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Research!
This is just too cool--
Mythbusters was on while we dined today, and they tested whether skin-headed drums (about 4' tall and 18-24" wide, they looked like--we came in late) buried 15' in the ground could be used as listening posts and detect underground digging. Apparently there is a very old Chinese writing that talked about ancient Chinese cities protecting themselves from an army underground via this technique. Well, if there's any quartz in the areas being mined, someone with good hearing *could* hear the digging sounds from 50' or more away from the drum hole!
There's no record of it being used, but it's probable--it worked in two of three digging situations. (Maybe the writer was doing fantasy, but if so, great fantasy--and since it was a quartz deposit, it sounds completely possible to me.)
Mythbusters was on while we dined today, and they tested whether skin-headed drums (about 4' tall and 18-24" wide, they looked like--we came in late) buried 15' in the ground could be used as listening posts and detect underground digging. Apparently there is a very old Chinese writing that talked about ancient Chinese cities protecting themselves from an army underground via this technique. Well, if there's any quartz in the areas being mined, someone with good hearing *could* hear the digging sounds from 50' or more away from the drum hole!
There's no record of it being used, but it's probable--it worked in two of three digging situations. (Maybe the writer was doing fantasy, but if so, great fantasy--and since it was a quartz deposit, it sounds completely possible to me.)
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Oooo, I haven't seen that one. I liked the attempts to squish the car between two semis. And the silly "is alcohol a good foot and breath deodorizer?" Ridiculous people, didn't they know that alcohol is a common ingredient in mouth wash--or used to be?
I also liked the "can someone kill you with a tossed playing card?"
And on a related note--you did catch the Pumkin Chuckin' show, didn't you? I'd sign up to help build one of those!
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MYHBUSTERs junkie here:
Re: MYHBUSTERs junkie here:
I was surprised, too--I thought it was just an author exaggerating, or So Hollywood. I've tucked it in the back of my mind, and hope that only characters need to know about it!