History FootnoteFever / WhatIf2

---> † This is correct whether I mean the fruit or an iPhone; the spider weights about as much as each.

--> A solidified lava lamp is just about the most boring thing in the world. But the scenario made me wonder: If making a lamp out of molten lava wouldn't be very exciting, then what about a volacno made of lamps? This is probably the most useless calculation I've ever done,* but... [[TitleDrop what if]] Mount Saint Helens erupted again today, but instead of tephra,† it spewed compact fluorescent bulbs?

--> The golath bird spider* weighs as much as a large apple.†

---> * As of 2021, the waterfall guardians are Aaron Thompson of Canada and Stephen Durrett of the United States. I'm guessing their enforcment protocol is just some variation on "filing a report," but I like to imagine that they're empowered to physically return the stolen water to the falls by any means necessary.

--> It might seem easier to forget about targeting completely and just fire lasters in random directions.*

--> If someone has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.40, and you drank all 14 glasses of your blood in a short time,* you would throw up.

---> * A light-nanosecond is 11.8 inches (0.29979 meters), which is annoyingly close to a foot. I think it would be nice to redefine the foot as exactly 1 light nanossecond. This raises some obvious questions, like "Do we need to redefine the mile to keep it at 5,280 feet?" and "Do we redefine the inch?" and "Wait, ''why'' are we doing this?" But I figure other people can sort that out. I'm just the idea guy here.

---> * In one incident in 1905, the unlucky person was actually taking notes on the geyser in a notebook when she ell in, which I find uncomfortably relatable. I'm pretty sure that's how I'll go.

* '''Chapter 44: Spiders Vs. the Sun'''

* '''Chapter 51: Fire From Moonlight'''

* '''Chapter 52: Read All The Laws'''

* '''Chapter 52: Read All the Laws'''

* '''Chapter 44: Spiders Vs. The Sun'''

* '''Chapter 61: Into The Sun'''

* '''Chapter 63: Walking On The Sun'''

---> * Update: I'm not on the rest of the government watch lists.

---> * "Square meters per gallon" is a pretty obnoxious nonmetric unit, but it could be worse. I've seen ''acre-foot'', a unit of volume equal to one foot times one chain times one furlong, in actual technical papers.

----> ''Our reccomendations for amelioration included the following general points:''

---> * If you drink all of someone's blood, there's a 100 percent chance that they'll die.

--> (...) but a nanosecond is not very long-it's enough time for light to travel almost exactly a foot.*

---> * [[ShoutOut To those of you who ''are'' at the Department of Energy, hi! I'm a huge fan of your work, and of energy in general.]]

The following is a list of examples of FootnoteFever within the book Literature/WhatIf2.

---> [-* Usually to use the vapor for metal plating, but maybe sometimes just out of spite.-]

---> [-* If you do this project near your actual house, you may find it produces the heat of ''two'' house fires.-]

---> [-* In one incident in 1905, the unlucky person was actually taking notes on the geyser in a notebook when she ell in, which I find uncomfortably relatable. I'm pretty sure that's how I'll go.-]

---> [-* On the other hand, a lot of Egyptian readers were probably excited to get out of overdue book fines.-]

---> [-* When you get to the Sahara Desert, I recommend not using a brush.-]

---> [-* This is probably optimistic, especially if there's an internet connection in the room.-]

---> [-* Citation: this really boring dream I had once.-]

---> [-* EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT ARE NOT BUILDINGS: ducks, leaves, M&Ms, cars, the Sun, sand grains, cuttlefish, microchips, nail polish remover, the moons of Jupiter, [[OverlyLongGag lightning, mouse fur, zeppelins, tapeworms, pickle jars, those sticks you use to toast marshmallows, alligators, tuning forks, minotaurs, Perseid meteors, ballots, crude oil, social media influencers, and catapults that throw handfuls of engagement rings]]. Those are all the nonbuildings I can think of; if you can think of anything I missed, you can make a note of it here in the margin.-]

---> [-* "Square meters per gallon" is a pretty obnoxious nonmetric unit, but it could be worse. I've seen ''acre-foot'', a unit of volume equal to one foot times one chain times one furlong, in actual technical papers.-]

---> [-* Instead of just containing a bunch of them.-]

---> [-* I mean, we come up with a bunch of numbers, but our imagination turns them into a sandbox.-]

---> [-* I mean, a day.-]

---> [-* I can't help but notice that they don't say whether they think ''that'' amount would be higher or lower.-]

---> [-* Both in the sense that the supply would cause a drop in prices and the sense that the market is located 20 miles above the mantle and you just removed the crust supporting it.-]

---> [-* At least, as best as I can tell from some internet searches. In other news, I'm now on a lot of government watch lists.-]

---> [-* Update: I'm not on the rest of the government watch lists.-]

---> [-* Or "magnet" for short.-]

---> [-* And to be honest, it sounds pretty complicated.-]

---> [-* Really, what problem ''can't'' this strategy solve?-]

---> [-* And later, when the school board finds out about this, we'll have another.-]
---> [-† Which sounds sorta contradictory. "This music is loud, but it doesn't ''sound'' loud."-]

---> [-* If you drink all of someone's blood, there's a 100 percent chance that they'll die.-]

---> [-* It's only fair.-]
---> [-† By homeopathic standards, this is still quite concentrated.-]
---> [-‡ Like a loser.-]

---> [-* Wikipedia helpfully notes that, despite its name, it "only rarely preys on birds."-]
---> [-† This is correct whether I mean the fruit or an iPhone; the spider weights about as much as each.-]

---> [-* The conclusion of the article contains this absolutely incredible passage:-]
----> [-''Our reccomendations for amelioration included the following general points:''-]
----> [-''1) On-site personnel should be reassured that the spiders are harmless and the facility's immense shroud of silk should be presented in a positive light as a record-breaking natural history wonder.''-]

---> [-* Which has apparently been spelled like that all along and I never noticed until now. I guess the ''O'' in Wint-O-Green is like the ''a'' in Literature/BerenstainBears.-]

---> [-* For some reason.-]

---> [-* This is physics-speak for "this probably isn't too hard, but I don't want to do it."-]

---> [-* See chapters 61, 62, and 63, along with Short Answers #5, for more on the exciting experiences you can have by visiting the Sun.-]

---> [-* [[ShoutOut To those of you who ''are'' at the Department of Energy, hi! I'm a huge fan of your work, and of energy in general.]]-]

---> [-* This question is gross, by the way.-]
---> [-† I hope.-]

---> [-* No. It is not.-]

---> [-* It's sort of like a traffic jam—forcing more cars into the back of a traffic jam won't make the ones in the front come out faster. The analogy between traffic jams and choked flows isn't perfect, but I still like it because it's fun to imagine someone trying to solve traffic jams by using a bulldozer to push more cars into them.-]

---> [-* As of 2021, the waterfall guardians are Aaron Thompson of Canada and Stephen Durrett of the United States. I'm guessing their enforcment protocol is just some variation on "filing a report," but I like to imagine that they're empowered to physically return the stolen water to the falls by any means necessary.-]

---> [-* For one, someone at NASA would probably yell at us.-]

---> [-* Okay, that's a lie—there are, like, hundreds more problems.-]

---> [-* It's common knowledge that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth, measured from sea level. A somewhat more obscure piece of trivia is that the point on the Earth's surface farthest from its center is the summit of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, due to the fact that the planet bulges out at the equator. Even ''more'' obscure is the question of which point on the Earth's surface moves the ''fastest'' as the Earth spins, which is the same as asking which point is farthest from the Earth's axis. The answer isn't Chimborazo ''or'' Everest. The fastest point turns out to be the peak of Mount Cayambe,† a volcano north of Chimborazo. You just learned that.-]
---> [-† Mt. Cayambe's southern slope also happens to be the highest point on Earth's surface directly on the equator. I have a lot of mountain facts.-]

---> [-* Or °C. When temperatures start having many digits in them, it doesn't really matter.-]

---> [-* A light-nanosecond is 11.8 inches (0.29979 meters), which is annoyingly close to a foot. I think it would be nice to redefine the foot as exactly 1 light nanossecond. This raises some obvious questions, like "Do we need to redefine the mile to keep it at 5,280 feet?" and "Do we redefine the inch?" and "Wait, ''why'' are we doing this?" But I figure other people can sort that out. I'm just the idea guy here.-]

---> [-* And maybe consume the Earth.†-]
---> [-† The fact that the destruction of the Earth is relegated to a footnote is a good sign for where this chapter is headed.-]

---> [-* Citation: I just poured a glass of water and tried dropping various candies in. Science!-]