From R-Squared…..

Based on some of the comments following my post on the “water car”, I think several people misunderstood the point. It was not to debunk the water car. You can in fact run a car with water as one of the reactants. I could even run a car on crushed ice or Jell-O, if I used the right second reactant.

My point was merely to show how a car could be run on water, and to further point out that it requires a second, very reactive substance. In other words, the “water car” is not running solely on water. The other point was that the reactive substance will always take more energy to produce than you will get back from splitting the water. That’s simply pointing out the thermodynamics. It doesn’t mean that there might not be times that it makes economic sense to do this – just that there is much more to the story than a car that runs on water.

I always thought that running car on water was just a myth cooked up by conspiracy buffs. Turns out, it can be done in theory, but it is just not economical because of the cost of the reactants.

From the Washington Post….

Watch out for cars with bumper stickers.

That’s the surprising conclusion of a recent study by Colorado State University social psychologist William Szlemko. Drivers of cars with bumper stickers, window decals, personalized license plates and other “territorial markers” not only get mad when someone cuts in their lane or is slow to respond to a changed traffic light, but they are far more likely than those who do not personalize their cars to use their vehicles to express rage — by honking, tailgating and other aggressive behavior.

It does not seem to matter whether the messages on the stickers are about peace and love — “Visualize World Peace,” “My Kid Is an Honor Student” — or angry and in your face — “Don’t Mess With Texas,” “My Kid Beat Up Your Honor Student.”

H/T Marginal Revolution

Part one below….

The rest can be found in the sidebar here….

To much feel good fluff. But well worth watching to the end.

The Midwest is getting soaked…..

At 90, Mary McMahon is old enough to remember the record-setting floods of 1929, when the Cedar River crested at 20 feet. Thursday morning, she came downtown with her son to compare the flood of her childhood with the flood of 2008.

“I just can’t believe it,” she said, as she stood in front of U.S. Bank on Second Avenue and watched dirty brown river water flowing up the street in front of her. “It was bad then, but it was nothing like this… This is worse, a lot worse.”

Infrastructure is failing….

Engineers and National Guard teams examined dams across this storm-deluged state Tuesday looking for signs of damage from the high water that led to the major collapse that nearly emptied Lake Delton.

The huge breach in an embankment holding back Lake Delton released a torrent that washed away three houses and a stretch of highway. The weekend’s storm also displaced thousands of Indiana residents and was blamed for 15 deaths in the Midwest and elsewhere.

And cities are being evacuated……

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines River has punched a 100-foot wide hole in a levee, allowing water to gush into an area near the downtown of Iowa’s capital and largest city early this morning.

A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for 270 homes in Des Moines. Many residents have already left the area under a voluntary evacuation request issued yesterday.

From China Daily……

A draft law in Liaoning province makes it an obligation for adult children to contact or visit their parents regularly.

It is the first legislation of its kind in the country.

The province’s standing committee of the people’s congress recently released the draft – Regulation on Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged – to seek public opinion.

It is expected to become law by the end of the year.

An article says if children do not live with their parents, they should “often send greetings or go home to visit them”.

From Medical News Today……

Johnny Jackson, a 10-year-old American boy from South Carolina, died at home on Sunday from “dry drowning” more than an hour after going swimming and walking home with his mother. The sad event highlights a little known danger that parents and child carers should be aware of, that drowning can kill hours after being submersed in water.

Johnny’s mother, Cassandra Jackson, told NBC News in a story broadcast on the TODAY show on Thursday that:

“I’ve never known a child could walk around, talk, speak and their lungs be filled with water.”

Robert Kennedy’s 1948 Reports from Palestine is this week’s essay of the week.

From Edifice Rex….

We were building onto a hospital in Anniston, AL. This crane was only at about 200 feet but to me it was pretty high. They sway so much that I actually felt motion sick as I reached the top. Another thing that is about as common is to have the crane operator die in the crane of natural causes. I guess since most operators are usually older men and the cabs of the cranes get very hot, several of them have had heart attacks. By the time anyone knows what is going on and can get to them (it takes about 15-20 minutes to climb to the cab) they are already dead. One we know of died during a concrete pour. A lot of the high rise floors here are poured with a crane and buckets that holds 2-3 yards of concrete. The operator had enough wits about him when he realized what was happening to hit the emergency stop on the crane but he unfortunately, passed away.

You would think that if you where building a crane that could go 200 feet and more into the air you would be able to a afford the extra cost for some air conditioning won’t you? Maybe they don’t want the extra weight?

I know it cause the guy on TV told me (h/t Belmont Club)

On the balance though, I think that this is a good product. It will teach kids how to defeat electronic surveillance at an early age.