Posted by Dr. Science on 04/02/2014 in
Question |
Why does it rain every time I wash my car?
———- from Johnny Rutherford of Indianapolis, Indiana
There is an empathetic interface that exists between cars and the weather. It’s actually an organic feedback network. You may note that your car stalls during a thunderstorm. This is an example of the commonality that exists between your car’s electrical system and the electrical activity above. When you splash water from the garden hose onto your car, the clouds get the idea to let loose a few million gallons themselves. It’s kind of like putting a sleeping person’s hand in warm water. He or she will do the same thing; just experiment and you’ll see. That’s what we call empathy in scientific terms. Solution? I’d recommend drying your car with a sun lamp and see if it stops raining. Gov. Pete Wilson in California is so freaked out about this El Nino deal I hear he may mandate this statewide.