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You may also want to contact Western Washington University.  They are home
to one of the best university outdoor sculpture gardens.  One of my favorite
pieces was a square bed of river rock with steam coming out of it.  I think
in that case that rain water would drain into and trickle through the rock
on to hot pipes from the buildings steam plant but I am not sure.  I know
though that the piece was pretty boring during the summer months.

Good luck,

Mike


On 8/14/07 7:13 AM, "Ian Russell" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> What a beautiful concept! Here are some tricky issues that immediately
> spring to mind.
> 
> Outdoor pools of warm water and droplet clouds ring alarm bells about
> Legionella infection. However, if these clouds are formed purely by
> evaporation and condensation then I guess there's not such a problem. The
> bugs stay in the pool. But to make a good cloud safely you'd somehow need to
> maximise the surface area of the water without any splashing. On a larger
> scale, power station cooling towers are designed to do exactly what you
> need. They sprinkle the warm water down through warmed, rising air, but they
> have to take precautions against Legionella. Do you really want to go there?
> 
> My abiding memory of an October visit to New York is the amazing white
> clouds billowing up from warm sewers at every street intersection.
> 
> I'd only attempt it as a winter feature.
> 
> Won't it require a LOT of heat to cause the cloud to rise fast enough? In my
> mind's eye, I'm just seeing the cloud hanging there. And if it needs a LOT
> of heat, shouldn't it be some form of recycled waste heat, to avoid
> environmental criticism? Hey, maybe this should be a mass-produced
> sculpture, built into New York sewer covers... (Or a huge version, above a
> power-station cooling tower...!)
> 
> Indoor tornado exhibits are very sensitive to small draughts and any kind of
> turbulence. However well-sheltered, the surrounding structure will need to
> be designed quite differently, so that varying winds cause the air inside it
> to rotate smoothly. Tricky! Prototyping experiments could be done with a
> smoky fire.
> 
> If successful, children will certainly interact with it very
> enthusiastically and physically. A slotted GLASS structure, you say...
> 
> I'd also consider forgetting the vortex and just make it into a very
> appealing 'cloud' sculpture instead...
> 
> ...Or feed the cloud into a giant smoke-ring cannon? Maybe that's a more
> practical idea?
> 
> [log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
> *
> Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
> Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
> *
> Ian Russell
> 
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