Nick and Laura witness the wrath of Nature through an incredible piece of equipment that simulates severe hurricanes, freezing winds, and even tornadoes. For these experiments, they utilize cutting-edge technology that generates enormous storms on Hollywood sets.
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00:00Next, on Survival Science, Nick Munt and Laura Shera
00:08OK.
00:09Face raging storms, hurricane force winds, torrential rain,
00:19bone chilling blizzards, and even tornadoes.
00:26They find out how science and technology can help you
00:31survive the worst of nature's fury.
00:43Hey, everybody.
00:44Welcome to Survival Science.
00:46On this episode, Laura and I have
00:48something extra special planned.
00:49That's right.
00:50Nick, to be honest with you, I'm a little nervous about it
00:52because we've all heard stories about people
00:54who have battled the elements and have
00:55lived to tell the story.
00:56That's right.
00:56A lot of people get caught in the back country
00:58when nature unleashes its fury.
01:00They get caught in rain, sleet, snow, wind,
01:03even freezing temperatures.
01:04So today, we're going to do a little science
01:06behind what happens to our bodies
01:07when they're exposed to extreme elements.
01:10That's right.
01:11We're going to simulate the storms that
01:13put people in danger.
01:14So you ready to get wet?
01:15Let's do it.
01:16I mean, I'm talking soaked.
01:17No.
01:17OK, let's go.
01:19The stories are all too common.
01:22Outdoorsmen caught unprepared for sudden and extreme changes
01:26in weather.
01:31Nick and Laura have enlisted our Hollywood special effects
01:34team to help us create our own killer storms.
01:39What we have here is our super-powered wind machine.
01:42And this thing is driven by everybody's favorite,
01:44the Chevy 350, fuel-injected.
01:46And it runs right to this big old fan, right?
01:49That's right.
01:49It's basically a tornado in a can.
01:51And this fan has a 7-foot wingspan
01:54and can blow wind up to 100 miles an hour.
01:56And on the front, we've got water hooked up to it.
01:58So when the fan turns on, it's basically like a hurricane.
02:01It blows water sideways, and it'll just blow your skin off.
02:03I can't wait to see you stand in front of it.
02:05I know.
02:06Well, let's get this thing fired up.
02:07Let's get to some tests.
02:08Let's get it fired up.
02:09Shall we?
02:10For our first test, we'll be measuring wind speed.
02:15We'll be measuring wind chill.
02:18Nick will be the guinea pig, facing off
02:20against the monster wind machine.
02:23All right.
02:23Well, Nick is wearing a thermometer
02:25that's going to show us what happens to his body temperature
02:27as the wind speed increases.
02:29Now, we're going to start it out with a mild gusty wind.
02:32And then we're going to crank it up to hurricane-level speed.
02:37Human performance expert David Sandler
02:39will help us gather the data.
02:41He's come armed with an amazing FLIR thermal camera
02:44that will clearly show changes in Nick's body temperature
02:48as wind chill kicks in.
02:52Right now, Nick, it kind of looks like it's
02:54a little cool around your heart.
02:55Is there a reason for that?
02:56Hey, cold heart, warm hands, you know?
02:59All right, ready?
03:023, 2, 1.
03:08Crank it.
03:15The wind machine is working to perfection.
03:21The fan is kicking out over 100 mile per hour winds
03:25at the source.
03:27Down in the gully where Nick is standing,
03:32the wind speed is at level one hurricane force,
03:36about 75 miles per hour.
03:45As Nick's skin temperature drops,
03:48he's turning from orange to yellow.
03:52His exposed skin is an icy white.
03:56After just one minute in the windstorm,
04:01the readings are dramatic.
04:07Whoa!
04:08Whoa!
04:09How did that feel?
04:10Yeah, some power.
04:12Major.
04:13Major power.
04:14Wow.
04:15That was something else.
04:16Your hair is something else right now,
04:18I got to tell you that.
04:19Yeah, I don't know what it does to my body temperature,
04:21but it sure messes up the comb over.
04:22How'd it feel?
04:23You can tell right off the bat.
04:24It just goes right through your clothes,
04:26and you can definitely feel the temperature drop, so.
04:28As that temperature keeps dropping,
04:30then your body starts hogging all of its heat
04:32into the center, right?
04:33So that the heart stays hot, the brain stays hot,
04:36but the rest of your periphery starts
04:37to get colder and colder.
04:38During the test, Nick's heart rate jumped 65%,
04:44while his breathing rate tripled.
04:47And incredibly, the wind chill dropped his skin temperature
04:5124% in just one minute.
04:55Well, you ready to try it?
04:56I guess I'm ready.
04:57I want to get you in front of it now.
04:58All right.
04:59My glasses?
05:00Let's do it.
05:02During Laura's test, Nick's heart rate
05:05During Laura's test, we'll be looking at the energy
05:09expended trying to brace against the force of the wind.
05:13Well, I'm going to prepare my hair.
05:15So I'm going to braid mine.
05:17This is not my first wind rodeo.
05:19There you go.
05:20All right.
05:21Here we go.
05:22And cue the wind.
05:25Woo!
05:36The hurricane winds are slamming Laura
05:39with about 3 G's of force.
05:46She's expending energy rapidly, just
05:50trying to stay upright against the storm.
05:54Woo!
05:57OK.
05:58Well.
05:59Wow.
06:00Looks like you were working.
06:01That was something else.
06:02Yeah.
06:03It looks like you were working pretty hard.
06:04I was working hard.
06:05Plus, I have a nice grit in my teeth now.
06:08It takes a lot out of you to do that.
06:10I was really having to lean into it.
06:12Counteracting the force of the wind
06:14has to obviously produce a force to do that,
06:16which is your muscles going to work,
06:18which increases your heart rate, your breathing rate.
06:20And of course, your calorie expenditure.
06:22It's like going through a workout.
06:24And that's just to hold yourself into position.
06:26So if you had to do anything else,
06:28get back to safety or whatever, you
06:30have that extra amount of work on top
06:32of whatever the task is ahead of you.
06:34Wow.
06:35I need to go warm up after that.
06:37Nice job.
06:42Up next, Laura and Nick go head on
06:45into the teeth of the storm.
06:48Nick and Laura have battled against hurricane-force winds
06:51of about 75 miles per hour.
06:54But that was down in the gully.
06:56Now, we've put them directly in front
06:59of the 100-mile-per-hour monster.
07:02All right.
07:03Are you guys ready?
07:04Within seconds, they realize it's almost impossible
07:07to even stand up against these kinds of winds.
07:14The wind pressure slamming against them
07:16is exceedingly powerful.
07:19With the wind so powerful, it's almost impossible
07:22to even keep your body from the wind.
07:26And so no matter how hard you try,
07:29you always end up in the gutter.
07:32slamming against them is exceeding four and a half Gs.
07:36100 miles an hour, you can't argue with that.
07:47Wind and cold can very quickly lead to hypothermia.
07:52That's when the body's core temperature drops below 95 degrees.
08:00What people need to know is when you start to become hypothermic, it's really hard to
08:04reverse the effects of hypothermia.
08:05I mean, there's just not much you can do, right?
08:07Well, the wind, not only does it chill the body, but it also makes you work harder.
08:13So now we've seen what wind does as far as, you know, dropping the temperature.
08:18What happens when you add the element of water?
08:20Well, water will decrease your body temperature 25 times faster.
08:25And so that itself becomes a, you know, major problem.
08:29Now, when it's raining, you may not have that quickly of a drop, but you've got the water
08:34accumulating on your skin and the wind starts to cause like ice onto your skin, and that's
08:40the fastest way to frostbite.
08:41Awesome.
08:42All right.
08:43You ready to make it rain and get some frostbite?
08:44Yeah, let's try it.
08:45I'm ready to go.
08:46Is your face okay?
08:47It looks like it hurts.
08:48Well, yours is killing me, so let's just get out of here.
08:52Every year, there are nearly 1,300 deaths related to hypothermia and exposure.
09:00To add rain to the equation, we've brought in a 4,000-gallon water tanker used for Hollywood
09:06rain scenes as well as fighting wildfires.
09:10This thing really pumps out a lot of water.
09:12Is this good here?
09:13I think this is good.
09:14Everybody ready?
09:15Let it rip.
09:16Oh, boy.
09:17Woo!
09:18Oh, yeah.
09:19Getting a little wet.
09:20Look at that.
09:21Unbelievable.
09:22So we can adjust this here.
09:23Oh, yeah.
09:24You're going to get wet, girl.
09:25Woo!
09:26All right.
09:27Well, it looks like it works to me.
09:28Okay.
09:29Well, just think of what this is going to be like when we add the wind to it.
09:39Wind and rain, not good.
09:41Nothing better.
09:42Yeah.
09:43All right.
09:44Well, we saw where most of our rain is going to come from, that massive truck over there,
09:47but we also need a little bit of driving rain.
09:49That's right.
09:50So we're going to need a pump that's going to run us, oh, probably about 15 gallons per
09:54minute.
09:55All right.
09:56So in addition to our wildland fire truck, which is going to soak everything, we've got
09:58this water running up into this machine, and that's going to give us the force we need
10:02for the driving rain, Laura.
10:03Well, I'm happy I brought my rain gear.
10:05Seriously?
10:06Yeah, I brought my rain gear.
10:07I mean, I never-
10:08We're not supposed to have rain gear.
10:09Well, who goes into the outdoors without rain gear?
10:10This is a show about hypothermia.
10:11Well, this is a show about hypothermia.
10:12Well, I came prepared.
10:14Well, I think we're ready to conduct a wind and rain experiment on you guys.
10:17Sweet.
10:18Awesome.
10:19I'm ready.
10:20I've got my rain gear on.
10:21It's waterproof.
10:22Yeah, she's going to do this one because she forgot to tell me to bring the rain gear,
10:23so.
10:24Oh, no, no, no.
10:25This is going to work great with both of you doing it, because that way we can contrast
10:26the difference, one wearing proper protective gear and one in normal clothes.
10:27Good for you.
10:28I'm going to get out of here, so I keep drying.
10:29I can watch what's going on.
10:30You're going to do great.
10:31You're going to do great.
10:32Yeah.
10:33How come I get to be-
10:34No, I'm just going to watch.
10:35I'm just going to watch.
10:36All right.
10:37All right.
10:38All right.
10:44I'm just going to bundle up to make sure my hair stays dry.
10:46I'll be over here.
10:47Okay.
10:48All right.
10:49We'll see how these guys do.
10:50Take your time.
10:51All right.
10:52Are you guys ready?
10:53Yes.
10:54No.
10:55Yes.
10:56All right.
10:57Cue the storm.
10:58You should always remember your rain gear.
10:59Oh, my God.
11:00Oh, my God.
11:01Oh, my God.
11:02Oh, my God.
11:03Oh, my God.
11:04Oh, my God.
11:05Oh, my God.
11:06Oh, my God.
11:07Oh, my God.
11:08Oh, my God.
11:09Oh, my God.
11:10Oh, my God.
11:11Oh, my God.
11:12Oh, my God.
11:13Oh, my God.
11:14Oh, my God.
11:29Oh, my God.
11:31Oh, oh, oh.
11:38Yay.
11:41Oh, my gosh.
11:42You're such a good friend, Laura.
11:44Yeah, well, you know what, Nick?
11:45This is why you remember your rain gear
11:46when you go into the outdoors.
11:48Nice job, guys.
11:49You guys are wet.
11:50Yeah.
11:50Yes.
11:51How do you feel?
11:51Frozen.
11:52Wet.
11:52Frozen.
11:53Wet.
11:54And that was like 30 seconds.
11:55It felt like 10 minutes in the rain,
11:56but that was a short time, I'm guessing.
11:58So one of the big things I noticed
11:59is Nick is shaking like crazy, right?
12:02He's soaking wet, and you seem a little more.
12:05Just a little chilly.
12:06Yeah, chilly, exactly.
12:07So you got a little bit wet, a little bit of wind,
12:09but nothing like what happened to Nick.
12:11She's having fun, and I'm missing her.
12:12And I'm miserable.
12:13Yeah, and she could probably.
12:14I was laughing the whole time, actually.
12:15No, it's not funny.
12:16I was laughing.
12:17But you could see how fast someone will start
12:19to deteriorate if they don't have protective gear on.
12:22Within seconds.
12:23Exactly, within seconds, literally.
12:25So the protective gear buys a little bit more time.
12:27All right.
12:27Lucky you.
12:28Yeah.
12:31You know what, there is a lot of water in my sleeve.
12:34There's no doubt.
12:34It's all the way up here.
12:35Oh, you poor thing, your elbows are wet.
12:37I know, you should feel sorry for me.
12:38I know.
12:39You guys want to go maybe let him warm up?
12:41Yeah, let's go get him.
12:42Let's go get him.
12:43I'm going to get wrung out a little.
12:44OK.
12:44OK.
12:47Next up.
12:48This is going to hurt, Nick.
12:49The deep freeze.
12:50Whoa.
12:51Holy.
12:58Well, so far we've seen how wind and rain can have
13:00a deadly effect on the body.
13:04That's right, and one thing we haven't studied is the cold,
13:06and I mean extreme cold.
13:08Our friends here at North Hollywood Ice,
13:10they're in the cold business.
13:11That they are.
13:12And they have a huge refrigerator warehouse space
13:13where they keep everything way below freezing.
13:16So we brought our wind and rain machine,
13:17and we're going to take it inside
13:18and make the cold even colder.
13:20That's perfect.
13:21I brought my cold leather gear.
13:23Seriously?
13:24Yeah, you don't have yours?
13:25No.
13:27You're killing me.
13:28Follow me.
13:31So we're here in this giant freezer warehouse
13:33at North Hollywood Ice.
13:34It's not too bad in here.
13:36Yeah, not too bad.
13:37I think it's about 14 degrees, right?
13:41Let's have David in.
13:42It's actually 13 degrees.
13:4313 degrees.
13:44Well, as you can see, I'm in normal clothes.
13:47I'm in warm clothes.
13:48It's definitely getting cold.
13:50I'm feeling great.
13:50Tell us about the data.
13:51What are you seeing there?
13:52Well, what I'm seeing right now is
13:54Laura looks really comfortable.
13:55Her heart rate, her breathing, just normal.
13:58Right.
13:59Your heart rate has already accelerated a little bit,
14:01about 10 beats.
14:02You're breathing a little faster.
14:03So now we're going to introduce another element.
14:06We're going to introduce some wind into this
14:08to see how your bodies react.
14:09I say blast us.
14:11OK.
14:11All right.
14:12Rip it.
14:13Get ready.
14:14This is going to hurt, Nick.
14:16For real.
14:17Oh, yeah.
14:18Ah!
14:19Holy!
14:22That is cold.
14:23Ooh.
14:24I think this is.
14:26How many seconds do you need to get the reading?
14:29Well, it takes a little bit.
14:30Holy.
14:31We want to watch Nick get a little colder.
14:33Ah!
14:34This is so cold.
14:35Your head is warm, believe it or not.
14:37Oh, my cheeks.
14:39What's it saying?
14:40I'm saying you guys are getting cold quick.
14:42Oh, my gosh.
14:43This is so bad.
14:44This is really bad.
14:45The world is doing much better than you are, though.
14:47This is really bad.
14:48OK.
14:51My cheeks really feel frozen.
14:54OK.
14:55Watch it.
14:56Ah!
14:58Why do I always laugh when we go through
15:00these horrible experiments?
15:01That is freezing cold.
15:03It's so cold.
15:05That wind really makes it go a lot colder.
15:09It almost literally gives me vertigo.
15:11Like, I get almost dizzy because of the cold blast
15:15on my head.
15:18Without the protection, you know,
15:19you're going to be in a lot of trouble.
15:20Oh, you're really toast.
15:21I have something for you, Nick.
15:23I mean, I know you didn't bring your outdoor winter gear
15:25with you, but you might need to clean it for your nose.
15:27Thank you.
15:28It kind of looks like it was used, but it's all right.
15:31Now to make things more brutal, Laura adds water.
15:35Don't worry.
15:36It's fresh, new lawn fertilizer.
15:38All right.
15:38Following you.
15:41Nick, this is going to hurt.
15:44Woo!
15:44Are you feeling it yet?
15:45I can already tell that's going to be colder.
15:48Yes.
15:49My legs are already frozen.
15:50Oh, yeah.
15:50Your jeans a little stiff?
15:51Yeah.
15:52They're going to be.
15:54I can already feel it.
15:55We don't even have the fan on yet.
15:56I know.
15:57Wait till this fan starts going.
15:58All right.
15:59Let's do this.
16:00All right, blast us.
16:01Get it over with.
16:02Hang on.
16:03Oh, lord.
16:03Oh.
16:07Brutal.
16:08Holy.
16:09That is brutal.
16:10I'm saying it's brutal, and I'm saying it's right.
16:12My hands are colder.
16:12It was wet.
16:13My thighs are freezing.
16:14You look like you're purple right now, Nick.
16:16Woo!
16:19How are you hanging in here right now?
16:20I'm actually pretty good.
16:21All right, that's good.
16:22You're done?
16:23OK, let's go.
16:24I'm out.
16:24Let's go.
16:25Woo!
16:26Woo!
16:27Woo!
16:28Woo!
16:28Woo!
16:29Woo!
16:30Woo!
16:31Woo!
16:31Woo!
16:32Woo!
16:33Woo!
16:34Man.
16:34That was cold.
16:35It was cold.
16:36It was cold.
16:37Gives a whole new meaning to the word brain freeze.
16:38Well, this was a great contrast of what
16:40it's like to be protected and unprotected
16:43as we added the elements.
16:44Usually going into a situation like that,
16:46I would have long underwear on.
16:48I'd have a bunch of different layers of wind protection.
16:51I'd have my neck covered.
16:52I'd have my face covered, my ears.
16:53I wouldn't have any skin that would be
16:55able to get frostbite on it.
16:57But when you feel the wind coming through is one thing.
16:59But now that my pants are wet and my sweater was wet,
17:02there's really a lot of danger in there.
17:06Next up.
17:07Unmaverick your goose.
17:08Inside a twister.
17:14Laura and I have been putting our lives on the line
17:17to see what it's like when weather comes in,
17:19guns a blazing.
17:21So now it's time to have some fun.
17:23And we're going to study the world's worst weather
17:25pattern, the tornado.
17:28Which brings us to iFLY Indoor Skydiving
17:31here in Hollywood, California.
17:33That's right behind us is a wind tunnel.
17:34And this thing can create wind speeds strong enough
17:37to lift a human right off his feet.
17:43About 1,000 tornadoes strike in America every year.
17:47They come in all sizes and strengths
17:50and are ranked along what's called the Fujita scale,
17:54ranging from F0 to F5.
17:58Some devastating F5 tornadoes have been recorded with winds
18:02over 300 miles per hour.
18:05All right, guys.
18:06Come on in.
18:07Have a seat right here for me.
18:08Flight instructor Afal demonstrates the proper body
18:11position in the wind tunnel.
18:13Any questions, comments, concerns, sacrifices?
18:16Yes, what happens if you shoot right to the top?
18:18You're definitely not going to shoot straight up.
18:20We have controlled wind power.
18:22Good question.
18:23Except for him, because you get the power a little high.
18:24A little bit higher.
18:25Just to mess with him, I will.
18:28Then it's time for Nick and Laura to suit up.
18:32What happens to your cheeks at 100 miles an hour?
18:34They look very glamorous in the wind as they flap.
18:37Just like a dog with its head out the window.
18:39Yeah.
18:42I'm Maverick, your goose.
18:44All right.
18:44Good.
18:49Even though tornadoes are known to lift a 500,000 pound
18:52home off its foundation and throw a car over a mile away,
18:56it's hard to imagine what it would feel
18:57like to step into a tornado.
18:59With this wind tunnel, it'll definitely help us out.
19:02There'll be winds at over 120 miles an hour.
19:04And that speed is actually close to a small F1 tornado.
19:07So we're going to see what it feels
19:08like to step into the vortex.
19:10Why don't you tell us a little bit about the science
19:11behind the wind tunnel and how it really works.
19:13Absolutely.
19:15So we have two 400 horsepower fans that are circulating wind
19:17all around our facility and pushing out
19:19into a column of air.
19:20Our fans can generate winds up to 170 miles per hour,
19:23and that's capable of lifting up to 300 pounds.
19:28That's awesome.
19:28I'm ready to get in.
19:29I'm ready, too.
19:30Let's do it.
19:31All right.
19:33Come on.
19:34We're going first.
19:54That was amazing.
19:55It was like feeling that you didn't have any weight.
19:58You were just floating in the air.
19:59It was actually kind of hard to stay stabilized.
20:01But the feeling of weightlessness is unbelievable.
20:05The adrenaline rush that you have in just a few minutes
20:09of being in the air was unbelievable.
20:11It was so much fun.
20:16Well, Laura, I think all these tests have really
20:18proved that the space shuttle is going to be a successful
20:20carrier.
20:22I think it will be a success.
20:23Obviously, the story that you're going to see
20:25about the wind tunnel is going to be great for you.
20:28So let's jump right into some of the chemistry
20:29that's going on here.
20:31We have also built a wind tunnel in the sky.
20:33Well, Laura, I think all these tests have really shown us the power of nature's fury and what can happen if you get caught with your pants down?
20:39That's why it's important to pack the right pants, Nick. Also the right gear if you're spending time in the outdoors. That's right.
20:44Well, that about does it for this episode. So join us next time as we put nature to the test on survival science.
20:49You ready to fly? I'm going again for sure. Me too. I'm first.
21:03You