http://www.videosift.com/video/Amazing-Choir-uses-hands-body-to-create-a-thunderstorm

You've been duped! Just goes to show what a difference a title can make.

Someone with the privileges can invoke dupeof for you and get the votes transferred to this video.

it's cool how everyone is instantly humbled and awed by the power of natural forces.

I miss midwest thunderstorms, that flimsy shack of sticks you're cowering in won't save you.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'battery, generated, kelvin thunderstorm' to 'battery, generated, kelvin thunderstorm, power, volts, spark, physics, mit, lecture' - edited by my15minutes

Good vid - but I wish these explanations of stats and coincidence would go the extra step. None of them are interested in talking about the mathematics of situations when coincidence is very unlikely. The dice example is a good one to demonstrate what I mean. While the chance of throwing a combined 7 with two dice is 1/6, the chances of doing it twice in a row are 1/36, and three in a row is 1/216. So, throwing 3 7s in a row is highly unlikely. I'm not making an argument for the supernatural, but there are weird coincidences I've seen that stats would have a hard time explaining as simple coincidence. Coin flipping is another favorite example, usually something like this. Imagine you are flipping a coin, and the last ten times it came up heads. What are the chances it will come up heads on the next throw. Well, obviously the answer is 1/2. But the more important question, to me, is what are the chances of flipping heads 10 times in a row to begin with? Less than 1/1000. Which makes the original question somewhat absurd.

This isn't just true with dice and coins (independent events) though. Take the dream example, for instance. In the video, the imagined situation is a dream filled with all sorts of weird shit during a thunderstorm. So, of course, a thunderstorm later that day shouldn't be surprising (especially if the dreamer saw the local weather report the night before). On the other hand, what if the actual event that happens corresponds to some ridiculously unlikely event, say something like an airliner flying into a skyscraper (this is a real example, btw). Compute the chances of dreaming that and it actually happening. Absurdly small. I wouldn't want to assign any supernatural cause to the dream, but it is one of those data points that is very hard to account for. And, imho, explanations of chance and statistics like this should address the point.

1. The Planets Move (2000 B.C. – 500 B.C.)
A thousand years of observations reveal that there are stars that move in the sky and follow patterns, showing that the Earth is part of a solar system of planets separate from the fixed stars.

2. The Earth Moves (1543)
Nicolaus Copernicus places the sun, not the Earth, at the center of the solar system.

3. Planetary Orbits Are Elliptical (1605 – 1609)
Johannes Kepler devises mathematical laws that successfully and accurately predict the motions of the planets in elliptical orbits.

4. Jupiter Has Moons (1609 – 1612)
Galileo Galilei discovers that Jupiter has moons like the Earth, proving that Copernicus, not Ptolemy, is right. Copernicus believes that Earth is not unique, but instead resembles the other planets, all of which orbit the sun.

5. Halley's Comet Has a Predictable Orbit (1705 – 1758)
Edmund Halley proves that comets orbit the sun like the planets and successfully predicts the return of Halley's Comet. He determines that comets seen in 1531 and 1607 are the same object following a 76-year orbit. Halley's prediction is proven in 1758 when the comet returns. Unfortunately, Halley had died in 1742, missing the momentous event.

6. The Milky Way Is a Gigantic Disk of Stars (1780 – 1834)
Telescope-maker William Herschel and his sister Carolyn map the entire sky and prove that our solar system resides in a gigantic disk of stars that bulges in the center called the Milky Way. Herschel's technique involves taking a sample count of stars in the field of view of his telescope. His final count shows more than 90,000 stars in 2,400 sample areas. Later studies confirm that our galaxy is disk-shaped, but find that the sun is not near the center and that the system is considerably larger than Herschel's estimation.

7. General Relativity (1915 – 1919)
Albert Einstein unveils his theory of general relativity in which he proposes that mass warps both time and space, therefore large masses can bend light. The theory is proven in 1919 by astronomers using a solar eclipse as a test.

8. The Universe Is Expanding (1924 – 1929)
Edwin Hubble determines the distance to many nearby galaxies and discovers that the farther they are from us, the faster they are flying away from us. His calculations prove that the universe is expanding.

9. The Center of the Milky Way Emits Radio Waves (1932)
Karl Jansky invents radio astronomy and discovers a strange radio-emitting object at the center of the Milky Way. Jansky was conducting experiments on radio wavelength interference for his employer, Bell Telephone Laboratories, when he detected three groups of static; local thunderstorms, distant thunderstorms and a steady hiss-type static. Jansky determines that the static is coming from an unknown source at the center of the Milky Way by its position in the sky.

10. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (1964)
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover cosmic microwave background radiation, which they suspect is the afterglow of the big bang. Their measurements, combined with Edwin Hubble's earlier finding that the galaxies are rushing away, make a strong case for the big bang theory of the birth of the universe.

11. Gamma-Ray Bursts (1969 – 1997)
The two-decade-long mystery of gamma-ray bursts is solved by a host of sophisticated ground-based and orbiting telescopes. Gamma-ray bursts are short-lived bursts of gamma-ray photons, which are the most energetic form of light and are associated with nuclear blasts. At least some of the bursts have now been linked with distant supernovae — explosions marking the deaths of especially massive stars.

12. Planets Around Other Stars (1995 – 2004)
Astronomers find a host of extrasolar planets as a result of improved telescope technology and prove that other solar systems exist, although none as yet resembles our own. Astronomers are able to detect extrasolar planets by measuring gravitational influences on stars.

13. The Universe Is Accelerating (1998 – 2000)
Unexpectedly, astronomers find that instead of slowing down due to the pull of gravity, the expansion of the universe at great distances is accelerating. If these observations are correct and the trend continues, it will result in the inability to see other galaxies. A new theory of the end of the universe based on this finding has been called the "big rip."

I LOVE storms like this. So long as nobody gets hurt, I love them. They don't happen often in my area of Upstate NY but every once in a while we get a massive summer thunderstorm and I'm like these guys, right out in it.

"If there was no God, there would be no reason for the world to be as beautiful as it is. trees wouldnt need to be green, flowers wouldnt be bright colors, the sky wouldnt be blue, or in some cases, red at the sunset. thunderstorms wouldnt be calming, rain wouldnt be cleansing. God just made them that way."

This is a beautiful way of saying "Because." Everyone of the examples can be explained by science: trees are green, because chlorophyll is green. Chlorophyll is green, because it absorbs blue and red light, thus reflecting green light. Flowers are bright colors, because natural selection has shaped them thus, because bees and insects are attracted to those colors, and the flowers that attracts bees get to multiply (spreading of pollen). The color of the sky is determined by the scattering of lightwaves in the atmosphere. Thunderstorms are calming because you think they are calming (some people are scared of them). Rain is naturally cleansing, because it's a bunch of water running over everything. Also "feels" cleansing because it reminds people of their shower. Incidentally, acid rain is not cleansing (or rather VERY cleansing).

There is no reason, no purpose of our existence. There is no end-goal. Life is living.

>> ^spoco2:
You do all know that aeroplanes are designed to easily take lightning strikes? Because of their metal bodies, the lighting just runs around the outside on its way to ground.
By way of further explanation:

A handful of jets have been blown up by lightning, including a Pan American flight in 1963 that killed 83 people. But scientists have since figured out how to mostly harness Nature's fury. In the early 1980s, NASA (whose shuttle launch pad was struck by lightning the other day) flew a jet into a thunderstorm at 38,000 feet. It was hit 72 times in 45 minutes, and much was learned. Commerical planes are still hit about once a year, by some estimates. A strike typically starts at a wingtip, nose or tail and courses through the skin, which is often made of aluminum—a good conductor. The plane's lights might flicker, but most of the energy just heads back into the sky if there are no gaps in the skin. Modern jets often employ advanced composite materials, which are not so conductive, so metal has to be added to the composites to carry the lightning.

You do all know that aeroplanes are designed to easily take lightning strikes? Because of their metal bodies, the lighting just runs around the outside on its way to ground.

By way of further explanation:

A handful of jets have been blown up by lightning, including a Pan American flight in 1963 that killed 83 people. But scientists have since figured out how to mostly harness Nature's fury. In the early 1980s, NASA (whose shuttle launch pad was struck by lightning the other day) flew a jet into a thunderstorm at 38,000 feet. It was hit 72 times in 45 minutes, and much was learned. Commerical planes are still hit about once a year, by some estimates. A strike typically starts at a wingtip, nose or tail and courses through the skin, which is often made of aluminum—a good conductor. The plane's lights might flicker, but most of the energy just heads back into the sky if there are no gaps in the skin. Modern jets often employ advanced composite materials, which are not so conductive, so metal has to be added to the composites to carry the lightning.

LOL at the guy peeking around the pillar right at the end. "He knows the secret. We must now engage in mortal seat-cushion combat at the arena of secret coach, 68k..."

*Cue Amok Time fight scene music mid-flight during a turbulent thunderstorm*

first of all, i'd like to comment on the maturity of the comments here. and here i was all lined up to use this clip

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154259/

im a devout catholic, go to church every sunday, i always start my prayers by thanking God for the good things that have happened, and asking for the strength to solve some of the not-so-good things. i guess what i'm saying is, my answer is yes. this beautiful thing called the interbutts made me think wonder about the existence of God several times, but every time i do, i get scared that God will be pissed, so i guess that means i still believe.

having said that, i was talking to my mother about how she would react if i became an atheist, and she very calmly said that she would still accept me. she then told me her reason to believe, which i never forgot:

"If there was no God, there would be no reason for the world to be as beautiful as it is. trees wouldnt need to be green, flowers wouldnt be bright colors, the sky wouldnt be blue, or in some cases, red at the sunset. thunderstorms wouldnt be calming, rain wouldnt be cleansing. God just made them that way."

That's actualy a sly marketing joke. The event was actually, as you can see by the comment-linked video, an enormous gust of wind preceding a thunderstorm

>> ^shuac:
What's being marketed? There's no sound that I can hear. I'm not making fun, I'm honestly asking because I'm not sure I see a campaign.

>> ^NordlichReiter:
nsfw
BTW most electrical damage to the body involves massive burning and entry and exit wounds, thats... if you are grounded.


"Have you been filming thunderstorms again Jimmy?"

"No mom, I swear!"

"That's it! You are grounded!!!"

>> ^deathcow:
p.s. I will NOT go buy a basset no matter how cool your dog is
got it? OK now that I have that clear with myself



It's hard to resist being a hound lover DC I know. I was going to post some of him crying during a thunderstorm last night, but I don't know how to edit out my stupid laugh.. so I didn't

Interesting facts,
24,000,000 cloud to ground strikes per year in the US
A human casualty occurs about 1/60,000 strikes
Florida has twice the lightning injuries of any other US state.

Golfers remember, when caught in a thunderstorm on the course, take your 1-iron out of the bag and hold it high over your head. Not even God can hit a 1-iron.