Episode #696
News Items
- Oumuamua Update
- Glasses for Colorblindness
- Anti-Gravity
- NASA Retires Kepler
- New Controversial Opioid
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week: R2D2
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
In 1928 the St. Francis Dam near Los Angeles experienced sudden catastrophic failure just 12 hours after its final inspection, resulting in over 400 deaths. http://damfailures.org/case-study/st-francis-dam-california-1928/
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Item #2
Fiction
In 1971 the 40 story Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City experienced total failure and collapse during a magnitude 4.2 earthquake, because it was not designed to existing standards, resulting in over 600 deaths. https://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2018/04/worst-engineering-disasters.html/2
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Item #3
Science
In 1984 a safety valve in a chemical plant in Bhopal India released 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate, a toxic gas, into the air, immediately killing 3000 nearby residents, and ultimately being blamed for 15-20,000 premature deaths and over 600,000 injuries. http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph240/fernandez1/
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
“I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the great masses.” — Johannes Kepler