Fake Snow? -- Internet Hoax

Sly1one
reply to post by sled735

 

Wondering if people are potentially burning salt? Or possibly snow off the roadway where chemicals were laid to keep the roads from icing...

The sampling isn't really controlled so it might be a biased kind of thing...which is why the results are all over the place for different people...

Who knows whats up...I would like for some people here on ATS to try this out and post though!

That could be it but it looked like this guy took the snow from his front yard. I do notice that we are now being hit with a new chemical that MD is putting down on the roads BEFORE the snow storms hit. It covers the cars with a white residue that gets everywhere!

reply to post by wrkn4livn


it's just brine

I just thought about something... They may be smelling plastic from the lighter. It may just be enough to be getting a bit soft, but if you think about it, it's holding the lighter slightly inverted for an extended period of time. Just how hot is the metal casing the flame is normally above, but is actually running in contact with, given how this has to be done?

Just a passing observation....

Wow! So, I just tried it...I went out and got a handful of snow, packed it a bit and took it in to see if it would melt.
I took my wife's lighter and set the flame to "high" and I held the snow directly above the flame. And to my surprise, it did NOT melt!
Huh...
It has to have something to do with the air content of the snow...doesn't it?
It did shrink and turn black though. My wife was like..."And...what exactly are you doing"? Lol.
I love a good conspiracy as much as the next guy, but I think this one has been explained by science.
Interesting, nontheless...

This is basic chemistry. If he'd have let the snow just melt at room temperature, it would give the snow a smaller amount of energy than a gas powered torch does and allow the ice to melt into water. Since it's in snow (and not ice) form, the chunk is in a low energetic form--crystals form between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules which are much longer with snow than with ice. He's adding enough energy to allow the solid to sublimate. The Lennard-Jones model would have us expect this exact behavior.

Wrabbit2000
I just thought about something... They may be smelling plastic from the lighter. It may just be enough to be getting a bit soft, but if you think about it, it's holding the lighter slightly inverted for an extended period of time. Just how hot is the metal casing the flame is normally above, but is actually running in contact with, given how this has to be done?

Just a passing observation....

Just passing first hand info:

I am the type that can drop a lighter in mere days.
I will burn it upside down, sideways, whatever.
For long duration too well beyond recommendations.

I go through tons of BICs and use them primarily.

Never smelt plastic, ever.

The small amounts of use in these videos doesn't explain it.
I'm still wondering about it, but I can't replicate it yet.
(I don't have any snow to play with however).

edit to remove link because i forgot we can't link to message boards which that was... just use google. it''s easy to find that this is just a trick.

link above explains that this is fake. there is no snow conspiracy. the snow is not fake.... it's regular snow (some snow is slushy and some is very light and airy)

If they continue melting it would turn into water.

What happens in when you melt a big chunk like that, the water that was there retract into the center to redistribute, kinda like a sponge.

Okay, while the snow "nonmelt" has been explained scientifically to my satisfaction, I am still STUNNED by the landing cloud in the Liveleak video that was also posted..what the hell is the scientific explanation for that #???

Sublimation... Hey I learned this trick in Jr. High School... Either students are not paying attention or teachers are not teaching???

"SNOW NOT MELTING" LOL...This hoax demonstrates how gullible and uneducated a lot of people are. And how the hoax is spread by the most gullible that are close to panic...

Sublimation is most common when the surrounding air is cold and dry. Humid conditions and warmer temperatures would cause the snow to melt first. The dramatic change in temperatures when snow or ice is touched with a lighter, for instance, immediately converts the solid into a vapor.

and... if you take notice you can see that some melted water gets drawn back into the air pockets of the snow; wow... that's another reason why it doesn't drip water.

reply to post by jessme

It's called suds.
www.dailymail.co.uk...

reply to post by Sly1one


This makes me think of a video I saw a few years ago, there are a lot of YT videos that show how to make a flame thrower (yes they are legal) the one I was watching threw out a flame that was not unlike a commercial (military type) anyway, he took it outside in the snow and tried to blast a snowbank and he couldn't get it to melt like he thought it should, he kept going on about how weird it was!
I talked to my sister that lives in Northern Ohio and she said when the car was parked in the heated garage the floor was covered with water from the snow that had piled up on it from the last snow storm!
The one picture looks like a ball of treated cotton and the other looks like (as stated) suds!
If this was legit and he took the plate out and scooped up a plate of snow and left it on the counter.... guess what? WATER!
It's just science and physics, no magic here!

Using a lighter in the manner the people in the videos did, doesn't explain the claimed smells they reported. The manner and tone of their voices was also somewhat telling (of their surprise).

I am not convinced by the pseudo-science being presented in this thread.

In fact I am downright suspicious.
Insulting people into being afraid to discuss it is unacceptable also.

BrianESpilner


get a glass and hold the lighter really close to it like they did in the video... after a couple second you'll smell the same smell and you'll see some black accumulation.

I don't smell anything.

I went hard core too and turned the whole piece of glass black.
I don't think my nose is failing or anything.

So I don't know, I just am curious why they report that "smell".
Could it be possible they are smelling something else and misinterpreting it?

Typical plastics have a pretty recognizable smell though...

I don't know, I'm stumped.

snowspirit

boncho
I presume these intrepid scientists never thought of holding the snow (or fake snow) in their hand until it melted (or didn't melt) and see if there is any residue afterward.

As the quoted post about density said, well, density.

I have good Cdn snow, and I can't even hold it in my hand without it melting right away.
I just scooped up a handful off my porch. It melts instantly from the heat off my hand.

Canada is a big place, I'm sure the snow in the arctic is different than the east coast. And forgetting geographic locations, snow is different every time it falls depending on pressure, humidity, etc…

But indeed, putting snow in your hand and squeezing it seems like the first thing you'd do if you believed plastic was falling from the sky.

Wrabbit2000
I just thought about something... They may be smelling plastic from the lighter. It may just be enough to be getting a bit soft, but if you think about it, it's holding the lighter slightly inverted for an extended period of time. Just how hot is the metal casing the flame is normally above, but is actually running in contact with, given how this has to be done?

Just a passing observation....

Anytime you're holding a bic keeping the flame going, you'll burn your fingers long before there's any chance of the plastic burning. Every time.

That said, it's -20C here, and my snow melts dripping water. I cannot put the lighter under it, or my lighter will get wet. All this science talk of "sublimation" and explanations of why snow doesn't melt - I cannot get my snow to not melt.

I'm starting to question my insanity.....

reply to post by boncho


I have healthy central Albertan snow. Cold, white, wet, sometimes dryish.
Thankfully it will turn into good healthy water for the summer.

I do have to say, I've never thought about trying to light it with a lighter before today.
I wonder why the first person to try this, was trying this.

I live approx 2 hours east of Michigan (in Ontario Canada) and I tried this experiment as well. It melted and dripped as per normal. It did, however, burn black.

This might be a stupid question, but what would the effects of higher levels of radiation have on snow, if any? Also I think if someone has the time and the means, they should take some of the suspicious snow to a lab and see if they could get it analyzed on a molecular and chemical level. Also, if it is possible, have it examined under a microscope to see if the ice crystals resemble those of real snow. There might be some surprising results. One more test someone could do, if they dare, would be to taste it. real snow actually tastes pretty good. Who knows what this weird snow might taste like, or not at all.

reply to post by Phage


When I was younger and had my first house we used to throw a lot of parties I also had a jacuzzi in the house.

Wouldn't you know someone thought it would be a good idea to poor a bottle of dish soap in it. By the time I realized the whole damn room was full of suds.


It was kinda funny, but a pain to clean up the next day.