Yellowstone accident

tom_e · 18 Nov 2016 at 15:53

Gerard said:
Or she turned the phone around for a selfie with him in the background being dissolved before doing anything.

These days that actually wouldn't surprise me as much as it really should

Haggisman · 18 Nov 2016 at 17:45

Hades said:
But is it really fair and just that a small minority of people get to decide what parts of the world others can see?

Yes I do understand why it's closed. My point was more along philosophical lines.

Given that this story illustrates perfectly that many people are far too stupid to be left to their own devices, then that really depends on whether you think society has a duty to protect those people? Personally I'm all for natural selection, but I don't think it's fair or just that people like the Park Rangers should have to put their lives at risk to attempt to rescue/recover those idiots when they inevitably do something idiotic.

So I guess I'm all for opening up those areas of the park, on the understanding that when you get yourself into a situation, it's your own responsibility to get yourself out of it.

Orionaut · 18 Nov 2016 at 17:55

cheesyboy said:
Looks a bit goofy now, but when I watched Robocop at a friend's house when I was about 8, that scene stood out, among many awful ones, as being particularly horrible. Was a bit shaken up after watching it all.

Haven't actually watched it since. might revisit.

Robocop was a surprisingly brutal movie for its time.

I love black humour!

Amp34 · 18 Nov 2016 at 19:15

Orionaut said:
How long does it take for the meat to fall off the bone on a boiled joint? Imagine the same experiment carried out using a pan full of boiling sulphuric acid.

I reckon 12 hours would do it easy.

Good point. So less "dissolved", more fall of the bone tender, with bones left at the bottom of the pool to dissolve over a longer time period (probably seems to months for the bones).

Amp34 · 18 Nov 2016 at 19:21

Hades said:
What a horrible way to go. Obviously they shouldn't have been there. But something else about this story has me a little uneasy. There are areas of the park that have a closure order. It's completely understandable to protect people. But is it really fair and just that a small minority of people get to decide what parts of the world others can see?

Yes I do understand why it's closed. My point was more along philosophical lines.

While I agree with you this specific area is a high traffic area with a boardwalk that goes over a large flat area full of boiling water.

Most of the rest of the park/many other thermal features you can hike to and view and make your own decisions... there are also (I believe) a fair few hot springs that are safe to bathe in, but there are plenty that aren't (like this particular one...)

Amp34 · 18 Nov 2016 at 19:23

Scam said:
I purposefully never watch that stuff but BBC News showed a clip of it on the TV and it was extremely odd watching a woman crying out into the camera "Oh God I can't believe he's going to die like this" when he's in the seat next to her still awake but clearly dying. Sure, if she got the whole incident/shot on camera that's fine. But if your loved one is dying, crying into a camera and ignoring him seems utterly bizarre.

In that situation what would you do? You have an obviously trigger happy cop pointing a gun in your direction. It's not like you can jump on him and try and save him,or drive to the nearest hospital, or ring 911...

Amp34 · 18 Nov 2016 at 19:32

Dis86 said:
From a cursory read of that the waters are mostly alkaline.

The Norris basin seems to range anywhere form 2-8, so definitely acidic (actual tables with figures are towards the end in appendix). Unfortunately without knowing exactly which pool it was you can't determine what PH that pool was as it's so varied.

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2016 at 19:41

my guess so acidic he was in pain, thrashing around, blinded and unable to swim back?

Blackjack Davy · 18 Nov 2016 at 20:31

Amp34 said:
The Norris basin seems to range anywhere form 2-8, so definitely acidic (actual tables with figures are towards the end in appendix). Unfortunately without knowing exactly which pool it was you can't determine what PH that pool was as it's so varied.

A lot of volcanic pools are basically concentrated sulphuric acid so combine that with boiling water and I guess I can see there wouldn't be much left to recover. Disposing of bodies in acid baths comes to mind. Basically body fat floating on the top as a scum and not much else apparently.

Amp34 said:
Good point. So less "dissolved", more fall of the bone tender, with bones left at the bottom of the pool to dissolve over a longer time period (probably seems to months for the bones).

Boiling water is one thing but bones don't last long in acid.

413x · 18 Nov 2016 at 20:32

Darwin award.
Sounds plausible. Hot sulphuric acid