it's just normal dissolving going on.

It's the latter https://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/GWC_Crystal/erosion/inde...

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#27

Post by goda90 » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 1:10 PM UTC

gustavus wrote: post #15

goda90 wrote: post #9

> 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.

That's for a turbine setup. We need to do the math on a kind of rain powered flow battery instead. And it doesn't need to offset grid power, just handle cases where hookup is inconvenient and solar is off the table.

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#28

Post by MotoriX » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 1:23 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #18

dsimms wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Seems like with drones becoming so common, this invention just doesn’t make much sense anymore.

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#29

Post by lacunary » Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 3:19 PM UTC

ZeroDayDreamer wrote: post #25

The stone erosion question is interesting. If this effect works on limestone too, it could explain some geological formations we've been attributing purely to chemical weathering. Might be a whole new field of research

isn't this still a form of chemical weathering?

Re: Electric rain can eat through metal

#30

Post by fuzztester » Wed, Sep 02, 2026, 3:52 AM UTC

teeray wrote: post #22

fuzztester wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Startup with that monetizable name starting in 3 - 2 - 1 -

Chasing Unicorns is a pretty good band name too.

ha ha. i raise you:

- smart band (smartwatch startup)

- gang (or band) of four (s/w engg. startup)

- pink sting (rock music startup)

- hard times or hard wear (hardware device startup - oops, no)