This years Darwin Awards

[David M]

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/

[ktkendall]

Hey David
Those make for some pretty interesting reading, I was not even going to look, since I am pretty well against Darwinism, but they turned out to be not at all what i expected.
Good Find, I boookmarked them so that whenever I really screw up and do something stupid, I'll go there and read a few of those and then since I will at that point at least still be alive, I'll feel better knowing that there are way stupider things I could have done with way more severe consequenses...
Thanks...

[rackham]

Ah yes the darwin awards. So many stupid people in this world. I guess you could call it some form of Natural Selection.

[rspassey]

Those weren't nearly as funny as ones from years ago... (not like we should be luaghing about what caused some people to die )

[HAL9000]

MANY of those are proven as urban legend.

Here's a case why I don't believe any of them... the supposed "confirmed" report

Rocketing to Glory 2005 Darwin Award Nominee Confirmed True by Darwin (07 February 2005, Malaysia) Fireworks are a longstanding lunar New Year's tradition among Malaysia's large Chinese minority and continue to be widely used to celebrate, despite a ban on their sale and use. Wan, a 29-year-old excavator operator, spent the evening watching people set off fireworks outside a suburban Kuala Lumpur nightclub. These were no mere firecrackers. They were rockets that shot as high as a ten-story building before exploding. His curiosity piqued, Wan bent over one of the launching tubes for a closer look, wondering how these powerful rockets worked. He was peering down the tube when it fired, sending him flying ten meters. He died instantly from severe head injuries, according to a senior police official. DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2006 Submitted by: Azhar Sukri Reference: The Star and Associated Press

A firecracker would not have the mass required to hurl a grown man's body 10 meters (over thirty feet)... similarly proven on mythbusters when they discussed how people in the movies go flying backwards when shot... well for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction... if a person being hit by a bullet flies back 10 feet, the person firing the gun would have to fly back 10 feet as well.... so lets think about this firecracker thing a bit... a person can fire a bazooka which surely has more mass than a firecracker and he doesn't fly back 10 meters... so either this "confirmed" darwin award is an urban legend, or this was one HUGE firecracker.

[mairving]

I guess that I fail to see humor in people dying regardless of their stupidity.

[786ARS]

Why are there soo many idiots in the world?

[Stuey]

I read a few that make me think "what the hell was he thinking?!" But then there are others that are accidental. Like there was one where an officer decided to fake a knife attack on one of his soldiers to train his squad on deflecting the attack. He surprised his soldier, who, in the heat of the moment reacted instinctively and shot the officer. IMHO I don't think that an accident like this belongs in the same categorized list as others like where a man tried to weld a live grenade to a chain.

With the rocket one, I think the 10 meters is an exaggeration, but it is quite possible that the man was thrown a little bit and then staggered further away before he released his last breath. My question is who was at the detonator that allowed the rocket to hit this man.

[David M]

Fireworks shows are done by computer now. The computer was at the trigger.

A rocket is different from a bullet (as done on Mythbusters) Once a bullet leaves the barrel there is nothing to propel it. Once a rocket leaves its stand..there is still pleanty of force pushing the rocket. Whether a rocket could push someone ten meters depends on the mass of the person and the force of the rocket engine.

HAL...like this? -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...01001782160188

[rspassey]

Originally Posted by David M HAL...like this? -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...01001782160188

I know what I will be working on this weekend That is insanely awesome.

[HAL9000]

Now that was hilarious.. but a LOT more force that a firecracker rocket obtaining ten story height.

[pam123]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 MANY of those are proven as urban legend. Here's a case why I don't believe any of them... the supposed "confirmed" report A firecracker would not have the mass required to hurl a grown man's body 10 meters (over thirty feet)... similarly proven on mythbusters when they discussed how people in the movies go flying backwards when shot... well for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction... if a person being hit by a bullet flies back 10 feet, the person firing the gun would have to fly back 10 feet as well.... so lets think about this firecracker thing a bit... a person can fire a bazooka which surely has more mass than a firecracker and he doesn't fly back 10 meters... so either this "confirmed" darwin award is an urban legend, or this was one HUGE firecracker.

It says " These were no mere firecrackers. They were rockets that shot as high as a ten-story building before exploding. "
That would blow someone's head off.

My favorite Darwin award story is about the mail bomber who put inadequate postage on his letter bomb and opened the package when it was returned ( Since he included his return address I guess he was dumb enough to do that.).

[HAL9000]

But Pam... a bottle rocket would go 10 stories no problem.. they don't exactly have a lot of force because again, there is no real weight.

[pam123]

Hal I think those rocket types of fireworks that shoot up and explode into stars and streamers have more in common with mortars.
Bottle rockets, at least the ones I remember (from one July 4, before some grownup figured out what the kids were doing), were a menace if the bottle shattered on the way up.
It's a little academic though, I mean would you put your head in the way of either at launch?

[Stuey]

Originally Posted by David M HAL...like this? -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...01001782160188

I was watching a Myth Busters episode last week and they busted this. They were able to get a decent amount of bottle-rocket propulsion, but even after they exceeded the conditions used in the gameshow, they were not able to propel a person. They tried it with a dummy and no matter what, it did perform as in the blurry video. Having seen the care the team put into attempting to reproduce the stunt, I don't trust the Japanese video.

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by pam123 Hal I think those rocket types of fireworks that shoot up and explode into stars and streamers have more in common with mortars. Bottle rockets, at least the ones I remember (from one July 4, before some grownup figured out what the kids were doing), were a menace if the bottle shattered on the way up. It's a little academic though, I mean would you put your head in the way of either at launch?

Doesn't matter how you look at it... a firecracker that can go "only" ten stories wouldn't have enough force to propell a man 10 inches let alone ten meters (over 30 feet).