[LAD] joining the fun...

[Joern Nettingsmeier]

hi guys.

Pieter Palmers wrote:
>  I'm sorry, but the following statement:
> 
> "Here’s a few vids of the mighty power of hydrogen explosions. Not an 
> endorsement of nuclear power but just a reference for anyone who is 
> doubting the energy contained in Hydrogen."
> 
> is ridiculous. It's not because that type of atomic bomb is called a 
> "hydrogen bomb" that it has anything to do with hydrogen as a power 
> source. The former is about splitting the hydrogen atom itself, the 
> latter is about splitting the bonds a hydrogen atom has with other 
> atoms.

for the record, there is not much to split in a hydrogen atom (generally 
it's just one proton, very rarely accompanied by one or two neutrons). 
the principle behind the h bomb is fusion of hydrogen into heavier 
elements, where the "activation energy" (i hope the term is applicable 
here) comes from a previous nuclear fission explosion.

i guess more of those water exploders should venture in this direction - 
if we could somehow keep the collateral damage at bay, it might raise 
the average intelligence of our species considerably.

douglas adams has presented this weird idea of a super-powerful alien 
species about to blast earth away to make room for a hyperspace bypass. 
i always wonder: what arguments can we give those guys not to do it?
"hey, look, they've figured out the standard model, and they have 
something called UNO, and OLPC!" - "yeah, maybe, but what about those 
dorks doing videos on water combustion?" - "right. fire away."

ok, i'm currently in hospital and really REALLY bored. and probably 
still under the residual influence of anaesthestics. just the perfect 
mood to join a thread such as this.

btw, it might be even more efficient to use the mythical "hydrogen 
stripping trick" on ethanol. you get five parts hydrogen in one go, and 
if it doesn't work, you can at least get hammered.



-- 
jörn nettingsmeier

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Kurt is up in Heaven now.