What happened to Frank Clewer in Warrnambool 3

[Skogsgurra]

Hi,

I read in European papers about this guy Frank. The papers know that a combination of wool and synthetic fibers charged Frank "to the brink of self-ignition". Frank also produced sparks that could be seen outside the building and left marks in the carpet. Frank did not notice what was going on until he found a piece of burnt plastic in his car and wondered from where it came!

Is there anything in this story that is true? Or anywhere near the truth? All the normal ingredients were there - including a professor at a technical university and a fire brigade captain that measured 40 kV in Frank's jacket.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

 

[IRstuff]

Journalists are not necessarily at fault, since they obviously didn't spend 4 yrs in college engineering. The so-called "experts" that they interview are the ones that are truly scary.

Can you rely on a fire official that thinks 40 kV will cause spontaneous combustion?

TTFN

 

[Skogsgurra]

I think that it is possible to be fairly conversational in basic physics (to which elementary electricity belongs) without ever attending engineering school. Journalists also go to schools. Don't they?

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

 

[IRstuff]

Oh sure, but they take "Physics for Poets" in sophomore yr or thereabouts and that's a maybe. Most liberal arts majors are not required to take any math or science. Seems a bit unfair, since we engineers were required to take one class of liberal arts every quarter.

Given that a sizable number of Americans don't even know that New Mexico is part of the US, it's not at all surprising that a non-science reporter would have trouble separating the wheat from the chaff

TTFN

 

[Skogsgurra]

Yes, IR. You are probably right there. I think that we still have some physics (or "nature" as it is called) squeezed into the schools over here. My grandchildren show some kind of understanding for physics and mathematics and that makes me glad.

And, yes again, I think that engineers know more about non-engineering stuff than so-called classic educated people know about just anything. At least we seem to have a much better judgement when it comes to urban legends and other myths (I refrain from mentioning ID and what have you).

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

 

[jraef]

I don't begrudge reporters from not knowing everything about every subject, but for sure they should know who to ask! To ASS-U-Me that a fire chief is an electrical expert is ludicrous. All they need to know about electricity is "How do I turn it off before I open the hoses?"

When a reporter sees something that is an obvious electrical issue (or any other engineering discipline for that matter), they should go to a credentialled engineering source, such as a public university professor or City Engineer, for relevant comments. What they do instead is find the nearest crackpot with a ready opinion because that makes for a more sensational story, regardless of relevance or accuracy. Such is the sorry state of our "infotainment" industry.

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[IRstuff]

Ah, but some other reporter did, and got that wonderful quote "It was unusual for static electricity to reach 40,000 volts.", although, it's not obvious who was the author. That particular interviewee is a bonafide senior lecturer in EE.

TTFN

 

[ScottyUK]

skogs,

"...find two faults..."

No one else has bothered and I'm having a slack day:

1) Terrawatts - should be terawatts

2) Why is a unit of power being used to quantify energy savings? Should be joules or maybe terajoules.

There, I made myself happy!


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One day my ship will come in.
But with my luck, I'll be at the airport!

 

[IRstuff]

Scotty...

you missed the "10,000 volt currents"

TTFN

 

[Skogsgurra]

You read my intention correctly Scotty, the two faults were in the "energy savings equal to 10 terrawatts" part.

Of course, you are also right, IR. But that was part of the package and too obvious to be mentioned. Anyhow, I give you both a PLS. I hate seeing people being sorry.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

 

[IRstuff]

Misspelled words in this type of forum is pretty common, so I ignored that. Even in a print article, it's unclear who actually makes the mistake.

TTFN