New Delhi: Like everybody else in India, veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan too is eagerly waiting for rains to calm down the sweltering heat. But longing for a magical solution for rains, he fell for a video which claims that Nasa has developed a rain cloud generator for instant shower. As expected, the video he shared spread like wildfire. And it turns out that the video is old and misleading.
... can we get one in India .. I mean right now .. RIGHT NOW .. PLEASE !!?????? https://t.co/pTRI8r4VsK
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) June 26, 2019
India Today's Anti-Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the video has been created by combining clips from two different rocket engine tests by Nasa. It certainly is not a machine to generate rain clouds.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
In the viral video, the first few seconds show a giant machine continuously emitting something that looks like clouds or white coloured smoke. Later in the video, an anchor appears and talks about clouds emitted by the engine. This 59-second video ends with 'rains' from these clouds.
AFWA has found that the machine which generated artificial clouds in the viral video is actually a space shuttle engine tested by Nasa in Mississippi, United States.
In fact, the viral video has been created by combining clips from two different rocket engine tests by Nasa.
The first few seconds of the video show the test-firing of an RS-25 engine and the rest is from a BBC television series called "Speed", aired in 2001. Hosted by English broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson, the footage shows test-firing of an RS-68.
Both engines were tested at Nasa's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi at different times. But this is not the first time that this video is going viral with the same claim.
The Verge did a fact check of this video last year when it was being widely shared as a machine to make artificial clouds.
The clipping of the BBC show "Speed" from which the clip has been picked up can be seen here.
Some users have referred to a fact check article by Forbes in the comments section of Bachchan's tweet.
WHAT ARE RS-25 AND RS-68 ENGINES?
The RS-25 engine is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine that was used on Nasa's space shuttle. It will be used to power space shuttle's successor, the Space Launch System (SLS).
The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68 is a liquid-fuel rocket engine and is the world's most powerful hydrogen-fuelled rocket engine. It was used in the Delta IV family of rockets. None of these engines can generate rain cloud.
CAN THIS MACHINE REALLY BRING RAINS?
Yes, because what you see coming out like clouds are actually a huge amount of water vapour. When the vapour get colder in a similar environment, rains could occur in nearby areas as happened in this case. But this is kind of a side effect of the engine test.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO CREATE RAINS ARTIFICIALLY?
It is possible to get rains by a process called cloud-seeding.
It is a weather modification technique that is done by spraying chemicals such as dry ice on rain-bearing clouds. The process has been partially successful but is quite expensive.
Cloud-seeding has been tried in many countries including India. In 2017, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology conducted a cloud-seeding programme named "Varshadhare" in Karnataka.
The study showed that cloud-seeding can bring rains but only if weather conditions support.
However, so far, no country has been able to develop a machine which can make artificial clouds.
Courtesy: www.indiatoday.in
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Gayaji (PTI): A woman here has alleged that she was gang-raped inside an ambulance which drove her to a hospital after she fainted during a government recruitment test, police said on Saturday.
Two persons, identified by the complainant who had appeared at a recruitment drive for home guards, have been arrested, they said.
"When the woman fainted, on July 24, she was rushed to the Anugrah Narain Medical College and Hospital at Gayaji in an ambulance. After she regained consciousness, she alleged that she was raped inside the vehicle," said SP (Town), Gayaji Ramanand Kumar Kaushal.
"We thereafter detained the driver and a technician who were in the ambulance. The woman also identified them. Their reply was not satisfactory, so they were arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita," he added.
Kaushal said the medical examination of the complainant has been completed, and based on the findings of the reports, further action will be taken.
Meanwhile, the incident drew strong criticism from Union minister Chirag Paswan, who supports the NDA government in the state, as well as the opposition.
Before leaving for Gayaji to address a rally, Paswan told reporters in Patna, "The incident is deplorable. The guilty may have been caught, but the administration is obviously unable to prevent such crimes. The situation is scary, and I regret that I am supporting a regime that is incapable of controlling law and order."
Leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, shared on X a news clipping of the incident with the hashtag "vote out of power the Nitish Kumar government to protect the girl child (Nitish sarkar Hatao beti bachao).
The RJD leader also alleged that Bihar was under the "rule of demons (rakshas raj)" and accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and "his two so-called deputies" of a "criminal silence" on such incidents.
State Congress president Rajesh Kumar alleged, "The incident at Gayaji is reflective of a collapse in law and order, which is not surprising given the unruly behaviour of the ruling dispensation as witnessed in the recently held assembly session. Our party is committed to ensuring that the girl gets justice."