Did you see the news article about the guy who invented a warning system for
tornados?  He made an "antennae" out of garden hoses in a radial array.  If
you imagine a circular field with garden hoses stretched from the center to
the outer edge, he placed a microphone at the center.  All the hoses, perhaps
6 to 8, had their open end at the microphone.  Somehow, the inaudible
vibrations made by tornado columns, even when they have not yet descended,
are picked up by this hose system and recorded as a tone on the microphone.
This thing apparantly has been demonstrated and holds promise for very
reliable warning systems.  

Apparantly, the tornado pulsates but it is too low a frequency to hear.  This
device turns those pulsations into audible sound.  They demonstrated the same
thing with the drain columns (swirls) formed in draining basins.  

5 responses total.

        Ahh, those lazy-assed American inventors ;-)

        I hope he hits the feds up for a mint ;-)

Couldn't an electronic circuit be designed to do the same thing (multiply
input frequencies?) and be more compact as well?

        May well be that he needs the tubing to act as a resonance
        chamber. <shrug> Ask him ;-)

I have no reson to beleive this, whats next earth quake warning usgin rabbit
holes?!?!, will someone send me a proof fro this, this probably never
happened.

His  "invention" seems not to have been widely adopted in the past five years.

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