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Submitting "Nuking the Fridge" To Scientific Peer Review

Posted by samzenpus on 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."

17 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. What this really means by Manuka · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that he denied the Mythbusters a chance to go nuclear.

    1. Re:What this really means by Manuka · · 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. Trauma by Dan+East · · 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 oodaloop · · 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.
  3. Then let's test these next by davidbrit2 · · 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 thisnamestoolong · · 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
    2. Re:Then let's test these next by Alotau · · 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.

    3. Re:Then let's test these next by tnk1 · · 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.

    4. Re:Then let's test these next by Kozz · · 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.
    5. Re:Then let's test these next by Xocet_00 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, there wasn't.

  4. This sounds like something made for TV.. by rykin · · 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!

  5. Refrigerator is just a disguise by rush,overlord,rush! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually it's the TARDIS, and Indiana Jones is just another alias of Dr. Who. Of course he will survive.

  6. Wrong subject by billcopc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I, for one, wish they had peer reviewed THE SCREENPLAY.

    What a shit movie that was.

    --
    -Billco, Fnarg.com
  7. No Problem by NicknamesAreStupid · · 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.

  8. Re:George Lucas. by bronney · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't run from a nuclelar detonation, you'll die tired.

  9. homage to the original back to the future script by retchdog · · 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
  10. Re:"Rigorous peer review" by silverspell · · 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."