Pseudo science strikes again...
Apr. 24th, 2005 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrWatching "Locusts" on the TV.
Spoilers below!
Ok, the locusts are semi-plausible. Their release is a bit less, but not *that* bad.
The plane crash is just plain *stupid*. Loss of engines wouldn't result in a crash like that. The plane could still glide for crying out loud!
Discovering that VX nerve gas could kill them is just plain *silly*. Nerve gases were developed from insecticides. The odds of VX working when conventional insecticides don't are really slim.
Worse yet, a gas mask is *useless* against nerve gases. They will work on skin contact. So all the folks they show "protecting" themselves with masks is another bit of utter stupidity.
Then we have the "electrocute the bugs" bit.
Sorry but you can't zap the bugs by electrifying the metal siding on a building. And especially not with a generator. Bug zappers use much higher voltages and work by getting the bugs to fly or crawl between *closely* spaced wires. The bug's body lets the power arc over and it gets killed by the current.
The siding, even if charged to a high enough voltage doesn't have a second electrode for the power to arc *to*.
Then we get the "turn the power lines into giant bug zappers bit.
To start with, the power tie lines *don't* run anywhere near where they showed on the map. Nor can they handle higher voltages. They'd arc across to the *towers* before the voltage got high enough to zap the bugs flying nearby. And the bugs flying higher wouldn't be affected anyway. Ditto for the ones near the ground.
And the bit with *asking* people to not use power. Equally silly. If the scheme was workable, they could just throw the right switches at the generating plants and some power distribution stations and the power wouldn't *go* to the people.
Oh yeah, what's with *every* group of people encountering a swarm running around and screaming? Locusts are *not* that scary. Unless you've got a phobia, it'd be "Ick, get these damn things off me!" not *panic*.
All in all, *way* too many insults to my intelligence.
Spoilers below!
Ok, the locusts are semi-plausible. Their release is a bit less, but not *that* bad.
The plane crash is just plain *stupid*. Loss of engines wouldn't result in a crash like that. The plane could still glide for crying out loud!
Discovering that VX nerve gas could kill them is just plain *silly*. Nerve gases were developed from insecticides. The odds of VX working when conventional insecticides don't are really slim.
Worse yet, a gas mask is *useless* against nerve gases. They will work on skin contact. So all the folks they show "protecting" themselves with masks is another bit of utter stupidity.
Then we have the "electrocute the bugs" bit.
Sorry but you can't zap the bugs by electrifying the metal siding on a building. And especially not with a generator. Bug zappers use much higher voltages and work by getting the bugs to fly or crawl between *closely* spaced wires. The bug's body lets the power arc over and it gets killed by the current.
The siding, even if charged to a high enough voltage doesn't have a second electrode for the power to arc *to*.
Then we get the "turn the power lines into giant bug zappers bit.
To start with, the power tie lines *don't* run anywhere near where they showed on the map. Nor can they handle higher voltages. They'd arc across to the *towers* before the voltage got high enough to zap the bugs flying nearby. And the bugs flying higher wouldn't be affected anyway. Ditto for the ones near the ground.
And the bit with *asking* people to not use power. Equally silly. If the scheme was workable, they could just throw the right switches at the generating plants and some power distribution stations and the power wouldn't *go* to the people.
Oh yeah, what's with *every* group of people encountering a swarm running around and screaming? Locusts are *not* that scary. Unless you've got a phobia, it'd be "Ick, get these damn things off me!" not *panic*.
All in all, *way* too many insults to my intelligence.
