posted
Interesting stuff. So when can we expect giant snow-hurricanes to form and all the wolves to escape from the zoo?
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I just read a story the other day that said before that lake broke, the Black Sea was actually a giant fresh water lake, but when the lake broke, it raised water levels world wide just enough to rise over the small natural dam (the Bosporus didn't exist yet) between the Black Lake (I guess you'd call it) and the Sea of Marmara and dilute the lake, turning it into a giant sea.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:The film The Day After Tomorrow, which portrays such a scenario, may have exaggerated – but not by much.
I guess if you call taking a realistic scientific assessment and turning it into a laughably absurd impossibility which violates the most basic laws of physics to be not much exageration, then yeah.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Which part(s?) of the film violated the laws of physics? I don't remember it all that well, besides the real wolves turned CGI monsters...
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The most dramatic scenes in that movie were where the visible frost line moves down walls at great speed, so fast that when it reaches the level where people are, they instantly freeze solid. Outside of being immersed in liquid nitrogen, the insides of buildings could not have cold spread through them that rapidly. Even in the depths of the Antarctic cold, 100 degrees below zero, it takes a few seconds for exposed flesh to begin freezing. And it takes a few minutes for your core body temperature to drop.
Oh well, the horse is already dead. No need to keep beating it. The horse, of course, is the "unscience" in The Day After Tomorrow.Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:Outside of being immersed in liquid nitrogen, the insides of buildings could not have cold spread through them that rapidly.
Even if you were immersed in liquid nitrogen, you wouldn't freeze that quickly. I've poured liquid nitrogen in my hand to no ill effect. A human hand is so hot compared to the boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen that a film of boiling liquid forms between the cold liquid and your hand effectively insulating your hand from the cold liquid.
The entire scenario where rapid cooling occurs because cold air from the Troposphere is sucked down to the surface is ridiculous. Low pressure systems don't suck air in from the troposphere. Even if they did, when the air was compressed to the pressure found at surface levels, it would be around 85°F not -100 °F. The whole thing violates the principle of conservation of energy. If you cool New York down that fast the energy has to go somewhere.
And the helicopters freeze in midair. Did they forget that jets fly in the troposphere all the time and don't freeze.
Then there are all the problems with the water levels.
It would have been funny if it hadn't been dealing with a real problem backed by real science.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:Even if you were immersed in liquid nitrogen, you wouldn't freeze that quickly. I've poured liquid nitrogen in my hand to no ill effect. A human hand is so hot compared to the boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen that a film of boiling liquid forms between the cold liquid and your hand effectively insulating your hand from the cold liquid.
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: And the helicopters freeze in midair. Did they forget that jets fly in the troposphere all the time and don't freeze.
I found that particularly amusing Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
