Introducing Project Sandstorm. This is not a joke.

Here’s your chance to help fund a sandstorm detector which delivers warning alerts by playing Darude’s 1999 Eurodance classic Sandstorm.

The speed of the playback changes depending on the intensity of the wind and particulate level, acting as a early-warning system for populations at risk from sandstorms. It’s a device devised by Chin Stroke Research & Development who are seeking £5,000 to contribute towards “setting up and maintaining a 6-month pilot scheme in the Gobi Desert.” Watch a demonstration of the contraption below – a prototype was demonstrated at this year’s Bangface Weekender.

According to the GoFundMe, “Project Sandstorm is an early-warning sandstorm detector designed to emit an alarm when wind-speed and dust particulate density reach dangerous levels. Using a patented Darude™ early-warning system, Project Sandstorm notifies nearby populations of the speed and severity of incoming sandstorms – allowing them to differentiate between a catastrophic natural disaster and an everyday dusty gust.”

Watch a full breakdown in the video above and do your part here.