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When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

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Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#31

Post by joezydeco »

sandworm101 wrote: post #17
liability wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was particularly lethal to miners and factory workers. One of my great grandfathers died years after working in a factory that made mittens out of asbestos. Any process that disturbs the asbestos is going to be risky.

The Navy. It was used to insulate pipes and stop fires from spreading. Ships are basically one giant confined space full of pipes and fire barriers.

The first 40 floors of the World Trade Center, both towers, had every steel beam covered in asbestos. The collapse released 2,000 tons of fibers into the atmosphere on 9/11/01.

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#32

Post by agumonkey »

liability wrote: post #2

I've heard this Charlemagne legend before but I'd love to see somebody put it to the test. I'm thinking the tablecloth would come out of the fire soiled with ash and bits of charcoal. I suppose it might still impress his guests but I don't think this party trick would work quite as well as the legend suggests. Also, 'Salamander Cotton' is a delightful name for asbestos.

A tiny video relating a lot of antique use of asbestos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EJ-4koV7m0

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#33

Post by zdragnar »

saagarjha wrote: post #30
jacobwilliamroy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like how Steve Jobs made the iPhone?

Legend has it that he threw a development team and a multitouch capacitive display in a fire and then pulled a fully built, finished iPhone from the flames.

I thought that was the kindle fire tablet

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#34

Post by dekhn »

liability wrote: post #20
sandworm101 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Navy. It was used to insulate pipes and stop fires from spreading. Ships are basically one giant confined space full of pipes and fire barriers.

It's sadly ironic that a fireproofing material meant to save lives has killed so many (a great deal more than it plausibly ever saved.)

I don't know what the actual rates of lived saved by asbestos vs lives taken in. It's one of the classic risk evaluation problems: fires are big, scary and dramatic, people know who died in them, and so a tool that prevents it is welcome. On the other hand, asbestos being dangerous really only came into being after people noticed a pattern of increased early death in asbestos mining towns. We just don't process the risk of a statistically significant increase in early death, compared to the obvious risk of not using fire insulation.

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#35

Post by Narkov »

leptoniscool wrote: post #18
ermir wrote: post #16

For those that are unaware, if you or a loved one was diagnosed with Mesothelioma you may be entitled to financial compensation.

who's paying out?

In Australia, there are Government backed, employer funded workers compensation funds that will cover this. You can also sue the makes of the product as well.

In my grandfathers case, he successfully sued a company called "James Hardie". It's a slam-dunk case. They confirm that you would have been exposed to the product and then it's a mathematical equation to determine the claim value.

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#36

Post by bcrosby95 »

zdragnar wrote: post #33
saagarjha wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legend has it that he threw a development team and a multitouch capacitive display in a fire and then pulled a fully built, finished iPhone from the flames.

I thought that was the kindle fire tablet

I read fire is a metaphor for Jobs' tendency to yell at people that worked for him.

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#37

Post by pottertheotter »

paulgerhardt wrote: post #25
PHGamer wrote: post #5

is asbestos really that bad? or is it the long term affects. if charlemagne just used it a show off thing in the diner would it have really mattered?

Yes, but in insidious ways. In the era of Charlemagne, many other things would have had significantly higher micromorts. As a dinner guest, I would have enjoyed the show rather than headed for the doors. At a dinner party today? No way. According to the official CDC report which was used by the EPA to ban new uses of asbestos [1] the gist is that asbestos isn't a traditional poison. We measure most "poisons" in terms…

Interesting info. Thanks!

By the way, whatever happened with Lockitron? I backed it in 2012 and the device I received never really worked. Reached out and was told there was a fix coming but nothing ever happened. I've never backed any sort of crowdfunding since.

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#38

Post by dylan604 »

skellera wrote: post #11
aresant wrote: post #6

Build on this even in 1942, just prior to the discovery of the link to Mesothelioma, we were busily figuring out every use case we could for asbestos - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC8L8ooBSgQ&t=1m8s Despite the recognition of Mesothelioma in the early 1900s it took almost 40 years to associate the disease with Asbestos. My understanding is that this was due to the 10 - 40 year average post exposure timeline for Me…

At least we think about it. The miracle material, graphene, has properties that could potentially cause problems when breathed in [0]. So at least we know what to look for and can mitigate. That said, who knows what other material might come about that causes problems 40 years later in a different way. We will learn when it comes but at least we’re starting to be more aware of potential problems. [0] https://www.mate…

If we know that certain materials have certain negative repercussions, can we extrapolate any of that learning to new materials to see if they have similar properties?

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#39

Post by labster »

sandworm101 wrote: post #4
liability wrote: post #2

I've heard this Charlemagne legend before but I'd love to see somebody put it to the test. I'm thinking the tablecloth would come out of the fire soiled with ash and bits of charcoal. I suppose it might still impress his guests but I don't think this party trick would work quite as well as the legend suggests. Also, 'Salamander Cotton' is a delightful name for asbestos.

Less a tablecloth, more a placemat. And it is doubtful it was thrown onto the fire, where it would probably put the fire mostly out, rather than thrown into the fireplace to hang on something over the fire. There are also translation issues from royal to plain speak. Royals like this rarely did physical things. When the king is observed to "throw" something, it is more likely that he had it thrown by a servant who th…

> Royals like this rarely did physical things.

That might be true now but historically kings led armies into war, and had to be skilled enough to fight.

We know the name of Charlemagne’s sword, Joyeuse.

Re: When Asbestos Was a Gift Fit for a King

#40

Post by paulgerhardt »

pottertheotter wrote: post #37
paulgerhardt wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but in insidious ways. In the era of Charlemagne, many other things would have had significantly higher micromorts. As a dinner guest, I would have enjoyed the show rather than headed for the doors. At a dinner party today? No way. According to the official CDC report which was used by the EPA to ban new uses of asbestos [1] the gist is that asbestos isn't a traditional poison. We measure most "poisons" in terms…

Interesting info. Thanks! By the way, whatever happened with Lockitron? I backed it in 2012 and the device I received never really worked. Reached out and was told there was a fix coming but nothing ever happened. I've never backed any sort of crowdfunding since.

The short version is we came out with an updated model in 2014 which fixed those issues and sold to Chamberlain in 2018. It's now the "Keyless Smart Lock by Liftmaster" [1].

With a few exceptions, crowdfunding is much more tame these days. You should look into again. There are some particularly great products on https://www.crowdsupply.com/ for instance. Aside from a few COVID delays from March-June, I back and receive projects nearly every month.

[1] https://www.liftmaster.com/keyless-smart-lock

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