♪♪
Narrator: IN ORDER TO ANSWER
THE AGE-OLD MOVIE MYTH THAT...
[ WILHELM SCREAM ]
[baritone] "IN SPACE,
NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU
SCREAM."
...ALLIE, RACHEL, AND CANNAN...
25 INCHES OF MERCURY
AT 51 dB.
Allie: COOL.
...ARE WAITING FOR THEIR
VACUUM CHAMBER
TO HIT 29.92 INCHES OF MERCURY.
AND IT'S TAKING AWHILE.
I COULD FALL ASLEEP.
PATIENCE, MY PADAWAN.
I DON'T HAVE PATIENCE.
-[LAUGHS]
-IT'S ONE OF MY TALENTS.
Narrator:
THE FINAL FEW INCHES
TAKE THE LONGEST
BECAUSE THE PRESSURE
DECREASES EXPONENTIALLY.
[Helium pitch]
GO AWAY.
AAAAAAAAAAAH!
FROM THE LAST READING...
28 INCHES OF MERCURY.
...UNTIL THE VACUUM IS AS CLOSE
TO PERFECT AS THEY CAN GET,
CAPTAIN RASPBERRY HAS ASCENDED
FROM THE PEAK OF EVEREST
TO APPROXIMATELY
18 MILES ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
[ POIGNANT TUNE PLAYS ]
IT'S AS CLOSE TO SPACE
AS HE'S EVER GONNA GET.
SO, THIS IS IT.
IS HIS SCREAM INAUDIBLE?
[ GENTLE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC ]
ALRIGHT!
WE'RE AT A FULL VACUUM.
FOR 30 INCHES OF MERCURY,
THAT IS 49 DECIBELS.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
Allie:
STILL SEEMS KINDA LOUD.
WELL, THE WHOOPEE CUSHION
ISN'T MOVING ANYMORE
AND THERE'S NO AIR
IN THE CHAMBER.
THE SOUND HAS TO BE
COMING FROM SOMEWHERE.
YEAH, THAT'S WEIRD,
ISN'T IT?
♪♪
[ WHISPERING WHOOSH ]
YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?
IT'S THE MOTOR.
I CAN FEEL IT VIBRATING
AND HITCHING
UNDER MY FINGERS.
OUR MICROPHONE IS PICKING UP
MORE THAN JUST A SCREAM.
THERE ARE TWO SPIKES,
THE SOUND OF THE SCREAM
AND THE SOUND OF THE MOTOR, AND,
WHEN WE'RE AT A FULL VACUUM,
THE SOUND OF THE SCREAM
GOES AWAY.
Narrator:
YEP, THERE IS NO SCREAM
IN THE VACUUM CHAMBER.
THE ONLY NOISE
PICKED UP BY THE MIC
IS THE VIBRATION OF THE MOTOR,
WHERE IT'S MAKING CONTACT
WITH THE CHAMBER'S WALL.
THERE'S DEFINITELY NOT
A SCREAM IN THAT CHAMBER.
-NO.
-SO, HAVE WE ANSWERED IT?
GOOD QUESTION.
[ HARMONICA PLAYS
LACONIC TUNE ]
CAPTAIN RASPBERRY HAS NOW TAKEN
HIS MAIDEN VOYAGE INTO SPACE.
[ "THE BLUE DANUBE" PLAYS ]
[ FARTING ]
HE WAS ABLE
TO CONTINUE SCREAMING
UNTIL WE HAD PULLED
THE FULL VACUUM
AND, THEN, HIS VOCAL CORDS
ARE NOT MOVING,
THERE WAS NO AIR IN THE SYSTEM
AND IT WAS PRETTY AMAZING.
IT'S A PRETTY GOOD TEST,
IN MY OPINION.
Narrator:
MYTH CONFIRMED, RIGHT?
NO AIR EQUALS NO SCREAM.
WELL, NOT SO FAST.
TEAM SCREAM HAS ONE LAST
SCENARIO THEY WANT TO TEST.
ONE LAST BREATH.
[ OUTRO PLAYS ]
THIS IS OUR LAST BREATH.
[ PULSING HISSES ]
THIS IS AS IF YOU WERE THRUST
OUT OF THE AIR LOCK AND ONLY
HAVE WHAT AIR YOU WERE ABLE
TO SAVE IN YOUR LUNGS.
ONE.
[ FARTING ]
[ LAUGHING ]
OUR LUNG IS PLAYED
BY THIS BICYCLE INNER TUBE.
ONCE FILLED WITH AIR
AND UNDER A FULL VACUUM,
THE BREATH WILL BE RELEASED.
♪♪
[ CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS ]
[laughing]
DID YOU GET IT?
-YAH, I GOT IT.
-OKAY.
SEND THAT TO THE --
WOW, THAT'S TERRIFYING.
IT SHOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION
WHETHER, "IN SPACE,
NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM."
[ BLOWING RASPBERRY ]
Narrator: TEAM SCREAM
HAS ALREADY PROVEN THAT,
WITH NO MEDIUM TO CARRY SOUND...
IT'S LIKE
A NEW INSTRUMENT.
...THERE IS NO SOUND.
HERE WE GO.
♪♪
[ FARTING ]
[ LAUGHS ]
ALRIGHT.
LET'S VACUUM
THIS PUPPY UP.
I THINK WE'RE READY
TO TURN THIS ON.
[ FUNK PLAYS ]
THE PREVIOUS TEST REMOVED
ALL THE AIR FROM THE SYSTEM...
Rachel:
ALRIGHT, WE'RE GOING ON
TO 10 INCHES OF MERCURY.
...AND THE RESULT WAS
AS EXPECTED,
BUT, THIS TIME,
THE UNLUCKY ASTRONAUT...
ADAM LOOKS VERY HAPPY,
FLOATING AROUND IN SPACE.
...IS JETTISONED INTO SPACE
WHILE HOLDING ONE
LAST LUNGFUL OF AIR.
Cannan:
ARE WE THERE YET?
HEY, MAN,
DON'T TRY THAT.
I WILL TURN THIS CAR
[laughing] RIGHT AROUND.
[ LAUGHING ]
WE'RE ALMOST THERE.
TO SIMULATE THAT,
THE TEAM WILL BRING
THE CHAMBER TO A VACUUM,
WITH THAT ONE
LAST BREATH INTACT,
AND THEN LET HIM SCREAM.
♪♪
WE ARE AT 29.5.
THIS IS PERFECT.
MY EXPERIMENTAL
[laughing] ASTRONAUT
IS HOLDING
HIS LAST BREATH.
ALLIE, YOU WANNA
CALL IT IN?
YEAH.
ALRIGHT.
HEY, CANNAN,
ARE YOU READY?
I'M READY.
RECORDING.
ALRIGHT, THIS IS
LAST BREATH IN SPACE,
ADAM WHOOPEE CUSHION TEST,
IN THREE!
TWO!
ONE!
[ RATTLING ]
-LET'S GO CHECK IT OUT.
-OKAY.
Narrator: IF ADAM'S
LAST BREATH WAS AUDIBLE,
IT WAS SO FAINT
THE TEAM MISSED IT.
BUT THE VIBRATION OF THE WHOOPEE
CUSHION LOOKED PROMISING.
WHAT DID THE MIC PICK UP?
ALRIGHT, CANNAN,
WHAT DID YOU GET?
Allie:
IN THREE!
TWO!
ONE!
[ FARTING ]
THAT'S A SOUND!
[ POIGNANT TUNE PLAYS ]
[ FARTING ]
THAT ACTUALLY
SOUNDS LIKE A FART.
LIKE A LAST,
DYING FART IN SPACE.
[ LAUGHTER ]
[ FARTING ]
THAT'S A RESULT!
WELL DONE!
[ ANGELIC CHORALE PLAYS ]
[ FARTING ]
-THANK YOU.
-OUTSTANDING.
Allie: ONE!
[ FARTING ]
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HEAR
MY LAST, DYING SCREAM
INSIDE THIS VACUUM CHAMBER?
WELL, QUITE SIMPLY BECAUSE THE
AIR BEING EXHALED BY MY LUNGS
IS PROVIDING A MEDIUM
FOR THAT SOUND
TO TRAVEL TO THE OUTSIDE
OF THE CHAMBER.
"OH, BUT WAIT A MINUTE!"
I HEAR YOU COMPLAINING.
"THAT'S NOT ACCURATE
TO THE VACUUM OF SPACE!"
AND I WOULD AGREE, EXCEPT
UNDER THIS ONE, SPECIFIC CASE.
THAT IS, IMAGINE YOU'RE
IN A SPACE SUIT,
HOLDING ONTO SOMEONE WHO ISN'T,
AND THEY EXHALE THEIR LAST
BREATH TO SCREAM AT YOU.
I WOULD SUBMIT THAT
THEIR BREATH WOULD CARRY,
MAYBE JUST ACROSS
A FOOT OF SPACE,
THE SOUND OF THEIR SCREAM
INTO YOUR HELMET.
THAT'S A RESULT
I WILL STAND BEHIND.
[ FARTING ]
ALRIGHT, GUYS, THAT MYTH
YOU HAVE BEEN TESTING IS THAT
[hoarsely] "IN SPACE,
NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM."
I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M
TALKING LIKE THAT.
[ LAUGHTER ]
BUSTED, PLAUSIBLE,
OR CONFIRMED?
WE FOUND THE EXCEPTION:
THAT, AS LONG AS YOU'RE
WITHIN A FOOT
OF THE PERSON
WHO'S SCREAMING,
YOU CAN STILL HEAR THEM.
THAT WOULD MEAN
IT'S BUSTED.
-BUSTED.
-BUSTED.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
AAAAAAAAAAAH!
[ SUSPENSEFUL
CHORD STRIKES ]
