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How Igloos Work

2011-03-29 | 🔗

Igloos were traditionally used by Inuit Indians as temporary shelter while on hunting and fishing trips. In this episode, Josh and Chuck look at the design of igloos, from their impressive heat-catching properties to their ingenious construction.

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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Here's the thing. Saving money with Geico was almost better than playing pick up. Basketball, because there's Is that guy who joined your game He never passes the rock he instantly bricks theories and who can We have you and then put his hands up and say no foul, no foul, with Geico its ease. The switch and save on car insurance, no need fake, an ankle sprain because you're absolutely exhausted, so which, in save with Geiger it's almost better than sports, brought by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camry. It's ready. Are you? Welcome to stop! You should know from how stuff works, Welcome to the Pakistan Josh Clerk with means always is Charles Debbie Shop, bright, closer and makes the stuff is now enshrined in the summer. And placed under the weather still just
sick, as I was when we recorded fainting goats death. My ten minutes ago, yes, so check hasn't been sick or weak policies. Be a couple days are clear: if you have a robust immune system for a man of your age, remember when you are actually set for weeks and weeks like in your one year and I think, like eighteen, podcast screwed up because those this I could not get better you that those are the unhealthy data. You pleaded much healthier life so much much healthier here. You not wouldn't need to check you into the sanitarium, like had you back in the day? I'm ok! Now I'm not I've done over my consumption. Hopefully you will very soon. I has read the all faith that you were so Chuck while we're waiting for you to recuperate. I have I want to talk to you about technology. Fucker, specifically from the oldest technology known to man. Clothes clothing is technical,
so? I think so, but it is Chuck probably more than anything else. The thing that defines humanity is our desire and our ceaseless striving to become more than more than human, to take ourselves out of the rat race of evolution, the crapshoot of genetics and basically take all of our biological destiny right here we sorted did that were clothing. Many many many years ago. Yet so that's that's what we do we use technology to do there, including was one of the earliest ones, because we are subtropical species humans are here, we're not supposed to live in really cold places right, but we do we ve managed to migrate from you know, near the equator can run around without close here, to have answers, what they call the sexy pockets to some colder climbs, thanks to close along the way
We figured out that we could use hammers and you stones for hammers and other tools, and we ve figured out that we could build arson around shelters, mixing warm on the inside right? So eventually, over the years, we figure out a enclosed heating systems, and they now, thanks to all this, we have Swedes right, involve us, involve us thanks to the Swedes. So the technology of all those are a direct result of the technology of club. And we're way you're exactly right, but somewhere along the line, there was a branch of
That's the linear, development of thought and talent of technology, all the way to enclose shelters that how Swedes, where somebody figured out that you can make an enclosed shelter out of blocks of hard pack snow, and we know those today as igloos. Yes- and you know the Inuit Kali Igloo Igloo Signal has reared its head requested. That's a good great. There was a good question, though, because the Yeltsin in your word for what I believe it means snow house. So the inmates are just among, like the most pragmatic speakers on the planet, yeah. They call their snow houses igloos right. That just makes utter sense which I met the canadian Tundra Josh and they knew no tv and castles and other things that were being built were all well and good if you're in in Europe or if you are in warmer climate, would say, like the forty Panhandle arrival, the negative fifty feet of ice, the cornerstone exam
but if you're on the canadian tundra, those aren't you get options so snow. Hard packs now became the the masonry. If you will for the annual right, let's go and get this eskimo thing. Yeah Eskimo, an Intuit are one and the same, the two different terms for the same group of people, these people who inhabit areas spanning from Siberia to Alaska, Canada, Greenland, a thirty five hundred mile range right, which makes them the most widely spread aboriginal group on the planet, yet aboriginal for those of you dont know, doesn't just refer to that. Aborigines failure to any in any of any. Do you indigenous the first people in that region? Yes, it would be aboriginal.
That was the one on Egypt pushed around by the European average in August, and if you want to insult in you, you just go ahead and column ask him up, he apparently so derogatory term, because it was a term that the white man gave another tribe, was it yeah, but it was in outside group. I was just figure to hide Yes, I was another group name them Eskimos, which was thought to mean hours of raw meat or Rob Lubbers, what I've heard his when Rob lover. But then they later thought that ask a moment to nets snowshoes to build snowshoes in linguists, can't prove it, although that's kind of what they think. But
in the glory that is language, things can go from their original meaning to a popular meaning and its old meaning is meaningless. It's only what people think or use right right, which is how Ella well as a word, the train, love so I'll, we're gonna refer them refer to them. Is because that's the that's the way to do it. We know and alienate anybody know especially the internet, because they are tough people yeah and they have survived many many many years in conditions. It don't seem to be survivable especially way back in the day, but they made it through right and a thriving actually too will get to that in a second yeah. I was surprised to see that by check a couple of other facts about these into it, which means the people right, so the college no houses a goose, they call themselves the people right. It's just that it's very spare. I could have been a get anyone. I think I think so too, keeping some
fall down goat yeah? So they dont that they have never really established a formal system of government The family is generally the the center of the community yeah no class system mail, the figure had. Yet no class system is pretty cool and basically, if you are a boy, you're Hunter yeah, if your girl, you marry a hunter and hopefully produce more boy hunters, because the everyone's really responsible for coming up with food, and I imagine every family is- is that's what that means, every families equally responsible for contributing to the food in the community area. So the more boy hunters, the better, so Fascinating group yeah they have never lived in igloos, is permanent, shelters, huh well yeah, and it's important that you mention hunting, because clearly, if you are living on the arctic
Sandra! There's one thing that you're probably not gonna have, and that is a vegetable gardens, so they are very coniferous as it is the people they do a lot of hunting. They did a lot of hunting of seals. Yes, which is probably they were. Blubbering have operators and where there are seals, is gonna, be a lot of ice sea ice which leads to another peculiar treat the annual peculiar meaning unique sitting. Yes, I'm tired taxed member, we talked about, then the webcast like a long time ago, and everything was cut off in the middle of it and like it was Guy Kawasaki Day oh yeah and I wrote a blog posts- are anything like, as I was saying before us cut off in Cairo against, is this. It is a condition specific. Only to the internet were inadequate, males to where you become afraid of going
out to hunt seals in kayak, usually following an episode where you ve been up for several days, the sun, very rarely see because it summertime the only time you wait when you can hunt seal really so who have a loss of sense of time, you're completely without any landmark a reference points all does horizon and sea ice right. So you without any no bearing on no sense of time and you goes off and wake up and you have no How long you been asleep, how far you have drifted, and you may be out there, drifting for the rest of your life and you find do finally end again. You make your way back your community and you become terrified at the thought of getting back an attack against her higher thanks to her. Yes, specifically to the member that, in all the Soulier will you should read, my blog posts are usually an inkling, but that don't
ring true for me so anyway, it did not live in English Josh, as he said. That is not true. People might think that dumb and you are tribes who said it was all over the place, and that was our house. They were really hunting shelters yet, like a hunting camp, they come Robin Williams. Fishing cabin insomnia may also no money because of no sleep in two years and now, while patina yeah, that's right, that's just for no one. You know it's just me. Www inception problems when it was really just tell em page get her out of moving you're. Ok, it wasn't even heard necessarily other I'm not a big fan of hers. I think she's she's a good actress in everything, but I'll, never for your for Juno, but it was more her character like Clearly for character was put in afterwards, because the producers for like this,
exactly like way. What is going on? wrote in Ellen Pages character in everything everybody at each step, so that you can keep up with this really dense movie. Love. Gimme wound about their conception around. So here's the thing saving money with Geico was almost better than playing pick up basketball because there's is that guy who joined your game, He never passes the rock he instantly bricks theories and who can we have you and then put his hands up and say no foul, no foul with Geico its ease the switch and save on car insurance, no need fake, an ankle sprain because you're absolutely exhausted, so which in save with Geiger it's almost better than sports right where, where the then you would stay were hunting camps like we said Anne still around today and their booming. It not igloos. Actually there,
quite a common, but that they did a study to assess the Human Rights Programme in Canada in Canada, Department of canadian heritage. It said that there could be as many sixty eight thousand four hundred anyone in Canada by twenty seventeen and nineteen O. Six are only forty one thousand in change so arm. There. There booming as a people per year, so their thriving igloos are were never permanent, shelters, restructures form and they carry against one other thing to Eskimo kisses yet was a dealer, so you know like rubbing the Tipp, your nose it keep it is it's not entirely accurate answer, but they did kiss with their noses zero yeah, but it was, you would put you know, you're nostrils to the face usually around like that she's
right below the eyes, the you would put your nose to love ones face like their inhale deeply, and that was that's the real eskimo kiss or in your case interesting in it they had around. You know how to write the French, yeah they figured out neurons like. Oh, I yell is the way to get it for you that no stuff on it. So I was talk about igloos for second lucky. It will set a block of ice. They are not built out of the kind of snow that you probably have in your front yard in a higher in the winter time. It depends on how, when it was all, though no snow, my cousin in law Alex Schreiber, how State University student built in igloo last winter in his buddies,
check. This thing out did nice right. Well, I should posters, I'm gonna go your matter because it is but an earthly seven feet tall LISA huge and it's it's really well constructed he's sitting on top of it, and it's not caving in fact, often agree that you know it would last very long. Pretty there is a backyard no higher to death has great day trees everywhere get near. He and his buddies clearly had enough boredom in time to build this than other Alzheimer yet awesome as he listened Irena. I hope so. He listened, and I told him I had to do. We have to push them he's gonna, write back and say doubt mention the equally Don't they always here so Chuck, even though like come see a hunting, expedition went out or even a single hunter went out in built in igloo that that it wasn't just the single igloo every
the time for sometimes they lived in him for longer periods, have more people lived in a group and they were actually I'm create compounds out of igloos by no melding I'm together. Yet reading walkways breeze waste for legal, and there are some that basically igloo cities that came about where you that I think they would have a calls for banquets lesson in like balls and stuff like like in your balls held in, will enable a big, illogically, pretty cold out. Another said no idea, suggested the single and also thought they lived in himself. This is this. When I was right to told impulse, we should probably also our dislike bussing things left and right. Chile Willie A little penguin funding is secure and watch when the refresh my memory actually really that thing down. He is very clear. He wasn't. I thought he would be mischievous, are remembered and being mischievous like what you are back
right who is a jerk right? No Chile really was very helpful. Cute sweet little baby penguin in his little igloo. The typical eagerly that you covered dome with, like a rounded entryway, pretty much dead on give it looks like you're outta, your cousin, they don't colonial cousin in LA looks like here. He knows he knows what he certainly Alex Young NICE, a nephew outside yeah, there's nothing of the last either so that the other problem is well. Chile will use not accurate acute nonetheless, no, but the igloo he built was accurate. That, right now in Josh, C4 talking igloos, here's, here's what a nice person might say why in the world, if you're freezing cold out unalaska, would you be
a room out of ice and snow to sit in yeah. How warm could that be? It would take somebody pretty naive to say something like that, though, how warm it could be up to forty degrees warmer than it is outside of the ugly body. Yes, and why Chuck, where these furnaces coming from? Well your body for one yet Nobody is a pretty good furnace yeah and when you cut down the Winchell, you gonna take a big bite out in the cold. You put a couple of warm innua bodies in their imagine. These are big tough deeds. Anyway, there probably dislike exuding warmth. It'll fiddle. You know radiate out in insulate the igloo insulate that hidden traps, the heat. So I mean if you're talkin negative forty degrees, that's really cold, but if you bring that up to zero that still call, but it ain't like negative forty, which is the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit. The point
so the snow is an insulator right yeah. It cuts down on the on the wind arm of the melting of the other thing to yeah win win building a glue in don't worry we're about to give you step by step instructions on how to build a negative. We should get Alex and the horn here really brow. At the very least, you can verify the dry when you build an igloo you these sign when it does come out or without the whole time, especially during the day, it'll heat up enough, possibly to melt some rephrase at night, which is what you want melt reef reason and you you
body, he'd also may melted from the inside out some and then, when you go out the height it'll rephrase, every time more likely is pulling the more likely scenario. So the sum thawing in freezing and thawing and freezing basically turns a igloo into this really strong and insulated structure and Barbuda. Being you get yourself in insulated, placed a fish
yes, Sir Lyster bogged down with efficient yeah impeachment already for this. After months of investigation and weeks of testimony we're getting to the end game, which means the president could soon be on trial in the Senate, presided over by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, you can keep up with it all the impeachment today, a daily podcast featuring make haste brown on impeachment. Today we recap all the most important news from the impeachment of Donald Trump and sort out what's important from what just noise plus you get a daily reading from the next amateur, letting you know from one to ten, how close we might be the president resigning and flying away in a helicopter. It's all the news. You need without the extreme anxiety of push alerts on your phone. Weekday morning. He'll get recast of the news from me. Indeed looks into the threats of the impeachment story and the people involved with experts and historians and the other brilliant reporters at must be news. Listen answered,
two impeachment today, on the I hurt radio apple podcast, wherever you go for Podcast Josh away at the point where we tell people out of illegally, I don't think we can delay any longer. Oh, we can you mention the igloo exert kind of out of fashion with the issue at these days, you're not as common by their becoming increasingly common ETA ski resort. Apparently, the ass, if you're such a ski junkie, and that you want to just Thirdly, wake up roll out of bed in putting you squeezing start skiing immediately. They have. Igloos, usually on the slopes that you can read equally villages that you In an equally overnight or for as long as you say, they're pretty sweet or if you're feeling squarely you can build. One yourself today is that a subway. It is if you, if you ve done it before, like you
cousin in law. It could take us a little is an hour if you don't know what you're doing it could take. Six yeah. I want to ask Alex actually how long it took, because the first pictures are at night so clearly took them longer than a few hours. He s like. I saw that someone could go in an hour. I don't know about that. Don't believe that, I'm pretty sure if you were raised and you it now, and you were I dont know in your twenties I'll bet. You could build a and glue in an hour yeah. Maybe so, and it looks like Alex in his buddies use data a tub like a shallow plastic tab to pack the snow down smart, inform the blacks yeah so the way we're gonna teach you how to do. It requires a snow shovel which looks an awful lot like a dry wall notice. No shovel does requires national, but it's no saw yes, which lacks an awful lot like a dry Warsaw. Indeed, and basically you want to go
some ice, like you were saying, you normally wouldn't find ice snow, that's just fallen. It's gonna work for an igloo me. You want to find em whitish hard pact like this more solid, the better yes. Now, And what do you want to do with that's no check while you wanna usual saw you gonna cut large blocks. I guess you can vary the size, but they recommend any complete. Wilderness training either recommend three feet. Long, fifteen inches high eight inches deep switch stature blocks. You want to start building, you know, put your foundation in a circle. And start building up that foundation working your way up as you go decree in size as you go, and you also have to shape it at a slow
obviously are you just gonna have a ice black tower and nodded domed roof correct, yeah yeah, you um! You want to shape it. It is slightly said, but you also want to make the blocks decreasing sizes you get bigger, decrease our and overlap, see you did summer some brickwork in this sort of the same principle there I never built anything that was tall enough, that I had a really build it back to stagger it and when I did, it was like that pre made castle rock wall. Yet it's designed it set back right, so you didn't require any thought. But yes, if you, if you kind of, have something that technically at its light incline, it will provide structure if you can get it to connect.
Right as down like a buckminster, fuller geodesic, dome, exactly very super strong structure. So it s your building, nursing and you start to make the dome part it. It should support itself if you done it right, but you can always use sticks on the inside to support it temporarily until you get the dome complete and then its are pressing against each other and then had to finish off with it with the top. Well, you want to take up a chunk of ice. You. What you gonna have is the perfect dome with some variation of a perfect down and there's gonna be a central role in the top.
Right click it Jimmy yes, but you actually want to plug this one. That's right! This one chimney you wanna plug and you take you cut another black, that's gonna be bigger than the hall and you want to shape it so that it basically fits this. This whole that's left over, which should be something like an octagon, maybe roughly yeah landscape, and you want to fit it in their perfectly. You gonna cut it put it in their swords in their perfectly packed in their here, because this is very low bearing keystone based. Yes, as long as our things intact, everything else should be. Fine. You'll lose that you're in a lot of trouble right and then, after that, you're ready to start insulating it filling in the cracks you want to shovel snow. On top of the Rhine,
in the loose snow. That is what you want now. You want to work with it yet and you're going to get you some insulated gloves on your hands and more us you're, going to lose your hands to gangrene in a few days. Frostbite you and you fill in acts with the snowy just kind of smooth it over with your hands here, so that the snow packs into the cracks and all of a sudden, the sum separate block, pattern is lost and you have a basically a smooth dome. Yes, that's what you're going for a year and at the end, its alas, to try and build a door into your thing. It's easier just to build a dominant cut your door out. Guess after it's finished as a good point. And a lot of people. The true aficionado, the igloo.
Build a little l shaped entryway tunnel, yet his I'll cut down on the wind coming and even more jack is the wind has to turn a corner. That's right! So you cut that whole in whatever shape you want, whether a key shape or a lot of people use a contempt shape in a frame yeah, and you thing you cover it with blocks. You make like an entryway shelter. Basically, then, like you said you, you might wanna put it as an l, and then you dig a hole in the snow so that you can get into it, but basically your kind of crawling into the entry way it looked like yeah right and then, after that, you get inside and there's a very in vital step that you might not think of yes and that is doing air holes. Yes, because once you ve packed it full of list snow and it some it's basically Mordred, ah and you that's the thing, melts in thousand freezes and thousand freezes and becomes even more solid.
Not sure if you dont have Airhole zeal, suffocating die. Yes, especially if you do something like bring a camp stove array, a common lantern or that kind of thing in there. We don't want to see that happen. No, and I dont even know that we should recommend, bring. So that all yeah, which this article says you can as long as you have enough air holes for ventilation that disabled for fine and keep the noxious fumes out of it. Yet how together yeah, I should say that this article also specifically says that it is in no way she performer meant to be a comprehensive guide billing and includes the basic. Yet there are some good how to further. So if you want to check it out for some really good illustrations as health of works, is lousy with it. So I guess it's for igloos. They are everything we thought they were a more here.
You don't wanna times you think oh I'll, betcha, that it's just our interpretation that you see in the movies. I all these things, but they really do look just like that in their built, just like that and not allow its prizes here, which is kind of risk during a lot it makes me feel good. So I guess, if you want to catch up on your chile, Willie we don't blame me. I found plenty on Youtube. He's adorable, more, better, more butter, Morcerf Mercer. Remember that one arm north of parquet commercial now be sure of that check out. Chile, Willie and be sure to go onto has therefore set common typing igloo idee, oh, oh, oh, and is going to bring up a pretty cool step by step, illustrated guide to build your own igloo sands camp stove with Airhole. Did I say any search You just did ok will then simply listener mail
yeah. This is so much a male with some. I want to mention a long time ago in kind of forgot the last straw. Parterres, yes, do a quick recap: what'll I throw us gets away. Straw is a portable device for purifying water and it's cheap it's easy to hang on to it. Last for up to a year, and if you are in a place, it's infested with guinea worm, you still need to drink. But you don't want any. Were lifestyle helps and I think the rotarian are big into I'm getting them all over Well, they are, and so is Stephen Niemann, a nasty and rode on our Facebook law after the last straw. I guessed it with pre blown away by this thing he felt sprinkle invention and that he and his company are the result of this hot cast. Their company is going donate a minimum of six thousand life's draws. The sheer twenty left. Six thousand piastres reminded us mentioning this. He said not at all, as company is eleven
our search in Alexandria Virginia to very small staffing, firm smelling, like even some huge company misdemeanours- and I said his wife works in haiti- for the: U S and the three is right now, if you still is in a while ago, and they like the pot, yes on haitian voodoo and so good your brother donating six thousand Maestro set us yes to this one direct more than awesome. I mean that's what you're the teacher, I would say so, Stephen you gotta, be muttered. I was email, but few yeah right incentives here, emails, even in your t, shirts, I sites along the alchemist, got lost in the shovel look going Chuck You are saving the world. We want to know how, because we want to send your teacher if you saving the world in a verifiable, an inspirational manner and in a dramatic fashion yeah, you can go under Facebook, page Facebook, that consular stuff, you should know you can tweak to Us-
as well as key podcast- and you can send an email, stuff podcast how stuff works, count for more on this and thousands of other topics, how stuff works out com what moorhouse have words check out our blogs on the house of works that come homepage brought you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camry. It's ready. Are you That means we are partnering with our radio for our own podcast series. One fans interview the bank throughout this series will be funding fans indifferent towards eight markets. Vertical, become hang backstage in air view. Us will be giving you a look behind the scenes like never before in answering questions that our fans have always wanted to know, check out. One fan to interview the ban on the radio apple pie, or wherever you get your guests.
Transcript generated on 2020-01-19.