Quickies

Skepchick Quickies 10.29

Amanda

Amanda works in healthcare, is a loudmouthed feminist, and proud supporter of the Oxford comma.

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17 Comments

  1. I had never heard of Andrea Peyser before. And now I wish I could say that that was still the case. But anyways, look at the cute kitties!

    Also enjoyed the Troll Physics article. It’s kinda sad that some of the commenters are too lazy to read the last line of the article though. The prof gets the joke.

  2. There’s an unfortunate amount of ignorance in the comments.

    This should be boilerplate for much of the Internet.

  3. One of the comments, responding to a simple, nonthreatening plea for source-checking:

    “When people can’t refute the evidence they simply claim something is “disresputable”, or “oh the scientific method!”. Gimme a break. These are facts, charts based on annuals and disease data for decades upon decades and you question it because you think since it makes vaccine s look bad it must not be accurate data. You’re an idiot.”

    I can’t read those comments anymore. Who needs coffee in the morning when a nice dose of rage does just fine?

  4. RE: religious exemption for vaccines

    Why? I don’t understand why a superstitious belief should exempt you from public health responsibilities.

    Also…One of the comments to that article said essentially, “vaccines weaken your immune system, diseases strengthen it.”

    Ignorance like that gives me a migraine.

  5. Mythbusters did a great job with the jumping in a falling elevator myth. I’ve always wondered what would happen if the elevator was full of water and you were floating or suspended in the middle of the water when it hit the bottom. Would your body react differently to the sudden deceleration if there was no compression?

  6. I want to lose weight, but I have philosophical objection to diet and exercise. Therefore I demand the right to file a personal belief exemption to gravity.

  7. @James Fox:
    Depends on the speed when you hit the bottom and how watertight the elevator is. Best case scenario:
    Floating, low speed, water bursts through elevator. Floating means the impact is distributed evenly over your lower surface. The low speed means water is still compressible and absorbs some of the shock and allowing the water to escape increases this benefit.

    Worst case scenario: Suspended, high speed, watertight elevator. The water is now close to incompressible and absorbs none of the shock of impact. Although you do get the benefit of the shock to your lower surface being evenly distributed you now have a significant mass of water above you which will smash you flat.

  8. @Bjornar: Okay, but given the human body is mostly water and fairly incompressible, except for the lungs, how could you get flattened if you’re suspended? Perhaps someone with a supercomputer could run a few simulations on this one. And if the elevator was really strong and completely sealed and the person were to be breathing an oxygenated liquid compound there wouldn’t even be an issues with the lungs compressing. I see space travel acceleration and deceleration applications!! Unless I’m totally full of it on this, and I expect there is an obvious problem I’m ignorant of. If it works I’m calling it a G-force BOG!

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