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I wonder how much those amateur videos helps real science. Is there anything useful for science to be extracted from that video? I personally think, that modern

I wonder how much those amateur videos helps real science. Is there anything useful for science to be extracted from that video? I personally think, that modern society with lots of powerful gadgets available and with power of the Internet provides a lot of data which waits to be processed by a competent scientists, but may be I'm overestimating it.

spaetzleesser 6y ago
As far as I know there are a lot of amateur astronomers that are making meaningful contributions. This video feels more like a cool stunt that won't give new insights.
- serial_dev 6y ago
  It might be a stunt, but it also encourages experiments which is helpful for scientists (and even in software, product development, advertising, business, etc).
- kaybe 6y ago
  It could be interesting though, if one added a few smaller instruments. CO2 and SO2 sensors, temperature, humidity and more.. do it frequently enough, calibrate well throughout, keep good records and the scientific community would definitely be interested in the data. (If they can be convinced you did a good job with the trustworthiness.)
- TeeMassive 6y ago
  How amateur astronomers do that? I've looked up for this kind of project back in ~2008 but now that I live in a big city I stopping caring. Now I might move away due to remote work, any good projects to work on?
dylan604 6y ago
to me, if the scientists wanted footage, they'd rent a real helicopter and use real cameras with really nice lenses so they can hover at a nice safe and comfortable distance, yet still get the footage needed. flying a $1k toy into high temperatures is just an attempt at a stock fotog to get some footage and some publicity. science was nowhere near on the agenda. the guy runs a stock photo company specializing in aerials.
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  Not sure there is a safe distance above an erupting volcano... I'm sure you can use a better camera, but I think in 2021, you definitely use unmanned drones.
  - dylan604 6y ago
    If it's not safe enough to fly a helicopter, it would also mean it's not safe enough to be close enough to fly a $1k drone, legally.
    - kaybe 6y ago
      Ah, guess who makes the rules about how close you may be to an active volcano? It's usually the corresponding observatory, and they are valid for the public, not for the scientists. And then, safe just means nobody gets hurt. The volcano will eat some instrumentation anyway at some point, probably. They often do. Plus, the sulfuric acid plume emissions will damage your gear if you get caught in it.
    - bigiain 6y ago
      Something like a DJI Mavic Air (which is more like $1.5k than $1k) will happily get 5-10km range. The risks associated with being 5km away piloting a drone and in a helicopter full of people overhead is radically different. I mean, I wouldn't have wanted to be only 5km away from Mt St Helens when It blew its top ~40 years ago, but that one had spent 6 weeks giving off 4 and 5 magnitude earthquake warnings... I think there's be a huge range of volcanos where it'd be risky to overfly in a helicopter risking human life, but where it'd be perfectly safe and sensible to fly drones for fun/curiosity/commercial-stock-footage/education/some-possible-eventual-science-benefit. I mean the major reason _not_ to overfly sites with drones are entirely absent, there's nobody and nothing valuable to hit and nothing for a drone battery to set fire to if you crash one on a lava field...
  - imesh 6y ago
    They certainly do it, haven't heard of any accidents yet: https://www.bigislandhelicoptertours.com/ https://www.bigislandhelicoptertours.com/
giovannibonetti 6y ago
At least the video game industry should benefit from this, as they'll be able to create more realistic simulations.
- _carbyau_ 6y ago
  While I don't need "true life like" video game simulations - dramatic storytelling enhancements will do - it'd be cool to pilot a mech through such terrain.

spaetzleesser 6y ago

As far as I know there are a lot of amateur astronomers that are making meaningful contributions. This video feels more like a cool stunt that won't give new insights.

serial_dev 6y ago
It might be a stunt, but it also encourages experiments which is helpful for scientists (and even in software, product development, advertising, business, etc).
kaybe 6y ago
It could be interesting though, if one added a few smaller instruments. CO2 and SO2 sensors, temperature, humidity and more.. do it frequently enough, calibrate well throughout, keep good records and the scientific community would definitely be interested in the data. (If they can be convinced you did a good job with the trustworthiness.)
TeeMassive 6y ago
How amateur astronomers do that? I've looked up for this kind of project back in ~2008 but now that I live in a big city I stopping caring. Now I might move away due to remote work, any good projects to work on?

dylan604 6y ago

to me, if the scientists wanted footage, they'd rent a real helicopter and use real cameras with really nice lenses so they can hover at a nice safe and comfortable distance, yet still get the footage needed. flying a $1k toy into high temperatures is just an attempt at a stock fotog to get some footage and some publicity. science was nowhere near on the agenda. the guy runs a stock photo company specializing in aerials.

BurningFrog 6y ago
Not sure there is a safe distance above an erupting volcano... I'm sure you can use a better camera, but I think in 2021, you definitely use unmanned drones.
- dylan604 6y ago
  If it's not safe enough to fly a helicopter, it would also mean it's not safe enough to be close enough to fly a $1k drone, legally.
  - kaybe 6y ago
    Ah, guess who makes the rules about how close you may be to an active volcano? It's usually the corresponding observatory, and they are valid for the public, not for the scientists. And then, safe just means nobody gets hurt. The volcano will eat some instrumentation anyway at some point, probably. They often do. Plus, the sulfuric acid plume emissions will damage your gear if you get caught in it.
  - bigiain 6y ago
    Something like a DJI Mavic Air (which is more like $1.5k than $1k) will happily get 5-10km range. The risks associated with being 5km away piloting a drone and in a helicopter full of people overhead is radically different. I mean, I wouldn't have wanted to be only 5km away from Mt St Helens when It blew its top ~40 years ago, but that one had spent 6 weeks giving off 4 and 5 magnitude earthquake warnings... I think there's be a huge range of volcanos where it'd be risky to overfly in a helicopter risking human life, but where it'd be perfectly safe and sensible to fly drones for fun/curiosity/commercial-stock-footage/education/some-possible-eventual-science-benefit. I mean the major reason _not_ to overfly sites with drones are entirely absent, there's nobody and nothing valuable to hit and nothing for a drone battery to set fire to if you crash one on a lava field...
- imesh 6y ago
  They certainly do it, haven't heard of any accidents yet: https://www.bigislandhelicoptertours.com/ https://www.bigislandhelicoptertours.com/

giovannibonetti 6y ago

At least the video game industry should benefit from this, as they'll be able to create more realistic simulations.

_carbyau_ 6y ago
While I don't need "true life like" video game simulations - dramatic storytelling enhancements will do - it'd be cool to pilot a mech through such terrain.