Some Texans have decided that the recent snow was manufactured by the government.
A number of other videos have cropped up on the same platforms with titles like "Need some explaining…" and "Anyone played with the government generated snow yet?"
The same doubts have actually arisen before when snow unexpectedly blanketed Atlanta, Georgia, in February 2014, prompting science writer Phil Plait of Slate to debunk them.
"As the snow melts, the remaining snow absorbs the water. That's why it doesn't appear to drip; the snowball becomes a slushball," he explained, alluding to the process of "sublimation" by which moisture lost from snow disappears as vapour, a gas, and not through dripping water, a liquid.
"Lots of people made videos showing the snowball not dripping so it looks like it's not actually melting, but this is a classic case of confirmation bias. They only tested this part way; they didn't finish the test by letting the snowball actually melt!
Pro-tip: the black soot is from the candle wax.
