1.  Has anyone investigated the difference in dynamic range between a theatrical release and the DVD release of same?

I suspect it is large. Movie DVDs sound quite compressed to me. It does make it easier for cheap systems (catering to the least common denominator).

I know that many players have a Dynamic Range Compression feature (DRC) ; I checked and it is turned off.

2.  The meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia was interesting in that it produced waves of infrasound that caused windows to shatter. The waves can bounce off buildings and be stronger in some places than other; they can also resonate with glass, explaining why bottles and dishes might have shattered inside undamaged kitchens as if crushed by the airy hand of the meteor itself. Richard P. Binzel, a professor of planetary science at MIT said “a shock wave can be coming from a particular direction, and if you face in that direction you are more susceptible, or one building might shadow another or you may have a street that is optimally aligned to channel the wave, either in a fortunate or unfortunate way.” Peter Brown, a professor of physics an the University of Western Ontario said an infrasound wave “is very efficient at traveling long distances.”

The roof of a zinc factory that collapsed was reinforced with a lattice of steel beams and supported by concrete joists that are now broken, jutting upward with mangled re-bar protruding. Windows on a neighboring house blew in with such force that the frames went with them. Yet a few yards away on Sverdlovsky Street, the cosmos spared a seemingly vulnerable Hundai dealership, a three story cube sheathed in glass, with glistening display models inside. Not a window broke.

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