Properly timed small impulses can drive a massive system to immense momentum

Evidence

The explanation, at least in Moodus, turns out to be micro-earthquakes from a shallow fault. The little quakes are usually too small to be felt, and may seem an unlikely source of loud booms. A website devoted to the Guns of Barisol, India, on the northern shore of the Bay of Bengal, another place of bewildering sonic booms, tries to inoculate us against the microquake explanation: “You may read … that the Guns of Barisal are supposed to be caused by earth movements too feeble to be felt. Earthquakes can make noises, but not when no movements are felt.” This statement is false. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 690 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

The constant revolutionising of technology gains some of its impetus from the imperatives of capitalist accumulation and from military considerations, but once under way has a dynamism of its own. The drive to expand scientific knowledge and to demonstrate the effectiveness of such advances in technological change is one influential factor. As Jacques Ellul points out, technological innovation, once routinely established, has a strong inertial quality: — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 393 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Boom-producing surface motion involves extreme acceleration but modest velocity; Real-world low-frequency noise can trigger the Bounce; Known excitation signals sidestep the need for physically impossible impulses (+4 more)

Related

• Widespread sonic booms need not originate from supersonic sources (similarity 0.84)
• Suddenness of displacement, not speed, determines whether a boom is audible (similarity 0.82)
• Micro-earthquakes far too small to feel can produce loud audible booms (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Micro-earthquakes far too small to feel can produce loud audible booms #exemplifies (0.82) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 690
• Mirrors can magnify tiny oscillations into large visible light-beam excursions #exemplifies (0.80)
• Technology develops a self-sustaining momentum beyond its original drivers #expands (0.78) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 393
• Real-world low-frequency noise can trigger the Bounce #expands (0.75)
• Known excitation signals sidestep the need for physically impossible impulses #qualifies (0.72)