HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: juola@bruno.cs.colorado.edu (Patrick Juola)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 03:17:16 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.195831.23806@ccd.harris.com> jsh@controls.ccd.harris.com (Joe Hoff) writes:
>
>
>I have a question that just occured to me about the preceding paragraph.  If CO2
>is involved with the breathing reflex (hence the breathing reflex is at least
>partially chemical and not behavioral as I'd always assumed?), how do the people
>in those deep-water laboratories, ala Jaques Cousteau, sleep.  If they have to
>remember to breath, it seems that sleeping could be deadly.
>
>Any ideas, anyone??

O2 metabolism produces CO2.  Increased blood levels of CO2 triggers the
breathing reflex.  What I'd like to know is how they scrub the %^&^%^&&
carbon dioxide out of the system fast enough that it doesn't go toxic on
the divers.
From: oberle@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov (Larry Oberle)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: 2 questions re Newton's Laws of Motion
Date: 12 Nov 92 18:20:00 GMT
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1djhdkINN7gh@gap.caltech.edu>, carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU writes...
>In article <7NOV92.22361143@uwpg02.uwinnipeg.ca>, chem@uwpg02.uwinnipeg.ca writes:
>>Hi. You know the tablecloth trick where the person pulls the
>>tablecloth from under a fancy place setting and all the plates
>>stay in place?  How is that related to inertia of the plates?

>There are two coefficients of friction of interest in this case:
>	1)  The coefficient of static friction; that's the one you use when
>	    the plate's not moving relative to the tablecloth; and
>	2)  The coefficient of sliding friction.  That's the one you use when
>	    the plate and the tablecloth are moving relative to each other.

{rest of explanation deleted}

I vaguely remember Jearl Walker (of _Flying Circus of Physics_ fame) doing 
this trick in class (sometime about 1978 or so).  Anyhow the explanation 
that I remember is that as long as the acceleration of the tablecloth is 
constant, the inertia of the plates will overcome the friction force.  The 
trick is that human muscles are constant velocity devices, not constant 
acceleration devices, and it takes a large amount of practice to achieve 
this.  Although my 14 year old memory may have failed me, that is the way I 
remember it.

     Larry Oberle  (216) 433-3647     And YES,    NASA Lewis Research Center 
email: oberle@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov      I like     MS 77-1 / 21000 Brookpark Rd.
 or:  oberle@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov    CLEVELAND!   Cleveland, Ohio   44135

       We have met the enemy, and he is us!   (Pogo)
From: ian@pharaoh.cyborg.bt.co.uk (Speed Freak)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Photographic Memory
Summary: Is there such a thing ?
Date: 10 Nov 92 17:03:42 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: large

Is there such a thing as a photographic memory ?  Has it ever been proven in
an individual ?  Does the person have to read a page, or study a diagram in
detail; or can they just look at the page/diagram for a few moments and then
read it back ?

Ian.
-- 
Christianity is a revolt of everything that crawls along the ground
directed against that which is *elevated*.  -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Ian Crocker 					ian@cyborg.bt.co.uk
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech
From: arxt@quads.uchicago.edu (Dave Palmer)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Reply-To: arxt@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 21:25:16 GMT


	In message <1992Nov2.150213.17862@news2.cis.umn.edu>, Unidentifed
writes, "No, you won't blow up, no matter how fast the pressure is dropped.
The reason why is the same as the reason a table doesn't fly to the ceiling 
when you pick up a coffee cup."

	In message <1992Nov2.224718.29856@col.hp.com>, dag@col.hp.com
(David Geiser) responded, "Everyone knows that's because air pressure keeps the
table from being sucked up by the coffee cup."

	Yes, and that is why they don't allow conventional coffee cups on
space shuttle flights.  If they did, the entire universe would be sucked into
the coffee cup and destroyed because of the lack of air pressure.  Why? 
Because coffee cups are actually black holes.  Stephen Hawking discovered this
but it was deleted from A Brief History of Time because of lack of space.
	So, how do you explain Sulu's coffee cup in Star Trek VI, you ask?
Easy.  The insignia on it was actually a negative graviton generator which 
cancelled out the mug's harmful effects.  Since negative graviton generators
are impossible with a twentieth-century understanding of physics, a whole new
branch had to be created.  Called Ultra Superstring Coffee Cup Sub-Einstinian
Physical Astrogeology, it not only allowed coffee to be consumed in space, it
also explains the Enterprise's warp drive and was used in the creation of
the Dyson Sphere we see in "Relics".  The reason that we see only styrofoam
coffee cups in Classic Trek is that there was an immense surplus after the
Ozone Protection laws were passed in the twenty-first century.

	(-: for the humor-impaired.)

	--The Midwesterner
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: rspeirs@javelin.sim.es.com (Ron Speirs)
Subject: Re: Drowning Duck Experiment?
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Corp.
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 23:57:52 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.180657.3322@schunix.uucp> sonix@schunix.uucp (Duane Morin) writes:
>One of the guys here at work tells a story about an early experiment in 
>the effect of detergent/water combinations, where a duck is set swimming in 
>a small bath of water, to which a small amount of detergent is added.  The
>detergent breaks the surface tension of the water, and the poor duck gets 
>too wet and sinks.  
>
>Question:  Can anyone document this?  Is there some sort of chemistry
>explanation for it?  And, perhaps most importantly, does anyone that knows 
>this story know what kind of detergent (in particular what chemical) was 
>used?  We are looking for something that we can add to a water bath to 
>facilitate getting objects wet.  If this exists, it might be what we're 
>looking for.
>
I heard this story MANY years ago from my High School chemistry teacher.
He said that they used
          Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate
which according to a recent chemical catalog is now more "properly" called:
          Bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate Sodium Salt
          C20 H37 Na O7 S
I believe that this is the active ingredient in a medicine called "Colace",
which is a stool softener.  Ask a pharmacist.

BTW, I've never tried the Duck Experiment.

Ron Speirs, Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah
From: Lauren.Podolak@mechanic.Fidonet.org (Lauren Podolak)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Phony SCIFI on TV an
Date: Wed, 04 Nov 92 16:58:06 PDT
Organization: Mechanic: The Usenet<->Fidonet Gateway oF St. Pete Florida

GVN>One of the worst uses of Science knowledge is the visible
GVN>phasor beams. We shouldn't be able to see it if its some
GVN>kind of directed energy beam.  Yes-No?

Frankly the beams move much too slowly........But at least its one
continuous beam until the person firing lets go of the trigger.  Alot of
SciFi flick have the chunk beams which are utterly ridiculous.

Lauren
___
 X OLX 2.1 TD X On a clear disk you can seek forever

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Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech
From: baylor@nebula.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Reply-To: baylor@nebula.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com
Organization: LMSC, Sunnyvale, California
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 19:59:17 GMT

In article <1992Nov3.232240.5653@ctp.com>, bpita@ctp.com (Bob Pitas) writes:
>
>Actually, you can't compress liquids.  It's the gases (nitrogen, to
>be exact) that cause 'rapture of the deep' for divers.  The nitrogen
>gets compressed during the decent, and then forms bubbles on the ascent.
>These bubbles block blood vessels, and generally do bad things.  The
>phenominae is called 'Nitrogen Narcosis'.  In space, you would have the
>same problem, the gases in your blood would expand, and form bubbles,
>which would block vessels to your brain, heart, etc.  Bummer...
>I guess the real question is can the human body withstand the pressure of
>these expanding gases.  (Or does a human make a good balloon?)
>I would say that human skin would make a fairly effective gas-bag.  I
>wonder if surface level blood-vessels would blow open, though.  Maybe
>eyeballs too...  Hmmmm....  >Shudder<  Not a pretty site.  :^)
>
I'm sorry, I can't let so blatent an error go uncorrected!
Nitrogen Narcosis, known as 'rapture of the deep' is a kind of
intoxication caused by excessive partial pressures of nitrogen
in the gasses you breath.  It goes away immediately and without
hangover once you ascend to the proper depth. (However, "the proper
depth" varies with each diver, maybe with each dive.) Nitrogen
does not just get compressed when you dive, it dissolves in your 
blood. Actually, it dissolves in your blood at all times, but more
can dissolve at high pressures. If you ascend too rapidly after a dive 
that was too long  and/or too deep the nitrogen will come out of your 
blood (Good grief! Is there a word "undesolve"? if it was solid instead
of gasseous, I'd say precipitate) too fast to be eliminated through 
the lungs. That condition is known as "the bends." The nitrogen bubbles 
do not have to form in your blood stream; they can form in any of your
tissues and cause a variety of symptoms. If they do form in your
blood, that's called an embolism, and is what you describe.
From: sonix@schunix.uucp (Duane Morin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Drowning Duck Experiment?
Date: 6 Nov 92 18:06:57 GMT
Organization: SCHUNIX Public Access Unix for Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA

One of the guys here at work tells a story about an early experiment in 
the effect of detergent/water combinations, where a duck is set swimming in 
a small bath of water, to which a small amount of detergent is added.  The
detergent breaks the surface tension of the water, and the poor duck gets 
too wet and sinks.  

Question:  Can anyone document this?  Is there some sort of chemistry
explanation for it?  And, perhaps most importantly, does anyone that knows 
this story know what kind of detergent (in particular what chemical) was 
used?  We are looking for something that we can add to a water bath to 
facilitate getting objects wet.  If this exists, it might be what we're 
looking for.

Thanks,
 Duane Morin
 Walker Sonix, Inc.
 Worcester, Ma 01604
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech
From: tim@gold.iss.nus.sg (tim poston)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Reply-To: tim@iss.nus.sg (tim poston)
Organization: Institute of Systems Science, NUS, Singapore
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 06:24:21 GMT

In article <1d9g2lINNsqf@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU writes:
>>These bubbles block blood vessels, and generally do bad things.  The
>>phenominae is called 'Nitrogen Narcosis'.
>
>Sorry, but the fact that you apparently don't know the difference between
>nitrogen narcosis and caisson disease has just completely destroyed any
>credibility you might've had.

Can I get my lick in too?
Hey, the guy's lying there...

I am used to `phenomena'
(the plural of `phenomenon')
being treated as singular,
but "The phenominae is" plumbs new depths.

In honor of a well-known dictionary series,
can we call the resulting madness `Casson disease'?

Tim


_____________________________________________________________________________
  WARNING: this algorithm has only been proved valid for large values of 2.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
From: Lauren.Podolak@mechanic.Fidonet.org (Lauren Podolak)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Phony SCIFI on TV an
Date: Wed, 04 Nov 92 16:56:04 PDT
Organization: Mechanic: The Usenet<->Fidonet Gateway oF St. Pete Florida

SEB>In Total Recall (Good effects, wasted on a stoopid story) there's
SEB>the mutations supposedly caused by solar radiation.  I
SEB>thought the radiatio
SEB>levels (from the sun) would be much lower out at Mars than what one woul
SEB>encounterhere on Earth (in Eart orbit actually).  If
SEB>they were on the Moon,
SEB>then yes, any radiation problems would be believable.

SEB>Then there's the scene of the railway train rolling along the Martian
SEB>landscape.  This looked like a normal Earth train.  Anyone else this thi
SEB>to be odd??


Actually radiation levels are higher on Mars then on Earth even though
Mars is considerably farther out.  This is because Mars has neither a
strong magnetic field or good atmospheric shield to stop
harmful/mutagenic ultraviolet radiation.  Additionally cosmic rays get
through to Mars surface readily and almost never on Earth.

No reason for the trains to run differently on Mars if they are either
electric or magna-lev.

Lauren
___
 X OLX 2.1 TD X Hello, I am part number ||X||||X||X||X||

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Internet: Lauren.Podolak@mechanic.Fidonet.org
UUCP:     ...!myrddin!tct!mechanic!Lauren.Podolak
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Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: magnus@bark-fddi.ii.uib.no (Magnus Alvestad)
Subject: Re: Photographic Memory
Reply-To: magnus@ii.uib.no
Organization: UVBS -> SFK/T-DSA / SOPS - HOS / RNoN
Distribution: alt
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 15:24:14 GMT

>>>>> On Wed, 11 Nov 1992 08:04:31 GMT, nkjrm@taxus.uib.no (Rolf Manne) said:

	Rolf> Photographic memory is not only a good thing to have. It
	Rolf> appears sometimes to be coupled with mental aberrations
	Rolf> such as autism.

I think also it complicates the process of reading, because you easily
slip back into the 'photo-mode', just remembering what you read
instead of digesting it..

-Magnus (!Nils)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: vicka@wrq.com (the Littlest Orc)
Subject: Re: 2 questions re Newton's Laws of Motion
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 21:19:10 GMT

In article <7NOV92.22361143@uwpg02.uwinnipeg.ca> 
Marsh, aka chem@uwpg02.uwinnipeg.ca, writes:
>Secondly, a neat trick is to take a piece of looseleaf paper and
>put it on top of a textbook (make sure the paper doesn't hang out over
>the book's face).  Then drop the system and the paper does not separate
>out and up from the book.  How come?

The thing that usually makes a piece of paper "flutter" as it falls
is the upward force it encounters as it hits particles in the medium;
i.e., air pressure.  When you've set the paper atop the book, there
isn't (much) air there for it to hit -- the air particles have already 
been pushed aside by the book beneath, and the paper falls just about
as fast as gravity wants it to.  

A comparable example would be to drop the book and the paper side-by-
side in a vaccuum, and watch them fall down in tandem.

cheers,
--vicka corey						vicka@wrq.com
   	     "More fun than a barrel of monkey wrenches!"
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech
From: rudoff@mdd.comm.mot.com (Doug Rudoff)
Subject: Nitrogen Narcosis
Organization: Motorola, Mobile Data Division - Seattle, WA
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 23:29:24 GMT

In article <Bx9Cr5.M5E@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> rlbell@babbage.uwaterloo.ca (Richard Bell) writes:
>Nitrogen narcosis is caused by the air pressure being high enough to start
>forming laughing gas.

Sorry, you're wrong. From what I've read and talking to one of my
scuba diving buddies, if you replace the nitrogen with another gas
such as argon (which will not combine with anything), it will still
cause narcosis if breathed under enough pressure. Laughing gas
(nitrous oxide) has nothing to do with it. It's some weird
physiological function that is unexplained as of yet.
-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Doug Rudoff          Motorola, Seattle    INTERNET:rudoff@mdd.comm.mot.com
                                            USENET:uunet!mdisea!rudoff   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc
From: mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel)
Subject: Re: Nitrogen Narcosis
Organization: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 15:55:48 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.232924.28405@mdd.comm.mot.com> rudoff@mdd.comm.mot.com
(Doug Rudoff) writes:
>In article <Bx9Cr5.M5E@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> rlbell@babbage.uwaterloo.ca
>(Richard Bell) writes:
>>Nitrogen narcosis is caused by the air pressure being high enough to start
>>forming laughing gas.
>
>Sorry, you're wrong. From what I've read and talking to one of my
>scuba diving buddies, if you replace the nitrogen with another gas
>such as argon (which will not combine with anything), it will still
>cause narcosis if breathed under enough pressure. Laughing gas
>(nitrous oxide) has nothing to do with it. It's some weird
>physiological function that is unexplained as of yet.

     Actually, we have a pretty good idea of what causes narcosis.  If
you look for a correlation between "narcotic power" and solubility of
the gas in question in lipids, you find a positive one, i.e.
lipid-soluble gases are more narcotic than less-soluble ones.  I'm not a
physiologist, so I'll let someone else explain why this gives us a good
idea of how gas narcosis works.  (Basically, it comes down to the fact
that cell membranes are mostly made out of lipids, but I'm fuzzy on the
details.)

				Marc R. Roussel
                                mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech
From: jbf@wts.com (Jens B. Fiederer)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Organization: Wegmans Transaction Services
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 20:31:11 GMT

In article <1d9g2lINNsqf@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU writes:
>Sorry, but the fact that you apparently don't know the difference between
>nitrogen narcosis and caisson disease has just completely destroyed any
>credibility you might've had.
>
....
>
>Caisson disease (a.k.a. the bends) occurs when you decrease the pressure and
>the nitrogen comes out of solution.
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL
Bubbles in blood == embolism: usually quick death
Bubbles in joints == caisson disease: usually much suffering

Jens
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: gfritz@ford.ecn.purdue.edu (Geoffrey M Fritz)
Subject: Re: Drowning Duck Experiment?
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 22:13:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov7.035917.16481@engage.pko.dec.com> moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes:
>
>Yes.  One of a series of Time-Life books on science has such a photograph
>of a duck, which is obviously rather soaked and frustrated, and is riding
>quite low in the water.  I don't know exactly which in the series it is
>offhand, though.

I don`t know the name of the series, either, but the title of the book is
"Matter".  Hopes this narrows the possibilies down, as there seem to be an
uncountable number of Time-Life series (or whatever the plural for "series"
may be).

-- Geoff
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,soc.culture.african.american
From: stovall@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (Steven Stovall)
Subject: Re: AIDS and the CIA (was Question)
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
Date: 11 Nov 92 16:29:04 GMT

wbrown@access.digex.com (William Brown) writes:

>    Point of INFORMATION ( :-) )  The technology DID exist in the late
>1960's and before to "genetically engineer" viruses.  However, this type
>of engineering was "hit-and-miss", as opposed to today's very specific
>variety.  To "engineer" a better virus, all you really need is tissue
>culture, virus, x-rays, and time.  All of these existed in the time period
>in question.  Bear in mid, however, that this is a VERY random and
>unpredictable method of viral mutation.  A great deal of molecular biology
>is the use of "brute force" were finesse does not yet exist
>technologically.  The developments of the late 1970's (polymerase
>chain reaction, Southern and Northern blotting, monoclonal
>antibody technology, etc.)  added a GREAT DEAL of finess to
>the field.  However, it was possible to optimize viruses long
>before we had the ability to directly and in a controlled
>manner determine which mutations to induce.  Before the
>recombinate DNA era we tried to make up for a lack of
>specificity with an abundance of screening.  I'm not saying
>this was done by the Army, and I'm not saying it wasn't.  I'm just saying
>it was possible.

I think what is meant by "the technology did not exist" is that, as you say,
the technology did not exist to design and construct viruses at the genetic
level. But that is not to say that they could not have been experimenting
with, say, SIVs (Simian Immuno-defficiency Viruses) with the intention of
developing HIVs. On the face of it, this just not sound that far-fetched.
That such experiments introduced HIV to the human species may not be highly
probable, but certainly is not a ridiculous notion. And if they experimented
on human subjects, those subjects would be black folks, either in Mississippi
or the Belgian Congo.

_______________________________________________________________________________

steven stovall             
stovall@exeter.cs.ucla.edu        
(310) 825-7307
From: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Scearce)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Tool (Was Re: 2+2 and carrots)
Date: 11 Nov 1992 19:57:13 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Distribution: world
Reply-To: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: sector7g

In article 2797@israel.nysernet.org, warren@nysernet.org (Warren Burstein) writes:
> I remember a proof that Shakespeare *wrote* the King James [...]

Sure enough, in psalm 46, the 46th word is "shake" and the 158th (of
204) word is "spear".  Works for me.

Brian "Thank God for my on-line bible" Scearce
---
Brian Scearce                                           bls@sector7g.eng.sun.com
              The above does not necessarily represent Sun policy.
                  "You can't fit the truth on a t-shirt, man."
                                 "That'd fit."
From: GC.SUL@forsythe.stanford.edu (Sullivan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Blue Star UL - help please
Date: 13 Nov 1992 09:07:05 -0800
Organization: Stanford University
NNTP-Posting-Host: morrow.stanford.edu

My daughter's school passed out a 'BLUE STAR Tattoo' warning to
all the parents.

I'm pissed.

on the bottom:  Compliments of the Lakeport Police Department.
Upper left corner:  a drawing of a stern owl wearing mortar/pestal

LSD is the drug again.  This is a No Cal. rural area I live so this
probably floated in from Bay Area recently.  I called the Crime
Prevention guy from Lakeport Police and asked him what incident
spawned such a warning and was told that there wasn't a specific one
he knew of.

Please email to me any info you have collected that explains the
Blue Star Tatoo phenom, I will take it in to the local Constable and
to the school and force them to follow up with a retraction/explanation.
Is there any published material I can check out from a library about
this specific phenom?

Thanks.

Mike

Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:27509 alt.conspiracy:11909