Professor finds a way to ‘rinse and repeat the rainbow cycle’
By ANIFriday, January 7, 2011
WASHINGTON - Rainbows are a familiar but rare occurrence, and the theory is simple: a little bit of sunshine and a little bit of rain. But now, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University Michael Jones McKean has developed a way to recycle rainbows.
McKean uses jet pumps, hoses and spray nozzles to create rainbows on demand, with a little bit of help from the Sun.
At the base of each rainbow there lies a storage tank of collected rainwater, which he saves for next time, reports Discovery News.
Now Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska is set to install the ‘The Rainbow Project’ and throw it open for visitors, who walk through two, roughly fifteen minute-long rainbows each day.
The arcs may be as long as 200 feet across and 200 feet high, and depending on outdoor conditions, they may be visible up to 1,000 feet away.
As the Bemis Center describes, “Whether a majestic arch in the sky that appears fleetingly after a short spring shower or a small, homespun rainbow created with a garden hose on a sunny day, a rainbow operates as one of the most egalitarian of visual experiences; one that is by nature temporary, undetermined, and wonderful.
“Using the most elemental materials, sunlight and water, The Rainbow Project exists somewhere between real and representation, actual and artifice.” (ANI)
