Comments on: Episode 61: Deadly Straw

By: Firearms Trust

Firearms Trust — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:55:29 +0000

This was a somewhat interesting article. I wonder how many everyday people will put this quality information to use. Thanks a bunch.

By: Bookend

Bookend — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:08:06 +0000

I once had a skeptical science teacher named Peggy Farmer. She was splendid. I only wish I had been a better student. Last I visited my former home of Wheatland, none knew of her happenings or whereabouts. To imagine encountering her while trying to validate the occurrence of straw piercing wood and glass!

By: Same old story | A Fundamentalist Druid in America

Same old story | A Fundamentalist Druid in America — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:31:26 +0000

[...] who did experiments in the early 70s (and in fact had his earliest work replicated more recently on Mythbusters, although they then added the confounding factor of a different recording technology, with no [...]

By: Argh Science Pirate

Argh Science Pirate — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:06:00 +0000

“Philosophy of Science” sounds like you might be a scientific ethicist, or maybe a pseudoscientist. That is, someone who waves crystals around and talks about Virgo. Oh wait, you’re not a trained “Philosopher of Science”, you’re just a writer ABOUT the philosophy of science. My mistake.

A random reaction 1/3 of the time means nothing conclusive was happening. If a plant felt the pain of another plant, you would expect to see a reaction almost every time.

Because they couldn’t find a connection with one experiment, they kept trying to find a connection. They couldn’t find a connection no matter what they tried.

I can predict the result of a coin flip 50% of the time. You need something pretty good to say your test results are anything but statistical noise.

Please start citing sources that are not stupid. Also please include page number.

Finally, theory-independence is garbage. It’s an attempt to de-legitimize modern scientific principles with the hope that pseudoscience will rise to prominence as some kind of alternative to discovering information about reality. It’s both a tool of flim-flammers and one of their weaknesses: because these people lack rigor, they attack their own credibility by opening their mouths and allowing foolishness to gurgle forth. Theory independence doesn’t even exist in pseudoscience; in fact, these charlatans are more likely to let their entrenched beliefs remain despite all opposition.

Sure plants respond to stimuli, just like rocks and olives and helium atoms.

By: Irvin

Irvin — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:25:36 +0000

A plastic drinking straw is stronger/denser material than wheat straw. How do you know it went halfway through? Most likely, up to 1-2 inches at best. More urban legend.

By: Irvin

Irvin — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:22:42 +0000

Straw is the remnant of wheat after harvesting. It is MUCH stiffer, coarse and stronger than hay. Hay is mown grasses and much softer, I know, I’ve baled a alot of it. It is also much heavier, as straw is hollow, like a birds bones(hollow/lighter). Either way, it is IMPOSSIBLE for a piece of straw to pierce the cellulose of wood under ANY circumstances. This is strictly urban legend!!!

By: visitor

visitor — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:12:43 +0000

yes, only those who believe the state’s conspiracy theory should be able to vote for their state!

btw, which commercial airliner goes at 500+ mph at sea-level?

By: swann2001

swann2001 — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:01:41 +0000

Hello Allan, my purpose for looking for this site was to dispel the 9/11 conspiracy theorists who say and aluminum plane would be destroyed before it entered a steel building. Say what? If a straw board or whatever can penetrate a tree at 200 to 300 miles an hour then it stands to reason a plane traveling at 500 miles an hour would penetrate a building that has not only a thin steel outer shell but mostly windows between the steel. Some of these people are truly scary when they are denying that planes even hit the World Trade Center but bombs where planted. They are the same ones who deny that man landed on the moon. It is scary that these people are allowed to vote and have children.

By: 4puf

4puf — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 02:42:03 +0000

Totally agree with bender and all the other comment about.

one straw instead of many and focus on the first part of the experiment with the plant.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 04:30:24 +0000

And also being fired in a cluster.

The thing that let the piano wire through was it was solitary and the tree could expand around it. The cluster of star hit at once crushing itself in as other pieces hit.