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Bellagio Fountains Recreated with Mentos and Coke
Trip writes "What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane. The first part of this video demonstrates a simple geyser, and the second part shows just how extreme it can get. Over one hundred jets of soda fly into the air in less than three minutes. It's a hysterical and spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas."
What the hell topic does *this* fall under?
I think they should have a section called "Slow News Day". Everyone is already tagging things that.
I saw this on Shoutwire a while back, and people have been sending me videos of this over the internet for weeks. I tried it, it's kind of cool, but come on. It's getting a bit old...
Although, to be fair, this is definitely the best video I've seen.
clickedy click
"What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints?"
You get amazing and insane amounts of Aspartame. Now people have been at it warning about Aspartame for years now (it's a poison that attacks nerve ends, when heated such as in baked products etc. it will decompose into methyl alcohol which is another strong neurotoxin)... don't just take my word for it, you're sitting in front of a computer connected to the internet. Look it up.
And while you're at it, in case you're wondering why I'm calling it the Donald Rumsfeld Aspartame Death Cocktail, well Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame in the course of producing an anti-ulcer drug candidate. He discovered its sweet taste serendipitously when he licked his finger, which had accidentally become contaminated with aspartame.
(taken from the Wikipeida Aspartame article)
Safety testing indicated aspartame may cause brain tumors in rats; as a result, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not approve its use as a food additive in the United States for many years. In 1980, the FDA convened a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) consisting of independent advisors charged with examining the purported relationship between aspartame and brain cancer. The PBOI concluded that aspartame does not cause brain damage, but it recommended against approving aspartame at that time, citing unanswered questions about cancer in laboratory rats. In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan appointed as FDA commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes. Citing data from a single Japanese study that had not been available to the members of the PBOI, Hayes approved aspartame for use in dry goods. [1] In 1983 FDA further approved aspartame for use in carbonated beverages, and for use in other beverages, baked goods, and confections in 1993. It happened that from 1977 to 1985 Donald Rumsfeld served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle. In 1996, the FDA removed all restrictions from aspartame allowing it to be used in all foods.
But that's not the only thing caper Donald Rumsfeld has pulled off in all this years. His most recent exploit is the Bird Flu hysteria and a virtually unproven drug called 'Tamiflu' which is said to cause flu symptoms in the first place.
(Again from the relevant Wikipedia article on Tamiflu:
Oseltamivir was the first orally active neuraminidase inhibitor commercially developed. It is a prodrug, which is hydrolysed hepatically to the active metabolite, the free carboxylate of oseltamivir (GS4071). It was developed by Gilead Sciences and is currently marketed by Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche) under the trade name Tamiflu. It is generally available by prescription only.
[...]
In November, 2005, U.S. president George W. Bush requested that Congress fund $7.1 billion in emergency spending for flu pandemic prepardness (the Senate had already passed an $8.1 billion bill)[12]. Bush's plan included $1.4 billion for government purchases of antiviral drugs[13]. Some commentators (e.g., [14]) question the motives of the U.S. government's endorsement and planned purchase of oseltamivir, noting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's close ties to Gilead Sciences, rightsholder to the oseltamivir patent. Rumsfeld is a former chairman of Gilead, and federal disclosure forms indicate that he owns between USD$5 million and USD$25 million in Gilead stock (Schwartz 2005 [15]). The rise in Gilead's share prices from USD$35 to USD$57 per share will have added between USD$2.5 million to USD$15.5 million to Rumsfeld's net worth.
Go figure. Look, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you're interested then start digging. Rumsfeld is a good start. Oh and I guess since the entire "happening" as well as the media coverage that went with it is just one elaborate ad for Coca Cola and Mentos at least on slashdot I think it just backfired on them.