# If all the Indians simultaneously shouted at the ISS, could astronauts detect it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034 "2013-08-24T05:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/21 "2013-08-25T01:15:50Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > India has a population density of about 1,000/mi2. That’s a lot of ground to cover for each person, so I doubt it. It is? How much ground to cover per person? Just curious. (Because, as someone who is somewhat spatial-awarenessly-challenged, a thousand people per square foot doesn’t sound like a whole lotta personal space to me.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/22 "2013-08-25T01:29:46Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > (Because, as someone who is somewhat spatial-awarenessly-challenged, a thousand people per square foot doesn’t sound like a whole lotta personal space to me.) That’s a thousand people per square mile (mi2), not per square foot. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/23 "2013-08-25T01:47:54Z")
1 square mile is a square 1 mile on each side. The square root of 1,000 people is 32 (rounded up). Each person would have a personal square of approximately 1/32 of a mile on each side, or a square around 165 feet on each side. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/24 "2013-08-25T03:00:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s a thousand people per square mile (mi2), not per square foot. [And while some areas of India like the Ganges Valley are very densely populated, there are also deserts and mountains with fairly low density.](http://www.trendsindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/pop_density2.png) ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/25 "2013-08-25T03:40:17Z")
Mile! I meant mile! That being said, 165 square feet per person (averaged out) doesn’t sound so bad at all. I guess if one really wanted to average out the average “personal space” available in a nation, you’d have to subtract things like roads and the space needed to farm that person’s food etc. I dunno, it seems like you can’t swing a (man-made, stuffed plush) cat around here without 3 or 4 folks getting hit. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/26 "2013-08-25T04:47:57Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Mile! I meant mile! > > That being said, 165 square feet per person (averaged out) doesn’t sound so bad at all. > > I guess if one really wanted to average out the average “personal space” available in a nation, you’d have to subtract things like roads and the space needed to farm that person’s food etc. > > I dunno, it seems like you can’t _**swing a (man-made, stuffed plush) cat around here without 3 or 4 folks getting hit**_. (bolding mine) ‘P.C. police’ peeking over your shoulder? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/27 "2013-08-25T10:50:37Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > That being said, 165 square feet per person (averaged out) doesn’t sound so bad at all. It’s not 165 square feet per person, it’s 165 feet squared (a square with 165 feet on each side.) That’s 27,225 square feet per person. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/28 "2013-08-25T14:23:16Z")
Back to the OP If it were possible, the only way I could see would be through a change in air temperature due to pressure change. However I’m pretty sure that the process is slow enough that as heat collects above India it would be a diabatic process with the rest of the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/29 "2013-08-25T14:30:48Z")
Only if you can get a small shirker named JoJo to yell “Yopp!” ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/30 "2013-08-25T14:40:53Z")
They’d have to all yell “We are here!” for someone besides Horton to hear them. ---
**Author:** ![RangerJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f19dbf/32.png) [@RangerJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RangerJ)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/31 "2013-08-25T18:39:44Z")
Actually, this very event happened last Thursday. It was deemed a failure because one guy in Bangalore thought it was supposed to be the \*next \*day and didn’t shout. The ISS crew was divided; several thought they heard a weak shout, while the rest claimed it was just somebody passing gas. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/32 "2013-08-25T18:41:31Z")
But what if all the Indians in North America did a Mexican wave? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/33 "2013-08-25T23:59:14Z")
I can’t believe there is no xkcd strip about this. ETA: Missed the earlier cite. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/34 "2013-08-26T08:22:35Z")
What if their government first spent ten years giving everyone vocal lessons so when they screamed, they’d all be exactly on pitch? Would constructive interference help? ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/35 "2013-08-26T18:52:23Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I don’t think the question is specifically if it would be heard at the ISS. The question is could it be detected. Would there be any mechanism where they could determine that such an event happened? Something that could be measured in the atmosphere below them? Can they use a radio? One tuned into Delhi’s most popular station? Because that’d be pretty easy. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/36 "2013-08-27T20:36:35Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I don’t think the question is specifically if it would be heard at the ISS. The question is could it be detected. Would there be any mechanism where they could determine that such an event happened? Something that could be measured in the atmosphere below them? Simple: look at the webfeed that is synching the event and livestreaming so the rest of the world can participate, and see when everyone is shouting. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/37 "2013-08-30T00:38:58Z")
> [@sco3tt](#): > > According to Ridley Scott, [no](http://zouchmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/alien-movie-poster41.jpg). And if they heard it, they could nuke them from orbit, but only if they were sure. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/38 "2013-08-30T01:14:33Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > I don’t know, but I’d love to see [Randall Munroe](mailto:whatif@xkcd.com) take a stab at this. Cecil [didn’t even try](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/142/if-all-chinese-jumped-at-once-would-cataclysm-result). ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/39 "2013-08-30T01:51:10Z")
Muricans making fun of us Indians! Wait till we gang up with the Chinese and expel flatus in a globally synchronised event. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034/40 "2013-08-30T02:46:41Z")
> [@Indian](#): > > Muricans making fun of us Indians! > > Wait till we gang up with the Chinese and expel flatus in a globally synchronised event. 😉 Save that until we need to dodge an asteroid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-all-the-indians-simultaneously-shouted-at-the-iss-could-astronauts-detect-it/667034.md?page=1)