Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup by promising that its nine new open-air soccer stadiums would be air-conditioned. Now the Qataris have announced another cool twist to their hospitality -- an artificial cloud to hover above the stadium and provide shade.
The head of mechanical and industrial engineering at Qatar University said the cloud would be positioned by remote control and run on solar power.
Based on the design shown in local Qatari news outlets, the cloud isn't white and fluffy. It is flat and rectangular, resembling a giant cell phone, and will be built using light carbonic materials. Perhaps something was lost in translation from Arabic because the invention is more spaceship than cloud, but ultimately players and fans will benefit from the shade.
The cost of the cloud is $500,000, but money is no obstacle for Qatar, which is one of the world's richest countries thanks to vast natural gas and oil reserves.
There have been concerns about the heat ever since Qatar began its campaign in 2009 to pursue a World Cup. The average high for July in Qatar is 106 degrees, and temperatures have reached 120 degrees in the summer. That is one reason why Prince Ali of Jordan suggested shifting the 2022 World Cup from its traditional time in July to January, which is Qatar's coolest month with an average high of 71 degrees.
Temperatures were in the 60s for the 2010 World Cup championship match in Johannesburg, South Africa, held on July 11, between Spain and the Netherlands.
Qatar, which is roughly the size of Connecticut, will be the smallest nation to host a World Cup. The other finalists to host in 2022 were the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea.
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The head of mechanical and industrial engineering at Qatar University announced plans this week to develop an "artificial cloud" that will be positioned in the sky to provide shade and help reduce the heat in stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. The incredible plan has made news around the world with many wondering how Qatar University could come up with such a fantastical concept. Well, it didn't. The Simpsons did.
In the legendary two-part 1995 episode entitled "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" nefarious power plant owner C. Montgomery Burns devises a plan to create a giant shield that will block the sun and keep Springfield in perpetual darkness. Springfield's wacky residents soon turn on Mr. Burns and the mystery of his shooting ensues. So, as Globoesporte points out, while Qatar may have added their own twist by making the artificial cloud remote controlled, the core idea is clearly ripped from a 16-year-old cartoon.
Even the idea of ripping off this idea isn't original, though. In 2002, South Park did an entire episode called "The Simpsons Already Did It" where Butters a.k.a. Professor Chaos plots to build a large structure to block out the sun (video clip here). But even Butters realizes the it isn't worth building once he's told that The Simpsons already did it. Apparently Qatar hasn't gotten that far yet.
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