Please Stop Saying 'Richter Scale' (unless you really mean it)

[@lazerusmfh]

This video is off the Richter scale

[@darriusdias]

WhiplashGames This prediction is GROUND BREAKING 😝

[@pallingtontheshrike6374]

Darrius, better, "This prediction is EARTHSHAKING"

[@MrBevbob]

Your comment is off the Richter scale

[@executiveoo7694]

lazerusmfh sphincter scale lmao

[@anodynemathematician4194]

lazerusmfh Beat me to it

[@crystallkingh3048]

0:25 ''A massive earthquace of the coast of Merc....Mexico'' Still in Space Scott? :P

[@daveh7720]

Were you getting ready to say "...off the coast of Mercury"?

[@scottmanley]

+Dave H Space was creeping in.

[@casualbird7671]

Yeah I noticed that too, made me giggle~

[@Alienasa1]

Almost sounds like the title for some indie sci-fi game.

[@aspzx]

You also said "there's my space thing for this mission" instead of "video" :)

[@Verdigo76]

Haha I was looking for this comment.

[@RhondaFizzleflint]

Oh, and while we're at it, can journalists please stop to measure - surfaces in 'soccer fields' - volume in 'bath tubs' - weight in 'mid-range cars' Ya? Thank you!

[@benjaminmiller3620]

You forgot nano-tech in: "fractions of a human hair". I have particular beef with "soccer field" surface area, because soccer fields have a complex almost fractal surface, composed of blades of grass and grains of sand. It's certainly orders of magnitude larger than simply W*H.

[@augustinedaudu9203]

Rhonda Fizzleflint in America there always comparing hurricanes and tropical storms to football field, it really annoys me. Because I actually want to know the exact with that the storm is and is going to be and yet CNN can't tell me

[@Thefreakyfreek]

maby also stop using inches and stones/ pounds / grains/ furlongs /points/ popyseed well the whole imperial system of measurement

[@ordinalchaos]

I don't think I have ever seen the use of grains, furlongs, points or popyseed. I rarely even see stone unless they're talking about ridiculously fat people.

[@vinnygi]

Don't forget lengths in "n times around the earth" or "n times to the moon and back"

[@Chipbeams]

Thank you. As a geology student this has irked me. You explained the Moment Magnitude well, as well. Much better than anything I've found online. Reminds me of when one of my uni lecturers explained it to me after trying to understand it online and everything suddenly becoming much clearer. Also a 13-14 magnitude Earthquake, hmm? Pretty amazing how much energy those impact events can create.

[@gredangeo]

I had no idea that the Richter Scale was an old model. People don't mention anything else and I knew no other system until I saw this video. So typically, due to the masses thinking like me. News reports use what we do know.

[@stockyphilb7663]

First i'm hearing about it. :/ Georgia school system hasn't let anybody down.

[@Charistoph]

News Reports, PBS, basic schooling, etc. He's just pointing out what we should already know: the news doesn't research half as much as they should.

[@Lightning_Lance]

It's the other way around, though. The masses don't know better because no one tells them, including the news.

[@BlackHearthguard]

They're using what everyone knows.... even if it's wrong...

[@Hordil]

and that is why the US still does not use the metric system officially? xD

[@WootTootZoot]

I met Charles Richter several times when I was in college. He was a "unique" man, but, he was a very approachable and open and delightful to talk to. I don't think I ever saw him with his tie on straight, he wore loose clothes and was a well known nudist and wasn't shy that people knew about it. I remember talking with a friend a while back who also knew him, we both commented how funny it is to see pictures of him in a suit and tie that is perfectly tied.

[@flyingninja1234]

Interesting, I thought this was going to be about the pronunciation of Richter. I had no idea the scientific community stopped using the Richter scale. Thanks.

[@OregonCarGuy]

Scott, the background music was distracting from your voice. Cheers!

[@pHilli0UK]

no more loud music Scott this video is almost unwatchable

[@markopostable]

Agree

[@jan-paulvanderhoeven1639]

Scott! Please stop talking so loud. Your are ruining calming vibe of the music ...

[@bluestormcloud791]

Agree. Trying to filter out the music and listen to you at the same time took too much energy. At least you didn't use the electronic trap drums that so many others use.

[@Merqos]

*Puts on tinfoil hat* - "He is trying to manipulate us with the music, to thinking the Richter scale is fake"

[@lezzman]

I'm a broadcaster/newsreader in Australia and have always been diligent in never using "Richter Scale" when reporting on earthquakes. A lot of the problem comes from people who hear the words "magnitude 4 earthquake" and immediately think you mean "Richter Scale" as not many people know about the Moment Magnitude scale. The problem is compounded by broadcasters who don't study the terminology conventions and will append the word "Richter", thinking they are sounding more intelligent when, in fact, it makes them sound dumber!

[@_Matyro_]

The music is a bit loud in parts of the video and makes it harder to understand. This is a very interesting topic so i would be nice to understand every part of it.

[@pHilli0UK]

take note Scott no more annoying music

[@AthAthanasius]

Agreed, the music is just distracting, even when quiet. I even paused the video early on to be sure it was the source and not something else around me. I know other KZbinrs add such music to their videos as well, is there a good reason for this? Masking of poor audio ?

[@Hagledesperado]

This one was a good handful of dB too loud, 's all.

[@brocktechnology]

I was about to dress you down for complaining to Scott about your auditory hallucinations but I went back and checked, and there really is music in the video, never noticed.

[@braeddie]

Indeed. I actually paused the video to make sure I didn't have some other tab open with the music.

[@radioactive9861]

Very informative. I had no idea the Richter scale was no longer used(or at least not used for large events). I recall some 25? years ago in my college geology class my instructor mentioned the Richter scale "stopped working" at a magnitude 6, but had no idea there was a new scale.

[@Jonathan-ky4bi]

Scott, you have no idea how many eye rolls occur when someone turns on the news after an earthquake in my program at University. Thank You for that video, even though it is unlikely to fix the issue of people talking about things, as though they are experts, when they know nothing of the topic on the news.

[@scottmanley]

+Jon I hope I got everything right, my education in geology is a lot less than in astronomy, I’m always afraid I might get something wrong.

[@Jonathan-ky4bi]

More or less. The Richter Scale is not directly adaptable to anywhere other than Southern California. Moment Magnitude however has as you mentioned a variable that is comprised of multiple geologic factors. They range from density, which I believe you mentioned (I've had my head buried in a terrestrial planet/moon textbook most of the day) to the fracture level of the rock, which plays a rather large role in the propagation of the waves. For example, think of how far away in California a roughly magnitude 5 quake is felt, typically not all that far (I really don't have the time to look up (or generate) a shake map of one. On the other hand in the Eastern part of North America a 5.3 in the mountains of Virginia is felt without too much dissipation in Quebec. But overall nicely done, fly safe! xD

[@PsychoticusRex]

Just remember to forward this helpful instructional video to each and every one of those reporters... might want to keep a list of reporters, new and old and helpful videos new and old to prevent eye strain from epic eye rolling in the educated populace of the planet. FOR A BETTER TOMORROW! XD

[@Jonathan-ky4bi]

I am specifically speaking about new organizations who willingly bring on meteorologists to discuss Earthquakes. Yes, CNN has done that before. And btw saying the university I study at should be defunded would do way more than effect geologic research. In Fact, doing such a thing would shut down one of two Shock Trauma Centers in my area while we are already short on facilities for treatment of that kind and are in need of a third center. Also, I might add that the study of geology actually fuels the economy.

[@meepk633]

Why u mad?

[@EagleMitch]

Sounds a lot like the confusion of the Tornado's rating of the Fujita scale that is often mixed up with the modern Enhanced-Fujita scale, however it is still heavily based on damage.

[@polygondon]

00:06 Great news, Earth is in space. So Earthly concerns are really just space concerns :)

[@DaybreakPT]

"Great news everyone!"

[@Doberman300]

The Dacia Sandero is coming to the market!

[@ataru4]

I just happened to read the other day that Japan uses it's own earthquake scale - Shindo. I think it's similar to the older Mercalli scale.

[@rudyossanchez]

You can't Scott the Manley!

[@General12th]

You can't Man the Scottley!

[@minecraftermad]

is that a challenge?

[@RobbieFPV]

You can't Scottly the Man!

[@TheSweetSpirit]

GREAT SCOTT!

[@ScoriacTears]

Listen at 2:33, Quakes can't emasculate Scott Manley, he's got work to do.

[@Rdasboss]

Might i suggest mixing down the music a tad if possible? Around 4 minutes its competing with your voice and very distracting.

[@pHilli0UK]

yes yes yes it's sooo loud

[@SixTough]

calm down

[@Tulah]

It's probably just me, but I actually had to go and double check to realize that there's background music. Didn't notice it at all. :-D

[@ChrisNorris]

ah good. Not just me then.

[@rhoddryice5412]

I couldn't watch more than about 3 minutes.

[@threecedarshomestead1330]

re: Your t-shirt, I was an AstroNut, since I watched John Glenn's launch in school as a kindergartner. I remember reading about 'MOOSE' a few years later, in one of my uncle's old Popular Mechanics magazines. Years later, with the shuttle tile failure troubles, I wondered why they never thought of having a rocket with a satellite containing that foam on standby to launch in the event that an inspection showed a compromised heatshield. Spray the foam on, and bring the shuttle and crew home.

[@jarthuroriginal]

Scott, you are a wonderful teacher. Details are brought to bear after the general overview is established. Good work.

[@Nimbos0]

Love the video but the music was a little distracting from what you were saying.

[@ghrey8282]

As a California resident and the son of two professional geologists, and as an amateur geologist my self. Thank you!

[@Holmesy87]

It was a Richter scale of B+ which means the tornado will have a magnetic field of 6 solar masses under the Einstein equation of 2+2 = potato.

[@JohnMichaelson]

You've been watching too many flat earther videos.

[@AnesidoraAston]

Have you tried diverting power to the dilithium core?

[@casualbird7671]

Flawless, publish your findings immediately!

[@programagor]

I think you forgot to carry the two

[@needsmoreboosters4264]

Holmesy87 You forgot to add three micrograms of antiprotons

[@stevoplex]

My brother plays bass guitar, and he was jamming with some friends at his house. Other friends joined in and at one point, they had 4 drummers, with 2 drum kits in the kitchen and another 2 drum kits in the living room. That was a very shallow but, in my opinion, a significant seismic event.

[@hateexmachina]

What about the "See you at dah pardy Richter" scale? It's the official SI unit for measuring the magnitude of arms being ripped off in elevator accidents.

[@mystic-malevolence]

Wow, this video was surprisingly... _down to Earth..._

[@brianhaygood183]

He barely scratched the surface, come to think of it.

[@ncghost12]

0:24 "off the coast of Mercury??? xD"

[@rarebeeph1783]

'Murica-ury.

[@davefoc]

I was aware of this issue and had read several non specialist explanations of the difference without developing an understanding of the differences. This video provided enough information that after watching it I now understand the issue much better. Thank you.

[@homomorphic]

Just stopped by after 20 months to say "Richter Scale".

[@RyanFlee]

As someone who studied geology and geophysics, thank you! Thank you very much! Very well explained.

[@Gokatgo]

I get adding music helps but sometimes it was just a bit too loud and I could not properly hear your lovely voice.

[@pHilli0UK]

Yea agree it's tooo loud

[@peterknutsen3070]

Gokatgo Music does indeed help. If I try to watch YT videos using Bluetooth headphones, and the video is pure speech, I'll get so many signal interrupts per minute that it's simply not worth watching. But of course, the background music doesn't need to be loud. It has to be there, but low volume is fine.

[@michaelsondergaard]

The background music chosen for this video was rather distracting from the content. So much that I even stopped to write this comment mid-video.

[@SlyNine]

Richter damn near killed her.

[@1stPCFerret]

Thanks for the clarification. I kept hearing "magnitude" and little mention of "Richter" and wondered if all MSM had gone daft, as they often are.

[@DigitalDuo2211]

I'd like to whine about the fact that the background music is too loud!

[@thesincalveniren]

Thank you sir :) It is so nice to see someone point this out as so few know this and it genuinely does frustrate seismologists (and wannabe-seismologists like myself). Really well explained, hats off :)

[@NetRolller3D]

The explosion may have caused a quake 6.3 "on the Richter scale", but how many "degrees Kelvin" hot did it get?

[@uteriel282]

kelvin isnt described in degree. only celsius and fahrenheit are.

[@koharaisevo3666]

That's why it's in quote marks.

[@AlexKasper]

As noted, the ratio of energy between a (moment) magnitude scale X and X-1 is sqrt(1000) or 10^1.5 = 31.62 times one vs the other. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale. 4:50 P waves are also known as primary waves, mostly because they arrive first, and also the wave motion is longitudinal forward. S waves are secondary waves, mostly movement sideways. Other seismic waves are surface waves such as Rayleigh waves and Love waves, where the motion is more intense near the surface. Thank you for the summary. As usual I find your videos entertaining and accurate.

[@paulsangiorgio3093]

Man Scoot just went from 1 to 100 on the Richter scale

[@thenoobletlego]

Greetings from Sacramento, CA! Great video, long time supporter of the videos! Keep it up man!

[@Greywander87]

"When I walk out To get my mail It measures on The Richter Scale" -Weird Al, _Fat_

[@gaviomen]

His walk is probably not too far off of 20Hz...

[@jameshorn270]

And did the USGS or anyone else call the press together and made a major announcement about the change? Did the USGS, announce that they were discontinuing Richter? Have they made it an issue? And if they are seriously upset, they might have made the name of the scale something that makes sense to most people - a name (even USGS Scale would be better), but "Moment Magnitude" is not something that is very memorable.

[@paulmann1289]

I think the use of 'Richter Scale' has something to do, in part, with lazy journalism and the general public's need to have a snappy name.

[@fingmoron]

Seems like a running theme haha

[@hpk31]

Very nice and detailed explanation, as always. Also kudos for pronouncing Richter correctly. ;-) Haven't seen many native speakers that are able to. It usually sounds like ck instead of ch.

[@crazyj10agains]

I don't care what you say, Richter scales are still very useful against vampires.

[@brian554xx]

That outro is dessert after a satisfying meal. So good!

[@AndyRRR0791]

Most journalists confuse the Richter scale with the Rectum scale which is normally how their work is measured...

[@RFC3514]

Since a _single_ number can never fully describe an earthquake, the Mercalli scale is probably more useful to the local population than Richter or MMS.

[@JaneDoe-ci3gj]

Good video! The music in the background is a bit annoying and makes it harder to concentrate on what you're saying. You've got a lovely voice skip the music and just talk!

[@RealRedRabbit]

I am a lover of science, but admittedly I have lacked on my geologic and seismic research, especially in the past several years - focusing mostly on space and robotics in my personal studies. I was completely unaware of this new system, and still generally used the Richter Scale, especially when discussing the strength of quakes with friends and family. Thank you for informing me of and correcting me; I won't use the term any longer unless specifically discussing the scale and/or the information I have learned in this video.

[@fuckoffgoogle1213]

please blink your poor eyeballs

[@imperatorcaesardivifiliusa2158]

Fuck off Google What if he's just blinking when you're blinking?

[@augustinedaudu9203]

Fuck off Google Scott Manley is Russian, he doesn't need to Blink

[@JDM12983]

Maybe you mean "blink you eye lids"; if his eyeballs blinked - that might be a bit freaky... lol

[@BC3012]

In Soviet Russia eyes blink you

[@lancecombes]

Fuck off Google ...I just like saying that name.

[@mikemhz]

The fact that we underestimated the length of the wave in our early detectors gave me an idea for explaining the theory behind the science fiction book I'm writing. Thanks!

[@AaronHuslage]

I'm not a fan of the background music.

[@pHilli0UK]

ban future background music Scott its so annoying

[@ddegn]

"ban future background music Scott its so annoying" Yes, please!

[@VideoNOLA]

Hated it, too. Hope it's a one-off.

[@nunya___]

Way too loud and not needed at all.

[@Swenthorian]

What's funny, is as a kid growing up somewhere with no noticeable earthquakes (southwest Florida), my only exposure to the terminology of earthquakes was in Pokémon Crystal, with the move "magnitude". So my instinctual way to think about earthquakes is with magnitude instead of Richter. Though, I didn't know there was actually a difference until this video.

[@FeatheringWalthamstones]

The background music is killing my ears. You could easily halve the volume of music.

[@tonyennis3008]

Like the Richter scale, decibels are a logarithmic scale. So what do you mean by "half"?

[@bulwinkle]

3db

[@fewwiggle]

@@tonyennis3008 Dammit, I was sure I had come up with a witty retort that no one else had :-)

[@GlassDeviant]

1:50 once knew a guy who slept through Mt. St. Helens, woke up and everything was covered in a foot of ash. Wish I could sleep that soundly.

[@MrTuffarts]

off topic, but I need to know why is Boron not made by stellar nucleosynthesis

[@scottmanley]

+Scott Glen will need to add that to my list of things to do.

[@MrTuffarts]

Thanks , Boron having such a low atomic number, I always thought would have been made in the sun

[@Mp57navy]

TL:DR: It's not hot enough. Long version (shameless copy-pasta): The usual Li burning reaction with protons is extremely temperature sensitive - something like T20 in typical stellar interiors The Coulomb barrier for fusion with He, rather than protons, is twice as high and could only be initiated at higher temperatures. Therefore, at the temperatures required for Li+He fusion, the Li has already been destroyed. Li is produced inside stars (in very small quantities) as part of the pp chain. Specifically, it is part of the pp-II chain which occurs above temperatures of 15 million K. At these temperatures the rate of Li destruction by protons is incredibly rapid, and even if a very small amount could fuse with He to produce Boron, then at these temperatures, the Boron itself would also be destroyed by proton capture if T>5×106 K. Thus there is no route to Boron creation in stellar interiors and the majority of cosmic Boron is thought to arise by spallation reactions between CNO nuclei and cosmic ray protons (or vice-versa).

[@jamesrindley6215]

There seems to be someone in the background messing about with an obsolete synth. Would've been better if you could get them to shut up.

[@christiangeiselmann]

Your lecture is interesting enough, and well-presented. There is no need of background jingles.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for pronouncing Richter correctly and not saying "Rickter" like wayyy too many people do it wrongfully. Thank you, Scott ^_^

[@--Lam]

Can you make the music louder? As it is now, I can still hear your voice and understand some of the words.

[@KurisuYamato]

So it looks like the cause of this is the fact that the value being identified is called "Magnitude" regardless of the scale - that would be like if both Metric AND Standard used "inches" for a base measurement - it would lead to confusion. Seems like this kind of measurement is one of a few that don't use unique terms for each scale, and since Magnitude is stated, it's easy for anyone to presume the "Richter" scale is what's being spoken of since it's the only one well known by name, and there is no term to specify that that is NOT the scale being indicated, unless someone is educate enough on that subject to know that the Richter scale isn't really used anymore...

[@JustThomas1]

Noo! The giant red text. The bane of my existence.

[@S.ASmith]

Hello Dave....... Goodbye Dave.... HAL 9000 will forever haunt your dreams

[@EricFielding]

Nice job on the explanation about how earthquake magnitudes are measured now and how the Richter Scale was developed. As you mentioned at several points, the moment magnitude scale was designed to roughly match the scale that Richter and Gutenberg developed for small earthquakes. For me, this means that calling the moment magnitude measurements “Richter scale” is not too misleading. It is important to be clear that it is an earthquake magnitude and not the earthquake intensity that you mentioned at the beginning. Seismologists still use intensity measurements similar to those defined by Mercalli, with the modern intensity scale called the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI). The USGS and others collect reports from people with “Did You Feel It” and similar programs, which are converted to MMI estimates. They normally use Roman numerals for MMI to differentiate from the magnitude.

[@SlyNine]

Watches video.. "hey mom, don't use the word Richter anymore" "why"? "I have no idea"

[@hostile_hoss3944]

This was super informative and wonderfully presented! Thank you!

[@alexanderhem]

Great video, but I don't like the background music

[@wesleymays1931]

It's foreground music at this point

[@benimmink249]

Hi Scott, I realize this is a bit of a necro, but I live in New Zealand, and we have recently had a number of reasonable quakes (though not as bad as a few years ago). I also lived in a town called Whakatane, which has the country's most active volcano off shore. Love your videos, have seen many of your science ones and KSP ones, love them all, and still watch new ones. Keep up the amazing work :)

[@mantovannni]

Earthquakes are terrible, I couldn't imagine being in a really big one. I was near the epicentre of the one in Manchester in late 2002. Not nice at all.

[@itsdokko2990]

yep, earthquakes are awful, but you get used once you've been in a couple of big ones. im from Chile, one of the countries with the highest seismic activity, and i've been in 4 big earthquakes in my entire life (and i expect more in the future), one in 2005, one in 2009, and 2 in 2013(the bigger ones at the moment). fortunately, the terrain where i live is mostly composed of solid rock. believe it on not, people here doesn't give a heck about tremors over 6.0 in Richter scale. sadly, other countries with frequent seismic activity can't tell the same story as us, some of them have been almost erased from earth by earthquakes.

[@MrJest2]

If you're in a nation that has building codes, they are usually not that terrible... but they are very psychologically disturbing. We expect the ground beneath our feet to be solid and stable at all times; when it isn't it kind of affects our sense of reality in profound ways. And of course, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can certainly be killed or injured. A geologist I once heard lecture stated, "Earthquakes are generally harmless. It's buildings that kill people." He wasn't wrong.

[@almostfm]

The only one I've ever been in that really scared me was the 1983 Coalinga quake, where the epicenter was about 60 miles from me. It wouldn't have been too bad, except I had my car up on jack stands and I was under the car when it hit. That was probably the fastest exit from any situation ever.

[@dewiz9596]

Actually, there would be no life without earthquakes. . . Earthquakes create mountains. Mpuntains creat3 rivers. Rivers sustain life

[@brett4264]

I live in Anchorage Alaska. I slept thru the 7.1 earthquake back in Nov of 2018. Other people absolutely lost their minds from the EQ. It was people outside talking and yelling that woke me up.

[@DonNorway]

I love to learn with Mr. Scott Manley. Get Dora out of here!

[@penguin44ca]

Music started to drown you out mate. I actually paused it because I thought it was something from another room.

[@barbaragoerlitz1552]

Please kill the Music. It makes the dialog almost impossible to hear.

[@Kirealta]

From 4 years ago?

[@frecio231]

Watching this and seeing the mention of "The strongest earth quake in over a century" and exactly 7 days from the publication of this video we (Mexicans) got another earth quake which, by scale, was not as big but it was so horrible to being here that day. Well thanks for being aware of other parts of the world you earned a new subscriber 3 years later 👌.

[@avidian888]

This video was not only very interesting and educating but also very relaxing due to the chilled background music. Thanks Sir. 0/

[@ORCACommander]

And this is why schools need to buy science textbooks more than once every 20 years

[@Angel33Demon666]

What about earthquakes which aren't slips? Like subduction zones or the like?

[@thesincalveniren]

They are slip events - in fact thrust faulting earthquakes on subduction zone plate interfaces occur on a type of fault known as dip-slip (please do not misspell this term, unless you're a geologist and like puns)

[@marcteenhc9793]

Nice video, but the music in the background was kind of all over the place and competing with Scott´s voice... I had to stop it for a sec to avoid a headache.

[@pHilli0UK]

hate the annoying loud music. please stop that

[@merinsan]

Wow, thanks for teaching me something I didn't know! I honestly had no idea there was something other than the Richter scale.

[@nephilimcrt]

Scott! This is the only way I know how to contact you. Can you perhaps make a video about the upper stages of spacecraft like New Horizons and Voyager etc.? Wouldn't they be further out in the solar system than the craft themselves? Are we littering outside of our solar system?

[@DrewLSsix]

nephilimcrt compared to the gigatons of debris out there? No.

[@cybercat1531]

Gigatons isn't even close. More like Peta-tons.

[@nephilimcrt]

I'm not actually worried about the littering. Just wondering what route those took and where they would be now.

[@Tuning3434]

+nephilimcrt about the New Horizon Centaur stage (2nd) and Star 48 (3rd stage), check: pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20101028 Pioneer 10, Voyager 1 and 2's 'Star 37' stages are also on a escape trajectory, although because these probes used gravity assists, these stages will be on different trajectories than their cargo. www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_artificial_objects_leaving_the_Solar_System space.stackexchange.com/questions/1940/where-are-the-upper-stages-for-the-voyager-pioneer-stages

[@Yorin1]

The text below is from an article on New Horizons and does give a bit of information about the trajectory of its upper stage: Two navigation burns set for Jan. 28 and Jan. 30 to refine New Horizons' flight path will slow the craft enough to allow the Star-48 engine to overtake it, Stern said, adding that the engine will not reach Pluto before NASA's probe. "It'll fling off in the general direction of Pluto, but will miss by 200 million kilometers because it missed the precise aim point at Jupiter," Stern told SPACE.com.

[@scottwolf9914]

That feeling you get when you spot a copy of Applied Cryptography and realize you have the exact same copy on your bookshelf.

[@elevown]

What should they say instead of Richter scale then? They can't just say 'It registered 7'.

[@scottmanley]

+elevown USGS will report ‘Magnitude 8.2 Earthquake’ people need to use that rather than changing it to ‘an earthquake of magnitude 8.2 on the richter scale’

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Scott Manley But the scale presumably does have a proper official name that can be used to distinguish it from any other scale that might be used.

[@gordonrichardson2972]

The proper name is the Moment Magnitude scale, but is not named after any person.

[@jony4real]

Reporter: How big was the earthquake? Geologist: Seven. Reporter: Wow!

[@tonyennis3008]

The USGS should name their units explicitly.

[@JoePatterson]

Randal Munroe's book "What If?" has a great chapter on earthquakes. One of the points he makes is that anything beyond magnitude 15 (on Earth) is pretty much meaningless, because that's where the earthquake energy exceeds the gravitational binding force of the Earth, so anything larger just means that the pieces of what used to be the planet are flying away from each other *faster*.

[@AKIPOPOPOPOOON]

Moment Magnitude ftw!

[@LesiureBoy]

Scott, you're just awesome dude.

[@gabrielrej834]

Why even care? Humans can't even feel above 30 magnitude on the Richter scale anyways

[@jetison333]

what?

[@snowisthebestweather]

I'll show you! I'll make an earthquake machine that creates an earthquake with a magnitude of 30. Basically, I'm just going to grab Mars and slam it into the Earth. I think that'll do it. brb

[@NoNameAtAll2]

jetison333 30 Richter should destroy whole Earth

[@jetison333]

NoName oh

[@meepk633]

Just assume if someone writes something that doesn't make sense, they're a dirty memer.

[@Mp57navy]

Nice. Learned something today. Thanks, Scott.

[@mikesmith2175]

Very interesting. Love the channel. But please stop the music!

[@planetcrypto8662]

Love the Applied Cryptography copy in the background!

[@ericolofsson]

"Backround" music is to loud, but i like the rest of the vid

[@wesleymays1931]

*Foreground music*

[@Ikbeneengeit]

More about the physics/chemistry of nuclear please! Super interesting stuff as usual, thanks.

[@DrAnimePhD]

Richter Scale (YOU CAN'T STOP ME OLD MAN! HAHAHAHAHA!)

[@onewhosaysgoose4831]

The KSP is proud to report that DrScaphandre's "voluntary" gravity assists have successfully catapulted them on intercept course with Andromeda. E.T.A. 2nd Tuesday of next week

[@safetyinstructor]

Do you really think that's funny?

[@voodoodolll]

[Error], yeah I got the same feeling. It was pretty cringey.

[@aurex8937]

In Italy we use Richter (mostly) and Mercalli (usually for less powerful events). What you said about Mercalli scale isn't actually true, it's not subjective, not completely anyway and not anymore because it carries an energy value in Joules. True, it originally started as a subjective measurement of damage to property not considering the age or kind of building hit by the quake, it is a rather old scale after all... nowadays that measurement has been replaced by a simply joule measurement system - that more or less made Mercalli scale obsolete. Richter scale is based on both TNT equivalent power of the event and energy release (again in Joules). It does have another measurement that basically goes from "Couldn't feel it" to, basically, "You're fucked" but that's mostly to scare people on the news, afaik. Also, about the USGS deciding not to report earthquakes in Richter Scale but using MSM... the MSM was created mostly after some strong quake in South America (can't remember which one, at the moment) that generated over a very long fault wasn't considered as powerful as it really was (considering the damage) by the Richter scale. I think the extensive damage and perceived weakness of the Richter scale wasn't due to an actual fault (heh...) of the scale itself, but due to the fact the buildings weren't constructed to withstand such an event and would probably have toppled even with a quake of lesser magnitude. I don't see much advantages in MSM over Richter scale, to be honest. I usually take the Japanese as... well, experts in these matters, and if they keep the Richter (and their proprietary JMA that is... well, I don't know much about it to be honest) alongside the rest of the world, it probably works much better. It is much simpler after all, and being complex doesn't necessarily mean being better or more accurate.

[@jamesnw]

And let's not forget the Rectum Scale, for those who've been holding it so long it can be felt for quite a distance. ;) (sorry, couldn't resist lol)

[@nwbackcountry5327]

The background music made me feel like I was in a spaceship.

[@rogerwilco2]

If Richter scale is not the proper name, then what is? It needs a name, units or something.

[@scottmanley]

+RogerWilco units are ‘magnitude’

[@NipapornP]

So the right term would be "magnitude scale"? Never heard that before...

[@DJ4H4]

+Nipaporn In that sense it's perhaps similar to volts, for example. You don't often hear people saying that the electric potential is "120 on the voltage scale".

[@NipapornP]

Okay, that really makes sense. Thanks.

[@DJ4H4]

+Nipaporn You're welcome :)

[@louicoleman2910]

You know it’s a good scale when you run out words in your vocabulary past extreme

[@awesomegamer31]

Pfft. We all know the Mercalli Scale trumps all others!

[@AKIPOPOPOPOOON]

1500lego I measure my earthquakes in smoots

[@cpt_nordbart]

Awesome Gaming shouldn't that be in "degrees Kelvin?"

[@jarv7441]

I've always used chicken bobs as a measurement, how far a held chickens head moves in relation to its body to stay stable. It's the only scale that makes any real sense. We had an earthquake that was 1 and a half bobs the other week.

[@Junieper]

jarv Half bob? Do you split the chicken's head in twain? This seems like a fantastic idea. Let me check it out.

[@jarv7441]

Well sometimes I get a little shaky when I look at feathers or vegetables, so when I'm holding the chicken it can be hard to tell if the worlds shaking or I am hahAhA. I usually just take half a bob off the measurement to be absolutely sure of my accuracy when this happens. Where did you hear that about my chickens? I assure you that Craig the Cock's head wound came from a tragic wheelbarrow accident, nothing more! I would appreciate it if you didn't spread such terrible slanders about me and my noble brethren. There's been enough suffering already without your mindless gossip.

[@ItWasSaucerShaped]

Oh wow, I had no idea. Thanks, Scott; I learned something new!