Re: Return to No Stealth in Space

Eivind Kjorstad wrote:
> Chuk Goodin skreiv:
> 
>> I'd question that assumption -- hasn't NASA done experiments where 
>> subjects spent considerable amounts of time in 400 F air temperature? 
>> Sure, sitting on some sheet metal lying outside would be bad, but I'd
bet 
>> staying in a nice root cellar would be okay for more than an hour.
> 
> Probably. And if you can manage to get into water, you should be ok for 
> a LONG time. You can breathe air that warm without short-term 
> lung-damage, and so assuming you can keep your body-temperature down to 
> acceptable levels, you'd be okay for a long time.
> 
> Turning on the shower, adjust the temperature downwards as needed and 
> sitting under it would help. Simply diving into a nearby lake too.

It'd probably take a while for the heat to work its way into large 
buildings, too, and most have air conditioning. I don't think this is 
likely to kill anyone except those unfortunates who are caught too far 
away from shelter. It gets worse if you stretch hours into days, though.

And even hours would probably do a doozy on the wildlife and vegetation 
since they don't have as many shelter options. If you want to kill large 
numbers of people most efficiently you could perhaps have this thing 
hover over farmland.