We’ve all been there. You leave home – where it’s dry, bright, pleasant, a bit warm even.
You travel thousands of miles to end up somewhere damp, drear, dank and drizzly. In my case New York.
Oi! Sort it out Bloomberg. You need to get your hands on this Qatari weather technology. And pronto. (Did I mention the sleet?)
They hope to use it to cool down the stadia for the 2022 World Cup.
Artist's picture of the proposed Al-Shamal Stadium to be built in Ash-Shamal, Qatar for the 2022 World Cup
The average temperature in Doha during June and July (assuming they don’t shift the tournament dates) is 41 degrees Celsius (106°F) – with the possibility of top temperatures as high as 50°C (122°F).
Scorchio!
So the stadia, including the proposed Lusail Iconic Stadium, could do with cooling technology capable of reducing temperatures inside by up to 20°C (36°F).
The artificial clouds system was invented by a team led by Dr Saul Abdul Ghani, Head of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at QU. Apparently the “clouds” would be made from a lightweight carbon structure carrying a giant envelope of material containing helium gas. The “cloud” would also feature solar panels on its upper surface to power engines that allow the cloud to be moved via remote control.
The cost? A snip at US$500,000.
And if the Qataris can cool things by 20 degrees, surely innovative New Yorkers could have warmed things up a bit for me?
Blackwatertown 
Well, you would think … a person of your standing and caliber.
Still, we’re talkin’ New York. Ain’t for faint of heart.
I know.
But at least the locals were friendly – much appreciated as I was hobbling round on a stick. I thought New Yorkers were supposed to be pure impatience.
They were probably just sizing you up; a bit wary of the stick!
Seriously, this sounds like a technology we could use here in Texas.
Remote controlled clouds?! Oooh 😉 Give to Icewolf! I can think of a few places I’d like to move them to…better still if they can be nice big storm clouds…but in the absence of a remote control nothing wrong with using your stick to shove ’em into place!