
Fact or Fiction?: An Opera Singer's Piercing Voice Can Shatter Glass - js2
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-opera-singer-can-shatter-glass/
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mikikian
"It's possible, but you have to be both good and lucky," says Jeffrey Kysar, a
mechanical engineer at Columbia University who studies the different ways in
which materials can fracture and fail.

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kisslaay
If that's a yes you should read about 'Tansen'.

"Among the legends about Tansen are stories of his bringing down the rains
with Raga Megh Malhar and lighting lamps by performing Raga Deepak."

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irishbro
The L.A beast recently taught himself how to shatter a glass over a 5 week
period which is a pretty impressive feat
[https://youtu.be/sZfaXtjHTzA?t=38](https://youtu.be/sZfaXtjHTzA?t=38)

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Turing_Machine
> A famous commercial from the 1970s showed Ella Fitzgerald shattering a wine
> glass with ease through Memorex speakers

No. The ad was for Memorex _recording tape_ , and the hook was that Ella's
voice recorded on Memorex tape was equally as effective as Ella singing live.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjV0DswlXeo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjV0DswlXeo)

~~~
js2
Watching that, I just realized I've totally mixed up Memorex and Maxell in my
memory:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJzLfxWooo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJzLfxWooo)

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arvin
Link to the Mythbusters episode snippet:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4jdGf3RzCs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4jdGf3RzCs)

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kyled
They did this on Mythbusters and showed it was possible.

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Kiro
I take it you didn't read the article.

> Yet, it seems that until a couple of years ago there was no proof that any
> person had ever broken glass with his or her voice alone.

> Then in 2005 the Discovery Channel television show MythBusters tackled the
> question [...]

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coldtea
>Yet, it seems that until a couple of years ago there was no proof that any
person had ever broken glass with his or her voice alone. Then in 2005 the
Discovery Channel television show MythBusters ...*

Considering that we have had witnesses reporting that tons of times in the
last 200 years, and written records of such acts (by journalists), and
everything, this is a peculiar version of "proof".

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SeanDav
We have plenty of "proof" and "witnesses" of UFO sightings as well...

I agree that a Mythbusters finding may not be proof of the highest calibre but
they do go through a lot of effort to avoid false positives/negatives.

~~~
coldtea
Well, there have been tons of actual UFO sightings, so that's just as well.

They might not have been aliens from another planet, but UFO just means
unidentified flying object, of which tons exist.

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bradknowles
According to my Radio Shack SPL meter, I can hit at least 127 decibels — which
is where the meter tops out.

Now, I have not yet replicated that process in a more controlled test, in a
suitably calibrated environment. But I would be interested to do so.

~~~
js2
Here's Jaime Vendera (measured at 120 db) doing it:

[https://youtu.be/QGk8nXs6Aao](https://youtu.be/QGk8nXs6Aao)

Apparently unless you're at the resonant frequency you need over 163 db to
shatter glass:

[http://decibelcar.com/menugeneric/87.html](http://decibelcar.com/menugeneric/87.html)

~~~
jaredandrews
From the article:

> "Even if you could excite the cup, that doesn't guarantee it would break.
> Fracture depends on the size of the initial defects."

I have to wonder if Jaime tapping the glass with a spoon in that video not
only reveals the frequency he needs, but more crucially introduces tiny
fractures.

~~~
cjsuk
Probably no worse than what it was subjected to in the production and shipping
process.

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zellyn
Worth it just for the phrase, “Although I was trained as an opera singer
before becoming a science journalist.”

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camus2
"too long didn't click": the answer is yes.

~~~
dx034
No, the answer is that while possible, only few people are able to produce
sounds that high and loud and even they won't be able to shatter any glass.
Fractures in the glass are more important, a glass in perfect condition cannot
be destroyed by a singer without amplification.

I actually found the article not clickbaity at all, I knew about the
Mythbusters episode and resonant frequencies before but still learned
something new.

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ourcat
This article really resonated with me.

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lawowners
The Memorex ad showed Ms. Fitzgerald breaking the glass live. It should be
noted though that they used amplification for this purpose.

