I’m no physicist, but I am a structural engineer. (/toungue in cheek)

Just a little more realism to throw in the mix. The formula to check the load at which a column buckles was codified by Euler (search Euler column buckling if you like.) It goes like this:

P= (pi)^2 * E * I /(L^2)

E (Young’s modulus) is a physical constant of steel which is temperature dependant. I (moment of inertia) is a physical section property of whatever steel member is being investigated, and L is the length of the member between points which brace it from lateral translation.

Quickly: steel softens (read: E goes down) pretty quickly under heat, long before it melts, which is mentioned in the PM article. Secondly, note that the strength of the member is inversely proportion to the square of the length of the member. I promise to stop boring you soon.

The L for a column is almost invariably the distance between floors. When, say, an airplane comes in and takes out even one floor, the length is doubled, which cuts the available capacity by a factor of 4. That’s bad. Then fire drops the stiffness of the steel, and the situation becomes even worse.

The amazing thing is that the buildings stayed up at all. The WTC towers had a highly unusual structural system–tightly spaced columns at the perimeter. The architect was reportedly very afraid of heights, and preferred the narrow slot windows and relatively massive structure as he felt it would give a sense of security to the occupants.

The tubular nature of the “tree columns” that we used at the WTC gave it a unique ability to redistribute force even with the loss of a fair number of perimter load bearing elements. I believe I read that only four tall buildings in the entire US have a similar structural system.

You would, frankly, have to be a moron of sizeable proportions to select the WTC as your target if you knew anything about its structural system. Arguably, controlled demolition requres such intimate knowledge of structural behavior to have understood that the WTC’s were a poor target. I don’t care enough about the truther arguments to have ascertained what exactly they think was brought down by controlled demo, but even targeting the towers with planes was a bad idea, structurally.

The down side to all this is that a similar attack on probably most any other tall building would lead to immediate collapse or rapid progressive collapse, a la the Murrah Building.

think the collective IQ of “The View” audience is less than 90. Although, I can’t figure out if the audience claps on cue for Rosie or if they are responding to the “Applause” sign in the studio. Either way it’s pretty scary that these people are allowed to vote, or even drive for that matter.

silenced majority on March 30, 2007 at 6:45 PM

Only because EH is there to raise it by half.

California residents please be advised, as per the Prop. 65 Warning: The colored artwork or designs used on this product contains lead and/or cadmium, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects and other reproductive harm.

Nice.

I will agree with MM that I find it disturbing that after Rosie says something, there is considerable applause in the studio audience. But I think it’s more just because they love Rosie, and will cheer for just about whatever she says. I’m not sure they believe most of the crap she’s spewing, but I could be mistaken.

I’ve said this on a few other HA boards, but I really think Rosie WANTS to be fired over something like this, and will keep pushing the envelope until she is canned.

- The Cat

CCRWM on March 30, 2007 at 7:00 PM

Ahhhhh. Turn the sound off. Good idea!

Rosie lied and truth died.

It could happen if people just quit watching her show

THANK YOU.

We should boycott these companys,
ABC
Disney
ESPN
Nascar

If people would put there money where thier mouth is, we could boycott these things and she would be gone!

Ross

kara26 on March 30, 2007 at 6:57 PM

Not NASCAR! That’s Madness! That’s Blasphemy!

http://www.rosie.com/blog/2007/03/29/the-fame-game/

(*BONUS* The clip even has her saying “Ching Chong”)

Now for my conspiracy theory… She’s trying to go further and further over the top, hoping to get fired because she’s in talks to get her own show. In fact I want to say I heard something a few months back, about her having offers or something… Of course as I’ve noted, she’s mainstreaming Trutherism, a “movement” that I predict will grown exponentially, not because it should, but because most Americans are idiots and/or lazy, which means they will be easily drawn in by the “questions” raised by Truthers, and not spend the time to learn that those questions are based on lies put forth by the people asking them, others have very simple answers, while others have complex answers. Anyway, I honestly think Rosie may be trying to get fired because she has some other opportunity out there. Like that episode of Seinfeld where the Mets were supposed to hire George, but he had to get fired from the Yankees, so he tried to go out in a big way. I can’t remember all of his attempts, outher than putting on Babe Ruth’s old uniform and eating strawberries in a meeting, making a mess all over the the clothes.

In the opening segment O’Reilly was describing the “Tony Snow Hate Mail” from the nutroots.

I have seen the Michelle Malkin “death stare”.

Thank you. It means a lot to me.

Rosie is the media representive of the “nutroots”.

Michelle is the media representive of us.

I think we win.

Not because “Unstable Mabel” spouts crazy conspiracy nonsense on a regular basis, but because she (along with Behar) regularly receives applause, and not scorn, derision and rejection that a rational population would heap upon her for trying to foist the insane ramblings of the 9/11 truther and BDS fever swamps upon the rest of the population.

It’s a sign of just how stupid, paranoid and conspiracy-addled a good portion of this country has become recently.

“Laxative-laced doughnuts” ?

!

http://jumptheshark.com/topic/view-general-comments/2102

*urp*

Sorry…International Coffee give me gas.

Why is it stopping right before MM speaks? At least for me.

CrimsonFisted on March 30, 2007 at 6:49 PM

It stuttered several times for me, but I just left it alone until it ran through once, and the second time it ran fine.