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Eight People Suffer Burns After Attempting Viral 'Boiling Water Challenge' (abc13.com)

A burn surgeon at Loyola University Medical has treated eight different people for second and third-degree burns after they attempted to replicate the viral "boiling water challenge," according to one local news station. These people (like many others as seen across social media) heated water and threw it into the sub-zero air, expecting it to transform into a powder-like state and blow away in the wind. But that apparently didn't work out for everyone; sometimes the water stayed liquid and hit people. The youngest patient seen at Loyola is 3 years old. Sanford said that individual (like some of the other patients) was just standing next to someone else throwing the water.... Sanford said there are likely several others out there with first degree burns that didn't seek medical attention.
CNN Wire Services also reports at least three more "boiling water challenge" burn victims in Minneapolis and Iowa.

151 comments

  1. Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Burn your bits and pieces off for an internet meme.

    1. Re:Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, you go first.

    2. Re: Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Mum: Ifeveryone else was jumping off a cliff...
      Today's kids: Yes, Mum. Yes I would.

    3. Re: Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It will be a new Cause-of-Death, Internet induced Terminal Narcissism.

      "It was parkour, Master Reginald, just before the Color Festivals and Tide Pods. The point at which I stopped caring about these idiots. But for the suffering and tears they leave behind...good riddance"

    4. Re: Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mum: Ifeveryone else was jumping off a cliff...
      Today's kids: Yes, Mum. Yes I would.

      Obligatory xkcd.

    5. Re: Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Internet challenges:

      Part of the natural selection!

      Those too stupid to live, kills themselves off.
      Quite a nifty arrangement nature has made, actually...

    6. Re:Darwin Challenge: by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 2

      Anyone want to start the Holding a Lit Stick of Dynamite Challenge? I'm sure I saw some coyote do it once, let's see if you can do it too!

    7. Re:Darwin Challenge: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hold my beer.

  2. Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Ecuador · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In general we have removed the positive effects of natural selection from our society, which is leading us to a rather bleak future (just watch the semi-fictional film "idiocracy" for a good extrapolation). These stunts are one of the few natural selection sources left - whoever does a hydrochloric acid test for example should be removed from the human genome anyway. The problem is when bystanders get the effect instead of the idiot performing the actually stupidity...
    It is definitely not news for nerds though, I don't see how it even remotely warrants inclusion on slashdot... Then again, I am not new here... :D

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    1. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "In general we have removed the positive effects of natural selection from our society" - This has been true basically since society began, not recent at all.

      "which is leading us to a rather bleak future" - You're citing extreme fiction, not a simulation. That's... I mean, it's not hyper-intelligent...

      "These stunts are one of the few natural selection sources left" - Wrong, nobody died and the stupidity is not genetic but socially acquired.

      "The problem is when bystanders get the effect instead of the idiot performing the actually stupidity..." Granted.

      " I don't see how it even remotely warrants inclusion on slashdot." - Who gives a fuck what you see or don't or want or not, it has to do with viral online memes.

    2. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a nerd I'd hardly call people who have done the "boiling water / cold air" experiment idiots. Some certainly are, but I'd love to try it myself. I would do it safely though, and certainly would ensure a three year old child couldn't be burned.

      re /. relevance: I can think of quite a few nerdish details.

      How much of an impact does the temperature of the water really have versus outside temperature?
      Does a cup of liquid water near freezing appear to freeze differently from near boiling water?
      What if you add impurities to the water or use distilled water?

    3. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by HarrySquatter · · Score: 0, Redundant

      In general we have removed the positive effects of natural selection from our society

      So by this logic, you're going to stop going to the doctor and taking medicine when you are sick? If you break a leg or get blinded in an accident someone should just dump you in a remote area to go and die? If we're going to live by natural selection that's what would have happened to you thousands of years ago before civilization.

      This is as stupid as the nerds going on and on about Eugenics but only if it'd be applied to someone other than themselves.

    4. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Funny

      So by this logic, you're going to stop going to the doctor and taking medicine when you are sick? If you break a leg or get blinded in an accident someone should just dump you in a remote area to go and die?

      Nonsense, nobody is saying that we should kill or mistreat stupid people. We are just saying that they should be sterilized.

    5. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "This is as stupid as the nerds going on and on about Eugenics but only if it'd be applied to someone other than themselves." - Exactly. There's no such thing as a "viable solo human" anymore. We depend on society to survive.

      Hence the nature vs nurture debate, which trips up the racists and casual-Darwinists alike. The truth is none of us are completely viable natural organisms since society banded together and changed that requirement for survival.

      For better or worse. Personally I see value in not having every single person carrying a sharp rock and glancing around for someone to kill for food. Of course, there are failure models on both sides.

      It's like the idiots who pronounce that you can't have social capital, it has to be pure capitalism or pure socialism and they cannot have any overlap. It's just lack of depth on their part in evaluating the dynamics.

    6. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by sysrammer · · Score: 2

      Nonsense, nobody is saying that we should kill or mistreat stupid people. We are just saying that they should be sterilized.

      I know, right? Some people on the internet get so upset from such simple misunderstandings.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    7. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha. Bill is self-sterilizing as we speak, just sitting on his useless pud making shit up. Nobody is fucking that without a large cash transaction.

    8. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by novakyu · · Score: 1
    9. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now you know what's in the Beyond Meat burgers...

    10. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      Don't try patenting that idea, it has 75 years of prior art.

    11. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So by this logic, you're going to stop going to the doctor and taking medicine when you are sick? If you break a leg or get blinded in an accident someone should just dump you in a remote area to go and die?

      Nonsense, nobody is saying that we should kill or mistreat stupid people. We are just saying that they should be sterilized.

      Darn. I thought boiling water sterilizes. Oh well...

    12. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by xski · · Score: 1
      And now you're going to tie that to the topic somehow, right?

      Go away, AC Troll, or if you have something to say then SAY IT. Dropping by to toss out a random whinge does not endear anyone do your position. Quite the opposite, in fact.

    13. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by infolation · · Score: 2

      It's important to differentiate between intelligence and common sense.

      I know plenty of very intelligent people who seem to do boiling water challenge grade stupid on a fairly regular basis.

      But we live in a society that rewards 'brains on legs' type people. Provided your brain can make someone money, and you can hold your life together just enough to stay alive, society seems to consider you valuable.

      The concept of the village idiot is morphing into the village savant.

    14. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Per your example, there's nothing "un-sensical" about doing the BWChallenge, provided you do it SAFELY. Sure it's a waste of heat I guess, but there's nothing particularly wrong with observing phase transition science.

      Safety and sense require intelligence. There's no such thing as "common" sense because no two individuals share a definition, but most could agree that carelessly throwing boiling water in the air is not particularly intelligent.

      "Provided your brain can make someone money, and you can hold your life together just enough to stay alive, society seems to consider you valuable. " - For now.

      The current economic model will almost without question eventually fail and then what? Then you've lost all human value, by your societal criteria. Everyone has, except for whatever few have stolen all the resources.

      So it's hardly a model I'd support long term were I you.

    15. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Type44Q · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In general we have removed the positive effects of natural selection from our society, which is leading us to a rather bleak future (just watch the semi-fictional film "idiocracy" for a good extrapolation).

      No. The reason we have an "idiot problem" is certainly not because society restrains itself from euthanizing them; it's because society makes a special effort to produce them.

    16. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Sic. :/

    17. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish I didn't feel like modding this up was important, but it is/was. And the rest of us DO pay the costs when people do stupid things and require assistance because of it. I'm good at quite a few things that I learned because my parents didn't have to sweat Social Services taking their children away for letting us try stuff.
      3rd degree burns - charring - seems out there for what I learned of burn degrees, but hey, this is the bubble wrapped future, is there a 4th now, or does that just result in winning the room temperature challenge?

    18. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In general we have removed the positive effects of natural selection from our society, which is leading us to a rather bleak future (just watch the semi-fictional film "idiocracy" for a good extrapolation).

      If what you said were actually true, then society would never exist. Society was incredibly stupid when it came to science, religion, and the moral/ethical treatment of others. Almost universally we've made progress in all of these respects. If this in some fashion is counter to "natural selection" it would only prove how little "natural selection" is actually the deciding factor in human development.

      These stunts are one of the few natural selection sources left - whoever does a hydrochloric acid test for example should be removed from the human genome anyway. The problem is when bystanders get the effect instead of the idiot performing the actually stupidity...

      Sounds like you want some sort of system by which externalities are applied to the party that generates them. Let's call this system a justice system, even. Golly. You'd think such a system would inherently have a selection pressure on reproductive success. Of course, such is an *artificial* selection pressure. Natural selection is precisely the one that results in bystanders suffering. Any sort of retribution/vengeance would also be an artificial selection pressure. You see where that line of logic actually goes?

      It is definitely not news for nerds though, I don't see how it even remotely warrants inclusion on slashdot... Then again, I am not new here... :D

      The actual boiling water challenge is part of a science experiment and warrants understanding exactly why steam can freeze in the air near instantly but cold water cannot. But, yea, can't see why science experiments gone wrong would in any way interest nerds, even though science experiments gone wrong--ie, possibly stupidity--is the cornerstone of most of scientific advancement.

    19. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Darn. I thought boiling water sterilizes. Oh well...

      It does, but it can take up to 30 minutes.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    20. Re: Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hitler hears your prayers.

    21. Re: Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's already in our stomachs

    22. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some kinds of knowledge are universal general truisms. Don't get between a mother and her child. It doesn't matter almost which animal you're talking about, if a mother is taking care of a child, an unwanted approach to the child will probably result in the mother defending its offspring. Don't blindly trust a stranger is another.

    23. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by TAz00 · · Score: 1

      It' was a total accident when I did 5 gram of beer and 1 litre of coke and started driving to work and killed that family. Luckily the doctors re-attached my junk. See, the family wasnt performing a stunt, and so they get to go to the doctor. The other guy should've been killed to death. Dont think its that unclear?

    24. Re:Hydrochloric acid challenge next? by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Nobody is fucking that without a large cash transaction.

      I know, right? How much are you offering?

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  3. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    shut the fuck up

  4. "Call it evolution in action" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Never underestimate our species' immense capacity for stupidity.

    1. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amatures!

      We did it this year and other years when it gets -20 or lower. The key is be careful, know how to throw it and how much you can safely throw. And all the normal stuff: stand back, don't throw at people, look before you throw, etc, etc, etc.

      Just because stupid people hurt themselves doesn't mean no one can do something safely.

    2. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Aighearach · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The child survived.

      There was no selection event.

      No evolution happened.

      My goodness, educational standards have sure fallen.

    3. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So True, Idiots do something, kills everyone and gets to procreate.
      For example, the Schumann family...

    4. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are correct... education ton has suffered... selection need not mean death. Selection could occur because the horrible disfigurement that should have been evidence of the aforementioned persons' suitability(or lack of suitability in this case) to breed were fixed by modern medicine. Sadly theres a lot of this.

    5. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because modern medicine is not being utilized to screen for reproductive suitability.

      Just think, we could breed men with larger penises and girls that instinctively knew how to suck cock with just a few generations of effort.

    6. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by KiloByte · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It wasn't the child, it was someone next to it. The idiot who threw the boiling water should be prosecuted for assault -- at this point, this can't be argued to be an accident, it's more like shooting into the air on a crowded street,

      Killing an innocent bystander is no selection, at least unless the trait we're selecting against isn't "don't stand near dangerous morons".

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    7. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We already have your mom. Science achieved, best blowjobs possible via massive experience.

    8. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 0

      Pedantic much? Shut up.

    9. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He probably meant -20 Fahrenheit.

      That shouldn't be too hard an inference to make, chump.

    10. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cry harder, AC. Rick posts things that people agree with and you don't, which is probably why you're an AC and he's not. Maybe if you had something worthwhile and intelligent to say you'd be in the positives instead of at zero or -1 all the time. But I guess you can just be butthurt all the time if that's what makes you happy, LOL.

    11. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by HarrySquatter · · Score: 1

      Yes, we could. When are you gonna go off yourself?

    12. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      speaking of capacity for stupidity

      the word is spelled AMATEUR

    13. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The idiot who threw the boiling water should be prosecuted for assault -- at this point, this can't be argued to be an accident, it's more like shooting into the air on a crowded street,

      That's not assault, though, it's reckless endangerment.

      Killing an innocent bystander is no selection, at least unless the trait we're selecting against isn't "don't stand near dangerous morons".

      I don't promote such selection, but it seems fairly valid. Do you ever watch stuff, whether it's a candid video of someone getting injured, or even a fictional movie, and find yourself thinking "looks like it's time to go!" Some people don't have that sense, and they suffer for it.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    14. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by novakyu · · Score: 1

      It doesn't have to be direct. Think more probabilistically. Maybe the burn will leave a scar. Maybe the scar will make it harder for the child to find a mate and leave an offspring. Evolution still might be in action.

    15. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by xski · · Score: 1

      I suppose natural selection has no problem with guilt by association.

    16. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      That's not how evolution works.

      It goes along using "survival of everything meeting a low minimum standard" for most of the time, and then at very specific times there are "selection events" where everything below some higher standard died.

      Having a scar doesn't prevent breeding. Being slightly uglier than before doesn't prevent breeding. Have you ever even been in a trailer park? Have you ever seen a family with 12 kids? If you knew somebody had 12 kids, would you assume they must be really beautiful?

      That which doesn't kill anybody, wasn't part of evolution. It was merely part of the drift that happens most of the time, when you're not in a selection event.

    17. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      1) Evolution doesn't care whose "fault" it was.
      2) The child was likely the offspring either of the person who did it, or of somebody stupid enough to let their child stand near that person
      3) The adult already reproduced. Even if they died, the event didn't remove them from the line, since the child already exists.

    18. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Solandri · · Score: 1

      I wonder how many of these people were protected by helicopter parents from ever touching a hot stove, or having hot water from the bathtub spigot splash onto them. These aren't bad experiences we need to be protected from. We need to experience them in situations where the potential harm is small, so we can learn. That way, later in life we do not intentionally create stupid situations where where their potential harm is much greater.

    19. Re: "Call it evolution in action" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Amatures!
      Are you describing yourself? A-mature, as in lacking maturity? Similar to Amoral?

    20. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Killing an innocent bystander is no selection, at least unless the trait we're selecting against isn't "don't stand near dangerous morons".

      Well, depending on how far back you go they were probably your family or your tribe. There's no doubt in my mind that natural selection is far more than individual reproduction, or certain traits should never have appeared. For example the will of some to fight and die protecting others or the selflessness some have, in a group they make the group stronger. I also think that is why almost any primitive group has created some form of religion, it creates an order and a community, rewards and punishments for right and wrong that make it stronger as a whole. That your neighbor is a total stranger you have no relationship with is a fairly modern phenomenon when you look at all of human history.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    21. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      at this point, this can't be argued to be an accident

      Justify this statement. An activity was conducted like it had been done 100s of times before with a clear expected and safe outcome. The expected outcome didn't occur. I'll now leave it to you to tell everyone *why* this can't be argued as an accident. Then I will proceed to argue with you.

    22. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      An activity was conducted like it had been done 100s of times before with a clear expected and safe outcome.

      "I have expended 100 bullets shooting in the air on various weddings, funerals and parties, yet no one was killed by me this way yet. By others, yeah, but not by me, until now."

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    23. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      And by shooting into the air the resulting death would be accidental. Punishable through the laws of negligence, but not at all through a targeted law like assault which is what you were proposing.

    24. Re:"Call it evolution in action" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The child survived.

      There was no selection event.

      No evolution happened.

      My goodness, educational standards have sure fallen.

      Burma Shave.

  5. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why AOC is irrelevant and nobody talks about her: part 1 in a 378 part series.

  6. Re: Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You tell em !

  7. Next up, laser pointer demodex challenge by mnemotronic · · Score: 2

    Let's see if people can get rid of demodex mites in their eyelashes using a high-powered laser pointer. Just be careful not to point the beam directly into the iris.

    Stay tuned for tips on how to be more relaxed while driving! Hint: Don't use that seatbelt / shoulder harness!

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  8. sigh by supernova87a · · Score: 1

    Sometimes I turn pessimistic and think that we need a good war (or maybe measles) to clear out the country of morons and people who are half stumbling through life on autopilot, making a mockery of the struggles we went through as a country to give people the prosperity we enjoy today.

    1. Re:sigh by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Sometimes I turn pessimistic and think that we need a good war (or maybe measles) to clear out the country of morons

      Measles might work, but a war doesn't. The bravest volunteer, and the brightest can be hit with a mortar along with the dimmest.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:sigh by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Or perhaps increase the standards in the science education at schools.

      Unfortunately the Textbook League site have shutdown for some years now but when they where active they found tons of blatant errors in school science text books.

      For those interested you should check out episode #52 of the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe where they interviewed the Textbook League president, Bill Bennetta, while it was still active: https://www.theskepticsguide.o...

  9. Stupid people are stupid by guruevi · · Score: 1

    They see a video and instantly believe it. The water has to go through a phase transition and shed a ton of energy doing that (something like 500 cal/g) and depending on the size of the droplet will take at least 2-30 minutes, not seconds.

    I just had someone argue that a candle could heat an entire room in case of emergency, you just had to put it on fire bricks and a flower pot, the bricks would heat up (somehow) and give off heat.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    1. Re:Stupid people are stupid by burtosis · · Score: 3

      I did this when the temps reached -30F without windchill. It's not a dumb experiment, but cold temperatures don't magically negate the fact you are using boiling water which is a scald hazard. There is more energy and more destructive power in a car, and if you back over people because it's crowded and you didn't clear off the snow on your windows or can't stop because of ice you are guilty of being an idiot. It is perfectly ok to use a car if you clean the windows and drive safely.

      That said you are correct. Droplets from being thrown will take too long to freeze even at -30. The reason you boil the water is the steam, at -30 boilling water makes a very audible fwooossshhh sound and the steam droplets are cold enough to freeze because of the extremely small size. Cold water won't fwooooshhh and makes much less vapor. I have a mini snow making rig that is comprised of a pressure washer and air compressor, unless it's about -20 or less even the tiny droplets from just a fine spray pressure washer nozzle won't freeze (even then it stinks) you need compressed air to atomize it further and expand to provide nucleation.

    2. Re:Stupid people are stupid by Solandri · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I just had someone argue that a candle could heat an entire room in case of emergency, you just had to put it on fire bricks and a flower pot, the bricks would heat up (somehow) and give off heat.

      A single candle won't. But a candle gives off about 50-100 Watts of thermal energy. It's actually close to the thermal output of a human body at rest (about 80-100 Watts). So if the overriding survival concern was temperature (instead of, say, pollutants in the air), then yes, one or two candles will put out as much heat as having another person in the room. And two or three dozen candles will put out as much heat as a 1500W space heater.

      People just think candles are weak because they are spectacularly inefficient as a light source. IIRC only 0.04% of the energy goes into light; the rest is given off as heat. So that Earth Day tradition where businesses turn off their 12% efficient T8 fluorescent ceiling lights and use candles instead actually wastes a phenomenal amount of energy. A single T8 bulb consumes 32 Watts, or about as much as those small tea candles. But puts out a helluva lot more light.

    3. Re:Stupid people are stupid by ledow · · Score: 2

      Hot water can cool quicker than cold water.

      It's seems insane, but it's actually true. It's called the Mpemba effect.

      In this particular experiment, it's a combination of VERY cold air temperatures, using boiling (steaming) water that's already trying to evaporate, injecting it quickly into a fast-moving air-stream (the windchill is the extreme part, not the basic air temperature), over as large a volume as possible (so it spreads more).

      If you wanted to flash-freeze something as quickly as possible, that's what you'd do - put it in a cold, fast-flowing fluid stream, and spreading it as much as possible to make the droplets small.

    4. Re:Stupid people are stupid by sjames · · Score: 1

      It actually does work, and it doesn't even need to be that cold. The key is that the water needs to thoroughly atomize.

      And a candle isn't likely to heat the whole house, but it might manage to make the bathroom a bit more comfortable.

  10. Headline by Kohath · · Score: 4, Funny

    Global Warming Causes Severe Burns

    Subhead: Winter Temperatures Too Warm for Viral Boiling Water Challenge

    1. Re:Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sub-subhead: Kohath would happily suck Vladimir Putin's dick for reruns of the Big Bang Theory on DVD.

    2. Re:Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Global Warming Causes Severe Burns

      Subhead: Winter Temperatures Too Warm for Viral Boiling Water Challenge

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

      Its so funny because its so true!

  11. It's dangerous? by hawguy · · Score: 1

    Who could have predicted that flinging a container full of boiling water in the air right next to them would be dangerous!? Next you're going to tell me that it's dangerous to drink boiling water or pour it on someone.

    They should put a warning on it if it's that dangerous.

    1. Re:It's dangerous? by burtosis · · Score: 1

      They should put a warning on it if it's that dangerous.

      The main problem is when they put a warning label on each water molecule, It turned out to have almost as fine a print as your average eula and nobody read them.

    2. Re:It's dangerous? by Megane · · Score: 1

      If you think that's bad, you should read about all the dangers of Di-hydrogen Monoxide.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  12. YHep by Presence+Eternal · · Score: 1

    I tried doing this. It took some lateral thinking, but I figured it would be smart to throw the water away from myself and others, and not straight up. I already knew it was unwise to throw it against the wind due to a preceding incident involving having to go to the bathroom while camping.

    1. Re:YHep by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Did it work?

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:YHep by burtosis · · Score: 1

      Did it work?

      Yes, you can still pee when it's -20 or less despite "shrinkage".

    3. Re:YHep by Presence+Eternal · · Score: 1

      No, or at least, some water hit the ground, which was disappointing. But at least none hit a three year old.

  13. Natural selection by grumpy-cowboy · · Score: 1

    Nature doesn't need that much brain-dead people.

    --
    Will $CURRENT_YEAR be the year of the Linux Desktop?
    1. Re:Natural selection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... ugh, ahem... that MANY people, you might have blurted. Nature doesn't need any of us really. All of us are artificial constructs of what humanity has settled into calling itself as normal. None of us are viable alone without education, nurture.

      Police officers leaving their guns for their offspring to find, soccer moms speeding down the freeway on the cell phone, children being fed fast food more than once a month, etc. None of that is any more necessary to nature.

      All of it is fail.

  14. Re: Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    417 part series

  15. She only had "power" because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...a White man allowed her to have some. It can always be taken away.

    1. Re:She only had "power" because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...a White man allowed her to have some. It can always be taken away.

      Actually, Nancy P is going to take it away once AOC pisses her off enough.. Trust me..

    2. Re: She only had "power" because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why the fuck does every single thread on this site have the same autistic retards having the same argument? Do you somehow think mainstream America is going to be shook by your devastating political insight posted on a site for greybeard techies?

  16. Play stupid games win stupid prizes exemplar. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Definitely a notable mentions candidate for the social trending category of the play stupid games, win stupid prizes awards.

    No deaths reported so the Darwin awards are not applicable...

  17. Re:Should be Illegal by HarrySquatter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why are you right-wingers so obsessed with her? She's a junior representative with no actual power yet you all can't stop talking about her.

  18. Poor Baby by divide+overflow · · Score: 1

    Maybe AOC could help you with your vagina problem.

  19. Wait...what? You're supposed to ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...throw it in the AIR...not pour it on yourself like the ice bucket challenge? No wonder I'm in such pain.

  20. Teh Peoples Beez Dum by divide+overflow · · Score: 2

    Sure, in a macabre way they're entertaining, but then I remember that if they can make it to 18 they will be eligible to vote.

    1. Re:Teh Peoples Beez Dum by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      These people are learning something about physics, and are learning by doing. I'd rather they vote than the vast majority of "This is how you live your life" taught people out there.

  21. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    She's 1, female and 2, ethnic latina, and 3, up and coming Democrat, and 4, they can't get laid in a whorehouse, being nazi INCEL Republicans. 5, pity their wasted lives, they 6, back a traitor who 7, will either hang for treason or rot in 8, prison.

  22. We need to encourage this behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The reality is these people need to get out of the gene pool before they do something that takes innocent bystanders with them when they go.

    My philosophy has always been along the lines of: I don't care if a drunk driver drives their car off a cliff and kills themselves; however, drunk drivers have a nasty habit of taking out other innocent motorists in the process of trying to kill themselves.

    The sooner we get the less intelligent people out of the gene pool, the safer the rest of us will be.

    So we need to encourage this behavior -- even if the behavior doesn't kill them, perhaps they will by maimed enough to cease being a threat or (god forbid) might actually learn something and stop being so stupid.

  23. Re: Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's up to 472 atm. Stay tuned!

  24. Re:Should be Illegal by sysrammer · · Score: 2

    To instill the proper amount of deep-seated hatred, not only for this generation but the next, one must begin the bullying behaviors early.

    --
    His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  25. Yep, it takes decades to build up blind hatred by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    they did the same with Hilary. Not that she didn't have plenty of good reasons to hate her, but the good reasons were things like "she'll sell us out to mega corporations" and "She supports TPP and outsourcing".

    You're not allowed to talk about those kind of things; they're profitable business. So you're stuck with trying to instill a general sense of dread.

    With AOC it's harder because she doesn't really have any dirt. She's a pretty girl, meaning they probably can find anyone she sexually harassed. She's from a basic, middle class family so they won't find corruption. And so far she knows better than to apologize for anything (Liz Warren shoulda told everybody, including the Cherokees, to go fuck themselves on the Indian thing. Apologizing is never good in politics, Trump taught us that).

    Speaking of Trump, AOC has the potential to be the left wing Trump: Somebody who nothing sticks to and who can bypass traditional media and go directly to the voters. With the main difference being that when she says Drain the Swamp see seems to mean it. If you're a billionaire who doesn't like paying taxes you'll spend some time trying to bury her before that happens.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Yep, it takes decades to build up blind hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AOC and Trump are totally different ends of the spectrum politically. Don't fool yourself.

      Her young and foolish big talking is only eclipsed by her stunning lack of understanding of basic economics (which she has a degree in, none the less). She is acting 100% political, selling her soul and future with the lubricious schemes she's suggesting. Where I get that she's likely to be elected in her district may times, she's has a woeful lack of appeal across the vast majority of the voting base nation wide so she will be lucky to hold anything more than a House seat, ever.

      She is simply too far left, even for the Democratic party. She's radical socialist left and it plays well in her district, but I doubt it would play well at the state level, even in the liberal Mecca she's from.

      Trump is a centrist and by and large plays to the center... Enough so he won over Hillary who was grasping for the center, between Sanders who was left of her and Trump crowding her from the right. AOC may appeal to enough Democrats to get nominated to some national office, but she's way crazy left and has zero chance of actually winning, especially over Trump, an incumbent ..

    2. Re: Yep, it takes decades to build up blind hatred by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      AOC is going to end up in some kind of financial scandal before long, and people will be saying, "Where did she get all that money?" And some people will try to justify it irrationally, and others will condemn her without understanding, just like they always do.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  26. By that logic the GOP just killed itself en masse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill, every time you blather nonfacts as if asserting actual facts, your penis becomes that much less viable as an actual sexual organ, you realize?
     

  27. Brett Buttfuck the nazi thinks eugenics = 75 yo? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Brett Buttfuck you know nothing about history if you think Eugenics began 75 years ago.

  28. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Her influence is pulling the Democratic Party out of the Overton Window [wikipedia.org],

    Oh no! The Democrats will be skewed from center-right to slightly more centerish, whatever will they do!

    and toward electoral suicide. She may be leading the Democratic Party off a cliff.

    Not really, considering the only people who don't like her proposals are Boomers, and nobody cares what they think anymore. Go share some more red scare Minions memes, grandpa.

  29. Let natural selection actually happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the problem with the world today, we don't let natural selection happen anymore. Pretty much every major culture for thousands of years, if a baby was too unhealthy or if an adult was a class 5 nutjob, societies shunned this and did not allow procreation (more or less).

    Nowadays we do everything in our power to make sure the unhealthy survive and everything in our power to make sure the nutjobs are the ones creating more children and the calm educated ones do not.

    For example, where I live drug addicts and people overdosing 6 or 7 times get more and more rights (safe places, free needles, etc). This is an example of doing everything in our power to keep the worst of society alive at all costs.

  30. what temp? by hraponssi · · Score: 1

    ok, they are idiots in the first place to throw boiling water next to people. let alone 3 year olds. but what does the trick need to work? i can imagine it must be quite a difference to throw it at -30C vs -1C. how was it in these cases? the linked article does not say much..

  31. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The trouble with taking her seriously is that she keeps saying stupid shit. It is entertaining though. The R's got Trump elected because he was outside the political mainstream, the D's put up HRC, in spite of all her baggage, probably because they promised her they would eight years before when she conceded the nomination (not really caring what the people might want when the time came). Frankly I blame the DNC as much for Trump as I do the R's. At least the R's were trying for some change and bucked the party leadership. The good news is that we may end up burning everything down and getting the opportunity to start again. Until then I'm going to enjoy the ride.

  32. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What proposals? I can't find a single actual proposal that she has made. All she has done is repeat Bernie Sanders talking points and much like him, she has no way to implement any of it. I am in favor of many of the ideas, but she has no actual plan for how to do any of it. Anyone can just say wouldn't it be great if...

  33. Who Cares? by george14215 · · Score: 1

    Out of 8 billion people on the planet, there will always be stupid people doing stupid things and accidentally hurting themselves. Are we going to try and outlaw this experiment because of 8 people?

  34. Re: Brett Buttfuck the nazi thinks eugenics = 75 y by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eugenics was one of the early Progressive ideas. Progressives like Margaret Sanger were strong advocates. It was a major motivator in the founding of Planned Parenthood. You can even look at the statistics today and note the very disproportinate number of women-of-color who recieve abortions.

  35. Re:Should be Illegal by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    The trouble with taking her seriously is that she keeps saying stupid shit.

    So did Trump. The Democrats thought they could win just by pointing out his mistakes, while ignoring the concerns of his supporters. They were wrong.

    AOC said that being morally correct was more important than being factually correct. A poll of people in her district showed a majority agreed with that statement.

    Facts no longer matter in American politics, on either the left or right.

  36. My Challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My challenge is that you stop being a dumb ass for just one day.

  37. Southerners aren't this stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But it seems northerners are lacking common sense?

    And if you are going to try this - throw it down wind, just like you know (I hope) not to piss into the wind. Or do northerners do that too?

  38. That's painfully obvious by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and you're missing my point. She's using the same playbook but for different ends. She's using New Media (Twitter, Youtube, etc) to by pass the media filter and get her message out. It works for her because she's cute and charismatic. Trump pulled it off with Celebrity, but same thing. And she doesn't back down or apologize for gaffs. That's key. Voters are like sharks in a pool, they smell blood they're on you in a second.

    Politics has changed and she changed with it. That's why they're scared shitless of her.

    And Trump is not a centrists, he's an opportunist. He has no actually political beliefs whatsoever. He's taken virtually every position possible but when it came time to put policy in action everything he did was to benefit him and his. He's a Kleptocrat.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:That's painfully obvious by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Good points.

      Though I did enjoy the AC's bit about "lubricious". There's a multi-level insult if I've ever seen one. It might be enough to revive that meme about someone-or-another covered with grits in some manner.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  39. "Challenge"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This wasn't something stupid like a tide pod eating contest, you simply throw boiling water into frigid air. My family did it here in the Chicago burbs for fun and it worked quite well (was -27 F), producing a plume of snow that drifted through the yard.

    How many burn themselves cooking? Should we call this the "boiling egg challenge"? Or die in a car accident in a "drive to work" challenge?

    Seriously, enough with the spin.

  40. Bernie didn't by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    so it's possible she won't. I'm not sure I could blame her if she did sell out, but assuming she doesn't she's going to be untouchable. Assuming they don't redraw her district, but that'll be hard to do. Gerrymandering means making a few safe districts for Dems so you can make more safe districts for the GOP.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re: Bernie didn't by phantomfive · · Score: 0

      Bernie was more thoughtful and idealistic. AOC just wants money. I fully admit I might be wrong here. But without ideals to keep you going, you burn out quickly.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re: Bernie didn't by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      She's going to get a lot of heat in the next few months to a year and how she responds to that will give an indication of her staying power, I guess. Without a doubt she's changed the conversation, even if she doesn't stay.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re: Bernie didn't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AOC just wants money. I fully admit I might be wrong here.

      lol look at this fuckin galaxy-brain take here. you must be some sort of genius huh.

      It may be XYZ, but it also may not be XYZ.

      insightful stuff, champ.

  41. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill, I want to talk about your penis.

  42. Hell on a sled by swm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was up in the White Mountains, in a hiking lodge, state park, national park, I don't recall.
    They have a roll--a memorial--of people who have died hiking in the area, going back to around 1900.
    The plaque explains that hiking isn't extremely dangerous, but you are in the wilderness, you are on a mountain, and things can happen, and we should all be mindful of this.

    Some of the deaths are mishaps; some are bad weather, some are just people who happened to have a heart attack while they were on the mountain. But about once every 10 years, someone dies sledding down Mt. Washington on a cafeteria tray. (I am not making this up.)

    My guess is that when someone dies this way, word gets around, and then no one tries it for a while. But after a decade has passed, there is a new generation who came along too late to get the memo, and one of them does try it, and then there is a new name on the memorial.

    ...and this end is called the Thagomizer, after the late Thag Simmons.
    -- Gary Lawson, The Far Side

  43. No, Bernie is _older_ by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    he makes fewer gaffs due to experience so he seems more thoughtful. That is. Nothing more, nothing less.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:No, Bernie is _older_ by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      ok, I've been thinking about this overnight, and here are my thoughts (in case you for some reason care). AOC isn't particularly more braindead than any other politician, as you say. So no big deal there, she'll get the hang of it.

      The biggest problem I see is that here's what will happen:

      1) "Tax the rich" becomes popular.
      2) Republicans (and lets face it, a ton of Democrats) realize they need to make a token effort to appease the people
      3) They join together (loudly protesting or cheering as needed) and raise the top bracket to 45% on people earning more than $10million a year (the idea is 70% but I don't think that will happen).
      4) Everyone is satisfied and goes back to watching TV, or complaining how stupid AOC, Pelosi, or Trump actually is, while
      5) Less than two thousand people are affected by the new tax rate, and half of those are able to restructure their income to avoid the new taxes.

      In other words, an ineffectual bill will be passed with loopholes that appease anyone who actually knows how to lobby government.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  44. Re: Brett Buttfuck the nazi thinks eugenics = 75 y by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It predates all of that obviously, you're just uneducated and want to make a political point like Conservatives in 2019 aren't nazis, which we all know is false. You are nazis now. And we're going to hang you like nazi traitors.

    I hope you saw that coming, traitor.

  45. Why use boiling water? by ayesnymous · · Score: 1
    If you want to see water turn to powder, why not just use room temperature water?

    The real stupidity is throwing the water straight up, or throwing it against the wind.

    1. Re:Why use boiling water? by sjames · · Score: 1

      The whole premise is that hot water freezes faster than cold water. It's anti-intuitive, but there seems to be some real question there.

    2. Re:Why use boiling water? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      If you want to see water turn to powder, why not just use room temperature water?

      Physics. The temperature difference is what causes visible vapour. The same trick done with boiling water is orders of magnitude more impressive than room temperature water.

    3. Re:Why use boiling water? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      No. That's the premise by people who don't understand the mechanism. The experiment relies on condensing of water vapour not freezing the water. When you boil water and then attempt to atomize it (you may notice people are always trying to spread out the water when they throw it) readily turns into vapour. Cold water doesn't do the same and while you get a bit of the effect it's orders of magnitude less spectacular.

  46. I woner if... by Wizardess · · Score: 1

    I wonder if these people also are prone to pissing upwind. Darwin has a special place in evolution for people who piss or throw boiling water upwind.
    {o.o}

  47. evolution and genetic fitness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Darwin's making a list and checking it twice

  48. I picked up a mouse once by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And saw a tiny turd come out of it's rear.

  49. Let's get some perspective by sjames · · Score: 1

    This is not exactly a Darwin Awards moment. They're tossing a bit of water into the air, not juggling chainsaws. Most people can manage it without getting water on themselves or others. It's also a cool demonstration.

    A small number of people managed to injure themselves or others doing this. They're probably the same people who managed as children to hurt themselves with a Nerf toy. From the sound of it, only one or two of the injuries actually required care beyond home first aid. I do feel for the 3 year old who clearly wasn't old enough to watch out for himself, of course.

  50. Should have been more dangerous stunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These "viral" stunts need to be much more dangerous. Only when they are deadly will we properly clean up the human gene pool by keeping these people from reproducing.

  51. Nature has something to teach you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder if these people also are prone to pissing upwind. Darwin has a special place in evolution for people who piss or throw boiling water upwind.
    {o.o}

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-anointing_in_animals#Ungulates

    For the Ichewe, pissing in the wind would be an evolutionary advantage: free cologne!

  52. Hilarious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Headline should read: "Someone does something dumb on the internet, and other people get injured doing it"

    Coincidentally, I watched the South Park episode about the dangers of internet memes. Very clever.

    I'm off to Faith Hill now, or Taylor Swift... or whatever those youngin's are up to these days.

  53. Re:Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We're enjoying the Democrat's latest stand-up comedienne.

  54. Third Degree Burns? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Defined as "charred flesh." From boiling water?

  55. Re:Should be Illegal by sysrammer · · Score: 1

    In related news, Ocasio-Cortez announced new legislation which would outlaw the possession, sale, or use of any such military style, tactical assault liquid.

    C'mon folks. Troll yes, but this is hellafunny nonetheless!

    --
    His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  56. Re: Should be Illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    473. Turn on, tune in, drop out!

  57. Re:Should be Illegal by sysrammer · · Score: 1

    Damn. I've been expecting this kind of thing. One thing experience shows is that once a political strategy or tactic is found to be successful, it *will* be used by the opposition.

    Rule by Emotion vs. Rule by Logic. I have a gut feeling that somewhere in the middle is the proper mix.

    --
    His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain