Fifty unbelievable facts about earth

Angilion said:
I wouldn't like to bet on surviving 2 minutes unprotected in space. Maybe possible if someone rescues you (you'll have 15 seconds or less before oxygen deprivation renders you unconscious, so you're not going to be rescuing yourself).
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Holy crap, I must be superman then cos I can empty my lungs and hold my breath for longer than 15s!
 
Dis86 said:
Holy crap, I must be superman then cos I can empty my lungs and hold my breath for longer than 15s!
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I think the difference might be because even if you exhale there's still air in your lungs that they can process. In space there will be no air left in your lungs at all.
 
Angilion said:
I wouldn't like to bet on surviving 2 minutes unprotected in space. Maybe possible if someone rescues you (you'll have 15 seconds or less before oxygen deprivation renders you unconscious, so you're not going to be rescuing yourself).
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http://www.damninteresting.com/outer-space-exposure/

14 seconds ish according to that website
it's very detailed read but here's what it says at the end
Though an unprotected human would not long survive in the clutches of outer space, it is remarkable that survival times can be measured in minutes rather than seconds, and that one could endure such an inhospitable environment for almost two minutes without suffering any irreversible damage. The human body is indeed a resilient machine.
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it's pretty insane read not how you would imagine it being in space but what happens before that part I quoted sounds scary as hell such as
In the absence of atmospheric pressure water will spontaneously convert into vapor, which would cause the moisture in a victim's mouth and eyes to quickly boil away. The same effect would cause water in the muscles and soft tissues of the body to evaporate, prompting some parts of the body to swell to twice their usual size after a few moments. This bloating may result in some superficial bruising due to broken capillaries, but it would not be sufficient to break the skin.
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You must look like the hulk :O
 
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Reeve said:
I think the difference might be because even if you exhale there's still air in your lungs that they can process. In space there will be no air left in your lungs at all.
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That's operating on the assumption you instantly appear in space with no oxygen present from your prior environment
 
doofer said:
99% of all known idiots cannot comprehend Irony.
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I have a 99% chance of being an idiot because I am autistic and a literal thinker like many autistic people?
http://www.snagglebox.com/2012/10/the-lowdown-on-literal-thinking.html
Literal thinkers tend to focus on the true meaning of words and have a hard time seeing this second, figurative layer of meaning.

Our everyday language is littered with idioms, metaphors, euphemisms, puns, hyperbole, sarcasm, exaggeration and implied assumptions - figurative phrases that can be difficult for a literal mind to interpret. These misunderstandings are often the cause of a lot of unnecessary and painful frustration, hurt feelings and meltdowns.

So why is literal thinking common with autism, and how can you help prevent these types of misunderstandings?
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Sorry for taking what people post at face value :(
it happens a lot on herepeople call me an idiot because I often don't get when someone is joking/sarcastic etc

I can't help it :( not that I feel butthurt and you have nothing to apologise for imo.
 
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[TW]Fox;25107334 said:
It seems you tell everyone in every thread these days.
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only when there is some confusion usually on my part.

I was explaining why I did not get his irony and how it does not necessarily mean I am an idiot.

I was not attempting to use my autism as a defence or in some bizarre attempt to make him feel bad ,as I said in my opinion he has nothing to apologise for as he was likely not aware and most likely did not make his comment with malice


I am only trying to explain why I mistook what he meant.

Get out clause.
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and what am I trying to get out of?
Anyway it is because I am a literal thinker not because I am autistic although it is far more common in autistic people which is why I mentioned autism.

The more people that are aware the less likely they will think my misunderstandings are because I am an idiot and comment on then, although I am sure there are plenty on here who think I am an idiot because I am autistic but it does not inhibit me from living a fairly normal life or having a fairly good job.

My autism is my problem and no one elses, It's just frustrating when things like this happen
 
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Dis86 said:
Holy crap, I must be superman then cos I can empty my lungs and hold my breath for longer than 15s!
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Try it in a vacuum. Or, rather, don't.

The problem isn't the lack of a new intake of oxygen.

As you say, a human can go longer than 15s without a new intake of oxygen. That is true because they will already have a considerable amount of oxygen in their body from previous breaths, even if they have just breathed out. There will be some air in their lungs because breathing out won't completely empty their lungs and there will be quite a lot of oxygen in their blood.

The problem is that the human body is very strongly adapted to at least some pressure. It doesn't have to be exactly the same pressure as you'd get on the surface of Earth, but it does have to be some pressure. With no pressure at all, the human body won't function correctly. Most importantly in this context, it won't do gas exchange. So it won't be able to use the oxygen that's still inside it - the remaining oxygen in your lungs will not be transferred into your blood and the remaining oxygen in your blood will not be transferred into the rest of your body.

If you breath out and hold your breath in an environment with enough pressure, you will have some period of time in which your body will continue to use the oxygen still in it, which will keep you alive and conscious for a little while, maybe as much as 3 minutes if you're very fit.

If you are in a zero pressure environment, you will suffer total oxygen deprivation immediately because your body will not be able to use the oxygen still inside it. Your brain will be affected immediately, as it uses a lot of oxygen. A partial shutdown will occur almost instantly and you will be unconscious in a matter of seconds. 15 seconds tops, probably less. On the one occasion when an astronaut training exercise went badly wrong and he was exposed to almost a vacuum without any protection, he lost consciousness after 12 seconds.

So no, you're not Superman. You just didn't have the relevant knowledge and you were wrongly assuming that the difference between zero pressure and air pressure at the surface on the Earth has no effect on human physiology.
 
Tom_ed1987 said:
I find it astonishing there are 8.6 million lightning strikes a day. Would have guessed it to be in the thousands.
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I would have, too. A fairly large number of thousands, but not millions.

Hmm...does lightning often strike at sea? I know that a boat can be struck, but what about the open surface of the sea? If lightning is as common on sea as on land that would skew our perception of how common lightning is, given how much of the surface is sea.

Or maybe we're both being parochial and not accurately taking into account the size of the Earth.
 
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