[Beowulf] Re: "hobbyists"

Robert G. Brown rgb at phy.duke.edu
Sat Jun 21 05:33:11 PDT 2008


On Fri, 20 Jun 2008, Peter St. John wrote:

> The destructive radius of Little Boy was about total, up to about one mile
> radius, and tapered down to light at about two miles. So being in a
> lead-lined steel container at 2000 meters might be OK for Indiana.
>
> In all action movies, blasts throw people unhurt for long distances; when
> that much force (to impart that much momentum) would kill you. That part is
> just conventional Hollywood. I could teach RGB to kick me so that I fly
> through the air as in a Bruce Lee movie; it's a stunt, and real kicks

Ooo, you can?  When can we start?  What if I, um, "miss"?

> reallly hitting drop you like a sack of potatoes, I've seen it. But not in
> movies. Similarly bullets, they drill holes in you, if they pushed you
> through the air the recoil would do the same to the shooter.

Yes, one does have to work a bit to suspend disbelief when watching
movies these days.  But not TOO much.  Years of watching Jackie Chan,
James Bond, Bruce Lee, Angelina Jolie, etc have gradually broken us into
the idea that there are two completely distinct realities.  The one
where you can get hit on the head with a two by four and continue
fighting, and the one where you can get hit on the head with a two by
four and bits of your skull and brains spatter out onto the walls.
They're even both hollywood realities!

> As for the scene's good taste I can't say, I haven't seen the movie yet :-)

Yah.  Maybe this week.  Maybe I'll wait for the video.

    rgb

>
> Peter
>
>
>
> On 6/20/08, Kilian CAVALOTTI <kilian at stanford.edu> wrote:
>>
>> On Thursday 19 June 2008 11:25:05 am Mike Davis wrote:
>>> According to one weapons designer the only safe way to use it was to
>>> fire from a hilltop into a valley from a jeep and then drive like
>>> hell into the next valley.
>>
>>
>> Or... there's also the so-called "home appliance nuke evasion
>> manoeuvre", as demonstrated in "Indiana Jones and the Fridge of Nuclear
>> Doom". But, obviously, you need a fridge.
>>
>> http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/ius/archives/003477.html
>>
>> --
>>
>> Kilian
>>
>

-- 
Robert G. Brown                            Phone(cell): 1-919-280-8443
Duke University Physics Dept, Box 90305
Durham, N.C. 27708-0305
Web: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb
Book of Lilith Website: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/Lilith/Lilith.php
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