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Renacles , in Is it worth closing the lid on a toilet before flushing?

I remember watching a video where they added some liquid visible with UV to the water and flushed, there were droplets everywhere including the tester’s face.

It’s not a study but it’s enough to make me close the lid, especially when my toothbrush is in the same room.

Deebster OP ,
@Deebster@lemmyrs.org avatar

Yes, toothbrushes live uncomfortably close to the loo in my house too.

A friend gave me some light banter about closing the lid = under my wife's thumb but it's absolutely about me attempting to keep the toilet business contained to the toilet!

Jaarsh119 ,

I saw the same or a very similar video.

Someone once tried to argue against it by saying it still got the droplets in the air with the lid closed so there’s no point. My counterargument was that it still contained a lot of the droplets by closing it and that it’s the most minor of inconveniences to close it so you should just do it anyways.

Tigerfishy ,

Ah the ol “it’s not 100% effective and guaranteed to work so you should actually do nothing about it” argument…a true classic in any situation

Seriously though…I never even considered all the splashing and I’m a grown ass adult :/ happily my and my daughters toothbrush live in the kitchen

Lemmesee ,

I’m pretty sure it was mythbusters

dyslexicdainbroner , in Would wearing a covid-style facemask while cooking significantly reduce the harmful effects of gas stoves?

No.

The most effective method to reduce the harm would be to stop watching and believing the news/sm sensationalism.

ristoril_zip , in Would wearing a covid-style facemask while cooking significantly reduce the harmful effects of gas stoves?

It seems unlikely because the emissions that make gas stoves more dangerous than electric stoves are molecule sized, specifically NO2 and benzene.

scientificamerican.com/…/the-health-risks-of-gas-…

It’s possible that the N95 masks with their electrostatic charge might manage to intercept charged molecules but my chemistry is failing me as to whether NO2 or benzene would be affected.

wired.com/…/the-physics-of-the-n95-face-mask/

Sharpiemarker , in Would wearing a covid-style facemask while cooking significantly reduce the harmful effects of gas stoves?

I’m no scientist but I’m going to say no.

If oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, etc can pass through the fabric, so can carbon monoxide.

The masks are used for screening particulates out that contain pathogens like viruses/bacteria. Those are much larger than gasses.

Please correct me if I’m wrong about any of that.

BzzBiotch ,
@BzzBiotch@lemmy.world avatar

Correct, Covid facemask does nothing to help with gasses. Op should use extractor fan and ventilation. Additionally: the acute dangers of gas-stoves are highly exaggerated. With proper ventilation there’s nothing to worry about.

Sharpiemarker ,

I agree with you about the surgical masks but I’m not sure that the risks of carbon monoxide can be overstated.

There have been a number of families recently in the US that have died of CO poisoning due to the lack of CO alarms. If you have natural gas appliances, definitely keep CO alarms around the house.

A few years ago we were looking at putting in a whole house fan, and one of the risks is, if you don’t have proper ventilation set up, you can pull CO into the house instead of it ventilating like it’s supposed to.

There are definitely risks but you can mitigate them with CO detectors/alarms.

BzzBiotch ,
@BzzBiotch@lemmy.world avatar

Thanks for the clarification. It was not my intention to downplay the risk of carbon monoxide. Hence my comment about proper ventilation.

CO detectors are a good investment 👍🏻

WarmSoda , in What would happen if we mixed nuclear waste into gasoline

What if we, come on guys I’m serious, what if we mixed it with bourbon?

m0darn OP ,

2.5 million barrels per year x 200 liters per barrel = 500 million liters

So about 1000 times smaller volume than gasoline. So 1000 gains of sand worth per liter.

DevCat , in What would happen if we mixed nuclear waste into gasoline
@DevCat@lemmy.world avatar
Munkisquisher , in What (non-human) surface organism tends to burrow the deepest into the Earth?

A species of fig (Ficus, family Moraceae) from the Transvaal of South Africa was determined to have roots reaching at least 122 meters - source, google fu

WalterLatrans , in What (non-human) surface organism tends to burrow the deepest into the Earth?

I think the phrase down the rabbit hole is actually referring to Alice in Wonderland. But.

I would say the organism that tends to burrow the deepest into the Earth is humans. Average oil well depth appears to be around 5,964 feet (1818 meters), that’s pretty deep. The deepest hole we ever drilled is supposedly the Kola Superdeep Borehole dug by the Soviets, it was 40,230 feet (12.2km) deep.

Perhaps not answer your looking for though.

ALostInquirer OP ,

Oh, that’s a fair point on both counts, I should have specified non-human organisms. Still, we’re apparently really good at digging deep holes, so that’s fun!

milkisklim ,

This is still a fun question and I am learning!

BeHappy ,

I agree. When I hear the phrase, I automatically think of Alice and the White Rabbit.

bentropy , in What (non-human) surface organism tends to burrow the deepest into the Earth?

I only know of earthworm that they have been found up to 7 meters deep. But the rabbit hole thing is definitely not about the depth but about Alice in wonderland and the strange things you might find down there.

ALostInquirer OP ,

That sounds like some pretty dedicated earthworms! Also, as noted in another comment about the Alice reference, that’s a good point, albeit I guess one could say it’s about more of a figurative depth than literal given the curious places they go!

HenriVolney , in What (non-human) surface organism tends to burrow the deepest into the Earth?

That would be ma after I lose an argument to a 5 year old child

Jonathan12345 , in Why is technetium so weird?

Something about its nuclear structure. There just isn’t a stable structure its protons and neutrons can form.

holycrap , in What would happen if we mixed nuclear waste into gasoline

The solution to nuclear waste is to recycle it. Won’t happen unless we can drive down the cost of doing so.

SpunkyBarnes , in What would happen if we mixed nuclear waste into gasoline

Aerosolized atomic waste, what could possibly go wrong?

Wait.

There is a documentary about licking radioactive isotopes that might apply here.

Search for “Radium City documentary”, watch, then think about that, but breathable.

habanhero , (edited ) in What would happen if we mixed nuclear waste into gasoline

Is your proposal basically to burn away nuclear waste? Why is the gasoline important?

Few issues I see:

  • I don’t think such waste can be disposed safety by incineration. Because if it could, we’ve have done so already. It’s probably the go to solution when it comes to waste disposal, apart from just burying it or dumping it in the ocean.
  • The main problem is the safety and handling of such radioactive waste. You do not want it anywhere near people and that’s why it’s isolated. They are highly dangerous. Do you want such a substance sitting in your vehicle, garage, gas station with high traffic, etc? The radioactive substance doesn’t just go away when you add gasoline to it.
  • Even assuming we can get past the safety issues, the said mixture will likely not work in vehicles at all, or would destroy your engine.
  • How would this reduce carbon emissions? You are still burning gasoline except it’s radioactive gasoline.
m0darn OP ,

Is your proposal basically to burn away nuclear waste?

No. It’s to disperse it.

The main problem is the safety and handling of such radioactive waste.

It was very much not meant as a serious proposal.

How would this reduce carbon emissions?

Do you want such a substance sitting in your vehicle, garage, gas station with high traffic, etc

habanhero ,

No. It’s to disperse it.

It was very much not meant as a serious proposal.

Okay good. The joke was lost on me, I thought this was a serious post. Didn’t expect it in AskScience.

m0darn OP ,

Well it’s serious in that I would like to know how radioactive 2 million kilograms of nuclear waste mixed into 500 billion liters of gasoline would be.

I guess it’s 4 milligrams per liter. So a grain of sand per liter. My car is in the garage with a 40 liter gas tank. So 40 gains of sand worth of nuclear waste. How dangerous is that? Is it like evacuate the neighborhood, or is it don’t plan any long road trips.

habanhero ,

I’m not sure why you think dispersing nuclear waste into our environment instead of isolating it is a good idea.

If it’s just a thought experiment from a mathematical / chemical perspective, maybe someone else would like to take on the question and do the math.

From a sociological and logistical perspective, it’s just not gonna happen. Pretty sure people’s tolerance for radioactive materials anywhere near them is zero. There isn’t any amount of radioactivity / danger that is considered socially acceptable.

ziggurism , in What would happen if we mixed nuclear waste into gasoline
@ziggurism@lemmy.world avatar

Adding lead to gasoline didn’t reduce carbon emissions. Why do you think some other toxin would? You’re just poisoning the atmosphere for funsies. Skip the convoluted steps and just detonate bombs in the atmosphere. Inject it right into gothams water main, ya genocidal supervillain.

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