Lawyers gone wild in the grade school science fair

Ah, it's always been that way. PETA just never gets worked up about insects.

Jim

I don't know about grade school, but the typical high schooler's first ideas for a science fair project can be a bit on the risky side. Without some forms like this to get kids thinking about safety, they WON'T! Ever see a 15 year-old get in a car and drive?

I can imagine some kid (almost got to be male) demonstrating a liquid-fueled rocket engine inside a gym with 1000 people milling about, and not having the slightest thought about safety. (Hmm, this does remind me of a friend's wife who actually BUILT a liquid-fueled rocket with some friends, and made several launches with it! Then one of the crew (male, of course) filled it to the brim with fuel, loaded a mouse as the astronaut, and blew the thing up while standing a couple feet away. He was fine, she was several hundred yards away and running for her life, and got a big chunk of shrapnel in the back of her calf. Hope there was no mouse in there with it! Happens every time though, the idiot gets off without a scratch, the person running away because disaster is totally obvious is the one who gets hurt. Supposedly, some of the shrapnel is still in her leg. Must be fun at the airport security screening!)

Jon

I always wanted to go to a PETA rally with the sign: "SAVE THE AMOEBA"

They might end up picketing you with signs that say "SAVE THE PATINA"

Actually they do, they seem to feel that lobsters and such (without brains) feel pain when being boiled.

Pete C.

This again shows how we as a nation are 'shooting our selves in our foot' by allowing the educational professionals to teach only the things that don't make a mess, are 'safe,' and are easy to terst for [i.e. machine scorable bingo card].

Of course it is precicely the things that make a mess, are somewhat or even very dangerous [welding, machining, electricity, plumbing, etc.] and are hard to evaluate [other than actual student performance by a qualified expert in the field] that are critical to the economy and of interest/use to the students.

I am waiting for the new required course "Being Politically Correct and Multi-Cultural in the Unemployment Line."

Uncle George

When I was in high school, at the state fair there was a bright fellow who had made a miniature wind tunnel using a vacuum cleaner and a box with a glass side. Little slipstream tubes were fed by this apparatus sucking on--get this--a LIGHTED CIGAR! Made cute little streams of smoke in the tunnel so you could see the aerodynamics in action.

They won't let you ignite anything today. Not to mention the evil tobacco carcinogen.

I've seen science fair projects that would have the fire mashall go into a fit today. There was a guy who built a 6 foot robot that walked. He made a 33 1/3 RPM record (actually, could have been

78, but, 12" anyway) with tones on it. The robot decoded the tones and actuated the right motors. Well, one skip on the record and the robot crashes through the crowd! (Didn't happen, but a possibility.)

I didn't see this, but somebody built a cyclotron. Yeah, ion beams at a couple MeV passing through the crowd - real good.

I know of a couple of Van de Graff accelerators, up to a MeV or so. Stuff heated with Acetylene/Oxygen torches to show the line spectra. There's plenty to go wrong if idiots are on the loose. Of course, anybody that could actually build this kind of stuff when only 16-18 is obviously NOT an idiot.

Jon

Google for "radioactive boy scout". From all indications from reliable sources (snopes, etc) it's a legitimate report.

That was NOT a science fair project. But, I'm sure some radioactive projects that were commonplace in the 1950's would be an NRC violation today. A friend of mine built a cloud chamber in his basement when we were barely teens, and bought the needle with the radioactive material on the tip at the local hobby store. Hmmm, even the dry ice and alcohol would be a problem today!

Jon

Yes, I know. But this is Usenet. Topic drift happens.

Let's see...the 2 liter bottle thing would probably be called an "improvised explosive" today, right?

When I built a cloud chamber to photograph star trails (:-) I had to check out on a short leash the source from White Sands. It was on short loan and was a JIT for development and then back - then JIT for School show then back then JIT for Regional. The next year I did a numerical controller (switches doing a game) and stayed away from the government oversight. The teachers had no idea what was going on - My Dad did and that was the first contact - then officially through the school. Big PITA.

Martin Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

J>

One of my Canada Wide Science Fair Projects included a ~30W CO2 laser.

I lost marks because I had left it at home...

Regards,

Robin

However, the more obscure PETI really gets it's knickers in a knot over the mistreatment of insects.

And don't forget the folks that think plants have feelings!

Jon

You mean like this fellow?

Jon

That's Elron Hubbard. You can experiment on him all you like.

I built a cloud chamber in the late '70s (VdG too) I never did find a good radium source for it - all the luminous altimeter needles etc. I could find were 30 years old and somewhat tired.

My personal favorite is "Save the NAUGA" Bugs

Somewhere around here I have a real chunk of Hyde with a picture of a real Nauga printed on the backing. Ugly little cuss. ;-)

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