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Cloud Mining

 Every Cloud Has A sliver Lining....
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If this is true, then the amount of money that could be made (esp in winter) is amazing.

Now, given that the lining has got to be at most a very thin layer, extraction by conventional methods will probably not be financialy viable.

However if we can convince a major airline to fit magnetic ram-scoops to the front of their aircraft , we could potentially filter a massive amount of cloud matter in the course of an average trans-continental flight.

The majority of the cloud being water vapour could be easily discarded (with I would imagine minimal environmental damage) whilst the valuable silver lining is filtered and stored in tanks beneath the fuselage.

—witless, Feb 03 2003

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       We could use the proceeds to set up a deli selling green cheese recovered from the Moon.
—DrCurry, Feb 03 2003
   

       Problems, problems:
How can you tell when one cloud stops and another starts?
How much silver is there in a silver lining? It strikes me that the proceeds may not match the outlays.
Assuming that each discrete cloud contains a single silver lining, would that not mean that these aeroplanes would have to throw themselves about the sky like Manfred von Richthofen. If ram-scoops are to be fitted to passenger planes, won't the ride be a litte unconfortable?
Don't aeroplanes spend most of their time above the cloud?
—my face your, Feb 03 2003
   

       what if you remove the cloud and the silver lining, lacking support, fell to the ground? imagine the carnage!
—sambwiches, Feb 03 2003
   

       Just pepper the cloud with silver iodide and process the silver-enriched rain.
—FarmerJohn, Feb 04 2003
   

       I don't think this would be financially viable. The value of the silver obtained would have to be greater than the amount of extra fuel burned to overcome drag from the ram, erratic flight paths following cloud edges etc. And the silver lining is, after all, only a sliver.   

       And silver isn't magnetic.
—egbert, Feb 04 2003
   

       If every cloud has a silver lining and you remove the silver lining, shirley what's left would no longer be a cloud?
—beauxeault, Feb 04 2003
   

       //Every Cloud Has A sliver Lining....//   

       Sliver? That’s so familiar….my grandmother always said it was a saliva lining.
Granmou, is that you?
—pluterday, Feb 04 2003
   

       Modern scientific investigation has shown the lining is actually molybdenum.
—waugsqueke, Feb 04 2003
   

       That silver is the same silver of which the spoons which people are said to be born with are made.   

       <disclaimer> Might make sense - perhaps not </>
—neelandan, Feb 04 2003
   

       i still think clouds are just really fat birds. prove me wrong.
—sambwiches, Feb 04 2003
   

       Perhaps by evaporating the right mix of chemicals in the cloud you could convert them (silver halide) into very large film plates for aerial photography.
—bristolz, Feb 04 2003
   

       Or an emergency back-up in the event the ozone hole suddenly gets big again.
—DrCurry, Feb 04 2003
   

       Yay molybdenum!
—madradish, Feb 05 2003
   

       I thought every clown had a silver lining. Imagine my disappointment when I found it was red inside.
—kropotkin, Feb 05 2003
   

       // I thought every clown had a silver lining //   

       Stupid boy - it's "every CLONE has a silver lining".
—8th of 7, Feb 05 2003
   
      
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