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Mythbusters Accidentally Bust Windows In Nearby Town
Thelasko writes "In an effort to knock Buster's socks off, the Mythbusters accidentally created an explosion so large it shattered windows in a small town over a mile from the blast site. The Mythbusters had the broken windows replaced the very same day.
The Esparto, California fire chief says that several firefighters were on hand for the blast, but he didn't notify residents because, 'Mythbusters is supposed to be a really popular show. Everybody would have been out there. We would have had to cancel it because it would have been too dangerous.'"
...could get the go-ahead on tripping 500 lbs of ammonium nitrate in order to "knock the socks off" of a mannequin.
The keyword in the summary was "accidentally". This was not an intended result and was not anticipated. Especially not a mile away.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Public safety was taken into consideration - and in this case it was determined 'safer' to NOT tell the public, as the expected crowed that would produce would make matters WORSE.
I shouldn't be notified that my windows may explode unexpectedly?
People can't notify you of unexpected things. That's why they're called unexpected.
(Yes, I replied twice and contradicted myself. Big whoop.)
Why bleep out the words "Aluminum" and "Iron Oxide"?
Defense Lawyer: And where did you learn to make Thermite?
Defendent: From watching Mythbusters.
Discovery Channel: Uh-oh.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Well, I think that stuff like this can take anyone by surprise. Castle Bravo turned out to be 2.5 times bigger than expected, and those guys were Atomic Scientists!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo
Why is it everytime someone makes a mistake there is some moron who has a knee jerk reaction of "fire the person". Give me a break. The fire chief made a call. They didn't notify the town because they didn't want a crowd at the film site - which would be dangerous in and of itself. So if they cancelled the show they transported explosive chemicals to the site and would have to transfer it off the site, then transfer it to another site...all that transport = danger.
not to forget - they didn't realize the explosion was going to be so big as to break a hand-ful of windows a MILE away.
Unfortunate yes, unexpected yes, handled properly yes, fire someone no.
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
Oh, that's only a factor of.... err.. 500? Oops.
Reminds me of a high school chemistry teacher showing us the difference between Na and K. His words:
"Na is very reactive, so we drop only a small amount in water to show the reaction." - poof
"K is a little less reactive, so we can drop a larger amount in water." - BAMMM! (and one erlenmeyer explodes in front of 35 students)
Of course, today that would mean the teacher would be sued by the parents for endangering the lives of all those students. But in my day, this means that 30 years later I remember that K is less reactive than Na, but not by very much.