Submitting "Nuking the Fridge" To Scientific Peer Review

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Submitting "Nuking the Fridge" To Scientific Peer Review

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 23, 2012 @01:40PM from the leave-Indiana-alone dept.

An anonymous reader writes "George Lucas claims there was 'a 50/50 chance' Indiana Jones could survive the atomic blast in Legend of the Crystal Skull by hiding inside a refrigerator. Dr. David Shechner subjects this claim to rigorous peer review, and his findings are not good news for people looking to hide from nukes in appliances."

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"Rigorous peer review" by MrEricSir · 2012-02-23 13:42 · Score: 4, Funny

Glad I'm not one of Dr. David Shechner's peers, then. Although from the sound of things he must not have many left!

--
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
1. Re:"Rigorous peer review" by jackbird · 2012-02-23 15:19 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  You forgot to include the actual paper, although your comment also appears to state that you haven't actually read it. It's chock-full of bad puns.
2. Re:"Rigorous peer review" by silverspell · 2012-02-23 19:13 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The paper ignores other sci-fi contructs like wormholes and hyperspace, which are considered Bantha poodoo.
  By whom? Many of the top minds in astrophysics consider those areas of research to be entirely valid.
  "We have top minds working on it now."
  
  "Who?"
  
  "Top. Minds."
What this really means by Manuka · 2012-02-23 13:45 · Score: 5, Funny

Is that he denied the Mythbusters a chance to go nuclear.
1. Re:What this really means by Manuka · 2012-02-23 14:41 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'm sure they can find some small pacific atoll that nobody wants anymore. Maybe do it in conjunction with Shark Week. Maybe you can jump sharks AND hide in fridges all at once.
2. Re:What this really means by LoverOfJoy · 2012-02-23 17:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Tonight on Mythbusters... Can you survive while swimming with a shark in a fridge full of water, during a nuclear blast?
  Depends...does the shark have laser beams attached to its head?
Trauma by Dan+East · 2012-02-23 13:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

Forget the radiation and heat. The trauma from the g-forces of that flight and landing would have killed anyone easily.

--
Better known as 318230.
1. Re:Trauma by thereitis · 2012-02-23 14:02 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And let's not forget we're talking about "surviving" afterward - that could mean living the rest of your life in an ICU. Indiana Jones not only survived but kicked some serious ass the same day.
2. Re:Trauma by oodaloop · 2012-02-23 15:38 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I think Indiana Jones was only immortal while he was in that temple. In the Young Indiana Jones serial in the '80s, he was depicted with...OMG I'm such a dork.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
George Lucas. by Chas · 2012-02-23 13:46 · Score: 3, Funny

The only thing George is an expert on is MOICHANDISING!
But, if you're about to suffer the effects of a close range nuclear detonation, you could do worse... At least this way you'll feel proactive about avoid death as you die horribly.

--

Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
1. Re:George Lucas. by bronney · 2012-02-23 14:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Don't run from a nuclelar detonation, you'll die tired.
Then let's test these next by davidbrit2 · 2012-02-23 13:47 · Score: 5, Funny
1. Ripping out a man's heart without killing him.
2. Jumping from a plane using an air raft.
3. Keeping an immortal knight in a subterranean cavern for thousands of years.
Or, how about just shut up and watch the movie.
1. Re:Then let's test these next by hawguy · 2012-02-23 13:58 · Score: 3, Informative
  Ripping out a man's heart without killing him.
  Jumping from a plane using an air raft.
  Keeping an immortal knight in a subterranean cavern for thousands of years.
  Or, how about just shut up and watch the movie.
  Mythbusters already busted that middle one. I'd like to see them test the ripping out a man's heart one, though I'm not sure PETA will appreciate them testing on live animals.
2. Re:Then let's test these next by Dunbal · 2012-02-23 14:15 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I'd like to see them test the ripping out a man's heart one,
  Not something you do successfully in your average weird cultist temple, but this is done in heart transplants all the time...
  
  --
  Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
3. Re:Then let's test these next by thisnamestoolong · 2012-02-23 14:17 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Disbelief can only be suspended so far. The first and third items on your list were attributed to supernatural events, and the second, while implausible, was nowhere near as insane as the nuked fridge stunt. Granted, suspension of disbelief is an entirely personal thing, but for me, the other three movies only pushed the boundaries of reality enough to be entertaining, whereas the fourth movie completely obliterated it.
  
  --
  To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
4. Re:Then let's test these next by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-23 14:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  ^This.
  I'm willing to suspend disbelief and pretend that magic is real... but there's no way that "physics as normal" allows the fridge stunt to work.
5. Re:Then let's test these next by Alotau · 2012-02-23 14:37 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'd like to see them test the ripping out a man's heart one, though I'm not sure PETA will appreciate them testing on live animals.
  
  Simple, use politicians and lawyers. I think to be certain we need to try it on at least 10 thousand.
  Your subjects are flawed... one needs a heart in the first place to have it ripped out.
6. Re:Then let's test these next by tnk1 · 2012-02-23 15:06 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  "JAT stewardess Vesna Vulovi survived a fall of 33,000 feet (10,000 m)[7] on January 26, 1972 when she was aboard JAT Flight 367. The plane was brought down by explosives over Srbská Kamenice in the former Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic)." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall
  Yes, not a rubber life raft, but it's not impossible to survive dropping out of the sky, just really freaking unlikely. Of course, that woman actually landed in part of the plane, broke her skull and was in a coma for 27 days. Probably not in a mood for serious ass kicking at that point, but she's no Indiana Jones either.
7. Re:Then let's test these next by Kozz · 2012-02-23 15:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  ... whereas the fourth movie completely obliterated it.
  Wait... there was a fourth movie?!
  
  --
  I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
8. Re:Then let's test these next by similar_name · 2012-02-23 15:34 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Using a life raft to survive a fall from an airplane: mythbusted
9. Re:Then let's test these next by Xocet_00 · 2012-02-23 15:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  No, there wasn't.
10. Re:Then let's test these next by MacGyver2210 · 2012-02-23 15:51 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Just go with "Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."
  
  --
  If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
11. Re:Then let's test these next by Evtim · 2012-02-23 17:45 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The second in the world-record list of "people falling from the sky" is more bizzare. I read it in the "book of general ignorance". The name was Alkemade and he served on a British bomber during WW2 (the name is Dutch though). He fell 6km if I remember correctly by himself (not sitting on the plain chair or something), landed hitting trees and finally snow, had a cigarette and walked away...
12. Re:Then let's test these next by Dogbertius · 2012-02-23 18:44 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  http://xkcd.com/566/
  
  It was enjoyable at best, but I was still happy to see another movie in the series. Kind of like the joke in Big Bang Theory on an episode about seeing all 6 Star Wars movies in a movie marathon.
  
  "So, 1-3, then 4-6, or 4-6, 1-3, classic style?"
  
  "Isn't it obvious? 4-6 first. I prefer to be disappointed in the order in which George intended us to be."
This sounds like something made for TV.. by rykin · 2012-02-23 13:48 · Score: 5, Funny

Peer review? This is a job for the Mythbusters!
Let's see, we have a fridge, now we just need a nuclear testing facility!
Indie survived... by Guppy06 · 2012-02-23 13:57 · Score: 3, Funny

... but the franchise didn't.
Does that make him "Schrodinger's Archaeologist?"
jamie want big boom by Joe_Dragon · 2012-02-23 13:58 · Score: 3, Funny

Don't do this at home.
Refrigerator is just a disguise by rush,overlord,rush! · 2012-02-23 14:03 · Score: 5, Funny

Actually it's the TARDIS, and Indiana Jones is just another alias of Dr. Who. Of course he will survive.
Wrong subject by billcopc · 2012-02-23 14:04 · Score: 5, Insightful

I, for one, wish they had peer reviewed THE SCREENPLAY.
What a shit movie that was.

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-Billco, Fnarg.com
Google Cache by Chas · 2012-02-23 14:12 · Score: 3, Informative

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:zG-BilzlF4UJ:www.overthinkingit.com/2012/02/22/fridge-nuking-scientific-peer-review/%3Fpage%3Dall+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
For those that want a read-through while the server has it's heart ripped out.

--

Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Back to basics by RandomAvatar · 2012-02-23 14:13 · Score: 4, Funny

I guess it is back to hiding under a desk if we ever see a nuke coming.
No Problem by NicknamesAreStupid · 2012-02-23 14:30 · Score: 5, Funny

It would be almost certain that Ford would survive a movie nuke in a prop refrigerator. Union rules specify that prop 1940s refrigerators weigh enough to require an entire crew to move. It was probably made of depleted uranium. As for the nuke, it was no more than 450 teraflops due to FX budget constraints. It takes at least an petaflop to kill an A-list movie star, and that is contractually stipulated.
Re:spoiler alert?!? by geminidomino · 2012-02-23 16:28 · Score: 4, Insightful

Spoiler alert? Really? The movie is 4 years old.
While we're at it:
They were the same guy.
He was a ghost the whole time.
The girl was a man
Vader is Luke's father, and Leia is his sister.
Rosebud is a sled.
Re:A child died, playing hide and seek by v1 · 2012-02-23 16:45 · Score: 3, Informative

that's not unique. There were enough cases of that exact thing happening that they made a federal law requiring that any non-functioning fridge with a latching door must have the door REMOVED. Deep freezes included.
Not only are they mostly airtight, they're also fairly soundproof. Makes them an effective deathtrap.

--
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Re:A child died, playing hide and seek by MaskedSlacker · 2012-02-23 17:17 · Score: 3, Informative

Most home refrigerators do not have latches anymore.
Re:A child died, playing hide and seek by Stewie241 · 2012-02-23 17:40 · Score: 3, Insightful

Right. And that was directly the result of a child watching an Indiana Jones movie. The idea of hiding in a fridge while playing hide and seek would never cross a child's mind had they not watched the movie.
homage to the original back to the future script by retchdog · 2012-02-23 17:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

in the original back to the future script, marty mcfly was sent "back to the future" in a refrigerator in one of the model houses at a nuclear test site. doc brown modded the fridge somehow so that the radiation would trigger the time circuits.
the original script was very surreal, and a blatant social commentary on the failure/decay of the space age. for example, iirc, the time machine was powered by diet cola and marty is stranded because aspartame isn't invented until 1965.

--
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Re:A child died, playing hide and seek by pla · 2012-02-24 00:38 · Score: 3, Interesting

And this is not a fake news
It happened, about 4 decades ago

And do you know what has changed in the past four decades?

Residential refrigerators don't latch. Haven't for 20-30 years, at least. They use a passive magnetic seal that even a kid could push open. Even standalone (residential) freezer units don't self-latch - They require a removable key-like knob to engage the lock, manually, from the outside (and even then, always have a safety release inside).

Children watching the movie might just do what the hero does - hide inside a fridge, - and suffocate, just like that poor child who died 4 decades ago

So really, you just want to advocate for Time Machine safety, rather than ranting against how many cases of the plague we could avoid by simply getting rid of the rats?
Re:A child died, playing hide and seek by mhajicek · 2012-02-24 03:14 · Score: 3, Funny

More importantly, most home refrigerators do not have nukes anymore.
Re:A child died, playing hide and seek by ae1294 · 2012-02-24 05:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Not only are they mostly airtight, they're also fairly soundproof. Makes them an effective deathtrap.
I've added that to my list of ways to dispose of my enemies.. Your Secret Overlord thanks you. You will receive a box of chocolates at your work station soon. They most certainly do not contain Thallium and most certainly nothing radioactive... and completely 100% do not contain a combination of the two.
Yours in Russia,
P.