#RTAnswers - #506 - Is Burnie Officially Old Now? https://roosterteeth.com/episode/rooster-teeth-podcast-2018-rooster-teeth-podcast-506 ---------------------------- How fast do you have to run to put a fire out? I know this is going to come as a surprise to most of you but, there are very little details on this online. As hard as it may be to believe, it does not appear that any formal studies have been done on the effectiveness, or ability even, to run fast enough to put out the flames which engulf you. Lack of willing participants I suppose. The reason for the tried and true "Stop, Drop, and Roll" method is because air is a critical component of a healthy flame. The more air, the stronger the flame. This means that before you even start running, any running that you will be doing will be feeding the flames, making them grow and further engulf you. The only other critical piece of a good fire is fuel... in this case that is you! What these observations mean is that the only way to put out a fire is to completely remove one, or both, of these from the equation. All fire extinguishers work on the principle of starving the fire of the air it needs to further combustion of the fuel source. "Stop, Drop, and Roll"-ing is along the same principle of smothering the flame so it has no consistent access to air. All of these things mean that, in order to put out a fire by running, you would have to run fast enough to create a negative pressure pocket around your body recreating the effect of the fire extinguisher chemicals, effectively starving the fire of its consistent air source. Similarly, like blowing out a candle, you could aim for moving the flame away from its fuel source enough for the entire fuel source to cool below the critical temperature threshold of combustion. What these two points mean is that the true answer to this question depends on a very specific factor. That being the size of the fire. To clarify, the candle experience is a bit of a unique one. If you look closely at a candle's flame, you'll notice that the flame is actually hovering just above the top of the melted wax surface. This is because, while its fuel source is the melting wax, it is delivered from the wick via capillary action and the superheated vapor of the melting wax. If you hold a lit candle in your hand and abruptly move it, the inertia of the flame and vapor will momentarily keep it in place while the rest of the candle, its sole fuel source, is moved away from the heat. Additionally, since candles cool quickly, this movement would also be enough to lower the temperature of the heated wax and wick, preventing the candle from relighting on its own. Obviously the effect of this experiment depend on several factors as well, the size of the flame being one of them, but the point is clear. The physics which control this interaction of flame and fuel source are the same for larger fires as well, assuming you are able to meet all of the necessary interaction requirement. For example, if your arm catches on fire you are still told to "stop, drop, and roll" in order to immediately smother the fire and prevent its spread as it burns through your clothing as a fuel source. Let's imagine, however, that you are wearing a fire retardant suit, coat your forearm in a flammable gel, and light just that on fire. Theoretically, like the candle, you CAN wave your arm fast enough to displace the flame from the source and, as long as the gel also cools fast enough, you would be effectively putting the fire out. In this controlled situation this is an option however, most of us are not able to ensure we have fire suit standing by, which we can throw on just before catching fire. This is a critical component as it eliminates the consistent super-heated fuel source of your clothing or your skin. The idea of waving your arm about, or running very fast, to put a fire out is the same as pushing the flame-engulfed poor soul in front of a gigantic wind turbine. The problem is that the wind only removes the heat from the first, it doesn't necessarily remove a fuel source. Quite the opposite actually! As wind it is nothing more than air so it is adding that as a fuel source. No amount of oxygen is too much for fire. Like blowing on the coals of campfire, the flames will rapidly increase when given more oxygen. The best way of using wind to put out a fire is to make it a sudden burst which immediately displaces the flame from the fuel source while simultaneously cooling the base source of the fire (eg. the candle, your shirt, the wall, etc.) so that another fire doesn't immediately start back up where the displaced flames were. The use of wind to put out flames, while not encouraged because there are far easier and more successful methods of extinguishing a fire, definitely occurs. All of this circles back to the actual question. How fast do you have to run to put a fire out? This depends on various factors. What kind of clothes are you wearing? Is the fire on your arm or are you just Human Torch-ing it around town? Is the wind with you or against you? The point is that, theoretically, it is absolutely possible to "outrun" the flame as long as, the clothes you are wearing are made of a fiber which is inherently flame-retardant (wool, for example), the flame is isolated to a single part of your body, and you have time to lace up your Chucks beforehand. As far as how fast you would have to run, I'm not sure any amount of math can figure out an accurate answer to that one. ---------------------------- When did Burnie give Jordan shit about Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno? This is a huge call back! Way back to the Drunk Tank days. The answer would be Drunk Tank episode #45 at the 52:30 timestamp. The original date was January 20, 2010. Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, the audio only podcasts haven't been migrated to the new site just yet. You can at the following link though. http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/d/f/3dfdc70108ce7802/DrunkTank-DrunkTank45606.mp3?c_id=4053532&cs_id=405… ---------------------------- What do they call a series finale in UK? Confusingly, they apparently just refer to a series finale as a series finale. Rather than allow that to describe the state of show's future, they then tack on the additional statement of "final episode". Some will simply use "final episode" with the understanding that this phrase is apparently only used when referencing the actual "final episode". Either way, the whole things seems radically inefficient to me. Read that as "wrong to me". Yeah I said it. Fight me. ---------------------------- What is the definition of "fully clothed"? This is as simple as breaking apart the two words. "Fully", meaning entirely, totally, or to the greatest extent and "clothed", meaning to be covered with cloth or clothing. Naturally, this would make "fully clothed" mean that the person is covered with clothing to the greatest extent possible. In most common parlance, as well as most legal considerations, this would imply that a person has both their upper and lower parts covered as well as wearing some sort of footwear. ---------------------------- What is the hottest part of a cat? Cats have one of the highest average temperatures among vet-treated animals with an range of 100.5 - 102.5 degrees fahrenheit. Unsurprisingly, a feline's genitals, specifically its ass, tends to be the hottest consistent part of its body. This is similar to all mammals, including us. However, one striking feature when looking at thermal images of cats beyond the high temperature of their eyes and ears as Gavin pointed out, is the apparently equally high temperature of their paws, specifically their paw pads. By comparison, our hands and feet tend to run warmer than the extremities in between, but they rarely rival the temperatures of our orbital sockets or our ass. So, why the heated paws in our feline friends? Cats, like dogs, will sweat through their paw pads in order to maintain their body temperature. While dogs will also pant to regulate body temperature, cats do not pant regularly and it is typically a sign of intense distress when they do. Meaning that the paw pads are the most consistent way of regulating their core temperature. This biological fact can cause, especially during times of great stress and when it is very hot out, the paws to actually be the warmest part on a cat. ---------------------------- How do you find out what your mail carrier's name is? Does not appear to be any formal USPS process for determining your mail carrier's name. I was able to find reports of some small town post offices, who only have 4-5 carriers, holding "carrier appreciate days" but these cases are rare. By contrast, several post offices have internal rules which, for the protection of their carriers, do not allow employees, other than the individual carrier, to discuss or reveal information about other employees. Unfortunately, the answer for this one is a bit gray. It seems that much more successful method of just opening your door and asking him or her, is your best option.