99 Years Later... We Solved It

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Published 2022-03-31
How do these rocks move on their own in the desert?
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Resources:
0:36 archive.org/details/stratigraphystru00hunt/page/n1…
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/mystery-solved-sailing-stone…
1955 Bulletin - pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-a…
www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/climate/death-valley-ho…
www.researchgate.net/publication/309014047_The_str…

All Comments (21)
  • @Polivart
    It's so impressive how the pioneers managed to ride these for miles
  • @LittleDergon
    I had a book growing up called 'why does a ball bounce and 100 other questions' that was full of physics questions and these stones were in it! It was the only question that didn't have an answer and that always bothered me 😂 now, about 20 years after first reading about them, you have provided the answer. That book was one of the reasons I got into physics and I'm so glad the mystery has been solved. Makes my heart happy in so many ways 😊
  • @ramblerjam
    I only discovered this channel when the update about your health, done by your friend, came up in my recommended feed. I'm so sorry you're going through such a terrible time and just wanted to thank you for all these wonderful videos. I'm sorry I didn't find them before now! I can't subscribe to your patreon right now so I'm letting all the ads play, watching your videos, in the hopes that every little bit of revenue helps. All the best, Diana, I hope you get better soon xxx
  • Those are the children/nephews of my geology professor (Dr. Robert Norris). He studied those rocks for decades. I'm surprised he wasn't mentioned. His hypothesis was wind-blown ice sheets, also.
  • @smexy_man
    Id like to imagine the rocks just Tokyo drifting across the race track and suddenly stopping when people observe them lol
  • I recognized that ice as soon as it showed it on screen it made sense to me. I live in Michigan and ice like that covers the shore some years
  • @S.E.C-R
    What most puzzling to me is the weight of the rocks and how it only takes very little to actually move them. You’d think they’d stay put because of their weight!
  • @Joker98816
    I did a report on this over 12 years ago in college. The ice sheets with wind was the theory I believed the most. So it's cool they finally got evidence
  • @blenderguru
    That video of the rocks moving is pretty spectacular. I wouldn't have believed it could be ice till they filmed it. Crazy dedication.
  • @Ubi2447
    Sending all my love to you guys. Can't wait to see you back sharing learning and knowledge!
  • @bkizers
    As a young boy back in the 50s my Grandparents had a cabin on the Saltin sea one year the lake was very low and I found a rock that left a trail in the mud. The rock was so large I couldn't move it. I showed my Grandad and he couldn't explain it. I wished he was alive so I could share this with him thank you for sharing ❤
  • I saw them in 1976. I assumed either the wind was pushing them on very slick sediment that got wet. Or, they were frozen in shallow water ice floes and floated, pushed by wind. I worked at the Nevada Test Site and the dry lake sediment I had to deal with was slick as snot when wet. And I had seen ice move on the frozen dry lake beds. Never put together the gooey silt PLUS the ice. WAY COOL.
  • @ronniejonsson
    I discovered "Physics Girl" just today and watch several videos when I came upon this one. When I was a child (in the sixties) my parents took us on a trip to Death Valley. I remember a wooden sign at the "Race Track" stating it was believed the rocks moved due to water and wind. Having seen many accounts through the years by people amazing at the rocks I would always think to myself "Of course these were pushed by those forces". Not that I had any brilliant thoughts about them, but having been there, I contemplated and observed thinking this now proven theory makes perfect sense. I love it when science proves what attention and "common sense" tells us. I look forward to many more of your vids. Thank you Physics Girl <3
  • I remember reading about this in the early 80's with a friend I hung with. We thought it was ice and over the years I had thought had been confirmed a long time ago. We grew up on the shore of Lake Champlain and watched the ice do lots of powerful things.
  • @tswdev
    I remember hearing about rocks being moved by icy winds on salt water dry lakes because the wind would hit one side of the rock, freeze the water on that edge, the ice would expand and lift the rock, then more ice would get under it and eventually it would be enough to lift the rock and move it a tiny tiny bit. Then the ice would melt and the rock would have moved and no one knew why
  • @arc2arc4me
    Great job on the creation of a well-told story. It is so easy to drift off into the land of dry and dense on STEM topics. This effort is great example for others to follow. Nicely done!
  • @jordinlee4908
    Thank you for doing such an in depth and thorough job on this video. I've always been fascinated by this mystery and you have presented the answer in a comprehensive way. And your footage is spectacular! I have subscribed🙂🙏