There was a special on Mythbusters alos on this very topic. The quicksand was just too dense to allow the human body to sink. Instead we have an amount of boyancy in it.
As I recall, the Boy Scout Manual instructs scouts to lie on their back, as they will actually float on the quicksand and will be able to swim to solid ground, and out of the quicksand.
Who needs Mythbusters? Ok, I do. It's one of the few shows I do miss since we gave up cable.
Mythbusters is a *great* show. It's a less-edgy version of my bigger favorite, Penn &Teller's Bullsh*t!
Sometimes I think the efforts to criticize Hollywood for bad science or engineering become too compulsive and obsessive simply because, come on, it's just a movie. But I think it serves a point--as the old saying goes, when I go into a movie I'm willing to suspend my disbelief, not hang it by the neck until dead. Making Hollywood try harder to be realistic is not a bad thing. Otherwise we'd still be stuck with 1970s TV cars that all magically explode in midair when they fall....
A few things: the danger of quicksand depends a lot on conditions. Quicksand isn't just one fluid like water, it describes several different phenomena. One of them is sand sitting in an upwelling spring. The upward moving water can carry sand particles up but not your body. This means that the usual laws of boyancy don't apply.
Things certainly can explode in space. Conventional explosives don't require air, and any sufficiently fast heating can cause things to explode.
A steel-jacketed bullet would create a spark if it hit a flint wall. Of course, steel-jacketed bullets and flint walls are fairly rare...
the Boy Scout Manual instructs scouts to lie on their back, as they will actually float on the quicksand and will be able to swim to solid ground, and out of the quicksand
I always thought that was the rule too. I guess it's only water-like in certain situations?
Things certainly can explode in space
That's true, they can. They don't go "boom", but they do explode.
For all you Giant Squid fans:
Linkage
Who needs Mythbusters? Ok, I do. It's one of the few shows I do miss since we gave up cable.
Sometimes I think the efforts to criticize Hollywood for bad science or engineering become too compulsive and obsessive simply because, come on, it's just a movie. But I think it serves a point--as the old saying goes, when I go into a movie I'm willing to suspend my disbelief, not hang it by the neck until dead. Making Hollywood try harder to be realistic is not a bad thing. Otherwise we'd still be stuck with 1970s TV cars that all magically explode in midair when they fall....
Things certainly can explode in space. Conventional explosives don't require air, and any sufficiently fast heating can cause things to explode.
A steel-jacketed bullet would create a spark if it hit a flint wall. Of course, steel-jacketed bullets and flint walls are fairly rare...
I always thought that was the rule too. I guess it's only water-like in certain situations?
Things certainly can explode in space
That's true, they can. They don't go "boom", but they do explode.
Ah. Plate glass windows made of sugar. There's a whole Hollywood industry based around the makers of sugar glass.
http://www.mythbustersfanclub.com/html/killer_quicksand.html
Aw well. It wasn't that valuable a push car anyway.