From my accidental experimentation in the 90s (our toaster would occasionally not pop the toast out) , I can confirm that the frosted strawberry pop tart also create a nice flame. Given the higher amount of sugar and calories, I guess they'd have more fuel to burn.
Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
71–80 of 81 posts
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
One could argue that social media has taken its place. Although, the format makes it bite size and within a sea of algorithmic trash.
The old Internet had far far less, er "social validation" feedback. And if it did it was more like a person reaching out to write you a letter.
It also had a high (relatively) barrier to entry, technically speaking. This limited contributors on the internet to a specific cohort of curious-minded individuals.
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
One could argue that social media has taken its place. Although, the format makes it bite size and within a sea of algorithmic trash.
In 1994 we were seeing this all for the first time. Everyone had intrusive thoughts like "how big can I make a pop tart fire", but very few had the ability to make digital photographs and upload it to the Internet for all to see. Today, everyone has the ability to upload it to the Internet for all to see, so someone probably already had your intrusive thought and already made $10,000 off of it.
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Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#74Pages like this used to _be_ the world-wide web. Or most of it, anyway. I don't mean the (lack of) page style, I mean the writing. The irreverency of the subject matter. People shared whatever they thought was interesting, without regard to upvotes, likes, number of subscribers, and so on. I miss that a bit. (Also, it doesn't really get any more mid-90's than a tip of the hat toward Dave Barry...)
Yeah, what else is this recalling: - pouring liquid oxygen onto an outdoor charcoal grill (appears to be George Gobel of Purdue: https://youtu.be/UjPxDOEdsX8 ) - a hotel shampoo bottle filled with liquid nitrogen, inserted into a full 5-gallon water bottle Couldn't find the last one, but kids these days are doing it all wrong: https://youtu.be/PqRMAntoO8k
Thermal lance salami:
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#75I remember this from 1994, reading it in the uni computer lab. These was a meme at the time, before the word meme came about.
Its interesting that there were photos, that was quite unusual for the time. Notice that they are in .gif format. Digital cameras were quite rare back then, and the resolution on the photos looks quite fine so I'm thinking these are probably film-photos that were developed and then scanned on a scanner.
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#76Ah, the old pop-tart solid rocket booster. Sugar is a good propellant (though you’ll need an oxidiser if you’re going far up). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-propellant_rocket#%22Can...
Sugar is a prime component of Hamas's Qassam rocket fuel, with potassium nitrate as oxidizer. https://web.archive.org/web/20090219024648/http://www.me-mon... >
This is just "rocket candy" right? My friend made this stuff a whole bunch when we were teens. Once during a summer break from college, we lit up a watermelon sized chunk of the stuff, producing a house sized plume of white smoke and a mild explosion.
It's pretty fun! Maybe don't build missiles with it and attempt to kill your neighbor with it though, seems like the least fun possible use for it.
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#77I remember this from 1994, reading it in the uni computer lab. These was a meme at the time, before the word meme came about. Its interesting that there were photos, that was quite unusual for the time. Notice that they are in .gif format. Digital cameras were quite rare back then, and the resolution on the photos looks quite fine so I'm thinking these are probably film-photos that were developed and then scanned on…
>These was a meme at the time, before the word meme came about
It wasn't used regularly on the internet until into the 2000s, but the word "meme" was coined by Dawkins in 1976, as a direct analog to biological "genes"
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#78I think that demonstrations like this are great ways to teach kids healthy eating habits. My middle school health class included a joint day with a science teacher that left a lasting impression. Seeing the amount of energy contained in a single gummy bear put things into perspective! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txkRCIPSsjM
One that left an impression with me was leaving a tooth in a cup of Coke and watching the tooth decay over multiple days.
We did a race between coke and gatorade. Gatorade won hands down.
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sugar is a prime component of Hamas's Qassam rocket fuel, with potassium nitrate as oxidizer. https://web.archive.org/web/20090219024648/http://www.me-mon... >
This is just "rocket candy" right? My friend made this stuff a whole bunch when we were teens. Once during a summer break from college, we lit up a watermelon sized chunk of the stuff, producing a house sized plume of white smoke and a mild explosion. It's pretty fun! Maybe don't build missiles with it and attempt to kill your neighbor with it though, seems like the least fun possible use for it.
Yes.
It's also opportunistic exploitation of supplies which would be likely to pass through an imports blockade, as has been the case in Gaza.
Both sugar and fertiliser are basic-needs goods, with obvious nonmilitary applications. The fact that they can be combined (with other dual-purpose and low-cost materials, such as steel piping) to create ballistic weapons with ranges (and accuracies) of tens of kilometres is useful to Hamas and of course highly problematic for Israel.
What the source I'd linked noted was that though the rockets are individually highly inaccurate, en mass they become effective area denial weapons (effectively aerial mines), and a highly-asymmetric cost advantage over Israel's Iron Dome ballistic missile defence systems. A Qassam rocket costs less than $1,000, whilst a single shot by Iron Dome is on the order of $100,000, for a 100:1 cost advantage to the attacker. Even given Israel's vastly greater economic capacity over Hamas, that stings.
Re: Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are small, retail model rockets allowed to be launched from large public spaces in the US still? Or do they require a license, realtime transponder, and a bunch of bureaucratic red tape like RC aircraft that is effectively a dead hobby with a Hobson's choice between privacy invasion and cost, over-criminalization, and non-participation.
You mean like Estes rockets? I've taken my kids to the local elementary school grass field and launched them many times. We've never had an issue.
Oh wow this unlocked an elementary school memory I haven't thought about in awhile. I used to launch rockets with one of my teachers at my school's soccer field. I remember the smell of the engines distinctly.