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Spontaneous Human Combustion

Posted Jun 21, '08 at 11:13pm

EL_Dyablo_666

EL_Dyablo_666

604 posts

Iron - Prince

Well I was watching a TV show in The National Geographic Channel and it was about people trying to prove if Spontaneous Human Combustion is Real or Not and to tell you the truth I think it's fake, people suddenly bursting into flames for no reason it's all fake well that's just what I think.

What do you think is it real or not.

Posted Jun 21, '08 at 11:16pm

eyetwitch

eyetwitch

710 posts

Wood - Knight

One of my life goals/dreams has always been and will always be to watch someone spontaneously combust.  No joke since i first heard the idea it has been one of my top 5 dreams in life to watch it happen. And as such, i will continue to believe its true *shuts eyes, covers ears, and starts singing, "la, la, la,lalalalalaalalaaaala"

 

Posted Jun 21, '08 at 11:18pm

LordBob

LordBob

479 posts

Iron - Knight

JUST LIKE THE 3rd DRUMMER IN SPINAL TAP!!!
(no one will ever get that joke...)

No because to SPONTANEOUSLY Combust you need your organs to all combust at the same time. and since fire is external and your organs are Internal then it will never happen.

 

Posted Jun 21, '08 at 11:24pm

Bigbowla

Bigbowla

19 posts

Iron - Serf

I have heard about this many times, and to prove it to me, I will need to see video proof of it to believe this. People have tried to prove it before and the people they said did, caught on fire natural ways.

-Bigbowla

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 12:32am

Ricador

Ricador

2,020 posts

Wood - Prince

I do not know. I have never heard of this and i thought that it was real, until LordBob stated the obvious which made me say "oh...yeah...duh:.

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 12:37am

DivineDarkness

DivineDarkness

994 posts

Iron - Duke

Actually, I think this is possible if your in sapce w/o a suit because in space there is no air pressure so your face goes like flubbery crap, so they need to put articifical PSI onboard to make sure that you dont combust, except they were suits just incase xD. But out in space w/o a suit, you would burn/freeze (depending on where you are) and combust. Lol, space is amazing.

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 12:38am

DivineDarkness

DivineDarkness

994 posts

Iron - Duke

Oh, also have the oxygen sucked out of you in about 10-15 seconds.

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 12:49am

necromancer

necromancer

571 posts

Wood - Knight

@ Lord Bob- I get, just so you know the title is not "Spinal Tap" it is "This is Spinal Tap."

Cows have been known to spontaneously explode. They eat certain types of grasses that cause their stomachs to bloat with methane which will explode if it gets hot enough.

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 2:07am

Strop

Strop

4,021 posts

Iron - Prince

Moderator

I got the This is Spinal Tap joke. I believe Guitar Hero II also references it :P

Hm, 'explode' and 'catch fire' are different things here. I'm not sure the oxygen:methane ratio in a cow's stomach would ever be aerobic enough for an explosion, so much as getting BBQ'd from the inside! Still very ow.

As for humans "spontaeneously combusting", by definition that phrase and most people's interpretation of it is a violation of thermodynamics and is technically impossible.

Combustion is the exothermic reaction of specifically bursting into flame, so even in an environment with no atmospheric pressure, you might, in a way, explode, but this is in no way going to sufficiently reduce the activation energy required to surpass flash point and 'combust'.

Which I think is all very reassuring, to be honest!

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 3:28am

SkullZero1

SkullZero1

509 posts

Gold - Squire

This happened to me before. Even though it is physically impossible to combust out of nowhere due to the first law of thermal dynamics. Without a cause this is physically impossible. If you guys are saying that somehow your in space and the heat combust you, it's not spontaneous, the heat caused it. This is all assuming we all are considering spontaneous as 'spawning from nowhere' and not just starting a the combustion out of nowhere. Seriously, it did happen to me before!

 

Posted Jun 22, '08 at 4:17am

woody_7007

woody_7007

2,344 posts

Iron - Prince

I have heard of some stories about it however because it is so rare i doubt a scientist will ever be on hand to witness it and even then he would get burned to cinders. Apparently the flames are so hot they can burn through floors.

 
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