Crew Builds a Flying House Modeled After UP! 56
The people at National Geographic have built a house modeled after the one in the movie UP! for a new TV series called How Hard Can It Be?. The house flew for about an hour and reached 10,000 feet. There was no report of anyone spotting The Beast of Paradise Falls.
How hard could it be? (Score:1)
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Stupid Graphic (Score:3)
Re:Stupid Graphic (Score:5, Informative)
This is why we can't have nice things (Score:1)
I sure hope they recycled that helium. Aren't we supposed to be running out?
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We'll make more. [epa.gov]
Real article (Score:2)
Here is a proper one! http://uk.gizmodo.com/5778006/the-house-from-up-has-been-built-in-real-lifeand-it-flies [gizmodo.com]
Small house movement (Score:4, Informative)
Sure, the 16 by 16 feet house is not a full house
250-odd square feet "not a full house"? Some people would beg to differ [wikipedia.org].
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TFA is pretty light on technical details, like how much did the payload weigh and how much helium was required. Personally, I didn't think a cluster of balloons that small could lift a human, but I could be wrong.
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TFA is pretty light on technical details, like how much did the payload weigh and how much helium was required.
As I understand it, there might be more technical details in the actual show that will be shown on National Geographic. Unfortunately, Comcast basic digital cable doesn't have Nat Geo; only higher tiers have it. Damn bundling.
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15.5*15.5 = 240.25, 16.5*16.5 = 272.25
"250 odd" falls quite nicely between those limits.
NO, THIS is the REAL ARTICLE! (Score:3)
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Indeed. Using it for balloons at parties is much more justifiable.
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We have this thing called "money" that is used to purchase scarce goods on a thing called a "market". It ensures that people pay a high premium for more scarce goods.
It lets people do the things they want to do, free from moralistic assholes like yourself trying to dictate how other people spend their time and resources.
Re:Helium Shortage (Score:4, Interesting)
What happens when the government mandates that the scarce yet valuable good is sold at an extreme loss as fast as possible? If the market were to decide how much helium cost, and not the government, a birthday balloon of helium would cost ~$200.
Surely, that is the way we are meant to use such scarce resources, right? Mandate they be sold at a 99% discount so we can empty our stockpile before 2012 and wonder why scientists can't get any?
Besides, you can probably use it to prove that coal plants emit more dangerous radiation than nuclear plants, and everyone knows that is a de facto illegal act. Just like being able to prove what the police actually did to you.
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They aren't selling it "as fast as possible". There's a set amount they draw from the reserve every year.
It was wrong for the government to spend so much money distorting the helium market in the first place. Selling off the reserve is a necessary evil to correct past wrongs, and once it's complete, the market for helium will no longer be distorted.
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Funny, but apparently no one else got you.
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If you're really worried, there's zettaaton quantities only a couple light-minutes away.
Feel free to go collect it.
=)
Not everyone needs a mansion (Score:2)
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Precision F strike (Score:2)
MythBusters .... (Score:2)
MythBusters should try this. I am sure they could do better. ;)
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I'm sure they could misinterpret the story and come up with a way to completely flub it despite the fact that it has already provably been done. Thus ensuring loads of Aspberger's fueled hate-mail from internet experts detailing exactly how they got it wrong. Thereby allowing for sizable ratings when they eventually get around to repeating the test, this time not so egregiously screwing up the parameters.
Not that I have an opinion on the matter or anything...
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MythBusters should try this. I am sure they could do better. ;)
Mythbusters already has done something similar. The myth was about helium baloons causing a person to fly away when the grab a whole string of baloons. They actually got a child to sit in a harness like chair and raiser her off the ground, I think she was four or five, tipping the scales at oh, 50 lbs more or less. Their method appeared sound, findout how many helium ballons it takes to lift 1 lb then calculate the amount of balloons it would take to lift the test subject. First result based on original cal
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Ah I remember that one, but they didn't do a house. Didn't they use a dummy kid (like Buster), not a real one?
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Anyone in the house? (Score:2)
.
Is expanding helium that cold... (Score:2)
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I think the gloves, hats, and coats are better explained by the line 'working through the night in near freezing temperatures'.
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Probably because they were in the California High Desert. It doesn't say when this was filmed, but it certainly gets very cold there in winter.
wrong film (Score:2)
Helium shortage? (Score:1)
So *this* is why we have a pending helium shortage?
Designed after a house in Berkeley CA (Score:2)
The Up house was designed after a friend of mine's house in Berkeley. He'll kill me if I reveal the location, but the Pixar director had been eying the house for years apparently and through a mutual friend made acquaintance with my friend, the owner. They sent a team from Pixar over to take pictures and measurements and from watching the movie, the animated house is pretty darned similar. So these guys have essentially re-built a house in already standing in Berkeley and floated it. FWIW.