Comments on: Episode 129: Hurricane Windows

By: Gariandos

Gariandos — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:38:44 +0000

Tom: The whole pressure equalization thing about tornadoes is a myth as well. Tornado damage doesn’t come from the pressure inside of it, but rather just the winds themselves. Besides, the tornado would take care of that problem by simply shattering the windows.

By: frank

frank — Sun, 09 May 2010 01:02:21 +0000

the show is so cool,thanks for many hours of quality tv.i have seen trees explode.it was not that cold. the trees were populars. the sap made pops like a 22 rifle. i thouight some one was shooting. the tree was about 8 inches in around.must havew shot the tree about 2 to 3 feet striaght up and over about 5 feet.first time and last time i ever saw that happen.ive seen scars where it has ocured.it was so violent that the end of the trunk looked like a hair brush.if any one is intrested i can try to send you some shots of the tree .thanks for one of he best tv shows on the air

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:52:45 +0000

i don’t know about scaling down changing the strength factor although it makes sense to me. I’ve never heard of opening windows during a hurricane that sounds ludacris to me. I’ve always heard you open your windows during a tornado to equalize the atmospheric pressure.

By: MSD

MSD — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:17:47 +0000

Just watched the “Hurricane Windows” episode for the first time, and – as always – very interesting and entertaining.

However, one question (and I have to admit I missed a few minutes): When constructing the small house to test the hurricane myth, were the structural components also scaled down? For example, were the sizes of the wall studs and roof joists adjusted? Or the thickness of the wood wall or roof paneling, and even the thickness of the glass in the windows?

If you use the same size lumber as a “normal sized” structure, or same-thickness of glass, but it’s spanning a smaller distance or covering a smaller area, the relative strength of those components will not be reflective of a regular-sized home – they will actually be stronger for the size of the building. And “code” is based on full-sized proportions, so adhering to that would probably distort the experiment.

But as I said, I missed a few minutes so perhaps you did.

By: Patrick McNamara

Patrick McNamara — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:45:22 +0000

Re your item on making a boat from ice and wood. The idea was originally mooted early in WW2 as a way of making a torpedo proof aircraft carrier for the north Atlantic to operate against submarines. The idea was to have a hull so thick it could withstand a torpedo hit. Also, the hull would incorporate refrigeration piping, so it could keep frozen as it sailed along. There is a long article on it in an Australian magazine of the late 40′s. The advent of long range planes made the idea unnecessary.