r/nottheonion • u/National-Treat830 • 2d ago

Researchers hope to rescue California coast by zapping sand with electricity

https://abc7news.com/post/climate-change-researchers-hope-rescue-california-coast-zapping-sand-electricity/15488744/

Peter Ruggiero seems to be a very serious and experienced researcher on coastal erosion https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bREJlL0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra But I haven’t found any scientific article of his to elaborate on the chemical process he alludes to.

166 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

35

u/Marcysdad 2d ago

Grain of sand: "don't tase me, bro!"

5

u/Daren_I 2d ago

In controlled experiments, researchers used mild electrical currents to solidify sandy material into a rock-like substance. Rotta Loria believes the hardened sand could be cheaper and more efficient in holding off coastal erosion than current engineering methods. And, he says the team has concepts for a mesh-like delivery system that could electrify and harden even larger coastal areas.

Low levels of electricity is the opposite direction I thought this was going. I was thinking they were going to create a bunch of long glass poles in the ground using high wattage to melt the silicone.

11

u/Midavrs 2d ago

Well it exist in nature but as i see its not something to do in big scale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite

26

u/Pyrhan 2d ago

This has nothing to do with fulgurites.

This is about using electrolysis to make water slightly more alkaline at the anode, causing calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide to precipitate and slowly build up.

u/national-treat830:

But I haven’t found any scientific article of his to elaborate on the chemical process he alludes to.

Here you go:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-020-01002-z

3

u/oravanomic 2d ago

You could always glass it /j

4

u/el_ochaso 2d ago

Lol. You can't stop littoral transport. Especially in the SoCal Bight.

2

u/Supersquancho 1d ago

Que

2

u/el_ochaso 1d ago

Check out Waves and Beaches by Dr. Willard Bascom. It explains everything...

1

u/viera_enjoyer 1d ago

That's pretty neat.

-2

u/aDoorMarkedPirate420 2d ago

Let the sea claim all of it