WEBVTT - Stuff to Literally Blow Your Mind

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot com. Hey, welcome to the podcast. I'm Robert Lamb.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Julie Douglas. Tell me, Julie, you've encountered people using

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<v Speaker 1>the word literally incorrectly before? Right? Oh yeah, I'm definitely

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<v Speaker 1>I'm someone who's used it incorrectly before. Yeah, like uh,

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<v Speaker 1>like like us it incorrectly in a sense I am

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<v Speaker 1>literally starving to death, all right, or or the famous

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<v Speaker 1>sports line he literally took his head off. And but

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<v Speaker 1>the thing is generally you're not You're generally not starving

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<v Speaker 1>or and uh and and then uh, sports people generally

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<v Speaker 1>are not decapitated on the field hopefully. Yeah. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's interesting to actually dive into the scientific world and

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<v Speaker 1>look for examples where people's heads can literally explode, because

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<v Speaker 1>people will use this like like, oh man, I've read

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<v Speaker 1>that are iCal and nature and made my head explode,

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<v Speaker 1>or you know, or I went to math class and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, my head totally exploded. So we'd we're seeking

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<v Speaker 1>to answer the question can your brain your skull literally explode? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>And if so, how But I think I think we

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<v Speaker 1>may need to go back in the time machine a

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<v Speaker 1>bit too, Yeah, to look at a good instance of

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<v Speaker 1>splattering of the brains, so to speak, because we felt

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<v Speaker 1>we have evidence from around d a little place called

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<v Speaker 1>Herculaneum near Mount Vesuvius, where where archaeologists have found these

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<v Speaker 1>skulls from the victims of people who died when this

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<v Speaker 1>is volcano erupted and the skulls like completely cracked open

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<v Speaker 1>like an egg that's been shattered brutal. Yeah. So they're

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<v Speaker 1>thinking that now that they've got more evidence that it

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<v Speaker 1>had to do with a pyroclastic flow, right, Yeah, And

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<v Speaker 1>the pyroclastic flow is is pretty uh mind blowing. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>When a volcano erupts, all the stuff coming out the

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<v Speaker 1>top is uh, of course, it's not just not merely smoke.

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<v Speaker 1>It's it's ash, it's um, rock and mud. Yeah, it's

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<v Speaker 1>all just pulverized by this rapid release of gas from

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<v Speaker 1>the inner earth. Okay, So all that stuff comes back

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<v Speaker 1>down again, and it can it can end up forming

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<v Speaker 1>to this thing called a pyroclastic flow, which is essentially

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<v Speaker 1>a just mass of ash, gas, rock fragments all traveling

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<v Speaker 1>at It speeds up to like a hundred and twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five per hour, So just speeding along, and the temperatures

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<v Speaker 1>in this thing are pretty amazing, like degrees fahrenheit. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen it. Seen it ranged from like seven fifty

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<v Speaker 1>two to yeah, thousand, four seventy two degrees fahrenheit, which

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<v Speaker 1>is pretty hot. Yeah. Okay, so let's set the stage.

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<v Speaker 1>Ves erupts. Right, there's this column of gas, this roiling mixture,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you're unlucky enough to live in Pompeii, you're

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<v Speaker 1>probably gonna get buried in a bunch of ash, right,

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<v Speaker 1>which is I think what we normally think about when

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<v Speaker 1>we think about vesuvious. We think about the inhabitants of Pompeii.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you're in the little fishing village of Herculaneum,

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<v Speaker 1>it's gonna be far worse. You're you may even be

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<v Speaker 1>Let's stay down wind of that pyroclastic flow. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>again it's just like this wall of of what looks

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<v Speaker 1>like smoke, and you know, this wall of just rolling ash,

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<v Speaker 1>just just coming down the side of the of the hills,

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<v Speaker 1>you know. Yeah, And so that you see that, you

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<v Speaker 1>see them the volcano erupt Ten minutes later, you're you're

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<v Speaker 1>trying to evacuate something, You're running down the street and

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<v Speaker 1>like you said, you've got this cloud mushrooming out. You

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<v Speaker 1>add nikes degrees fahrenheit. I mean that what is that

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<v Speaker 1>going to do to you? Well? Uh, the scientists believe

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<v Speaker 1>that what happens is when it when it first hit you, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to basically vaporize your soft tissues on the

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<v Speaker 1>like on the extuse exterior of your body. But then

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<v Speaker 1>the heat is it's also so intense that it like

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<v Speaker 1>cracks the enamel of your teeth and uh. And actually

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<v Speaker 1>that they've discovered also the insides of the skull were

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<v Speaker 1>kind of blackened, so the brains are essentially boiling in

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<v Speaker 1>there just like in a split second. It's like it's

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<v Speaker 1>like being it's like some of the from a sci

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<v Speaker 1>fi novel or something where someone's like hit with a

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<v Speaker 1>ray gun. It's like suddenly brains boiling and uh and

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<v Speaker 1>what happens if something is suddenly boiling inside an enclosed

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<v Speaker 1>space like the cranium? Yeah, that so thinking and it's

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<v Speaker 1>it seems so sci fi. Something that's just incinerating before

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<v Speaker 1>your eyes and in the poor brain is boiling and

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<v Speaker 1>just pops. And I think you had written a article

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<v Speaker 1>about volcanic ash, and you actually had a good explanation

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<v Speaker 1>for that. I think you likened it to an egg

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<v Speaker 1>and water. Yeah. Yeah, it's boiling. And if you think

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<v Speaker 1>about it as like a molten goo that your brain

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<v Speaker 1>is in, yeah, it's uh. Another way to think of

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<v Speaker 1>it is if you've ever been been camping and you

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<v Speaker 1>had like a hand of beans or something can't of

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<v Speaker 1>soup and you're kind of like heating it up hobo style,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, like, you know, like the stupidest thing you

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<v Speaker 1>could possibly do would be to throw an entire can

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<v Speaker 1>of soup into a fire, because what's gonna happen. It's

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<v Speaker 1>gonna blow up, right, it's gonna blow up. You gotta

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<v Speaker 1>poke holes and that can of course. Right. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>the it's like a similar thing occurring in a split

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<v Speaker 1>second with these uh, these poor you know, fisherman's skulls.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just suddenly heat hits them and whammo, top of

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<v Speaker 1>the skull cracks, instant literal blowing of the mind. Correct,

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<v Speaker 1>right there. And I think what's so cool about that

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<v Speaker 1>is that they actually tried to replicate these results. Well

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<v Speaker 1>I shouldn't say that's what's so cool about I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's cool that they went to the trouble of trying

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<v Speaker 1>to find out exactly how this is because again, before

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<v Speaker 1>the before they got this sort of recent information, everybody

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<v Speaker 1>was under the assumption that people had died from suffocation

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<v Speaker 1>from the gases and volcanic ash and everything else raining

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<v Speaker 1>down upon them. So now they know it was really

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<v Speaker 1>the heat that was the element that wiped out the

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<v Speaker 1>village and Pompeii. And you have a bunch of scientists

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<v Speaker 1>basically in a lab taking animal and human bones and

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<v Speaker 1>exposing them to certain degrees of heat and finally being

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<v Speaker 1>able to replicate this degree of charred nous um, and

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<v Speaker 1>and also looking at the schools as you had mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>and seeing that there are parts of the school missing,

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<v Speaker 1>and hey, here's our conclusion. That got up to uh

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<v Speaker 1>to degrees so hot that it could just make your

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<v Speaker 1>brain pop. Yeah, I believe the They believe it got

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<v Speaker 1>up in her in herculaneum got up to around n

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<v Speaker 1>degrees fahrenheg. Yeah, And it was a big I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>this wasn't just a paraclastic flow. I mean it was

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<v Speaker 1>that as well, but the paroclastic clouds so it hung around.

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<v Speaker 1>So even if you were ensconced away in some building

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<v Speaker 1>and you thought you were hiding from it, the heat

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<v Speaker 1>was eventually going to get to you anyway. No insulation

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<v Speaker 1>of the time was going to save you from that. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean it's really horrific when you think about it. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>But luckily, like I said, I think, I think it

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<v Speaker 1>would have been over pretty quick, you know. Yeah, this

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<v Speaker 1>is true. Like you said, I mean, it's I mean

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<v Speaker 1>sort of instant vaporization. So I as far as ways

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<v Speaker 1>to go, that's I think not too bad. Not having

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<v Speaker 1>experienced it myself, I mean I wouldn't I wouldn't seek

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<v Speaker 1>it out. Now, what is the Another interesting aspect of

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<v Speaker 1>the of the whole situation with Vesuvius was the posture

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<v Speaker 1>of the bodies. Yeah. Yeah, they called the garden and

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<v Speaker 1>Fugitives because they found a bunch of different people who, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>they assumed were, um, we're suffocating to death because a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of them had their hands up to their noses

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<v Speaker 1>and an apostures if like they were choking or whatnot.

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<v Speaker 1>And they found it to actually be something called a

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<v Speaker 1>cadaveric spasm. And this only happens with nuclear explosions and

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<v Speaker 1>volcanic eruptions. So this is something that is instantaneous muscular stiffening.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's an instantaneous death mask, if you will. And

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<v Speaker 1>I mean it's it's pretty shocking if you think about it.

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<v Speaker 1>They actually this is kind of interesting too, that a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the researchers had looked at the different postures

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<v Speaker 1>and they categorize them and some were called lifelike and

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<v Speaker 1>somewhere called sleep like, and somewhere called hugilistic attitude, which

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<v Speaker 1>I really like. Oh and this is the one where

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<v Speaker 1>it kind of looks like they're boxing. Yeah. Yeah, it

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<v Speaker 1>looks like like as if they were. And the conclusion

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<v Speaker 1>was is that they were sort of boxing at the elements,

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<v Speaker 1>trying to get away from you know, the volcanic ash

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<v Speaker 1>or something. Um, you know, man versus nature. Uh. But

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<v Speaker 1>I just love that it's called pugilistic attitude. I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>start saying that you have a really pugilistic attitude it um.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it sounds kind of like almost kind of

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<v Speaker 1>snobby on the part of the archeologist if they kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like they're thinking, hey, look these you know, primitive

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<v Speaker 1>people from the past. They thought they could box away

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<v Speaker 1>the you know, the the volcanic eruption or fight it

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<v Speaker 1>off with their hands, and I don't know. Yeah, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>think about how long we've had access to Pompeii and

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<v Speaker 1>what our thoughts when we were first discovering that. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Was it in the eighteen hundreds? Correct me if I'm wrong,

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<v Speaker 1>But it seems like that's when UM when people became

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<v Speaker 1>aware of it and really started to look at explanations.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, they're boxing off elements. I remember becoming aware

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<v Speaker 1>of it through my father's National Geographic subscription because I

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<v Speaker 1>just like they had all these like really gnarly um

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<v Speaker 1>you know, illustrations of all the bodies and the skulls,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, and all those weird poses and it's really fascinating.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, the PBS special I think it's called Secrets

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<v Speaker 1>of the Dead is fascinating because it looks at all

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<v Speaker 1>the different things they can find out now through science,

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<v Speaker 1>and particularly with herculaneum. That's that's somewhat new in the

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<v Speaker 1>discoveries that they've found there. So it's cool stuff, you know.

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<v Speaker 1>In in researching the possibility of one skull literally exploding,

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<v Speaker 1>I ran across another interesting tidbit um, and this had

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<v Speaker 1>to do with giraffes. I don't know if you happen

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<v Speaker 1>to come across this one as well. But draft giraffe's

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<v Speaker 1>hearts that the heart of a giraffe produces a very

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<v Speaker 1>um high pressure to force the blood yeah, up to

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<v Speaker 1>the head. So um. I found the an instance where

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<v Speaker 1>online where some people were asking, well, how come the

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<v Speaker 1>when the giraffe like leans down to get you know,

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<v Speaker 1>moves and leans its head down. Um, then you know,

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<v Speaker 1>cranes its neck forward. How come the pressure doesn't make

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<v Speaker 1>the giraffe's head explode. Come, Well, it's because the giraffe

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<v Speaker 1>has this thing called a and I'm probably going to

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<v Speaker 1>mispronounce this, but rete mirable, which is Latin for wonderful net.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's a cluster of arteries and veins that diverts

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<v Speaker 1>blood flow and uh, and changes actually equalizes blood pressure

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<v Speaker 1>so that when the animal lowers its head, it kind

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<v Speaker 1>of serves as like a natural pressure relief system. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>do you think they get dizzy? Nonetheless, I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Like apparently it's the same thing that like it keeps

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<v Speaker 1>dogs when dogs get really hot, keeps their their brains

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<v Speaker 1>from overheating. Uh. It helps regulate like where the blood

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<v Speaker 1>is going into penguin to keep the penguin from getting

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<v Speaker 1>to its extremities, you know, cooling cooling down blood too

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<v Speaker 1>much and also helps like whales and other diving mammals

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<v Speaker 1>when they're going down to different pressures, you know, higher

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<v Speaker 1>pressure portions of the water. So very cool. Yeah, that way.

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<v Speaker 1>I found that on the Happy Scientist Robert Krapp's website.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, everybody needs some happy science. That's good stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>So let me ask you. Has your head ever exploded?

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<v Speaker 1>Not literally, not literally, but there is something called exploding

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<v Speaker 1>head syndrome. Okay, it sounds pretty severe. It does sound severe. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>and I actually have experienced that, okay, So that is

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<v Speaker 1>something that you you're feeling side of your brain or

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<v Speaker 1>you perceive inside of your brain. So, I mean, I've

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<v Speaker 1>been a couple of nights that I've woken up in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of night and thought, oh my god, I've

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<v Speaker 1>just heard this gigantic, really loud, slamming sound in my

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<v Speaker 1>in what I thought was my environment, and freaked out

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<v Speaker 1>and got up and made sure that you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>mafia wasn't coming from and I don't know why I

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<v Speaker 1>thought it was the mafia, but um, you know, and

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<v Speaker 1>then checked everything out and said, okay, that's fine, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's happened enough so that when I actually read about

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<v Speaker 1>explaining exploding brain syndrome, I thought to myself, Oh, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>of course I've had that, No big deal. Um, So

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<v Speaker 1>it sounds really dramatic, but at the end of the day,

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's really just um, the person experiencing this sound,

0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.600
<v Speaker 1>and there's no pain. It's just a sense of alarm

0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.160
<v Speaker 1>and of course a surgeon adrenaline. Right. Yeah, I've seen

0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.479
<v Speaker 1>like in different uh like different people experience that is

0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.679
<v Speaker 1>is more like a gunshot. Yeah, it's noise. Others it's

0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.360
<v Speaker 1>like an explosion. Sometimes people apparently experience kind of a

0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.640
<v Speaker 1>flash of light with it. Yes, yeah, and um it's

0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.240
<v Speaker 1>best that can tell. It's thought to be uh about

0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.680
<v Speaker 1>it's thought to be caused by delay in the reduction

0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:09.880
<v Speaker 1>of activity and selected areas of the brainstem. Um, what

0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.959
<v Speaker 1>do you think about my brainstem that it's it's not working, right,

0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.160
<v Speaker 1>I guess it's making you wake up in the night

0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.680
<v Speaker 1>to imagine it sounds. But but when when I first

0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:21.120
<v Speaker 1>found out about this one, I was like, oh my,

0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:25.240
<v Speaker 1>like actually, like even when I first started reading about it, um,

0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, because initially, like exploding head syndrome that sounds insane,

0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:30.120
<v Speaker 1>and then you read a little about it, like an

0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.400
<v Speaker 1>initial um explanations of it online are kind of like

0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:36.000
<v Speaker 1>people are waking up in the night holding you know,

0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.400
<v Speaker 1>you could just picture people waking up clutching their head

0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.320
<v Speaker 1>like screaming and thinking that their heads about to explode.

0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.559
<v Speaker 1>Like that was the vision. You know, It's like totally

0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.160
<v Speaker 1>like scanners. That was what I was thinking. So when you,

0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.320
<v Speaker 1>like when I asked you, you mentioned it this morning,

0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.280
<v Speaker 1>you're just very nonchalant, like, yeah, I think I've had

0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.240
<v Speaker 1>exploding head syndrome. I was like, whoa, how could you

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.160
<v Speaker 1>you just think you have it? Or or how could

0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:57.560
<v Speaker 1>you have not realized you had it before? But it's

0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.199
<v Speaker 1>uh um, Exploding head syndrome more e h S as

0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.200
<v Speaker 1>they call it, apparently is not really that severe. Like

0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:07.200
<v Speaker 1>they're right right, like if you experience it, don't go

0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.040
<v Speaker 1>to your doctor and ask for you know, tell me

0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.040
<v Speaker 1>you need medication because he's just gonna laugh at you.

0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.840
<v Speaker 1>Well he's probably not gonna laugh at you, but yeah, yeah,

0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:17.480
<v Speaker 1>or you might get some medication that you don't necessarily need.

0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.800
<v Speaker 1>It depends. We have a non judgment zone if you

0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.320
<v Speaker 1>if you need to do that, it's fine, but but yeah,

0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.440
<v Speaker 1>generally you don't need to and that that's kind of

0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:27.520
<v Speaker 1>I think why my reaction was so boss a about

0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 1>it because I was like, well, yeah, so I heard

0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:32.240
<v Speaker 1>this slaming sound in my in my head and sometimes

0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.760
<v Speaker 1>that happens every once in a while. But yeah, no

0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:39.280
<v Speaker 1>mafia people in my living room. So allways, well, yeah,

0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.280
<v Speaker 1>and I believe it. It It tends to occur like in

0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:43.600
<v Speaker 1>the early phases of sleep, right when you're sort of

0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:47.320
<v Speaker 1>you're not really completely awake, can you not really sleep yet? Yeah.

0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.160
<v Speaker 1>I think it's before you take the deep dive into sleep,

0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.560
<v Speaker 1>and then sometimes it occurs after the deep dive. So

0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.080
<v Speaker 1>it's and that's the twilight stage, I think they call it.

0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.600
<v Speaker 1>So note to myself, I need to need to get

0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.280
<v Speaker 1>my brain stem worked on. Well, I think there's a

0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.360
<v Speaker 1>there's a kid you can get online where it's just

0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:13.920
<v Speaker 1>just like self repair. Yeah. Yeah. This presentation is brought

0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:21.440
<v Speaker 1>to you by Intel sponsors of Tomorrow so um. In

0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.320
<v Speaker 1>researching this, we also ran across some some stories that

0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.120
<v Speaker 1>are completely not true about exploding heads. Um, but kind

0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.920
<v Speaker 1>of wonderful because I think we both got excited. Yeah,

0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:34.040
<v Speaker 1>Like there was one, um about the chess player whose

0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.080
<v Speaker 1>head exploded. Yeah, and we but I think we both

0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.040
<v Speaker 1>had the same experience where we ran across the article

0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.200
<v Speaker 1>and then we're like, oh my goodness, gold this is

0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:43.480
<v Speaker 1>we're totally going to talk about this one. And then

0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:48.080
<v Speaker 1>we we saw the source Weekly World. Yeah. Yeah, but

0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.360
<v Speaker 1>it started out kind of strong, right, I mean, it's

0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.040
<v Speaker 1>still sort of impossible, but still it starts out kind

0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.560
<v Speaker 1>of strong. And then as it goes on, um, you

0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:59.200
<v Speaker 1>start thinking, I don't know about that. It just seems

0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.280
<v Speaker 1>like it's just not possible. And then at the very

0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.520
<v Speaker 1>end of the story it says, you know, this is

0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.480
<v Speaker 1>this is more common than you think it is. And

0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.560
<v Speaker 1>here are some signs that you may be in dangerer

0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.640
<v Speaker 1>of your head exploding, which is like my favorite thing

0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.960
<v Speaker 1>about this article. Um, and I won't read all of them,

0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:20.960
<v Speaker 1>but there's here's one which was does your head sometimes

0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.200
<v Speaker 1>ache when you think too hard? Yeah? Okay, well you

0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.880
<v Speaker 1>could your your brain might explode. Yeah. Oh and here's

0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:34.160
<v Speaker 1>another one. Do you tend to analyze yourself too much? Oh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.880
<v Speaker 1>I mean that there there are many more, like if

0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.440
<v Speaker 1>you spend a lot of time balancing your checkbook. Yeah,

0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.080
<v Speaker 1>it's good stuff. But I think the I think the

0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:44.960
<v Speaker 1>theory behind that that they tried to posit in the

0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.440
<v Speaker 1>story was that there was too much electrical activity happening

0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.600
<v Speaker 1>in the brain. It was like an overload of the circuitry.

0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:53.680
<v Speaker 1>All right, Now, how about the trumpet guy, because that

0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.200
<v Speaker 1>was another story. Oh yeah, there's a trumpet player. Okay,

0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:59.280
<v Speaker 1>this was in the National Enquiry, so obviously, like you

0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.920
<v Speaker 1>see that, you okay, this is right next to that

0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:06.480
<v Speaker 1>boy um Hugo Slari was playing the Impossible Dream on

0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:10.040
<v Speaker 1>trumpet when his head swelled and burst quote like a balloon.

0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.960
<v Speaker 1>Ok Yeah. And what I love about this story is

0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.680
<v Speaker 1>that they've just got um, they've got all these people

0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.399
<v Speaker 1>talking about the event, all these onlookers, and they have

0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.480
<v Speaker 1>these descriptions about how there was a blonde in the

0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.120
<v Speaker 1>front row and she got brains in her blonde hair,

0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.399
<v Speaker 1>and it's it's it's pretty good stuff. Yeah, though I

0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.880
<v Speaker 1>can't imagine, like even like how would the brain explode

0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.119
<v Speaker 1>from playing Like it's just I don't buy it as

0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.439
<v Speaker 1>as as easily as I buy the chess player. I

0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.160
<v Speaker 1>don't know it was the Impossible Dream. I've never played

0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.040
<v Speaker 1>on trumpet, like and and when, why am the impossible dream?

0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.439
<v Speaker 1>Like I'm thinking like fly to the Bumblebees would probably

0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.040
<v Speaker 1>do it. I don't know. I think it's just something

0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.000
<v Speaker 1>from the Man of La Mancha. It is, you know,

0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.720
<v Speaker 1>it's I'm gonna have to listen to it again. But

0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.240
<v Speaker 1>that was a good one, I thought. And then there's

0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.600
<v Speaker 1>this this idea too that if you were somehow flung

0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.080
<v Speaker 1>out into space you would explode. Yeah, this one is

0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:04.040
<v Speaker 1>one you can. I believe we mentioned the the Sean

0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:07.200
<v Speaker 1>Connery sci fi movie Outland in like the last podcast

0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.240
<v Speaker 1>or the one before it, But that was the movie

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.280
<v Speaker 1>where the guys are suddenly outside the spaceship and oh

0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:15.200
<v Speaker 1>their head swells up and burst like a big bloody balloon. Yeah. Yeah,

0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.680
<v Speaker 1>And that's not necessarily going to happen. In fact, it's

0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.560
<v Speaker 1>even not necessary. It's literally not going to spend Yeah,

0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.960
<v Speaker 1>and and and you can like like NASA is pretty

0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.520
<v Speaker 1>open about this, like they really want everybody to know

0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.320
<v Speaker 1>that you're not gonna explode. Um like like basically you're

0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:34.440
<v Speaker 1>not even necessarily going to be injured. Um, I mean

0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.000
<v Speaker 1>you might get kind of flight like for like a

0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:39.000
<v Speaker 1>brief exposure to the void kind of like what happens

0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.480
<v Speaker 1>And I think two thousand one yea and yeah, yeah,

0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.640
<v Speaker 1>and I think they ripped it off in various other

0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:46.919
<v Speaker 1>films um later on, like I think they do the

0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.879
<v Speaker 1>same thing and like Firefly and of then Horizon. But um,

0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.560
<v Speaker 1>but yeah, like if you exhale all the all the air,

0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:55.879
<v Speaker 1>you know, and you don't have like you're not holding

0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.840
<v Speaker 1>your breath like an idiot, then you're you know, you're

0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.280
<v Speaker 1>not going to be injured in that regard. Um, you

0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.359
<v Speaker 1>might get some sort of like mild like you know,

0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.360
<v Speaker 1>sort of like the Bin's kind of situation. You might

0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.000
<v Speaker 1>have some like mild even like non painful and reversible

0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.800
<v Speaker 1>swelling of the skin. But but the one thing they

0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:14.800
<v Speaker 1>really stress is that like your your skin is like

0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.239
<v Speaker 1>a really good system, Like it's it's really great at

0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:20.840
<v Speaker 1>containing you know, it's a barrier. It's a it's a barrier,

0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:25.080
<v Speaker 1>and it's not you know, it's not ideal for space walking.

0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.720
<v Speaker 1>You shouldn't you know, depend on it entirely. No, you

0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.120
<v Speaker 1>could get some burned pretty badly, right, But when push

0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.520
<v Speaker 1>comes to shove, and especially when the shove is out

0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:34.720
<v Speaker 1>of a space airlock, you know you're probably gonna be

0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.480
<v Speaker 1>okay for you know, a very brief period of time

0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.760
<v Speaker 1>before any other you know causes can can jump in

0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:42.480
<v Speaker 1>there and kill you. Yeah. I think a minute or

0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:44.720
<v Speaker 1>two and then the loss of oxygen and you're out.

0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:48.879
<v Speaker 1>It's a very uh unhistoryonic sort of death that you

0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.240
<v Speaker 1>would experience. There would be no explosions. Yeah, yeah, So

0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:54.679
<v Speaker 1>just in case that was something you were worried about,

0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.880
<v Speaker 1>you know, don't worry. You would not explode in space. Yeah.

0:19:57.920 --> 0:19:59.720
<v Speaker 1>If anybody out there was on the fence about getting

0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.399
<v Speaker 1>that Virgin Galactic ticket, yeah, feel feel free to go ahead,

0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:05.880
<v Speaker 1>go and buy it. Push yeah, push purchase you could,

0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:08.879
<v Speaker 1>or well, I guess you or you can also just

0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:11.919
<v Speaker 1>you can reserve it. What is it I think to

0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:14.080
<v Speaker 1>reserve two hundred thousand for the ticket? Oh yeah, I don't.

0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:16.280
<v Speaker 1>I didn't even look at my paperwork. I just signed it,

0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.120
<v Speaker 1>take it on my bank account. So I guess that's

0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.800
<v Speaker 1>about it. For exploding heads, that's not literally it isn't

0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.159
<v Speaker 1>it might be. It might literally be it unless anybody

0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.399
<v Speaker 1>out there has uh something we've overlooked or you know, indeed,

0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.480
<v Speaker 1>have any stories about their own head seeming to explode

0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:37.040
<v Speaker 1>in the night due to large and loud noises. And

0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.680
<v Speaker 1>you can also check out more on the how stuff

0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:44.119
<v Speaker 1>works dot com website where we have I this is

0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:46.919
<v Speaker 1>where I actually wrote an article on how is a

0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:51.520
<v Speaker 1>volcanic ash made? Which goes into pyroclastic flow and uh

0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:53.960
<v Speaker 1>and and all that and the egg analogy, yeah, the

0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.600
<v Speaker 1>egg analogy in other ways, that volcanic ash can really

0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.920
<v Speaker 1>mess with human life and and just you know, getting

0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:04.640
<v Speaker 1>about town. And then we also have an article about

0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:07.280
<v Speaker 1>the whole going out into space without a space suit thing.

0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.919
<v Speaker 1>Marshall Brain, the site founder, wrote one called what if

0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.720
<v Speaker 1>an astronaut went on a space walk without a space suit?

0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:16.479
<v Speaker 1>What if? Yeah, no explosions in there, but a lot

0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:19.000
<v Speaker 1>of cool data about the about how it would affect

0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:21.159
<v Speaker 1>your body. All right, Well, thanks for listening. You can

0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.960
<v Speaker 1>find those articles and many more every day on how

0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:31.000
<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. The house stuff Works dot com

0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:33.959
<v Speaker 1>iPhone app is coming soon. Get access to our content

0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:37.280
<v Speaker 1>in a new way, articles, videos, and more all on

0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:40.480
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0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:43.480
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0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:44.680
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