1
00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,600
Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

2
00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:11,280
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Volga bomb here. Olympic Games are being

3
00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,159
Speaker 1: held in Beijing, China and its surrounding areas, which is

4
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,400
Speaker 1: actually a little strange given that the annual snowfall for

5
00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,680
Speaker 1: the site of the National Alpine Ski Center gets just

6
00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,200
Speaker 1: over eight inches. That's twenty one of snow a year,

7
00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,120
Speaker 1: but the venue requires more than forty two point three

8
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,240
Speaker 1: million cubic feet or one two million cubic meters of snow.

9
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,479
Speaker 1: That means a lot of artificially produced snow has been

10
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,320
Speaker 1: shooting out of snow cannons onto the mountain sides so

11
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,320
Speaker 1: that there's enough of a blanket for skiers and snowboarders

12
00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,320
Speaker 1: to compete. In fact, is the first Winter Olympics to

13
00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,600
Speaker 1: rely almost entirely on fake snow. That's not as terrible

14
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,760
Speaker 1: as it might sound, since Olympic level athletes are used

15
00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,080
Speaker 1: to gliding across fake snow. A many ski resorts use

16
00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,720
Speaker 1: fake snow to open the slopes early and extend the

17
00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,040
Speaker 1: season's well into spring, especially now that climate change is

18
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:08,720
Speaker 1: affecting ski seasons around the world. In the United States,

19
00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,560
Speaker 1: for example, temperatures are up across of the nation with

20
00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,959
Speaker 1: the highest temperature increases happening during the winter. Warmer winters

21
00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,280
Speaker 1: mean less snow in many regions, and they also mean

22
00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,440
Speaker 1: that the snow that does fall often melts a little

23
00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,160
Speaker 1: during the day, then develops a crust of hard ice

24
00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,640
Speaker 1: overnight that makes more less than ideal skiing and snowboarding,

25
00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,400
Speaker 1: and it's really rotten if you fall down. Because these

26
00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,440
Speaker 1: athletes have so much experience with different kinds of snow,

27
00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,800
Speaker 1: they can definitely tell the difference between human made snow

28
00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,520
Speaker 1: and the real deal. A fake snow can feel stickier

29
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,880
Speaker 1: than real snow, so athletes may use a harder wax

30
00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,760
Speaker 1: on their skis and snowboards to help them glide across

31
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,920
Speaker 1: the surface. The fake snow is also firmer and harder packed.

32
00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,040
Speaker 1: A natural snow, on the other hand, feels smooth as

33
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 1: gears speed down the slopes and snowboarders drop into half pipes.

34
00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,840
Speaker 1: The difference in the feeling comes down to how the

35
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,120
Speaker 1: snow is made and how it reaches the slopes. A

36
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 1: natural snow is about ten percent ice mixed with about

37
00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,160
Speaker 1: nine air, whereas human made snow is thirty ice and

38
00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,120
Speaker 1: sevent air. Snow that's made in clouds far above the

39
00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,720
Speaker 1: ground has those signature pointy crystals, then falls from the

40
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,079
Speaker 1: sky and on its way to Earth, forms large fluffy

41
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,320
Speaker 1: snow flakes with lots of air in each flake. Man

42
00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,639
Speaker 1: made snow has a rounded crystals because of the velocity

43
00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,680
Speaker 1: of being shot out of a snow gun. That shape

44
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,320
Speaker 1: means that the flakes will be denser, with less air

45
00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,680
Speaker 1: between the crystals. Human made snow also only falls several

46
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,359
Speaker 1: feet before it hits the ground, rather than hundreds or

47
00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,280
Speaker 1: thousands of feet, so the crystals don't have time to

48
00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:55,120
Speaker 1: form fluffy flakes even if they could. The airy nature

49
00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,840
Speaker 1: of natural snow means that it melts faster, whereas human

50
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,240
Speaker 1: made snow holds up better if it rains, But fake

51
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,320
Speaker 1: snow does get icier faster, which can be particularly tricky

52
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,640
Speaker 1: when you're racing for the gold medal. That's another reason

53
00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:12,639
Speaker 1: that athletes train on as many kinds of snow as possible.

54
00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,960
Speaker 1: But no matter what kind of snow is on a mountain,

55
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,680
Speaker 1: it's going to be groomed by machine before major competitions.

56
00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,680
Speaker 1: Often a base of denser human made snow will be

57
00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,280
Speaker 1: laid down before any natural snow falls, but it's not

58
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 1: a perfect process. The two kinds of snow are usually mixed,

59
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,000
Speaker 1: so athletes need to be ready with their training and

60
00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:43,320
Speaker 1: their wax for any kind of condition. Today's episode is

61
00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,360
Speaker 1: based on the article will Beijing Athletes now fake snow

62
00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,720
Speaker 1: from real snow? On how stuff Works dot com written

63
00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,640
Speaker 1: by Kristen Hall Geisler. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart

64
00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,720
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and

65
00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,520
Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klang and Ramsey Out. For more

66
00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,200
Speaker 1: podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio Apple Podcasts,

67
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:13,200
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H