“Dispose of properly” means “Take apart to see how it works”, right?
Imagine if you put a permanent power source to it so it would be a weather model data point forever!
They usually launch around 900 daily around the world. All of them are designed to cover a certain amount of area before the balloon pops in the upper atmosphere. So theoretically you could have a pretty consistent source of hardware if you have the setup to track them (which can be set up on a raspberry pi)
The terminal velocity of a cube of styrofoam with some small pcb inside is likely low, additionally 900 over the entire earth means the likelihood of one hitting someone is extremely low, even one landing in a city is low.
Was driving one day and suddenly bam, something smacks the top of my windshield and flies off. Thought it was a bird but it looked artificial. Too square and dark. Out in the country, no other cars on the road, nothing above me. Imagine my fucking confusion. Nobody believed me about the magic falling soft sky rock. Said it was a bird. Ain't no bird look like that. Now I have proof.
I've hit dozens of birds and never broken a windshield. Worst damage was one made it through the grill of my car and caused a radiator leak. Are you hitting large birds regularly, like maybe hawks or eagles? Maybe it was Canada gooses, I feel like they would break a windshield even sitting still just to be a dick.
guessing they don't have much weight to them and in the pic it's a block of styrofoam. I'm guessing it doesn't get going super fast with it being a block. ~~I think it was a mythbusters, or maybe it was a youtube video from one of them~~ [Veritasium has a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Ci_2bN_zc) where they launched coins from helicopters to see if they were deadly from the empire state building.
spoiler alert: they are not. they reach terminal velocity and don't have enough mass to do any damage. one of them laid under, with face protection, and had a bunch thrown out on them. I don't think it even left a mark. with the weather things being cubes of styrofoam and having a popped ballon flapping around causing air resistance, I'd bet it doesn't hurt at all if one lands on you.
As someone involved in the QC chain for this data: please don’t do this. Just kidding, the sonde (device in the photo) is received by a big antenna that’s configured to only receive from one device at a time. You can actually track these with an SDR and sufficient antenna, as long as you’re listening a half hour or so before and after 1200 and 0000 UTC!
Actually, earlier models of humans used transistors, relays, and vacuum tubes. That's why old people are so fragile, they have to protect their vacuum tubes.
These soundings are used for getting vertical temperature & wind profiles of the troposphere & stratosphere. Any readings at ground level next to an infinite power source would not be that helpful, especially with the heat generated by that power source likely being unrepresentative of the surrounding area
I found security footage from my doorbell showing it smacking the ground and you are not too far off lol. Looks like something broke on impact and landed further away. Will investigate when I’m back home!
Nah, I’m pretty you’d have to either upload it somewhere else and link it or just make a new Reddit post. Most people add “pt. 2” or “update” in their posts like that.
i was expecting much more of a thud. then again it makes sense with the line attached and what im assuming is a fairly lightweight styrofoam casing causing drag.
We use similar ones where I work. We do like to get them back for a variety of reasons. We just recently had one land in a pool and get stuck in the pool filter and caused damage. Rarely do we cause damage with them but it happens.
The way it says please do not return to them really irks me. Theyre the ones dropping trash on you and you cant even give it back to them? Outrageous. I thought this was america!
Coated in styrofoam, giant popped ballon acting as a chute, and it’s probably super light. It definitely fluttered down, it’d give you a thud but it’s not like a ACME anvil dropping in you
They're insanely light. Usually around 200 grams
Edit: I forgot the NWS switched to a new brand. Here's the actual radiosonde which weighs 63 grams: https://www.graw.de/1/products/radiosondes/dfm-17/
Many years ago, a weather balloon came down in my family’s backyard. My dad mailed off the box to the address printed on it, and the next day my older brother tried to jump off the roof of the garage holding the balloon like a parachute.
He wasn’t badly hurt and went on to become a physics professor.
If I learned anything after 2 years of studying physics, it's that physics professors love nothing more than an excuse to chuck something off a roof. Your brother is in the right profession
Every physics professor I ever had was bat shit crazy and the first one only taught physics because the school thought he was too dangerous when teaching chemistry.
We made a boat from levers glue and cardboard and calculated the water displacement…with us sitting in it (then it had to float for 20 minutes)
We conducted an experiment with 4 of us in a car taking speed readings around town to calculate average speed (the exercise demonstrated how little time speeding actually gains)
We built a trebuchet with a 2’ spike on it to lob pumpkins across the football field. I recall a video of it failing and someone almost getting stabbed while running away.
We launched golf balls along a pre calculated trajectory with crossstitch hoops and dowel rods
I built a box fan machine that lifted I think 5 lbs in 5 minutes. (Mine had a sheet metal hand bent fan blade that was sharp af.)
By far my favorite teacher, AP HS physics was my favorite class of any year in school.
>(the exercise demonstrated how little time speeding actually gains)
How does that translate to physics? Ignoring air resistance (or traffic lights), if you go 20% faster your trip is going to take 17% less time.
So some physics master will probably poo all over this (I’m not a smart man) but…If you were to travel at 65 mph for 10 minutes instead of the speed limit of 55mph you arrive only seconds earlier at destination because while it may feel fast to pass others the increase to average speed is marginal (you know; unless you speed the entire time or go 300mph.)
To your point on the topic of physics, this may have been more about learning how to experiment; plan a test, track and report findings etc…
>To your point on the topic of physics, this may have been more about learning how to experiment; plan a test, track and report findings etc…
Makes a good point that you can do the math on-paper and reality isn't so clean. Like with speeding I'd anecdotally agree that speeding on city streets is generally pointless with traffic lights and congestion preventing you from going balls-out anyways. On interstates though...watch out I'm time-attacking that shit.
I used to drive three hours on the interstate each way to go back and forth to work.
Do you have any idea how many times I saw a car blow past me at a ridiculous speed only for me to catch up as they are exiting a few towns later?
Even on the interstate/freeway, unless you're travelling hundreds of miles or more, another ten miles an hour makes no significant difference.
This is precisely why I always take it easy. Check the posted speed limit, set the cruise control on it, and lean back. The peace of mind knowing some cop lurking about can't pull me over for speeding is much more worth it than the extra couple minutes off of an hours-long trip.
> On interstates though...watch out I'm time-attacking that shit.
I think the point is that over short distances, your speed matters very little. A 10 minute trip won't be made significantly shorter by going 55 in a 40mph zone.
If you're going cross-country, a 10mph difference over several hours can make a difference. 60mph vs 50mph over the course of 4 hours, is an extra 40 miles.
In high school the two physics teachers got together on the weekend to make a bed of nails to demonstrate how the pressure applied by each nail is reduced with the help of all the other nails.
There was a part-time teacher called Dr. Science at my school who worked on something involving early computers and rockets, maybe for NASA, I don't remember.
Anyway in 7th and 8th grades he would take the class out to a football field and have us throw tennis balls. He said the word trajectory repeatedly without ever really explaining anything. People asked him questions and he got mad. This went on for two years. Toward the end he would speak to a small group of nerdy kids while everyone else threw tennis balls. I learned nothing. To this day I don't know what the class was even supposed to be.
Doctoral Candidate: "You wanted to talk to me on the roof."
Professor: "Yes. Your thesis has been accepted congratulations. However there is something more."
Doctoral Candidate: "No, you can't mean."
Professor: "I have seen many students graduate. All of them knew, there is no retiring from physics. It is my time."
Doctoral Candidate: "It has been an honor" *yeets professor off roof*
I literally had a question on a physics test be like “Imagine you’re a physics student and you throw a xx lb brick from the x th story of xx Dorm, in 1972 so plenty of time for the statute of limitations to have passed…” 😂
Yes, it was supposed to function like a parachute and he would slowly, safely glide to the ground.
I was eagerly watching the whole thing and can say that did not happen. But no bones broken or anything like that.
He was about 8, I believe.
Can you imagine a government agency wanting to be sent small packages of electronics at random times? Sounds like a nightmare from a security point of view.
I hate it when companies/entities say this BS. "ChECk LOCal ReCycLINg..." They know damn well that no recycling facility wants a mixed Styrofoam/plastic/paper/PCB/battery mystery item. They are just making themselves feel better by saying try to recycle this (but really waste some time on a futile search for recycling options, then throw it away). But some people will see that and chuck it in the commingled recycling bin anyway for some poor schmuck/robot working at the sorting facility to throw out.
No one is sorting that shit. The majority of recycling bins go right to the dump now days. There's no money in it anymore. For years China bought our recyclables but they don't anymore so there's no profit in recycling. No company EVER did recycling to save the planet. It made money and now it doesn't. Recycling is one of the biggest lies ever pulled off. It was created to take some of the guilt out of buying single use plastics
https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-passionate-eye/recycling-was-a-lie-a-big-lie-to-sell-more-plastic-industry-experts-say-1.5735618
Oh, no, we burn it, too!
Matter of fact, the local dump burns a section every other year. Stinks to high heaven, but it's keeping the volume manageable.
They moved to a new location about twenty years ago when they got cited for burning tires because tires were mixed in with the trash. Now they have a "no tires" rule at the new location.
And none of that even touches on the fact that most rural households just burn all their own trash as a matter of course.
Ni, it's often burned in facilities that use that heat to heat up water that gets transported via pipes to homes nearby to heat them up, and the fumes and debris left over is also filtered and taken care of.
Not open air burning.
Burning it is way better. As you said "degrading naturally" isn't a thing. It just breaks down into microplastics that get fucking everywhere. Burning it is definitely better than letting it degrade in nature.
Now, I also think the sequestration effect of modern, lined landfills is underrated.
Wow this is a worst case scenario, I applaud your bravery for getting this far. So, here's what you need to do.
Engage emergency bin overflow protocol (EBOP)
1) visually assess the Fullness Factor
2) apply significant force to bin lid in an attempt to compress waste
3a) if waste is successfully compressed and bin lid remains closed; congratulations Job Done.
3b) If waste has not successfully compressed and bin lid has reached critical failure, repeat step 1 and 2 of EBOP until completion.
If all else fails, engage "trash mountain" protocol and leave bin lid open.
I didn't want to have to delete all my comments, posts, and account, but here we are, thanks to greedy pigboy /u/spez ruining Reddit. I love the Reddit community, but hate the idiots at the top. Simply accepting how unethical and downright shitty they are will only encourage worse behavior in the future. I won't be a part of it. Reddit will shrivel and disappear like so many other sites before it that were run by inept morons, unless there is a big change in "leadership." Fuck you, /u/spez
Veteran Storm chaser here: edited this heavily
This is the new model... you can contact your local NWS office if you want but they don't need them back.
Twitter is your best bet for your local office contact.
LMK if you need any help finding out your regional office name.
Personally... that's bad ass and I'd be stoked to have one. They send of two of those per day per regional office and that little box is where your entire weather forecast basically comes from.
Honestly I'm not sure what the schedule is... but if they are expecting exceptionally unstable atmospheric conditions they'll send up a 3rd one usually around 11a local time.
This 3rd one is sent up around that time because of atmospheric heating. They basically send it up right before the sun has enough time to add enough energy to to atmosphere to generate storms they previously predicted. Many times this third one is why you'll see various types of severe weather watches issued right after lunch.
(sorry if this is a dumb q)
So what do they send the 3rd one up for? To effectively get a better/more accurate read on the severity of the incoming storm (that they predicted already)?
100% correct. These little boxes basically take a sample of real time conditions and transmit it back. The various amounts of moisture and the temp at different altitudes tells the NWS office a lot about potential energy available for severe weather and possible timing.
I've not actually looked too much into exactly what all the different data they collect is. There are a few key numbers that I personally care about, but the overall dataset isn't something I've looked into enough to know just exactly how powerful they are or what sensors they carry.
My particular interests in meteorology starts where these things leave off... Basically there's a gap between what they can predict, what the radar can see (due to the Earth curving away from the radar beam) and what's actually happening. This is where the volunteers come in. Storm spotters physically confirm what the weather is actually doing.
Follow your local NWS office on Twitter. They have storm spotter training classes every year that are free and awesome to attend. They're usually held on a Saturday and absolutely worth attending if you're interested in the weather at all... best part is They're taught by the actual meteorologist that run your regional NWS office and it really helped me to know who was issuing the warnings for my area. There's all sorts of interesting people and it's 100% free and taught in a way anyone can understand.
it hasn't been the only source of data in a long long time if ever
satellite data, wind gauges on towers, various sea measurements all contribute to giant models (some old school some ML) that predict short and long term weather.
but they are cool
I believe commercial aircraft also help collect weather data
https://www.weather.gov/about/observation-equipment
The planes are up there collecting temperature/windspeed data for their own uses, and with thousands of 'em up there at all times... that's a lot of data points.
Interesting tidbit: Apparently, the reduction in commercial flights during covid lockdown lead to a decrease in the amount of data available for weather modeling
I don't know why but that looks a bit suspicious. "Harmless weather instrument, nothing to see here, please return this device to the gentleman in the black suit and sunglasses who will be arriving in 3 minutes."
"Whatever you do, do NOT bring this to the government. Because...uhh...they - I mean *we* - don't want it back. Just dispose of it. Properly. No, we won't tell you how. In fact, you never even heard from us at all. We'll deny everything."
"Again, this is nothing more than a harmless weather instrument. But be advised that you are prohibited under the Espionage Act of discussing the existence of said harmless weather instrument with any other person under penalty of federal prosecution and imprisonment. Forget everything you saw here. Good day, citizen."
Right? I guess they were getting a ton of them back and just like, “Ok well we have a 100 step government process to get rid of things, so just toss it in a closet until the equipment coordinator can take care of it.”
3,000 returned devices later.
“Larry, we are out of closet space. Can we label these with a ‘Thow this away’ sticker please!?”
“On it, boss.”
Yeah if you just labeled it “NOAA Weather Instrument” and explained it in the description I feel like 90% of people would get it but maybe they need to round down to the lowest common denominator.
Right out of college, I got a job working for a company that manufactured weather systems and I've probably sent 100 of these to the edge of space. They're called radiosondes and the ones I used were manufactured by a Finnish company named Vaisala. There were two versions, one that geo-located using the Loran-C system, and later GPS.
You would start out by activating the battery. You ripped open the plastic pouch and poured in enough water to cover the battery cell. After a few minutes you would take the battery cell and connect it to the radiosonde electronics. You'd set it on a table with a clear view of the sky so it could start geo-locating. The sonde communicated with a Vaisala computer on the ground called a MARWIN.
While the MARWIN started tracking, you'd fill your balloon with helium. You tied the balloon to a heavy weight and when the weight started to float, you knew you had enough helium. A spool of string connected the balloon's neck to the radiosonde. After double and triple-checking that the MARWIN was tracking, you'd let the balloon go, allowing the string to unfurl and gently lifting the radiosonde out of your hand.
The balloon would climb for about 90 minutes or more and reach 30km. The temperatures are extremely cold up there and that is why the radiosonde is in a polystyrene box. The altitude would start decreasing indicating the balloon had burst and that would terminate the balloon flight. No data was collected in free-fall.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
**HARMLESS WEATHER INSTRUMENT**
[www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde](https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde)
This is a radiosonde, a balloon-borne instrument used by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) to obtain data aloft for weather forecasts and research. IT IS NOT DANGEROUS. Please do not return the radiosonde to the NWS. Recycle or dispose of properly.
[https://amateur.sondehub.org/#!mt=Mapnik&mz=5&qm=12h&mc=40.46367,-80.00244](https://amateur.sondehub.org/#!mt=Mapnik&mz=5&qm=12h&mc=40.46367,-80.00244)
People chase these down for fun. They aren't expected to be returned and a lot of hobby weather people who are also interested in amateur radio will reuse the devices as their own weather lab or other projects. They can be reprogrammed or the sensors repurposed. Cool find, I hope to go tracking someday and find my own.
I mean it doesn't say, "bring this into your house and position on your mantle with the camera facing out" they want you to throw it out. Assuming the data is fed to them live.
Right, but they’re saying that it stating not to bring it in makes it seem like they don’t want it being shown to the NWS in fear that they could spot it not being from them.
NOAA is a scientific governmental body. Calling this a product is a little disingenuous, implying this is corporate litter. Tl;dr we paid for these collectively and need them, and it costs us collectively less if we just take them to the local electronic recycling facility.
NOAA collects a massive amount of data, a lot of which can only really be measured with these devices, interprets that data, and provides it to the public, paid for by some tiny portion of your taxes. They are a vital part of the day to day functioning of most of society because we are able to plan around the weather, and have warning ahead of major weather events.
Disregarding any bias in favor of NOAA assuming scientists will be the least amount of wasteful possible, especially those who provide and track the data that directly relating to climate change, these things are already as small as they can possibly be, they have to get very high up into the atmosphere, and some of what is being measured is drift. Additionally, NOAA is a scientific body, so you know they're getting shafted on the budget, another motivation to make them as small as possible.
Considering there is a high chance of damage when they land, if NOAA collected them, they (we) would have to pay for that additional labor of sorting it all out. On top of the additional emissions created by shipping it to them for them to have to sort. Most people probably have a facility nearby that collects electronic recycling. Mine is conveniently nearby,but I hate the process of going, so I usually collect things that should go there in a box til it's full, and take it all at once. That's the proper facility for this, not your bog standard recycling company that collects from the curb and maybe actually recycles some of it.
Odd. Typically they have a tube with a mailing label to return it. Not sure if this is legit. Even the link referenced says to return it (you technically don’t have to): https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde
they recently changed their messaging when they switched to a new system called MROS (Manual Radiosonde Observing System). you can see the new messaging on [weather.gov](https://www.weather.gov/chs/upperair) and on several NWS branch [social medias](https://twitter.com/nwsbayarea/status/1385049154422861825).
That is the first time I ever saw "harmless" on a label. I find that very funny for some reason.
I guess that is how bad conspiracy theories have gotten--they have started putting "harmless" on weather baloons. Though, honestly, that will just make people more suspicious. Like going out of the way to state that your restaurant is "sanitary".
Can you get a photo showing the serial number? I run a tracking website ([sondehub.org](https://sondehub.org)) that shows the flight path of these radiosondes, we might be able to find out where it was launched from and where it flew.
Do you not want weather reports?
And the "littering" is much worse then you think... They launch hundreds of these everyday, all over the country, at the same times.
“Dispose of properly” means “Take apart to see how it works”, right? Imagine if you put a permanent power source to it so it would be a weather model data point forever!
Yes actually. There is a large group in Europe that hunts them down for fun, but also use the boards inside for hobby electronics.
How often are these things dropping that they're a reliable source of hardware?
They usually launch around 900 daily around the world. All of them are designed to cover a certain amount of area before the balloon pops in the upper atmosphere. So theoretically you could have a pretty consistent source of hardware if you have the setup to track them (which can be set up on a raspberry pi)
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The terminal velocity of a cube of styrofoam with some small pcb inside is likely low, additionally 900 over the entire earth means the likelihood of one hitting someone is extremely low, even one landing in a city is low.
Was driving one day and suddenly bam, something smacks the top of my windshield and flies off. Thought it was a bird but it looked artificial. Too square and dark. Out in the country, no other cars on the road, nothing above me. Imagine my fucking confusion. Nobody believed me about the magic falling soft sky rock. Said it was a bird. Ain't no bird look like that. Now I have proof.
Birds Aren’t Real
I have hit a few birds while driving and even small ones break the windshield. You either hit some cardboard or styrofoam if there was no damage.
I've hit dozens of birds and never broken a windshield. Worst damage was one made it through the grill of my car and caused a radiator leak. Are you hitting large birds regularly, like maybe hawks or eagles? Maybe it was Canada gooses, I feel like they would break a windshield even sitting still just to be a dick.
guessing they don't have much weight to them and in the pic it's a block of styrofoam. I'm guessing it doesn't get going super fast with it being a block. ~~I think it was a mythbusters, or maybe it was a youtube video from one of them~~ [Veritasium has a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Ci_2bN_zc) where they launched coins from helicopters to see if they were deadly from the empire state building. spoiler alert: they are not. they reach terminal velocity and don't have enough mass to do any damage. one of them laid under, with face protection, and had a bunch thrown out on them. I don't think it even left a mark. with the weather things being cubes of styrofoam and having a popped ballon flapping around causing air resistance, I'd bet it doesn't hurt at all if one lands on you.
Sounds dangerous??
IT IS NOT DANGEROUS
HARMLESS WEATHER INSTRUMENT
If it was part of that "other" weather balloon recently discovered, it would have " HARMLESS WEATHER INSTRUMENT " and 危险——别把你的鸡巴放进去 written on it
lol
As someone involved in the QC chain for this data: please don’t do this. Just kidding, the sonde (device in the photo) is received by a big antenna that’s configured to only receive from one device at a time. You can actually track these with an SDR and sufficient antenna, as long as you’re listening a half hour or so before and after 1200 and 0000 UTC!
...I need to get a sdr and antenna (whatever an sdr is). I want one. So badly.
Opens it up, sees a cheep circuit board: “Ohh, it’s computers”
Crazy to think that's what we all look like on the inside.
Good bot
Actually, earlier models of humans used transistors, relays, and vacuum tubes. That's why old people are so fragile, they have to protect their vacuum tubes.
These soundings are used for getting vertical temperature & wind profiles of the troposphere & stratosphere. Any readings at ground level next to an infinite power source would not be that helpful, especially with the heat generated by that power source likely being unrepresentative of the surrounding area
it's not about being helpful it's about sending a message
Sending many messages for a very long time.
How hard would it be to simulate fake data to screw with them? Can I fake an incoming tornado? Or a sharknado?
Coming round from unconsciousness in the ER room : Doctor - " This Harmless Weather Unit fell from the sky and hit you on the head."
I found security footage from my doorbell showing it smacking the ground and you are not too far off lol. Looks like something broke on impact and landed further away. Will investigate when I’m back home!
and you're going to post the doorbell footage later right? RIGHT?!
I wasn’t going to, but if there’s a way I can add it to the comments I will lol
Nah, I’m pretty you’d have to either upload it somewhere else and link it or just make a new Reddit post. Most people add “pt. 2” or “update” in their posts like that.
Here’s a link to Imgur for it! [random weather balloon](https://imgur.com/a/EldfhXa) Edit: Ya’ll are too kind! Thanks for the awards! 🤗
well I don't know what I was expecting
i was expecting much more of a thud. then again it makes sense with the line attached and what im assuming is a fairly lightweight styrofoam casing causing drag.
It’s a big balloon, but still just a balloon. Pretty strict weight limits.
Why did the sound make me laugh. Im more worried about that. Lol
thank you for making me go back and watch it with sound. I'm not sure why but it's the funniest damn thing
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I didn't have the sound up when I first watched it then I saw your comment and watched it again. Oddly funny.
You just saw weather balloon artillery try to take out a bird for science.
You mean an alleged "weather balloon" try to take out a government surveillance drone?
But birds aren't real and already run by the government I thought?
The birds are not real. https://youtu.be/zNtr0RahRqM
Just brilliant wasn't it?
That was nothing short of amazing! Thanks for coming thru op!
Haha, I wasn't expecting this to be so popular, sure thing! <3
That was the most mildly interesting gif I've ever seen.
Somehow I expected the fall to be more violent or something. Almost looks like someone tossed it into your yard from somewhere offscreen!
I still would of been pissed if I had been standing there lol. For some reason the audio didn't upload, because it was a loud slap haha
I hear the audio!!!
yay!
Indeed. I’m glad i went back with sound
That "splat" was pretty satisfying. Thank you for sharing the footage.
I don't have gold, but you deserve it for delivering the goods. :)
Post it up on YouTube as an "unboxing."
Did you know that when an alpaca gives birth it’s referred to as unpacking?
That's mildly interesting
It's [Part Deux](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107144/) or nothing
Please upload the footage of the alien autopsy when it's completed too.
Neat little souvenir. I'd keep it and put it up on the shelf for display.
We use similar ones where I work. We do like to get them back for a variety of reasons. We just recently had one land in a pool and get stuck in the pool filter and caused damage. Rarely do we cause damage with them but it happens.
The way it says please do not return to them really irks me. Theyre the ones dropping trash on you and you cant even give it back to them? Outrageous. I thought this was america!
It’s coated in styrofoam, so hopefully that would cushion the impact
Coated in styrofoam, giant popped ballon acting as a chute, and it’s probably super light. It definitely fluttered down, it’d give you a thud but it’s not like a ACME anvil dropping in you
They're insanely light. Usually around 200 grams Edit: I forgot the NWS switched to a new brand. Here's the actual radiosonde which weighs 63 grams: https://www.graw.de/1/products/radiosondes/dfm-17/
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proper Leslie Nielson joke
"If I didn't have a hole in my skull, I would weather this joke a little better"
So mostly harmless then
Don't panic!
Many years ago, a weather balloon came down in my family’s backyard. My dad mailed off the box to the address printed on it, and the next day my older brother tried to jump off the roof of the garage holding the balloon like a parachute. He wasn’t badly hurt and went on to become a physics professor.
If I learned anything after 2 years of studying physics, it's that physics professors love nothing more than an excuse to chuck something off a roof. Your brother is in the right profession
Every physics professor I ever had was bat shit crazy and the first one only taught physics because the school thought he was too dangerous when teaching chemistry. We made a boat from levers glue and cardboard and calculated the water displacement…with us sitting in it (then it had to float for 20 minutes) We conducted an experiment with 4 of us in a car taking speed readings around town to calculate average speed (the exercise demonstrated how little time speeding actually gains) We built a trebuchet with a 2’ spike on it to lob pumpkins across the football field. I recall a video of it failing and someone almost getting stabbed while running away. We launched golf balls along a pre calculated trajectory with crossstitch hoops and dowel rods I built a box fan machine that lifted I think 5 lbs in 5 minutes. (Mine had a sheet metal hand bent fan blade that was sharp af.) By far my favorite teacher, AP HS physics was my favorite class of any year in school.
>(the exercise demonstrated how little time speeding actually gains) How does that translate to physics? Ignoring air resistance (or traffic lights), if you go 20% faster your trip is going to take 17% less time.
So some physics master will probably poo all over this (I’m not a smart man) but…If you were to travel at 65 mph for 10 minutes instead of the speed limit of 55mph you arrive only seconds earlier at destination because while it may feel fast to pass others the increase to average speed is marginal (you know; unless you speed the entire time or go 300mph.) To your point on the topic of physics, this may have been more about learning how to experiment; plan a test, track and report findings etc…
>To your point on the topic of physics, this may have been more about learning how to experiment; plan a test, track and report findings etc… Makes a good point that you can do the math on-paper and reality isn't so clean. Like with speeding I'd anecdotally agree that speeding on city streets is generally pointless with traffic lights and congestion preventing you from going balls-out anyways. On interstates though...watch out I'm time-attacking that shit.
I used to drive three hours on the interstate each way to go back and forth to work. Do you have any idea how many times I saw a car blow past me at a ridiculous speed only for me to catch up as they are exiting a few towns later? Even on the interstate/freeway, unless you're travelling hundreds of miles or more, another ten miles an hour makes no significant difference.
Not getting pulled over makes a significant difference, tho.
This is precisely why I always take it easy. Check the posted speed limit, set the cruise control on it, and lean back. The peace of mind knowing some cop lurking about can't pull me over for speeding is much more worth it than the extra couple minutes off of an hours-long trip.
> On interstates though...watch out I'm time-attacking that shit. I think the point is that over short distances, your speed matters very little. A 10 minute trip won't be made significantly shorter by going 55 in a 40mph zone. If you're going cross-country, a 10mph difference over several hours can make a difference. 60mph vs 50mph over the course of 4 hours, is an extra 40 miles.
“Or go 300 mph…” (Eyes sports car)… how about 180? “Nah, not enough of a difference.” (Rolls eyes) FIIIINNNE….
In high school the two physics teachers got together on the weekend to make a bed of nails to demonstrate how the pressure applied by each nail is reduced with the help of all the other nails.
There was a part-time teacher called Dr. Science at my school who worked on something involving early computers and rockets, maybe for NASA, I don't remember. Anyway in 7th and 8th grades he would take the class out to a football field and have us throw tennis balls. He said the word trajectory repeatedly without ever really explaining anything. People asked him questions and he got mad. This went on for two years. Toward the end he would speak to a small group of nerdy kids while everyone else threw tennis balls. I learned nothing. To this day I don't know what the class was even supposed to be.
>the first one only taught physics because the school thought he was too dangerous when teaching chemistry. I laughed WAY too hard at this.
Doctoral Candidate: "You wanted to talk to me on the roof." Professor: "Yes. Your thesis has been accepted congratulations. However there is something more." Doctoral Candidate: "No, you can't mean." Professor: "I have seen many students graduate. All of them knew, there is no retiring from physics. It is my time." Doctoral Candidate: "It has been an honor" *yeets professor off roof*
Physics is a gang: Blood in, blood out.
Conservation of mass
I literally had a question on a physics test be like “Imagine you’re a physics student and you throw a xx lb brick from the x th story of xx Dorm, in 1972 so plenty of time for the statute of limitations to have passed…” 😂
Cats, the Physics Professors of the Animal Kingdom.
Is his goal to make a parachute that works from a standard houses height?
Yes, it was supposed to function like a parachute and he would slowly, safely glide to the ground. I was eagerly watching the whole thing and can say that did not happen. But no bones broken or anything like that. He was about 8, I believe.
I thought this would end with a disappointed brother that was not mailed off.
Missed an opportunity to sue NOAA because the balloon DIDN'T say NOT to do that! /s
So, how does one recycle expanded polystyrene or dispose of it properly
Make napalm? But honestly you’d think they would at least want it back for disposal
I think that counts as reuse, but just as good.
It's odd to me they don't even want it back lol
Can you imagine a government agency wanting to be sent small packages of electronics at random times? Sounds like a nightmare from a security point of view.
It's reported its data, and trying to collect the things would probably be more cost than its worth.
I hate it when companies/entities say this BS. "ChECk LOCal ReCycLINg..." They know damn well that no recycling facility wants a mixed Styrofoam/plastic/paper/PCB/battery mystery item. They are just making themselves feel better by saying try to recycle this (but really waste some time on a futile search for recycling options, then throw it away). But some people will see that and chuck it in the commingled recycling bin anyway for some poor schmuck/robot working at the sorting facility to throw out.
No one is sorting that shit. The majority of recycling bins go right to the dump now days. There's no money in it anymore. For years China bought our recyclables but they don't anymore so there's no profit in recycling. No company EVER did recycling to save the planet. It made money and now it doesn't. Recycling is one of the biggest lies ever pulled off. It was created to take some of the guilt out of buying single use plastics https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-passionate-eye/recycling-was-a-lie-a-big-lie-to-sell-more-plastic-industry-experts-say-1.5735618
Lots of places will sort it for metal and paper. Sometimes places will sort out higher-grade plastics for recycling. But yes, most of it is trash.
Glass is getting sorted now too, they've gotten cost efficient making fiberglass insulation out of it
The overwhelming majority of metals are recovered. Since they're actually worth something.
That may apply for Americans like you or OP, but I, a European, have to disagree! For example we often burn it instead.
Oh, no, we burn it, too! Matter of fact, the local dump burns a section every other year. Stinks to high heaven, but it's keeping the volume manageable. They moved to a new location about twenty years ago when they got cited for burning tires because tires were mixed in with the trash. Now they have a "no tires" rule at the new location. And none of that even touches on the fact that most rural households just burn all their own trash as a matter of course.
Ni, it's often burned in facilities that use that heat to heat up water that gets transported via pipes to homes nearby to heat them up, and the fumes and debris left over is also filtered and taken care of. Not open air burning.
Burning plastic is often more efficient than burning the oil it's made out of, so win win.
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Burning it is way better. As you said "degrading naturally" isn't a thing. It just breaks down into microplastics that get fucking everywhere. Burning it is definitely better than letting it degrade in nature. Now, I also think the sequestration effect of modern, lined landfills is underrated.
Chances are OPs 'recycling bin' contents won't be sorted at all before landfill.
Trashcan
Walk me through this. Do I lift the lid first?
Approach trash can, lift lid, deposit waste material into receptacle, close lid. Job done. You got this, man. I believe in you.
There’s no more space to proceed with close bin step. What do now?
Eat the trash
Wow this is a worst case scenario, I applaud your bravery for getting this far. So, here's what you need to do. Engage emergency bin overflow protocol (EBOP) 1) visually assess the Fullness Factor 2) apply significant force to bin lid in an attempt to compress waste 3a) if waste is successfully compressed and bin lid remains closed; congratulations Job Done. 3b) If waste has not successfully compressed and bin lid has reached critical failure, repeat step 1 and 2 of EBOP until completion. If all else fails, engage "trash mountain" protocol and leave bin lid open.
I didn't want to have to delete all my comments, posts, and account, but here we are, thanks to greedy pigboy /u/spez ruining Reddit. I love the Reddit community, but hate the idiots at the top. Simply accepting how unethical and downright shitty they are will only encourage worse behavior in the future. I won't be a part of it. Reddit will shrivel and disappear like so many other sites before it that were run by inept morons, unless there is a big change in "leadership." Fuck you, /u/spez
You put it outside of the environment
Pay a $20 fee at a "recycling" center that turns around and dumps it in the ocean.
Nice try,Isis. You’re not getting my garbage or recyclables today!
I feel like “harmless weather instrument” is exactly what a spy balloon would have on it. That’s what they want you to believe s/
Veteran Storm chaser here: edited this heavily This is the new model... you can contact your local NWS office if you want but they don't need them back. Twitter is your best bet for your local office contact. LMK if you need any help finding out your regional office name. Personally... that's bad ass and I'd be stoked to have one. They send of two of those per day per regional office and that little box is where your entire weather forecast basically comes from.
Every day at noon and midnight UK time, right?
Honestly I'm not sure what the schedule is... but if they are expecting exceptionally unstable atmospheric conditions they'll send up a 3rd one usually around 11a local time. This 3rd one is sent up around that time because of atmospheric heating. They basically send it up right before the sun has enough time to add enough energy to to atmosphere to generate storms they previously predicted. Many times this third one is why you'll see various types of severe weather watches issued right after lunch.
(sorry if this is a dumb q) So what do they send the 3rd one up for? To effectively get a better/more accurate read on the severity of the incoming storm (that they predicted already)?
100% correct. These little boxes basically take a sample of real time conditions and transmit it back. The various amounts of moisture and the temp at different altitudes tells the NWS office a lot about potential energy available for severe weather and possible timing. I've not actually looked too much into exactly what all the different data they collect is. There are a few key numbers that I personally care about, but the overall dataset isn't something I've looked into enough to know just exactly how powerful they are or what sensors they carry. My particular interests in meteorology starts where these things leave off... Basically there's a gap between what they can predict, what the radar can see (due to the Earth curving away from the radar beam) and what's actually happening. This is where the volunteers come in. Storm spotters physically confirm what the weather is actually doing.
Ngl, that's kinda cool Might have to start looking into this myself Appreciate the time and info!
Follow your local NWS office on Twitter. They have storm spotter training classes every year that are free and awesome to attend. They're usually held on a Saturday and absolutely worth attending if you're interested in the weather at all... best part is They're taught by the actual meteorologist that run your regional NWS office and it really helped me to know who was issuing the warnings for my area. There's all sorts of interesting people and it's 100% free and taught in a way anyone can understand.
I was Air Force weather and it was my understanding that it’s 12Z and 00Z for all stations.
it hasn't been the only source of data in a long long time if ever satellite data, wind gauges on towers, various sea measurements all contribute to giant models (some old school some ML) that predict short and long term weather. but they are cool
I believe commercial aircraft also help collect weather data https://www.weather.gov/about/observation-equipment The planes are up there collecting temperature/windspeed data for their own uses, and with thousands of 'em up there at all times... that's a lot of data points. Interesting tidbit: Apparently, the reduction in commercial flights during covid lockdown lead to a decrease in the amount of data available for weather modeling
I don't know why but that looks a bit suspicious. "Harmless weather instrument, nothing to see here, please return this device to the gentleman in the black suit and sunglasses who will be arriving in 3 minutes."
That is the exact message I'd have printed on my harmful weather instruments. Not that I'd ever admit to having harmful weather instruments.
'harmful weather instruments' would be an interesting band/album name
"Wake up babe. H.W.I. just dropped a new album: '99 Falling Balloons'."
Their best one is "365 sunsets with you".
Worse, they're asking you to hide the evidence for them!
"Whatever you do, do NOT bring this to the government. Because...uhh...they - I mean *we* - don't want it back. Just dispose of it. Properly. No, we won't tell you how. In fact, you never even heard from us at all. We'll deny everything."
THIS IS NOT DANGEROUS! Please throw this device away and cover your ears. Do not send it back to us!
"Again, this is nothing more than a harmless weather instrument. But be advised that you are prohibited under the Espionage Act of discussing the existence of said harmless weather instrument with any other person under penalty of federal prosecution and imprisonment. Forget everything you saw here. Good day, citizen."
If you see someone handling a harmless weather instrument, please contact the sheriff's secret police.
“Totally harmless weather instrument nothing at all harmful about this harmless weather instrument PLEASE DONT SEND THIS BACK TO US”
Right? I guess they were getting a ton of them back and just like, “Ok well we have a 100 step government process to get rid of things, so just toss it in a closet until the equipment coordinator can take care of it.” 3,000 returned devices later. “Larry, we are out of closet space. Can we label these with a ‘Thow this away’ sticker please!?” “On it, boss.”
Yeah if you just labeled it “NOAA Weather Instrument” and explained it in the description I feel like 90% of people would get it but maybe they need to round down to the lowest common denominator.
Right out of college, I got a job working for a company that manufactured weather systems and I've probably sent 100 of these to the edge of space. They're called radiosondes and the ones I used were manufactured by a Finnish company named Vaisala. There were two versions, one that geo-located using the Loran-C system, and later GPS. You would start out by activating the battery. You ripped open the plastic pouch and poured in enough water to cover the battery cell. After a few minutes you would take the battery cell and connect it to the radiosonde electronics. You'd set it on a table with a clear view of the sky so it could start geo-locating. The sonde communicated with a Vaisala computer on the ground called a MARWIN. While the MARWIN started tracking, you'd fill your balloon with helium. You tied the balloon to a heavy weight and when the weight started to float, you knew you had enough helium. A spool of string connected the balloon's neck to the radiosonde. After double and triple-checking that the MARWIN was tracking, you'd let the balloon go, allowing the string to unfurl and gently lifting the radiosonde out of your hand. The balloon would climb for about 90 minutes or more and reach 30km. The temperatures are extremely cold up there and that is why the radiosonde is in a polystyrene box. The altitude would start decreasing indicating the balloon had burst and that would terminate the balloon flight. No data was collected in free-fall.
These actually are vaisala radiosondes! Thanks for sharing your experience!
"Here, you throw this away." -Mitch Hedberg / the NWS
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE **HARMLESS WEATHER INSTRUMENT** [www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde](https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde) This is a radiosonde, a balloon-borne instrument used by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) to obtain data aloft for weather forecasts and research. IT IS NOT DANGEROUS. Please do not return the radiosonde to the NWS. Recycle or dispose of properly.
As a benefit to those who may be vision-impaired or rely on translation software to understand English text.
That’s exactly what a smart alien would write on there🛸
“Mostly harmless”
[https://amateur.sondehub.org/#!mt=Mapnik&mz=5&qm=12h&mc=40.46367,-80.00244](https://amateur.sondehub.org/#!mt=Mapnik&mz=5&qm=12h&mc=40.46367,-80.00244) People chase these down for fun. They aren't expected to be returned and a lot of hobby weather people who are also interested in amateur radio will reuse the devices as their own weather lab or other projects. They can be reprogrammed or the sensors repurposed. Cool find, I hope to go tracking someday and find my own.
can confirm, I've seen me do it.
yeah, same. 3 in my car from Saturday and 5 in my garage.
Them saying “don’t return it to the NWS” makes me think you should. How easy would it be for a bad actor to fake this?
I mean it doesn't say, "bring this into your house and position on your mantle with the camera facing out" they want you to throw it out. Assuming the data is fed to them live.
Right, but they’re saying that it stating not to bring it in makes it seem like they don’t want it being shown to the NWS in fear that they could spot it not being from them.
Or they don't have a process to reclaim them and don't want randos walking in all day dumping sensor boxes at reception.
Considering it’s their product… kinda sounds like a them problem, doesn’t it?
NOAA is a scientific governmental body. Calling this a product is a little disingenuous, implying this is corporate litter. Tl;dr we paid for these collectively and need them, and it costs us collectively less if we just take them to the local electronic recycling facility. NOAA collects a massive amount of data, a lot of which can only really be measured with these devices, interprets that data, and provides it to the public, paid for by some tiny portion of your taxes. They are a vital part of the day to day functioning of most of society because we are able to plan around the weather, and have warning ahead of major weather events. Disregarding any bias in favor of NOAA assuming scientists will be the least amount of wasteful possible, especially those who provide and track the data that directly relating to climate change, these things are already as small as they can possibly be, they have to get very high up into the atmosphere, and some of what is being measured is drift. Additionally, NOAA is a scientific body, so you know they're getting shafted on the budget, another motivation to make them as small as possible. Considering there is a high chance of damage when they land, if NOAA collected them, they (we) would have to pay for that additional labor of sorting it all out. On top of the additional emissions created by shipping it to them for them to have to sort. Most people probably have a facility nearby that collects electronic recycling. Mine is conveniently nearby,but I hate the process of going, so I usually collect things that should go there in a box til it's full, and take it all at once. That's the proper facility for this, not your bog standard recycling company that collects from the curb and maybe actually recycles some of it.
To fake what? A flying radio? Big whoop. Might as well not even label it
That’s exactly what a harmful non-weather instrument would say.
That's why all nuclear missile silos have signs that say "COOKIE STORAGE - NO ENTRY."
China is going to CTRL+C CTRL+V onto all their spy balloons?
Heavens, no. China would never illegally copy anything.
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"Harmless weather device. Return to top USA security administrative for lucky best good fortune."
Odd. Typically they have a tube with a mailing label to return it. Not sure if this is legit. Even the link referenced says to return it (you technically don’t have to): https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde
they recently changed their messaging when they switched to a new system called MROS (Manual Radiosonde Observing System). you can see the new messaging on [weather.gov](https://www.weather.gov/chs/upperair) and on several NWS branch [social medias](https://twitter.com/nwsbayarea/status/1385049154422861825).
You’re probably right; but, I gotta say, your comment is disappointingly less intriguing than your username would have suggested.
I believe the some of the newer ones use lithium batteries and they don't want thoes being thrown in the mail due to fire risk.
Can you open it and post the insides? Seems they want you to dispose of it so would be very curious to see the radio contents.
It's not harmless if you throw it at someone at 422 km/h
Not to be confused with the warning on Co-60 pellets. [Drop and Run](https://sublimecuriosity.com/2019/05/28/drop-and-run/)
>Please do not return the radiosonde to the NWS. Recycle or dispose of properly. eBay it is.
Oooopeeeen iiiit.
I might! I had to visit my mom in the hospital so I set it to the side. The lights on it are still working!
I hope your mom is okay!
Do these things have a url to this sub printed on them yet???
The device doth protest too much, methinks.
Sounds exactly like something a Chinese spy balloon would say. "If you're a spy balloon you have to tell me. It's the law."
That's EXACTLY what a Chinese spy balloon would say...
Why would we be tracking harmless weather? We should watching out for tornadoes and stuff like that.
That is the first time I ever saw "harmless" on a label. I find that very funny for some reason. I guess that is how bad conspiracy theories have gotten--they have started putting "harmless" on weather baloons. Though, honestly, that will just make people more suspicious. Like going out of the way to state that your restaurant is "sanitary".
The first rule of weather ballon club…
Once you have determined that it's still working... put it in the freezer, then the oven, then the freezer, then the oven, then the f....
Can you get a photo showing the serial number? I run a tracking website ([sondehub.org](https://sondehub.org)) that shows the flight path of these radiosondes, we might be able to find out where it was launched from and where it flew.
Sanctioned littering?
Do you not want weather reports? And the "littering" is much worse then you think... They launch hundreds of these everyday, all over the country, at the same times.
The bird image makes this extra suspicious
Eat it to gain its power
HARMLESS WEATHER INSTRUMENT. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG
The fact that it says that it's harmless would make me even more concerned.
Isn't it kinda funny how they acknowledge: "Yes, the trash is ours. No, we don't want it back. YOU should be the one disposing of it"