Michael Shermer has posted a video on YouTube about walking on fire. In it he makes his usual pitch about how something that’s ’sposed to be infused with mysticism is actually readily understood via physics. It reminded me of a video I’ve enjoyed which shows people walking on water. Here they are. Check the similarity in the groups’ behavior.
The Web has lots of illustrations about how to make the cornstarch-water mixture on which folks can walk. I wouldn’t put it in my swimming pool, though (even if I had one).
- Check Brian Jones’ Little Shop of Physics, Chris Chiaverina on Arbor Scientific, and especially, HighT3ch (aliens alive!) for further info.
- Also review the commentary on this by some scientists and other skeptics, including Annotated MythBuster, David Bradley’s ScienceText and, of course, SkepChick;
- See also entries on HaveLaptopWillTravel, Ned Batchelder’s blog, One Man’s Blog that echo the video.
There’s also lots about walking on fire. Plenty of people have bought the bunk that Mr. Shermer describes. Check Robert Todd Carroll’s Skeptic Dictionary entry, Corey Binns’ entry on LiveScience, HowStuffWorks, and (natch) Wikipedia.
Oh yeah…also see Mr. Shermer’s site, Skeptic.com.
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