99 Years Later... We Solved It

How do these rocks move on their own in the desert?

Special thank you to our X-Ray tier patrons: Adrian Archuleta, Austin Rose, Carlos Patricio, Christopher Kemsley, David Cichowski, Fabrice Eap, Gil Chesterton, Gnare, Isabel Herstek, Margaux Lopez, Matt Kaminski, Michael Schneider, Patrick Olson, Vikram Bhat, Vincent Argiro, Zoran Dekic

If you liked this video check out these:
World's Only Moving Mud Puddle
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Creator/Host: Dianna Cowern
Editor: Levi Butner
Production Assistant: Kyle Kitzmiller

Music provided by APM

Stock & Drone Footage/photos: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Pond5

Resources:

[Polivart]

It's so impressive how the pioneers managed to ride these for miles

[LittleDergon]

I had a book growing up called 'why does a ball bounce and 100 other questions' that was full of physics questions and these stones were in it! It was the only question that didn't have an answer and that always bothered me 😂 now, about 20 years after first reading about them, you have provided the answer. That book was one of the reasons I got into physics and I'm so glad the mystery has been solved. Makes my heart happy in so many ways 😊

[JokerTedd]

I did a report on this over 12 years ago in college. The ice sheets with wind was the theory I believed the most. So it's cool they finally got evidence

[ramblerjam]

I only discovered this channel when the update about your health, done by your friend, came up in my recommended feed. I'm so sorry you're going through such a terrible time and just wanted to thank you for all these wonderful videos. I'm sorry I didn't find them before now! I can't subscribe to your patreon right now so I'm letting all the ads play, watching your videos, in the hopes that every little bit of revenue helps. All the best, Diana, I hope you get better soon xxx

[blenderguru]

That video of the rocks moving is pretty spectacular. I wouldn't have believed it could be ice till they filmed it. Crazy dedication.

[bkizers]

As a young boy back in the 50s my Grandparents had a cabin on the Saltin sea one year the lake was very low and I found a rock that left a trail in the mud. The rock was so large I couldn't move it. I showed my Grandad and he couldn't explain it. I wished he was alive so I could share this with him thank you for sharing ❤

[smexy_man]

Id like to imagine the rocks just Tokyo drifting across the race track and suddenly stopping when people observe them lol

[Darth_bane_on_ian]

I recognized that ice as soon as it showed it on screen it made sense to me. I live in Michigan and ice like that covers the shore some years

[elizabethfletcher]

I saw them in 1976. I assumed either the wind was pushing them on very slick sediment that got wet. Or, they were frozen in shallow water ice floes and floated, pushed by wind. I worked at the Nevada Test Site and the dry lake sediment I had to deal with was slick as snot when wet. And I had seen ice move on the frozen dry lake beds. Never put together the gooey silt PLUS the ice. WAY COOL.

[hardino]

I remember learning about this years ago. I love this experiment because it’s a great example of humans trying to make sense of evidence found. As much as we think outside the box, sometimes we just need to sit and wait and let nature teach us a few things.

[acuteteacher]

I'm a retired science teacher and an article about these rocks was in one of our textbooks at some point or, I think, maybe I clipped an article from "Discover" or "Science Digest" magazine and used it in my classroom. I'm not sure now. But this was always something that we talked about and I presented it to my students as a mystery that needed to be solved. I'm so glad to hear that there is a reasonable explanation now! Also, it warms my heart to know that the girl in Germany did a science fair project on this. I always had my students enter the regional and state science fair and my own daughters received college scholarship offers due to science fair!

[genebohannon]

I remember reading about this in the early 80's with a friend I hung with. We thought it was ice and over the years I had thought had been confirmed a long time ago. We grew up on the shore of Lake Champlain and watched the ice do lots of powerful things.

[tswdev]

I remember hearing about rocks being moved by icy winds on salt water dry lakes because the wind would hit one side of the rock, freeze the water on that edge, the ice would expand and lift the rock, then more ice would get under it and eventually it would be enough to lift the rock and move it a tiny tiny bit. Then the ice would melt and the rock would have moved and no one knew why

[Graybeard_]

This is so amazing to me. I remember years ago learning about the sailing rocks. The "latest science" was that it was wind that pushed the sailing rocks across the play. I think it was in the 1990s. Back then, in the documentary, I remember that they ruled out ice. Really awesome that 30 some years later they determine it was ice and wind.

[evad]

I hope you get better Dianna. As someone with CFS, you are always on my mind and heart

[geoffscott]

I remember reading about this when I was very young (possibly at school), I'm nearly 60 now. It's great to finally hear the explanation (I missed it between 2014 and now), still it's good to get closure. Thanks physics girl.

[CBSREST]

Living in the land of ice near the northern part of the Great Lakes we witness a number of unique ice events. Including wind driving the spring ice amazing distances with perceptible speed along with great force. Separately a Friend of ours has a rock quarry that upon occasion seems to let some large rocks travel as much as a hundred yards without any apparent provocation. Always in the cold season and a bit slower than walking speed. These rocks, sometimes the size of a VW, are usually relatively flat bottomed and move while the ground is frozen with no visible pitch to the ground. One of these rocks weighed close to 50 tons(we know because we were unable to lift it with a 50-ton crane). lce and gravity, amazing stuff.

[DamGreek]

I've made many trips to Death Valley over the years, and my favorite place is definitely the Racetrack Playa. It's fantastic to see the "mystery of the rocks" solved in this video. I always felt that it had something to do with the playa becoming wet and slippery, but "ice" never occurred to me. I will also say, to anyone who'd like to make the trip, yes, it's long way, and lots of driving, but it's well worth the effort and somewhat life changing. There's an energy that stays with you, when you see the rocks with their long tracks and also see the Grandstand in the distance. One tip, which I learned to help prevent getting your tires punctured on the gravel roads in and around the area, is to take out about 15-20% of the air in your tires. This will soften the tires, and will allow them to flex a bit more when driving over jagged rocks. This flexing, will prevent the rock from puncturing the tire tread. And once back to Stove Pipe or Furnace Creek, you can refill the tires with air, or carry cans of air, which are easily bought at a car parts store. Works great, and I have never had a flat!

[Ubi]

Sending all my love to you guys. Can't wait to see you back sharing learning and knowledge!

[principals]

Just before Easter in 1986, I watched a light breeze push the winter ice off Lake Wallenpaupack in Pennsylvania. I walked on to the ice that had reached dry ground and rode it as it slowly pushed ashore, piled up and broke into flimsy shards and ice straws. The ice pushed a huge nearby boulder through the sand and mud, leaving a trench about eight feet wide and three feet deep. I could reach into that rotten ice and crush it so easily in my hand, but the massive force exerted by a light breeze on the surface of a couple of square miles of ice was absolutely unstoppable and awesome to see.