SECTION THREE: ARTICLES AND LETTERS
Forwarded by Shirley Reischman
Subject: Kitchen oil fire.
I never realized that a wet dishcloth can be a one size fits all lid
to cover a fire in a pan! This is a dramatic video (30-second, very
short) about how to deal with a common kitchen fire... Oil in a frying
pan. Read the following Introduction, then watch the show... It's a
real eye-opener! At the Fire Fighting Training school they would
demonstrate this with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An
instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup at the end of a
10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the
attention of the students. The water, being heavier than oil, sinks to
the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force
of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it
became a thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast.
Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fire ball hits the ceiling and
fills the entire room. Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease
fire. One cup of either creates the explosive force of two sticks of
dynamite. This is a powerful message. ...
Nuclear Is Not the Right Alternative Energy Source
New plants are risky, costly and unnecessary
by Arjun Makhijani
Luminant Energy, formerly TXU, is proposing to build two Mitsubishi nuclear power reactors at its Comanche Peak site, where two reactors are already in place.
This is part of a national wave of new commercial reactor proposals after a three-decade lapse in new orders - eight in Texas alone. Having failed miserably to deliver on the 1950s promise that nuclear electricity would be „too cheap to meter,‰ the industry now says it will save us from climate change. If you don‚t like coal, you have to take nuclear, goes the nuclear establishment‚s hopeful mantra.
That‚s a false choice. Replacing coal with nuclear is risky, costly and unnecessary.
Renewable energy sources are quite sufficient to provide ample, reliable electricity. For instance, Texas has greater wind energy potential than its present electricity generation from all sources; it is greater also than the output from all U.S. nuclear power plants combined. And it has barely captured a whisper of its potential.
Wind energy is competitive with or more economical than nuclear energy - about 8 cents per kilowatt-hour in good areas. A recent independent assessment by the Keystone Center, which included industry representatives, estimated nuclear costs at 8 to 11 cents.
MORE
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/26/7308/
Caeli M. Good
This has been looked up on Snoops and it says it's true but rare!
Microwaving Water!
A 26-year old man decided to have a cup of coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for, but he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup, he noted that the! water was not boiling, but suddenly the water in the cup 'blew up' into his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand, but all the water had flown out into his face due to the buildup of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face which may leave scarring.
He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven. If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc.., (nothing metal).
General Electric's Response:
Thanks for contacting us, I will be happy to assist you. The e-mail that you received is correct. Microwaved water and other liquids do not always bubble when they reach the boiling point. They can actually get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a spoon or tea bag is put into it.
To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any liquid for more than two minutes per cup. After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for thirty seconds! before moving it or adding anything into it.
Here is what our local science teacher had to say on the matter: 'Thanks for the microwave warning. I have seen this happen before. It is caused by a phenomenon known as super heating. It can occur anytime water is heated and will particularly occur if the vessel that the water is heated in is new, or when heating a small amount of water (less than half a cup).
What happens is that the water heats faster than the vapor bubbles can form. If the cup is very new then it is unlikely to have small surface scratches inside it that provide a place for the bubbles to form. As the bubbles cannot form and release some of the heat has built up, the liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to heat up well past its boiling point.
What then usually happens is that the liquid is bumped or jarred, which is just enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to rapidly form and expel the hot liquid. The rapid formation of bubbles is also why a carbonated beverage spews when opened after having been shaken.'
If you pass this on you could very well save someone from a lot of pain and suffering.
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