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Interview With Bill Nye the Science Guy

Aired September 18, 2003 - 13:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Plywood alone is not enough to stop 70 mile an hour winds. There's actually some science used in the construction of all these homes. Some of the subjects we're going to talk about with this gentleman, Bill Nye the Science Guy, joining us from Seattle, well out of harm's way, you might say, today.
How are you, Bill? Good to see you.

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: I'm fabulous. It is fascinating.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. What is it, do you think, that people find so spectacular about it? Because, you know...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, it is beautiful, isn't it?

NYE: The beaches are beautiful. In the summer, it's toasty and warm. And then all of a sudden, if I may, literally overnight, it turns into a mad house, with winds that are literally enough to knock you over. Can certainly turn over cars and literally tear the roofs off houses.

O'BRIEN: Let's go tot hat first. Scotty, can you put up that house still we were talking about? I want to talk about why houses lose their roofs. Now let's assume for a moment...

NYE: Look at this dramatic graph!

O'BRIEN: Listen, it was short deadline, all right?

NYE: No, it's good.

O'BRIEN: Anyway, let's assume the wind is coming in this way. As the wind goes over this house it's kind of almost like what happens on a wing of an airplane isn't it?

NYE: Yes, yes.

O'BRIEN: Explain what's going on here. All right?

NYE: You get that curl over the top just so. And so the molecules on the -- if you were on the right side of the roof...

O'BRIEN: Which would be the lurid side right? And they get all disturbed, right? NYE: They get disturbed and there are fewer of them on top of that roof on the right side, they're more spread out. So the pressure inside the house, the molecules inside the house, if I may, blow the roof off the joint.

O'BRIEN: Off it goes. OK so that -- and that is particularly susceptible in these gable roofs we've depicted here. Why is that?

NYE: Well you see it is just as you said like an airplane wing. You have a place in the lee (ph) on the downwind side where the momentum of the molecules is going to carry them to the right side of the screen, leaving a partial vacuum.

O'BRIEN: A partial vacuum. So if you were to build the perfect house, it -- Scott, next image that you had up there a moment ago, let's put it on here.

NYE: Perfect house?

O'BRIEN: The perfect house is a pyramid. You'll notice the pyramids are still standing, right?

NYE: Sure they are.

O'BRIEN: We lost the pyramids. Those are camels. I don't know how good they'd be in the hurricane. Let's talk about the pyramid. Why would the pyramid and a geodesic dome for example, something like that, why would that be so much more hardy?

NYE: What we want in the world, we want is a smooth trailing edge.

O'BRIEN: Smooth trailing edge, all right.

NYE: ... the downwind side to be as smooth as possible.

So for you civilian viewers, you just don't know how much fun it is for the nerd guys here. We're just going crazy.

But it's the -- the downwind side, you want it to go as smooth as possible. And the example I give everybody is a fish. If you look at a fish from the top, it's thick in the front and thin in the back. And so that's what you'd want, to be tapered off in the back.

And you raise a good point, though. You mentioned a perfect house. One of the questions you might have -- as a taxpayer in another part of the world who -- well, might be burdened with some of the repair here -- is why are houses built in this region that blow apart?

O'BRIEN: Let's go quickly to a live picture of Topsail Beach, and we'll talk about that very point. You know, we're about to run out of time. Bill, stay there, nice and dry and safe.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 18, 2003 - 13:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Plywood alone is not enough to stop 70 mile an hour winds. There's actually some science used in the construction of all these homes. Some of the subjects we're going to talk about with this gentleman, Bill Nye the Science Guy, joining us from Seattle, well out of harm's way, you might say, today.
How are you, Bill? Good to see you.

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: I'm fabulous. It is fascinating.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. What is it, do you think, that people find so spectacular about it? Because, you know...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Well, yes, it is beautiful, isn't it?

NYE: The beaches are beautiful. In the summer, it's toasty and warm. And then all of a sudden, if I may, literally overnight, it turns into a mad house, with winds that are literally enough to knock you over. Can certainly turn over cars and literally tear the roofs off houses.

O'BRIEN: Let's go tot hat first. Scotty, can you put up that house still we were talking about? I want to talk about why houses lose their roofs. Now let's assume for a moment...

NYE: Look at this dramatic graph!

O'BRIEN: Listen, it was short deadline, all right?

NYE: No, it's good.

O'BRIEN: Anyway, let's assume the wind is coming in this way. As the wind goes over this house it's kind of almost like what happens on a wing of an airplane isn't it?

NYE: Yes, yes.

O'BRIEN: Explain what's going on here. All right?

NYE: You get that curl over the top just so. And so the molecules on the -- if you were on the right side of the roof...

O'BRIEN: Which would be the lurid side right? And they get all disturbed, right? NYE: They get disturbed and there are fewer of them on top of that roof on the right side, they're more spread out. So the pressure inside the house, the molecules inside the house, if I may, blow the roof off the joint.

O'BRIEN: Off it goes. OK so that -- and that is particularly susceptible in these gable roofs we've depicted here. Why is that?

NYE: Well you see it is just as you said like an airplane wing. You have a place in the lee (ph) on the downwind side where the momentum of the molecules is going to carry them to the right side of the screen, leaving a partial vacuum.

O'BRIEN: A partial vacuum. So if you were to build the perfect house, it -- Scott, next image that you had up there a moment ago, let's put it on here.

NYE: Perfect house?

O'BRIEN: The perfect house is a pyramid. You'll notice the pyramids are still standing, right?

NYE: Sure they are.

O'BRIEN: We lost the pyramids. Those are camels. I don't know how good they'd be in the hurricane. Let's talk about the pyramid. Why would the pyramid and a geodesic dome for example, something like that, why would that be so much more hardy?

NYE: What we want in the world, we want is a smooth trailing edge.

O'BRIEN: Smooth trailing edge, all right.

NYE: ... the downwind side to be as smooth as possible.

So for you civilian viewers, you just don't know how much fun it is for the nerd guys here. We're just going crazy.

But it's the -- the downwind side, you want it to go as smooth as possible. And the example I give everybody is a fish. If you look at a fish from the top, it's thick in the front and thin in the back. And so that's what you'd want, to be tapered off in the back.

And you raise a good point, though. You mentioned a perfect house. One of the questions you might have -- as a taxpayer in another part of the world who -- well, might be burdened with some of the repair here -- is why are houses built in this region that blow apart?

O'BRIEN: Let's go quickly to a live picture of Topsail Beach, and we'll talk about that very point. You know, we're about to run out of time. Bill, stay there, nice and dry and safe.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com