HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: null@diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: >Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Date: 16 Nov 92 15:25:14 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen


Eastmer@yang.earlham.edu writes:

>You WILL however die, the reason for this is that gas(most notably in
>this case N2) are much more soluble in liquids(blood) at higher
>pressures.  Thus when the pressure is dropped rapidly bubbles of gas
>will be in your blood stream where they will make their way to your
>heart and deprime it.(It won't pump an more)

This is known as "the bends" and is one of the most common accidents
that befall scuba divers. The symptoms of this are itches, cramps,
lameness, dizzyness, tunnel vision, pain in the joints (the bends), 
unconsciousness (sp) and death. If I remember my scuba diving course correctly.

In diving, it is generally considered "safe", if the pressure drop is
less than 1 atm. This mmeans that if your depth is less than appr. 10
meters, you can always go directly to the surface (a drop from 2 atm
to 1 atm). I don't know if this means that a 1 atm drop is safe (in
which case 1 atm -> vacuum would also be safe WRT the bends) or if it
means that it is safe to drop to half pressure. I'm afraid the latter
is the case.

For divers, the symptoms of the bends usually appear after within 24
hours.  A friend of mine, who had a very mid case of the bends felt
the first symptoms 8 hours after diving. But in more severe cases, the
symptoms will appear more rapidly. In scuba class we saw a movie of an
instructional experiment: They sedated a cat and pressurized it to
appr. 8 atm. for half an hour. Then they depressurised it to 1 atm. in
a minute or so.  Half a minute later, it was dead. They proceeded to
dissect it immediatly.  The blood of the liver and the heart was
foaming, ind bubbled forth like champagne (sp).

Disclaimer for the animal lovers: The cat was sedated and felt
NOTHING. The movie was from the 1960's and that one cat had been used
as a warning example for thousands of human cats. And I don't like
cats much (flame suit on).

   Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk)
   Adaz sighed.  "So how long will this journey take?" 
   "A month?" Sutekh shrugged.  "Depends on when the horses die." 
     -- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehman

-- 
   Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk)
   Adaz sighed.  "So how long will this journey take?" 
   "A month?" Sutekh shrugged.  "Depends on when the horses die." 
     -- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehman
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: dlphknob@cs1.bradley.edu (Jemaleddin Cole)
Subject: Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 16 Nov 92 15:09:58 GMT

In <1e66sbINN953@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:

>The two-prong plug is used for a circuit that's taken from one side of a
>center-tapped transformer.  The center tap is grounded.  That means that one
>side of the circuit is nominally at ground potential, while the other is "hot."
>The purpose of the polarized plugs is to allow the manufacturers of appliances 
>to know which wire is hot and which is neutral.  Armed with this information,
>the manufacturers can design the appliances so that, in the event the case
>somehow gets shorted to one of the wires, it's more likely the neutral wire to
>which it gets shorted.

I don't think you have answered his question yet.  Which is the ground?
The larger or smaller plug?
--

	"Has anyone supposed it luck to be born?
	"I hasten to inform him or her, it is just as lucky to die,
		and I know it."
			--Walt Whitman
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
         dlphknob@camelot.bradley.edu - dlphknob@bucs1.bradley.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: wingo@apple.com (Tony Wingo)
Subject: Re: Nitrogen Narcosis
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 17:58:34 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer
Followup-To: alt.folklore.science

In article <23966@galaxy.ucr.edu>, judson@watserv.ucr.edu (Mike Judson)
wrote:

> 
> Sorry, but being a chemist and a scuba diver, I can tell you that you are
> both wrong.  Nitrogen narcosis (the bends) is caused by nitrogen in the
> blood.  When scuba diving and breathing compressed air, a person will be
> breathing nitrogen under water.  This is because 80% of air is nitrogen.
> As he breathes this air, nitrogen will be absorbed into the blood stream.
> Then, because of Boyle's law, as the diver ascends, the nitrogen gas wil
> expand in the blood.  If there is too much nitrogen in the blood, the

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.  This has already been rehashed several times in this
forum in the last month or so.  Nitrogen Narcosis and the Bends are two
distinct phenomena. The bends are caused by disolved nitrogen coming out of
solution upon ascent, as you describe.  Nitrogen Narcosis is a drugged-like
state (thus the word "Narcosis") caused by an interraction between high
levels of blood nitrogen and the brain chemistry.  Since it if a function
of disolved blood nitrogen, it tends to happen on descent, rather than
ascent.  It comes on very suddenly (people I know who have experienced it
say it feels like a switch being thrown), and disappears just as suddenly
on ascent.  In addition, it is completely unpredictable:  A person may dive
to 100 feet one day with no problem, then hit narcosis at 80 feet on
another day.  

> The reason why you do not want to breath pure oxygen is because at extreme
> depths, oxygen becomes poisonous.

This is true.  The thing that limits dives on straight air (20%O2, 80%N2)
to 150 feet is that at partial pressures of over 1 atm, oxegen becomes
poisonous and can result in severe seizures and convultions.

-tony

>>usual disclaimer<<  
Organization: Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 09:53:31 -0500 
From: James William Stepanek <js43+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: re:type of armor

>	There is a type of armor that is make by placing a piece
>of aluminum on a ceramic tile.  The combination is then heated
>and the al. is absorbed into the ceramic.  From what I have heard
>this makes REALLY good armor.  What is the name for this type of
>armor?
 
>Steven
I believe it is called ceramet armor. I wonder my anyone whould consider
it such good armor though. There are much stronger (especially for the
weight) composite materials , and if weight is no object composite layer
materials with steel, ceramics (and if weight is no concern) and
depleted uranium are the toughest things around.
James Stepanek
esp
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: grante@aquarius.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: Drowning Duck Experiment?
Reply-To: grante@aquarius.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards)
Organization: Rosemount, Inc.
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 22:08:43 GMT

bjornts@ii.uib.no (Bjoern Tore Sund) writes:
: 
: BTW, can anyone confirm what someone told me that this effect is
: actually permanent? I heard that once this fat was dissolved, it
: didn't return, so that the bird, even with proper care, was unable
: to regain it's ability to swim and to stand cold water.
:

Well, if the duck drowns, it's a permanent condition.  If not, the
duck should be able to replace the oils that waterproof the feathers.
This activity is called "preening."  Most birds have a gland (glands?)
on their rear-end that produce oil.  The bird will take oil from this
gland and rub it onto the feathers with thier beak.  At the same time,
the bird reconnects the little zipper-like structures that hold the
"branches" (can't remember the real word) of the feather together.

If the feathers themselves are actually damaged, the bird may be out
of commission until new feathers grow in.

--
Grant Edwards                                 |Yow!  Now I understand the
Rosemount Inc.                                |meaning of ``THE MOD
                                              |SQUAD''!
grante@aquarius.rosemount.com                 |
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech,rec.scuba
From: craig@cattnts.canada.ncr.com (Craig Campbell)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Organization: AT&T / NCR Canada Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 15:26:59 GMT

In article <KETIL.92Nov18203826@sandel.ii.uib.no> ketil@ii.uib.no writes:

>One is advised not to go deeper than 20m on the first CMAS
>certificate (**) and 30m on the second (***)  When you go deeper, you
>lose much bottom time, and besides there's not a lot down there anyway
                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

				    ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

You, of course, MEANT to put a large number of :-) 's around that statement,
right?

>(except wrecks of course, but then again, you shouldn't really be
>messing about with those unless you know that you know what you're doing)

> = Ketil Malde                     In real life:  ketil@ii.uib.no =

craig
-- 
Craig Campbell		|	These opinions are entirely the result of a 
Systems Engineer	|	small butterfly crashing into the far side
NCR Canada,		|	of the planet.  Chaos Rules.
an AT&T Company		|	I speak for no one, except, possibly, myself.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: billc@col.hp.com (Bill Claussen)
Subject: Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 23:04:54 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division

yes...yes...yes      I KNOW..

tide is soap...amazing...must have still had my mind on the
previous post.

tied....tied.....that's better.

sorry bout that.

(also there should be the word "sizes" after the word different.


Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,rec.arts.startrek.tech
From: clmeier@lili7.uni-bielefeld.de (Clemens Meier)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 20:09:21 GMT
	<1992Nov3.024756.17765@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
	<1992Nov6.153620.20391@yang.earlham.edu>
Organization: Universitaet Bielefeld, Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft,
	Germany

In article <1992Nov6.153620.20391@yang.earlham.edu> eastmer@yang.earlham.edu writes:


>   You WILL however die, the reason for this is that
>   gas(most notably in this case N2) are much more soluble in liquids(blood)
>   at higher pressures.  Thus when the pressure is dropped rapidly bubbles of gas
>   will be in your blood stream where they will make their way to your heart 
>   and deprime it.(It won't pump an more)

Do you know how long that takes?
In 2001 Dave Whatshisname jumped out of his spacepod into an emergency airlock
of the Discovery, sealed it and repressured it. I think there was about 30
seconds of (near-)vacuum. Ok, he did wear a spacesuit without a helmet but
but gases are *very* quick fellows, aren't they?

Clemens

PS: In the original novel, the ship's computer opened all the airlocks and
    Dave didn't jump through space but had to work his way through a rapidly
    depressurizing ship into an amergency lock.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: baylor@nebula.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com
Subject: Re: Drowning Duck Experiment?
Reply-To: baylor@nebula.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com
Organization: LMSC, Sunnyvale, California
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 20:43:38 GMT

In article <1e8fvtINNgmo@gap.caltech.edu>, carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:
>In article <1992Nov16.145700.26594@alf.uib.no>, bjornts@ii.uib.no (Bjoern Tore Sund) writes:
>>BTW, can anyone confirm what someone told me that this effect is
>>actually permanent? I heard that once this fat was dissolved, it
>>didn't return, so that the bird, even with proper care, was unable
>>to regain it's ability to swim and to stand cold water.
>
>The claim that the effect is permanent is obviously utter nonsense.  Otherwise
>a duck would be permanently incapable of swimming after the first time it
>molted.
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If the duck dies (drowns or freezes) the effect is permanent. Otherwise,
as Carl said, they're at least better after the next moulting.
(I have heard of volunteers cleaning the ducks after an oil slick, so 
presumably the same feathers can be restored -- though it takes more
resources than the duck has)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech,rec.scuba
From: ketil@ii.uib.no (Ketil M. Malde)
Subject: Re: Human bodies explode in vacuum?
Reply-To: ketil@ii.uib.no
Organization: student of numerical analysis at the University of Bergen, Norway
	<1992Nov17.153453.7235@digi.lonestar.org>
	<1992Nov17.193610.14444@mailer.cc.fsu.edu>
Date: 18 Nov 92 20:38:26

>>>>> On Tue, 17 Nov 92 19:36:10 GMT, mayne@phi.cs.fsu.edu (William Mayne) said:

	William> Has anyone here experienced breathing difficulty due to increased gas
	William> density? I don't doubt that it can happen at extreme depths, though
		 :
	William> deeper than 130 feet on air. I have remembered to pay attention, too.
	William> At what depth does this happen?

I've heard that you notice the higher density at large depths (say 200
meters ~600ft) but I can't remember where I heard it... :-/

	William> Then either your idea of what constitutes "some
	William> detail" is different than mine or your PADI course
	William> was much better than mine. When I took open water
	William> narcosis was covered in a few sentences and the other
	William> topics mentioned even less, if at all. On the other
	William> hand if you stay within PADI limits it is easy to
	William> argue that such knowledge isn't very important.

Jeez, I can see why the CMAS people are looking down on the PADI
certificate.  You actually dive to 130 feet without any knowledge of
N2-narcosis? 

	William> I don't think that decompression is the only or even
	William> the main reason to be cautious about going deep. I
	William> doubt that most people could do a successful free
	William> ascent from 130 feet in case of total air loss,
	William> starting without a fresh breath. At least it would be
	William> risky. Also air supply goes quickly at depth and I'm
	William> told that some people actually don't have it together
	William> well enough to monitor their time, depth, and air
	William> supply.

One is advised not to go deeper than 20m on the first CMAS
certificate (**) and 30m on the second (***)  When you go deeper, you
lose much bottom time, and besides there's not a lot down there anyway
(except wrecks of course, but then again, you shouldn't really be
messing about with those unless you know that you know what you're doing)


--
 = Ketil Malde                     In real life:  ketil@ii.uib.no =
 = Nuke the whales!                    Honk if you love unicorns! =
From: klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs
Date: 19 Nov 92 12:43:59 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns) writes:

>In article <1e66sbINN953@gap.caltech.edu>, carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:
>|> In article <15NOV199212004732@elroy.uh.edu>, st1r8@elroy.uh.edu (Guillot, Burt J.) writes:
>|> >That subject says it all ...
>|> 
>|> But doesn't get automatically included in replies, and would be meaningless to
>|> someone whose home hasn't been rewired in the last 15 years or so.

>Or to someone who lives in a country where the _only_ current standard
>is for 3-pronged plugs...

Here we only have 2-pronged plugs, with both prongs the same size.

Klaus O K
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs
Date: 16 Nov 1992 15:52:01 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Distribution: world
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu

In article <dlphknob.721926598@cs1.bradley.edu>, dlphknob@cs1.bradley.edu (Jemaleddin Cole) writes:
>In <1e66sbINN953@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:
>
>>The two-prong plug is used for a circuit that's taken from one side of a
>>center-tapped transformer.  The center tap is grounded.  That means that one
>>side of the circuit is nominally at ground potential, while the other is "hot."
>>The purpose of the polarized plugs is to allow the manufacturers of appliances 
>>to know which wire is hot and which is neutral.  Armed with this information,
>>the manufacturers can design the appliances so that, in the event the case
>>somehow gets shorted to one of the wires, it's more likely the neutral wire to
>>which it gets shorted.
>
>I don't think you have answered his question yet.  Which is the ground?
>The larger or smaller plug?

The question was "why are the two prongs not the same size."  My response
answered that question.  If you want to figure out which is which, find a
properly installed polarized socket and check to see which side is neutral.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: jimwelch@ravel.udel.edu (James Miller Welch)
Subject: Deep diving, cont...
Organization: University of Delaware
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 20:27:23 GMT


On a side note to the discussion on diving....
The problem with deep dives is that you have so little time on the bottom
that it's difficult to get much done.  A 130 foot dive from the surface
gives you about 5 minutes bottom time without a decompression stop, and
not much more even with decompression.
  One solution to this problem for people who need to work at depth (e.g.
marine scientists running experiments) was used for several years down in
St.Croix (pre-Hugo).  There was an underwater living space at about 50
feet depth and scientists would live there for a week while conducting
experiments.  (two people at my lab have done this)  The big advantage is
that diving from (and returning to) 50' depth, you get about 5 hours of bottom
time
without decompression problems.  Of course, this requires a lot of outside
assistance, ferrying down new full air tanks, etc, and the final ascent at
the end of the week is interesting... They put you in a pressurized ball
at depth, seal it, and take you up to the surface where you are placed in
a large (very comfortable) hyperbaric chamber, where they return you to
surface pressure... over eighteen hours!   The kicker is that after this,
you can't fly for 2 days or so, so you're trapped on a Caribbean isle for
a couple of days with doctor's orders to relax and take it easy!!
Of course, I don't know about how bad the nitrogen narcosis can get after
a week at depth..

Unfortunately, the underwater habitat was damaged by Hugo and I'm not sure
of its status now...

-- 
Jim Welch
University of Delaware
Graduate College of Marine Studies
jimwelch@ravel.udel.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: saj@chinet.chi.il.us (Stephen Jacobs)
Subject: Re: Nitrogen Narcosis
Summary: Any soluble gas, actually
Organization: Chinet - Public Access UNIX
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 05:06:05 GMT

This has been going on long enough for it to be worth pointing out that
'nitrogen narcosis' is really soluble gas narcosis.  Helium is kinda magic,
since it has extremely low solubility in blood.  Oxygen isn't so fortunate,
and oxygen narcosis can happen.  Breathing mixtures for extreme depths don't
induce oxygen narcosis as quickly as one might first expect because they
contain less than 20% oxygen (the thing that you need kept in the right 
range to respire is partial pressure of oxygen, not fraction in breathing gas).
Helium is good for breathing under pressure for another reason: it's less
viscous than other plausible diluent gases.  The effort of breathing thick
(dense) air can be considerable.  Aside from the 'Donald Duck' problem, helium
has the disadvantage of being a good conductor of heat.  In the cold depths,
you want to be as thermally insulated as possible.

                                       Steve     saj@chinet.chi.il.us
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Drowning Duck Experiment?
Date: 16 Nov 92 10:31:17 GMT
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK

In article <BxH3wG.Dqw@javelin.sim.es.com>, rspeirs@javelin.sim.es.com (Ron Speirs) writes:
|>[...]
|>
|> 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.

If this is indeed true, one should see drowning ducks at any sewage
settling plant.  Any decent-sized metropolis must perforce include
quite a lot of people with constipation at any one time.

What a way to go...
--
Robin (come back John Drummond) Fairbairns       rf@cl.cam.ac.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge  CB2 3QG, UK
"They had twelve years to lay in wait for us" - Bush supporter on Nov 4
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: treincke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Tim Reincke)
Subject: Re: Blue Lint from the Dryer
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 20:55:37 GMT

Actually, I get plaid lint in my dryer... ;)

I think that the blue lint comes from the lint daemon running in the
background in your dryer.  Or maybe it comes from the blue jeans or
blue shirts or blue towels??  

If you aren't washing anything blue, then this is strange indeed.
Perhaps it is the soap then.

- Tim "I'm really tired can you tell" Reincke
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Reincke                         | Email to: treincke@uiuc.edu
Junior, Computer Science                   |-------------------------------- 
CCSO Resource Information Consultant       |   G o  I l l i n i  B e a t 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |    T h e  S p a r t a n s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Blow ye winds, Like the trumpet blows; But without that noise." - J. Handey
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: billc@col.hp.com (Bill Claussen)
Subject: Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 22:57:35 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division

ok....here goes.....

#1...the small blade is usually the HOT side.

#2...the large blade is neutral  (not ground)

#3...the round pin is ground.


.....plugs with only 2 prongs have no ground...although neutral
is usually very close to ground.  (the ground and neutral are
usually tied together at the circuit breaker box.

I think the original reason that prongs went to different was
because a long time ago, certain transformerless appliances (
such as radios, record players, toasters, etc) had one side of
the electrical line tide to the chassis.  If you got the plug in
the wrong direction, the chassis would have 110 VAC on it....
provides for some nasty shocks (I speak from experience).

Hope this helps

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.misc,rec.arts.startrek.tech,rec.scuba