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Bouncing UK Children Cause Earthquake

Posted by timothy on from the up-and-down-simultaneously-sounds-impossible dept.

Xibalba writes: "This is kinda cool. One million children in the UK jumped up and down simultaneously in an attempt to see what would seismically happen." This cries out to become an annual (and international) all-ages event. Bounce! Bounce! Gain weight! Bounce! Repeat.

3 of 221 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not really simultaneous by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The kids didn't actually jump simultaneously.

    It wasn't simultaneously, otherwise the effects WOULD have definately been much greater.

    There is a military command (I can't remember the exact order) given in a march that instructs marching soldiers to lose cadance when crossing a bridge. Failure to do so has been known to collapse bridges as the combined force of dozens of troops marching in unison is capable of creating a powerful ressonance.

    --

    "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

    Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
  2. Now if they could just find the right resonant... by HardFocus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This story reminded me of Tesla's Earthquake machine which, if you believe the stories, demonstrates just how much damage you can inflict when you hit the resonant frequency with a modest amount of power.

  3. Re:Not really simultaneous by GregWebb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While I've certainly heard of this before, its effectiveness may well be limited.

    Has anyone heard of the Millennium bridge across the Thames in London? Pedestrian suspension bridge, kept in suspension sideways IIRC so no tall pillars or overhead cables. Problem was, it wobbled. It wasn't damped enough so could sway quite noticeably from side to side and was closed. There was then a controlled re-opening for people who knew full well it would wobble. They then realised they were going to have to have squads of staff to break up those maliciously walking in step and so amplifying any forces.

    The problem, though, was that with the bridge wobbling sideways people were inevitably going to try and stabilise themselves so as not to collapse. So, as you feel a wobble sideways you brace yourself against it and so exert a sideways force on the bridge which makes it wobble in that direction... and you get the idea. Everyone quickly falls into step with each other, so amplifying the wobble...

    Spot the problem.

    --

    Greg

    (Inside a nuclear plant)
    Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!