( CNN ) Is there anything laser ca n't do ? From cutting diamonds to preserving endangered sites , all the way to building terrifying weapons and turning your eyes from brown to blue , there is apparently no end to the list of applications for laser . Swiss physicist Jean-Pierre Wolf is working on yet another impressive addition to that list : using focused laser beams to affect the weather . It sounds like black magic , but it 's actually a cleaner version of cloud seeding , a form of weather modification that has been used for several years -- most famously by China in preparation for the 2008 Olympics , when they launched rockets to seed the clouds and prevent rainfall during the opening ceremony . But it 's hard to tell how effective cloud seeding actually is , and it involves the spraying of chemicals into the atmosphere , something which it surely does n't need . Laser is therefore a completely clean alternative to traditional cloud seeding : it 's light , and nothing but light . How does laser actually affect the weather ? Just like cloud seeding , it can create new clouds where there are none , by inducing condensation : naturally occurring water vapor is condensed into droplets , and ice crystals form , mimicking the natural process that creates clouds . That way , rainfall can be triggered to `` empty '' the atmosphere and increase the potential of dry weather later on : `` We did it on a laboratory scale , we can already create clouds , but not on a macroscopic scale , so you do n't see a big cloud coming out because the laser is not powerful enough and because of a lot of technical parameters that we ca n't yet control , '' Professor Wolf told CNN 's Nick Glass . That is not to say that the laser he 's tested is n't powerful : at one terawatt , it has the same energy produced by all the nuclear power plants on Earth : `` Of course , it does n't last very long , '' Wolf said . The technology is still in its infancy then , but once it 's perfected , it could help us modulate the weather in areas of high contrast , such as California or Chile , where flooding and droughts occur in extreme vicinity . Through lasers , those effects could be smoothed to have less rain in flooding-prone areas and more rain in drought-prone areas : `` You can transport the water to a different location , '' Wolf said . Laser seeding can make more than clouds : it can also trigger lightning . `` We also showed that it 's possible to trigger lightning in clouds , within clouds , but not to the ground , yet . '' Recent tests have shown promise : `` A few years ago , in New Mexico , we moved our big mobile terawatt laser to the top of a mountain and we shot it up into the atmosphere , trying to trigger lightning . We did n't , but we could see some small discharge , lightning , within the cloud . You know , 90 per cent of the lightning discharge are intra-cloud , not against the Earth . So , we are still working on that , but there is hope . '' Controlling lightning , or facilitating its discharge in a desired location , would help reduce the costs associated with lightning damage -- they run into the billions of dollars each year , adding to thousands of people injured or killed by lightning strikes . Affecting the weather could also turn out to be one of our best bets at limiting the impact of climate change . Professor Wolf reckons lasers could be used to `` repair '' the weather , reducing the occurrence of hurricanes , thunderstorms , flooding , and drought . But his laser technology can look way beyond the clouds : `` There are potential applications in the biomedical field : by changing the color of the laser , we could identify and selectively kill cancer cells , with little or no collateral damage . '' Yet another potential application to add to that list : `` Every time you think you have done everything you can with lasers , something new comes up : it 's quite amazing . ''
Swiss Professor Jean - scientist ##eau is investigating the use of lasers to affect the environment . He laser lasers could also be used to limit the effects of climate change .