Discussion
There are a lot of smart people on Mastodon, so I’m looking for someone with the knowledge to help me build a death pod but it's more like a badass bobsled that rides a water slide into a volcano but it can't be plastic because it would melt and it probably shouldn't be metal because it would likely get too hot before you were launched into the lava so please let me know what materials would work best because this is not something I want to mess up.
Please boost for visibility.
@Alice Boosted for visibility, because I definitely want to see this.
@Alice last time I used bathroom tiles found at the dump they probably have them at home depot
What was the dumbest way somebody died that you personally knew?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1x7sbmd/what_was_the_dumbest_way_somebody_died_that_you/
"she rode a borosilicate glass bobsled down a water slide into a volcano" is up there.
also this negates your viking funeral in a pool.
Untreated (treated solely with quackery) prostate cancer is a lot less glamorous
i hope this is not you.
i have done so much stupid shit i am beginning to believe in quantum immortality, but i know it is survivorship bias.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_suicide_and_immortality
i have know too many friends who died.
@amiserabilist @Alice Oh FUCK no, I'm full on "this is our only shot at sentience" atheist, while I'm not scared of death I certainly will fight to live as long as I enjoy doing it. It was my idiot stepfather, world improved when he left it.
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."
i have never believed in not speaking ill off the dead.
believe it or not, i am not universally popular.
@Alice I think rosewood is the obvious option. But I would consider other nice scented essences, like maybe maple… To give a nice smokey flavour along the way.
Given you specifically described it as a "death pod", that means any material goes as long as it works at least once, right?
@Alice Google "Soapbox Derby"
@Alice
A thick piece of wood does the job. That is the cheaper variant of a spacecraft heat shield, an ablative heat shield made from fiber glass in resin. Woud will burn at high temperatures but it doesn't melt. The outer layer will burn away milimeter by milimeter exposing a new fresh layer. As long as your piece of wood is thick enough, something like 50 mm, you will have enough time.
@alterelefant @Alice you want carefully engineered wood: Multiple ablative layers to defer burning, but an accelerant-soaked second-to-last one.
Just as you launch from the slide, around you ignites a massive fireball, inside which you sail into the lava.
@gabe @alterelefant Thanks! This is why I'm on the Internet.
@Alice Asbestos-coated, lead-lined, ceramics. I can hook you up with a guy who knows a guy who might be able to help, once he gets out of prison.
@Alice what about clay
they're doing wild things with clay. its this new stuff
The Apollo heat shield?
(I don't trust these new fangled spacers, and the space shuttle had deadly engineering problems)
@Alice This is why asbestos exists.
@Alice Beryllium absorbs a bunch of heat is strong doesn't rust comes in all sorts of alloys. It won't melt in lava. You'll die machining it. It's kinda perfect!
They used to use beryllium heat sinks to protect the radios in cars when baking the paint on.
I'd suggest space tiles from the shuttles but you need vacuum to make them work well and that's hard to manage in our environment.
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@Alice What temp? How long? Why is volcano survival a requirement?
You have two strategies: Thermal mass (just takes a long while to heat up, but material still degrades) or active cooling where material is sacrificed in a deliberate way. I think this is the way to go for prolonged volcano exposure.
You need the material to cool the sled and for that it optimally needs to sublimate in a controlled way.
You also want to slow heat transfer through the leydenfrost effect. I.e. moisture outside.