What does a 9 inch ice core sound like when dropped down a 450 foot hole?
Just like this!
What does a 9 inch ice core sound like when dropped down a 450 foot hole? Like this! Credit to @peter_neff for the idea and @Scripps_Polar, @sciencejenna, @GeosciencesPU, @US_IceDrilling, and @paleosurface for the execution! pic.twitter.com/pW7LxKdbUB
— John Andrew Higgins (@blueicehiggins) February 7, 2020
Yes of course this video has gone viral. And there’s even a good reason for the strange sounds.
These scientists were in Antarctica drilling the ice to find gas bubbles trapped in the ice cores to obtain, after analysis, a “snapshot” about the of conditions thousands of years ago.
The idea of dropping the ice down the borehole was from Dr Peter Neff. This guy had already had the same idea back in 2018:
??Sound ON??
— Peter Neff (@peter_neff) February 28, 2018
When #science is done, it's fun to drop ice down a 90 m deep borehole in an #Antarctic ?? #glacier ❄️. So satisfying when it hits the bottom.
Happy hump day. pic.twitter.com/dQtLPWQi7T
So what’s behind the Star Wars Sound?
The distorted sound as the ice falls has to do with the physical phenomenon known as ‘Doppler Effect.’
An easy example is the change in pitch when an emergency vehicle with a siren drives past.
Here’s the story on this crazy sound (V1), plus the basic science @blueicehiggins, myself, & others do studying past climate with #Antarctic ice cores. ???❄️ pic.twitter.com/QAtjcxXXGh
— Peter Neff (@peter_neff) February 8, 2020
“When the ice hits the bottom of the borehole, the sound doesn’t only come straight up – the sound waves start to bounce off the sides of the hole. That’s why you hear this plink! with sort of a heartbeat sound afterwards,” Neff explained.
More strange sounds around the world available here. Discover other amazing phenomena on Strange Sounds and Steve Quayle.
Yep, Doppler Effect.
Still, that was awesome. Wonder what sound Shartypants Nadler and Wichiepoo Piglosi would make, if Neff dropped them down a bore hole?
reely wierd