Six Retailers Announce Recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes

thereitis writes "The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with six retailers, is announcing the voluntary recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes high-powered magnet sets due to ingestion hazard. CPSC continues to warn that these products contain defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers. An administrative complaint has been filed which is rare, as CPSC has filed only four administrative complaints in the past 11 years." This follows last year's ban on buckyballs.

Comments

Seriously?

[Red_Chaos1]

Why does this even need a warning? If you're too stupid not to understand to either A) not ingest these, or B) not give them to someone not old enough to know better, then by all means, swallow them all, then go get an MRI.

Re:Seriously?

[AK Marc]

If you swallowed them all, you'd be fine. The way I described it to my wife is, eat one. Wait between 1 hour and 6 hours and eat another. Don't see a doctor for abrominal pain, and there's a reasonable chance you'll die. Multiples at once will not cause an issue. One a day will not cause an issue.

My 5 year old gets to play with my set, but the 3 year old (who doesn't eat toys) has close supervision, especially since these look like dragee, candy he has had before.

The problem is that a proper warning is hard when everything is deadly already. I'm surprised bottled water doesn't come with a DHMO warning label. When everything has a warning on it, adding a real warning to something that looks safe doesn't have proper effect. People don't read warnings when everything comes with 100 warnings.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice work AC, being pedant while missing the point.

Re:Seriously?

[Aranykai]

Not sure if oblivious poster with good intentions or a really, really good troll...

Anyways, I'm fairly certain that was exactly his point.

Re:Seriously?

[phantomfive]

People don't read warnings when everything comes with 100 warnings.

Very good point. Or they read them and laugh.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

"by all means, swallow them all, then go get an MRI"

No he meant MRI. He is mean :D

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

Reminds me of a warning I saw on a treadmill recently. "Cease use immediately and consult a physician if you experience any of these symptoms: dizzyness, light headedness or shortness of breath."

On a treadmill? Really?!

Re: Seriously?

[DigiShaman]

No, you would not be fine. Swallowing these magnets are bad because they have a tendency attract each other via adjacent track of intestine. They pinch together with such force that necrosis occurs. This is bad mmm k.

Re:Seriously?

[oiron]

You're assuming that the reason for the warnings is to save lives...

It's actually purely to get themselves off the hook after lives are lost. Plausible deniability!

Re:Seriously?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Why does this even need a warning? If you're too stupid not to understand to either A) not ingest these, or B) not give them to someone not old enough to know better, then by all means, swallow them all, then go get an MRI.

I find the overreaction(compared to less esoteric flavors of consumer-unsafety) rather strange; but the mechanism of harm is not wildly intuitive.

If you ingest one, the consequences are essentially nil. The coatings(generally either nickel or some epoxy or polymer) are reasonably inert and not particularly dangerous, and even the magnets themselves(while not considered biocompatible) are not a serious oral toxicity concern.

If you ingest two or more, with a time lag between ingestions, they can potentially snap together and trap intestinal tissue between them. No blood flow, the tissue dies, and you get necrosis, potential rupture, and other wacky fun.

That's exactly the sort of hazard scenario that isn't wildly obvious; but is also much more avoidable if you know about it. 1. Don't swallow them. 2. If you fail at 1, don't play with them for a few days, maybe a week just to be on the safe side. Easy.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's an American recall. Says it all. "Warning these knifes are sharp" - that place ;-)

Re: Seriously?

[uncqual]

Did you miss that if you eat them all at once, they will stick together in one clump and therefore none would be in an "adjacent track of intestine". Although, I would think that just having a, effectively solid, chunk of indigestible material the size of several buckyballs may be a problem in of itself.

Re: Seriously?

[AK Marc]

Yeah, what the AC said.

If you swallow them close enough, they'll stick together without trapping tissue between them. 30 minutes is probably enough time, but may not be. An hour would almost certianly be enough time. But two separated by 5 minutes would likely not do anything.

Re:Seriously?

[AK Marc]

They are required by law, in most cases it's the law that's broken, whether requiring warnings, or making them optional, but required for liability issues.

Re:Seriously?

[AK Marc]

53% of slashdotters get shortness of breath looking at a treadmill.

Re:Seriously?

[dbIII]

The risk is swallowing two magnets and necrosis in the intestine between them - same as with toys with magnets decades ago. If a toy does not secure the magnets properly it gets recalled - same as with faulty toys with magnets decades ago. Maybe the problem here is toys from manufacturers that did not learn that lesson decades ago.

Re: Seriously?

[dbIII]

Nice to hear from a gastroenterologist with a clue instead of some computer nerd that knows fuck all about digestion making shit up and giving dangerous advice. Oh wait - so you're not somebody with a clue? Once was merely a mistake, but some much repetition of such dangerous advice is straying into enemy action territory. Do you really hate the readers here that much?

Re: Seriously?

[dbIII]

That's assuming that the lump can make it around any bends without getting stuck - a really big and very stupid assumption. Next up, clearing bowel blockages with liquid mercury - obviously no problem so long as it never gets stuck anywhere (the answer in the back of the book is it did and people died from necrosis that way long before poisoning could kill them).

Re:Seriously?

[c0lo]

53% of slashdotters get shortness of breath looking at a treadmill.

Other 46.0% will get dizzy - the remaining 1% are in army service or are girls-in-training (with or without bra).
None of them will get light-headed though: being predisposed to such symptoms runs counter to being a /.-er.

Re:Seriously?

[roman_mir]

You're assuming that the reason for the warnings is to save lives...

It's actually purely to get themselves off the hook after lives are lost. Plausible deniability!

- but do you think that it is wrong for a company to try and get themselves off the hook after "lives are lost", given the fact that if they don't put a label on there will be a lawsuit and they will eventually go bankrupt because of lawsuits?

What is the difference why they put a warning label onto their product?

Do you buy detergent? Do you need detergent or would you prefer to make your own soap to wash clothes? So if you drink that detergent (or your kid does), do you think the company should be sued?

Well, if there is no warning label on the packaging then the company can be sued, that's what government did, it created this insanity that companies will be sued if they don't put warning labels.

Companies got sued enough times to be overzealous in terms of labels, in USA there are labels on everything. In Europe there are much fewer labels. Is it that kids are dumber in USA? Not from the birth they are not.

Will the kids become dumber over time simply in comparison, because they are not learning to deal with things that kids elsewhere have to learn to deal with? I don't know, I didn't do a study on such things. At least in USA some kids learn to be around firearms and most don't shoot themselves or others.

I don't think there should be warnings about most things, if something is not a food and is an actual poison, as in: if you breath near it you will get poisoned, then there should be some warning I think, but warnings on magnets not to eat them? I think that's up to a company, not up to government to decide.

Re:Seriously?

[Fuzzums]

Really?! Now that wouldn't be very smart, would it?
Just like swallowing magnets in the first place.

I think he did mean MRI for exactly that reason :)

(My apologies for my sarcasm)

Re:Seriously?

[hawkinspeter]

It's due to the fact that people in the USA are so freaking brave that they'll swallow them just to prove the terrorists haven't won. Or, alternatively, they're actually very scared of tiny spherical magnets.

It reminds me of http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/30/leigh-van-bryan-and-emily-bunting-banned-from-entering-us-after-twitter-joke-about-destroying-america_n_1241104.html/ where that whole country of gun-toting free-thinking individuals wouldn't have been safe from a couple of tourists from the UK.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope, my boy, you clearly haven't been to an MRI scan before. Just try to go into the chamber with your glasses on, and see the reaction of the operator.

Nope, my boy, you clearly haven't been exposed to sarcasm before. Just try and go on Slashdot without it, and see the reaction of the intertubes.

Re: Seriously?

[N Monkey]

Did you miss that if you eat them all at once, they will stick together in one clump and therefore none would be in an "adjacent track of intestine". Although, I would think that just having a, effectively solid, chunk of indigestible material the size of several buckyballs may be a problem in of itself.

Not if you test first like the monkey ;-)

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, what happened is a lot of companies did stupid shit and got sued, and lost. During the trials, the companies of course were in full spin mode, trying to make themselves seem as innocent as possible. This results in a lot of other companies saying "OMG, we could be sued for bullshit too" and slapping all sorts of senseless warnings on their products.

The simple fact is that if you release a dangerous product, no amount of warnings are going to prevent you from being sued. Just because your coffee maker states "always turn off coffee maker to prevent fires" you're still going to be sued if the damn thing bursts into flames because a well-designed coffee maker should not burst into flames, even if left turned on indefinitely.

Warning labels, like most company to consumer communications, are purely about having something to point at to discourage lawsuits. Someone calls up a company and says "your coffee maker burnt down my house" and they reply "did you read the warning labels? It said to turn it off when unsupervised." Then, with any luck, the consumer decides they were partially at fault, and doesn't sue.

Re:Seriously?

[Bengie]

CPSC has received 54 reports of children and teens ingesting this product, with 53 of these requiring medical interventions.

Sounds like Darwinism in action. Young children, I can understand, but teens?

Re:Seriously?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

An MRI is a really big superconducting magnet.

Well, to be accurate, not all of them are. SQUID-bases MRI imagers can operate with vastly weaker fields, I believe that some of them at least are using the natural magnetic background. I'm not sure, though, what the magnetic field of these magnets would do with tissue imaging results. You'd probably get complete garbage out of it.

Re:Seriously?

[roman_mir]

Says who that a coffee maker that never gets turned off should be able to never get turned off?

How about a stove, what if a stove is constantly on, eventually this can cause fire one way or another, something will fall on the stove if its on all the time and will burn the house down.

Should the stove manufacturer have a huge warning label saying: you fucking idiots, turn the stove off if not in use?

What's is a coffee maker? It's an electric appliance and over time parts of electric appliances can give out and cause a fire. Just like anything else gives out and causes some damage.

Coffee makers will turn off automatically if not used for some time of-course, a coffee maker is unlikely to cause fire.

Back to the magnets, why should a magnet manufacturer put extra labels on the product saying: don't eat the magnets?

Should a needle manufacturer put labels on needles saying: don't eat needles?

Should a bleach manufacturer put labels on that saying: don't drink it? I mean there are probably labels there, I don't know, I haven't read warning labels on household chemicals, but if I decide to have a cup of bleach, should I be able to sue the bleach company because I have a defective brain and can't figure out not to drink chlorine?

Should somebody be able to sue a rope manufacturer if they hang their kid by the neck until the kid dies and then they say they didn't know the kid would die without a label on the rope?

Hmmm.

Re: Seriously?

[PopeRatzo]

Swallow them all at once, you'll be fine.

As long as you have sufficient mineral oil and a folded towel to bite down on.

Re:Seriously?

[rmstar]

The simple fact is that if you release a dangerous product, no amount of warnings are going to prevent you from being sued. Just because your coffee maker states "always turn off coffee maker to prevent fires" you're still going to be sued if the damn thing bursts into flames because a well-designed coffee maker should not burst into flames, even if left turned on indefinitely.

That is true. Regulation ensures that we only have well-designed coffee makers. At least on the safety front. Regulation ensures that companies do not compromise safety with cost of production. Personally, I think that this is a good idea.

Warning labels, like most company to consumer communications, are purely about having something to point at to discourage lawsuits.

That might be true to some extent, but to a very large extent the warnings are there to prevent accidents. And they do. And most companies do actually care for what happens to their customers. Well, companies that want to be arround for a while do. And it is not all cynicism.

Re:Seriously?

[SuricouRaven]

I have in my shopping bag a slice of fish labeled 'contains fish' and a yogurt labeled 'contains milk product.' I've also seen peanut butter with a 'contains nuts' warning, but not recently.

Re:Seriously?

[thunderclap]

after the Aliens like extraction the problem is solved. So why not? Its an excellent object lesson.

Re:Seriously?

[thunderclap]

I would love the horror on peoples face if bottled water did have a DHMO warning on it.

Re:Seriously?

[berashith]

I always laugh at that too. If I actually achieve my goals of exercise then I should stop exercising?

Re:Seriously?

[thunderclap]

Someone mod parent up!

Re:Seriously?

[jbengt]

To be sure, it is amusingly redundant to warn about the food containing fish when buying packaged fish, but it is far easier to write general requirements for labeling then to write all the possible exceptions.
It is, however, actually a good idea to warn when a jar of peanut butter might contain nuts, as peanuts are legumes, not tree nuts, and not all those allergic to nuts are allergic to peanuts.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

Those seem stupid, but for at least two there's a reason: peanuts are legumes, and people can be allergic to either tree nuts or peanuts, or both; and yoghurts can be soy-based rather than dairy-based.

Re:Seriously?

[The MAZZTer]

This is a case where laws were crafted in such a way to encourage businesses to do the right thing, even if for the wrong reason.

Re:Seriously?

[Zcar]

And that's not hyperbole. I once worked at a restaurant which had a food slicer. There was a warning posted to the wall next to it in bold 144 pt. text, "WARNING: BLADE WILL CUT". I should hope so. If it doesn't there's something wrong.

Re: Seriously?

[ColdWetDog]

This doesn't appear to be the case. Look, for example at this reference, where several magnets had stuck together and yet caused problems. These appear to have been larger than buckyballs, but the idea is that they can loop back and pinch the bowel even if they are stuck together.

Even a cursory glance at the literature is a bit scary. The problem is that MOST things that kids swallow are pretty harmless and therefore not brought to anyone's attention. We don't know the numbers of kids that swallow magnets yet have no problems - they certainly exist - so the reporting bias is going to be fairly high.

But I personally would keep kids away from these things. They just don't need to play with them just yet.

Re:Seriously?

[RoboRay]

Yeah, that's the point. You actually said the point he made while simultaneously missing that he'd said it.

Re:Seriously?

[__aaltlg1547]

Those seem stupid, but for at least two there's a reason: peanuts are legumes, and people can be allergic to either tree nuts or peanuts, or both; and yoghurts can be soy-based rather than dairy-based.

Soy based yoghurt? OH MY GOD, WHERE IS MY GUN?

Re: Seriously?

[__aaltlg1547]

Were you listening to the dude's story? Swallow them all at once, you'll be fine. Because they will all stick together before they have a chance to attract via adjacent tracts of the intestine. No problem. Swallow them several hours apart, and you have a problem.

A bunch of magnets stuck together is likely to cause a blockage. So you would not be fine.

Re:Seriously?

[milkmage]

nice. MRI because you're too stupid to NOT EAT them (and something is wrong with your brain), not because they need to find them in your gut. standard xrays find metal just fine.

Re:Seriously?

[MacGyver2210]

Whoosh much?

Re: Seriously?

[MacGyver2210]

"Gaaaaah hot hot hot hot. AAAAAh woooooaaaaaah"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0pdFXygoRY

Re:Seriously?

[Glendale2x]

You mean CAT scan?

An MRI is a really big superconducting magnet. If you swallowed some of those balls, had them get stuck in your intestines, then went for an MRI... I can't imagine that would be a very pleasant experience, having several balls forcibly pulled through your soft squishy organs.

That was the joke, i.e. "eat them and go die".

Re:Seriously?

[Bengie]

And they should be treated as such. If a warning says not to let 2-3 year-olds have something, then a teenager with a development issue probably shouldn't play with those things either.

Re:Seriously?

[makomk]

Nope, the problem is that people are idiots, even smart people. On one of the previous /. discussions there were a surprising number of people who posted comments talking about how they'd swallowed all kinds of metal objects as kids, many of which were sharp, and swallowing something round like Buckyballs is no big deal - it's just the nanny state kicking up a fuss about nothing. They did this in response to an article which described, in fairly graphic detail, exactly why swallowing strong magnets was more dangerous than other small metal objects and the actual injuries that had resulted from it.

Re: Seriously?

[makomk]

And yet, a comment about how it would be no big deal if you swallowed them all at once has been voted up to +5, Insightful on a site supposedly full of smart people. Gee, I wonder why the CPSC felt the need to try and recall them, given how good everyone's understanding of the risks resulting from swallowing them is.

Re:Seriously?

[rmstar]

- no it's not true. Regulations have nothing to do with how well designed coffee makers are, people who build them don't want to kill their customers anymore than anybody else that produces other things.

Maybe, but they might delude themselves into thinking they don't. Companies are run by humans, remember? That's why there is regulation and official approval procedures. And while crappy coffee machines can be had, they are unlikely to be unsafe thanks to regulation.

Reputation is what counts, brand name recognition is important to a company and having brand name tied to a series of fires that kill customers is lethal to a business.

That may be so too, but regulations are there so that killing people is not how they get their bad reputation.

That is: you are free to get as bad a reputation as you want, but not free to do so by injuring or killing people. I think that is quite sensible.

Re:Seriously?

[roman_mir]

That's why there is regulation and official approval procedures. And while crappy coffee machines can be had, they are unlikely to be unsafe thanks to regulation.

- no, that's not why they are unlikely to be unsafe. These things are unlikely to be unsafe because nobody will buy such products.

That is: you are free to get as bad a reputation as you want, but not free to do so by injuring or killing people. I think that is quite sensible.

- as I said, nobody wants to kill people by selling bad products that misbehave. If a product ends up killing somebody, there is always a day in court and if it can be shown that a company was negligent and did something that was stupid and didn't care to correct the error while the company was aware of it, then that is all that is needed.

Actually government regulations make people complacent, thinking that they are protected by regulations.

How many people lost money with Bernie Madoff, while he didn't murder them, he lost billions of their money and they believed they were OK, because of various government regulations. Regulations create false sense of security, just like TSA does in airports and regulations cost money to pass compliance, thus making products more expensive.

I am against all government business regulations, they are all unconstitutional, thus illegal. For example I am against FDA and there you definitely can get hurt. However it is my opinion that more people get hurt because of FDA rather than are safe due to FDA, because FDA creates an enormous barrier to entry, preventing small companies from even thinking about their own health products, thus there is much less investment in the field of medications, procedures, apparatuses than there would be without FDA.

FDA kills people in many different ways, this is just one of them.

Re:Seriously?

[mysidia]

And well it should. I fully support the labeling of products that contain dangerous and addictive additives like DHMO.

Indeed... DHMO consumption is highly correlated to almost every disease and sickness known to man.

Just about everyone who eventually gets sick or dies has consumed DHMO.

I'm afraid the warning alone might never be effective. A mandatory recall of DHMO containing products seems the only wise idea.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are aware what Darwinism means, right?

Re:Seriously?

[Jane Q. Public]

"Maybe the problem here is toys from manufacturers that did not learn that lesson decades ago."

Maybe the problem here is people who feel secure in their stupidity because they want government to save them from it... thinking (stupidly) that it can.

By the way: "buckyballs" and "buckycubes" (exactly the same product, just without the brand name) are easily available online to anybody who has even a tiny amount of talent at using Google or Bing.

Re:Seriously?

[Jane Q. Public]

"... where that whole country of gun-toting free-thinking individuals wouldn't have been safe from a couple of tourists from the UK."

Don't make the classic mistake of thinking the "average American" is as stupid as their government. You would be wrong.

Re:Seriously?

[hawkinspeter]

Absolutely. I don't mean to accuse individuals of the stupidity of their government; the UK government has more than enough stupid to go around and seems to want to emulate the US whenever feasible.

Re:Seriously?

[rmstar]

How many people lost money with Bernie Madoff, while he didn't murder them, he lost billions of their money and they believed they were OK, because of various government regulations.

You have that backwards. Bernie wasn't investigated because the regulators are weak. Such things do not happen in well-governed countries were regulators have not been castrated by Randroids.

I am against all government business regulations, they are all unconstitutional, thus illegal.

Yeah, right. But then you are deranged and crazy, who cares about what you are against or believe in?

Re:Seriously?

[roman_mir]

You have that backwards. Bernie wasn't investigated because the regulators are weak. Such things do not happen in well-governed countries were regulators have not been castrated by Randroids.

- really, 'castrated by Randroids'? So how many actual libertarians do you count in US government that actually are libertarian in practice and how much of actual power do libertarians hold in USA government, given that government is constantly growing in size, growing in spending, growing its power, which is the exact opposite of what the libertarian position is: that government must not grow in power, its powers should not grow, the powers should be exactly the same at all time, government must be confined to only the powers authorised to it by the Constitution?

You are clearly on a wild goose chase here.

Yeah, right. But then you are deranged and crazy, who cares about what you are against or believe in?

- yes, in the land of the liars and thieves an honest man does look like he is 'deranged', I will give you that much.

Re:Seriously?

[AK Marc]

If you look at your coffee maker, I'm sure it says "turn off and unplug when not in use" Nearly all appliances do these days. I don't have a coffee maker, but my mixer and dishwasher are new, and both instruct to turn off and unplug when not in use. Yes, for a dishwasher, which are usually the second least convenient plugs, after the refrigerator.

And yes, there are "don't drink" warnings on everything, bleach included. That was part of my point that a warning on magnets wouldn't work because nobody reads them or takes them seriously anymore. Labels aren't written for intelligent people with no experience with the item, but are written such that a literate idiot who follows directions won't hurt himself. Given that there are no such compliant idiots, labels are useful to exactly 0% of the population. As required by law.

Re:Seriously?

[Jane Q. Public]

:) Point taken.

Re:Seriously?

[HiThere]

You're assuming that the reason for the warnings is to save lives...

It's actually purely to get themselves off the hook after lives are lost. Plausible deniability!

I am curious. How do you know the mind of every product manufacturer in the world?

He uses introspection and projects the results.

This is actually, however, a pretty reasonable claim. Just about everyone wants to be able to deny that they made a mistake that injured people. (Some people want to do it on purpose, of course.) Saying that they want plausible deniability isn't saying that's their only reason. Or even that it's their major reason, though it would clearly be important to any sensible manager.

Re: Seriously?

[AK Marc]

The problems isn't magnets, other than they had the ability to swallow more easily, then assemble in the stomach into an object large enough to obstruct. The stated reason for this is not the ability for magnets to swallow easily, then become "a large object, measuring 30 mm by 6 mm", but their ability to pinch. And in that one case the magnets were "safe" because they were embedded in larger un-swallowable pieces. So magnets unlike the ones in question killed a kid, so these ones must be banned? That seems exceptionally stupid. Yes, improper objects, when ingested, can cause issues. Nobody is disputing that. The question should be about the risk of these particular objects, not some fear of magnets that use invisible forces to kill your children in their sleep.

Re:Seriously?

[CodeHxr]

They do have warnings on the boxes. And on the instructions. And on the packaging. I've bought several packages of Buckyball brand magnets when they were on sale.

Here is a CNN Article with an image that shows the warning I'm referring to.

Apparently, that site is jacked with all kinds of javascript... here's a link directly to the image.

As you can see, the warning is clearly printed on the packaging and clearly printed on the container. They are not showing the insert that also contains the warning, but I assure you it is there.

Re:Seriously?

[Raved Thrad]

It's yogurt made from the secretions of the evil tofudebeest.

Re:Seriously?

[antdude]

Same for stairs and other things! :P

Re:Seriously?

[heathen_01]

Fake tongue piercing. Granted its a stupid idea but it's not the same as an infant putting something in their mouth.

Re:Seriously?

[Shadow of Eternity]

Titanium frames, you were saying?

Re:Seriously?

[Shadow of Eternity]

You're making straw men here. An accurate example is suing a rope manufacturer for making a rope with asbestos in it and not telling anyone they need to wear masks or they'll die a horrible death from breathing near it.

Or a fast food restaurant selling a product that's been deliberately made so extremely hot that through ordinary consumption when stationary the user recieves life threatening third degree burns.

Re:Seriously?

[NemosomeN]

If you swallowed them all, you would die. Peristalsis in the small intestine would separate them, then potentially create a pinch. You should not be letting your 5 year old play with them, especially if you are having conversations with your wife on "safe magnet eating" that a 5 year old could overhear.

Re:Seriously?

[roman_mir]

Really? How am I 'making a strawman' there? Are magnets food?

Tell me, should magnets be part of human diet?

Are magnets made with asbestos? Or maybe with dynamite?

Maybe those are radioactive magnets?

Does breathing near those magnets cause death?

Are those magnets deliberately made hot and if you hold them you will burn your hand?

Since when are people so stupid they need to be told not to eat magnets, metals, glass, marbles, sand, pieces of wood?

Re: Seriously?

[arth1]

Kids swallow objects; that's nothing new. I'm sure that most people here swallowed a coin or a marble or a pen parts or other indigestibles much larger than a few buckyballs.
I swallowed a rod magnet myself as a kid. No problems.

The danger of the buckyballs is (apart from idiots who let kids they're responsible for play with dangerous objects unsupervised) pinching. Not blockage.

Anyhow, I feel this crusade against buckyballs is misplaced. No kids have died from them. None. And they're not sold as a children's toy either.
Lots of kids die from balloons every year. Yet they are allowed sold with warnings, while buckyballs are not.
This is not about protecting children - it's theater to make the public think they do something useful.

Yes, they can be dangerous. So can many things, and a child cannot possibly grow up without being exposed to thousands of dangers. Use common sense, and if you lack it, don't have kids (or go to jail when your kids die due to your negligence). Don't blame the manufacturer of executive toys.

Re:Seriously?

[McFadden]

Sarcasm on forum posts is fucking pointless. Neither you nor the GP knows who is correct.

Re:Seriously?

[dbIII]

So long as they are kept out of they way of kids fine, but selling them as toys is irresponsible.

Re: Seriously?

[dbIII]

Yes details - like not modelling the digestive systems as a rigid vertical pipe and the mass of magnets as a single rigid body. Those are very, very stupid assumptions which do not hold up to simple observation and a few seconds thought.

Re:Seriously?

[arth1]

Arguably, with strong magnets, it's swallowing them more than once that's dangerous.

By all means, ban their use in kids toys. But it's up to parents to keep their kids away from, or supervise the use of razor blades, balloons, lye, strong magnets, 240 V outlets, lilly-of-the-valley or anything else that might kill when handled inappropriately. If you're too lazy to watch and educate your kid, and your kid is too stupid to stay alive without the guidance he didn't get from you, oh well - the next generation will have slightly higher survivability rates, with fewer of your genes in the pool.

Re:Seriously?

[arth1]

You're making straw men here. An accurate example is suing a rope manufacturer for making a rope with asbestos in it and not telling anyone they need to wear masks or they'll die a horrible death from breathing near it.

No, the gp got it right. It's when the buckyballs are used inappropriately that they're a danger. Just like with the rope. Your case is for appropriate use.

(And, I may add, completely bullshit too. I have insulated water pipes with asbestos, changed asbestos brake pads, and half my upstairs floor is covered in asbestos tiles. I haven't died the horrible death you describe, nor is there much risk that I will. Hysteria against asbestos, lead, radio waves and now magnets are astounding. Sure, things can be a danger, but that doesn't mean that they are a monster aboout to kill you. It means a greater risk. Not a certainty of death.)

Re:Seriously?

[arth1]

Since when are people so stupid they need to be told not to eat magnets, metals, glass, marbles, sand, pieces of wood?

For glass, sand and wood, they are eaten, and sometimes recommended too. It's just that when mixed with food, it's called "dietary fiber", which is a code for anything that passes through your intestine undigested. And yes, that includes certain types of sand and wood as food additives.
Look for silicon dioxide and cellulose in the ingredient list the next time you shop or eat at a fast food joint.

Re:Seriously?

[arth1]

I got these from my cousin and immediately brought them to work instead of keeping them at home because of the risk

Precisely because of the risk is why I keep them at home instead of at the office :D

Re:Seriously?

[AK Marc]

If you swallowed them all, you would die. Peristalsis in the small intestine would separate them, then potentially create a pinch.

No, it wouldn't. The magnets may change shape (more likely, that many wouldn't shift, but would form a fatal blockage), but they certainly wouldn't separate.

You should not be letting your 5 year old play with them, especially if you are having conversations with your wife on "safe magnet eating" that a 5 year old could overhear.

Nope, he's played with them a few times now, and isn't dead yet. Worst case, he'll have to have surgery. It's never fatal when caught in time without complicating factors. Most of the deaths someone else linked to were diagnosed postmortem.

Re:Seriously?

[blackraven14250]

They're there because they're required, and because they allow companies to deny responsibility. Kids aren't any more stupid in the US because labels are everywhere, they don't read them anyway.

Re:Seriously?

[AK Marc]

100% of ACs are made up on the fly.

Re:Seriously?

[roman_mir]

Right, as if I am talking about fiber that is found in foods. Yes, a person can eat carrots, etc. No, it doesn't mean you should be eating sand on the beach. I see you are trying to be too smart for your own good, do you eat sand on a beach?

Re:Seriously?

[FireFury03]

Titanium frames, you were saying?

What about the screws?

Re: Seriously?

[Hognoxious]

You should see his driving advice.

Re:Seriously?

[Hognoxious]

You think a person's intelligence as a toddler is the same as when he grows up?

Perhaps in your case it's true.

Re:Seriously?

[Pope]

You are aware that teens are highly susceptible to peer pressure and doing stupid shit to look cool, right? No, of course not. That would require a semblance of knowledge of the outside world.

Re:Seriously?

[Slashdot Parent]

I have in my shopping bag a slice of fish labeled 'contains fish' and a yogurt labeled 'contains milk product.' I've also seen peanut butter with a 'contains nuts' warning, but not recently.

I agree that the above examples are stupid, but I am generally in favor of the allergy warnings. One of my kids was allergic to all dairy products for a while (he grew out of it, which is common), and it saved me from having to read every ingredient, and also having to remember some oddball ingredients that happen to be dairy.

Pop Quiz:
Which of the following ingredients are definitely or likely dairy, and which are not dairy?

• Lecithin Oleoresin
• Ammonium Caseinate
• Milk Thistle
• Whey Protein Hydrolysate
• Recaldent
• Glucono Delta-Lactone
• Calcium Propionate
• Margarine
• Cocoa Butter
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein

Re:Seriously?

[TheCarp]

Not only that but, it is a dangerous industrial solvent used in the production of heroin! And people let their kids drink it!

DHMO needs to be banned entirely!

Re:Seriously?

[BrokenSoldier]

They are not sold as toys for children. and they have several warnings on every part of the multi-stage packaging you have to get through to open them. My 8 and 9 year old thought it was pretty funny when they opened theirs at Christmas last year.

Re:Seriously?

[tibit]

The 100 warning problem is well known in the process industry. The solution is called alarm optimization. Just as control rooms where things beep all the time lead to accidents, the life where pencils come with warnings makes us dull and leads to accidents as well. In spite of everyone's well meaning...

Re:Seriously?

[tibit]

veggie protein - duh, it's veggie
cocoa butter - duh, veggie
margarine - dairy!
calcium propionate is a simple organic molecule, nothing do with milk
blah blah lactone - sounds milky to me
recaldent - what?
whey protein - veggie
milk thistle - thistle is a plant, milk or not it's still a veggie
caseinate - sounds milky to me, casein is a milk protein
lecithin oleoresin -- sounds veggie to me

The only thing I didn't know about is recaldent, and I didn't bother looking it up.

Re:Seriously?

[tibit]

In any sort of engineered design that has to pass serious approvals, warnings are treated as a last resort when a hazard cannot be reasonably limited in another way. If a device of any sort can overheat in normal operation, it must have 2-redundant safety thermal cut-offs. If it overheats only as a failure mode (say: a recessed luminaire), then it must have at least a non-redunant thermal cut-off. That'd be minimal engineering for safety, and is what you'll find in sanely designed products -- water heaters, recessed luminaires, motor operated devices, etc.

Re:Seriously?

[tibit]

Swallow one, then swallow a metal ball later and you'll have a problem. It doesn't have to be two magnets. OTOH, every pediatrician's office IMHO should have a digital X-ray so that if there's even a slight chance a kid might have swallowed something bad, things would be checked. It's very easy to die from obstructed or pinched intestines.

Re:Seriously?

[tibit]

Catching it in time is the problem. The symptoms are usually mild all the way to the OR, as my surgeon friend says. Kids die precisely because it's very hard to diagnose the symptoms without taking an X-ray or an ultrasound, and somehow diagnostic imaging in the U.S. is frowned upon even if it's just an ultrasound. Those hard magnets are damn easy to see on an ultrasound IIRC.

Re:Seriously?

[Slashdot Parent]

veggie protein - duh, it's veggie - Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein can sometimes contain casein. If you're very sensitive, you should avoid it.
cocoa butter - duh, veggie - Correct
margarine - dairy! - Correct
calcium propionate is a simple organic molecule, nothing do with milk - Correct, but many people are not chemists
blah blah lactone - sounds milky to me - Incorrect. Glucono Delta-Lactone is NOT dairy.
recaldent - what? - Exactly. A lot of these ingredients are weird. Recaldent is dairy, by the way.
whey protein - veggie - Incorrect. Whey protein is always dairy, and many people who are allergic to dairy are specifically unable to tolerate whey. Nice to have labels, no?
milk thistle - thistle is a plant, milk or not it's still a veggie - Correct
caseinate - sounds milky to me, casein is a milk protein - Correct
lecithin oleoresin -- sounds veggie to me - Correct

Now, it sounds to me like you have some background in, or at least remember some, chemistry. Most people are not so lucky. The labeling is immensely helpful. Even if you have memorized a laundry list of ingredients, if you see an unfamiliar one, how do you know? And even if you do know every ingredient, it takes 20 minutes to read a damn label, but it takes 3 seconds to read the allergen information. It's a huge help.

Re:Seriously?

[tibit]

OK, I feel silly, for reasons unknown to me I always thought that "whey protein" was some grain protein. I know wheat!=whey but somehow I thought whey was a ceral! Alas, whey is the watery part of milk that remains after the formation of curds. I stand corrected and I really like learning new stuff from slashdot.

Why would a veggie protein contain casein is beyond me. A google search for hydrolyzed vegetable protein +casein doesn't turn up anything sensible on the first page, so I remain skeptical about that.

I have no background in chemistry at all, but admittedly our high school chemistry teacher taught our class a third hour a week for no compensation. She thought we were promising or something.

Re:Seriously?

[Slashdot Parent]

Why would a veggie protein contain casein is beyond me. A google search for hydrolyzed vegetable protein +casein doesn't turn up anything sensible on the first page, so I remain skeptical about that.

It's very uncommon, and even when casein is present, it will be in trace amounts, but some people are so sensitive to dairy products that they can react severely to it. Best not to chance it.

Fortunately, my son was not that sensitive. Whey and casein were the big offenders. He was fine with the lactose. It was the protein that was the problem. And it shows up in very random foods, too. Glad to be past all that.

Re:Seriously?

[rhodium_mir]

- no, that's not why they are unlikely to be unsafe. These things are unlikely to be unsafe because nobody will buy such products.

True that. Nobody in the history of free markets has ever purchased an unsafe product except when the government forced them to.

Re:Seriously?

[DFCollet]

Yes really. I have in the recent past undergone bypass surgery. One of the activities during recovery was a stress test which involved the use a treadmill. The test was closely monitored by a technician to ensure I didn't 'accidentally' push myself too far. Doctors routinely use stress tests such as these using treadmills to give an early indication of cardio vascular problems. For someone who does not visit a doctor regularly - more frequent in the U.S. I would imagine than in Canada where such things are a part of our 'socialist medicine' regime - even a light workout can trigger an event. Dizzyness, light headedness and shortness of breath are the external symptoms of such an event. And, by the way, it doesn't matter whether you are in top physical shape or not. Circulation problems can happen even then. Just not as often.

Re:Seriously?

[mysidia]

Not only that but, it is a dangerous industrial solvent used in the production of heroin!

Ah! That explains where the addictiveness and serious negative consequences of Heroin come from -- it contains active byproducts of the ingredient DHMO

It only makes sense that DHMO should be treated as an illegal drug as well, and authorities should seize and destroy any DHMO that can be found in public, for sure.

There must be stiff and serious penalties for both dealing in or using DHMO-containing products,

with mandatory detox clinics for persons convicted of consuming or possessing DHMO or DHmo-containing products

Re:Seriously?

[dbIII]

All right then, I've actually read some more articles now (though most describe them as "toys") and should amend that to "ignoring all the warnings and giving them to kids young enough to swallow them is irresponsible". It turns out there was enough of that going on to put more than a dozen kids in hospital.
We went through the same thing years ago with poorly secured magnetic catches on things and some similar but lower strength small magnetic toys with parts that could be swallowed. Chinese imports never had to deal with the regulations that grew out of those incidents so we're getting it all over again.

Re:Seriously?

[lsatenstein]

Why does this even need a warning? If you're too stupid not to understand to either A) not ingest these, or B) not give them to someone not old enough to know better, then by all means, swallow them all, then go get an MRI.

===
Tell this to a 5 year old or younger child. Show them and tell them to read the instructions. Some parents just unpack the toys and throw carton, wrappings and instructions in the trash.

Re:Seriously?

[Shadow of Eternity]

You KNOW all of those are asbestos, and you're not likely to be breathing it. A rope by it's very nature is likely to constantly have asbestos fibers abraded from it.

Re:Seriously?

[Shadow of Eternity]

Probably another nonferrous metal, zinc maybe.

Re:Seriously?

[Meski]

First ever use of an essentially diagnostic piece of kit as something to perform the operation.

Re:Seriously?

[Meski]

I'm trying to visualise the yellow stickman type warning that would be appropriate for this. Anyone? Not the mundane circle/line mouth, either.

Re:Seriously?

[Meski]

Soylent based yoghurt, maybe.

Re: Seriously?

[Meski]

I suspect the mass would deform rather easily on its way out. I'd rather not do recovery.

Re:Seriously?

[NemosomeN]

Oh, he's not dead yet? Well, then, I take back everything I said.

Re: Seriously?

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

As long as you have sufficient mineral oil and a folded towel to bite down on.

You just described my last vacation. :) Happy times.

Re:Seriously?

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

Did you know that 100% of people diagnosed with cancer have had contact with DHMO. The government are covering it up. Watch them mod me down.
Mod me up to keep the truth out there.

Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Anonymous Coward]

But if it's guns, well, we can't even suggest that background checks should be implemented or the NRA will unleash a titanic fury of political money to get what they want.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Z34107]

Relax. We're laughing that "think of the children" claimed your toys, too.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[KGIII]

When I was younger we would take the lawn darts out back into the yard at night. We'd throw them straight up and then run around underneath them hoping that we'd not die. Amazingly, nobody died or was ever hurt from that game and I'm not sure how we managed to be that stupid and that lucky. Either way we were really stupid but we had a lot of fun. They need to bring Jarts back and they need to specifically prohibit me and my childhood friends from playing with them. Again, we were really lucky and really stupid. We all survived to adulthood - most of us are quite successful today.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[jewens]

Meanwhile...
In Soviet Russia:
Lawn darts don't miss you.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Attila Dimedici]

We don't have anything in our Constitution about Buckyballs (although I am pretty sure if it had ever occurred to the Founding Fathers that the Federal Government would do this, they would have put something in there about it...however, I am also pretty sure that they would have thought that the 10th Amendment covered this).

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[TheCarp]

9th amendment covers it pretty solidly if you ask me. They didn't mention them, therefore the government wasn't granted any power over them. Government power is supposed to be explicitly granted not assumed and then limited later.

But hey, everything, including growing your own crops rather than buying them, is interstate commerce now. If someone starts selling air in a can, they might have the authority to regulate your breathing the way things have been going

And people say this place has only been going into the shitter since Bush.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[schn]

If you run around without looking up, it isn't that dangerous. The worst you could get is a cut on your head.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Attila Dimedici]

Yeah, I can definitely see the case for applying the 9th Amendment here.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Charliemopps]

I think you got this backwards. This is just as fucking stupid as current proposed gun laws.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[the eric conspiracy]

The adoption of the 10th amendment included a debate about the inclusion of the word 'expressly'.

The Founders, specifically Jame Madison decided they didn't want to be that limiting feeling that it would make the Constitution obsolete very quickly and full of minutia. Thus we have had implied powers since the very beginning of this nation.

Citation:

House of Representatives, Amendments to the Constitution

18, 21 Aug. 1789
Annals 1:761, 767--68

I don't know WHY people keep putting forth the idea that power are limited unless explicitly given. The idea in NOT written in the law, nor is it present in the history of the intent of the Framers.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[the eric conspiracy]

Actually you got your wish. Jarts are banned.

"Lawn Darts Are Banned and Should Be Destroyed". U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 1997-05-15. Retrieved 2011-01-25. "Pointed lawn darts, intended for use in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of three children. The most recent injury occurred last week in Elkhart, Ind., when a 7-year-old boy suffered a brain injury after a lawn dart pierced his skull."

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[SternisheFan]

If you run around without looking up, it isn't that dangerous. The worst you could get is a cut on your head.

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News-Releases/1997/Following-Recent-Injury-CPSC-Reissues-Warning-Lawn-Darts-Are-Banned-and-Should-Be-Destroyed/

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Anonymous Coward]

Myself, I am not a fan of ancestor worship, the Founding Fathers were not perfect, they made several flawed decisions themselves, and I do not seek their opinion of today's problems to advance my own causes, but I don't think you're even doing that. I think you're just assuming it would go along with what you believe.

So your opinions about what the Founding Fathers would have done are merely presumption, unless you are practicing some form of working Necromancy.

And if you were, and they reacted to our current culture in ways that did not support your contention, would you honestly report it, or would you continue to wrap yourself in their cloak of authority? Would you mention any bigotry on their part, or opposition to things that actually have served the citizens better than their ideas?

I have my doubts. Fortunately it's not an issue.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[frisket]

In fact, it's just as fucking stupid as current gun laws: any imbecile can obtain a gun and ammo and kill anyone they like.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[KGIII]

I said they should be brought back.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[KGIII]

That's awesome. LOL We never thought of that. The mystery of where it was going to land at night was great though. I'm amazed we lived.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[KGIII]

These are big heavy things that can do some serious damage. Perhaps you're thinking of something else?

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[tftp]

any imbecile can [...] kill anyone they like.

FTFY. Here is the proof. No guns needed; though if it comes down to choosing, you'd beg to be shot instead of being burned alive.

Now, if you would only propose how to identify imbeciles, and what to do with their future crimes...

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Stuarticus]

Now, if you would only propose how to identify imbeciles, and what to do with their future crimes...

Anyone who thinks it is as easy to kill people with a "flammable substance" as with a gun is an idiot?

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[tftp]

Anyone who thinks it is as easy to kill people with a "flammable substance" as with a gun is an idiot?

No.

Besides, some burns are worse than death. Try to live without skin.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Stuarticus]

Try to live without life.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[tftp]

Then the logical question would be, how much physical damage do you see as acceptable for life?

I understand that the damage that kills you is not compatible with life by definition. However many things that don't kill you outright, thanks to modern medical help, may leave you without arms, legs (not to be mentioned after yesterday, but we started this discussion several days ago.) You may become blind, deaf, paralyzed, or in coma. Where lies the threshold between biological life (such as consuming nutrients and generating energy) and between life as humans usually define it - social, creative, enjoyable?

This is a very valid question because the type of crime that I linked to (as well as terrorism) is likely to not kill you on the spot, but just turn your existence (I'm intentionally not using the word "life" here) into pure torture.

Re:Yay, we can stop this pernicious danger!

[Stuarticus]

A very sincere attempt to conceal the fact that your point was idiotic. The simple fact of the matter is, if you're still alive you have the choice to end your life if it so truly intolerable. Very few do. Maybe you think it's better if people are killed than have to live with injuries, well, fine I'm sure you can request a DNR in the case of anything more serious than a splinter, lest you suffer too terribly.

ffs

[maliqua]

Why is it the governments job to parent. keep an eye on kids, teenagers? lol teenagers if they eat them that's natural selection

Re:ffs

[pchimp]

Probably the same reason it's the government's job to ensure that infant formula manufacturers don't spike their products with melamine. For example.

Re:ffs

[Anonymous Coward]

This relationship makes no sense.

1. A product that if used correctly has no ill effects, and can be quite useful for promoting creativity

vs

2. A product that if used correctly will kill both children and grown adults.

The reason government might want to control 2 seems obvious (less taxpayers) the the reason for 1 could overlap somewhat, but personally I like the natural selection argument. (It's up to the parent / child to MAKE that decision, which personally I'm OK with them making)

Re:ffs

[pchimp]

Consider the scenario where a similar product were coated with a substance toxic upon ingestion (unintentional of course)? "Correct" usage still has has no effect and promotes creativity -- I agree that these are great, stimulating toys. But I think few would argue seriously that the poisonous consequences of what ought to be trivial mis-use should be ignored.

If something is lethal when swallowed, I don't see why there's a difference between the effector being magnetic force or a biochemical cascade.

There is a potentially lethal and non-obvious route for accidental misuse. Why would anyone be against putting a warning making this risk more obvious, or making arguments that might persuade retailers to voluntarily stop carrying them? It IS in the governments purview to ensure that commercial products are honest about the risks involved in use -- this includes the risks involved in using them in improper, but anticipated, manners.

Re:ffs

[Myopic]

Probably because that is preferable to standing by idly watching children die needlessly at the hands of parents who don't achieve your magical level of perfection -- which is to say, all parents. That's what I think. Why do you think it is?

Re:ffs

[maliqua]

studies have shown stupid people breed in greater numbers. your point is invalid and incorrect

death to children and teenagers.

[Osgeld]

children, maybe teenagers?

come on thats not saftey that Darwin, if your teenager is eating magnets then wtf are they going to do with a car, or the right to vote OMFG

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[White Flame]

The situation that I heard about was teenagers (presumably at the lower end of that age range) accidentally ingesting them from putting them on their lips, tongue or teeth in trying to simulate piercings & jewelry.

It's still absolutely retarded that the CPSC is so bent on banning these things. I think the extent of their influence is getting them off retail store shelves, not outlawing their sale completely.

"At least" they've only gone after Buckyballs, not the other manufacturers. I bought mine from NeoCube, as they're by far the cheapest for their large combo set. Buckyballs are expensive. As NeoCube and others (like Zen Magnets) generally only sell online, I'm not sure if they're in the CPSC's reach.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[GNious]

children, maybe teenagers?

come on thats not saftey that Darwin, if your teenager is eating magnets then wtf are they going to do with a car, or the right to vote OMFG

Drive pickups and vote republican?

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[c0lo]

if your teenager is eating magnets then wtf are they going to do with a car, ...

drive it while sexting.

...or the right to vote OMFG

Well, that one is easy... they'll swallow it too and they'll also become sick because of it.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, ignorant liberals who use words like Murricans - don't understand that the government's job is to take any role granted to it by its citizens and then do it in the most ludicrously inefficient and inept way possible. Big Government doesn't work, not in a country of real scale in terms of population, resources, and economy. It doesn't matter what political flavor that government is.

This really is a basic engineering problem, not a political one. Think scaling servers for a large online service, or scaling human effort on a large coding project like the Linux kernel, if you have no background in the history of world governments (or at least, any real insight into how moderns ones are doing) to draw similar lessons from.

On the small scale, centralized planning and execution can work. 50 people can start a commune, elect one really smart guy as Supreme Leader, let him dictate everything, and if he's benevolent it probably works out pretty well. He can plan what crops they grow and how food is shared, how work responsibilities are doled out, what behaviors are taboo, etc. He's a one-man government. This is basically how most small businesses operate: one or a few at the helm that kinda know what they're doing, centrally controlling a small array of complex bits. Or to jump over to other analogies again: a small but reasonably successful niche open source product, or a small website that has 10 visitors a day and is hoted on some crappy shared webhost service in a single VM.

Consider the other end of the spectrum: A country of the scale of the US, or Russia, or China (or really any of the next tier down in size either...), the Linux kernel project, a behemoth corporation like GE, a website like Wikipedia. Can you imagine what it would be like for one person to centrally plan the minutiae of any of these entities (or in the case of Wikipedia: having one server directly involved in coordinating all traffic and edits in realtime, instead of a distributed and scalable approach).

It can't happen: thing naturally become hierarchical and/or distributed, because anything else is crazy. Hierarchical only scales so far, but makes more intuitive sense to puny humans that are merely a few hundred years past the "Hey, we need to take baths regularly?" stage of societal evolution. So big governments and big corporations tend to be hierarchical. It's better than nothing, but it still doesn't scale that great. It's like moving from linear scaling to n/4 scaling or something.

Wikipedia knows how to scale servers: be distributed to the extent possible, avoid centralized contention points in the architecture. The Linux kernel project knows how to scale human effort in much the same way. GE doesn't really get "distributed human effort", they're still hierarchical. But: they're a hierarchical organization that, amongst a pool of millions of other competitors, *evolved* to be one of the best competitors ever. It's been honed for decades by market forces, and it's probably about as efficient as a behemoth hierarchical corporation can get. The US government (or any other large-scale government, of any political "type")? No real market force action: You get a little of it from geo-politics, but the pool's too small and things move too slow. Even bigger scale. The self-righteous mandate mentality that they are the law. I dare you to find any common task that both the US government and a corporation do, where the government does it more efficiently.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[deimtee]

"At least" they've only gone after Buckyballs, not the other manufacturers. I bought mine from NeoCube, as they're by far the cheapest for their large combo set. Buckyballs are expensive. As NeoCube and others (like Zen Magnets) generally only sell online, I'm not sure if they're in the CPSC's reach.

There's a banner on Neocube's website now that says :
THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 14!! Please Read All Warnings
NOT FOR SALE INSIDE THE U.S.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sigh. That's just sad.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[jbengt]

There's a very long list of warnings on that site, including how the magnets can fry your electronics, and how you should never put any in a body orifice (are those stupid enough to die from small magnets smart enough to know what an orifice is?)
The best warning is "This product contains small balls.".

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[frisket]

...common sense went out the window with this generation of uber-morons.

No, common-sense went out the window with this (and the previous) generation of judges. You know, the ones who award millions in damages for trivial foolishness that the subject was too stupid to avoid, and deny proper damages in cases of genuine suffering because some company paid them to look the other way.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[frisket]

Drive pickups and vote republican?

Nope. Prius, and Democrat. Because, if they will swallow a buckyball, they will swallow anything.

No, that's definitely Republicans. They're not allowed to suck in Florida, Texas, and some other states, let alone swallow :-)

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Faluzeer]

...common sense went out the window with this generation of uber-morons.

No, common-sense went out the window with this (and the previous) generation of judges. You know, the ones who award millions in damages for trivial foolishness that the subject was too stupid to avoid, and deny proper damages in cases of genuine suffering because some company paid them to look the other way.

Hmmm

Is it the judges, or the juries that award the large damages? I suspect it is the latter and not the former.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Asmor]

Checks out. Just went through their order form.

United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Uruguay

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Osgeld]

oh I knew in the back of my head there was going to be a bleeding heart that took "teenagers" as in all teenagers and narrow it down to their specific range of teenagers

yes all teenagers in the world are affected by autism, Down syndrome, Ceberal Palsey, Rett syndrome, and Martin Bell syndrome at the same time, therefore we should ban these dangerous magnets, while we are at it forks

jesus

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Anomalyst]

Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn about Rett syndrome.
Wait ... what were the symtoms again?

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[c 0xFF]

Neoballs (the colored version of Zen Magnets) are sold individually to get around the CPSC's rule on "collections" of high power magnets.

Can I buy more than one?

Yes! Absolutely! If you haven’t heard, the CPSC has decided that an arbitrary quantity and shape of magnets is defective, and should be harder to purchase than ammunition online. Specifically, a quantity that can be considered an “aggregate” or “collection” of magnets shaped like spheres. To comply with the CPSC, we are now selling Neoballs individually. The CPSC’s attempt to ban magnets is bad, and they should feel bad. Go to SaveMagnets.com to learn more and add your voice.

Re: death to children and teenagers.

[Slashdot Parent]

There's a banner on Neocube's website now that says :
  THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 14!! Please Read All Warnings

NOT FOR SALE INSIDE THE U.S.

Oh, that's just great. They'll ship to Uz-fucking-bekistan but not the US?

For shame.

Lawyers

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Why pandering government officials need to die screaming like pigs in Hell.

This is just ridiculous. Hell, just the infinitesimal decrease in future scientists because some kids won't be mesmerized will slow technological development enough to cause, by lack of invention, deaths to occur that wouldn't otherwise.

Lawyers are indistinguishable from a disease on the body of the populace. A parasite -- an organism that exists drawing resources from the host organism, and causing degradation to the host organism.

Re:Lawyers

[tompaulco]

Lawyers are indistinguishable from a disease on the body of the populace. A parasite -- an organism that exists drawing resources from the host organism, and causing degradation to the host organism.
Lawyers would die off if the populace itself didn't constantly feed them, by suing every time little Timmy swallows a buckyball, or gets hurt climbing a tree in a neighbor's yard uninvited, etc. etc.

Re:Thanks for the warning, Ill go buy some right a

[Z34107]

My teenage boys enjoy them and so do I

I take this to mean that there are at least three of you.

So far still count in base 10 and 2 working eyes.

Two working eyes... You should have at least six of those. O nocuous magnets!

Goodbye Buckyballs

[Jonah Hex]

These retailers have agreed to participate because Maxfield & Oberton has refused to participate in the recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes.

Nice to see that Maxfield & Oberton were willing to brave it out and stick up for themselves and our rights to own Buckyballs! Let's go see if they have any reaction to the news on their homepage.

On December 27, 2012 Maxfield & Oberton Holdings, LLC (the "Company") stopped doing business and filed a Certificate of Cancellation with the Secretary of State of Delaware, thereby ceasing to exist pursuant to applicable Delaware law. The MOH Liquidating Trust has been established to deal with and, to the extent they are valid, pay, to the extent assets are available, certain claims which have been, and may later be, asserted against the Company. If you believe you have a claim against the Company, please click on link below to obtain the Proof of Claim form which you must complete and submit to the Trustee of the MOH Liquidating Trust. If the Trustee determines that a claim is valid, the Trustee will pay that claim, to the extent assets are available, in accordance with the terms of the MOH Liquidating Trust.

Way to stick it to the man!? Now where do we get awesome magnets... - HEX

Re:Goodbye Buckyballs

[luckymutt]

Way to stick it to the man!? Now where do we get awesome magnets... - HEX

Right here

Re:Goodbye Buckyballs

[Greyfox]

The United Nuclear web site. Look for the ones labeled "EXTREMELY DANGEROUS MAGNET"!

When magnets are outlawed...

[vuke69]

...only outlaws will have magnets.

Re:When magnets are outlawed...

[Opportunist]

So THAT's how Magneto started!

Re:Thanks for the warning, Ill go buy some right a

[rusty0101]

Dude! Be careful with those parenting skills. Parents have been being arrested and their local police departments are trying to get their children taken away from them for doing such dangerous things to children as teaching them to be responsible, and letting them demonstrate those skills. It's a dangerous world out there for parents these days.

Incredibly stupid

[Zaldarr]

There was a big hoo-ha in Australia about 6mo ago where a 12 year old kid swallowed a bunch of them that were sitting on a high shelf in his father's locked study. So the kid, who is 12 and should have known better, went into his fathers office, climbed up the shelf, pulled down metal balls and proceeded to eat them. The mother went on to campaign for them to be pulled from Australian stores, which they were 4 months later.

Now the infuriating thing about this is that because of one *incredibly* stupid kid everybody doesn't get some awesome toys. My 26 year old brother in law is pretty annoyed because he spends a lot of his free time tinkering with big blocks of them and now he can't get anymore. These are not children's toys and it is foolish to ban them entirely because some dumbass kid was stupid. By that logic you'd have to ban every adult product on the logic that it was not safe for children

Re:Incredibly stupid

[Kell Bengal]

Yeah, just like fireworks!

... Oh wait.

Re:Incredibly stupid

[grumbel]

So the kid, who is 12 and should have known better, went into his fathers office, climbed up the shelf, pulled down metal balls and proceeded to eat them.

The kid didn't just ate them for the fun of it, it swallowed them accidentally while pretending to have a pierced tongue. You might still call that stupid, but that's well in the realm of normal child stupidity (I for one prefer to call that creativity).

These are not children's toys

It's looks like a toy, it plays like a toy and is fun like a toy. The very problem with them is that it is not obvious how dangerous those things can be.

Re:Incredibly stupid

[lordofthechia]

because of one *incredibly* stupid kid everybody doesn't get some awesome toys

Never has been more relevant

Re:Incredibly stupid

[dissy]

My 26 year old brother in law is pretty annoyed because he spends a lot of his free time tinkering with big blocks of them and now he can't get anymore.

Have your brother in law google for "neocube" or even "spherical rare earth magnets"
They are still available for sale from lots of other venders, both in similar sets as buckyballs and in bulk (the latter sounds more reasonable for him from your description)

Re:Incredibly stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

"It's looks like a toy, it plays like a toy and is fun like a toy."

Don't forget, it was sold as a toy. Anyway, you can still buy spherical magnets. You just go to a place that sells magnets instead of a place that sells toys. Honestly, the fact that he was buying large quantities of these magnets in Buckyball(or similar) branding paints the guy's brother in law as a bit of an idiot. Buying in bulk from a supply store will always be cheaper.

A growing problem

[Animats]

The risk for teenagers comes from attempts to use magnets to simulate piercings.

See "Magnet Ingestions in Children Presenting to United States Emergency Departments from 2002 to 2011." "A national estimate of 16,386 (95% CI: 12,175-20,598) children The incidence of visits increased 8.5-fold (0.45 per 100,000 to 3.75 per 100,000) from 2002 to 2011 with a 75% average annual increase per year. The majority of patients reported to have ingested magnets were under 5 years (54.7%). From 2009-2011 there was an increase in older children ingesting multiple small and/or round magnets, with a mean average age of 7.1+-0.56 years over the study period. "

Re:A growing problem

[thegarbz]

Smoking is a problem. Motor vehicle accidents are a problem. Guns related deaths (some say it isn't) are a problem.

A product that has sold 2.2million sets resulting in 33 surgical procedures and 1 death since 2010 is NOT a problem.

Re:A growing problem

[BasilBrush]

Could you please supply the exact number of children's deaths over a 3 year period that you believe would justify banning the product. Thanks.

Re:A growing problem

[Overzeetop]

One gun related death for every 8000 guns in circulation. Doesn't matter where you are or what the gun laws of that country are. Std deviation on that stat is in the 500-700 range, btw, which is pretty small.

Re:A growing problem

[Greyfox]

There are 300 million guns in the USA. If they caused 150 deaths a year, I don't think people would be complaining as loudly. That's actually closer to the daily number of gun deaths in the USA, though (Actually only about 80-90 deaths a day if you run the numbers.) If one or two people a day were being killed by Buckyballs, there might be some cause for concern. Really the problem here is that if you die to Buckyballs, arguably your death contributes to the overall good of the species anyway. If we could similarly limit gun violence deaths to really stupid people, I think we'd all be happy to return to our regularly scheduled business without further complaint.

Re:A growing problem

[thegarbz]

280 million guns in circulation. 30000 gun related deaths each year.

Yeah totally comparable if you ignore the 4 orders of magnitude difference.

Re:A growing problem

[dgatwood]

Could you please supply the exact number of children's deaths over a 3 year period that you believe would justify banning the product. Thanks.

For perspective, on average 25 kids die every year from plastic bags. On average, 350,000 kids require emergency room care and 200 kids die every year from bicycle accidents, and that's a toy designed for use by kids. I can't give you an exact number, but it should certainly be several orders of magnitude greater than the number of kids injured or killed by Buckyballs.

Either that or ban all bicycles and plastic bags, including garbage bags.

Re:A growing problem

[thegarbz]

No. But it's damn well higher than one. As a quick guide think of the things we as a society take for granted and then consider how many people get killed by it each year.

But then it's not a case of absolutes either. The primary purpose of buckyballs is not to be eaten. As such a child related death due to ingestion is simple bad supervision by parents. Accidental deaths are attributed to all manner of products used improperly. A teenager got killed opening a computer powersupply, does that mean we should ban all computers? On the other hand a safety device like a seatbelt pretensioner failing and causing one death over a three year period is cause for alarm as the device failed to perform it's primary purpose.

Re:A growing problem

[antdude]

/. and Internet are problems too. :P

Re:A growing problem

[BasilBrush]

For perspective, on average 25 kids die every year from plastic bags. On average, 350,000 kids require emergency room care and 200 kids die every year from bicycle accidents, and that's a toy designed for use by kids.

Which means of course that we have to convert the figures into a comparable rate. 1 kid dying from the likes of Buckyballs in a 3 year period might show the toy to be too dangerous, or not, depending on how many of these toys are around.

Furthermore, utility should be taken into account. A bicycle is part of a child's character building process, as at various ages he's allowed more freedom to travel on his own. And it teaches him about road-safety, a topic that will increase or decrease his safety throughout life.

A toy which consists of marvelling at the strength of attraction between magnets has a little educative value. But it's not in the same league as a bicycle.

Re:A growing problem

[Hognoxious]

White ones or brown ones?

Re:A growing problem

[tompaulco]

The number is at zero right now, but if we don't stop it now, that number could increase a hundredfold!

Re:A growing problem

[c 0xFF]

A toy which consists of marvelling at the strength of attraction between magnets has a little educative value. But it's not in the same league as a bicycle.

I agree that it's not the same league as a bicycle. However, playing with magnets is far more beneficial than you might think.

For example, it develops fine motor skills. These are small, slippery spheres that react in sometimes surprising ways. Putting them together in intricate ways takes some skill.

There's also some science and math lessons to be learned. The variety of geometric shapes that can be made is quite astounding. The process of construction often invokes problem solving skills, as well.

Some people go a different route, taking a more artistic path. Developing artistic skills with a non-traditional medium can be considered quite educational.

Sure, there's less dangerous toys that can teach similar things. There's also other ways to deal with trash than trash bags. There's also other ways to refine gross motor skills, build character, and teach road safety than a bicycle. That doesn't mean a blanket ban* is appropriate.

Play with a set sometime, and you'll see how educational they really can be, even for an adult!

--

* Which raises the question, how many injuries do blankets cause?

Re:A growing problem

[tibit]

A toy which consists of marvelling at the strength of attraction between magnets has a little educative value.

Not sure if troll or just stupid :(

Re:A growing problem

[BasilBrush]

Just a little less impressed with magnets than some.

Wait, just so I understand.

[Opportunist]

I may not buy magnets because some parents are stupid enough to give high power magnets to kids?

That's messing with nature, weeding out those too stupid to breed and take care of their offspring. Sorry, but if you're stupid enough to think extra powerful magnets are something that belongs in your kids hands, your genes should go down the tubes.

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[gl4ss]

afaik these don't ban magnets themselves. just packing them in a toy like box and being available at your toystore!

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[itsdapead]

I may not buy magnets because some parents are stupid enough to give high power magnets to kids?

RTFA. The recall is for a particular type of magnetic toy, not "high power magnets" per se. Its one thing to sell potentially dangerous items - its another thing to package them as toys*.

Also - as someone has pointed out elsewhere - there is a particular problem with older kids using these to make fake tongue piercings - so its not just parents giving them to babies and toddlers who will swallow anything.

Plus - this threat isn't immediately obvious. There have been magnetic toys since the year dot - but not ones that were (a) small enough to swallow and (b) still powerful enough to clamp your intestines together.

Remember that when idiots scramble their intestines, the cost of fixing the mess will still make its way through to your tax and/or medical insurance bill.

* I remember a 1930s book of science experiments for kids that included such gems as making a carbon arc torch from the graphite rods out of batteries using - wait for it - a variable resistor made from two stones in a dish of salty water to cut 110V mains down to 50V**. What could possibly go wrong? They did tell you to wear sunglasses.

**Not only did they skip Health and Safety assessments in those days, I suspect they skipped the "will it actually work?" assessments, too.

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[makomk]

Would you be willing check, every time, that every single magnet went back in the case even if it took you several days to find the ones that went missing? Because if not, there's a good chance that you'd be a danger to kids if you got your hands on a set of these magnets - even if you don't have kids of your own, it just takes a visiting kid finding a couple and eating them, or them getting trapped in the tread of your shoe and deposited somewhere where kids could eat them, or... They don't look obviously dangerous and all the warnings are on the box. Hell, I think some people on here have been building desk sculptures from them, and they're dangers to kids too even if they don't realise it.

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[Opportunist]

Well, you have to admit that there is a nonzero chance that careless handling of guns may cause damage to others. It's a bit like drunk driving, I wouldn't mind it at all if someone is stupid enough to get behind a wheel when his judgement and reaction sense are impaired beyond any sense, if if wasn't for that chance that he doesn't just off himself and do the world a favor but also harm someone in the process. Same deal with volatile chemicals, even though I'll suffer from it either way if our lawmakers happen to find out what you can do with sodiumpersulfate besides etching PCBs.

But what's the deal with softdrinks?

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[Opportunist]

Reminds me of my chemistry book. I guess quoting the more interesting parts might already be illegal itself in this time and age, but allow me to quote this gem: "If the mixture turns pink, an explosion cannot be avoided".

Period. Next chapter.

Really lovely.

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[Opportunist]

If you have kids, it might be a good idea to NOT get those things exactly because they're a hazard to kids and it's easy to drop a bead.

What happened to responsibility? Seriously, are we so used to being enclosed in bubblewrap that we instantly think nothing we have could possibly be dangerous when handled carelessly?

Young kids are not allowed in my home for various reasons, and none of them being that I'm afraid they could make a mess. I do a lot of Microcontroller work, that includes not only tiny bits of hardware that can easily be swallowed (or poked into some parts of your body if you're not careful), it also means I have various not-so-healthy chemicals lying about, either solid or in solution, and the used up etching agent turns into a lovely shade of blue, almost like a colorful soft drink. Now add some powerful lithium batteries that look like silver lollipops and you know why kids don't belong into my home.

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[pchimp]

Indeed. Additionally, last year's 'ban' was not a ban on the product, but a ban on marketing it to children (under 13, if I recall correctly).

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[drinkypoo]

RTFA. The recall is for a particular type of magnetic toy, not "high power magnets" per se. Its one thing to sell potentially dangerous items - its another thing to package them as toys*.

You're bigoted against adults, as this is age discrimination plain and simple. Adults should be able to play with toys, and it should be legal to market something as a toy for adults only.

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[itsdapead]

You're bigoted against adults, as this is age discrimination plain and simple. Adults should be able to play with toys, and it should be legal to market something as a toy for adults only.

You know that shop just off Main Street, with the blacked-out windows?

(Trying not to think of the consequences of using super-strong magnets to fake... other types of piercings.)

Re:Wait, just so I understand.

[Lemmeoutada Collecti]

Funny that you should ask that. I have several different magnetic toys, including some with rare earth magnets. I also have a dog, two cats, and two rabbits. If you think kids are prone to eat whatever falls on the floor, then try having a dog around.

I manage (somehow) to make sure that they are all safely put away every time I use them. I also manage to make sure that anytime I have someone visiting (of any age) that plays with them that they are shown how powerful they are and how to safely handle them. It doesn't even take a lot of time or effort to do this.

I also have any number of hazardous things around the house - knives, saws, chisels, etc. Every one gets safely stored.

So yes, I am willing to check that things are put away properly, and that my family and pets are not going to end up in pain or dead because I was too lazy to count toys.

Warning

[thegarbz]

In news tonight the CPSC have called for more warning labels on things that could potentially in rare cases cause death or hospitalisation. This follows the single reported death due to ingestion of bucky balls, a popular product designed exclusively to kill babies. One Californian senator however says the CPSC is dragging its feet and has a long way to go to protect Americans. He has repeatedly criticized the CPSC over its lack of interest and regulation of gun sales urging both the department and retailers to place signs on all ammunition saying "Warning: May contain lead".

Over my dead body

[TheReaperD]

You can have my BuckyBalls when you pry them from my cold dead fingers!

Re:Over my dead body

[cffrost]

You can take my Buckballs when you dig them out of my cold, rotting intestines. ;o)

Re:Over my dead body

[bruce_the_loon]

Swallow one, wait three hours, swallow another, wait for four days to a month and we can do that :)

Sheesh, it says VOLUNTARY!

Re:Over my dead body

[pbhj]

You don't need to dig them out, you can just use a magnet.

In releted news ...

[PPH]

... CERN's LHC will be decommissioned due to fears that scientists might swallow the accelerator magnets.

Re:In releted news ...

[TubeSteak]

On December 27, 2012 Maxfield & Oberton Holdings, LLC (the "Company") stopped doing business and filed a Certificate of Cancellation with the Secretary of State of Delaware, thereby ceasing to exist pursuant to applicable Delaware law. The MOH Liquidating Trust has been established to deal with and, to the extent they are valid, pay, to the extent assets are available, certain claims which have been, and may later be, asserted against the Company. If you believe you have a claim against the Company, please click on link below to obtain the Proof of Claim form which you must complete and submit to the Trustee of the MOH Liquidating Trust. If the Trustee determines that a claim is valid, the Trustee will pay that claim, to the extent assets are available, in accordance with the terms of the MOH Liquidating Trust.

No.

[davmoo]

Not only will I not submit my sets for recall, I intend to buy more than the 6 sets I already have. If you're so fucking stupid that eat magnets, that's not my problem. And likewise, if you're too stupid to educate or protect your children, that's not my problem either.

Wrong Type?

[craigminah]

Maybe the people who had issues with the buckyballs ordered the "assault buckyballs" instead of the normal one because we all know some are much more dangerous based on appearance.

Re:Wrong Type?

[BLKMGK]

Nah, they're just dull black and come in a scary looking case....

Re:BB guns

[Bengie]

all he wanted to do was stop his sister from being harassed by that kid.

That escalated quickly. Well, it worked, but many times I wonder if these kids are so stupid to not realize what they're doing, or fully understand that they will be ending someone's life. Either way, they should be removed from society forever because something if fundamentally wrong with them.

SC is working on a Law

[Anonymous Coward]

South Carolina has introduced state legislation that would make possession or sale of spherical magnets smaller than 1 inch in diameter a Class C Felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison, and limits the sale or possession of ALL magnets that are "just magnets" to industrial and commercial use only. For residential use, under the new legislation, all magnets must be part of an assembly that cannot be ingested, and the magnets cannot be removable from the product.

Idiocracy. For the children.

Re:SC is working on a Law

[BLKMGK]

I call bullshit - citation or it didn't happen. Troll is obvious.

Re:You'll Take them Out Of My Kids Cold Dead Hand

[umghhh]

if they swallow them and thengo to get MRI

Now this.

[kurt555gs]

Local quarry to recall gravel because of swallowing hazard.

This is so stupid

[Murdoch5]

If your dumb enough to eat magnets or if you're to young to know better and someone lets you eat magnets then it's not the magnets fault. We need to stop getting rid or dangerous or potentially dangerous toys because retarded kids and sorry excuse for parents don't pay attention. What's next, do I have to get rid of my bench power supply's? They can push high AMP's out, so a kid could hurt themselves or an adult. Do I have to get rid of high power computer fans because a kid could stick it's finger in one? The answer should and better be NO! Stupid people and bad parents shouldn't lead to product recalls, if you raise your kids properly and if you pay attention when they're young then it's not an issue. I say let the "dangerous" products exist and use them to "weed" out the stupid idiots in society. You'll get one or two people who by complete accident get hurt and didn't mean to but for the most part you'll quickly find out that many people are still at an evolution point of crap throwing ape's.

Statistics?

[cnaumann]

Does anyone have any good statistics on the number of people actually injured by ingesting magnets? How does it compare the to the number of children seriously injured by ingesting alcohol, cigarettes or bullets?

Buckeyballs brought the dangers of magnet ingestion to everyone's attention. That is not a bad thing! Small, powerful magnets are not going away (I hope) and scanning for magnet ingestion may need to be a routine test for kids.

Re:Statistics?

[cnaumann]

This is kind of interesting:

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=3687

Basically, there have been 480 cases of magnet ingestion reported in children in the last decade, with nearly half of those cases reported in the last year. This is not necessarily injuries, but simple ingestion. Are kids actually swallowing more magnets these days, or are parents and doctors simply more aware of the danger? The article's title claims that injuries are are the rise, but makes does not state the actual number of injuries.

CPSC Lies

[skywire]

>These products contain defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers.

Too bad the state cannot be sued for libel.

Re:CPSC Lies

[Jiro]

Plastic forks cause more deaths because there are more plastic forks around. If you're comparing the numbers of deaths caused by different objects, you need to adjust for how common such objects are; otherwise you end up concluding that falling in an active volcano is safer for kids than either plastic forks or magnets.

Stupid

[info6638]

Fuck yoooooooouuuuuuu!!!!

It's really a gauss rifle ammo ban.

[lexsird]

Look, you can't have people with unsupervised mass accelerators that can fire a bucky ball through the moon, just out firing willynilly about the landscape. It's down right rude, man! Think about it! Nor can you expound upon the issue in public, lest you arouse the leviathan of curiosity, "gauss rifle...wtf is that?" And there we are, with yet another 2nd Amendment crisis on our hands. By the way, I think bullets are a choking hazard as well.

There are some people who are dangerous with a sharp stick in their hand, right? Qualifications is all I'm saying.

Uh oh! time to hit up DX and stock up!

[BLKMGK]

http://dx.com/s/magnetic+balls

http://dx.com/p/neodymium-nib-magnet-spheres-6mm-20-pack-13503?rt=1&p=6&m=1&r=4&k=1&t=1&s=&u=13503

Hint: Don't buy the colored ones. The paint chips off pretty easily from those but the chrome ones seem to be fine. I'll be ordering some more in case they try to seal the border on these the way they did with the lasers

This is a travesty...

[Anonymous Coward]

Typical Government over-reaching of a GREAT Product. China will begin mass production of them and that'll be the end of another product made in the US - of course the technology for these magnets are used in many other products. Way to kill jobs Obama....

I have an idea for a toy

[russotto]

I'll take a powerful electric motor, attach it to two half-meter-long carbon fiber blades, and spin them at 2500 RPM. No safety cage; heck, the toy won't even be attached to anything to prevent it from moving around. Still perfectly legal. I guess the CPSC figures that hazard is obvious enough even for a dimwitted child, but that's only true for now.

Labelling

[VirginMary]

When I was living in the US, I enjoyed showing my German friends labels from water bottles that listed 0% fat, with the comment: "Look, they sell fat-free water in the US, quite unlike all the fatty water that is being sold in Germany!" ;-)

Re:Labelling

[ArsonSmith]

best label ever:

http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/toys-starwars-darthvader-choking-hazard-indeed.png

teenagers?

[milkmage]

"which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers" ..if you're over the age of 5 and still swallowing random shit.. seek professional help.

54 victims in how many years?

[gweihir]

And only 53 of them required "medical intervention". This is an absolute non-risk. Only credible explanation for this "alert": Some bureaucrats want more importance and are willing to create a lot of fear to get it. That is terrorism at its best. Sadly, these despicable cretins will get away with it as being afraid is now so deeply ingrained in US culture that people probably would not feel right without it.

Re:54 victims in how many years?

[void*]

"About three million sets of Buckyballs and Buckycubes have been sold in U.S. retail stores nationwide". Three million sets. 54 reports of someone swallowing them.
Not quite two thousands of a percent of those toys have been reported as having been ingested. Not a large risk at all. I'd think they were joking if it weren't for the fact that they aren't. :/

Re:54 victims in how many years?

[tibit]

Two thousandths of a percent :)

Re:yes your the retards

[KGIII]

And this, folks, is what happens when you're struck in the head with a lawn dart.

Buckyballs are too dangerous?

[Anonymous Coward]

Buckyballs are too dangerous for kids. Kids need guns, not buckyballs.

Lowest common denominator.

[Anonymous Coward]

When are we going to stop catering to the stupid? If they are not competent enough to live safely, they should die. It is NOT the governments ( or tax payers .. ) job to babysit citizens.

Absolutely not...

[RLU486983]

getting my BuckyBalls!!

I'm an adult damn it, where can I buy them?

[Cogent91]

So where can I go sign off on being an adult and buy some of these recalled inventory then?

But they have electrolytes

[EmperorOfCanada]

I love my buckyballs. I don't like a stupid nanny state telling me not to have them. There are all kinds of things around the house that kids shouldn't eat. What would only slightly annoy me would be a greater warning. Explain to people the risk. Not just a generalized "Keep away from small children." But an explanation about the balls pinching etc.

What I want to know is...

[dietdew7]

Why do they make magnets so tasty, if we're not supposed to eat them?

nutpeas?

[Hognoxious]

I used to know a guy who was allergic to peanuts, and his son was allergic to all nuts except peanuts. That explains it, then.

One thing to bear in mind is that processing facilities handle more than one product; I've seen warnings on wheat products that they may contain contain traces of soya or mustard. It's possible then that peanuts may contain nuts as a contaminant.

Darwin test?

[xenobyte]

Isn't this simply a Darwin test? - You know to test if you're too stupid to be allowed to procreate?

I know that small children may be unable to read the warning etc. but the parents sure aren't and thus we simply catch up with the test, removing the children of too stupid parents later than per-conception...

Not toys even for some Big boys

[Deefburger]

If these are being sold as toys, then I really don't have a problem with the recall. Magnets of this strength are not toys, even for some adults I have known! swallowing them is serious business. They cause all kinds of trouble, PAINFUL trouble and must be removed surgically if there is more than just one. I have been pinched by my "toys" many times, and I know several other Big boys who have been "damaged" playing with Neos. These things are really bad news for little kids who don't know any better. Two or more swallowed don't just create a bowel obstruction, they can literally tie the bowel in a knot and they will NOT come out on their own. I can see selling them as scientific study aids, or scientific "toys" for those 13 and older, but I would not sell them in a toy store or the toy section of the store.

Everything's Interstate commerce since 1942.

[girlinatrainingbra]

re: everything, including growing your own crops rather than buying them, is interstate commerce now [emphasis mine, on the word "now"]
.
It's been that way since that decision was made in 1942, not so much now. I'm surprised that they're not attacking GNU and Linux for depriving the private corporations from profiting maximally on software based on this decision alone. Shimmeny-crickets, I hope I didn't just give them an idea for a new way to attack Free and Open Source Software!