Random Questions Thread

I'd disagree; it depends on where they're heading and the time pressures. As well as where they are.

A Piper Warrior can achieve 120 knots or so in level cruise; for simplicity's sake we can assume knots are equivalent to MPH. It has a range of 250 miles with both tanks, and with that range it can reach a good deal of the United Kingdom in about an hour or two (it can fly for a maxmimum of 2.5 hours).

If time allows, a superhero with roughly the same air speed would be able to cover a lot of the United Kingdom in a relatively quick time. Of course, that wouldn't help his American cousins, but it would be absurd to expect all heroes to cover the exact same amount of ground.

Also, even the 747 can take a long time to reach destinations - for a silly example, flying from London to South Africa can take 7 or 8 hours, so our hypothetical superhero would have to hope that he doesn't need to stop a supervillain in Cape Town.

...I'm not quite sure where I was going with this.

Locking you up on radar since '09

On the police question: That depends upon why they are breaking into the house - whether they have "probable cause" to enter. For example, if they are walking by a house and see someone getting raped inside, that'd be a "probable cause" to enter without a warrant.

That is what I get from federal court decisions, anyhow.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

But they can perform a federal investigation into the possible rampant corruption/negligence/incompetence that allowed the problem to reach that stage, and then act accordingly (or pressure/let the state government do so instead, since that's their job), right?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

^ Sure. It wouldn't necessarily change anything, though. It probably wouldn't, in truth.

^^ On the search thing: You're talking about what's called the "fruit of the poisoned tree" and it's extremely complicated what does and doesn't count. In general, though, it applies to what evidence is admissible as evidence in court, not what the police can or can't investigate. If they found a decaying body there would be legitimate reason to begin investigating the circumstances surrounding that person's death even if they found it during an illegal search unrelated to it.

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If the city is that bad, they've probably got the feds on their payroll

Oh really when?

Because a real, permanent solution to the problem would require something like forcibly displacing a huge portion of the corruption-ridden population, spreading them across the nation (because concentrating them in one place will simply lead to a repeat of the original disaster), and replacing them with migrants from other areas?

... How does controlling one city lead to you having the federal government in D.C. in your pocket?

edited 13th Apr '14 10:52:41 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I'm not talking like senators and such. Though they probably lobby the hell out of them to front their legal businesses.

I mean the little investigators and so on.

Oh really when?

This city sounds like it needs a real senator to clean up the criminal element:

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That, or Mike Haggar, the mayor elect of Whoop-ass.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

This guy is more of a local hero anyway. Using the U.K as an example, this website suggests you could travel from Glasgow to London in under two hours.

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A three man team of soldiers have a mission and it requires a highly trained perfectly healthy dog. Mission takes place in Chernobyl. Assuming they don't stay longer than a few days would the dog be okay or would it require some sort of breathing apparatus? Does such a thing even exist?

And yes, the dog being there is highly important for plot reasons.

New Survey coming this weekend!

Depends on where you go

Some parts of Chernobyl and Pripyat are safe enough for a picnic, others you've pockets of radiation that'll kill you within a few seconds.

Oh really when?

Per Wikipedia, the radiation LD50 is only a little smaller than in humans, so I would think it's not that different from humans.

Note that different places in Chernobyl have different radiation levels.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Would I be correct in assuming that not all of those radioactive-hazard pockets have been properly mapped? If so, add having a portable Giger counter to the list of necessities for this endeavor.

edited 13th Apr '14 1:46:13 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I wanna say most are but it's still a good idea to bring one.

Plenty of dogs live in Pripyat and Chernobyl too, dogs don't usually live long enough for the long term effects of radiation exposure to really ruin them so as long as he doesn't wander into the instant death zone he should be fine. Probably get ejected from military service due to old age or something before the radiation gets to him.

Oh really when?

Wait, there's an INSTANT death zone in Chernobyl?

o.O

What in the fuck?!

New Survey coming this weekend!

Well instant isn't quite the right word but there are isolated pockets that are going to be lethal if you're in them for more than a few seconds

Oh really when?

Inside the reactor core remains, maybe. "Instant" death requires something akin to a live nuclear reactor.

edited 13th Apr '14 2:00:35 PM by SeptimusHeap

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Concur. The Zone of Alienation isn't healthy to be in, but as long as you don't break into the concrete containment dome and went actively looking for the reactor remains, and as long as you remember not to eat the mushrooms/pigs, you'll be fine. Whoever gave you that information was probably playing too much Call of Duty.

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My story is set in the UK and it features a posh, private school/college that is mostly enrolled by the social elite. However, the school has more recently started offering "scholarships" to (the much poorer, farming) locals ostensibly to maintain links to the community and mostly at the request of the government (as it's cheaper for them to pay a subsidised tuition fee than the total costs of running and maintaining a whole sixth form for just a few dozen students). Given this set of circumstances, would it seem logical for there to be something of a class war between the students?

Or does this whole setup seem far-fetched altogether?

& I had thought that they would've already collected the reactor's remains and disposed of them somewhere safe. I mean, wouldn't such remains include uranium rods? Or are you just talking about the containment building rather than the reactor itself?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

That material can't be "recovered" - it's the stuff the "sarcophagus" is constructed around. Trying to get it out would a) create "where do we put this" problems, b) is far too much effort and c) is too dangerous.

edited 14th Apr '14 7:49:22 AM by SeptimusHeap

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

&Peasant: Boy, you would think so, but I couldnt find any story or novel that focuses on it, nor was I able to uncover any research on the topic. What effect does socio-economic status have on relationships within the classroom? Perhaps you will be the first to explore it?

As far as stories about class war in class, there's Veronica Mars.

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