Predicting earthquakes or snow avalanches is difficult, but
to for instance reduce the related risks it is of high importance to know if an
avalanche event is big or small.
Researchers from Aalto University have, together with
colleagues from Oslo and ENS, Lyon, found that such events or say the acoustic
sound bursts coming from the tearing of paper have a typical form independent
of whether they are big or small. However, it is crucial what one observes –
paper fracture or the avalanching of snow. The results were just published in
the Nature Communications journal.