Science Fallicies

[kham]

Yeah, but lacking air in a vacuum, it would take some time. Living long enough to get a sunburn or freeze? Congratulations

[Boggy Man]

Yeah, but lacking air in a vacuum, it would take some time. Living long enough to get a sunburn or freeze? Congratulations

But, as I mentioned, the decompression would also result in a drop in body temperature, likely much faster, the way the refrigerant in refrigerators and freezers undergo rapid expansion to cool down quickly enough to suck the heat out of the enclosure, or the way snow machines use rapid expansion to turn the spray into snow for the ski slopes.

[kham]

I think boiling any fluids off would be a bigger problem first. Really, it's not something that has a lot of empirical evidence to work with Which really, is a good thing

[Mynock]

Yea I guess you would eventually freeze but the "instant popsicle" effect you see in the movies wouldn't happen.

Know what else Hollywood always screws up? Lava. Although I think the reality would be a lot gorier than the fantasy in that case.

[kham]

Yeah, they seem to think it's all Mount Doom and fluid. Forgetting that most is more like Crusty and Still Screaming Hot. Stress the screaming part. Yep. Way more gore. Or horror at least

[Fred588]

Yeah, they seem to think it's all Mount Doom and fluid. Forgetting that most is more like Crusty and Still Screaming Hot. Stress the screaming part. Yep. Way more gore. Or horror at least

Most of the cases of people being killed by lava have, in fact, involved VERY fluid lava. On a relatively steep slope lava has been recorded moving as fast as 60 mph. This is, clearly, very rare. The steeper volcanoes are generally built from very viscous material that barely flows at all and those volcanos with more fluid lavas usually have slopes not much more than 3 degrees. A fluid "flood" would generally occur only when a lake of lava has built up and then suddenly melts through its own side.

There have also been a few (I know specifically of one) cases where a person has stepped on the surface of a flow and had a foot go through. This happened to a volvano scientist in Hawaii a while back and HE SURVIVED. I'm sure his heavy boots helped though he was badly burned.

Another reality of lava is that it is an excellent heat insulator. When it is crusted over you can walk right up to it, but if an area the size of a football suddenly melts through a distance of about six feet is as hot as one can stand. I have a photo on my wall at the Studio that I took from just that distance when a football-sized melt-through took place, so I know from first hand.

The lava from a volcano is a long way from the most serious threat to people, generally. By far a bigger threat is the very poisonous gases that are released in abundance at the point or eruption and sometimes further down slope. these include carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sometimes hydrogen fluoride. And, of course, most volcano deaths are from shear superheated air in what is called a nuee ardente. Large, flying rocks are also associated with eruptions and can be pretty dangerous. The only death from the 1924 eruption of Kilauwea (which was explosive) was a person hit by a boulder.

[nachtjaeger]

My favorite "out the airlock" scene was from Doctor Who. The Fifth Doctor got tossed out an airlock. There were two ships in close formation, luckily for him. Also luckily, he had a cricket ball in his pocket. Putting his hands at his center of mass, he hurled the ball at the ship he had just left, which propelled him toward the other ship. The cricket ball bounced back, and he caught it, increasing his velocity again. One more throw, and he reached the other ship and made it to an airlock. Luckily for him Time Lords have a bypass respiratory system that lets them go without oxygen for short periods without losing consciousness.

[dlodoski]

My favorite "out the airlock" scene was from Doctor Who. The Fifth Doctor got tossed out an airlock. There were two ships in close formation, luckily for him. Also luckily, he had a cricket ball in his pocket. Putting his hands at his center of mass, he hurled the ball at the ship he had just left, which propelled him toward the other ship. The cricket ball bounced back, and he caught it, increasing his velocity again. One more throw, and he reached the other ship and made it to an airlock. Luckily for him Time Lords have a bypass respiratory system that lets them go without oxygen for short periods without losing consciousness.

Pretty cool.

I think if it were me, based on how slow my brain works, I would have become the best ever test subject for this thread. Hehe

[kham]

Well.... maybe as a theoretical subject

But remember the guy in Outland? The decompression Chamber guys? Looked worse

[Boggy Man]

Regarding lava, check out these videos of daring (or, in more accurate terms, foolish) people around lava (and the accompanying entertaining comments):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDLQvCA_f_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPcuFHIVUcI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egEGaBXG3Kg