Made in Germany: World's tallest man-made tornado

German ingenuity has harnessed the destructive power of a tornado for human good. That's right; Germany's Mercedes Benz museum has built an artificial tornado, which has been recognized as the world's tallest man-made twister. And who has been kind enough to officially announce this? Who else but the blessed folks at the Guinness Book of World Records.

man made tornado 1

Monday saw this 34.43 meters high artificial tornado get a place in the record books of the British-based publisher. The Mercedes-Benz Museum, located in Stuttgart, is dedicated to the history of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks. That was quite obvious, wasn't it!

Well if that was obvious, you would be surprised to know the purpose behind creating this freak of nature (read man). This tornado has been created to prevent smoke from suffocating people in the exhibit areas in the event of a fire breaking out. The 144 jets, which power this baby up in seven minutes, get 28 tons of air moving at very high speeds and create a low-pressure column at the 'eye' of the system. This low-pressure column is intended to suck in smoke and carry it to the vents from where it would be jutted out.

Needless to say, this twister will also be a major crowd puller (not in the literal sense of course) and will boost up the number of visitors. Museum CEO Michael Bock is evidently proud of the system and touts it as 'unique' around the world. Watch this baby in action in the gallery.

Picture Gallery

World's Tallest Man-Made Tornado

Via