NASA scientists have reported that they’ve successfully tested an engine called the electromagnetic propulsion drive, or the EM Drive, in a vacuum that replicates space. The EM Drive experimental system could take humans to Mars in just 70 days without the need for rocket fuel, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this could change everything.
But before we get too excited (who are we kidding, we’re already freaking out), it’s important to note that these results haven’t been replicated or verified by peer review, so there’s a chance there’s been some kind of error. But so far, despite a thorough attempt to poke holes in the results, the engine seems to hold up.
“Be waiting out front of the HAB, Watney, we’re not fucking waiting for you to get dressed. Places to be.”
Guys. Guys. I’ve been following this story for a while now and you don’t get it. Some guy made this and was like “well hi I made a thing and it shouldn’t go but it goes.”
And the science community was like okay that… there’s no way that works.
Then they tested it theoretically and it worked.
Then NASA was like okay but technically this breaks one of Newton’s laws so even if it theoretically goes it won’t like, actually go. So they built it and tested it more and it works.
So what we have now is the scientific community slowly cautiously freaking out because this GODDAMN EM DRIVE breaks the RULES OF PHYSICS but every time we test it, it FUCKING WORKS.
How cool is this????
Every time we’ve found something “broken” that functions, it means something is wrong with our understanding of reality. The next step is to figure out what, figure out what’s true, and open up a plethora of new scientific discoveries.
This is mostly due to my own medical ignorance, but can anyone explain how Max was able to stop Furiosa’s lungs from collapsing by stabbing her a second time?
someone has maybe already answered this in a better way buT
The way I understand it, when your lungs collapse basically the air that should be going into them is going into the chest cavity instead? So the pressure is backwards (the low pressure in the lungs as opposed to the chest cavity keeps the lungs collapsed). Punching another hole lets the excess air in the chest cavity escape and allows the lungs to re-inflate.
At least, I’m p sure that’s right lol
*bursts in uninvited*
Yeah, you’re basically right. So the first stab wound causes a punctured lung, yeah? Which means that every time she takes a breath, instead of inflating the lung like a balloon, the air rushes out of the hole in the lung into the lower pressure area between her lung and her chest wall. Because of the angle at which the knife originally went in, the air can’t escape, and instead each inhale increases the amount of air filling her chest cavity (this is called a pneumothorax; it can also happen with blood, which is called a hemothorax). This means that the lung doesn’t expand as much with each breath, as the pneumothorax takes up space that the lung would usually occupy, and eventually the pressure of the air will collapse the punctured lung completely, at which point the air pocket will actually spill over into the other side and collapse the other lung. The ‘rattle’ you hear in Furiosa’s breathing is a result of breathing with a punctured lung and fighting to inflate her lungs around the blockage of air. What Max does by stabbing her a second time (you’ll notice that he takes a certain amount of care to ensure that the knife goes in at a particular angle) is ensure that there’s a way for this air pocket to escape, letting her damaged lung inflate properly. When he keeps his hand over it as he moves away and arranges cloth over it, it’s an attempt to make it a valve, so that the air will only move out of her chest, not into her chest. This is actually the best treatment for a pneumothorax (although…um, if someone has a pneumothorax, maybe call emergency services rather than going for your knife block, yes?) and some reasonably good science. While we’re on the subject, Max’s method of blood transfusion (straight from one vein to another) was the first way people did it when they were first figuring it out. They had a lot of deaths because they wouldn’t figure out blood types for a while yet (pro-tip: do not transfuse across blood types). Since his blood pressure is higher than Furiosa’s is while she’s literally bleeding out, he’s the de facto donor. Also decent science.
