Posted on 06/08/2006 2:31:15 PM PDT by Pukin Dog
One of the least understood phenomena of a bomb blast is overpressure. Everything in the blast perimeter is subject to a sudden and profound increase in air pressure. This wave of blast overpressure declines rapidly the further it travels. A person 10 feet from a bomb blast will experience nine times the overpressure of a person 20 feet away. But it gets messy and unpredictable. A person who happens to be standing between the bomb and a strong wall is subjected to more blast effect because solid surfaces reflect the blast wave.
You, as you read this, are subjected to normal air pressure of 15 pounds per square inch, depending on how close you are to sea level. The rapidly expanding gases of the bomb push the air out of the way generating air pressures of as much as 700 tons per square inch in the immediate area. But even on the outer perimeters of the blast area overpressures can be deadly.
The human body contains two principal air-filled spaces -- the lungs and the nasal cavity and attached sinuses. A human subjected to a bomb blast wave instantly has hundreds and perhaps thousands psi of pressure pushing on these cavities. A mere 15 psi above normal is considered the threshold for possible lung injury, so imagine what happens to those near the epicenter of a bomb blast.
The chest caves in. The lungs inside it are compressed violently in on themselves -- so violently that the entire network of pulmonary vessels connecting them to the heart and the rest of the body are sheared off.
When the instant of blast overpressure passes, the lungs suddenly re-expand, like a crushed rubber ball rebounding in the hand of a strong man. But now they are filled with a huge volume of blood, blood that should be flowing to the heart and other parts of the body.
Blood that would normally return to the heart through the left ventrical has now overwhelmed the lungs. No blood in the left ventrical equals no blood in the heart equals no pulmonary output to the body. Blood pressure -- zero. The body is instantly starved.
Up above, in the skull, at the same instant, the overpressure works in another way. The nasal and sinus cavities implode. That part of the skull called the cribiform plate ruptures, snaps and may be thrust upward into the base of the brain.
Hey, they never said what he was wiped down with.
Monster betrayed by closest allies (Zarqawi location tipped off by captured deputies) {Why the libs don't want WOT prisoners questioned!}
"Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey...!"
Hi. My name is Abu Boohoo Zarqawi and I'm dead now.
Happy Iraqis celebrate the death of Z Pig:
Which al Qaeda Son of a pig is next? We will find your "Safe House" and send you to hell to be with the Z pig!
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No Problem! Here comes your Bomb!
Man, that thought just makes me so dang warm and fuzzy.
ZOT becomes a reality!
Hi redhead! How've you been?
From Barney Miller:
Ever fired a bazooka?
Yea I have, in 'Nam.
Oh sure, outside!
Theoretically, this is possible only if you also hiccup and fart simultaneously, while juggling three eggs and a bowling ball. But this has never been put to the test in a double blind study.
Oh please- don't let the facts confuse Al Jazeera!
From Downtown Brown?:)
Typically they use a high angle and delay fusing to minimize collateral damage if something like a single building needs destroyed. This minimizes the impact of the blast on surrounding buildings. In Baghdad you can actually find buildings that were “hollowed out” but their outer structure is still standing while buildings adjacent are hardly touched. The bomb came in through the roof, blew the guts of the building out, but left the outer walls standing. It's pretty remarkable how refined the whole process is. They match the delivery platform, to the ordinance carried and marry that to an appropriate fusing and then deliver this package just right (angle of approach the bomb is released, angle the bomb hits the target etc) to get the desired result. They can model the actual outcome before an air strike! Before they drop those bombs they often actually already run a simulation that shows the collateral damage, the outcome of that specific ordinance delivered onto that target! The science, process, hardware and people behind all this is pretty impressive. But of course CNN thinks differently.
Its called American ingenuity.
The media is still amazed we broke the Enigma code.
Yeah, I'd love to go take one of the tours of the Nevada Test Site to see that along with all the other stuff still out there.
Actually,
A SH with it's AESA does have a better ground picture, his ATFLIR is more capable..... yes, that F14D can not keep up with a SH. Sorry-
I figured you were being sarcastic?
How great is this country. Last night a team of Special ops guys pointed a laser at this scumbag, 2 F-16's dropped 500 lb. bombs on him and I am watching video of it at my desktop PC the very next day high fiving co-workers.
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