Comments on: Exothermia http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/ the blog that is not dansdata.com Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:53:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: boredblogtrawler http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/#comment-660 Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:50:25 +0000 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/#comment-660 Yeah, I've seen a thermal lance used underwater to cut through 4.5" of steel (a chain link). It took less than 10 minutes and was quite an impressive display, even through the helmet cam that was capturing the image I saw. I can definitely see the appeal of playing with one! Yeah, I’ve seen a thermal lance used underwater to cut through 4.5″ of steel (a chain link). It took less than 10 minutes and was quite an impressive display, even through the helmet cam that was capturing the image I saw. I can definitely see the appeal of playing with one!

]]> by: Daniel Rutter http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/#comment-641 Fri, 26 Jan 2007 01:31:24 +0000 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/#comment-641 Brainiac is <i>not</i> similar. I watched it a few times, and just couldn't stand it; most of the time they're obviously just doing a stunt that proves and/or demonstrates nothing, while the voice-over bullshits in a sciencey way. I got sick of shouting at the TV long before I learned that they just plain faked it when honest stuff didn't look cool enough. Mythbusters often get stuff wrong, and also blow shit up just for fun, but they make a serious effort to get stuff <i>right</i>, and never (seem to) pretend they're doing something that they aren't. Brainiac is not similar. I watched it a few times, and just couldn’t stand it; most of the time they’re obviously just doing a stunt that proves and/or demonstrates nothing, while the voice-over bullshits in a sciencey way. I got sick of shouting at the TV long before I learned that they just plain faked it when honest stuff didn’t look cool enough.

Mythbusters often get stuff wrong, and also blow shit up just for fun, but they make a serious effort to get stuff right, and never (seem to) pretend they’re doing something that they aren’t.

]]> by: matt http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/#comment-640 Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:56:10 +0000 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/01/25/exothermia/#comment-640 I don't even have a TV any more, but back when I did, "Clever" was one of the few shows I enjoyed. Celebrities on the show are asked a series of science-based questions, with multiple-choice answers, and the presenter you see in the video then explains the science behind the answers in a fun sort of way. It's fun because you get to try to work out the answer yourself, and because the phenomena that they show are usually of a quite unintuitive sort. I have a strong science background, but still probably only got about half the questions right. I gather that Brainiac is similar, so it's kind of a shock to see the results being faked there. I'd never even considered Clever being faked, but I guess it just goes to show that you have to be skeptical about everything you see and hear... I don’t even have a TV any more, but back when I did, “Clever” was one of the few shows I enjoyed. Celebrities on the show are asked a series of science-based questions, with multiple-choice answers, and the presenter you see in the video then explains the science behind the answers in a fun sort of way. It’s fun because you get to try to work out the answer yourself, and because the phenomena that they show are usually of a quite unintuitive sort. I have a strong science background, but still probably only got about half the questions right.

I gather that Brainiac is similar, so it’s kind of a shock to see the results being faked there. I’d never even considered Clever being faked, but I guess it just goes to show that you have to be skeptical about everything you see and hear…

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