Mexico has always considered the US dollar almost a secondary currency to their Peso as the fact that billions of US dollars spent their way through the Mexican economy in 2009 and 2010 which speaks for itself, but sometimes even the best of friendships come to an end.
The Mexican government in September 2010 enacted a new law which basically restricts the use of US Dollars for almost all purchases inside of Mexico.
In early 2010 travelers and visitors could shop at many of the large US corporations inside of Mexico such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot or even one of the hundreds of American food establishments such as McDonalds or Dominoes Pizza and pay for their meal using US Dollars but under the new law using US Dollars is no longer an option.
Just image the surprise of many Americans being told by Wal-Mart that US Dollars are no longer accepted at their store especially since Wal-Mart is one of the most iconic ?American? businesses in the world with such buying power that they set the prices which manufactures must sell them their items for.
Wal-Mart´s buying power is so well known in fact that most people would normally be able to safely assume that with such buying power that Wal-Mart could also force almost any country into allowing them to accept the US Dollar to further their in store sales, but apparently not even Wal-Mart is that powerful.
Therefore it was no surprise that when this story broke in late September of 2010 that Mexico was no longer accepting US Dollars the internet was abuzz with conspiracy theories claiming a banking holiday was in short order or the crash of the US dollar was intimate while others were raising the ?BS? flag and claiming Mexico would never stop accepting US Dollars because those dollars were its economic life support but as the year closed out and those ?end of the world? predictions didn?t come to pass and the fact Mexico did stop accepting the dollar, well that only left many people wondering what really was going on south of the border.
The Mexican government had made it clear that they will no longer allow ANY businesses to accept US dollars including American companies regardless of the operation or who is paying in American dollars. That?s right, this means if you?re a US citizen and fly into Mexico for vacation or business your hotel is no longer allowed to exchange cash dollars into pesos at the front desk which was customary up until 2011.
Also in Mexico if you travel to a local bank regardless of the bank name or national origin including HSBC from China which is the fastest growing bank in Mexico you are no longer able to exchange US Dollars for pesos. Only account holders at banks have the option of depositing US Dollars into their bank accounts but this is for deposits only and not exchange and then you have to have a special type of account set up that is more costly. Of course even if you do have a special account that allows you to deposit US dollars your bank will charge you a service free for depositing foreign currency into your account and then probably another service fee for a withdrawal but that?s another issue all together.
Ok so many readers are probably asking if the banks no longer exchange money or business are no longer allowed to accept US Dollars then what is a person who has US dollars suppose to do.
For those who have traveled to Mexico there is a good chance you are familiar with Casa de Cambios which are small exchange centers for US dollars and often littered on every corner of any large tourist city or the closer to the border you are, however these Casa de Cambios themselves have come under strict new regulation as well as have been greatly reduced in numbers as more are closing every day faster than ?one hour? Kodak film processing centers or Blockbuster video locations.
Part of the new regulations is that anyone exchanging money for any reason must now present a valid government ID which is copied and placed on file with a copy of the transaction and amount of money being exchanged. This additional paperwork and hassles now mean higher operational costs for these businesses which in turn mean those costs will be passed onto the consumers who are often the one that end up paying for everything anyway.
Another drawback is that since there are now fewer Casa de Cambios this means less competition and so the exchange rate doesn?t have to be as competitive or even what the banks posted exchange rate is, after all you really have no other option in exchanging your US dollars. Gone are the days of such advantageous exchange rates that allowed anyone exchanging US Dollars into Pesos additional purchasing power by walking away with more for your money south of the border.
The Mexican government wants everyone to believe that these new laws were enacted because the war on drugs and the inability to track all these US Dollars floating around their economy which they claim the drug cartels are using in a black market way but a closer look indicates something completely different.
As the dollar continues to lose purchasing power so does the ever enjoyed exchange rate the US Dollar held for so long. This is a way to actually help devalue the US Dollar while protecting the Mexican economy from going down with the US financial Titanic that has been taking on way too much water in the form of overspending and red ink.
With the value of the dollar sliding lower each day there are some experts who are predicting the US Dollar to reach a point that it will either collapse or need to be reevaluated but either way the Peso is expected to be worth more than the US Dollar and this looks like it will happen sometime very soon at the rate of how things are changing for the Dollar around the world.
This is why it looks as if the Mexican government is doing everything it can to remove as many US Dollars from their economy so there are fewer US Dollars in circulation inside of Mexico so that when the US Dollar does finally go by the wayside there will be less of a direct affect on the Mexican Economy as a whole.
It has now been almost 5 full months since this law took effect and Mexico has been successful in eliminating millions of US fiat Dollars out of its economy and taking steps to vamp up the removal of all remaining dollars by recently instigating even stricter rules at the Casa de Cambios preventing them from exchanging more than $300.00 dollars per transactions. This means it will be much more difficult for Mexicans to send US Dollars home to their families without enriching the pockets of the bankers and the money transfer companies. These caps on exchanging Dollars will also cause the people to want to get away from the dollar faster as it?s more difficult and costly to do business with dollars.
On a side note it´s also important to note that the Mexican economy grew at a rate of just over 5% in 2010 and by the year?s end many large companies in Mexico were reporting stronger than ever revenue and sales at rates not seen in many years. Many large companies are actually in hiring frenzies and some companies are desperate to fill slots with qualified workers.
Now while some will argue that any cash regardless if it is drug money or laundered is actually good for an economy but most people can also understand it?s not good if that cash you have is losing its value so fast that it isn?t going to be worth the paper it?s printed on so it´s best to get rid of that money as fast as you can.
There has been a rush to sell off US Dollars inside Mexico because the people are sensing a coming financial storm with the US Dollar and they too don?t want to be stuck with worthless paper or allowing that worthless paper to drag down their economy especially while their overall economy is going through a growth trend but until that time does come you will still be able to use your credit and debit cards as those funds are simply automatically converted at the time of a transaction but are not physically in the economic system as fiat paper money but rather electronic funds.
A good conspiracy theorist will argue the point that the removal of paper money and forcing people into electronic transactions and requiring those who do use cash to provide ID to be Orwellian and that the bankers come out winning might have a point to some degree but in Mexico the fiat currency in the form of Peso bills can still be used for most transactions. The irony is that many Americans for so long often use to complain about how so many Mexicans living in the United States were sending US Dollars back to Mexico and how it hurt the US economy. The irony is now those Americans are getting their wish that little if any US dollars are being sent to Mexico and in turn this is actually greatly helping the Mexican economy while drastically hurting and aiding in the devaluation of the US dollar.
So for those planning to travel to Mexico be sure to take your Kevlar and your American Express card (don?t leave home without it) and remember Visa is everywhere you want it to be, even in Mexico where the Dollar is no longer accepted.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Smell of Space
Few people have experienced traveling into space. Even fewer have experienced the smell of space. Now this sounds strange, that a vacuum could have a smell and that a human being could live to smell that smell.
It seems about as improbable as listening to sounds in space, yet space has a definite smell. Being creatures of an atmosphere, we can only smell space indirectly.
Sort of like the way a pit viper smells by waving its tongue in the air and thenpressing it to the roof of its mouth where sensors process the molecules that have been adsorbed onto the waggling appendage.
It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent to describing the palette sensations of some new food as "tastes like chicken." The best description is metallic; a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation.
It seems about as improbable as listening to sounds in space, yet space has a definite smell. Being creatures of an atmosphere, we can only smell space indirectly.
Sort of like the way a pit viper smells by waving its tongue in the air and thenpressing it to the roof of its mouth where sensors process the molecules that have been adsorbed onto the waggling appendage.
It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent to describing the palette sensations of some new food as "tastes like chicken." The best description is metallic; a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
10 Inventors Killed by Their Own Inventions
1. William Nelson (1879−1903), a General Electric employee, invented a new way to motorize bicycles. He then fell off his prototype bike during a test run.
2. Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896) died the day after crashing one of his hang gliders.
3. Franz Reichelt (1879–1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance he would test it first with a dummy.
4. Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913) died when his self-constructed airplane, Vlaicu II, failed him during an attempt to cross the Carpathian Mountains by air.
5. Michael Dacre (1956–2009) died after testing his flying taxi device designed to accommodate fast and affordable travel among nearby cities.
6. Horace Lawson Hunley (1823–1863), confederate marine engineer and inventor of the first combat submarine, CSS Hunley, died during a trial of his vessel. During a routine exercise of the submarine, which had already sunk twice previously, Hunley took command. After failing to resurface, Hunley and the seven other crew members drowned.
7. Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889–1944) was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. This system was the eventual cause of his death when he was accidentally entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.
8. Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1867–1934) invented the process to isolate radium after co-discovering the radioactive elements radium and polonium. She died of aplastic anemia as a result of prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation emanating from her research materials. The dangers of radiation were not well understood at the time.
9. Valerian Abakovsky (1895–1921) constructed the Aerowagon, an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine and propeller traction; it was intended to carry Soviet officials. On July 24, 1921, a group led by Fyodor Sergeyev took the Aerowagon from Moscow to the Tula collieries to test it, with Abakovsky also on board. They successfully arrived in Tula, but on the return route to Moscow the Aerowagon derailed at high speed, killing everyone on board, including Abakovsky.
10. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814) invented the guillotine, his name became an eponym for it. He died by the machine.
10 Amazon Items with Extraordinarily Odd Names
10 Ways to Destroy Earth
10 Shopping Tricks That Stores Hate
2. Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896) died the day after crashing one of his hang gliders.
3. Franz Reichelt (1879–1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first ever attempt with the parachute and he had told the authorities in advance he would test it first with a dummy.
4. Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913) died when his self-constructed airplane, Vlaicu II, failed him during an attempt to cross the Carpathian Mountains by air.
5. Michael Dacre (1956–2009) died after testing his flying taxi device designed to accommodate fast and affordable travel among nearby cities.
6. Horace Lawson Hunley (1823–1863), confederate marine engineer and inventor of the first combat submarine, CSS Hunley, died during a trial of his vessel. During a routine exercise of the submarine, which had already sunk twice previously, Hunley took command. After failing to resurface, Hunley and the seven other crew members drowned.
7. Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889–1944) was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. This system was the eventual cause of his death when he was accidentally entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.
8. Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1867–1934) invented the process to isolate radium after co-discovering the radioactive elements radium and polonium. She died of aplastic anemia as a result of prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation emanating from her research materials. The dangers of radiation were not well understood at the time.
9. Valerian Abakovsky (1895–1921) constructed the Aerowagon, an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine and propeller traction; it was intended to carry Soviet officials. On July 24, 1921, a group led by Fyodor Sergeyev took the Aerowagon from Moscow to the Tula collieries to test it, with Abakovsky also on board. They successfully arrived in Tula, but on the return route to Moscow the Aerowagon derailed at high speed, killing everyone on board, including Abakovsky.
10. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814) invented the guillotine, his name became an eponym for it. He died by the machine.
10 Amazon Items with Extraordinarily Odd Names
10 Ways to Destroy Earth
10 Shopping Tricks That Stores Hate
Saturday, January 29, 2011
10 Amazon Items with Extraordinarily Odd Names
1. Simone Chickenbone Chicken Poop Lip Junk 0.15 oz lip balm
2. Balsam Barometer Weather Stick , All Natural9single Pack
3. Deer Fence: Stanley Hog Ringer
4. Tick Nipper (Removes Ticks)
5. Coyote Urine Lure-32 oz
6. Classic Nipple Pals Breast Enhancers
7. PETaPOTTY Original Synthetic Grass
8. Monogram Toilet Paper - H - 1 roll
9. Liquid ass
10. Party Pooper Fake Human Poop
2. Balsam Barometer Weather Stick , All Natural9single Pack
3. Deer Fence: Stanley Hog Ringer
4. Tick Nipper (Removes Ticks)
5. Coyote Urine Lure-32 oz
6. Classic Nipple Pals Breast Enhancers
7. PETaPOTTY Original Synthetic Grass
8. Monogram Toilet Paper - H - 1 roll
9. Liquid ass
10. Party Pooper Fake Human Poop
10 Ways to Destroy the Earth
1.Total existence failure.
You will need: nothing
Method: No method. Simply sit back and twiddle your thumbs as, completely by chance, all 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms making up the planet Earth suddenly, simultaneously and spontaneously cease to exist. Note: the odds against this actually ever occurring are considerably greater than a googolplex to one. Failing this, some kind of arcane (read: scientifically laughable) probability-manipulation device may be employed.
Utter, utter rubbish.
2. Gobbled up by strangelets.
You will need: a stable strangelet
Method: Hijack control of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York. Use the RHIC to create and maintain a stable strangelet. Keep it stable for as long as it takes to absorb the entire Earth into a mass of strange quarks. Keeping the strangelet stable is incredibly difficult once it has absorbed the stabilizing machinery, but creative solutions may be possible.
A while back, there was some media hoo-hah about the possibility of this actually happening at the RHIC, but in actuality the chances of a stable strangelet forming are pretty much zero.
Earth’s final resting place: a huge glob of strange matter.
3. Sucked into a microscopic black hole.
You will need: a microscopic black hole. Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore you microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest. Creating a microscopic black hole is tricky, since one needs a reasonable amount of neutronium, but may possibly be achievable by jamming large numbers of atomic nuclei together until they stick. This is left as an exercise to the reader.
Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait. Black holes are of such high density that they pass through ordinary matter like a stone through the air. The black hole will plummet through the ground, eating its way to the center of the Earth and all the way through to the other side: then, it’ll oscillate back, over and over like a matter-absorbing pendulum. Eventually it will come to rest at the core, having absorbed enough matter to slow it down. Then you just need to wait, while it sits and consumes matter until the whole Earth is gone.
Highly, highly unlikely. But not impossible.
Earth’s final resting place: a singularity of almost zero size, which will then proceed to happily orbit the Sun as normal.
Source: “The Dark Side Of The Sun,” by Terry Pratchett.
4. Blown up by matter/antimatter reaction.
You will need: 2,500,000,000,000 tons of antimatter
Antimatter - the most explosive substance possible - can be manufactured in small quantities using any large particle accelerator, but this will take some considerable time to produce the required amounts. If you can create the appropriate machinery, it may be possible - and much easier - simply to “flip” 2.5 trillion tons of matter through a fourth dimension, turning it all to antimatter at once.
Method: This method involves detonating a bomb so big that it blasts the Earth to pieces.
How hard is that?
The gravitational binding energy of a planet of mass M and radius R is - if you do the lengthy calculations - given by the formula E=(3/5)GM^2/R. For Earth, that works out to roughly 224,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules. The Sun takes nearly a WEEK to output that much energy. Think about THAT.
To liberate that much energy requires the complete annihilation of around 2,500,000,000,000 tonnes of antimatter. That’s assuming zero energy loss to heat and radiation, which is unlikely to be the case in reality: You’ll probably need to up the dose by at least a factor of ten. Once you’ve generated your antimatter, probably in space, just launch it en masse towards Earth. The resulting release of energy (obeying Einstein’s famous mass-energy equation, E=mc^2) should be sufficient to split the Earth into a thousand pieces.
Earth’s final resting place: A second asteroid belt around the Sun.
Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500. Of course, if it does prove possible to manufacture antimatter in the sufficiently large quantities you require - which is not necessarily the case - then smaller antimatter bombs will be around long before then.
5. Destroyed by vacuum energy detonation.
You will need: a light bulb
Method: This is a fun one. Contemporary scientific theories tell us that what we may see as vacuum is only vacuum on average, and actually thriving with vast amounts of particles and antiparticles constantly appearing and then annihilating each other. It also suggests that the volume of space enclosed by a light bulb contains enough vacuum energy to boil every ocean in the world. Therefore, vacuum energy could prove to be the most abundant energy source of any kind. Which is where you come in. All you need to do is figure out how to extract this energy and harness it in some kind of power plant - this can easily be done without arousing too much suspicion - then surreptitiously allow the reaction to run out of control. The resulting release of energy would easily be enough to annihilate all of planet Earth and probably the Sun too.
Slightly possible.
Earth’s final resting place: a rapidly expanding cloud of particles of varying size.
Earliest feasible completion date: 2060 or so.
Source: “3001: The Final Odyssey,” by Arthur C. Clarke.
6. Sucked into a giant black hole.
You will need: a black hole, extremely powerful rocket engines, and, optionally, a large rocky planetary body. The nearest black hole to our planet is 1600 light years from Earth in the direction of Sagittarius, orbiting V4641.
Method: after locating your black hole, you need get it and the Earth together. This is likely to be the most time-consuming part of this plan. There are two methods, moving Earth or moving the black hole, though for best results you’d most likely move both at once.
Very difficult, but definitely possible.
Earth’s final resting place: part of the mass of the black hole.
Earliest feasible completion date: I do not expect the necessary technology to be available until AD 3000, and add at least 800 years for travel time. (That’s in an external observer’s frame of reference and assuming you move both the Earth and the black hole at the same time.)
Source: “The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy,” by Douglas Adams.
7. Meticulously and systematically deconstructed.
You will need: a powerful mass driver, or ideally lots of them; ready access to roughly 2*10^32J
Method: Basically, what we’re going to do here is dig up the Earth, a big chunk at a time, and boost the whole lot of it into orbit. Yes. All six sextillion tons of it. A mass driver is a sort of oversized electromagnetic railgun, which was once proposed as a way of getting mined materials back from the Moon to Earth - basically, you just load it into the driver and fire it upwards in roughly the right direction. We’d use a particularly powerful model - big enough to hit escape velocity of 11 kilometers per second even after atmospheric considerations - and launch it all into the Sun or randomly into space.
Alternate methods for boosting the material into space include loading the extracted material into space shuttles or taking it up via space elevator. All these methods, however, require a - let me emphasize this - titanic quantity of energy to carry out. Building a Dyson sphere ain’t gonna cut it here. (Note: Actually, it would. But if you have the technology to build a Dyson sphere, why are you reading this?) See No. 6 for a possible solution.
If we wanted to and were willing to devote resources to it, we could start this process RIGHT NOW. Indeed, what with all the gunk left in orbit, on the Moon and heading out into space, we already have done.
Earth’s final resting place: Many tiny pieces, some dropped into the Sun, the remainder scattered across the rest of the Solar System.
Earliest feasible completion date: Ah. Yes. At a billion tons of mass driven out of the Earth’s gravity well per second: 189,000,000 years.
Source: this method arose when Joe Baldwin and I knocked our heads together by accident.
8. Pulverized by impact with blunt instrument.
You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it… perhaps Mars
Method: Essentially, anything can be destroyed if you hit it hard enough. ANYTHING. The concept is simple: find a really, really big asteroid or planet, accelerate it up to some dazzling speed, and smash it into Earth, preferably head-on but whatever you can manage. The result: an absolutely spectacular collision, resulting hopefully in Earth (and, most likely, our “cue ball” too) being pulverized out of existence - smashed into any number of large pieces which if the collision is hard enough should have enough energy to overcome their mutual gravity and drift away forever, never to coagulate back into a planet again.
A brief analysis of the size of the object required can be found here. Falling at the minimal impact velocity of 11 kilometers per second and assuming zero energy loss to heat and other energy forms, the cue ball would have to have roughly 60% of the mass of the Earth. Mars, the next planet out, “weighs” in at about 11% of Earth’s mass, while Venus, the next planet in and also the nearest to Earth, has about 81%. Assuming that we would fire our cue ball into Earth at much greater than 11km/s (I’m thinking more like 50km/s), either of these would make great possibilities.
Obviously a smaller rock would do the job, you just need to fire it faster. A 10,000,000,000,000-tonne asteroid at 90% of light speed would do just as well. See the Guide to moving Earth for useful information on maneuvering big hunks of rock across interplanetary distances.
Pretty plausible.
Earth’s final resting place: a variety of roughly Moon-sized chunks of rock, scattered haphazardly across the greater Solar System.
Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500, maybe?
9. Eaten by von Neumann machines.
You will need: a single von Neumann machine
Method: A von Neumann machine is any device that is capable of creating an exact copy of itself given nothing but the necessary raw materials. Create one of these that subsists almost entirely on iron, magnesium, aluminum and silicon, the major elements found in Earth’s mantle and core. It doesn’t matter how big it is as long as it can reproduce itself exactly in any period of time. Release it into the ground under the Earth’s crust and allow it to fend for itself. Watch and wait as it creates a second von Neumann machine, then they create two more, then they create four more. As the population of machines doubles repeatedly, the planet Earth will, terrifyingly soon, be entirely eaten up and turned into a swarm of potentially sextillions of machines. Technically your objective would now be complete - no more Earth - but if you want to be thorough then you can command your VNMs to hurl themselves, along with any remaining trace elements, into the Sun. This hurling would have to be achieved using rocket propulsion of some sort, so be sure to include this in your design.
So crazy it might just work.
Earth’s final resting place: the bodies of the VNMs themselves, then a small lump of iron sinking into the Sun.
Earliest feasible completion date: Potentially 2045-2050, or even earlier.
Source: “2010: Odyssey Two,” by Arthur C. Clarke
10. Hurled into the Sun.
You will need: Earthmoving equipment
Method: Hurl the Earth into the Sun. Sending Earth on a collision course with the Sun is not as easy as one might think; even though you don’t actually have to literally hit the Sun (send the Earth near enough to the Sun (within the Roche limit), and tidal forces will tear it apart), it’s surprisingly easy to end up with Earth in a loopy elliptical orbit which merely roasts it for four months in every eight. But careful planning can avoid this.
This is impossible at our current technological level, but will be possible one day, I’m certain. In the meantime, may happen by freak accident if something comes out of nowhere and randomly knocks Earth in precisely the right direction. Earth’s final resting place: a small globule of vaporized iron sinking slowly into the heart of the Sun.
Earliest feasible completion date: Via act of God: 25 years’ time. Any earlier and we’d have already spotted the asteroid in question. Via human intervention: given the current level of expansion of space technology, 2250 at best.
You will need: nothing
Method: No method. Simply sit back and twiddle your thumbs as, completely by chance, all 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms making up the planet Earth suddenly, simultaneously and spontaneously cease to exist. Note: the odds against this actually ever occurring are considerably greater than a googolplex to one. Failing this, some kind of arcane (read: scientifically laughable) probability-manipulation device may be employed.
Utter, utter rubbish.
2. Gobbled up by strangelets.
You will need: a stable strangelet
Method: Hijack control of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York. Use the RHIC to create and maintain a stable strangelet. Keep it stable for as long as it takes to absorb the entire Earth into a mass of strange quarks. Keeping the strangelet stable is incredibly difficult once it has absorbed the stabilizing machinery, but creative solutions may be possible.
A while back, there was some media hoo-hah about the possibility of this actually happening at the RHIC, but in actuality the chances of a stable strangelet forming are pretty much zero.
Earth’s final resting place: a huge glob of strange matter.
3. Sucked into a microscopic black hole.
You will need: a microscopic black hole. Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore you microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest. Creating a microscopic black hole is tricky, since one needs a reasonable amount of neutronium, but may possibly be achievable by jamming large numbers of atomic nuclei together until they stick. This is left as an exercise to the reader.
Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait. Black holes are of such high density that they pass through ordinary matter like a stone through the air. The black hole will plummet through the ground, eating its way to the center of the Earth and all the way through to the other side: then, it’ll oscillate back, over and over like a matter-absorbing pendulum. Eventually it will come to rest at the core, having absorbed enough matter to slow it down. Then you just need to wait, while it sits and consumes matter until the whole Earth is gone.
Highly, highly unlikely. But not impossible.
Earth’s final resting place: a singularity of almost zero size, which will then proceed to happily orbit the Sun as normal.
Source: “The Dark Side Of The Sun,” by Terry Pratchett.
4. Blown up by matter/antimatter reaction.
You will need: 2,500,000,000,000 tons of antimatter
Antimatter - the most explosive substance possible - can be manufactured in small quantities using any large particle accelerator, but this will take some considerable time to produce the required amounts. If you can create the appropriate machinery, it may be possible - and much easier - simply to “flip” 2.5 trillion tons of matter through a fourth dimension, turning it all to antimatter at once.
Method: This method involves detonating a bomb so big that it blasts the Earth to pieces.
How hard is that?
The gravitational binding energy of a planet of mass M and radius R is - if you do the lengthy calculations - given by the formula E=(3/5)GM^2/R. For Earth, that works out to roughly 224,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules. The Sun takes nearly a WEEK to output that much energy. Think about THAT.
To liberate that much energy requires the complete annihilation of around 2,500,000,000,000 tonnes of antimatter. That’s assuming zero energy loss to heat and radiation, which is unlikely to be the case in reality: You’ll probably need to up the dose by at least a factor of ten. Once you’ve generated your antimatter, probably in space, just launch it en masse towards Earth. The resulting release of energy (obeying Einstein’s famous mass-energy equation, E=mc^2) should be sufficient to split the Earth into a thousand pieces.
Earth’s final resting place: A second asteroid belt around the Sun.
Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500. Of course, if it does prove possible to manufacture antimatter in the sufficiently large quantities you require - which is not necessarily the case - then smaller antimatter bombs will be around long before then.
5. Destroyed by vacuum energy detonation.
You will need: a light bulb
Method: This is a fun one. Contemporary scientific theories tell us that what we may see as vacuum is only vacuum on average, and actually thriving with vast amounts of particles and antiparticles constantly appearing and then annihilating each other. It also suggests that the volume of space enclosed by a light bulb contains enough vacuum energy to boil every ocean in the world. Therefore, vacuum energy could prove to be the most abundant energy source of any kind. Which is where you come in. All you need to do is figure out how to extract this energy and harness it in some kind of power plant - this can easily be done without arousing too much suspicion - then surreptitiously allow the reaction to run out of control. The resulting release of energy would easily be enough to annihilate all of planet Earth and probably the Sun too.
Slightly possible.
Earth’s final resting place: a rapidly expanding cloud of particles of varying size.
Earliest feasible completion date: 2060 or so.
Source: “3001: The Final Odyssey,” by Arthur C. Clarke.
6. Sucked into a giant black hole.
You will need: a black hole, extremely powerful rocket engines, and, optionally, a large rocky planetary body. The nearest black hole to our planet is 1600 light years from Earth in the direction of Sagittarius, orbiting V4641.
Method: after locating your black hole, you need get it and the Earth together. This is likely to be the most time-consuming part of this plan. There are two methods, moving Earth or moving the black hole, though for best results you’d most likely move both at once.
Very difficult, but definitely possible.
Earth’s final resting place: part of the mass of the black hole.
Earliest feasible completion date: I do not expect the necessary technology to be available until AD 3000, and add at least 800 years for travel time. (That’s in an external observer’s frame of reference and assuming you move both the Earth and the black hole at the same time.)
Source: “The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy,” by Douglas Adams.
7. Meticulously and systematically deconstructed.
You will need: a powerful mass driver, or ideally lots of them; ready access to roughly 2*10^32J
Method: Basically, what we’re going to do here is dig up the Earth, a big chunk at a time, and boost the whole lot of it into orbit. Yes. All six sextillion tons of it. A mass driver is a sort of oversized electromagnetic railgun, which was once proposed as a way of getting mined materials back from the Moon to Earth - basically, you just load it into the driver and fire it upwards in roughly the right direction. We’d use a particularly powerful model - big enough to hit escape velocity of 11 kilometers per second even after atmospheric considerations - and launch it all into the Sun or randomly into space.
Alternate methods for boosting the material into space include loading the extracted material into space shuttles or taking it up via space elevator. All these methods, however, require a - let me emphasize this - titanic quantity of energy to carry out. Building a Dyson sphere ain’t gonna cut it here. (Note: Actually, it would. But if you have the technology to build a Dyson sphere, why are you reading this?) See No. 6 for a possible solution.
If we wanted to and were willing to devote resources to it, we could start this process RIGHT NOW. Indeed, what with all the gunk left in orbit, on the Moon and heading out into space, we already have done.
Earth’s final resting place: Many tiny pieces, some dropped into the Sun, the remainder scattered across the rest of the Solar System.
Earliest feasible completion date: Ah. Yes. At a billion tons of mass driven out of the Earth’s gravity well per second: 189,000,000 years.
Source: this method arose when Joe Baldwin and I knocked our heads together by accident.
8. Pulverized by impact with blunt instrument.
You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it… perhaps Mars
Method: Essentially, anything can be destroyed if you hit it hard enough. ANYTHING. The concept is simple: find a really, really big asteroid or planet, accelerate it up to some dazzling speed, and smash it into Earth, preferably head-on but whatever you can manage. The result: an absolutely spectacular collision, resulting hopefully in Earth (and, most likely, our “cue ball” too) being pulverized out of existence - smashed into any number of large pieces which if the collision is hard enough should have enough energy to overcome their mutual gravity and drift away forever, never to coagulate back into a planet again.
A brief analysis of the size of the object required can be found here. Falling at the minimal impact velocity of 11 kilometers per second and assuming zero energy loss to heat and other energy forms, the cue ball would have to have roughly 60% of the mass of the Earth. Mars, the next planet out, “weighs” in at about 11% of Earth’s mass, while Venus, the next planet in and also the nearest to Earth, has about 81%. Assuming that we would fire our cue ball into Earth at much greater than 11km/s (I’m thinking more like 50km/s), either of these would make great possibilities.
Obviously a smaller rock would do the job, you just need to fire it faster. A 10,000,000,000,000-tonne asteroid at 90% of light speed would do just as well. See the Guide to moving Earth for useful information on maneuvering big hunks of rock across interplanetary distances.
Pretty plausible.
Earth’s final resting place: a variety of roughly Moon-sized chunks of rock, scattered haphazardly across the greater Solar System.
Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500, maybe?
9. Eaten by von Neumann machines.
You will need: a single von Neumann machine
Method: A von Neumann machine is any device that is capable of creating an exact copy of itself given nothing but the necessary raw materials. Create one of these that subsists almost entirely on iron, magnesium, aluminum and silicon, the major elements found in Earth’s mantle and core. It doesn’t matter how big it is as long as it can reproduce itself exactly in any period of time. Release it into the ground under the Earth’s crust and allow it to fend for itself. Watch and wait as it creates a second von Neumann machine, then they create two more, then they create four more. As the population of machines doubles repeatedly, the planet Earth will, terrifyingly soon, be entirely eaten up and turned into a swarm of potentially sextillions of machines. Technically your objective would now be complete - no more Earth - but if you want to be thorough then you can command your VNMs to hurl themselves, along with any remaining trace elements, into the Sun. This hurling would have to be achieved using rocket propulsion of some sort, so be sure to include this in your design.
So crazy it might just work.
Earth’s final resting place: the bodies of the VNMs themselves, then a small lump of iron sinking into the Sun.
Earliest feasible completion date: Potentially 2045-2050, or even earlier.
Source: “2010: Odyssey Two,” by Arthur C. Clarke
10. Hurled into the Sun.
You will need: Earthmoving equipment
Method: Hurl the Earth into the Sun. Sending Earth on a collision course with the Sun is not as easy as one might think; even though you don’t actually have to literally hit the Sun (send the Earth near enough to the Sun (within the Roche limit), and tidal forces will tear it apart), it’s surprisingly easy to end up with Earth in a loopy elliptical orbit which merely roasts it for four months in every eight. But careful planning can avoid this.
This is impossible at our current technological level, but will be possible one day, I’m certain. In the meantime, may happen by freak accident if something comes out of nowhere and randomly knocks Earth in precisely the right direction. Earth’s final resting place: a small globule of vaporized iron sinking slowly into the heart of the Sun.
Earliest feasible completion date: Via act of God: 25 years’ time. Any earlier and we’d have already spotted the asteroid in question. Via human intervention: given the current level of expansion of space technology, 2250 at best.
Friday, December 17, 2010
80 and Still Jealous
An 80-year-old man launched a hammer attack on his wife's 63-year-old lover after catching the couple kissing, a court heard.
Stuart Pask, a retired production engineer, battered John Hanson over the head repeatedly in front of horrified commuters at Waterloo Station.
Mr Hanson crouched under a 'rain of blows' as Pask's wife Teresa, 61, looked on.
After being restrained by two off-duty policemen Pask said: 'He's been f***ing my wife.'
Turning to Mrs Hanson, a software project manager, the husband said: 'You kissed him four times.
'He asked for it and he got it. I've spent the last year doing up our house. They've probably been in my bed and in the whirlpool which I fitted.'
However, Mrs Pask was horrified when her husband was jailed. She said: 'This isn't justice - this is a total waste of everybody's money.'
Blackfriars Crown Court heard Mrs Pask and Mr Hanson had an affair but they claimed they ended it off when her husband found out.
The married couple stayed together, living at their home in Surrey, and had recently enjoyed a holiday in America when their lives unravelled for a second time.
Philip Jones, prosecuting, said the former lovers met through a mutual interest in genealogy.
He said:'Mr Pask is a gentleman aged 80 and his wife Teresa who is some 19 years his junior, have been married for 33 years
'Mr Pask is a man of previous good character. Quite a few years ago he and his wife both developed an interest in genealogy.
'It was through that mutual interest that they came to know the complainant in this case, Mr Hanson.
'It came about towards the beginning of last year that Mrs Pask and Mr Hanson began an affair and it lasted for some months.
'It concluded in October 2009 after it was discovered by Mr Pask. Mr Pask was very angry about it but he was assured it was to end.'
The Pasks stayed together, living at their home in Surrey, and had recently had a 'very successful' holiday in America.
However, their lives unravelled for a second time, as Mr Jones continued: 'On 7th August this year they encountered Mr Hanson at a reception and it somehow started up in the defendant's mind his feelings about this affair and that Mr Hanson had got away with having an affair with his wife.
'Then on 10th August Mrs Pask, having maintained her interest in genealogy, was to attend a committee meeting at the premises of the Society of Genealogists in Clerkenwell.
'She assured her husband that she would not spend any time alone with Mr Hanson.
'Mr Pask knew the time she would be getting her train home from Waterloo Station.
'He had reservations but she assured him she would not see him alone.
'It was a meeting that went on until the early evening, but after the meeting had finished she did spend some time with Mr Hanson.'
The court head Mrs Pask shared a bottle of wine with Mr Hanson at the Royal Festival Hall before walking back to Waterloo, where they kissed goodbye on the concourse.
'The time arrived at which Mrs Pask had to catch her train back, having spent a pleasant time together.
Mr Jones continued: 'Mr Hanson made his way towards Marks and Spencer for some water and suddenly he saw coming towards him somebody he recognised to be the defendant.
'He saw the defendant had something in his right hand. It was in fact a hammer, concealed with a white plastic carrier bag.
'The defendant ran up to Mr Hanson and took hold of his shoulder. With the hammer in his right hand he struck Mr Hanson a number of times on the head and two blows landed on his arm and shoulder.
'Mr Hanson crouched and raised his arms and tried to protect himself. The blows rained upon him.
'He did not recall being kicked though other witnesses spoke of this happening.'
Pask, of Byfleet Road, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
His wife was stunned and in tears as he was led away. She said as the judge left the room: 'I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. Has he just sentenced my husband to two years imprisonment?
'He's just sent an 80-year-old to prison for two years?.' Outside court she said: 'You see in the papers people getting away with much more serious things. I'm overwhelmed with disbelief.
'He didn't think of the consequences - he had that flash of anger.'
Mrs Pask said she was worried about her husband's safety in prison, and did not even know where he was being taken.
She added: 'He's never even been in a court in his life. The people that should have been in court today is John and me, not Stuart.
'This isn't justice - this is a total waste of everybody's money.'
Tim Brown, defending, said she felt partly responsible for the attack even though her husband 'makes it clear he takes responsibility for his behaviour'.
Mr Brown pleaded for any jail sentence to be suspended, his lawyer added: 'He and his wife are together.
'There is no contact with Mr Hanson. There are no social matters. Had they taken this view six months ago they know Mr Pask wouldn't have been here today.
'They take the view that if they are to make anything of their marriage this has to be the case. They are having counselling. It is clear there's a lot of work to be done.
'There is a lot of resentment from Mr Pask and a lot of guilt on the part of Mrs Pask.' Jailing Pask, Judge David Martineau said he had taken into account that a 'red mist' descended.
He accepted his behaviour was completely out of character - provoked by a feeling of having been 'greatly wronged'.
But he added: 'This was a thoroughly pre-meditated attack with a hammer, aimed at the head, motivated by revenge which could very easily have resulted in serious harm.
'It is very surprising that it didn't so result. It was committed in full view of a great many people at Waterloo Station.
'If you had any previous convictions and if you were 10 or more years younger it seems to me it would inevitably have been a substantial custodial sentence.'
Stuart Pask, a retired production engineer, battered John Hanson over the head repeatedly in front of horrified commuters at Waterloo Station.
Mr Hanson crouched under a 'rain of blows' as Pask's wife Teresa, 61, looked on.
After being restrained by two off-duty policemen Pask said: 'He's been f***ing my wife.'
Turning to Mrs Hanson, a software project manager, the husband said: 'You kissed him four times.
'He asked for it and he got it. I've spent the last year doing up our house. They've probably been in my bed and in the whirlpool which I fitted.'
However, Mrs Pask was horrified when her husband was jailed. She said: 'This isn't justice - this is a total waste of everybody's money.'
Blackfriars Crown Court heard Mrs Pask and Mr Hanson had an affair but they claimed they ended it off when her husband found out.
The married couple stayed together, living at their home in Surrey, and had recently enjoyed a holiday in America when their lives unravelled for a second time.
Philip Jones, prosecuting, said the former lovers met through a mutual interest in genealogy.
He said:'Mr Pask is a gentleman aged 80 and his wife Teresa who is some 19 years his junior, have been married for 33 years
'Mr Pask is a man of previous good character. Quite a few years ago he and his wife both developed an interest in genealogy.
'It was through that mutual interest that they came to know the complainant in this case, Mr Hanson.
'It came about towards the beginning of last year that Mrs Pask and Mr Hanson began an affair and it lasted for some months.
'It concluded in October 2009 after it was discovered by Mr Pask. Mr Pask was very angry about it but he was assured it was to end.'
The Pasks stayed together, living at their home in Surrey, and had recently had a 'very successful' holiday in America.
However, their lives unravelled for a second time, as Mr Jones continued: 'On 7th August this year they encountered Mr Hanson at a reception and it somehow started up in the defendant's mind his feelings about this affair and that Mr Hanson had got away with having an affair with his wife.
'Then on 10th August Mrs Pask, having maintained her interest in genealogy, was to attend a committee meeting at the premises of the Society of Genealogists in Clerkenwell.
'She assured her husband that she would not spend any time alone with Mr Hanson.
'Mr Pask knew the time she would be getting her train home from Waterloo Station.
'He had reservations but she assured him she would not see him alone.
'It was a meeting that went on until the early evening, but after the meeting had finished she did spend some time with Mr Hanson.'
The court head Mrs Pask shared a bottle of wine with Mr Hanson at the Royal Festival Hall before walking back to Waterloo, where they kissed goodbye on the concourse.
'The time arrived at which Mrs Pask had to catch her train back, having spent a pleasant time together.
Mr Jones continued: 'Mr Hanson made his way towards Marks and Spencer for some water and suddenly he saw coming towards him somebody he recognised to be the defendant.
'He saw the defendant had something in his right hand. It was in fact a hammer, concealed with a white plastic carrier bag.
'The defendant ran up to Mr Hanson and took hold of his shoulder. With the hammer in his right hand he struck Mr Hanson a number of times on the head and two blows landed on his arm and shoulder.
'Mr Hanson crouched and raised his arms and tried to protect himself. The blows rained upon him.
'He did not recall being kicked though other witnesses spoke of this happening.'
Pask, of Byfleet Road, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
His wife was stunned and in tears as he was led away. She said as the judge left the room: 'I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. Has he just sentenced my husband to two years imprisonment?
'He's just sent an 80-year-old to prison for two years?.' Outside court she said: 'You see in the papers people getting away with much more serious things. I'm overwhelmed with disbelief.
'He didn't think of the consequences - he had that flash of anger.'
Mrs Pask said she was worried about her husband's safety in prison, and did not even know where he was being taken.
She added: 'He's never even been in a court in his life. The people that should have been in court today is John and me, not Stuart.
'This isn't justice - this is a total waste of everybody's money.'
Tim Brown, defending, said she felt partly responsible for the attack even though her husband 'makes it clear he takes responsibility for his behaviour'.
Mr Brown pleaded for any jail sentence to be suspended, his lawyer added: 'He and his wife are together.
'There is no contact with Mr Hanson. There are no social matters. Had they taken this view six months ago they know Mr Pask wouldn't have been here today.
'They take the view that if they are to make anything of their marriage this has to be the case. They are having counselling. It is clear there's a lot of work to be done.
'There is a lot of resentment from Mr Pask and a lot of guilt on the part of Mrs Pask.' Jailing Pask, Judge David Martineau said he had taken into account that a 'red mist' descended.
He accepted his behaviour was completely out of character - provoked by a feeling of having been 'greatly wronged'.
But he added: 'This was a thoroughly pre-meditated attack with a hammer, aimed at the head, motivated by revenge which could very easily have resulted in serious harm.
'It is very surprising that it didn't so result. It was committed in full view of a great many people at Waterloo Station.
'If you had any previous convictions and if you were 10 or more years younger it seems to me it would inevitably have been a substantial custodial sentence.'
Sunday, November 21, 2010
6 Ways Plants Are Used as Weapons
Sure they may look harmless, but in the hands of the right people, a plant can be just as deadly as a shotgun. Plants have been an integral part in weapons manufacturing and advancements for thousands of years.
1. Arrows and Darts
First of all, it is worth noting that these weapons all originate from plants:
• Bows
• Arrows
• Spears
• Darts
All of the above are all derived from the ash, elm and other species of tree. However, assuming that bats, clubs and other wooden objects are too easy, let’s examine how these plant-weapons are enhanced using other plants.
Arrows found dating back to thousands of years ago were found to have grooves cut in the tips with trace elements of such poisons as tubocurarine and curare. These poisons derived from plants act as a paralytic, adding asphyxiation to the arrow or dart wound. Though it sounds dangerous to be used in hunting, cooking the meat renders the poison ineffective, and therefore there are no chances of second hand exposure.
2. Poisons
Not only do we have the Egyptians to thank for paper, sandals and Brendan Fraser’s career, but we also can thank them for much of the knowledge of poisons we have today.
It is widely believed that the Egyptians were responsible for discovering the poisonous properties of arsenic, henbane and strychnine long before modern medicine existed. Their experimentation with distillation, fermentation, and eating things that might have been poison single-handedly gave us most of the information we have today about naturally occurring poisons.Whether they were using the seeds, leaves or roots of plants, the Egyptians discovered many a way to weaponize flowers.
3. Barbed Wire
Although stronger, more flexible versions have been created and implemented since, the first roll of barbed wire was actually a plant.
The Scottish Thistle is a thorny little cactus flower that possesses hundreds of sharp edges and barbs. This plant is responsible for saving Scotland from a sneak attack by Norsemen during the 13th century. Because the Norse were barefoot, their cries of pain from stepping on the thistle alerted the Scottish of their invasion and thereby thwarted their plan. The Scottish thistle is still honored and held in high regard by the people and government of Scotland.
4. Biological Weapons
Biological weapons are perhaps the most disturbing and least ethical of all instruments of war, but what many people don’t know is that not all toxins are created in laboratories.
Cytotoxons and mycotoxins, like ricin from the castor bean and various types of fungi, all have serious nerve disrupting properties. Although much more damaging chemical weapons such as Anthrax has been developed, the amount of raw “mess-you-up” power that occurs in nature is still astonishing. While most often these sorts of biological weapons are used in crop dusting and pesticide application, they are still capable of bringing about damage in a war.
5. Curry bomb
It was only a matter of time before Indian food was utilized for its destructive power, and that is precisely what the curry bomb does. An 88-mm grenade filled with phosphorous, red hot chilies and pepper, this bomb can bring victims to their knees in seconds.
Designed specifically for smoking terrorists out of caves and other hiding places, the curry bomb creates a smoke screen of intense, eye watering, debilitating chili powder in as little as 5 seconds. This technology can be tank-mounted or hand-held, and is sure to be the single most contributing factor to a decrease in terrorism and an increase in awful action movie lines.
6. Gunpowder
Stick with me here. Although it is mostly a product of chemistry, gunpowder (and therefore every firearm, rocket launch and nuclear bomb since) can be attributed directly to plants.
Created by the Chinese over a thousand years ago, gunpowder’s active and most powerful ingredient is potassium nitrate. By mixing straw (plant), wood ashes (burned plant), and manure (used to be a plant) into a hole and letting the mixture sit and get all scientific on itself for a year, the remaining by product is the incredibly flammable potassium nitrate. Although the involvement of the plant in the average gun battle seems inconsequential, it is in fact rather vital.
Summary
Plants have been used for evil since the dawn of time. While they are pretty to look at, lovely to smell, and an excellent get-out-jail-free card for married men around the globe, never underestimate the raw stopping power that lurks just beneath the surface of the average plant.
1. Arrows and Darts
First of all, it is worth noting that these weapons all originate from plants:
• Bows
• Arrows
• Spears
• Darts
All of the above are all derived from the ash, elm and other species of tree. However, assuming that bats, clubs and other wooden objects are too easy, let’s examine how these plant-weapons are enhanced using other plants.
Arrows found dating back to thousands of years ago were found to have grooves cut in the tips with trace elements of such poisons as tubocurarine and curare. These poisons derived from plants act as a paralytic, adding asphyxiation to the arrow or dart wound. Though it sounds dangerous to be used in hunting, cooking the meat renders the poison ineffective, and therefore there are no chances of second hand exposure.
2. Poisons
Not only do we have the Egyptians to thank for paper, sandals and Brendan Fraser’s career, but we also can thank them for much of the knowledge of poisons we have today.
It is widely believed that the Egyptians were responsible for discovering the poisonous properties of arsenic, henbane and strychnine long before modern medicine existed. Their experimentation with distillation, fermentation, and eating things that might have been poison single-handedly gave us most of the information we have today about naturally occurring poisons.Whether they were using the seeds, leaves or roots of plants, the Egyptians discovered many a way to weaponize flowers.
3. Barbed Wire
Although stronger, more flexible versions have been created and implemented since, the first roll of barbed wire was actually a plant.
The Scottish Thistle is a thorny little cactus flower that possesses hundreds of sharp edges and barbs. This plant is responsible for saving Scotland from a sneak attack by Norsemen during the 13th century. Because the Norse were barefoot, their cries of pain from stepping on the thistle alerted the Scottish of their invasion and thereby thwarted their plan. The Scottish thistle is still honored and held in high regard by the people and government of Scotland.
4. Biological Weapons
Biological weapons are perhaps the most disturbing and least ethical of all instruments of war, but what many people don’t know is that not all toxins are created in laboratories.
Cytotoxons and mycotoxins, like ricin from the castor bean and various types of fungi, all have serious nerve disrupting properties. Although much more damaging chemical weapons such as Anthrax has been developed, the amount of raw “mess-you-up” power that occurs in nature is still astonishing. While most often these sorts of biological weapons are used in crop dusting and pesticide application, they are still capable of bringing about damage in a war.
5. Curry bomb
It was only a matter of time before Indian food was utilized for its destructive power, and that is precisely what the curry bomb does. An 88-mm grenade filled with phosphorous, red hot chilies and pepper, this bomb can bring victims to their knees in seconds.
Designed specifically for smoking terrorists out of caves and other hiding places, the curry bomb creates a smoke screen of intense, eye watering, debilitating chili powder in as little as 5 seconds. This technology can be tank-mounted or hand-held, and is sure to be the single most contributing factor to a decrease in terrorism and an increase in awful action movie lines.
6. Gunpowder
Stick with me here. Although it is mostly a product of chemistry, gunpowder (and therefore every firearm, rocket launch and nuclear bomb since) can be attributed directly to plants.
Created by the Chinese over a thousand years ago, gunpowder’s active and most powerful ingredient is potassium nitrate. By mixing straw (plant), wood ashes (burned plant), and manure (used to be a plant) into a hole and letting the mixture sit and get all scientific on itself for a year, the remaining by product is the incredibly flammable potassium nitrate. Although the involvement of the plant in the average gun battle seems inconsequential, it is in fact rather vital.
Summary
Plants have been used for evil since the dawn of time. While they are pretty to look at, lovely to smell, and an excellent get-out-jail-free card for married men around the globe, never underestimate the raw stopping power that lurks just beneath the surface of the average plant.
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