Shields up, Captain

[Bateluer]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/07/earthquake-shield/

In an experiment, the group was able to create the shield using several five-meter-deep boreholes in the ground. When a quake hits, the holes redirect vibrations to a less-populated nearby area so they'll do less damage. The catch is, all that force has to head somewhere. And we're guessing there won't be many towns signing up to have a big city's quake headed their way instead.

Pretty sure they could just redirect the force out along uninhabited areas, or dissipate of it that wouldn't be felt.

 

[lxskllr]

Send them to Detroit. You'd never see it had been hit by a quake.

 

[Bateluer]

Send them to Detroit. You'd never see it had been hit by a quake.

Redirecting that much force from California to Detroit is a long way to go. I was thinking more like the uninhabited desert east of California and Nevada.

 

[Jaepheth]

Redirecting that much force from California to Detroit is a long way to go. I was thinking more like the uninhabited desert east of California and Nevada.

Maybe that uninhabited desert is more valuable than Detroit?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Maybe that uninhabited desert is more valuable than Detroit?

Of course it is. The desert doesn't need to be torn down and have the fires extinguished to be a desert. It's already at square one. Detroit is in the negatives, it needs work to get back to square one.


If this really works and it is possible to redirect quakes you have to wonder about the sort of legal issues that arise. Is a city responsible if their quakes kills people somewhere else when the energy is intentionally directed there? Will nearby cities direct quakes at each other in a new form of seismic warfare?

 

[Jeff7]

Cool, an earthquake gun.

 

[Bateluer]

Of course it is. The desert doesn't need to be torn down and have the fires extinguished to be a desert. It's already at square one. Detroit is in the negatives, it needs work to get back to square one.


If this really works and it is possible to redirect quakes you have to wonder about the sort of legal issues that arise. Is a city responsible if their quakes kills people somewhere else when the energy is intentionally directed there? Will nearby cities direct quakes at each other in a new form of seismic warfare?

If only they could find a way to harness that seismic energy to generate electricity.

 

[notposting]

*waves hand frantically from Metro Detroit suburb*

I don't like where this thread is headed...

 

[sdifox]

Obviously California should bounce the quake to the fault line, it should be deep enough for the quake to fall through right?

 

[Pardus]

Damnit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a seismologist!

 

[natto fire]

So now instead of the mercy of California sliding into the Pacific, they are going to redirect the energy to trigger the super volcano under Yellowstone? Here's hoping France steps up their hatred of the United States to not share this research.

 

[Anonemous]

Send them to Detroit. You'd never see it had been hit by a quake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny4a-oxOndo

 

[MongGrel]

So now instead of the mercy of California sliding into the Pacific, they are going to redirect the energy to trigger the super volcano under Yellowstone? Here's hoping France steps up their hatred of the United States to not share this research.

:awe:

 

[Ruptga]

All you really need to read is the last paragraph of the physics article.

The authors are careful in pointing out the experimental and theoretical limitations of their work: the monochromatic and monodimensional gap as well the difficulty in modeling the top layer of the soil as an elastic medium. Yet the present experiment is indicative of the potential of using these acoustic-wave-manipulation strategies on a large scale, with an eye towards eventually realizing schemes for the mitigation of earthquake damage. However, it is worth noting that the scheme blocks and cloaks seismic surface waves by redirecting the wave energy elsewhere, which could worsen the earthquake’s effects in the area surrounding the protected region. But recent theoretical work [6] has suggested a better option: dampening of the seismic waves could be done by absorbing the energy carried by those waves or even transforming it into other forms of energy, which could be stored for useful purposes. While this remains only a distant vision, the present experiment has opened a door for such grand thoughts.

It's pretty cool research, but it's going to be a long time (decades) before we're able to redirect or absorb earthquakes to any degree.

 

[Harrod]

They should just go ahead and call it project destiny.

 

[DigDog]

Send them to Detroit. You'd never see it had been hit by a quake.