The Olympic Games in Beijing start on Friday, and the Chinese have been practicing hard.

At modifying the weather.

Worried that rain could ruin the opening ceremonies, the Chinese government has set up anti-aircraft guns in cities outside Beijing that would shoot silver iodide into clouds.

The hope is the clouds would release rain before it otherwise would at the opening ceremonies.

It's a process called cloud seeding.

Andrew Detwiler, a professor in the atmospheric sciences department at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, said silver iodide is a salt. It is used to help make rain when shot into a cloud.

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