Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Topic started by: woollypigs on 14 November, 2009, 12:38:14 pm

Title: Darwin Awards
Post by: woollypigs on 14 November, 2009, 12:38:14 pm
SPARKLEBERRY LANE / PAINT IT BLACK -- Darwin Award -- Confirmed True

July 2009, South Carolina | Two disguised men entered the Sprint
store on Sparkleberry Lane, pulled out guns, and stole wallets,
purses, and credit cards before ordering the employees into a
bathroom.  Both men fled, but they could not flee from their
own stupidity.  24-year-old James Thomas had disguised himself
by spray-painting his own face.

Yes, in order to conceal his identity during the robbery, Thomas
covered his skin with paint--a toxic substance with well known
inhalation risks.  He began having trouble breathing (surprise!)
and died wheezing shortly after the robbery took place.  Witnesses
were certain as to the identity of their assailant; had he lived,
he would have been charged with armed robbery.

VOTE:      2009 Darwin Award: Sparkleberry Lane / Paint It Black (http://DarwinAwards.com/darwin/darwin2009-10.html)


LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAK -- Darwin Award -- Confirmed True

April 2008, Florida | Traffic was moving slowly on southbound I-95.
Shawn Montero had left a Pompano Beach bar with three friends, and
now all four were stuck in traffic.  You don't buy beer, you just
rent it, and Shawn couldn't wait another moment to relieve himself.
"I need to take a leak."

He was dying to go.

Traffic was deadlocked, so the waterlogged man climbed out, put his
hand on the divider, and jumped over the low concrete wall... only
to fall 65 feet to his death.

"He probably thought there was a road, but there wasn't," said a
Fort Lauderdale police spokesman.  His mother shared her thoughts.
"Shawn didn't do a whole lot for a living.  He got along on his
charm, just like his father."  Though his death was tragic, it
proves the old adage: Look before you leak!

VOTE!      2009 Darwin Award: Look Before You Leak (http://DarwinAwards.com/darwin/darwin2009-08.html)

More over here :  The Darwin Awards (http://DarwinAwards.com/)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 04 February, 2016, 03:57:36 pm
Father of three so has already passed on his DNA.
Tragically STUPID!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35490011 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35490011)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: clarion on 04 February, 2016, 04:00:52 pm
Quote
...Mr Bray, who had been drinking, but not enough to affect his judgement...

Are they saying this was his normal standard of decision-making?! :o
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: caerau on 04 February, 2016, 04:10:28 pm
Father of three - no Darwin Award - must die before DNA is passed on.


Certainly a fine honourable mention however  :facepalm: :thumbsup: 
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 04 February, 2016, 04:42:41 pm
Which is why people should learn that the Heimlich Manoeuvre isn't just a song by those loveable NYC gloomsters Interpol.

I'll eat an entire creme egg in one mouthful, and I've certain managed an entire muffin in one go. I get bored and have limited intellectual aspirations.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 05 February, 2016, 05:52:47 pm
Here are a couple, pinched from a similar thread elsewhere, that look like unambiguous Darwins to me.

Death by "Dewshine":
http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/robertson/2016/01/26/second-teen-dies-after-drinking-racing-fuel-mixed-soda/79344968/

Suicide by selfie:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/12134073/Teenager-killed-after-taking-selfie-in-front-of-oncoming-train.html
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mr Larrington on 05 February, 2016, 06:36:31 pm
The Torygraph Guide to the Bleedin' Obvious

Quote from: The Torygraph

Safe selfies

  • Keep your wits about you and try to take the picture on steady ground
  • Do not under any circumstance pose with loaded guns
  • Don't pose with, or near, dangerous animals
  • Don't take selfies while operating heavy machinery
  • Don't climb electrical pylons or trains
  • If you are in a situation where you need to be alert and pay attention, don't take a selfie

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 05 February, 2016, 06:39:01 pm
7. Don't extend your selfie-stick into the path of a passing cyclist.   >:(
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 05 February, 2016, 09:44:51 pm
I'm not sure if it's disappointing or amusing that people need to be reminded not to be cupid stunts when taking selfies.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: clarion on 06 February, 2016, 01:14:13 pm
To be perfectly honest, I have an open and libertarian approach to how Telegraph readers take selfies.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 08 August, 2016, 10:42:51 pm
Tory MP!
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/stupid-fool-mp-reveals-moment-he-was-badly-burned-after-dousing-bonfire-with-petrol-a3314961.html (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/stupid-fool-mp-reveals-moment-he-was-badly-burned-after-dousing-bonfire-with-petrol-a3314961.html)

I know this isn't POBI but sometimes I do question the intelligence of our elected representatives.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ian H on 08 August, 2016, 10:51:32 pm
Tory MP!
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/stupid-fool-mp-reveals-moment-he-was-badly-burned-after-dousing-bonfire-with-petrol-a3314961.html (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/stupid-fool-mp-reveals-moment-he-was-badly-burned-after-dousing-bonfire-with-petrol-a3314961.html)

I know this isn't POBI but sometimes I do question the intelligence of our elected representatives.

Sometimes?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: nicknack on 08 August, 2016, 11:32:01 pm
He's my MP. I always regarded him as quite a nice chap (for a Tory) but a bit dim. Seems I was correct.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ElyDave on 09 August, 2016, 12:37:54 pm
POBI?

POBO I could understand
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: orraloon on 09 August, 2016, 09:13:48 pm
He's my MP. I always regarded him as quite a nice chap (for a Tory) but a bit dim. Seems I was correct.
Is Gordon Tim's brother then?   Nice but dim...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: meddyg on 10 August, 2016, 09:01:25 pm
Quote
quite a nice chap but a bit dim

surely main criteria for nomination by Con Club ?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Torslanda on 10 August, 2016, 09:44:00 pm
Or a freemason . . .
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 17 March, 2017, 05:28:18 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Gattopardo on 17 March, 2017, 06:11:48 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418

Wins..

snap
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 17 March, 2017, 06:12:25 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418)

Didn't even need a cheap shitty pink USB charger, with that method.   :facepalm:
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: caerau on 17 March, 2017, 06:27:34 pm
Are you sure he hasn't managed to breed yet...?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ElyDave on 17 March, 2017, 06:51:33 pm
you need a warning to keep mains electric away from water  ???
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Gattopardo on 17 March, 2017, 06:58:41 pm
you need a warning to keep mains electric away from water  ???

Looks like you do...now who wants toast whilst in the bath?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: woollypigs on 17 March, 2017, 07:02:39 pm
you need a warning to keep mains electric away from water  ???
Back when I was a sparky apprentice in DK, the law/rules on how to wire a house had a paragraph about wiring a bathroom. You could fit a non water proof mains socket in the shower if it was 165cm above ground. Never saw it in real life but it was within the guidelines. Though the following year that paragraph got removed.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 17 March, 2017, 07:44:12 pm
you need a warning to keep mains electric away from water  ???
Back when I was a sparky apprentice in DK, the law/rules on how to wire a house had a paragraph about wiring a bathroom. You could fit a non water proof mains socket in the shower if it was 165cm above ground.

For powering one of those death shower things (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNjA0aee07k) presumably.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 17 March, 2017, 07:46:04 pm
Hopefully mobile man hadn't managed to reproduce yet.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ElyDave on 17 March, 2017, 07:46:23 pm
now I can understand gas, petrol, and other nasty toxic / woof-bang stuff and have no fear of those. But sparky death - that needs to be kept firmly in the pipes
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: woollypigs on 17 March, 2017, 08:02:30 pm
Man now that is a cool thing to end your life with.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 17 March, 2017, 10:58:26 pm
I'm amused by the coroner saying he's going to warn Apple. As if Apple are unaware of the dangers of electrons and water  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jaded on 17 March, 2017, 11:01:49 pm
I look forward to another safety page added to the existing ones explaining that you shouldn't charge your phone in the bath. Or wee on it, or feed it to a pig and expect it to work a few days later.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: SoreTween on 18 March, 2017, 08:48:08 am
I'm amused by the coroner saying he's going to warn Apple. As if Apple are unaware of the dangers of electrons and water  :facepalm:
That struck me too.  Pity the poor sod at Apple who has to find a way to reply to the coroner politely.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: andyoxon on 18 March, 2017, 09:36:09 am
you need a warning to keep mains electric away from water  ???
Back when I was a sparky apprentice in DK, the law/rules on how to wire a house had a paragraph about wiring a bathroom. You could fit a non water proof mains socket in the shower if it was 165cm above ground.

For powering one of those death shower things (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNjA0aee07k) presumably.

 :o  BigClive being quite impressively 'diplomatic' about it.  Available on Amazon at a bargainous £20.99   :facepalm:
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ian H on 18 March, 2017, 09:58:18 am
To be fair, it appears that it wasn't the phone that killed him, it was the mains extension socket that followed it into the water (he'd balanced it on the edge of the bath).
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Diver300 on 18 March, 2017, 10:29:54 am
you need a warning to keep mains electric away from water  ???
Back when I was a sparky apprentice in DK, the law/rules on how to wire a house had a paragraph about wiring a bathroom. You could fit a non water proof mains socket in the shower if it was 165cm above ground.

For powering one of those death shower things (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNjA0aee07k) presumably.
Those showers are fine if they are properly earthed. Honestly.

(http://www.home-cure.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/grounding_weird_electrician-300x245.jpg)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Diver300 on 18 March, 2017, 10:39:11 am
To be fair, it appears that it wasn't the phone that killed him, it was the mains extension socket that followed it into the water (he'd balanced it on the edge of the bath).

It looks like the mains extension socket and charger were on his chest......

There correct procedure is to use some insulated floats for all electrical connectors that would otherwise sink:-

(http://www.home-cure.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pool_electricity_failure-300x225.jpg)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: woollypigs on 18 March, 2017, 11:10:32 am
These photos above reminds me of what I saw in Patagonia. This photos is one of the ls one of the smaller and best kept main junctions hanging low over the main road. Often wires of random stuff is hanging down and touching the road, could be a main, extension or phone line. Yes there is a normal extension cord in this "nut". I saw one fella just cut the insulation of a main wire, while it was live, and twisted a new lead to it to have a simple light outside. He was one of the more highly qualified sparky's as he used electrical tape after, well it was outside after all.

(http://photos.woollypigs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/gordian-knot.jpg)

While in Patagonia I did read that they were trying to do something about it. Because a young girl died after running across a lawn and there was an extension cord in a puddle.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 18 March, 2017, 12:42:07 pm
To be fair, it appears that it wasn't the phone that killed him, it was the mains extension socket that followed it into the water (he'd balanced it on the edge of the bath).

Out of curiosity - as I am trying to figure this out - do you have a source for that?

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jaded on 18 March, 2017, 12:56:38 pm
From the BBC story

Quote
Mr Bull is believed to have plugged his charger into an extension cord from the hallway and rested it on his chest while using the phone, the Sun reports.
He suffered severe burns on his chest, arm and hand when the charger touched the water and died on 11 December, the newspaper said.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 18 March, 2017, 02:08:06 pm
To be fair, it appears that it wasn't the phone that killed him, it was the mains extension socket that followed it into the water (he'd balanced it on the edge of the bath).

Plz not to confuse issue with relevant facts,
Thx
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ian H on 18 March, 2017, 02:22:16 pm
To be fair, it appears that it wasn't the phone that killed him, it was the mains extension socket that followed it into the water (he'd balanced it on the edge of the bath).

Out of curiosity - as I am trying to figure this out - do you have a source for that?

A man on the internet told me: someone who is likely to have read the relevant docs.  Though I haven't found any corroboration.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 18 March, 2017, 02:33:03 pm
To be fair, it appears that it wasn't the phone that killed him, it was the mains extension socket that followed it into the water (he'd balanced it on the edge of the bath).

Plz not to confuse issue with relevant facts,
Thx

Indeed.  What we really need to know is what app he was using, especially if it involved Pokémon, Emoji or pornography.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mr Larrington on 18 March, 2017, 02:44:07 pm
Or all three?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: MacB on 18 March, 2017, 04:11:51 pm
Death during selfie, accidents when using phone diverts attention from things like walking and driving and now bath time phones.

Smart phones indeed, maybe this is how Skynet begins
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jaded on 18 March, 2017, 04:14:16 pm
No, Skynet begins with Facebook.  ;)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 18 March, 2017, 04:22:23 pm
From the BBC story

Quote
Mr Bull is believed to have plugged his charger into an extension cord from the hallway and rested it on his chest while using the phone, the Sun reports.
He suffered severe burns on his chest, arm and hand when the charger touched the water and died on 11 December, the newspaper said.

Cheers. I had mistakenly assumed that he just had the phone and its attached lead in the bath with him, rather than the entire charger and the socket it was plugged in to.

I had been wondering how it happened - I’ve read stories about kids chewing on the ends of live phone charger cables and coming to no lasting harm, so I was curious. But apparently, even though there is only 5V and 2A involved, it is theoretically possible for the phone and lead alone to kill you if you have it in the bath with you.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hubner on 18 March, 2017, 04:38:19 pm
From the BBC story

Quote
Mr Bull is believed to have plugged his charger into an extension cord from the hallway and rested it on his chest while using the phone, the Sun reports.
He suffered severe burns on his chest, arm and hand when the charger touched the water and died on 11 December, the newspaper said.

Cheers. I had mistakenly assumed that he just had the phone and its attached lead in the bath with him, rather than the entire charger and the socket it was plugged in to.

I had been wondering how it happened - I’ve read stories about kids chewing on the ends of live phone charger cables and coming to no lasting harm, so I was curious. But apparently, even though there is only 5V and 2A involved, it is theoretically possible for the phone and lead alone to kill you if you have it in the bath with you.

I would have thought he was killed by the mains extension socket touching the bath water, not from the USB charger and lead.

But "Coroner warning after man electrocuted in bath charging iPhone" or "Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath" is more headline grabbing though.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: MacB on 18 March, 2017, 06:16:02 pm
No, Skynet begins began with Facebook.  ;)

FTFY
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 18 March, 2017, 06:30:22 pm
I had been wondering how it happened - I’ve read stories about kids chewing on the ends of live phone charger cables and coming to no lasting harm, so I was curious. But apparently, even though there is only 5V and 2A involved, it is theoretically possible for the phone and lead alone to kill you if you have it in the bath with you.

The phone and charger are irrelevant, other than explaining why someone decided to take a bath with a live mains extension lead.

That said, it's possible for the output of a badly designed/constructed charger to become live.  This is why we don't use cheap no-name power supplies without first taking them to bits and confirming they're not deadly.

Case in point, the now legendary cheap shitty pink USB charger from China:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqJnFhhPAis
https://youtu.be/wqJnFhhPAis
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 18 March, 2017, 07:07:43 pm
The phone and charger are irrelevant, other than explaining why someone decided to take a bath with a live mains extension lead.

I realise this now, but prior to this realisation, I had thought from my cursory read of the story elsewhere (and the coroner’s comments, notably his plan to write to Apple) that it was only the phone and the end of the charger lead that he took a bath with.

That prompted some Googling and a few posts here and there suggested it was indeed theoretically possible to achieve this unfortunate result without the mains itself contacting the water, even with a legitimate charger.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Vince on 18 March, 2017, 07:14:15 pm
Case in point, the now legendary cheap shitty pink USB charger from China:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqJnFhhPAis
https://youtu.be/wqJnFhhPAis

Before I know it half an hour has passed and I'm now concerned about every Chinese plug-in device we own.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 18 March, 2017, 07:18:25 pm
The phone and charger are irrelevant, other than explaining why someone decided to take a bath with a live mains extension lead.

I realise this now, but prior to this realisation, I had thought from my cursory read of the story elsewhere (and the coroner’s comments, notably his plan to write to Apple) that it was only the phone and the end of the charger lead that he took a bath with.

That prompted some Googling and a few posts here and there suggested it was indeed theoretically possible to achieve this unfortunate result without the mains itself contacting the water, even with a legitimate charger.

Unless it's actually earthed (phone chargers usually aren't), the charger output will likely float at some fraction of the mains voltage.  Unless there's a fault, that shouldn't be able to source enough current to induce fibrillation, and certainly shouldn't cause burns.  It's the tingle you might feel when plugging aerials into TVs or laptops into grounded peripherals.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Diver300 on 18 March, 2017, 07:43:24 pm
5 V with 2 A available could kill you, but you would have to try. You would have to bypass the skin resistance totally, which is where bathwater would help. You would also have to get the shock to the heart somehow, so one side of the supply on one arm and one on the other.

Just chewing the wire won't do it, but would hurt and could cause local burns.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 18 March, 2017, 08:02:24 pm
5 V with 2 A available could kill you, but you would have to try. You would have to bypass the skin resistance totally, which is where bathwater would help. You would also have to get the shock to the heart somehow, so one side of the supply on one arm and one on the other.

It's also relatively hard to stop a heart with DC...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mr Larrington on 18 March, 2017, 08:15:36 pm
5 V with 2 A available could kill you, but you would have to try. You would have to bypass the skin resistance totally, which is where bathwater would help. You would also have to get the shock to the heart somehow, so one side of the supply on one arm and one on the other.

It's also relatively hard to stop a heart with DC...

Wasn't there some controversy about this concerning Thomas Edison and a heffalump?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 18 March, 2017, 08:26:04 pm
5 V with 2 A available could kill you, but you would have to try. You would have to bypass the skin resistance totally, which is where bathwater would help. You would also have to get the shock to the heart somehow, so one side of the supply on one arm and one on the other.

It's also relatively hard to stop a heart with DC...

Wasn't there some controversy about this concerning Thomas Edison and a heffalump?

Apparently not:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant))
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 21 March, 2017, 03:01:26 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Torslanda on 21 March, 2017, 04:16:29 pm
'...a popular and talented apprentice'

FSV of 'talented'.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 21 March, 2017, 04:33:39 pm
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
I MUST NOT MAKE 'ESSEX MAN' JOKES.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 21 March, 2017, 04:46:39 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063)
What a really sad and tragic story. It's a real darwin award candidate, but also very, very sad.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ian H on 21 March, 2017, 04:56:05 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063)
What a really sad and tragic story. It's a real darwin award candidate, but also very, very sad.
Especially that his incompetence took someone else with him. But, yes.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 21 March, 2017, 05:49:55 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063)
What a really sad and tragic story. It's a real darwin award candidate, but also very, very sad.
Especially that his incompetence took someone else with him. But, yes.
It is sad and tragic.
The couple didn't reproduce...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ham on 09 April, 2017, 09:30:51 pm
http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/rouen-il-se-tue-en-descendant-en-rappel-du-9e-etage-avec-un-cable-ethernet-09-04-2017-6839352.php

In french, sorry, and there is a sad tinge to it.

The summary, translated:
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 12 June, 2017, 05:24:55 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-40245350 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-40245350)
Sad
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: bobb on 29 June, 2017, 03:01:10 am
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39339063)
What a really sad and tragic story. It's a real darwin award candidate, but also very, very sad.

Where that happened - Fox Crescent, is where I went to school...

Anyway...

Not a Darwin Award as DNA has been passed on. But an act of utter stupidity none the less.

US woman shoots boyfriend in YouTube stunt (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40438207)

I mean come on! Did they really think a book could stop one of the most, if not the most powerful handguns ever made, from a range of 1 foot?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 29 June, 2017, 07:02:40 am
Shoulda used a Bible. God would have saved him.

Anyway,
"Ruiz's aunt said they did it to increase their social media following."

Did it work?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ashaman42 on 29 June, 2017, 07:11:57 am
Even if you were planning that sort of stunt you'd test it first without someone behind the book surely?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 29 June, 2017, 07:22:28 am
Even if you were planning that sort of stunt you'd test it first without someone behind the book surely?

Then it would be a holey bible.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 29 June, 2017, 07:59:18 am
If she put the book on eBay she could make a killing.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 29 June, 2017, 01:58:00 pm
US woman shoots boyfriend in YouTube stunt (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40438207)

I mean come on! Did they really think a book could stop one of the most, if not the most powerful handguns ever made, from a range of 1 foot?

Guns and critical thinking aren't usually found together...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: bobb on 29 June, 2017, 02:09:33 pm
Maybe the US should introduce a new gun education system where the kids have to watch Snatch. Then they'll know what will happen if you have Desert Eagle point 5 O written down the side of your gun  :P
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: MacB on 29 June, 2017, 02:13:04 pm
If she put the book on eBay she could make a killing.

Funny and true
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 29 June, 2017, 05:52:15 pm
Maybe the US should introduce a new gun education system where the kids have to watch Snatch. Then they'll know what will happen if you have Desert Eagle point 5 O written down the side of your gun  :P

It's possible they had seen those pictures of prayer books and diaries from war zones that people swear saved their lives.  However, my understanding of such incidents is that the bullets involved were likely to be at their last gasp rather than fresh from a barrel.   

Unlikely this incident will do any harm to the gun industry; no publicity is bad publicity.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 29 June, 2017, 05:53:02 pm
If she put the book on eBay she could make a killing.

Funny and true

It'll be evidence. It's the law's book now.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Aidan on 07 December, 2017, 08:50:00 pm
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ian H on 07 December, 2017, 09:06:45 pm
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150

There are sensible, safe ways of taking a mould of your head.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 07 December, 2017, 10:02:13 pm
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150

<That Guy>

As the dumbass who agreed to be subjected to this daft stunt wasn't killed utterly to DETH, it doesn't count as a Darwin Award.

Just sayin'.  ;)

</That Guy>
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Aidan on 08 December, 2017, 06:45:13 am
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150

<That Guy>




As the dumbass who agreed to be subjected to this daft stunt wasn't killed utterly to DETH, it doesn't count as a Darwin Award.

Just sayin'.  ;)

</That Guy>

Fair point, but this had serious potential!!!!
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Guy on 08 December, 2017, 08:24:02 am
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150

I've forwarded a link to this one to our Recruitment and Selection Team with the instruction. "If this one applies to join, Just Say No" ;D :facepalm:
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 08 December, 2017, 09:18:21 am
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150

I've forwarded a link to this one to our Recruitment and Selection Team with the instruction. "If this one applies to join, Just Say No" ;D :facepalm:

Have we got a mug shot?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Guy on 08 December, 2017, 10:21:59 am
We'll recognise him by thge big shiny kitchen appliance on top of his shoulders ;D
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 08 December, 2017, 10:27:00 am
I'm liking the Beeb's use of quotation marks:

Quote
An internet "prankster" had to be freed by firefighters after cementing his head inside a microwave oven.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 08 December, 2017, 10:32:54 am
"For sale, one corpse. Comes with pre-fitted headstone."
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Graeme on 08 December, 2017, 10:47:29 am
[understatement] Sure, it wasn't smart [/understatement] but I can only begin to imagine how frightened he (and his mates) must have been.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Guy on 08 December, 2017, 11:28:28 am
The Corps Sgt Major has responded

Quote
He was sifted out during selection yesterday! He kept saying ‘ping’ when he had finished his tasks.

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 08 December, 2017, 11:30:14 am
The Corps Sgt Major has responded

Quote
He was sifted out during selection yesterday! He kept saying ‘ping’ when he had finished his tasks.
"When asked to stand to attention, he stood, but his head kept going round and round."
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 08 December, 2017, 07:03:44 pm
Wasnt sure to put this here or on  r/nottheonion

Man cements microwave to head ::-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42271150


Well, it's hardly surprising we voted for Brexit.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 12 December, 2017, 11:17:17 am
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42308791

A well-known Chinese climber has died while performing one of his trademark daredevil skyscraper stunts.

Wu Yongning had amassed thousands of followers on the social network Weibo for his dramatic short videos showing him perched atop tall buildings without the use of safety equipment.

Concern grew among his fans when he stopped posting updates in November.

It has now emerged that he died after falling from a 62-storey building in the city of Changsha.

Chinese media report that he was participating in a challenge to win a substantial amount of prize money.




The 26-year-old died on 8 November, but his death was only confirmed by his girlfriend in a post on Chinese social media a month later.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 26 January, 2018, 04:56:40 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/26/praise-the-lord-and-pass-the-rattlesnakes-mack-wolford-lauren-pond-test-of-faith-old-yeller-rattlesnake

Surely the last possible word in Darwin Awards?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Redlight on 26 January, 2018, 05:24:59 pm
A failed entry here (http://here).

Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to do this?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Pingu on 26 January, 2018, 05:26:29 pm
A failed entry here (http://here).

You can't get here from there.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Steph on 26 January, 2018, 07:21:48 pm
A failed entry here (http://here).

You can't get here from there.

 ;D

Picking up on Wow's serpentine link, great comments in the Graun, where the observation that all these ophidiators are Trumpanzees had the reply "Snake America great again"
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 08 February, 2018, 07:10:32 pm
Remember this charmer?

http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/15910416.Cyclist_who_left_train_driver_with____psychological_trauma____after_pushing_through_a_rail_barrier_caught/?ref=mr&lp=14

Nicked. £130 is a bit feeble though.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Torslanda on 09 February, 2018, 11:43:01 am
The STUPID is strong with this one . . .
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 03 April, 2018, 09:59:27 am
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/03/lord-lansley-calls-for-better-screening-after-revealing-cancer

Readers may recall that Andrew Lansley was the Health Minister responsible for starting the current round of NHS cuts.

https://www.nursingtimes.net/andrew-lansley-pledges-to-cut-a-third-of-nhs-admin-spending/5007044.article

And yes, it seems highly probable that his cancer would have been caught earlier but for the cuts that he instigated.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 03 April, 2018, 12:35:01 pm
Unfortunate but not truly Darwinian as bowel cancer mostly hits folk after the age of procreation.
I appreciate the irony thobut.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 03 April, 2018, 12:43:59 pm
That's a very spiteful comment, and in bad taste.

Still, I guess anything goes if it supports your political views.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ian H on 03 April, 2018, 01:05:29 pm
That's a very spiteful comment, and in bad taste.

Still, I guess anything goes if it supports your political views.

"...Lansley was the Health Minister responsible for starting the current round of NHS cuts."

I don't wish anyone ill, but... as Helly said.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 03 April, 2018, 01:07:48 pm
That's a very spiteful comment, and in bad taste.

Still, I guess anything goes if it supports your political views.

It wasn't a spiteful comment. It was simply stating a fact. The guy has my sympathy. But increases in incidences of cancer/failures to detect etc. have been widely predicted as a result of NHS cuts.

Edit: I'm not alone in making the link.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-ex-health-secretary-blames-12295175

I hope he makes a full recovery and lends his still-considerable influence to undoing the harm he did when he was Health Secretary.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 03 April, 2018, 01:26:47 pm
Imagine how much more fun it'd be if the same government followed a policy that leads to a large number of foreign-born health service professionals leaving the country, whilst at the same time forging no plans to train or recruit replacements. Of course, no government would be that stupid. I mean, if they were, the opposition would make a meal of it, wouldn't they? Oh wait. Possibly there's a super new technological solution. I dunno, maybe automated butt drones or something. Yeah, something like that.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 03 April, 2018, 02:47:19 pm
That's a very spiteful comment, and in bad taste.

Still, I guess anything goes if it supports your political views.

It wasn't a spiteful comment. It was simply stating a fact.
You knew exactly what you were doing.

If you want to further deny this and/or continue this (rather unpleasant) discussion, I suggest taking it to POBI.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Beardy on 03 April, 2018, 09:02:13 pm
Imagine how much more fun it'd be if the same government followed a policy that leads to a large number of foreign-born health service professionals leaving the country, whilst at the same time forging no plans to train or recruit replacements. Of course, no government would be that stupid. I mean, if they were, the opposition would make a meal of it, wouldn't they? Oh wait. Possibly there's a super new technological solution. I dunno, maybe automated butt drones or something. Yeah, something like that.
Jeremy RhymingSlang has been making the correct noises over plans to recruit and train more home grown health professionals. However, as with most of his plans, they have no real connection to what we call reality and as any healthcare trainer or educator will tell you there are nowhere near enough places to train the numbers he is talking about. Added to this is the lead times involved in recruiting and training said health professionals and a big gap is bound to appear. Oh, and most branches of health professional training has seen recruitment numbers fall as young people see the truth of the shit storm they’ll inherent in taking on a career of caring. No doubt the ‘answer, that RhymingSlang will come up with is to privatise the NHS. That at least should see the demand fall to the levels that supply can meet.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 04 April, 2018, 10:18:58 am
That's a very spiteful comment, and in bad taste.

Still, I guess anything goes if it supports your political views.

It wasn't a spiteful comment. It was simply stating a fact.
You knew exactly what you were doing.

If you want to further deny this and/or continue this (rather unpleasant) discussion, I suggest taking it to POBI.

You are right in one sense. I did know exactly what I was doing and it is not as you suggest. So please shut up.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 04 April, 2018, 12:22:59 pm
If you say that you did not have any spiteful intent when commenting on a Tory Health Secretary, then I shall have to take you at your word Sir.

However, I can see no justification for posting your opinions in this thread, as opposed to POBI where they belong (as you well know, being a prolific poster there.)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 06 May, 2018, 11:54:28 am
Man dies after attempting selfie with BEAR.
Silly selfies kill many in India annually.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/man-bear-selfie-video-mauled-death-selfies-india-odisha-asia-a8335806.html (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/man-bear-selfie-video-mauled-death-selfies-india-odisha-asia-a8335806.html)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mr Larrington on 06 May, 2018, 12:14:57 pm
I remember an off-duty Mountie shaking his head in disbelief at the parents who insist on photographing their kiddiewinks alongside unpredictable and/or DETHy wild animals for e.g. BEARs, bison, møøse etc.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Torslanda on 06 May, 2018, 03:24:28 pm
A møøse once bit my sister . . .
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jurek on 06 May, 2018, 03:39:48 pm
According to the credits, Ølaf Prøt trained the møøse in one of the Monty Python films, the title of which escapes me at present.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Beardy on 07 May, 2018, 10:20:30 am
According to the credits, Ølaf Prøt trained the møøse in one of the Monty Python films, the title of which escapes me at present.
was it the Life of Moose?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: sg37409 on 03 October, 2018, 01:54:17 pm
drug smugglers filmed themselves on drone camera (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-45731642)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 08 November, 2018, 04:08:42 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/08/croatian-man-breaks-leg-vandalising-anti-fascist-monument
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Torslanda on 08 November, 2018, 04:50:17 pm
5/10 Must try harder...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 08 November, 2018, 05:03:25 pm
Indeed. It might qualify for an Honourable Mention, but falls well short of a bona fide Darwin Award... :demon:

Quote
The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor, originating in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool via death or sterilization by their own actions.
...

The website also recognizes, with Honorable Mentions, individuals who survive their misadventures with their reproductive capacity intact. One example of this is Lawnchair Larry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters), who attached helium-filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and floated far above Long Beach, California, in July 1982. He reached an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,900 m) but survived, to be later fined for crossing controlled airspace. Another notable honorable mention was given to the two men who attempted to burgle the home of footballer Duncan Ferguson (who had four convictions for assault and had served six months in Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison) in 2001, with one burglar requiring three days' hospitalization after being confronted by the player.[

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Awards



Edited.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Redlight on 09 November, 2018, 08:50:02 am
I remember an off-duty Mountie shaking his head in disbelief at the parents who insist on photographing their kiddiewinks alongside unpredictable and/or DETHy wild animals for e.g. BEARs, bison, møøse etc.

In Yellowstone earlier this year I was chatting with a park ranger who told me about a couple who had been discovered by one of his colleagues photographing two black bears with their four year-old daughter. The parents had smeared honey on the child's face so that the bears would lick it off.  They had evidently given no thought to what might happen once all the honey was gone.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mark on 10 November, 2018, 02:28:51 pm
In Yellowstone earlier this year I was chatting with a park ranger who told me about a couple who had been discovered by one of his colleagues photographing two black bears with their four year-old daughter. The parents had smeared honey on the child's face so that the bears would lick it off.  They had evidently given no thought to what might happen once all the honey was gone.

That story's been making the rounds since at least the 1980s, sometimes it's peanut butter, sometimes it's honey.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ham on 08 January, 2019, 09:47:11 am
Not a proper Darwin, but still

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jan/07/polyana-viana-attempted-mugging-rio-brazil
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Greenbank on 08 January, 2019, 10:02:30 am
In Yellowstone earlier this year I was chatting with a park ranger who told me about a couple who had been discovered by one of his colleagues photographing two black bears with their four year-old daughter. The parents had smeared honey on the child's face so that the bears would lick it off.  They had evidently given no thought to what might happen once all the honey was gone.

That story's been making the rounds since at least the 1980s, sometimes it's peanut butter, sometimes it's honey.

Snopes has it as 'legend' status: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bear-mauls-honey-smeared-child/

i.e. not disproven but no evidence of such an attack found to say it is true either
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 12 January, 2019, 12:14:09 am
A valiant attempt at a Darwin, if unsuccessful: US driver in 'Bird Box blindfold' crashes in Utah (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46846981)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 09 August, 2019, 12:00:16 am
I reckon this qualifies under the sterilisation clause: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49278279
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 09 August, 2019, 01:01:01 am
I reckon this qualifies under the sterilisation clause: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49278279

Seeing as the woman in question is 62, I'd have thought that the menopause would have taken care of that already.

And although details are lacking, we can't discount the possibility that she's already had children.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 09 August, 2019, 08:06:12 am
Dear Lord, what a twat goose.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 09 August, 2019, 01:39:59 pm
There were several features about this steaming lark a few months ago.

I suspect the story is being repeated/recycled for peak Silly Season reasons.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 09 August, 2019, 02:10:38 pm
With Boris on the one side, Trump on the other, Mussolini Salvini slavering down in Italy and Bolsonaro chopping down the Amazon, who needs silly?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 09 August, 2019, 02:17:14 pm
Correction: we need silly. Lots.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 09 August, 2019, 02:35:24 pm
Rhys seems like a nice chap and Maya would appear to be a kind soul but...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-49294951/stevenage-car-cruise-crash-left-me-in-a-wheelchair (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-49294951/stevenage-car-cruise-crash-left-me-in-a-wheelchair)

would you continue to spectate at these cruising events?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ElyDave on 10 August, 2019, 08:25:30 pm
I reckon this qualifies under the sterilisation clause: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49278279

I was trying NOT to read that, thanks
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 21 September, 2019, 08:55:38 pm
Man drowns during underwater marriage proposal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49783851

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jaded on 21 September, 2019, 11:24:07 pm
Extraordinary!
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Redlight on 16 October, 2019, 07:24:56 pm
A very sad story - but clearly a contender.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50067073 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50067073)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Legs on 25 October, 2019, 01:45:55 pm
This guy? (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50180755)  Maybe some kind of Schadenfreude award?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 27 January, 2020, 12:24:43 am
The first time a Darwin Award has been given to an entire country - even though only 52% earned it.

https://www.lcdviews.com/2020/01/18/united-kingdom-wins-darwin-award/?fbclid=IwAR3nDEl4cKClZalbEbOZeyZjhPCvWR9tBTX0_3-bjj1RVhIyMmUuMR1e85w
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 27 January, 2020, 11:50:40 am
The first time a Darwin Award has been given to an entire country - even though only 52% earned it.

https://www.lcdviews.com/2020/01/18/united-kingdom-wins-darwin-award/?fbclid=IwAR3nDEl4cKClZalbEbOZeyZjhPCvWR9tBTX0_3-bjj1RVhIyMmUuMR1e85w

Bzzt.  Satire.  (I know it's hard to tell these days.)

Also, while Brexit is clearly stupid, I don't think it directly removes anyone from the gene pool.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: caerau on 27 January, 2020, 02:10:31 pm
The first time a Darwin Award has been given to an entire country - even though only 52% earned it.

https://www.lcdviews.com/2020/01/18/united-kingdom-wins-darwin-award/?fbclid=IwAR3nDEl4cKClZalbEbOZeyZjhPCvWR9tBTX0_3-bjj1RVhIyMmUuMR1e85w (https://www.lcdviews.com/2020/01/18/united-kingdom-wins-darwin-award/?fbclid=IwAR3nDEl4cKClZalbEbOZeyZjhPCvWR9tBTX0_3-bjj1RVhIyMmUuMR1e85w)

Bzzt.  Satire.  (I know it's hard to tell these days.)

Also, while Brexit is clearly stupid, I don't think it directly removes anyone from the gene pool.


Quite the opposite.  I was going to point this out earlier, but seeing as someone has mentioned it - sadly this type of politics is very much multiplying around the globe currently :-(
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 27 January, 2020, 05:10:55 pm
You can't get a Darwin award for removing *other people* from the gene pool, thobut.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: caerau on 29 January, 2020, 08:53:20 am
Not really what I meant - I was thinking more that it's actively breeding.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Steph on 23 February, 2020, 08:22:08 am
Mike Hughes and his home made steam rocket had a mishap in California. I guess that he has a well-earned Darwin award, unforunately. The world needs more like him - passionate about what we do.

BBC article (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51602655)

I noted the comment from a friend about the Flat Earther

"When God made Mike he broke the mould. The man was the real deal and lived to push the edge. He wouldn't have gone out any other way! RIP"

Edge duly pushed...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Giraffe on 23 February, 2020, 08:29:41 am
Fitting end for a flat-earther - push the edge too hard and fall off.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2020, 08:33:06 am
How many plane tickets could he have got for his $14k?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Rowan on 23 February, 2020, 08:56:09 am
I just love people like that, as said above we need more of them.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Tim Hall on 23 February, 2020, 09:35:04 am
I see that the take off was near Barstow. Maybe the drugs had begun to take hold.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: PeteB99 on 23 February, 2020, 11:51:10 am
Nutter learns that the earth is not only not flat but it's also very hard.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hatler on 23 February, 2020, 12:10:09 pm
What's that big thing coming towards me very fast ?/  It's big and round and ... it needs a name ...

(From memory.)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Beardy on 23 February, 2020, 12:34:02 pm
At 64 I suspect that he isn’t eligible for a Darwin Award, however the article doesn’t mention any grieving offspring so I might be wrong.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 23 February, 2020, 01:14:28 pm
Basic 'Darwin' idea is to self-eiiminate before acquiring reproductive fitness, so not pass on genes.

At 64, he's grandparently age.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: PeteB99 on 23 February, 2020, 01:14:40 pm
At 64 I suspect that he isn’t eligible for a Darwin Award ...

I didn't realise that there are qualifications or conditions other than death through heroic (or naive) misadventure. Do tell.

It's an award for people removing their stupidity genes from the pool. At 64 he's past breeding age.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 23 February, 2020, 01:19:23 pm
Hence you can also qualify by rendering yourself sterile, rather than dying.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2020, 01:21:07 pm
At 64 I suspect that he isn’t eligible for a Darwin Award ...

I didn't realise that there are qualifications or conditions other than death through heroic (or naive) misadventure. Do tell.

It's an award for people removing their stupidity genes from the pool. At 64 he's past breeding age.

My word, sir, you are a pessimist.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 23 February, 2020, 01:26:49 pm
At 64, a chap has had around 50 years of breeding potential.

The chances are that some genes may have been passed on...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: pumpkin on 23 February, 2020, 01:29:38 pm
Did he not think that if a steam powered rocket was viable then the Nazis, Russians, USA etc would all have tried it. Also how can people believe the Earth is flat? Do they think there is a map saying 'here be dragons?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Beardy on 23 February, 2020, 03:46:15 pm
Did he not think that if a steam powered rocket was viable then the Nazis, Russians, USA etc would all have tried it. Also how can people believe the Earth is flat? Do they think there is a map saying 'here be dragons?
Flat Earthers seem to fall into three distinctive camps, the crooks, the self deluded and the stupid. The crooks are purporting to believe in a flat earth as part of a scam to make money from the gullible, they _may_ also fall into,the second camp but rarely the third. The self deluded will deny the science or evidence until they are blue in the face, whether they are stupid as well or just stubborn is often hard to tell; many of this group are religious as well and earth at the centre of everything point of view fits well with their narrative.  The stupid just don’t understand the science and are the main target of the crooks. For this last reason alone we should always challenge a flat earther because some people are being robbed.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 23 February, 2020, 07:34:15 pm
Did he not think that if a steam powered rocket was viable then the Nazis, Russians, USA etc would all have tried it.

The Germans did use steam powered rockets in a manner of speaking, but where the late Mr Hughes was effectively using a pressurised kettle, they instead used high test peroxide (HTP, which the Germans called T-Stoff).

The first method was a so-called "cold engine" where the T-Stoff was decomposed with an aqueous catalyst to produce a stream of superheated steam and oxygen to provide thrust. This type of rocket engine was used to power take-off assist packs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_HWK_109-500) and boosted glide bombs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_HWK_109-507).

The second, "hot engine", method was to use T-Stoff as an oxidiser for C-Stoff fuel (a blend of methanol, hydrazine and water). T-Stoff and C-Stoff were hypergolic - that is, they reacted violently on contact without the need for an ignition source: 

Quote
The violent combustion process resulted in the formation of water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and a huge amount of heat sending out a superheated stream of steam, nitrogen and air that was drawn in through the hole in the mantle of the engine, thus providing a forward thrust of approximately 17 kN (3,820 lbf).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_HWK_109-509#Design_and_development

This type of rocket motor was used in the Messerschmitt Me 162 Komet and Bachem Ba 349 Natter interceptors.

The British used the "cold engine" type of HTP-fuelled rocket to power a scaled-down model of the cancelled Miles M.52 to test a number of concepts for supersonic flight. In doing so, it was proved that officialdom's fears about the safety of the M.52 - one of the excuses given for the project's cancellation - were unfounded.

Not propulsion in a direct sense, but a number of rocket engines have used decomposing HTP to generate steam to drive the fuel and oxidiser turbo-pumps*, and the X-15 hypersonic rocketplane used HTP "cold engines" for its reaction-control system, which controlled where the plane pointed at altitudes where the air was too thin for aerodynamic control surfaces to be of use.

* So in a sense they are "steam powered" on the basis that if the pumps "run out of steam", the rocket engine stops working from fuel starvation.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mr Larrington on 24 February, 2020, 11:43:36 am
I haven't yet seen a post stating that Mr Hughes will be mourned all around the globe yet, or at least not one from a genuine Flat-earther, but it's only a matter of time.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: PeteB99 on 24 February, 2020, 12:21:05 pm
One (among the many) problems with the flat earthers is where they think the money is. I mean if you're drunk enough you might imagine that big pharma, big oil or big tobacco might have an interest in suppressing knowledge/inventions that would interfere with profits. Big map will sell just as many maps of a flat earth as they do of a round one. No need to spend billions convincing the plebs that the earth is a different shape.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 24 February, 2020, 12:33:47 pm
It's not Big Map, it's Big Rocket.  Why should people keep paying for massive rockets when all you actually need is a ladder?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Beardy on 24 February, 2020, 03:50:49 pm
It's not Big Map, it's Big Rocket.  Why should people keep paying for massive rockets when all you actually need is a ladder?
According to most of them you don’t need either because there’s no where to go. Even the saner of them that accept the sun and moon are separate objects still believe the flat earth has a dome over it. Indeed, the containment of the atmosphere is one of their favourite proofs that the earth is not a spinning globe.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 24 February, 2020, 06:31:42 pm
What's that big thing coming towards me very fast ?/  It's big and round and ... it needs a name ...

(From memory.)
I wonder if it will be friends with me?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 24 February, 2020, 06:34:07 pm
I haven't yet seen a post stating that Mr Hughes will be mourned all around the globe yet, or at least not one from a genuine Flat-earther, but it's only a matter of time.
"tributes are coming in from the 4 Corners of ... "
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: tonycollinet on 29 February, 2020, 10:33:32 am
He left two children - so definately not a darwin.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: rogerzilla on 29 February, 2020, 02:30:41 pm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51680049

 ::-)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mattc on 29 February, 2020, 04:34:00 pm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51680049

 ::-)
Pathetic and tragic. :(

(and I don't mean because it won't qualify as a "Proper" Darwin, just to save those posts wearing out poor keyboards.)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 25 March, 2020, 02:05:44 pm
At 64 I suspect that he isn’t eligible for a Darwin Award ...

I didn't realise that there are qualifications or conditions other than death through heroic (or naive) misadventure. Do tell.

It's an award for people removing their stupidity genes from the pool. At 64 he's past breeding age.

The international concert pianist and chess grandmaster Mark Taimanov sired twins at the age of 78.

Quote
Mr. Taimanov was married four times, the last time in his late 70s. He was 78 when he and his fourth wife, Nadezhda, had twins, a boy and a girl. The twins were 57 years younger than his first child and 27 years younger than his granddaughter, although they were her aunt and uncle.
From NYT
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: sam on 28 March, 2020, 09:44:59 am
What is the difference between a Darwin award and karma?

I don’t know, but giving out too many of them might not help.

(https://i.imgur.com/Hp05Spn.jpg)

That said, events of late (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52006185) may get the printing presses humming.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: pdm on 28 March, 2020, 10:12:12 am
At 64 I suspect that he isn’t eligible for a Darwin Award ...

I didn't realise that there are qualifications or conditions other than death through heroic (or naive) misadventure. Do tell.

It's an award for people removing their stupidity genes from the pool. At 64 he's past breeding age.

The international concert pianist and chess grandmaster Mark Taimanov sired twins at the age of 78.

Quote
Mr. Taimanov was married four times, the last time in his late 70s. He was 78 when he and his fourth wife, Nadezhda, had twins, a boy and a girl. The twins were 57 years younger than his first child and 27 years younger than his granddaughter, although they were her aunt and uncle.
From NYT

The "record" in modern times is held by an american, James E. Smith who fathered twin daughters in 1949 at the age of 101...

The oldest mother in modern times was a 74 years old Indian woman (IVF with donated eggs) in 2016. The oldest modern day natural conception was in a Chinese woman aged 65 in 2019.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hatler on 28 March, 2020, 10:43:31 am
If I have related this little fact here before, apologies.

My maternal grandfather's father apparently sired 13 children. Nothing too remarkable in that stat, given that this was obviously some time ago. The :o moment is that these 13 all appeared after he was 65. (I'm not sure it's recorded if/how many he had before that age.)

My grandfather was apparently the last of the 13, and my mother was the last of his five (with a 21 year spread). (And I'm the younger of the two siblings.)

Net result: my great-grandfather was born before the Battle of Waterloo.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Bledlow on 28 March, 2020, 03:28:24 pm
At 64 I suspect that he isn’t eligible for a Darwin Award ...

I didn't realise that there are qualifications or conditions other than death through heroic (or naive) misadventure. Do tell.

It's an award for people removing their stupidity genes from the pool. At 64 he's past breeding age.
One of my pet peeves is that the children of the second marriage of my ancestor Francis Funge (1618-1701, Waddesdon, Bucks) are wrongly attributed by many people to his son, also Francis Funge (1648-1717).

Francis the elder's first wife died in 1677. 14 months later, not long before his 60th birthday, Francis married Jane Carter, age not recorded & birth not yet found. They had at least two children, because two daughters are mentioned in his will who can't possibly be from his first marriage: Ann (my ancestor, married 1698 the same day as she was christened, aged 19, with both parents named, & her father called "Francis Snr"), & Mary "my youngest daughter).

Ann keeps getting listed in family trees online as a daughter of Francis the younger, apparently because the idea of a 60 year old 17th century manual worker fathering children is thought too improbable to give credence to, whatever the evidence.

Just one more, less extreme, example to add to the others given here.

PS. I've identified two of my ancestors who had 16 pregnancies: one had 19 children.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Moleman76 on 29 March, 2020, 02:19:46 am
https://nypost.com/2020/03/26/21-year-old-who-posted-about-not-social-distancing-gets-coronavirus/

close.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: pdm on 27 April, 2020, 09:55:07 pm
I wonder if men undergoing this "treatment" (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8261241/Could-giving-men-estrogen-help-recover-COVID-Female-hormones-prevent-inflammation.html) for CoVid amelioration qualify for a Darwin award? Certainly excess oestrogen in males will impair fertility somewhat... It would be temporary (?unfortunately?) so I guess not.  ;D
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 27 April, 2020, 10:14:54 pm
I wonder if men undergoing this "treatment" (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8261241/Could-giving-men-estrogen-help-recover-COVID-Female-hormones-prevent-inflammation.html) for CoVid amelioration qualify for a Darwin award? Certainly excess oestrogen in males will impair fertility somewhat... It would be temporary (?unfortunately?) so I guess not.  ;D

From reading the NYT report that the Fail cribbed from (seriously, couldn't you have found a half-decent news outlet to link to?), it's pretty obvious that no, this doesn't count as a Darwin because the volunteers - both male and post-menopausal women - are only receiving short courses of hormone treatment that are unlikely to have a permanent effect.

Quote
... Half of the participants will be given an estradiol patch for one week, while the other half will serve as a control group, and researchers will follow them to see whether estrogen reduces the severity of their disease.
The Cedars-Sinai study is smaller, with only 40 subjects, all men, half of whom will be a control group. Only hospital inpatients with mild to moderate disease who have tested positive for Covid-19 can participate. (Patients with certain conditions, like a history of blood clots, are excluded for safety reasons.)

The patients will get two shots of progesterone a day for five days.

They will be monitored to see if their status is improving, how their needs for oxygen change and whether they go on to require intensive care or mechanical ventilation; their progress will be compared to patients in the control group.

The researchers in Los Angeles are pinning their hopes on progesterone rather than estrogen because research has shown that the hormone reduces pro-inflammatory immune cells, and supports those that fight inflammation, Dr. Ghandehari said. The hypothesis is that progesterone will prevent or dampen a harmful overreaction of the immune system, called a cytokine storm, and will reduce the likelihood of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Both hormones are believed to be safe, especially when used for short durations. Participants will be warned of possible side effects that may be a first for many men, like tenderness in the breast and hot flashes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/27/health/coronavirus-estrogen-men.html/?2020-04-27T06%3A59%3A07%2000%3A00

In any case, it is doubtful that it's hormonal balance that's much of a factor, because it's been noted that post-menopausal women are more likely to survive a bout of CV-19 than men of similar ages.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: pcolbeck on 23 November, 2020, 12:25:24 pm
A man who self identifies as a deer and dresses up as one is shot by hunters who mistook him for a deer:

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2107406337575/trans-species-man-who-self-identifies-as-a-deer-accidentally-shot-by-hunters

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 24 November, 2020, 01:11:23 am
Oh dear!

IGMC...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Mr Larrington on 24 November, 2020, 01:46:05 am
You have to wonder about Messrs. Perkins' and Pinecut's states of mind too, specifically whether they are simpletons, or had been drinking, or both.  And also whether their trophy rooms contain the heads of hunters, game wardens and/or cows.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Davef on 24 November, 2020, 06:51:40 am
Hmmm, seems a bit spoofy. ““When he was eight he believed he was a porcupine, then at 12 a squirrel, now he’s a deer. It could be worse, he could be a homosexual,” his mother argued when reached by phone.”
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Giraffe on 24 November, 2020, 08:51:53 am
Imagine that!
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: spesh on 24 November, 2020, 11:38:16 am
You have to wonder about Messrs. Perkins' and Pinecut's states of mind too, specifically whether they are simpletons, or had been drinking, or both.  And also whether their trophy rooms contain the heads of hunters, game wardens and/or cows.

ISWYDT - a pure-bred Guernsey cow, I presume? ;D
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: andrewc on 10 February, 2021, 08:43:53 pm
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/man-blows-roof-mums-house-19810732


Almost, but not quite.   Lots of comments, some cruel but amusing. 


And why would a chap with multiple unspecified convictions be trying to get the splodey stuff out of fireworks ?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ElyDave on 10 February, 2021, 08:48:07 pm
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/man-blows-roof-mums-house-19810732


Almost, but not quite.   Lots of comments, some cruel but amusing. 


And why would a chap with multiple unspecified convictions be trying to get the splodey stuff out of fireworks ?

I've taken the splodey stuff out of fireworks, but I'm not stupid enough to try and grind it. I just set fire to it
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hatler on 10 February, 2021, 08:50:59 pm
Same here, but in a dedicated facility with conducting footwear and floor. Doing it with an electric blender is pretty daft.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Beardy on 10 February, 2021, 09:46:00 pm
He was bang out of order.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ElyDave on 10 February, 2021, 10:21:31 pm
Same here, but in a dedicated facility with conducting footwear and floor. Doing it with an electric blender is pretty daft.

I did it in a mate's  back garden, eyebrows may have been threatened
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Ham on 11 February, 2021, 08:19:23 am
Oh come on now, who as a kid hasn't tried mixing saltpetre, sulphur and carbon? And soaked thread in a saltpetre solution to make a fuse? And stuffed the powder into an old tin can and set it off behind the playground?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 11 February, 2021, 09:55:59 am
We used to file down pencil sharpers in CDT into a pile of magnesium powder. They'd generally hidden the more dangerous stuff at this point. Or Nigel had drunk it.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jurek on 11 February, 2021, 10:14:06 am
A C206 Camping Gaz cylinder filled with a mixture of weedkiller and sugar will make a crater about 4 ft in diameter and approximately 1ft deep in soft earth.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 11 February, 2021, 10:24:19 am
A steel can strapped to a roller skate and filled with pool chlorine and brake fluid is an excellent rocket car with an awesome flame out the back
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Tim Hall on 11 February, 2021, 10:47:27 am
A C206 Camping Gaz cylinder filled with a mixture of weedkiller and sugar will make a crater about 4 ft in diameter and approximately 1ft deep in soft earth.
Such devices are rubbish at removing tree stumps which are in the way when constructing a new Venture Scout HQ. Apparently.

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 11 February, 2021, 11:18:36 am
The desktop flamethrower was every chemistry lesson at my school. The fiery demise of many a schoolbook.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hatler on 11 February, 2021, 11:31:53 am
One reversiste in our class took the tube off the bunsen and attached it to the tap and filled up the gas system with water.  Arf arf.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: PaulF on 11 February, 2021, 11:46:20 am
Also, or so I am reliably informed, the pressure in a school lab gas network is sufficiently low that it is theoretically possible to blow down a bunsen rubber hose an extinguish the bunsen burners sequentially. Also I imagine that a bunsen burner might, possibly, make a long range water pistol
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 11 February, 2021, 11:48:37 am
Given the inflammability of the entirely polyester school uniforms, I'm surprised that so many of us survived chemistry. You could pick up quite a static charge.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jaded on 11 February, 2021, 11:52:49 am
Weedkiller and sugar mix, newspaper soaked in it and dried out.

A bucketful makes a fantasctic smokescreen, enough to cover one of the largest buildings in town  ;D
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 11 February, 2021, 12:03:04 pm
I'm sure sodium chlorate is on the watch-list these days, so don't get carried away. It won't work with Roundup.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: rafletcher on 11 February, 2021, 12:12:35 pm
Weedkiller and sugar mix, newspaper soaked in it and dried out.

A bucketful makes a fantasctic smokescreen, enough to cover one of the largest buildings in town  ;D

Sodium Chlorate is indeed what you need, not publically available for many a year.

I mixed some (um, 50 years ago now) with sugar, poured a line on top of the 4ft diamter pine tree stump at the bottom of our garden, and set it on fire. Spectacular, especially when it set fire to all the set sap on the surface!

Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jurek on 11 February, 2021, 12:20:03 pm
I think Sodium Chlorate got pulled in the 70s or 80s when it was the chemical of choice in many IEDs used in Northen Ireland.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: The Family Cyclist on 11 February, 2021, 12:26:16 pm
Wasn't that long ago. I guess around 10 to 15 years ago. I used to sell it as a weed killer at work. Boringly it was a lot to do it leeching into water courses more then making bombs
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 11 February, 2021, 12:30:20 pm
I believe you can still buy it in small quantities as weedkiller but it contains retardants and The Man is watching you. But step up a bit, oxidize it and add ammonia to make ammonium perchlorate and, mixed with hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer, you've got rocket fuel. To space and beyond! Or quite possibly Mr Frith & Daughter Funeral Directors.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 11 February, 2021, 12:52:33 pm
Sure we made gunpowder.  Then drilled holes in tree stumps, added powder and some fuse wire.  Small plug of wood above the gunpowder and then connect fuse wire to a car battery.  Removal of tree stump.

However the best one was Nitrogen tri-iodide (NI3) which is a highly unstable explosive producing clouds of purple smoke!  We produced this and dried it in the 6th form common room where some of it spontaneously exploded much t the concern of the arts students!

The next morning we sprinkled the crystals on the platform prior to assembly.  There was much hilarity as the head strode onto the platform with other teachers amid the crackle of detonation and smoke!
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: ian on 11 February, 2021, 12:56:18 pm
Are children these days even allowed to use Bunsen burners?
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: T42 on 11 February, 2021, 01:07:47 pm
We used potassium chlorate, sulphur & charcoal, but got fizzier fireworks with a nice pink flame from potassium chlorate & sugar.  We once set off a small amount on the top deck of a Belfast Corporation Omnibus and had to get off three stops too early before the conductor came up.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: PeteB99 on 11 February, 2021, 01:10:59 pm
The other trick with Nitrogen Tri-iodide was to put a crystal into a piece of wet blotting paper and throw it so it stuck to the ceiling - when it dries out and falls the bang disrupts the next lesson quite nicely.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Kim on 11 February, 2021, 01:28:00 pm
The desktop flamethrower was every chemistry lesson at my school. The fiery demise of many a schoolbook.

Lighting the gas taps wasn't uncommon in mine, either.  Or connecting them to the water taps to see who won.


Given the inflammability of the entirely polyester school uniforms, I'm surprised that so many of us survived chemistry.

I remember a boy in my class managed to set fire to his generously-sized school-issue polyester sleeve in the first week of secondary school SCIENCE lessons, which was then patched by his mum and remained with him until at least year 10.  (Perhaps counter-intuitively, this was not a subject of ridicule because setting fire to yourself is much more cool than wearing embarrassing school uniform.)


More legendary was the time someone in not-my-chemistry-set re-enacted the end of Die Hard 2 using a sink full of some alkane or other.


I don't think I blew up anything at school, unless you count releasing the magic smoke from electronic components.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Moleman76 on 20 February, 2021, 06:57:37 am
regarding ways to make noise, a 2 liter plastic bottle, some water in the bottom, and dry ice bits added before securely capping, and then running away like crazy, is very effective.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: hellymedic on 20 February, 2021, 12:55:31 pm
Given the inflammability of the entirely polyester school uniforms, I'm surprised that so many of us survived chemistry. You could pick up quite a static charge.

In my day, we had to wear a specific wool serge tunic, which was not washable and was only flammable immediately after its trip to the dry cleaner every half term...
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Wowbagger on 21 February, 2021, 03:54:13 pm
He was bang out of order.

I may be a couple of weeks late, but I appreciate it!
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 01 March, 2021, 08:46:42 am
A valiant attempt, but no trophy:
Family found camping on 'dangerous' cliff edge in North Yorkshire
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-56232546 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-56232546)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 01 March, 2021, 09:00:00 am
Weedkiller and sugar mix, newspaper soaked in it and dried out.

A bucketful makes a fantasctic smokescreen, enough to cover one of the largest buildings in town  ;D

At school we had a pair of identical twins, very hard to tell one from t'other.

The one of them made a pipe-bomb using sugar and weedkiller after which provided we could see his right forefinger we always knew which twin it was.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: The French Tandem on 01 March, 2021, 09:15:26 am
A valiant attempt, but no trophy:
Family found camping on 'dangerous' cliff edge in North Yorkshire
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-56232546 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-56232546)

Quote
They were found in a tent in an area known for landslips


If someone deserves a Darwin Award here, it's probably the farmer who works so close to the edge with a many-tons tractor rather than a family in a lightweight tent.

A
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Steph on 02 March, 2021, 03:15:30 am
When I was a pre-spotty person, I lived in Malaya (as was) and Singapore. Various Chinese festivities are enlivened by pyrotechnic devices, some of them amazingly elaborate, but many consisting simply of chains of paired red=paper=wrapped bangers of various kinds.

Once the locals had had their fun, we would descend on the swathes of shredded red paper and comb through them. There were always unsploded splodies, and we would gather them for fun and hearing loss (I found out quite early why fuses are longer than the one I lit and then threw not quite far enough away so avoid ringing ears)

One of the potentially lethal things we did was to set the little bastards off in enclosed spaces. My own first attempt was to put a small plastic bucket over one, with the fuse sticking out under its rim. The resulting explosion sent the bucket some ten feet into the air. Our ultimate experiment, until my fayher found us at it and took away our implement, involved a broken toy go-cart.

If you G**gle Weyhill Close in Singapore, my old house is stull there (on the north side of the close, a wire mesh gate with a red post box on it and two plastic waste bins outside it; my bedroom was the first floor balcony you can see) you may note there is a steep little slope down from the lane to the main road. We spent a lot of time eroding the grass by sliding down there on sheets of cardboard, but one oik of the neighbourhood obtained said four-wheeled device. He used it on the slope, naturally, and managed to snap it in half. I believe it resulted in a trip to the Alexandra Hospital. I would be there later for one of my intersex surgeries.

We recovered the remnants of the go-cart, saw that we had two open ends of tube mounted on two wheels, and the obvious idea of mobile artillery came to us. Get a ball of stony mud ready. wedge it in on top of a banger with  the fuse protruding, and train the artillery on one of the large sheets of cardboard placed before a tree. Light fuse. Do not retire.

I am astonished that I managed to retain all digits and appendages.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jayjay on 22 March, 2021, 09:24:26 pm
Someone managed to leave an aerosol can in the garden incinerator, which was a steel 45gal. drum. Apparently the effect was to eject the blazing contents in spectacular fashion. No Darwin award qualifiers involved though.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Hot Flatus on 27 May, 2023, 03:46:21 pm
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/27/asia/chinese-livestreamer-drinking-baijiu-intl-hnk/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_source=twCNN&utm_content=2023-05-27T12%3A46%3A06&utm_medium=social
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: andrewc on 08 June, 2023, 11:28:43 am
Close, but no cigar.....   https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/08/three-rescued-after-inflatable-duck-drifts-out-to-sea-off-devon-coast
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: rafletcher on 08 June, 2023, 11:34:50 am
One day I expect our neighbour to join the club...  She's about 80.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52951948864_01469af814_z.jpg)
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jurek on 08 June, 2023, 02:08:49 pm
One day I expect our neighbour to join the club...  She's about 80.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52951948864_01469af814_z.jpg)
That's the sort of thing my Mum would be doing.
She's 87 and currently (for her own good) in a care home.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jaded on 08 June, 2023, 02:09:07 pm
If she has had children she will not be allowed in.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 June, 2023, 02:52:57 pm
I confiscated my Dad's ladders when he was of a similar vintage.

 
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: graculus on 08 June, 2023, 03:21:15 pm
Dad also ineligible as he has 3 great grandchildren.
Before he moved into a bungalow he insisted on cleaning out the gutters on the old house amongst other things, which entailed lugging the very heavy two piece wooden ladders from his garage round the corner.
His neighbour at the time said to my wife (who was a work colleague of hers) 'I never want to see or hear of Mr Jenkins going up a ladder again'
We did contemplate buying him a shorter aluminium set once he was in the bungalow but the thought did occur of what we might be asked at an inquest ('So please explain to the court, Mr Jenkins, what made you think that buying a ladder for your 90 year old father was a good idea?).
He's 94 now and still plays tennis, I don't think I'm going to be able to stop him doing anything that he is confident to do.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: Jurek on 09 June, 2023, 05:53:26 pm
94 and still playing tennis is pretty good going.
At some point I confiscated Mum's Prius as every time she went out in it, there would be fresh damage.
The plan was that I would  chauffeur her to church on a Sunday and, while she prayed for lower prices, I would go and do my Sainos shop.
This event took place all of once, before someone got it into their heads to thieve the catalytic converter from it.
We replaced the converter on the insurance and sold it to an Uber driver to put some more dents in it.
Title: Re: Darwin Awards
Post by: graculus on 09 June, 2023, 07:31:00 pm
Dad does still drive but has set his own limits; not at night or very poor visibility and very little longer distances. I live locally but my siblings are mostly 50 miles away; they come and visit him regularly now rather than vice-versa., if he is going to stop overnight at theirs one of them comes and picks him up and returns. If I was able to drive (can't: medical disqualification) I would pitch in a bit more.