Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Taking the Ice Bucket Challenge With Liquid Nitrogen

Posted by samzenpus on from the coldest-shower dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes As a trend, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge seems a bit played out—who hasn't yet dumped a bucket of icy water over his or her head for charity? But that didn't stop Canadian chemist Muhammad Qureshi from executing his own sublimely scientific, potentially dangerous variation on the theme: After donating to the ALS Association, he proceeded to douse himself with a bucket of liquid nitrogen. Anyone who's taken a chemistry class, or at least watched the end of Terminator 2, knows that liquid nitrogen can rapidly freeze objects, leaving them brittle and prone to shattering. Pouring it on your skin can cause serious frostbite. So what prevented that bucketful of liquid nitrogen from transforming Qureshi into a popsicle? In two words: Leidenfrost effect. Named after 18th century scientist Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, the effect is when a liquid comes near a mass that's much warmer than the liquid's boiling point, which (in the words of Princeton's helpful physics explainer) results in an insulating vapor layer that "keeps that liquid from boiling rapidly." In other words, the vapor makes the liquid "float" just above the surface of the object, rather than coming into direct contact with it.

182 comments

  1. Another two words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    wind sock.

    Seriously.

  2. People who did High School Chemistry know this... by Harlequin80 · · Score: 0

    If you did chemistry at highschool surely you did the gold fish in liquid nitrogen and then done the table spoon of dancing liquid nitrogen on your hand?

    Like I get that this would be kind "geeky / cool" in MAD magazine or FHM.... But seriously I kinda thought slashdot played to a higher educated audience....

  3. so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Does this mean Terminator 2 is debunked by Leidenfrost?

    1. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, it works for a few seconds, the evaporation of the nitrogen still extracts energy from the skin. If you pour it for more than a few seconds your hand will freeze and then crack.

    2. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes. This is the one achilles heal in the whole movie, which was otherwise a flawless portrayal of reality.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    3. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's to say T-1000's temperature was higher than liquid nitrogen's boiling point?

    4. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by ediron2 · · Score: 1
      OK, for starters, I also groaned about the absurdity of a freezy T-1000. From day 1, that's bugged me. But there's a LOT of bad physics and bad biology going on in the movie. But the T-1000 being 77K? That seems unlikely due to the physics of the rest of the show:
      • A system at 77 degrees kelvin would need a massive, elaborate heat-exchange system to maintain that temperature throughout everything. If this were a design aspect, it would need even more elaborate systems to prevent failure due to heat/fire. Energy consumption for cooling is one of the most inefficient mechanisms, so this would also bump up their magical-power-generator demands a few notches. But hey, what's impossible times ten instead of merely impossible energy storage and heat exchange.
      • More importantly, every time the robot had steady/sustained contact with other mechanical devices / systems, they'd have extreme-cold failure modes. The throttle and brake grips on the motorcycle. His 'not-really-boots' on anything they touched (foot pedals). Firearms (especially the automatic actions) get sluggish and failure-prone around 20-below F, which is about 150 degrees kelvin hotter than you're suggesting. Anything that didn't have specialized extreme-cold lubricants, or (worse) did have residual-water, would start to seize up. Rubber would become brittle. Explosive activity would cause cracking: guns might crack more with each gunshot (at areas in contact with the T-1000) until they rather explosively failed.

      Incidentally, liquid-metal self-modifying systems, like the monster in 'The Thing', are just far enough beyond science fiction to be called fantasy. Laws of information storage density pretty much make molecules capable of cataloging a myriad of design specs large and complex enough that they'll be brittle, and the resulting creature would likely be designed to be able to hemorrhage off damaged cells (and shrink) during emergencies and reacquire material slowly later. Under steady gunfire or in a fire, these things would either cruft up fast or steadily get smaller faster than they could assemble replacement molecules

      (relevant cite: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bo... "Although single origins are sufficient to direct the replication of bacte-rial and viral genomes, multiple origins are needed to replicate the much larger genomes of eukaryotic cells within a reasonable period of time. For example, the entire genome of E. coli (4 Ã-- 106 base pairs) is replicated from a single origin in approximately 30 minutes. If mammalian genomes (3 Ã-- 109 base pairs) were replicated from a single origin at the same rate, DNA replication would require about 3 weeks (30,000 minutes). The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the rate of DNA replication in mammalian cells is actually about tenfold lower than in E. coli, possibly as a result of the packaging of eukaryotic DNA in chromatin. Nonetheless, the genomes of mammalian cells are typically replicated within a few hours, necessitating the use of thousands of replication origins.").

      So, new material can't just be instantly assimilated, so the monsters in both should get smaller... and smaller... and smaller, if fought steadily. So... let's make the biophysics for this problem plausible: A few hits on T-1000 by gunfire and rocket launchers, he splatters everywhere, and a T-900 marches at you. Then a T-800, etc. At T-25 size, he jumps into an air duct and runs away. Two weeks later, he resurfaces full-size. Meanwhile, that splatter residue has a few working molecules that have slithered out of a crack between floor and wall to a nearby desk in the Precinct, been ingested as part of Officer Stadanko's jelly donut, and he's not answering phone calls. Yep: the Thing, but with a three-week infection period like Ebola. Much harder to hunt. So, if mechanical or biological generation WAS possible, and constrained to sane physics to where steady, sustained significant damage had an effect, you'd think either of those monsters would have had some guidance that nondetection and stealth were more important than speed. They didn't need to rush.

    5. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Does this mean Terminator 2 is debunked by Leidenfrost?

      The T-1000 is a liquid metal robot and conducts heat well (presumably).
      He also had an entire TRUCK of liquid nitrogen dumped over him, not just a small bucket.
      The Leidenfrost effect would be short lived on a T-1000 and the sheer volume of nitrogen would be sufficient to overwhelm it and freeze the robot.

      There - now you can safely go back to your willing suspension of disbelief because nothing else in the movie including not one, but TWO robots from the future is obviously safe from any debunking...

    6. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      No, the T-1000 was a liquid metal. Due to it's heat conduction (we can assume from the metal) it would conduct heat and thus not create a protective gas layer.

      Now if you want to start talking about Armageddon's bad physics, we could be here all day.

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
    7. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      WHOOOSH

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    8. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      Whoosh the humor went over my head, or "Whoosh!" the sound of a hundred NASA rocket scientists groaning at bad science in movies?

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
    9. Re:so the T-1000 shouldn't have frozen? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      Whoosh the humor went over my head, or "Whoosh!" the sound of a hundred NASA rocket scientists groaning at bad science in movies?

      The Point
      ------------- (Dear moronic Slashfilter, It's not fucking "ASCII Art", it's a fucking line)
      Your Head

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  4. it tingles by sayfawa · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yeah, liquid nitrogen is pretty safe. Dip your hand in it, throw it at people, put it in your ice cream; all valid uses. Unless you drink it or jump in a pool of it, it's mostly harmless

    --
    Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    1. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In that case, I await your liquid nitrogen bucket challenge posting on YouTube...

    2. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would, but vacuum flasks don't come cheap. If you sponsor me to the tune of a full one or two, I'll do it.

    3. Re:it tingles by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Informative

      In my old job we used a lot of liquid nitrogen - mainly to transfer carbon dioxide around in various scientific apparatus (a mass spectrometer, for one).

      Anyone who has worked extensively with the stuff will tell you it is NOT safe unless you are careful. The Leidenfrost effect works... for a relatively short duration. But the co it used application of liquid nitrogen to a specific area rapidly cools the immediate surroundings, and then the effect stops working - especially if the nitrogen doesn't have a way to skitter away on that layer of gas (if you were to pour it into a cupped palm, for example).

      Also, small droplets (such as are generated from the stuff boiling when you're freezing carbon dioxide into a cold finger) don't seem to have much difficulty reaching one's skin, Leidenfrost or no. Most of us in the lab frequently had small burns on the thumb sides of our hands.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    4. Re:it tingles by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Informative

      In my physics book, the author told about his own personal experiments with the Leidenfrost effect. He would plunge his hand into a bucket of molten lead (after dipping it in water), and pretty soon had advanced to putting liquid nitrogen in his mouth and breathing it out.

      He stopped the last one after it went slightly wrong, and all his teeth cracked. His dentist suggested he not do it any more.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    5. Re:it tingles by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Funny

      Anyone who has worked extensively with the stuff will tell you it is NOT safe unless you are careful.

      Gee, and there I was, going to tell those Knoxvillesque folks to try the "Liquid Nitrogen Enema Challenge."

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    6. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some fool will kill themselves doing this.

    7. Re:it tingles by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      At least they'll be in the running for a Darwin Award.

    8. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least they'll be in the running for a Darwin Award.

      Not if they have already reproduced.

    9. Re:it tingles by infolation · · Score: 4, Funny

      Then we need to encourage the 'family ice bucket challenge'.

    10. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The nitrogen itself is really cheap. You can get it for 20ct/l or even less. You can hire the dewar from the company that sells the LN, but it is indeed quite expensive. You can store (at least for a few days) the LN easily into a thermos for coffee, but you have to drill a hole in the top, otherwise it will explode from the evaporation.

    11. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can get cooler special effects with the "Liquid Natural Gas Enema Challenge"

    12. Re:it tingles by Wootery · · Score: 2

      His dentist suggested he not do it any more.

      It took a dentist to tell him that?

    13. Re:it tingles by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Anyone who has worked extensively with the stuff will tell you it is NOT safe unless you are careful.

      Gee, and there I was, going to tell those Knoxvillesque folks to try the "Liquid Nitrogen Enema Challenge."

      Some things are worth the risk.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    14. Re:it tingles by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      I think we had the same physics book, because this article brought back memories of the story. In my memory he cracked one rear molar and not *all* of his teeth, but it's otherwise similar.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    15. Re:it tingles by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 1

      Anyone who has worked extensively with the stuff will tell you it is NOT safe unless you are careful.

      Right. As someone who has had several skin issues successfully medically treated by having them burned off with liquid nitrogen, dumping it on your head seems like a *very* bad idea - even for somebody who knows what they're doing. In my case, small drops of it on a Q-tip, held in place for a few seconds (no Leidenfrost effect here), were powerful enough to freeze and ultimately destroy the skin underneath, as intended.

    16. Re:it tingles by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      I can confirm you can use a thermos. You don't need to drill the hole if you don't screw the lid down. Heat rises, cold descends so all you might want to do is prevent drafts which can be done by placing the cup on top (assuming it does not create an airtight seal). You'll get some radiative warming but it'll be fairly negligible (the small dewars we used to cart liquid nitrogen around in were open full-width at the top).

    17. Re:it tingles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty sure you're talking about Jearl Walker.

    18. Re:it tingles by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      OTOH, videos like this one make it look safe. What with the rash of idiots doing the cinnamon challenge, the fire challenge, etc, you KNOW a bunch of people are going to try this, and get seriously hurt, but probably not killed. Then the lawyers get involved and everyone loses. The only good thing is, LN isn't as easy to get a hold off.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    19. Re:it tingles by LongearedBat · · Score: 1

      He could have just chewed on Coolmints.

    20. Re:it tingles by AnalogDiehard · · Score: 1

      Liquid nitrogen is an oxygen deficiency hazard. We have kilns at work that operate in the few thousand Fahrenheit range. These kilns are over 200,000 cubic feet. In case of a fire, liquid nitrogen is used to extinguish it by cutting off the oxygen that feeds the fire. The control systems dispense it rapidly enough that it is a human hazard and alarm systems warn to evacuate immediately. You don't want to be around when that stuff dispenses.

      --
      Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
    21. Re:it tingles by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I just dug out my physics book, and you are right, it was only two of his teeth. Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday Resnick and Walker.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  5. Translation for kids... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't try this at home.

    Not that you're likely to have any if you don't know how to handle it properly, but just in case you have the resources, don't do it.

    Then again, I'm sure sooner or later somebody will kill themselves with an ice bucket. Y'know, besides the guy who fell into the ice machine.

    1. Re:Translation for kids... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My first reaction when I read this: I think we found the winner of 2014's Darwin Award. No, not that guy. But some copycat who has, unlike him, no clue about Physics and insists in topping the performance.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Translation for kids... by gmuslera · · Score: 2

      Considering the average adult that went through the Ice Bucket Challenge, it would be a great advice for them too. I won't be surprised at all if it ends killing more people than ALS.

  6. Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by NotSoHeavyD3 · · Score: 2

    I ask since it always seems that they use that one to explain everything even when it doesn't make sense. (IE fire walking where I saw Jearl Walker use plastic bags to build up sweat on his feet to do that but it still works even if you don't do this. BTW it seems the only requirement to fire walking is just don't stop.)

    --
    Did you know 80 to 90% of the moderators on slashdot wouldn't recognize a troll even if one dragged them under a bridge.
    1. Re: Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wow, Jearl Walker. I remember reading about his exploits in my Halliday and Resnick physics book. His story of dipping his hand in molten lead was a great read.

    2. Re:Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      It really is this time. The Leidenfrost effect comes into play when a surface is much hotter than a given material's boiling point. The Leidenfrost effect explains safe contact of hot skin with liquid nitrogen, wet hands surviving molten lead, and why water skitters on a hot skillet. Any time a liquid contacts a surface much hotter than its boiling point, such that it can be suspended in the air by convection currents, the Leidenfrost effect is responsible. In the LN2 case, your skin is far enough above the -195C boiling point that the nitrogen boils off before it touches your skin. In the molten lead case, the water on your hands must evaporate before your hands can start burning, this creates a temporary steam bubble that insulates your hand much like a winter coat. The water on a hot skillet case is the simplest case, where radiative and convective heat transfer is so intense that hot air and water vapor form a convective bubble underneath the boiling water bubble and instabilities in the air bubble then cause the water bubble to flow towards a theoretical edge and skitter around the pan.

      The firewalking claim is a little dubious, it seems more likely that the short contact time combined with the small surface area exposed during normal walking is responsible for the undamaged feet. Most firewalkers don't seem to sit around getting their feet good and sweaty before firewalking.

    3. Re:Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 1

      BTW it seems the only requirement to fire walking is just don't stop.

      I never understood the mystique surrounding firewalking. It's basic heat transfer. You see the effects all the time.

      Touch the coin on your desk. It feels a bit "cool," right? Now touch the wooden part of the desk. That feels more like the temperature of the room, right? But they're obviously both at the same temperature. Our bodies are sensitive to rate of heat transfer, absolute temperature is irrelevant.

      It's the reason why no one ever worries about getting his tongue stuck to a wooden post in winter, but people talk about this happening with a metal flagpole. Metal transfers heat faster, making it more likely for skin to freeze.

      The "hot coals" in a firewalking demonstration similarly have very poor heat conduction. So if you only touch them briefly, it won't be long enough for heat to flow into your feet... even if the temperature of the coals is very hot.

      Next time you see a "professional" firewalker, ask him whether he'd do a demonstration if you mixed in some hot smooth iron "stones" with all the coals. He'll probably say no way (if he has any sense). Even if the iron and the wood coals are the same temperature, the iron would transfer heat much faster, likely resulting in serious burns for any firewalker.

    4. Re:Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by RaceProUK · · Score: 1

      Don't stop, and tread lightly. Otherwise the coals might stick to your feet.

      --
      No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
    5. Re:Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by Whorhay · · Score: 2

      It helps that the coals for firewalking are typically ashed over nicely. The ash actually serves as a pretty decent short term insulator. If you just blew the ash off the coals I imagine it would be a very different experience.

    6. Re:Is it really the Leidenfrost effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've done firewalking, nothing interesting about it, it gets warm but if you take a steady pace it doesn't have enough time to accumulate heat. Only problem is a piece of coal stuck at the bottom of your feet, that can cause a small burn.

      I've also once picked up a burning piece of paper (fully engulfed in flames) and walked (not run) with it to the kitchen sink. It didn't hurt, but I did get a small 2nd degree burn on my thumb.

      The human body is capable of surviving intense heat for short amount of time.

  7. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was educated in the inner city, you insensitive clod. We didn't get any liquid nitrogen at my school because we might make drugs out of it.

  8. Something is missing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He didn't shout "I AM INVINCIBLE!" first.

  9. the only winning move is to quit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a trend, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge seems a bit played out, but gosh darn it we're going to wring all the money out of it. Every last drop.

    Ice suicide challenge

  10. I'd have preferred by Rick+in+China · · Score: 3, Informative

    If he were to turn into a popsicle.

    1. Re:I'd have preferred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If he were to turn into a popsicle.

      Gives a whole new meaning to brain freeze.

  11. I'm starting to wonder... by mark-t · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... how long will it take before somebody dies?

    I don't mean to sound morbid here, I am just starting to think that this whole thing is pretty darn pointless, If you want to donate money to ALS, do it... but this ice bucket challenge thing is turning into a competition of who can one-up who in how they go about it, and I think it's now only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt or killed.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 2

      Just so it's clear, ALS causes a person to lose feeling in their body. The ice bucket challenge's purpose is to simulate that effect so that you know what they go through in a much less permanent way. How it "feels" to have ALS (hint: it doesn't).

      I agree, although I can't imagine how someone would die from it unless they had a pre-existing condition, in which case they shouldn't be doing it to begin with.

    2. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      already happened... oddly enough to one of the guys that started the whole thing.

      http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/08/19/corey-griffin-dead-ice-bucket-challenge-co-founder-dies-drowning/

    3. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is how humans operate. Get used to it.

    4. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by radtea · · Score: 5, Interesting

      ... how long will it take before somebody dies?

      Already happened: http://news.nationalpost.com/2...

      I've stuck my hand in liquid nitrogen (it feels strangely warm) and so can attest to the protective effect of the gas blanket (which is highly insulating) but it is insanely dangerous to pour a bucket of LN2 over your head, and doing so is an invitation to people who aren't as smart or careful as you to do even more stupid and risky things.

      Donate to ALS research [*], by all means! But please, please, don't participate in this ridiculous pyramid scheme of increasingly dangerous stupidity.

      [*] I do not donate to ALS because it is not one of my causes, but I encourage you to think carefully about what you care most about and sign up as a steady, long-term donor to a few causes that are really important to you... this is of far more long-term benefit than episodic giving. If ALS is what matters most to you, go for it!

      --
      Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
    5. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by mark-t · · Score: 1

      How is it that we managed to evolve in the first place, exactly?

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    6. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of the dangers seems to be getting hit in the head with a bucket (or some much larger container) full of water. Many people seem to have some serious trouble holding onto the bucket while pouring the water, as can be seen in this collection of videos.

    7. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by RabidTimmy · · Score: 1

      No, he drowned diving after a charity event, not taking the challenge

    8. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I do not donate to ALS because it is not one of my causes, but I encourage you to think carefully about what you care most about and sign up as a steady, long-term donor to a few causes that are really important to you... this is of far more long-term benefit than episodic giving.

      I like the FFRF for one. I feel that working against religion is one of the most important things we can do for the long term benefit of all people. Make that all life. It will even help with things like ALS (or any other medical condition) as people will look for solutions instead of wishing at the sky.

    9. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      By weeding out the ones that don't know when to quit.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    10. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he drowned diving after a charity event, not taking the challenge

      Diving from a building, at 2 AM... yeah, I'm going to go way out on a limb and postulate the involvement of alcohol.

    11. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      I think that excuse was made up after the fact.

    12. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      Stupid breeds.

    13. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      I don't mean to sound morbid here, I am just starting to think that this whole thing is pretty darn pointless, If you want to donate money to ALS, do it... but this ice bucket challenge thing is turning into a competition of who can one-up who in how they go about it, and I think it's now only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt or killed.

      Actually this is the perfect way to collect donations for a good cause: create a silly meme and create a culture of making a donation when doing it. People love this kind of shit.

    14. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      How is it that we managed to evolve in the first place, exactly?

      Because it is relatively rare and relatively unusual. But without the wish to go further and take risks we wouldn't have ever harnessed fire, let alone achieved civilisation. Life is about *doing things*, not eliminating all possible risk.

      Some people want to live a long boring life, and some people want to go to the moon, even if it means there's a high chance of death in the process.

    15. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      It will even help with things like ALS (or any other medical condition) as people will look for solutions instead of wishing at the sky.

      One slight flaw in that argument: the millions of religious doctors and researchers all over the world who are constantly looking for practical solutions to diseases such as ALS.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    16. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Donate to ALS research [*], by all means!

      So IOW, don't give your money to the ALS foundation, since only around a quarter of it at best will go there.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    17. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by defnoz · · Score: 1

      Already happened: http://news.nationalpost.com/2...

      I'm no doctor, but I think the cause of death is less likely to have been "[taking] part in an ice bucket challenge" than subsequently "leaping into [shallow] water from 25-metre high cliffs."

      Ontopic, I think everyone who has ever used LN2 will have dipped their hand into it. You get a couple of seconds of feeling perfectly fine, then a very sudden searing cold burn. Where I work we were given felt gloves to use when dispensing it until I pointed out that if you actually get LN2 on them (rather than just handling cold metal) it will soak in and be right next to your skin. Now we just use standard marigolds.

    18. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was a man who poured a bucket of ice on himself and his infant granddaughter, confined to a play-chair. She's fine, but WTF, man? Ice falling from 7 feet high would hurt, and water could have filled her lungs (she was looking up wondering what he was doing).

    19. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      I encourage you to think carefully about what you care most about and sign up as a steady, long-term donor to a few causes that are really important to you... this is of far more long-term benefit than episodic giving.

      I recommend the Free Software Foundation.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    20. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by flappinbooger · · Score: 2

      I encourage you to think carefully about what you care most about and sign up as a steady, long-term donor to a few causes that are really important to you... this is of far more long-term benefit than episodic giving.

      I recommend the Free Software Foundation.

      dump a bucket of microsoft disk cases and old win95 floppies on your head for the FSF challenge

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
    21. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by jittles · · Score: 1

      By weeding out the ones that don't know when to quit.

      Hey, I haven't died yet!!!

    22. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a work in progress.

    23. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by StormCrow · · Score: 3, Informative

      So IOW, don't give your money to the ALS foundation, since only around a quarter of it at best will go there.

      Demonstrably false with about 5 seconds of Google searching.

      http://www.snopes.com/politics...

    24. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by gsslay · · Score: 1

      Someone would die from it because it has escalated to a game of one-upmanship where people add extra bits.

      Like using nitrogen. Or gasoline. Or massive ice cubes. Or while at driving a speeding car. Or in a swimming pool shackled to a sack of concrete.

      You get the idea. People think that somehow it's not dangerous or idiotic because it's for charity.

    25. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or this

    26. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Wait - an entire organization that's centered around imposing your beliefs on other people? Sounds like a circular argument waiting to happen.

    27. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...liquid tungsten.

    28. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Demonstrably false with about 5 seconds of Google searching.

      I read an article about that Snopes article this morning already, and hilariously, that snopes article is attacking a straw man and you are also using it to attack a straw man. I said research, and that's what the articles that snopes was responding to say as well, but snopes attacks the claim "research and services"

      That is to say, English... YOU FAIL IT

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    29. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No such thing. While I'm sure there are religious people who are also doctors, a "religious doctor" is a contradiction in terms*, as being a doctor necessarily involves interfering with God's plan. Religion held medicine back for hundreds of years due to reasons such as this.

      * - applicable primarily to dominant Abrahamic religions

    30. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, if you don't join ffrf you are going to hell. So you better do it quickly before day of salvation cometh.

    31. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 1

      Already happened...

      --
      A house divided against itself cannot stand.
    32. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by the+gnat · · Score: 1

      But without the wish to go further and take risks we wouldn't have ever harnessed fire, let alone achieved civilisation.

      Or expanded beyond our "natural" habitat to cover nearly every corner of the globe while we were still building tools out of rocks.

    33. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right, which is why we have top-notch hospitals with names like 'Presbyterian', 'Mount Sinai', 'Saint Francis', 'Benedictine', etc. Fucking moron.

    34. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ice bucket challenge's purpose is to simulate that effect so that you know what they go through in a much less permanent way

      A quick, whole-body drenching in ice water will not induce hypothermic sensory loss, which generally involves soaking for 20 minutes. For obvious reasons, that is only done with extremities. The sensory perception associated with a quick dunking is just cold.

      But the "ice bucket challenge" started outside of ALS. It's cool that it's become associated with an actual, worthwhile purpose, but it started as just a dumb thing for bored bro's to do.

    35. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly his point. If we can get those idiots to stop believing in fairy tales, maybe they'll actually find a solution. I know, I've heard it all before: "what about all the religious scientists in the past". I submit, that if they actually believed the fairy tales, and weren't just faking it to fool the proles, then their discoveries were more luck than process. I firmly believe it is impossible to see the world as it is, while living in a fairy tale. Maybe they get glimpses. But that's the whole purpose of religion, something to hide behind, so the glimpses can be ignored.

    36. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. It sounds like Amerika. If the fucking moron fairy tale crowd gets to impose their beliefs on us, why can't we do it right back? The land of the free has become the land of be exactly like the rest of us, or die.

    37. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To encurage people to donate to alshimers research I'm proud to intorduce the LSD bucket challenge!

    38. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by BranMan · · Score: 1

      Yep - darned right. Five gallon bucket full of water == 40 pounds. Lifted straight over your head, then twisted to dump it on you. Not the easiest thing in the world to do.

    39. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Moreover, lots of the money donated to ALS research is money that would have been donated to some other charitable cause, probably just as worthy. It probably represents a net gain in charitable giving, but it won't seem like that to other charities.

      I hope the ALS people do something intelligent with the money, which is far more than they've ever had donated in the past. Investing it wisely would be good.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    40. Re:I'm starting to wonder... by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      Unless the doctor's activity is actually part of God's plan for that individual. Even in secular circles, medicine is often considered a "vocation" (from Latin, meaning "calling"). Just for the record, I'm agnostic, but I've been treated by many doctors or various creeds and lacks-of-creed, and the quality of care I have received has never borne any relationships to the doctors' individual beliefs.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  12. will it help? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now that everybody and his dog has taken the #icebucketchallenge, will it really make a difference to ALS? All those cancer runs haven't solved cancer...

    Sometimes what is needed isn't money it is just the right one person with the right idea at the right time.

    1. Re:will it help? by RaceProUK · · Score: 1

      And money for that one person to fund making their idea a reality.

      --
      No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
  13. Re:tag this crap as idle, please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shut up.

  14. Possible hair lost by kcelery · · Score: 1

    After dipping a rose into liquid nitrogen, the petals are flaky as potato chips.

    Then the guy combed his hair to remove anything frozen there. Such action
    might break those hair frozen by the LN. I don't think he would like to show it
    in the video.

  15. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait, making drugs? We thought it was already drugs!

  16. Why didn't they use a better example? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you flick water on a hot griddle and the droplets skitter around, yeah, that's Leidenfrost effect.

    Geez, it's not like it even needed a flawed car analogy. Wait, on second thought, perhaps the concept is *too* clear!

    I hereby request said flawed vehicular analogies to help confuse a very straightforward, comprehensible concept. Bonus points if analogies needlessly involve a train as well.

    Thank you in advance.

    1. Re:Why didn't they use a better example? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, basically, you have a car. And you're driving down the road, and it starts to rain. This is a pretty rainy, seriously intense thunderstorm. Like, the kind that causes your dogs to go hide under the bed. Proof that cats are smarter. Anyway, you've got this car. And it's rainy. And, thus, there's water on the road. All of this precipitation coming down and slamming into the existing layer of water causes your train to bounce up and down microscopically, creating a gap between you and the rails as you're moving with your auntie and your uncle in bel-air. I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said fresh and there were dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare but I thought, naw, forget it, yo holmes to bel-air. I pulled up to the house about seven or eight and said to the cabbie "Yo holmes smell ya later." Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there, to sit on my throne as the prince of bel-air.

      What were we talking about again?

    2. Re:Why didn't they use a better example? by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      It's like when a rain drop hits a hot exhaust manifold...

    3. Re:Why didn't they use a better example? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      Well, imagine you're driving on a really hot day. The road is really hot. So your tyres start to melt and you lose traction. It's a bit like that, because the liquid loses traction on the solid surface.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    4. Re:Why didn't they use a better example? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, your wheels float on a layer of vaporized tire rubber, thereby allowing you to move more randomly than a train?

    5. Re:Why didn't they use a better example? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      (Remember, this is a flawed analogy, as requested by the poster before.)

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  17. Re:tag this crap as idle, please by mark-t · · Score: 1

    So don't use it. Problem solved.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  18. I did it first ! by dargaud · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In 1994 I had a liquid nitrogen tube break above my head while preparing an experiment for Antarctica. About 30 liters poured on my head in a second. I felt it go instantly trough my clothing, run over me, and on the floor. Everybody else in the lab ran away, but I couldn't because it formed a dense could, I couldn't see anything and I was behind a lot of equipment and cables. Then the floor exploded: I couldn't see what was going on but very loud cracking and banging noises later proved to be the tiles shattering. Fortunately I was wearing security shoes and just stood my ground. After the fog cleared I saw some faces at the door: "Are you still alive?"

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
    1. Re:I did it first ! by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 5, Funny

      Did you take the chance to reply "I'm not feeling so hot"?

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
    2. Re:I did it first ! by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 2

      Is it normal to have liquid nitrogen stored up high?

      Seems kind of dangerous and that this stuff would be buried in the ground (as people would do with a tank of diesel, for instance)

    3. Re:I did it first ! by dargaud · · Score: 1

      I have no idea. I was a student and just wanted to test some of my hardware at cold temperatures. The guys in charge of cryogenics were on vacation but other guys were all like "we know this stuff, we can run the test..." Yeah, right.

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    4. Re:I did it first ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At my university there was a large tank outdoors within a locked cage. Above ground, but inaccessible. Technicians would transfer it out of the tank into portable flasks as required. It certainly didn't travel around the site in pipework, or get carried in anything other than the flasks. Perhaps it's different once inside the labs though - especially if those tubes are part of the experiment.

    5. Re:I did it first ! by MrKaos · · Score: 3, Funny

      Did you take the chance to reply "I'm not feeling so hot"?

      Nah, someone else said - "that was cool!"

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    6. Re:I did it first ! by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Seems kind of dangerous and that this stuff would be buried in the ground (as people would do with a tank of diesel, for instance)

      Which people? Gas stations, maybe. Everyone else stores diesel above ground. It's more stable than gasoline so the thermal cycling isn't as big of a worry, and you literally cannot light diesel on fire. You need a wick of some kind to even produce massive volumes of black smoke, with very little flame. You can extinguish lit cigarettes by dropping them into a can of diesel. It's legal to gravity-feed diesel, but you legally have to pump gasoline. (Obviously not out of a jerrycan, but in terms of tanks.)

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:I did it first ! by tommeke100 · · Score: 2

      So have you gained any super-powers?

    8. Re:I did it first ! by dargaud · · Score: 1

      Kind of... the ability to resist cold for one...

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    9. Re:I did it first ! by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Liquid nitrogen piping was not insulated?

    10. Re:I did it first ! by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      Genuine potential risk of asphyxiation depending on circumstances.

    11. Re:I did it first ! by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 1

      Remember when Hurricane Sandy came through and flooded all the data centers in NYC?

      There were all kinds of stories about how the fuel was in the basement for safety, but that was the first place to flood

  19. Why do German scientists have fitting names? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    Serious. Mr. Schwarzschild ("black shield") only kinda-sorta fits his radius, but Mr. Leidenfrost ("suffering frost") really takes the cake here.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Why do German scientists have fitting names? by BetterThanCaesar · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not only Germans. Have you seen the function named after Englishman Oliver Heaviside, which has one light and one heavy side?

      --
      "Stop failing the Turing test!" -- Dilbert
    2. Re:Why do German scientists have fitting names? by BlueLightning · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is known as "nominative determinism"; here's a somewhat amusing article from a couple of years ago on the subject.

    3. Re:Why do German scientists have fitting names? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Serious. Mr. Schwarzschild ("black shield") only kinda-sorta fits his radius, but Mr. Leidenfrost ("suffering frost") really takes the cake here.

      We've got it in America with people like the famous swimmer Diana Nyad and the absolute best case of nominative determinism ever - Anthony Weiner.

  20. Darwin Awards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't wish harm on anyone, but this moron is a walking Darwin Award billboard. It seems that even high-IQ people can still suffer from stupidosis.

    1. Re:Darwin Awards by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      There's a point where you are intelligent enough to play with the dangerous stuff, but not intelligent enough not to.

  21. The ice bucket annoyance doesn't end... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ice bucket annoyance doesn't end until it causes a death. Those firefighters came close hitting those wires, but AFAIK, no deaths. This all reminds me of the "hold your wee for a Wii" fiasco. If the traditional ice bucket doesn't trigger a seizure followed by a heart attack, they'll keep amping it up with different versions like this. I'm waiting for the vitriolic acid variation. That oughta do it.

  22. Mythbusters did it by jaygridley · · Score: 0

    MythBusters did the Leidenfrost effect.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  23. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    High school chemistry classes are garbage; a grand majority of students don't learn anything, but just memorize information.

  24. Re:Somewhat cool and A LOT stupid by colinjl · · Score: 1

    Liquid Nitrogen? I'd say VERY cool. Even cold.

  25. fuck you and the bucket challenge by ruir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Idiocracy was right on. The fucking bucket challenge is no better than ow my balls. Mod me down at will.

    1. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by webmistressrachel · · Score: 2

      I would mod you up, but my recent post count isn't good enough, and I'm not being allocated any mod points. This should solve the problem; though not for you, unfortunately! ;-)

      --
      This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
    2. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      Idiocracy was right on. The fucking bucket challenge is no better than ow my balls. Mod me down at will.

      Don't feel bad for yourself though, they're modding you down because you're using 'idiocracy' for no good reason, criticizing people who are doing good things.

    3. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by BringsApples · · Score: 2

      I agree. It's called "the ALS ice bucket challenge" and it's meant to spread awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and yet when I ask most folks about it, all they know is that "...ALS is when you dump ice water on your head". WTF? Also, the point of dumping the ice water on your head, as far as I understand, is to put one temporarily into the condition closest to that of one who is suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. Spreading awareness my ass, at this point, it's about being cool (no pun intended).

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    4. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by Chris453 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      criticizing people who are doing good things.

      Actually no. Doing a good thing would be donating to charity. Most of the people doing this are just doing it because they saw it online or have a friend that did it and they want to be cool. Monkey see, monkey do. I bet a large number of the people doing the "challenge" don't even know the reason behind it. Instead of sharing stupid videos of clowns pouring water over their heads maybe we should be sharing videos of people writing checks to the charity. Of course that isn't as "exciting" for the ADD/ADHD generations.

    5. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's slacktivism at its best. Seriously the whole point of the challenge was do something that causes discomfort and donate a little or forgo the discomfort and donate a lot. Yet we have an internet full of loaded celebrities like Oprah (who has a freezer draw of ice in her kitchen, like seriously how much money does one need to make before they can install something like that in their house?) who then go and douse themselves.

      So far the only one I have seen who did it right was Patrick Stewart. Write a big check instead of putting yourself through the discomfort.

      The financial results of the campaign would be amazing if it weren't for the fact that many of the people participating make more money in a year than was donated in the entire campaign.

    6. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      There's nothing apart from your assumption saying that people aren't also giving to charity. Even if alot of them aren't, increasing awareness has its own benefits.

    7. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by ruir · · Score: 1

      If you ever had seen idiocracy you would have understood my post. Panis et circenses for the stupid masses.

    8. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Doing good things would be donating to charity, while leaving the narcissism, self-aggrandizing, risky behavior out of the picture.

    9. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

      Actually, you're assuming that he said that, when in fact he didn't.

      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
    10. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you are celebrity-obsessed. 99.99% of people doing the challenge were not celebrities, and collectively raised millions of dollars. Get over yourself.

    11. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      Whu? The clear implication from his post is that people are making videos instead of giving to charity.

      Instead of sharing stupid videos of clowns pouring water over their heads maybe we should be sharing videos of people writing checks to the charity.

      If he thought people were doing both then he wouldn't have a problem would he?

    12. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by pipingguy · · Score: 2

      It appeals to peoples' inner narcissism.

    13. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Thank you for apologising on behalf of all the celebs. You demonstrated it perfectly. 99.9% of people raised less money then a few celebs could have if they put the correct effort in instead of simply trying to look like a fool in the name of ALS

    14. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by anethema · · Score: 1

      I cant even fathom the complaints about this.

      Hasn't ALS hit like 100 times their usual funding for the year due to all these people dumping ice on themselves? Saying the popularity and viral nature of it aren't a benefit in itself seems short sited.

      --


      It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
    15. Re:fuck you and the bucket challenge by LienRag · · Score: 1

      Actually, some are very clever and thus quite different from "Ow my balls":
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU4ZbIKmuvo (cited below)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... (works better if you know Girl Genius, a very good webcomic actually)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k3PJb4Cc7I
      And of course this one: http://www.satirishpress.com/w...

  26. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

    Exactly what I came here to post. We had the demonstration of what happens when you immerse something in liquid nitrogen vs what happens when you pour it over the top. Even if you didn't get to play with liquid nitrogen in school, there are lots of videos of this.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  27. Re:tag this crap as idle, please by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

    Then you're not really a nerd.

    --
    Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  28. T-shirt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've stuck my hand in LN once and the leidenfrost effect works fine. Don't to it too long though. I was wondering if it is not risky to do it with clothes on, the LN can maybe get trapped between clothes and skin?

  29. clothes are the problem by supernova87a · · Score: 1

    Yes, LN2 will run off your skin and generally dissipate very quickly, but I believe you have to be very careful regarding clothing. Because the liquid will soak into and saturate fibers, which then are a real problem because you have a freezing liquid in contact with your skin which can cause burns.

    1. Re:clothes are the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ^^ This. You never use LN where it may come in contact with permeable cloth, like this guy's clothes. What saved him, as you can see from the video, is that most of the liquid sprayed outward from his head on impact; if that had run down and soaked his shirt, he'd now be in the hospital. Luck, not science, saved this fool.

  30. That's where plumbing goes by sirwired · · Score: 1

    It's perfectly normal for plumbing in a commercial or industrial setting to be run underneath the ceiling. Burying stuff under a concrete floor is expensive to install, weakens the floor, and is difficult to maintain. A raised floor has limited load-bearing capacity and is also expensive vs. a suspended ceiling (if you care about aesthetics at all... you don't really need one of those either.)

    You see plumbing buried in the floor of slab houses because it's cheap to install when the slab is being poured. This is infeasible in a commercial building which is expected to require changes during the building's life.

    Really, an N2 line is no more dangerous than the hot water and/or steam lines running overhead in pretty much every commercial building. And in a facility that uses fuel, such as natural gas, those lines are going to run overhead too.

  31. who hasn't yet dumped a bucket of icy water... by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Lots of celebrities. They used warm water with plastic icicles.

    BTW a german politician was dumb enough to film himself doing it beside his Marihuana plant.

  32. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who's taken a chemistry class, or at least watched the end of Terminator 2

    Or seen the end of GoldenEye 007

  33. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by FireFury03 · · Score: 1

    Exactly what I came here to post. We had the demonstration of what happens when you immerse something in liquid nitrogen vs what happens when you pour it over the top. Even if you didn't get to play with liquid nitrogen in school, there are lots of videos of this.

    Although I was under the impression that the Leidenfrost effect only worked well on bare skin, so I'm surprised he didn't get frost burns to his scalp and clothed parts.

    --
    http://blog.nexusuk.org
  34. I would prefer liquid nitrogen instead of water by Tanuki64 · · Score: 1

    Liquid nitrogen might be colder, but does not seem to have much heat capacity. When I had access to it, I 'played' a bit with it... who does not? Instant ice cream... putting finger in it... hand. No problem. Once I had a wet rag on the floor and I poured half a 5l Dewar with liquid nitrogen over it. The whole room was full of mist, but to my surprise the rag hardly got colder.
    However, I would not try this with liquid helium. ;-)

  35. Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a chilling story.

  36. Ultimate Ice Buckey Challenge by chfriley · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hal Finney -an ALS sufferer- did the ultimate Ice Bucket challenge with liquid nitrogen last week (Aug 28, 2014) when he was cryopreserved after passing away from ALS:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...

    1. Re:Ultimate Ice Buckey Challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now the only way to equal this is to use liquid Oxygen or Hydrogen

    2. Re:Ultimate Ice Buckey Challenge by sillybilly · · Score: 1

      I keep hearing about the Leidenfrost effect, like in dude, that's so cool, let's try it. Yeah right! One of these days I stick my arm into liquid nitrogen, and the Leidenfrost effect fails to show up to participate, and there goes my arm, shattering to icy pieces, and me banging my head against a wall of how could I be so stupid I knew I should not have stuck my arm into liquid nitrogen.

    3. Re:Ultimate Ice Buckey Challenge by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      You were probably doing it wrong. Did you have your arm shaved? Bad move. Did you hold your arm in the liquid nitrogen for several minutes, as opposed to pouring a bucket of LN2 over your arm? They are two very different events.

      I can assure you that the Leidenfrost effect works perfectly well - when I was casting lead weights for diving, I had my sand moulds a little too damp - cue bubbling splashing lead, with substantial gobbets of molten lead splashing over my arm - around 230degC temperature difference. It hurt, that's for sure ; but it would have hurt a damned sight more if not for the Leidenfrost effect.

      The scars have nearly disappeared now. Or been over-printed by other cuts, nicks and abrasions. Only took 25 years.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  37. Is he crazy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't you know what happens when you douse yourself with liquid nitrogen?

  38. This was my last Facebook straw by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    Agree. I think this was the fad that finally allowed me to give up Facebook. Just looking forward to signing on one more time in mid-February and replying to all my friends' challenges with, "sorry, I've been offline for a while, but if you're still up for it I'd be happy to kick in a dollar."

  39. piffle by koan · · Score: 1

    Real men use hydrogen and then smoke a ciggy afterwards.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    1. Re:piffle by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Of course, by the time the guy can get to the cigarette, all the hydrogen has gone bye-bye. That stuff vanishes fast.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  40. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, I too thought that the clothing would have effected the results. The same thing for the hair.

    The other thing I didn't realize was that it would still work with this quantity poured this fast. Every demonstration I have ever seen involved only pouring a TINY bit of liquid nitrogen on the skin. I figured there was a very specific safety reason why they only used a small quantity.

  41. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Ardyvee · · Score: 1

    I just went through high-school education (in Portugal) and I didn't know this. Although, to be fair, I didn't have chemistry the last year (but did have it during the 10th and 11th grades, plus whatever they teach before that).

    --
    I don't care if I'm wrong. I only care about everyone obtaining something from the discussion.
  42. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

    I certainly wouldn't try it with my only head.

    --
    It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  43. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Affected

  44. Darwin award in 3..2...1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Darwin award in 3..2...1

    I predict the first loss to the world of an idiot.

  45. My buddy beat him and me to it... by biochozo · · Score: 1

    He did it on the 25th with liquid Nitrogen right before I planned to. It wasn't dangerous. I've worked and played with it plenty without incident thanks to the Leidenfrost effect. Where you do run into problems is where the copper lines are cooled with Liquid Nitrogen or Helium. You're not going to want to touch your tongue to that even on a triple dog dare.

  46. Firemarshal Bill by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 1

    Reading the summary, I had flashbacks of Jim Carrey's Firemarshal Bill

  47. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by sillybilly · · Score: 1

    Liquid nitrogen, when used in place of compressed air to keep tubing greases from oxidizing in pneumatic powered robotic machines, so when these pneumatics work and go puff puff, and you work next to a machine that cranks out 3000 assemblies in 8 hrs, and for each there is like 30 different puffs going off, and you stand in a cage surrounded by them, so then you get to learn about the narcotic effects of nitrogen. As that's what the most pronounced effect is, it's an anesthetic, it puts you to sleep while working and standing up. Sleeping on the job, even if standing, is not tolerated by management, unless you know how to keep moving while spaced out and the whole world going dark before you.
    The solutions are simple - shake your head wildly, if you can't move around.
    If you got room to step back and bounce up and down to get your blood pressure up and heart rate up, bounce up and down, get a pulse going, and you can fight that 15% O2 atmosphere you've been working in, and with a high pulse, your spacing out and falling asleep O2 ambient concentration is like 13%, or something lower like that. Shaking your head also utilizes lower blood O2 levels effectively. Yawning also increases blood pressure to increase oxygen pressure, to supply the brain better when it's low on energy, energy being glucose + O2, either one missing, and when you're sleepy it's the glucose missing, or low concentration, but increasing O2 can help mend the situation, and squeeze extra out of what's left available. When you catch yourself yawning on the job, or even while driving in your car, pay extra attention, and as a last resort, shake your head wildly. I would have been in at least 50 accidents so far if gassing me with nitrogen or the like could make me pass out while driving, but I know the head shaking trick, to the point where they had to sell me a remote control car, that had like a fluid-feeling coupling power steering at the steering wheel, like really soft like old stereo knobs, not hard and direct like I'm used to, but I had no option but drive it, and think, wow, that's interesting, til one night, in the rain, I hit a rain spot, and it would not obey my commands to correct for it, and I went spinning straight into the side rails at highway speeds, both airbags deployed, and I smacked out the driver's side window with my head, but did not feel a thing. I thought that was the end, but I made it through with only my right pinky hurting, it was weird, like why would I not feel my head hurt after an impact like that, and why would my pinky hurt? And I learned something about myself. I don't get scared facing death, my pulse barely went up, they say it takes some time before you become aware of what just really happened, but for me there never came such a time. It's like piss on it, whatever, shit happens, get on with your life if you can.

  48. Fuck that. by sootman · · Score: 1

    "who hasn't yet dumped a bucket of icy water over his or her head for charity?"

    Me. Because fuck you if you think you can publicly shame me into giving money to a cause when I could name a hundred other equally worthy causes. Also, I don't brag about my charitable donations.

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  49. Dust by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Here in California we are in a drought, so we dump a bucket of dust over our heads to conserve water.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  50. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by mysidia · · Score: 1

    I figured there was a very specific safety reason why they only used a small quantity.

    Perhaps to reduce the impact, in case they screw up.

  51. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

    We covered this when I was about 15, which is Grade 10 in Australia. We also watched our teacher set fire to his hand after dipping it in methylated spirits. This was, depressingly, 20 years ago now so maybe things have changed.

    The Nitrogen on the hand was only done by the teacher. We dropped water droplets on a hot plate to create the same effect.

  52. Re:People who did High School Chemistry know this. by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

    The nitrogen will still form a blanket of gas independent of the quantity or flow rate and this is what keeps you safe. The problem occurs if the liquid nitrogen pools or is otherwise forced into direct contact (like you could do with a suitably high enough pressure stream or immersion). That is when people get hurt.

  53. I am invincible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am invincible!

  54. Nitrogen effects by DrYak · · Score: 1

    so then you get to learn about the narcotic effects of nitrogen. As that's what the most pronounced effect is, it's an anesthetic, it puts you to sleep while working and standing up.

    It's basically due to the fact that we're better at detecting increase of CO2, rather than detecting decrease of O2.

    If you start to lack oxygene in a badly ventilated room (e.g.: from the 80% N2 / 20% O2, you reach 80% N2 / 15% O2 / 5% CO2), your body will notice the increase of CO2, and you'll feel asphyxiating, and you'll run away, before it gets dangerous for you.

    If you start to lack oxygene because it is replaced by nitrogene ( e.g.: from the 80% N2 / 20% O2, you reach 85% N2 / 15% O2) because you're dosing the room with nitrogene, your body is less likely to register the drop of oxygen, you won't feel the alarms (no "asphyxiation" sensation) and you won't run away. But the oxygen level is *still* low, which is *still* dangerous and you're at the risk of sleeping and passing out.

    To go back to the factory example: if a worker becomes sleepy on the job because of low O2 levels (because it's washed out by increasing the N2 concentration in the air) THAT'S A FUCKING DANGEROUS WORKPLACE WITH DANGEROUS WORKING CONDITIONS.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Nitrogen effects by sillybilly · · Score: 1

      Not really. I really liked the job itself, other than making lawn mowing equipment. It's like I'm all against forced grass cutting, and they make me earn my money by making grass cutting equipment. I was simply late 1 min at a time until I pointed out on attendance. Obnoxious. It's better than having to earn your daily bread by being a Nazi gas chamber operator, but it's somewhat along the same topic. It's kind of a nice job, all you have to do is press the button, and get paid a whole lot of money for it, but other people suffer in case of the gas chamber, or other bugs in case of the lawnmowers. I mean I don't really mind grass cutting if people want to do it, as long as they don't do it to an excess. And especially not allowing someone to have their land "au naturel" and letting the native bugs and and "weed" flowers exist like they have for 600 million years, and cutting their grass by force through city ordinance, and charging them for it and threatening with foreclosure and messing up their credits if they don't pay, that's an outright crime and abuse of power by government. Native weed and native bugs are beautiful. What's not beautiful is the ugly city employees attacking them with lawn mowing equipment against the owner's wishes, and leaving a devastation behind, and they send you a bill for it too. It's like I'll rape your preteen daughter, then murder her before your eyes, then I send you a bill for my effort to do it.

  55. Being a literalist ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does that mean he's taken this to the Nth degree?

  56. Re: People who did High School Chemistry know this by kyjellyfish · · Score: 1

    We had no problem obtaining liquid nitrogen at my school, but were not permitted to use a goldfish. However, we were allowed to substitute a tuna fish sandwich, which provided an impressive (and tasty) result!