Myths About Avalanches
Myth: Avalanches can be triggered by shouting - Avalanches cannot be triggered by sound as the forces exerted by the pressures in sound waves are far too low. The very strong shockwaves produced by explosions can trigger avalanches, however, if they are close enough to the surface.
Myth: Spitting while covered in snow can determine the direction upwards - Spitting while covered in snow is not helpful because when the snow has settled it becomes very solid and most of the time, moving is not possible.
Read more about this topic: Avalanche Rescue
Famous quotes containing the words myths about and/or myths:
“What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one’s heroic ancestors. It’s astounding to me, for example, that so many people really seem to believe that the country was founded by a band of heroes who wanted to be free. That happens not to be true. What happened was that some people left Europe because they couldn’t stay there any longer and had to go someplace else to make it. They were hungry, they were poor, they were convicts.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“... the first reason for psychology’s failure to understand what people are and how they act, is that clinicians and psychiatrists, who are generally the theoreticians on these matters, have essentially made up myths without any evidence to support them; the second reason for psychology’s failure is that personality theory has looked for inner traits when it should have been looking for social context.”
—Naomi Weisstein (b. 1939)